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Britain's 4G mobile phone networks will mess up Freeview reception for rather a lot of folk, it has has been claimed.
The notion is that 4G will operate on a frequency very close to the UHF bands currently hosting analogue and digital TV transmission.
The UHF TV band runs from 471.25MHz up to 847.25MHz. That pushes it into the 800MHz band, one of the zones set aside for 4G. UHF Channels 63 and up are all in the 800MHz band.
Of course, by the time the UK gets a half-decent 4G network, the digital switchover will be long complete and, hopefully, Freeview transmissions will be pumped out with a stronger signal strength than they have been thus far.
And once the switchover is complete, channels 63 and up will not be used for TV transmissions. Still, Channel 62 - at 799.25MHz - will be used by dozens of transmitters across the UK.
Mobile networks will be keen to grab the 800MHz band because it has a greater range and is more able to get into buildings than higher frequency bands - it's the bigger wavelength of the lower frequency, you see - so it offers the potential for greater coverage for less money.
Some householders will need a filter fitted to their aerial in order to block out the interference from nearby 800MHz 4G base-stations. The government reckons 900,000 homes will need filters, the BBC reports, though Ofcom has said only 760,000 will be affected.
If you're too close to a base-station, you may even need to abandon Freeview entirely in favour of Freesat, Sky or Virgin, finger-waggers warned.
Fortunately, Ofcom has said the cost of installing filters and alternative pick-ups will be met by whoever wins the 800MHz 4G licence, due to be put up for auction later this year. ®


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Volkswagen's considered entry into the supermini-based SUV sector, the T-Cross, should find a ready market, thinks Jonathan Crouch
Ten Second Review
Think of a Volkswagen Polo with a more adventurous image, a slightly larger cabin and a more flexible interior. You're picturing this car, Volkswagen's smallest SUV, the T-Cross. It's trendy, quite sophisticated and very acceptably efficient, thanks to its 1.0-litre TSI petrol and 1.6 TDI diesel engine options. And you can make it very much your own. What's not to like?
It may seem as if Volkswagen has a considerable number of family SUVs in its model line-up but the surprising truth is that until the introduction of this T-Cross model, the Wolfsburg brand had been completely absent from one of this crucial segment's fastest-growing sectors; that for supermini-based SUVs.
Nissan launched the Juke in 2011. Renault announced the Captur in 2014. It wasn't though until late 2018 that we first saw this T-Cross. It slots into the Volkswagen range just below the Golf-based T-Roc. Which in turn sits below the Tiguan and Touareg SUVs in the company's line-up. the T-Cross is Polo-based and sits on the same MQB-A0 platform as its VW Group cousins, the Skoda Kamiq and the SEAT Arona.
Driving Experience
There are three T-Cross engine options. Most buyers will want Volkswagen's 1.0-litre TSI petrol engine. Entry-level variants get it in 95PS form with a 5-speed gearbox but further up the range, the variants available feature this unit in a 115PS state of tune. Go for that and you'll be offered the option of a 7-speed DSG auto gearbox. Both engines have impressive torque available from low revs - the 95PS version delivering 175Nm from just 2,000rpm and the 115PS version serving up its 200Nm across the same 2,000rpm to 3,500rpm band. In other words, you won't have to row this little VW along with the gear lever through town.
T-Cross models equipped with the 95PS engine reach 62mph in 11.5 seconds, with a top speed of 112mph where legal, while the punchier 115PS versions top out at 120mph, reaching 62mph in 10.2 seconds. We said there were three engine options. The minority-interest third choice is a 1.6-litre TDI diesel with 95PS.
Design and Build
The T-Cross is actually very similar in size to its T-Roc showroom stablemate, despite the fact that it sits on an MQB-A0 platform supposedly designated for cars a class smaller. It's a couple of inches longer and just under six inches taller than the Polo supermini it's based upon but that still leaves it a touch tinier than most key rivals in the segment for small SUVs. That doesn't stop it from being plenty spacious enough for a small family inside though. There's second row space big enough for a couple of six foot adults to sit comfortably, particularly if they shift the standard sliding rear bench all the way back. Doing that reduces boot space from 455 to 385-litres. An adjustable-height boot floor makes the cargo space accessible for a variety of loads too.
Up front, the elevated hip point makes this T-Cross feel bigger than a supermini. If you find yourself paying more to get the Volkswagen badge, you might be a little disappointed to find that the dashboard plastics are rather scratchy. Still, the fascia controls are intuitive and the top two trim levels get a classy 8-inch centre-dash touchscreen with 'Apple Carplay'/'Android Auto' smartphone-mirroring functionality.
Market and Model
Expect the T-Cross to sell in the £17,000 to £25,000 bracket, T-Cross buyers are offered a choice of four trim levels - 'S', 'SE', 'SEL' and 'R-Line'. 'SE' buyers get the chance to pay £750 more to graduate from the entry-level 95PS version of the 1.0 TSI petrol engine to the 115PS variant. Further up the range, you have to have this perkier unit. Providing you avoid base trim and the base 95PS engine, you'll be offered the chance to pay £1,500 more for a 7-speed DSG auto gearbox. The 1.6 TDI diesel variants start from just under £21,500.
All T-Cross variants benefit from a sliding rear bench seat as standard. And the 'SE' derivatives that most customers will choose get 17-inch 'Clayton' alloy wheels, black roof rails and front fog lights with cornering function. Plus a leather-trimmed multifunction steering wheel and a variable boot floor. Tech highlights include adaptive cruise control, app connect and a driver alert system. 'SEL' trim brings 17-inch 'Chesterfield' alloys, tinted windows, LED headlights and silver roof rails, as well as front sport seats, carpet mats and an ambient lighting package. Climate control and a Discover Navigation system are also included. We could write for the rest of the page about the opportunities for model personalisation; suffice it to say that there are plenty.
Cost of Ownership
Volkswagen quotes CO2 figures for the 1.0 TSI engine ranging between 111 and 115g/km - so not too far off what you'd get in a diesel. Expect around 55mpg on the combined cycle. The 1.6 TDI diesel variant manages a WLTP-rated combined cycle fuel figure of 48.9mpg and an NEDC CO2 reading of 140g/km. As for servicing, well as usual with Volkswagen models, there's a choice of either 'Fixed' or 'Flexible' maintenance packages. You'll choose the 'Fixed' approach if you cover less than 10,000 miles a year and with this, the car will typically be looked at every twelve months. If your daily commute is more than 25 miles and your T-Cross will regularly be driven on longer distance journeys, you'll be able to work with a 'Flexible' regime that can see you travelling up to 18,000 miles between garage visits - or every two years, whichever is sooner.
What else? Warranties? Well the standard package is three years and 60,000 miles. There's one for four years and 75,000 miles or, if you plan to see a bit more of the world in your T-Cross, there's a five year / 90,000 mile package. Whatever your decision, your car will come with three years of pan-European Roadside Assistance that has no mileage restriction. The paintwork warranty lasts for three years and, as you'd expect, this model is protected by a 12-year anti-corrosion package.
It's surprising that Volkswagen took so long to enter the supermini-sized part of the SUV segment. There's no doubt though that the brand has taken careful note of what buyers want in this class and provided a product that seems to meet what the market's currently looking for. You'll pay a little more for a T-Cross than you will for its most obvious rivals, but what you get in return is a car will a little more polish than obvious competitors. There's no doubt though, that it's likely to carve out a useful niche for itself.
CAR: Volkswagen T-Cross
CO2 EMISSIONS: 111-115g/km
PERFORMANCE: [1.0 TSI 115PS] Max Speed 120mph / 0-62mph 10.2s
FUEL CONSUMPTION: [1.0 TSI 115PS] (combined) 55mpg
STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: ESP, twin front, side and curtain airbags, ABS with EBA and EBD
WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: Length/Width/Height 4108/1760/1584 mm

subset: commoncrawl


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How To Reduce Linux Computer Power Consumptionlast updated in Categories GNU/Open source, Green Computing, Hardware, kernel, Linux
The Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) specification is an open standard operating system-centic device configuration and power management. You can easily reduce your PC's power consumption through smart activity monitors.
With the tools and code presented, you can reduce your power consumption through a series of rules regarding application usage. After tuning your kernel, hdparm, ACPI, and CPU settings, add these application monitors to more effectively enter your low-power states.


