text:
One of the horror genre's "most widely read critics" (Rue Morgue # 68), "an accomplished film journalist" (Comic Buyer's Guide #1535), and the award-winning author of Horror Films of the 1980s (2007), The Rock and Roll Film Encyclopedia (2007) and Horror Films of the 1970s (2002), John Kenneth Muir, presents his blog on film, television and nostalgia, named one of the Top 100 Film Studies Blog on the Net.
Saturday, January 19, 2013
Saturday Morning Cult-TV Blogging: Land of the Lost: "Hot-Air Artist" (October 30, 1976)
Every time I write something upbeat and positive about Land of the Lost's third season, I'm rewarded with a dreadful follow-up show like this one, "Hot-Air Artist."
Last week, I found "Flying Dutchman" atmospheric and creepy, and generally well-vetted, and here we get a story that follows precisely the same beats, only with a different guest star of the week.
In "Hot-Air Artist," a balloonist and adventurer, the self-important Colonel Roscoe Post (David Healey) arrives in the Land of the Lost through a hurricane-like vortex, and offers to take the Marshalls home on his journey, but only if they can help him repair his gondola and balloon. This mirrors Captain Van Der Mere's offer in last week's episode, with the Marshall's trading a negotiation with Malak (and a return of stolen items) for passage home.
But Post's offer of escape, like the Dutchman's, is not genuine. As the Dutchman secretly coveted Holly for companionship, Post here plans to escape from the Land of the Lost only with Chaka, whom he sees as a "missing link" and a kind of cash cow. He plans to exhibit the tiny Paku all over the world…at steep prices, and he even tricks Chaka into believing they will visit Pakuni cities together.
As in "Flying Dutchman," Jack perceives the threat at literally the last instant and arranges a rescue before the guest villain of the week can depart the Land of the Lost with an unwanted traveler. Here, Chaka jumps from the gondola in flight and escapes. Meanwhile, Post merrily flees the prehistoric terrain.
So, all the narrative points of "Hot-Air Artist" align exactly with those in "Flying Dutchman," making the the episode an absolute rerun, only with a balloon replacing a man-of-war, the blustery, self-important Post replacing Captain Van Der Mere, and Chaka replacing Holly. It's creative bankruptcy and its worst, and I would hasten to add that kids are quick to pick up on such things.
One tenet of Land of the Lost originally was that it would never talk down to its (resourceful) audience of children, instead fostering imagination with challenging tales of time loops, closed pocket universes and the like. I would argue that "Flying Dutchman," despite some continuity problems, lives up to that ideal since it concerns world mythology, but that "Hot-Air Artist," in recycling the same story just one week later, fails to do so.
Speaking of continuity problems, "Hot-Air Artist" has some weird touches. For instance, we see Sleestaks in the Library of Skulls tapping on human skulls as though they are drums. How did this particular ritual get started? And where did the human skulls from?
On the other hand, it's nice that Chaka takes a moment in the episode to remember "Stone Soup," A Rick Marshall creation from early in the season's run.
Finally, one just has to take a deep breath and acknowledge that visitors are arriving in the Land of the Lost willy-nilly now, with no pre-text of reason or rationality. We learned in the first two seasons that the Land maintains a constant sense of balance, and that for someone to enter Altrusia, someone must also leave…at the same time. Yet in two weeks here, we've had two visitors -- by sea and by air -- with no explanation whatsoever. At this point it seems that no one is even trying to be true to the series' stated history.
Dramatically-speaking, the original rule was smart writing. It meant that the Marshalls had very little chance of escape, unless they were able to balance the mechanisms of Altrusia. Under this new rule, people come and go all the time – Dutch Sea Captains, Hot Air Artists from the 1920s, and even Cowboys and Indians ("Medicine Man") and so it is tough to believe that given so many visitors and so many opportunities for escape the Marshalls always end up stuck.
Call it the "Gilligan's Island" effect.
Next week, another stinker: "Abominable Snowman."
Posted by John Kenneth Muir at 6:06 AM 1 comment:
Labels: 1970s, 1976, Land of the Lost, Saturday morning TV
Friday, January 18, 2013
From the Archive: Catfish (2010 )
Given the importance of "cat-fishing" in the current news cycle, I thought it might be interesting to feature this documentary review from the archive today.
In this case, the idea that a documentary may not be exactly what it claims simply mirrors the subject matter; the idea that Facebook and other social networks aren't venues of strict truth. As readers here well know, I steadfastly believe that cinema reaches an apex of quality when form echoes content, and so -- even if artificial to some extent -- Catfish passes that test. The film's ultimately questionable form echoes the questionable content of Megan, Angela, and Abby's online, electronic lives.
What's the take-away from Catfish? Perhaps only that human beings are strange, multi-faceted creatures, and that our Internet avatars are alter-egos that may represent many things, but not the totality of that human equation. Those online "lives" may represent fragments of a personality. Or projections of who we are...or would like to be. They can be manifestations of fantasy, desire, or, at times, of a need to escape unpleasant reality. But they, can't, finally, be the full person.
I've rarely seen a movie get at this relatively thoughtful and deep notion better than Catfish. To quote Yaniv, this movie may really "freak you out," or it may, unexpectedly, rouse in you deep feelings of...sympathy.
And the caution in the cautionary tale? The Internet is life all right, only it is life Photo-shopped.
Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman's documentary Catfish is a cautionary tale for the Internet Age, a compelling and yet surprisingly emotional reminder to not always believe everything you see online.
The controversial 2010 film is also a testament to how important the online or electronic experience has become to our society and our relationships in the twenty-first century, an epoch when you "sext" your prospective partner without ever having met her face-to-face, and when photos on Facebook are readily accepted as truthful identification of strangers.
Catfish depicts a strange and unnerving chapter in the life of successful New York photographer Yaniv Schulman, whose work was recently published in a prominent magazine.
Following that publication, Yaniv is contacted by 8-year old Abby Faccio, a child prodigy who produces a startling and life-like painting of his photo, and who, after that introduction, keeps sending him further gifts. Each package has a new painting in it, and more: T-shirts and the like.
As Yaniv's brother and friend -- the film's directors -- record him in his studio responding to Abby's unusual artistry, Yaniv is drawn deeper and deeper into her world. For instance, he learns of her beautiful and eccentric mother, Angela, and their home in Michigan. One day, a snowstorm there topples their 150-year old maple tree, and it has to be bulldozed. Yaniv reflects that their life sounds great "...at least from Facebook."
As Yaniv's brother and friend -- the film's directors -- record him in his studio responding to Abby's unusual artistry, Yaniv is drawn deeper and deeper into her world. For instance, he learns of her beautiful and eccentric mother, Angela, and their home in Michigan. One day, a snowstorm there topples their 150-year old maple tree, and it has to be bulldozed. Yaniv reflects that their life sounds great "...at least from Facebook."
And then, finally, Yaniv starts to develop a long-distance relationship with Megan, Abby's 19-year old sister. Megan, I should add, is a gorgeous ballet dancer who plays the cello and guitar, and rides horses on her farm.
|Recognize this face? It's Megan Faccio, or is it?
Soon, Yaniv is head-over-heels in love with a woman he has never met, and Catfish portrays this budding romance in totally electronic terms, with a dazzling flurry of images and posts on Facebook, with IM chats, music downloads, and even some establishing shot imagery that purposefully suggests the layout of Google Maps.
YouTube makes an important appearance in the film too. We get extreme close-ups of Internet transmission buttons reading "Send" and "Confirm." The impression is instant connection, not to mention instant gratification.
But Yaniv's keyboard love life comes into question unexpectedly when he learns that the songs Megan has downloaded on Facebook and represented as her own work are actually already on YouTube; the recordings of other artists.
Appropriately, the photographer begins to suspect that there is much more going on than meets the eye, and commences a road trip to Michigan (with his filmmaker friends, naturally...) to meet Megan, Angela and Abby face-to-face. He wants to know if he's been lied to. He wants to know if the Faccios are "complete psychopaths."
To tell you anything further about Catfish would probably ruin the effect of the film's heartfelt, even devastating third act. But suffice it to say, before you learn the "secret" of Megan, Angela and Abby Faccio, these documentarians wring significant anxiety and mystery out of their cautionary tale.
A 2:00 am, thick-of-the-night stop at an apparently abandoned horse farm supposedly belonging to Megan will have you on the edge of your seat, simply because you have no idea what to expect. And once it is established that dishonesty is involved with the Facebook profiles, the movie makes the most with very little in terms of budget and location, causing you to wonder how strange, diabolical, or weird the journey's destination and resolution might be. This is a brilliant feint, especially given the film's valedictory moments.
I wrote above that Catfish is controversial, and that's because many people (including some critics) don't believe it is a legitimate documentary. Rather, they believe that elements of the film (particularly how things are set-up in the first half) are deliberately staged.
I will state, unequivocally, that there is no way that anything that occurs in the third act could possibly be staged, or faked.
Rather, it is one of the most unexpected, heart-rending twists you could rightly imagine, and no conventional Hollywood narrative would have dared taken this distinctly un-glamorous direction. The person who is the subject of this third act, in that Michigan house, does not give a movie performance; but delivers - staggeringly - the entirety of a real personality; of an individual life. She presents everything that Facebook, MySpace, or Twitter can't, even at their pinnacle. This human portrait that ends the film is so powerful it takes the breath away.
Whether any part of Catfish is faked may be of great interest for the historical record, but ultimately it doesn't matter in terms of how well the movie works.
In this case, the idea that a documentary may not be exactly what it claims simply mirrors the subject matter; the idea that Facebook and other social networks aren't venues of strict truth. As readers here well know, I steadfastly believe that cinema reaches an apex of quality when form echoes content, and so -- even if artificial to some extent -- Catfish passes that test. The film's ultimately questionable form echoes the questionable content of Megan, Angela, and Abby's online, electronic lives.
|Romance via Photoshop.
I've rarely seen a movie get at this relatively thoughtful and deep notion better than Catfish. To quote Yaniv, this movie may really "freak you out," or it may, unexpectedly, rouse in you deep feelings of...sympathy.
And the caution in the cautionary tale? The Internet is life all right, only it is life Photo-shopped.
Posted by John Kenneth Muir at 7:07 AM No comments:
Thursday, January 17, 2013
X-Files 20th Anniversary Blogging: "Pilot" (September 10, 1993)
The X-Files' first episode, "Pilot" written by Chris Carter and directed by Robert Mandel, remains a strong introduction to this classic horror/sci-fi series. The inaugural installment not only presents an intriguing mystery and introduces audiences to engaging characters caught up in life-changing events, it also presents a first and ominous peek at the dark forces aligned against the protagonists, and against "the truth" itself.
But even better, the X-Files "Pilot" is skillful in the manner by which it deploys (and co-opts) horror imagery or symbolism. I admire The X-Files for many reasons, including the overall structure, which permits viewers to gaze at every mystery of the paranormal through the twin lenses of skepticism and belief, the strong writing, which resonates on a deep, philosophical level, and the powerful chemistry between the lead actors. But I also appreciate the clever presentation of the "monsters" and other horror tropes because Chris Carter and his team have re-purposed and updated them for modern consumption. You can see this quality in the series' non-romantic, non-glamorous approach to vampires ("3" or "Bad Blood,") for instance.
The series' pilot episode commences this pattern, selecting from over a hundred-and-fifty years of horror literature and nearly a hundred years of horror cinema some very iconic imagery that it converts to its own narrative purpose. In the process, it infuses that imagery and literature with scintillating new meaning and enhanced relevance for the nineties.
"Welcome to the FBI's most unwanted…"
The X-Files pilot follows a young, brilliant F.B.I. agent Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) as she is summoned to meet Section Chief Blevins (Charles Cioffi). He gives her a new assignment: partnering with "spooky" Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) on the unit called "The X-Files," which is devoted to strange, unsolved, even inexplicable cases.
At first, Mulder is suspicious of Scully presence, believing she has been sent to spy and/or debunk his work. They bond, however, on their first case, which takes them to Bellefleur, Oregon. There, four high school students have died under unusual circumstances, with strange markings found on their corpses. The latest victim is Karen Swenson.
Mulder and Scully order the body of the third victim, Ray Soames, exhumed, and find a deformed body in the casket…a body that could be that of an orangutan...or an extra-terrestrial. During an examination, Scully finds a strange implant embedded in the creature's nasal cavity.
After the partners experience an incident of "missing time," Mulder suspects that the students are alien abductees, but all the evidence they have to support that case is soon destroyed in a suspicious fire. When Scully reports back to Blevins, she produces the only remaining evidence…the implant.
Soon after the investigation, a mysterious Cigarette-Smoking Man (William B. Davis) takes the implant device and deposits it inside a vast, secret warehouse-like facility…in the Pentagon.
"I'm not a part of any agenda…"
As a series, The X-Files begins with two intriguing and unmistakable nods to horror film convention.
The first is an on-screen "card" with white lettering and black background. It establishes that the following story is, in some sense, true, or at least adapted from true "documented accounts."
This is the same "based on a true story" gambit utilized by genre efforts as diverse as The Last House on the Left (1972), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), Picnic at Hanging Rock, and Return of the Living Dead (1985) to name just a few.
This is the same "based on a true story" gambit utilized by genre efforts as diverse as The Last House on the Left (1972), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), Picnic at Hanging Rock, and Return of the Living Dead (1985) to name just a few.
|Title Card: Last House on the Left.
|Title Card: The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
|Title Card: Picnic at Hanging Rock.
|Title Card: Return of the Living Dead.
|Title Card: The X-Files: "Pilot."
The presentation of the title card is also a call-back to genre history, and TV series such as One Step Beyond (1959 – 1961), a horror anthology which dramatized tales of the paranormal (including, even, alien abduction in an episode titled "Encounter.") The title card essentially classifies The X-Files as a series that plans to have one foot in fact, and one in fiction. It is a development or evolution of series like One Step Beyond and Beyond Reality (1991 – 1993), however, because of its focus on hard science, and new investigative techniques.
|The Gothic, Enchanted Forest.
|The Gothic, Enchanted Forest #2.
This opening sequence establishes a few important and meaningful details.
First is the idea -- found routinely in the series -- that The X-Files is dead-set on re-purposing old horror monsters and horror imagery and subverting or altering that imagery to make it relevant again in the contemporary nineties culture. Over the years, the series featured encounters with vampires ("Bad Blood"), werewolves ("Shapes"), demons ("Terms of Endearment) and even a "post-modern" take on Shelley's Frankenstein ("Post-Modern Prometheus.") The old monsters were made new again, and thus more meaningful to the culture.
The endangered woman in the diaphanous white dress (a symbol of purity), pursued by some ghoulish figure who is so reprehensible that Nature Itself rebels in its presence represents a key paradigm of Gothic Literature. In a sense, it is the most basic image of horror: the monster in pursuit of the damsel.
Secondly, this scene establishes that the wild -- or an "enchanted" forest, in particular -- is a key setting for horror. And indeed, The X-Files would often to return to this brand of "wilderness" during its nine year run (in episodes as diverse as "Darkness Falls" and "Detour.")
But again, the setting also provides an explicit link to the American past, carried right into the American present. From Nathaniel Hawthorne's Young Goodman Brown (1835) and Charles Brocken Brown's Wieland (1789) right up through David Lynch's Twin Peaks (1991) and its demonic Black Lodge, the forest has been the anxious location of danger and mystery in the American psyche.
Immediately, The X-Files inscribes the next chapter in that link, tying the forest not specifically to the devil or dark spirits, as was the case with both Hawthorne and Lynch, but with an inexplicable, modern phenomenon, alien abduction.
Again, this idea boasts very clear antecedents. Wieland concerns strange lights in a forest, the paranormal phenomenon of spontaneous combustion, and "modern" psychological disorders such as schizophrenia (played out through the new art of "ventriloquism"). That tale is in every way as cutting edge in terms of science and "belief" for 1789 as The X-Files is in 1993.
Again, this idea boasts very clear antecedents. Wieland concerns strange lights in a forest, the paranormal phenomenon of spontaneous combustion, and "modern" psychological disorders such as schizophrenia (played out through the new art of "ventriloquism"). That tale is in every way as cutting edge in terms of science and "belief" for 1789 as The X-Files is in 1993.
In much broader terms, The X-Files is "Gothic" in another fashion. Gothic Literature is often described as the Romantic response to the Enlightenment. It is a "belief" response to "science" and technological advancement, in other words. Gothic stories often involve a "tug-of-war" between these ideals with the prize being the soul of the protagonist. Plainly, one can see that tug-of-war played out in both Scully and Mulder.
They are both incomplete personalities, whose world-views -- with their inherent limitations -- can't complete them. Mulder is the believer who attempts to use science to validate his (sometimes wild) beliefs. Scully is the skeptic who can brook no belief beyond the parameters of accepted, consensus reality and empirical science. They wage a tug of war not only with each other, but with themselves, specifically about what kind of world they live in. Is it one of miracles and monsters (Romantic)? Or is it one of science and rationality (Enlightenment)?
In a sense then, The X-Files recreates the very context of another historical age: The Victorian Age.
If you read Bram Stoker's Dracula (1897), that epistolary novel concerns, in broad-strokes the collision of the new age of "science" (represented by typewriters, film, and hypnosis, among other things), with an irrational or romantic threat from the past: the magical, exotic (and foreign) threat of Count Dracula.
With its cutting-edge 1990s science, setting and investigative techniques The X-Files similarly places its heroes in direct conflict with things that seem magic because they can't be proved. These things would similarly be described as magical, exotic or foreign because they originate from another world, the mists of prehistory, or genetic mutation.
With its cutting-edge 1990s science, setting and investigative techniques The X-Files similarly places its heroes in direct conflict with things that seem magic because they can't be proved. These things would similarly be described as magical, exotic or foreign because they originate from another world, the mists of prehistory, or genetic mutation.
Interestingly, the first few seasons of The X-Files also focus intently on Mulder and Scully typing away field reports for their FBI superior on their (now-antiquated) PCs, a touch that actually mirrors the epistolary structure of Stoker's work. In that case, Dracula's story is told through letters, communiques, newspaper headlines and other messaging venues. On The X-Files, Mulder and Scully seem to constantly be writing e-chronicles of their competing interpretations of strange events.
|An epistolary structure, like Stoker's Dracula?
If one considers the Victorian Age to be Pax Brittanica, a time when England experienced prosperity because of colonial imports from Europe and Asia, and developed new technologies at homes (Kodak cameras, and early motion picture devices such as "cinematographs"), then one may also be tempted to look at the Age of the X-Files -- the Age of Bill Clinton -- as a version of Pax Americana. Technological advance came in the form of the Internet, and that decade saw the dawn not of colonialism, but globalism (consider, NAFTA, for example).
