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Female characters in The House of Binding Thorns April 23, 2017Posted by dolorosa12 in books, reviews.
Tags: aliette de bodard, monica furlong, the house of binding thorns
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One of my favourite series of books, which I have been reading and rereading since childhood, is Monica Furlong's Wise Child and Juniper duology.* This series of books is historical fantasy, set in early medieval Cornwall and Dál Riata, and the main reason why I keep coming back to it, like a well that never runs dry, is its emphasis on the day-to-day, ordinary work of women — spinning, weaving, harvesting and storing food for winter, gathering herbs and brewing beer — which it imbues with a kind of power and magic. Most of the important relationships in these books are between girls and/or women. Although I wasn't aware of it at the time, I feel that books like this did a lot to shape my narrative preferences, especially the idea that you can have a perfectly interesting story which involves few male characters, and focuses on stereotypically 'female' activies without a battlefield in sight. Consciously or unconsciously, I find myself searching for these kinds of stories — stories where the domestic sphere isn't devalued, where a sense of community, communal activity and interdependence is prioritised, and where 'women's work' drives the plot.
The House of Binding Thorns, the second book in Aliette de Bodard's Dominion of the Fallen series, perfectly encapsulates these qualities. I knew I was in for a treat when I read one of the posts de Bodard had written in the week following the book's publication, 'The Fallacy of Agency: on Power, Community and Erasure', and found myself nodding in vigorous agreement:
The other thing about dismissing powerlessness is that it devalues and erases the oppressed. It's saying, essentially, that the less power one has, the less worthy of a story one is. That if someone is truly oppressed, and the story isn't about some brash rebellion, some gaining of that overt power, then it's not worth telling. That being oppressed is some sort of grey, featureless state where nothing worth notice happens—that there are no sorrows, no joys, no everyday struggles, no little victories to be snatched. That, in short, the only story of oppression worth telling is the brazen breaking of it.
The other thing that overemphasising agency does is that it makes it sound like a bad thing to be dependent on others, and especially being part of a community you can rely on. This is problematic on several levels: the first and most important one is that we are not and were not meant to be self-reliant (raising a child, for instance, is seen today as the job of a nuclear family, but it's frazzling and exhausting and really much easier if we come back to the way it was done: by the extended family/community). Admitting that one can't do everything alone isn't a moral failing or a weakness: it's deeply and fundamentally human.
This latter point is crucial in appreciating just what de Bodard has achieved, particularly with her female characters in this book. Set in a ruined, post-apocalyptic Paris run by conflicting Houses led by fallen angels, along with a Vietnamese dragon kingdom under the Seine pursuing its own agenda, The House of Binding Thorns abounds with a multiplicity of female characters. And, unlike Furlong's work, which achieves a sense of interdependence and community by limiting women's stories to a single sphere, de Bodard's book allows women to exist in multiple spaces and pursue different aims. She by no means devalues the domestic: a fair portion of the book takes place in kitchens, living rooms and marketplaces, and is concerned with pregnancy and childbirth, preparing food, sharing out precious resources within immigrant communities, tending to the sick and so on. But alongside these women who concern themselves with the work of nurturing, protecting and sustaining fragile communities, there are also women exercising power overtly, politicians and wielders of supernatural power.
She allows for women who are steely and ambitious, and sets them beside women who are self-sacrificing or powerless, and gives space to all their stories. There are white women and women of colour, queer women and straight women, cis women and trans women, mothers and grandmothers and women who would never dream of having children. In other words, The House of Binding Thorns gives voice to as full a range of women's experiences as possible. The world of the Dominion of the Fallen books is in some ways incredibly bleak: it's a ruined and blasted landscape, rife with inequality, filled with self-interested immortals locked in endless political battles over what remains, and humans whose only choices are servitude or precarious survival outside the House system. However, de Bodard shows the glimmers of light that persist: bottles of fish sauce, hoarded and passed around migrant communities, the hard-won joy of learning a new language, the birth of a child, or the unstinting love and support of a beloved partner. There is hope amid the ruins, even if it only exists in tiny spaces, carved out at great cost.
*Years later she published a third book in the series, Colman, but I have not read it.
Books for joy, part 2 March 19, 2017Posted by dolorosa12 in books, fangirl, reviews.
Tags: erin bow, renée ahdieh, samantha shannon, sorrow's knot, the rose and the dagger, the song rising
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Normally when I review multiple books in the one blog post, I try to group things that have some thematic similarities, or at least some common thread running through them which makes discussing them jointly appropriate. However, the three books reviewed here — a YA romance with a fairytale twist, a gentle coming-of-age story about vocation, subsistence, and the quiet beauty of simple, everyday work, and a dystopian tale of revolution and oppression — have little in common beyond the simple fact that they brought me joy.
The Rose and the Dagger, Renée Ahdieh's sequel to her 1001 Nights retelling, The Wrath and the Dawn, is a wonderful mix of evocative, folkloric storytelling and the tense buildup to a rebellion. The first book saw the brave teenage girl Shahrzad walk into a palace full of danger and secrets, and willingly marry a ruler whose every wife was murdered after one night of marriage. Shahrzad was able to stave off death with her quick wits and judicious telling of stories, and got to the heart of the mystery that was causing the deaths of all the women who came before her. In The Rose and the Dagger, she's left the palace, hiding out in the desert with her family, childhood sweetheart, and the burgeoning rebellion against her husband's rule. There are lots of fabulous touches: flying carpets, dragons, and a soul-sucking book of magic that quite literally possesses its user, but most satisfying for me were the strong friendships between female characters with very different personalities, and a conclusion to the rebellion, simmering political tensions and supernatural threats which was delivered by a mixture of chutzpah, alliance between multiple women, and the pooling of very different kinds of strengths.
Enjoyment of this series is going to depend on your ability to deal with the fact that it is a YA romance retelling of the 1001 Nights played fairly straight. The central romance is between Shahrzad and her murderous husband Khalid, and although Ahdieh gives a fairly convincing reason for Khalid's murder of a series of teenage girls and women (it's not the reason in the original tale), it may not be enough to get beyond some readers' 'cool motive, still murder' reaction to this.
Sorrow's Knot by Erin Bow is a much calmer, quieter affair. This book was recommended and lent to me by Ana, who described it as being very evocative of Ursula Le Guin's Annals of the Western Shore series. This is a very apt comparison: one of the most striking elements of Le Guin's writing is her ability to imbue the simple, ordinary work of everyday life with a sense of power and profundity, and Sorrow's Knot certainly possesses this quality. Although Bow's work is set in a secondary world, she has drawn on the histories and cultures of a variety of Native peoples of North America to create a matriarchal society which places great importance on vocation, and the interdependent nature of everyone's life's work. No one calling is placed above another — storytellers, hunters, healers and gatherers are all seen as vital and necessary — but binders, who repel and contain the dead by knotting cords, are in great demand. This is a world in which the dead rest uneasily next to the living, and are always threatening to break through and overwhelm the fragile stability of the waking world. The protagonist, Otter, is the daughter of a binder, and always thought she'd follow her mother's footsteps, binding the dead to keep them at bay, and serving as the last line of defence for her community, but with things carrying on much as they had done for living memory. However, simmering tensions and longstanding problems with how her community have handled their relationship with the past, and with the dead have finally bubbled over, and Otter and her friends find themselves clashing with a leadership whose desire to preserve the status quo has put everyone at risk. Otter and her friends must undertake a dangerous journey into exile — a journey which also takes them back to the source of all their stories and leads them to question the central assumptions that underpin their society.
I keep coming back to the word 'quiet' to describe Sorrow's Knot, because it takes a subtler, more roundabout route to make its many points than many bellowing, blustering stories of dystopia and rebellion. That's not to say I dislike the bellowing: the other two books reviewed here certainly could be described as such, and I thoroughly enjoyed them. It's just that there can be a certain kind of pleasure in a book that drops its themes like stones into still water, and lets them reverberate out like ripples, quietly and indirectly, but nonetheless powerfully.
The Song Rising, the third in Samantha Shannon's dystopian Bone Season series, is a much louder book. It picks up a few seconds from the cliffhanger where its predecessor, The Mime Order, left off, and takes the reader on a journey at breakneck speed through the underworld of Shannon's imagined London, and onward to an almost post-apocalyptic Manchester and Edinburgh. Shannon's dystopian series — which now consists of three of a projected seven books — imagines a world where a totalitarian government suppresses any instances of paranormal ability with brutal efficiency, and where this government is merely the puppet of the Rephaim, a supernatural race of immortal giants. Its protagonist, Paige Mahoney, has survived a Rephaite-run penal colony for humans with supernatural abilities (known as voyants, short for clairvoyants), and come out on top of the power struggles to control the Unnatural Assembly, the semi-criminal syndicate of voyants living under the noses of the authorities in London. The previous syndicate leadership was content to look the other way when it came to government brutality: as long as they could survive undetected and eke out a living through supernatural crime, protection rackets and grey marketeering, they were content to accept the injustices of a totalitarian regime that viewed them as an unnatural cancer deserving death on sight. Paige, however, understands that this state of affairs may not last forever: the government has been working on technology to scan for and identify voyants, so their days of hiding in plain sight are numbered. For her, revolution is the only option. However, she soon comes to realise that marshalling the various voyant factions and rebel Rephaite allies with their own agenda towards a common, revolutionary goal, and managing the inevitable clashes of personality that ensue isn't as easy as making inspiring speeches about hope and rebellion. There's a lot of hiding in dank sewer tunnels under London, tolerating unsettling allies, and bargaining, sacrifice and compromise for the cause.
The two elements that initially drew me to this series of books were its wonderfully evocative dystopian London (and many digressions into less travelled corners of London's history and geography), and its nuanced exploration of relationships between mortal and immortal characters. Both are very much present in The Song Rising, although the book's detours into Manchester and Edinburgh represent a welcome expansion of Shannon's alternative version of our world. Likewise, the evolution of Paige's relationship with the Rephaite, Warden, is handled with care and complexity. But it's the book's description of a burgeoning rebellion that makes the greatest impression. Samantha Shannon's pointed dedication of the novel to 'the silenced' is utterly appropriate. In these dangerous and frightening political times, The Song Rising gives the dispossessed a voice.
Our hearts beat – control them! October 14, 2016Posted by dolorosa12 in books, reviews.
Tags: a torch against the night, sabaa tahir
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A Torch Against the Night, the follow up to Sabaa Tahir's YA epic fantasy An Ember in the Ashes, certainly puts its readers through the emotional wringer. Tahir's world is one whose ordinary inhabitants suffer under the constant oppression of an occupying force: the military and rulers (the two are in many ways one and the same) of the Martial Empire. In creating her Martial oppressors, Tahir drew heavily on Rome, while her Scholar and Tribespeople underclass have cultures, mythologies and folklore modelled on the Middle East. It's an excellent combination. The power of the Martial Empire is not absolute, and the cracks — a burgeoning resistance movement, dissent in the military ranks, a priestly class apparently following its own agenda, and conflicts breaking out among its ruling families — were already apparent in An Ember in the Ashes. Into this volatile mix stepped two characters: Laia, a terrified, traumatised Scholar girl who took on a dangerous spying role in exchange for the resistance movement saving her imprisoned brother, and Elias, the abused, unwanted son of the Commandant of the Martial Empire's Blackcliff military training academy. Both were self-sacrificing beyond reason, and both were, in their own ways, being treated as weapons to be wielded by the people who controlled them: the Blackcliff hierarchy in Elias' case, the resistance in Laia's. Over the course of the book, the pair struggled to break free from the tense, terrifying control others had over them, and realised that their combined strength and differing perspectives gave them something they lacked when alone: hope, and a chance to change the world. Both had conflicting loyalties — Elias to the other Blackcliff trainees next to whom he'd grown up, above all the patrician, loyal, perfect soldier Helene Aquilla (the sole female Blackcliff warrior in his cohort), Laia to her network of resistance fighters and the ragged band of servants she drew into her orbit while spying in Blackcliff.
The tragedy of both characters — and one which Tahir throws into sharp perspective in A Torch Against the Night — is that they are naturally emotionally expressive, compassionate people, with an intense love for others, but are led to believe that they must stamp out these extremities of emotion — above all, their growing love for one another — for the good of the political cause. Both push their personal feelings aside because they believe their energies must be invested in the task at hand: freeing Laia's brother from prison, saving the fugitive Scholars from genocide, and overthrowing the might of the Martial Empire. What they fail to understand is that they were drawn to such tasks because of their deep love and sense of responsibility for other people; their emotions give them power, and their love for each other is a source of strength, not a hindrance. Over the course of the novel, their empathy and selflessness is contrasted repeatedly with the actions of cruel, selfish and self-centred people, while the growing group of people from many different backgrounds who help and support them reflects their ability to lead by inspiration and hope, rather than by force and fear.
Where An Ember in the Ashes was claustrophobic — its action confined, for the most part, to the narrow corridors and networks of rooms and tunnels of the Blackcliff Academy and the complicated political machinations going on within — A Torch Against the Night is sweeping in scale, as Laia, Elias and their shifting network of friends, allies and antagonists become caught up in the broader political and military tensions of the region. For this reason, Tahir's decision to expand her number of point-of-view characters to three, giving us Helene's perspective as well as Elias and Laia's, is welcome. While Elias and Laia's journey takes place among wandering Tribespeople and fugitive scholars fleeing Martial persecution, Helene gives us eyes on the imperial court — on the upper echelons of Martial might, and on new emperor Marcus's disastrous and dictatorial decisions. Helene's story is equally tragic: she was brought up to be a loyal soldier of the Empire, assured that her loyalty (even in the face of acts of barbarism) would save the entire world's existence, and that she must put aside all personal desire and be a dutiful servant to the Empire, no matter how cruel and damaging or downright irrational the actions of its emperor.
If all this sounds a little bit grim, rest assured that there is hoping shining out amid all the darkness. Although Tahir's characters include a lot of soldiers and warriors, it is in the character of Laia that the novel makes its strongest statement: there are many different kinds of strength, and the most powerful of all is the ability to endure, to be frightened, to be forced to make bargains and compromises, and to come out with the capacity to love, to feel empathy and kindness intact. Where Laia lacks physical strength she makes up for it in endurance, the ability to forge clever alliances and offer hope for other people, and a kind of moral courage that illuminates and inspires. She's one of my favourite YA heroines, and I look forward to seeing where her adventures take her, Elias, Helene and the other characters in the final two books of Tahir's series.
Books for joy September 18, 2016Posted by dolorosa12 in books, fangirl, reviews, Uncategorized.
Tags: becky chambers, books, fantasy novels, kate elliott, poisoned blade, shira glassman, the long way to a small angry planet, the olive conspiracy
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My recent reading has made me so happy that I've decided to try out something new with my reviews: a semi-regular category, books that make me joyful and that I want to praise to the skies. This first post of this kind covers three books which really spoke to me, and that I cannot recommend enough.
The Olive Conspiracy is the fourth novel in Shira Glassman's wonderful Mangoverse series (there are also two short story collections set in the same universe), which follows the adventures of Queen Shulamit, her partner Aviva, and their ever-expanding found family of kind-hearted misfits, as they undertake the business of ruling Shulamit's tropical kingdom of Perach. This fourth book sees Shulamit and co dealing with an international conspiracy to hamper the agriculture (and thus economy) of Perach, bringing Shulamit back in contact with her first love, Crown Princess Carolina of the neighbouring kingdom of Imbrio.
There's so much to love about this book, and the series as a whole. Perach is a fantasy Jewish kingdom coexisting in a magical, medieval inflected world with other, non-Jewish nations (such as Imbrio). Almost all of the major characters are gay, lesbian or bisexual, in loving relationships supported by their friends, families and community, and there are also several transgender secondary or tertiary characters, and although their stories are not without conflict, there is never any threat of a tragic or unhappy ending. But what really makes these books great for me is their emphasis on kindness, cooperation, and non-violent solutions to thorny problems. The Mangoverse books are proof that in the hands of the right author, a compelling story about fundamentally decent people is possible. That they're also filled with loving, detailed descriptions of mouthwatering food is just an added bonus!
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers shares a few similarities to Glassman's work. It, too, is the story of a found family of oddballs, who are for the most part kind and good people seeking to avoid conflict and bloodshed, and food also features heavily. However, it's set in the distant future, on a spaceship which is home to a multispecies crew whose job it is to create the hyperspace tunnels that make fast, convenient space travel possible for their fellow inhabitants of the skies. If you liked Firefly, but found yourself frustrated with the limitations of the future it imagined (a Chinese-inflected future with no visible Chinese characters; misogyny and other contemporary problems still present centuries into the future, and so on), this may be the book for you.
Chambers has imagined a future that is truly welcoming to all, in which human beings are just one species among many other sentient cultures of the universe, all of whom have organised themselves into a vast, intergalactic United Nations of sorts. The humans are very much the junior partners in this enterprise – late arrivals who were only taken in out of pity after half the inhabitants of Earth fled to Mars (the wealthy, who could afford to get out) and the other half took to the skies in a suicidal act of desperation as the planet became utterly uninhabitable. While it should be sobering to read of an all-too-plausible future in which we have rendered Earth utterly inhospitable to life, it's oddly comforting to imagine a time when humans are only a tiny, insignificant fraction of the crowded skies of a vast, inhabitable universe. It's as if the insignificance and miraculous survival of the human beings of Chambers' novel caused them to grow out of the horrors that currently plague us: selfishness, lack of forward thinking, and rapacious, destructive greed. Humans in this book are more humble, and, like all the sentient beings in their universe, more open and understanding of difference. It's more a character-driven story: don't read it for the plot, which is as meandering and episodic as the journey of the spaceship its characters call home, but it's as comforting and welcoming as a warm blanket, drawing you in to a hopeful and reassuring future.
The final book reviewed here, Kate Elliott's Poisoned Blade, is less cozy and consoling than the first two — Elliott certainly knows how to put her characters through the emotional wringer — but it too brought me great joy. It's the follow-up to Court of Fives, Elliott's first foray into young-adult literature, which I reviewed here. Poisoned Blade sees Jessamy and her sisters following dangerous and different roads to ensure their family's survival. Their individual stories and struggles intertwine with the revolution that is simmering below the surface of their profoundly unequal society, as well as with the broader political conflicts threatening their country.
Kate Elliott is one of my favourite writers of stories of girls and women, because she always depicts many different types of female characters, with nary a stock trope in sight. Poisoned Blade is no different: we've got Jessamy, who is a competitive and talented sports player, confident in her physical abilities but out of her depth in challenges that require subterfuge, subtlety or verbal persuasion. Her sister Amaya and her friend (and lover) Denya are much better at handling the delicate dangers that take place in the homes of the wealthy and privileged, and while they — like all women in their society, particularly the lower class (like Denya) and the Efean Commoners (those who, like Amaya, Jessamy and their mother and sisters, descend from the original inhabitants of their land who were conquered by the Patrons who rule them) — lack overt and political power, they are adept at exercising power indirectly and carving out a place of relative safety for themselves. There are so many other types of women in this book, but I'd like to draw particular attention to Amaya, Jessamy and their siblings' wonderful mother, who is a character after my own heart: the sort of woman whose strength lies in her ability to empathise with and care for others, and who quietly does the vitally important work of forging alliances, building connections, and sustaining others. The world of Poisoned Blade is deeply hostile to women, and Elliott doesn't shy away from that, but she also emphasises the many important relationships women and girls form in spite of that, and the strength that they draw from these connections. There are also giant, robot spiders, a growing revolution led by the dispossessed, and intense competitions in a sport that involves racing through a massive, terrifying obstacle course. What more could you want?
Divided cities April 28, 2016Posted by dolorosa12 in books, reviews.
Tags: an ember in the ashes, court of fives, fantasy novels, kate elliott, sabaa tahir, sarah rees brennan, tell the wind and fire