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Lockheed Martin to Develop Modeling Tool for U.S. Department of Homeland Security for Rapid Analysis of Infrastructure Disruption
PALO ALTO, Calif., July 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) Space Systems Company's (LMSSC) Advanced Technology Center (ATC) has won a 5-year $7 million contract with the Department of Homeland Security's (DHS) Science & Technology Directorate for the Complex Event Modeling Simulation and Analysis (CEMSA) project. Under the CEMSA contract, SSC will develop a new modeling, simulation and analysis infrastructure that can be integrated with existing DHS systems to provide advanced capabilities to assess, within a short decision window, the interdependencies and cascading effects on Critical Infrastructures and Key Resources (CIKR) when dealing with multiple, concurrent disruptions.
The Lockheed Martin tool, called Rapid Analysis of Infrastructure Disruption (RAID), is a new modeling and simulation environment that will be more adaptive than current systems and will allow DHS and national leaders to analyze the impact of multiple disruptions at local, regional and national levels in a time frame required to make effective decisions. Future system requirements will build upon the work of the CEMSA contract.
Lockheed Martin will specify, and deliver to DHS, a system design with all associated aspects including hardware and software architecture, interface specification, network throughput, operations concept, model identification process and a model maintenance/updating approach. Lockheed Martin's deliverables also include a working prototype of the CEMSA system within the first 12 months of the project.
"The strength of our RAID tool is the scientific qualifications of the team we have assembled and the specialized modeling and simulation techniques we employ to develop the environment," said Dr. Steve Hall, principal software engineer at LMSSC, and RAID capture manager. "In addition, we have extensive experience with key technologies including: system of systems engineering, complexity theory, modeling abstraction and adaptive planning; and specific experience in the national infrastructure disturbance impact modeling domain."
Any single event of infrastructure disruption can have significant consequences as effects ripple outwards. Multiple disruptions – whether human-caused or the result of natural disasters – can spawn further failures as effects intersect and multiply. For example, the possible consequences of a terrorist attack during or following a hurricane are being investigated.
Intelligence or other threat reporting suggests an adversarial organization might attempt to exploit vulnerabilities resulting from the dislocation caused by a severe weather event. Government leadership requires information about the high consequence scenarios that could evolve from such an attack. CEMSA/RAID will provide the capability to model the combined disruption of a hurricane with different attack scenarios to give a complete picture of the possible national impacts associated with different overall threats.
The ATC is the research and development organization of Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company (LMSSC). LMSSC, a major operating unit of Lockheed Martin Corporation, designs and develops, tests, manufactures and operates a full spectrum of advanced-technology systems for national security and military, civil government and commercial customers. Chief products include human space flight systems; a full range of remote sensing, navigation, meteorological and communications satellites and instruments; space observatories and interplanetary spacecraft; laser radar; ballistic missiles; missile defense systems; and nanotechnology research and development.
Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security company that employs about 136,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The Corporation's 2009 sales from continuing operations were $44.5 billion.
Media Contact: Buddy Nelson, (510) 797-0349; e-mail, firstname.lastname@example.com
For additional information, visit our website:


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If Nas ruled the world, he'd free all his sons and probably still have a Georgia home--but unfortunately, he doesn't.
The rapper faced foreclosure on his 2-bedroom, 3-bath pad that he purchased back in 2004 for $585,000, E! News confirms. But not only that, his home was subsequently sold at an auction according to public records.
Former CSI star sues bank over home foreclosure again
U.S. & World
The day's top national and international news.
SunTrust Bank, which loaned Nas $400,000 for the home, took over possession of the house after the rapper was unable to make payments, and sold the Georgia property at a public auction last month for $348,500.
The over 3,500-square-foot home features a pool and hot tub, granite counter-tops, custom theater, gym and game room.
Nas' rep has not yet returned a request for comment.
--Reporting by Claudia Rosenbaum


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Last night at the '12-12-12′ Hurricane Sandy benefit concert, Paul McCartney performed an original song with the three surviving members of Nirvana. The musical collective wrote the song 'Cut Me Some Slack' during an impromptu jam session for Dave Grohl's upcoming 'Sound City Studios' documentary, later debuting the track live at the televised benefit. Although the song proved to be impressive to say the least, Courtney Lovewent public beforehand to say that she was against the idea. After learning that McCartney and Nirvana would be collaborating for the benefit, Love told TMZ that she was "not amused" by Paul McCartney's involvement, although she added, "Look, if John [Lennon] were alive it would be cool." Shortly after the performance of 'Cut Me Some Slack,' Courtney Love posted a long, scattered and nonsensical series of comments on the Facebook page for 'Everybody Loves Our Town: An Oral History of Grunge,' which had just posted about the aforementioned TMZ article. Below is a compilation of her comments:
"funny we got asked to tour with alice in chains no disprespect to jerry as hes a n absolute gent but wasnt that,,, i mean isnt layne DEAD? sorry i had to pass maybe im old or pure or somes–t but wow. anyone ever read the former strangers dana giachetta book"youw ill make money in yourr sleep" its so beyond full of small numbers and she misses the grander point it sold about 8 copies, 4 to me and 4 to a famed hotelier out here i dated and am dear friends with. hmmm whats in that 2030 kimit sub pop nirvana package jonathan i was with you the night before you went to see mr geffen to acquire that 5% of kurts pub but its apparently inc llc and partnership too , cmon show me, fine get a supeona. glad i coudl help refinance the soho hotel in nov 94 not july emily ever been on property shark? its called research! i was playing cheap tricks first album in chrinocologal order to get my sib oop single of the month anyone says othrwise is disguting, is that richard lee still at it, i talked to chris cornell and he hates seattle too, i cant deal, the only time i felt anything was when i had a spitirtuL ephihany singing "jeremy" at bumbershoot i hope you liked it cos i saw ghosts for the first time, accuracy is my middle name. watch homeland when clare danes is right, trust me i have cried on the occasions the lawyers have promised theyd go for it and the fbi this time is different its federal. but i wont cry this time, i only care about his familty and bean and thats the f–king fgids truth any penny i get back is going inti a charity that prevents mortaage fraud and this happpening to anyone again, taking down the a=gates llp empire would be nice but im not stupid it wont happen n this life, not from me im not the messenger there some day though. yall got good copy now ill leave it up a few then ill delete."
Although Courtney Love's last line promises that she would delete the posts, they still remain in the comments section as of this posting.
A few hours later, Love posted some more odd comments, focused on her and Kurt Cobain arguing John Lennon vs. Paul McCartney, and ultimately saying the performance didn't bother her since they ended up not playing a Nirvana song:
"yes we did get into paul and john fights- im a paul person (helter skelter) if they dont do songs they didnt write (nirvana songs they dont own) i dont care."
However, Love trashed the bass playing of Krist Novoselic when she responded to a Facebook user named Scott, who posted that he enjoyed the performance:
"scott really? i will repeat, with krists bass playing? lets be clear hes not exactly known for its brilliance."
Well, there you go. If you were wondering what Courtney Love thought of the performance, now you sort of have an idea. If you don't care about what she thinks, we owe you five minutes of your life back.
article written by Graham 'Gruhamed' Hartmann from loudwire.com


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12103 Hazel Valley Rd
Fayetteville, AR 72701
Clay Pinch Pot Class – All Ages
Saturday, March 14 @ 11:00-11:30 – $7.50
Each student will create and design their own pinch pot out of clay. Our pinch pots are very special, because they are filled with recycled bluebird glass. This is an All ages class. An adult must accompany children ages 7 & under.
Clay Projects cannot be taken home that day as they must be fired at a later date. Instructors will let all students know of the pick up date for their projects.
All materials are included in the cost of the workshop. Please wear comfortable clothing that may get stained with clay, dyes, glazes, paints, or whatever art materials you happen to be working with at the time. Also, remember that layers are helpful with heating/air conditioning and time outdoors.
Please arrive at the Terra Studios Gallery at least 15 minutes before your scheduled class time, and check in at the register. Your teacher will meet you in the Gallery.


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"Hilary – The day I met you, I was a mess. I was so upset about my dad and everything that I had to get done, and then you helped me out and I just started to feel better. Thank you so much."
"Hilary – The day I met you, I was a mess. I was so upset about my dad and everything that I had to get done, and then you helped me out and I just started to feel better. Thank you so much."
The Law Offices of Howe & Garside, Ltd.
Phone: 401-841-5700
Fax: 401-367-0192
Email: email@example.com
640 George Washington Hwy., Bldg. B Suite 103
Lincoln, RI 02865
(401) 841-5700
"We also make ElderLaw housecalls!"
© The Law Offices of Howe & Garside, Ltd. · All Rights Reserved · DISCLAIMER: Case Results: Each case is fact specific and what may have happened in these cases may not "fit" your particular situation or be in your best interest. If you are seeking advice or information after reviewing our website, please understand that the use of the Internet for communications with this office will not establish an attorney-client relationship. An attorney-client relationship can only be established after a full interview in person and completion of an appropriate attorney-client relationship agreement. Messages containing confidential information should be sent with care since the Internet may not be a secure method of communicating. Time sensitive information should not be sent without other forms of communication such as a telephone call. The information contained in this site is provided as a public service for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a comprehensive statement of the law or, in particular, to contain legal advice. Laws vary from state to state and are subject to change, which could affect the information available on this site. If you have questions regarding any information found on this site, you should consult an attorney who can investigate the particular circumstances of your situation. Persons receiving information found on this site should not act on this information without receiving professional legal counsel. The opinions expressed at or through this site are the opinions of the individual author and may not reflect the opinions of the firm or any individual attorney. The Rhode Island Supreme Court licenses all lawyers in the general practice of law. The Court does not license any lawyer as an expert or a specialist in any field of practice.


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Joseph, 22, is a sponsored student in Kenya. When he was 2, Joseph's parents noticed that he wasn't able to do some of the same things other children his age could. By the time he was 3, he was unable to walk or move around.
His parents took him to a local hospital, where he was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. Cerebral palsy is a neurological disorder that impairs movement and is caused by brain damage during development.
Joseph underwent surgery to help straighten his legs. He also received physical therapy and used crutches for some time. In all, he spent four years in the hospital being treated for his condition.
Joseph was finally able to join primary school at the age of 7. He was one of the best students in the class.
Joseph's parents found it hard to get by with Joseph's medical expenses, four children in school and no steady income. Unbound staff in their area learned of the family's situation, and in 2002 Joseph was sponsored. The support he received from his sponsor meant his parents could continue paying for his education.
Joseph's schooling, however, was interrupted in fourth grade when he had to have another surgery.. He spent another year in the hospital, which meant he had to repeat fourth grade. Despite the difficulties, he continued to excel when he returned to school and even managed to score highly on the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education.
With his high scores, Joseph received a scholarship from the Jomo Kenyatta Foundation, which combined with his sponsorship benefits meant his parents could send him to a better secondary school.
The first secondary school Joseph attended wasn't the best fit. His condition made it difficult for him to write, which made it hard to keep up with the other students. But it was the negative treatment he received from some of his classmates that was the biggest challenge.
Seeing his struggles, Joseph's parents decided to transfer him to a school that specialized in teaching students with disabilities. Being among others who faced similar challenges boosted Joseph's self-confidence.
Joseph recently graduated secondary school with good grades, and plans to pursue a degree in business administration from Kenyatta University. While he waits to get into the university, Joseph puts his time to good use.
He volunteers at his old primary school teaching math and Kiswahili, and he helps out at the Unbound office near his home.
When giving advice to younger students, he keeps it simple. "Disability is not inability," Joseph said. "Work hard and stay focused."
Donations to Health help provide equipment and therapeutic devices to sponsored friends with disabilities, along with many other health related initiatives.