Yet in both the Victorian Age and the Clinton Age, many people began to suffer a spiritual ennui, and experienced worry about the "mechanical" de-humanization of "modern" civilization and the loss of racial/cultural identity. How could a single Age accommodate both the miracle of surgery and the terror of Jack the Ripper? The science of Darwin and the magic of Dracula?
Or for that matter, how could the World Wide Web and Jeffrey Dahmer exist side-by-side?
Or for that matter, how could the World Wide Web and Jeffrey Dahmer exist side-by-side?
Essentially, The X-Files represents a new Gothic paradigm in which Enlightenment and Romanticism ideals compete again and go one more round, each trying to gain a foothold. Whereas Dracula could transform into the form of wind, fog, thunder, owls, bats, wolves or foxes, consider the myriad villains of The X-Files. They too are atmospheric ("D.P.O.") in nature, or hail from the natural world. There were bats ("Patience"), wolves ("Alpha") and other strange, quasi-natural menaces to challenge Scully and Mulder. These monsters were re-assertions of the Romantic Ideal in a world that was apparently enlightened.
If one is so inclined, certainly one can gaze the prologue in "Pilot" and see that it serves as a kind of metaphor for the entire series, for the new debate between science and superstition, knowledge and faith.
The final imagery of "Pilot" may seem familiar for another reason. It appears a deliberate homage to Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981). In that Steven Spielberg film, the Lost Ark of the Covenant (a symbol, once more of Romanticism) is tucked away by 20th century man in a place where it can't threaten Enlightenment, inside a giant, endless warehouse.
At the end of The X-Files' pilot, The Cigarette-Smoking Man is depicted depositing a symbol of apparent Romanticism (but actually of Enlightenment…or the Truth) inside a similar warehouse…actually the Pentagon, where it will remain, essentially, buried.
In both cases, the one who buries important knowledge is the U.S. Government. However, in the conspiracy-heavy age of the 1990s, that act of hiding the truth is much more important in The X-Files than it is in Raiders.
terms of The X-Files history and overall arc "Pilot" also functions on a very
practical, very efficient level. It ably
introduces the players, the stakes, and investigative milieu. Although Anderson and Duchovny have not yet
entirely nailed down the staccato, rat-a-tat back-and-forth delivery that makes
the series such a perennial joy, it is safe to say that the actors share an
immediate chemistry. They circle each other in "Pilot" with suspicion, curiosity, and ultimately, fascination.
In both cases, the one who buries important knowledge is the U.S. Government. However, in the conspiracy-heavy age of the 1990s, that act of hiding the truth is much more important in The X-Files than it is in Raiders.
|Raiders of the Lost Ark, denouement (1981).
|The X-Files "Pilot," denouement.
One scene, in particular, stands out regarding the development of the relationship. Late in the proceedings, Scully believes she has been "branded" with the same strange marks of the other victims, following an incident of missing time. Anxious, she runs to Mulder and with almost no self-consciousness at all, disrobes before him so he can determine the nature of those marks. This all happens in candle-light.
The writing and performances here are so elegant, because Mulder responds to this gesture of trust not with lust or humor, but with vulnerability of his own. He lets down his emotional guard, and tells Scully the story of how he lost his sister, Samantha, possibly to alien abduction.
In this scene, all the science, all the paranormal explanations, all the intimations of cogovernment nspiracy slip away and we are left simply with two vulnerable people connecting in a meaningful way. What I find so intriguing about this scene is the manner of connection. Stereotypically -- at least in terms of television history -- it would be the man who offers a physical gesture, while the woman would open up "emotionally."
Again, I wrote stereotypically, so don't call me sexist. In some sense, The X-Files seems to reverse the industry-standard dynamic between men and women in its pilot, allowing Mulder emotional vulnerability, in particular. David Duchovny noted once that "I think the male/female roles are switched…Mulder is more intuitive, working from his emotions, his gut instinct. Scully is more practical." (Neil Blincow, Rob Lowing, Andrew Seidenfeld, Cult Times #12: "21st Century Fox," September 1996, page 11).
This scene may be the first example we can point to in the series of that particular dynamic. One of the aspects of the series we'll be looking at in this 20th anniversary retrospective is the Scully/Mulder relationship, bboth in terms of symbolism and gender dynamics, and this scene is perhaps our first "key" to understanding.
Finally, I can't complete a look back at the pilot episode of The X-Files without noting how it picks up the battle cry of Kolchak: The Night Stalker (1974 – 1975). That series featured a journalist in the immediate aftermath of Watergate trying desperately to make the "dangerous" truth known to the public In Carl Kolchak's battle against City Hall, he never got that truth out…that monsters exist and prey on citizens at all levels of society.
Instead of adopting a journalist as its truth-teller, The X-Files puts forward someone of imagination (Mulder) and someone of science (Scully) as heralds. This shift certainly reflects changing attitudes about the press in the 1990s, the decade that Fox News came into being, and also the changing attitudes about the kind of evidence that would be acceptable to the public. The eyewitness reports of Carl Kolchak had to morph into the autopsies, DNA analyses, and behavioral profiles preferred by Scully and Mulder.
Next week for our continuing X-Files retrospective, I look back at our first freak or monster of the week, the genetic mutant Tooms, in "Squeeze." Stay tuned.
Posted by John Kenneth Muir at 6:06 AM 11 comments:
Labels: Chris Carter, The X-Files
Wednesday, January 16, 2013
Memory Bank: Starroid Raiders (1978 - 1981?)
My beloved Granny, also known, by her friends as Tippi, passed away in 2007 after a failed heart surgery. But today, I still possess a lifetime of fond memories of her, especially from my early childhood.
Tippi was a funny character, both a bragging Texan and a gorgeous pin-up model in the days of World War II . By the time I knew her, however, she was in her sixties had an absolutely terrible time keeping track of the toys I wanted for my birthday or Christmas. Not that it was an easy task to keep track of all that stuff given my affection for everything sci-fi rom Star Trek and Space: 1999 to Buck Rogers and Battlestar Galactica.
In the immediate aftermath of Star Wars (1977), for instance, a world of knock-off toys were released, flooding the market and perpetually confusing senior citizens who were trying to figure what it was all about.
Of course, I always wanted authentic Kenner Star Wars figures for my collection, but because of my beloved granny, I kept ending up with the knock-offs, including a weird line called...Starroid Raiders.
These small action figures from Tomland had several points of articulation and came with accessories such as blasters and light swords. One weird quality about them, that I recall, is that the figures all had soft, over-sized heads that could, rather easily, be pulled out of their neck slots. And they were all aliens of unknown variety. It was thus difficult to be certain which were supposed to be good, and which were supposed to be evil.
The Starroid Raiders had hard-to-remember names such as "Aton," "Haza," "Newt" (presumably not Gingrich...) "Papi," "Tior" and "Koga." I have memories of owning Koga, in particular. I believe he was my first Starroid Raider. But over several holiday seasons, I kept getting more of these figures from my Granny…even though I didn't really want them.
What's worse is that year after year, I kept getting these figures under new, less-creative brand names. I believe Tomland also released similar figures in the ensuing years as Space Raiders and Space Fighters. I think they also released a ship called "Space Hawk" under the name "Star Force," which looked like a mold of the Colonial Viper from Battlestar Galactica, only it boasted (detachable) upper wings as well as lowers ones, and a slightly different snub-nose configuration.
The great irony of my collection of Starroid Raiders -- which I no longer possess -- is that today they are considered incredibly valuable collectibles, and fetch unbelievably high prices on E-Bay. I really wish I had kept my collection, but in my teenage years I had no idea they would eventually be anything other than sorta cheap Star Wars knock-offs.
So today, I want to thank Tippie for giving me all those action figures, and for being ahead of the curve with all those Starroid Raiders toys.
Posted by John Kenneth Muir at 3:03 PM No comments:
Labels: 1970s, collectible of the week
Collectible of the Week: Space 1999 Adventure Playset (Amsco/MB 1975)
I first featured the Amsco Cardboard Adventure Sets of the 1970s here on my blog way back on September 29, 2005. But, every now and then -- especially if the toy is Space: 1999 related -- I enjoy hauling out a collectible a second time.
So today, I'm once again featuring the Space: 1999 Cardboard Adventure Playset, with some new photographs I just snapped.
A little background: In the early-to-mid 1970s, Amsco and Milton Bradley cooperated to produce four cardboard play-sets (for Marvel Comics, Planet of the Apes, The Waltons and Space:1999 ). These giant Amsco dioramas were packaged in large, attractive and colorful rectangular boxes, were produced from "durable" cardboard, and were advertised as "fun to assemble,"
The kit you see pictured comes from Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's outer space epic, Space:1999 (1975 -1977) and is a diorama of the lunar installation, Moonbase Alpha.
The kit you see pictured comes from Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's outer space epic, Space:1999 (1975 -1977) and is a diorama of the lunar installation, Moonbase Alpha.
As you can see, there's a landing pad, a cross-section of Moonbase Alpha's interior, including Main Mission Tower, a yellow moon-buggy, and plenty of cardboard representations of characters and aliens. Also, the set comes with two Eagle spacecraft and two nuclear charges, the latter for detonating asteroids.
The heroes in the Space:1999 set are made in the likenesses of Martin Landau's Commander John Koenig, Barbara Bain's Helena Russell, Barry Morse's Professor Victor Bergman and even Clifton Jones' David Kano. Unfortunately, the set was produced pre-Maya, so there's no Catherine Schell figure here.
One thing I enjoy about this particular set is that some effort was made towards accuracy in terms of the figure personalities (if not the Moonbase interiors). For instance, three cardboard figures in the Space:1999 set are aliens directly from Year One episodes.
Peter Cushing's Raan, from "Missing Link" is here with his daughter, Vanna. The popular and horrifying octopus-like monster from "Dragon's Domain" is featured as well (with a puddle of drool/goo...). Even the scorched Zoref (Ian McShane) from the episode, "Force of Life" is included in the set.
The Alphan figures can inhabit the base, and even ride a working elevator from one level to the next. One door in the interior leads right out to the docking port, where the docked Eagle is stationed. One figure is a blond astronaut, who I insist is actually Captain Alan Carter (Nick Tate), although his hair isn't quite right.
When I turn fifty, I plan on selling a large range of my prized collectibles as part of my retirement investment plan (since freelance writers don't get 401Ks or pensions…), but I don't know that I can bring myself to sell this Amsco toy -- it was an anniversary gift from my wife -- or the other Space: 1999 collectibles. We shall see...
Posted by John Kenneth Muir at 6:06 AM 2 comments:
Labels: 1970s, amsco, collectible of the week, Space 1999
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
Cult-Movie Review: House at the End of the Street (2012)
Note: Below there be spoilers a plenty. Proceed accordingly.
House at the End of the Street's narrative feels like it arose from the early 1960s (think Psycho), and the film is titled as if it emerged from the 1970s (think Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane or Last House on the Left).
Alas, the film's questionable execution is very much a product of today's slick filmmaking culture, trading on tricks, gimmicks, and hollow, surface values.
In short, this is one of the shallowest horror films imaginable, so much so that in its final moments House at the End of the Street actually encourages shallowness. The movie's final message is -- undeniably, given the film's symbolism -- don't look for layers of meaning in life or in other people, look only at surfaces.
Don't reject the mob mentality. Be the Mob Mentality.
This pitiless commentary is all the more shameful given that the first half-hour of the film actually reveals genuine promise, working hard to develop distinctive human characters and intriguing conflicts.
By the time of the third act, however -- when a veteran police officer goes into a dangerous house without calling for back-up, and the killer rises from the dead for one last kill -- House at the End of the Street finds itself on automatic pilot, driven entirely by creaky clichés and genre conventions.
"I think this place is going to be really good for us."
House at the End of the Street finds single-mom Sarah (Elisabeth Shue) and her teenage daughter, Elyssa (Jennifer Lawrence) moving into a new home in a new town. The rent is cheap, and that's because just across the way an old, dilapidated house blots the landscape. It is home to the shattered Jacobsen family, which suffered a terrible incident there some years earlier.
Specifically, the Jacobsen girl, Carrie Ann went on a killing spree one dark and stormy night, murdering her Mother and Father. Only Carrie Ann's brother, Ryan (Max Theriot) survived, though urban legends suggest that Carrie Ann is still out there "somewhere." Today, the college-age Ryan is the town pariah -- shunned by school mates and dismissed by neighbors because his presence lowers their property values.
Elyssa begins to develop a friendship with Ryan, who is sensitive and sweet, but secretive. Sarah grows enraged at her daughter's new relationship with the derided outsider, and asks the local police sheriff, Weaver (Gil Bellows) about Ryan. Weaver knows that the entire community hates Ryan, but notes that he has always stood up for the boy in the name of fairness and decency.
As Elyssa grows close to Ryan, she learns a deadly secret about him. Carrie Ann may not be dead. In fact, there is a room in Ryan's basement…where an adolescent girl is locked up…
"They like to bitch about him and their property values…"
In broad terms House at the End of the Street attempts to ape Psycho's creative equation, but without any of the shocks or surprises we associate with Hitchcock's landmark film.
For instance, this film possesses no surprise on a par with Marion Crane's death, and no shock on a par with the bloody shower murder. Instead, House at the End of the Street plays it safe so far as gore and violence, and thus lacks much visceral punch. Adding insult to injury, the film's final sequence -- with a camera prowling an asylum corridor and falling upon on an insane character's visage -- is a direct call-back to the Hitchcock classic.
Now, there is a way that House at the End of the Street might have worked, I submit.
Conceivably, the film could thrive as a kind of high-minded, meditative character study instead of a psychological thriller. But for that approach to work, the writing would have to be sterling. And, simply put, it isn't. The characters don't have enough depth, and they frequently spout clichés such as Shue's dreadful line that she just knows the new house will be good for the family. Ugh.
How many times have we heard a character make that silly comment in a horror movie before?
Thus House at the End of the Street is not surprising enough to authentically tantalize, and not smart enough to play on a deep, intellectual playing field. Instead, it clumsily plods along its sullen way, only vaguely coughing up moments of interest.
Worse, there's no indication in this film why Jennifer Lawrence is such a special talent. She sleepwalks through her performance here, making few if any interesting choices in terms of her characterization. I write that as someone who was wowed by her performance in The Hunger Games.
Yet in the final analysis, House at the End of the Street goes from being merely a mediocre film experience to an absolutely insulting one because of the way it ultimately chooses to expresses its theme.
I noted in my introduction how House at the End of the Street encourages shallowness. This quality of the film can be seen in the way characters respond to the outsider/misfit, Ryan, and how they, in turn, are treated for their unsympathetic attitudes and actions.
Two characters in the film show sympathy and humanity towards Ryan. One is the police officer, Weaver. His trust is repaid by Ryan with bloody murder. Weaver sticks his neck out for the boy, and the boy repays him with a bloody end.
Elyssa, similarly, puts herself on the line for Ryan and is rewarded for her humanity with torture, pain and suffering.
By contrast, the townspeople completely shun Ryan, and this point-of-view is shared by Sarah, Elissa's mother. She invites Ryan over for dinner one night just so she can, essentially, read him the riot act and throw him out. She doesn't trust him. She spies on Ryan, and sets the police on him.
But here's the point: the movie's violent events validate the viewpoint of suspicion and even paranoia.
Weaver and Elyssa were wrong to give Ryan the benefit of the doubt, and Sarah was right to be distrustful. Ryan was a monster all along!
And the mob out to get Ryan? On some level it somehow knew he was "wrong" inside.
By making Ryan the film's reprehensible irredeemable, unreachable villain, House at the End of the Street validates bullying and paranoid behavior. It's okay to pick on someone if he's wrong, doesn't wear the right clothes, drives an old car, or his house brings down property values.
Now, some of you may insist I'm reading too much into the film. I might agree with that assessment if the story stuck merely to the general twists and turns I enumerate above without underlining the thematic through-line I've pointed out. The narrative's outcome -- that Ryan is a monster -- need not necessarily be seen as a vindication of Sarah's parochial, prejudiced view point.
But the film goes out of its way to provide an explicit metaphor so that there is no other way to see the outcome.
Specifically, half-way through the film, Ryan informs Elyssa that everything in the world has a "secret." To prove his point, he takes her to a gnarled tree on his overgrown property. He asks her to look at it. She stares at the tree for a good long time, and finally sees something new, something previously undetectable. There is a shape on the tree that looks like a human face. But you can only detect that hidden face if you are willing to really study the tree, to really look below the surface of things.
At the end of the film, after Ryan is revealed as a monster, Elyssa returns to that self-same tree and asks her Mom, Sarah, what she sees.
Sarah replies, deadpan, "a tree."
End of story.
The lesson, of course, is that it is better to be a person who can only see the tree, and not anything underneath, anything of deeper value.
By seeing only the tree, you spare yourself the discomfort of a three-dimensional world view.
The movie actually -- incredibly -- makes spectacularly explicit the notion that Elyssa's journey has been to assure that in the future she will conform to the narrowness of her yucky, well-to-do neighbors, classmates and Mom, and not attempt to help people who don't share her socio-economic demographic.
It's better to be with "dick-holes" to co-opt the movie's terminology, than to face the possibility that by probing beneath the surface, you might find something unpleasant or difficult to contend with.
This is one of those cases where it's not about "reading too much" into a film. The tree metaphor is undeniably presents for all to see, understand, and process. Thus House at the End of the Street encourages conformity, group-think and superficiality.
Early on, I felt the film wasn't going to go that way. Sarah was positioned in the drama as a flawed character that could not seemingly trust her daughter, and could not see that Elyssa's desire to treat people like Ryan humanely was a great quality…one all parents should instill in their children. But instead, the film completely validates Sarah's narrow, parochial point of view. She becomes the hero for sticking to her guns and only seeing "the tree."
You can't rescue all those misfits, honey. Better not to try. Those misfits can hurt you. Now how about another glass of red wine?
I have rarely, if ever, encountered such a despicable message in a mainstream horror movie, and one so easy to pinpoint to a specific moment within the film's text (the tree symbolism).
One of the qualities that I love so much about horror in general is that the genre has often demonstrated sympathy for outsiders, misfits, and the monsters (think King Kong, The Frankenstein Monster or even Leatherface in his original incarnation). They may be villains, monsters, and killers. They may need to be punished. But they are worthy of our humanity, our mercy, and our understanding.
As soon as we lose those qualities of empathy and compassion, we are the monsters.
But by House at the End of the Street's reckoning, a wounded, abused kid like Ryan got what was coming to him, the little bastard.
This is a movie that replaces human values with property values, and thinks that's a fair exchange.
Posted by John Kenneth Muir at 6:06 AM 4 comments:
Labels: 2012, cult-movie review
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)


