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Notice: This Wiki is now read only and edits are no longer possible. Please see: https://gitlab.eclipse.org/eclipsefdn/helpdesk/-/wikis/Wiki-shutdown-plan for the plan.
SCA/Components/SCA XML Editor
Basic Features
The SCA Composite XML editor extends and specializes for SCA composites the XML editor provided by the WTP Eclipse project.
Thus, this editor inherits from the following features :
- Syntax highlighting
- Text formatting
- XSD-based validation
- Contextual Information
- ...
As a basic feature, the editor is automatically associated with *.composite files. It also uses the XSD files defining SCA elements, to validate your file and provide auto-completion for mark-ups and attribute names.
Extended Features
This editor has been extended to provide additional features specific to SCA composites.
Attribute Values Proposals
It consists in making auto-completion proposals for attribute values. Once you have entered an attribute name and are about to define its value, you can ask for auto-completion proposals by typing ctrl + space. If the attribute is one of the supported ones, then you should get proposals based on context information.
Here is an example of the mark-up auto-completion provided by the WTP editor.
Here is an example of auto-completion for attribute values (promote attribute).
Currently, the editor proposes values for the following attributes:
- attribute promote from composite service mark-up
- attribute promote from composite reference mark-up
- attributes source and target from composite wire mark-up
- attribute target from component reference mark-up
- attribute name from composite include mark-up
The five first quoted attributes will get SCA relative URIs ( componentName/serviceName or componentName/referenceName ) as proposals. The proposals which are made take in account included composites, which means that proposals will include elements from included composites. Composite inclusion is discussed farther.
Extended Mark-ups Proposals & Preference Page
Regarding user assistance, the WTP XML editor uses a catalog of XSD files to make proposals for mark-ups and attributes. However, it often appears that XSD files can't be all embedded into Eclipse plug-ins, most of the time because of license or copyright issues. Which lets two solutions: let the user download and register these XSD files in the XSD catalog, or provide another mechanism to simulate these XSD files.
The second option was chosen and this is why a preference page was defined for the SCA XML-based editors. It allows to define platforms, namespaces, bindings, implementations and interfaces. This mechanism replace XSD files.
This preference page permits to complete the user-assistance proposals when the user asks for it, by providing elements which are not described in the registered XSDs. The proposals are sensitive to the presence of the platform namespaces. As an example, if you want to get proposals for Tuscany specific elements, you have to declare the Tuscany prefix (the best choice being to define it in the composite element, at the root of the document).
The information registered in this preference page was retrieved from the platforms documentation, but can be updated by any user.
Composite Inclusions
SCA assembly model provides an inclusion mechanism which allows a composite file to include other composite files. A good example of this mechanism is available in the assembly model document of the SCA specification.
The SCA Composite XML editor can help you when using composite inclusion.
When typing <include name"
, you can ask for auto-completion proposals by typing in ctrl + space. This will display the composites available in your project (and not already included in your file).
Example: include the composite Restaurant whose target namespace is http://tuscany/sample/restaurant.
The proposals only include composites which are valid XML files. Besides, they must have defined the targetNamespace attribute.
Since include names are QNames, the editor makes sure to add the namespace prefix to get a correct result. If the namespace URI was already defined in your document, the proposal will reuse its prefix. Otherwise, it will generate one and add it in the mark-up.
Let's take the previous example and let's define the namespace http://tuscany/sample/restaurant in the composite
top element.
It then leads to the following proposal.
Auto-completion uses included files to make proposals.
However, notice that recursive inclusions are not managed by this editor, since it is still not clear about how runtime platforms will handle it.
SCA Outline View
Eventually, the editor provides a SCA specific outline view. This view displays composite elements with their icon (the same than those used by the SCA Composite Designer). Like the previous features, this outline handles file inclusions. For the moment, the view only provides basic actions. They will be extended in a future version.
Edition of SCA Component Types
This editor has been extended to edit *.componentType files. As a result, the features provided when editing composite files are also available when editing componentType files. This editor also proposes a wizard to create such kind of file.


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Disable WooCommerce.com extension renewals
If you have subscriptions to WooCommerce.com extensions that are included in your Managed WordPress - Ecommerce hosting plan, you can cancel the renewals for those extensions in your WooCommerce account.
- Log in to the My Subscriptions page of your WooCommerce.com account.
- Set the "Auto-renewal" setting to "off" for each of the extensions that you will be activating with your Ecommerce hosting plan.
- If you renewed the extension at WooCommerce.com within the last 30 days, you may be entitled to a refund. Follow the directions in this guide from WooCommerce to request a refund.
- Activate the extensions in your WordPress admin under WooCommerce > Extensions > Included Extensions using the steps in this guide.
Related Steps
More info
- WooCommerce.com extension refund policy
- WooCommerce.com My Subscriptions page

subset: commoncrawl


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You have a lot on your plate. We'll help you clear it.
You spend hours prepping your exhibit. We have the tools to make everything easy once you arrive, so you can focus on your business.
Your experience matters, especially to us. When you head for home, we want you to feel great about the time you spent here.
What do you need to know about us? We are passionate about people, details, service and innovation. We aren't a one size fits all. We know that each event is unique and we want to help.
Historic and Legendary. If these walls could talk, the stories that would be told. Built in 1932, the Roy has hosted a myriad of musical performances and events of all types. Home of the Minnesota Roller Derby and countless community events, the Roy has become a staple for events in Saint Paul.
175 West Kellogg Boulevard | Saint Paul, MN 55102


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There won't be any real news on the holiday retailing season for a while, but it seems safe to assume that Target's holiday sales are going as well as they usually do.
You know. Sort of disappointing.
The Wall Street crowd is expecting flat comparable-store sales for the fourth quarter, which includes the holiday season. That would match the flat same-store sales performance for December of last year.
Admittedly, sales growth is hard to come by in the industry these days, but the Target of 2013 looks quite a bit different from the Target we had come to know. It's starting to look like a company deep into its middle age. There may be good years still ahead, but the thrill is certainly gone.
Those paying attention to news out of Target this year would say, of course the thrill is gone: a big expansion into Canada went about as well as the rollout of Obamacare.
Forget Canada. Look at what's been happening at home.
Comparable-store sales — sales for stores that have been open at least a year — grew less than 1 percent at U.S. stores through the nine months ended Nov. 2. For the same period of last year, same-store sales were up 3.7 percent.
What really stands out is something that's pretty basic for a company that operates stores, and that's traffic. Measured by the number of transactions, it only seems to go in one direction, falling now for four quarters in a row.
Target investors this year have heard the same explanation that Chief Financial Officer John Mulligan provided in a conversation last week. Target's customer, while more affluent than Wal-Mart Stores', still isn't exactly part of the top 1 percent. The median household income of the Target customer is $60,000, and she's been cautious.
On the other hand, Jefferies Group analyst Daniel Binder wrote in a research note following release of third-quarter earnings that 2013's sales stagnation "strikes us as more than that."
"Over time the store has become more commoditized and other categories seem to be leaking share to Amazon and others," Binder wrote. "Meanwhile, the part of the story that remains unique — home and apparel — is [trending] down slightly."
The analysts suspect that the continued expansion of Costco stores and other warehouse concepts makes Target less of the place to go for the big American consumer stock-up run. Increasing square footage for dollar stores at the low end has taken some more of the very price-conscious consumer.
Want to run to a Target store for just a single item? Why would anyone do that, when Amazon.com and a host of other e-commerce sites work far better for that?
Even the most cautious analysts, however, have shied away from criticizing Target's senior executives, nothing like what was in the analyst reports when Best Buy Co. Inc. was in turmoil in 2012.
David Strasser, a senior analyst with the firm Janney Montgomery Scott, said that if he were put in charge of Target he might be more aggressive in trying to capture some additional sales growth with lower prices and more promotions, but it's far from an easy call. "It may not be the environment to take a lot of risk," he said.
Mulligan said he wouldn't use the term "middle-aged" to talk about his company, but he did agree that Target is further along its maturation than it was 10 years ago. He added, however, that growing profitably in retailing in 2013 is so much more challenging than it was in 2003 that apples-to-apples comparisons aren't really possible.
And what hasn't changed, he added, is the financial discipline that guides the company. The company will continue to invest in store remodels, new technology projects and new features in stores. It will take on projects it thinks will foster greater "engagement," meaning getting more of the customers' attention, when it can earn its expected return on invested capital.
So right now, Target just sees fewer of those good investment opportunities than it did in the past.
In the face of all this, it's not surprising that Target has dialed back its growth expectations. It didn't get much attention at the time, but Target this fall told investors that it had backed off its ambition to reach $100 billion in revenue in 2017.
First put in front of investors in 2011, the 2017 plan called for 5 percent sales growth from its U.S. operations, with about 3 percent from stores already open and about 2 percent from new store openings. That would be enough to generate $94 billion in sales by 2017, and with $6 billion coming from the big expansion in Canada, the company would hit the century mark.
Mulligan told investors that what's now realistic is that U.S. operations can grow an average of perhaps 3 to 4 percent through 2017, allowing the U.S. segment to reach the mid-$80 billion neighborhood.
"While the top line growth is not what it once was," he said last week, "we believe we have the outstanding opportunity, and the strategies in place, to drive significant shareholder value growth."
Target actually hopes to make just as much money per share as in its old $100 billion plan. What's different is how.
The company expects to spend at least $1 billion less on capital investment next year and beyond, compared with 2013, with fewer new stores. The company also expects to be working hard at maintaining margin. With the cash flow and the ability to maybe add some debt, the company thinks it can repurchase up to $4 billion of stock in 2014 and every year beyond. This would have the effect of boosting earnings per share by spreading earnings over fewer shares.
A lot has to go right for Target to achieve its goals, but even if it all comes together, the company will be spending less to reach its earnings-per-share goal rather than selling more.
With Target, we really had come to expect more.
email@example.com • 612-673-4302


