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Keep it Weird in Austin
Austin is not only a place, but a way of describing the crazy combination of hipsters, hippies, cowboys and intellectuals that live here. If you've never been to the capital of Texas, then come for the live music but stay for the laid-back attitude.
Honestly, there is so much to say about Austin beyond the music scene that we could not come up with a short list of recommendations for visitors. Skim the guide below and you'll start to understand why Austin is considered one of the best small cities and why the UT grads never leave (even if it means waiting tables for a living).
Start with the B's: (first image)
Barton Springs Pool in Zilker Park, minutes from downtown, is the best way to keep cool in the extreme summer heat. This Austin treasure is a natural spring fed pool that stays a chilly 68 degrees and that covers 3 acres.
The Bat Bridge (otherwise known as Congress Ave. bridge) houses the largest population of urban Mexican free-tailed bats and is a favorite place to be at dusk when the bats swoop out for feeding time. Try watching it from a boat on the water for the best view.
The bad-ass babes of the Texas Roller Girls are famous for their gutsy derby moves and eccentric personalities.
The Broken Spoke has been a beloved Austin honky- tonk since 1964 and has hosted everybody who's anybody in classic country music. It has been voted the best dance hall in the nation and is on every must-see list for Austin. Go to two-step, drink a Lonestar and eat a chicken fried steak. You might even see Willie (as in Nelson) eating one too.
Music, Movies and Such:
Austin isn't known as the Live Music Capital of the world for nothing. Go see a Texas swing band at the Continental Club, the blues at Antone's or a punk band at Emo's. The whole world comes to Austin in March to hear the amazing selection of bands at SXSW and to witness the film festival. Now the Austin City Limits Festival is almost as popular and stocked with just as much talent. If you come to Austin "off-music-season", there is still plenty o'music to hear. Pay a visit to one of the old-school dive bars like Donn's Depot and Little Ginny's Longhorn, which hosts Chicken Shit Bingo. And if you don't know where to start planning your music experience, consider taking the Cosmic Cowboy tour. When you wake up Sunday with a hangover, go to Threadgills or Hill's Café for Gospel Brunch.
We highly recommend a night out at the Highball, one of Austin's unique hot spots. The Highball is for adults what Chucky Cheese is for kids. It is fabulously decked out to resemble Las Vegas in the 60's. Along with the bar and restaurant are skee-ball lanes, a dance floor and a vintage bowling alley brought in from New Orleans. The best part is the private karaoke rooms that can be rented by the hour and each one is thematic. Last time we went, we sang in the country music Kenny Rogers room, complete with cowboy hats and tamborine.
There are several choices for outside-the-box movie viewing such as the classic movie series at the historic Paramount Theater, Splash Parties at Deep Eddy Pool and our favorite, Alamo Drafthouse. The Alamo is the genius combo of a movie house and a pub but with super fun events. They host quote-along movies like "The Princess Bride", themed movie/dinner date nights like "Harold and Maude" and Master Pancake Theater (bad movies and live comedy). They also have the most obscure and entertaining pre-movie shows that we've ever seen.
Shopping in Hoods:
SoCo, the South Congress area, is where the hipsters go for boutique shopping and snacking. There's lots of good stuff here, but make sure you visit Uncommon Objects for exactly that, Yard Dog for folk art, Parts and Labor for local craft, and Allen's Boots. The 2nd Street District is newer and sleeker with some noteworthy local stores for home goods including Mercury Design Studio, Finch, Kirk Gallery, and IF+D. Austin is home to two of the top indie stores in the country and they're right across the street from each other. At Lamar and Sixth, you'll find BookPeople for the book obsessed and Waterloo Records for vinyl lovers. You might as well have lunch at the Whole Foods Headquarters and grab some ice cream at Amy's while you're in the hood.
Stay and Eat:
As far as hotels go, there are many but three stand out. The modern, stylish San Jose is right in the middle of SoCo and the vintage, quirky Austin Motel is right down the street. For a high-class historical experience, stay at the Driskill Hotel and take in brunch at their 1886 Café and Bakery. When looking for dining in Austin, we suggest you pick up a copy of The Fearless Critic (maybe while browsing BookPeople?) Something must be said about two of Austin's eating addictions. One is the coveted breakfast taco which is an absolute staple and can be found at the likes of Taco Deli and La Mexicana. The other phenomenon is the abundance of food trailers peddling everything from crepes to cupcakes (but not in a yucky carnival food way).
Water and Weirdness:
Austin is considered an oasis in Texas for more than one reason (by the way, The Oasis restaurant is only good for the lake view). Yes, we have Lake Travis and Lake Austin for sailing and kayaking, as well as a number of watering holes along the Barton Springs Greenbelt. But Austin is also the progressive drop in a conservative bucket, and it has been that way since the days of the "cosmic cowboys" in the 70's. "Keep Austin Weird" is our slogan and we flaunt the unusual with pride. Leslie, a thong wearing homeless man, is the unofficial mayor and Hippie Hollow is the nude beach. There are countless festivals and events that are based on weirdness, including Drag Queen Bingo at Jo's Coffee and Esther's Follies. Esthers is a live variety show on 6th street that is always topical, always funny and always "Austin".
We didn't even talk about the art scene or the East Side or Casino El Camino, but we've probably exhausted your attention span by now. Thanks for hanging in there, by the way.
If you know and love Austin, what would you add to our must-do list?
Images: City of Austin Barton Springs Pool, Congress Bridge from Austin City Guide, Broken Spoke, Texas Roller Girls by Bill Smotrilla, Alamo Drafthouse from Sharing Travel Experiences, Driskill Hotel, Hamilton Pool from Jennifer Robenhaus, sign from Austin Motel, ACL Festival, Lake Austin from National Geographic, Continental Club, stores on SoCo from Austin City Guide, TX Sailing, Keep Austin Weird Festival from the Austin Statesman


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Philadelphia Phillies 2013 Preview
Philadelphia, PA – The fall from the top came hard and fast for the 2012 Philadelphia Phillies, but the club hopes it made the right moves this winter to delay a full-blown rebuild mode.