text:
About Us
Dr. Jeff Downs graduated from Texas Chiropractic Clinic in 1994 and has worked and resided in nearby Houston communities. Dr. Downs joined the Lowman Chiropractic Practice in 2006 to enhance Dr. Lowman's abilities to provide both professional and personal services to thousands of patients keeping their wellbeing in mind. Dr. Downs expressly provided the philosophies and practices that Dr. Lowman had provided over 35 years. Additionally, Dr. Downs enhanced the Clinic by adding additional and more modern equipment where the patient's needs were of utmost consideration. Dr Downs is pleased to have been able to provide professional care to Dr. Lowman's family, friends and patients. The Downs and Lowman Chiropractic Clinic has earned the reputation of "A Family Oriented Clinic ".
Dr. Downs and the entire staff of Downs and Lowman Chiropractic Center commit to their Mission Statement. "OUR PERSONAL CONCERN: YOUR HEALTH & YOUR WELLBEING". Therefore we only accept those patients whom we sincerely believe we can help.
Downs and Lowman Chiropractic Center in Sealy, Texas is located at 323 Fowlkes Street. This new Healthcare & Wellness Facility was specifically designed with the patient's wellbeing in mind. Dr. Downs quotes: "I feel strongly moving our Chiropractic Clinic to the Downtown Sealy District was a natural long-term correct decision for our patients ".Downs and Lowman Chiropractic Clinic additionally has a professional staff of Associates providing not only smiling, happy faces but positive attitudes to assist in providing the community a "HOMETOWN ATMOSPHERE". Barbara Downs has expressed this attitude and commitment and personal attention to patients for over 35 years. This personal type of service has enabled Barbara to be considered by most patients as a mother, sister, daughter and friend. Rosa and Linda are newer Associates who already are proving to be valuable assets.
Dr. Downs made a commitment to Dr. Lowman to provide professional care with compassion and integrity to all patients as he joined the Downs and Lowman Chiropractic Clinic in 2006. This commitment has been maintained.
"FEEL BETTER, LIVE BETTER, BE HAPPY "!!! We look forward to assisting all our patients who wish to pursue this goal.
Our hours of operation: Open 5 days weekly Please call for specific hours: Sealy Chiropractic Clinic: 979-885-7484
Copyright © 2012 Downs and Lowman Chiropractic