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I won't ask you if you've heard of "quiet quitting." I refuse. In the last half of 2022, the trending hashtag started a movement on TikTok that mysteriously went on and on like a bad case of food poisoning. Long after the topic had passed its expiration date, employment bloggers (including this one) continued writing about it, while the rest of the workforce debated whether quiet quitters were valiantly setting work/life boundaries or justifying their poor work ethic.
A few months later, "quiet firing" began trending, and we learned how the term had been applied to employers who intentionally mistreat or neglect employees in order to prompt them to quit. Now, even "quick quitting" has replaced "job hopping" in the online workplace vernacular. For all the drivel TikTok has churned out, suddenly the platform has become a powerful tool for employees, giving them a voice they're using to let employers know the tables have turned.
As we head into the fourth year the world has lived with the coronavirus, the workforce shows no signs of returning to its pre-pandemic state. Regardless of how much some employers would like it to, the job market is too strong, and qualified candidates are in too high demand. But if the past year is any indication, we may very well see more catchy hashtags in the near future. After all, if we can't control workplace trends, we can at least watch them go viral. Let's look at a few possibilities.
In 2021, 47 million people quit their jobs in what we now know as the Great Resignation (one of the few trending terms that bores us even more than quiet quitting). Many expected these employees to come rushing back to the workforce in 2022, but it hasn't happened. Instead, the resignations have continued, and though the pace has slowed, it's done little to help employers who have faced an uphill battle restaffing their businesses in order to stay productive and profitable over the past two years.
Many employers are now faced with a difficult decision – hire fast or close up shop. For some businesses, this means relaxing their hiring requirements to accommodate a dwindling candidate pool. For others, it means not being able to provide the level of customer service they have in the past. And for nearly all, it means increased turnover rates as employees job hop their way to a higher income or better incentives offered by other employers desperate to fill roles.
More exiting and more hiring require more recruiting. But there are now nearly twice as many job openings in the U.S. as there are unemployed people, and the old "help wanted" sign doesn't generate applications like it used to. This is where experienced recruiters and candidate sourcers will continue to prove their value to employers. As the strength of the current job market makes active recruiting (i.e., posting on job boards) less effective, employers will turn to the experts to passively recruit candidates who are currently employed in order to fill roles that once filled themselves.
More and more employers are now realizing what GM recently learned the hard way – try to get employees to return to a pre-pandemic work model and they'll object…loudly. Insist that they return and watch them run for the door. Employees have been working remotely or hybrid for almost three years now. During that time, they have stayed productive, enjoyed the perks of a commute-free lifestyle, and prioritized work/life balance. Employers are awakening to the fact that the "new norm" is now the old routine, and those who disregard employees' needs will soon find them working for competitors.
None of these trends are new (at least not since the pandemic), but then neither is quiet quitting, which was known for years as employee disengagement. Regardless of what happens to the job market in the near future, two facts remain: people will continue to consume news through social media, and catchy, memorable hashtags make it a little more palatable and easier to follow and share. Will the next few months bring an #UnemploymentExodus, a #JobSeekerSurge, a #GreatRestaffing? Keep an eye on trending topics to find out!


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60 capsules
- Helps maintain normal adrenal function.
- Supports the body's ability to regulate stress
- Supports a healthy biological terrain.
- Supports the glandular and nervous systems.
- Provides 250% or more of the Daily Value of thiamin, riboflavin, vitamin B6 and pantothenic acid.
How It Works:
Certain hormones in the body—called stress hormones—prepare the body to deal with stressful situations by increasing the heart rate and the force of contraction and blood flow to the heart, liver, and to skeletal and adipose tissue. These stress hormones are produced and regulated by the adrenal glands. They also dilate airways to the lungs and increase blood levels of glucose and fatty acids. The adrenal hormones and their functions are linked to virtually all of the body systems. Thus, many physiological processes and bodily functions, including cardiovascular health, sex drive, pH balance, skin conditions, energy levels, mood and overall psychological outlook often correlate to adrenal gland function.
Adrenal Support is a synergistic blend of vitamins, minerals, enzymes and adaptogenic herbs specially formulated to nourish and strengthen the adrenal glands and to promote glandular secretion.
25 mg vitamin C (42% Daily Value), 10 mg thiamin (667% DV), 5 mg riboflavin (294% DV), 5 mg vitamin B6 (250% DV), 45 mg pantothenic acid (450% DV), 10 mg magnesium (3% DV), 5 mg zinc (33% DV), 5 mg potassium, bovine adrenal substance, schizandra fruit, borage seed oil, licorice root and protease blend.
Recommended Use:
Take 1 capsule with a meal twice daily.
Recommended Use:Take 1 capsule with a meal twice daily.


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Sheriff of Nottingham 2nd Edition
Will the Merchants get their goods past the Sheriff?
The bustling market in Nottingham is filled with goods from all over the kingdom. Most of it is entirely legal, however, Prince John is looking to make sure no contraband gets sold. He's tasked the Sheriff to inspect Merchant's wares, looking for any illicit goods. The Sheriff's shrewd, but not above taking a bribe to look the other way. Which Merchant will end up getting the best goods through and make the largest profits in the market stalls?
In Sheriff of Nottingham 2nd Edition, players take turns playing the Sheriff, looking for contraband goods, and the Merchants trying to stock their Stall with the best goods. The Sheriff can inspect any bag they want, but they must be careful, as they'll have to pay a penalty if they find the Merchants were telling the truth. This new edition includes updated rules, as well as expansions such as the 6th Merchant, Black Market, and Sheriff's Deputies.


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Welcome to ConwaySound 6390 W 44th Ave, 80033 720-341-9258 By appointment only - please call for your complimentary consultation Sheek Louch (The LOX) and Ghostface Killah (Wu-Tang) In the house.
"With over 14 years of full time experience, I have acquired the knowledge and experience to achieve excellent results for your project."
-Ryan Conway (Owner and Creator)
Check out the Service and Media pages for music and videos showcasing everything from initial preparations to setting up microphones and recording, mixing and mastering the final product. Also, visit the News page to view some of ConwaySound's newest projects and the most recent reviews and accolades for both the studio and our clients.


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The Natural Way to Feel More Empowered As a Woman
Gone are the days when the "male chauvinist" society had women as far inferior as men—very dependent and submissive to whatever the latter commanded. Women today are not just regarded as homemakers, but nation-builders as well. Beyond the confines of their houses, they, too, can make a big difference––be it in the economic, social or political arena.
From being a household queen to boardroom's rockstar, women run on very hectic and active schedules everyday. So imagine the strength they have to withstand the daily grinds, not to mention the stress and pressure they have to endure just to fulfill the duties bestowed upon them.
Nevertheless, they're no "Wonder Woman" at all, nor our very own heroine "Darna" so as not to feel exhausted and tired from chores or work. They're also humans, who need to pause for a break from being the jack-of-all-trades.
This March—declared as International Women's Month—is the best time to celebrate their power and influence with the gift of beauty and wellness that they truly deserve. What a better way to have it than a rosy, bouncy and shiny hair to begin with.
Because it is the mane that a person is mainly looked upon, it's a conscious effort for everyone, especially women, to make it pleasant to gaze at. So a regular bottled shampoo and conditioner, plus treatment are, more often than not, the solutions to turn to, regardless of the bad effects they may cause.
Some of the harmful chemicals they contain are too much to handle, especially by as fragile as a hair follicle. Their main damage being mane breakage is hard to manage. Tricky it is to treat the resulting tress that's less weak and elastic. Though negligible, other repercussions—allergic reaction and scalp irritation—also need keen attention and urgent solution.
Where else do women usually turn to for remedy than a beauty salon. After a pampering sesh, they may opt to avail any of their formulated solution for upkeep. For optimum results, it's best to combine it with NOVUHAIR 3-in-1 pack to promote robust locks and scalp.
NOVUHAIR is the only tress growth product in the market containing 19 natural herbs, essential oils and co-factor nutrients working synergistically to help remedy mane problems from growth to vanishing. It deeply penetrates to help rejuvenate, nourish, maintain moisture in the scalp and hair, and improve the overall appearance of the tress. Lastly, it's an effective and safe solution to arrest hair loss.
So come and celebrate womanhood at your favorite salon anytime this month. Much better if you can make it regularly to bond with your sisters or amigas over a hair spa or treatment. After all, your crowning glory deserves a second look.
Feel more empowered as a woman – order NOVUHAIR 3-in-1 pack online, get one (1) box of NOVUSKIN LIFT with 30 anti-aging tablets worth P2,970 for FREE at https://www.lazada.com.ph/novuhair-3-in-1-pack-plus-free-1-box-novuskin-lift-with-30-anti-aging-tablets-78553551.html?spm=a2o4l.searchlist.list.7.e391346fAMoFEh
For inquiries, call 413-6570 or 0922-8830575, visit NOVUHAIR Facebook Page (Novuhair Official) or website at www.novuhair.com.


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Photo: NASA Despite many claims that efforts to revive a 35-year-old spacecraft have ended in failure, the team behind the ISEE-3 Reboot Project has not given up hope entirely. Crowdsourcing has revealed an interesting idea that, with a lot of luck, just might work. Read Full News
Source Today's News.


