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Station North was abuzz with thousands of cinema addicts and more casual moviegoers this past weekend, for the 14th annual Maryland Film Festival.
The Festival brought some 100 films and an even higher number of filmmakers to the neighborhood. As always, the Charles Theatre was the hub for the action, which included favorites such as a screening with devious filmmaker John Waters, and newer fare such as a disturbing flick starring a 12-year-old.
Festival director Jed Dietz, who's seen attendance at his annual event grow every year, said he was surprised by the adventurousness of the crowd.
"I'm often impressed by the intensity of the reaction — sometimes within seconds," Dietz said. "There was the sense that people felt very strongly about what they were seeing in both directions, positive and negative."
Here are scenes from this weekend's cinema extravaganza.
Settling the score
A film without spoken dialogue, with sets that define the term "abstract," set in a foreign country and starring not a single recognizable face.
Welcome to Sunday morning at the Maryland Film Festival, where the three-piece Alloy Orchestra continued their tradition of presenting a silent movie accompanied by their own original score. The result is always unique, but this year, Alloy really topped themselves.
Their choice was the 1920 German "From Morning Till Midnight," a little-seen masterpiece of German Expressionism — movies far more interested in mood than narrative — that left more than a few audience members scratching their heads (in a good way).
Think that's an exaggeration? The first audience question during the post-film Q&A was a plaintive, "What the heck was that?"
Not that anyone was really complaining. Sometimes, it's good to be puzzled.
'It was very unique and interesting," a smiling Lauren Mercier said on her way out of the screening. "I didn't realize they were doing that kind of thing back in those days."
Star power
John Waters may be the hometown hero of every Maryland Film Festival, thanks to his annual Friday-night pick. This year's choice, Barbara Loden's 1970 "Wanda," once again offered audiences the sort of cinematic experience they'd probably never had, and his introductions are always crowd-pleasers, both perceptive and funny.
"This movie is so Baltimore," Waters said in introducing the film, about a Scranton, Pa., housewife who takes up a life of crime (thanks to her gun-toting thief of a boyfriend) more out of a sense of ennui than anything else.
"She wears her hair in curlers to go to court and try to keep her child. ... She has her purse stolen while she's asleep in a theater. I saw that happen at the Howard Theatre all the time."
Twelve-year-old Sydney Aguirre, who gave a naturalistic performance as the cold-hearted protagonist of David Zellner's disturbing "Kid-Thing," admitted she was a little surprised after watching the film for the first time.
She didn't realize it was going to be as emotionally dark as it was.
"But we had so much fun" making it, she deadpanned after Saturday's screening.
'God Bless America'
Waters may be crown prince of the MFF, but Bobcat Goldthwait is proving a worthy runner-up.
For the third time, Goldthwait sent his latest film to the festival — and for the second time, he came along to introduce it.
"God Bless America" may be his funniest, most perverse film yet, the story of a terminally ill laid-off office worker and his teen accomplice on a Bonnie-and-Clyde-style killing spree. Their objective: Eliminate the teens who whine that their cars aren't fancy enough, the babies who refuse to stop crying, the parkers who deliberately take up two spaces and — especially — the vacuous and determinedly impolite judges of a certain televised talent show.
Offensive? Yes. Over-the-top? Sure. Indefensible? Possibly. The movie, he said with a laugh, has been described as "leftist snuff porn." But the audience loved it.
"I don't know what it says about Baltimore that you've embraced me so much," Goldthwait said. Goldthwait also gave a shout-out to Waters, whom he has repeatedly called an inspiration.
"He's kind of my awfully cool gay uncle," Goldthwait said, "that my mom didn't want me to hang out with."
Reliving the past
Cecil Thompson, who works for Washington's Synetic Theater, had a special reason to be at Friday's screening of "The Source." Living in California in the early 1970s, he lived much of that documentary. Literally.
"The Source" uses home movies and archival photographs to tell the story of The Source, a psychedelic-era spiritual family founded by former Marine and jujitsu expert Jim Baker, who went by the name Father Yod, or YaHoWha. He eventually surrounded himself with dozens of followers, marrying more than a dozen of them, and moved to Hawaii.
Thompson was one of those family members, going by the name Explosion Aquarian.
"It was the greatest thing that ever happened to me," he said after the screening, noting he remained with the family for about two years. "It was a very interesting time."
The 'best'
Want to know how to really get into the film festival spirit? Take a tip from Ken McNaughton, an actor and seasoned world traveler who, after watching a Friday-morning screening of a Greek film called "Attenberg," made no effort to hide his enthusiasm.
"I just had the feeling while I was watching it that this was the best movie I'd ever seen," he said, happy to leave his hyperbole unchecked.
Well, he did qualify it just a little. "Of course," he added, "I don't know how long I'll feel that way."


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Teen charged in Charlotte crash that killed 1, injured 2
Authorities in Charlotte say an 18-year-old woman faces manslaughter charges after the car she was driving slammed into a tree, killing a teen-age passenger and seriously injuring the driver's 11-month-old son.
Police say Sydney Danice McDaniel was driving a 1991 Honda Accord Wednesday night when she apparently lost control of the car on a curve before hitting the tree.
Officials said 15-year-old Martha Estela Rosales was killed. McDaniel's young son was injured, as was another 18-year-old woman in the car. They were taken to Carolinas Medical Center for treatment.
McDaniel is charged with involuntary manslaughter, reckless driving, driving after consuming alcohol while under 21, fictitious tag on vehicle, child neglect, and possession of marijuana. She's being held in the Mecklenburg County jail. It's not known if she has an attorney.

subset: commoncrawl


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Huawei Ascend P7 poses for leaked images ahead of official debut
The Huawei Ascend P7 is set to make its official debut at an event on May 7, but per the usual, we don't have to wait until the announcement to get a peek at Huawei's next flagship.
Several photos that purportedly show the Huawei Ascend P7 have been posted online. The first batch of shots depicts a white Ascend P7 in the wild, complete with a design that's fairly similar to 2013's Ascend P6. We can see Huawei branding on the front and rear, on-screen navigation buttons, front and rear cameras and a skinned version of Android.
The second group of images comes to us from @evleaks. It includes a trio of press renders that show black and white versions of the Ascend P7 that look similar to the unit shown in the first batch of photos.
A previous rumor suggested that the Ascend P7 will come to market with a 5-inch 1080p display, 1.8GHz quad-core processor, 13-megapixel rear and 8-megapixel front cameras, a 2500mAh battery and a sub-7mm thickness. Obviously we'll have to withhold any final judgments on the P7 until, you know, we can actually use one, but so far it seems to be a respectable Android flagship.
Do you like the look of Huawei's next big smartphone?
Via: PhoneArena


