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06.05.2005 | permalink
An ordinance entering into force in January 2006 to control the cultivation of genetically modified (GM) crops in Hokkaido aims to prevent cross-pollination between GM and non-GM crops. The strict regulagtions, which will practically prevent GMO growing aims to gain consumers' confidence and further enhance the image of Hokkaido brands

Japan for Sustainability
05.05.2005 | permalink
Canadas "potatoe" island Prince Edward Island might be the fist GMO free area in the country. Hearings are being held by the legislative assembly and a controversial debate is on

PEI offical web-site: Biotechnology and Prince Edward Island

Wired: Canada Island May Boot GMO Crops
05.05.2005 | permalink
The new Bulgarian law on GMOs has been published March 27th. It is intended to harmonize with EU legislation, but falls short of that according to "Agrolink" and other Bulgarian NGOs. The law provides for 30 km protection zones around natural protection areas and special protection for organic fields. It also prohibits the release of genetically modified tobacco, rose for oil, grapevines, vegetables and fruits, cotton and wheat

NGO statement on new Bulgarian GMO law
26.04.2005 | permalink
Pomorskie Province (with capital Gdansk) has declared itself GMO free. It is an area on the Baltic sea, popularwith tourists. The area is 18,000km2 and has a population of 2.2 million.Also a commune in Dolnoslaskie Province called Dziadowa-Kloda has declareditself a GMO Free Zone. There are 4,600 citizens in Dziadowa-Kloda and the area is105km2.
22.04.2005 | permalink
One thousand GMO-Free Zones were declared throughout the island of Ireland today - 22nd April, Earth Day 2005 - by farmers, food producers, hotels, restaurants, markets, pubs, retailers, and homes North and South of the border. These sites require legal protection from contamination by genetically modified (GM) seeds, crops, trees, livestock and fish. Hundreds of participants have placed GMO-FREE ZONE signs outside their place of business

GM-free Ireland Press Release (pdf)

GM-free Ireland Homepage
21.04.2005 | permalink
The EU temporarily banned imports of U.S. maize feed and grains unless there is proof they are free of an illegal genetically modified organism. A test has been provided by Syngenta and GeneScan and approved by the EU

SOS Dossier on bt10 - constantly updated

EU Press Release

Syngenta Press Release: Syngenta supports EU in targeted certification program for two animal feed maize products
19.04.2005 | permalink
The EU Commission has published a list of 26 genetically modified products which have been legally on the EU market since before the new legislative framework for authorising GM food and feed had entered into effect. These so-called 'existing products' were either approved under former EU legislation, or did not require approval at the time that they were put on the market

EU Press Release

EU Commission: Questions & answers on GMO 'existing products' register

EU Commission: the register notifications
16.04.2005 | permalink
The Committee of Professional Agricultural Organisations in the European Union (COPA) today unanimously elected Rudolf Schwarzböck new Presidentfor the period 2005 - 2007. Schwarzböck has been the President of the Austrian Chambers of Agriculture, which expressed a distinctly critical position on GMO over the past years

COPA Press release in various languages: Rudolf Schwarzböck elected President

Letter of Austrian Chamber of Ag on GMO and Seed thresholds to the EU Commission (german olny)
12.04.2005 | permalink
The Italian Constitutional court confirmed the laws in Marche and Puglia, which declare these Regions GMO free

AGI: Go ahead for gmo free produce
05.04.2005 | permalink
On March 31st 2005, the Province of Lodskie, in central southern Poland,declared itself a GMO Free Zone.Lodze has a population of 2.5 million and covers an area of 18,220 km2. Thecapitol city is Lodz

overview Poland


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Shopping malls database
Home Depot Plaza - Bensalem is located at the corner of Bristol Pike & Whittier Ave., Bensalem. It is a Community Center which opened in 1971 and was last renovated in 2006. It is an Open shopping mall with 1,756 parking spaces. It covers an area of 300,000 sqft. and has about 18 stores.
Shopping mall's name: Home Depot Plaza - Bensalem
Address: Bristol Pike & Whittier Ave., Bensalem, PA 19020
State: PA
Number of stores: 18

subset: commoncrawl


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How Biometrics Can Help Designers Build Better Places for People
Our last eye-tracking post reviewed biometric technology, common to advertising and product design, and how it holds game-changing promise for architecture. Tools like eye tracking, which record our "unconscious' eye movements; EEG (electroencephalogram) which measures electrical activity in our brain; and Facial Expression Analysis, which records our shifting moods, all radically change our understanding of how people respond to a variety of stimuli.
How so? Eye tracking, for example, can forecast how humans will behave around buildings, particularly exteriors, which turns out to be important for assessing things like walkability or an area's overall appeal.
Eye tracking measures both the conscious and unconscious responses people have to visual stimuli. It tracks pre-attentive processing, the activity our brain engages in the first 3-5 seconds we look at something, well before our conscious mind can get into the act. That turns out to be hugely significant because pre-attentive behaviors set the parameters for our conscious action and experience.
Here we look at three ways biometrics can improve architectural design. Eye tracking architecture lets us:
Forecast the "Approach-Avoidance" Response
Humans evolved emotions for a very good reason: they helped us survive. We're wired to "approach" or "avoid" elements in our environment instantly—choosing to move towards one place or another without conscious effort. Eye tracking helps deconstruct this process, showing how it happens mostly effortlessly and continuously. (Evolution wouldn't have it any other way.)
In the cottage above (actually, Dunker Church on Antietam Civil War battlefield, Maryland) the shadow study reveals that people would be less likely to look at or approach the historic building if it lacked windows around the front door. This shadow study aggregated the data of 30 people who looked at the photos in 15-second testing intervals. Remarkably, the study also suggests the facades with windows makes people, with no conscious control, also focus on the surroundings immediately adjacent to the building (note the large black dot on stair rail). Without windows, people ignore the stairway leading to the church which, of course, effectively precludes their heading towards the building.
Collect Data for Evidence-Based Design
Evidence-based medicine has gained ground since the 1990s, encouraging clinicians to track the impact of their interventions to improve practice; we see evidence-based design in architecture beginning to take hold, too. Biometrics, significantly, give architects the tools needed to gather the hard data to predict how designs impact people before anything's built.
The photo, above top left, shows existing conditions in Davis Square, Somerville, MA, a walkable area near many colleges and universities under increasing development pressure. How do people take it in?
The shadow study suggests the existing street view of the blank facade of a new parking garage confuses them, providing nowhere to look. Note how the study's black spots swirl. Viewers' experience changes, however, once a Matisse-like mural is applied (photoshopped). Note how attention focuses on the art to such an extent, people stop looking down the side street! Asked where they'd rather stand, people (more than 300) consistently told us, without exception, they'd prefer waiting in front of the mural.
How can this be? Wired for attachment, our eyes constantly scan our surroundings looking for safe places to stick or fixate; and the fractal-like patterns provide them, satisfying this innate need and thus reducing anxiety, while the blank facade does neither. It's astonishing to see, how one secure fixation place, in this instance a colorful biomimicking mural on concrete, so radically changes human behavior and attitude in the built environment – wordlessly.
Assess the Impact of a Design Intervention
How well does a design change user experience? If there are multiple options, which works best? Eye tracking can help determine the answer.
You see that here, in the study above of the subway exit at Somerville's busy Davis Square. A blank, unwelcoming concrete wall (top left) greets riders exiting the station there every day, offering no acknowledgement of any human presence! The shadow study's array of bigger dots at its edges (in the photo at bottom left), indicates people avoid confronting the wall. Imagine: the first move the body makes at this doorway is avoiding arrival there!
Add soothing blue attractive art to the blank concrete and people's behavior radically shifts; they go into approach-mode fixating on the wall as though it's a long-lost friend.
The point here is not only to suggest the power of biometrics to elucidate human experience in the built environment but also to make clear something as important: we're at the tip of the iceberg. Biotech is at a place today where we can pretty-much completely predict human response to whatever we build—whether people feel anxious approaching the new structure, or will want to linger outside it; whether they'll chose to walk down a city street or never consider doing so, getting into a car instead. The question is no longer about the technology —it's here and actively deployed in multiple design industries (auto, advertising, a.i., web design). The question is: Do we care enough about people to use these tools in architecture? Are we ready to abandon previous practices and 20th-Century not-very-biologically-based-mindsets to do so? We probably should, because at the end of the day, architecture is really about one thing: us. Our health, our happiness. What are we waiting for?
Biometric studies with iMotions software and EyeTribe eye-trackers created shadow-images above; research conducted at Dr. Justin B. Hollander's Urban Attitudes Lab,Tufts and at GeneticsofDesign.com studio, at ArtScape in the Bradford Mill, Concord, MA.
Images: Davis Square parking garage, courstesy of City of Somerville, MA. All other photos by geneticsofdesign.com


