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Doctor Who: The Daemons (UK - DVD R2)
It goes without saying that The Wilson Bros can drink their five rounds rapid...
After taking a brief trip to the planet Uxaerius, The Doctor (Jon Pertwee) returns to Earth to continue his exile and travels to the little village of Devil's End, after watching live television coverage of the excavation of a Bronze Age burial site. The Doctor feels that something is wrong and a great evil is about to be unleashed. Once there, The Doctor and Jo Grant (Katy Manning) discover that not only is Azal, an ancient being from the planet Daemos about to awaken from his million year slumber, but the Reverend Majister, Devil's End's vicar, is actually an old nemesis of The Doctor...
The script of The Daemons - credited to the fictitious Guy Leopold, a pseudonym for writer Robert Sloman and Barry Letts - treads very carefully when it comes to dealing with the potentially controversial subject matter; having Satan appearing in a family teatime show was something that could have upset a lot of people (including self-righteous God-botherers like Mary Whitehouse), but Letts and Sloman cleverly tiptoe very carefully around the satanic elements by not directly having the Devil appear in the show, but having the Desolate One as a member of an alien race from who humans drew their inspiration in terms of a physical depiction of the ultimate evil. Barry Letts' interest in all things spiritual was the reason why this storyline took shape and his desire to explore the darker side of religious beliefs was ripe subject matter for Doctor Who - and this would be several years before Philip Hinchcliffe's "Gothic" period. The worries that the Powers-That-Be had with potentially controversial material were addressed and aspects of the script were toned down - even the incantation that The Master recites to summon up Azal is not satanic in the slightest, but is merely Mary Had a Little Lamb backwards (apparently, the legendary dirty poem, Eskimo Nell, was even suggested at one point, but it was decided to go for something more innocuous).
What separates The Daemons from any other story in the Jon Pertwee story is the attempt to show the event happening as though it is "real"; the faux television coverage by the BBC3 presenter (in stark contrast to the usual bollocks the real BBC3 screens) is wonderfully executed and really adds a unique atmosphere that draws the viewer in, coming across as a prototype live episode of Time Team.
The central premise that a group of extraterrestrials have been guiding the human race in the course of its development over the millennia isn't a particularly new one, but the idea that the otherworldly beings are using Earth and its indigenous inhabitants as a scientific experiment that it will eventually discard is utterly fascinating, recalling the opening monologue of Wells' War of the Worlds. The story of The Daemons involves The Master bafflingly getting in over his head, joining that elite group of Doctor Who adversaries who think that they can control a malevolent race to help them gain power and then discard them when the dirty work is done. The idea of The Master unleashing a power that he cannot control is very interesting, but it ultimately leaves the character somewhat diminished and seeming like a desperate wannabe, rather than the cold and calculating figure he had been up until this story.
The concept of the whole of Devil's End being cut-off by a domed heat barrier is an interesting one, and it certainly helps to avoid the simplistic military answer of having UNIT sending in bombers and blowing the living shit out of the church where Azal is lurking. It also adds to the drama, by separating the UNIT family and making the lower ranking members think for themselves and show initiative, rather than blind obedience. The only fault with the heat barrier comes during one scene where it has clearly been raining, which was obviously an unfortunate occurrence when filming, and could have been hidden by tighter shots, but this wasn't and shatters the illusion that they went to great lengths to set up. It could be argued that the height and circumference of the dome was so vast that it has its own weather system within, but that's pushing things - even for Doctor Who...
There are some great, witty lines peppered throughout the script, including local white witch Miss Hawthorne hitting someone braining an assailant with a crystal ball and wryly quipping "on these occasions, the outcome is a certainty" afterwards.
During the story, it becomes apparent that the inhabitants of Devil's End are generally a gullible bunch, as they are taken in en masse by The Master, posing as a fairly progressive vicar (given future events, it's a surprise that Mike Yates wasn't sucked in) and only the non-Christian, Miss Hawthorne, is able to resist his hypnotic abilities. Is this Barry Letts deliberately having a sly dig at Christianity, or organised religion in general, by saying that who embrace it are willing to swallow anything once they have been suitably indoctrinated? One of your humble reviewers is a hardened atheist and picked up on this most curious of subtexts. Anyway, The Master wearing a Christian dog-collar makes a change from his usual dark-suited Jehovah's Witness garb "I am The Master and you will obey ME! You will also accept a copy of The Watchtower!"
Jon Pertwee is clearly having fun in this story, though two critical factors in determining his enthusiasm for a story were probably how much location work it had and whether or not he got to ride a motorised vehicle, and in The Daemons, there was plenty of both. Bessie gets an outing in this story, saving the Doctor's bacon at a crucial moment and Pertwee gets to ride a motorbike, which he personally rides for all but the shot where The Doctor is required to come off the thing, then its stonkingly obvious that the double for him is not entirely convincing. Though Jon Pertwee is not exactly high on our list of favourite Doctors, we have come to appreciate what he brought to the role over the last couple of years and apart from the gung-ho attitude he had for action sequences, he brought a huge amount of sincerity and conviction to the part, not to mention charm - despite asking the writers to write some charm into the scripts for him. Pertwee stated numerous times that The Daemons was his favourite Doctor Who story and it's pretty obvious that he is in his element here and his enthusiasm is infectious.
Nicholas Courtney is as great as ever and gets to deliver what is regarded as his most quotable line of dialogue - when confronted with the hellish, winged manifestation, he coolly looks at it and then orders one of his men with the following understated command: "Chap with wings there - five rounds rapid!" It has been said that Courtney wanted his autobiography to have the latter half of that line as the title, but he was overruled on it, thinking that it might be mistaken for something heard in a pub.
Those who have read our Doctor Who reviews in the past will know that we have an unabashed love of Roger Delgado - his performance as The Master was the original and by far the best, mixing humour and menace that could be icy-cold, sadistic or business-like in turn. The big problem with Roger Delgado was not anything to do with the actor himself, it was that during season eight, The Master was behind every single dastardly scheme that The Doctor had to face; he had started to become Voldemort to The Doctor's Harry Potter. The following season started to shake things up a bit, with The Master only being in two stories, allowing for other enemies to be used, but even though he was such a great character, and Delgado a wonderful actor, the fact was that a less-is-more approach could have been employed, but seeing as Delgado had a tragic date with destiny in Turkey a mere two years after The Daemons, we should appreciate the handful of Doctor Who stories he appeared in.
Making his Doctor Who debut is Stephen Thorne, who provides the physical embodiment of Azal; though this ancient being matches the standard look of Satan, Thorne manages to make Azal stand apart from Old Scratch by lending his roaring, theatrical voice to the part, in what could be looked upon as a dry run for his later role as the one of the greatest Time Lords of all history, Omega, in The Three Doctors.
Captain Mike Yates (Richard Franklin) and Sergeant Benton (John Levene) are out of their UNIT uniforms and are allowed more screen-time than usual; we get to see a little more characterisation, giving Franklin and Levene to let their hair down somewhat and they make for an amusing pair that would have transferred into a spin-off series similar to Kolchak: The Night Stalker, or at the very least, Sapphire and Steel.
Whilst it's great to see John Levene getting more screen-time as Benton, it is a bit of a bummer to see him being beaten up by all and sundry during the course of the story; the well-trained army man Benton is even given a pasting by an untrained member of the public and is only saved thanks to the intervention of the local white witch - perhaps people don't like the civvy clobber he's wearing during most of The Daemons, especially those ghastly tight red trousers...
The guest cast are all great, with Damaris Hayman being particularly good as Miss Hawthorne, the white witch who has a will strong enough to resist being hypnotised by The Master; Hayman was predominantly given comedic roles and though there is a healthy vein of humour running through the part of Miss Hawthorne, Hayman has a commanding presence and is more than able to hold her own against such charismatic actors as Jon Pertwee and Roger Delgado. Robin Wentworth is wonderful as the crotchety (and appropriately named) Professor Horner, who is in charge of the archaeological dig at the Devil's Hump has a level of tolerance for television journalists that most people have for midges; it's just a shame that his appearance is all too short, as his depiction of the archetypal non-media savvy academic is hilarious to watch.
The more unusual episode length in this story works in its favour - six-part stories (especially Pertwee ones) tended to sag horribly in the middle and felt awfully protracted, but with five episodes, it allows for a less formulaic structure than a four part story and also lets the story breathe, giving some nice character scenes along the way. The Daemons would be the third five-part Doctor Who story in the show's history (with The Dominators and The Mind Robber being the previous ones) and would, somewhat sadly, be the final one, bringing to an end a short-lived anomaly in Doctor Who story structure.
The Daemons is most curious in terms of archiving - only one of the five episodes exists in the PAL format (episode four) and the rest were held as black and white film recordings. The wonderful guys at the Doctor Who Restoration Team originally worked on colourising The Daemons back in the early nineties, when the pioneering step of taking the NTSC colour signal (which had come from a domestic VCR recording of the story) and overlaying on the PAL monochrome film recording was nothing short of a miracle (remember the blurb on the back of the VHS release of this story, which boasted "technology worthy of The Doctor himself"?) the initial results were most impressive.
Two decades have elapsed since then and the tools at the fingertips of the Restoration Team have improved considerably; we didn't watch the VHS release, but we certainly remember the broadcast on television and we were impressed. The results shown in this DVD version are a quantum leap over what has been seen before - the videotaped studio material is generally wonderful, looking very similar to the original PAL material. The first few minutes of episode one are shot on film and whilst there's not a vast amount that can be done to restore the film sequences because of methods used to transfer film to video back then, it still looks better than it ever has (outside of the original Quad tapes, of course. When the action in episode one switches to video, down in the bowels of the church, the difference is so dramatic that it could be likened to Dorothy leaving the drab world of Kansas and awakening in the land of Oz. OK, so we might be overstating things a little, but you'll be surprised just how good it looks.
The quality of the newly-remastered image is not consistent, as each episode was at the mercy of the technical competency used when making the original film recordings. Episodes one and two look absolutely fabulous, often giving the viewer a feeling that they are watching copies direct from the Quad masters; episode five looks almost as good, with episode three bringing up the rear, looking somewhat soft in comparison.
