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Group Tour Pricing
|College Students
|$100 for up to 25 students
|$150 for up to 25 students
Reserve a 60-minute private Guided Tour with one of our curator-trained docents. Our docent-led tours are un-scripted and unique—each tour is a new experience!
Exclusive before- and after-hours tours, group space rentals, and catered meals are available upon request. Looking for something in particular? Let us know how we can customize your visit!
For more information, call (212) 873-3400 x352 or email firstname.lastname@example.com
Special Exhibition Tours We Offer
Tour: Arthur Szyk: Soldier in Art
September 29, 2017 – January 21, 2018
While Europe was experiencing unimaginable horrors, artist Arthur Syzk expressed his opposition through forceful depictions caricaturing Hitler, Mussolini, and Hirohito as the evil architects of their regimes' destructive and inhumane policies. On this docent-led tour, learn about the Polish-born forgotten artist, and see 40 politically incisive works that underscore Szyk's role as a one-man "activist-in-art" who advocated for civil and human rights.
Tour: The Vietnam War
October 18, 2017 - April 22, 2018
On this docent-led tour, journey through one of most controversial conflicts in recent American history: the Vietnam War. Explore the war from multiple viewpoints including the military campaigns initiated by both sides, the growth of the antiwar movement, the role of the president, and the loss of political consensus. See compelling objects like a troopship berthing unit, vibrant antiwar posters, artwork by Vietnam vets, a Viet Cong bicycle, the Pentagon Papers, and news and film clippings.
Tour: Holiday Express: Toys and Trains from the Jerni Collection
October 27, 2017 - February 25, 2018
Immerse yourself in an enchanting holiday wonderland at our sweeping display of spectacular antique toy trains, toys, and scenic elements from the renowned Jerni Collection. On this tour, discover a magical 360-degree mountain landscape with a circa 1890s town and, of course, see the trains themselves, including those made by leading manufacturers that set the standard for the Golden Age of Toy Trains, like the German firms of Märklin and Bing, as well as the American firms Lionel and Ives. Among other topics, learn about the history of trains, including the aerodynamic Märklin's Schienenzeppelin, or rail-zeppelin, which is modeled after an actual locomotive that emerged in Germany in the years following World War I as a way to find civilian uses for military surplus. History tidbits abound on our docent-led tour!
Tour: Hotbed
November 3, 2017 – March 25, 2018
At the turn of the 20th-century, Greenwich Village was a "hotbed" of social and artistic activism, rooted in the fight for women's rights and suffrage. On this docent-led tour, explore a dynamic combination of photographs, illustrations, and short films, largely produced by under-recognized women artists. Hear the untold stories of this energetic and proactive bohemian scene, led by African Americans, immigrant activists, and women of the working-class. This is a behind-the-scenes tour you don't want to miss!
Permanent Exhibition Tours We Offer
Tour: Collector's Choice: Highlights from the Permanent Collection
For more than 200 years, the New-York Historical Society has been preserving and exhibiting artwork. Dive into the stories of many illustrious artworks on our docent-led gallery tour. Learn about some of the most renowned works in our collection, ranging in date from the 14th through the 21st centuries, including Thomas Cole's iconic "Course of Empire" series and Charles Willson Peale's Peale Family Portrait. Plus, marvel at Picasso's magnificent Le Tricorne ballet curtain, the largest piece on view in the United States by the Spanish artist.
Tour: Highlights from the Permanent Collection
Explore our world-renowned permanent collection on our one-of-a-kind highlights tour. Our specially trained guides lead you through the Smith Gallery, showcasing New York's central role in the creation of the United States. The tour continues on the second floor where a selection of our more than 40,000 historic objects tells the story of Gotham, from its early days as a Dutch colony to the cosmopolitan metropolis of today.
Tour: Women of the Collection: The Fight for Equality in America
Despite enormous obstacles, women across the spectrum of race and class exercised power and effected change even before they could access the ballot box. Discover the untold stories of women whose contributions to American culture, politics, and society altered the course of history.
Tour: Lamps of Tiffany Studios: Style, Beauty, and Design
Experience our collection of Tiffany lamps—one of the world's largest and most encyclopedic—in a dazzling new two-story gallery. See more than 100 examples of this elegant American art form and hear the personal stories of head designer Clara Driscoll and her team in the Glassmaking Department known as the "Tiffany Girls," whose contributions were nearly lost to history.
Tour: Made in New York: Selections from the Permanent Collection
New York's unique entrepreneurial spirit has inspired objects that stand alone in design and functionality. Hear the dynamic stories of American history as told through extraordinary and everyday objects from our collection. Discover what makes New York the capital of creativity!
Tour: Curiosities of the Collection
The forgotten, often perplexing histories of the United States can be told through artifacts left behind. Since 1804, the New-York Historical Society has been preserving and exhibiting objects that tell captivating stories. History uncovered on this tour will include the 19th-century fascination with phrenology, or skull-reading; the lost art of cigar ribbon manufacturing; and the 1863 draft lottery that sparked the deadliest civil disturbance in our nation's history.
Tour: New York, 1600–Present: Design Your Own Tour
How can the past inform our present? Discover the New York of yesterday and today through artifacts and works of art from our collection, excavated from city streets and donated by illustrious New Yorkers. Select the century in New York history that most interests you and we'll tailor a tour to fit!
1600–1700: Before the city was New York, it was New Amsterdam—a remote New World trading outpost in a global Dutch empire. After coming under British rule in 1664, New York retained its diverse, multilingual population and entrepreneurial spirit, remaining a city that existed first and foremost as a financial and trading center.
1700–1800: Under British occupation from 1776 to 1783, New York—a hotbed of contention between Patriots and Loyalists—felt the effects of nearby battles. After the Revolution, New Yorkers witnessed Washington's inauguration and the city became the first U.S. capital. During this period, one in five New Yorkers lived in bondage.
1800–1900: Fueled by immigration and innovations like the Erie Canal and Brooklyn Bridge, New York grew from a port city concentrated in lower Manhattan to a unified metropolis. During and after the Civil War, New York politics became increasingly contentious. As the 19th century came to a close, the Progressive Movement emerged in response to the excesses of Tammany Hall and the Gilded Age.
1900–2000: During the tumult of the 20th century's traumatic world wars, ordinary New Yorkers contributed to the war effort. Following World War II, New York emerged on the international stage as a global capital with a unique identity, and its landmarks became recognizable worldwide as New York culture was captured in song, on stage, and on film.


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30 May 2016

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Asian Americans and the 1992 Los Angeles Riots/Uprising
Shelley Sang-Hee Lee
Although the 1992 Los Angeles riots have been described as a "race riot" sparked by the acquittals of a group of mostly white police officers charged with excessively beating black motorist Rodney King, the widespread targeting and destruction of Asian-owned (mainly Korean) property in and around South Central Los Angeles stands out as one of the most striking aspects of the uprising. For all the commentary generated about the state of black-white relations, African American youths, and the decline of America's inner cities, the riots also gave many Americans their first awareness of the presence of a Korean immigrant population in Southern California, a large number of Korean shop owners, and the existence of what was commonly framed as the "black-Korean conflict." For Korean Americans, and Asian Americans more generally, the Los Angeles riots represented a shattered "American dream" and brought focus to their tenuous hold on economic mobility and social inclusion in a society fraught by racial and ethnic tension. The riots furthermore marked a turning point that placed Asian immigrants and Asian Americans at the center of new conversations about social relations in a multiracial America, the place of new immigrants, and the responsibilities of relatively privileged minorities toward the less privileged.
Black Women and Beauty Culture in 20th-Century America
Maxine Leeds Craig
Black beauty culture developed in the context of widespread disparagement of black men and women in images produced by whites, and black women's exclusion from mainstream cultural institutions, such as beauty contests, which defined beauty standards on a national scale. Though mainstream media rarely represented black women as beautiful, black women's beauty was valued within black communities. Moreover many black women used cosmetics, hair products and styling, and clothing to meet their communities' standards for feminine appearance. At the beginning of the 20th century, the black press, which included newspapers, general magazines, and women's magazines, showcased the beauty of black women. As early as the 1890s, black communities organized beauty contests that celebrated black women's beauty and served as fora for debating definitions of black beauty. Still, generally, but not always, the black press and black women's beauty pageants favored women with lighter skin tones, and many cosmetics firms that marketed to black women sold skin lighteners. The favoring of light skin was nonetheless debated and contested within black communities, especially during periods of heightened black political activism. In the 1910s and 1920s and later in the 1960s and 1970s, social movements fostered critiques of black aesthetics and beauty practices deemed Eurocentric. One focus of criticism was the widespread black practice of hair straightening—a critique that has produced an enduring association between hairstyles perceived as natural and racial pride. In the last decades of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st, African migration and the transnational dissemination of information via the internet contributed to a creative proliferation of African American hairstyles. While such styles display hair textures associated with African American hair, and are celebrated as natural hairstyles, they generally require the use of hair products and may incorporate synthetic hair extensions.
Beauty culture provided an important vehicle for African American entrepreneurship at a time when racial discrimination barred black women from other opportunities and most national cosmetics companies ignored black women. Black women's beauty-culture business activities included beauticians who provided hair care in home settings and the extremely successful nationwide and international brand of hair- and skin-care products developed in the first two decades of the 20th century by Madam C. J. Walker. Hair-care shops provided important places for sharing information and community organizing. By the end of the 20th century, a few black-owned hair-care and cosmetics companies achieved broad markets and substantial profitability, but most declined or disappeared as they faced increased competition from or were purchased by larger white-owned corporations.