A franchise-record 102 wins in 2011 brought a fifth straight National League East title, but the Phillies failed to advance out of the first round of the playoffs just three years removed from a World Series title.
Things went south in a hurry for the aging Phillies, who saw the likes of Ryan Howard, Chase Utley and Roy Halladay all slowed by injuries last season, contributing to the club being 14 games under .500 by mid-July.
That led to the Phils becoming sellers before and after the trade deadline, dealing outfielders Shane Victorino and Hunter Pence as well as starter Joe Blanton to the NL West in separate trades. And though the club rebounded to finish at .500, the writing appeared to be on the wall that the window was closing.
The Phillies went into the offsesaon with a handful of needs, but general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. was able to fill all of his holes without spending a ton of money on the likes of a Josh Hamilton, Michael Bourn, B.J. Upton or Nick Swisher (though they did make a run at Upton).
Amaro got creative by trading away young starters Vance Worley and Trevor May to the Minnesota Twins for 24-year-old center fielder Ben Revere. And with free agency bare of any major upgrades at third base, Amaro sent a pair of relievers to the Texas Rangers for veteran Michael Young to replace Placido Polanco at the hot corner.
The rest of the holes were filled through free agency, with reliever Mike Adams signed to fix the team's eighth-inning troubles and outfielder Delmon Young brought in to fill the void in right field. Former Washington Nationals lefty John Lannan is expected to complete a talented rotation that still features Halladay, Cliff Lee and first-time Opening Day starter Cole Hamels.
On top of that, the Phillies are hoping that Howard and Utley can remain healthy all season, Domonic Brown can finally full fill his potential and closer Jonathan Papelbon can duplicate his 2012 success.
Philadelphia will need all of that to break its way to rise back to the top of a talented NL East.
Below we take a capsule look at the 2013 edition of the Phillies, with a personnel evaluation and prognosis included therein:
2012 FINISH (81-81) - Third Place (NL East)
KEY OFFSEASON ADDITIONS: Michael Young (3B), Ben Revere (OF), Mike Adams (RHP), John Lannan (LHP), Delmon Young (OF), Chad Durbin (RHP), Ender Inciarte (OF)
KEY OFFSEASON SUBTRACTIONS: Vance Worley (RHP), Placido Polanco (3B), Juan Pierre (OF), Brian Schneider (C), Josh Lindblom (RHP), Nate Schierholtz (OF), Ty Wigginton (INF/OF), Jose Contreras (RHP), David Herndon (RHP)
PROJECTED LINEUP: Jimmy Rollins (SS), Michael Young (3B), Chase Utley (2B), Ryan Howard (1B), Delmon Young (RF), Carlos Ruiz (C), Domonic Brown (LF), Ben Revere (CF)
PROJECTED ROTATION: Cole Hamels (LHP), Roy Halladay (RHP), Cliff Lee (LHP), Kyle Kendrick (RHP), John Lannan (LHP)
PROJECTED CLOSER: Jonathan Papelbon (RHP)
MANAGER: Charlie Manuel
The Phillies began last season without Howard and Utley, while Halladay, Lee, Laynce Nix, Worley, Polanco and Carlos Ruiz all spent time on the DL.
Howard didn't return until July 6 from left Achilles surgery suffered on the last at-bat of the 2011 playoffs and Utley's knee issues kept him on the shelf until late June. Halladay missed almost two months, Polanco was in and out of the lineup and Ruiz lost a month of his All-Star campaign.
All teams deal with injuries, but the Phils were hindered from the start and would love to avoid a repeat. That seems to be the case as Howard is well- removed from his surgery and Utley participated in Spring Training games for the first time since 2010. Halladay has struggled during the preseason, but insists he is healthy.
While injuries are sure to creep up, Philadelphia at least won't be behind the eight-ball before Opening Day, though Ruiz will miss the first 25 games after testing positive for Adderall.
Also, shortstop Jimmy Rollins (34), Howard (33), Utley (34) and Young (36) make up an aging infield, Lee is only a year younger than the 35-year Halladay and the 34-year-old Adams did undergo surgery in October to correct thoracic outlet syndrome, which is caused by a rib pushing down on a nerve and results in a numbing sensation.
The Phillies know their window is closing, but a healthy squad in March has lifted some hopes.
The Phillies blew 19 saves in 2012, but only four of those were by Papelbon, who was a solid 5-6 with a 2.44 earned run average and 38 saves in the first season of a four-year, $50 million deal.
It was the bridge to Papelbon that struggled. Philadelphia had a collective 4.67 ERA in the eighth inning and blew 13 leads in that frame a season ago.
Left-hander Antonio Bastardo and righties Michael Schwimer, Chad Qualls and Jose Contreras all struggled. Qualls was designated for assignment in early July, Contreras didn't pitch after June 1 and Schwimer is no longer with the club.
The Phillies are counting on Bastardo bouncing back and serving as the primary lefty, but Adams was brought in to fill the eighth-inning role. It is something that the eight-year vet has done well in his career, posting a lifetime 2.28 ERA. The bulk of that work has come in the eighth inning, where he has a career ERA of 1.82.
Veteran right-hander Chad Durbin, part of the '08 championship club, was also brought back this offseason.
The most interesting pickup was Michael Young, who is in the final season of a five-year deal signed with the Rangers and is entering the twilight of his career.
Even on a down year, Young hit .277 but had just eight homers and 67 runs batted in over 156 games. He waived his no-trade clause to join the Phillies, having had his playing time with the Texas decrease over the past few seasons.
Young moved from shortstop to third base to utility man, seeing the majority of his at-bats as a designated hitter. He also played 41 games at first base and another 25 at third, where he last played full time in 2010. Not only will the Phillies hope his offense bounces back a little, but there is the chance he struggles at third.
Revere is more of a long-term piece and will provide hustle and a spark to the order. He played in a career-high 124 games in 2012 with the Twins, batting a personal-best .294 with 13 doubles, six triples, 40 stolen bases and 32 RBI. He has next to zero power, but if he learns to draw some walks he could be Rollins' eventual replacement at the leadoff spot.