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Trump seeks changes in landmark agreement limiting how long migrant children can be detained
In 1985, a 15-year-old Salvadoran girl fleeing civil war in her country inadvertently came to represent all children detained by U.S. immigration authorities after being strip searched every day and housed with adult men while in prolonged government custody.
The resulting Flores agreement, as the class-action court settlement came to be known after the girl, Jenny Lisette Flores, has since served to protect the rights of minors who end up in the custody of immigration authorities, setting the terms of their care and release.
On Thursday, the Trump administration took the first steps to get out from under that 1997 consent decree, filing new proposed rules on the treatment of minors that immigrant advocates said could lead to more children being detained for extended periods of time.
The move, which is virtually guaranteed to lead to a court fight, comes as the government is still scrambling to undo the aftermath of its widely condemned "zero tolerance" measures to separate children from their parents at the border and prosecute adults who crossed illegally.
The proposed rules could allow minors to be held indefinitely along with their parents, beyond the current limit, by relaxing the licensing requirements of facilities in which immigrant children can be detained. The Flores agreement requires that migrant children be released "without unnecessary delay" or placed in licensed facilities within five days, and during an emergency or influx of immigrant minors arriving at the border, within 20 days.
Calling the restrictions of the Flores settlement "legal loopholes," Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen said they "significantly hinder the department's ability to appropriately detain and promptly remove family units that have no legal basis to remain in the country."
"This rule addresses one of the primary pull factors for illegal immigration and allows the federal government to enforce immigration laws as passed by Congress," she said in a statement on the administration's proposal.
The Trump administration has in effect placed the blame for its disastrous family separation policy, which resulted in thousands of children being removed from their parents, on the Flores agreement. The government has contended that the settlement puts it in a bind because no existing family detention centers meet the restrictive requirements for the treatment of minors. That forces authorities to release children while keeping their parents in custody, the government argues.
In light of a federal judge's order to avoid separating families, U.S. officials say they now have no choice but to release their parents as well, which government attorneys have argued incentivizes illegal border crossings.
Peter Schey, an attorney with the Center for Human Rights and Constitutional Law who represented detained children in the Flores case, said the administration's characterization that the settlement led to increases in illegal immigration has "no basis in fact."
"Refugee children should not be made to suffer inhumane treatment and prolonged and unnecessary detention just to satisfy President Trump's zero tolerance approach to refugees seeking safety in the United States," he said in a statement.
The proposed rule, which will be officially published Friday, comes after a federal judge in Los Angeles rejected the White House's bid to indefinitely detain immigrant children caught crossing the border illegally together with their parents.
U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee in July denied a request by the Justice Department, which asked that the terms of the Flores settlement be relaxed so that it could comply with a San Diego federal judge's orders to reunite the families separated at the border.
The judge criticized the government for what she called an attempt to shift the responsibility to the judiciary. Gee wrote in her ruling at the time that she found "dubious" and "unconvincing" the government's contention that the settlement caused a "surge" in border crossings, writing that "any number of other factors" including civil strife and economic conditions back home could have caused the increase.
California Atty. Gen. Xavier Becerra on Thursday accused the administration of jeopardizing children's welfare for political gain.
"Do we need to remind President Trump and his advisors that they're playing with the well-being of children?" said Becerra, who was part of a coalition of 18 attorneys general who sued the Trump administration over family separations. "The Flores settlement agreement contains critical protections that have been in place for decades. We continue to oppose the unlawful, heartless family separation policy and detention of children that the federal government shamefully stands behind."
The American Psychological Assn. also chimed in, expressing concern for the lasting effects of the administration's policies on the detained children.
"Research has shown that immigrant detainees are particularly vulnerable to psychological stress. Furthermore, the longer the detention period, the greater the risk of depression and other mental health symptoms for immigrants who were previously exposed to interpersonal trauma," association President Jessica Henderson Daniel wrote in a statement.
The publication of the rule opens up a 60-day window for the public to comment. The new regulations, the government wrote in its proposed rule, "would satisfy the basic purpose" of the Flores agreement while "ensuring that all juveniles in the government's custody are treated with dignity, respect and special concern for their particular vulnerability as minors, while doing so in a manner that is workable in light of subsequent changes."
The rule will undoubtedly be challenged in court by immigrant advocates, setting the stage for yet another round of legal wrangling over the Trump administration's hard-line immigration policies.
Advocates say that immigration authorities have already been flouting the terms of the Flores settlement and that detention facilities are rife with examples of abuse and mistreatment. Many said they were particularly concerned about the proposal that that the federal government license its own detention centers when it was already doing a poor job of protecting children in custody.
"The same administration that forcibly separated children from their parents and knowingly inflicted trauma on them cannot be allowed to set the standard of care for immigrant children," said Michelle Brané, director of the Migrant Rights and Justice program at the Women's Refugee Commission.
Denise Gilman, who directs the University of Texas Law School Immigration Clinic in Austin, said advocates would probably file for an injunction to block the rule from taking effect. Gilman said that some families are already detained for more than 20 days, particularly those who speak indigenous languages, and that the number could grow as the new policy is litigated.
"We could stop implementation before it starts," she said.
Times staff writers Molly Hennessy-Fiske in Houston and Cindy Carcamo in Los Angeles and San Diego Union-Tribune staff writer Kate Morrissey in San Diego contributed to this report.
4:30 p.m.: This article was written through and updated throughout.
11:30 a.m. This article was updated with reaction from the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights.
This article was originally published at 8:25 a.m.
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text: Kiev is the capital city of Ukraine, bisected by the Dnieper River and known for its religious architecture, secular monuments and history museums. The 11th-century Kiev Pechersk Lavra is a monastery and pilgrimage site encompassing several gold-domed churches. It's known for its catacombs lined with the burial chambers of Orthodox monks, and a collection of gold objects from ancient Scythian times.


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Film and photography by Stefan Laxness, 2016.
'Remote China' is a psycho-geographic journey through China's North-western borderlands. Geographically strategic, rich in resources and ethnically diverse, these regions have found themselves at fore-front of the Chinese Dream and Beijing's desire to harness its far flung provinces. Set against the backdrop of the countries vast deserts, the film drifts through a landscape of accumulation of physical object in which infrastructural connections and new oases of economy and industry are quickly populating the desert.
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Press Releases
Posted on September 9, 2015
Economy to continue gradual growth as Bank of Canada holds interest rates
From Business News Network (BNN):
Bank of Canada kept interest rates unchanged Wednesday, in line with economist expectations. Sherry Cooper, Chief Economist, Dominion Lending Centres says although Canada's economy is currently a mixed bag, there are some signs that it is on its way to gradual growth.
Sign up to Newsletter
Sign up to regular newsletters from Dr Sherry Cooper


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You may not have a lot of experience in relationships or you have several of them that didn't work behind you. If you are looking for some guidance on how to make a relationship work, you should read our tips on growing intimacy. They will help you connect with your partner on a deeper level and it is that emotional connection that takes partnerships to the next level and makes them successful.
Always Lead Emotional and Meaningful Conversations
There are two keys to any relationship and maintaining its quality – honesty, and communication. If you want your relationship to progress, you need to work on having meaningful and emotional conversations. Whenever there is something bothering you, make sure to tell that to your partner in a patient and non-aggressive way, which means that no yelling and fighting is allowed.
Keep in mind that this should be a two-way street, so ask your partner to do the same. If they have something bothering them, encourage them to express their concerns and reveal them to you. On the other hand, you need to be prepared to listen and show readiness to meet their expectations or reach a compromise.
It sounds simple, but talking is the best way of improving the intimacy in your relationship. Sharing personal stories, aspirations, dreams, hopes, and fears is an excellent way to get to know your partner and let them meet the real you. Try leading a meaningful and inspiring conversation on any topic and notice how the level of intimacy is immediately growing.
Make Sure to Keep Things Interesting
Boredom is the number one enemy of every relationship. Nobody likes to be caught in the routine, which is why you should put maximum effort to avoid the traps of falling into a boring relationship. The opportunities for making things interesting are endless – you can choose activities that you both enjoy, such as playing video games, or choose a travel destination and go away for a couple of days.
You may consider putting together a list of fun things and choosing one of the items to do every day or week. It is essential to be ready for compromises and give your best to find something you will both enjoy. Reading the same book, attending the same class, and heading to the movies, are only some of the options you can select.
When it comes to the bedroom, you should also try to keep things interesting there. If your sex life seems boring, talk to your partner about how you can improve it. Think about using accessories, toys, or lubricants. Be honest about the additions you would like to make and ensure to listen to your partner about their desires so that you can find a middle ground.
Is Your Partner Feeling Secure?
We already mentioned honesty as a key to a successful relationship and an important component of honesty is trust. You want your partner to feel secure just because they are in a relationship with you.
This implies that you will be there for them through thick and thin – if they have a problem at work, they need to be certain they can share their concerns with you. If they need help to move or with anything else, they should count on you.
Aside from that, they also shouldn't question your whereabouts or potential relationships with other people. If you truly want your partnership to succeed, raise the level of honesty to the maximum. Try to answer your phone whenever possible and not hide anything, whether in terms of events or emotions.
Raise Your Sexual Confidence
Why not consider some natural ways to increase stamina? You may consider working out regularly, especially in the morning, and combining aerobic and strength exercises. This will not only boost your endurance, but it will make your body leaner, which will subsequently increase your confidence in and out of the bedroom.
They say that, in order for someone to like you, you have to like yourself first. However, that may not be an easy thing to do, especially if you are not feeling like you are performing at your peak in the bedroom. It seems like your endurance has dropped and even your sex drive is nowhere near the same level as before.
If you are looking for a libido boost, why not try increasing the level of testosterone by utilizing natural dietary supplements or improving your nutrition. When it comes to sex drive, the lack of it may be caused by low testosterone. A small effort can go a long way and you will quickly feel a surge in sexual desire and that will promote both your and your partner's sexual pleasure.
Ensure Your Partner Is Interested in You
You need to learn how to read the signs if something is not okay. Perhaps your partner is starting to lose interest in the relationship but doesn't want to give up on it just yet. In that case, you should make sure to talk and see how you can improve things. Once again, try to talk honestly and discuss the current issues.
It is important to be open and ready to work on improving things. If you come to the conclusion that it may be helpful to turn to a couples' therapist, that is precisely what you should do. Sometimes a mediator may help you discover how to utilize time and effort to solve problems burdening your relationship.
The crucial thing to take is that every relationship takes both your time and effort. The good news is that all that pays off eventually as you will enjoy being in an honest and meaningful partnership. Utilizing these steps to grow your intimacy will help you strengthen the bond you have with your partner and show them that you are ready for a strong and meaningful relationship.
We hope that these tricks can help you establish a higher level of intimacy with your partner. Aside from applying these tips yourself, it is vital to try to engage them in meaningful conversations and explain to them that it is important they are dedicated to the relationship just as much as you. With maximum effort from both sides, only the sky is the limit!
- How to Improve the Intimacy in Your Relationship - November 15, 2018


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Booking Form
We can't wait to take you surfing! Please fill out the form below to book your lesson and we will get back to you within 48 hours to confirm. Surf's up!
Have any questions before booking?
Drop Vanessa an email directly at firstname.lastname@example.com and we'll get back to you as soon as possible!