Contraband Camps and the African American Refugee Experience during the Civil War
Chandra Manning
In May 1861, three enslaved men who were determined not to be separated from their families ran to Fort Monroe, Virginia. Their flight led to the phenomenon of Civil War contraband camps. Contraband camps were refugee camps to which between four hundred thousand and five hundred thousand enslaved men, women, and children in the Union-occupied portions of the Confederacy fled to escape their owners by getting themselves to the Union Army. Army personnel had not envisioned overseeing a massive network of refugee camps. Responding to the interplay between the actions of the former slaves who fled to the camps, Republican legislation and policy, military orders, and real conditions on the ground, the army improvised. In the contraband camps, former slaves endured overcrowding, food and clothing shortages, poor sanitary conditions, and constant danger. They also gained the protection of the Union Army and access to the power of the US government as new, though unsteady, allies in the pursuit of their key interests, including education, employment, and the reconstitution of family, kin, and social life. The camps brought together actors who had previously had little to no contact with each other, exposed everyone involved to massive structural forces that were much larger than the human ability to control them, and led to unexpected outcomes. They produced a refugee crisis on US soil, affected the course and outcome of the Civil War, influenced the progress of wartime emancipation, and altered the relationship between the individual and the national government. Contraband camps were simultaneously humanitarian crises and incubators for a new relationship between African Americans and the US government.
Haiti and the Early United States
Philippe R. Girard
Haiti (known as Saint-Domingue until it gained its independence from France in 1804) had a noted economic and political impact on the United States during the era of the American Revolution, when it forced U.S. statesmen to confront issues they had generally avoided, most prominently racism and slavery. But the impact of the Haitian Revolution was most tangible in areas like commerce, territorial expansion, and diplomacy. Saint-Domingue served as a staging ground for the French military and navy during the American Revolution and provided troops to the siege of Savannah in 1779. It became the United States' second-largest commercial partner during the 1780s and 1790s. After Saint-Domingue's slaves revolted in 1791, many of its inhabitants found refuge in the United States, most notably in Philadelphia, Charleston, and New Orleans. Fears (or hopes) that the slave revolt would spread to the United States were prevalent in public opinion. As Saint-Domingue achieved quasi-autonomous status under the leadership of Toussaint Louverture, it occupied a central place in the diplomacy of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. The Louisiana Purchase was made possible in part by the failure of a French expedition to Saint-Domingue in 1802–1803. Bilateral trade declined after Saint-Domingue acquired its independence from France in 1804 (after which Saint-Domingue became known as Haiti), but Haiti continued to loom large in the African-American imagination, and there were several attempts to use Haiti as a haven for U.S. freedmen. The U.S. diplomatic recognition of Haiti also served as a reference point for antebellum debates on slavery, the slave trade, and the status of free people of color in the United States.
Ideas of Race in Early America
Sean P. Harvey
"Race," as a concept denoting a fundamental division of humanity and usually encompassing cultural as well as physical traits, was crucial in early America. It provided the foundation for the colonization of Native land, the enslavement of American Indians and Africans, and a common identity among socially unequal and ethnically diverse Europeans. Longstanding ideas and prejudices merged with aims to control land and labor, a dynamic reinforced by ongoing observation and theorization of non-European peoples. Although before colonization, neither American Indians, nor Africans, nor Europeans considered themselves unified "races," Europeans endowed racial distinctions with legal force and philosophical and scientific legitimacy, while Natives appropriated categories of "red" and "Indian," and slaves and freed people embraced those of "African" and "colored," to imagine more expansive identities and mobilize more successful resistance to Euro-American societies. The origin, scope, and significance of "racial" difference were questions of considerable transatlantic debate in the age of Enlightenment and they acquired particular political importance in the newly independent United States.
Since the beginning of European exploration in the 15th century, voyagers called attention to the peoples they encountered, but European, American Indian, and African "races" did not exist before colonization of the so-called New World. Categories of "Christian" and "heathen" were initially most prominent, though observations also encompassed appearance, gender roles, strength, material culture, subsistence, and language. As economic interests deepened and colonies grew more powerful, classifications distinguished Europeans from "Negroes" or "Indians," but at no point in the history of early America was there a consensus that "race" denoted bodily traits only. Rather, it was a heterogeneous compound of physical, intellectual, and moral characteristics passed on from one generation to another. While Europeans assigned blackness and African descent priority in codifying slavery, skin color was secondary to broad dismissals of the value of "savage" societies, beliefs, and behaviors in providing a legal foundation for dispossession.
"Race" originally denoted a lineage, such as a noble family or a domesticated breed, and concerns over purity of blood persisted as 18th-century Europeans applied the term—which dodged the controversial issue of whether different human groups constituted "varieties" or "species"—to describe a roughly continental distribution of peoples. Drawing upon the frameworks of scripture, natural and moral philosophy, and natural history, scholars endlessly debated whether different races shared a common ancestry, whether traits were fixed or susceptible to environmentally produced change, and whether languages or the body provided the best means to trace descent. Racial theorization boomed in the U.S. early republic, as some citizens found dispossession and slavery incompatible with natural-rights ideals, while others reconciled any potential contradictions through assurances that "race" was rooted in nature.
Jazz, Blues, and Ragtime in America, 1900–1945
Court Carney
In January 1938, Benny Goodman took command of Carnegie Hall on a blustery New York City evening and for two hours his band tore through the history of jazz in a performance that came to define the entire Swing Era. Goodman played Carnegie Hall at the top of his jazz game leading his crack band—including Gene Krupa on drums and Harry James on trumpet—through new, original arrangements by Fletcher Henderson. Compounding the historic nature of the highly publicized jazz concert, Goodman welcomed onto the stage members of Duke Ellington's band to join in on what would be the first major jazz performance by an integrated band. With its sprit of inclusion as well as its emphasis on the historical contours of the first decades of jazz, Goodman's Carnegie Hall concert represented the apex of jazz music's acceptance as the most popular form of American musical expression. In addition, Goodman's concert coincided with the resurgence of the record industry, hit hard by the Great Depression. By the late 1930s, millions of Americans purchased swing records and tuned into jazz radio programs, including Goodman's own show, which averaged two million listeners during that period.
And yet, only forty years separated this major popular triumph and the very origins of jazz music. Between 1900 and 1945, American musical culture changed dramatically; new sounds via new technologies came to define the national experience. At the same time, there were massive demographic shifts as black southerners moved to the Midwest and North, and urban culture eclipsed rural life as the norm. America in 1900 was mainly a rural and disconnected nation, defined by regional identities where cultural forms were transmitted through live performances. By the end of World War II, however, a definable national musical culture had emerged, as radio came to link Americans across time and space. Regional cultures blurred as a national culture emerged via radio transmissions, motion picture releases, and phonograph records. The turbulent decade of the 1920s sat at the center of this musical and cultural transformation as American life underwent dramatic changes in the first decades of the 20th century.
Jazz in America after 1945
John Gennari
In the post-1945 period, jazz moved rapidly from one major avant-garde revolution (the birth of bebop) to another (the emergence of free jazz) while developing a profusion of subgenres (hard bop, progressive, modal, Third Stream, soul jazz) and a new idiomatic persona (cool or hip) that originated as a form of African American resistance but soon became a signature of transgression and authenticity across the modern arts and culture. Jazz's long-standing affiliation with African American urban life and culture intensified through its central role in the Black Arts Movement of the 1960s. By the 1970s, jazz, now fully eclipsed in popular culture by rock n' roll, turned to electric instruments and fractured into a multitude of hyphenated styles (jazz-funk, jazz-rock, fusion, Latin jazz). The move away from acoustic performance and traditional codes of blues and swing musicianship generated a neoclassical reaction in the 1980s that coincided with a mission to establish an orthodox jazz canon and honor the music's history in elite cultural institutions. Post-1980s jazz has been characterized by tension between tradition and innovation, earnest preservation and intrepid exploration, Americanism and internationalism.
Latino/a and African American Relations
Brian D. Behnken
African Americans and Latino/as have had a long history of social interactions that have been strongly affected by the broader sense of race in the United States. Race in the United States has typically been constructed as a binary of black and white. Latino/as do not fit neatly into this binary. Some Latino/as have argued for a white racial identity, which has at times frustrated their relationships with black people. For African Americans and Latino/as, segregation often presented barriers to good working relationships. The two groups were often segregated from each other, making them mutually invisible. This invisibility did not make for good relations.
Latino/as and blacks found new avenues for improving their relationships during the civil rights era, from the 1940s to the 1970s. A number of civil rights protests generated coalitions that brought the two communities together in concerted campaigns. This was especially the case for militant groups such as the Black Panther Party, the Mexican American Brown Berets, and the Puerto Rican Young Lords, as well as in the Poor People's Campaign. Interactions among African Americans and Mexican American, Puerto Rican, and Cuban/Cuban American illustrate the deep and often convoluted sense of race consciousness in American history, especially during the time of the civil rights movement.
Organized Labor and the Civil Rights Movement
Alan Draper
The relationship between organized labor and the civil rights movement proceeded along two tracks. At work, the two groups were adversaries, as civil rights groups criticized employment discrimination by the unions. But in politics, they allied. Unions and civil rights organizations partnered to support liberal legislation and to oppose conservative southern Democrats, who were as militant in opposing unions as they were fervent in supporting white supremacy.
At work, unions dithered in their efforts to root out employment discrimination. Their initial enthusiasm for Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which outlawed employment discrimination, waned the more the new law violated foundational union practices by infringing on the principle of seniority, emphasizing the rights of the individual over the group, and inserting the courts into the workplace. The two souls of postwar liberalism— labor solidarity represented by unions and racial justice represented by the civil rights movement—were in conflict at work.