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The three YA novels I review here are all set in cities which are, in one way or another, divided, featuring state-sanctioned inequality so extreme that revolution needs only a tiny spark to set it off. Characters in all three books reach out across the divide, fighting in their own ways for justice, equality, or just the chance to carve out a tiny space of safety for themselves.
Sarah Rees Brennan is nothing if not ambitious. Her latest work, Tell the Wind and Fire reimagines Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities as an urban fantasy romance involving doppelgängers, a complicated magical system, and, of course, revolution. Instead of the 'two cities' of Dickens' story, Tell the Wind and Fire is set in a New York divided into 'Light' and 'Dark' cities, which exist in parallel, mirror images of glittering privilege and violently enforced dispossession. Rees Brennan's Lucie Manette is a teenage magic wielder who grew up in the Dark cities, but was brought to the Light, where she is treated as something of a symbol and a trophy, the girlfriend of the cherished son of the Light city's ruling family. This ruling dynasty's ruthless maintenance of its own power is matched only by its complicated, hypocritical secrets. Rees Brennan is great at showing the cruelty and injustice that keeps her imagined New York divided, and doesn't shy away from placing the blame entirely at the feet of its glittering Light elite, who care little that their enormous wealth is built on suffering. As revolution smoulders, Lucie attempts to navigate the treacherous political waters, torn between individual loyalty to those she loves – in both Light and Dark New York – and her moral outrage at the injustice of her society. Lucie is well aware of her power as a symbol – a borrowed power that is dependent on her never, ever speaking for herself – and has a realistic sense of this power's limits. Lucie's sharp sense of self-preservation, honed through years living in the downtrodden Dark city and among the capricious powerbrokers of the Light, is one of the strongest elements of this book, and she is a character with whom I very much enjoyed spending time.
Rather less satisfying for me were the wider character dynamics of Tell the Wind and Fire. In previous works, characterisation has been Sarah Rees Brennan's strong point, and I've come to look forward to her books for their fantastic found families – collections of odd, misfit characters thrown together by circumstance, who'll protect each other fiercely against the cruelties and dangers of the world. Perhaps because it was a standalone book rather than a trilogy, with less time to develop secondary characters, I found this element somewhat lacking in Tell the Wind and Fire, and missed it. Other than that, however, the book was an enjoyable read, although the twists of the plot will be unsurprising to those already familiar with A Tale of Two Cities.
Sabaa Tahir's debut novel An Ember in the Ashes is a claustrophobic fantasy romance set in a city under occupation. The Martial Empire enforces its rule with military might and legalised discrimination; the Scholars, formerly the elite, are forbidden to learn to read, and are either enslaved or forced to live in precarious poverty. The novel is told from alternate viewpoints – that of Laia, a young Scholar girl who accepts a dangerous spying mission at the heart of the Martial administration as a slave to its ruthless military leader, and Elias, a Martial boy training to be the empire's most lethal warrior (more weapon than human being), but secretly attempting to escape his abusive training. Tahir does an excellent job of making all parts of her stratified city – from the brutal Blackcliff Academy where Elias trains and Laia spies, to the twisting alleyways where Scholars make their homes and the resistance plots the Martial Empire's demise – come alive, always emphasising the rampant inequality and the violence with which it is maintained. While I slightly preferred Laia as a viewpoint character, both protagonists are carefully drawn, and their respective fears, hopes and motivations are well balanced. I particularly like it when characters in this kind of set up have an internal struggle between genuine and well-justified terror at the life-threatening situations in which they find themselves, and their desire to transform their society into a more just and equal place. I like it when it forces them to make compromises, bargains, and small, short-term sacrifices of principle, and I very much appreciated that this was the case with Laia. An Ember in the Ashes ends on quite the cliffhanger, so I'm relieved to see that the sequel will be published in August.
Court of Fives, the first in a YA series by Kate Elliott, is much subtler than the previous two books reviewed here in its exploration of power, privilege, and their corrosive effect on societies and individuals. Its setting is inspired by Ptolemaic Egypt, with divisions between the ruling Patrons and ruled Commoners more fluid than the letter of the law would suggest. Patrons cannot marry Commoners – but they can form relationships, as is the case in the family of protagonist Jessamy, whose father is a Patron and mother is a Commoner. Similarly, certain routes to advancement are barred to Commoners – but they can gain prestige and acclaim as talented players of Fives, the popular sport beloved by Patrons and Commoners alike, and played by both. But – as is the case with all unequal societies – there are hidden complications and unwritten rules that slowly become part of the social structure, understood by all, but difficult to live with. Jessamy and her sisters occupy an uneasy space between Patron and Commoner worlds, both exoticised and scorned. They are all painfully aware that their fate – and fate of their family – is dependent on their making good marriages with Patron men. Their mother is a hindrance to their father's career, and, after a series misfortunes, it becomes clear that their parents' apparent love match is a more fragile thing, vulnerable to the demands of politics and social mobility. Playing Fives – formerly an escape for Jessamy – becomes a deadly necessity, as the fate of her entire family depends on her success on the court.
There are echoes in Court of Fives of Little Women, but Elliott's refusal to let the father character off the hook is a breath of fresh air to me, as someone who always found Alcott's depiction of Mr March too close to hagiography. Here, there is an acknowledgement that the actions of men in patriarchal societies can have appalling consequences for the women around them, that such men are very often ignorant of, and unmoved by, the effects their actions have on the women in their lives, and, most importantly, that even in patriarchal societies, women and girls have lives and relationships and stories independent of the husbands and fathers whose actions circumscribe their existence. Throw in a brilliantly depicted set of sisters – each with her own personality and dreams – and you have everything I could possibly want in a Kate Elliott book.
Book reviews in brief September 10, 2015Posted by dolorosa12 in books, reviews.
Tags: aliette de bodard, elizabeth bear, genevieve valentine, karen memory, the girls at the kingfisher club, the house of shattered wings
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I read many fabulous books over the past (northern) summer. These three were probably my favourites.
Karen Memory by Elizabeth Bear
I feel like the word 'romp' is sometimes overused, but in this case, it's entirely appropriate. Karen Memory is a standalone novel following the adventures of its titular heroine, who works in a brothel in a fictional, steampunk city in nineteenth-century America. It's a cheerfully anarchic place, where people's relationship with the law is complicated, and where compromise, barter, and exchange are necessary in order to survive. Karen, along with the other sex workers at her brothel and various friends, lovers and allies, become caught up in the political intrigue of their town, eventually uncovering a conspiracy of much wider implications. This book was an absolute joy to read. I loved everything about it, from its steampunk setting, to its cast of characters. Karen herself was an enthralling narrator, her perspective a mixture of shrewd cynicism and empathetic kindness. A word of warning: the descriptions of food in this book are many and detailed, so it's probably wise to read on a full stomach, or with a plate of food to hand!
The House of Shattered Wings by Aliette de Bodard
This was one of my most anticipated books of 2015. Those of you who have been following this blog for a while know that I'm an absolute sucker for books about fallen angels, particularly if those books focus on the angels' relationship with, and perception of, human beings, and vice versa. Set in a ruin-filled, post-apocalyptic Paris, House of Shattered Wings didn't disappoint. De Bodard has created a world in which fallen angels band together in aristocratic Houses, battling for control over the city and its inhabitants, while humans attach themselves to the Houses, exchanging their freedom for patronage and a measure of safety. Conspiracies and intrigue ensue.
One potential weakness in stories that draw on Christian eschatological traditions is that they end up either ignoring or dismissing other religious beliefs altogether, or inadvertently implying that these are secondary to, or superseded by, Christian beliefs. De Bodard avoids falling into this trap, and other religious beliefs, and supernatural figures from non-Christian spiritual traditions site beside those of Christianity and interact with them in various ways. Likewise, France's colonial legacy, and the dehumanising effect it has on colonised people plays a major role in the story.
Although I would've liked to have spent just a bit more time with some characters we only meet briefly (Ninon is a character whose story I would really like to know), The House of Shattered Wings definitely lived up to my expectations, and I'm looking forward to de Bodard's next works set in this fictional world.
The Girls at the Kingfisher Club by Genevieve Valentine
This is a retelling of the fairytale of the Twelve Dancing Princesses, set in Prohibition-era New York. The original twelve princesses are reimagined as twelve spirited sisters, who are barred from leaving the house by their abusive, status-obsessed, miserly father, and sneak out to dance the night away in speakeasies. The network of underground clubs and secret bars – and the people who run it – become a refuge from the oppressive confines of the sisters' miserable home life, a place where they can dance in joy and freedom.
Having a cast of twelve sisters to juggle could have been difficult to handle, but Valentine manages it deftly, with each sister's personality sharply realised and vividly distinct. My favourite was Jo, the oldest, nicknamed 'The General' by her siblings for her tendency to run their illicit outings like military campaigns, always aware of her sisters' locations and able to swoop in to protect them or hustle them out of dangerous situations at a minute's notice.
Fairytale retellings are tricky to do well, but Valentine has created something rich and beautiful out of the bare bones of the original tale, a story that celebrates the strength of sisters and the power of the bonds between them.
Things we lost in the fire May 21, 2015Posted by dolorosa12 in books, reviews.
Tags: emily st. john mandel, station eleven
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I'm normally a very fast reader, but it took me close to two weeks to finish Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel, because I had to keep pausing and putting it aside. What it was saying was too overwhelming, too upsetting, and too much to carry. I loved it.
Station Eleven takes a fairly conventional disaster novel trope – a virulent disease wipes out the majority of the world's population in a very short period of time – and carries it further, imagining how society might reshape itself after complete collapse. Unlike a lot of recent dystopian novels, Station Eleven actually explores what societal collapse, a dramatically reduced population and scarcity of resources would really look like. People's capacity for violence – sometimes presented as innate and given free rein in dystopian frontier communities – is restricted in that bullets run out so guns become obsolete, let alone more technologically advanced weaponry. As such, violence takes on a more intimate quality: people carry knives, heavy stones, bows and arrows, and tattoo reminders of the murders they've committed onto their skin. The world darkens as sources of electricity and other power are shut off, and fuel supplies run out (or too few people survive to be able to extract and distribute petrol), so cars fall silent and the skies are emptied of planes. Within months, people's worlds become restricted to the distances they can comfortably travel, enforcing a limited existence more akin to that of pre-industrial times.
If that's not heavy enough, the novel jumps between several different chronologies, so that a strand of it deals with the period just before the outbreak, a second strand follows several characters through the immediate aftermath, and a third deals with the world twenty years on. The focal characters in this third chronology were alive before the collapse, some as small children, others as middle-aged adults, which allows St. John Mandel to devote a significant portion of the novel to exploring ideas of grief, loss, and the effect of memory and the passage of time. Is it better to grow up in a post-apocalyptic world with limited options, but to view this as normal, or better to have had fifty years of full, well-lived life in the twenty-first century, only to have this brutally ripped away and viewed as science fiction by the generations who come after you? Is it fair to teach children born after the outbreak about the old world, when they have no frame of reference for its trappings and will only be angered by the relative limits of their existence (the book mentions, in particular, reduced lifespans)? What is the purpose of preserving artifacts and memories? Who is it serving?
If all this sounds pretty grim, there are moments of light. The world that remains after the outbreak has burnt through it is harsh, but not deliberately brutal. St. John Mandel recognises, as few writers of dystopian fiction seem to, that humanity has survived for so long because human beings are adaptable, and because they cooperate and compromise in order to ensure their own safety and survival. People in Station Eleven adapt. They form scattered communities wherever they wind up when they can't keep running from the outbreak, in disused shopping centres, in highway petrol stations, in airports surrounded by rusting aeroplanes. They teach their children. They memorise Shakespeare and ransack abandoned houses for musical instruments, and form a band of wandering actors and musicians. In moments particularly moving for me, they set up libraries, and interview whoever passes through their tiny communities, preserving people's stories because there's still a sense that history, that stories, that the people behind them matter. They build museums of obsolete artifacts of the old world: driver's licenses and credit cards and iPhones with cracked screens, and angst about whether these memories are things that should be dwelt upon.
Ultimately, Station Eleven is a beautiful, moving love song to humanity. It imagines a terrifying future, and it shows us how to have the courage to endure it.
A long way down November 13, 2014Posted by dolorosa12 in blogging, reviews, television.
Tags: blogging, reviews, the fall, the millennium trilogy
2 comments
This post will contain spoilers for Season 1 of The Fall. It will also involve discussion of misogyny, rape culture, sexualised violence and murder.
The first episode of Season 2 of The Fall will air tonight. The release of the new season has prompted a flurry of discussion of the same elements certain critics disliked in the first season: the show's perceived sexism and voyeuristic attitude to gendered violence. While I understand where such criticism is coming from, I think it is misguided.
The Fall is the story of the hunt for a serial killer in Belfast who targets victims of one demographic: attractive, young, single professional women. It's an unusual show in that we know who the killer is from the first episode, following him as he goes about his daily life as husband, father and grievance counsellor, and as he goes about his hidden life as a misogynistic, unspeakably cruel killer. As such, the focus and point of view of the show is split evenly between that of Paul, the killer, and Stella, the police officer leading the investigation into his crimes. It is this focus on Paul and insight into his mind that has led, in part, to condemnations of the show for misogyny. The other problem is that in making Paul a viewpoint character, his murders are shot through his eyes, and so the audience sees the women he kills as he sees them: helpless dolls whose murdered bodies are his to handle (the way he bathes and lays out his victims' bodies in their own beds — in which he has killed them — is one of the most horrifying aspects of the show).
That being said, I think it's very clear that the show is condemning such actions. We are not voyeurs gazing on the dead women: we are voyeurs gazing in horror at the workings of Paul's mind.
The show's broader context supports such a reading. This is due in great part to the character of Stella, who repeatedly condemns Paul's actions as the work of a misogynist, who is herself a sexually independent woman, and who calls out the wider culture as supporting the extremes of Paul's actions in refusing to condemn smaller, more everyday forms of misogyny. The writer has also stated in interviews his insistence on portraying Paul's victims before he murders them, so that the viewers can see them as human beings with jobs, friendships and familial and other connections. This acts as a sort of direct refutation of Paul's perception of them.
Most importantly, it's one of the few shows to receive mainstream acclaim I've seen to include an explicit discussion of rape culture and the ways it enables murders like those of Paul's victims to take place. Stella has several conversations with her (female) colleague Reed about the ways women and girls warn each other about male violence, and about the way that they must be constantly guarded against a culture that will try to blame them for their own abuse. Stella also shuts down a male colleague describing one of Paul's victims as 'innocent'. What if his next victim is a sex worker? she asks. She refuses to let any discussion of innocence or blame enter the narrative of the case.
There is one final, and most horrifying, example of the show's condemnation of society misogyny. Paul's pattern in his murders is to build up to them by initially sneaking into his victims' empty houses and moving their belongings around in subtle ways in order to assert his control and unsettle them. His second victim notices that her belongings have been moved and calls the police. Rather than believing her, they try to deny her own experience and knowledge of her own space. There's no sign of a break-in, they say. Could her things have been moved by her cat? She is sure that this is not the case, but their words put doubt in her mind, so that when they ask her if she could stay with her sister, she feels as if her fears were unfounded and decides to stay put. Of course, after the police leave, Paul sneaks back in and murders her in a way designed to cause maximum, drawn-out terror and trauma. In this way, although Paul is the one to actually kill the women, The Fall shows how damaging, misogynistic societal attitudes (particularly the refusal to believe women when they say they feel unsafe) contribute to and enable his murders.
In this way, The Fall, while heartbreaking, terrifying and harrowing to watch, is much less harmful than, say, the Millennium Trilogy by Stieg Larsson, which purports to be a series condemning violence against women, but which actually engages in a great deal of victim blaming. While it is not enjoyable to watch women killed in situations of extreme psychological torment, it is satisfying for once to see the blame for their deaths put where it truly lies.
'Mars is there, waiting to be reached' March 28, 2014Posted by dolorosa12 in books, fangirl, reviews.
Tags: books, children's dystopian fiction, children's literature, children's science fiction, mars evacuees, science fiction, sophia mcdougall
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'It's like Pacific Rim, only with the characters as twelve-year-old girls,' said my partner, who had snatched up Sophia McDougall's Mars Evacuees and read it before I had a chance. Coming from him, this was high praise, and I opened the book expecting great things. Be warned, this review contains some minor spoilers.
I wasn't disappointed. Mars Evacuees is McDougall's first children's book, and it is set in a dystopian future in which Earth has been partly colonised by the Morror, an alien people who have transformed the climate to such an extent that it is becoming too cold to support human life. As an endless war rages on, groups of children are being evacuated off-planet to Mars, which has been partially terraformed into a climate that can sustain a human population. Their rescue comes at a price: all evacuees will be trained, and then conscripted into the military and expected to join the fight against the Morror. The narrator, Alice Dare, is the daughter of Stephanie Dare, a famous war hero. Although she struggles with the weight of expectation that this troublesome heritage causes, Alice is an essentially pragmatic child, and she spends most of the story putting any angsty feelings aside to be dealt with at a later, more convenient time. This is because she is preoccupied for most of Mars Evacuees with staying alive.
Although the colony on Mars seems at first to be a utopian safe haven, in which children from every corner of the world are given a multilingual education in everything from algebra to flying spaceships, its peace is shattered when all the adults disappear. At this point, schoolyard politics come into play: the strongest, meanest bullies take control, claiming most of the food supplies and the best quarters, terrorising the other children into submission. Alice and her friends – quirky, introverted Josephine, outgoing Carl and his younger brother Noel, along with one of the robots from the Martian colony – set out to find help. What they discover on their journey allows them to save not only the Martian colony, but also Earth itself.
Much of the charm of Mars Evacuees lies in its little details – Carl, like any sensible Australian, insists on taking a final swim in the ocean on Earth before the flight to Mars, and invents a game of 'Getting Around As Much Spaceship As Possible Without Touching the Floor', an unnamed tabloid newspaper lurches between praising the 'plucky children of Mars' and whipping up hysteria about social issues, a teddy-bear-shaped robot designed to teach the younger children is unintentionally terrifying. All these struck me as being very much the sorts of things that would be noticed by, and would matter to, a twelve-year-old child. Another brilliant touch is the moment when Alice, incensed at the bullying that Josephine is facing from some of the other children, explodes in anger. 'It is not because of what you're like, it's because of what they're like,' she shouts. This needs to be printed on every classroom wall. The book does not delve too deeply into the interior lives of its characters, and so it is in these little details that we come to know their personalities.
At many times in the novel, I found myself tearing up. Not because it's a sad story – rather, my tears were caused by the overwhelming sense of inclusiveness and hope Mars Evacuees inspires.* The main quartet of children is truly representative – Carl and Noel are Filipino-Australian, Josephine is African-Caribbean-British, and Alice is white British – and the broader group of evacuees comes from every corner of the globe. Their education is in the four most widely-spoken languages – English, Hindi, Mandarin and Spanish – and every child who already speaks one of those as a first language is required to be taught through the medium of another. Mars Evacuees is science fiction at its best: looking to the stars and imagining a better future. Like Pacific Rim (and unlike most recent dystopian or post-apocalyptic fiction), the stakes feel truly global, and the effort to save the world is undertaken by people from every nation on the planet. The apocalypse is averted not by violent, selfish individualism, but by compromise, communication and empathy. Mars Evacuees tells us, again and again, that if we share, rather than take, pool our respective strengths rather than devalue some qualities as weaknesses, and, above all, if we listen rather than reach for weapons, the future of the world will be bright.
*I must admit that one such moment was when Carl described Sydney. It's so rare to read a (non-Australian) children's book that mentions Sydney's beaches, walking through Chinatown, and Darling Harbour and its amazing fountain (although I must say that most residents of Sydney would probably avoid such a touristy area). But it's nice to see yourself represented, you know?