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Why do I need TUVPN?
You desire extra security from online bad guys and identity thieves.
You want to hide your IP address so you can protect your identity and location.
You live in or are visiting a country that blocks Skype, Facebook, Twitter, etc. or that engages in Internet censorship or monitoring of content.
You don't want your Internet Service Provide to log, monitor and control what you do online.
You use Public Wi-Fi Hotspots and want to secure your connection.
And if you simply desire extra privacy and security and want to round out your firewall and anti-virus protection for a complete security solution - you need TUVPN.
Check our FAQ for more information


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Your cart is empty!
This decadent assortment features 16 of our most popular gourmet chocolate truffles. Enjoy a variety of chocolate ganache truffle centers enrobed in premium blends of milk, white, and dark chocolate.
Each chocolate truffle is handmade with only the best quality ingredients. Premium chocolate couverture, pure milk and real butter are used along with gourmet additions such as fine liqueurs, fruit extracts and nuts.
The beautiful silver gift box comes wrapped in silver paper and filled with a half pound of Dilettante's chocolate delicacies. Give this delicious box of chocolates to someone special - perfect for anniversaries, birthdays, Valentine's Day, Mother's Day and more.
Dilettante chocolate truffles are made with high-quality, all natural ingredients. Our chocolate truffle centers are hand dipped in premium blends of dark, milk and white chocolate for an exquisite gourmet treat.
Each box of chocolate in our Silver Gift Box Collection contains a selection of our Imperial Chocolate Truffles. Along with their specific individual flavors, these gourmet chocolates each feature our signature Ephemere flavor - a delicate taste of caramelized butter, sugar and cream.
The more you buy, the more you save with our "Mix and Match" quantity discounts. Discounts are automatically calculated for you in our shopping cart based upon the table below:
Choose from several different items or combine case purchases for additional savings. Discounts only available for online purchases on a per order basis and exclude shipping costs.


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Leonard Palmer wasn�t much younger than his current students when his teacher gave him a saxophone. She invested in a few music lessons for him � and now he plays nearly every instrument.
Leonard Palmer wasn�t much younger than his current students when his teacher gave him a saxophone. She invested in a few music lessons for him � and now he plays nearly every instrument.
�I�ve been hooked ever since,� Palmer said.
He began teaching music at Northeast Elementary School in 2009 after being a substitute teacher, earning an education at North Carolina Central University.
The impact his teacher made on him years ago is what he wants to accomplish teaching his students.
�I�m not just teaching them how to sing, I�m teaching them about their attitude,� Palmer said. �I hope they get some of these life lessons I�m teaching them.�
Outside of the classroom, he conducts music classes for students free of charge through his nonprofit.
�Hopefully, some of these students will send me tickets to their concerts,� he said laughing as his students practiced chords on the keyboards last week.
Two students, Adonis Kittrell, 10 and Velvet Grant, 11, are starting early on their hopeful entertainment careers.
Grant, a singer and one of seven siblings, dreams of being a dancer. She likes taking Palmer�s music class because it�s a chance to express herself.
She knows she has to be educated to grab her dream, though.
�If you don�t get an education, you�ll never get to be what you want to become,� said Grant, who enjoys reading books and can slightly read music.
Kittrell, who also likes to sing, is learning percussion.
�It�s kind of like the bongos, but to me its better,� he said as he beat the drum. �It�s louder.�
He said he wants to be a famous musician, adding, �but if you don�t know how to add two plus two, you can�t go anywhere in life.�
Palmer, born in Delaware, graduated from Kinston High School in 2002. Before becoming a music teacher, the 29-year-old wanted to be a pediatrician.
�I guess I still am, maybe like a music-pediatrician,� he said smiling.
Palmer is moved by people�s reaction to music, noting it�s �worthwhile.� He said the class sang �Lift Every Voice and Sing,� calling up crying audience members to the stage after the performance.
�My favorite thing is seeing people�s lives change,� he said. �Seeing people happy by listening to music, that�s my biggest thrill.�
Jessika Morgan can be reached at 252-559-1078 or at firstname.lastname@example.com. Follow her on Twitter @JessikaMorgan.
Meet Me Monday
Leonard Palmer and students
Name: Leonard Palmer, Music teacher
Education: Kinston High School, North Carolina Central University
Fun fact: The violin is a more challenging instrument for him to play because of the body positioning.
Name: Adonis Kittrell
Age: 10
Fun fact: He has two extra fingers
Name: Velvet Grant
Age: 11
Fun fact: When she goes home, she either goes to sleep or dances


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A mad dash for a Pillpouch!
Doh! The Pillbag Lady forgot her pills! On a recent trip to
Indiana in January, I
left home without my medication. The girls and I were flying home to visit my
parents, and just as I was packing up all the last minute items (like my
pills), I got an email that said our flight was delayed 45 minutes. And then it
was delayed an hour. And then I got word that it was cancelled. And THEN I got
an email that said it was leaving as originally scheduled. Eek! So as we dashed
out the door to try and make our previously-delayed-then-cancelled-then-restored
flight, I unknowingly forgot my pills.
When we arrived at the airport, our flight was indeed cancelled, and we rescheduled to fly out a couple of hours later. I'd realized during the re-booking process that I'd forgotten my meds...so, of course, the delay was a blessing in disguise. We had enough time to dash home, grab my pills, and return to the airport. My pills are always at the ready, conveniently stowed in a Pillpouch in the drawer of my nightstand, so it took just a second to grab and go. I was so quick, in fact, that I was able to stop and pick up a prescription at my neighborhood pharmacy that had been filled earlier that day. I figured I might as well travel with a full arsenal of medication, if I have the chance. I secured the newly added pill bottle in its elastic band of the Pillpouch, threw it in my purse, and off we went!
So the benefits of using a Pillbag certainly held true for me: convenient, discreet, and secure – particularly when I remember to bring it with me!


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REAL ESTATE- ON THE BLOCK- Urban reverie: Robinson Woods offers nature in town
Address: 117 Robinson Woods
Neighborhood: Preston
Asking: $399,900
2009 Assessment: $413,700
Year Built: 1997
Size: 1,924 fin. sq. ft.
Land: 0.158 acres
Agent: Tommy Brannock, Real Estate III, 434-977-3033
Curb Appeal: 7 out of 10
Although some folks remember when the post office on 29N was considered on the way out of town, those pre-Wal-Mart days are gone for good. Charlottesville is growing, bringing the good– Virginia baseball in the College World Series, Whole Foods– and the bad– traffic, Jessica Simpson, Whole Foods. In response to national publicity ("best place to live") and expansion at UVA among other things, Charlottesville has grown up and out.
This week's house is an example of the opposite phenomenon: urban in-fill.
Developer Tom Hickman purchased Robinson Woods from three families in the traditionally African-American neighborhood of Kelly Town. The tracts, a short, steep drop down from Preston Avenue, were heavily forested with a meandering stream that was partially buried to accommodate the cul-de-sac. Today the neighborhood is a quiet street of colorful, narrow frame houses with white-columned front porches. The clustered Craftsman-style houses create a neighborhood reminiscent of Belmont.
Number 117, the first house built in the subdivision in 1997, is more modest than some of its neighbors (including a 3,476-square-foot house Hickman built for himself at 121 Robinson Woods).
This place is at the end of the street, and part of the old stream trickles through the small yard, which manages to look both wild and manicured. The grass is clipped short, but rushes hang thick and heavy over the stream banks, and the vines coming down from the Preston Avenue lots are kept at bay with fencing and retaining walls. All this lush greenery keeps the house cool (especially the off-street rooms) and filled with bird songs.
The downstairs, painted yellow, feels roomy and light, with large windows and an open living-dining-kitchen floor plan. (A tiny half-bath with oxblood walls is tucked off the foyer.) Extras include a gas fireplace in the living room and a gas range in the kitchen. The spacious dining area leads to a wooden back porch, perfect for barbeques as long as you light that Citronella.
The second floor feels more closed off: two guest bedrooms and the master suite flank a central hallway. The master bath, with white walls and linoleum flooring, is clean and serviceable, but, after 12 years, is showing its age. A guest bath directly overlooks the street, which means the blinds must be drawn at all times, both for privacy and to keep out the summer sun. (This is the hottest room in the house). The bathroom also doubles as a laundry room— an innovative use of space, but not necessarily conducive to a relaxing soak.
The third floor leads up to a finished attic that could become a fourth bedroom. Although there's no door to the stairwell, it's larger than the master and is plumbed, but not finished for a bathroom. Otherwise, it's a natural family room, with open space and built-in shelving. Two closets and some small walk-in storage areas are useful, if small. Clean out the basement before moving here!
The house itself is pretty, pleasant, and predictable. It's in good condition, but could use some optional updates. We'd re-do the two full baths and tear up carpet on the top two floors to replace with hardwood. The biggest perk of the house is the location. It's green and quiet: an easy bike ride to UVA but removed from the fraternities along Rugby Road. Families with kids will like it, as Washington Park is a short roll down the hill, and it's in the coveted Venable school district.
The slightly larger 105 Robinson Woods was recently on the market (asking $409,000) but is now under contract. While that price is out of reach for many, it's more affordable than many of the larger, older houses near Rugby. With this comfortable, convenient house for sale just under the assessment, it might not be too long before the Woods welcomes a new family.
Each week, a brave local seller invites the Hook to provide an impartial, warts-and-all look at their real estate listing. E-mail yours today!