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|All About.....Guess Who?
Having JohnHis latest?
MeMcCain in Congress is like having our very own PG* version of a megalomaniac dictator. You know the type: they're usually found north of the 38th parallel in other places. The ones whose standard move is to throw a temper tantrum whenever he's piqued because he thinks he's just not quite getting the attention or deference he 'deserves'.
Sen. John McCain has worsened the Pentagon's cash flow problems by announcing he will no longer approve reprogramming requests that shift money between accounts.Hey, thanks for helping (yourself) Senator! C'mon AZ! 'Primary' this clown next time, will ya?
Other than for emergencies, McCain said he will not support Pentagon requests to move money until he receives a detailed report on money transfers over the last two years
[Note: quotes were from original story that seems to have evolved or been redirected at the link]
*Rated PG for Poor Governance and Posturing Gratuitously


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"Possible jetpack man in sight," the pilot said, sounding weary, if not annoyed.
It was unclear if the object spotted Wednesday was the same "jetpack man" American Airlines pilots said they saw last year, flying at 3,000 feet around Los Angeles International Airport, or the reported jetpack user seen six weeks later by crew members on another commercial flight.
But the sighting this week was enough to draw warnings from aviation officials and another inquiry by federal investigators, who have now looked into several reports of someone in a jetpack flying around Los Angeles.
Federal officials who have investigated the sightings said they have not been able to confirm that a person in a jetpack actually flew into controlled airspace.
This week, however, air traffic controllers who warned other pilots in the vicinity appeared to believe the mystery flyer had returned.
"Use caution," an air traffic controller said. "The jetpack guy is back."
This time the sighting was made at 5,000 feet, 15 miles east of the airport at about 6:12 p.m., according to the Federal Aviation Administration. The agency said the airline involved was Kalitta Air, a cargo carrier.
Air traffic controllers and pilots discussing the sighting sounded somewhat exasperated, according to an audio recording of their exchanges posted on LiveATC.net, which shares live and archived recordings of air-traffic-control radio transmissions.
"We're looking for the Iron Man," a pilot said after air traffic controllers broadcast the sighting.
The FAA and the FBI investigate every potential jetpack sighting report, they said.
"The FBI will work with the FAA as we have in the past to investigate the most recent report," said Laura Eimiller, a spokeswoman for the FBI. "We've worked with the FAA on each of the past sightings and thus far, we have not been able to validate any of the reports."
In a statement, the FAA said that no unusual objects were spotted by radar on Wednesday night.
The incident in August 2020 occurred at about 6:35 p.m., when the pilot of American Airlines Flight 1997 from Philadelphia reported, "We just passed a guy in a jetpack." Another sighting, last October, was reported to have occurred at an altitude of 6,000 feet, when a China Airlines crew called it in at about 1:45 p.m. roughly seven miles northwest of the airport.
But some of the companies that make jetpacks have expressed skepticism that what pilots have seen in the air is a person, and not a large drone.
Most jetpacks lack the fuel efficiency to fly for more than a few minutes, which makes it difficult for them to get very high.
The packs are largely used as tourist attractions for thrill-seekers who want to experience a few minutes of flight, typically over open fields or water.
In recent years, the FAA has enacted rules and restrictions regarding objects flying close to airports, as the number of aerial vehicles, primarily drones, has increased around airports. The FAA requires authorization to fly in controlled airspace.


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Primary producers and regional communities will benefit from a $150 million upgrade to regional roads, bridges and truck washes across NSW.
Through the Fixing Country Roads program, the NSW Government is delivering better, safer roads infrastructure across the state.
The NSW Government has invested a total of $386 million into 302 projects across regional communities. These projects have helped to:
- reduce the cost of getting goods to market for local businesses
- keep communities connected
- unlock greater economic opportunities.
The 2019 investment in fixing country roads is part of a $543 million commitment for Restart NSW Fixing Country Roads.
Local councils are encouraged to apply by 10 October 2019. Councils are encouraged to apply in partnership with other local government areas for large-scale projects.
Source: NSW Government


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by Bridget
(Simi Valley)
Example: Not my actual flowers
Okay, It's been a while since I've shared anything on here so I'm posting two similarly themed ideas that are usually gifts my kids (5 and 3) make - although I've stolen their glory a few times :)
My kids are learning how to grow plants from cuttings. They've really only done their own Geraniums, but these plants are awesome because they're one of the simplest plants to grow from a cutting, you can find them anywhere to start, and they're pretty.
They just cut off branches, stick them in dirt, keep them watered and voila! plants root and we have nice flowering plants. They get stuck in pretty little flower pots and given out as gifts to teachers, neighbors, coaches, Grandma, as thank you gifts, etc. Some of the extra-special flower gifts have been given in plain terra cotta pots decorated by the kids with hand-prints or using their thumb prints to make flower-petals, etc. Grandma likes to get these ones.
P.S. It's an added bonus to have my yard prettied up with flowers while my kids are doing the work!
Comments for Garden of Love Flower Gift
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Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How? Simply click here to return to Homemade Gift Ideas Gallery.