subset: commoncrawl


text:
E-mail this image
UConn Vs. No. 1 Louisville
Louisville Cardinals guard Peyton Siva drives past UConn forward DeAndre Daniels, left, before dishing off in front of UConn forward Tyler Olander (10) and guard Omar Calhoun during the second half Monday night at the XL Center. Siva scored 11 points and had 4 assists in a 73-58 Louisville victory. Daniels (2) scored 9 points and grabbed 5 rebounds while Calhoun (R) scored 20 points but had 6 turnovers on the night.
January 14, 2013


text:
Course Listings for Fall 2012
HR 3060 : Buddhist Japanese III
Instructor(s): Kurioka
Units: 3.0
Time: Wednesday (monthly dates TBD) 2:00PM - 6:00PM Course Level: Intermediate
Classroom: TBD
This course introduces high intermediate Japanese grammar. It is focused on understanding compound and complex sentences. We also analyze why subjects and phrases are omitted in typical Japanese sentences. Students will acquire the knowledge of multiple language equivalents (Skt., Ch., Tib.) and corresponding concepts within Buddhist thought. Students will build upon knowledge of Buddhist terminology and kanji. NOTE: This course will meet in-person one Wednesday a month, from 2pm-6pm. Course format: Lecture. Evaluation: Participation/exam. Auditors with faculty permission.


