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Jack & Jones Core Mens Kendall Sweat
- In Stock
1 review
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- Next day delivery available
Jack & Jones Core Kendall Mens Sweater – Grey Marl
A fresh piece from the Core collection, this Jack & Jones sweater is packed with straight up street smarts.
With a high-impact print to the chest, this crew neck sweater delivers a powerful urban statement. The grey colourway is inspired by the city, whilst the woven logo to the hem seals the Kendall sweater with a branded finish. Simple but more than effective, this is a sleek sweater for your weekend getup.
Team it with Jack & Jones denim and lace-up plimsolls to get a hit of the Core casual style.
Useful info:
- Mens sweater by Jack & Jones
- Kendall
- From the Core collection
- Crew neck
- Long sleeve
- Large print to chest
- Woven tab to hem
- Grey marl
Goodsouls Mens Camo Print Sweatshirt
- Low stock, selling fast
3 reviews
- Delivery
Goodsouls Camo Print Mens Sweatshirt
Making style affordable, Goodsouls presents a camo print sweatshirt that builds on their expanding collection of quality clothing.
Embracing the season's trend for military colours, this sweatshirt features a camouflage pattern to the shoulders and sleeves, with a solid khaki colour to the body. The crew neck and long sleeve fitting ensures maximum comfort, whilst the contrast ribbing to the cuffs and hem provide a lighter tonal trim to secure the forces-inspired look.
Team this Goodsouls sweatshirt with skinny jeans and hi top plimsolls to make an instant impression on your squadron.
Useful info:
- Mens sweatshirt by Goodsouls
- Camo print to shoulders and sleeves
- Long sleeve
- Crew neck
- Contrast cuffs and hem


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Provided by Lubbock County EMC
Pursuant to the authority granted by the Lubbock County Commissioners Court according to Texas Government Code Chapter 352, Subchapter D, Section 352.08l(e), Lubbock County Judge Tom Head has determined that as of May 14, 2012, circumstances present in all or part of the unincorporated area of Lubbock County no longer create a public safety hazard that would be exacerbated by outdoor burning. Consequently, the county burn ban issued by the Lubbock County Commissioners Court on April 9, 2012 is now lifted.
People in Lubbock County are still responsible for obeying all other applicable laws or restrictions relating to outdoor burning in the county, such as all Texas Commission on Environmental Quality regulations and all City of Lubbock burn bans and firework bans. A person could face civil and criminal liability if that person starts, or is in any way responsible for, a fire which subsequently causes damage, injury, or death.
Lubbock County residents are advised to use common sense and to take precautions when burning any material outdoors to ensure the safety of people and property in the community. Residents are advised to:
- Be aware of wind and weather conditions, e. g. Red Flag Warnings
- Have a fire extinguisher or water source immediately available
- Have immediate access to a phone to call for help if necessary
- Notify the sheriff's office and local fire department of any controlled bums
- Closely monitor fires at all times
- Completely extinguish all fires when the fire is no longer needed
- Extinguish fires before dark
Lubbock County residents are also advised that dumpsters will remain available at the county bans for Precincts #2, #3, and #4 until May 31".
I This Declaration shall take effect immediately from and after its issuance, ORDERED THIS 14th DAY OF MAY, 2012.
For more information, please contact the Lubbock County Office of Emergency Management at 806-775-1911
Clinton Thetford
Emergency Management Coordinator
Lubbock County
5600 Avenue A
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subset: commoncrawl


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9/11/2014Rockford University named a Best Regional Midwest University by US News & World Report
9/10/2014Stephen Warde Anderson painting exhibit to open September 12 at Rockford University
9/5/2014Rajmohan Gandhi, Ph.D., grandson of Mahatma Gandhi, to be interviewed as part of 2014 Forum Series
9/5/2014RU welcomes author of "Toxic Charity" and founder of FCS Ministries, Robert Lupton
9/3/2014Firefighter Battle 2014 comes to RU


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Stayed here on 2nd night of our Tour de Jungfrau Region, hiking from Schynige Platte. Hats off to the staff here as this was only location that actually recognized our 15th wedding anniversary---with a free champagne toast and special candle light. Good food, service and engagement by staff--to all the guests we noticed. They seem to do things right here.... More
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I made some soap last year from goat's milk. My first try, with the help of my friend Mary was a spectacular sucess! It's all gone now. This is a big problem. I am one of those itchy people. Beau will come up and hug me and wake IT up. IT lives on my back, just in those spots I can't reach. Funny thing is, with the homemade soap IT went AWAY!!! So, I need to make more soap because I don't want to go back to being itchy all the time. I like hugs!
I have read a lot, and found that my best alternatives for the type of soap I want to make are beef and pork fat, or tallow and lard. Lard I can purchase, but beef tallow is no where to be found here in the Show Me state. So, I kindly inquired of my local small store with a butcher shop if they would save their trims for me and they agreed.
I read a lot of instructions, but I have found a much better way than any I saw on the internet or in books, which I would like to share now.
First you need:
4 – 5 pounds of fat, beef or pork. Not bacon grease or anything that has a strong odor. Let it thaw halfway, and it also helps if you have a food processor to grind it. Your butcher may do this for you if you ask really nice.
A peice of cheese cloth, or some other way to filter the fat makes it MUCH easier than the information I have read, which requires you to render it twice to get the chunks out. Floursack towels will alsowork well.
A colander
Large saucepan with one inch of water, start it warming, your goal is steaming not boiling.
Thaw your fat about halfway, or all the way
Or you can grind it frozen which is a little less messy, but I think thawing worked best. Alternatively you can just cut the fat into chunks but this makes the rendering part go really slow and I didn't like it at all.
So fill your processor about half full of thawed fat, or 1/3 full of frozen fat, if your frozen fat is cubed it will work up easier.
Pulse until it goes pretty smoothly then kick it into high and finish the job, the result will look like this:
The thawed fat will kind of stick together much like sausage or something, but the frozen fat will just fall out into the pan. So it really just depends on which you prefer. Ease of removal from the processor, or ease of processing. The frozen takes more to get it ground, but doesn't stick to the sides. The thawed sticks together but grinds up really fast. To save the life of my processor, I will probably half thaw or fully thaw in the future as it had to struggle a bit.
So, once all the peices of fat and bit of meat are pea sized or smaller, dump them in the hot water
This is a picture of my first batch that was only cubed. You will NOT want to do it this way if you have ANY alternative. It's way too much work, and too much mess, and you hardly get any fat for your efforts. Anyhow, note how the water is hot, and melting the fat, but not simmering at all. This works best.
You can see how you get a lot more fat melted when the fat is ground up well. The grinding allows more of the fat to melt much faster.
Once you have heated the fat enough that all is left is bits of meat, and bits of gristle then remove it from the heat and strain it off. I used our milk filter here, and it worked great. BUT that was for chunks which I removed with a slotted spoon.
So instead for the second batch, I laid a clean cheesecloth in a colander over my bucket and poured it all in there. Be careful not to over flow. Let it sit quite a while so as much of the fat can drain as possible. Once it is mostly drained, you can wrap the cloth and push with a spoon to get every last drop out.
There is still quite a lot of fat there, now that it's drained I can see that. So, you can regrind it and heat it more, or any dog will happily eat this. It's mostly meat at this time, and I would guess you could also make something from it that was finely ground such as homemade hotdogs or something. My dog will eat this for me.
I restrain it again once the chunks are out through the milk filters. You can also restrain through a hankerchief or flour sack towel, but this will enable you perfectly clean fat, without re rendering! Most people chill it then remove the fat layer, and repeat the above process. I'm too lazy for that. Once you have strained your fat again, then set it in a sink of cold water until it gets to room temperature, then put in the fridge or other cold place.
I don't like to put hot things in the fridge until it cools some. Once it has chilled overnight, it will form a lovely little cake on top.
Give your pan/bucket a dip in some hot water, and when the edges start to liquefy. Then take your cake out and it will have a layer of gelitan on the bottom.
Peel this off, and I give this to the dog too, she's a very happy dog!
My clean beautiful fat!
Now, I'm ready to make soap as soon as my new scale comes in!
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Utah legislators who grumble about federal intrusion got a gut-check vote Tuesday evening with a showdown over whether the state should reject $71 million in federal funds.
For 15 minutes and through multiple votes, legislators were deadlocked, with hard-line Republicans voting to reject the federal dollars and Democratic lawmakers joining with them in an attempt to call their bluff.
Rep. Mike Noel, R-Kanab, led the opposition to the federal money, suggesting the state shouldn't count on the U.S. government to provide money going forward. He was joined by Sen. Margaret Dayton, R-Orem, who complained about federal mandates that come with the dollars.
"That is $71 million that [the federal government] took from us in the first place … and are returning it with their strings. So it really is our money," she said. "The question is: How many of their strings do we have to accept to deal with our money that probably shouldn't have left here in the first place."
Sen. Kevin Van Tassell, R-Vernal, warned rejecting the money would shut down the state's environmental quality, conservation and firefighting programs and could lead the federal government to take over Utah's environmental programs.
Ultimately, opponents to the federal money blinked, with Senate Majority Leader Ralph Okerlund, R-Monroe, changing his vote, along with Rep. Mike McKell, R-Spanish Fork, and Rep. Sue Duckworth, D-Magna.
"I think there was a little bit of a statement there, where a number of people just wanted to say federal dollars now coming in are not sustainable," Okerlund said. "My original vote was a statement that we need to be thinking about that."