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Occupy's Pledge to FIGHT BACK
We Didn't Start the Class War
Cody Jones pledged on to fight back against the 1% by doing the following:
- Come out in the streets when Occupy calls for a day of action.
- Help promote #occupy news and actions via social media.
- Never go to work during a general strike.
- Help organize their co-workers to make demands.
3873 others also signed the pledge. Will you pledge to fight back too? Click Here


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Senior Allison Kelley from the Central Connecticut women's soccer team competed in the 2013 Senior Bowl at Merrimack College this past weekend and earned Player of the Match honors for her impressive efforts in the 2-2 draw.
Both Kelley and teammate Jewel Robinson competed in the match on the WUSA squad. Following the match, in an informal poll of attending coaches, Kelley was named Player of the Match for team WUSA while SCSU's Suzane Pires earned the award for Team WPS.
Both teams posted two goals on the day. Team WUSA scored first, taking advantage of a corner kick opportunity just over 28 minutes into the game. Team WPS scored its first just under ten minutes later to tie it up.
Team WUSA regained the lead just before the half, heading into the locker room with a 2-1 advantage however, in the second half, Team WPS again equalized the score in the 76th minute of play.
Both Robinson and Kelley were selected to play in the Senior Bowl after they helped lead CCSU to an appearance in the 2013 Northeast Conference Championships and a 5-3 NEC record in their final season as Blue Devils.


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Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites Bethlehem is located 1.50 miles from Lehigh Valley International Airport (ABE). Complimentary transportation to and from the Airport is provided. Complimentary Wireless Internet Access and Express Starts Breakfast is included. The hotel opened in 1/2007.
Data is submitted by registered FlightAware members on 2010-Oct-01 11:09.You must register or login to edit FBO information.
Jet A and 100LL airport fuel prices for all FBOs at KABE