text: Window Rock, Arizona is located in Apache County. Window Rock has a population of 2,738 and has shown -2.9% growth since 2000. Of the 828 households in Window Rock, 41.3% are owned, 45.9% are rented and 13% are not currently occupied. The median age of homes in Window Rock is 19 years and 22.0% of the homes have been occupied by the same residents for more than 5 years. Learn more about Window Rock, Arizona real estate at coldwellbanker.com.


text:
Item #07781
The regal walnut finish of this ceiling fixture is an exquisite way to add light to your sunroom. Crafted to weather the elements for years, this lighting fixture will become a family favorite. Buy yours today.
Product Details
Home Decorators Collection
4675 East Liberty St.
Mexico, MO 65265-9804
Buckingham Outdoor Wall Lantern
$151 - 649
Solaris Chandelier
$229.00 - 499.00
Hamilton Vanity
Keys Vanity
Haverford Semi-Flush Mount
Was: $149.00
Now: $103.99


text:
The Blueberry farm is for Sale!
Open Home:
Sunday 13th April - 2pm to 3 pm
In this beautiful organic property you can pick your own blueberries
Located in the picturesque Akatarawa Valley, 30 min north of Wellington on the road to Staglands
Enjoy a day of wholesome fun with friends and family
(5 min from the Upper Hutt Caltex Petrol station in SH2)
Our address?
1229 Akatarawa Road
If you are interested in owning this beautiful property, please contact The Professionals Upper Hutt at one of these links:
Are we open?
Yes!! :-)
Weekends only from 9am to 5pm
We have heaps of blueberries
Our driveway is shared with another blueberry field operator, so make sure you keep left to get to our organic certified blueberries and glorious swimming hole in the river.
Price of blueberries is $25 / Kg
And remember, even if you accidentally picked too much, you only pay for what you want to take with you :-)
We look forward to seeing you again!!
*** The latest status ***
12th April 2014
Getting to the farm
At the top of the driveway
keep left
At the bottom of the driveway
keep left
Follow the driveway straight for 200 meters until you see our parking area


text:
HARTSVILLE, SC (February 3, 2011) — Women's Care of Hartsville announced today that it has acquired a new, state-of-the-art Volume Ultrasound system from GE Healthcare which will help improve the quality of health care in women's health, gynecological, prenatal and other clinical applications. The Voluson 730 system will enable Women's Care of Hartsville's physicians, Dr. Scott Daniel, Dr. Michelle Quaye and Dr. Leroy Robinson, to explore patient images in any plane, reveal the smallest details and acquire and construct volumetric images in real-time with stunning clarity.
"Ultrasound is widely recognized for its clinical use in obstetrics and gynecology. Volume Ultrasound with real-time motion is a new, powerful tool that can aid our physicians in detecting anomalies in the fetus as well as problems related to a woman's uterus and ovaries," explains Dr. Michelle Quaye.
Traditional ultrasound images are two-dimensional, forcing clinicians to create three-dimensional images in their minds. The Voluson 730 system will allow Women's Care of Hartsville's physicians to see images in 3D and in greater detail, in a safe and generally non-invasive way, when a 2-D diagnosis indicates suspected abnormalities that need to be more closely scrutinized.
"Two-dimensional ultrasound images can be difficult for patients to understand," says Dr. Scott Daniel. "But with our new Volume Ultrasound system, it's very easy to show our patients what we are seeing inside their bodies, from an abnormality to expectant parents having a sonogram in the course of their pregnancy term."
"The Voluson 730 will also be useful to our physicians in examining the fetal heart, or for studying any abnormalities that may exist in the womb," says Dr. Leroy Robinson. In this way, heart defects can be diagnosed in the womb and appropriate treatments can be planned and then administered at birth.
"Our new Voluson 730 system opens a whole world of possibilities," adds Dr. Robinson. "The combination of real-time motion and three-dimensional images improves our quality of care while boosting patient confidence. It's an amazing new technology and we're thrilled to offer it to our patients."
Ultrasound, also known as sonography, creates images of internal bodily structures and organs for diagnostic medical purposes. Ultrasound uses high-frequency sound waves and advanced computing technology to create a real-time, multi-dimensional clinical image. Today, more than 6,000 GE Voluson ultrasound systems are in use, imaging more than 15 million women each year.
© 2014


text:
"I'm sorry it has to end this way, brother."
"No, you're not."
"Fire Lord Ozai, you and your forefathers have devastated the balance of this world, and now you shall pay the ultimate price."
The Colbert Report
The Colbert Report, July 16, 2012
"The Avatar State is a defense mechanism designed to empower you with the skills and knowledge of all the past Avatars. The glow is the combination of all your past lives focusing their energy through your body. In the Avatar State, you are at your most powerful, but you are also at your most vulnerable." -Avatar Roku
The time Barney tried to pick up girls as the Terminator.
Stephen Colbert giving a shout-out to all his Bronies.


text:
No rating
GreatSchools Rating
Teacher quality
Principal leadership
Parent involvement
My daughter has been attending this school for the past 2 years; she loves her teachers, friends and learning about The Lord. I find the staff to be absolutely magnificent; they are extremely helpful and go the extra mile to help your child succeed. I love the fact that they are teaching these children to put Christ first and to walk in His footsteps. I strongly recommend this school to parents looking for an excellent curriculum and phenomenal staff!
I attended this school in 1999 as well as my brother in 1997. This school brings back some of my happiest childhood memories. I absolutely loved it. I graduated high school in 2012, and I would not be where I'am today if it weren't for chapel in the hills or Mrs. Moon, my amazing preschool teacher. This school defiantly gets a thumbs up and I would recommend it to any one.
I really love this school and so does my son. His teachers are wonderful and they provide parents with calenders of what letters, numbers and colors along with bible verses and stories they are learning each week. He comes home singing alphabet songs and something new made for mom and dad. Love it here!
My son LOVES it here!!! Excellent school!
Love this school. My child attended their preschool for two years. Teachers are very caring, lots of fun activities, trips to pumpkin patch, zoo, christmas plays, etc...Worth It!
Community ratings and reviews do not represent the views of GreatSchools nor does GreatSchools check their accuracy or verify the reviewers' identities. Use your discretion when evaluating these reviews.
The Community Rating is the school's average rating from its community members (e.g., parents, students, and school staff). The highest possible rating is five stars; the lowest is one star.
5455 South Westover Avenue
Tucson, AZ 85746
Phone: (520) 883-3281
To start a new list, click OK. Otherwise click Cancel.
Thank you! You will begin to receive newsletters from us shortly.
Great work! Only one more step. Now we just need you to verify your email address. Please click on the link in the email we just sent you to complete your registration.
Great work! Only one more step. Now we just need you to verify your email address. Please click on the link in the email we just sent you to submit your review.
Please click on the link in the verification email we just sent you to complete your change of email address.
Whoops! It looks like we still need to verify your email. To do so, please click on the link in the email we sent you. Can't find the e-mail? Click the button below and we'll send you a new one.
Thanks for registering. Welcome to GreatSchools, the largest online community committed to improving educational outcomes through parental involvement.
Thanks for verifying your updated email address.
Oops! You haven't verified your email address yet. To do so, please click on the link in the email we sent you. Can't find the email? Click the button below to receive a new one.
Oops! That email verification link has expired. Please click the button below to receive a new one.
Create an account to submit your answers.
Sign in with an existing GreatSchools account or using Facebook:
Your review has been posted to GreatSchools.
Share with friends! Post your opinion of Chapel In The Hills Preschool on Facebook.
Welcome to GreatSchools!
For principals and school officials, we offer a special Enhanced School Profile (ESP) which allows you to update and add information about your school, as well as respond to reviews. If you are a school official, click Continue to start.
Please note that it can take up to 48 hours for your comment to be posted to our site. While you're here, we'd like to invite you to fill out a survey on your school's programs, activities, and extracurriculars. It only takes a few minutes and will help parents get a full picture of your school.
Continue to compare the schools you have already selected or Edit schools to change your selection.
Get started now! You have successfully registered and can now start updating your Official School Profile. The information you provide is extremely valuable in helping parents and students learn more about your school, so thanks for taking the time!
Thank you for registering as a school leader. We just need to verify your email address. We've sent you an email - please click on the link in that message to get started editing your school's information!
Thanks! We just sent you an email – please click on the link in the email to post your answers.
Get timely updates for Chapel In The Hills Preschool, including performance data and recently posted user reviews.