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Justin Timberlake played golf with Kiefer Sutherland this weekend in Brentwood. Pipsqueak's head is extra extra big right now because of how well The 20/20 Experience sold in its first week. And his summer tour with Jay-Z is also doing great numbers. Not bad for an album that was put together in only 20 days. Just 20 days? Well, who's to say that greatness can only occur after a lengthy gestation? Besides, maybe it was actually gestating for all these years (despite the fact that he'd been wasting our time trying to be Ryan Gosling for so long).
But...did you read that piece in The Hollywood Reporter last week? It's worth your five minutes. Basically they're wondering whether or not JT rushed this album out because he signed a $20 million deal with Live Nation a few years ago, with $5 million already paid to him upfront, and they were putting pressure on him to go on tour. And touring usually means new music. Which could explain why the music on The 20/20 Experience has received, as THR notes, "mixed reviews".
It doesn't matter though where the inspiration came from and whether or not the final product is mediocre. You can half-ass the product so long as you don't half-ass the promotion. And, as we saw, JT did not half-ass the promotion. He promoted the sh-t out of his album. He promoted it like it was a competition. He promoted it with such determination it threatened to overtake the joy, if there was any joy there to begin with. The result: almost a million sold in the first week, an outstanding success. Does it matter what it actually sounded like?
Click here to read the article in The Hollywood Reporter. And he's not the only one either. Madonna has a big deal with Live Nation too. And, well, how many songs do you remember from her last album?


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I am looking to modify the "faceted filter" on our schedule page and would like some input on what kind of UI elements I could use to enhance the experience. The current one is woefully bad and the city/miles section really doesn't work correctly, it was originally built using zip codes and converted to using cities.
What would be some good UI elements to use here and how would you see this thing working?
The URL is http://www.scic.com/schedule
The page does not validate, please don't crucify me for that, I only started work here a month ago.
I have been building a demo using the multiselect widget ( http://www.erichynds.com/jquery/jquery-ui-multiselect-widget ) for the states but not sure what I should use for the other parts.


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|"Are you a wizard or not?"
The title of this article is conjectural. Although it is based on canonical information, the actual name is conjecture and may be supplanted at any time by additional information released from canonical sources. If this occurs, please move this page to the appropriate title.
|Werewolf Army
|Organisation information
Fenrir Greyback (possibly)
Unknown, somewhere underground
To infect as many humans as
The werewolf army, led by Fenrir Greyback, was a group of werewolves who intended to infect as many people as possible with lycanthropy in the hope that one day the werewolf community would be large enough to take over the wizarding community. They, particularly Greyback, specialised in attacking children. This way, they presumably hoped that being infected young would cause them to integrate into the werewolf society sooner.
Second Wizarding War Edit
During the Second Wizarding War, the werewolves allied themselves with the dark side, though they were not considered Death Eaters. This is probably because Voldemort didn't trust their half-breed status. Greyback, although he was not branded with the Dark Mark, became the most integrated into the Death Eaters out of the werewolf community. He thought that by becoming affiliated with Voldemort it would be easier for him and his fellow werewolves to get access to people to attack. He also believed that under his rule, the werewolf race would have a higher place in society than under the Ministry of Magic.
Remus Lupin's involvement Edit
- "Nearly all of them are on Voldemort's side. Dumbledore wanted a spy and here I was...ready made."
- —Remus Lupin on Greyback's pack
Because of his membership of the Order of the Phoenix, Remus Lupin was sent under Albus Dumbledore's orders to integrate himself into the underground werewolf community to serve as a spy for the Order.
Known victims Edit
- Remus Lupin (fully transformed)
- William Weasley (not fully transformed)
- Son of Mrs. Montgomery (killed)
- Lavender Brown (killed)
Behind The Scenes Edit
Werewolves would have been indistinguishable from other witches and wizards during the Battle Of Hogwarts as it was not a full moon, which we know as Lupin and Greyback did not transform. Before the Covered Bridge is blown out you can clearly hear wolves, which could have only been real wolves and not transformed werewolves.
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (First mentioned)
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows


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Saucony delivers high performance shoes and running gear for men, engineered to let you excel in under conditions and in all situations! Our shoe and clothing range is versatile, comfortable, with the latest technology, for brave and courageous men. We offer expert products designed for the trail, track, pavement, the field, and some that cross over and are equally at home in different environments. Our spikes and running shoes are equipped with the latest cutting-edge technology to give you the superior grip you need on the track or the road. After your workout slip on a pair of our stylish and comfortable retro sneakers. From running shoes engineered with the latest technology to running shirts, shorts and jackets, our range will help you to deliver your best performance yet.