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The new flood
It seems like we have watched this movie before. After three short years, the West is once again gripped by financial paralysis. This time, of course, the source is Europe, rather than the United States.
But, regardless, the world is seemingly being dragged into another crisis. Even in Asia, which has so far remained relatively unscathed, asset prices have now fallen sharply and trade threatens to slow in the coming months. Hong Kong, too, is feeling the pinch: the equity market has had an especially rough ride of late and the city's all-important logistics sector has started to sputter.
It is easy, therefore, to fear that the region will slide into a deep, nasty recession. In fact, recent chatter is striking an almost panicky cord; and even whispers about 1997 are making their rounds again. News headlines hardly help: the focus is squarely on Europe and a quick solution to the continent's dilemma doesn't appear to be in sight. It all feels a little hopeless, truth be told - the politics just isn't right on this one.
Still, much commentary on Asia misses the point. Yes, the West is struggling again with the now familiar demon of excessive debt and all that comes with it. And, admittedly, things look a bit shaky all around. However, there is another side to recent developments in the West, with powerful consequences for Asia, which is being entirely overlooked.
Central banks on both sides of the Atlantic have rolled out their guns again. In the US, the Federal Reserve recently announced a programme dubbed 'Operation Twist' that aims to push down long-term rates further by redeploying the central bank's balance sheet.
If that programme fails to have the intended effect, officials indicated that the option of another round of quantitative easing is still on the table. The Fed, in short, may commit itself to purchase more bonds, thus pumping yet more liquidity into the financial system. With fiscal consolidation set to start next year, the pressure on America's central bank to act more forcefully will only grow.
Meanwhile, in Europe, monetary officials have been busy as well. The Bank of England recently announced a second round of quantitative easing, buying more bonds from the market to help shore up Britain's financial system and economy.
Switzerland, too, is adding massive liquidity into the market, if for somewhat different reasons. Its currency has soared to damaging heights, prompting officials to short-circuit the market by flushing it with an abundance of freshly minted francs.
The European Central Bank has joined the fray as well. To be sure, it has long resisted the option of printing money outright. But this doesn't mean it is sitting on its hands. Far from it. Since 2008, and lately again with renewed vigour, the ECB is offering unlimited liquidity to individual banks in Europe. Recently, it even reinstated a programme to allow banks to borrow cash for up to one year, rather than just short term. Europe, obviously, has a number of problems - but lack of central bank liquidity is hardly one of them.
Where does all this leave Asia? Simply: with another wall of liquidity heading its way. Sure, with risk aversion on the rise, its effects are not visible yet. But, ultimately, cheap money in the West will head East in search of greater returns. We've been here before. In late 2008, the world looked even worse than it does now.
Growth and trade collapsed at unprecedented speed. But, within a few months, Asia was climbing its way rapidly back to prosperity. The flow of cash into the region did the trick. Asset markets soared, demand bounced back, banks felt confident enough to aggressively boost lending. The parallels with today are striking. And so it will prove this time around: massive liquidity injections elsewhere will eventually pump up Asia.
Alas, not all of this is necessarily to be welcomed. In the long term, certainly, all the cash could do a lot of damage, with spiralling inflation and asset bubbles still the primary risks. Policymakers thus need to remain vigilant, in Hong Kong as elsewhere. But, for now at least, don't worry too much about growth tumbling over: the region still has a wall to lean on.
Frederic Neumann is managing director and co-head of Asian economics research at HSBC
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|Feature films
DVD-Video discs
|Named Person:
|Federico Fellini
|Material Type:
|Document Type:
|Visual material
|All Authors / Contributors:
Federico Fellini; Franco Cristaldi; Tonino Guerra; Magali Noel; Bruno Zanin; Pupella Maggio; Armando Brancia; Ciccio Ingrassia; Josiane Tanzilli; Janus Films (Firm); Cristald Films (Firm); Criterion Collection (Firm); F.C. Produzioni (Rome) (Firm); P.E.C.F. (Paris) (Firm)
|1559409800 9781559409803
|OCLC Number:
|Language Note:
|In Italian dialogue with optional English subtitles.
|Originally released as a motion picture in 1973.
Booklet (1) "Amarcord: a film by Federico Fellini'" and discs holder (2) are in a case.
|Director of photography, Giuseppe Rotunno ; editor, Ruggero Mastroianni ; music, Nino Rota ; director, Federico Fellini ; story and screenplay, Federico Fellini and Tonino Guerra.
|Starring Magali Noel, Bruno Zanin, Pupella Maggio, Armando Brancia, Giuseppe Ianigro, Nando Orfei, Ciccio Ingrassia, Luigi Rossi.
|Target Audience:
|Not rated.; IMDb rating: 7.9.
|2 videodiscs (approximately 123 min.) : sound, color ; 4 3/4 in. + 1 booklet (64 pages : illustrations ; 19 cm).
|DVD, region 1; Dolby Digital stereo., NTSC.; DVD.
|Disc 1. The film --
Disc 2. The supplements. Special features: Disc one: All-new, restored high-definition digital transfer ; Audio commentary by film scholars Peter Brunette and Frank Burke ; American release trailer ; Deleted scene ; Optional English-dubbed soundtrack ; New and improved English subtitle translation. Disc two: New 45-minute documentary, "Felliniś Homecoming," on the complicated relationship between the celebrated director, his hometown, and his past ; Video interview with star Magali Noël ; Felliniś drawings of characters in the film ; "Felliniana," a presentation of ephemera devoted to Amarcord, from the collection of Don Young ; Audio interviews with Fellini, his friends, and family by Gideon Bachmann ; New restoration demonstration PLUS: A book featuring a new essay by scholar Sam Rohdie, author of Fellini Lexicon, and the full text of Felliniś 1967 essay, "My Rimini."
|Series Title:
|Criterion collection, 4.
|F.C. Produzioni (Rome) ; P.E.C.F. (Paris) ; Janus Films.
Memories of episodes about love, sex, politics, family life and growing up in a small Italian town in the 1930ś.
User-contributed reviews