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A New Sketch for December !
It's time once again to unveil another fabulous Sketch. Pam has put together a pretty awesome prize pack, yet again…Have fun and good luck everyone!
Rules: The Sketch Contest begins December 16 right here on our Sketch Blog.
The deadline for this contest is January 14 (midnight EST, USA)
The winner will be a random draw and announced on January 15
Only 1 layout per participant, please.
LO's for this contest may NOT be used in any other challenge or contest.
LO's must be newly made for this sketch. So, please don't use a LO that has been posted anywhere before the contest begins each month.
LO's must be your own work.
The random draw prize...
The New Sketch…
Stacia Brandt- GDT
Kristin Greenwood DT
Veronica Goh-Sketch DT
Shizuka Hirano-Sketch GDT
Angel Rodrigue - Sketch Blog Coordinator
Nicole Doiron
Lynn Shaffer


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Psalm text (Ps 90:12-13, 14-15, 16-17)
Fill us with Your love, O Lord, and we will sing for joy!
Teach us to number our days aright,that we may gain wisdom of heart.Return, O Lord! How long?Have pity on Your servants!
Fill us at daybreak with Your kindness,that we may shout for joy and gladness all our days.Make us glad, for the days when You afflicted us,for the years when we saw evil.
Let Your work be seen by Your servantsand Your glory by their children;and may the gracious care of the Lord our God be ours;prosper the work of our hands for us!Prosper the work of our hands!
By Aaron Thompson
By Michael Keppel
Gospel Verse (Mt 5:3)
Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
The English translation of the Psalm Response(s) and Gospel verse(s) from Lectionary for Mass © 1969, 1981, 1997, International Committee on English in the Liturgy, Inc. All rights reserved.


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When is a link an endorsement?
In recent weeks, critics have reamed the National Education Association for a Web site that supposedly encouraged teachers not to blame al-Qaida for the September 11 terrorist attacks. Brendan Nyhan, one of Spinsanity's independent political watchdogs, debunks the myth in an excellent article. As Nyhan points out, the controversy started when the Washington Times quoted a few sentences on a externally linked page as the NEA's official position.
Whatever your opinion of the teachers' union, the fact remains that a single external link caused a week of controversy on cable TV and in respected newspapers. That should give pause to anyone who makes links to elsewhere on the Web. Can readers always correctly infer whether an author intends a link as an endorsement or not? News sites have worried about this since the early days of the Web, running disclaimers about their external links. It's ironic that a reporter, not a reader, got it so wrong this time.
Adrian Holovaty recently wondered about using a different color for external links on news sites. I think another problem may be distinguishing between different kinds of external links. In this blog entry, I've already used at least three:
- "Matter-of-fact" links, which imply no endorsement. Sometimes, their only purpose seems to be proving that what the author is talking about actually exists. (The link to the original NEA site, the link to bayarea.com's privacy policy.)
- "Related" links, which cover a similar general subject but bounce off on a different tangent. These links often imply that the tangent is interesting, but do not necessarily endorse it. (The link to Adrian Holovaty's link color discussion.)
- "For more information" links, which let the author skip retelling existing details and instead offer a conclusion or new information. This kind of link implies that the external information is trustworthy. (The link to the Spinsanity article.)
What may be lurking behind other external links? I can think of more types:
- "Quotation in context" links, which jump to where an excerpt was taken from. These need not imply endorsement.
- "Action" links, which let the user do something. These usually do imply endorsement, like "sign up for our e-mail newsletter" or "click here to search the state's official database."
- "Non-original location" links, in which the content is not from the site listed in the linked URL. For instance, sometimes people link to a cached version of a page at Google if the original is no longer available.
- Advertising links, which imply (or at least should) a total lack of endorsement.
In Adrian Holovaty's discussion of link colors, Wohleber says he wants "a better way generally of anticipating what sort of info awaits at the other end of the link — a two-sentence glossary entry or an in depth article? A primary source, a neutral factual overview or an opinion piece?" And in his book, Interface Culture, Steven Johnson writes, "The link is the first significant new form of punctuation to emerge in centuries, but it is only a hint of things to come. ... [W]e need more than one type of link."
I completely agree. The Web needs some kind of interface enhancement to distinguish between kinds of links, connote endorsement or lack thereof and help the reader determine which links are interesting. In the meantime, maybe we could just focus on getting reporters to recognize that something with a non-NEA URL probably shouldn't be attributed to the NEA.


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IPOP Prosthesis
There are more aggressive approaches to post operative care that may include the use of a rigid dressing or what is termed an Immediate Post-Operative Prosthesis or IPOP. An IPOP is an immediate postoperative prosthesis that is used as an early form of prosthetic intervention.
The benefit of being fit with an IPOP prosthesis is early ambulation if allowed by your physician. An IPOP prosthesis is also said to help with phantom limb sensation, because you can see that there is a leg, or in this sense, a prosthesis attached.
IPOP prostheses also protect the residual limb from being injured. Many times, a patient will wake up in the middle of the night to use the restroom, and forget that their limb has been amputated. When they get out of bed and try to stand on both limbs, they fall down and re-injure thesurgery site.
An IPOP prosthesis will protect the end of the residual limb should this occur. There are many different types of postoperative care and your physician will help you choose which the best is for you.


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App for Business
Category: Technology / Ideas
apps: WordPress, Figma
services: Development
website: gridoexample.com
#01. The Challenge
Content marketing is one of the most valuable strategies for increasing traffic to your site, earning more qualified leads, and boosting conversions. But if you want to have an effective content
with the latest trends. When you think of creating content, most people's minds go straight to blogging. While blogging is one of the most effective content marketing strategies.
#02. The Solution
This pressure for IT departments to give answers to the business may lead to a less effective analysis of the weakness of the systems.maintained PHP frameworks provide those tools in abundance, allowing developers to save time, re-use code, and streamline the back end.
- Five hours a day is how much time U.S. adults spend each day watching videos
- 90% of people say videos help them make a purchase decision
- Videos are one of the most effective forms of content your business can use to engage your audience.
#03. The Result
When you create your videos, make sure you're effectively capturing your audience's attention and making them want to watch your content. Try telling a story or sharing an interesting fact to get your audience invested in your video content.
And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more painful than the risk it took to blossom.Tomm Harisson