Although the unions and civil rights activists were adversaries over employment discrimination, they united in trying to register southern blacks to vote. Black enfranchisement would end the South's exceptionalism and the veto it exercised over liberal legislation in Congress. But the two souls of liberalism that were at odds over the meaning of fairness at work would also diverge at the ballot box. As white workers began to defect from the Democratic Party, the political coalition of black and white workers that union leaders had hoped to build was undermined from below. The divergence between the two souls of liberalism in the 1960s—economic justice represented by unions and racial justice represented by civil rights—helps explain the resurgence of conservatism that followed.
Race and the Origins of Plantation Slavery
Justin Roberts
"Twenty and odd" Africans arrived in Virginia aboard a Dutch vessel in 1619 shortly after permanent colonization of the English Americas began. There has been significant academic debate about whether the enslavement of peoples of African descent in England's early 17th-century colonies was an inevitable or "unthinking decision" and about the nature and degree of anti-black racism during the 17th century. The legal and social status of African peoples was more flexible at first in the English colonies than it later became. Some Africans managed to escape permanent enslavement and a few Africans, such as Anthony Johnson, even owned servants of their own. There was no legal basis for enslavement in the British Americas for the first several decades of settlement and slave and servant codes emerged only gradually. Labor systems operated by custom rather than through any legal mechanisms of coercion. Most workers in the Americas experienced degrees of coercion. In the earliest years of plantation production, peoples from Africa, Europe, and the Americas often toiled alongside each other in the fields. Large numbers of Native Americans were captured and forced to work on plantations in the English Americas and many whites worked in agricultural fields as indentured and convict laborers. There were a wide variety of different kinds of coerced labor beyond enslavement in the 17th century and ideas about racial difference had yet to become as determinative as they would later be. As the staple crop plantation system matured and became entrenched on the North American mainland in the late 17th and early 18th centuries and planters required a large and regular supply of slaves, African laborers became synonymous with large-scale plantation production. The permeable boundaries between slavery and freedom disappeared, dehumanizing racism became more entrenched and U.S.-based planters developed slave codes premised on racial distinctions and legal mechanisms of coercion that were modeled on Caribbean precedents.
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Dark Shadows (UK - BD)
Marcus tells Eva Green he doesn't love her and is turned into an HD vampire...
Barnabas Collins (Johnny Depp), of the wealthy Collins family, breaks the heart of a servant girl Angelique Bouchard (Eva Green) but much to his own doom because she turns out to be a witch. Manipulating the deaths of all that Barnabas loves, Angelique also turns him into a vampire and when the town cast him out, he lays in a chained coffin underground for 196 years.
Now it's 1972 and when the development of the town frees Barnabas, he is awoken to find the Collins family isn't what it was all those years ago and a certain witch is in charge of his home town Collinsport.
Alice in Wonderland was the first Tim Burton film I outright didn't like and the first Tim Burton film I do not and will never own. Since Alice and to be honest a little bit before Alice, there seemed to be a distinct growth in the view that Tim Burton had "lost it" but looking at his recent filmography I can't say that I agree. Sweeney Todd is brilliant, Corpse Bride was great, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory doesn't touch the original but it's still fun enough and really if I carry on back it's really only Planet of the Apes that is a truly bad film. I still personally consider myself a fan of his work. I'm not sick of the Depp collaborations (as also seems to be the general consensus) and I still look forward to his upcoming projects when we get to hear about them.
Initially upon seeing the first images of Dark Shadows, I wasn't sure what to expect. Then, when the first trailer rolled around, I for one dug the kooky comedic aspects of it, even though the buzz online seemed set against it straight off the bat. Then the luke warm reviews rolled in and I held off a little while before seeing the movie in the fear that the Alice and Wonderland megabucks at the box office had corrupted Burton enough to make another bad movie.
Anyway, when I did get around to seeing Dark Shadows I went in nervously. I'd never seen the TV show it's based on, I had no idea what the mood of the film would really be like and if the trailer was playing up the chuckles in the hope it would bring in the teens I feared I would be disappointed. On top of that the overwhelmingly negative word of mouth I'd had from friends about the film rocked my hopes of this being a good movie and I have to say I was worried as the Warner Bros. logo did it's thing at the start of the movie.
I don't know what to say really. Either my finger is off of the pulse for this one or what I like about Burton's work is different to the crowds. I honestly think this is a great piece of Burton film making and a real solid taste of his rather unique style. I have to say that from the get go, I liked the mood here and how the comedy counters the dark tones was pretty well handled. The almost Hammer Horror look to the film as we see the dark Barnabas Collins story unfold is well played by Burton (as if it wouldn't be given the genre). Depp's voice over seemed to have a flavour of Richard Burton on the War of the Worlds album almost and it's refreshing to see a vampire done classically I have to say.
Then we hit the 70s and rather than watch the film fall to pieces, like many a critic had warned me about, I feel that Depp provides such a strong, enjoyable central performance (again) that it's enough to carry the movie through (again). I love his man out of time responses to the modern world. Of course most of them had appeared in the trailers already (a curse many a movie suffers from of late) but Depp's mannerisms, responses and confident awkwardness to the world around him are a joy. His one liners here are marvellous and those underplaying his obvious talents of late are missing the genius in what he does I feel.
On top of that, the bad girl Angelique Bouchard (Eva Green) makes for a great counterpoint to Barnabas. I've never been entirely sold on Eva Green. She's always solid in her performances but I sometimes find her a bit cold and hard to like. That is not the case here. She is so much fun with her devilish grins and playful approach to this witch it's hard not to fall in love with her. She's equal parts nasty and humorous and the she plays off Depp really well. There's a real playfulness in this performance and it's made me warm to her charms and I totally want to see her do this sort of thing again.
The Collins family are a little bit more of a mixed bag but still support the story pretty well. Michelle Pfeiffer is having fun with the little amount she has to play with. Helena Bonham Carter, Jackie Earle Haley and Jonny Lee Miller bring enough to the table to have memorable moments and Chloë Moretz gets to play it cool in amongst the craziness. I generally agree that they are largely underused in the whole, especially considering how well known many of them are but they do all get to shine in here one way or another.
Really Dark Shadows worked for me because I liked the performances, especially to two lead lovers / enemies. I'll admit the plot can sometimes feel stretched too thinly and the love story between Depp and Bella Heathcote seems unimportant despite it's obvious importance to the plot but it's not enough to take the Burton-esq shine off of this movie. I dug it. Burton is still doing his own thing and this feels like a real effort to touch base with what we all love him for after the hugeness of Alice and Wonderland. The world may be saying that Burton isn't what he was but I sure as shit don't agree if Dark Shadows is part of that argument.
This video presentation here is fantastic. Moody, shadowy, dark (Dark Shadowy if you will)and very must classic horror in style. However, in amongst the darkness, colours literally pop off the screen. The colourful seventies nods look great against the Gothic look of the film and every little slither of red, purple, blue and more so yellow and orange really brings the image to life when you least expect it.
The image is also very sharp in all the right HD ways, it's packed with great detail (especially in costumes and make up designs) and despite the stylised lighting and colouring, the image still manages to muster up a striking appearance that fans should be very happy with.
However good the video is, the audio presentation is even better. Immiditaly the score is a amazing within the mix. It's layered, has subtle beats and movements and has a great bit of power behind it. Add in the 70s soundtrack, which sounds absolutely full of richness and weight you'll forget how old some of these songs are and the musical elements of the track simply astonish.
This isn't a track that is showing off though, it just does everything an audio mix should do and bloody well. It envelopes you, keeps you locked into the film's various moods and does each one of them well. This is the best audio mix I've heard in a while but then considering the smaller than small titles I've been reviewing lately this was always going to impress. (But seriously, this is a really great track).
So great film, great video, great audio, has to mean great features, right? Sadly no. There's two things here and neither support the film as well as they should. First is the focus points, that can be popped into during the film or on their own from the boring ass Warners menus. They range from two to five minutes and come in at about 40 minutes all in all. They are short, EPK in nature and only hint at great things, because Depp and the cast seems more willing to get into detail here if there was more runtime to do so.
The only other extras are the deleted scenes (05:39 HD) and that's it.
I've watched Dark Shadows twice now and I find myself liking it more and more each time I see it. I always enjoy Depp in a movie, even his luke warm ones but his performance here is so much fun it makes up for some of the films shortcomings.
The Blu-ray looks and sounds great and if the extras were more than short and sharp nuggets this could have been a great all round disc. Ahh well, we can't always get everything we want from the films we like now can we. Shame though, this one seemed like it would be one to cover a whole lot more than what is offered up here.
* Note: The above images are taken from the Blu-ray release and resized for the page. Full-resolution captures are available by clicking individual images, but due to .jpg compression they are not necessarily representative of the quality of the transfer.
Review by Marcus Doidge
Chris Gould Editor Join Date: May 2001 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 7,171
Maybe it's to do with the fact that Burton just seems to have been making the same film over and over for years, but I really didn't feel this one.
Marcus1138 Contributor Join Date: June 2008 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 910
I think it started after Ed Wood. People wanted more of that but he didn't really go there. Though I have to say Big Fish gets better and better the more I watch it. Despite him doing the same sort of thing, he does sort of own that style now. If anyone else even goes close to it, it's always considered Burton-esq, which is a good way of highlighting his impact on film in general I think. And it shows how much better he is at it.