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BUIES CREEK, N.C. – The Roadrunner women's soccer team was unable to complete a sweep of its East Coast road trip as CSU Bakersfield was defeated by Campbell on Sunday morning. The 'Runners matched the Camels in opportunities with seven shots on goal apiece, but Campbell was able to convert its chances en route to a 4-0 victory.
"Today was a disappointing performance to go along with a disappointing result," said CSUB's Head Coach, Gary Curneen. "We have prided ourselves on our start to the games this season, but that was missing today. Playing catch up at the Division I level is almost impossible against good opposition. We will step back and take a good hard look at this game in order to make sure we learn from it and get it fixed before conference play."
Campbell got on the scoreboard early with a goal at the 1:50 mark. Callie Beckwith played a ball in for Rosie O'Neal who finished for a 1-0 advantage. Kelly Ann Evans netted a goal of her own with five minutes to play in the half to put the Camels up by two goals at half time.
After being outshot 7-4 in the first half, CSUB swung the momentum in the second period with an 8-6 advantage over the Camels. Alas, Campbell continued to convert on its opportunities and added a pair of goals from Payton Ormsby and Christine Kindt to claim the 4-0 victory.
Freshman Sophie Freeman played 82 minutes for the 'Runners and both of the Bakersfield native's shots in the contest were on goal. Sophomore Jen Padilla and freshman Jordan Bertram each played one half in goal for CSUB. Padilla made two saves in the first half while Bertram made one save in her 45 minutes.
CSUB (2-3-1) will be back in action with another home and away weekend. The 'Runners will return home Friday, Sept. 9, to host Eastern Washington at 7 p.m. at the Main Soccer Field. Tickets for that game as well as season tickets are available at GoRunners.com/tix. CSUB will then head to the Central Coast to take on Cal Poly on Sunday.