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This is FRESH AIR. I'm Dave Davies, in for Terry Gross. The Academy Awards are Sunday night, and the movie "Soul" is nominated for three Oscars, including best animated film. Our guests are the director and co-director of the movie, Pete Docter and Kemp Powers. They also co-wrote the film. Kemp Powers if also nominated for an Oscar for best adapted screenplay for his film "One Night In Miami..." which he adapted from his play of the same name. Pete Docter wrote and directed "Up" and "Inside Out," which won Oscars for best animated film. He's now chief creative officer at Pixar Animation Studios. Terry spoke with Pete Docter and Kemp Powers last month.
They began with the movie "Soul." It's about what makes a life meaningful and what makes us who we are. The main character, Joe Gardner, is a middle school band teacher who feels unfulfilled because his ambition is to be a full-time jazz musician. On the day he's offered a full-time teaching position, he learns of an opening in the band of a jazz legend he idolizes. He auditions and, to his amazement, gets the gig, which he thinks will be the beginning of his real life. He's so excited by this dream come true, he pays no attention to where he's walking and falls right into an open manhole. He's transported out of his body, onto a conveyor belt to the great beyond. But he refuses to die just as he's about to get his big chance. So he runs in the opposite direction and falls into the land of the great before, where his body is in a holding pattern between life and death. Through a series of adventures and mishaps, he has to figure the purpose of life before he can return to his body.
In this scene from early in "Soul," Joe Gardner, voiced by Jamie Foxx, is at the piano telling his middle school band students about how he fell in love with jazz when he was a child. The piano part is performed by Jon Batiste, who also composed and arranged the jazz sections of the score.
JAMIE FOXX: (As Joe) Look; I remember one time, my dad took me to this jazz club. And that's the last place I wanted to be. But then I see this guy.
FOXX: (As Joe) And he's playing these chords with fourths on them. And then with a minor...
FOXX: (As Joe) Oh, oh, whoo. Then he adds the inner voices. And it's like he's singing.
FOXX: (As Joe) And I swear, the next thing I know, it's like he...
FOXX: (As Joe) ...Floats off the stage.
FOXX: (As Joe) That guy was lost in the music. He was in it. And he took the rest of us with him.
FOXX: (As Joe) And I wanted to learn...
FOXX: (As Joe) ...How to talk like that.
FOXX: (As Joe) That's when I knew...
FOXX: (As Joe) ...I was born to play.
FOXX: (As Joe) Connie knows what I mean. Right, Connie?
CORA CHAMPOMMIER: (As Connie) I'm 12.
TERRY GROSS: (Laughter) I love that. Pete Docter, Kemp Powers, welcome to FRESH AIR. Congratulations on the Oscar nominations and on the win from the Golden Globes. Pete, you originated the story of "Soul." What was the germ of the idea?
PETE DOCTER: Well, yeah, I started working on it after "Inside Out." And it was a kind of a period of some amount of emotional turbulence. And I had always loved animation. You know, I was 9, I think, when I made a flipbook and figured out this is what I want to do with my life. And having just finished "Inside Out" and so much success in the film, I found myself wondering, why don't I feel like my life is all wrapped up and solved in a nice bow? Why didn't it fix everything? And maybe I've been pouring my efforts and focus into the wrong thing. So this film was really an investigation into what's going on in my life, what's going on in the world and what's life all about.
GROSS: So why did you make the main character a jazz musician?
DOCTER: Yeah. We experimented with a couple of different things. For a while, Joe was an actor. And we found what happened was that the audience, for whatever reason, thought he was - he just wanted fame. So it was like a selfish goal. But with music, especially jazz music, you know, you don't go into jazz to get rich and famous. You do it because you have this passion and drive to perform this kind of music. There's something that felt noble about it. And then as we learned more about it, jazz as a metaphor for life was just too good to pass up in terms of what we were trying to say in the film.
GROSS: How did you decide to collaborate with Kemp Powers on the film?
DOCTER: Well, we had made some of these decisions of Joe being a jazz musician, being - living in New York. We figured, OK, if this is a film about a jazz musician, our main character should probably reflect that. That seems like the right thing to do. We need some help. We need people who are - somebody - ideally, it would be a major contributor, the writer - who knows about those things. And so we were really lucky to find Kemp, who not only is all those things, but also is a damn good writer.
GROSS: So does this part get a little awkward? Like, you realize you need a Black person...
GROSS: ...Working on the screenplay with you. And, Kemp, you realized when you're called that, like, you're the Black person who's going to help them with it. It's like, I think we recognize that that is what needs to be done. But I think it's, like, an awkward position for everybody. Like, how do you talk about that?
KEMP POWERS: Yeah. I mean, it is pretty funny because, obviously, when I got the call from my agent that Pixar was interested, they were looking for a writer to help them with a project - and they're always very cloak and dagger about it. So they wouldn't tell me anything about what the story was about. But, of course, (laughter) the first thing my brain said was, I'm guessing the story must have Black people in it.
POWERS: And, you know, it's - I try not to be - I know that can sound cynical. But, look; that's just the reality of this business, this industry. And that it wasn't very long ago - and when I say not very long ago, I'm talking just, like, three or four years ago - where it was very possible, if you happened to be white, to create and tell a story about anything you wanted to, and no one would so much as push you to even consult with people from that community, let alone invite them in and be partners.
So while, you know, it's easy to kind of take the cynical route, I saw it more as a really interesting opportunity because when I flew up to Pixar and I sat down and I saw the nuggets of what would become "Soul," I really fell in love with the story that Pete was trying to tell. And it was a story that felt like it was about me, you know? And it was a story that really wasn't about race. Yes, "Soul" is a film, the majority of the characters are Black. But it's not, quote-unquote, "a Black film." It's this - we're trying to tell this universal story through the specific prism of a Black man. And I think that was a really bold choice that I was relishing an opportunity to try to execute.
GROSS: Were there changes you wanted to make as soon as you started working on it?
POWERS: Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I think that's part of what probably - you have to confirm with Pete. I'm sure that's part of what got me hired is that they showed me a reel. It was about 45 minutes long. And I had notes. I mean, I had a lot of thoughts. And there were definitely questions I had about, basically, this main character, Joe. I think the way I described it - Pete, correct me if I'm wrong - was that in the early reels, he seemed like the least interesting person in the film.
DOCTER: Yeah. It was an interesting concept, but not Joe (laughter).
POWERS: Yeah. Joe just - and part of it was, I think, because there had been such extreme caution and such a fear of doing things that might, you know, offend someone or upset someone that instead, there really hadn't been much done. Like, I didn't know anything about the guy. I didn't really know anything about his family. I didn't know - it seemed like Joe was just a very, very lonely man who didn't know anyone and had no friends.
And so that just meant that his life had to be filled in. And of course, it's just - the nature of being at Pixar is that it doesn't matter whether you're a director or a designer or an artist; you use your life as fuel. So it was very easy for me when you say, oh, he's supposed to be a 45-year-old Black man from New York - what a coincidence, that's what I am - to start filling in a lot of those gaps with my own personal experiences.
GROSS: So what is one of those gaps that you filled in with your own personal experience?
POWERS: It was honestly the first scene I started working on when I came there. And it's a scene - we call it - I think the scene is called suit. And it's when Joe goes to get a suit from his mom, who is a tailor. And a lot of elements of the discussion they have between his mom - who's played by Phylicia Rashad - Libba, is really just a - versions of conversations I've had with my own mother about, like, how long are you going to continue to pursue this writing thing?
You know, it's - pursuing writing as a career can really seem like a fool's errand to people, and understandably so when you consider the likelihood of having any kind of success at it. And so as you get into your 30s and then get into your 40s and you still haven't made very much of a dent, you know, a concerned parent is going to really tell you about those concerns.
GROSS: So we happen to have this scene (laughter) cued up and ready to go. So let's hear it. So this is Joe, the jazz musician, and his mother, who runs the tailor shop.
FOXX: (As Joe) Mom, I know we've had some rough times, but you're right. I can't be truthful with you because it seems like no matter what I do, you disapprove.
PHYLICIA RASHAD: (As Libba) Look; I know you love playing.
FOXX: (As Joe) Then how come except for church, you're the happiest when I don't. I finally land the gig of my life, and you're upset.
RASHAD: (As Libba) You didn't see how tough being a musician was on your father. I don't want to see you struggle like that.
FOXX: (As Joe) So dad could pursue his dreams and I can't?
RASHAD: (As Libba) Your father had me. Most times, this shop is what paid the bills. So when I'm gone, who's going to pay yours?
FOXX: (As Joe) Music is all I think about from the moment I wake up in the morning to the moment I fall asleep at night.
RASHAD: (As Libba) You can't eat dreams for breakfast, Joey.
FOXX: (As Joe) Then I don't want to eat. This isn't about my career, Mom. It's my reason for living. And I know Dad felt the same way. I'm just afraid that if I died today, that my life would have amounted to nothing.
RASHAD: (As Libba) Joey.
GROSS: So Kemp Powers, what was the version of that conversation you had with your mother?
POWERS: It was several conversations. And the last part, where he says, if I die today, I feel like my life would have amounted to nothing, that was something I was saying to myself a few years before when I almost died in a hospital. And I had gotten very - it was right before the opening in Baltimore of my play, "One Night In Miami," ironically enough. And I'd had an allergic reaction to Tamiflu and ended up coming down with rhabdomyolysis. It's basically, your muscles start dissolving, and it causes your organs to shut down.
And I ended up in the hospital in Baltimore for more than a week. And there was a great concern that everything - that my organs were all going to fail. And I was surrounded by my loved ones, you know, and family. And I was just - I spent - I couldn't move because I was in such pain. I was heavily medicated for the pain. So I would just spend most the day staring out a window.
And I just - this malaise fell over me. And I just was saying to myself over and over again, like, oh, man. Like, it's like I - it's like I've never even - I didn't accomplish anything. Like, it's like I wasn't even here. Like, no one's even going to remember that I was here. And I said to myself that, like, oh, if I make it out of this, then I'm going to, like, go for broke. And it was when I got out of that hospital a few weeks later that I basically turned around - and I was still doing journalism as contract work - that I quit my last journalism job and said, I'm not available anymore to do any contract work; I'm really going to kind of pursue this foolish dream of mine of doing my creative writing by going all in.
And, you know, for my mom, it's one of those things where, like, being a writer all these years, it's not - it's embarrassing, you know? You go - you're married, you end up getting divorced, you have kids and you're getting older and older and still having to go to your mom to, like, borrow money because every time there's a big opportunity and you talk about it with such excitement, you're - ultimately, something always ends up happening that makes that opportunity not be as lucrative, as fruitful, as you expect it to be.
It's funny because my mom was - she called me up a couple of weeks ago. She was pretty upset with me because when we won the Golden Globe for "Soul," I hadn't told her (laughter) because I've gotten into the habit of not bringing up what I'm doing anymore just because of so many years of always saying, I've got this thing. I've got this thing, and it never - and so my mom was like, I had a - she was like, a friend of mine calls me up and says, congrats to your son. He won a Golden Globe. And she's like, do you know I had to pretend like I knew what she was talking about?
DOCTER: (Laughter).
GROSS: (Laughter) Oh, gee.
POWERS: So yeah. It's (laughter)...
GROSS: Well, I hope you told her about the Oscar nomination - nominations, (laughter) plural.
POWERS: I believe she knows now.
DOCTER: (Laughter).
GROSS: OK, good. I think I need to reintroduce you. If you're just joining us, my guests are Pete Docter and Kemp Powers, the director and co-director of the film "Soul," which they also co-wrote. It's nominated for three Oscars, including best animated film. Powers is also nominated for an Oscar for best adapted screenplay for "One Night In Miami..." which he adapted from his play of the same name. We'll be right back. This is FRESH AIR.
GROSS: This is FRESH AIR. Let's get back to my interview with Pete Docter and Kent Powers, who directed and co-directed the film "Soul," which has received an Oscar nomination for best animated film. Powers also is nominated for best adapted screenplay for "One Night In Miami..."
So I want to get back to the conceit of "Soul." Pete, one of the things you had to do is to figure out what is the afterlife or the limbo that your main character was going to be in when he has this near-death experience and he's holding on for life, and it's really unclear whether he's going to live or survive. So you had to figure out this whole kind of system of what happens to bodies in limbo. So did you talk to people who had near-death experiences? And I should ask here, Kemp, did you have a near-death experience when you were in the hospital in the kind of predicament that you had just described, where all of your organs might be failing as a result of the allergic reaction you were having?
POWERS: I mean, it felt like a near-death in that, you know, I wasn't in a coma. I was awake, but I couldn't move, physically. And it was a situation where the only way they can treat rhabdomyolysis is flushing your body with water. So I was hooked up to several IVs. They were monitoring my heart to see - make sure that it didn't drown my heart and cause it to stop. And then it was just a matter of time. It was either the process was going to start reversing itself, or it wouldn't. And so it was kind of like, is this slow death or not? It definitely felt like a near-death experience, living through it. And, you know, it took me quite a while to recover from that. Like, I wasn't able to really walk at full speed for a period of months because of the muscle loss. And I think the hospital said that it was one of the worst cases they'd ever seen at that hospital. So it absolutely felt that way.
GROSS: Did you feel like your life force was being drained?
POWERS: I mean, yeah, I felt like I was - there were days at the - right before - you know, full disclosure, like, right before things started to improve, I was starting to write letters to my children. Like, OK, I guess I better explain to these two kids why I'm not going to be around anymore.
GROSS: So to bring that back to the movie, was there anything you drew on from that experience that you wanted to put into the character of Joe, who desperately wants to live but knows he might not?
POWERS: Well, the scene where - when Joe falls through the manhole cover and he's looking into the light and he turns around and is like, no F-ing (ph) way - man, that spoke to me. And, in fact, I think, remember, Pete, like, when we got into animation, I kept on pushing for us to make Joe even more adamant about, like, there's no damn way I am going into that light, to the point where he's shoving people out of his way because (laughter) that's how - that was absolutely how I felt. But no, I think it was - what Pete was going for was just tapping into something that I knew from experience and knew from having felt it.
I mean, this character's journey - it's interesting. In our society, whether it's - people mean to do it or not, I feel like we're all broken up into winners and losers. That's really how it feels. It feels like we're told that, based on the decisions that we make, we're all going to end up being a winner or being a loser. But increasingly, it seems like the thing that makes a person a winner is akin to, like, winning the lottery. It's something that's almost impossible. So it feels like almost no one actually gets to be a winner.
But it's not about winners or losers in that everyone's life has value, and that's something that really, really spoke to me immensely as someone who - you know, and I think it speaks to a lot of creatives because creatives are notoriously a group that suffer from imposter syndrome (laughter). And so that that was really a powerful driving force for me.
GROSS: Well, let me reintroduce you both. If you're just joining us, my guests are Pete Docter and Kemp Powers, the director and co-director of the film "Soul," which has an Oscar nomination for best animated film. Powers is also nominated for best adapted screenplay for "One Night In Miami..." We'll be right back after a break. I'm Terry Gross, and this is FRESH AIR.
JON BATISTE: (Singing) Say it's all right. Say it's all right. It's all right to have a good time 'cause it's all right. Oh, it's all right. Now, listen to the beat, kind of pat your feet. You got soul, and everybody knows 'cause it's all right. Oh, it's all right. When you wake up early in the morning feeling sad like so many of us do, just hum a little soul, make life your goal, and surely something's got to come to you. Say it's all right. Say it's all right. It's all right. Have a good time 'cause it's all right. Oh, it's all right. Now, everybody, clap your hands. Give yourself a chance. You've got soul. Everybody knows that it's all right. Oh, it's all right. Oh, it's all right.
GROSS: This is FRESH AIR. I'm Terry Gross. Let's get back to my interview with Pete Docter and Kemp Powers, the director and co-director of the film "Soul," which received an Oscar nomination for best animated film. It already won the Golden Globe in that category. Docter and Powers also co-wrote the film. It's about a middle school band teacher who dreams of being a full-time jazz musician. And just as he gets his big opportunity, he falls into a manhole and is transported to another world where he's suspended between life and death and is forced to rethink the meaning of his life.
Kemp Powers is also nominated for best adapted screenplay for his film "One Night In Miami..." which he adapted from his play of the same name. It's about the conversation he imagines Malcolm X, Sam Cooke, Jim Brown and Cassius Clay had the night that Clay won the world heavyweight title, defeating Sonny Liston in 1964 before Clay became Muhammad Ali.
Well, let's get back to talking about the film "Soul." Since "Soul" is so much about what happens when you're between life and death and what happens in the afterlife and the before life, I'd love to hear the stories you were each told about what happens when you leave this world or when you're in that kind of limbo state. Pete, let's start with you.
DOCTER: Yeah. I mean, I grew up Lutheran, and so - understanding kind of the concepts of God and heaven and so on. But I think, you know, as a kid, you have these very specific - I guess you want to put visuals to them, right? You want to visualize, what does that look like? And then when you go back now as an adult and read the same - you know, the Bible and so on, it's not very well spelled out. If you're looking for answers, there's almost more questions there, which, I think, is kind of the intention of it - to just - to make you think and really engage in it. The more research we did on this film, it's almost like my brain expanded to allow for the possibility of these things. I don't think I came up with any specific, concrete answers. It's more that I was able to think more broadly.
GROSS: That's an interesting result of making the movie.
DOCTER: Yeah. It was a great experience to be able to come into work every day and basically ruminate and think about and meditate on this theme of, like, what's life about? And, of course, that's really beyond trying to describe any cosmological or theological system or whatever. It was really more looking and separating the differentiation between passion and purpose, you know, and those became big controlling ideas in the film that we kept circling around, trying to define.
GROSS: What is the difference, the way you see it?
DOCTER: As someone who feels as though I have this purpose in life, which is to create animated films - no, that's my passion. It's what I love doing, right? But I think a lot of times, you end up mistaking that this is what I was born to do - in fact, we ended up putting that in the film that Joe feels - he says, I'm a musician; this is what I was born to do. But those are different things, right? The idea that your purpose in life has something to do with your passion - it could be, but I think it's broader than that.
GROSS: Well, he's even told when he's in the state of limbo that the spark, the thing that you're passionate about, isn't your soul's purpose. And the meaning of that - he's basically told, if you let your obsession take over, you lose your sense of meaning. You lose your sense of purpose.
DOCTER: Yeah. We had this great element in the film that we discovered - these lost souls. So this is - I won't get into the specifics. You'll have to see the film. But there are these characters, these creatures that sort of are, like, haunted, wandering the astral plane, disconnected from life. And for people like myself who have this intense passion, that can be just as isolating. That can be just as lost to be completely absorbed by something. And I think in its best case, in its best incarnation, something like music or storytelling, film, it connects you to life. It reminds you how interconnected everything is and how - this is why I had to make a movie about it instead of me talking about it.
DOCTER: But, you know, the idea that when you walk out into the world and you smell the air and you hear birds and you taste and touch and all those things - that's, I think, what ultimately we really want from life - is this reminder that we're not alone, that we're all connected and part of something bigger than just our little puny bodies.
GROSS: So I want to get back to something you were saying, Pete - that obsession can block out a lot of things that are very important about life, that the work that you do, no matter how passionate you are, isn't the total meaning of life. And it can block out some of the meaning and some of the beauty of life. So, Kemp, when you were emerging from this near-death experience in which you had that awful allergic reaction and you had promised yourself that if you survived, you're going to go all in and try to do the kind of writing you really wanted to do instead of journalism, where you felt you weren't really making any progress in your career - so did you become very obsessive about that? And did you get to the point where you felt like you were shutting out parts of life?
POWERS: Oh, absolutely. I - something that we discussed when making this film was that at different points in our lives and careers, we've all been - we feel like we've all been lost souls based on our definition of it by - because - look; when you find something you enjoy and you're passionate about and you actually are pretty good at it, it is so easy to take the extra step of hiding behind that thing and using it to not deal with so many other elements of life.
That's why it was so important that when we introduced the idea of the lost soul - that someone could be lost, but then they could be found, that they could come out of it, that it was a state of mind, a state of being the characters in the film could go back and forth between because - you know, I don't want to speak for Pete. But I've definitely found myself, based on our own definition of it, a bit of a lost soul, someone who - you know, to avoid facing all different elements of life, just losing myself in my work. And it becomes that much easier, like I said, when you start having a little success at it. So it gives you even more of an excuse to just stay there all the time.
GROSS: And, Pete, you know, you were talking about some of the things you opened your mind to in making this movie. Did you also feel like, gee, maybe I should take more pleasure in just, like, little things in life, like falling leaves and the taste of pizza? (Laughter).
DOCTER: Yeah. No, and it sounds kind of trite and small to say, but it's absolutely true in a sense, I think. As an artist - I keep a sketchbook - when I draw, there is some connection made because of that attention, that I could have walked past a building for years, but if I stop and draw it, then I'm suddenly aware of all this detail and specific stuff that would have completely - I would never have observed before, you know? So there's something about the act of drawing that I think is kind of a spiritual connection in there as well.
GROSS: Yeah. And it's no longer just, like, background; it's something that you can immerse yourself in and appreciate the details of.
DOCTER: Yeah, yeah. No, I mean, working on this film was really - and I think this is true of any story - when you get to turn things around and say, OK, if Joe believes he's, like, an essentialist, you know, if - the philosophical school of thought of, like, I was born with this purpose, then you get to start playing around with, what's the flip side of that? Maybe there's a nihilist in the film who believes there's no meaning at all to anything or - you know, that's kind of our character that Tina Fey plays is this - she thinks life is meaningless, although that turns out to be somewhat of a surface-level - like, a way of dealing with her inner fear that she's not good enough, which I think is something else that a lot of us have this worry that unless I perform up to a certain level, unless I make these accomplishments and achievements, then really I haven't - I don't deserve it. I'm not good enough.
GROSS: Yeah, I think we can all relate to that (laughter).
DOCTER: Yeah. And I feel like the movie's aim is really to say that we're already enough. You know, we all deserve and we all can walk out of the door and enjoy life without needing to accomplish or prove anything. And that's really freeing, I think.
POWERS: And that - and it's not to say that we don't think people should have dreams because it's very easy for people to take that message and assume that we're saying you shouldn't have dreams, and that was never the case (laughter).
DOCTER: No.
GROSS: You're not saying just enjoy the pizza and the falling leaves.
DOCTER: No. No, but do. But do, you know, yeah.
GROSS: But do, yeah (laughter). OK. Let me reintroduce you. If you're just joining us, my guests are Pete Docter and Kemp Powers, the director and co-director of the film "Soul," which they also co-wrote. It's nominated for three Oscars, including best animated film. Powers is also nominated for an Oscar for best adapted screenplay for "One Night In Miami..." which he adapted from his play of the same name. We'll be right back. This is FRESH AIR.
GROSS: This is FRESH AIR. Let's get back to my interview with Pete Docter and Kemp Powers, who directed and co-directed the film "Soul," which has received an Oscar nomination for best animated film. Powers has a nomination for best adapted screenplay for "One Night In Miami..." which he adapted from his play of the same name.
Kemp Powers, I want to ask you about "One Night In Miami..." because in addition to the best animated film Oscar nomination, you're nominated for best adapted screenplay for "One Night In Miami..." which is adapted from your play of the same name. And it's about the night that Muhammad Ali won the heavyweight championship, defeating Sonny Liston, and then there was a gathering in the Hampton House Motel of Cassius Clay, Malcolm X, Sam Cooke and Jim Brown, who's a football player. You know, you've written this whole dialogue for them, this whole conversation in which they talk about, like, the great issues facing them as individuals and facing the civil rights movement and, you know, the more radical Black movement that Malcolm X is a part of. How much do you actually know about what happened when they all got together?
POWERS: Honestly, just little tidbits in terms of the actual discussion in the room. I mean, if you read biographies on each of the four men, if you read enough of them like I have, there will be references to details of that night, them being in quiet conversation, them just having vanilla ice cream to eat - which is a detail that I put into the film script. But it was really less about - I mean, we - when I wrote it, I wanted to really position this more as historical fiction because it was really less about what they actually said that night, to me, and more about what each of these men represented.
And the discussion that I wanted these characterizations of them to have is a discussion that Black men have been having since way before that night and are still having to this day, Black people in general. And it's what, if any, social responsibility does a Black public figure have, whether it be a Black athlete, a Black politician, a Black singer, Black artist? What, if any, public responsibility do you have? And it just so happened that these four men represent very clear, very distinct ideas about how much or how little you have.
And again, when I first found out that this was a real night, my intention was to write a book about their friendship. So I went down this path of doing years of research to write a book that I never got around to writing. And then as my career in journalism ended and my creative writing career picked up, the very thing that had stymied me from writing the book, which was not being able to fill in that blank, was really the perfect setup for what initially was a stage play to debate these things with, like I said, characterizations based on everything that I really knew about each of the four men.
GROSS: How have you answered the question you posed for yourself - like, how much of your work should be in service of the larger movement?
POWERS: Well, for me, I think - I never don't think about personal and social responsibility. It's never not on my mind. And in terms of how much, it's very situational. That's why when I wrote that film, I didn't want an audience to come away from it feeling like the central argument, so to speak, is between Malcolm X and Sam Cooke, and I didn't want audiences to leave feeling that one person was necessarily right and the other person was necessarily wrong because the answer is very situational.
I think that in order for us to - as a people, to get where we need to be, we need both Sam Cookes, which means people who were willing to suffer and work within the system to bring about change that you might not immediately see, but that's change that's happening. And then you also need Malcolm Xs - people who are willing to confront the problem publicly and burn the whole system down and start over if need be. There's very different tactics.
And I think that their debate is, in many ways, an internal monologue. It's the debate that goes on inside my psyche now that I'm a very public artist. It's a debate that happens before I decide which projects I'm going to take on, which things I want to really commit myself to. And I think it was - I'm really happy that the play version of that story was actually one of the couple of things that Pete and the folks at Pixar read before they brought me on to "Soul" because I felt like, OK, if they've read "One Night In Miami," they should know that I'm going to really be speaking up (laughter) if there are issues that I find objectionable about certain elements of characterization.
GROSS: Pete, what did you find relevant in "One Night In Miami" to "Soul"?
DOCTER: I just felt like Kemp's ability to take these themes and argue both sides of it was exactly what we were looking to do in the film and portray them through such strongly opinionated and clear characters, you know, because, of course, those - the characters are the voice of the author. And in all these things, it's like the audience experiences it through those characters, and they were just so cleanly and clearly defined. It was really great. I think we read the play version because, of course, the film one hadn't - you hadn't even started writing it, had you?
POWERS: I turned in the first draft the week I started at Pixar (laughter).
DOCTER: Oh, OK.
POWERS: So yeah, it wasn't done yet (laughter).
GROSS: It's kind of interesting that "One Night In Miami..." and "The U.S. (ph) Vs. Billie Holiday" and "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" - three Oscar-nominated movies - are all based on real people. And there seems to be kind of a trend of a lot of African American-themed films being about real events in history or real people, you know, including yours - "One Night In Miami..." And I'm wondering, like, if you have any thoughts about why that is.
POWERS: I - honestly, I was wondering that one myself. Maybe it's universal consciousness. I'm assuming a lot of it probably has to do with Trump's presidency. I was having a conversation with another Black filmmaker about this fairly recently and just this idea that it feels like as a nation, we're going through such a moment of crucible change.
So it's pretty easy to, you know, look at other moments of crucible change in our own nation's history. And the '60s in particular really jump out because first, like, you know, we're so familiar with so many of these people. So many of them are our heroes and our icons. But there's also always lessons to be learned from their experiences, and in some cases, lessons that it's very evident that we have not learned as a country, you know?
And that's not to say that we haven't had progress. Of course we've had incredible, you know, progress. The night that "One Night In Miami..." took place, Miami was still segregated. These men actually had to stay in the Black part of town. They didn't have a choice. So it's not to say there hasn't been immense progress, but it does point out just how bad things can get when the pendulum swings in the other direction. And it does feel like there have been some massive pendulum swings.
And then the last presidency, I think - I think, this is just my theory - maybe got artists kind of examining that a little bit more. But remember, I first wrote the play back in 2013. So this predated, you know, Black Lives Matter, and it predated all these movements, so it's really hard to say.
GROSS: Well, good luck to both of you at the Oscars. And thank you so much for talking with us. It's just been a pleasure.
POWERS: Oh, it's been great to be here.
DOCTER: Thank you. It was fun.
POWERS: Thank you.
DAVIES: Pete Docter and Kemp Powers wrote the film "Soul," which Docter directed and Powers co-directed. "Soul" is nominated for an Oscar for best animated film. Powers is also nominated for an Oscar for the "One Night In Miami..." screenplay, which he adapted from his play of the same name.
Coming up, Justin Chang reviews the new movie "Moffie," which tells the story of a white South African teenager hiding his sexuality as a young soldier under apartheid in the early '80s. This is FRESH AIR.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONNY ROLLINS' "I'M AN OLD COWHAND") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