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Amplified Bible (1987)
The Amplified Bible is a translation that, by using synonyms and definitions, both explains and expands the meaning of words in the text. It does this by placing amplification in parentheses and brackets after key words or phrases. This unique system of translation allows you to more completely grasp the meaning of the words as they were understood in the original languages. Through amplification, you will gain a better understanding of what the Hebrew and Greek listener instinctively understood (as a matter of course).
Take for example, the Greek word pisteuo, which the vast majority of versions render as "believe." That simple translation, however, hardly does justice to the many meanings contained in the Greek pisteuo: "to adhere to, cleave to; to trust to have have faith in; to rely on, to depend on." Notice the subtle shades of meaning which are unlocked in John 11:25 by the Amplified translation:
"Jesus said to her, I am [Myself] the Resurrection and the Life. Whoever believes in (adheres to, trusts in, and relies on) Me, although he may die, yet he shall live."
- Features a unique system of brackets, parentheses and italics to define and expand key words and phrases in the Bible text
- Parentheses "()" provide additional phases of meaning from the original word
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- A translation from the accepted Hebrew, Aramic, and Greek manuscripts into literary English, the following were used as a basis for translation:
- American Standard Version 1901
- Rudolph Kittel's Biblia Hebraica
- Greek text of Westcott and Hort
- 23rd edition of the Nestle Greek New Testament
- The best Hebrew and Greek lexicons available at the time
- Cognate languages, the Dead Sea Scrolls and other Greek works were also consulted
- The Septuagint and other versions were compared for interpretation of the textual differences
- Based on the extensive research work of Dr. Frances Siewart and reviewed by a committee of translation experts for accuracy
- Free of personal interpretation and independent of denominational prejudice
Sample Text
Psalm 1:1
BLESSED (HAPPY, fortunate, prosperous, and enviable) is the man who walks and lives not in the counsel of the ungodly [following their advice, their plans and purposes], nor stands [submissive and inactive] in the path where sinners walk, nor sits down [to relax and rest] where the scornful [and the mockers] gather.
John 3:16
For God so greatly loved and dearly prized the world that He [even] gave up His only begotten (unique) Son, so that whoever believes in (trusts in, clings to, relies on) Him shall not perish (come to destruction, be lost) but have eternal (everlasting) life.
2 Timothy 3:16-17
Every Scripture is God-breathed (given by His inspiration) and profitable for instruction, for reproof, and conviction of sin, for correction of error and discipline in obedience, [and] for training in righteousness (in holy living, in conformity to God's will in thought, purpose, and action), So that the man of God may be complete and proficient, well fitted and thoroughly equipped for every good work.
Revelation 10:10
So I took the little book from the angel's hand and ate and swallowed it; it was as sweet as honey in my mouth, but once I swallowed it, my stomach was made embittered.
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My Parents' Experiences as Polish Slave Laborers in Nazi Germany and Displaced Persons after the War
Saturday, September 1, 2012
Sept. 1, 1939: The Day World War II Started
73 years ago on September 1. 1939, the Germans invaded Poland. Their blitzkrieg, their lightning war, came from the air and the sea and the sky. By Sept 28, Warsaw, the capital city of Poland, gave up. By October 7, the last Polish resistance inside Poland ended. In the six years that followed, more than five million Poles died.
A couple years ago, I received an email from a friend passing on some links to US Army films of the invasion of Poland that were compiled from captured German films. I thought I would share these films of what the Blitzkrieg was like. They are in 3 parts (each about six minutes); and if you click on the part you want to see, you will be taken to the appropriate site.
Invasion of Poland, Part I
Invasion of Poland, Part II
Invasion of Poland, Part III
The world had not seen anything like it, and it was the prelude to a lot of things the world had never seen before: the Final Solution, Total War, the concentration camps, the atomic bomb, the fire bombing of civilian populations, and brutality on a level that most people still don't want to think about almost 70 years later.
When the Germans attacked on that September 1, My dad was 19 and working on his uncle's farm with his brother Roman. Their parents had died when the boys were young, and their uncle and aunt took them in and taught them how to farm, how to prepare the soil in the fall and plant the seeds in the spring. My mom was 17 and living with her parents and her sisters and brothers in a forest west of Lvov in eastern Poland.
The summer had been hot and dry, and both of my parents, like so many other Poles, were looking forward to the fall and the beginning of milder weather.
The war turned my parents' lives upside down. Nothing they planned or anticipated could have prepared them for what happened.
By the end of the war, they were both slave laborers in Nazi Germany, their homes destroyed, their families dead or scattered, their country taken over by the Soviet Union.
I've written a number of poems about the first days of the war and what happened to Poland, but none of those poems ever captured, I felt, the struggle of the Polish people to throw off the Nazi invasion.
A couple of years ago, I tried again to describe what my parents and the Poles of their generation felt. Here's the poem:
Landscape with Dead Horses
War comes down like a hammer, heavy and hard
flattening the earth and killing the soft things:
horses and children, flowers and hope, love
and the smell of the farmers'earth, the coolness
of the creek, the look of trees as they uncurl
their leaves in late March and early April.
You smell the horses before you see them.
Horses groan, their heads nailed to the ground
their bodies rocking crazily, groaning
like men trying to lift their heads for one
last breath, to breathe, to force cold air
into their shredded, burning lungs.
For these horses and the men who rode them,
this world will never again be the world
God made; and still they dare to raise their heads,
to force the air into their shredded lungs.
Look at this horse. Its head torn from its body
by a shell. So much blood will teach you more
about the world than all the books in it.
This horse's head will remake the world for you—
teach even God a lesson about the stones
that wait to rise in our hearts, cold and hard.
In the end Hitler sat in his cold bunker
and asked his generals about his own horses,
"Where are they?" He asked, "Where are my horses?"
And no one dared to tell him, "They are dead
in the fields with the Poles and their horses,
bloated with death and burning with our corpses."
This poem originally appeared in War, Literature, and the Arts along with several other poems I wrote about Poland and the war. Here's a link to those poems. Click here.
By the way, in that same issue of WLA, there are also poems about war by Polish-American writers John Minczeski and Lisa Siedlarz.
The photograph of re-enactors in 1939 uniforms was taken by Mr. Mazowieckie at a re-enactment of the Bzura River Battle.
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Spheric: Ground Zero
This issue of Spheric, a Hunter College newspaper produced by activists from the CUNY Coalition, covers efforts organized by the Students Liberation Action Movement (SLAM!) to protest New York Governor George Pataki's plan to decrease state funding [...]
Item Type: Text (Newspaper / Magazine / Journal)
Subjects: Activism, Austerity, Criminal Justice, Diversity, Politics, State and/or City budget, Student Organizations


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"Today, our inferiority and regard for foreigners as superior to us is total and instinctive. Indeed, the older our independence gets, the more mentally enslaved we become, not by the efforts of the West but our own."
By Koigi Wamwere, Guest Writer.
Since the white man set foot in Kenya in the 19th century, consciously or unconsciously, Africans have had to wrestle with the problem of self-image.
Like other people, our self-image is what shapes our destiny. Before slavery and colonialism, we lived at peace with the world and ourselves and had no problem with our self-image.
But when the white man came, enslaved and conquered us, he embarked on a process of eroding our self-image and pride to maintain his conquest. Through laws, the media, religion and education, he taught us that we were inferior and he superior. Now we accept our inferiority and self-hate and seek more.
Knowingly, we get less African the more we imbibe foreign education and religions. The Mzungu has certainly bewitched us!
For many years, freedom fighters resisted cultural conquest while loyalists, home guards and the Western-educated accepted it. At independence, Kenyans thought that with the exit of the white man and the coming of independence, they would recover not just their stolen lands but self-image. They were wrong.
When colonialism formally ended in 1963, the white man's cultural and ideological conquest did not vanish. African caricatures of Western political parties, civil service, parliaments, courts, schools, churches and media perpetuated, promoted and perfected the white man's ideology.
Today, our inferiority and regard for foreigners as superior to us is total and instinctive. Indeed, the older our independence gets, the more mentally enslaved we become, not by the efforts of the West but our own.
And most unnaturally, the more enslaved, the more we loathe liberation. We now have become a nation of self-haters and self-enslavers. And here, I am not talking about individual self-hate. You may love yourself, but be a self-hater if you believe your kind is less able and others are better.
The malaise of our collective inferiority has sunk into depths of great shame. We have lost our confidence. We seek foreigners' approval in what we do and say. We consider something said only when foreigners say it. When they walk half-naked in New York or Paris, we walk naked in Nairobi. Whom they crown, we make a hero. Whom they attack, we kill. We seek them to anoint us as leaders. Without them, we feel impotent!
Oppressed nations look up to the youth for salvation. For youth to liberate, however, they must desire freedom more and be less mentally shackled. Unfortunately, this is not so in Kenya and I hope I am wrong.
When I look at three recent generations - Mau Mau freedom fighters, perpetuators of the White man's values after independence and today's youth - the oldest are the best, the youth the least inspiring.
Black Europeans are, however, our worst enemies. They made a whole generation - their children - robots in the delusion that they can be white. Their worst crimes are adulation of foreigners and things foreign, worship of money, self-interest, ethnic myopia and mind conformism.
A good example will suffice. Recently, the Kenya Football Federation kicked out our national team, Harambee Stars, out of the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani, and invited the better-known Cameroon's Indomitable Lions to practise at Kenya's best stadium.
Instead, the national team was taken to Ruaraka, a field not as good as Kasarani. It mattered little that at the time, Harambee Stars was preparing for a match with Eritrea. In the end, Kenya lost to a team that had been dismissed as minnows.
I was surprised that the media found it odd. What KFF did is what we all do all the time. Though United States Senator Barack Obama has done nothing spectacular other than that he has a Kenyan father, when he visited Kenya recently, our media put him at a pedestal with Jesus, the Superstar.
They followed him wherever he went, covering his speech at the University of Nairobi live and generally giving him inordinate coverage in the papers and on television.
The Kenyan media gave Senator Obama coverage they or American media would never give a Kenyan MP, President, Nobel Laureate Wangari Maathai or South African nationalist and former President Nelson Mandela or any of their own.
Momentarily, I thought they believed an American senator means president-elect and not the American equivalent of a Kenyan MP. When they said they found him, "a born leader, star quality with youthful looks and deep-voiced", I wondered why the qualities in Obama were not noticed in the other countries he visited, including South Africa.
Mr David Mendell, the American journalist travelling with him said of the senator in South Africa: "He could walk down the street without any trouble. A few people noticed and said: �This is that senator', but nothing more."
Why did the Kenyan media see more in Obama than others? This is because he, like the Indomitable Lions, is foreign and successful. That is what we worship. Before Senator Obama were the Artur brothers. For weeks and months, all we heard from the media before some ended in their laps was Artur Margaryan and Artur Sargysyan.
The notoriety of the Armenian brothers may have deserved some coverage, but no Kenyan equivalent can get pages and pages of coverage, week after week.
The foreign suspects got far more coverage than the good works of great Kenyans such as Prof Ngugi wa Thiongo, Prof Ali Mazrui or Dr Calestus Juma would ever get. To our media, flamboyant foreigners with suspect credentials deserve preference over unassuming Kenyan greatness!
I cannot conclude without mentioning Sir Edward Clay, the former British High Commissioner, another foreign darling of Kenyan media. When Clay lambasted corruption, Kenyan media gave him tonnes of coverage as if they were hearing it for the first time. They applauded more loudly than when a Kenyan said the same.
We may agree with whatever foreigners say, but there is something seriously wrong if an issue makes sense and a song sounds sweet only when a foreigner says or sings it. It is time we stopped being parrots and apes of other people. Otherwise, we will remain behind, poor and crippled.
About the author: Koigi Wamwere(photo) is a Kenyan writer, human rights activist and politician.
Special thanks to professor Abdul Karim Bangura of Leonenet-UMBC for bringing this article to our attention.
Source: The Standard newspaper, Nairobi, Kenya.