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Ok so I was happy and I told my friend I wanted to go see this guy in a different state then I showed her a picture. Then she told me that the guy was texting her and was upset because she was dating someone and he wanted to date her. Just telling you this guy told me he wanted to fuck me he was the first guy I really liked and he taught me to sext. And he's broken my heart before and I forgave him. Is it wrong for me to be pissed off and upset? And is it ok for me to be pissed off at her because she told me to be careful because she doesn't want to clean up the mess I made. But she's never cleaned up my mess before. So am I wrong for being pissed off at her too?
Most Helpful Girl
If she told you she didn't want to clean up the mess, that's really rude and unnecessary, so it's totally understandable to be mad about that. Warning you to be careful was actually a good thing to do though, so as long as that's not the part you're mad about, it's fine.
And being mad at the guy is 100% justified. You need to get him out of your life, seriously.00|00|0
But he's the only guy that talks to me and tells me im pretty
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I'm glad to hear that. Good luck with the whole situation.


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Friday May 12 , 2017
Location: Grey Eagle Event Centre (map)
Time: 8:00PM
Doors Open At: 7:00PM
Event Time: 8:00PM
Event Cost: Starts At: $39.50
Lisa Lampanelli is Comedy's Lovable Queen of Mean. Heralded as "more than a standup — a standout," by comedy legend Jim Carrey, Lampanelli is a cross between Don Rickles, Archie Bunker, and a vial of estrogen. She has won accolades from The King of All Media Howard Stern, who called her "a true original and a brilliant comedy mind who'll steal the show every time." Known for saying things that most people are afraid to think, Lisa Lampanelli's raunchy, gut-busting performances are wildly popular at theaters across the U.S. and Canada. This equal opportunity offender is a regular on late night television, and a frequent guest and guest host on Howard Stern's Sirius XM satellite radio shows.
18+ Show.
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On DVD
Shanghai Noon
- No Rating Available
Movie Review
The Wild West meets the Far East when Chon Wang (John Wayne, get it?) heads to America in the 1880s to rescue Princess Pei Pei from a Chinese slave trader. He inadvertently hooks up with notorious outlaw Roy O'Bannon who shows him the ropes—literally, and earns his stripes as the Shanghai Kid (of course, he's not even from Shanghai). A showdown in a church provides the climax as loyalties are tested, and courage becomes more than just a concept. Okay, maybe not courage exactly. It may just be stupidity, but that's beside the point in Shanghai Noon.
Positive Elements: Wang risks life and limb in his determination to rescue the princess. The princess, meanwhile, shows her true nobility when she states that she is willing to remain a slave if it will help her people. In the end, Roy turns from his law-breaking ways and becomes a sheriff.
Spiritual Content: A mission church becomes the setting for the film's final action scenes. When Roy emerges unscathed after enduring heavy gunfire, he looks upward and declares it a miracle.
Sexual Content: Roy fantasizes about a romp with three prostitutes. Later, he and Wang visit a Nevada whore house where it is implied that they indulge their baser needs (the girls parade in "classic" hooker attire). Wang wakes up one morning to find that he has not only slept with an Indian woman, but that he has unknowingly married her. A few sexual innuendoes include sly winks at homosexuality.
Violent Content: Jackie Chan has become synonymous with violence. Scene after bone-crunching scene floods Shanghai Noon with shoot-outs, fist-fights and every sort of hand-to-hand combat imaginable. Weapons include sticks, stones, a set of mounted antlers, liquor bottles, furniture, a giant bell, etc. The cameras zoom in on excruciating punches, kicks and choke-holds. Bullets fly. Bodies cartwheel, ricocheting off walls and slamming into the ground. Much of the action is glossy and acrobatic, but the intensity and frequency of it is enough to give theater-goers whiplash.
Crude or Profane Language: Half a dozen s-words mix with three or four times that number of other profanities. God's name gets a rude workout in several scenes.
Drug and Alcohol Content: Men drink heavily in Old West bars. Roy and Wang play a Chinese drinking game which results in the two getting thoroughly plastered. Even Wang's horse gets drunk when it guzzles a bottle of whiskey. Wang's new Indian family passes the peace pipe, which seems to contain a hallucinogenic drug.
Other Negative Elements: To break out of jail, Wang takes off his shirt, urinates on it, then uses it to bend the bars of his cell. (Don't ask!)
Summary: Evidently the rating board for the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) thinks that extreme violence doesn't warrant an R-rating if it's mixed with humor. That's how Jackie Chan has managed a PG-13 rating for his latest pummel-fests. But as our culture continues to become more and more desensitized to brutality, humor only complicates things. Chan doesn't bother to show viewers the any repercussions of their actions, he just laughs everything off as part of the fun. As for those dead bodies left in his wake, well, they're the bad guys, so what's the harm? After taking numerous blows to the head, Roy jokes to his captors that he's a human, not a piñata—right before he and Wang slug their way out the front door. It's a dangerous game Hollywood is playing with America. And Shanghai Noon is just one more piece of confetti in the wind.
Positive Elements
Spiritual Content
Sexual Content
Violent Content
Crude or Profane Language
Drug and Alcohol Content
Other Negative Elements
Pro-social Content
Objectionable Content
Summary Advisory
Plot Summary
Christian Beliefs
Other Belief Systems
Discussion Topics
Additional Comments/Notes
Episode Reviews
Readability Age Range
Jackie Chan as Chon Wang; Owen Wilson as Roy O'Bannon; Lucy Liu as Princess Pei Pei; Brandon Merrill as Falling Leaves; Roger Yuan as Lo Fong
Tom Dey ( )
Touchstone Pictures