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Garbage isn't associated with good smells, but if your garbage disposal smells funky, there could be a problem. At Wicker Trade Service Inc., we deal with our share of garbage disposal issues in Mooresville. We see many causes for bad smells, but fortunately, we know just as many ways to fix the issue.
Here, we'll talk about what causes garbage disposal odor and how to get rid of it.
How Does a Garbage Disposal Work?
A garbage disposal is a tool installed between the kitchen sink and the sink trap. It has impeller plates that press food through a grinding chamber to break waste down into smaller particles. The particles are then flushed through the chamber wall by water.
If you think of your garbage disposal a little like a blender, you'll see why some food pieces don't get properly disposed of. The grinder minces the food waste, but only waste it can reach. Any food out of reach of the grinder remains too large to wash through the chamber wall.
Some foods to avoid putting into your garbage disposal include:
- Coffee grounds
- Raw potato peels
- Egg shells
These foods are difficult to break down and stick to the inside of the disposal, even when rinsed with water.
Cleaning Your Garbage Disposal
Keeping your garbage disposal clean minimizes the chance of bad smells developing. The best ways to maintain your disposal are:
- Baking soda and vinegar: ½ cup of baking soda and 1 cup of vinegar down the disposal foams and dislodges food particles. It's also natural and easy on the plumbing.
- Pods: Garbage disposal cleaning pods are placed into the disposal while off. When you flip the disposal on, the pods burst and foam, cleaning the disposal. This process takes about two minutes to complete.
If a garbage disposal is blocked, a plumber is your best bet for a thorough clearing. Never try to dislodge a garbage disposal yourself.
The Cause of Smelly Garbage Disposals
Garbage disposal odor is almost always caused by residual food waste. Waste that can't be washed through the chamber wall remains lodged in your disposal. Like all food, it eventually breaks down and causes a foul smell.
The fix: Ensure all food hits the impeller plates by running your disposal for 30 to 45 seconds every time you use it.
Sometimes, large food particles aren't to blame. Oil and grease congeal inside the disposal, causing blockages and bad smells. Of course, it's not recommended to put any grease or fat down your disposal. However, some foods are oilier than others and cause a buildup.
The fix: Running hot water when you use your disposal minimizes the chance of greasy blockages.
It might be tempting to pour bleach down your disposal to fix these smells. Don't do it! Bleach is a corrosive chemical cleaning agent. It breaks down dirt and grime quickly, but it also negatively affects plumbing.
Other Concerning Smells to Watch Out For
Garbage disposals develop bad odors for several reasons. The most common is rotting food, but it could also be:
Mold Growth
Mold is caused by moisture, organic material, and humidity. A garbage disposal becomes the perfect breeding ground for mold and mildew because of this. Food particles in your sink are used as fuel to grow mold spores.
Mold smells differently than rotten food, but it's still unpleasant. Mold is sometimes visible in a kitchen sink, but if it's deep enough in the garbage disposal, it will go unnoticed. It's important to tackle mold right away as it can lead to health issues and property damage.
Sewage Leak
Sewage has a distinct (and not so nice) odor. If there's a sewage-like smell emanating from the disposal, a leak is the most likely culprit.
A sewage leak is a major home issue. It might even impact other areas of your home. In fact, you're likely to smell it from other drains connecting to your kitchen plumbing, like the laundry sink. Call a plumber right away if you suspect sewage is the cause of bad smells in your disposal.
Contact Wicker Trade Service Inc. to Diagnose Your Smelly Garbage Disposal
If you live in Mooresville and are experiencing bad smells coming up from the kitchen sink, we can help. At Wicker Trade Service Inc. our plumbers are highly skilled in garbage disposals, and the delicate plumbing in kitchen sinks.
Garbage disposals are useful for dealing with unwanted food waste but can be a hassle when not properly maintained. To learn more about our garbage disposal and other plumbing services, call us today.