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Congress Should Dismantle Consumer Bureau
There can be unseemly exposure of the mind as well as of the body, as the progressive mind is exposed in the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a creature of the labyrinthine Dodd-Frank legislation. Judicial dismantling of the CFPB would affirm the rule of law and Congress' constitutional role.
George F. Will
November 16, 2012


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Officials from DHEC reports a child in the Pineville area of Berkeley County was exposed to the rabies virus. The child is now receiving post-exposure treatment. A spokesperson says she was bitten by a fox that tested positive for rabies.
Officials say there were 137 confirmed cases of animal rabies during 2012 in South Carolina. There have been 82 confirmed cases in animals statewide this year. This animal is the first to test positive from Berkeley County in 2013.
Sue Ferguson from the agency's Bureau of Environmental Health Services says "to reduce the risk of getting rabies, we recommend that people avoid wild animals acting tame and tame animals acting wild."
DHEC says every year 275 South Carolinians under preventative treatment for rabies and most exposures come from bites or scratches by an animal. Officials say if you think you have been exposed immediately wash the area with plenty of soap and water and be sure to get medical attention and report the incident to DHEC.


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Jazz Combo Pak #27 (Christmas)
- Ensemble:
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Jazz Combo Pak #27 (Christmas) arranged by Frank Mantooth. For Jazz Combo. Jazz Combo. Softcover with CD. Published by Hal Leonard (HL.7010080).
The Hal Leonard Jazz Combo Paks are a versatile and inexpensive way to put four fantastic charts in front of your high school or college combo. The flexible instrumentation provides many options for covering the parts; the arrangements are absolutely top notch; and at $45.00 for four standards you will never find a better value.
- Line 1 (lead or harmony): Alto Sax, Trumpet, Soprano Sax, Clarinet, Flute, Vibes
- Line 2 (lead or harmony): Alto Sax, Bari Sax, Trumpet, Soprano Sax, Clarinet, Trombone
- Line 3: Bari Sax, Tenor Sax, Trumpet, Trombone
Pak #27 includes four holiday favorites for jazz combo: Frosty the Snow Man; Silver Bells; Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow; I'll Be Home for Christmas.
- Frosty the Snow Man
- Silver Bells
- I'll Be Home for Christmas
- Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!
1 - BB INSTRUMENTS 8 pages
1 - EB INSTRUMENTS 8 pages
1 - C INSTRUMENTS 8 pages
1 - DRUMS 4 pages
2 - PIANO/CONDUCTOR 8 pages
1 - GUITAR 4 pages
1 - BASS 4 pages
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John Williams: Movie Adventures
$55.00 $50.60
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$55.00 $50.60
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Belwin Jazz Combo Collection
Jazz Combo Pak #28 (Duke Ellington)
Jazz Combo Pak #29 (Sonny Rollins)
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Jazz Combo Pak #27 (Christmas)
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The Rocky River Ravens lost 36-13 to the Myers Park Mustangs last Friday night in the final regular season game for both. The game was important for both teams. Myers Park needed a win to qualify for the playoffs, while a win for Rocky River could help improve their playoff seeding. Unfortunately for the Ravens, this was not their night. Continue reading
Daily Archives: November 2, 2012
It's Your Business: Candice Wood Photography
Fulfilling a lifelong dream of owning a photography studio, recent college graduate Candice Wood, a native of Mint Hill, has opened her own studio located in the Mint Hill Village.
Wood recently graduated with two degrees from Randolph Community College in Portrait Studio Management and Bio-communications Photography. She has completed four internships, each lasting eight weeks, with Amelia and Dan Photography in Charleston, S.C., and then Crystal Lee Photography, Erin Dietrich Photography, and Gene Ho Photography all located in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Independence holds Butler to second lowest point total of the season
Last Friday, the top two teams in the SW4A conference met for the conference championship, Independence vs Butler at Memorial Stadium. It was a perfect fall night for what turned out to be a great game between two good teams.
Butler deferred the choice, and the game began with the bulldogs kicking to Independence. Both teams struggled during the first quarter. Butler WR Uriah Lemay fumbled the ball, and the Patriots recovered on their own 43-yard line.
About four minutes later, Butler attempted a trick double pass play that brought the ball deep into Indy territory, but was called back due to an illegal forward pass. Independence turned over the ball twice after going for it on fourth down and short possessions during the first quarter.


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Call today on 0141 552 9193 and a solicitor will call you back within two hours
The Employment Team at the Glasgow Law Practice provides legal advice to both employers and employees regarding all employment law issues including tribunal representation.
Employment is a very complex area of the law so it is important to ensure you get professional guidance. Contact our Employment Solicitors today on 0141 552 9193 for expert advice.
One of the biggest threats to the smooth running of your business can be uncertainty regarding your obligations as an employer. We can advise you on the appropriate procedures to follow should an employment law issue arise. See our dedicated employment law for employers legal services.
As an employee, you have extensive rights within the workplace. Should difficulties arise with your employer, our professional advice will help you find the most appropriate path to follow to resolve any issues. See our dedicated employment law for employees legal services.
Call us today on 0141 552 9193 or use our online enquiry form. There's no obligation. Our employment solicitors will respond to your queries quickly and confidentially.


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Our Vision
The vision of Wholelotta Productions is to bring the performing and new media arts to the masses via the stage and technology.
At Wholelotta Productions we wholeheartedly believe that new media, visual and the performing arts are the future. Just look around you; while the world has become more interconnected through the web, the creative sector and entrepreneurship has grown exponentially. Therefore, it is has become that much more important to bring a high level of quality and education to the field.


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Rolex Rankings #65
Rolex Rankings #1
Will Shanshan Feng defend her title?
Will Lexi Thompson defend her title?
Ernst's victory another big step in her career
The Social Scene for September, 2014
Watch the Paula Creamer's amazing shot of the day from the final round of the HSBC Women's Champions.


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tolstoy; post-romantics; xix; 1873;
tolstoy; post-romantics; xix; 1873;
Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Canoë (Jeune fille dans un bateau), 1877
4:49am (1 note)
When I was sick and lay a-bed,
I had two pillows at my head,
And all my toys beside me lay,
To keep me happy all the day.
And sometimes for an hour or so
I watched my leaden soldiers go,
With different uniforms and drills,
Among the bed-clothes, through the hills;
And sometimes sent my ships in fleets
All up and down among the sheets;
Or brought my trees and houses out,
And planted cities all about.
I was the giant great and still
That sits upon the pillow-hill,
And sees before him, dale and plain,
The pleasant land of counterpane.
6:07am (2 notes)
4:35pm (9 notes)
3:56am (3 notes)
Katsushika Hokusai, Sparrow dance (from Manga)
3:39am (24 notes)
Bookcase, Books and Spectacles, and Potted Adonis Plant / Kuniyasu
書棚と眼鏡と福寿草 歌川国安 年代不詳
3:31am (19 notes)
James McNeill Whistler, Study for "The Balcony", 1867-70
University of Glasgow, Birnie Philip Bequest


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by Trena Luong and Dr John Sullivan
There has been a great deal of publicity lately surrounding the lack of STEM women at high-tech firms. Unfortunately, we have to give two thumbs down to the diversity data from each of the top high-tech firms that have publicly released their numbers. Although the firms' intentions were good, the limited scope of the metrics that they revealed do not provide the necessary information that STEM women need in order select which firm to join or the right information needed in order to encourage them to actually apply for a different tech job.
High-tech firms have two basic reasons for attempting to hire and retain more STEM women into key roles.
The first and most obvious is to meet EEOC legal requirements, but the second is related to improving business results. This business reason is critical because if you don't have a sufficient number of women designing a product and providing customer service, it's unlikely that the products and services that the firm offers will fit the needs of current and potential women users. This business reason means that simply hiring women is not enough, because it is also equally important to make sure that STEM women are placed in influential positions that directly impact a firm's products, services, and the way that it does business. The current metrics that firms use are not clearly aligned with their business goals, and because they are only "quota metrics," we find that they do not provide the in-depth information that is needed in order to identify the barriers that prevent STEM women from applying, accepting an offer, and succeeding in a new job.
There are few things that are more shocking to a manager then to have one of their top-performing employees suddenly quit on them. Some managers have described it as the equivalent to a "kick in the gut." It is a shock not only because losing a key employee will damage your business results, but also because managers hate surprises, and as a result, they frequently wonder how they missed the signals that this person was going to leave.
Employee turnover is always an important issue, but most managers are unaware of the fact that overall, turnover rates went up 45 percent last year. And because I am predicting that they will go up at least 50 percent this year, individual managers should be aware of the precursors or warning signs that can indicate that an employee is considering looking for a job, so they can act before it's too late.
After 20+ years of research on predicting turnover, I have found that if you approach the problem systematically, you can successfully identify which individual employees are likely to quit with an accuracy rate of over 80 percent.
Firms like Google, Xerox, and Sprint, as well as several vendors, have developed processes for identifying who might quit. But for most managers, you must realize that you will simply have to develop your own identification process. So if you know of a manager who is worried about turnover, pass this list of turnover predictors to them so they won't be surprised when their next employee announces that they are quitting. (more…)
Recruiting leaders are constantly looking for strategic opportunities, which admittedly are rare in this progressive field. There is only one big missed opportunity in strategic recruiting and that is … harnessing consumer data to direct source passive prospects. Unless you have adapted a big data approach to recruiting, you will undoubtedly be shocked to learn that the most accurate and useful profile that you can get on a potential recruiting prospect doesn't come from LinkedIn or their resume.
Instead it can be gotten from data brokers who sell consumer data. Imagine the recruiting possibilities if you had a complete profile of literally every employed passive prospect in your area … and that this profile included their job title and company but also their income, ZIP Code, a list of behaviors that would indicate that they were a top performer, and best of all, that they are about to seek a new job.
This last strategic frontier in recruiting goes by several names, including consumer data, credit card data, and sales leads. Let me go on record by saying that consumer data is the most powerful direct sourcing tool that almost no one in the world of corporate recruiting is using. (more…)
by Trena Luong and John Sullivan
In case you haven't noticed, the world of corporate recruiting has become so intense that formerly rare aggressive and ultra-bold recruiting practices are now becoming mainstream. Of course as a professional, you know that you have an obligation to keep up with the latest practices, but your outdated recruiting approach is damaging your firm. Are you willing to explain to: your managers why you can't hire top performers?; your employees why they can't work alongside the very best?; your customers why your products have outdated features?; and to your shareholders why your company can't grow because of its inability to recruit top talent?
For a busy manager or recruiting professional, realize that the recruiting bar is being raised every day. Because we specialize in advanced recruiting practices, we have put together a quick list of examples of ultra-bold recruiting practices in order to demonstrate just how aggressive and bold recruiting has become. Each bold practice takes only a minute to scan and we assure you that most will be startled with how much recruiting has changed.
We have broken these current (and relatively recent) unique and outrageous practices into four different categories. We are confident that you will find each of the recruiting elements in each company example to be unique, bold, and aggressive. (more…)
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I just received my first order. It was shipped promptly and I got an amazing deal on the Fickle Fire. I am looking forward to adding this to my act...Read More ->
Being from South Africa, you can only imagine the number of concerns I had, from delivery, to prices, to availability of products. MJM customer...Read More ->