No problems to report here - everything sounds fine, and the inability to hear dialogue during the forcefield scenes (due to the irritating white-noise sound effects applied) has been minimised.
Audio Commentary: Participating for all five episodes are director Christopher Barry, along with actors Dameris Hayman, Richard Franklin and Katy Manning. This has a different feel to more recent commentaries, feeling very much like one of the older Doctor Who commentary tracks, as there is no moderator and the line-up doesn't change between episodes as though playing musical chairs. Leave it to Manning to kick things off as they mean to go on, with the opening shot of a cat sending her into a state of childlike wonder as she exclaims: "Ooh, look - pussycat!"
There is a real warmth generated by the gang gathered together, and this really comes through as they are watching it. Just listen out for the continuous stream of laughter and appreciation during the scene where the Brigadier is rudely awoken during the night to find that his helicopter has been commandeered. Manning notes that this was the first time the name of the Brig's better-half was divulged, with Hayman succinctly pointing out that at that moment: "…he seems more interested in his helicopter than any sort of wife."
The writing of The Daemons was rather tricky in more religion-orientated times, and guidelines were handed down about what was permissible in the script and which aspects were blatantly taboo. At the moment Pertwee is tied to the Maypole and scripture is preached, Hayman points out that: "…we're allowed to quote the bible there, but we weren't allowed to mention God… and he says it twice!" Sure, enough, Ms Manning follows it with a laugh as she notes that she wasn't even aloud to say the word "Coccyx".
You can rely on Manning to provide amusing, self-deprecating tales of herself, and doesn't disappoint. She recalls the initial scene which required The Master to mesmerise Jo Grant, with the sequence almost needing no acting on her part. "I remember the first time, actually, that Roger did have to hypnotise me… because I so short-sighted, I see very centrally, and nearly went!" They should bring this woman in for every commentary, regardless of whether or not she's in the story.
Hayman really comes off very well, with no doubt that she's a very experienced, cultured woman with a razor-sharp memory, frequently picking up the others when their recollections are a little out. There is also a delicious sense of irony about her, particularly when it comes the BBC's processes of getting the filming done on time. "If a camera broke, it mattered," she muses about possible injury to the cast. "If an actor broke, there's another one. Plenty of those where that came from."
There is a streak of quiet innuendo running through the whole thing, as opposed to Manning's way of just dragging it all out into the light. Many would snigger at how Franklin recalls when Jon Scott Martin played King Dalek in his Edinburgh play The Great T-Bag Mystery, and we certainly wouldn't snigger at mention of Mr Franklin being in Mufty quite a lot, either. By this, they mean visiting the place with that particular name, of course. Be it intended or not, there are a lot of laughs, all wrapped up in a palpable sense of warmth and respect by the contributors, which spills over into the enjoyment of those listening. There are few capable to doing commentary tracks better than 2|Entertain, and their name on it is almost literally a hallmark of quality.
Production Subtitles: We might be wrong, but we think that there is probably a secure facility somewhere in which the compiler of Doctor Who information resides, a cruel overseer who commands a race of Oompa-Loompas, slaving away in the pursuit of acquiring all available facts to bring them to waiting fans. Sure, there have been numerous deaths from exhaustion whilst putting it all together, but what's the death of a few Oompa-Loompas when the final product is as superb as it is. We'll never forget Shorty, Stumpy or even Titch, and their bold contribution shines in every polished nugget of information made available to us, the waiting public.
The depth of factoids presented here really is phenomenal, as where else could you possibly hope to find out exactly when Stanley Mason's three costume fittings for Bok were, let alone that of Richard Franklin and Damaris Hayman? Instances of improvisation are all dutifully logged, and not just the famous exchange between Franklin and Nick Courtney. Directorial spontaneity are not forgotten, either, including the ladder thoughtfully propped up against the side of the pub as Jo Grant makes her escape. Sure, it looks convenient to the script, but it was there because Manning's eyesight was so bad, she might well have ended arse-over-tit and broken her neck. Now that would have certainly put them behind.
Like the track on the previous release ( The Face of Evil) there are strong accusations of thievery from an episode of Star Trek, along with a detailed breakdown of similarities between the two. In this case, the plaintiff is Who Mourns for Adonis, where the last surviving member of an alien race is worshipped on Earth in mythology. The Brigadier and Spock have the same task of trying to break through an impenetrable barrier, and the climaxes of both are almost identical. As fans of sci-fi shows who eat both snails and oysters, we can be objective and say that there is no doubt that Doctor Who ripped off Gene Roddenberry on this one.
For those of us still annoyed/baffled by the pre-decimal monetary system, our ever-helpful information track is there to lift the veil. We all remember that utterly hideous vase which gets wreck when The Master demonstrates his power for to a doubter, and through the means of painstaking research, we are told that it cost £7.25 to have made by the BBC. Well, for those us who weren't born in the Dark Ages when fiscal denominations weren't just to create local colour, it says that to have the equivalent in today's money, you just have to times it by ten. Pounds, shillings and sense - utter crap!
The balance is a perfect as ever, with the customary humour to help keep the perils of dry academia at bay. Whoever said that irony and laced sarcasm don't translate to print hasn't has the pleasure of reading one of these beauties. When the fiery wrath of Azal bears down on the village as The Doctor is out for the count, the maelstrom subsides and out favourite Timelord springs out of bed and cries: "Eureka!" The information track thoughtfully points out that the word isn't Greek for "This bath is too hot", but meaning "I have found it". Genuine facts combined with chuckles - we love you, oh mighty Information Track.
One of the most important things we've learned from this particular track is that on no account offer to let Kay Manning use your bathroom to do her washing in, as it's asking for trouble. Damaris Hayman unwittingly found herself in this position, and came back from filming one time to discover about fifty pair of knickers hung up to dry around the place. There are certain Doctor Who fans who would have had a field-day going through individually sniffing each set of undercrackers. Speaking of the unfortunate woman who let the a mad woman use her bath, one of the very best revelations comes when Delgado bellows the name of "The Evil One" in order to dominate the invading forces, where ol' Roger improvised a gag and said moniker turned out to be Dameris Hayman in reverse!
For those of us in love with the technical side of the process, there is a great wealth of info about the filming, and the subsequent problem of editing it all together. Few might realise just how much of a problem cutting between 16mm and videotape, but there were headaches all round with the intercutting eating valuable time in the editing suite. Did you know that The Daemons contains 53minutes and 35 seconds of film during the course of its running time? You certainly do now!
Ever reliable, always engaging and a hell of a lot of fun, we're treated to another of the information tracks they always do so well, so make sure you click the appropriate option get the most out of The Daemons. The days of the Doctor Who Programme Subtitles are numbered, with only a finite amount of stories left to come out now. Cherish this, guys, if only to honour the glorious Oompa-Loompa dead.
Remembering Barry Letts: Along with Phillip Hinchcliffe, Barry Letts was the most successful producer to grace Doctor Who, both guiding the show into prosperous times and collecting high viewing figures. Both enjoyed creative freedom and personal success after leaving the series, and with The Android Invasion's documentary Life After Who covering Hinchcliffe's career, it's only right that Letts gets the same treatment, as family and colleagues gather to celebrate the life of the man who brought us an entire legion of invading aliens.
The arts were seemingly in Letts' blood, getting a taste for acting whilst a child, with his path to the entertainment biz frowned upon by his father, who was only persuaded otherwise when the onset of war meant that it might be his one chance to do what he wanted shortly before being drafted and possibly killed in action. His sons, Crispin and Dominic Letts are on hand to recount the pretty extraordinary life of their father, and reveal that brakes were put on a thriving career when enlisted in the navy, with demobbing leaving him in the cold after a promises of stardom turned out to be hollow. Letts set his sites higher, and found work with Rank Studios. "I was convinced I was going to be a film-star… most actors think they are going to be a film star eventually, or a stage-star or whatever.", recalls the man himself.
After meeting his wife on his final film, Letts fell into doing live dramas on the BBC, which gave in steady employment, but it was when he and friend Owen Holder were able to sell a script entitled Child and a Half that enabled Letts to get stuck into what really interested him: writing. After establishing himself as a dependable writer over the next decade, successfully taking a producer/director's course at the Beeb, he was finally in the position he wanted. The Newcomers, Z Cars and Doctor Who soon followed, and Letts made damn sure that the rest was history in his new position as producer of the BBC's flagship science-fiction programme.
Bringing fresh ideas to the show, he immediately formed an almost symbiotic relationship with Terence Dicks, with Lett's ecological and Buddhist beliefs balancing out the more cynical traits of his colleague, and managed to pull Doctor Who out of the poor writing/low figures quagmire it had gotten itself into. "Pertwee, against all the odds, was a terrific Doctor", says Dicks, somewhat cryptically. Letts' love of experimenting with the Colour Separation Overlay (CSO) system proved perfect for the series, giving it production values not seen before, prompting the great Ronald Marsh to frequently ask the producer: "How on earth did you achieve that?" at the innovative images cranked out.
After leaving Doctor Who, Letts decided to go back to the more artistic side of things, and found himself directing a very young Nicholas Lyndhurst in The Prince and the Pauper. With plaudits and a new job as producer of classic serials, Letts spent the next number of years successfully making a long line of literary adaptations, turning out masterly versions of the great English language novels, from A Tale of Two Cities to Treasure Island. His past and present happily collided in 1982, when he cast Tom Baker as Sherlock Holmes, for which the temperamental thespian was grateful to help put The Doctor in the past, and we are treated to some amusing footage of Letts talking to Baker on the actor's This is Your Life, noting that it was because of Letts that: "I'm a big star in Abu Dhabi…"
Lett's lingering illness really isn't shied away from, and becomes a component part of the documentary, with interview footage from 2008 showing that cancer really was taking its toll on him. The death of his wife from the same illness a matter of months before he succumbed to it was particularly cruel, but Letts refused to let the cancer diminish him as a person. There are few people you can honestly say lived a life which was both aspirational and inspirational without sounding superficial, but Barry Letts was one whom you could.
Thanks to use of extensive video footage, 2|Entertain have been able to keep the late Mr Letts alive for the last couple of years, becoming Doctor Who's very own version of Brian O'Blivion, but there must come a time that the material has to run out, and this is an excellent way to round out the work of a nice guy and very talented, resourceful man. The life of Barry Letts was a perfect balance of optimism, drive and humanity, and this documentary is the perfect way to remember a man who showed that you didn't have to be a bastard to succeed in life. Damn good stuff.