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Canon TX1 Exposure
Canon PowerShot TX1 Exposure
Saturation & Hue Accuracy
Overall very good color, with good hue accuracy. Some slight oversaturation in reds, blues, and greens, but still quite good results.
Saturation. The Canon PowerShot TX1 oversaturates the strong red tones, and some blues and greens a little, but the results are still quite pleasing. Most consumer digital cameras produce color that's more highly saturated (more intense) than found in the original subjects. This is simply because most people like their color a bit brighter than life.
Skin tones. The TX1 did render skin tones slightly on the warm side in most cases, but many consumers find slightly warm skin tones more pleasing than cooler ones. Where oversaturation is most problematic is on Caucasian skin tones, as it's very easy for these "memory colors" to be seen as too bright, too pink, too yellow, etc.
Hue. Here, the TX1 again performed well, though it pushed cyan tones toward blue (a common occurrence among Canon digital cameras), some reds toward orange and some oranges towards yellow Still, very good results. The other important part of color rendition is hue accuracy. Hue is "what color" the color is.
| See full set of test images
with explanations
See thumbnails of all test and gallery images
Exposure and White Balance
Indoors, incandescent lighting
Good color with the Auto white balance setting, though a hint warm. Manual white balance was better. Average positive exposure compensation required.
|Auto WB +1.0 EV
Incandescent WB +1.0 EV
|Manual WB +1.0 EV
Color balance indoors under incandescent lighting was only slightly warm with the Auto white balance setting, though the Manual and Incandescent options produced much more accurate results. Because the Incandescent setting had a hint of a cool, magenta cast, I chose the slightly warmer (and more natural-looking) Manual setting. The Canon TX1 required an average amount of positive exposure compensation here, at +1.0 EV. Despite the slight warm cast, overall color with the Manual white balance setting is excellent, without strong purple tints in the blue flowers. (Many digital cameras reproduce these flowers with a dark, purplish tint, so the TX1 performed very well here.) Our test lighting for this shot is a mixture of 60 and 100 watt household incandescent bulbs, a pretty yellow light source, but a very common one in typical home settings here in the U.S.
Outdoors, daylight
Good color and exposure, though slightly high contrast with the default setting.
|Auto White Balance,
|Auto White Balance,
Auto Exposure
Outdoors, the Canon PowerShot TX1 performed pretty well, with only slight overexposure in the outdoor wide shot. The camera required less than the average amount of positive exposure compensation on the portrait. Default contrast is on the high side, though the camera's contrast adjustment did a pretty good job of taming the exposure without strongly affecting the color. The TX1 captured good color outdoors, without too strong of a warm cast. Overall, pretty good results here.
See full set of test images with explanations
See thumbnails of all test and gallery images
High resolution, 1,250 ~ 1,300 lines of strong detail.
|Strong detail to
1,250 lines horizontal
|Strong detail to
1,300 lines vertical
Our laboratory resolution chart revealed sharp, distinct line patterns down to about 1,250 lines per picture height horizontally, and about 1,300 lines vertically. Extinction occurred between 1,800 and 1,900 lines vertically, and didn't really occur in the horizontal direction. Use these numbers to compare with other cameras of similar resolution, or use them to see just what higher resolution can mean in terms of potential detail.
See full set of test images with explanations
See thumbnails of all test and gallery images
Sharpness & Detail
Sharp images overall, though slight edge-enhancement on high-contrast subjects. Moderate noise suppression limits detail in the shadows.
|Good definition of high-contrast
elements, though with mild
edge enhancement.
|Subtle detail: Hair
Noise suppression tends to blur
detail in areas of subtle contrast,
as in the darker parts of
Marti's hair here.
Sharpness. The Canon PowerShot TX1 captures reasonably sharp images, though with slightly mottled detail. Some edge enhancement artifacts are visible on high-contrast subjects such as the crop above left, but it's minimal and not uncommon. Edge enhancement creates the illusion of sharpness by enhancing colors and tones right at the edge of a rapid transition in color or tone.
Detail. The crop above right shows significant softening due to noise suppression, as the darker areas of Marti's hair show limited detail. Noise-suppression systems in digital cameras tend to flatten-out detail in areas of subtle contrast. The effects can often be seen in shots of human hair, where the individual strands are lost and an almost "watercolor" look appears.
ISO & Noise Performance
Low to moderate noise at the normal sensitivity settings, but very high noise and strong blurring at the higher settings, especially at ISO 1,600.
Noise levels are low to moderate at the Canon TX1's lower sensitivity settings, with much higher noise at ISO 400 and higher. Noise pixels are bright at the higher settings, which throws off the color balance a bit, and the grain pattern eliminates some of the finer details above ISO 400. At ISOs 800 and especially 1,600, noise is quite strong, obliterating detail.
Extremes: Sunlit and low light tests
High resolution with strong overall detail, but slightly high contrast and limited shadow detail. Excellent low-light performance, capable of capturing bright images in near darkness.
|Default Exposure
The Canon PowerShot TX1 produced fairly high contrast with deep shadows under the harsh lighting of the test above. However, the camera's contrast adjustment handled this problem fairly well, without strongly affecting color balance or tonal gradations. Detail is limited in the shadow areas, with some noise suppression visible. Though some areas look a little dark at +0.3 EV, I preferred it to the image at +0.7 EV, which had too many blown highlights for my preference. (In "real life" though, be sure to use fill flash in situations like the one shown above; it's better to shoot in the shade when possible.)
Note: Because digital cameras are more like slide film than negative film (in that they tend to have a more limited tonal range), we test them in the harshest situations to see how they handle scenes with bright highlights and dark shadows, as well as what kind of sensitivity they have in low light. The shot above is designed to mimic the very harsh, contrasty effect of direct noonday sunlight, a very tough challenge for most digital cameras. (You can read details of this test here.)
Low light: The Canon PowerShot TX1 performed well on our low light test, with good color from the Auto white balance setting. At the lower ISO settings (80 and 100), images were bright down to 1/8 foot-candle, which is about 1/8 as bright as average city street lighting at night. From ISO 200 to 1,600, images were bright down to the lowest light levels we test. The camera's autofocus system was able to focus on the subject down to just below the 1/4 foot-candle light level without the AF assist light, so you'll need to make sure it's enabled for darker conditions.
How bright is this? The one foot-candle light level that this test begins at roughly corresponds to the brightness of typical city street-lighting at night. Cameras performing well at that should be able to snap good-looking photos of street-lit scenes.
NOTE: This low light test is conducted with a stationary subject, and the camera mounted on a sturdy tripod. Most digital cameras will fail miserably when faced with a moving subject in dim lighting. (For example, a child's ballet recital or a holiday pageant in a gymnasium.) For such applications, you may have better luck with a digital SLR camera, but even there, you'll likely need to set the focus manually. For information and reviews on digital SLRs, refer to our SLR review index page.
Coverage and Range
Slightly dim exposures at the default exposure setting; the camera required average exposure compensation for flash exposures. Typical range.
|39mm equivalent
|390mm equivalent
|Normal Flash +1.0 EV
|Slow-Sync Flash +0.7 EV
Coverage. Flash coverage was slightly uneven at wide angle and at telephoto. Indoors, under incandescent background lighting, the Canon TX1's flash underexposed our subject a little at its default setting, requiring a +1.0 EV exposure compensation adjustment to get bright results. The camera's Slow-Sync flash mode required only +0.7 EV exposure compensation, though with a noticeable orange cast.
ISO 100 Range. At wide angle, shots at ISO 100 are bright out to a distance of about 8 feet, decreasing in brightness from that point on. At full telephoto and ISO 100, even the 6-foot shot is a little dim, and the images darken from there. A typical result for a camera with a tiny flash.
|Manufacturer-Specified Flash Range
|Wide Angle
6.6 feet
Auto ISO 200
3.9 feet
Auto ISO 200
Manufacturer Specified Flash Test. In the shots above, the TX1 seems to perform exactly as Canon says it will at wide angle, producing a good exposure at the rated distance with its ISO set to Auto. Results were a bit dim at telephoto, but the reflection may have affected the metering system.
Note: Our standard test method for flash range uses a fixed setting of ISO 100, to provide a fair basis of comparison between cameras. We've now also begun shooting two shots using the manufacturer-specified camera settings, at the range the company claims for the camera, to assess the validity of the specific claims.
Output Quality
Print Quality
Good print quality, slightly oversaturated color, good 13x19 inch prints. ISO 400 images are soft but usable at 11x14, ISO 800 shots are still good at 8x10. ISO 1,600 shots are better at 4x6.
Note: Testing hundreds of digital cameras, we've found that you can only tell just so much about a camera's image quality by viewing its images on-screen. Ultimately, there's no substitute for printing a lot of images and examining them closely. For this reason, we now routinely print sample images from the cameras we test on our Canon Pro 9000 studio printer, and on the Canon iP5200 here in the office. (See the Canon i9900 review for details on that model.)
The images above were taken from our standardized test shots. For a collection of more pictorial photos, see our Canon PowerShot TX1 Photo Gallery .
Not sure which camera to buy? Let your eyes be the ultimate judge! Visit our Comparometer(tm) to compare images from the Canon PowerShot TX1 with those from other cameras you may be considering. The proof is in the pictures, so let your own eyes decide which you like best!