Philadelphia entered the offseason with both left and right field open for the likes of Brown, Nix, Darin Ruf and John Mayberry Jr. That left a lot of questions at the corner spots, but the Phils solved one by signing reigning ALCS MVP Delmon Young to a one-year deal.
Young hit .313 with three homers and nine RBI in Detroit's four-game sweep of the New York Yankees after posting a .267 average with 18 homers and 74 RBI over 151 regular-season contests for the Tigers in 2012.
Like Michael Young, Delmon spent most of the season at the DH spot, but the Phils feel comfortable putting him in right field. He did have right ankle surgery in November and the club hopes he will be back by May 1 at the latest.
With not a lot of talented youth on the roster, the Phillies desperately need Brown to find his game.
Once regarded as one of the top prospects in baseball, the 25-year-old has hit just .236 at the major league level and has failed on a few occasions to lock down a roster spot. He didn't do himself many favors in 56 games last season, hitting .235 with five homers and 26 RBI.
Injuries have also prevented the slugger from getting extended looks at the major league level.
With Ruf having exciting power but very limited experience, and Mayberry and Nix not actually fit to play everyday, Brown grabbing a hold of a starting spot and forcing manager Charlie Manuel to rethink a platoon situation in left field would do wonders for the Phillies.
After dominating the NL East for the past five seasons, the Phillies find themselves under the radar and in the shadows of the Atlanta Braves and reigning division-champion Washington Nationals. That could help the franchise, which has sacrificed youth over the past few seasons to stay competitive and could see its veterans thrive with less pressure. But that is not to say Philadelphia can't surprise people this season. Howard and Utley look healthy and the club made solid offseason moves. Mix in a deep rotation and dominating closer and the ingredients are still there to make a run. Health, though, could be the one thing that holds this club back.

subset: commoncrawl


text: DL Keith Bryant of Delray Beach, FL said Sunday his decision is 100% made. But he won't reveal his choice until his announcement on ESPNU Wednesday. His decision came down to USC, Florida State and Miami. "All the visits were good, they were all about the same," Bryant said. "I'll air it out on Wednesday. Everybody is going to be shocked with how I'm going to do it." Bryant said he planned to call his USC recruiter Grady Brown Sunday after missing a call from him over the weekend. Bryant went on a visit to Florida Atlantic over the weekend but the visit ended early Saturday morning. Bryant said the FAU coaches dismissed him after breakfast Saturday deciding that he wasn't serious about the school, which he never was. Bryant added that Southern Cal contacted him Saturday and expressed interest but his decision was already made.


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Powder Magazine's annual video awards fete has become a sort of skiing Oscars. Greased with a river of Red Bull and PBR, the five-star night in a five-star hotel during the X Games spectacle features the best skiers in the world slaying the snowiest steeps in the best ski films of the year.
Crested Butte's Matchstick Productions topped a five-deep roster of skiing's best films – including Teton Gravity's Anomaly and Poor Boyz' Ski Porn – with its 2006 release Push garnering Powder Mag's coveted Movie of the Year nod. It was the fifth time the pioneering Matchstick harvested top honors from Powder.
Mark Abma of Whistler took his second Best Male Performance award with spinning, park-to-the-backcountry segment in Push and pipe skiing starlet Grete Eliassen's powerful skiing in Ski Porn earned the 20-year-old newcomer her first Best Female Performance award.
Colorado's own Seth Morrison -Â arguably the best in the biz – took top honors in the Reader's Poll award as well as a Best Natural Air tap for his high-speed, slow flip off a cliff in British Columbia's Bella Coola captured in TGR's Anomaly. Seattle's big-mountain warrior Ingrid Backstrom took the top Reader's Poll award for the ladies. Snowmass ski master Chris Davenport not only reaped a top 10 nod in the mag's Reader's Poll but Aspen Skiing Co. veep David Perry surprised Dav with a new sign that will be posted atop the icon's home hills. The peaks-on-the-horizon signs will direct the gaze of Aspen and Snowmass skiers to Pyramid and Capitol peaks, where they can whimper slack-jawed as they imagine skiing down the seemingly impossible peaks like Dav did last year as part of his audacious mission to ski all of Colorado's 14ers in a single year.
Other notables from the saucy soiree celebrating skiing's most drool-worthy porn: The Scandinavian Invasion continues with the Swedish Posse's Sverre Liliequist taking Line of the Year in the posse's Five O"Clock News flick. Andreas Hatveit and Norwegian camera maestro Jon Hatveit took Best Point-Of-View honors with a super sick follow cam over a road gap. Corey Vanular's explosive 810 disaster (that would be a very painful 90 degrees short of a 900) in Denver-based Level 1 Production's Long Story Short took Best Jib.
Pictured below: X Games SuperPipe gold medalist Tanner Hall takes a top 10 Reader's Poll award from emcee Uncle E Saturday night at Aspen's Jerome Hotel.[photopress:P1000394.JPG,full,pp_image]


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What are artificial sweeteners?
Artificial sweeteners can be used instead of sugar to sweeten foods and drinks. You can add them to drinks like coffee or iced tea, and they are found in many foods sold in grocery stores. These sweeteners, also called sugar substitutes, are made from chemicals and natural substances.
Sugar substitutes have very few calories compared to sugar. Some have no calories. Many people use sugar substitutes as a way to limit how much sugar they eat, whether it's to lose weight, control blood sugar, or avoid getting cavities in their teeth.
The most common sugar substitutes are:
Sugar alcohols are also used to sweeten diet foods and drinks. These plant-based products include mannitol, sorbitol, and xylitol. If you eat too much of them, sugar alcohols can cause diarrhea, bloating, and weight gain.
If your goal is to lose weight, keep in mind that even though a food is sugar-free, it can still have carbohydrate, fats, and calories. It's a good idea to read the nutrition label to check for calories and carbohydrate.
Are sugar substitutes safe?
Yes. The FDA regulates the use of artificial sweeteners. At one time, saccharin was thought to increase the risk of bladder cancer in animals. Studies reviewed by the FDA have found no clear evidence of a link between saccharin and cancer in humans.
People who have phenylketonuria (PKU) should avoid foods and drinks that have aspartame, which contains phenylalanine.1
Do artificial sweeteners raise blood sugar?