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Makes a splash. Takes a splash:
The Apple iPhone 7 comes in 6 colours, re-introducing Black whilst adding Jet Black and Red (limited to 128GB and 256GB models) for the first time. It is water, splash and dust resistant giving you extra peace of mind. The Home button on your iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus is unlike the Home button on other iOS devices. Instead of moving inward when you press it, the Home button detects the presence and pressure of your finger. You can choose what happens when you apply different pressure on the new home button within the settings menu.
An entirely new camera enters the picture:
The iPhone 7 has one 12-megapixel iSight camera, and its performance is much improved over the iPhone 6s. Its wider aperture lens lets in more light for better photos in low-light conditions; and it also has optical image stabilization too. The TrueTone flash is also 50 percent brighter thanks to four LEDs.
The brightest, most colourful iPhone display yet:
The iPhone 7 screen is 25% brighter meaning that viewing the screen in bright sunlight is vastly better than previous iPhones. The screen supports a wider colour spectrum meaning that your photos and videos will be brighter and clearer than ever before.
The most powerful chip ever in an iPhone:
The A10 Fusion chip powering the iPhone 7 has four cores: two high-performance cores for the most intense tasks, and two low-energy cores to handle easier jobs while saving power. This means that your apps launch quickly, updates install quickly, and the camera is ready to shoot at a moments notice.
iPhone. Now in stereo:
By removing the analogue headphone port, the iPhone 7 now has two speakers delivery outstanding stereo sound; making this the best sounding iPhone ever. Show more Show less
Pegi Rating:Suitable for people aged TBD and over.
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Saturday, March 31, 2007
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Pan's Antecedent?
FANGORIA Radio, Here I Come
For those of you who haven't heard FANGORIA Radio, it airs every Friday night from 10:00pm to 1:00am on Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 102. If you're not already a Sirius subscriber, I believe you can get a free three-day trial run online. Sign up now and get it just in time to hear Dee and Debbie interview me about Anchor Bay's new Mario Bava box set! I'll probably be asked about the Bava book too, and if so, I just may have an historic announcement to make. (How's that for a teaser?) Anyway, I'm scheduled to be interviewed between 11:00 and 11:20pm, so do pop in and lend an ear.
Need more incentive? I'm told that a copy of the Bava Box set and the KIDNAPPED/RABID DOGS disc will be awarded to a lucky listener!
By the way, it's worth visiting FANGORIA Radio's website, where various excerpts from past interviews are interred. I spent some time last night listening to Dee and Debbie's past talks with Roger Corman, John Waters, and Tom Weaver -- fun stuff.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
A Word to Reviewers of KIDNAPPED aka RABID DOGS
There was something about this release that was never quite confirmed for me while it was in production, and I was nervous about it. After checking the disc, I have my answer and feel it's important to say something about this, otherwise it's bound to lead to confusion in reviews of the disc and my commentary. This matter has nothing to do with the film's transfer, which is unbelievably improved over what it's had in the past -- visually, the film has been completely revitalized.
When RABID DOGS was first released on DVD back in 1997, I was invited by Lucertola Media to write the English subtitles. I gladly accepted this opportunity to collaborate with Mario Bava, and approached the job as a novelist -- holding true to the Italian dialogue, but taking care to reflect the nuances and intonations of each performance and also bringing the film verbally up to date, because even though it was made in 1975, it was being released in the era of Tarantino.
When I began working with Anchor Bay on this new release, I made my subtitles available to them, and I also made some minor revisions/improvements to the text, which I had been wanting to make over the years. Assuming that my subtitles would be used, I made more than one reference to them in my audio commentary and explained some of the translation choices I made.
Unfortunately, for whatever reason, my subtitles were not used, so these parts of my commentary -- which were left in the track -- are now irrelevant at best, and completely confusing at worst.
The track still has value, I think, but it concerns me that some reviewers might take my comments at their word and credit me with the translation of these English subtitles. If you compare my subtitles on the Lucertola disc to those on the new Anchor Bay release, I think you will find the new ones drier, more formalized (speaking in English, would a couple of toughs like Bisturi and Trentedue really call their boss "Doctor"?), even somewhat restrained. My subtitles -- juicier, more freewheeling, and frankly dirtier -- I think allowed the film to be more deeply felt in English while also bolstering its contemporary feel. That was my intention, anyway.
Reviewers can draw their own conclusions, but I ask them to not credit me with the subtitles used here, regardless of what I say elsewhere on the disc.
Monday, March 26, 2007
The Return of Mary Weiss
In the early to mid 1960s, there was a group called The Shangri-Las. They took their name from the fabled Tibetan paradise of James Hilton's novel LOST HORIZON, memorably filmed by Frank Capra in 1939. Just as the Shangri-La of that novel was an Edenic realm where people never grew old, the Shangri-Las sang songs preoccupied with and possessed by a never-ending youth. Their music, overseen by the legendary producer George "Shadow" Morton, has been characterized as wall-of-sound melodrama, teen tragedy and pimple pop; some of their classics, like "Leader of the Pack" and "Give Us Your Blessings", certainly qualify for such epithets, but then there are their other principal recordings, like "Out in the Streets", the devastating "I Can Never Go Home Anymore", and especially the haunting "Remember (Walking in the Sand)" that continue to sound almost preternaturally adult and forever emotionally relevant -- despite the fact that they were recorded by three girls in their mid-teens.
"Tell me more / Tell me more..."
Marge and Mary Ann Ganser braided their voices in the background with Betty Weiss, while the solo vocals were taken by Betty's sister Mary. While record company publicity and sheet music typically pictured the group as a foursome, the Shangri-Las frequently performed as a vocal trio; Betty Weiss disappeared for most of 1964 and thereafter swapped places onstage with one of the Ganser twins, darkening her hair to keep the background visually consistent. Mary Weiss was always the focal point of the group, her long blonde hair standing out in stark contrast to the brunette perms of the background singers. Mary's voice was immediately distinctive: when she sang her heart out, she could sound lippy and petulant, but never in such a way that lost the listener's sympathy -- and I don't mean the sympathy we feel for someone who has experienced tragedy, but simpatico, the sympathy we feel for one of our own. Joey Ramone, a Queens native like Mary, had the same thing in his voice.
"Close. Very, very close."
"You can never / Go home / Anymore..."
"Everytime I see you / It drives me crazy..."
Leigh Harline: When You Wish Upon a Score
He began to score films in 1933 for the Walt Disney studios, and within his first first four years on the job, he had at least two incontestable short masterpieces to his credit: "The Band Concert" (1935) and "The Old Mill" (1937). This last was followed by the quantum leap -- for all concerned -- of SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARFS (1937), on which Harline collaborated with Frank Churchill and Paul J. Smith. It's easy to tell what Harline personally contributed to the score: if your heart soars or melts when you hear it, it's Harline.
SNOW WHITE's score was nominated for an Academy Award but did not win. In 1941, he and Smith and lyricist Ned Washington were jointly nominated for their musical score for Disney's immortal PINOCCHIO, and Harline and Washington alone were nominated for Best Song: "When You Wish Upon a Star." More than 35 years later, Harline's unforgettable melody was woven like a golden thread through one of John Williams' cues for CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND as a personal tribute. (It was not one that Harline lived to hear, as he died in 1969 at age 62.) Harline and Washington also wrote "Hi Diddle Dee Dee (An Actor's Life for Me)" and "Give a Little Whistle" for PINOCCHIO, and he appears onscreen conducting a cartoon scoring session in Disney's THE RELUCTANT DRAGON (1941).
He left Disney after PINOCCHIO and wrote library music that turned up uncredited in numerous interesting programmers of the era, including the "Blondie" and "Falcon" series for Columbia. He also did interesting credited jobs, such as the Joe E. Brown comedy BEWARE SPOOKS! (1939), THE PRIDE OF THE YANKEES (1942), THE BOOGIE MAN WILL GET YOU (1942), THE BRIGHTON STRANGLER (1945), the Val Lewton classic ISLE OF THE DEAD (1945, in which Boris Karloff says "They call me... the Watchdog!"), THE ROAD TO UTOPIA (1946), Joseph Losey's THE BOY WITH GREEN HAIR (1948), and Sam Fuller's PICKUP ON SOUTH STREET (1953), and Anthony Mann's MAN OF THE WEST (1958) to pick out only the most conspicuous titles.
Long before I realized that Leigh Harline had scored PINOCCHIO, and that it had been his music which had such a vertiginous effect in me when I first saw it as a very young child, I heard another score that first brought his name to my attention: George Pal's THE 7 FACES OF DR. LAO (1964). I saw that film for the first time when I was eight years old, and I saw it the second time when I was one day older -- and made a special point of seeking out the composer's name. I've remembered it ever since.
This wonderful score, the equal of anything he wrote for Disney but full of exoticism and strangeness as well as warmth and festivity, was released on CD for the first time last year by the good folks at Film Score Monthly. Sourced from the original stereo masters and a particular thrill to listen to through headphones, I can't recommend it highly enough. I doubt that anyone who's ever seen the film would have trouble calling immediately to mind its bittersweet main theme, the fluttering melody and dizzying culmination of "Pan's Dance", the come-hither rattling of "Medusa", or the bellowing bagpipes that accompany the arrival of the Loch Ness Monster. You can hear them all on this disc, which also contains 11 bonus tracks, including a wonderful piano demo of "Pan's Dance." You should move to obtain it before its limited edition of 3000 copies sells out.
Remembering Leigh Harline definitely has its advantages.
Saturday, March 24, 2007
A Strange Turn of Events
The winner in this category, one Sam Borowski, was discovered to have few and negligible publication credits for the year in question, none of which really had anything to do with classic horror. As Rondomeister David Colton made known, the overwhelming majority of the votes received for Borowski were "singleton" ballots -- ballots that cast a vote only for Borowski (who was not nominated, Best Writer being a write-in category) and nothing else, which are evidently unique enough in the Rondo competition to appear suspicious. (The first and second runner-ups in this category received only two -- that's 2 -- singleton votes.) This information, coupled with other instances of "unRondolike behavior," was outlined in a Colton posting early yesterday, whose headline announced his decision that the 2006 Best Writer Award would be "vacated" -- in essence, revoked.
Within a few hours of its posting, Colton's lengthy account of the Borowski story was taken down and replaced much later in the day with an announcement from Sam Borowski himself, agreeing to withdraw from the winner's circle instead. In doing so, Borowski left the Best Writer Award to the person who had received the highest number of unsolicited votes (or, as he magnanimously put it in his statement, "the second place nominee")... me.
Last evening, I posted the following message at the CHFB on their Rondo Awards board, in the "Tim Lucas named Writer of the Year" folder, which offered my thoughts upon receiving this news. I include it here for the sake of this blog's personal continuity, and also for the information of my readers here, not all of whom may frequent the CHFB or be aware that any of this has transpired.
I have mixed feelings about all of this, as I think most of you will easily understand. After two weeks of confusion, any sense of winning this award, one I've hoped and worked hard to win for the past four years, is gone and cannot be retrieved.
Donna urged me not to make a rash decision by responding to David's announcement right away, so we went out, picked up some printing from Kinko's, and took advantage of being out to grab some dinner. Donna helped me to understand that my own feelings might not be the most important consideration here; that not accepting this award would be an insult to anyone who took part in this process and voted for me in good faith. I reminded myself that not every victory is won without effort or obstacle. I realized that to refuse the award would only serve to contaminate it as much as anything else that has come before; I don't want to do that.
After dinner, fortune cookies were brought to our table. We opened our respective cookies, read our fortunes... and started laughing.
Mine read "Your Luck Has Been Completely Changed Today."
Donna's read "Find release from your cares, have a good time."
So, with my deepest thanks and gratitude to David for his perseverance, to the regular visitors of this board who valiantly fought to preserve the integrity of the Rondo awards (this one in particular), and to everyone who voted for me (in some cases selflessly) -- I accept this award, which seems bound to a fortune in which I would very much like to believe.
It's Friday night. So, in the spirit of Donna's fortune, let's all of us find release from our cares and have a good time.
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Freddie Francis (1917-2007)
Monday, March 19, 2007
Aztec Schoolgirl Angels
I recently spent a couple of nights watching BCI Eclipse's box set THE AZTEC MUMMY COLLECTION, which contains THE AZTEC MUMMY (in Spanish only), THE VENGEANCE OF THE AZTEC MUMMY and THE ROBOT VS. THE AZTEC MUMMY (both on flipper discs containing both the Spanish and English-dubbed versions, the former with subtitles). These are Mexican pastiches of Universal's Mummy series, cleverly relocating the ancient past from Egypt to the land of the Mayans, with aspects showing an equal debt to the 1940s serials of Universal and Republic. I'm going to reserve my full-length review for VIDEO WATCHDOG, but I'll tell you this much: these films plainly modelled themselves on the Universal series' weaknesses as well as its strengths. None of the films is longer than 70 minutes, and the first consists of maybe four or five scenes stretched as far as they can go (with nearly half the length spent on prologue); the second spends its first 20 minutes recapping the first movie, while the third opens five years later, with the hero inviting guests to his home so that he can relate to them the events of the first two pictures, which occupies nearly 25 minutes of screen time. An odd thing about the Spanish versions: Whenever the Aztec Mummy appears onscreen, the picture turns dark -- you can't get a bead on the bugger! I suspect this is a form of Mexican censorship, an attempt to tone down the horror content, because the cutaways to other characters during these scenes resume their brightness. The conclusion of the first film is so dark, I couldn't quite tell what happened in it until I saw those scenes recapped in the third movie! The same scenes in the English versions are much brighter, making it all the more regrettable that the first film has no back-up version included. Despite some fun moments, I found them tedious on the whole, though I imagine they play somewhat better in the presence of good friends and good beer.
Sunday, March 18, 2007
More Victims of DER RÄCHER!!!
I hope that all readers of this blog are familiar with my article "Edgar Wallace and the Paternity of KING KONG," which appeared in VIDEO WATCHDOG #126, pages 26-37. I suspect it was the most important piece of film reportage that I wrote last year, and it was the runner-up for the Rondo Award for Best Article of 2006. A film that features quite prominently in that article, Karl Anton's early krimi THE AVENGER [DER RÄCHER, 1960] -- based on an Edgar Wallace novel known here in America as THE HAIRY ARM -- has now been released as a Region 2 German language DVD by Kinowelt. While the presentation itself leaves something (indeed, some things) to be desired, it's an exciting release nevertheless, for what it reveals of the film itself. The scene pictured above is the beginning of the reason why.
The only English-language version of DER RÄCHER to surface thus far is a miserable-looking 16mm transfer from Sinister Cinema which runs 83m 15s. The Kinowelt disc runs 95m 16s in PAL, which translates to an impressive 99m 20s in NTSC. Therefore, the R2 disc yields an additional 16m 5s of footage -- including what turns out to be the most exciting scenes in the entire picture. None of it's in English, but that's where your otherwise worthless videotape continues to earn its keep.
To briefly recap, DER RÄCHER is about a series of London-based decapitation murders credited to a killer known as the Avenger. Ruth Sanders (Ina Ducha), the only living relative of the Avenger's latest victim is discovered to be working as an extra on a film set. Detective Michael Brixan (Heinz Drache) of "the foreign office" goes to interview her, only to become imbroiled in dangerous goings-on at the filming locations, involving the unwelcome attentions paid to Ms. Sanders by lascivious nobleman/adventurer Sir Gregory Penn (Benno Sterzenbach), whose majordomo Bhag (Al Hoosman) is a hairy, domesticated, ape-like subhuman creature brought back to England from Borneo. After Brixan hears a woman's screams coming from Griff Tower, the peak of the nobleman's property, the cause is discovered in the next day's rushes, when -- in a sequence from the novel that anticipates BLOWUP and a good many giallo thrillers to come -- the film's director spots footage accidentally taken of a frightened woman at the tower's window. The English version sweeps the continuation of this thread under the rug, but after Brixan is shown a frame of the woman's face on a strip of film, the German version continues... with a 13m chunk missing from the English version!
In this footage, Brixan goes to his hotel's front desk and places a call to the "foreign office." His call is accepted by his superior, Major Staines (Siegfried Schurenberg in his first krimi), who -- in a bizarre comic moment -- hangs up only to discover his secretary dozing. He wakes her with a shout and she continues taking dictation. We then cut to the grounds below Griff Tower, where Brixan unfolds a portable ladder under cover of night and ascends to the oval window in the tower where the woman's face was seen. He finds the window unlocked and climbs inside into a darkened room. His flashlight beam finds a woman's bare foot, which tracks up her bare bruised leg to reveal the tear-stained face of an unconscious woman (Litto), the Indonesian dancer seen dancing for Sir Gregory's pleasure earlier in the film. A sound of approaching rattling chains alerts Brixan that Bhag is coming, and he ducks outside the window -- standing on a slender balcony -- to observe. Bhag enters the room, bringing food to the prisoner, and glowers at her with fascinated, lovesick eyes.
Brixan peers inside the window to see what's happening, making a noise in the process. Bhag looks to the window, but sees nothing. A cutaway to the exterior reveals that Brixon has fallen over the guardrail and is hanging on, VERTIGO-style, for dear life.
Back inside, Bhag returns his attentions to his beautiful prisoner, who revives, sees him looming over her, and screams. The sound of her cry gives Brixan the strength to surmount his problem and climb back to the window. When he sees that the woman is about to be molested by the creature, he silently opens the window and tosses his smoking pipe down the flight of stairs behind Bhag, which rise into the tower. Bhag hears the sound below and rushes off in pursuit.
Brixan then re-enters the tower room and ascertains the woman's safety before leaving to alert the authorities. Once back on terra firma, Brixan is startled as Bhag emerges from the shadows -- looking twice his height -- and stalks him into an inescapable corner.
Just as it appears that Brixan's luck has run out, he is saved by the sudden arrival of an Asian swordsman, who brandishes his sword and causes Bhag to retreat.
In a later police station scene included in the English version, Brixan is reunited with the rescued dancer and the swordsman, who is revealed to be her brother. Brixan takes the opportunity to thank him for saving his life. (The same scene pokes fun at the original by having the dancer speak to Brixan in German, which Major Staines professes not to understand.)
The next morning, Brixan awakens in his bed to find Major Staines in his room. He's pleased to see the Major but, after the events of the previous night, he's pleased to see anybody. Major Staines announces more soberly that the local constabulary have received another parcel from the Avenger (called "Der Kopfsjager" or "The Headhunter" in the German dialogue).
They proceed to the police station and nod their permission for the box to be opened. As the folds of the box lid are pulled back, a startling zoom shot reveals its contents:
It's the head of the screenwriter!
Now we know why the film's biggest star suddenly disappears from the picture! These three consecutive scenes aren't the only footage missing from THE AVENGER, but they are the most conspicuous omissions. Siegfried Schurenberg has more scenes in the German version, meeting and discussing the case with Heinz Drache, and a brief altercation between Drache and the gentleman revealed to be Der Kopfsjager is somewhat more violent, with an additional shot of the unconscious Drache's blood-streaked face. The two versions also open differently, the German one starting with the precredit sequence of the first head's discovery, while the English version moves this scene into the main body of the picture, following the main titles. Best of all, the character of Bhag -- described as an authentic domesticated gorilla in the novel rather than the hirsute half-human seen in the movie -- has more screen time, adding a great deal to the picture's suspense, to its value as a horror film, and to our appreciation of the late Al Hoosman and the pathos he gave to this Kong kin.
Kinowelt's presentation is windowboxed to an odd proportion of 1.54:1 and looks overly harsh and dark. Plaid sportcoats and brick walls seen from a distance shimmer with moirés. The edge of the picture closest to the top matte can often be seen jittering. There is also a slight, metallic shrillness to the voice recording, while the accompanying soundtrack -- which, as with the English version, never lets up -- is more richly recorded. Compared to the Sinister tape, the only other copy of the film available till now, the disc is no great shakes but acceptable (though an English track would have cemented the sale for a bigger audience); however, it's a different matter when one compares it to the theatrical trailer also included. The trailer (2m 44s) is presented in a doubtless intended 1.66:1 ratio and looks cleaner, brighter and infinitely more detailed -- watch the trailer after the movie and you'll feel disappointed; watch it before the movie and you'll feel worse. There are also biographies of a few cast members and a stills gallery consisting of 28 images, only 10 of which are actual stills, the others being frame grabs.