Colourisation Test: What is classed as a "test" is actually the entire first episode of The Daemons, sporting the original attempts to undo the damage of the great BBC purge. There are very obvious differences to the ones which were used for the DVD, but the results are perfectly watchable, and a great way to archive the leaps and bounds made in the processes as both the years and technology advanced.
Tomorrow's World: Fitting in very nicely with the above, Howard Stableford is your host for five minutes worth of technical bliss, as he looks into the way the colour for the wiped material was taken from an American U-Matic recording and grafted onto 16mm prints. While it was essentially a plug for a screening of the newly-restored copy of The Daemons, it's great to see the BBC trumpeting just how much effort went into it.
Amusingly, Stableford also notes that episodes of Tomorrow's World were also lost in the great videotape purge of the seventies, noting it how the move was "…a slight lapse of judgement I think there". Comparisons are shown, along with what purports to be the original tape on which the NTSC recordings were made, and the whole thing is accessible for all, showing enough practical stuff for the fans whilst stopping short of being a total dissemination of the process and putting off casual viewers.
It was a real treat to see the old credits (both start and closing complete with that awful theme music) again, and we can only say that misstep comes when it commits the cardinal sin of not only allowing viewers to see right the way into the TARDIS prop, but also having the back way open, essentially using it as a threshold to another time, in this case, setting out the frame work for going back to 1971, and the original transmission of The Daemons. For giving us footage of the MILF-ish Judith Hann, we're prepared to overlook such matters.
The Devil Rides Out: Although not slavishly loved by all fans, The Daemons is one with a lot of affection surrounding it, and 2|Entertain once more set out to explore the making of a classic episode of Doctor Who. Conjuring up those involved with the story might have been a task even too great for Rev. Magister, but the boys have come up trumps once again, as the spirits rise and Jon Pertwee rides off in a huff on a motorcycle.
Christopher Barry had left the Doctor Who fold a while before, and was pleased to have a fair amount of distance from the show, feeling that he had become perilously close to becoming a "Doctor Who director", which is a label many find damning when attached to them. However, the black magic-themed script and location-shooting of The Daemons was too had to resist the pull of, and Barry signed on in spite of his very definite choices in his career. "The fact that there was so much film really did excite me," explains Barry, "…[location] filming is hair-raising enough. But at least one feels one's in control there, and we're not going to have the plugs pulled out at 10.00 at night if you haven't finished".
The irrepressible Katy Manning is on had to recall her audition scene for the show, being the sequence from The Daemons when the form of Azal grows to monstrous proportions, but had to improvise the satanic menace from a fur-hat sitting on the floor. During filming she experienced a distinct feeling that it wasn't the first time she'd faced-off against this particular foe, but looking far more menacing than an improvised chapeau. Some might argue that there are times when the impromptu headwear was better than a few earlier monsters…
Richard Franklin was one of the many who didn't twig the identity of mysterious writer Guy Leopold: "I certainly didn't realise it when I first read it. All I thought was 'whoever has written this knows us. He must be part of the ensemble'". The appreciation for the script was shared by most of the cast, with all the regulars given their moments to shine, as well as bringing out the best in the actors and their respective characters. "To give Richard Franklin his moment of riding that motorbike," gushes Manning, "to give John Levene his favourite moment, which is, you know, punch-ups… it was beautifully, beautifully observed".
We always break into a smile whenever actress Damaris Hayman pops up in something, as most people our age will remember her as the "Do you dig graves? I think their wonderful" woman from The Young Ones, or even from her appearance in Filthy, Rich and Catflap. Said smile was there again when she turned up to share her memories of The Daemons, proving herself to be more than just the doddery old woman she is usually cast as. A perfect choice to play Miss Hawthorne, Hayman was very knowledgeable on the subject of witchcraft, to the point where Head of Serials Ronnie Marsh selected her as the advisor for the production. Her unearthly powers must have been rather formidable, as she was able to persuade Barry to change her character from an "old fuddy-duddy" to a much more active woman. Well, the combined forces Barry Letts and Ronnie Marsh certainly influenced the spirits, anyway.
There is some time given to the irascible nature of Jon Pertwee, with many of the interviewees providing corroborating statements to the fact that he could sometimes be a bit of a pain in the arse to work with. Be it inclement weather, the production running behind or just plain getting out of bed on the wrong side, there were times when the Third Doctor was difficult to work with, and Barry made the mistake of allowing the temperamental actor a vehicle at the time of throwing a strop, and consequently went AWOL for a while. "Never give Jon Pertwee a motorbike when he's having a hissy fit," confirms Manning, "cause he's not going to be around for very long!"
We've said before that there isn't enough representation of the women who toiled behind the camera on Doctor Who, and it's great that Assistant Floor Manager Sue Hedden is on hand to redress the balance. She's a no bullshit kind of woman with real spirit and a good sense of humour, always ready to speak her mind and provide amusing tales. Our favourite has to be a rather brilliant piece of improvisation in order to get a performance out of the wee doggie - so what does an assistant floor manager do when an animal won't do the most basic of things? Simple! Tie your woolly hat (which the dog is enamoured of) to a piece of string and have it chase it like a greyhound to a stuffed rabbit! Getting the besotted dog to give up his pursuit was seemingly another thing entirely!
With terrifically moody linking footage shot in a crypt, there is a hell of a lot to enjoy here, from the moment when Pertwee and Manning were flown in by helicopter to the location, consequently being mobbed by local kids, to the logistics of creating satanic weather conditions on a perfectly still, dry night. Ever wondered how Bok goes to the bog? Ponder no further, nor expend any more thought on just how you get professional Morris Dancers to break from their usual routine to duff up a Time Lord. It's all here, and is another feather in the cap for 2|Entertain for parting the black clouds of The Daemons, and we have to assume that all these additions to their headwear must come from a particularly bald bird. Typically indispensable.
Location Film: Coming in full, blazing colour and sporting the official title-card of "The BBC's Dr. Who on Location Aldbourne", this silent, 8mm footage is the very definition of interesting, opening a window onto the filming of Jon Pertwee's era, and much more refreshing for not being controlled by Auntie Beeb.
When the sun is blazing, you really get the feel of a hot summer's day in the seventies, when life was much simpler, and you could still get onto a location shoot without having your chops busted by burly security guards. These days, the footage filmed here would be put on YouTube within an hour of being shot. Where else can you see John Levene having his makeup retouched, or the sight of Christopher Barry directing with the fiendish combination of shades, megaphone and striped trousers? Reluctantly using a cliché, but this is all-access filming, and there aren't too many instances of it on classic Doctor Who.
Ever keen to grease the skates whilst on location, both Pertwee and Roger Delgado signing autographs for the fans. It's very telling that it's a very much adult enthusiast of the female variety getting signature of everybody's favourite Master! It seems that the coolest cats hung out in Bessie, as Delgado, Damaris Hayman and a couple of women from the crew are seen shooting the breeze in the classic automobile. We can't be sure, but one of the ladies might well be Assistant Floor Manager Sue Hedden. See - the chicks really can't resist a bad dude in a bitchin' car.
Those with a soft-spot for Bok might want to avoid watching this, as we are afforded an unforgettable look at Stanley Mason blocking out (or should that be Bokking out?) shots before putting his mask on, somewhat spoiling further viewing of The Daemons. Sure, we all knew it was a little gut in a suit, but where suspension of disbelief is everything, then it's best to avoid any chinks in the armour. Worse still is a shot of the discarded mask and feet of the costume during breaks, looking as though certain members of UNIT tried something a little more primal than "five rounds rapid" to take care of the satanic little shit.
The content of the footage is very professional for an "amateur" effort, looking as though the person behind it wanted to document as much of the BBC location filming process as they could, and this foresight pays off handsomely, giving the fans sights they never though they would see. It's sometimes educational, too, as thanks to a signpost, we learned that Aldbourne is only seven miles from the infamous village of Hungerford, where a greater evil than witchcraft eventually took place. We really ought to get words like "unmissable" and "sublime" made into rubber-stamps, as we end up employing them so often when reviewing extras for Doctor Who releases, but we wouldn't call them anything less. Watch and enjoy!
Photo Gallery: Set the TARDIS coordinates for planet Fuzzy in the Memories system, as you'll get a hell of a charge out this stunning collection of the time the BBC invaded a small village to save the world from evil. With more snaps from The Daemons than an entire stack of Doctor Who Monthly mags, it's fun for all, and even the most jaded of fans will see at least something to make their jaws drop.
Much merriment around the Maypole give plenty of photo opportunities, and it wouldn't be the Pertwee era without kiddies stepping over their friends to get a glimpse of The Doctor Himself. A couple of shots of Pertwee plunging a knife into the back of Ed "Stewpot" Stewart, but you can't blame him, as Time Lords are obligated to stamp out evil things. Although most are location pictures, there are some from the filming on sets constructed at the BBC, which helps to break up the all-exterior feel which sneaks up on you.
Best of all are quite a few images of Azal in front of a blue-screen, and these look pretty cool by virtue of the background looking like they were taken as part of a very chic fashion-shoot. "This season, Azal is looking just darling wearing the latest in Cloven hooves. Next year, it's wingtips for everyone". Nobody does photo galleries like these guys, and you can be assured that they qualify was "exhaustive".
PDF Materials: Along with the usual Radio Times listings, you get an archive interview with Katy Manning, talking about her character and even the incident with the map which was written into The Daemons. Not only that, but there also piece about the hard-working Jon Pertwee and his Humming-Bird-like ability to flit around the country in plays whilst still appearing on the show. Special mention must go to including the lovely illustration by Frank Bellamy, but we have to ask: why only the one? He painted two of them for this particular story. Our reference book of the matter contains both…
Coming Soon Trailer: Oh, God, it's Nightmare of Eden, one which we disliked when it originally went out, hated when we saw it about six years ago, and there is an almost palpable sense of dread this time around. Who knows, with the usual complement of superb extras and pristine AV quality, it might perk up our opinion of it. Great trailer for it, though!