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HOT Deal today on this Fisher-Price Disney's Jake and The Never Land Pirates – Jake's Talking Spyglass for only $7.99 (Down from $19.99). You will also receive FREE Shipping with Amazon Prime or when you spend $25 or more.
Product Features
- Recreate your favorite pirate scenes with Jake's talking spyglass!
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- Spy on Captain Hook with Jakes Spyglass!
- Life Size telescope with Pirate styling allows for fun play time
- Comes with Jake's headband and an authentic Never Land Map
Want to know how to save more at Amazon. Read the post on 8 Tips to Save on Amazon.com.
Prices at Amazon can change at any time and are subject to availability. This price is valid as of 12/18/12, so you'll want to check the price before purchasing.
Don't forget to check out the Coupon Database for all available coupons. This site uses affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.


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Categories > Books > Harry Potter > Harry Potter and the Distaff Side
The Birthday Girl23 Reviews
Luna gets a special present, Lucy has discovered the price of failure, Harri is hurt, and Harry does some hurting.
Harry Potter and the Distaff Side
The Birthday Girl
Time seemingly stood still in the Room of Requirements whenever Riddle's shade was training Harry. The bastard was the master of inflicting pain, worse while doing so he made observations of Harry's relative lack of skill. Still, spending a minimum of an hour a day fighting this mad man had boosted his skills to levels he had only dreamed of previously. He was still no where near good enough, but he was so much better than he had been in early September than he was barely recognizable. So of course he was currently under a crucio. The room generated pain curses were as painful as the real thing, though they didn't do the physical damage the real things did.
The curse suddenly cut off for no discernible reason.
"Your lucky day Potter. The time limit you set today has been reached. You have half an hour to prepare for your evening meal, and to ready yourself for seducing your plaything."
"Watch your self Tom, or the next time the room will make you with out a mouth. If you had found someone to care about beyond your pathetic self, you would have been a happier psychotic ass than you turned out to be."
"You weaken yourself with your concern for others Potter. It is that concern for others that allowed me to capture you and send you here. If you are to win, you will need to shed these attachments you are so fond of."
"Just go away Tom." He closed his eyes and concentrated. When he reopened his eyes the training room and Riddle were no longer there, a shower had appeared. Harry disrobed and allowed the heat of the water to work its magic on his body.
After his shower, Harry cleaned his robes and dressed. Was Riddle right? Did his attachment to others doom his efforts? Harry pondered this as he left the Room of Requirements and made his way to the Great Hall for the Halloween feast. Hagrid's giant pumpkins decorated the Hall, as usual. Bats fluttered about the room
Harry hadn't yet reached out to this realities Hagrid. It was far too disconcerting to see his oldest friend in the Wizarding... Witching world as a woman, and Harry had found himself (not for the first time) questioning the sanity of Hagrid's human parent. In this reality not only had the woman actually, willingly bedded a male giant, but she had named her daughter 'Reubella'. Naming a child after a disease?
Harry found as seat at the Hufflepuff table, returning the greetings of his house mates, as he reviewed his situation in his head. Given time, he would eventually match and perhaps even surpass the Riddle shade provided by the Room of Requirements. Whether or not he would have the needed amount of time was an open question. The Riddle of the Room had told him during the occasional instructional periods they had spent together (as opposed to the far more frequent combat periods) that the Room's magic had told him that he (the Riddle of the Room) was roughly equivalent in power compared to the Dark Lady Riddle.
He would need help. After all this was Harriet's fight. She would never forgive him if he went off without her. The question was would Orestes forgive him for leading (or following) Harri into danger?
Approaching Harriet wouldn't be easy. The few times he had attempted to discuss the fight with her she had brushed him off, giving him the distinct feeling that she wasn't willing to risk a 'mere boy' to the dangers involved in facing Riddle. Harry found himself wondering how he would have reacted if Harriet had somehow translated to his world. Would he be as active protecting here as Harri seemed to be attempting to protect him?
Harry's musings were interrupted when Dumbledore welcomed everyone to the feast, and took the opportunity to introduce the new Ministry appointed Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. Auror Stebens had recovered from her injuries sufficiently enough to return to her duties. Her replacement was a tall grey haired Witch named Amanda Strews, a senior Auror who was apparently not terribly happy to be at Hogwarts if her facial expression was anything to go on. This was too bad. Professor Stebens had been an effective instructor, though Harry's time with the Riddle shade had far surpassed what the injured Auror had to teach.
That bit of excitement past them, the feast began. Harry returned to his musings. His house mates attempted to bring him out of his shell, and he joined in the various conversations around him for a few moments before sinking back into himself until he was again directly addressed. On the other side of the table, Jessica Finch-Fletchly made a mental note of Harry's apparent disassociation with the house. Professor Sprout had asked that she keep an eye on the Potter boy to gauge his mental state. She had approached Harry twice suggesting a casual sexual encounter, (a common relationship starting tactic in Hufflepuff house)each time she had been politely rebuffed with an absurd story of a male version of herself named 'Justin' who, while only a casual acquaintance would always stand between them.
Misunderstanding what the Dimensional Traveler was telling her, Jessica mentioned that there were a few male Hufflepuffs opened to such a relationship, and that she would not mind being allowed to watch. The male Potter paled before her eyes, and backed away stuttering excuses. Stu Bones had later laughed at the suggestion that Potter might indeed prefer the company of other men, and suggest that Jessica pay attention to Harry's reaction to the Ravenclaw 4th year Lovegood. Indeed it was apparent that Harry was interested in the younger girl, though why this was true escaped Finch-Fletchly's understanding. She added another note for the report she was to turn in that night.
As the feast was breaking up, Harry rushed to intercept Luna before she could leave for the Ravenclaw tower.
"Evening Luna." He said, desperately attempting to pull off being casual.
"Hello Harry." Her 'Looney' personae looked up to him vacantly.
"I was wondering if you would like to take a walk with me this evening. So much to see and do in this old castle."
"I don't know Harry, I've a few things I need to prepare for tomorrow..."
"Honestly Luna, I think you'll like what I've found." Harry focused on appearing as sincere as he knew how. "Something for your birthday."
Okay, said Harry to himself, try not to screw this up. He paused for a moment while Luna watched Barnabas the Barmy being clubbed to death once again by the members of his All Troll Ballet troop. He walked past the invisible door way, concentrating on what he wanted the room to do for him.
A familiar highly polished door had appeared in the wall. Harry reached out, taking hold of the brass handle, and pulled the door open, leading Luna into a spacious sitting room furnished with leather chairs and sofas. A tea service sat on the coffee table in from of the largest sofa.
"What is this place Harry? It's lovely."
Harry turned to face the blonde, but before he could answer someone interrupted.
The Ravenclaw turned to face the new speaker. Her eyes went even wider than usual. "Daddy?"
Harry quietly left the room. Luna and the room generated shade of her father deserved their privacy.
Harry had been sitting outside the Room of Requirements for an hour when the door opened. "Harry, could you come in?"
He entered the room and Luna pulled him into her arms with all the strength of her small body. "Thank you Harry. Thank you so much."
"My daughter tells me you're responsible for all this Mr. Potter." The shade said. "I know I'm not truly Hyperion Lovegood, but I feel like I am. Thank you for the chance to give my lovely daughter a proper goodbye."
"Goodbye Daddy?"
"Yes Luna. I am not your father, I'm a simulation. Spending too much time with me wouldn't be healthy for you. Hyperion Lovegood has passed from this world, and I sure he misses his brilliant Xena and the lovely and brilliant daughter they made together, I know I do and I'm just a shade. Luna, please do not come to see me again. Nothing that happened that day was your fault. Returning to this room to speak to a dead man can only harm you." The tall man smiled. "Thank you Mr. Potter. Please take care of my daughter. She is a treasure."
"I'll try sir."
Luna and Harry remained in the room for an hour following the 'departure' of the room created Hyperion Lovegood. At first Luna was sobbing and clinging to him, gradually that gave way to them kissing which gave way to Luna's roaming hands. Her sorrow built into a passion, her hands were everywhere. At some point she had unbuttoned his trousers and reached in to stroke him. Harry gasped at her touch.
"Did I Hurt you?" she asked, not stopping her ministrations.
"No, but we better stop. Luna, you were upset by seeing your father or at least a shade of him again. I don't know how I expected this to affect you, but this isn't it."
"I don't want to stop."
"I do Luna. Come to me when you aren't freshly mourning your father and we'll wake up the house elves. Not tonight. This isn't what I intended to happen. I don't want you looking back on this and see me taking advantage of you."
She leaned back from him. "You, taking advantage of me? But I'm..." she removed her hand from his trousers and rebuttoned them. "I forgot the cultural differences we're dealing with here for a moment." She leaned forward and kissed him again. "That appeared to be a nice one," Luna gestured toward his pelvis. "The first I've ever touched. I knew they got stiff, but it seemed quite large, at least when compared to stories my dorm mates have told. Are you unusual?"
"I have absolutely no idea Luna, that's not the sort of thing mates go about comparing, you know?"
"I look forward to taking you up on that offer." She stood and offered Harry her hand. "Thank you for letting me say good bye to my father. I should get you back to your dorm before curfew."
Lucile Malfoy hung from the torture frame. It had been three weeks since her disastrous mission to Hogsmeade. Tasked to kill children and if possible capture either or both of the Potter children she had led her team to the outskirts of town.
Only to discover that they had appeared practically on top of the Male Potter and a young girl. It should have been so simple, stun the boy, kill the girl, kill a few other children and then return to the Mistress with the boy trussed up as a gift. But the boy had the instincts of a duelist and the reflexes of mongoose, by himself he had killed two of Lucile's Death Eaters and badly wounded three more. The girl had managed to use incarcerus on the remaining member of the team, all in less than half a minute.