Chris Gould Editor Join Date: May 2001 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 7,171
Ah, Ed Wood. Thanks, you've reminded me what it was I wanted to watch on Netflix! I really didn't like Big Fish though.
Marcus1138 Contributor Join Date: June 2008 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 910
I didn't at first as it felt too clinical almost but once it clicked that it's intentional to sell the emotional tidal wave at the end I really warmed to it.
Matt Contributor Join Date: October 2004 Location: United States Posts: 2,113
This one's really disjointed, like they were trying to pack way too much into the running time. Thought it did an okay job of capturing the spirit of the original though.
thedaz Member Join Date: November 2006 Location: Australia Posts: 279
I just watched Dark Shadows last night on Blu-ray.
Marcus, I completely agree with almost everything you said. I really enjoyed it. Johnny Depp was so committed to the role and was hilarious. I loved his character.
Personally, I'm hating the way Burton is grading his films these days. I loathe that de-saturated, teal, murky look. It diminishes the amazing design and photography.
Marcus, I completely agree with almost everything you said. I really enjoyed it. Johnny Depp was so committed to the role and was hilarious. I loved his character.
Personally, I'm hating the way Burton is grading his films these days. I loathe that de-saturated, teal, murky look. It diminishes the amazing design and photography.
rebel-scum Member Join Date: May 2006 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 1,101
I enjoyed it too and usually want to eat my arms before watching anything Burton touches, these days.
Suitable only for persons of 12 years and over
Disc Details
Release Date: 15th October 2012
Discs: 1
Disc Type: Blu-ray Disc
RCE: No
Video: 1080p
Aspect: 1.78:1
Anamorphic: No
Colour: Yes
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 English, Dolby Digital 5.1 French, Dolby Digital 5.1 Spanish, Dolby Digital 5.1 Portuguese
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish, Portuguese
Extras: Focus Points, Deleted Scenes
Easter Egg: No
Feature Details
Director: Tim Burton
Cast: Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Helena Bonham, Carter Eva Green, Jackie, Earle Haley, Jonny Lee Miller, Chloë Grace Moretz, Bella Heathcote
Genre: Comedy, Drama and Horror
Length: 113 minutes
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Forum for the Information Society - Web Accessibility- 06/05/2011
The Web Content Accessibility for citizens with special needs was discussed at a session of the Forum for the Information Society held on the 5th of May 5 of 2011, at the Auditorium of SIBS, organized jointly by the Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC), and the Association for the Promotion and Development of Information Society (APDSI).
This session of the Forum discussed the new Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG 2.0) approved by the W3C World Wide Web Consortium in December 2008, which were published in Portuguese by UMIC on the 25th of February of 2009 (see Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (WCAG 2.0) of the W3C Published in Portuguese). Portuguese was the 3rd language in the world in which the new accessibility guidelines were published, only after the original English publication and an Hungarian translation published a few weeks before the Portuguese.
A new computer tool developed by UMIC for automatic evaluating of accessibility of Web pages against the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.0 (WCAG 2.0) was presented at this session of the Forum for the Information Society. This new tool results from the evolution of previous tools that have been developed and applied by UMIC since 2005 for the version 1.0 of the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines.
The results of two evaluations of Web content accessibility carried out in 2010 were also presented, namely of the Central Public Administration websites and of the 1,000 largest enterprises in Portugal, the first done by UMIC and the second by APDSI. The two 2010 evaluations were compared with corresponding evaluations in 2008 and 2009, respectively. The best 10 enterprises were distinguished, and among them the best of all received a special award.
The following presentations were made:
- Conformity Study of the Central Public Administration Websites with the WCAG 1.0 Comparative analysis 2008-2010 (text in Portuguese), Jorge Fernandes, UMIC;
- Web Acessibility Largest Portuguese enterprises in 2010 (text in Portuguese), Ramiro Gonçalves, Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro (UTAD), Grupo Permanente de Negócio Electrónico (GNE) da APDSI;
- Web Acessibility Differences of the norms of the WCAG 2.0 and the WCAG 1.0 (text in Portuguese), José Martins, UTAD, GNE da APDSI, Mindset Consulting;
- Web Acessibility The UMIC Validator for the WCAG 2.0 (Web Acessibility) (text in Portuguese), Jorge Fernandes, UMIC;
- Web Acessibility GNE recommendations (text in Portuguese), Ramiro Gonçalves, UTAD, GNE da APDSI e Jorge Pereira, UTAD, GNE da APDSI, Infosistema.
The publication Forum for the Information Society 4. Web Accessiblity: Opportunities and Challenges in Web Accessibility (text in Portuguese) was prepared with the main messages of the debate in the Forum, as compiled by the Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC).
The accessibility of Web content to people with special needs is recognized as a central issue of rights to equal access to information and of citizenship. It also happens that the Internet and in general the Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have reduced decisively many obstacles to accessibility for people with special needs. Today, with appropriate technical aids and ICT-based digital content conformant to basic accessibility standards, the access to information and applications of citizens suffering from various types of disabilities can be facilitated when not long there existed almost insurmountable obstacles without human help to access, for example, school or work documents, web content, multimedia applications, mobile communication equipment and digital television, etc.
In Portugal, the issues of accessibility to people with special needs in the Information Society were considered priorities as early as 1997 in the Green Paper on the Information Society in Portugal and with the creation in 1999, within the Ministry of Science and Technology, of the Access Unit Accessibility for Citizens with Special Needs to Information Society, which pursued its activities at UMIC. The Access Unit was created after the adoption by the Council of Ministers in August 1999 of the National Initiative for Citizens with Special Needs in Information Society and the legal mandate for public websites to comply with accessibility requirements for citizens with special needs. Portugal was then the first European country and the 4th in the world to adopt this type of accessibility rules.
An article published in the January 2011 issue of the Journal of Information Technology & Politics, under the title "Global Web Accessibility Analysis of National Government Portals and Ministry Web Sites" presented the first comprehensive analysis of the Web accessibility of 192 Member States of the United Nations (UN) and ranked Portugal in 2nd in the UN (see Portugal Rated 2nd in the UN on Government Websites Accessibility), with a value of 97.57% of Web accessibility, surpassed only by Germany with 98.72%.
The version of this page in Portuguese contains video-audio records of the interventions and debate.


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text:
Castle Peak Climber's Log
hhsilleck - Jan 10, 2004 6:49 pmRoute Climbed: Northeast ridge Date Climbed: September 2003
Up northeast, down northwest. Northwest is steep to the shoulder, but not too bad.
JonBradford - Dec 13, 2003 8:00 pmRoute Climbed: North East Ridge Date Climbed: September 2000
Climbed with my friend Dave Sincere.
This post is dedicated to my poor dead friend. May your spirit float amngst the summits.
RyanS - Sep 23, 2003 5:07 pmRoute Climbed: Northeast Ridge Date Climbed: September 20, 2003
Erin and I spent a beautiful autumn day in the Elks, bagging our tallest remaining 14er. The snow starts right around the 12,800' parking lot, and you could need crampons if things are icy in the morning. A TR is available here.
mtnhiker13 - Aug 4, 2003 6:20 pmRoute Climbed: Northeast Ridge Date Climbed: August 3, 2003
Well it almost feels like cheating to drive up so far but hey - take advantage of the road if it's there.
As a result we had a refreshingly short hike of 1 hour and 20 minutes to summit. We descended down the northwest ridge. There is still quite a bit of snow but we couldn't take advantage of a glissade due to all of the rocks on the snow. An ice axe is definitely still needed going down. I had to self arrest twice to keep from going completely out of control.
A fun climb and great views of the Elk Range.
bernardhohman - Jul 29, 2003 12:48 amRoute Climbed: Castle Couloir Date Climbed: June 7. 2003
Great snow and nice high camp via the 4X4 road. Beautiful Colorado sparkler day of sun and blue sky.
Matt Mahoney - Jul 27, 2003 11:05 pmRoute Climbed: Montezuma Basin Date Climbed: July 22, 2003
Drove to 12,800 ft. and camped. Next morning climbed to the ridge with an ice axe, then climbed Castle and Conundrum on an easy ridge, 3 hours jeep to jeep.
Speedy - Jul 22, 2003 12:25 amRoute Climbed: Northwest Ridge Date Climbed: July 10, 2003
Whew! By far the toughest of the 9 fourteeners I've climbed! A lot more exposure than I thought skirting the towers along the ridge. Froze with fear at the top on the way down...Yikes! I guess I'm a big chicken though, it seems like others don't think it's a big deal at all! It's okay, Bryan was my hero! He kept me from going off a cliff and led me down safe and sound!
Bryan W - Jul 15, 2003 12:58 pmRoute Climbed: Northwest ridge Date Climbed: 7/10/03
It gets a little scary once you gain the saddle around 13,300'. You can either go over or around the rock towers on the ridge. We chose to go around and this made for slow travel in the scree, but did avoid the exposure of going over the towers. The fun part is the last 20 vertical feet. You can either work your way up between 2 rocks or traverse the ledge that leads to the trail to the summit. I did the traverse and only about 2/3 of my size 12 boot fit on the ledge. Lots of exposure here. After that, it was an easy two minutes to the summit. Castle is the easiest of the Elks, but still a little scary.
Grant - Jan 22, 2003 2:29 pmRoute Climbed: North-East Ridge - 2+ - 3,200' Date Climbed: July 22, 2001
Saturday we drove to the turn off to Pearl Pass and found a parking spot. The hike started out easy enough going up a 4-wheel drive road that ended at 12,800 feet. At this point were only 1,500 feet from the summit even though we couldn't see it yet. We carefully crossed over some snowfields since it was early in the morning and the snow was still hard and a little icy. Up and over a steep slope we could see the summit and the huge snowfield between Castle and Conundrum.