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Lennar CorporationOwners of Lennar Corporation (NYSE: LEN) shares as of market close today will be eligible for a dividend of 4 cents per share. At a price of $37.66 as of 9:35 a.m. ET, the dividend yield is 0.4%. The average volume for Lennar Corporation has been 4.6 million shares per day over the past 30 days. Lennar Corporation has a market cap of $6.2 billion and is part of the materials & construction industry. Shares are down 6.4% year-to-date as of the close of trading on Friday. STOCKS TO BUY: TheStreet Quant Ratings has identified a handful of stocks that can potentially TRIPLE in the next 12 months. Learn more. Lennar Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in homebuilding, financial services, and real estate businesses in the United States. The company has a P/E ratio of 17.77. TheStreet Ratings rates Lennar Corporation as a buy. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its robust revenue growth, growth in earnings per share and increase in net income. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had lackluster performance in the stock itself. You can view the full Lennar Corporation Ratings Report now.
- See our top-yielding stocks list.
- See our dividend calendar.


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Welcome to Shraddhanjali
Pay Tribute / Homage to all the great souls which left the world.
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Alcamo Marina Vacation Packages
Alcamo Marina is situated about 270 miles (435 kilometers) south of Rome, the country's capital.
When it comes to getting the best from your holidays, it's worth remembering that Alcamo Marina is just the tip of the iceberg; Sicily is home to a treasure-trove of wonderful things to do and see. If you are looking for more things to see and do, check out the Prehistoric Caves Mangiapane and Monte Cofano Nature Reserve in and around Custonaci, which is roughly 15 miles (24 kilometers) to the east of Alcamo Marina.
About 20 miles (32 kilometers) to the west of Alcamo Marina is Trapani, an important regional center which is home to Chiesa del Purgatorio, Torre di Ligny and Basilica-Sanctuary of Maria Santissima Annunziata. Church of Sant'Agostino, Church of Santa Maria del Gesu and Museum of Salt are other good spots to visit.
Sicily is renowned for its archeological sites; these are often evocative windows into the region's rich past. Sicily is home to some significant churches and other sites of spiritual importance, perfect places to get an insight into Alcamo Marina's gentler side.
There are plenty of exciting adventures to be enjoyed. Around Sicily. Try horse riding or rock climbing to get your adrenaline pumping. There are times when one of the most effective ways to truly dig below the veneer of a destination is by hiring local guides. This region offers a range of winery tours, culinary tours and guided nature walks.
When the time comes to leave Sicily, you'll be sure to bid this place a fond "Ciao" But be comforted by the fact that you'll be heading home with memories and photos that you'll have for years to come.


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Any one figured out how to keep them from shredding so quickly? They work great but if they are not going to last long they aren't worth it. Hmmm.......
use lighter pressure!
save a lot sells some generic magic erasers that work just as well.....3pack for $1
It's not a sponge, its made of the cleaner - kind of. So it disappears as you use it, nature of the beast. Amazing product and still worth it
I use the Target brand. Exact same product, cheaper price. They still shred though
I save them for things that other cleaners won't get up, mostly marks on the walls and trim. They're too expensive to use for everyday cleaning.
LOL, I do what the others do to combat the shredding: Buy generic ones . And I also do what prterrell does, which is only use when absolutely needed. LOVE those things. I saved us hundreds of dollars on repainting fees when moving out of a rental home, by simply Magic Erasering all of the scuff marks off of the walls.
thanks guys. I'll try the off brand.
I love them for trim too! It takes half the time to do the trim!
This post makes it sound like I actually clean but..... LOL
When I do clean though I love them!
This post makes it sound like I actually clean but..... LOL When I do clean though I love them!
Haha, I know the feeling. Most of the time they sit in my cabinet. Last time I used them was when I was moving out of a place. Unless I am moving out of a place, most of those scuffs just become invisible over time...I mean...invisible to ME.
My friend learned the hard way that you're not supposed to wash out paintbrushes in your bathtub -- but she was able to get her primer-covered bathtub clean with a Magic Eraser. Those things are great!
I sort of scraped my car against a telephone pole when I had parked on the street, so I had this combo of paint/ telephone pole gunk on my car. I got a quote from the car place which was about $1700 to repair! Hayell NO!!! I got a magic eraser and some window cleaner and buffed it out in about 20 mins (i used the entire thing). There's still a small dent..but not anything where I need to pay money to get it repaired. I took pics too of the before/ after because I was going to write them a testimonial. Never got around to it though.
Nice! It's great when you make a discovery like that!
Works great on spats, too- for those of us with band kids. The next step if that doesn't work is nail polish remover from what my daughter tells me; so it must work pretty darn good.


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Wednesday, February 22, 2017 - 4:30pm
Icahn 101
Icahn Think and Drink
Ruth Dannenfelser (Troyanskaya) "Data-driven analysis of lymphocyte infiltration in breast cancer development and progression"
Amanda Amodeo (LSI Fellow) "Histone levels adjust the timing of the Mid-Blastula Transition"
ICAhN Think & Drink is an interdisciplinary talk series designed to foster new connections. Individuals at all levels and in all departments are invited to join us for two 20 minute talks with a break for free food and refreshments.
See our website (https://icahnthinkanddrink.princeton.edu/)


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BOSTON -- The 90th season in Boston Bruins history began with a 3-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Thursday night at TD Garden.
The reigning Eastern Conference champions received goals from Chris Kelly, Milan Lucic and Patrice Bergeron, while goaltender Tuukka Rask finished with 32 saves.
The Bruins gained a 1-0 lead when Kelly scored on a penalty shot at 11:39 of the first period. Boston was in the midst of killing a penalty when Kelly intercepted a pass in the offensive zone and broke in on Tampa goalie Anders Lindback. Kelly was awarded his first career penalty shot. He capitalized on a sweet backhanded deke to give Boston the early lead.
Tampa tied the game at 1-1 when the Lightning's Valtteri Filppula finished off a 2-on-1 at 10:32 of the second period.
Boston regained its lead in the final minute of the second period when Lucic combined with David Krejci and converted a nifty give-and-go to give the Bruins a 2-1 advantage at 19:00.
Tampa had a golden opportunity early in the third period when the Lightning had a two-man advantage for 1:58, but the Bruins' penalty-killing unit of Johnny Boychuk, Dennis Seidenberg and Kelly stifled the Lightning's power play until Boychuk drew a penalty with 26 seconds remaining in the 5-on-3.
Tampa still had a 4-on-3, but Bergeron single-handedly created and capitalized on a short-handed opportunity. He chipped the puck out of the defensive zone, collected it in the neutral zone and broke in on a 2-on-1 with defenseman Torey Krug. Bergeron pulled a little dipsy-doodle in front and snuck it past Lindback to give Boston a 3-1 lead at 4:02.
Rask finished with a few timely saves in the final period as the Bruins played well for their first of 82 games this season.
NO DICE: With Boston holding a 1-0 lead in the second period, the Bruins' Jordan Caron should have been awarded a goal at 2:06, but it was declined for what the referee described as "player in the crease." The replay clearly showed a clean play by Caron, but it was thought the referee first blew the play dead when he lost sight of the puck. Either way, if Caron continues to play the way he did Thursday night, he'll keep a spot in the lineup when Carl Soderberg (ankle) is healthy and able to return to game action. In fact, that line of Caron, Kelly and Reilly Smith played well.
DROP 'EM: It didn't take long for Jarome Iginla to win over the fans in Boston when he dropped the gloves at 9:06 of the second period. He was on the receiving end of a clean hit by Tampa's Radko Gudas and fell to the ice. When Iginla got to his feet he shook his gloves, signaling he was ready to drop them. The two went toe-to-toe in a spirited bout. The fans gave Iginla a standing ovation to and from the box. Iginla's previous fight came late last season as a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins, when he dropped the gloves with the Bruins' Nathan Horton at the Garden. Horton suffered a shoulder injury and was not the same for the remainder of the season. Horton signed with the Columbus Blue Jackets as a free agent during the summer, so the Bruins went out and signed Iginla to replace him.
DROP 'EM II: The Bruins' Shawn Thornton registered his first fighting major of the season when he dropped the gloves with Tampa's Pierre-Cedric Labrie at 18:04 of the first period. It wasn't much of a bout, but it still brought the fans to their feet. The subject of fighting has been a topic of discussion as the league attempts to make the game safer for players in every way possible. Fans enjoy it -- and it remains a way for players to police the game.
UP NEXT: The Bruins will host the Detroit Red Wings on Saturday at 7:05 p.m. at TD Garden.