No. Artificial sweeteners provide no energy, so they won't affect your blood sugar. If you have diabetes, these substitutes are safe to use. But that's not true of sugar alcohols. They don't cause sudden spikes in blood sugar, but the carbohydrate in them can affect your blood sugar.
If you have diabetes, read food labels carefully to find out the amount of carbohydrate in each serving of food containing sugar alcohol. It's also a good idea to test your blood sugar after you eat foods with sugar alcohols or artificial sweeteners to find out how they affect your blood sugar.
Aspartame (NutraSweet, Equal)
Saccharin (Sweet'N Low)
Sucralose (Splenda)
Acesulfame K (Sunett)
Stevia (Truvia, PureVia, SweetLeaf)
CitationsWhitney E, Rolfes SR (2011). The carbohydrates: Sugars, starches, and fibers. In Understanding Nutrition, 12th ed., pp. 96–125. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
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Last Revised:
October 21, 2011
Healthwise Staff
Medical Review:
Anne C. Poinier, MD - Internal Medicine & Rhonda O'Brien, MS, RD, CDE - Certified Diabetes Educator
This information does not replace the advice of a doctor. Healthwise, Incorporated disclaims any warranty or liability for your use of this information. Your use of this information means that you agree to the Terms of Use. How this information was developed to help you make better health decisions.
To learn more visit Healthwise.org
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The VGU.TV staff discuss what they believe are the best gaming trilogies of all time.
As soon as Half Life 3 comes out BAM End of Debate!
but right now
STALKER Shadow of Chernobyl
STALKER Clear Sky
STALKER Call of Pripyat
is my favorite trilogy!
I have to admit I never saw what was so special about Half Life.
My vote would go for Mass Effect if they didn't completely botch the third one, but since they did...
Probably Xenosaga or God of War.
Same here, played the Orange Box back in the day and didnt see what the heck all the hype was about.
Half Life 1 for its time ws EPIC and amazing. I never felt that way to extremes in part 2.
"didn't completely botch the third one, but since they did..."
You mean if Bioware didn't botch the series after Mass Effect 1. I can't even remember what happened in ME3, but IK the game it looked pretty.
You guys never saw anything special about the games physics, AI, story, level design, the ingenious physics based environmental puzzles, lengthy campaign, gravity gun.
I'll understand not to like the game heck it's your opinion, but to say that you cant's see the appeal is kinda ignorant
Wouldn't trilogies have to be games that ended after 3 games?
@Eyeco, No, I didn't see anything special about any of that stuff.
I thought it was one of the most bland, boring, and generic shooters I ever played.
It was one of VERY few games I actually left unfinished because it was awful.
i give it to uncharted, god of war, mass effect
Warcraft 1,2,3 enough said.
I just really don't like it... it seems for kids... only Blizzard Universe I can't get into no matter how hard I try
PS-trick question. there is none, its all opinions.
This is a hard question to answer unless somebody just sat down and played through every trilogy.
No idea how you got so many disagrees. Personally, I absolutely loved the STALKER games.
STALKER is wonderful and too bad Consolers missed out on that Wonderful experience as Consolers DO NOT have an Open World FPS/RPG.
Also lot of them have said they find nothing special about Half Life 2. OMG HL2 only ushered in about 50 different gaming innovations from Facial Expressions to the gravity gun along with the Sandbox game style.
I can't wait for Survarium (Open World FPS/RPG/MMO) from the Dev team that made STALKER
Late 2013 or mid 2014
I've actually been following Survarium very closely since it was announced. It's a bit of a shame that virtually nothing has really been mentioned of the game.
Unless you can call Borderlands open world we have that, and unless you can Fallout 3 an FPS we have that to, but yeah I agree I've always wanted to play STALKER, it looked scary as fuu
God of War imo
a very good choice indeed
but I'll stick with Xenosaga trilogy
I agree with you on that. Kratos is my favorite videogame character.
I find God of Incest to be overrated. Dumb story and main character.
God of incest???........do u know anything about Greek mythology?
You are lucky that's all that gets referred to ( albeit BARELY ) from that time.....Watch Sparticus , it makes any of GoW sexual references seem mild
**even though u are clearly trolling**
@Rainstorm, accidentally gave you a disagree, sorry :/
But yeah, Kalowest is trolling too hard.
What is with this site? Say a PS series and you get tons of up votes, say a xbox series and you get down voted. I think many forget that these are people's OPINIONS!
Don't take it to heart, it's just the way of N4G is. It doesn't mean your opinion is wrong. I understand your annoyance though.
Not really there is alot of downvotes on the PS side as well.
Maybe he got down voted because Halo isn't a trilogy.....it's a saga...or will be
Hence Halo 1-6....all direct sequels of each other
Septic's posting of Halo proves you wrong. 15agrees/14disagrees.
Perception and reality rarely line up when it comes to this site.
this generation..gears of war.
Nah I say Uncharted by far.
Gears was great, but once Uncharted 2 came out, the Uncharted series was in another arena artistically, story-wise, ect.
Agreed. Whilst Uncharted never really was a contender against Gears as far as multiplayer is concerned, as a whole, Uncharted trumps it as a more memorable series.
uncharted is definitely a solid trilogy but it lost some points, in my opinion, with how bad uncharted 3 was. it was nothing like 1 or 2.
It wasn't perfect but it was still amazing....not as a good as Uncharted 2 but how can you top the best when people will have very high expectations.
They do reference past games though
Elena in Uncharted 3 to Drake
"No Cursed treasure" (Drakes Fortune)
"No Diabolical Warlords" (Among Thieves)
Then when your in the airfield and Elena gives you a lift where Drake jumps on top of the car
"Hey Déjà vu right"
"haha Yeah" (Jumping on the train in Uncharted 2)
I don't really consider uncharted to be a trilogy because not much carries over from one to the other. The possibility of UC4 is pretty much open.
Could probably swap UC3 around with UC2 and not much would change, especially with the way characters show up and disappear.
While a series like GodOfWar carries over and the final entry is a culmination of previous events.
I love how you get disagrees for YOUR OWN OPINION. I bet everyone who disagreed has never played Gears of War because its awesome.