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Historian Larry Millett out with new book, 'Once There Were Castles,' tracing history of Twin Cities lost mansions
Imagine the scene in the Whittier neighborhood in 1890.
A massive mansion — by far the largest in Minneapolis at the time — overshadowed all other neighboring homes on land now home to the Minneapolis Institute of Arts.
The mansion known as Fair Oaks belonged to William Washburn, a politician who served in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate.
In his new book, "Once There Were Castles," architectural historian Larry Millett describes the home as something quite rare for the city. "Like the man himself, [the mansion] was flashy and outsized, as much gesture as substance, an architectural show designed to awe. There had never been anything quite like it before in Minneapolis."
The mansion was donated to the Minneapolis Park Board after Washburn died in 1912, but it became too costly too maintain and was razed in 1924 and became Washburn-Fair Oaks Park.
The estate is one of roughly 500 mansions that have vanished from the Twin Cities, according to records Millett has uncovered. Many of the mansions, especially those in downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul, were demolished to make way for new commercial development or railroads.
Other mansions, like Fair Oaks, became too expensive to keep up. The Washburns often threw fancy parties in their 14-bedroom home and had famous visitors, including Ulysses S. Grant. The 10-acre estate also had a greenhouse and carriage house.
"We lost some beautiful old neighborhoods," Millett said in a recent interview about his new book.
Beyond uncovering interesting details about these lavish homes, Millett's book includes many fascinating tales about the wealthy people that lived in these homes.
One of the more unique characters was Charles Gates who built a magnificent mansion on Lake of the Isles that only lasted two decades. He describes Gates as a "speed-obsessed playboy who had inherited a fortune from his father."
The home at 2501 Lake of the Isles Parkway East was the largest private residence ever built in Minneapolis, according to Millett. The mansion was 38,000 square feet and was designed in the Italian Renaissance architectural style.
"Finished in 1914, the mansion was of a size only equaled of late by the homes of computer billionaires, hedge fund managers, and the occasional Hollywood producer," Millett wrote in the book.
"Despite the millions spent on it, the Gates House turned out to be a chimera, gone in a flash, and it remains by far the greatest of all the lost mansions of the Twin Cities."
Gates died before he could enjoy his life in the completed mansion. He had a heart attack in Cody, Wyoming at the age of 37. His wife Florence moved into the Lake of the Isles estate in the summer of 1914.
Florence soon remarried a man from Connecticut and they lived in the mansion until 1923 when they sold it a St. Paul lumberman Dwight F. Brooks for $150,000 — much less than the millions invested in the place by Gates. When Brooks died in 1930, his estate tried to sell the mansion but given the horrible state of the economy there were no takers. It was demolished in the spring of 1933 after many of its interior furnishings were salvaged.
Another interesting tale Millett came across in his research was the story of Olaf Searle, a poor Norwegian immigrant when he arrived in Minnesota who went on to become wealthy from selling land and steamship tickets. He built a luxurious estate on Lake Minnetonka's Big Island and had a channel dug into the island that separated him from his neighbors.
Searle later had financial hardships and marital troubles. He died in 1926 and not long after, a fire destroyed his abandoned mansion.
Like many other mansion owners, Searle's story does not end on a happy note.
Upcoming event
Larry Millett will appear with Garrison Keillor to discuss "Once There Were Castles" on Nov. 7, 7:30 p.m., at the Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul. Millett, a former architecture critic for the St. Paul Pioneer Press, has written many other books, including "Lost Twin Cities" and six mystery novels.


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Digital Wall Tiles 300 X 600 MM
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BLUETONE IMPEX LLP All Rights Reserved.(Terms of Use)
Developed and Managed by Infocom Network Ltd.


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Create and Browse Photo Albums
We invite you to browse the photo albums below or create your own. In order to share your own photos, you must login. Once you are logged in, click a category or the "add images" button below to add images. If you are a hair loss sufferer, select "Member Albums" .If you are a hair restoration clinic, select "Clinic Results"
View Hundreds of Hair Transplant Photos
View hundreds of before and after hair transplant photos from recommended hair restoration Physicians.
From the album:
my hair loss pics
- 7 images
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Holiday anecdote: this year, Santa brought me a rape whistle.
Background: my dad's side of the family — the large, Irish-Catholic side — traditionally celebrates on Christmas Eve. The highlight of the evening is when one of the older men in the family (before he passed, it was my grandpa; now it's an uncle) dresses up as Santa and yells at us about how crappy we are at singing Christmas carols, or, for the kids, how poorly behaved we were at Sunday school the previous week. Crabby Santa eventually tells each of the kids that they've been good enough to merit a Christmas gift (BUT BARELY) and then hands out gifts to all of the adults, often mispronouncing our names. Then Santa leaves. Then we all open our gifts.
The kids get "good" gifts. The adults get joke gifts. My joke gift this year was a bright orange EMERGENCY WHISTLE that advertises itself as capable of making a sound so loud that it can be heard under water.
On one hand: useful. On the other: pretty morbidly funny to imagine that Santa, a mythical figure who breaks into homes at night, is concerned about my avoidance of rape. My brother got me a shirt that says THREE E'S OF VICTORY: EXERCISE, EVASION, EXCUSES- STATE FUCKING CHAMPIONS" because of an inside joke (my dad does not like that inside joke). I got my brother the Colonel Sanders Christmas Album on LP even though he doesn't have a working record player. Weird and bad gifts, if properly deployed, can be the very best gifts.
Now it's your turn, readers. What's the weirdest, worst, or worst-best gift you got this year?
Image via Getty.