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Imperial Inn Map
146 N. Tenth St. (Cherry St.)
215-627-5588 | Make Restaurant Reservations | Order Now! | Menu
Find Imperial Inn with this handy map to the restaurant. If you don't see a pop-up, click on the map's green arrow to get driving directions to and from Imperial Inn.
Find out which restaurants and chefs top the list of GAYOT's 2016 Annual Restaurant Awards.


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1401 Gardner Pond Lane, Vicksburg 49097
See more homes for sale in Vicksburg, MI
This property has been Sold!
07/25/2016 at $173,400
Complete ready for immediate move in. IF you like to entertain with a fantastic kitchen then this home is ideal for you. The kitchen is THE center of the home with large island with seating for 4. Separate dining and great rooms create a unique space. Window placement in this home creates lots of natural light. Kitchen features granite counter tops, tile back splash, stainless steel appliance package. Main floor laundry room, mud room adjacent to garage with big closet and 1/2 bath complete the main floor. Extremely large master bedroom and walk in closet with larger private bath, 2 more spacious bedrooms and a full bath create the upper level. Home is on one of the last available sites that backs up to the park - no one in your back yard. Basement has 2 e-gress windows ready for finishing
Property Information
- Status
- Sold
- Address
- 1401 Gardner Pond Lane
- City
- Vicksburg
- Zip
- 49097
- County
- Kalamazoo
- Township
- Vicksburg Vllg
- Zoning
- Residential
- Total Finished SqFt
- 1,682
- Above Grade SqFt
- 1,682
- Garage
- 2.0
- Garage Desc.
- 2, Attached
- Water
- Public
- Sewer
- Public
- Year Built
- 2016
- Taxes
- $36
- Association Fee
- $Quarterly
Rooms and Land
- Basement
- Full Basement
- Cooling
- Central, SEER 13 or Greater
- Heating
- Forced Air, Natural Gas
- Acreage
- 0.15
- Lot Dimensions
- 50x155x50x155
- Appliances
- Dishwasher, Garbage Disposal, Range
- Features
- Home Warranty
- Exterior Materials
- Vinyl
- Exterior Features
- Patio
Listing Video for 1401 Gardner Pond Lane, Vicksburg MI 49097
Mortgage Calculator
Listing Broker
Listing Courtesy of Allen Edwin Realty
Office Address 2186 East Centre Avenue
Listing Agent Gregory Dehaan
Listings last updated: . Some properties that appear for sale on this web site may subsequently have been sold and may no longer be available.
Our Michigan real estate agents can answer all of your questions about 1401 Gardner Pond Lane, Vicksburg MI 49097. Real Estate One, Max Broock Realtors, and J&J Realtors are part of the Real Estate One Family of Companies and dominate the Vicksburg, Michigan real estate market. To sell or buy a home in Vicksburg, Michigan, contact our real estate agents as we know the Vicksburg, Michigan real estate market better than anyone with over 100 years of experience in Vicksburg, Michigan real estate for sale.
The data relating to real estate for sale on this web site appears in part from the IDX programs of our Multiple Listing Services. Real Estate listings held by brokerage firms other than Real Estate One includes the name and address of the listing broker where available.
IDX information is provided exclusively for consumers personal, non-commercial use and may not be used for any purpose other than to identify prospective properties consumers may be interested in purchasing.
All information deemed materially reliable but not guaranteed. Interested parties are encouraged to verify all information. Copyright© 2017 MichRIC LLC, All rights reserved.


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New Halloween Gift Tags Free Printables
I made two new Halloween Gift Tag printables for you! They are free to download! Spooky Halloween Gift Tags The craft that matches these Printables is Halloween Gift Buckets Candy Corn Halloween Gift Tags with matching Candy Corn Eggnog Cookies 2013 Halloween Freebies Follow SewLicious Home Decor's board Halloween Decor and Craft Ideas on… Read More »


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Mischa Barton: Done With TV?
Mischa Barton's big comeback was supposed to be on this fall's CW show The Beautiful Life, but as we all know, the show was canceled after just two lousy episodes.
So, what's her plan now?
At last night's Whitney Museum Gala in NYC, the 23-year-old actress told People that she's trying to steer herself away from TV gigs for the time being.
"I think I need to back away from the whole TV approach. That whole world of network television, probably isn't, for me, a good idea now. I need to start reading for more serious roles."
While she doesn't have anything set in stone, she's working hard to pick the right project and work on getting back in shape, saying
"It's too early to tell yet. I'm passing on all the [early] offers, because that's not the stuff you want to do. I want to go fight for interesting things and look for something that's going to be interesting for me … as a role.
Now that I'm not doing the TV show, I've got lots of time to work out."
Well, the hard work seems to be paying off—check out new pictures of Mischa rocking a Versace gown last night in NYC.
Do you think she'll make a comeback?


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Ain & Stein, LLC
From Rockville, MD law offices, our experienced trial lawyers represent victims of accidents in personal injury actions and families who lost a loved one and have won verdicts or settlements in wrongful death and other tort cases throughout Washington, D.C. and Maryland, including Anne Arundel County, Baltimore County, Calvert County, Carroll County, Charles County, Frederick County, Howard County, Montgomery County, Prince George's County, St. Mary's County. We also litigate and assist in matters of family law, business disputes, and commercial law.
About Our Law Firm
In 2005, Michael M. Ain and Gary A.Stein, each A-V RATED, the highest rating given by peers for legal ability and ethics, and each with over twenty-five years experience in previous law firms, joined forces and formed the firm of Ain & Stein.
Their philosophy is that clients should receive the highest caliber of legal services from attorneys who listen and respond to their needs, have a firm command of the law and legal tactics, and are well aware of the burdens on individuals and businesses in need of legal services. Those burdens are financial, practical and psychological. The lawyers at Ain & Stein, LLC believe in the golden rule. They want to provide the same high level of service and responsiveness they would expect if the legal problem were theirs.
Michael M. Ain and Gary A. Stein bring their training from nationally prominent law schools and broad experience in the law to their new firm. The hallmark of that experience has been their success in the resolution of disputes of various kinds using a varied arsenal of methods. Both are skilled negotiators; both have been trained in and have employed mediation and arbitration to resolve disputes; and both are successful trial lawyers and litigators with significant experience in our courts of law at both the trial and appellate level. Washingtonian Magazine rates Gary Stein as one of the top divorce lawyers in the metropolitan area (December 2011).
Although in their fifty years of combined experience the attorneys of Ain & Stein have undertaken a broad spectrum of legal matters, they have focused their talents in the areas of:
- Family Law
- Business and Corporate Law
- Mediation and Arbitration
- Car, Truck and Bus Accidents
- Personal Injury
- Medical Malpractice
- Wrongful Death
Vehicle Accidents, Medical Malpractice, Personal Injury Law
If you've been injured by the negligence of others, Michael Ain and Gary Stein are ready to help. Over the years they have recovered many millions of dollars for their injured clients.
Truck Accident. A young man was repairing a flat tire on the shoulder of the Capital Beltway in Prince George's County when a large tractor trailer slammed into his vehicle and he was permanently paralyzed from the neck down. The truck company and its driver denied responsibility. After filing a lawsuit, Gary Stein obtained a settlement of $4.8 million shortly before trial.
Child Custody. Our client and her husband held prominent positions in international organizations. One of our attorneys went to court and won custody of her children for our client, the daughter of the president of a South American country.
People suffer injuries as a result of many kinds of negligence: medical malpractice; prescription errors; misdiagnosis; surgical errors; delayed medical treatment; truck accidents; auto accidents; bicycle and motorcycle accidents; slip & falls; dangerous products; improper maintenance; elevator and escalator accidents; wrongful death; fires and security breaches. The lawyers at Ain & Stein have won verdicts and settlements in all of these types of cases and accept them on a contingency basis. Read more about vehicle accident and personal injury law or call us now for a free consultation at (301) 838-0199.
Family Law
The firm's Maryland and Washington D.C. family law practice includes: separation; divorce; divorce mediation; custody; visitation; child support; spousal support; paternity; property division; adoption; pre-nuptial agreements; post-nuptial agreements; division of pensions and stock options; valuation of businesses and other assets; and termination of parental rights. Read more about family law.
Commercial Law
If you are in need of a Maryland & DC attorney to assist with commercial litigation matters, the lawyers at Ain & Stein have the expertise and experience. Their experience has included but is not limited to the following:
- Commercial Litigation
- Arbitration and Mediation of Disputes
- Business Torts
- Breach of Contract
- Breach of Fiduciary Duties
- Contract Interpretation Disputes
- Specific Performance of Contracts
- Insurance Disputes and Collection of Insurance Benefits
- Tort Litigation involving Damage and Injuries to Employees
- Disputes among Owners, Partners and Joint-Venturers
- Injunctions
- Construction Disputes
Read more about commercial law.
If you or someone you know in Maryland or Washington D.C. that needs the assistance or legal counsel of an experienced auto accident, personal injury, family, commercial litigation or medical malpractice lawyer, contact Ain & Stein today at (301) 838-0199, or use the contact form provided on this site.