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It's not a pleasant movie but it has some entertaining scenes and moments.
Hey, if the weather isn't going to cooperate at least this flick might give you a good chill.
It's not a pleasant movie but it has some entertaining scenes and moments.
Hey, if the weather isn't going to cooperate at least this flick might give you a good chill.
You guys know me as a P. Kael freak so you can imagine how honored I am to be able to reprint one of her reviews–of a fun movie too (Damn, I miss Raul Julia):
The movie is a confluence of fantasies, with a crime plot that often seems to be stalled, as if a projector had broken down. A good melodramatic structure should rhyme: we should hold our breath at the pacing as the pieces come together, and maybe smile at how neat the fit is. Here the pieces straggle, and by the end you're probably ignoring the plot points. Raul Julia, who turns up as the Mexican Comandante Escalante, has a big, likable, rumbling presence; his role recalls the Leo Carrillo parts in movies like The Gay Desperado, with a new aplomb. And for a few seconds here and there Raul Julia takes over; he's funny, and he detonates. (The character's lack of moral conflicts gives his scenes a giddy high.) Then the film's languor settles in again. An elaborate government sting operation waits while Mac and Escalante play Ping-Pong, and waits again while they sit in a boat and Mac talks drivel about bullfighting. (It's the worst dialogue in the film; for sheer inappropriateness it's matched only by Dave Grusin's aggressive, out-to-slay-you score.)
Most of the dialogue is sprightly—it's easy, everyday talk that actors can breathe to. But Towne's directing is, surprisingly, better than his construction—maybe because when he plans to direct he leaves things loose. He says, "I make the character fit the actor, I don't try to make the actor fit the character." That sounds as if he's highly variable, a modernist. But he isn't. He likes bits from old movies, such as having the cops who are planning to surprise Mac be so dumb that they leave peanut shells wherever they've been posted. The difference between the way Towne handles the peanut shells and the way a director of the thirties would have (and did) is that he doesn't sock the joke home; he glides over it. He wants the effect, yet he doesn't want to be crude about it, so he half does it. Almost everything in the action scenes of the last three-quarters of an hour is half done. Often he gives you the preparation for action and no follow-through; sometimes the reverse.
Huge thanks to Kael's daughter, Gina James, for giving me permission to share this with you.
This one goes to eleven.
Remember the old Bugs Bunny cartoon where the airplane is plummeting to the earth and we see the numbers on the speedometer getting higher and higher, faster and faster and finally it says: "Silly, isn't it?"
I kept waiting for a cutaway to that line as I watched Mad Max: Fury Road. There were moments that I laughed out loud because there's a Looney Tunes quality to the movies' craziness–I don't know what other response you can have. I didn't find the movie thrilling or suspenseful or even tense. There are some scary moments, but nothing that freaked me out. I felt excited in an over-caffeinated way, but it's so over-the-top, so fantastic, I almost immediately felt detached and after about 15, 20 minutes, bored. It's magnificent but not for me.
I was talking to a friend recently about appetites and he called himself a pathological maximalist. Forgive the pun, but I kept thinking about that as I watched Fury Road.
The ads boast that the movie was made by "Mastermind" George Miller and that's no stretch. This isn't the work of a director. This is a finely tuned, well-realized orchestration from a mastermind. It's not pure chaos. There is a keen sense of pacing, there are quiet scenes, with breaks in the action, but really I thought the whole thing was akin to watching two-plus hours of slam dunk highlights. It's an extended guitar solo, an orgy of technical virtuosity, one stunt more improbable than the next. The technique is formidable and some of the images are captivating–though I dare you to recall any specific images after being bombarded by so many. But the story–which at times suggests Thunderdome as much as The Road Warrior–is corny despite its admirable political sensibility. The dialogue is so sparse that it is easy to laugh at–B-movie fromage. The early movies had that quality too but they also had more of a low budget vibe, a punk vibe. This is Cirque du Soliel, this is Vegas, Grand Theft Auto. Miller's left punk behind. This is rock opera video game for the hyper modern age.
I've read Tom Hardy, who plays Max, say that he had no idea what Miller wanted him to do during filming and I think that comes across. Not that it matters–Max is just an action figure who is playing the role of second banana (the lead is played by Charlize Theron). But it's too bad because I liked Mel Gibson's tortured hero of the early movies. (And I liked his dog.) There is nothing of the immediacy and realism of the first two movies here. Even if they were cartoons, there was a semblance of credibility, too Here, Max is captured, chained, and when he breaks free, instead of collapsing from fatigue, he springs to life like the Hulk.
I suppose this movie is in step with the times. Maybe that's why the critics have fallen all over themselves writing about it. How can you ignore not admire such technical brilliance? But this is the kind of roller coaster that doesn't appeal to me. It's remarkable and if you like your thrills and spills larger than life you'll dig it.
The rest of you can spare yourself the pounding.
I'm not a Hitchcock fan but I've probably seen close to half of his movies. Never saw Rear Window, though, just bits and pieces on TV. Until last week when I was in L.A. and went to see a screening of Rear Window at a revival theater in Santa Monica.
I had a good time; it was fun watching the movie with an audience.
I didn't realize how erotic it is. I especially like this scene with Grace Kelly and Jimmy Stewart.
I've never seen Leave Her to Heaven but I'd like to check it out.
I remember my mother reading Bacall's autobiography when I was a kid. It won a National Book Award and is one of the finest Hollywood memoirs, not only for her life with Bogart but for her life after him.
The picture on the back cover was something I looked at a lot. Man, she was so glamorous and I imaged that my mother and father were that romantic when they met. My mom was a beautiful young woman but her romance–and marriage–to my father did not last. Still, she pushed on, and was not defeated. I've always thought that Bacall's book helped her out during the painful early days of her divorce.
I saw Boyhood yesterday and it unfolds like a movie version of a family photo album. I've never been a particular fan of Richard Linklater's movies but this one is beautiful in quiet, subtle–but not precious–ways. It has a different sense of pacing from most American movies. It almost feels European in that way. It reminded me of the best parts of Malick, Altman, and, particularly, early Jonathan Demme. There are some unnerving moments but Linklater likes people. He isn't sunny, exactly–at least not in a phony way–but has a hopeful view of the world.
The movie is long, sometimes talky, even boring at times, but not in a way that breaks the spell. It's just that the movie is in no hurry. Oh, and it's also funny in a dry, deadpan way.
The performances were better than convincing. I felt immersed in the characters' lives. Ellar Coltrane, in the lead role, is special, man. (I've never cared for Ethan Hawke and he's terrific here.)
I was so involved that after the first hour I forgot about how the movie was filmed. I understand why Manohla Dargis has seen it 3 times and wants to go again.
Worth your time.
To Die For is a favorite.
The French New Wave…
Pictures by Raymond Cauchetier…
over at Everyday I Show.
Anthony Lane profiles Scarlett Johansson in the New Yorker:
Why should we watch Johansson with any more attention than we pay to other actors? When did moviegoers come to realize that she was worth the wait, in gold? Well, there was Woody Allen's "Vicky Cristina Barcelona" (2008), which was loaded with physical gorgeousness, and lit with suitable fervor. There was one scene, at a champagne reception in a Spanish art gallery, where Johansson was, indeed, gilded to behold. She seemed to be made from champagne. But you need to wind back five more years, and to the colder skies of Japan, to find her moment—the exact point at which the public looked at her and discovered, to its consternation, that it could not look away. She may not have found fame with "Lost in Translation" alone, but it was certainly the time at which fame found her; the same year, she played Vermeer's model, in "Girl with a Pearl Earring," and was transfigured, by the movie's final shot, into a work of art.
In "Lost in Translation," directed by Sofia Coppola, Johansson was an unappreciated young wife who moseyed around Tokyo, surveying the unfamiliar with aplomb. Her deadpan demeanor, here as elsewhere, suggested that we should be summoned, not repelled, by things that we do not understand. If the opening shot was a sly joke, presenting us directly with Johansson's backside, barely veiled in peach-colored underwear, the rest of the movie was dedicated to the principle that she would no longer be treated as a nice piece of ass. Fifteen minutes in, there was a breathtaking closeup of her face, as she applied lipstick; then, halfway through, came the karaoke scene. Johansson, on yet another sleepless night, wore a pink wig and sang along to "Brass in Pocket," by the Pretenders. Having assured us—and Bill Murray, laid-back and gazing on—that she would use her arms, legs, style, sidestep, and so forth, she came to the crunch:
'Cause I
Gonna make you see
Nobody else here
No one like me.
Murray shook his head, smiling, in dopey wonderment, as if to say, "You're not wrong, girl." He, the lord and master of underreaction, had finally met his match. The fact that he was more than twice her age didn't feel creepy at all, first because he barely laid a hand on her, and second because she seemed older and calmer, if not wiser, than her years. "You're the boss," he said. (Imagine if his role had gone to a young gun—to Josh Hartnett, say, who was her boyfriend at the time. Without Murray and Johansson, the odd couple par excellence, would we still be talking about the film today?) Until "Lost in Translation," she had been a promising young actress, graduating smoothly from an unknown to a half-known; now she would keep the promise. Stardom would come upon her, and with it the unknowability that both tempts and eludes the public's craving to know more.
Jeanine Basinger in the New York Review of Books:
Ava Gardner and Barbara Stanwyck were separated by fifteen years in age, and arrived in Hollywood more than a decade apart. Although both were famous stars, neither ever won a competitive Academy Award. (Gardner was nominated once for Mogambo and Stanwyck four times, for Stella Dallas, Ball of Fire, Double Indemnity, and Sorry, Wrong Number. She received an honorary Oscar in 1982 for her "unique contribution to the art of screen acting.") Both were at the top during the golden age of the Hollywood studio system, but one difference between them is fundamental: Ava Gardner was a product of the "star machine" and Barbara Stanwyck was not.
Gardner, from a not very well off but stable North Carolina family, arrived in town with a minimum of security and no acting experience, but was fed into a system that might be expected to take care of her if she behaved. Stanwyck, coming from a hardscrabble background in New York, arrived from Broadway with the security of a contract and solid experience, but took up her career independently and never let anyone own her.
Gardner's security came with a price. Unable to pick and choose, she was assigned pedestrian films she had to carry (The Great Sinner in 1949, My Forbidden Past in 1951). She wasn't given many opportunities to grow as an actress. The studio didn't need that from her, and because of her spectacular looks, she presented something of a casting problem. Who would believe Ava Gardner as a nun, or a rocket scientist, or a neglected working girl in a tuna cannery? She was born to grab the spotlight, and having shaped her image as "a magnificent animal" (her billing for The Barefoot Contessa, 1954), Hollywood was content to present her that way.
Gardner became resentful and restless, and began to carouse, have affairs, and create problems. She didn't care if she caused a scandal, particularly when she took up with the married Frank Sinatra and became the most famous "other woman" of her time. Ironically, it was easy for her studio to fuse this off-screen behavior to her on-screen persona, and the role of "Ava Gardner," bad-girl-good-time-gal-sex-symbol, became an unbreakable image.
Stanwyck's independence meant that she could negotiate her films and salaries, but she had to accept that she had no priority in any studio's plans for casting. She lost significant roles as a result, such as the lead in Dark Victory (1939), which went to Bette Davis. Wilson points out that a studio "would have steadily built her up picture after picture," as MGM did with Gardner, but Stanwyck didn't want that: "She found it a constraint." Stanwyck had to fight to get good films, but she had her own supporters, including her first husband, Frank Fay (an established born-in-a-trunk performer), a shrewd agent, Zeppo Marx (the fifth Marx brother), and particularly director Frank Capra, who saw what she was capable of and who guided her in four of her earliest films. As curator of the Frank Capra Archives, I spent many hours talking to Capra about his career, and Stanwyck was a subject he loved. A great admirer of her talent, discipline, and professionalism, he always stressed that since Stanwyck was never owned by a single studio for any length of time, no specific image was created for her. She had to create her own.
I didn't buy The Fighter much as a boxing movie and I had a hard time believing some of the characters and scenarios in Silver Lining Playbook but I also enjoyed both movies. Sometimes you aren't irritated by things that would normally bug the hell out of you. That's the only way I can figure it–it's a matter of taste.
Almost everything in first few minutes of American Hustle–a protracted take of Christian Bale gluing fake hair to his head, a slow motion montage set to classic rock music, showy period decor and outfits not to mention everybody's hair, oh, that hair!–would usually annoy me. But in this case, it didn't. In these first minutes the mix tape is rolling–from the movie's signature tune, Duke Ellington's 1958 recording of "Jeep's Blues", to America's "A Horse with No Name', to "Dirty Work," the moody and vibe Steely Dan record. The two rock songs are as obvious ("On the first part of the journey…") as the hairstyles but they made me happy regardless.
Christian Bale hides underneath an elaborate combover and a big gut. He fidgets with his glasses and at times seems to a pastiche of mannerisms from other actors (Alec Baldwin's cackle, Robert De Niro's body language). It's hard not to be aware of his acting and yet I found this to be the most sympathetic performance. He deadpans his way through many of his scenes and he's easy to root for. So is Bradley Cooper who plays his nemesis, a slick, ambitious climber, whose sadism in a few scenes suggest Peter Seller's Claire Quilty. (He's also funny, like when he does a quick impersonation of his boss–played by an effective Louis C.K.)
Amy Adams is terrific as Bale's partner and Jennifer Lawrence continues to brighten any movie in which she appears even though her role is small and underwritten (she can't quite seem to decide on an accent but otherwise gives her part great credibility). The showdown scene between Adams and Lawrence is not something I'll soon forget. Russell likes women and he takes care to treat them with respect. In one crucial scene, Adams gives an pointed speech and leaves Bale with something to think about. The scene ends with her walking out of the room. As she walks away her full body comes into frame. I waited for Russell to show her ass–the wiggle, to punctuate things–but he cuts just before the wiggle. A subtle choice.
Jeremy Renner ( more good hair) is strong in a supporting role and Robert De Niro is frightening in a cameo. It's been a long time since I recall being moved by De Niro but I thought he was really good.
American Hustle is a feast of over-the-top moviemaking (anxious, luxuriant). You can't get away from the movieness of it. The comparisons to Good Fellas might be superficial but they aren't far-fetched. This isn't just a 70's nostalgia movie like Carlito's Way, or The People vs. Larry Flynt or Candelabra, it belongs to a specific sub-genre that began with Good Fellas and continued with Boogie Nights and Blow. The technique is familiar. Russell's camera is constantly moving, pushing in, tracking, panning. I've read that Russell likes to be in close proximity to his actors, often calling out lines to them as they improvise a scene. The camera is never far away from them, either. You can almost feel Russell in the scene with them. I like how they recorded the voice overs, especially here–there is a breathiness to it that heightens the sense of intimacy.
Much of Russell's style comes from Scorsese. But if Russell grew up on Casavettes and Altman and Scorsese he's closer to Preston Struges. His for screwball comedy, especially between men and women, is his most winning trait. For all the yelling and screaming that goes on in his movies, things turn out okay for everyone in Russell's world. There isn't one sequence that has the kind of nervy tension of the Alfred Molina scene in Boogie Nights. Russell never makes you that uneasy. For some people, this is where he falls down. I've talked to a lot of people who think American Hustle is phony. And I can see that. But I respond to the pleasures he offers up. They win out.
In this weekend's book review, Molly Haskel reviews the massive first volume of Victoria Wilson's new Barbara Stanwyck biography:
Start with the voice, which seems to have been around since the world began: lush, weary, tender, worldly, skeptical, ranging nimbly between hard and soft. It could be metallic, mannish and brittle or gentle as a down pillow, sometimes within the same film, as befits an actress who was at ease in every genre, from woman's melodrama to the western, with noir and screwball comedy in between. Though film buffs have treasured her for years, Barbara Stanwyck has burned less brightly among general moviegoers for whom a higher voltage is synonymous with stardom.
She was neither a great beauty nor a glamour puss, and the importance of this — her refusal or inability to be simplified into a single image — has to be seen as a major factor in her longevity. More iconoclast than icon, more a character star on the order of Bogie or Cagney, she was often the second or third choice after Claudette Colbert, Jean Arthur, Bette Davis and Irene Dunne. Yet she has worn especially well. And if she was underappreciated in her time, her minimalist gifts — the fluid movement, the stillness in repose, the sense of interiority — have come to seem ultramodern.
If ever there was an actress who was ready for prime time, it is Stanwyck, and this enormously informative tribute — juicy yet dignified, admiring yet detached — is the book to bring her to center stage. Or books, I should say, for this full-dress treatment is not for the fainthearted: "A Life of Barbara Stanwyck: Steel-True 1907-1940," at 860 pages of text (notes, index and appendices bring it to 1,044), is only the first volume, beginning with Stanwyck's birth and ending with the films preceding World War II. Wilson stays resolutely and sometimes frustratingly within this time frame, resisting even an anticipatory peek at those glorious '40s films. I confess to having felt a certain alarm when I heard that Wilson, a vice president and longtime editor at Knopf whose first book this is, was writing two volumes on Stanwyck. In general, only someone of global consequence merits such exhaustive and demanding length. It seemed — and still seems — especially disproportionate in the case of Stanwyck, whose talent for passing under the radar was one of her charms. But Wilson's aims are far more ambitious than documenting the minutiae of a movie star's life.
What she does is provide context of extraordinary breadth, taking in not only Stanwyck's life, her beginnings in poverty and tragedy and her emergence as an emblem of self-sufficiency, but also the world through which she moved: the cultural and political forces that shaped her years in show business as she went from burlesque and theater in New York to the turbulent Hollywood of the 1930s. Each film from this period is recounted in detail — indeed not just the films she made, but the ones she almost made and the parts she didn't get. These descriptions are interspersed with mini-biographies of the various participants, forays into Stanwyck's social life (or antisocial life, as the case often was), along with politics, both local and national.
Margaret Talbot picks some of Stanwyck's finest work over at the New Yorker.