The Daemons represents a high point for the Jon Pertwee era; many of his stories that take place on Earth aren't particularly highly placed in our list of favourite Doctor Who stories - so many were overlong, or just flat-out dull, but The Daemons has an atmosphere that could be described as unique in Doctor Who history. The entire cast and crew are firing on all cylinders and Roger Delgado gives one of his finest performances as The Master.
The Doctor Who Restoration Team have used their own brand of technological wizardry to come up with a copy of this story that is as close to what was seen on the original broadcast as possible. The Daemons will continue to entertain for years to come because of their sterling efforts. The special features included here are the icing on an already enticing cake - this most certainly is a high point in the long series of Doctor Who DVD releases; be sure to summon up a copy for yourself!
Review by Wilson Bros
General viewing, but some scenes may be unsuitable for young children
Disc Details
Release Date: 19th March 2012
Discs: 2
Disc Type: Single side, dual layer
RCE: No
Video: PAL
Aspect: 1.33:1
Anamorphic: No
Colour: No
Audio: Dolby Digital 2.0 English
Subtitles: English
Extras: Audio Commentary, The Devil Rides Out, Remembering Barry Letts, Location Film, Colourisation Test, Tomorrow's World, Information Subtitles, Photo Gallery, Coming Soon Trailer, PDF Materials
Easter Egg: No
Feature Details
Director: Christopher Barry
Cast: Jon Pertwee, Katy Manning, Nicholas Courtney, Richard Franklin, John Levene, Stephen Thorne, "Do you dig graves?" from The Young Ones
Genre: Sci-Fi
Length: 125 minutes
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Message Board
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Talk about the novels, new and used books that Reilly has written!
Author Reilly's Book Reviews
Area 7
In Area 7 we meet marines again who survived the Ice Station. Now Scarecrow, Mother and Fox do duty on Marine One, the President's helicopter. When the President visits Area 7, a top secret military installation that has the task to develop a vaccination against a new bioweapon, they suddenly have to fight for his life if they want to survive themselves. The commander of Area 7 tries to have the president killed. That is especially dangerous because if t...
MD Stephen Swain is just a regular guy caught up in an unbelievable situation. In the middle of a telephone call to his friend he is teleported to the New York State Library where an intergalactic battle is going on. He has a device on his wrist that when removed will self-destruct and the entire perimeter of the library including all exits has been electrified. The rules of the contest are simple, he must be the last man standing or else he cannot l...
Shane "Scarecrow� Schofield and his elite team of Special Forces operatives, including the woman who finally found a place into his heart, and a butt kicking older woman named "Mother� who has a fake leg. When they are dispatched to Siberia to help secure nuclear missiles from Islamic terrorists they find they are being pursued by teams of bounty hunters in a worldwide contest to kill 15 selected military leaders. Scarecrow in...

subset: commoncrawl


text: We had the opportunity to stay at the Cornerstone guesthouse last month while on a trip to Namibia. Everything previous reviewers have said is accurate;) We had the large family room which was huge, with plenty of storage space for our stuff during our brief stay. It consisted of one big bedroom and a living area with 2 separate beds... More


text:
lounging, againSaturday, May 24, 2008
Just another reminder about those comfortable lounge pants. Just in case you haven't made them yet. After I made the first pair, my mother and sisters wanted a pair.
I took a sheet from my mothers linen closet, when I was in Florida, for a pair for my mother.
And another sheet for a pair for my sister, Shelly.
And I used an old worn, most comfortable sheet for a pair for my sister Lisa, who came to visit us for the weekend. Of course, I needed another pair.
50 comments
I love them! I really need to get on making a pair.ReplyDelete
I can not imagine anything more comfy than a pair of lounge pants made from old sheets! Only problem is I would never leave the house I would be so comfy!ReplyDelete
i really need to make these!ReplyDelete
- Anonymous5/24/2008
Ok, now I want to make these. In fact, I will. I just have to find the perfect pair of sheets, maybe I'll go thrifting soon. They are lovely.ReplyDelete
P.S. I love how you not only just make stuff but actually use it for yourself and family. That's what I call crafting with a purpose!!! Now, can I borrow one of your sisters, please???
I have the book...I jave the fabric...where is the time...great sewing...have a comfy weekend...ReplyDelete
- Anonymous5/24/2008
Oh they look so comfy. Also love the mug with something warm and some knitting that's a perfect time right there. I have the pants on my list to make but have you made a skirt or top from a sheet? It is a must. I have hooked on making skirts and am wearing a top that I made from a sheet swap and it's soooo comfy. Check out my blog for more info. Have fun with your sister.ReplyDelete
Ohhhh they look soooo comfy...ReplyDelete
I need to learn to sew MUCH better than what I do.. LOL LOL
I think they look perfect. If only I could sew. Perhaps I should knit a pair, no that would take way too long. I think I should try again with the sewing machineReplyDelete
Waaay cozy!ReplyDelete
I have GOT TO find time to make me some AB loungers! Since I bought my new machine and did the pj class I just haven't done much at all, except sew a little square to add to Kristen's apron top with the knitted bodice (which I must get pics of her in it soon!). You have once again inspired me to try - I must get in that sewing room :)ReplyDelete
You both look very comfy in your loungers.
Positively brilliant, Leslie! Long weekends were made for lounging.ReplyDelete
You are such a fantastic sis!ReplyDelete
I have made a pair but not out of an old sheet but I do have an old sheet just waiting for me. Thanks for this post, I really need to make some!ReplyDelete
What a cute picture of you two!
Thanks for the reminder! I definitely need to make a pair.ReplyDelete
I need to make another pair, too! i had the perfect piece of fabric set aside for a pair, but then it fit perfectly for the back of my pink quilt, so now what do I do???? oh, the dilemmas.ReplyDelete
too cute! i may have to get me that there book and dust off my machine...i've been so busy knitting lately i've kinda put my sewing ambitions aside. hmmmm, this would help get me back!ReplyDelete
One can never have too many pairs of lounge pants - or cats! I have just made my fourth pair out of hello kitty to wear as pjs.ReplyDelete
I would love a pair of these! my favorite pj pants are linenReplyDelete


text:
The near-term outlook for Brazil has taken a dive as political scandals deepen and economic woes mount. Oliver Leyland, Senior Investment Analyst of the Hermes Global Emerging Markets Fund, considers potential outcomes from this turbulence and explains the team's approach to investing throughout it.
Macro, market malaise
The currency is plummeting, bond yields are rising, and the local stock market is giving up all of its 2015 gains. As a comprehensive barometer of risk, we monitor CDS spreads, which have unsurprisingly moved higher in recent sessions, though are below the heights of March 2015 and yet to price in extreme stress.
Brazil CDS spreads: further to climb?
Source: Bloomberg as at July 2015
Rousseff feels the heat…
The coalition government is splintering and President Dilma Rousseff's impeachment is becoming a real possibility, after her administration's approval rating plunged to 7.7% in recent polls. There are two realistic scenarios that could trigger this: first, an accusation of 'creative accounting' in the 2014 public accounts, or second, of irregularities in 2014 campaign financing. Should the President be impeached for the former, her Vice President and coalition partner Michel Temer (PMDB) would likely assume the presidency, representing 'more of the same' and therefore a continued malaise for the market. Should campaign financing be the cause of impeachment, the coalition government in its entirety would likely have to be replaced, spurring elections and a probable return to power for the opposition and the PSDB under Aecio Neves, the narrow loser in last October's elections. This outcome would likely result in improved sentiment and risk appetite towards Brazilian markets. An impeachment of the President would not be unprecedented: recall the 1992 impeachment of President Fernando Collor, who was incidentally investigated (with his Lamborghini, Ferrari and Porsche all impounded) as part of the Petrobras 'Car Wash' scandal. Not all of Brazil's institutions can be said to have stopped functioning, however, and in the absence of either growth or stability, at least Brazil's judicial institutions and democracy remain alive and well.
…As markets go cold on slashed surplus
Compounding the political uncertainty have been economic developments. Last week, the Bovespa lost some of what remaining confidence it had in the Rousseff Administration after the government announced that it would slash the 2015 primary fiscal surplus target from 1.2% of GDP to 0.2%. This is the result of a significant cut to revenue forecasts (lower tax receipts as the recession bites), with no further cuts to spending, and could yet decline to a primary deficit should BRL26bn of 'extraordinary revenues' not be realised during the year. A primary surplus of 2% is widely seen as necessary for the stabilisation of the country's debt. As a consequence, public debt should now continue to increase until at least 2018, raising the risk of a downgrade below investment grade for Brazil's sovereign debt, which would be the epicentre of economy-wide aftershocks. For 2016, the primary surplus target has fallen from 2.0% to 0.7%, and for 2017 from 2.0% to 1.3%.
In response, the real has hit a 12-year low, and the MSCI Brazil (in dollars) is at levels last seen in November 2008. For an equity market where the short-term bull case is, to a large degree, based upon an improvement in the credibility of economic management and a reduction in the risk premium – rather than a return to sustainable growth – this is certainly damaging.
2015 Budget and first budget directives (BRL bn)
Source: Credit Suisse
For stock pickers, selectivity is essential
August, September and October will be heavy months for news flow in Brazil regarding impeachment, credit ratings, public protests, the 'Car Wash' scandal and taxation changes. Several (binary) events could feasibly result in a change of outlook and ultimately government, which could require a reassessment of our views. Brazilian equities are prone to peaks and troughs of euphoria and despair, and overshooting both to the upside and downside is therefore common. Our strategy remains consistent – to wait for good stocks to go on sale, and buy when the price is right (ie. wrong), providing a margin of safety. We currently maintain a material underweight position in Brazil, holding only strong franchises at attractive valuations, including an exporter (which should benefit from BRL depreciation) and two financial companies that will be directly supported by higher interest rates, with the benchmark SELIC interest rate likely to rise beyond 14% in the second half. On a forward-earnings multiple of 11.5x (a 10% premium to its historical average), Brazilian equities currently offer an earnings yield (inverse of the P/E) some 4% below that of the 10-year government bond (13.1%). So a country that may well be attractive to fixed income investors currently offers little valuation support for equity investors, who, like us, must remain extremely selective.