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Includes digital copy + 1 print. Each additional print is $3.99
Boulevard of Broken Dreams
By Green Day - Digital Bass Tab
Product InformationBoulevard of Broken Dreams by Green Day - Digital Bass Tab
Boulevard of Broken Dreams digital sheet music. Contains printable sheet music plus an interactive, downloadable digital sheet music file.
- Contains complete lyrics
- This product is available worldwide
The Arrangement Details Tab gives you detailed information about this particular arrangement of Boulevard of Broken Dreams - not necessarily the song.
Not the arrangement you were looking for? View All Arrangements
There are no reviews written for Boulevard of Broken Dreams.
In order to write a review on digital sheet music
you must first have purchased the item.
Publishing administered by: Alfred Publishing Co., Inc.


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Glow Run 5k Denver
Colorado Rapids Stadium
Fri 10/04/2013
The Glow Run 5k Run/Walk event is a one of a kind night time experience that is less about how fast you run and more about enjoying the music filled glowing course with your friends and family. For our events, we see participants of all different speeds, ages, shapes, and sizes ready to GLOW. So whether you are a casual walker or an avid runner The Glow Run 5k invites you to come be a part of the fun. The Course is 3.1 miles of glowing fun featuring multiple black light zones, a glowing finish line chute and arch as well as thousands of runners decked out in glow gear. The Glow Run will also feature music at multiple spots along the course as well as an on course DJ pumping out the latest top 40 dance mixes to keep you motivated.Event schedule and timesPre Run Festivities Start at: 5:00 PM Run Starts at: 7:00 PM Post Run After Party: 7:30 - 10:59PM
- Address:Dick's Sporting Goods Park, 6000 Victory Way
Denver, CO 80022


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Mobility Enterprise – Leaders. Innovators. Revolutionaries.
Great companies are built by great people. Pulse Secure has a global team of talented individuals dedicated to keeping your business and end-users secure and connected. We are driven to ensure that you and your end users get the safest on-premise and off-premise mobility solutions that are also incredibly simple and intuitive to use.
Seamless User Experience
- Simple app access regardless of device; in the fewest clicks.
Any App, Any Device, Anywhere
- Enable broad policy options across devices and user groups.
Access Policy & Control
- Define a security and enforcement policy once and have it work for all devices.
End-to-End Data Security
- Protect corporate data at the device, application and network layers.
Been there. Done that.
Pulse Secure is a "new" company born from the sale of Juniper Networks Junos Pulse product line to Siris Capital, a leading private equity firm. We have a 10+ year understanding of customer needs and goals, and as a standalone company, Pulse Secure now brings additional resources and focus to solve the challenges in enterprise mobility faster than ever before.
Use of the SDxCentral service directory is governed by our Terms of Service, including without limitation those sections under the headings "CONTENT", "LICENSING AND OTHER TERMS APPLYING TO CONTENT POSTED ON THE SDXCENTRAL SITES", "INDEMNITY; DISCLAIMER; LIMITATION OF LIABILITY" AND "COPYRIGHTS". Under no circumstances will SDxCentral be liable in any way for any Content, including, but not limited to, liability for any errors or omissions in any Content or for any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of the use of any Content posted, emailed or otherwise transmitted via the Sites.


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Adult 18+
|Private Lesson
|Arrange for a personalized, private ski, snowboard or telemark lesson tailored to your individual skill level and learning style. Taught by one of our experienced instructors, a private lesson is the quickest way to improve your skills.
|Learn More
|Private in the Park
|Is your inner adventure seeker is longing to explore the terrain park? Private in the park is designed to give you a customized lesson that will help you navigate the terrain park world.
|Learn More
|Parent and Child Private
|Participate in your child's learning adventure on snow. A parent and child private lesson is a great way for both you and your child to advance in skill level and confidence.
|Learn More
|Group Lesson
|Whether you are a beginner or an expert, a Group Lesson is an excellent way to develop and improve your skills, increase your confidence and get more enjoyment from the sport.
|Learn More
|"I Will Ski" Learn to Ski Program
|The "I Will Ski" program offers unique multi-week instruction to first-time adult skiers, or those ready for a turnkey re-entry back into the sport with FREE ELAN SKIS at the conclusion of the program.
|Learn More
|First-Time Beginner Group Lesson
|Afton Alps loves to work with first-timers. We want to see more happy people on the snow. Our instructors are here to get you started on the right foot...or ski (or board).
|Learn More
|"Free the Heel" Telemark Wednesdays
|Is it time for a new challenge? Want to try telemark? Or, have you already started and want to improve your skills? Join our PSIA- certified instructors on selected Wednesdays in January and February. We offer two-hour telemark lessons for first-timers, beginners and intermediates. Free the heel!
|Learn More
|Adult Unlimited Tuesday Night Ski Lesson Pass
It's simple. Buy this product and then you can take as many of our Tuesday evening Group Lessons as you would like throughout the season. Start out at any skill level and we will move you into more advanced lessons as your skills improve.
|Learn More
Programs & Camps
|Adult Academies
|New options! Three week and five week session options with Thursday and Sunday sessions. This program will elevate your skiing or boarding to a new level.
|Learn More
|Get Ready for the West
|This series of 2-hour clinics for adults will focus on specific issues to elevate your skiing, increase your confidence and extend the range of terrain that you can conquer. With increased versatility, you will be ready to challenge yourself on your upcoming trip out west.
|Learn More
|Holiday Camps
|NEW! For Kids and Parents! Whatever the age or skill level, we have a fun and entertaining camp to help parents and kids get more from the holiday break.
|Learn More
|Team Afton-Thanksgiving Camp
|A three-day camp race training camp designed to get you ready for the season. This camp is perfect for racers competing in MSDL (ARC), high school or college racing. (ages 7 to 21)
|Learn More
|Team Afton-Holiday Camp
|A five-day camp race training camp designed to boost your performance just before the main part of your season. This camp is perfect for racers competing in MSDL (ARC), high school or college racing. (ages 7 to 21)
|Learn More
Racing and Race Training
|All You Can Eat Gates
|Race training for adults. We set the course. You knock it down. Coaches observe and provide advice. You go up and try it again. You go faster.
|Learn More
|Adult Pre-Season Race Camp
Whether you're a first-time racer or the champion of your local beer league, it's time to get ready for the season. Two full days of training for adults.
|Learn More
|Midwest Race League
|Have a blast racing in a relaxed, affordable atmosphere whether you are a skier, rider or telemarker. Professionally organized races followed by fun post-race parties in Paul's Pub each week with food & drink specials, race results, door prizes, and end-of-year awards banquet. All result t posted Nastar and Epic Race.
|Learn More


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Dr. Vahit Belli MD Patient Reviews
- Internal Medicine Brandon, FL
Vitals cannot verify whether or not this professional is currently practicing. We recommend that you attempt to contact the provider to verify their status. Please email us at email@example.com if you have any additional information.
Overall Rating
1 Patient Reviews
- Friendly Staff
- Promptness
- Spends Time With Patients
- Bedside Manner
- Fair and Accurate Diagnosis
- Easy Appointments
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Dr. Vahit Belli, MD is similar to these 3 Doctors near Brandon, FL.
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For a detailed explanation of the roles of elders and deacons in the church, please refer to our article, "Elders and Deacons," by clicking here.
Synonymously called "pastors," "bishops," and "overseers" in the New Testament, elders are responsible for overseeing, protecting, teaching, leading, and caring for the church. The qualifications of eldership are most notably outlined in 1 Timothy 3:1–7 and Titus 1:5–9. Some guidelines for eldership are:
- Ability to teach with doctrinal soundness
- Calling, assessment, appointment, affirmation
- Plurality of elders with a lead elder
- Vocational and lay-elder mix
Our elders are committed to governing the church well, solemnly understanding the deep importance of shepherding God's people in several ways:
- Meeting the criteria assigned to them by Scripture
- Seeking God's will for the church and following the leading of the Holy Spirit
- Caring for members and seeking their growth as followers of Jesus
- Teaching and counseling from the whole of Scripture
- Guarding against false teachers and protecting the church from doctrinal error
- Exercising church discipline when necessary
- Setting an example and joining the church in fulfilling the duties of partners in the Gospel
CrossPointe has six elders:
- Brad Evangelista
- Reynold Counts
- Doug Duncan
- Bill Harrison
- Will Hawk
- Reuben Moyana


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Damian Lewis blames hackers for Homeland leak
Homeland star Damian Lewis has blamed hackers for leaking the TV show's upcoming third season premiere almost a month before the episode is due to hit the small screen. The popular spy drama returns to American TV screens on 29 September (13), but fans were given a sneak peek at the first episode after an unfinished version of the series hit the Internet last week (ends08Sep13).
British actor Lewis, who plays Iraq veteran Nicholas Brody in the show, has now revealed Internet hackers breached 20th Century Fox's web security to get their hands on the footage, but insists no one at the studio was at fault.
He says, "It (the first episode) got leaked. It turns out no one was to blame – it was just bad security online. It got hacked."


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Posted on - Tags: 100 very important background zip for ps editing, black n gold gradient photoshop styles, fire gradient photoshop, download illusion photo pack for cs5
25+ Free Sets of Photoshop Gradients
- Published by
Gradients are very important part of the Adobe Photoshop software. Using Gradients you can get a very beautiful illusion of depth in the designs. Photoshop incorporates gradient tool which is... View Article


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This 174 room hotel with a South Western decor is an oasis in downtown Tucson. Free prking.
Within walking distance to all of downtown Tucson attractions.
Nicely decorated rooms all with safe, free high speed internet access, coffee maker, hairdryer and iron/board. Fridge and microwave are also available upon request.
The hotel has a fitness center, a pool and a Jacuzzi. Tennis and shuffle are also available seasonally.
On property is the popular Bennigan's Restaurant which is open for lunch and dinner and even does room service. Free Full American Breakfast.
Family Plan: Up to 2 adults and 2 children (age 16 and under) sharing with existing bedding use DBL room type.
Room Facilities:
Direct dial telephone
Satellite cable TV
Individual airconditioned
Individual heating