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text:
In this article:
Collateral is an asset—often a house or car—that lenders require for certain kinds of loans. Collateral ensures that the borrower will repay a loan as agreed or, if the borrower defaults, provides the lender with a way to recoup its losses. On a mortgage, for instance, the collateral is the home the mortgage was used to buy; on an auto loan, the collateral is the car the buyer drives home from the dealership. The lender can seize the collateral if the borrower isn't making payments, making it a valuable commodity.
What Is Collateral, and How Does It Work?
No one wants to lose their house or car, which means collateral gives the lender more assurance the borrower will repay the loan on time. Lenders consider loans backed by collateral, called secured loans, a safer bet than those that aren't, called unsecured loans. For that reason, secured loans may be easier to get and generally come with lower interest rates.
If you fall behind and can't repay a secured loan, the lender can take the collateral you put up for it. For instance, missed auto loan payments could lead to repossession of your car, which a lender may be able to do without advance warning or court proceedings. Missed mortgage payments could lead to foreclosure, when the lender takes possession of your house.
Your loan contract will make clear how many missed payments lead to loan default, and at what point the lender has the right to take ownership of the collateral.
Types of Collateral
The type of secured loan you're applying for will dictate the collateral you can offer. Below are common consumer loans and collateral that can back them:
- Mortgage: On a mortgage, the home you're buying generally serves as the collateral. That's also the case if you take out a home equity loan or home equity line of credit, both known as second mortgages.
- Auto loan: The car you buy is the collateral on an auto loan.
- Secured credit cards: Getting a secured credit card is a smart credit-building strategy for those with low credit scores or short credit histories. When you apply, you'll pay a deposit that's generally the same as the line of credit you'll receive. That deposit functions as collateral, and you'll lose it if you don't pay off card purchases you make with the card on time.
- Secured loans: Personal loans can be used for all kinds of purposes, like home renovations or consolidating debt. Most are unsecured, meaning they're not backed by collateral. But some lenders offer secured loans, and you can typically use your car, savings account or home as collateral. But remember, you could lose it if you're unable to repay the loan.
Can I Use Collateral to Build Credit?
Collateral can indirectly help you build credit if it backs a secured loan that you repay on time. Payment history is the largest factor in your credit score, which means paying all your bills by their due dates can strengthen your score.
Timely payments on both secured credit cards and secured loans can help you build credit. Taking out a loan solely to improve your credit score, however, may not be wise if you're not absolutely sure you have the flexibility to afford a new monthly payment. And backing a secured loan with an asset like your car as collateral is risky.
Instead, consider a secured credit card with a manageable credit limit, or a credit-builder loan, which is a secured loan generally offered by credit unions for the purpose of boosting credit. On a credit-builder loan, you don't need to put up collateral upfront. Instead, the amount you borrow sits in a savings account, and you'll get it back after you've made all monthly payments on time.
Can I Get a Loan Without Collateral?
You can take out unsecured loans, such as a student loan or personal loan, without collateral. Unsecured credit cards don't require a deposit as collateral like secured cards do. Since there's no asset to seize, unsecured debt generally carries higher interest rates, and it may also be harder to get. You'll likely need strong credit or a cosigner to qualify.
If you don't repay an unsecured loan or pay off credit card debt as required, your credit score will suffer. Your loan may go to collections, and you could be sued for the unpaid debt. While there's no collateral to protect the lender, the benefits of good credit should be enticing enough to encourage you to stay on top of payments.
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'Dream a Little Dream' achieving tremendous success for Grob
By Kelly Terpstra, firstname.lastname@example.com
Anyone can put pen to paper and write.
But can one author a majestic masterpiece that entices and enthralls millions?
That is the question.
James Grob isn't there yet, but one should never doubt a talented scribe such as he.
Grob, a news reporter at the Charles City Press, has been writing plays for years now when he can find the time.
One such short play by Grob, "Dream a Little Dream," has reached some lofty heights and achieved substantial recognition since he first wrote the 8–minute play 10 years ago and produced it a year later.
"It's the little play that could," said Grob, who has written more than 50 plays.
"Dream a Little Dream" will be appearing at 7:30 tonight (Friday) at the Minnesota Shorts Play Festival in Mankato, about a 2–hour drive north of Charles City.
Grob couldn't be any happier that the play has been picked up and will appear in the festival's "Best of the First 9 Years" – essentially a greatest hits collection of short plays no longer than 10 minutes long that have been performed since Minnesota Shorts first opened its doors a decade ago.
In its initial run at Mankato in 2013, Grob's play took home "Best in Fest." It was one of eight plays selected out of 400 entrants and was a national winner.
"The reception it's gotten at different festivals it's been at and what not, has just been outstanding. It's been amazing to me," said Grob.
"Dream a Little Dream" is one of 14 plays to be presented at the two-day festival that started Thursday.
Grob said his play is done in a reader's theater style, where actors don't memorize their lines but rely more on vocal expressions rather than visual storytelling. He also said it is like choral reading, or reading aloud in unison.
The short focuses on four women characters who are describing erotic dreams they had. One dreamed about musicians, another about athletes. The third woman fantasized about movie stars, and the last woman had a dream concerning washing clothes.
The time of place for the play is is on the edge of consciousness, when you close your eyes.
How long did it take for Grob to write his most successful play to date?
"I actually wrote it in a very short period of time," said Grob. "It usually takes hours, days, weeks, to write a play."
Grob said the Minnesota Shorts Festival has become a pretty prestigious event because entries come nationwide. He said most festivals produce local or statewide plays.
"It has some very, very well–established writers submit plays to it and have their plays show at it," said Grob. "It's really kind of remarkable that this little play is going up against people that are very well–known playwrights."
Grob's play called "Sleeper Cell" recently received all-state status at the Iowa High School group speech contests.
He has also written two children's plays — "Crimes and Rhymes" and "The Goodcheer Home for Broken Hearts."
"Dream a Little Dream" was first produced in March of 2009 by the Davis County Players as part of Voices Carry, a production of one-act plays by the Davis County Fine Arts Council in Bloomfield, Iowa. Since then it has been shown and produced at Discovery Coast Theatre Group in Agnes Water, Australia. The play has also run in Lodi, Wisconsin, and Ocala, Florida.
Grob's' wife, Michelle, teaches the talented and gifted program at Charles City High School. He has two daughters, Megan and Katherine, who both live in Colorado.
Grob grew up in Oelwein and has worked for several newspapers and other media throughout Iowa and Minnesota.
He started writing plays while in college at the University of Iowa, but then stopped for a while after graduation.
"It took like 15 to 20 years for me to get back into doing it again," said Grob.
Once he started back up it was like riding a bike.
"Once I did, it came natural," he said.
Not everyone can write plays, but Grob said the skill can be learned.
"It's a different thing. You kind of have to get in the minds of different characters and stuff like that," he said.
"Dream a Little Dream" is the only short at Mankato out of the 14 that has maintained the same cast since its previous appearance.
The author of plays, poems, short stories and essays, there's one thing missing from Grob's writing accomplishments.
"That's one thing I've never done is write a novel. The thing with that would be I don't know if I have the attention span to write a whole novel," said Grob. "But it's something I would like to do at some point in my life. Hopefully I have a few more years left."