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The new technology visualises the
synapses three-dimensional;
© Fernández-Busnadiego et al.
"We used electron cryotomography, a new technique in microscopy based on ultra-fast freezing of cells, in order to study and obtain three-dimensional images of synapsis, the cellular structure in which the communication between neurons takes place in the brains of mammals" summarises Rubén Fernández-Busnadiego, lead author of the study.
During synapsis, a presynaptic cell releases neurotransmitters to another post-synaptic one, generating an electric impulse in it, thereby allowing nervous information to be transmitted. During this study, the researchers focused on the tiny vesicles that measure around 40 nanometres in diameter, which transport and release the neurotransmitters from the presynaptic terminals.
"Thanks to the use of certain pharmacological treatments and the 3D imaging analysis method we have developed, it is possible to observe the huge range of filamentous structures that are within the presynaptic terminal and interact directly with the synaptic vesicles, as well as to learn about their crucial role in responding to the electrical activity of the brain," explains Fernández-Busnadiego.
The filaments connect the vesicles and also connect them with the active area, the part of the cellular membrane from which the neurotransmitters are released. According to the scientists, these filamentous structures act as barriers that block the free movement of the vesicles, keeping them in their place until the electric impulse arrives, as well as determining the ease with which they will fuse with the membrane.
The technique called electron cryotomography makes it possible to obtain three-dimensional images of the inside of cells and to minimise any changes to their structure. This is possible because the cells are not fixed with chemical reagents, but are vitrified – in other words they are frozen so fast that the water inside them does not have time to crystallise, and remains in solid state. These samples, which are always maintained at liquid nitrogen temperatures, that is below -140 degree Celsius, can be viewed using specially-equipped microscopes.
COMPAMED.de; Source: FECYT - Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology


text:
Milwaukee homicides increased 6 percent in 2012
Homicides in Milwaukee increased in 2012 but were still lower compared to some past years.
According to the police department, homicides in the state's largest city increased 6 percent from 2011 to 92 homicides last year. There were 87 in 2011.
But the department noted that for the fifth year there were less than 100 homicides. The 2012 number is a 43 percent decline compared to 1990, 31 percent decrease over 2000 and 11 percent decrease since 2007.
In a statement, Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn said what they are doing to address violence has had a positive impact, but he noted everyday murders on the streets need to be considered when talking about reducing gun violence.
The department released its year-end homicide numbers on Thursday.


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Bears Playgrounds Proudest Monkey Tree Fort Village Mark Tubbs Park, Lima NY pg -1
Click on a thumbnail under the main image below for alternate views; scroll down for Plan View and pricing.
Lima is home to Bears Playgrounds.
This playground was donated to the people of this community as a small token of the our appreciation for the kindness that has been shown to us.
God Bless!
Comprised of challenging play events for children ages 2-5 this Proudest Monkey Tree Fort Village is the perfect compliment to the existing playground designed for ages 5-12. Is is ideal to have separate playgrounds to accommodate the different age groups.


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This is the full version without advertisement and with homescreen widgets.
Please try the free version before you buy.
Music Folder Player was made for people who don't like to see music displayed based on artist, album, track or playlists.
If you prefer organizing your audio tracks in folder this may be the right player for you.
Besides that it comes with a lot of unique features.
• Three different homescreen widgets (only in full version)
• Resume where you left. Stores for each folder where you left
• Show folders as a 'flat' list if you have a small collection
• Alternatively show folder hierarchy like in a file manager for larger collections
• Four configurable seek buttons. Very useful for seeking in podcasts or audio books
• Equalizer (Android 2.3 and newer):
– 4 customizable settings
– 8 predefined settings like Bass Booster, Vocal Booster and Party setting
• Virtual room and reverb effect (Android 2.3)
• Speed control with pitch correction (Android 4.2+)
Increase or decrease the playback speed of your podcasts or audio books.
Not suitable for music. Please watch the video: http://youtu.be/d_0eWUXs6Yo
• Pre-amplifyer: Increase the volume of audio which was recorded with a low level.
• Car/Sports mode with big buttons
• Change volume and balance with two finger gesture. Youtube video: http://spam.com/9LXsIE
• Undo function: Undo actions if you accidentally touch a button or select another track
• Shuffle and repeat options (long tap on play/pause button)
• Delete and rename files (long tap on file)
• Sleep timer
• Headset button control (double and triple clicks)
• Lyrics via musiXmatch app
• Last.fm scrobbling via 'Simple Last.fm Scrobbler' app
• Search for files and folder
• Share files
Facebook: _http://www.facebook.com/Zorillasoft
Permissions: Please take a look at the F.A.Q section on my homepage:
* Added 'Playing Now' screen with big cover (if available). Swipe to the left to see it.
* Switching to 'Explorer' view mode by default (only for new installations).
* Reorganized folder setup related preferences to new section 'Folder Setup'.
* Sorry, but I had to drop support for Android 2.3