Lucile had barely managed to portkey away before the first of the Aurors appeared, and had delivered herself back into the hands of the Dark Lady, who was furious to have lost half a dozen recruits to a pair of children. Her fury was expressed as pain. Pain had become the total focus of Lucile's life for the last three weeks.
"Good morning Lucy" the Dark Lady said, lifting the platinum blonde's head with a single finger under her chin. "I find I have need of your services at the Ministry, so I suppose that means the punishment for your failure is ended. Your next failure will mean the slow death of your entire family."
Her throat ravaged by near constant screaming, Malfoy could only nod her understanding.
"What the hell happened?"
Harry had arrived at the Hospital wing at a dead run. He had been in the Great Hall eating lunch when Malfoy strolled by chortling about 'Professor Strews teaching 'scar head' a lesson' Harry had immediately gone to the Gryffindor table to find out what had happened. Arthur Weasley tearfully told him that Harri was in the Hospital Wing.
Orestes looked up from Harri's hospital bed. "Professor Strews did this Harry. She started in on some pure blood nonsense, and then started practice duels in the class. Harri beat Malfoy without half trying. Strews called her up to the front of the class for a demonstration, before Harri was anywhere near ready, Strews started cursing her and cursing her, so many times. Things we've never seen in class, or in any of the books." There were tears in Orestes eyes. "Shes so hurt." He whispered. "Healer Pomfrey was completely shocked. He said he'd never seen anything like this."
Harry looked down at his twin's face. Blotchy and bruised, she was restless in her potion induced sleep. "Orestes, mate, get word to me when she wakes up, ok."
"Harry, don't do anything stupid."
"Stupid is what I do best Orestes, ask anyone who knows me."
"Would you care to explain yourself Amanda?"
"I was assigned here to teach Blanch, I taught an arrogant half blood to respect her betters."
"Last I checked, an unprovoked attack on a minor child by an Auror was a crime." Almanzo Bones said angrily. "What do you suppose gave you your edge in this encounter Senior Auror? The sixty years of experience you have, the sneak attack on your unprepared opponents back, or perhaps your 'pure blood'?"
"We all know that a pureblood's magic is superior to a halfbloods."
"As superior as yours was to Tommi Riddle Amanda? I seem to recall you pledging yourself to her 'for all time' back in 6th year. Personally I have a problem with anyone who attacks from the back in a supposed duel." Anastasia Moody said, her magical eye spinning to take in her total surroundings. "As I recall, you tried that on me once Amanda. Did the lesson I taught you that day not take?"
"Certainly it took. Now she only does it against those who couldn't possibly stand against her in a fair fight." Almanzo suggested. "A common trait of cowards."
Amanda Strews bristled at that comment. "Are you challenging me Almanzo?"
"No one is challenging anyone Amanda. At least not at this school."
"You're fooling yourself Blanch. Amanda here is going to end up having to deal with the other Potter. The boy is harder than the girl. He'll do what he needs to do and feel bad about it later."
"Anastasia, this is a school, not a dueling academy." Dumbledore stood and straightened her robes. "Amanda, do anything like that again and you will answer to me, Madam Fudge will not be able to protect you."
Amanda Strews returned to her classroom, more than a little pleased with herself. She had taught that presumptuous half blood a lesson, and gotten completely away with it. Moody and her absurd claim that the male Potter, this so called 'dimensional traveler' might attempt to avenge his 'sister'. What mere boy, a Hufflepuff at that, would have the rocks to stand up to the woman who so completely bested his stronger half?
"You seem pleased with yourself Professor."
She whirled to face the speaker, her wand out and ready. She found herself staring into a pair of burning green eyes.
"Very pleased indeed. Did you rough up a first year for his pocket money?"
"You must be Potter. They say you claim to be a Dimensional Traveler."
"They also say you claim to be a Senior Auror. Tell me professor, how does a coward rise to such a rank?"
"You dare?"
"The first three curses you threw hit my twin in the back. That's pretty much the definition of being a coward isn't it? That and hiding behind your inbred agenda. Yes, I'd say coward describes you quite well."
"And what is to prevent me from doing the same to you boy?"
"I'm facing you? Looking me in the eye is almost enough to make you wet yourself isn't it coward? A better question is what is going to keep me from killing you. The answer to that is that I trust Moody back there to step in if I lose control. Can I rely on you for that Mad-Eye?"
Did the boy actually think she would fall for that old chestnut?
"Aye lad." Came Anastasia's distinctive voice from the back of the classroom, shocking Strews. "And then we'll be discussing how you spotted me beneath my cloak."
Harry stood, with his wand in his hand at his side. "It's really simple Professor. I came to you for extra instruction in defense. If you get lucky, I came into this with my eyes open, isn't that right Mad-Eye?"
"That's the way I heard it lad." This kid had rocks, plain and simple. Amanda Strews was good, Moody had trained her. There was no reasonable way for a kid Potter's age to be good enough with his wand to inspire the level of confidence the boy exhibited... but something about the way he held himself...
"Any time you're ready Professor... Would it help if I turned my back?"
Amanda Strews started to cast, Harry watched as her something odd happened. It was as if the tall woman was moving in slow motion. Her first hex slowly oozed toward him and Harry easily side stepped it. Harry casually flicked a bone breaker at her left arm. From his perspective that curse moved at a normal speed, but his opponent attempted to dodge, again in slow motion. Harry watched as the curse impacted on her arm and Strews was spun around. What the hell is happening?
From Moody's point of view, the male Potter was moving at an insane speed. He would go from standing still to an inhuman acceleration almost instantaneously. She had seen this only twice before. During the first rise of the Dark Lady, in the battle that had cost Moody her eye, when Dumbledore and Riddle had faced each other, both of them moved with this same insane inhuman speed, and their magic reacted in the same time scale as their bodies. The boy was fifteen years old, how was he doing this?
Harry's confusion at just why Strews and her magic were moving so slowly cut into the anger he felt toward the woman. Two more bone breakers from his wand had hit the woman, the first destroying her right shoulder, the second shattering her left femur. He watched as the woman collapsed to the floor, still in slow motion. He forced himself to calm and levitated the woman so that he could look her in the eye.
"How did you do that?" she choked out her teeth clenched in pain.
"Aren't bone breaking curses covered in your Pure Blood Supremacy playbook? Let us be clear Professor. You are done here. I'll be taking you to the Hospital Wing so that Healer Pomfrey can care for you. When she's done with you, you are going to find you have responsibilities you need to take care of, far away from Hogwarts. I've waited my entire life to have a family, I finally got one and you hurt her. You even look at my sister again and I will kill you."
"I'll have you expelled."
"Really? What for? You cast the first hex. I've got a retired Master Auror as a witness. Even if you succeed, do you think that will keep me from finding you?"
"I'll take her Lad, you look a little tired." Moody stumped up. "I wanted a few words with Amanda anyway. You should head to your dormitory."
"As you say Madam Moody." Harry passed control of the levitation charm over to Moody and left the classroom.
"I have to say Amanda, when you find someone to annoy, you outdo yourself." She started walking toward the Hospital Wing.
"I'll destroy him."
"You didn't lay a hand on him. He cast three curses, and each one hit you. Think about it Amanda, you were present when we fought against your former girlfriend, when have you ever seen anyone move like that?"
That thought shocked Strews. Then came the realization that Moody was right, but... "He's no where near her level."
"Of course not. He's 15 years old, and she's our age. She couldn't do that at 15. By the time he's twenty, he will bury her. You had best consider what side you want to be on. Should I tell Blanch you'll be leaving, or do you want to do it yourself?"
Harry made back to his dorm room before his rising gorge forced him to run to the bath and empty his stomach. After vomiting everything he had eaten that day (and possibly the previous two), he pulled off his clothing and turned on the shower, scrubbing his body raw with shaking hands. He just couldn't get clean.
"I'm telling you Blanch, he was moving like you do."
"I'm certain it looked that way Anastasia, but that just isn't possible. There are absolutely no records of any Wizard ever learning to accelerate himself."
"HERE Blanch. Remember where he comes from. You and I both know powerful Wizards. Can any of them learn to do your accelerate move? I have no idea. All I know is that this 15 year old boy can do it at will, but from the expression on his face he is confused by it. From all evidence he isn't aware he's doing it."
"I was almost forty before I learned to do it. I suspect that Thomasina learned before she was thirty. If this boy can do it now..."
"More importantly, you're going to need a DADA Professor. Merlin knows what the Ministry will saddle you with this time. You had approached me to teach last year before I was otherwise occupied. What if I was to take over the classes for the rest of the year?"
"That would be greatly appreciated Anastasia."
"And I can keep an eye on the boy. I want to know just what he can do. If he's going to take the fight to the Riddle, I want to be there. She and I have unfinished business."
Harry returned to the Hospital Wing, to find Harri was awake, still badly bruised, but looking much better.
"Hey sis."
"Hey yourself you prat. Did you do that?" she gestured toward the bed on the far side of the room holding Professor Strews wimpering under the affects of Skel-grow.
"Idiot, you will probably end up expelled."
Harry shrugged. "Worth it."
Harry sat down in the chair next to the bed. "That's Orestes chair, I made him go to dinner. If you're still sitting in it when he gets back he'll look all serious and roll his eyes until you give it up."
"You two seem to be good together."
Harriet lost her smile and took on a serious look. "I need you to help train me." She saw the surprised look on his face. "I know, I've been ignoring you when you have suggested that we train together in the past. I was stupid. I was thinking of you as just a 'boy'. Thinking of you as if you were one of the giggly boys in the dorms who lack the drive to wade into an actual fight. I know you're not." She gestured toward the only other person in the ward. "She took me apart without any effort at all. Professor Moody told me you returned the favor, in spades."
"I don't know Harri... Orestes would kill me if I introduce you to my trainer. He's a right evil bastard, and Orestes is awfully protective of you."
"Let me deal with Orestes. He knows I need to get better."
"Alright. As soon as Healer Pomfrey gives you a clean bill of health."