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MarketInvoice has now enabled UK SMEs to raise over £200m against their unpaid invoices. The platform has increased year-on-year trading in 2014 by a massive 465%. Over £100 million of MarketInvoice's cumulative volume figure has come in 2014 alone. Each of the big four platforms (Zopa,Funding Circle,RateSetter and MarketInvoice) has now lent over £100m since the start of this year, illustrating the rapidly accelerating growth of the sector. That growth stands in sharp contrast to a 2.1% decline in business lending by the banks and other mainstream finance providers.
Anil Stocker, Founder and CEO of MarketInvoice, commented:
"The businesses we're helping are some of the most exciting in the UK - young, dynamic, successful companies eager to explore opportunities for growth and not willing to wait weeks on end for the bank manager to catch up with them.
"Our investors have put £200m straight into the real economy through these companies and we plan to help thousands more businesses in the near future.
"Alternative finance is here to stay, the banking crisis has only accelerated an inevitable trend. By dis-intermediating financial services we can help businesses get fast, transparent and flexible funding. Like so many other industries digital technology is changing the landscape of financial services, improving the experience for the end user, and demanding a re-think of all the old norms."
If Market Invoice's origination volumes continue on their current growth trajectory, AltFi Data estimates that Market Invoice's cumulative volume will be £325m by the end of 2014.


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AMC History
In August of 1958, two veternarians, armed forces veterans, and friends established Animal Medical Center. Dr. Bill LaRue, Chanute Kansas native, and Dr. Don McReynolds, of Osborne County Kansas, wanted to open their own large and small animal practice in southeastern Kansas, after graduating from Kansas State University with Bachelor's of Science and Doctors of Veterinary Medicine degrees in 1956.
Dr. La Rue focused on growing the small animal practice while Dr. McReynolds focused on growing the large animal practice. Through out the years they have continued to adapt to new technology including ultra sound, digital radiology, and surgical techniques. They have always been at the forefront of veterinary medicine only compared to Kansas State University.
AMC Present
Over the past 60 years many different doctors have practiced at Animal Medical Center, receptionist have progressed, and the high quality of care has remained intact. The high standards apply to every aspect of animal and owner care alike. AMC consistantly pursue continued education opportunities and trained professional and supportive staff to the highest degree.
AMC has 2 registered veterinarians on staff allowing exceptional services for all patients and clients. AMC's veterinarians assures clients of quality emergency care, daily care, and offer a wider range of quality services without compromise.
AMC Future
On October 1, 2016, Dr. Vorhees purchased Animal Medical Center from Dr. McReynolds and Dr. LaRue's family. Dr. Mc Reynolds retired December 31st 2018. Animal Medical center staff will continue to offer quality medical care and services under the new ownership.
In Memory of Dr. Bill LaRue
May 19th, 1932 – March 8th, 2015
Bill was a friend, father, brother, husband,community supporter, and veterinarian beloved by all.
Worlds Best Veterinarian
Cats and dogs, horses and cows,
Maybe even a couple of sows;
In my office, or on the road.
"Care for animals"- that's my code.
When they're sick, or hurt or old,
I treat them in the rain and cold;
A purr, a wag, a lick, a moo,
That's their "thanks" for what I do!
~ Unknown Author


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- shutterstock.com
- Good reporters check everything out—because there's no reason to assume this mother actually loves her son.
Columnist Jonah Goldberg lambastes the media in Wednesday's Tribune for credulously swallowing the White House line that the IRS's "alleged targeting of political groups hostile to the president" isn't much of a story.
"The storied City News Bureau of Chicago famously lived by the motto 'If your mother tells you she loves you, check it out,'" writes Goldberg. "The bureau closed down several years ago. Perhaps that kind of skepticism died with it."
And don't we all miss it! Gone forever is the kind of top-notch reporting and measured writing that characterized Chicago journalism in its heyday. Gone too is the skepticism that questioned everything except, perhaps, the received wisdom on skepticism. I can imagine an old-school exchange from yesteryear:
Reporter (dictating story over phone): ". . . The victim's mother ran to the body and collapsed alongside it, wailing, 'I loved my baby and now he's gone!'"
Editor: How do you know that, kid?
Reporter: I was there.
Editor: How do you know she loved him?
Reporter: Gosh, chief—nobody said she didn't.
Editor: Nobody's going to contradict a grieving mother at a crime scene. But that doesn't make it so. You need a second source on this.
Reporter (glancing outside phone booth): The crowd's scattered.
Editor: Then you might have to knock on some doors. Shoot for the three-star. For now we'll leave it out.
Reporter: But it's color!
Editor: Kid, you got a lot to learn. Color's nice but accuracy is the ballgame.
Reporter: What if we tweak the story? We could make it read, "The victim's mother ran to the body and collapsed alongside it, wailing, 'I loved my baby and now he's gone!'—a claim the Daily Reflux could not independently verify."
Editor: Now we're all but calling her a liar.
Reporter: How about this? "She collapsed alongside the body, alleging, 'I loved my baby. . .'"
Editor: That could work. Especially if we can say the claim was uncontested by anyone in the crowd, many of them presumably neighbors with first-hand knowledge of the mother-son relationship. Did anyone shout something along the lines of, "We know you did!"?
Reporter: Didn't hear that.
Editor: Damn! Would have shored things up. Sorry, kid, but here's my call. We eschew the melodrama and stick with what we're sure of. A woman whose claim to be a parent of the victim went unchallenged by eyewitnesses made an unverifiable assertion of love and grief in a scene onlookers described as wrenching.
Reporter: I know I got a lot to learn, but I'm curious, chief—when Mom says she loves us we check it out. But, like, with who? Who knows who Mom loves better than Mom does?
Editor: Dad.
Reporter: It's OK to go with Dad?
Editor: You gotta trust somebody.