Calendar of political and judicial events
|22 July
|Deadline for President Dilma to present her defence to the TCU (Federal accounting office) regarding creative accounting on fiscal metrics in 2014.
|29 July
|Deadline for Dilma to sanction the minimum wage bill that will be valid until 2019.
|31 July
|Congress Reopens after the winter recess.
|5 August
|President Dilma receives a list of three candidates for the National Prosecutor office. The post is currently occupied by Rodrigo Janot, who can be reappointed to the post. Many believe that his substitution could attenuate the Lava Jato investigation. The appointment needs to pass the Senate Constitutional Commission (CCJ).
|TCU should come out with the decision on whether to accept, partially accept, or reject President Dilma's 2014 accounts. A rejection could give the opposition grounds to begin impeachment procedures.
|6 August
|PT party 10 minute national TV and radio program.
|16 August
|Street protests.
|31 August
|Deadline for government to submit to Congress the budget proposal for 2016.
|16 September
|End of the term of National Prosecutor Janot, if not reappointed.
|24 September
|PMDB party 10 minute national TV and radio program.
|Possible decision of the Electoral Court (TSE) on the case referring to responsibility crime on the 2014 presidential campaign. Consequence could be the annulment of the winning ticket of the 2014 elections.
Source: J.P. Morgan, Arko Advice
Saker Nusseibeh joins Banking Standards Board
Factor of four
Press contacts
Jeannie Dumas
Head of Corporate Communications & Shareholder Relations firstname.lastname@example.com +44 (0)20 7680 2152 +44 (0)7841 324061
Melanie Bradley
Head of Investment & Stewardship Communications email@example.com +44 (0)20 7680 2218 + 44 (0)7767 162 317
Rachael Dowers
Assistant Manager, Corporate Communications firstname.lastname@example.com + 44 (0)20 7680 4698


text:
CHICAGO -- R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co.'s third-quarter net income dropped 55 percent as volumes and prices declined, with an extra hit from one-time charges like acquisition costs and the lack of a tax benefit from last year.
The printing company also cut its revenue forecast for the year and expects 2012 adjusted earnings to come in at the lower end of its prior outlook as "challenging industry dynamics" and a weak global economy pressure its business. It's trying to control costs as revenue drops. The company spent $7.5 million in the most recent quarter on "employee termination costs" as it closed a U.S. manufacturing facility and reorganized operations.
R.R. Donnelley reported Thursday that it earned $71.4 million, or 39 cents per share, compared with $158 million, or 83 cents per share, a year ago.
Stripping out restructuring charges, acquisition costs, tax benefits and provisions, and other items, earnings were 51 cents per share, flat with a year ago and topping the 44-cent profit predicted by analysts polled by FactSet.
Revenue for the three months ended Sept. 30 fell 6 percent to $2.51 billion from $2.68 billion, hurt by declining volumes, lower prices and changes in currency values. For a company with overseas operations, a stronger dollar means income from abroad takes a hit when it's translated back into the dollar.
Wall Street predicted $2.58 billion.
In the U.S. printing and related services division, sales fell more than 6 percent, and dropped 7 percent in the international division.
Part of R.R. Donnelley's business is filing companies' financial statements with regulatory authorities. Earlier this month, it mistakenly filed Google Inc.'s quarterly earnings report with the Securities and Exchange Commission more than three hours ahead of schedule.
R.R. Donnelley now predicts 2012 revenue of $10.1 billion to $10.2 billion. Its previous forecast was for revenue of $10.4 billion to $10.5 billion. The company expects adjusted earnings at the lower end of its prior guidance of $1.84 to $1.92 per share.
Analysts forecast earnings of $1.85 per share on revenue of $10.37 billion.


text: > On Tue, Apr 24, 2007 at 04:46:42PM -0400, Douglas Eadline wrote: > > > Intel has just announced the ability to place a Xilinx Virtex-5 > > FPGA's into to socket 771, 603,4 (Xeon) motherboard. > > It sits on the FSB and requires some digital glue (10% of the > > FPGA). Makes for some interesting toys. > > This isn't new in the sense that you've been able to buy similar > gizmos for Opteron for years, either plugging into a socket or on an > HTX board. But, if the Inquirer article is correct, it sounds like a > pretty good implementation, with a small interface core that can run > at nearly full speed on the FSB. > > -- greg > It's not clear to me how open Intel FSB has become but Nallatech announced recently an agreement with Intel to develop FSB FPGA modules and tools http://www.nallatech.com/?node_id=126.96.36.199.1&id=146


text:
IMPACT Vibrato Delay TonePrint by Ishibashi
This Vibrato Delay is designed for guitarists who prefer an 'edgy' vibrato behind their dry sound according to the strength of their picking. Misawa carefully chose the speed and depth of this vibrato to make it musically useable, meaning not too outrageous, but wacky enough to be something special. This TonePrint goes well with a clean sound.
Get the TonePrint Now
Have an iOS or Android device? Use the TonePrint AppDownload the TonePrint EditorIMPACT Vibrato Delay TonePrint by Ishibashi
Other TonePrints by Ishibashi
Masami Yazawa, Manager of Sales Department, is very excited about this TonePrint project: "TC Electronic has always been a very respected brand, and its sound quality is certainly one of the best in the market. We are fully committed to their strategy of introducing better sound to beginners, and we are very happy to be collaborating with TC on such a unique project."
Ishibashi has chosen one of the very talented, young guitar players, Masahiro Misawa, to do the actual TonePrint session as well as creating demo tracks for the TonePrint sounds.
Interview with Masahiro Misawa
TC: I hope you enjoyed creating your own signature sounds today. Misawa: Definitely! I personally own Stereo Chorus Flanger, Nova Delay and Nova Modulator, and I always loved how great TC pedals sound. I'm sure it all depends on every guitar players tastes and styles, but I think everyone should at least experience how they sound like with real amps set to reasonable amount of output level, because that's when you hear the difference. But I guess for some people TC looks a bit complicated, expensive.. a little too high of a standard to just grab and try out. I was amazed how these TonePrint pedals also adhere TC sound quality.
TC: Yes, looking back at TC's history, products like TC2290 and G-Force are mostly used by high-profile guitar players around the world. When our development department came up with the concept of the TonePrint series, their first priority was to not sacrifice sound quality, but at the same time making them simple to use. The TonePrint feature allows these pedals to provide lasting enjoyment by offering new tones continuously. Misawa: Yeah, this TonePrint feature instantly lets users play with good sound without having to tweak the knobs for too long, and at the same time enjoy customizations by downloading various artists' signature sound to play around with. Now we don't have to spend too much time and money trying to look for the perfect pedals any more.
TC: We thought experimenting with various pedals is also part of the fun, so we kind of kept it this way. Misawa: I was surprised how completely different these pedals can sound by in-depth editing via the software. There are just so many parameters to play with!
TC: Were there enough of them to reach your tonal goals? Misawa: I had some ideas about how I wanted this TonePrint to sound on my track, and at the same time I wanted to make it as original as possible... You know, there aren't many chances in your life where you can build your own pedal sound with one of your favorite manufacturers, so I wanted to do as much editing as possible, but the numbers of parameters were just beyond my expectations!
TC: We really liked the way you worked towards specific modulations, also by creative parameter assignment, and we are very happy to see such a great custom-sounding version of our pedal. Thank you very much for your time today.Read more about Ishibashi


text:
Bedford Evergreens is a family owned and
operated 2nd generation grower of quality, high grade
Christmas trees and manufacturer of hand made evergreen
greenery and garlands for the wholesale and choose
and cut market. In business since 1979, we are dedicated to
providing retail tree lots, garden centers and clubs with
quality trees. Located in the Thaxton area of
Bedford, Virginia, please come by and see our trees.
Contact information:
Dan Young
1893 Robertson Road
Bedford, VA 24523
Choose and Cut Christmas Trees
Sat 10am till dark
Sunday noon till dark
© Copyright Bedford
Evergreens, 2006-2014
JGF Web Designs


text:
NOW IN STOCK! The brand-new Korg microSAMPLER
The latest addition to the Korg "micro" series serves up sampling with a powerful performance punch! The microSAMPLER is indeed a micro sampler that delivers multi-mode sampling, resampling, Pattern Sequencing and over-the-top effects – and all under a fun-to-use intuitive interface, with iPhone dock! The Korg microSAMPLER is in stock NOW at Dolphin Music...but stock is limited - hurry up and buy yours today!
For news & offers: Join our mailing list Add us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter
Excited about this new release? Be one of the first to pre-order it!
More than just a sampler, the Korg microSAMPLER is a complete sound design studio for creating up-to-the minute loops and phrases.The microSAMPLER hosts a solid complement of top-end sampling features to expand your creative potential. This full-fledged instrument offers sixteen-voice polyphony, reverse playback, editing operations such as Normalize and Truncate, and a Time Stretch feature that lets you change the tempo without affecting the pitch. Selectable sample rates of 48 kHz, 24 kHz, 12 kHz, and down to 6 kHz let you sample at rates beyond CD clarity or add in that Lo-Fi vintage vibe.
Each bank contains 36 samples (a maximum of approximately 160 seconds of recording time for monaural samples at a 48 kHz sampling rate) and sixteen patterns of sequence data; the microSAMPLER lets you store eight such banks in internal memory. The Keyboard mode takes a single sample and assigns it chromatically across the keys for instant playability. With its recessed controls, bright LEDs and informative display, the microSAMPLER is fun to use and easy to operate – for beginners or seasoned pros.
Rock out with your iPhone and the new Korg microSAMPLER!
For more details, please visit the Korg microSAMPLER product page.


text:
DUBLIN, Ireland, Feb. 18, 2013 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Warner Chilcott plc (Nasdaq:WCRX) today announced that it will issue its fourth quarter and full year 2012 financial results prior to the market opening on Friday, February 22, 2013.
In addition to issuing a press release, the Company will host a conference call for all interested parties on Friday, February 22, 2013 at 8:00 AM (Eastern Time) to review the results. To participate in the call, please dial (877) 354-4056 in the United States and Canada or (678) 809-1043 internationally.
Investors and other interested parties may also access the conference call via a simultaneous audio webcast by visiting http://ir.wcrx.com and clicking on Events & Presentations.