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Are riots good for democracy? In general, I believe that they are. But let me immediately clarify. Riots are complex, unco-ordinated crowd activities. No-one defends every act committed by every rioter. Even in riots motivated by egalitarian and democratic aspirations, individuals may indulge in indefensible attacks on bystanders. We should reject wrongdoing in riots, as we do in other contexts. But we cannot let it obscure the fact that outbreaks of determined public defiance can often shift the balance of power between ruling élites and the poor and working-class people that they exploit and oppress. People long dismissed by the powerful suddenly become impossible to ignore, once their insistence on being heard finds expression in confrontations with the legal order and its police.
In the aftermath of riots, states often set up 'commissions' designed to defuse the tension. Initiatives are announced, programmes are launched. Usually, these do little to advance the public interest, and we rightly view these stratagems with a cynical eye. Yet they tell us something important: that grievances long ignored now have to be taken into account; that a strategy is now needed to undermine the new boldness of those no longer content to suffer in silence.
It is this boldness that serves democracy: the audacity of Stonewall, the Brazilian students rioting for access to education and the garment workers in Bangladesh demonstrating for a safe workplace and a living wage. Their defiance puts the powerful on the defensive and creates an opening for other, more constructive forms of organizing to take root. To turn the tide against injustice, we need movements that are relentless, escalating and with a broadening base of participation. Riots are no substitute for this work. But, to the extent that they enable the silenced and ignored to find their voice, rioting is an important part of democratic politics. Vijay
The question needs to be more nuanced. Democracy has itself to be rooted in its capitalist straitjacket. Riots do not happen because you want them to happen. They are an outgrowth of capitalism. I do not celebrate them. I simply acknowledge that they happen.
One of the great accomplishments of Marxism was to establish, scientifically, that the capitalist social order is structured around class violence. That a small percentage of the population controls Capital, and that the remainder must sell their labour power to the minority out of compulsion, is the heart of the social relations in our current system. Capital has the right to buy labour power at its price, as much as labour power has the right to try to increase its price. They both have equal rights. When rights are equal, writes Karl Marx, 'force decides'.
Violence is inherent in the system. It is also inherent structurally – the perpetuator of the violence is anonymous. Unlike earlier social epochs when it was easy to identify the culprit (the monarch, the feudal lord, the moneylender), it is much harder under capitalism. Mass uprisings in the capitalist epoch have, therefore, a different character from mass uprisings in earlier times. These are often expulsions of anger against an unfathomable system – the Venezuelan Caracazo in 1989 being the best example.
Anonymous social domination does not rest easy behind secret walls. It arms itself. That is why the Caracazo was crushed: unnumbered dead. The Caracazo was a message from the slums that it had had enough. That was its capacity. The riot could do no more than that.
The answer to the riot is not the State commissions, but the political movements. Riots are a message. They are not the answer.
Consider two ways that rioting has been discussed, over the years. On the one hand, there is the 'public order' discourse on rioting, popular among police, politicians and the news media, according to which rioting is a kind of anti-social, irrational mob violence. In this view, democracy must be defended against lawless and destructive rioters, who contribute nothing but threaten the order and security upon which democratic politics depend.
Outbreaks of determined public defiance can often shift the balance of power between ruling élites and the poor and working-class people that they exploit and oppress – Stephen
On the other hand, however, there is what one could call a 'public empowerment' discourse on rioting, according to which rioting crowds are generally populated by reason-guided, morally discerning defenders of community standards of decency and fairness against systems of power that are indifferent to the common good. Those behind this second conception – chiefly historians like Eric Hobsbawm, EP Thompson and George Rudé – regard rioters not as a threat to democracy, but as a force for deepening and defending it.
It isn't just that the second view is generally the correct one, although I am convinced that it is. More fundamentally, both of these discourses start out from the insight that rioting will have few defenders in the face of repression and criminalization, unless a rebuttal is given to the charge that riots undermine democratic politics. When justice-motivated rioters are faced with vilification and harsh policing, our stance should be informed by Martin Luther King's insight that 'rioting is the language of the unheard'. In other words, we should stick up for the rioter for the same reason we defend the striker, the demonstrator and the dissident: because they help to secure what King called 'a voice for the voiceless'. Rioting is part of the people's repertoire of rebellious interventions in politics, without which the silenced and the ignored would never enjoy an opportunity, however fleeting, to place their grievances at the centre of public life.
I appreciate your insistence that riots are good for democracy. I do, however, think that in this insistence you are making a very parochial context universal. You say that rioting 'has been discussed' in two ways – as a question of public order (riots are bad) and as a question of public empowerment (riots are good). But these are not the only two ways. In many parts of the Global South, riots are also considered as the political means by which political patrons set in motion their clients to create mayhem as a way to divide fragile political societies – the examples from India and Egypt are legion. These are riots of authoritarian populism, where hierarchical political power masquerades as popular unrest to mitigate unified political unrest from below. When democratic movements begin to grow and threaten class power, the riot becomes a way to chill the confidence of the people and to reassert the security apparatus against progressive change.
Riots do not happen because you want them to happen. They are an outgrowth of capitalism. I do not celebrate them. Riots are a message. They are not the answer – Vijay
In the Global North, matters are different: where society has been fragmented and the capacity for united political action has become depleted, riots are perhaps the last resort. But even in the Global North it is the riot that is the most welcomed political assertion by the ruling class, because it is the easiest to quell and it is the best way to remove the legitimacy of genuine political grievances before the rest of the public. Wouldn't it be better for political strategy in the North to acknowledge the work of riots, but to work hard to build other kinds of political pathways to build the power of the many against the few? Surely that is more useful than simply celebrating the riot – itself masculine in its character – as 'part of the people's repertoire of rebellious interventions'?
You make two main points, I think: that rioting in the Global South is often deployed in the service of anti-democratic populism, and that in the North it is often welcomed by the ruling class as an opportunity to discredit oppositional movements.
The first point is correct, as far as it goes. Rioting is not inherently good for democracy. Like other forms of protest, it can be used for good or ill. Nevertheless, insofar as it is taken up by the silenced and ignored to find a voice and gain a hearing, it is to be welcomed. I think this holds in the Global South as much as anywhere.
Your second point seems misleading. As I mentioned earlier, I don't propose rioting as a substitute for building popular movements. Nevertheless, you can't be right when you suggest that the ruling class in the Global North welcomes rioting from below (at least in preference to other forms of protest). If that were so, why would they use intimidation to deter rioting at 'summits' before it breaks out? No, the attempts to criminalize and demonize rioters, and to use the occasion of a riot as a pretext for aggressive policing and anti-protester propaganda, are best understood as ways for élites to make the best of a bad situation. The same thing happens during strikes or other forms of resistance. The powerful try to extract advantages from the resistance, by exploiting the strife and tension it produces. But they would greatly prefer compliant docility – or something approaching it – over rioting, even if the latter offers them, as consolation, images to exploit in a propaganda war.
The point is important because anxiety at the prospect of rioting, which to varying degrees always haunts the halls of power, needs to be maintained or rekindled: it is one of the safeguards against the worst excesses of anti-democratic governance.
Your cavalierness about riots bespeaks a perspective that has not seen what riots can do. As a young PhD student and reporter, I covered the 1992-93 riots in Delhi's outer neighbourhoods, where men from oppressed castes found their politics glisten with the blood of their Muslim neighbours. This was a riot: provoked by ruling classes, foisted on the poor. You suggest that even these might be good for democracy. I am dumbfounded. Either you know nothing of the grammar of politics outside North America or you believe that these acts of orchestrated rage are good. If the former, I suggest slightly less universal language for your pronouncements. If the latter, I'm speechless.
Where politics are fragmented, such outbreaks are inevitable. Where society is not as fractured as it is in the West, riots are more often instruments of the ruling classes than anything else. Here other mechanisms exist for the voice of the suppressed – other ways to be heard.