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A few years ago I had a dream and everything in it was teal, so I was kind of obsessed with the color teal for a few years. Now my new shit is yellow. So all hail the yellow dama!
(left to right: sweets prototype, tk16, mugen, ozora, ken usa sander pro)


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- About
- Research
- Mixed Biological-Robotic Systems
- Multi-Robot Coordination and Swarming
- Smart Materials
- Self-Assembly
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- Blog
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Our long-term goal is to develop an autonomous green house in which all tasks are performed automatically. Water and nutrients will be delivered locally on-demand and fruit will be harvested optimally, that is when they are ripe and when its removal is best for the plant. Plants will drive the robots' activities in the garden using sensors to monitor their local environment conditions, a plant-specific model of growth for making predictions about the state of fruit, and interaction with robots for establishing an inventory of fruit.
The current focus of the project is on tele-operation. The rational is simple: showing that we can tele-operate it demonstrates that the system fulfills the minimal mechanical and sensorial requirements, which can then serve as a baseline for autonomous operation. We have also begun to create the data basis for (un)supervised machine learning of plant status and manipulation planning by developing a 2D gantry system that collects RGB-D readings from Strawberry plants.
This project started as an undergraduate project course 6.084/086 taught at MIT during Fall 2008. The project was framed as addressing a grand challenge: to create a robotic gardening system. Solving the grand challenge required designing and programming robots to interact effectively and autonomously with the real world. We developed the class hardware infrastructure consisting of six robots with an iCreate base and a 4DOF arm with eye-in-hand configuration and an optional watering system and four cherry tomato plants, each with its own local sensing and computation packaged in an embedded computer. The robots and plants were networked together as a mesh network. The plants have the ability to monitor their soil humidity and issue watering requests. They also have the ability to database the location and color-level of the tomatoes. The robots have the ability to visit a specific plant to deliver water or to locate and grasp a tomato. Users have the ability to request tomatoes for salad. In response to user requests, the system decides which specific plants have the ripest tomatoes and assign parallel harvesting tasks to robots.
This preliminary work has led to a UROP project at CU Boulder (autoponics.org), sponsoring by NASA's x-hab competition with the goal to develop a tele-operated greenhouse in the academic year 2012/2013 as well as a NASA Early Career grant to develop the fundamental perception and manipulation capabilities future autonomous systems will need. We have also begun studying human factors, i.e., the influence of growing plants in confined environments. More specifically, we are interested into studying, which tasks contribute to astronaut's well-being and which tasks need to be automatized.
- David Coleman
- Nicholas Farrow
- Heather Hava
- Daniel Zukowski
- Aerospace Graduate design project class Fall 2012/Spring 2013
- Advanced Robotics class Spring 2013
N. Correll, N. Arechiga, A. Bolger, M. Bollini, B. Charrow, A. Clayton, F. Dominguez, K. Donahue, S. Dyar, L. Johnson, H. Liu, A. Patrikalakis, T. Robertson, J. Smith, D. Soltero, M. Tanner, L. White, D. Rus. Indoor Robot Gardening: Design and Implementation. Intelligent Service Robotics. Special Issue on Robotics in Agriculture.
N. Correll and D. Rus. Peer-to-Peer Learning in Robotics Education: Lessons from a Challenge Project Class. ASEE Computers in Education Journal. Special Issue on Novel Approaches in Robotics Education. To appear. [preprint]
N. Correll, N. Arechiga, A. Bolger, M. Bollini, B. Charrow, A. Clayton, F. Dominguez, K. Donahue, S. Dyar, L. Johnson, H. Liu, A. Patrikalakis, T. Robertson, J. Smith, D. Soltero, M. Tanner, L. White, D. Rus. Building a Distributed Robot Garden. In IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS), pages 1509-1516, St. Louis, MO. Finalist for NTF Best Paper Award.
- NASA Early Career Grant
- NASA Space Technology Research Fellowship (Heather Hava)
- NASA x-hab competition
Media Coverage
- CU-Boulder students engineering deep space gardening system by Betsy Lynch, InnovationNews.com, July 2, 2012.
- Future deep space missions could have robotic vegetable garden by Kevin Lee, PCworld.com, June 13, 2012.
- NASA's robo-garden is a terra-forming trifecta by Andrew Tarantola, Gizmodo.com, June 13, 2012.
- CU-Boulder students to help NASA develop plant food production for deep space, Space Travel, June 7, 2012.
- NASA Habitat Competition Looks For Bioregenerative Space Greenhouses by Rebecca Boyle, Popular Science, June 6, 2012
- CU students to help NASA develop astronaut food, Phys.org, June 6, 2012.
- CU Boulder Team to work on space food project by B. Anas, The Daily Camera, 06/04/2012.
- Agricultural Robots – Fields of automation, The Economist, December, 2009.
- 3 New Farm Bots Programmed to Pick, Plant, and Drive by Erik Sofge, Popular Mechanics, September, 2009.
- Robogardner by MIT News Staff, MIT Technology Review, May/June, 2009.
- A review of the Top-10 Robots of 2009 by Keith Kleiner, December 22, 2009.
- The Robot Gardener that Plants, Tends and Harvests, Amog.com, September 17, 2009.
- VIDEO: Tiny robot swarms pioneer engine maintenance by Aimee Turner, Flight Global, May 8, 2009.
- MIT and the Constant Robotic Gardeners by Aaron Saenz, Singularity Hub, April 14, 2009.
- Robot làm vườn by Trùng Quang, Thanh Nien Online, April 12, 2009.
- В Массачусетском технологическом институте разрабатывают полностью автономную роботизированную теплицу March 23, ITC, Ukrainia.
- Roboter-Gärtner überwachen Pflanzen vollautomatisch, Die Presse.com, March 23, 2009.
- Robot gardeners by David Pescovitz, March 31, 2009, boingboing.net.
- Green-thumbed robots: the future of sustainable precision agriculture?, March 26, 2009, gizmag.com.
- Robots Help Garden Thrive, Converge Magazine, March 23, 2009.
- MIT Students Develop Robotic Gardeners by Georgiana Boblicu, Softpedia.com, March 23, 2009.
- MIT dreams of fully autonomous greenhouse, will definitly make it happen, by Darren Murph, engadget.com, March 22, 2009.
- Robots Care for Plants (By Peeing on Them) by Wilson Rothman, Gizmodo.com, March 20, 2009.
- Precision agriculture uses robot gardeners for sustainable farming, by Bryan Betts, The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), March 19, 2009.
- Robotic Gardeners Tend To Tomato Plants, Ubergizmo.com, March 11, 2009.
- Robotic gardening: MIT course creates robot-tending tomatoes, gadgetted.com, March 19, 2009.
- MIT researchers grow tomato gardening robots, Network World, March 19, 2009.
- Here's what's awesome: robot gardeners, by Brady Carlson, New Hampshire Public Radio, March 15, 2009.
- MIT開發的機器人園丁來也 by Peivan and Matt Hickey, taiwan.cnet.com, March 13, 2009.
- MIT creates robots that serve as gardeners by Doug Osborne, www.geek.com, March 12, 2009.
- Attack of the killer robo-gardeners, by Matt Hickey, CNET news, March 12, 2009.
- Robot gardeners to do more gentle picking and gardening, TechFever Network, March 12, 2009.
- MIT introduces networked plants tended by robot gardeners by S. Kramer, DVICE.com, March 11, 2009.
- Robotic gardeners tend tomato plants by Conner Flynn, Slippery Brick, March 11, 2009.
- MIT gardening robot leaves nothing to do for farmers, Gadget Reviews, March 11, 2009.
- Is our Future Filled with Robotic Farmers Tending to Sensor-Equipped Vegetables?, by Ariel Schwartz, Fast Company, March 11, 2009.
- Robot tend the tomatoes by Judy Lowe, The Christian Science Monitor, March 11, 2009.
- Robotic gardening: MIT course creates robot-tending tomatoes , March 10, 2009, physorg.com.
- MIT branches out with more than a garden-variety robot, by Renee Nadau, The Boston Herald, April 11, 2009.
- I, robot – and gardener: MIT droid tend plants, by Melissa Trujillo, Associated Press, April 10, 2009. Syndicated more than 160 times and appeared in USA Today, Forbes, and Washington Post as well as in Austria (Der Gärtner mit dem Greifarm), China ([图片]麻省理工学院研制的园丁机器人), Germany (Der grüne Daumen wird elektronisch),The Netherlands (Robot als tuinman) and Mexico (Atiende a las plantas robot jardinero) among others.
- Robots are taking over the garden, by L. Clarizio, The American Institute of Physicsand Ivanhoe Productions, broadcasted as a segment of Discoveries and Breakthroughs Inside Science on TV stations throughout the US
- Robot Gardener Plants, Tends and Harvests, by Eric Bland, Discovery Channel News, April 8, 2009.
- R U Robot Ready?, Mevio Tech News, March 11, 2009.
- Garden variety, MIT TechTalk, March 18, 2009. The distributed robotic garden in MIT Technology review.
- BBC Radio 5 Live, Interview, April 14, 2009.
- In an Age of Robots, One to Clean the House? Still but a Dream, by Natalie Angier. New York Times, November 24, 2008.
10 Responses to The Distributed Robot Garden
[...] The Distributed Robot Garden [...]
[...] The Distributed Robot Garden [...]
[...] otra parte, el científico sigue trabajando en una tecnología de jardín robotizado que desarrolló en 2009 en el Instituto Tecnológico de [...]
[...] das part of the natural evolution of a project Correll and colleagues began in 2008 to create a robotic greenhouse. The project originally involved iRobot's Roomba-like but more programmable Create robots. The [...]
[...] das part of the natural evolution of a project Correll and colleagues began in 2008 to create a robotic greenhouse. The project originally involved iRobot's Roomba-like but more programmable Create robots. The [...]
[...] das part of the natural evolution of a project Correll and colleagues began in 2008 to create a robotic greenhouse. The project originally involved iRobot's Roomba-like but more programmable Create robots. The [...]
[...] as part of the natural evolution of a project Correll and colleagues began in 2008 to create arobotic greenhouse. The project originally involved iRobot's Roomba-like but more programmable Create robots. The [...]
[...] number of folks were working on using robots to garden autonomously (http://correll.cs.colorado.edu/?page_id=225). Gardening in particular and agriculture in general will be an interesting application of the [...]
[...] The Distributed Robot Garden [...]
nice initiative! a question about how plants "ask" for water: do you monitor water leaf status or soil water status? We work in monitoring water status in plant leaves, that's why we are interested. Thanks