text:
CJ Baker
PHS girls come up short on long road trip
The Powell High School girls' basketball team is looking to rebound from a tough road trip last weekend.
Woman charged with stealing stolen money
A Powell woman has been charged with stealing more than $1,400 that previoulsy was stolen during a Dec. 11 armed robbery on Queens Boulevard.
Counties back Gov. Mead's budget proposal
County commissioners from around the Big Horn Basin laid out their priorities for the upcoming session of the Wyoming Legislature — from getting state funding to requiring more accountability from special districts — at a meeting with local legislators last month.
Police investigating counterfeit money
At least $440 in counterfeit $20 bills was passed to Powell businesses during the holiday season.
Powell man agrees to 15-17 year sentence in robbery
Fourth person charged in connection with armed incident
A fourth person has been charged in connection with a Dec. 11 armed robbery on Queens Boulevard, while the Powell man alleged to have committed the robbery has already agreed to accept a 15- to 17-year prison sentence.
Cody bank robber admits guilt
Pleads guilty to five robberies
A Utah man has admitted to robbing banks and credit unions in Cody and Cheyenne earlier this year, along with three others in Montana, Utah and Oklahoma.
Joshua Michael Beckstead, 32, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to five felony counts of bank robbery in the federal U.S. District Court in Casper. Each of the robberies involved Beckstead giving tellers handwritten notes demanding all the cash in their drawers. He apparently was unarmed in each instance.
Three charged in connection with armed robbery
Shot fired in incident
A Powell man has been charged with robbing a resident at gunpoint last week, while two others have been charged with helping commit the crime.
Obie J. Phillips, 38, faces six felony counts related to planning and commission of the Dec. 11 robbery and another six felony counts relating to a half-dozen auto burglaries committed earlier that morning. Phillips is alleged to have used a revolver he stole from a truck in the Tuesday morning robbery.
PHS girls race out of gate to beat Lovell
A red-hot start carried the Powell High School girls basketball team to a comfortable win over Lovell.
The hosting Lady Panthers (5-1 overall, 1-1 in Class 3A West conference play) beat the Class 2A Lady Bulldogs 53-41 on Thursday.
Three arrested in connection with reported robbery
UPDATED: Police say they've arrested three individuals in connection with an armed robbery that occurred Tuesday morning in Powell. One of the individuals is alleged to have also broken into several vehicles around that same time.
Powell Circuit Court headed to closure
Would make Powell largest city in state to not have Circuit Court
The Wyoming Supreme Court's plans to close the Powell Circuit Court next year are proceeding despite concerns from local officials.
Court administrators say they want the court — along with others in Lovell and Dubois — closed by July 1, 2013 as a cost-cutting measure and consolidated with the one in Cody.


text:
Considering Northwestern?
A university with a long-standing reputation for excellence and a strong community of healthcare professionals provides the foundation for your Northwestern graduate education. Our Master of Health Science degree offers many academic and professional advantages:
Expand your patient base and practice opportunities
Your master's degree qualifies you to offer highly specialized care and expert consultative services. You'll gain the advanced expertise and credibility that patients and referring providers are looking for in today's increasingly competitive healthcare marketplace.
Your high-level training in the diagnosis, treatment and management of complex conditions and chronic disorders will give you that competitive edge - drawing in new patients to your practice.
Your graduate degree also opens up opportunities beyond your current practice - into new areas of consulting, teaching and research.
Apply course material right away
You don't have to wait until graduation to begin integrating your graduate studies into your day-to-day practice. Case examples and discussions in the classroom are based on real-world clinical experiences. You can immediately apply what you're learning in the program, and gradually expand the level of care and range of services you provide for your patients.
Because our class sizes are small, the faculty and your classmates get to know you - and your style of learning. This high level of interaction helps you find the best approach for specific clinical issues, making your education instantly relevant to your practice.
Deepen your knowledge of evidence-based practice
In today's healthcare environment, you have to do more than just keep pace with the latest therapies - you have to know if they're effective. You are increasingly expected - by patients, insurers and policymakers - to demonstrate how specific therapies lead to better patient outcomes.
Our graduate curriculum incorporates the most current, evidence-based information with the necessary skills you need to evaluate high-quality, relevant research and evidence.
Learn from faculty who are mentors
Our faculty are your mentors - they encourage the open exchange of ideas in the classroom and provide immediate feedback about coursework and clinical issues. Outside of the classroom, you maintain contact with your professors through online media for timely support and follow-up for your questions. Finally, our faculty will guide you through the planning, literature review and writing of your master's thesis.


text:
GreatSchools Rating
Teacher quality
Principal leadership
Parent involvement
I can say honestly, that I have been very happy with Pedro Menendez High School for my children and wouldn't have chosen any other school. Both of my children have been a part of the IB program, but there are a number of programs and academies to choose, so you can find the right fit for your child. There are athletic teams for them to become involved in, of course, but if they are not athletic, there are other clubs to choose, band, drama, literary club, Best Buddies, Anime Club, etc. so, again, they can find what interests them. I think all kids would feel a part of this school!
Pedro Menendez High School is great because it offers an IB program and a Model UN club!
My son is in 9th grade at PMHS and has done pretty well. He started this year in AVID which is an honors program for college-bound kids who are bright but lack effective study skills. ALL of the teachers in the program are excellent. He is finally learning how to study well and enjoys learning in this core group. This is a big school with a very broad mix of kids. However, there are enough opportunities here for just about any kid to thrive. There are several excellent academies and the sports programs seem to be well coached.
My freshman son is doing very well here. I think this high school is a great stepping stone for his future. Baseball is the best here at pedro!!! you could'nt ask for a better, hard working coach. Coach Keith Daniels is no#1. He really works hard for these kids and they in return work out hard for him. I dont know too many coaches that let any player practice hitting and pitchin at his own home anytime!!! that to me is prove he loves his athletes. Patty halas (parent)
I think Pedro Menendez High School is A # 1 ! It has been a wonderful blessing to my son, 'Mr. Menendez.' He is an avanced placement student and maintains a great attitude & grade point average by his own desires. We consider PMHS a '10'. The principals & teachers are awesome.
The Best High School with the Best Teachers I wouldn't trade it for the world
Great High School! My son is a senior. We are very pleased with his performance, accomplishments and readiness for the next big step, the university. Thanks to all his teachers and specially Mrs. Masuita, his school counselor.
This is a relatively new school barely 5 years old. This is the second principal. My child is in her third year. She is a mainstreamed student with an IEP and BIP. The school has been horrifically inconsistent in supplying her accommodations. When emailed or phoned, they either drag their fet or do not respond.
It's only a few weeks into the new year, but I am pleased with the experience my two teenagers are having. Both are involved in the sports and seem to be happy with that. The volleyball coaches seem genuinely interested in the kids (and their academics). I also was pleased with the parent orientation for new students and their parents before school began. The only other issue has been how simple the math has been. I have one in Algebra and another in Algebra II and they seem to be doing pre-algebra work. They both admit it's VERY easy!
My daugther loves this school due to its great classes and students. Thanks you for this school. It is the only school she can honestly say is great.
Community ratings and reviews do not represent the views of GreatSchools nor does GreatSchools check their accuracy or verify the reviewers' identities. Use your discretion when evaluating these reviews.
The Community Rating is the school's average rating from its community members (e.g., parents, students, and school staff). The highest possible rating is five stars; the lowest is one star.
600 Highway 206
St. Augustine, FL 32086
Website: Click here
Phone: (904) 547-8660
To start a new list, click OK. Otherwise click Cancel.
Thank you! You will begin to receive newsletters from us shortly.
Great work! Only one more step. Now we just need you to verify your email address. Please click on the link in the email we just sent you to complete your registration.
Great work! Only one more step. Now we just need you to verify your email address. Please click on the link in the email we just sent you to submit your review.
Please click on the link in the verification email we just sent you to complete your change of email address.
Whoops! It looks like we still need to verify your email. To do so, please click on the link in the email we sent you. Can't find the e-mail? Click the button below and we'll send you a new one.
Thanks for registering. Welcome to GreatSchools, the largest online community committed to improving educational outcomes through parental involvement.
Thanks for verifying your updated email address.
Oops! You haven't verified your email address yet. To do so, please click on the link in the email we sent you. Can't find the email? Click the button below to receive a new one.
Oops! That email verification link has expired. Please click the button below to receive a new one.
Create an account to submit your answers.
Sign in with an existing GreatSchools account or using Facebook:
Your review has been posted to GreatSchools.
Share with friends! Post your opinion of Pedro Menendez High School on Facebook.
Welcome to GreatSchools!
For principals and school officials, we offer a special Enhanced School Profile (ESP) which allows you to update and add information about your school, as well as respond to reviews. If you are a school official, click Continue to start.
Please note that it can take up to 48 hours for your comment to be posted to our site. While you're here, we'd like to invite you to fill out a survey on your school's programs, activities, and extracurriculars. It only takes a few minutes and will help parents get a full picture of your school.
Continue to compare the schools you have already selected or Edit schools to change your selection.
Get started now! You have successfully registered and can now start updating your Official School Profile. The information you provide is extremely valuable in helping parents and students learn more about your school, so thanks for taking the time!
Thank you for registering as a school leader. We just need to verify your email address. We've sent you an email - please click on the link in that message to get started editing your school's information!
Thanks! We just sent you an email – please click on the link in the email to post your answers.
Get timely updates for Pedro Menendez High School, including performance data and recently posted user reviews.


text:
Book Review: Moneyball as Sport Finance in Action: But are the Lessons from Baseball More Generally Applicable?
AbstractMoneyball (Lewis, 2003) is a book about baseball. The book describes how a small-market Major League Baseball team, the Oakland Athletics, has been able to compete with large-market teams by being innovative in a tradition-laden industry. However, when read through a business management lens, one discerns that this baseball book, in fact, has general management lessons in a variety of areas including leadership, innovation, overcoming resistance to change, and creating a sustainable competitive advantage. In this article, we outline and illustrate the valuable lessons for business that emerge from the Moneyball story. More specifically, we provide a brief overview of the book; summarize arguments for applying Moneyball ideas to management as presented in the popular media as well as in academia; determine the underlying management themes contained in the Moneyball story; and propose Moneyball lessons for managers.
Download InfoIf you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.
As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version under "Related research" (further below) or search for a different version of it.
Bibliographic InfoArticle provided by Fitness Information Technology in its journal International Journal of Sport Finance.
Volume (Year): 2 (2007)
Issue (Month): 4 (November)
Pages: 249-262
Contact details of provider:
Web page: http://www.fitinfotech.com/
Order Information:
Web: http://www.fitinfotech.com/IJSF/IJSFbackissueWVU.tpl
Related researchKeywords: competition; innovation; resistance to change; innovation diffusion; competitive advantage;
Find related papers by JEL classification:
- L83 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Sports; Gambling; Restaurants; Recreation; Tourism
ReferencesNo references listed on IDEAS
You can help add them by filling out this form.
ListsThis item is not listed on Wikipedia, on a reading list or among the top items on IDEAS.
StatisticsAccess and download statistics
CorrectionsWhen requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:jsf:intjsf:v:2:y:2007:i:4:p:249-262. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.
For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: (Victor Matheson).
If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.
If references are entirely missing, you can add them using this form.
If the full references list an item that is present in RePEc, but the system did not link to it, you can help with this form.
If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.
Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.