Or because they simply didn't like the game for one reason or another. And disagreeing with another person's opinion is totally fine considering nobody is attacking him.
Finally somebody with brains, Gears is easily the best trilogy out right now.
1. Metal Gear Solid 1-3
2. Fallout 1-3
3. Tie between Uncharted 1-3, Halo 1-3, God of war 1-3
Um trilogies by definition is a series of three....THREE parts.
Halo and MGS are past their 4th iterations with a rumored MGS5 and Halo 5 and 6 in production.
Yeah you could still consider Halo 1-3 as a trilogy though, as 3 wrapped it up nicely (the flood). The new trilogy is venturing off somewhere else. I get what you mean, but for arguments sake let's just allow it.
Like I used to think Star Wars the best trilogy.....until episodes 123 were made
Then it became the LoTR trilogy......but now they are making the hobbit movies.
All these stories TE in so its difficult to look at it as a "Trilogy", can't just choose three and say hey that's my trilogy, I'll just disregard the other entries.
Can't ignore what exists
Gears of War
Resistance (for me personally)
The best duo-logy is probably the infamous series.
Final Fantasy 13
LOL come on man you did that on purpose :p
Trilogy hmm...
For me Personally it would have to be the XCOM trilogy (Enemy Unknown, Terror From The Deep and Apocalypse) :)
man loved loved loved Xcom and terror. But all other Xcom games were awful imo except new one.
I still play Xcom 1 &2 on PC once a year they are most likely 2 of my top 5 games of all time.
I agree with the rest being pretty awful (Except Apocalypse) however they weren't strategy games, I remember 1 being a space shooter type thing and another a TPS, and as such I don't count them with the first 3.
Apocalypse wasn't bad, it was just different, some parts were good and some were bad, but I'm guessing it was pretty hard to follow on from the greatness of the first 2 :)
Halo is by far the best.
Sorry man I love Xbox but Halo 4 was aweful! You fought the same enemies every level and when finally getting to the end,instead off a boss battle it was cinema. I will not be buying the next one.
In terms of story then I'd say the Mass Effect trilogy. The characters, worlds and technology are all fantastically realised, regardless of how it eventually ended.
For pure single player gameplay this gen I'd say the Uncharted trilogy, and for co op my vote goes to Halo 1-3. Amazingly fun playing split screen with a mate.
this is tough,personally,FOR ME ONLY,IN MY OPINION
sands of time trilogy
god of war trilogy
sly trilogy
jak trilogy
Uncharted, when I saw that game on the PS3 for the first time I knew next gen was here....but when I played Uncharted 2 I was blown away with how much effort they put into it. With Uncharted 3 I loved how they still managed to push things.....even the little things like the water/sand effects and Drakes movemtns, e.g Drake putting his hand on things as he's passing them
Great characters, great character development, great story telling, great gameplay I could go on.
I would of said Mass Effect but after the third game and how action like it got in ME2 while leaving it's RPG roots behind I don't think so...
Half-Life. Half Life 1, Half-Life 2 and 2 episodes - trilogy.
Shining Force 1 2 3
Original Panzer Dragoon Trilogy on Saturn
Uncharted is the best series (trilogy) in this generation and Gran Turismo 1-3 is the best trilogy ever !
I would say MGS but they are not a trilogy.
Mass Effect and Halo are good choices. I think you could vote for any of the Naughty Dog Trilogies (Crash/Jak/Uncharted) along with the PS1/2 Insomniac Trilogies (Spyro/Ratchet). Going retro Super Mario Bros and Sonic are names worth bringing up, and as my name hints I think Mega Man 1-3 and Mega Man X1-X3 are notable too. Looking back at last gen, I think the Metroid Prime series has become under appreciated (Prime being the highest rated FPS ever on Metacritic, Prime 2/3 both being 90+) and God of War 1-3 are all 92+. Looking toward the future, I think The Batman: Arkham trilogy will be a big name if the 3rd game lives up to expectations and if Valve ever makes a Half Life 3 or Portal 3 then it too will be on the table.
I'd say Halo, but that is only my personal opinion and I can understand why some wouldn't agree. Also loved the Mass Effect trilogy as well.
Sonic Advance games
Mass Effect Trilogy
Streets of Rage
Tekken 1-3
Parasite Eve series
Megaman Legends 1 and 2 with the spinoff


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by wsommariva
Wednesday, June 27th 2012, 8:24am
by GatorGuy


text:
Nai Harn / Mountain View Land
- Property Type: Land
- Location: Nai Harn Beach
- Landsize: 3252
- Ref ID: NAI0172
Low Rate: 174,602 OMR
2 Rai 38 TLW (3252sqm.) Rubber platation land with mountain view landscapenice and quiet just few minutes drive to Nai Harn beach.
Rubber plantation land with mountain view landscape. Nice and quiet just 10 minutes drive to Nai Harn beach.Its has electric linepublic road and telephone line.
- Title:
- Ownership:
- View:
- Plot size, m²:
- Road access: No
- Electricity: No
- Water: No
- Elevation: No
- Telephone: No
- Internet: No
- Cable: No


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Press Conference is over.
Notes that I got from the Press Conference.
Allegations against Vicente Padilla were made earlier this morning. Denver Police will not make any charges against Padilla.
The woman called police. Spokeswoman won't talk about her statements. But does say there was not enough evidence to support the woman's statements.
The woman accused Padilla of domestic violence. It's a woman that Padilla knows.
Again, the police found no evidence to support the charges of the woman. City of Attorney handled this case.
One of the reporters asked "Why do a press conference?"
A spokesman said "We thought you'd be interested"
David Lane, attorney for Padilla also spoke at the Press Conference.
"A young lady, who knows Padilla, accused him of slapping her"
"The woman told police and me that he did not slap her"
"At first, she said Padilla slapped her then said it did not happen"
"Padilla received a lot of female attention at the club, meaning the woman was jealous"
"MLB contacted me around 5:30am to see what I can do"
"I don't know if I should bill the Dodgers"
What a weird day.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
No charges filed against Padilla
2 comments:
- bluefanforever33 said...
I agree, what a weird day.