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Found March 15, 2013 on Tireball.com:
PLAYERS: Mike Goodson
TEAMS: Oakland Raiders, New York Jets
TEAMS: Oakland Raiders, New York Jets
The New York Jets have added veteran running back Mike Goodson to their team. Goodson signed a three-year deal worth $6.9 million on Friday. The move provides the Jets with a viable and low cost option at running back. While Goodson has shown flashes of being good he has been buried on depth charts for years. In Carolina he was behind the duo of DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart while he sat behigh Darren McFadden and Marcel Reece with Oakland. Last season Goodson ran 35 times for 221 yards with the Raiders. Shonn Greene, who served as the Jets running back in recent years, signed with the Tennessee Titans on Thursday. The Jets will have an open competition at running back. Goodson and Bilal Powell are the leading candidates currently on the roster. Goodson is also a strength in the passing game and has shown ability to return kicks.
Original Story: http://tireball.com/nfl/2013/03/15/ru...
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Top 10 awkward holiday pet photos
'Tis the season to send out holiday greeting cards to all your friends and family. But, as our friends at Awkward Family Pet Photos know, not all holiday snapshots are the same. Some are just plain kooky — especially when pets are included. So with good tidings and great cheer, here are 10 wacky holiday animal portraits that are sure to make you laugh out loud and get you in the holiday spirit. And possibly make you think twice about dressing up the family cat this year.
The wackiest pet portraits of the season
Shortly after taking this photo, the dog converted.
The wackiest pet portraits of the season
It's the time of year to celebrate with as many animals as you can.
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Tommi's Burger Joint
by simon • August 10, 2013 • burgers, Central London, Meat, Simon Eats • 0 Comments
I have to confess that Tommi's Burger Joint wasn't my first choice. When a group of us decided to go out for burgers my first thought was to go to Patty and Bun, but as none of us were really in the queueing mood (and on a Friday night Patty and Bun would definitely have a queue), so we decided to go to Tommi's which had reopened earlier in the week. (more…)


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Lee Myddleton
Gender: Male
City: Connah's Quay
Stand: Gwladys Street
Country: United Kingdom
First Game
Spurs in 84.
Favourite Everton Moment
Hard to pick out just one.
Favourite All Time Player
Peter Reid. Top battler. Always wore his heart on his sleeve for the club.
Favourite Current Player
Phil Jagielka. Always comes across as a really passionate player who loves the game.
Favourite Manager
Howard Kendall. Simple. Most succesful
Favourite Game
Wimbledon when we stayed up. Massive massive relief.
Favourite Goal
Barry Horne v Wimbledon Or Andy Johnson v Liverpool when Reina was flapping at the ball. Hilarious.
Favourite Kit
Favourite Chant
If I had the wings of a sparrow If I had the a*** of a crowe I'd fly over Anfield tomorrow And sh*t on the b*st*rds below.