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Thursday, January 31, 2013
SOUS 100th Sketch Blog Hop
TGIF, everyone! Welcome to Pretty Paper, Pretty Ribbons and the Stuck on U Sketches 100th Sketch Blog Hop. If you have come here from Lizzy's blog, you are in the right place. If you've just stumbled upon my post and would like to start from the beginning, you can head on over to the Stuck on U Sketches Blog.
Stuck on U Sketches is celebrating it's 100th sketch today, so we are all creating projects based on this sketch. You'll see lots of layouts and also some cards, and there will be lots of chances for fun blog candy and gifts along the way. So, you don't want to miss even one stop. Then, you can join in by creating your own project based on the sketch.
Here's my project:
And here's the SOUS 100th sketch I based my card on:
I decided to turn the sketch on its side for my card. I didn't have any photos on my card, so I took the idea of the envelope and used it in the place of the photos. The envelope and the hearts are from the Pretty Paper, Pretty Ribbons Valentine Kids Cutting Files set, and the stamp shape is from the Silhouette Online Store. I cut all of the pieces using my Silhouette Cameo. I got the fun sentiment from the Pink by Design Rain or Shine Stamp Set. All of the patterned papers are from the My Mind's Eye Happy Day 6" x 6" paper pad.
Now, how about a little BLOG CANDY??? One lucky follower of my blog will receive this set of Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels 1 Dies. Just leave me a comment with your e-mail address, and I'll pick a winner on Friday, February 8, 2013. Please only US and Canadian addresses.
Your next stop in the hop is Leslie.
Oh, and if you have the ability to cut SVG or DXF files, I have 2 Friday Freebies to share with you today:
Here's the whole lineup just in case you get lost along the way:
Thanks so much for stopping by! Have a wonderful weekend!
47 comments:
I just love this card. Those little envelopes are adorable! Thanks for a chance to win some blog candy!!
Linda ☺
Crafting With Nana
markovl at westat dot com- AnonymousFebruary 1, 2013 at 12:10 PM
Hiya darling!
You are such a stud to have gotten something done for the hop!
Thank you so much for making this a priority and doing so!
I adore what you've made...like it was "made" for the sketch! LOL!
But way cute and GREAT freebie's this week sister and awesome
candy...lots of treats around here! =)
Hugs to YOU! - AnonymousFebruary 11, 2013 at 1:43 PM
Such cheerful colors and fabulous sentiment! Made me smile! :)
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I'm trying to ask a question on SO about JavaScript. My sample code includes <img ...>
at one point. When I try to post the question, I get this message:
Oops! Your question couldn't be submitted because:
we're sorry, but as a spam prevention mechanism, new users aren't allowed to post images. Earn 10 reputation to post images.