We headed up the trail that didn't involve the huge snowfield this was the steepest part of the day. Once at the ridge we had to do some scrambling and there was a little exposure in some places. At the beginning of the ridge we stayed on the north side (hiker's right) for a while and then hiked the last 200' right on the ridge to the summit. On the way down we were going to glissade down the huge snowfield.
At the saddle we had to go down climb 50 feet of scree to get to the snowfield and it wasn't very easy. I had to make some funky moves and finally made it to the snowfield. The snow at this time was soft and not icy. It was awesome! After the huge snowfield there was a series of smaller snowfields that we glissaded down. We almost glissaded down to the upper parking lot at 12,800'.
This is a hike that had it all. We had to hike over icy snow. We also had to do a little scrambling and there was some exposure. Then to top it off we glissaded down 500 feet or so.
rmjwinters - Oct 6, 2002 1:43 pmRoute Climbed: Standard Date Climbed: September 2 2000
Cold, windy day. Beautiful views of other Elk mountains. Continued over to Conundrum.
cdownard - Jul 10, 2002 6:53 pmRoute Climbed: Northeast Ridge Date Climbed: July 09,2002
Beautiful views from the summit....beautiful views from the trailhead. This was my first peak in the Elk Range, and those mountains are GREAT!!!
ctruscot - Jul 3, 2002 8:56 amRoute Climbed: Montezuma Basin Date Climbed: July 29, 2000
Nice easy one - climbed in early am and drove home 4 hours - was home by 1 pm or so - still had Saturday left.
mr_g - Jul 1, 2002 6:54 amRoute Climbed: Northeast Ridge Date Climbed: June 28, 2002
Started from the Montezuma Mine area, and hiked talus to the NE ridge trail. After some loose rock at the start, the trail becomes nice with some Class 2+ rock scrambling on ridge.
Weather was great on summit, and met three others on top, with another couple on the way.
wayneaflick - Jun 18, 2002 8:21 pmRoute Climbed: Montezuma Road Date Climbed: September 4, 1996
I had to wait till September for the Montezuma Road to melt out as I wanted to car camp at the mine. This was my 2nd snow climb. Sure would have been easer if I'd had an ice ax. What an amazing view from the saddle between Castle and Cunundrum. All the rest of the Elk Mountain 14ers just line up for inspection. This was my second glissade on a 14'er
Peter Eliassen - Aug 16, 2001 12:34 pmRoute Climbed: Castle Creek Trail Date Climbed: 7/17/99
Enjoy the road-hike for a few miles, and then climb up the scree slope to the Eastern ridge where the views are spectacular. Hopefully there will be enough snow for a nice glissade back down.


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ROME — The Italian news agency ANSA says the body of actor James Gandolfini has departed Rome and is en route to the United States.
ANSA did not cite any sources, but published a photo showing airport workers loading a coffin identified as that of the "Sopranos" star on to a plane.
The agency says the private plane took off at 6 p.m. Sunday. Its exact U.S. destination was unclear.
Family spokesman Michael Kobold earlier told reporters the "provisional plan" was to repatriate Gandolfini's body Monday.
Gandolfini, 51, died Wednesday in Rome. Kobold has said an autopsy revealed the cause was a heart attack. Authorities have not released the report.
The actor had been headed to Sicily to appear at the Taormina Film Festival, which paid tribute to him Saturday.
Local & State
Farmingdale to hold special town meeting looking for $1.7 million for fire station
Local & State
Historian Earl H. Smith presents new history of Waterville
Local & State
Oyster company lays out plans for 40-acre expansion in Brunswick
Small-business lending drops sharply in Maine in 2018
Maine Crime
Bangor police arrest homeless man in former Rockland man's death


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After weeks at sea, a group of 18 asylum seekers have arrived at Curtin Immigration Detention Centre.
The group, who were part of the 157 asylum seekers detained at sea for weeks on a Customs ship, arrived at the detention centre about 7pm (AEST), a Curtin spokesman said.
More asylum seekers are expected to arrive at Curtin on Monday after the group of 157 landed at Cocos Island on Sunday.
The Refugee Action Coalition says the asylum seekers were seen disembarking at 2pm (AEST) on Sunday.
They were headed to the island's airport from where they were due to be flown to Curtin detention centre in Western Australia.
"There's no schedule, but given the lack of facilities on Cocos Island, they will probably try and get them on a plane soon - not everybody by today, but most," spokesman Ian Rintoul told AAP.
The federal government did not confirm the movements.
The group of 157, including children, were being detained at sea since their boat was intercepted 27km from Christmas Island on July 7.
After arriving at Curtin, they will undergo identity checks by Indian consular officials.
India has agreed to take back its citizens and will consider taking Sri Lankan nationals who are Indian residents.
Australian Greens say the group has a legal right to apply for asylum in Australia.
Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young is travelling to Curtin in the next few days to inquire on the children's welfare and to brief the asylum seekers of their rights.
"Just because (Prime Minister) Tony Abbott wants to trade in their lives, doesn't make it legal," she told reporters in Adelaide on Sunday.
Mr Abbott has said the handling of the asylum seekers is not illegal and in accordance with Australia's international obligations.
But he stressed they could never call Australia home because they did not come the "right way".
The decision to bring the group to land pre-empts a High Court challenge against their detention at sea.


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Reviewed By Walter M (Montgomery, TX) Reviewed for a 2006 Cadillac CTS —3/8/2017 5:15 AM
1. I like my new air intake, looks good and was easily installed. 2. Increased performance has been subtle and partially due to how I drive my car. However the more time behind the wheel the more apparent the increased performance. 3. Overall I am happy and satisfied with the intake and installation.


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Online quizzes of various types abound on the Web. Many include content not appropriate for classroom use, or are on the same site with other quizzes that aren't appropriate. Some are on sites just too filled with ads. Others are too complicated to be accessible to English Language Learners, or would just take too long to complete. And many require registration, or charge in order to take the quiz.
I've found, though, that my English Language Learner students enjoy taking online quizzes that don't fit into those above categories. Many are just for fun, but include reading and vocabulary development opportunities. Some, though, can offer useful information to students — for example, well-done career tests.
Here are my choices for The Best Online Personality, Career, & Just Plain Fun Quizzes (not in order of preference):
Career Path and Monster both have multiple job-related quizzes.
Queendom: The Land of Tests has a ton of quizzes on many different topics.
The BBC Human Body and Mind also has a number of different types of tests.
ABC in Australia has a fun little personality test.
The Central Intelligence Agency has a "tongue-in-cheek" CIA Personality Quiz.
Here's a link to something called The Big Five Personality Test.
Channel One has a lot of online quizzes, including many personality ones.
Take a How Do You Learn? quiz to identify learning styles.
Proprofs Quiz School has several personality quizzes, and it's an easy place for students to create their own, too.
The Pew Research Center Interactive has several very accessible political and community quizzes that would provide good grist for learning and discussion.
At 15 has a Pic-a-Pic personality quiz.
Similar Minds has a large collection of personality quizzes. Some of them are accessible to ELL's.
The Constitution Center has a Which Founder Are You quiz. You answer a variety of personality-like questions, and then you're told which of the "founding fathers" you are most like.
The Los Angeles Times uses technology from the company Visual DNA to have users take a News Match Quiz. It's really pretty neat. You're asked some simple questions and shown a variety of images you use to answer — What is your favorite kind of treat? What would spark a conversation with you?
Then, at the end, you're given a report on your personality and a series of newspaper articles the program thinks you'd be interested in.
It's useful for English Language Learners on a number of levels. I've seen the Visual DNA technology used in other sites, and have liked it, they those other sites have usually been dating-related or on other sites not appropriate for the classroom.
A somewhat similar quiz sit– though not nearly as good as Visual DNA's application — is called ID Solution. It identifies your "cultural taste." One thing I do like about it is that some the questions ask your preferences of various texts instead of images.
The New Scientist and The Discovery Channel have joined to create an online quiz called The 12 Pillars Of Wisdom Test, which they also call the "ultimate intelligence test." It's intriguing, and requires some basic reading skills. Intermediate English Language Learners might find it engaging.
I'd certainly be interested in hearing other suggestions, so please feel free to leave them in the comments section.
If you found this post useful, you might want to look at previous "The Best…" lists and also consider subscribing to this blog for free.


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The holidays are a time for family traditions so why not start a new tradition by making fitness a part of your annual festivities, suggests a Baylor College of Medicine (www.bcm.edu) orthopedic surgeon.
"Holiday food and drinks have a lot of calories so it's a good idea to incorporate physical activity into this time of year," said Dr. Theodore Shybut, assistant professor of orthopedic surgery at BCM. "One way to do that is by making fitness activities a part of your annual holiday gathering."
There are several holiday-themed 5k and 10k walks and runs that the whole family can participate in, he noted.
"You can tailor these events to the fitness level that's right for you and your family by choosing to either run or walk," Shybut said.
In mild climates, riding bikes is another fun activity that the whole family can enjoy, and there are even places that rent bikes so out-of-town guests can also participate. Rollerblading is another fun family activity.
If you're the one heading out of town, find out where the best walking or running trails and local parks are located. Be sure to pack your sneakers and consider bringing a Frisbee or football for some spirited family fun.
"If you're heading to the mountains, skiing and snow shoeing are great ways to stay active," Shybut said. "With a little research and advance planning, you can find fun events for the whole family that offer physical activity."