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Straw Dogs (Peckinpah, 1971) January 5, 2010Posted by Daniel Stephens in : Uncategorized, 1970s, Film reviews , add a comment
"I don't know my way home," says simpleton Henry Niles to a dishevelled David Sumner (Dustin Hoffman) at the end of Sam Peckinpah's masterpiece "Straw Dogs". David, with one lens of his spectacles broken and cuts and bruises to his face, smiles and calmly replies: "That's okay, I don't either." The two men drive towards the little Cornish village nearby, their futures uncertain. It's a poetic and fitting climax to David's story – a man who arrived in the little, unassuming English village timid and withdrawn, concerned more with his work than his restless, lascivious wife, and who leaves having found a bravery, or indeed an anger, he did not know he possessed. What he does with it now is up to him, but his life may have taken on a momentous change, one that will govern his future self. [Read full review HERE]
Alien (Ridley Scott, USA, 1979) March 23, 2009Posted by Daniel Stephens in : 1970s, Film reviews, Artfully Deranged, Feminism, Genre, Audience , 6 comments
Dir. Ridley Scott; Written by Dan O'Bannon; starring Sigourney Weaver, John Hurt, Ian Holm, Tom Skerritt, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, Yaphet Kotto
My introduction to Ridley Scott's space opus came sometime after being bowled over by James Cameron's sequel. I guess it must have been around 1990, before David Fincher released the third instalment of the Alien saga. My ignorance of Scott's sci-fi horror had to do with the fact I wasn't born when it was first released in 1979, and partly because my mother had withheld the video from her impressionable son's eyes; possibly fearing permanent psychological damage. This fear didn't last long, since my determination to witness the Alien's first cinematic adventure far outweighed her parental guidance. Coupled with the fact Alien was one of my Mum's favourite movies, it wasn't long before I was another devoted fan of Alien, Ripley, and the space-horror franchise. And, for the sake of not undermining my mother, I can safely say there was no psychological damage causedat least, that's what my shrink tells me.
My first impression of Alien was one that appears the going trend. Quite honestly, it was one of the most frightening experiences of my movie watching life. Director Ridley Scott concocts a claustrophobic, uncompromising cinematic experience that bottles up all that is good about the haunted house movie and delivers it with teeth sharp enough to cut through the screen and take your arms and legs off. From the minute the opening credit sequence starts (bringing you out of your home comforts - that include a reassuring open fire and a locked door - into the unending expanse of outer space), the hieroglyphic letters appearing slowly and methodically onscreen offering no sense of hope, you're left exposed, alone, vulnerable.
Alien was developed in the mid-1970s, the brainchild of film school graduate Dan O'Bannon. O'Bannon had worked with John Carpenter on what would become simultaneously the most successful student film and the worst professional film ever released theatrically - Dark Star. The film, a precursor to O'Bannon's Alien, saw a group of astronauts bidding to stay alive aboard a spacecraft housing a rather nasty but ultimately timid looking alien creature. After O'Bannon left film school and saw his next project fall flat on its face, he turned to friend and producer Ronald Shusett for help. Together, they fleshed out O'Bannon's concept and started shopping it… [MORE]
Bob Clark (1941 – 2007) April 6, 2007Posted by Daniel Stephens in : Horror, 1970s, Film reviews, Thriller/Suspense, Biographies , add a comment
On the 5th of April 2007, writer/director Bob Clark was tragically killed when an unlicensed, drunk driver, smashed head first into his car. Sadly, his 22 year old son, who was travelling with him, also died.
The director was most famous for the irreverent Porky's films which saw, amongst other things, a group of horny, under-sexed teenagers spying on the girl's shower rooms. The sudden appearance of a penis through a hole in the wall is what most people remember about the movie.
The director also brought us the holiday classic A Christmas Story, and worked with Dan Aykoryd and Gene Hackman on the action-comedy Loose Cannons. Certainly, Clark came under fire from critics who saw a lack of consistency within his work, and it is saddening he never found the form to surpass his horror masterpiece Black Christmas.
His later career was dominated by children and family entertainment both for television and film. Unfortunately, his new horror film Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things had production pushed back from its start date in 2006 to Spring 2007, and will therefore be left incomplete.
Below is my review of Bob Clark's best film. This was first published by DVD Times in March 2003.
Canada, 1974 – director Bob Clark, unbeknownst to him at the time, waters the seeds planted by Hitchcock's Psycho, and to a certain degree Michael Powell's Peeping Tom, to which would fruit to bare a new sub-genre in horror cinema. Four years before the supposed fire starter, and most famous film to grace the genre Halloween, Black Christmas began the refining of conventions in laying the groundwork for Carpenter's film to bloom. True, Halloween was the catalyst to a whole heap of movies which followed in the very late seventies and eighties, but it was Clark's film that shone at the roots in terms of the generic aesthetics which became so prevalent.
Soon after Carpenter's student years, he and Bob Clark would have a conversation, that ultimately spawned 1978's Halloween, in which Carpenter told Clark how much he enjoyed his earlier horror film. According to Clark, Carpenter asked him if he would be willing to make a sequel to Black Christmas, to which Clark replied with an unequivocal 'no'. However, Clark did divulge to Carpenter how he thought a sequel to Black Christmas would go, plot wise. If it were made, he told him, it would be titled Halloween, and would be based on a serial killer who was caught but then escaped from a mental institution to stalk victims on Halloween night. Clearly, Carpenter took this food for thought on board and with the help of Debra Hill, turned the idea into reality. So in essence, Black Christmas could very well be thought of as the unofficial prequel to Halloween.
The story is quite simple. At a sorority house, the girls are getting ready to go home for Christmas but begin receiving phone calls from a strange caller who won't give his name. The next day, many girls leave, but one who should have met her father doesn't turn up, which causes great concern for her safety. When another girl goes missing, the police begin searching the area and find a body nearby. Meanwhile, with only three students left in the sorority house, the phone calls continue, getting more and more menacing each time, but unknown to the remaining members of the house, the caller, and perhaps the killer, is closer to them than their nightmares could ever imagine.
Bob Clark's career needed a boost, and as he showed with his later comedy Porky's, he wasn't someone who would shy away from breaking norms and subverting audience expectation – who would have expected the events of the shower scene, and that hole in the wall that overlooked the girls shower room!? Violent, shocking, and horrific stories were becoming regular pieces of American cinema, and Clark sensing this, grasped the opportunity to direct his first horror picture. Sam Peckinpah's Straw Dogs in 1971, Wes Craven's Last House On The Left in 1972, and William Friedkin's The Exorcist in 1973 were proof that the obscure, dangerous films put your name on the map, for better and for worse. His film hardly made the splashes the three prior films made for themselves, but it put his foot in the water, and it was in his small, but significant ripples that would elevate his film beyond just cult status.
Clark begins his film looking through the eyes of the killer, as he examines the house from the outside, and scales the wall to find a way in. The subjective, voyeuristic nature of the point-of-view camerawork beautifully places the audience inside the killer's mind, as we stalk the house and become the voyeurs too. Clark mixes objective and subjective aesthetics to create scenes of intensity and suspense, not seen on film before, and rarely matched since. Unlike Tobe Hooper's documentary style voyeurism in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, in which the audience is dared to keep their eyes on the screen, Clark throws the audience no room for a breath of oxygen as he cuts from an objective shot into a point-of-view shot of what the killer sees, as if we are forced to partake in the action of killing itself, and not just in the selfish act of watching someone else's life being taken. Clark compounds this with brilliant use of sound, deafening the listener with ear haunting rasps and screeches, as if he wants to hurt your senses.
Indeed, the director wants to unsettle the audience rather than give individual viewers incessant shocks, only for viewers to forget about them once they've left the theatre, or once they've turned off the television. What violence occurs in Black Christmas is largely implied, rather than explicit, and adds to the overall sense of physical emotion in the audience, because the 'horror' unsettles you on a personal level with your imagination creating the 'terror' implied. One wonderfully created scene has one of the girls being killed juxtaposed with carol singers singing at the door. The Christmas song plays over the violent, loud, blood bath, with images of happy children singing their hearts out combined with jerky, dark glimpses of a knife entering flesh, and a blood soaked hand becoming more and more lifeless with every blow.
Clark uses the phone as an extension of the killer, an extension of the evil, to great effect. Mixing different voices with jagged, undecipherable language, the director is able to create a monster, existing above human capacity through alienating the solid form of a human being into the detached, multi-faceted voice of grotesque, unseen evil. Elsewhere, he owes a debt of gratitude to Murnau's 1922 classic Nosferatu, and Fritz Lang's brilliantly unnerving, sombre tale M from 1931. The killer moves within the shadows, his/her form largely subliminal, and what we do see of him/her is that of disembodied evil – hands holding a weapon, or an erratic eye, peering through a crack in the door. It also becomes apparent that the film doesn't just share the voyeuristic nature of the photography with its counterpart The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, incidentally released the same year, it also shares similar themes regarding the real life serial murderer Ed Gein. In Clark's film, like Hooper's, the killer has a penchant for ornamental corpses, and here, he/she likes to leave them in the attic in 'hello death' posers, culminating in a viscerally, haunting final image that ends the film.
It wouldn't be surprising if this film were cited as playing a major part in so-called feminist horror films made afterward, like Meir Zarchi's I Spit On Your Grave, but of course Zarchi's film could be looked at in a completely opposing way. Nevertheless, unlike the genre's films to come where the clean, young virgins survive, and the dirty, man-eater's meet horrible deaths, Black Christmas' main female cast are largely the only ones for which we have any sympathy. Barb, played superbly by Margot Kidder, rises above any authority put before her. She doesn't allow, at least visually, the caller to frighten her and in fact tells him/her where to go, and later when talking to the police she plays a little game when asked what her phone number is, telling the inept male cop that the number is Fellatio 20880, to which the cop unknowingly writes down. She has a rather unfeminine personality, she drinks too much, and swears in most of her sentences yet we get the feeling there's some inner turmoil perhaps down to jealousy of some of the other younger girls and the beautiful, quiet but authoritative Jess, played by Olivia Hussey. Hussey caries the film with her quiet, pondering and wistful looks, grounding the almost unreal events, in real life reality, and in her character Jess, rebels against her boyfriend after she tells him she's getting an abortion of which he is adamantly against, but she sticks to her guns. And the father of one of the girls who goes missing expresses dismay at the fact she might have been experimenting with drugs, drink and sex saying, 'I didn't send my daughter here to be drinking…and picking up boys'. The women in the film rebel against the constraints put upon them, and for the most part these restraints are embodied in the male characters, most of which are either inept or out of touch with present day reality.
As for the rest of the performances, well, for the most part they are very good. Keir Dullea, as the insecure, neurotic boyfriend broods around breaking things, shouting and acting like he has the credentials to be the killer, while John Saxon, as usual, is the ultimate professional giving his chief lieutenant a strong backbone, and Doug McGrath offers some comic relief as the inept cop.