text:
Hello ReVisionist Readers and fellow Women's Historians,
As spring approaches and Women's History month right around the corner, we wanted to invite you the annual Women's History Conference at Sarah Lawrence College on Saturday, March 1st.
The 16th Annual Women's History Conference, The Newer Normal: Global Perspectives on Sexuality and Gender, seeks to bring together scholars and activists to address historical representations and contemporary issues in order to move the discussion and knowledge of global gender issues forward. The conference comes at a critical time when even though progress has been made, discrimination, oppression, and violence persist and erupts anew.
This issue includes the papers and panels that will be featured at the conference! The conference is open to the public. You can register online at http://www.slc.edu/WHconference2014/register. We look forward to seeing you on Saturday, March 1st.
Cheers and Feminism!
The ReVisionist Team


text:
Last month, the City of Amsterdam announced its intentions to have only electric vehicles in the city by 2040. The plan included having 200 charging stations installed within two years to facilitate the turnover and visit web site best price for cialis it seems the city has chosen its provider, California-based Coulumb Technologies.
The initial deployment of 45 of Coulumb's ChargePoint Networked Charging Stations will be the 5mg cialis online first in Europe. For two years, the stations will be part of a pilot project to help drivers switch to electric vehicles and the normally fee-based subscription service will be free of charge during that time.
The City of Amsterdam expects the charging stations to recommended site levitra pill provide fuel for 10,000 electric cars by 2015. Energy company Nuon is providing renewable energy for the charging stations and 365-Energy will manage the network.
Better Place has racked up their share of recommended site discount viagra online city contracts, but Coulumb isn't far behind, with agreements to service cities in California and now beyond.
via Business Wire
written by librarydonna, May 28, 2009
written by bill, May 29, 2009
written by Doc Rings, May 31, 2009
written by Seth, May 31, 2009
written by renew, June 04, 2009
written by Mia, June 04, 2009
written by Fred, July 24, 2009
written by jrminvestor, July 06, 2010
|< Prev
|Next >


text:
How would you go about it?
What would you start with first clients or servers?
What would you do about all services you offer through windows i.e AD, ISA, Backup Exec, Email and print management?
What about running all the windows programs you have at the moment, SIMS CS4 etc?
I was posed the question by a teacher, have we considered moving to a complete linux setup, somethingI have not until now considered, but wit buget constraints etc it migt be worth looking at so any feedback would be useful.


text:
Blackhawks 5, Canadiens 1: Corey Crawford backstops Hawks to win
BY ADAM L. JAHNS firstname.lastname@example.com December 21, 2011 10:24PM
Blackawks winger Patrick Kane is tripped by Montreal defenseman Josh Gorges in the second period of the Chicago Blackhawks 5-1 win over the Montreal Canandiens Wednesday December 21, 2011 at the United Center. | Tom Cruze~Sun-Times
Article Extras
Updated: January 23, 2012 11:07AM
All eyes were on Corey Crawford. After not playing in more than two weeks, Crawford was back in the Blackhawks' goal Wednesday against the Montreal Canadiens at the United Center.
There were plenty of questions.
How would he move and see the puck after such a long layoff? Will he put too much pressure on himself to do well? Would the extra work in practices with goalie coach Stephane Waite pay off? How is his confidence?
Crawford, still considered the Hawks' No. 1 goalie, answered those questions and erased some doubts with a solid 20-save performance in the Hawks' 5-1 victory.
In other words, Crawford is just fine.
"Corey is a great goalie," forward Patrick Sharp said. "He was excited to get back in there. He's from the Montreal area, so that makes things even better."
Sharp, Andrew Brunette, Viktor Stalberg, Bryan Bickell and Jonathan Toews (empty-netter) scored for the Hawks, who enter the Christmas break with an 8-1-1 record in December and the most points in the NHL with 48.
"Our team has been playing so well, but I was pretty hungry to get back in there," Crawford said. "It's a huge game before the break to get some points."
The Canadiens have struggled and were missing some offensive threats against the Hawks, but Crawford still had to come through with key stops. Crawford's best save came in the second period when winger Max Pacioretty had an open net. But Crawford leaped back and tipped Pacioretty's shot with his stick.
"It was a funny little rebound that kicked to the side," said Crawford, who also made tough stops on Michael Cammalleri in close in the first period and another on Erik Cole on a breakaway early in the third. "I just tried to get over there as quick as I could and get my stick in the right spot."
The entire game felt good for Crawford, who allowed three goals on 16 shots and was chased in his last start Dec. 5 against the Phoenix Coyotes. After that, the Hawks turned to backup Ray Emery, whose five-game winning streak came to an end Tuesday in Pittsburgh, as coach Joel Quenneville rode the hot hand.
Quenneville praised Crawford for his approach throughout the whole process, saying many times that he wasn't worried about how the 26-year-old was handling sitting out.
"He looked sharp; he looked quick and big in the net," Quenneville said. "It's good to see him come back the way he did. I commended him throughout that process with how mentally he was focused, ready and prepared."
The only goal Crawford allowed came during a Canadiens power play in the second period as Andrei Kostitsyn redirected in a nice goal at the 5:35 mark.
Crawford kept things close before the Hawks broke out and scored five unanswered goals, including their first two in a 21-second span in the second.
Did Crawford need a good win for his confidence?
"Oh, definitely," Crawford said. "It was a game for me personally where I had to come up with a solid game. But I wasn't holding my stick tight. I was pretty relaxed out there and pretty confident."


text:
THURSDAY, Feb. 17 (HealthDay News) -- Each year in the United
States, nearly 10,000 children under the age of 2 arrive in
emergency rooms with injuries suffered while in cribs, playpens and
bassinets, a new report shows.
Most of these injuries involve cribs and are usually caused by
kids climbing out and falling on the floor, said the researchers
from Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.
"The most surprising thing to me was the number of crib-related injuries we found being treated in hospital emergency departments," said lead researcher Dr. Gary A Smith, a professor of pediatrics and director of the hospital's Center for Injury Research and Policy.
"This is an underestimate," he said. "We know that children are taken to their private physician and urgent care centers."
Smith noted that only about 1 percent of the injuries involved a
parent or sibling: "It appears that most of these falls are
children climbing out of the crib and falling."
In most cases, the children landed head first, Smith noted,
which "really makes this an issue that we should pay attention to."
Children at that age are top-heavy, so when they fall they fall
head first and don't have the ability to break their fall these
injuries can be serious, he explained.
Smith added that as the children became more mobile, the number
of injuries increased. "So, parents need to be cautious when a
child is in a crib and can start to pull himself up," Smith
When that happens, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety
Commission, you need to lower the height of the mattress in the
crib so there is at least 26 inches between the top of the mattress
and the top of the rail, Smith said.
And when the child reaches about 35 inches in height he or she
should be taken out of the crib and start using a toddler bed,
Smith added.
The report is published in the Feb. 17 online edition of
For the study, Smith's team used data from the National
Electronic Injury Surveillance System to identify the number of
children injured in cribs, playpens and bassinets from 1990 to
During that period, the researchers identified almost 182,000
children under 2 who were treated in emergency rooms for injuries
associated with these devices. That came to roughly 9,651 such
injuries a year.
The researchers found that 83.2 percent of the injuries involved
cribs, while playpens accounted for 12.6 percent of the injuries
and bassinets accounted for 4.2 percent.
The most common cause of injury was falling from the crib,
playpen or bassinet. These falls accounted for two-thirds of the
injuries, Smith's group found.
The head and neck were the areas of the body that were most
commonly injured, making up 40.3 percent of the injuries. Most
injuries were soft tissue injuries (34.1 percent).
Kids with fractures were kept in the hospital 14 percent of the
time and were more than five times more likely to be admitted than
children with other injuries, Smith's group noted.
Smith believes the findings are a call to action to build
better-designed cribs that protect children and make falls less
Right now, parents should only use cribs that meet current
standards. That includes cribs with no drop sides, which have been
banned by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. So, parents have
to be particularly careful with hand-me-down cribs, Smith said.
Smith also advises that when putting the baby in the crib be
sure there is no bedding, stuffed toys or bumpers in the crib. "All
these products have been associated with suffocation deaths," he
"Young infants need to be placed in a crib that's bare, just the child and the crib," he said. "Just dress the child warmly in a sleeper and place him into a bare crib."
"Despite these findings, cribs are still the safest sleeping environment for infants and young babies," Smith added. Having the baby sleep with the parents increases the risk of suffocation, he noted.
Amy Chezem, a spokeswomen for the Juvenile Products
Manufacturers Association, said that "each year hundreds of deaths
occur when children are placed in a sleep environment that is not
specifically designed for children. The safest place for a child is
in a fully functional, properly assembled crib."
In addition, the association "reminds parents of how important
it is to carefully follow the manufacturer instructions,
recommendations and restrictions on all sleep-related products to
ensure the safest environment possible."
More information
For tips on keeping your child safe in a crib, visit the
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
Please be aware that this information is provided to supplement the care provided by your physician. It is neither intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. CALL YOUR HEALTHCARE PROVIDER IMMEDIATELY IF YOU THINK YOU MAY HAVE A MEDICAL EMERGENCY. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider prior to starting any new treatment or with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.
Latest News
Crouse Hospital Appoints Chief Information Officer
more >
MedEx Bedside Prescription Delivery Service
Free service offers convenience, patient education at discharge.more >
CrouseSports Express After-Hours Ortho Care
Immediate care of orthopedic injuries in kids and adults.more >
Weight Loss Surgery
Is it right for you? Attend a free information seminar held twice monthly.more >
Quality at Crouse
See how Crouse Hospital strives to provide the best in patient care.more >
Cheer Up That Special Someone
Say get well or welcome a new arrival with a gift purchased right at Crouse.
more >
Make an Online Donation Now
Your donation of any amount helps support Crouse services & programs in a meaningful way.more >
Shop Online Now
Say get well, thinking of you or welcome new baby with a unique gift from the Crouse Gift Shop.
© 2014 Crouse Hospital / 736 Irving Avenue / Syracuse, NY 13210 / 315-470-7111


text:
Corfu Shell Museum
The Corfu Shell Museum is a very interesting place to visit on the island of Corfu. The island of Corfu is very popular with tourists and a lot of them rely on the frequent flights to Corfu in order to get to their destination. Visitors come from all across the world to enjoy everything that the island has to offer. This location has a vast number of attractions that are all very popular with tourist attraction and there is a lot on offer to visitors. There is luxurious sandy beach on the island and these tend to attract a vast amount of tourists.
The Corfu Shell Museum is unique style of museum and it is the only museum of its type in Greece. The museum is considered to be one of the best museums in the whole of Europe. This museum has been dedicated to a vast number of treasures of the Deep Sea and this includes shells. The museum is home to thousands of different exhibits that are all clearly scientifically labelled.
The museum is home to a shop and this is also very popular with tourists, as they can purchase some unusual shells and also some items that can be classed as exotic souvenirs. The Corfu Shell Museum is located within Benitses Harbour Square.
The Corfu Shell Museum is home to a range of fossils, corals, sponges, tiny sharks, starfish and other organisms all of which have bee found on the island of Corfu. This museum is owned by Napoleon Sagias and he is constantly looking to add new items to the displays. The museum is open seven days per week and it is open all day from ten in the morning until nine at night. The museum shop opens at the same time however it remains open until ten at night.