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Get the lowest-priced compatible and remanufactured ink cartridges for your Canon PIXMA MG5422 printer only here at ColorTonerExpert. We provide replacement inks with specifications on par with OEM supplies for the top printout quality in the industry. Order now and your cartridge will be dispatched quick as you like! We offer Same-Day Shipping on all items that are in stock, with orders before 3pm PST being sent the same day!
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While daily antibiotic use is the most effective method for preventing recurrent urinary tract infections in women, daily cranberry pills, daily estrogen therapy and monthly acupuncture treatments also have benefits that may be preferable for some patients, according to a new study by researchers at the Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute (LA BioMed).
The study, published in the Jan. 15 issue of the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, reports that more than half of women suffer from a urinary tract infection at some time in their lives, often requiring antibiotics or other treatments to recover from the infections.
A smaller group of women will have three or more urinary tract infections per year and may require a more pro-active course of treatment to prevent these recurrent infections. The LA BioMed study is the first to use a modeling approach to compare the effectiveness of all of the most commonly used prophylactic measures.
"We described the benefit of each common management option so that women can find an approach to recurrent urinary tract infections that fits their needs," says Loren G. Miller, MD, MPH, LA BioMed infectious disease specialist and lead researcher for the study. "Daily antibiotic usage is the most beneficial by far in preventing recurrent urinary tract infections, but there are benefits to other forms of treatment as well for women who don't want to take antibiotics."
Urinary tract infections cause pain and often require women to miss work or school. They result in more than 6 million outpatient visits and 479,000 hospitalizations per year. The cost to society is estimated to be more than $2.47 billion annually.
The LA BioMed study compared the findings from previous studies and found that daily antibiotic usage reduced the urinary tract infection recurrence rate to 0.4 per year. Acupuncture therapy reduced the recurrence rate to 0.7 per year, but the study data is somewhat limited. Cranberry pills and estrogen therapy reduced the recurrence rate to 1.1 per year. Another approach is self-diagnosis and treatment of urinary tract infections, which, while not reducing recurrence rates, was associated with the highest quality of life of all management strategies.
All of these approaches saved money for insurance providers. All of these approaches except for self-diagnosis and treatment added to patients' out-of-pocket costs, from a mean of $140 per year for antibiotics to a mean of $946 a year for acupuncture. The researchers noted that patients usually bore most or all the cost of acupuncture, while health insurance often covered all or part of the cost of antibiotics.
"This study provides comparisons of prevention approaches so women can knowledgeably discuss with their providers the most appropriate way for them to manage recurrent urinary tract infections," says Miller. "Because patient preferences are very diverse, we laid out the benefits and costs of each approach to help the patient and provider choose an approach that best suits the patient's lifestyle and preferences."
The study was funded in part by National Institutes of Health Grant No. K23AIO183. Researchers Samantha J. Eells, Kiran Bharadwa and James A. McKinnell also participated in the study.
Source: LA BioMed
CDC Speaks About New Data From Antimicrobial Resistance Threats Fact Sheet
July 18th 2024In a follow-up to Infection Control Today's (ICT's) article on the CDC's Antimicrobial Resistance Threats in the US 2021-2022 release, Michael Craig, MPP, director of CDC's Antimicrobial Resistance Coordination and Strategy Unit, answers ICT's questions.


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What Cybersecurity Attack Trends Should You Watch Out for in 2023?
The new year has just begun and it's a time of renewal as we plan for the possibilities to come in 2023. It's also a time when you need to plan for resiliency in the face of ever-present cyberattacks.
Sixty-eight percent of surveyed business leaders feel that cybersecurity risks are getting worse. They have a good reason. Attacks continue to get more sophisticated. They are also often perpetrated by large criminal organizations. These criminal groups treat these attacks like a business.
In 2021, the average number of global cyberattacks increased by 15.1%.
To protect your business in the coming year, it's important to watch the attack trends. What new methods are hackers using? What types of attacks are increasing in volume? Knowing these things is important. It helps you better update your IT security to mitigate the risk of a data breach or malware infection.
We've pulled out the security crystal ball for the upcoming year. And we've researched what cybersecurity experts are expecting. Here are the attack trends that you need to watch out for.
Attacks on 5G Devices
The world has been buzzing about 5G for a few years. It is finally beginning to fulfill the promise of lightning-fast internet. As providers build out the infrastructure, you can expect this to be a high-attack area.
Hackers are looking to take advantage of the 5G hardware used for routers, mobile devices, and PCs. Anytime you have a new technology like this, it's bound to have some code vulnerabilities. This is exactly what hackers are looking to exploit.
You can prepare by being aware of the firmware security in the devices you buy. This is especially true for those enabled for 5G. Some manufacturers will build better firmware security into their designs than others. Make sure to ask about this when purchasing new devices.
One-time Password (OTP) Bypass
This alarming new trend is designed to get past one of the best forms of account security. Multi-factor authentication (MFA) is well-known as very effective at preventing fraudulent sign-in attempts. It can stop account takeovers even in cases where the criminal has the user's password.
There are a few different ways that hackers try to bypass MFA. These include:
- Reusing a token: Gaining access to a recent user OTP and trying to reuse it
- Sharing unused tokens: The hacker uses their own account to get an OTP. Then attempts to use that OTP on a different account.
- Leaked token: Using an OTP token leaked through a web application.
- Password reset function: A hacker uses phishing to fool the user into resetting a password. They then trick them into handing over their OTP via text or email.
Attacks Surrounding World Events
During the pandemic, the cyberattack volume increased by approximately 600%. Large criminal hacking groups have realized that world events and disasters are lucrative.
They launch phishing campaigns for world events. Attacks come for everything from the latest hurricane or typhoon to the war in Ukraine. Unsuspecting people often fall for these scams. This is because they are often distracted by the crisis.
People need to be especially mindful of scams surrounding events like these. They will often use social engineering tactics, such as sad photos, to play on the emotions.
Smishing & Mobile Device Attacks
Mobile devices go with us just about everywhere these days. This direct connection to a potential victim is not lost on cybercriminals. Look for more mobile device-based attacks, including SMS-based phishing ("smishing").
Many people aren't expecting to receive fake messages to their personal numbers. But cell numbers are no longer as private as they once were. Hackers can buy lists of them online. They then craft convincing fake texts that look like shipping notices or receipts. One wrong click is all it takes for an account or data breach.
Mobile malware is also on the rise. During the first few months of 2022, malware targeted to mobile devices rose by 500%. It's important to ensure that you have good mobile anti-malware. As well as other protections on your devices, such as a DNS filter.
Elevated Phishing Using AI & Machine Learning
These days, phishing emails are not so easy to spot. It used to be that they nearly always had spelling errors or grainy images. While some still do, most don't.
Criminal groups elevate today's phishing using AI and machine learning. Not only will it look identical to a real brand's emails, but it will also come personalized. Hackers use these tactics to capture more victims. They also allow hackers to send out more targeted phishing messages in less time than in years past.
Schedule a Cybersecurity Check-Up Today
Is your business prepared for the cyber threats coming in 2022? Don't wait to find out the hard way! Give us a call and schedule a cybersecurity check-up to stay one step ahead of the digital criminals.
This Article has been Republished with Permission from The Technology Press.


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My name is Machiko and I was born in Japan.
My passion is to give vintage silk kimonos a new life.
I hand stitch all of my creations and they are all one of a kind.
Free shipping in the Continental USA
Thank you for taking the time to learn more about Tenuiya. "Tenui" means hand stitching and "ya" means house in Japanese. So this is the house of hand stitching. I have always been fascinated by the beauty of vintage kimonos and the detail and complexity of the silk fabric that was used to create them. Most people in the world have not had the opportunity to see and feel a kimono in real life as authentic kimonos can be prohibitively expensive, often costing many thousands of dollars. In today's modern world, there is also very little occasion to wear a traditional kimono. The items I have made bring the history, beauty and delicacy of kimonos into the modern lifestyle.
A little bit about kimonos:
Until about 100 years ago kimonos were worn by all types of people including farmers and nobility every day. My grandmother wore a kimono everyday of her life. I remember vividly, how she would take the time and care to put on the kimono making sure everything was put together properly and presented well. I was always fascinated by the beauty of the final product, the intricacies of the material and patterns, but more importantly how it transformed my grandmother and all the women who wore one.
The traditional Japanese kimono was made of cotton, linen and silk. My main focus in my creations is on using all types of Japanese silk kimono fabric.
Vintage Japanese silk is also much stronger than contemporary kimonos because it was tightly woven for every day use and the wear and tear that occurs.
My name is Machiko and I was born in Fukuoka Japan. I immigrated to the US and ultimately made my career as a Neo Natal Intensive Care nurse in the Bay Area. I was truly blessed to have found a profession that I loved. After retirement, I began to spend more time on my passions. I have always found great beauty in Japanese kimonos and began deconstructing vintage kimonos to understand more about the fabrics and how they were built. Establishing how to hand wash them, I then began stitching scarves and wraps using the kimono fabric and found many people asking where I got them. I soon realized that this was a great way for people to experience the beauty of Japanese kimono fabric in a unique way. I hope that you find beauty in these items and enjoy them as I have enjoyed making them.