As the Christmas holiday nears, you can plan a family outing to look at lights but go on foot instead of in the car, Shybut suggested. Try yoga to cope with the stress of the season.
And if don't already have a normal fitness routine, it's a good time to start one.
"There's no reason to wait for Jan. 1 when the gym is full of folks who have made New Year's resolutions," Shybut said. "If it's been a long time since you're exercised regularly or if you have a medical condition, you should discuss it with your physician first and start at an appropriate level."
For those who already exercise regularly, don't put too much pressure on yourself to follow your normal routine, Shybut said. "If you normally go to the gym five days a week, shoot for three or four. Something is better than nothing. I think those who do get those workouts in will find the holidays all the more merry."


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California almond growers will have to hustle in 2006 to regain markets lost to a short '05 crop and subsequent high prices that took almonds off shelves and out of manufactured products.
Processing tomato canneries will have to pony up more cash if they are to get producers to grow the crop they need to replenish supplies from a short '05 crop.
Walnut producers can breathe a sigh of relief that China apparently will not flood the world market with walnuts and will continue to buy California walnuts.
California citrus growers may experience an unprecedented third straight good year.
For cotton growers, the big '04 crop continues to hang over market, sending prices sideways.
Raisin and wine grape growers are not getting much healthier financially and more vines may be destined for the burn pile. However, table grape growers are coming off their first $1 billion crop year with nowhere to go but up.
Those are overviews of some of California's major crops. Below are more details on the outlook for those commodities provided by industry leaders for the 24th annual Agribusiness Management Conference held in early November in Fresno. It was sponsored by California State University Fresno Center for Agricultural Business and California Agricultural Technology Institute.
The California almond juggernaut that saw new shipments set monthly records virtually every 30 days from September 2002 until December '04 have hit a major speed bump, according to Ago Dermenjian and Brent Stolpestad of Derco Foods.
Shipments have declined each month since December 04 due to a short '05 crop and subsequent high prices. The 05 crop prices, some believe, are too high, taking almonds off supermarket shelves and removing them from manufacturers' recipes and ingredients' lists ahead of an anticipated string of huge California crops. It may be difficult to regain those markets.
By 2009, there will be more than 685,000 acres of almonds capable of producing 1.5 billion pounds compared to 500,000 acres today capable of generating a 1-billion-pound crop annually.
"Prices will decline to account for this growing production, and California will have to continue to market upcoming crops effectively and aggressively…to avoid production surpluses that would greatly reduce the profitability of farming almonds," according to the experts.
Walnut growers produced a record crop this year, yet prices are firm and expected to stay that way for the marketing season. The weak U.S. dollar has helped sales abroad, especially in Europe.
Like just about every other segment of California agriculture, walnut growers worry about China, which has tripled its production during the past 30 years.
However, during that same time Chinese exports dropped by 50 percent. China now consumes domestically 90 percent of its production.
This comes as a relief and good news to the California walnut industry. Good news because Chinese imports of in-shell walnuts were up 70 percent in '04 over '03. Shelled imports were up 95 percent during the same period. More than 95 percent of the imports came from the U.S.
The California citrus industry has experienced two good years in a row and "we're beginning to wonder how much success we can stand," reports California Citrus Mutual president Joel Nelsen.
And the '05-'06 Navel crop looks good, reports Nelsen. It is just two percent smaller than last year, but "we believe it to be manageable for marketing purposes." Sizes are smaller due to summer heat, but growers say exterior quality is "much better than last season."
Removal of 30,000 acres of Valencias last year shrunk that crop, balancing supply and demand for the summer citrus, said Nelsen. "Early indications are that Valencia producers this summer did make money as a whole," Nelsen said.
The mandarin segment continues to expand. Clementines, satumas and other "tangerine varieties" are replacing pulled Valencias and early navel varieties.
Lemon producers are experience much more volatility due to offshore production, primarily from Mexico and Chile, entering the U.S. market. Plus large Argentine producers are eroding the export market for California lemon producers.
"In the aggregate, there continues to be more citrus planted; family farmers continue to be the core of the industry, and while there are fewer producers, the acreage and production figures to remain constant," noted Nelsen.
U.S. cotton producers will handle about 22.7 million bales from 14 million acres this season. Production is down about 600,000 bales, but with a large carryover from the '04 marketing year, total supplies available will be higher this year, according to National Cotton Council economist Gary Adams.
Domestic mill use is expected to remain constant at about 6 million bales. However, exports are projected to reach 16 million bales, 1.6 million bales more than record '04 exports.
"With the U.S. crop of almost 23 million bales; mill use of 6 million bales and exports of 16 million bales, stocks would (still) build further by the end of the current marketing year," noted Adams.
World cotton production looks like it will roughly in line with consumption, leave little change in global stocks over the next year.
Prices continue to move "sideways" under the weight of last year's large U.S. crop and only a "significant surprise" would send them higher.
And once again for the world cotton industry, China is the wild card, said Adams. "Specifically, what will be its purchases and at what timing?"
Raisin grapes
Bearing raisin grape acreage has been reduced by 40,000 acres since 2000 and that will continue this winter, according to Glen Goto of the Raisin Bargaining Association in Fresno.
The 2005 crop is estimated at 266,000 tons, roughly the same as 2004. However the final tonnage may change since grapes were still being picked for drying in October and November because the wineries did not offer concentrate prices until October. What was offered was at least half '04 prices and far below what growers were expecting. They laid grapes for raisins instead.
Growers are being paid on a preliminary free tonnage of 74 percent of the $1,210 field price, leaving about a fourth of the crop to be sold at bargain basement prices.
Table grapes
In '04, California table grape growers have their first $1 billion crop year. From '95 to '04, crop value for fresh California grapes grew at an average rate of 5 percent annually compared to the 2 percent average growth rate for the entire California ag industry, according to Kathleen Nave and Jim Howard of the California Table Grape Commission.
Growers shipped 88.2 million boxes produced from 115,000 acres in '04.
Since '95, fresh grape exports have increased 39 percent. Today about 25 percent of the crop is exported annually.
The development of new varieties; innovations in packaging and shipping and opening of new worldwide markets have combined to fuel this growth.
Domestically, per capita consumption is almost 8 pounds compared to less than 3 pounds in the early 1970s when the California Table Grape Commission was formed.
Grapes are one of the most profitable items in the supermarket produce section and are now considered a staple for consumers rather than a specialty item.
Wine grapes
The year '03 was supposed to be the turnaround season after a long downturn in grape prices and demand in the wine grape business for at least the Central Valley, home to almost 60 percent of the state's annual wine grape production.
The '04 season witnessed a rebound, but so far in '05 wine grape producers appear to be headed back the other way as wineries accepted only contact tonnages, leaving some grapes from a large, late crop and good quality crop homeless or sold at surplus prices, according to Tony Correia, president of Correia-Xavier and Nat DiBuduo, president of Allied Grape Growers.
Compounding the economic plight of growers is continued consolidation in the wine industry meaning fewer buyers and less competition.
Imports continue to put pressure on domestic wine sales.
"Demand for the very highest quality grapes and the vineyards that produce them remain relatively strong," report the two experts.
"We can now see renewed demand in the lower tiers of the market. The level of market activity remains slow and many marginal properties, under financial pressure, are still experiencing softened prices. However, we see renewed levels of buyer activity, with the promise of rebounding vineyards values in some areas."
Tree fruit
A promising 2005 turned sour for growers who saw rains during bloom dramatically reduce yields, resulting in insufficient returns, according to Gary Van Sickle, director, research and regulatory compliance for the California Tree Fruit Agreement.
Yields were down 30 to 70 percent for many growers.
"Declining profits for the past few years; extended resources; dwindling options; new regulations and increasing costs have many local growers wondering if it is worthwhile to remain in agriculture," noted Van Sickle.
However, he added that industry consolidation and vertical integration as well as orchard removals of poor varietals, may signal a turning a point.
With increases awareness of obesity in America and healthier diets, "there appears to be a trend toward eating healthier." Hopefully, this will include more tree fruit.
"Added to that is the fact consumers have grown accustomed to paying premium prices for produce at their local market, provided their expectations for quality have been met," noted Van Sickle.
Processing tomatoes
A very short '05 crop of 9.5 million tons (19 percent below '04 and 8 percent below the original crop estimate) has dropped processing tomato inventory to the lowest level since 1999, according to Ross Siragusa, president of the California Tomato Growers Association.
This means processors will need to contract 5 to 10 percent additional acres in 2006.
"Prices will have to be sharply higher in order for processors to fill their pack," said Siragusa.
"Northern California growers are more unified in demanding much higher prices which may cause pricing to be more regional as opposed to statewide," he added.
"For the first time since 1999, it's a seller's market," concluded Siragusa.
e-mail: [email protected]


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Fast Five: Extended Edition (US - BD RA)
Gabe ODs on testosterone and car chases, requires a pretty pony infusion...
I've never been much of a fan of the Fast and the Furious film series, but was at least entertained until I got to the fourth film – Fast and Furious. Fast and Furious was a joyless, boring exercise, notable only for reuniting the leads of the original film. I was surprised when a fifth film was announced based on the generally negative response to Fast and Furious (I shouldn't have been, as the film made more money than any other film in the series), and even more surprised when said fifth film was met with critical acclaim, and massive box office receipts. Fast Five (dumb name) starts where Fast and Furious left off, with undercover cop turned not so undercover criminal Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker) and his significant other Mia Toretto (Jordana Brewster) breaking his frenemy (and her brother) Dom Toretto (Vin Diesel) out of prison by assaulting the bus transferring him (along with a couple dozen other prisoners) with muscle cars (somehow nobody dies and only Dom escapes, but that's not important right now). The trio meets up in Rio de Janeiro, where their friend Vince (Matt Schulze, as seen in the first film) sets them up with a high-risk train heist. Unfortunately Vince didn't do his homework, and the job is hotter than anticipated. Following a messy getaway, Dom, Brian and Mia discover they have crime lord Hernan Reyes' (Joaquim de Almeida) car, complete with a computer chip overflowing with information on his criminal empire. With a Mack truck of a DSS agent named Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) on their tail, the friends gather a team of their best friends, and plan a massive heist of Reyes' cash assets.