Black Christmas is a fantastically, effective horror film, easing its way under your skin and it stands as a major contributor in the creation of a new sub-genre in horror culture. Halloween has a more refined characteristic and is arguably the better film, but Black Christmas inspired it in so many ways you have to give the plaudits to Clark's film.
Apocalypse Now (Francis Ford Coppola, USA, 1979) March 22, 2007Posted by Daniel Stephens in : 1970s, Film reviews, War , add a comment
It's rather inspiring, certainly for a fan of cinema, to see a movie where all the component parts come together so perfectly. By the time Marlon Brando appears from the shadows at the end of the film - the lighting casting deep shadows across his face, the orange glow telling us we're either in hell or very close - you begin to wonder if indeed you'd actually been to Vietnam during the conflict. The film so perfectly places its audience in the nightmare that was the Vietnam war, we're searching for our next breath, desperately trying to escape, twitching our necks to the left or the right - was that a bullet, another explosion?
Apocalypse Now lays out the futility of war before our eyes and it lets us experience it, to feel it, to touch it, to smell it. It does this by brilliantly bringing together every ounce of the cinematic spectrum. From the editing to the production design, from the sound and music to the lighting and cinematography. For example, the final twenty minutes have several of the best lit and photographed shots ever put to film. Brando appearing from the darkness and Sheen coming up from beneath the water are hauntingly iconic images that stay with you for a very long time. The film is the best war movie ever made, and probably the most important movie about conflict, Vietnam, and war.
One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest (Milos Forman, USA, 1975)Posted by Daniel Stephens in : 1970s, Drama, Film reviews , add a comment
I think anyone would be hard-pressed to find fault with this fantastic movie. Jack Nicholson delivers one of his finest performances as R.P McMurphy. This film is all about the vitality of life and Nicholson embodies that beautifully but it's Milos Forman's perfect direction that makes this film so endearing. He lets the camera frantically move from character to character, peeking into their crazy little worlds, offering us a glimpse of their closed insecurities, whilst underpinning it all with McMurphy, the 'full of life' con, out for the easy road. The script is one of the best I've ever witnessed - you couldn't have asked for a better adaptation of the book. Yet, it's supported by an ensemble cast of characters who all deliver - their individualities laid bare for all to see. Brad Dourif as the stuttering wannabe Cassonova, Danny DeVito as the thirty year old trapped in a 12 year old's body (You can't split the cigarette up Danny and have two quarters!!) and Christopher Lloyd in his first ever role. But it's the devastating finale that really hits home. McMurphy does more for the patients than the doctors ever could, and the film plays on this idea. It's one of the greatest movies ever made - of that there is no question.
Diamonds Are Forever (Guy Hamilton, UK, 1971)Posted by Daniel Stephens in : 1970s, Film reviews, Action/Adventure, Thriller/Suspense , add a comment
Fantastic Bond and one of Sean Connery's best. Diamonds Are Forever is off the wall, almost as if the writers supplemented their acid with a few Valium and wrote the whole damn thing while chasing imaginary chickens around their fortified living rooms. Several invincible Blofeld's, voice-changing devices (that defy any logic), a fabulous leading lady who never wears any clothes, a pair of fruity bad guys who happen to be gay, and a car cassette player and tape that can hold the world to ransom - this is Bond at its finest. Connery is on top form and the film moves along at breakneck speed. Great stuff.
A Clockwork Orange (Stanley Kubrick, UK, 1971) September 2, 2006Posted by Daniel Stephens in : 1970s, Drama, Film reviews, Sci-fi/Fantasy, Crime , 3 comments
Dir. Stanley Kubrick; screenplay by Stanley Kubrick; starring Malcolm McDowell
Stanley Kubrick's mesmerising 1971 classic is an interesting beast. The film's hallucinatory visuals depicting a strange, narcissistic society of the future, steeped in seventies art deco and harsh, contrasting lighting, paint a bleak, uncompromising picture. Kubrick's use of implied violence, death and cultural destruction throw the viewer into a hellish, emotional quagmire of pessimism and hate.
Yet we're complicit in the violence as Malcolm McDowell's Alex narrates the story to us as if we are his friends, the only ones he can open up to. It is in this that the violence becomes sanitised, that we don't necessarily feel guilty, or pity the victims of Alex's senseless crimes. Kubrick isn't telling us that violence is okay, he's telling the viewer that masculinity is a broken concept. The violence is an indication of pent-up sexual frustration, delivered callously and cowardly to anyone that gets in the way.
Alex Jack, in his essay on Kubrick's 'Full Metal Jacket' commented that the director flaunted the idea that 'masculinity is a sick idealised myth'. This interested me because of the phallic symbols, rape and mother theme 'A Clockwork Orange' plays around with. Here, sex and violence are not two disparate entities that just so happen occur at the same time: sex equals violence, and this relates to the very opposing view that Kubrick was a misogynist.
There is an obsession with sex that permeates throughout the movie. Whether it's Alex raping somebody, having consensual sex, thinking about sex, or being in a situation where sex is alluded to (the bar with the erotic, female shaped tables; his home with penis graffiti on the wall; the nurse and doctor at the hospital; the murder weapon at the woman's house), the idea that it is a motivation in art, in crime, in society, is constantly portrayed. This motivation is male dominated. Women are the ultimate harbingers of sexual desire, and it is only them who can suppress it. This power leaves the male 'Droogs' (Alex's gang) inwardly feeling threatened, which in part leads to cowardly rape. The Droogs attempt to re-establish themselves (redressing the balance between the sexes) by choosing to take what females hold sacred. This 'choice' is later explained by the priest who tells Alex: 'When a man cannot choose, he ceases to be a man.' They see nothing wrong in the choices they make but Kubrick mocks them as they return to feed on mother's milk back at the bar – the drinks and the breast-shaped pourer asserting motherhood and female dominance.
Sexual obsession also appears in the non-criminal characters, for instance, the nurse and doctor who are caught in the act of 'in out, in out', or the murder victim with the giant penis ornament. The obsession is channelled in a different way, and a lot comes from an institutional perspective. Alex's ex-Droog's join the police force while he is in prison. When he comes out they use their frustration to beat him to within an inch of his life. The sexual obsession within the 'adult' characters now becomes cloaked behind the police uniform, or the warden at the prison, or the psychiatrists treating Alex at the hospital. As pillars of a failing community they do not have the 'choice' so freely exploited by Alex and his gang, so they take it out in other, more 'acceptable' ways.
'Choice' is a major aspect of the film because the male characters are seen to enforce this idea of masculinity, but Kubrick sees this as ambiguous. Alex Jack sees Joker's callous killing of a wounded, female Vietnamese soldier as Kubrick saying: 'You men need to tuck away your penises and surrogate penises (guns), because you will never get anywhere with them. Masculinity is a myth and a dead end.' The psychiatrists in 'A Clockwork Orange' take away Alex's freedom of choice through psychological manipulation, and therefore strip him of his own self worth. 'Choice' is a freedom Alex is born with, but by being brought up in this society he has been conditioned and nurtured to think only one way. By taking away his ability to chose, society is being institutionally condemned to decay.
And how potent is this decay? Malcolm McDowell (who played Alex), speaking thirty years after the film was first release said, when asked about cinema violence mirroring real life: 'Are we supposed to ignore the fact that we live in a very violent society?' He continued, 'maybe it's frustration about the American dream gone sour. I don't know what it is. It is the expectations of something that's never quite fulfilled. There's great anger and frustration around. There's a lot of that.' Kubrick doesn't condone the violence of the film, he uses it to example freedoms of choice. When Alex is cured, violence still finds him and it suddenly takes on a more disturbing tone. The audience, complicit with the immorality of Alex's previous endeavors, begins to sense more unease when the violence is turned on the murderer. In most cases, this would be an uplifting but sadistic closure, as the 'baddie' gets the same treatment he gave out to many helpless victims. Yet this does not occur. Why? Because it is the sense of freedom the anti-hero has now lost which sticks. This is more damning than society meeting out revenge and torture. Anyone who claims this film made them take a gun into school and start shooting people, clearly wants a scapegoat for their own psychosis. In effect, issues like the Columbine High School massacre only underline the points Kubrick is trying to make.
It is interesting how Alex's 'brainwash' is the explicit indication of how Kubrick feels culture is dominated by the powerful, and how art has lost its authenticity. It could be argued that if power is gendered in 'A Clockwork Orange' this must mean the women are 'asking for it', but I believe women represent Kubrick's idea of the natural order of things. In this futuristic world, women have a power over the men. What Kubrick then investigates is how natural order is tainted by the powerful (politicians and the media) by their exploitation of sex and violence. Pop-culture in the film is full of sexual references, which as mentioned leads to violence, and when Alex needs curing, the doctors use extreme doses of 'ultra-violence' and sexual activity to subdue his attraction to them. This doesn't help Alex as his reintroduction to an outside world still dominated by sex and violence, leads to his victims taking their revenge. By being bludgeoned to nausea from something he once got a kick out of, Alex is forced to hate it. He loses his individuality and his freedom of choice. The film tries to tell us that pop-culture will eventually desensitize us to sex and violence to such a degree we won't have any sensations left. Art simply dies, as exampled through Alex's love of Beethoven, because as a drawback of the medical procedure that 'cures' him, the music he loves creates in him the same sick and paranoid feeling sex and violence does.
The Godfather (Francis Ford Coppola, USA, 1972)Posted by Daniel Stephens in : 1970s, Drama, Film reviews, Crime , 1 comment so far
Dir. Francis Ford Coppola screenplay by Mario Puzo; starring Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, Al Pacino, James Caan, Sterling Hayden.
The greatest film made about the mafia (or should that be American-Italian culture, familial loyalty, capitalism) that is only, arguably, bettered by its sequel and 'Goodfellas'.
Sisters (Brian De Palma, USA, 1973)Posted by Daniel Stephens in : Horror, 1970s, Film reviews, Thriller/Suspense , add a comment
Dir. Brian De Palma; screenplay by Brian De Palma; starring Margot Kidder, Jennifer Salt, Charles Durning, William Finley
Before De Palma's 1973 psycho-thriller turns into a dreamy hallucinatory diversion into madness and hysteria, it's a very effective film. Margot Kidder gives a good performance as Danielle Breton – a woman haunted by her twin sister. De Palma uses split-screen photography beautifully but his stylish flare isn't as refined as it would become later in his career.
Carrie (Brian De Palma, USA, 1976)Posted by Daniel Stephens in : Horror, 1970s, Film reviews, Thriller/Suspense, Sci-fi/Fantasy , add a comment
Dir. Brian De Palma, screenplay by Lawrence D. Cohen; starring Sissy Spacek, Nancy Allen, Piper Laurie, Amy Irving, P.J. Soles, John Travolta
Brian De Palma expertly adapts Stephen King's novel about a shy, young girl who discovers her telekinetic ability is a perfect deterrent against her religiously fanatical mother, and the school bullies.
De Palma utilises his cinematic qualities to bring King's story to the screen with great effect, culminating in a devastatingly frightening ending, where the director makes brilliant use of lighting, split-screen photography, and special-effects. Sissy Spacek provides a strong performance as the timid Carrie, but it's Piper Laurie as her mother, who commands the screen with her portrayal of the crazed mother.


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