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Andi Dorfman's Bachelorette Blog: Being Sneaky vs. Being a Gentleman
The attorney admits that one man's ploy completely caught her off guard – and won her over
Andi Dorfman is the Bachelorette!
After a dramatic exit from Juan Pablo's season of The Bachelor, the assistant district attorney, who lives in Atlanta, is searching for love once again on ABC's hit franchise. Andi, 27, will be blogging for PEOPLE.com every week about the men, the dates and the difficult decisions she'll make on her road to romance.
So check back each week. You can also follow Andi on Twitter.
What a stunning country. I had never been to Belgium and I didn't know what to expect, and let me just say, it ended up being my favorite country of the entire journey. Belgium is such a beautiful place with so much history and charm.
The pressure was on that week because it was the week before hometowns. Even though there were no roses handed out during the one-on-one dates, there was still a lot of pressure because I needed to decide which relationships I wanted to take that next step with.
Marcus Is a "Total Gentleman"
I chose Marcus for the first one-on-one date of the week because I always have such a great time with him and I wanted to show him a date that didn't involve rappelling down 30 stories! Also, Marcus spent some time growing up in Europe, and I thought he would be the perfect person to show me around the beautiful city of Brussels. I always liked that Marcus was so well traveled and I wanted to see what a date with him abroad would feel like. I also wanted to get some clarity about him thinking about leaving at one point in the journey.
We took in all of the sites, including the world famous Mannequin de Pis, and he was a total gentleman. I love a man with an appetite, and Marcus definitely did not disappoint. We had the most delicious mussels, waffles, chocolates, French fries and, of course, beer. You could say we basically ate our way through the city of Brussels! My favorite moment you didn't get to see was when Marcus went and bought postcards. We spent some time writing to our families, which I thought was the sweetest idea!
Later that night, we dined at an ultra-fancy palace. I really loved my conversation with Marcus. I have always been impressed and enamored with Marcus's ability to be vulnerable and wear his emotions on his sleeve, and that night was no different. It took a lot of courage to open up about his past, and I remember thinking about how strong Marcus was. I didn't want him to think that I would ever judge him because he didn't have a picture perfect family. Marcus has been through and has overcome so much in his life, and it has made him into this amazing man. After that date, I felt so much closer to him and I knew I really wanted to go to Dallas to meet his family.
Nick Sneaks Over
I have to admit, I had been waiting for a guy to sneak over this season, and it hadn't happened yet, so I figured it wasn't going to :(. But when I least expected it, there was a knock on the door and it was Nick! It was so cute to see how nervous Nick was when he knocked on the door! I was completely taken by surprise, but I loved it! What I liked most about it was that all Nick really wanted to do was go for a walk. He didn't feel the need to sneak off into an ocean or go to a hot tub.
Walking the streets of Belgium with Nick was so romantic. It was such a rush to know that we were just out on the town. Nick really made me feel special that night and he definitely brought the passion. Although we had a great time, I will say that I felt a little guilty knowing I had just come off a great date with Marcus and had another date the next day, but nonetheless I loved Nick's effort!
Gaggle of Geese in Ghent
I was excited for my second date with Josh. He and I did not have the best time in Italy, so it was crucial before potentially meeting his family to really see where we stood. I knew that Josh loved to eat, so I made sure to let him enjoy some of the staples of Ghent. (We actually do eat on dates, I promise!)
My favorite part of the date was definitely the goose parade. Once a year, a gaggle of geese come from Holland and march their way through the town and we were lucky enough to be there when they did. The entire town gathered to watch the geese march in a line to music. It was absolutely hilarious and Josh and I laughed so hard the entire parade! What you didn't get to see was this totally quirky gin bar in the city of Ghent. They have hundreds of flavors of gin – ranging from watermelon to banana to even cactus. What's better is that the owner is always in a bad mood and has a chart in the bar that indicates just how bad of a mood he's in that day. Thankfully that day he was happier than normal! We had so much fun in the town of Ghent!
We enjoyed dinner in a castle that evening! I know what you're thinking: "Palaces and castles, how romantic," right? Honestly the town of Ghent at night was the most stunning place I have ever seen in my life! The best part of the date was definitely when Josh told me he was falling in love. I was completely shocked!
I wanted Josh to just open up and tell me how he felt, but I knew he is much more reserved with his feelings than most of the other guys. It was a pleasant surprise to say the least. I remembered that Josh promised that the next person he says he's falling love with will be his wife. So for Josh to put himself out there like that, and to say he's falling in love, it was so huge. It really meant a lot to me, and I felt like Josh and I took a huge step forward that week and I was excited to meet his family. Between the conversation, the enchanting performance by American Young, and that kiss against the castle wall … it was all very fairy-tale-esque!
Nick Is Ready for Marriage
I met Dylan, Nick, Chris and Brian at these old ruins in the countryside. Again, another beautiful spot in Belgium! I'm telling you, this country was as picturesque as it gets! We rode bike carts through the country (well I rode, they pedaled, haha) and we arrived at a monastery. What a sacred place! We had to abide by some strict rules, which included no kissing or affection within the walls. Certainly not the easiest rules to follow when you're this far into the journey!
I took Chris to the pottery room where the monks make vases, cups, bowls and much more. Chris and I were terrible at making the pottery, but we had so much fun doing our very own Ghost reenactment. I really loved seeing him all playful, and thankfully, that room was outside of the walls, so we shared a sweet kiss!
I had great conversations with all of the guys, and ultimately, gave the group date rose to Nick. Nick had been so open with me, both on the night he snuck over and that day at the monastery. Here he was, this skeptic, who was now telling me he was ready for marriage.
I felt so good about our relationship and I remembered how special I felt getting that hometown rose last season and I knew I wanted Nick to feel that same way. It was so sad to watch the other guys leave the date, but dinner with Nick was so great and we ended the night with fireworks, which for me capped off a great week of dates!
"I Just Didn't See Futures with Dylan and Brian"
This rose ceremony was by far the most important one yet. I have such a strong sense of family, and I really valued the idea of meeting someone else's family. It was important for me to give roses to the guys that I could really see a future with. I know how it feels to expose your family to all of this, so for me, if I didn't see a future, I didn't feel right meeting a family.
The time with each guy went well – until Nick swooped in on Brian's time. I have to say, I was a little disappointed in this "move," but I also understand that at this point, time is crucial, and a rose, while important, isn't nearly as important as building the relationship. I have to give major props to Chris for pulling me outside at the end of the night and going in for a kiss! I loved when a man takes charge and Chris continued to do that!
I said goodbye to Dylan and Brian that night because I just didn't see futures with them. It really is an embarrassment of riches because both Dylan and Brian are stand-up guys who showed me nothing but the utmost respect and willingness to be open throughout all of this. It's something that I will always appreciate from both of them.
Next week is the week I personally have been waiting for this entire season, HOMETOWNS! I can't wait for you to see what kinds of dates the guys plan for me, but more importantly, I can't wait for you to meet some truly amazing families!
Thanks as always for reading and tune in next week!