Fast Five cuts to the quick, reminds us what happened when we last left the series, and gets down to the business of reminding the audience what they like about this series – namely its characters and a bounty of vehicular mayhem. The storyline isn't exactly unique – it's basically Oceans 11 with car chases – but it's an effective refinement of genre clichés, and simple without ever turning dumb. Instead of re-inventing the wheel the filmmakers are cleaning off the dirt, and rounding off the edges. This is a simple action heist script that doesn't feature any surprises, but doesn't offend with its simplicity, and covers its tracks with charming characters and character interactions. Plenty of bits don't make sense, but the pacing doesn't give anyone a chance to think too hard about the logical stuff in between the cool stuff. The 'getting the gang together' heist plot structure allows for the filmmakers to bring back popular characters from the previous films, and sort of ties the Diesel-less second film, and the Walker-less (and almost Diesel-less) third film more firmly into the series. Fast Five's successes don't make those films any better, but make me more willing to watch them again some day. The film seems to prove the equation that states four mediocre films equal one good one, as opposed to the more common equation that states most film series (action film series in particular) decrease in quality after two entrees. Perhaps most importantly nobody forgets to include a healthy dose of levity in this film, as Fast and Furious (the fourth one, not the first one) was a mess of gritty melodrama. This film isn't afraid to be funny, and isn't afraid to be a little sappy, within the realms of reason, of course.
I complained in my reviews of Tokyo Drift and Fast and Furious that Justin Lin's action has lacked any logical physics, even in the usual broad action movie sense, and rarely had any bite. Neither film featured any real sense of danger, outside an early foot chase in Fast and Furious. I originally assumed that Lin simply wasn't a very good action director, and that he should stick to characters and comedy ( Better Luck Tomorrow and a trilogy of Community episodes standing as proof of these skills). I was wrong. Perhaps we should just consider those film multimillion dollar practice reels, because Lin has upped his game for Fast Five, and even though it's difficult to really worry about the well being of any major character, the vehicular mayhem is brutal in a relatively believable manner. There isn't a lot of novelty in the action set-pieces, I've seen similar scenes in everything from Mad Max to The Incredible Hulk, but Lin and his stunt crews refine the unoriginal stuff, and build up quite well to the massive destruction of the climatic chase, which offers up plenty of unique angles on familiar chase tropes, and is possibly the best mass destruction mash-up since Terminator 3. The 'vault chase' even has a thematic purpose, as it literally sees Dom and Brian working in tandem to preserve their family unit. Lin uses the popular shaky cam, high frequency editing practices, but does so sparingly enough to create an effective sense of movement between shots, and avoids arbitrary cutting and speed ramping. The action here is modern, but sticks to the original film's intentions of paying homage to '60s and '70s car chase classics.
I find myself wondering how we could've possibly gone this many years without pairing Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson in a movie. They're such an obvious tough guy protagonist/antagonist team that their presence here almost reason alone to give the film a chance. Their eventual fist-to-fist showdown can't possibly live up to the expectations set by their combined presence, but it's still a great cinematic smash-up, in the tradition of Roddy Piper/Keith David slugfest in Carpenter's They Live. Walker and Diesel already have oodles of chemistry (some of it a bit homoerotic, in the grand action movie tradition), but now they're definitively on the same side (mostly), so it's important that the filmmakers give them another 'good guy' rival to balance the pot. Essentially, Johnson is standing in for Walker as seen in the first two films, he's just a bigger, better version of the same character, with an entirely different brand of charisma. Walker works well in his new capacity too, and gets back to the more mischievous character he played in the second film. He's full of smiles, and it's hard not to smile back. Between these three guys there's enough testosterone buzzing around to fill three hockey arenas. Stallone should be taking notes for the next Expendables flick, as with a fraction of the big name action stars Fast Five proves quality always stands head and shoulders above quantity. Really, though, there isn't a weak performance in this ensemble, even Jordana Brewster, who I've never been impressed with even within the simple expectations of this series.
Fast Five follows Justin Lin's Fast and Furious palette and lighting choices, which is to say it's dirty, and pretty high contrast, but still plenty clear and sharp. According to the specs Lin and cinematographer Stephen F. Windon choose to shoot the film on Super 35 film stock, which means plenty of detail (the film enjoyed a non-3D IMAX run), and a fair amount of fine film grain. Details are a little mushy and flat during the night sequences, but daylight scenes are rich in minute textures, complex wardrobe pieces, and busy background elements. The foot chase over Brazilian rooftops, for example, features a special level of sharpness and clean colour separations, and close-up details. The amber and yellow palette is a little old hat at this point, but makes pretty obvious sense given the Brazilian local (amber and yellow are apparently the official colours of the region, according to modern movies), and the blue-green alternate palette juxtaposes nicely, and subtly marks the antagonists as separate from our heroes. The overall black levels are solid, but rarely as dark as I'd prefer, and often infiltrated by a slight blue tint. The lightest highlights are rarely pure white either, and instead are often marked with a slight yellow tint.
The Fast and the Furious series has always done right by surround sound mixes, and this DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 track continues the long tradition. Nary a second ticks by without all five channels shaking to life either through vocal performances, ambient noise, character movement, action cues, or bombastic music. The only bit of silence is the lead up to a blast of water and fecal matter when our heroes blow-up a sewage system, and an extremely effective shell shock from Dwayne Johnson's point of view, where all the sound is sucked out of the fire fight, and a massive explosion is represented only by a throbbing base note. The car chases and crashes are the obvious starting points for viewers hoping to give their systems the most excessive workouts, including the thundering consistency of the first act train heist, and the dynamic motion and heavy impact of the climatic safe-pulling chase sequence.
The extras start on the extended version of the film with a feature commentary from director Justin Lin. Lin is perfectly pleasant, informative, and doesn't allow for much blank space on the track. One of the track's most consistent themes is 'preparation'. Lin doesn't just discuss the trails and tribulations of producing such a massive production on a relatively modest budget (it's a little sad that $125 million counts as a modest budget these days), he's sure to credit the team work that went into the film (he almost always refers to 'us' and 'we', rather than 'I' or 'me' when discussing the film's achievements), and makes mention of the lessons he personally learned on Tokyo Drift and Fast and Furious. His steadfast loyalty to his cast and crew can make for a slightly exhausting and repetitive experience, but his enthusiasm is somewhat infectious, and I did learn something from the track. There's also a lot of talk of practical stunts and effects, which is another positive in the film's arsenal. The fourth film had some very obvious issues with digital augmentation.
I'd like to say that the commentary was augmented with a U-Control picture and picture mode, but the U-Control is only available on the theatrical version of the film. The U-Control includes 17 PiP featurette/interview sequences, and one 'scene explorer' multi-angle exploration, which itself includes pre-viz, raw dailies, behind-the scenes, and final film video feeds for the train heist sequence. There is also a second screen option to watch extras on your laptop or portable device, but I couldn't get it to work (possibly because the disc isn't officially available yet). I assume it mostly consists of the same stuff available on the U-Control.
Next up are two brief deleted scenes (1:40, HD), which fill out a few minor character interactions, and a blooper reel (4:20, HD). The featurettes begin with 'The Big Train Heist' (7:40, HD), a look behind the scenes of the first act action sequence, including interviews with key members of the cast and crew, pre-viz, and behind the scenes footage of the stunts and building of the rigs. 'Reuniting the Team' (5:00, HD) takes a fluffy look at the process of gathering characters together from the previous films. 'A New Set of Wheels' (10:10, HD) covers the specifics of the more functional and technical aspects of the cars in the film. From here the featurettes grow more character specific. 'Dom's Journey' (5:00, HD) traverses Diesel's character's arc throughout the franchise, and covers some of the actor's work behind the scenes on Fast Five. 'Brian O'Conner: From Fed to Con' (6:00, HD) covers Paul Walker's character's growth from working as an undercover cop to living as an undercover criminal. 'Enter Federal Agent Hobbs' (5:50, HD) covers the inclusion of Dwayne Johnson's character, while 'Dom vs. Hobbs' (7:30, HD) covers the filming of his big fight with Diesel. 'On Set with Director Justin Lin' (8:40, HD) goes all fly-on-the-wall behind the scenes on the filming of the montage sequence that sees the team practicing turning different vehicles quickly around a curve. 'Inside the Vault Chase' (9:20, HD) finishes the featurettes off with a look at the production of the film's bone crushing climax. Things finish with 'Tyrese TV' (6:40, HD), an energetic and silly EPK excerpt with actor Tyrese.
Fast Five brings the mediocre Fast and the Furious franchise out into the fringes of great action filmmaking. It's not as great as I'd been led to believe, but it gets my vote as the best in the series, thanks in no small part to the inclusion of Dwayne Johnson into the ensemble cast, and to director Justin Lin's newly refined action direction chops. Between this and X-Men: First Class five times seems to be the charm for faltering film series (I hear Final Destination 5 was a return to form as well, but haven't seen it yet). This Blu-ray features a sharp, colourful transfer, an aggressive 5.1 DTS-HD MA soundtrack, and a decent assortment of extras, though I wasn't able to access the 'second screen' inclusions for the sake of this review.