DER RÄCHER is an important film in the history of the Edgar Wallace krimis for many reasons. It was the second of the West German Wallaces and the only attempt made by a competitor of Rialto Film, as the company discouraged further such attempts. Nevertheless, it introduced three of the most beloved krimi actors -- Drache, Schurenberg, Kinski -- and Al Hoosman's Bhag proposed a blueprint of sorts for Blind Jack, the sightless ogre played by the unforgettable Ady Berber in the following year's THE DEAD EYES OF LONDON [DIE TOTEN AUGEN VON LONDON, 1961], much as his literary forebear was the predecessor of King Kong.
When I wrote about THE AVENGER for my Wallace article, I noted that it was one of the most faithful of all Edgar Wallace adaptations. Now that I've finally seen the full version, I'm pleased to discover that it's better than just faithful.
POSTSCRIPT (3-18-06). Gary Banks has written with the following important information: "I have the Sinister Cinema VHS and it indeed has all of the scenes that you mention and has a running time of close to 100 minutes. Greg Luce upgraded this title back in the mid 90's (not exactly sure of the date). The print is still rather on the poor side, but it is intact." Evidently my copy pre-dates that upgrade, so I'll leave this blog posted for those who may not be aware of the availability of these longer versions.
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Unreleased RIFLEMAN Episodes Start Tonight
Larry Blamire has written to alert me that the first of the unreleased RIFLEMAN episodes, "Closer Than a Brother" (#98), will be airing tonight on Encore Westerns. The channel's RIFLEMAN hour begins at 7:00pm eastern, and "Closer Than a Brother" airs tonight at 7:30. For the next week or two, every episode being shown in this hour slot will be previously unreleased on DVD. So now's the time to print off that list of episodes and keep an eye on EW's program schedule.
Thanks, Larry!
Cronenberg at 64, Cronenbook at 25
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
THE RED SHOES (2005) reviewed
Monday, March 12, 2007
33 1/3rded -- Not
Rondo Award Results
Donna and I had written off any chance of VW winning the Rondo this year, so to receive the Best Magazine Award for the fifth year in a row came as an astounding surprise. We published only five issues in 2006, and the magazine business isn't as healthy as it once was, so it's heartening to know that readers still like what we're doing -- even with bigger magazines like FANGO, RUE MORGUE and the venerable FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND added to the competition this year.
The win for Best Website is especially meaningful to me, because I regard it as a writing award. I feel that VIDEO WATCHDOG's Rondos were awarded in recognition of the work of all our wonderful contributors; I treasure them, but I can't take them personally. So the Best Website Rondo feels like my first Rondo. It's the first recognition I've received for my writing in my 35 years as a writer; the only other award I've ever received for personal achievement was an Art Award that I won at my 8th grade graduation, which still commands a place of honor in my home -- which should give you some idea of how much this Rondo means to me.
I'm grateful to everyone who voted for me, and for everyone affiliated with VIDEO WATCHDOG.
Friday, March 09, 2007
Don't Forget!
Just to remind you: VIDEO WATCHDOG is nominated for six awards (Best Magazine, four Best Article nominations divided between Bill Cooke, Paul Talbot and myself, and one for Best Cover -- Charlie Largent's classic Kong) and Video WatchBlog is nominated for Best Website. There are also numerous write-in categories, and write-in votes are accepted in most categories if you don't find your own favorites on the ballot. A mere click on the link bar above this posting will take you there.
Make a difference! Participate!
Weird Serendipity with Komeda
I am not being facetious. It really happened that way. I have moments like this.
I first became aware of Komeda about ten years ago (gad... has it really been that long?), when I was chasing down groups whose sound was compared to Stereolab, with whom I was newly enamored at the time, and who weren't releasing nearly enough new music to sate me. When I saw the name Komeda, I knew these characters had to be up to something good. They're a Swedish pop or retropop group who took their name from Krzysztof Komeda, the remarkable Polish jazz musician-composer who wrote the music for Roman Polanski's films through ROSEMARY'S BABY, until his early death in 1969. ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY described their sound as "ABBA meets Nico and goes to a new wave film festival," which isn't a bad description. I think they sound like 21st century AM radio might sound if it had followed a natural evolutionary course from the heyday of the 1960s and hadn't devolved into ever-descending circles of Hell involving talk radio and jailbait dancers who get songs in the Top 10 by flaunting their bellybuttons on MTV. Komeda have released four albums so far; I have two of them which I like very much, and apparently I need two. You can read more about them and their albums here.
For reasons I can't explain, a curiosity struck me tonight about Komeda -- very belatedly, it would seem -- that made me wonder what kind of videos they might make. Here's where things get weird: When I looked them up on YouTube, I discovered that their record label MintyFresh Records had posted a few of Komeda's videos only yesterday. Talk about serendipity! So I thought I would share some links with you.
This video, for "Blossom," is one of the most impressively stylized and executed music videos I've ever seen: think Karel Zeman and YELLOW SUBMARINE crossed with Steve Gerber and an irresistible beat.
Also impressive is this colorful video for the tuneful "Cul De Sac" (another Polanski reference).
If you have time to only check out one Komeda video today, go directly to this mind-meltingly wonderful illustration of their breakthrough song, "It's Allright, Baby." I don't know if this piece is authorized or not (it's not a Minty Fresh posting), but it's a brilliant and inspired prank, if it isn't. Particularly recommended to the Eurohorror cultists among you.
Once you've enjoyed that, you can chase it with what is more surely an authorized video for the same song, in that it actually features the band. Like their videos, it's enticing, unusual, bracing, and above all intelligent. Brain food from Komeda's Swedish soul kitchen.
I don't know much about Komeda really, and I fear I'm a bit behind the times with them and need to catch up. But after viewing these videos, I have a sense of distant friends, a feeling that the members of this terrific band and I are connected, under the skin, by the things we both love, a shared aesthetic. This message was smuggled into my knowing from the get-go by their chosen name, and their videos, now that I've seen them, reinforce that impression. They haven't issued an album since 2003; their website hasn't been updated since August of last year -- which makes the weirdness of this serendipity and the cutting edge I feel from these years-old videos all the more mystifying. I hope Komeda are still making music because they seem to me a viable cure for much of the blandness and tacky excess assailing what we laughingly call our culture today. Nothing's wrong with our culture that can't be cured by inspiring more people to step up to a higher standard of taste and common sense. You can find it in Komeda.
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
No Vecento
A tip of the hat to Jeremy Richey's always interesting Moon in the Gutter blog for bringing this news to our attention.
"DON'T LOOK NOW" Special Edition reviewed
1973, Optimum Releasing, DD-2.0/MA/LB/16:9/+,105m 25s, £17.99, DVD-2 PAL
This extraordinary, influential Nicolas Roeg film was based on a novella by Daphne Du Maurier, originally included in her 1971 collection NOT BEFORE MIDNIGHT and republished in 2006 as DON'T LOOK NOW AND OTHER STORIES -- a reappearance testifying to the movie's status as a modern classic. Not only is it one of the most tantalizing films ever to explore the subject of the paranormal, it is also one of the most complete, balanced and satisfying films about normal waking life.
The story profiles a married couple healing in the wake oftheir daughter's accidental death by drowning, the wife Laura (Julie Christie) finding peace through two psychic sisters (Hilary Mason and Clelia Matania), while her scoffing architect husband John (Donald Sutherland) restores a derelict church in the waterbound city of Venice.
In telling this story, "DON'T LOOK NOW" (the quotation marks appear onscreen) seems to touch on more facets of human experience than so-called mainstream films tend to do: working, making love, eating, vomiting, defecating, arguing, sleeping, worshipping, doubting, mourning, fearing, laughing, surviving brushes with death, and -- above all -- the fleeting and curiously meaningful déja vu moments that accumulate within and without us throughout our lifetime. Edited by Graham Clifford (with whom Roeg had been working since 1968's PETULIA), the film shuffles past, present and future tenses of visual information as radically as any of Roeg's other works (PERFORMANCE, THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH, EUREKA and BAD TIMING to name the most conspicuous), yet it remains the most approachable of them all, its fractured visual continuity striking a near-miraculous balance of emotional and cerebral sense, the technique almost organically attuned to the story being told -- namely, John's rejection of his own psychic intuitions.
Now more than thirty years old, "DON'T LOOK NOW" still looks fairly contemporary and has lost very little of its initial power, though it's most vital in its first few viewings, when one is most enthusiastically engaged in the initial decoding of its various color keys and resonating images. Once one has begun to exhaust this engaging process, the film can begin to look overly deliberate, but chances are that you'll still be sussing out new layers to appreciate well into your tenth viewing and beyond. (I've seen it about ten times myself and found myself noticing repeat appearances by the daughter's ball this time around.)
This "Special Edition" import disc makes use of a new Studio Canal anamorphic master that looks quite crisp, immaculate, and colorful. An exciting incentive to this purchase is the addition of a feature-length audio commentary by director Roeg, moderated byAdam Smith. Roeg tends to ramble obliquely and elliptically in a muttering voice, frequently failing to finish sentences and trains of thought, but the track is nevertheless a worthwhile reference for tenacious listeners. Among its interesting revelations: John and Laura's daughter Christine, a role credited to Sharon Williams, was ultimately played by three different young actresses, due to Williams' unexpectedly extreme reaction to filming her drowning scene. The filming of the picture's celebratedly authentic lovemaking scene is also covered in fair detail; incredibly, it was the very first scene to be shot -- in an actual hotel room, with just Sutherland, Christie, Roeg and cameraman Anthony Richmond present, as well as a bottle or two of courage. Roeg's memory fails him on occasion, as when he mistakenly recalls the film being released in America with an X rating; it was actually trimmed (losing a shot or two from the love-making scene, and some of the final murder victim's twitching) to qualify for an R rating.
Still more interesting are two Blue Underground-produced featurettes, "'DON'T LOOK NOW' Looking Back" (19m 31s, interviewing Roeg, Richmond and editor Graham Clifford) and "Death in Venice" (17m 36s, interviewing composer Pino Donaggio), both directed by David Gregory. The former is very good and properly illuminating, with a wicked backdrop for its more coherent Roeg talk, but the Donaggio profile stands out as one of the most pleasingly detailed film music featurettes I've seen on DVD. The composer, visited at his home facing the Venetian Grand Canal, has perfect recall of the circumstances behind this, his first film score, and he speaks unaffectedly about his earlier career as a singer, how he was approached and hired without prior scoring experience, how he developed specific themes and motifs, and how his score for this picture led to his discovery by Brian DePalma for CARRIE and a new and still-thriving career abroad.
Also included are an onscreen Introduction by ROUGH GUIDE TO HORROR MOVIES author Alan Jones, the film's original UK trailer (2m 14s), and a 16-page booklet with numerous rare photos and a sensitive, well-written appreciation by Ryan Gilbey. Available domestically from Xploited Cinema.
Monday, March 05, 2007
The Fall of the 49th CandleUH
Back in the Eighties, The Fall covered the Kinks' classic "Victoria" and brought a valuable truth into focus: as a lyricist and frontman, Mark E. Smith is the post-modern Ray Davies; no one else of his generation has come so close to embodying the eternal voice of working class England. There's not often the elegance, or poetry, or poignancy of Davies in Smith's work, much less his voice, or in The Fall's endlessly repetitive, droning music, but its sheer volume and pertinence captures the drama -- alternately exciting and depressing -- of intelligence treading water in a tumult of information devolving to infotainment in its deluge.
The Fall are perhaps the ultimate cult band in that they demand nothing less than total immersion from the listener. Glenn Kenney once borrowed my quote "You can't see one Jess Franco film until you've seen them all" to apply it to them, and it's just as true of their obsessive backlog. In The Fall's nearly thirty year recording career, they've released something very close to 50 albums, not counting countless compilations and repackagings, representing something very close to 30 different lineups. Such overproductivity, as with Franco, encompasses some sloppiness but also glorious epiphanies, epiphanies that might come from an unexpectedly tight band performance, or one of Smith's tossed-off phrasings, or a deadening groove that unexpectedly opens a subterranean door of emotion.
The music is always dense, sometimes surprising the listener by aping another band's sound; for example, the seasoned Fall listener immediately cranks up their attention to the lyric of "Fall Sound" (on the new album REFORMATION! POST TLC) to suss out why the so-called "Fall Sound" has a New Order sound. "Scenario" bends lyrics from Captain Beefheart's "Veteran's Day Poppy" into a somewhat darker balloon sculpture that numbly reiterates the human cost of war. The album's opener, "Over! Over!", turns out to be a rewrite of the kaleidoscopic "Coming Down" by the incomparable (and incomparably short-lived) Sixties group, The United States of America. "I think it's over now/I think it's endingUH," sings Smith, with his trademark curling of his final consonants. "I think it's over now/I think it's beginningUHHHH...!" Smith sings these words with the inflection of Samuel Beckett writing "I can't go on, I will go on" -- sounding bored to brain death one moment and inspired the next -- and he's earned the right. He's still riding the wave.
The lyrics of any Fall song tend to be more inscrutable than not, reading more like Beat graffiti than Beat poetry, but that's the genius of Mark E. Smith: he's more reporter than composer. He writes to reflect the passing moment, not the eternity called into doubt by our ever blackening newspaper headlines. If you want eternity, his fecundity implies, there's always the wait for the next album. There are days when the coming of the next Fall album seems more likely than the coming of another tomorrow. And for that reason, above all, I salute Mark E. Smith. He's there for us, and his contribution, for all its rascally contrarianism, gives one hope.
And because this is a video blog, here's a link to The Fall on DVD.
RIP Otto Brandenburg 1934-2007
Here's to you, Otto:
Journey to the seventh planet
Come to me
Let your dreams become reality
I wait for you.
Somewhere on the seventh planet
Out in space,
You and I will find a magic place
Like lovers do.
And while we're up above,
We'll touch the stars
That we have wished upon.
There our love will take wings
And go on and on!
Journey to the seventh planet
In your eye
Let a spark of love begin to spy
For us to share
Seventh planet!
Seventh heaven!
If you learn to care
Our love will be beyond
Sunday, March 04, 2007
RONDO Awards Countdown Begins
If you care about fantastic cinema, its research and its celebration, do your part in preserving the Rondo's standards of quality by bringing your knowledge and taste to bear on the final tally. If you don't see your choices on the ballot, write them in -- at the very least, it will help to make more people aware of those works that slipped through the cracks.
Saturday, March 03, 2007
The I's Have It: IDIOCRACY and INFAMOUS
2006, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment
I was eager to see this sci-fi comedy from Mike Judge (KING OF THE HILL, OFFICE SPACE) because I imagined myself in complete sympathy with its premise, so close to the bone that Fox withdrew it from theatrical release almost immediately. It depicts a dystopian future where everyone has become so stupid that the hottest movie around is called "ASS," a feature-length close-up of a bare and occasionally farting behind, which swept the Oscars, including the one for Best Screenplay. (This gag is symptomatic of what's right and wrong with the picture: one's reflex reaction is "Hey, don't give Eddie Murphy any ideas!"; on the other hand, ASS is not unlike some actual important films by Andy Warhol, so the humor doesn't linger or stand up to scrutiny if you're bright enough to know Warhol's work.) While IDIOCRACY pokes fun at symptoms already frightening apparent in our world today, it's not sharp or sharp-toothed enough to make for stinging satire, and its premise -- that intelligent people stopped reproducing while stupid "trailer trash" not only continued to reproduce but engage in unprotected sex willy-nilly with every hillbilly neighbor in sight -- makes stupidity seem a hereditary inevitability rather than an end result of today's willful dumbing-down of our culture.
Luke Wilson is likeable as the hero, an average G.I. Joe whose name actually is Joe, who is recruited along with an equally average prostitute (Maya Rudolph) to spend a year asleep in a Rip Van Winkle experiment, only to awaken through some ill-explained mishap in the year 2505. (I don't get the joke of why the only average woman the Army could find is a prostitute, unless she's intended as an illustration of the "stupid" impulse to fornicate with everyone in sight, balanced with the "smarts" to at least want to turn a profit on it.) In 2505, everyone's a blathering headbanging moron, entranced by explosions and slapstick comedy (the #1 TV show is called OW! MY BALLS!, which is pretty self-explanatory), named after the products bombarding them in advertising from every direction -- so, naturally, it takes Joe awhile to figure out that he's no longer in his own time. The premise is all the movie has going for it, and everything that happens after Joe wises up to his predicament stacks a lot of deadweight onto the trembling framework, failing to sustain interest despite running less than 80 minutes, minus the end credits. All in all, a failed opportunity to tell some bitter truths hilariously. Bring on the remake!
Toby Jones (as Truman Capote) and Sigourney Weaver (as Babe Paley) in INFAMOUS.
2006, Warner Home Video
Before seeing this Truman Capote biopic, based on a book by George Plimpton, I was under the mistaken impression that it covered the period in Capote's life after the publication of IN COLD BLOOD. Such an approach would likely have resulted in a better movie, at least a more useful one, than this ambivalent mess, which covers the same events as CAPOTE -- his research of the 1959 Clutter family slayings in Holcomb, Kansas -- but from a more pixieish angle. Written and directed by Douglas McGrath, the first act can't decide whether it wants to be a swishy fishy-out-of-water comedy or a solemn drama; likewise, the rest of the movie feels uncertain in its depiction of Capote himself, who is rendered as a shallow, yet deeply troubled and self-delusional caricature of a tortured artist, surrounded by wealthy shallow friends, incapable of keeping secrets or telling the truth, who may or may not fall in love with a murderer on Death Row -- we can never tell.
Future Bond Daniel Craig has some convincing, intense moments as Clutter killer Perry Smith, especially as he's being led to the gallows, and it's a pleasure to see Sandra Bullock portraying a real character (Nelle Harper Lee) for a change, rather than some heroine of a vehicle. I can't tell whether her portrayal is more authentic than Catherine Keener's but I liked Bullock better -- she seems more at home onscreen as a supporting actress, and she's the only other character in sight who's not at least half cartoon. Rather like the two-dimensional richfolk played by Peter Bogdanovich (a poor Bennett Cerf), Sigourney Weaver and Isabella Rossellini, Toby Jones is a slippery facsimile of Truman Capote. He gets the character, but never quite succeeds in fully becoming the person, as Philip Seymour Hoffman did in CAPOTE, but one doesn't know whether to fualt the opportunities offered, the performance, or the direction. Worst of all, while the two Capote films agree on the topic of his essential insincerity, they are frequently at odds factually, leaving the viewer at loose ends about which version to believe. Of the two films, both of which pinge dramatically on Capote's homosexuality, this one feels the more authentically gay to me, yet -- offensively -- it also seems the more shallow and untrustworthy.
Thursday, March 01, 2007
Don't Be a Paste-Pot Pete!
Let me explain once again, for those in doubt, what should be obvious. I write for a living. I take the work I publish online as seriously as anything I write for publication. It's my property and clearly labelled as such. What I give to you -- as my audience -- is my time, not my property. These are the terms according to which I give this blog my time. Surely this is fair enough.
If you should read some information here that inspires you to spread the word, links to this page or links to individual postings are gratefully encouraged. You also have the right to paraphrase me: "Tim Lucas said such-and-such on his blog today..." But anyone who chooses instead to cut-and-paste my work should be aware that, in doing so, they are effectively stealing from me, stealing from this blog, and stealing from everyone who enjoys Video WatchBlog, because such unhappy discoveries compel me to reconsider its value to me as a pastime.
If you happen to frequent a discussion board where one or more of my past blogs has been substantially reproduced (say, more than the opening paragraph), you can be sure that my work is "on tour" without my knowledge or approval. Please do me the favor of reporting such Terms of Service abuse to the board's moderator and suggest that my stolen property be removed from their showroom windows; it doesn't reflect well on them. Feel free to link to this entry or my contact address, should they require any input from me prior to taking action. Anyone who protects and defends this blog to this extent will be helping to remind me that the great majority of my readers are actually responsible, fair-minded folk who value what I bring to this blog and want to see it continue.
Tim / VWb