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Road House is not the Citizen Kane of bouncer movies. Citizen Kane is the Road House of newspaper movies. This is my third and possibly final column in the series I'm calling, "How The Eighties Convinced Men They Could Murder Their Way To A Bigger Cock, Inadvertently Causing All Of Our Problems Today" (1, 2) and let's just say there's a reason historians refer to the eighties as the Road House of decades.
Note: Jason's new book IS ACTUALLY OUT NOW. Order Zoey Punches the Future in the Dick or watch this three-minute video that explains everything.
Road House, for those of you who've never seen it and thus have a hole in your personality in the exact shape of the movie Road House, is the 1989 Patrick Swayze action movie in which he plays a famous bouncer in a universe in which that is apparently a thing. It co-stars Sam Elliott, the Road House of actors, and takes place in Missouri, the 1989 of American states.
The plot isn't particularly relevant to our discussion today; it's a standard Western, adapted for the era by upgrading the Stetsons to porntacular feathered mullets …
… and instead of beauty shots of frontier vistas, we get lingering close-ups of Patrick Swayze's nude ass. Swayze's bouncer character, James Dalton, rides in to clean up a bar in a small town that is living under the thumb of a sadistic tycoon. Before it's over, there will be two massive explosions, a monster truck rampage and Dalton will have murdered six men with his bare hands.
"But what does this have to do with the American male's chronic dong insecurity, aside from literally everything you just described?" Here's where you have to understand the Swayze-specific context for this film: he was coming off a starring role in Dirty Dancing, an international sensation so popular with women that writers kept referring to it as "the Star Wars for girls," because that phrase didn't used to bury an author under an avalanche of death threats from anime avatars.
This, of course, was a problem for any actor with action star aspirations. A guy like that needs male asses in the seats and no insecure teenage boy would be caught dead watching something as gay as a movie about a man who has sex with women but also dances. So, Patrick Swayze teamed up with a director named, no shit, Rowdy Herrington to reclaim his masculinity with a film that would launch with the tagline, "The dancing's over. Now it gets dirty."
To achieve this mission, Road House masterfully executes a 7-point plan:
1. Establish That Dalton Has Reached The Apex Of The World's Most Heterosexual Profession.
Road House literally opens with the title superimposed on a woman's ass:
One minute later, we get a close-up of some titties, just to drive the point home. "This one's got plenty of spank fuel for you and your girl! Hell, there's even a little something for Mom later."
We're in a huge, upscale bar where our hero works as the lead bouncer. The first trouble Dalton witnesses — and see if you can detect the subtle symbolism here — is an unruly patron suddenly kicking a woman in the vagina:
The vulva-punter then pulls a knife on Dalton. He, like everyone in this universe, knows Dalton by name and reputation ("I've always wanted to try you! I think I can take you, Dalton!"). But Dalton only smirks and walks away, knowing he's thrashed bigger men than this on his way to thrash some even bigger man.
Dalton sustains a knife wound in the encounter, so he retires shirtlessly to the restroom to sew himself up. Note: We are still in the opening credit sequence.
He is soon interrupted by a man in a suit who says he owns a bar in Missouri that is just lousy with brawling thugs. He wants Dalton to come clean the place up, because he's the best bouncer in the world. Dalton says that another bouncer, Wade Garrett, is the best, but the man wants Dalton and will pay any price.
"Five thousand up front," says Dalton, "five hundred a night, cash, you pay all medical expenses." I did the math and this is the 2020 equivalent of $400K a year. Just to drive the point home, we see Dalton take off toward Missouri in a brand new Mercedes 560SEC, the shirtless Patrick Swayze of cars.
2. Make It Clear That Dalton's Badassery Has Somehow Earned Him Nationwide Fame.
Dalton arrives at the bar, the Double Deuce, and within seconds a waitress starts hitting on him:
If you need anything — anything — you just let me know.
DALTON smirks and turns away, knowing he's fucked hotter women than this on his way to fuck some even hotter woman.
You got a name?
Well, what is it?
(Spins on her in dramatic fashion)
The WAITRESS GASPS IN SHOCK, then GIGGLES.
Oh my god! Shit! I've heard of you!
Keep in mind, there were almost certainly bars in 1989 Missouri where the actual actor Patrick Swayze could still go totally unrecognized. But James Dalton, who works as a bouncer 1,200 miles away, is so well-known that he doesn't even have to give a first name. Two minutes later, we see the waitress say to a fellow employee, "You know who that is? Dalton." In response, the man's head snaps around like he's been told that his absent father is at the door and that it's David Lee Roth.
He then goes to another employee and says, "The guy at the end of the bar is fuckin' Dalton, man." Yet another employee, when face-to-face with Dalton says, "I heard you had balls big enough to come in a dump truck." This is a universe in which children dress as Dalton the Bouncer for Halloween.
3. Hammer Home The Fact That Everyone Is Desperate To Fuck Dalton … But He's Saving Himself For That Special Someone.
Soon after this, the Waitress invites herself into Dalton's barnyard apartment early in the morning, to find him sleeping fully nude. He stands up:
And she orgasms in her pants:
He still shows no interest in her, because cold indifference was the most sexually desirable trait in the 1980s male.
Later, when Dalton endures yet another stab wound, he is tended to by the hospital's sexiest blonde doctor. He refuses anesthetic ("Do you enjoy pain?" she asks, to which he replies, "Pain don't hurt"). He then reveals that, despite what he just said, he has a degree from NYU in philosophy. This bouncer then invites the doctor to come visit him at his bar that night. She readily agrees, not because class differences don't exist in Road House, but because this is a universe in which any doctor would be flattered to be seen with a prestigious bouncer like Dalton.
That night at the bar, a different blonde walks up to Dalton and says, "What do you say we go back to my place and fuck?" Again he responds with smirking indifference. It will turn out that she is the girlfriend of the tycoon antagonist, Brad Wesley. She is roughly hustled away by Jimmy, a Wesley henchman who Dalton will murder later. Dalton then walks outside to find the sexy doctor waiting for him. "Looking for someone?" he asks coldly, even though he literally invited her. "You," she coos. He silently deems her worthy of penetration.
Oh, and it turns out that the sexy doctor is the villain's ex-girlfriend. Indeed, women are but the proverbial battlefield upon which the men proverbially joust with their literal boners.
4. Give Dalton A Tough, Manly Friend With Cool War Stories.
Wade Garrett, the Jordan to Dalton's Lebron, shows up to help. Did you ever have that one Halloween where you were the only one who turned up to the event in costume? Well, Sam Elliott is the only guy here who showed up looking like he actually works in a dive bar.
Also, after Road House, his next appearance was in the masturbation fantasies of millions of middle-aged housewives. Garrett gets a compressed version of Dalton's introduction: First, the other workers in the bar express awe ("Holy shit, that's Wade Garrett!") and then he immediately confronts a giant, hostile man. This exchange ensues and, again, I'll leave it to you to parse the symbolism:
You wanna fight, dickless?
Well I sure ain't gonna show you my dick.
He then punches the giant man RIGHT IN THE COCK.
He later joins Dalton and the sexy doctor on a date. The two bouncers share stories about brutalizing drunks, to the delight of this physician who can only fantasize about achieving similar heights in her own field. Wade offers to show off one of his scars. Here we see Elliott is again dedicated to authenticity in a way that the rest of the film is not. "I'm a bouncer?" he presumably said to director Rowdy, "so when I'm not at work, I'm drunk and showing my pubes in a family restaurant, right?"
The sexy doctor sees the scar, grins and inexplicably says, "A Woman?" to which Wade replies, "Boy, was she." No further explanation is requested or given.
5. Give Dalton A Dark, Mysterious Past Full Of Fucking And Killing.
By the 1980s it was understood that real men are brooding and haunted, because smiling is apparently also gay. It's thus revealed that Dalton has a dark backstory: He killed a man in Memphis by ripping his throat out with his bare hands, but got off on self-defense grounds. What could drive Dalton to do such a thing? Garrett, in an effort to reassure Dalton, says,
"You know that fucking cun- that girl, never told you she was married, did she? And when a man sticks a gun in your face, you got two choices: You can die, or you can kill the motherfucker."
Here we learn that the fact that every woman wants to fuck Dalton is his burden and his curse, especially since it often intersects with him being nature's ultimate killing machine. Side note: Let's have a round of applause for the defense attorney who sold the jury on throat-ripping as an act of self-defense.
To further hammer home the fact that no man can escape the long shadow of his past, the heroic Dalton rents an apartment next door to the villain's mansion, then proceeds to pork the villain's ex-girlfriend on the roof while he watches from his porch.
When you're Dalton, this exact situation is literally unavoidable.
6. Create A World In Which It's Impossible To Distinguish Sincerity From Winking Innuendo.
At one point, Wesley enters the bar and says to the band, "Fellas, play something with balls."
On another occasion, he taunts Dalton with, "I see you found my trophy room, Dalton. The only thing missing is your ass."
Near the climax, Dalton has a shirtless battle to the death with the main henchman, Jimmy, who snarls, "I used to fuck guys like you in prison!"
It turns out, by the way, that this is Dalton's trigger phrase. He flies into a berserker rage, first by kicking the man's testicles so hard that somewhere in the future his terrified offspring started fading from reality…
…and then ripping out his filthy, blasphemous voice box with his bare hands.
7. Demonstrate That A Man Can, In Fact, Murder His Way To A Better Life For His Penis.
As I mentioned, Dalton kills five more people (most with his bare hands, one gets a knife) and is an accomplice in the murder of a sixth when the villain Wesley succumbs to his one weakness: four point-blank shotgun blasts to the torso.
The shotgunning is done by the oppressed townsfolk and no one suffers any consequences for this whatsoever, so it's not totally clear why they needed Dalton at all. Nonetheless, Dalton earns the love of the sexy doctor and in the final scene, he frolics nude with her at the lake. Because Dalton can only get hard when a lesser male is observing in sexually frustrated silence, they force Cody, their blind musician friend, to listen from the shore.
The film is not subtle about its lesson: Bouncers don't just protect bars, they protect the world. Society needs more bouncers, and men who think like bouncers. It is our duty to make sure they're lavishly rewarded. "
And I suppose Swayze's Dirty Dancing to Road House pivot somehow encapsulates America's decades-long masculinity crisis," you say, since you're now familiar with my only column template. It sure as fuck does! But understanding the hilarious tragedy of it requires even more context. You see, from the 1930s to the 1950s, like half the movies made in Hollywood looked like this:
And the posters looked like this:
Those lavish song-and-dance epics were enjoyed by millions of heterosexual males, men who'd survived mustard gas and a great depression, men who's earliest childhood memory was seeing a fieldhand get torn apart in a thresher accident. On Movie Night, those men were equally happy to watch John Wayne shooting cattle rustlers or Fred Astaire gliding across a ballroom.
This is because it is objectively enjoyable to watch skilled dancers do their thing. Dance turns up in every culture in every era going back to before humans were human. Freaking birds do it. It's not a goddamned gender thing, you are hardwired by biology to enjoy choreographed, precise movement, vestiges of prehistoric rituals intended to prove to the rest of the tribe that you have the strength and coordination to fight, hunt and fuck with the best. But right around the rise of feminism, males decided that dancing was for girls and homosexuals.
"But if you claim we're hardwired to enjoy dance, how could we so easily swear it off?" We didn't, we just asked the performers to tweak the choreography ever so slightly so that the dancers would appear to be fighting.
That's how elaborate fight choreography imported from Hong Kong cinema slid in to fill the void like James Dalton sliding into the woman of a rival male. Jackie Chan, the Jackie Chan of actors, didn't learn to brutalize a roomful of opponents with a lawn chair by spending years in a secret school for warrior monks. He was trained in dance and acrobatics at the Peking Opera School alongside other fight movie legends like Sammo Hung. While Bruce Lee was mastering Wing Chun under Yip Man, he was also training to win the 1958 Hong Kong Cha-Cha Championship. This is because, and I think Lee himself would have told you this, being a good dancer makes women want to bang you.
So Dirty Dancing and Road House are, at heart, the same genre. The prep for both movies involved performers working with a choreographer to memorize moves in a way that would plausibly win the heart of a woman. It's just that by the 1980s, males were making it a point to establish two things as loudly as possible:
A) Their manhood was the bedrock upon which their entire personality was built;
B) That manhood was so dainty and tenuous that if they stopped signaling it for even five minutes, it would shrivel up and go farting into the distance like a released balloon.
So, sure, their idols could dance now and then. But that dancing, along with all sorts of things they would otherwise enjoy, had to be slathered in layers of goofy and violent masculine posturing, like hiding a dog's heartworm pill in a wad of cheese.
Of course, it's 2020 and that all looks ridiculous now. Hollywood has taken a much more nuanced and mature approach to the subject, which is why in 2015 they announced a gender-flipped reboot of Road House starring Rhonda Rousey. It was quietly dropped the following year.
You can pre-order Jason "David Wong" Pargin's book Zoey Punches the Future in the Dick on Amazon, at Barnes and Noble, Bookshop or any place books like this are sold. You can also follow him on Twitter, his Instagram, or Facebook, or YouTube or Goodreads, or any of the many accounts he's forgotten about.


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