*Note: The images on this page are not representative of the Blu-ray image quality.
Review by Gabriel Powers
David Blackwell Senior Member Join Date: February 2004 Location: United States Posts: 2,831
I enjoyed Fast Five too. I will be watching it again this week. I loved the heist scenes. Looking forward to the new Riddick over fast Six though
YlowBstard66 Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Canada Posts: 661
It wasn't a "Fast and the Furious" film (played out more like the spawn of "Bourne" and "The Italian Job), but that's a VERY good thing! A great action film... and such a huge surprise from this series. Will definitely be picking up the BLU very soon.
hogaburger Contributor Join Date: April 2007 Location: United States Posts: 1,153
I really enjoyed this. Just the kind of stupid fun I needed after watching review copies of Cider House Rules and Life is Beautiful.
This product has not been rated
Disc Details
Release Date: 4th October 2011
Discs: 2
Disc Type: Blu-ray Disc
RCE: No
Video: 1080p
Aspect: 2.35:1
Anamorphic: No
Colour: Yes
Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 English, DVS 2.0 English, DTS 5.1 Spanish and French
Subtitles: English SDH, French, Spanish
Extras: Director Commentary, Second Screen, U-Control, The Big Train Heist, Reuniting the Team, A Set of Wheels, Dom vs. Hobbs, Tyrese TV, Inside the Vault Chase, On Set with Director Justin Lin, Deleted Scenes, Gag Reel, Dom's Journey, Brian O'Conner: From Fed to Con, Enter Federal Agent Hobbs, DVD Copy, Digital Copy, Trailers
Easter Egg: No
Feature Details
Director: Justin Lin
Cast: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster, Dwayne Johnson, Tyrese Gibson, Chris "Ludacris" Bridges, Matt Schulze, Sung Kang, Gal Gadot
Length: 132 minutes
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UPDATED: Kerrisdale Open House!
Please note the change for this upcoming openhouse.
We are proud to announce that this Mar 31st, 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM we will be hosting an Open House at 6450 Vine 街 in the Kerrisdale neighborhood, 溫哥華. This is an opportunity to visit this excellent 3 Level House for sale in beautiful Kerrisdale.
Please come with any questions you may have. In the meantime you can take a virtual tour of this Kerrisdale 3 Level House for sale.
As always please do not hesitate to give me a call at if I can answer any questions before the open house, or if you would like to book a private showing.
Manyee Lui
Macdonald Realty - Manyee Lui


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Boom Goes the Dynamite: 03.07.09Posted by nvr1983 on March 7th, 2009
We're back for the final weekend of regular season Boom Goes the Dynamite for this college basketball season. The highlights of the weekend are obviously the two top 10 match-ups (in Pittsburgh on Saturday and in Chapel Hill on Sunday). We would love to provide you with another RTC Live from those site, but apparently we're not big enough for them yet. (The onus is on you to spread the word.)
In any event, we're going to make lemonade out of those lemons so we'll be providing coverage from our bi-coastal offices covering all the action. Today is loaded with 15 of the top 25 playing with the other 10 playing on Sunday. We will be trying out best to provide you with wall-to-wall coverage of the top teams in action as well as RTC Live from several different locations:
- Colonial Athletic Association at 2:30 PM EST for Hofstra–Loyola Marymount with Ryan Kish courtside
- Missouri Valley Conference at 5 PM EST for Creighton–Illinois State with Patrick Marshall
- West Coast Conference at 9 PM EST for Santa Clara–San Diego with Mike Vernetti courtside
In addition to our on-site correspondents we will be focusing in on a few key games for the majority of the day while also channel surfing over to the other games when the situation merits it. Here are the primary games that we will be covering today:
- #1 UConn at #4 Pittsburgh at Noon on CBS
- Michigan at Minnesota at Noon on ESPN and ESPN360.com
- #25 Syracuse at #15 Marquette at 2 PM on ESPN360.com
- #12 Missouri at Texas A&M at 2 PM on ESPN2 and ESPN360.com
- California at #21 Arizona State at 2 PM on CBS
- Oklahoma State at #5 Oklahoma at 3:30 PM on ABC
- Texas at #9 Kansas at 4 PM on CBS
- Washington State at #13 Washington at 5:30 PM on CBS
- Wright State at #22 Butler at 7 PM on ESPNU
- #6 Louisville at West Virginia at 9 PM on ESPN and ESPN360.com
As you can tell it's a pretty ambitious schedule so we are asking you, our loyal legion of RTC followers, to help alert all of us if something interesting is happening. You can contribute by leaving a message in the comment section so we all can follow it.
One piece of RTC breaking news, UNC point guard Ty Lawson injured his left big toe yesterday in practice.
11:30 PM: ESPN GameDay is live from Morgantown, WV and they're doing their own version of Make Your Case. I feel a little bit like Bill Simmons after ESPN stole his Mount Rushmore, but they aren't paying me a million dollars a year.
11:45 PM: A couple pieces of NCAA tournament news to wrap-up before we focus on our TV for the next 12 hours: Cornell became the first team to officially get into the tournament last night by winning the Ivy League title and 3 others will join them when the Atlantic Sun, Big South, and Ohio Valley have their championship games today.


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OCZ Vector 256GB Review
OCZ Vector 256GB Introduction:
OCZ's interest in developing its solid state drive portfolio has reached a high water mark with the introduction of the Vector series drives. This drive is the first to come out of OCZ's warehouses with an all new in-house designed NAND controller that leverages the technologies of both Indilinx and PLX after the acquisition of both of these companies. Equipped with the Barefoot 3 controller, the build philosophy of OCZ's Vector series drives is centered around improved long-term reliability and stability. To that end, OCZ torture tests each drive before it is ready to ship out to the consumer. This drive is rated for up to 20GB of host writes per day over 5 years and a MTBF rating of 1.3 million hours, which is more writes than most will put it through and most likely longer than the drive will be in service. The commitment to long-term reliability is emphasized with the move to a 5-year warranty on the Vector drives.
Performance ratings for the Vector include sequential reads of up to 550MB/s, sequential writes of up to 530MB/s, Random 4K read IOPS of 100,000, and Random 4K write IOPS of 95,000. The performance characteristics of the Vector are not centered on peak numbers but developing good solid all around performance with its own in house IP. Pricing for the Vector ranges from $149 for the 128GB drive on up to $649 for the 512GB version with the 256GB version hitting the sweet spot price wise at $229 or just under 90 cents per GB of advertised capacity. An all-new controller, slim form factor, extensive burn-in before shipping, and the promise of excellent performance are all just lines on a page until we see just how the Vector performs. Lets dig in and see what it has to offer.
OCZ Vector 256GB Closer Look:
The package OCZ sends the Vector in is familiar to those who have used or looked at OCZ's drives over the past year. On the front is a rendering of the Vector drive on a blue background with the basic feature set listed underneath the image. This drive's capacity is shown as 256GB. On the back panel, OCZ explains why using an OCZ drive is a better option in several languages. The drive SKU and s/n are listed on decals along the bottom of the panel. Inside the bulging box is a foam-filled sleeve that holds the Vector drive and the accessory bundle. On the back side is the 2.5 inch to 3.5 inch drive adapter, while the mounting screws and drive are gripped tightly by the foam block.
Included with each OCZ Vector drive is a user's manual, a key for Acronis drive imaging software, the drive mounting screws, drive adapter, and a new sticker that has changed from the "My SSD is faster then your Hard Drive" sticker included with older drives. The 2.5 inch to 3.5 inch drive adapter comes in handy when installing the Vector drive into a chassis not equipped to accommodate a 2.5 inch form factor drive. Sporting the OCZ logo, this drive is hard to miss when looking through a case window.
The casing used on the Vector is a 7mm thick z-height form factor with rounded corners. The slim design opens up the potential user base to fit into the latest slim notebooks. The front of the drive mirrors the graphic used on the front of the packaging while the back is standard fare showing the model, serial number, and recycling instructions. Drive connectivity includes SATA data and power connections. SATA 6Gb/s is supported with backwards compatibility with the associated drop off in drive performance. Mounting the OCZ vector uses the standard mounting points for the 2.5 inch form factor.
Getting into the Vector involves removing the warranty seal over one of the four Phillips head screws used to hold the drive together. It's nice to see that security screws are not used to hold the back plate on this drive. The PCB is attached to the aluminum side of the case, again with Phillips head screws to help out with the reliability of the drive. OCZ's Indilinx controller is used and is connected to the casing by a thick thermal pad to keep the controller cool. There are eight 16GB NAND modules surrounding the Barefoot 3 controller on each side of the PCB. A DRAM cache module is present on each side of the PCB.
OCZ's Barefoot 3 controller is the first fully in-house designed product put together after the acquisition of Indilinx and PLX. This is an eight channel controller that features a SATA III 6Gbps interface, supports TRIM, and features an Idle Time Garbage Collection algorithm. Low cost 25nm MLC IMFT NAND modules are used to populate the drive in capacities from 128 to 512GB. The NAND used on the Vector is OCZ branded but it and the DRAM cache are Micron products. All these parts combine to deliver performance ratings of 550/530MB/s sequential read/writes and 100,000/95,000K Random Read/Write IOPS on this 256GB version of the Vector.
An all new controller coupled with 25nm MLC NAND should prove to be an interesting combination. Lets see how well this latest drive from OCZ performs.