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Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (27 February 1807 – 24 March 1882 / Portland, Maine)
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Tales Of A Wayside Inn : Part 1. The Musician's Tale; The Saga Of King Olaf Viii. -- Gudrun
On King Olaf's bridal night
Shines the moon with tender light,
And across the chamber streams
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A fight between a bus driver and a teenager erupted into a traffic accident, criminal charges and a loss of employment, Milwaukee's WISN-TV reports.
Earlier this week, a Kenosha Transit driver was picking up kids from Kenosha Tremper High School when one of the students attacked him, as seen on bus camera video.
Apparently, the driver told police the fight started because he demanded the teen show his ID for being disruptive and swearing in the past. The teen walked past him, returned, swore at him and then punched him. The driver fought back.
As the fight raged on, the bus was still in motion. It rammed a car and two pickup trucks before coming to a complete stop.
In the aftermath, Kenosha Transit fired the driver for improper conduct, failure to secure his vehicle and having a preventable accident. The 15-year-old student was charged with felony battery and endangering safety.
In a police report, the teen told investigators: "I was mad that he was going to suspend my bus pass, so I got up and punched him in the face."
His mother says the bus driver should have been charged for hitting her son, but prosecutors said the teen was the only person at fault.
The driver is appealing his termination.


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With Photoshop CS6 you can not only edit your video but add professional special effects and titles as well. Though nobody is going to be jumping ship from Final Cut Pro 7, Premiere or Avid to edit their feature on Photoshop's newly enhanced video engine here are a few reasons why you might want to give it try. To edit video all you have to do is open the motion layout under windows/workspace/motion.
Photoshop will not only take in virtually any format from any camera but it will also set your video image size automatically just as if you opened a picture in Photoshop. In fact you can combine a number of different video formats on the same timeline unlike some more advanced editing systems. Once the video is in your timeline you just scroll to the spot you want to cut and hit the scissors tool; it will cut the clip at that point. You can refine your edit by grabbing the beginning or ending of either piece you cut from your clip. As you do you will see a small window popping-up showing the frame you are on.
You can make professional text effects that can stand up to any program effects artists use in Photoshop by animating text styles. In this video I clipped a "Garden" text layer to a water video; animating the layer styles and the position of the text. To duplicate this effect, first create the text using any layer styles you wish i.e., bevel, outer glow, stroke. Then clip the text to a water video layer in the layers panel by holding down option key and clicking on border between two layers. When you see the arrow pointing down on the video layer you know the clipping mask has been created. A clipping mask is a handy technique to restrict the effect of an adjustment layer like levels, hue and saturation to a particular layer rather than the entire document. You can also have one layer clipped inside another layer as we have done here.
Animate both layers in Photoshop CS6 by key-framing styles and position options.
To create an extra level of control over the look of your video you can convert your video layer into a smart object by clicking the down arrow in the upper right corner of the layers panel.
Photoshop has long been the best program to clean up the color of your images, now you can do it with your video too! Using adjustment layers like levels you can make a dull video sparkle. I used levels, curves and a warming filter to brighten up a cloudy day for the construction workers in this video. You can also animate these adjustments. The first two seconds start with no adjustments. Then at 3 seconds I add a levels layer- 5 seconds curves and then at 7 seconds I add a photo filter (warming). At 12 seconds opacity of all adjustment layers (levels, curves and photo filter) is reduced to zero and the video looks washed out again.
Whether you simply cut and title your video or you make your first trailer, Photoshop CS6 can make any short video sparkle.