A replay of the conference call will be available for two weeks following the call and can be accessed by dialing (800) 585-8367 within the United States and Canada or (404) 537-3406 internationally. The passcode for the replay is 93788873.
The Company
Warner Chilcott is a leading specialty pharmaceutical company currently focused on the women's healthcare, gastroenterology, urology and dermatology segments of the branded pharmaceuticals market, primarily in North America. We are a fully integrated company with internal resources dedicated to the development, manufacture and promotion of our products. WCRX-F
CONTACT: Company Contact: Rochelle Fuhrmann Investor Relations 973-442-3281 email@example.com
Source:Warner Chilcott


text:
Indian Fighter [Blu-ray]
Detailshttps://www.fye.com/indian-fighter-blu-ray-aec.klsc21466br.html aec.klsc21466br 5/9/17 New
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The Indian Fighter is trail guide Kirk Douglas, who agrees to shepherd a wagon train through Sioux territory. Douglas tries to convince the Sioux to leave his charges alone, but such hotheads as drunken white trader Walter Matthau and embittered Indian brave Harry Landers escalate the tensions. Douglas is forced to go "mano y mano" with Landers; Douglas wins, but refuses to kill Landers, having lost his taste for killing. But when Matthau and his partner Lon Chaney Jr. contrive to rob the Indians of their gold, Sioux chief Eduard Franz prepares to wipe out the settlers. Only when Douglas risks life and limb to bring Matthau and Chaney Jr. to justice does Franz relent. Somehow, Kirk Douglas manages to link up with two leading ladies in The Indian Fighter: his Italian "discovery" Elsa Martinelli and his own ex-wife Diana Douglas (wouldn't you liked to have been a fly on the wall at that casting call?) The first film assembled by Douglas' own Bryna Productions, The Indian Fighter is a particular treat when seen in color; incredibly, its first network telecast in 1962 was in black and white. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Product Details
Release Date
KL Studio Classics
MPAA Rating
NR -- Not rated
1 hour, 28 minutes
- Digital Theater Systems (akin to 5.1)
- Blu-ray region A (North America, Central America, South America, Japan, Taiwan, North Korea, South Korea, Hong Kong, Southeast Asia)
- English
Video Features
- Audio commentary by film historian Toby Roan
- Trailer gallery
Number of Discs


text:
If the Bulls lose two straight in Florida, don't blame me. I'll be visiting the in-laws in Michigan and renewing my man crush on Ben Gordon.
Before I leave, let's tackle your frustration, er, I mean questions. And I have one question for you: Where the heck has Cleetus been?
OK, I get it. The Bulls are playing for next year. Management traded with the Bobcats and Bucks, both of whom look poised to boot us out of the playoffs. Coupled with injuries, it looks like we are going to have a rough March and April. As a fan, give me two reasons to keep watching this team. I'd say three, but "watching Derrick" is too obvious. Tanvi, Waukegan
Well, for me, beyond the fact I get paid to do so, it's because the NBA is the best professional league in the world, where we are privileged to watch amazing athletes perform wondrous feats on a nightly basis. If that's not enough for you, I'd suggest that the Bulls have become fairly habitual at proving people wrong. I'm not saying that for sure will happen again--and, quite frankly, doesn't affect my job one way or the other if they do or don't--but they do play Charlotte twice in April so I think this playoff race will be fun.
With LeBron likely to end up somewhere other than Chicago, there has been talk of the Bulls signing Joe Johnson. Would that make the Bulls contenders? Atlanta is the third- or fourth-best team in the East and doesn't Johnson arguably already have a better supporting cast around him with Josh Smith, Al Horford and Marvin Williams? Ian, Washington D.C.
I touched on this a bit in last week's mailbag but from my perspective, the ONLY free agent who instantly makes the Bulls a title team is LeBron. Even adding Wade I think the Bulls fall short. But the biggest point about free agency is you have to spend the money while you have it and at least add one or two pieces you believe can help you moving forward. Winning an NBA championship takes a ton of luck along with talent. You need to stay healthy, have good chemistry, collect some breaks along the way. So there's no guarantee the Bulls win a title even if they do add good pieces. But you have to accumulate talent when you can.
Please put on your headgear, backpack and 3D "Avatar" goggles for your best prediction powers. Now tell us please: Three to five years from now, on March 20, 2015, where will this Bulls team be in the Eastern Conference standings? A) Middle of the pack, just like today; B) Among the Eastern Conference elite; C) Rebuilding around a core of youthful talent; D) Looking to jettison expiring contracts, salary and emotionally-fatigued coaches after the latest rebuilding failure. Please add your reasoning. Terry Tyrpin, Schaumburg
I am to sports predictions what Dick Vitale is to subtlety, so take the following with that perspective. (Although I'm digging my August 2009 prediction of 38-40 victories and battling for the final Eastern Conference playoff spot, which drew considerable vitriol from readers at the time.) But I actually think the Bulls will be among the Eastern Conference elite. Rose will be 26 and, barring injury, on multiple All-Star appearances. Even if the Bulls add, say, Joe Johnson and a spare part this summer, they will improve their team and personnel moves become aggressive when a team is on the upswing. See Ben Wallace signing after initial mild playoff success.
When Rose was drafted, why didn't Chicago try and fit him with a starting shooting guard? They knew Gordon wasn't a shooting guard, or Salmons, and Kirk is the worst of the three. Keith, Chicago
So what's BG, a center? Of course he's a shooting guard. Now you can make that argument that he and Rose form too small a backcourt to be effective over the long haul. But Gordon is nothing if he's not a shooting guard. Salmons is better at small forward than shooting guard, although he's playing the latter fine with the Bucks and had rebounded a bit with the Bulls following his disastrous start. And the Bulls absolutely have a chance to add a legitimate scoring shooting guard this offseason in free agency. So I'm not sure I follow your question.
Why did the Bulls shut Noah down for three weeks? The doctors told them in the beginning that Noah needed six weeks of rest but now, three weeks after trying to play spotty minutes, we are approaching the six-week time frame Noah could have used to become completely healthy. Why not just sit him for six weeks from the get go? Jon, Champaign
It's easy to second-guess. And, yes, there's a chance Noah could be fully recovered and conditioned had the Bulls done so. But there's no guarantee as this is a very fickle condition. Plus, Noah gets woefully out of shape when he doesn't play. Finally, it's not like doctors weren't involved in every decision throughout this process. They initially sent him home from the Philly-Atlanta trip in early February and rested him for two weeks. I was as surprised as anybody Noah returned on Feb. 20 at home against Philadelphia, particularly because the Bulls were in a stretch of games against mostly-inferior competition. But they played him limited minutes early until the overtime victory over Portland. My guess is that's the last time we'll see Noah as a dominant force this season, which is a shame given how much work he put in last offseason and given how well he played that night.
What are the Bulls' long-range plans, if any, for Joe Alexander? I saw him play at West Virginia quite a few times and really liked his game. He was athletic and had a decent outside jumper. Going as high as he did in the draft leads me to think there may be something there. I heard he fell out of favor with Plymouth's very own Scott Skiles in the time it takes to tie one's shoes. Have you heard anything about his future? Jack Taylor, Plymouth, Ind.
I would assume he'd play for the Bulls' summer-league team although, as an unrestricted free agent, he can do what he wants. I know the Bulls at least wanted to take a short-term look at him. I'm assuming in practice since he won't play much unless maybe the Bulls fall out of playoff contention. He is a mystery given how well he tested athletically at the NBA predraft camp and that great end to his college career. I've heard he plays the game a bit "nervous" and may be a better one-on-one player than someone who thrives in a team setting. I don't watch much college basketball, but I was told he was allowed to get the ball near the elbow at West Virginia and pretty much create on his own. That doesn't work in the NBA.
How sweet is the life of an 11th or 12th man in the NBA? Think about it: You get paid about a million dollars basically just to scrimmage at the end of blowouts. You never have any pressure or scrutiny heaped on you. You get to travel all over the country, stay in the best hotels, eat great food and you get great seats for 82 games to watch the greatest players in the world. Tell me that there is a better or easier "job" out there. And with that, I say hats off to the Trenton Hassells and Tyronn Lues of the world. Jake Knight, Paris, Texas
Don't forget Rick Brunson. And this is where the really smart ones are revealed. Guys like Hassell and Brunson figured out exactly what you speak of and bought into the team concept of practicing hard, not worrying about minutes, filling a role to enjoy the lifestyle you mention. It makes you appreciate those types all the more and roll your eyes at people like Aaron Gray, who acted like they were Michael Jordan when they should've been thankful to be in the league.
What player in the NBA do you look forward to watching live? Edie Sedgwick, Chicago
There are many and obviously LeBron is one of them. Sometimes, this gets lost in the hype but the dude is as big as Karl Malone with the athleticism and quickness of much smaller players. He's a physical freak. I loved watching Iverson in his prime because of the physical pounding his body took and his ability to always bounce back. I consider it a privilege to get to watch DRose on a nightly basis. I also enjoy watching people who appear to have maximized their gifts, players like Steve Nash and Brandon Roy. But my absolute favorite player to watch is Kobe. Having been fortunate enough to cover the Bulls' second three-peat, I got a courtside seat for Jordan's unparalleled combination of physical talent and step-on-your-throat competitive mentality. Kobe is the closest to that. I think watching sports dominance is fascinating. It's another reason I've always enjoyed watching Tiger play golf--and will again despite however I feel about his personal life. That ability to be the best but not act like it and chase the thrill of winning--to push yourself higher even when you've been to the pinnacle--is fascinating to me.
It seems like many are lobbying for Chris Bosh as our main offseason target. My only qualm with this would be benching Taj Gibson. I would be much more comfortable keeping our young frontcourt intact and adding a pure scorer, as in LeBron, Wade or Joe Johnson. Obviously, none of these players would solve our post-scoring issue but all get to the basket when needed. What's your take on this? Matt Pappas, Watauga, Texas
You detail the exact argument I used when I originally said shooting guard would be the position I'd address first. Particularly since I don't think the Bulls have to have conventional post scoring with the way Noah, when healthy, can rebound and run the floor and Rose is best in transition. (I do think you slightly overvalue Gibson, who has been a wonderful player but certainly can be upgraded on in the sense that he'd be a great bench player too.) I have waffled on this, mostly because Bosh has really changed my opinion on him this season. I think he's become an even better offensive player and demands a double-team, which should be the main prerequisite for anybody they add.