- May 29, 2010 at 3:42 PM
- thegreatpiazza said...
Denver cops wanted another "Kobe Bryant" attention
- May 29, 2010 at 3:57 PM
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TNDC Annual Celebrity Pool TossOctober 7th, 2015
Paul Pelosi, show more of Paul Pelosi photos or correct name Laura King Pfaff, show more of Laura King Pfaff photos or correct name Mark Leno show more of Mark Leno photos or correct name
Perfect for printing with no watermark up to 8x12. If you need something larger, we can usually do a custom print.
Perfect for screen and social, but not great to print. There is a small watermark in the lower right corner (you can crop it out).
For a commercial or editorial license, please email firstname.lastname@example.com.


text:
2013 Annual Meeting
Montréal, Québec, Canada | November 1-5, 2013
Nadia Caidi, University of Toronto
Kristene Unsworth, Drexel University
Christian Leuprecht, Queens University
Philip Doty, University of Texas at Austin
Tuesday, 3:30pm
The Boston Marathon bombings of March 2013, along with the VIA Rail train plots in the Toronto-Montreal corridor remind and compel us to examine the decade that has passed since the events of 9/11 and the subsequent legislative and policy impacts on information. The aim is to provide information professionals and scholars with an open forum to critically reflect on post-9/11 legislation, policies, and practices and how they impact access to information and informational activities more generally, including the production, management, and diffusion of public information. With an eye toward the future, we examine the extent to which the discourses and practices of the past decade have contributed to shaping and reshaping our information environment, how the information field has responded in the ten years since this defining event, and why and how information professionals ought to remain engaged in these matters in the future.


text:
At Weatherby's Furniture it's "All About Value," and it shows! We've been serving our customers since 1921 with quality, service, selection, and value on top-quality furniture and bedding. Our spacious showroom is open seven days a week, offering a great selection and everyday low prices in every department. We carry best-selling brands, such as Ashley, Broyhill, Lane, Pulaski, La-z-boy, Serta, Stress-O-Pedic, and more.
At Weatherby's we're proud to have been voted Kern County's Best Furniture Store many times, an honor that shows our dedication to customer satisfaction. When you visit our store, you'll find friendly and highly experienced sales people—many of whom have been working for us for over 20 years—who will help you find exactly what you need at a price you can afford. Once your sale is complete, you'll enjoy delivery and setup services.Come into Weatherby's today and see how easy it is to have the home of your dreams!


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Car Review
2014 Jaguar XJR: First Drive Review
If you fancy yourself a law-abiding citizen, under no circumstances should you grab the key to a 2014 Jaguar XJR. That's a lesson we learned after our first passing maneuver in Jaguar's 550-horsepower flagship 4-door. Stuck at 45 miles per hour in a 55 mph zone, we signaled politely to the dawdler in front of us and squeezed the gas -- and by the time we pulled back in, the speedometer was pushing triple digits.
"But Officer, isn't it safer to pass as quickly as possible?"
Fortunately, we didn't have to make that rather dubious plea. Jaguar chose the lightly traveled roads of central Washington state for the new XJR's media introduction, and local law enforcement was nowhere to be seen. But the temptation to dip into that massive power doesn't go away, and we found it virtually impossible to resist. Make sure your driving record can handle another ticket or three before you sign up for this lovable lunatic of an ultra-luxury sedan.
Where the Magic Happens
Even for a 5-liter V8 engine, 550 hp is a lot, so the XJR employs a supercharger to make ends meet. It's a rather anachronistic touch, as superchargers tend to take a toll on fuel economy, though the XJR's rating of 15 miles per gallon city/23 mpg highway isn't as abysmal as we expected. But with the blown V8 at full song, the XJR is a captivating creature. Unlike the antiseptic twin-turbocharged V8s that are so in vogue these days, the Jag's motor feels alive, lunging for redline with the kind of gusto that used to be the exclusive province of exotic sports cars. The estimated 4-second blast to 60 mph only begins to tell the story. We'll remember the XJR less for its stoplight sprints than for its incredible roll-on acceleration at speed. We'd just ask for slightly sharper, quicker responses from the otherwise superb 8-speed automatic transmission.
Inner Beauty
At a glance, the XJR's interior is as much a work of art as its avant-garde exterior, boasting hand-stitched leather, a sweeping wrap-around dashboard and such trademark touches as a rotary shift knob that rises dramatically from the center console at start-up. But if you look closely, this cabin comes up short in some respects, and that's a big deal in this high-stakes segment. The virtual gauges, for example, have a slow refresh rate that prevents the digital tachometer needle from keeping pace with the free-revving V8 at full throttle. The touchscreen infotainment system is another hiccup, as its relatively small screen and simple graphics hark back to older technology from former parent company Ford. We wouldn't call these deal breakers, but they do show that the big Jag has room for improvement.
Phenomenal Driving Experience
Once you're out on the open road, though, you're liable to forget about such details. It's not just about the XJR's prodigious power, either. This big cat is every bit as poised and balanced in corners as Jaguar would like you to believe. We repeatedly flogged an XJR around the demanding racetrack at Washington's Ridge Motorsports Park, and we were amazed by how adeptly it danced from apex to apex. Remember, the XJR competes with land-yachts like the BMW 7 Series and Mercedes-Benz S-Class, cars that have no business turning hot laps for fun on weekends. Not that most XJR owners will actually sign up for track day, but it's nice to know that the capability's there.
AutoTrader says: In a world where cars increasingly feel like chips off the same computer-designed block, the passionate 2014 Jaguar XJR speaks to us like few luxury sedans can. It's imperfect, yes, but it's also sleek, fast and a downright indecent amount of fun to drive.


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Chicken Chow Mein from 'The Chinese Takeout Cookbook'
[Photograph: Diana Kuan]
When properly made, chicken chow mein is American-style Chinese comfort food at its best–stir-fried noodles, chicken, and vegetables doused in a simple, sweet and salty sauce will make any tired and hungry eater smile. All too often, however, chow mein comes slick with grease and full of over-cooked chunks of stringy chicken. Diana Kuan's recipe in The Chinese Takeout Cookbook solves these problems with ease. The chicken spends no more than four minutes on the heat, and the oil is reduced to a modest 3 tablespoons (just enough to keep the noodles from fusing to the pan). A quick soy and rice wine marinade adds more oomph to the chicken, and the use of dried shiitake mushrooms gives the final dish savoriness and depth.