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The Nazis' Theater of Seduction
'Degenerate Art': The Fate of the Avant-Garde in Nazi Germany
The Art of the Third Reich
Artists Under Vichy: A Case of Prejudice and Persecution
In the history of Western civilization, denunciations of the arts as "immoral" and "corrupting" date back to Socrates. But the fear of moral degeneration that haunted Hitler and many of his German contemporaries was a specifically modern obsession, one that first appeared only in the second half of the nineteenth century. Its origins lay in the concurrent emergence of the aesthetic cult of "decadence" and the scientific—or pseudoscientific—concept of "degeneration." At about the same time that artists and writers were exploring the relationship between morbidity, disease, and artistic creation, the concept of degeneration became a central issue in medicine, the theory of evolution, and racial anthropology, where it was thought to lead to the extinction of a species or at least to the ruin of its strength and vigor.
The idea of degeneration was most forcefully applied to artistic decadence in Max Nordau's book Degeneration (Entartung), published in Berlin in 1892. Nordau, the son of a Budapest rabbi, had trained as a medical doctor, traveled widely, and finally settled in Paris in the 1870s, where he became a prolific pamphleteer. In the two volumes of Degeneration, he denounced as degenerate the Parnassians, the Symbolists, and the followers of Ibsen, Tolstoy, and Zola. Nordau interpreted artistic decadence as a sign of dangerous social decay. He recommended that fin de siècle artists be given medical examinations and their family trees scrutinized. "In nearly all cases," he wrote, "one would undoubtedly find degenerated parents or one of several symptoms, which put the diagnosis of degeneration beyond question." The pseudo-scientific identification of aesthetic decadence with biological degeneration, the most fateful step in the prehistory of the Nazi attack on avantgarde art, was forcefully made in Nordau's widely read book. By 1900 the ideological basis for the Nazi program of aesthetic eugenics was in place.
The purge of "degenerate art" in Nazi Germany depended upon very specific historical and cultural conditions. It occurred in a totalitarian state that had gained complete control not only of all public institutions serving the arts—museums, galleries, academies, and the press—but even of the private activities of the artists themselves: "degenerate" painters could simply be forbidden to paint. Such a purge could only succeed in a monolithic, parochial, even xenophobic society, and is thus unlikely to recur in the United States or Western Europe, where such conditions no longer prevail. About some other parts of the world, we cannot be so confident.
The neurotic obsession with the alleged moral and aesthetic "degeneration" of Weimar Germany befell a nation deeply unsettled by political and economic change. Much of German society, including the universities, the higher civil service, the army, and the middle class, especially small merchants and farmers, never accepted the defeat and collapse of the old order in 1918 or the establishment of the Weimar Republic, Germany's first truly democratic state. Nor had German society adjusted to corresponding developments that allowed "outsiders"—like the Social Democrats and the Jews—to gain power, equal rights and opportunities, and, in the case of…
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