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Permanently Banned
Welcome to the January/February 2015 SRB2 Official Level Design Contest voting topic!
To vote, play a few games of each stage in a division and create a list of all the maps in the division, arranging them from best to worst with no ties. If you are voting on a division that includes your own entry, you should list your own map as the best regardless of your opinion on the quality of your own map. Although it's not required for votes to count, it's very helpful to make comments about what you liked and didn't like about the map, so the author can improve for future attempts. Please separate your comments from your votes, though, to make it easier for us to tally the scores at the end.
Voting will end March 15, 2015 at 7 PM local time in the Eastern time zone of the United States. Like the entry deadline, this counts the United States's daylight savings time between March and November. Votes submitted after this time will not be counted in the tally, so if you want to be counted, don't vote at the last minute.
After the voting period ends, the votes will be tallied. For each vote, the map they ranked first gets n-1 points, second place gets n-2 points, third gets n-3, all the way down to n-n (zero) points for last, where n is the number of maps in the division. Each map's points are added together to create that map's final score, and the map with the highest score wins the division. Should there be a tie, the votes are calculated again with only the tied maps included. If this still fails to break the tie, the tie stands and both maps are winners.
The entries are as follows:
Single Player
Shaped Mountainside by Kitoko Disqualified for not loading on new game
Quickman 2 by Zipper
Sapphire Summit Zone Act 1 by Savordez
Castle Rush Zone by Knux576
Forest Isle Zone by That2rb2DUDE
Capture the Flag
Flipside Station Zone by RedEnchilada
Thunder Tower Zone by Zipper
As before, "reserved" posts will be infracted as spam.
Last edited by Mystic; 04-30-2015 at 12:16 AM.
Grape flavored
Permanently Banned
srb2win.exe -file oldc15-1\scr_sapphiresummit1.wad srb2win.exe -file oldc15-1\s_castlerush.wad srb2win.exe -file oldc15-1\s_quickman2.wad
Last edited by Prime 2.0; 03-01-2015 at 02:24 AM.
Quickman 2 > Castle Rush > Sapphire Summit > Shaped Mountainside (don't care if its disqualified still gotta tell kitoko whats wrong with it)
bad hastily written reviews (To be edited later):
Quickman 2: 9/10
Most fun I've had with a mod since quickman 1, but 1.Walking speed is too slow and 2. Touhou is for weebs
Castle Rush: 6.5/10
I enjoyed it, but it's too cramped, also in the tree with the staircase, I thought it was a secret area, but it's what another path leads to. Maybe make that more obvious.
Sapphire Summit:6/10
I liked it but it was too short, also the end sign location isn't obvious enough.
Shaped Mountainside: 4/10
I liked the texture choices but it has LOTS of problems, ones that come to mind: My friend pointed out there are WAY too many point monitors. The levels layout is confusing, Arid Canyon works as a tall level because they always made it clear where you're supposed to be going. Once, I ended up looping back around near the start because I had no idea where to go. Also there's metal sonic at the start for some reason. My friend thinks the music doesn't fit as well.
---------- Post added at 10:03 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:55 PM ----------
Uhhh, you mislabeled the ctf-match packs as 2014.
Last edited by Root; 03-01-2015 at 02:57 AM.
Grape flavored
Permanently Banned
My work is never done yet
Quickman 2 > Sapphire Summit 1 > Castle Rush
Spoiler: Reviews
Quickman 2 by Zipper: 8/10
An impressive demonstration of the potential of SRB2's engine to emulate other game genres (moreso than Quickman 1 was, anyway). The controls are much more precise this time, and the game's general feel is quite reminiscent of actual 2D platformers. In fact, if I saw gameplay footage of this without knowing what it was, I'd probably be more inclined to identify it as a simple Game Maker platformer than a SRB2 mod. I also appreciate that you gave us infinite lives this time around, although the removal of mid-level checkpoints is frustrating until you've memorized the level well enough to get through it in one try.
There are a few technical issues, although I suppose that's inevitable given that this is a 2D sidescroller running on an engine originally intended for a FPS. Bat Bash sometimes fails to activate in situations involving getting hit/mercy invulnerability, and Yin-Yang and enemy death explosions are liable to get stuck in walls and jarringly teleport up and out of them. The sprites of characters and terrain also shift slightly relative to their hitboxes depending on their vertical position. This problem could be mostly taken care of by having solid surfaces drawn like they actually are in 3D, if at the expense of reminding us that this is SRB2.
Sapphire Summit Zone Act 1 by Savordez: 7/10
A nice, simple platforming level with plenty of exploration and alternate paths and decent use of the rope-hang and waterslide gimmicks. The layout is so open-ended that it gets a bit confusing at times, however - maybe shift the positions of the rings so they form more player-guiding trails? Hiding the End Level Sign among those rock pillars was a nice touch aesthetically, but I actually wound up missing it after exiting the waterslide path and going back down one of the other paths in search of it, so making its location more obvious would be nice.
Castle Rush Zone by Knux576: 5/10
Again, it's mostly simple platforming, but with a few crushers and spring chains thrown in every now and then. (Speaking of the crushers, it's odd how they don't play sounds when they slam against the floor like all of the other crushers do. Fixing that shouldn't be too hard, though.) The indoor castle sections can get too cramped for comfort with their low ceilings and narrow platforms, especially that little staircase-thing about a third of the way through. They also don't offer as much in terms of exploration as the outside areas, which is disappointing. The giant death pit right before the castle entrance is rather jarring visually, but not much of a hazard given how easy it is to jump over. I would suggest replacing it with a shallow moat of slime.
Last edited by 742mph; 03-01-2015 at 03:49 AM.
The Crime Slime
Quickerman > Sapphire Summit > Castle Rush > [REDACTED]
Will likely write brief reviews for these/adjust placements once I beat Quickman: the Squeakquel.
something goes here
Neighborhood Memer
Single Player
Castle Rush Zone by Knux576
Quickman 2 by Zipper
Sapphire Summit Zone 1 by Savordez
Spoiler: Comments
Castle Rush Zone by Knux576
Most of this level's about 1.5 - 2 years old. I just found it a few days ago, added a proper ending and submitted it. I'm quite a lot better at mapping now, but I could still use the criticism. I recommend trying both paths, as they're both very different.
Quickman 2 by Zipper - 8/10
Quite a nice level. I love the lua script and the boss is awesome. My only complaints are that the graphics break at higher resolutions and the level design is a flawed in a few places. Other than that, great level!
Sapphire Summit Zone 1 by Savordez - 7/10
The music's nice, the visuals are nice, and overall this level's good fun. It's a bit on the short side, but that's not much of a problem.
Capture the Flag
Thunder Tower Zone by RedEnchilada
Flipside Station Zone by Zipper
Last edited by Knux576; 03-14-2015 at 05:33 AM.
And no, I'm not talking about Bat Bash ;)
Absolute territory where
Quickman2 > Sapphire Summit1 > Castle Rush
Spoiler: Brief reviews
Quickman2, by Zipper
Alright so I firstly thought I was gonna play Megaman again but... :3
I really liked how you made the level feel like if that was really a 2D platformer (No 3D depth). Visuals were basically awesome. My only complaint is the fact that the level design is A BIT repetitive sometimes, and also that I lost most of my lives because of the enemy knockback, but that's just because I suck I guess :P
Even tough I have a question, was I playing an SRB2 mod or a hacked exe hidden in the wad that tried to act like SRB2? =P
Sapphire Summit1, by Savordez
"Very nice, very nice indeed". The level design was really good and it had really nice visuals (the end sign for instance :P)
My only complaint about it would maybe be the fact that the Checkpoints are broken (The second one was already activated when I came to it.). Other than that, there's nothing much to say actually. Keep up that good work =)
Castle Rush, by Knux576
I liked this level. My only complaints would be that it is a bit short and that the name didn't really fit the level. I thought this level was gonna be a kind of "mach speed" thing. There's also the fact that the level is a bit cramped. Talking about cramped levels, ACZ burds are a really bad idea in there, I mean they are really fast and they can rape you whenever they want if you don't see it coming.
Shaped Mountainside, by Kitoko