Why I picked this recipe: Chicken chow mein is my favorite dish to order to-go. It's about time I just made it myself.
What worked: Kuan's lightly fried noodles made for an excellent base for the chicken, vegetables, and sauce, adding toasty dimension to the dish.
What didn't: The noodles soaked so much of the sauce that I ended up adding a bit more as I stirred in the vegetables. Next time, I might even double amount of sauce.
Suggested tweaks: You can substitute pork, shrimp, beef, or tofu for the chicken here. If you're going with tofu, I'd suggest increasing the initial pour of oil to 2 tablespoons and coating the tofu in a bit of cornstarch before frying. If your wok or skillet is on the smaller side, consider cooking the dish in two batches to avoid spill-over.
Reprinted from The Chinese Takeout Cookbook: Quick and easy dishes to prepare at home by Diana Kuan. Copyright 2012. Published by Ballantine Booka, an imprint of Random House. All rights reserved. Available wherever books are sold.
- Yield: serves 4
- Active time: 30 minutes
- Total time: 50 minutes
- 6 dried shiitake mushrooms
- 10 ounces thin dried Chinese egg noodles
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- ?>


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Click here to read our Trip Advisor reviews.
Escape to our beautiful Georgian townhouse in the lovely market town of Dolgellau. Bryn Mair B&B is a Grade II listed former rectory, standing at the foot of Cadair Idris, in an acre of beautiful secluded walled gardens - a magical space to find a sheltered spot to relax and unwind.
Within easy reach of sandy beaches and all that the Snowdonia National Park has to offer – you will be spoiled for choice.
Our beautiful rooms have super comfortable beds to sink into at the end of the day! Each room has been individually furnished to the highest standard with soft, fluffy towels, The White Company goodies, cool cotton bed linen and plump goose down pillows.
The guest lounge has magnificent views over the town and the mountains beyond. A perfect place to read, listen to music, take it easy and enjoy the sunsets in summer or the log fire in winter.
Croeso – Welcome!


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|2012-09-13, 01:51
|Link #30561
Endless Member
Join Date: Oct 2009
Virgilius would have been Ghoda obv. You see, Ghoda is actually a super genius but has to spend so much time cooking he can't ever just sit down and solve the Rokkenjimma murders. Had he been not cooking on October 4th he would have caught the culprit before anything even happened.
Ghoda would also have had a character arc dealing with the duality of being a Magical Chef versus being an Ace Detective. But alas, he gave into his culinary desires and the Ushiromiya family all suffered for it.
|2012-09-13, 05:34
|Link #30563
Detective, Witch, Pirate.
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Ruins of the Golden Land
By the way, wouldn't that be really troublesome if a Chiru Anime was ever made?
Probably he could be like... Bern's piece? Since the basis for his character became Erika, it wouldn't be that impossible.
Oh Gohda, your talent all went to waste....
Not saying I wouldn't be curious to read that Umineko, I'm just saying.... Erika rules.
|2012-09-13, 08:23
|Link #30564
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2011
What's interesting if that one is Yasu the representation given paints her as... let's say someone similar to a Beato with short hair, instead than to someone closer in look to Shannon.
Though I guess it makes sense as we're supposed to guess she and Shannon are the same person... and Beato is, in a fashion Yasu's childish personality.
And I think the breasts effect is more due to the dress than an effective presence of breasts (after all Yasu is supposed to be pretty young, unless that scene is already in a future in which she was working for the Ushiromiya by some years...)
Last edited by jjblue1; 2012-10-16 at 15:22.
|2012-09-13, 09:13
|Link #30565
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Gnawing away at Rokkenjima
So, I'm casually translating Our Confessions. I'm slow, and I'm not sure how accurate I am, but it's good practice. What I'm doing is not a summary-translation like LyricalAura, but a detailed one.
I'll release my work in chunks. If anyone good at Japanese has any corrections, ぜひ、知らせてください。
Also, 3 disclaimers:
1) I'm doing this at my leisure, so there are no guarantees whatsoever that I will continue.
2) My source for this seems to have things in a somewhat different order than LyricalAura's. Or something.
3) What I'm releasing today is nothing terribly informative. It's most just Ryuukishi being metaphorical about what Our Confessions is...
Spoiler for The introduction:
|2012-09-13, 09:14
|Link #30566
Join Date: May 2009
Also, I must be the only person who doesn't particularly care for Erika.
You would, however, have to give Yasu a voice... though you could handwave it as Claire narrating and then not clearly state that the two have the same voice necessarily.
But perhaps the manga just doesn't give a damn about obscuring her appearance, or perhaps Ryukishi is cool with it. I doubt he'd allow the depiction of the character unless it was acceptable to him that they do so. I honestly don't think it really matters that much. If nothing else, it could've just been laziness since we know he pretty much phoned in the art in Requiem and Twilight outside of Young Ange. He might've been fine with depicting Yasu and just got lazy.
|2012-09-13, 11:40
|Link #30567
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: forever lost inside a logic error
In other words in some way or another he should've been one of Beatrice's servants, but he might've been supposed to be introduced as an antagonist just like Virgilia.
However in future episodes he couldn't have taken Erika's role, as he'd certainly become one of Battler's pawn, like Gaap and Ronove.
|2012-09-13, 12:56
|Link #30568
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Crime Scene
Now I will recall that mini-maid everytime I talk about Yasu, even if all here know that there's an error.
It's really painfully obvious that Yasu is Shannon in the VN, but the Manga has it's own way to do things.
I say because she's not really shorter compared to the busty and maybe 17-- years old maids at her side...
|2012-09-13, 17:24
|Link #30569
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2011
I'm not really sure of her height in that pic due to the perspective. If you look at her shoulders they seem a lot lower than the ones of the maid next to her but it can be due to the perspective so it can be tricky to judge her height. It doesn't help she seems to be next to the tallest maid.