text:
Dear Hepburn Wind supporter,
Please show your support for community energy!
Right from the start we hoped that Hepburn Wind would catalyse an Australian community energy movement.
Now across Australia, local communities, like ours, are working hard to set up community-owned renewable energy projects to power their towns and buildings. And good progress is being made — the Denmark Community Windfarm (Denmark, WA that is!) was completed in January and it's only a matter of time before the country's first community solar farm is pumping emissions free electrons into the grid.
But, like our project (and in fact any new sector of the economy), community energy projects require assistance during the early stages.
Along with Community Power Agency, Embark, Yes2Renewables and dozens of like-minded organisations, we have signed on to the Coalition for Community Energy. Together we are calling on the federal government to establish a $50 million grant program to support the development stage of community renewable energy projects.
Please sign on to show your support!
Without prompting, the most common description we hear of our wind turbines is 'majestic'. Some have told us that they see them as large kinetic art sculptures. We're proud to have taken it up a notch…
In February, we worked with Melbourne-based artist Ghostpatrol to leave a lasting mark on Gale (the turbine formerly known as T1). Donating his time for this unique and challenging opportunity, he camped with a small team under the turbines for a week, waking up early to paint before the winds picked up.
Ghostpatrol's work culminated on Sunday 10 February when many of the Hepburn Wind Community ignored strong winds to share cupcakes, tea and coffee under the turbines, and watch Ghostpatrol at work as part of the statewide Sustainable Living Festival. The mural, by the legendary artist is set to become one of 2013's most notable public artworks.
(We may also have scored another 'first' by powering the espresso machine directly from an operating turbine. Talk about ethical coffee!)
We also wish to acknowledge Red Energy, Hempel Paints and Embark for their generous sponsorship of our artwork – and of course thank Ghostpatrol and his team for their most generous contribution to our project.
These are Ghostpatrol's reflections on the launch of the video yesterday:
I'm super proud to have been part of this amazing project.
I assembled my team, dived into my research and undertook some serious risk assessment, feeling very lucky to have been trusted to paint such an amazing structure. We pitched our tents under the giant blades and got down to work. The whole process was super humbling. The community of Daylesford and Hepburn welcomed us and showed us the strength of spirit and passion required to make a difference in the world and confront the serious issues of energy and our responsibility to the environment.
::super thanks to: Scottie, Andre, Bernie, Taryn, Simon, Tracy and Arved
::photo and video production: Bernard Winter
The Painting of Gale from Bernard Winter on Vimeo.


text:
Recipes & Diets
Healthy Living
Get Coupons
©2014 General Mills, Inc. All Rights Reserved. This information will only be used to send an email to your friend(s) and will not be saved. Please read our Privacy Policy.
82% less sodium • 37% less sugar than the original recipe. Combine black-eyed peas and black beans in a 30-minute vegetarian chili that's sure to top your family's most-requested list.
Live Better America lets you enjoy your favorite dishes without worry or guilt.
Our nutritionists switch ingredients, reduce amounts and use other kitchen tricks
to turn the original recipes into Healthified recipes that are good and good
for you.


text:
main index
"As I said, I like stealth games. Kicking the door in and holding down 'fire' until all organic matter has fused with the wallpaper feels like it should be a last resort, while getting out unnoticed feels like the real show of skill."A spinoff of the Chzo Mythos game series by Ben Croshaw. The game features Trilby in his former life as a master thief and your goal, of course, is to steal various things using a grappling hook and other gear.Unlike the games in the main series, this is a Stealth-Based Game rather than an adventure game. The plot is also unconnected to the Chzo Mythos, apart from Trilby's presence.
— Yahtzee on Stealth Based Games in general
This Stealth-Based Game uses the following tropes:


text:
Cherry preserves with minimal sugar?
Last year I was in SF and brought back a jar of fantastic bing cherry preserves. It was delicious and now it's gone. I bought a jar of cherry preserves (Hero) at the supermarket last week and, well, it just wasn't as good (too sweet, not as flavorful, etc).
So now I'm considering making my own, and I have a few questions:
1. Could I start with frozen fruit (such as Trader Joe's frozen sweet cherries)?
2. Do I really have to add 3/4 of the fruit's weight of sugar in order to prevent mold formation, even if I use sterilized jars and such? I really love slightly tart fruit pies (I add hardly any sugar to blueberry or apple pie fillings), and I'd love to be able to make preserves with as little sugar as possible.
Then again, it's not like I'm trying to use up a ton of fruit that I've got in my yard or anything-- so if I only make small batches and consume them quickly, it's not an issue?
"Do I really have to add 3/4 of the fruit's weight of sugar in order to prevent mold formation"
absolutely not. use as little sugar as you want to, just make sure you seal & store the jars properly.
From what I understand with traditional pectin you need the sugar to help the preserves jell properly. I have made them using Pomona pectin, that I bought at the natural food coop and it works well. You may need to mess with the amounts a bit. Sugar is a preservative and will help keep thing from going bad. If you are using less than called for in a recipe I would make small amounts and take extra care when steralizing jars. You can also make freezer jam which uses a liquid pectin, and allows for you to use as little sugar as you like, without worrying about food safety. Good luck and enjoy.
You might like preserves made with sour or tart cherries better than the same stuff made with sweet cherries. I've been able to find a few kinds made with sour cherries including some I'm getting from our coop.
Or if you make your own, you might want to start with sour cherries. You can get frozen sour cherries, at least around here. Some of the frozen cherries from Michigan are sour cherries.
Jelling in traditional preserves and jellies comes about as a reaction of an interaction of pectin and acid and sugar in solution. Some of the newer formulations of pectin work well with low-sugar solutions by interacting with calcium. So instead of speaking in generalities, it would probably be better to check with a manufacturer of pectin. For example, see www.pacificpectin.com. They have a good recipe page and FAQ's, and if you don't get the answer you want, phone them. That said, I used to get extraordinary cherry preserves and Peet's Coffe and Tea (located in a number of places in the S.F. Bay Area). I don't recall the brand, but you could probably phone Peet's and get the name of the manufacturer. Then a trip to the web might tell you if the product is available in your locality. Making preserves can be fun. But other times it is just as easy to find it already made. And, of course there are lots of "artisanal" preserve makers around the country. Just Google "cherry preserves." On the East Coast, McKutcheon's in Frederick, MD, makes a great line of jams, jellies, and preserves that contain no corn syrup, only sucrose and/or fruit juice. They make a very good sour cherry preserve. I don't recall whether they make a bing cherry preserve.
re: Father Kitchen
I just checked some recipe books. The best preserve procedure I know of can be found in Madeleine Bullwinkel's "Gourmet Preserves Chez Madeleine." Her cherry preserve recipe with cassis calls for 3/4 sugar to fruit by weight, though the cassis will introduce a bit more sugar. On the opposite end of the scale, some other recipes call for equal weight to fruit. So 3/4 by weight is still on the less sweet side. In any case, preserved fruit are going to be sweet. Fruit butters would be less sweet. I haven't made low-sugar preserves. But I suspect you are not going to get a quality preserve without a fair amount of sugar. I am leery of artificial sweeteners like Splenda because of health consequences. And I like the suggestion of using frozen sour cherries. Their natural tartness would prevent the sweetness from being overpowering.
This has happened to me before, you buy some preserves but they don't have the actual flavor or taste you are looking for. While making them from scratch is a good option, you might also try incorporating some Amaretto liquer or almond flavoring in the preserves to cut the sugar and make them a little more flavorful.
re: blue129
You might want to check the June Taylor website. June's jams are sold on the East Coast. I found them once in downtown D.C. through the web listing.
re: blue129
If you do want to try to make some sour cherry preserves, look for frozen Michigan cherries. Most of those are the sour kind. They don't store and ship well, so its hard to get them unless you live closeby the orchards in the summer. So much of it is sold frozen.
I see the MIchigan cherries in the freezer section of our grocery stores.
re: karykat
Lucky you. I bought them all the time in Wisconsin and can't find them in D.C.
I would be very cautious about altering a recipe on my own, becase the amount of sugar affects preserving and the ability to prevent mold growth. Follow a low sugar recipe, rather than take a recipe and change it yourself. If you are only making small amounts at a time, just keeping it in the fridge will also help.
I've been making artisanal preserves for several years. Small batches using locally grown fruit. Pomona pectin does a splendid job of helping preserves set in a low sugar environment. Sugar is not the only preservative, however. One must also consider pH, and be sure the product is sufficient acidic. A pH of 4.6 or lower is recommended. I find adding citric acid or ascorbic acid works well. Good luck!


text:
Walnut Intrecciato Nappa Bag
Versatility and understated elegance are combined in this finely crafted, intrecciato nappa leather bag. With a practical leather strap, the design can be worn on the shoulder, arm or carried as a clutch. The velvety suede lining, leather zip-pull and brunito-finish details accentuate the refined craftsmanship.
- Bag handle, Solid color, Zip closure, Lined interior
Composition: Lambskin, Brass
Depth: 12,5 cm
Height: 17,0 cm
Length of strap: 33,0 cm
Width: 25,0 cm