While this was sure disqualified, I still want to make a review of it:
The level design was pretty good, but sometimes confusing. I din't really know where to go around that section after the first cave.
Talking of that cave, please don't take exemple over MysticRealm's enemy placement. The cave was a total rape, between those turrets and all those other robots. That was pretty nice on the other sides.
...Match coming later.
Permanently Banned
Quickman 2 > Sapphire Summit 1 > Castle Rush (> Shaped Mountainside)
Spoiler: Detailed Reviews
Quickman 2
Well, going into this I wasn't sure what to expect, as I absolutely hated the last one because the level design was rubbish. I was pleasantly surprised as you've fixed most of the issues that plagued the last attempt while improving on the controls in basically every way. The moment the Mega Man scrolling triggered I knew something special was going on here, as the implementation was just so much better than before. When I saw Freudia you also totally sold me on the boss right from the start, as I absolutely loved Rosenkreuzstilette, to the point of even having a physical disk of Freudenstachel =P
That's not to say it's without its flaws. In particular, the area with the enemies on little platforms above a pit desperately needs a checkpoint before it, as I died several times there and it's an extremely long slog back to that point from the very start, which almost caused me to give up on the map entirely. The water section has some serious rendering problems that make it both look bad and made me really confused about what was going on until I landed and jumped and realized it was supposed to be water. As I said in IRC, the fact that it's Mega Man made me not realize that I even had the weapons until after I had beaten it, since I incorrectly assumed I had to beat a boss to obtain a weapon, but I'd chalk that up to human error, and the stage plays fine even without knowing you have other weapons at your disposal.
Sapphire Summit 1
This is the clear winner of the "Actually plays like SRB2" contest here, but it has some major issues. There is way too much detail in the floor, with tons of little gaps in the floor and sections with tons of different floor heights for no reason, particularly underwater. If there's not supposed to be platforming in an area, I should be able to just run from one side of the platform to the other. Don't make me constantly have to jump over "scenery" that just gets in the way. Your level gimmicks are rather badly implemented. You introduce the rope pulleys but don't do much of anything with them, which is probably for the best as the rooms you use them in have rock textures that have the same colors as the ropes, making them hard to see. You also have a useless waterslide that uses a different kind of current from the water right next to it. If you're going to have water with a current, please be consistent in which mechanics it uses. Don't use the basic shield monitor unless it's the ONLY type of shield you're using in the stage. Finally, the end of the stage is incredibly abrupt and placed in a hidden spot in the middle of the room, which is an incredibly bad idea. You should always place the end of the stage in a clearly visible location with solid ground and no way to walk around the end level sign.
I know that's a lot of criticism to take in, but I did legitimately enjoy this stage despite the flaws. The stage has a nice amount of reward for exploration, with some fun secrets like the Tails emblem area and the 1-Up and emblem you have to jump over water with a reverse current to reach. The whole thing just needs a coat of polish and some better usage of the gimmicks you chose to put in.
Castle Rush
I know this is dated, but man is it obvious just from playing it. This level reminds me very strongly of the maps that came out right when 2.0 was released, where players suddenly felt like they had to use all the shiny new features but the stages still played exactly like 1.X. The result was a ton of stages that just used a hodgepodge of every enemy, texture, and miscellaneous thing in the game. You've got the old 2.0.X slime, basically every texture ever to grace CEZ, and a rainbow of rock textures that would be right at home as a Christmas decoration. I wouldn't be surprised if you use literally every type of enemy in the game. Why are there multiple exits, too?
This map is in desperate need of some focus. Select some enemies, textures, and concepts to build around, and build the stage around them instead of just throwing in everything and the kitchen sink. Create some gimmicks and use them to provide some level variety. Remove anything that doesn't fit with the design.
Shaped Mountainside
Disqualification aside, this map is quite bad. The main problem is that the entire stage is just filled with useless crap everywhere. Absolutely every platform has so much useless scenery that the small bumps in the ground make just walking around a chore and there's so much visual clutter you can't even see. Never mind killing the framerate completely. Every corner is filled with every type of monitor including the ones that should not be used, such as the basic shield and score monitors. The stage is so full of extra useless shit that it drowns out everything else, just leaving the entire stage to be a giant mess of junk with no rhyme or reason to it. Even worse, the core stage underneath all that garbage is a bland stage with no gimmicks at all, or even any real secrets or stuff to do as far as I can tell.
The main thing I take away from this is that you seem to believe more is always better. More textures. More detail work. More scenery things. More monitors. More enemies. More platforming. The reality is that the opposite is more often the truth. You want to do more with less. Make a sweeping vista with some scenery, but not so much so that you can't see what's important and where to go. Place some items for the player to find, but not so many that they lose all meaning and purpose. Get the player to do some platforming, but not fifteen jumps in a row with no variety. There is such a thing as overdoing it, and this map is the poster child for it.
Last edited by Mystic; 03-01-2015 at 10:59 AM.
Quickman 2 > Sapphire Summit > Castle Rush (> Shaped Mountainside)
Is it 2009 again? Did I miss something? Discounting Quickman, the only indication that this is a 2.1 contest are the pity shields and score monitors in Shaped Mountainside (and just to finally make it clear that this is not a good idea, I added a section to Level Design 101). It's not like I want everyone to do crazy Lua shenanigans and total conversions (I hate that I have to place Quickman first), but a little creativity would be nice. I get that aside from Zipper, you guys are all fairly new to level designing, and I can't fault you for starting out small, but now that you did the obligatory "1.09.4 map", I wanna see what else you can do.
I'm still debating whether I should do reviews this time. Mystic pretty much said everything I have to say.
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Quickman 2 > Sapphire Summit > Castle Rush
I have nothing more to say.
Qiuckman 2 > Sapphire Summit > Castle Rush
obvious choice is obvious
Offtopic question but little on topic:Can we make a Server on OLDC master server category with old OLDC wads?
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Single Player only:
Quickman 2 - Zipper {3/3}
Sapphire Summit Act 1 - Savordez {2/3}
Castle Rush - Knux576 {1/3}
(Shaped Mountainside - Kitoko {0/3})
Everyone before said the general gist of what I wanted to say, so probably no reviews from me this time.
New Multiplayer Music (sonic: emerald quest + 2)
Last edited by Llitechiel ꙮ; 03-01-2015 at 03:42 PM.
Emblem Radar Ready
even though it's disquallfied, what's the map number of Shaped Mountain side?
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Oh, What a Flopnik!
If you looked inside the WAD of it, Shaped Mountainside is MAPG1, if I recall correctly.
New Multiplayer Music (sonic: emerald quest + 2)
Sapphire Summit > More Quickman > Castle Rush
Sapphire Summit:
As said before, the ending isn't that well done and the stage is pretty short, the rope hangs could use some work too, but aside from that, it's a decent level. I had fun playing it for sure. Just work on the enemy selection and make a bit more clear which path to go, I like the amount of secrets but it got confusing sometimes.
Quickman 2:
I really don't know anything about Touhou (so reading Mystic's post with strange German words amused me) but I can see the connection to the first Quickman. I see you improved some of the mechanics.
I liked having checkpoints too, I actually made it through the level. Well, until I got to the boss...
The level design was a bit rough and not that interesting, but the boss, although I couldn't beat her, was really well done.
Castle Rush:
Not that special and with some design issues (multiple exits, a bit boring design). Since this is an old project I think it's okay.
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