As much as I would like the Bulls to make the playoffs, I think they might be better off missing and having an opportunity to draft a player like Kentucky's DeMarcus Cousins or Georgetown's Greg Monroe to solidify our frontcourt. Both players are interchangeable at power forward and center. A Noah/Gibson/Cousins or Monroe frontcourt would be solid and much more inexpensive than signing Bosh. Another player I would love the Bulls to deal for on draft day would be Ohio State's Evan Turner, whom I think is going to be special. Rocky, San Diego
I can't say this clearly enough: The Bulls need another young player like I need more caffeine. (You don't know me, but the rumor is I'm a bit high-strung at times.) Always make the playoffs. Always. Look at what it did for Noah's development. This team has plenty of young players. Make the playoffs. Now.
I can't help but notice how John Salmons and Tyrus Thomas are thriving in their new settings. What's your take on this? Stan Histand, Goshen, Ind.
Neither is a surprise, probably not even to Bulls management. Salmons had mostly returned to form after his disastrous start but it's clear he's more effective as a starter. That just didn't work with Hinrich solidifying the starting lineup. Salmons is filling the same role for the Bucks he filled for the Bulls last season and they're giving him a ton of freedom to be the primary scorer. The Bulls needed to move a contract to have the flexibility to offer a max contract this summer in free agency and they knew they were giving up the best player in their two trades when they did so. As for Tyrus, it's been well documented he'd likely be the type of player who would flourish in his second stop. The same pattern of inconsistency--both from his playing and his playing time--had happened for too long with the Bulls. It will be interesting to see what happens for Tyrus this summer, when he's a restricted free agent.
Living on the West Coast, I see lots of Western Conference teams play. I have concluded as a lifelong Bulls fan (I lived in Chicago as a kid) that I think the Bulls would be best off focusing on Boozer. LBJ and Wade are pipe dreams. Bosh and Joe Johnson are coin flips. If the Bulls had a starting five of Rose, Gibson, Deng, Boozer and Noah and Kirk as the sixth man, that's not a bad team to compete in the East. Maybe pick up a reliable bench player and we could have a good run and not kill the cap if another player comes available. Scott, Las Vegas
Well, there is talk that the Bulls intrigue Boozer. And he obviously went on local radio both here and in Miami last summer saying he wanted to play in those cities. So we'll see. I have no doubt the Bulls will sign somebody and will have a good handle on the market and players' intentions as soon as free agency starts. If they think they need to get one of the so-called "second tier" players and Boozer is available, of course he'd help. Although no way would both he and Gibson start.
Who would you rather have for this season, Tyrus or Warrick? What about five years from now? AJ, Peoria
Can I answer Al Harrington? He was available, but the Bulls held out on a Tyrus trade until they found a team that would include a draft pick. As for your question, it's easy to answer with the benefit of hindsight: The Bulls are atrocious defensively right now and even with his inconsistencies and occasional frustrations, Tyrus was a basket protector. Warrick, to me, appears to be one of those guys who if you see just occasionally, you go, 'Wow. I like this guy. Good athleticism. High motor.' But when you see him every game, his weaknesses are on display. He gets pushed around way too easily. And while he's a decent offensive rebounder, he hasn't helped much on the defensive glass and certainly isn't the basket protector Tyrus is. So I'd rather have Tyrus now. And I'd rather have Tyrus five years from now. Warrick isn't a bad player.
We all know that DRose is evolving every year and we've seen that with his consistency in making the mid-range jumper. What do you see him working on this offseason to add to his game? Possibly the 3-point shot? CJ Leynes, Niles
I hope his defense. I think DRose has improved considerably in man-on-man defense and also has limited penetration a bit better. He's still very poor in off-the-ball situations, losing his man consistently. He's too good an athlete and too strong not to be a better defender.
Why don't writers talk about the great moves the Bulls have made? Two come to mind: Rose over Beasley and Ben Gordon leaving. Beasley sits at the end of games and Gordon is a non-factor and exposed as not worth the kind of money he wanted. Gregg Ruskusky, Portland, Ore.
You certainly can mess up No. 1 picks. Look at Oden over Durant. And I remember people ripping Otis Smith for drafting Dwight Howard over reigning college player of the year Emeka Okafor but that one worked out OK. Yes, the Bulls deserve credit for making the right pick. It may look like a no-brainer, but it isn't always. In general, I think the Bulls have drafted extremely well in Paxson's tenure. He missed on Aldridge and Roy in the Tyrus draft but otherwise, there's little about which to quibble. As for BG, that's a fascinating debate. And I'm not sure how much credit you can give the Bulls considering they offered him large-money extensions the previous two summers that he turned down. They clearly wanted to keep him--just not at the Pistons' price and not after they acquired Salmons.
Like you, I usually get burned out watching the Bulls around mid-March. But here's a fun one: Have you noticed that the Bulls win an inordinate number of jump balls to start games? What are the secrets of Noah and Miller? Shawn, Deerfield, Ill.
Don't forget Ben Wallace, who was probably closer to 6-8 and consistently won jump balls. Like Wallace, Miller is the master of the quick jump because obviously he's not going to outjump many people. But, yes, I have noticed and, yes, it is fairly remarkable how many opening tips the Bulls win.
I think you misunderstand how many Bulls fans feel about Luol Deng and why we are so mad. It isn't that we refuse to acknowledge the things he does but that the Bulls so wildly overpaid for his services when they re-signed him to a long-term, franchise player level contract. Accordingly, his value is about nil on the open market. He is a marginally talented guy that puts up decent numbers but he can disappear for long stretches. He never takes big shots at clutch moments. He settles for ridiculous perimeter jumpers rather than dribble-driving or penetration and he turns over the ball a lot. Watching him play is a reminder of how this front office has bungled player drafting, signings, player-retention decisions and how they opt for no-hassle personalities rather than in-your-face guys. The Bulls have blown off Tyrus, JR Smith, Shannon Brown and Ben Gordon and gotten nothing in return. It is hard to watch Luol and not get mad. He is the personification of the bad judgment the Bulls have repeatedly demonstrated since the Jordan era. Tom, Des Plaines
Like all athletes should, I learned long ago not to begrudge passionate fans their opinion. If that's yours, that's fine. People spend hard-earned money on this product and invest a lot of emotional energy following it. Perhaps I'm in the minority, but I always just look at on-the-court production irrespective of contract status. It's not Luol's fault the Bulls paid him what they did so why bother getting hung up on that? Plus, that contract isn't nearly as bad as it sounds; it contains deferred money and incentives that likely won't be reached. Luol has plenty of shortcomings. He will never be the type to take over games. But as far as I'm concerned, he's a viable piece moving forward. You could certainly make the argument the Bulls focused on the wrong player to make the larger offer to when they were trying to re-sign Deng and Gordon. The Bulls opted to keep size and perhaps tired of a smaller backcourt with Gordon and Rose. I've made clear many times I would've re-signed Gordon.
Thanks for your questions. Talk to you next week.


text:
Thursday, 15 November 2012 10:48 AM
SAO PAULO — A tenuous six-year truce between police and gang members is over in Sao Paulo — that much seems clear to shopkeeper Vanuza Alves da Silva, who has seen a surge in killings in her slum neighborhood.
Seven people were killed in a single night last week in Silva's Vila Brasilandia shantytown, including a police officer. Days later, gunmen shot up a bar, killing a 13-year-old boy and three adults.
Blood isn't flowing just in her slum.
Sao Paulo, which is to host the World Cup opening match in 2014, has seen nearly 150 homicides over the past two weeks and 94 police executed this year.
"It's a war here. Last week I was on a bus when a shootout began on the street. There was no escape. We didn't know if we should flee the bus or stay inside," Silva said at her modest all-purpose shop in Vila Brasilandia. "There were bullets everywhere, so I stayed inside."
Behind the violence, security experts say, is a powerful prison-based gang, the First Capital Command, which likely feels the government has violated an informal agreement, long denied by officials, to slow the prison transfers of gang leaders and limit crackdowns on its operations on Sao Paulo's outskirts in exchange for an end to gang violence.
In the past two weeks, Sao Paulo's metropolitan area has seen more than 10 killings a day, almost double the normal average of six.
Efforts to transfer high-ranking imprisoned members of the gang, known by its Portuguese initials PCC, to far off prisons where they would have difficulty giving orders by cellphone to their soldiers on the outside enraged the gang in 2006.
Five days of gang-inspired attacks then left at least 175 dead, including police officers, traffickers and the innocent in between. After the violence lingered for months, an alleged informal truce between the government and the PCC slowed the transfers and the attacks tapered off.
"This year the government broke its 2006 truce," said Walter Maierovitch, Brazil's former drug czar and organized crime expert. "The violence we're seeing now is the PCC's response to the end of the truce and the violent reaction of police who don't hesitate to execute real and imagined suspects out of a feeling of revenge."
There are fears the gang will now go beyond the carnage of 2006, and that has this metropolitan area of 20 million people on edge.
In the last six months, a series of police raids have killed dozens of suspected gang members, while nearly all the officers killed have been executed while they were off duty, at times in front of their families.
Officials say phone intercepts of gang leaders' calls from prison and handwritten orders show that the gang is behind the execution of the police officers.
Authorities recently renewed efforts to transfer the gang's leaders to prisons outside Sao Paulo state. The Justice Ministry on Wednesday authorized sending one of the PCC's top figures to a maximum security prison in Roraima state, 900 miles (1,450 kilometers) to the northwest in the Amazon.
That order came after 24 hours of relative calm in which Sao Paulo had just one homicide. Few expect the calm to hold after Wednesday's transfer order, but officials held their ground on moving prisoners to far-off locations.
"Isolation for these prisoners is crucial," Sao Paulo state Gov. Geraldo Alckmin said this week. "Italy only made progress in combatting the Mafia when it stiffened penalties up to life imprisonment and isolated the leaders."
While drug gangs in the slums of Rio de Janeiro draw international attention by parading around the shantytowns toting high-powered rifles, giving interviews and carrying out Hollywood-worthy battles with police, the PCC is all business.
The Sao Paulo gang detests attention and remains mostly in the shadows of the slums where it holds sway, ruling on reputation and fear, maintaining a mafia-like stance.
"The PCC is better organized, more powerful, and they have a monopoly of crimes and power which is something nobody achieved in Rio," said Ignacio Cano, a researcher at the Violence Analysis Center at Rio de Janeiro State University. "They are by far the strongest criminal group in Brazil."
The gang was founded in 1993 by hardened criminals inside Sao Paulo's Taubate Penitentiary, but remained a relatively obscure group until early 2001, when uprisings in 29 prisons across the state killed 19 inmates. It was the biggest prison rebellion in Brazil's recent history and took police 27 hours to crush.
The PCC was formed to pressure for improved prison conditions. Brazilian Justice Minister Jose Cardozo, speaking at a security conference this week, said he would "prefer to die" than serve time in his nation's prisons. He added: "We have a medieval penal system."
While the gang's start may have been rooted in fighting for basic human rights of the imprisoned, its members quickly began using their power inside prisons to direct drug-dealing and extortion operations on the outside.
There are no official numbers on the gang's size, but the inner core considered as members is thought to include no more than a few thousand people, Cano said.
Last month, police documents obtained by the newspaper Folha de S. Paulo indicated the gang's members numbered just over 1,300, and showed they are required to pay $300 in monthly fees in exchange for legal aid if they're arrested and support for their families if they go to jail.
What makes the PCC so powerful is that corporate approach to how it manages gang enterprises as well as its reach beyond its core membership.
"They outsource. They contract people and allow them to carry out certain activities as long as they're paying them [the PCC] something in return," Cano said. "For example, in 2006 many people say the killings of policemen were outsourced."
Estimates of the number of people connected in some way to the gang go as high as 100,000.
The security experts, Cano and Maierovitch, both agree that violence will escalate if police continue a hardline approach against the PCC, and if there is a perception that political leaders are closing their eyes to excessive force or killings carried out by officers against suspected gang members.
An amateur video aired by the Globo TV network this week is likely to increase the backlash.
It shows police escorting a suspect out of his home in a poor Sao Paulo neighborhood. With the man in the street and surrounded by five officers, one policeman points his gun at the suspect. In that instant, two shots are fired, but the person taking the video is blocked, obscuring the scene.
The man was later reported by police as being killed during a gunbattle. But investigators on Wednesday requested that the officers involved be taken into custody while an investigation continues, a request a judge had not yet ruled on.
A police spokeswoman said the department had no comment on the case.
Back in the Vila Brasilandia slum, shopkeeper Silva said that while police and the gang battle, those caught in the crossfire are feeling the pain.
"The average person ends up being the real target — and we don't know who is the criminal and who is the police," she said.
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text:
Pacers' Granger to miss rest of season
Indianapolis, IN – Indiana Pacers forward Danny Granger will miss the remainder of the season to undergo knee surgery, the team announced on Thursday.
Granger, who had already missed the majority of 2012-13 season after undergoing a procedure in October for patellar tendinosis, reappeared in the Pacers' lineup on Feb. 25, but played in just five contests before his left knee continued to give him soreness.
In a statement, the team said the decision to sideline the 6-foot-8, 228- pounder for good was made after conservative treatment options could not alleviate the discomfort. Granger is expected to be ready for training camp.
The New Mexico product averaged 18.7 points, five rebounds and 1.8 assists per game last year after starting in all 62 of Indiana's contests.


text:
11 reasons your infographic isn't an infographic
Ian Lurie May 30 2012
OK everyone. Take a deep, freaking breath. I can't sneeze right now without spraying germs on someone's attempt at a data-driven work of art.
Here's why the poster you paid someone $400 to make isn't an infographic:
- Lack of clarity. Infographics should ease and speed the consumption of information. If you take something you can express in 25 words and turn it into 1000 x 3000 pixels of eye-watering garbage, it's not an infographic. It's a waste of paper.
- Lack of data. Infographics used to communicate data. Like this. Now, apparently, I can turn a fax machine manual into a poster and get it posted to 55 different infographics directories. Retch.
- Low information density. An infographic is more effective than words describing the same subject. Otherwise it's art. Which is cool and all. But it's not an infographic.
- Lack of flow. An infographic should lead me from introduction to conclusion, somehow. It should help me solve or understand a problem. If it doesn't, it's a graphic, minus the info. This Visually piece is a great example of infographic flow.
- Flatland (read Edward Tufte's work for the full description). It's a two-dimensional drawing that describes two dimensions of data. Look at this chart showing Napoleon's army as the Russian winter destroys it. How many different dimensions are there? I counted at least four.
- Chartjunk (again, read Tufte): Extra crap that doesn't help me understand the data.
- Yeck. It's as visually appealing as a spit wad.
- You stole your data. Infographics cite their sources. If you didn't cite, it's a stash, not an infographic.
- It's pointless. Just go read Mark Mapstone's post. You'll see what he means.
- Terrible writing. 'Graphic' doesn't mean 'you have permission to write drivel.' The writing has to be extraordinary. It can't be awful.
- Someone who can't even use Excel told a room full of people, "Let's create an infographic!" and everyone nodded sagely. You might get lucky, I guess, and still create something worthwhile. It's more likely, though, that the result will have all of the above problems.
A colored background, a few stick drawings and bizarre font choices don't make something an infographic. You're hunting the word into extinction. Please, stop.
Ian Lurie
CEO & Founder
Ian Lurie is CEO and founder of Portent and the EVP of Marketing Services at Clearlink. He's been a digital marketer since the days of AOL and Compuserve (25 years, if you're counting). He's recorded training for Lynda.com, writes regularly for the Portent Blog and has been published on AllThingsD, Smashing Magazine, and TechCrunch.Ian speaks at conferences around the world, including SearchLove, MozCon, Seattle Interactive Conference and ad:Tech. He has published has published several books about business and marketing: One Trick Ponies Get Shot, available on Kindle, The Web Marketing All-In-One Desk Reference for Dummies, and Conversation Marketing.Follow him on Twitter at portentint, and on LinkedIn at LinkedIn.com/in/ianlurie. Read More
13 Comments
Nice one Ian.
I've been working on an infographic for nearly two months now. Guess you can see how hard that I find it is to do the real research and create the images in it and to make it have instant impact as an INFORMATIONAL graphic as opposed to a fancy image with bits and bobs of detials that mean nothing visually to the the viewer.
Some cracking tips and insights here … bless your cotton socks today :-)
You lose points for your infographic only including one font. =)
Great post though, the recent blog on SEOmoz about Facebook's IPO comes to mind as a really effective infographic, I'd love to know, now that you mention it, what they paid to have that put together.
Infographics have something interesting (usually) that forces people to read it from the beginnig to the end – and sometimes it takes a lot of time, because of the chaos-placed info, Yeah, you're right – maybe infographics are not very handy, but I think they are completing their job very good – I think it is because of mix of fancy images, bright colors and comedy way of giving information (not every time, but very often).
BTW. I never ever done any infographic, but I read every single one, which I found – dunno exactly why ;)
Ian, thanks for the nice post. Did you mean you liked the Indian Railways graphic? I found it terribly difficult to understand, as a resident of the city. (the top-down order of the locations is bizzarre it starts from the center and includes places in the extreme north and extreme south next to each other, and also no one knows what the dotted lines mean.
Thanks for this Ian. I tried to explain to my partner what an infographic was and then showed her an example of one. She responded by saying: "So…. it's a poster then?" And therein lies the problem with many infographics as was the case with the example I showed her. More art than information as per your third point. I've only just started getting involved with infographics in my company, so I'm on a fast learning curve and your points have helped clarify some things.
I'm also grateful that you provided some useful links to further illustrate your points.
My biggest pet peeve with infographics has nothing to do with your list… it's a matter of whether the subject matter is actually relevant to the audience. If I see another major tech company put out some stupid infographic on European Football because they're trying to get some press in Europe, I'm going to throw up.
Excellent post! I would have laughed harder, but I've seen too many awful excuses for infographics. Agree with Douglas Karr above re: an infographic's relevance. Many people are illiterate when it comes to charts and graphs, and will fall for just about anything you work up with Excel and stick in front of them.
And with that, I'm off to tinker a little more with an infographic I've been working on since mid-April.
Great post! It seems like these days, everyone jumps at the idea of making an infographic without spending some time actually figuring out the content and design. The result is usually a long, jumbled mess that does little to simplify the data and get the message across effectively.
The key to infographics is keeping it simple, the information clear and the design clean. I like to treat infographics as a story told visually, with an over-arching message and a clear progression from start to finish.
Great points Ian. I'm seeing lots of 'infographics' these days that don't really have any valuable conclusion or storyline. People aren't going to remember numbers or percentages, but they might get the point if your infographic has a compelling narrative.
Bahahahahahaha…..hold on let me catch my breath….whew.
I love the article. I'm going to disagree on point #2, though, in cases where your point #3 is fulfilled, like a fax machine manual, for example, or maybe a better example would be IKEA's assembly directions that are written without words, but convey meaning concisely, and probably better.
The rest of it, I am afraid, is a confirmation of the sad state of written communication everywhere. We are in a world where (too many) people with college degrees can not spell or figure out how to group ideas into things called paragraphs. Perhaps this will assist them with at least being able to communicate with the pictures.
Nice post. I think this correlates nicely with what Matt Cutts was saying the other day, i.e. turning something into a visual has to add value. If the information is dull it's not going to be any less dull when it's coloured in.
This is a great example of data that works better as a visual (I'm starting to hate the word infographic) than as text – http://www.mnn.com/health/fitness-well-being/stories/10-reasons-not-to-start-smoking-infographic
P.S. in point 4 did you mean to link to this page? – http://visual.ly/what-are-odds
Great post Ian. I should add your 11 to my list of "Five Reasons Your Infographic Sucks" post (http://www.mikewilton.com/5-reasons-your-infographic-sucks/).
I hate that infographics get so much flack, because I feel done well they can be really useful and interesting. Unfortunately, as you point out designers offering graphics for $200 because they are the big thing right now and ultimately they are tarnishing the infographic name.