Still, I'm curious to see how they'll handle EP 7 and if it'll reveal something more than the VN did.
Last edited by jjblue1; 2012-10-16 at 16:43.
|2012-09-14, 06:31
|Link #30570
Detective, Witch, Pirate.
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Ruins of the Golden Land
(okay, 'tell her gender' has to be one of the most ridiculous sentences in the world)
|2012-09-14, 10:06
|Link #30571
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Gnawing away at Rokkenjima
Here's the accomplices scene. It was longer than I expected. I'll be busy for the next few days, so the next part, assuming it happens, won't be for a little while.
Spoiler for Our Confessions - Accomplices:
Spoiler for Thoughts:
Last edited by Wanderer; 2012-09-14 at 18:51.
|2012-09-14, 10:36
|Link #30572
Join Date: May 2009
Random forgery concept: Beatrice tries to make Rudolf and Kyrie accomplices, Kyrie takes Beatrice hostage and starts trying to get at Genji, assuming that he knows enough about the plan to strike a deal with them to give the necessary info to disarm the explosives and give them the gold in exchange for Beatrice's life and silence about what she's revealed to them. Refuse to comply and the other servants start dying, and if necessary, maybe some relatives. It'd all get pinned on Beatrice anyway as the chief conspirator, right?
Would sort of make a better Rudolf/Kyrie Culprit scenario than "lol let's just shoot errybody Rudy" "k."
|2012-09-14, 11:02
|Link #30573
Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2011
But this translation is certainly enlightening...LyricalAura's summary was ambiguous about whether Krauss and Natsuhi actually believed that anyone was being murdered, but this makes it clear that they know. I'm not really sure how I feel about that, assuming that it applies to the game-specific accomplices in the actual episodes...Personally, towards the beginning of each episode at least, I've always had the impression that the accomplices don't think that anything bad is actually happening to the others. I mean, if Eva and Hideyoshi in EP1 knew that everyone but their family was going to be blown up, then what would be the point in them using the receipt to try and get Natsuhi to reveal Kinzo's death? She's going to explode anyway, unless she's an accomplice too. But if that's the case, Natsuhi should start to suspect something once Eva and Hideyoshi, who are also accomplices, get killed...eh, I don't even know any more.
|2012-09-14, 11:42
|Link #30574
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: forever lost inside a logic error
In the end a middle schooler managed to go to and return from Kuwadorian without even caring where she was going, and all of that in less than a single day. After all it's just a 2km wide island, it's really not much. The only problem is the forest that would make travel quite difficult, but apparently it isn't that difficult if a middle schooler managed it.
Anyway if I were to be told such a story I'd rather think it shouldn't be that hard to reach Kuwadorian rather than believing that Rosa was granted a miracle.
In other words I'd take my chances with the forest before becoming the accomplice of a mass murder and putting the life of my family and mine in the hands of a sociopath who's likely to not keep her promise.
At any rate torturing Beatrice seems to be most logical step, I'd try that first and then the forest if that plan failed.
As a side note the accomplices compliance isn't the only hard to believe factor in this story.
The only thing that is true is that the lack of proofs would make prosecution impossible (albeit the police would most likely try to extort a confession). But just because it can't be determined who is the criminal or if there was a criminal to begin with, you don't assume it was an accident.
Last edited by Jan-Poo; 2012-09-14 at 12:02.
|2012-09-14, 12:17
|Link #30576
Dea ex Kakera
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Sea of Fragments
|2012-09-14, 12:25
|Link #30577
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2011
I mean, she might end up killing Krauss' siblings and their cousins... and would you really trust someone who's just saying you she has no qualms to murder everyone and isn't really handing you a way out as of now but might do it in the future?
What if this person changes her mind?
The general impression is they're using Beato's threat to justify themselves into letting the others being killed...
|2012-09-14, 12:50
|Link #30578
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Crime Scene
I always asumed that Kuwadorian wasn't found for the same reason the siblings were reluctant to go to the chapel: Kinzo's authority.
For ex., they didn't make open moves to prove that Kinzo was dead because of that. Eva, the most temperamental and firm in her idea that Kinzo was dead could easly and skillfully walk around Natsuhi and enter the study (she has physical power, if everything failed she could shove aside Natsuhi) instead of using that trick with the recipe, but her fear to Kinzo's fury held her back. She could just look at the door with frustation and leave.
So they didn't went near the chapel nor the forest because they still acknowledged Kinzo's authority. All that 'wouldn't put it past grandfather' bussiness is a result of that.
So actually Rosa finding Kuwadorian wasn't some miracle, it was because she overcame her fear to Kinzo in her state of despair (for whatever teenage problem she had, I don't remember) and broke the taboo of going to the forests. It's actually because she was the youngest and the more likely to break the old rules that she was the one to find Beatrice II.
Eva and Krauss were far too scarred by Kinzo to dissobey him, and Rudolf always looked to me like the guy who'd just pass on those problems.
About reversing the tables on Beato and accomplices: Beatrice has a gun, but Krauss has mad boxing skills and enough hot blood to use them if a situation like that arose, so is possible for him to disarm her... but not to point the barrel her way. He'd try to reach a gentleman's deal XD I shudder if she tried to sway Eva with those tactics... and let's not talk about yakuza princess Kyrie.
There was a point about Yasu having a weak body, so is not too farfetched that someone overpowered her and, depending on the sibling in case, blew her head and went with the original plan. So actually Yasu imagining that pointing a gun to the fierce sons or daughters of Kinzo was going to get those results (absolute obedience of an accomplice) was too naive. Maybe that's what ignited the clusterfuck in RokkenPrime? Yasu was dreaming gameboards too hard to realize exactly who she was fucking around with and things went downside... sounds more plausible that the siblings devotedly going along with her just because she had a gun or the promise of some bomb that could be avoided if all ran to the forest with all their might still they reached the other shore (even if they didn't find kuwadorian, they could go to somwhere as far of the main house as Kuwadorian).
|2012-09-14, 13:09
|Link #30579
Join Date: May 2009
Either that or Ryukishi really believes that people would be okay with the murder of their friends and family for a sufficiently large sum of money promised by a person who cannot be trusted in any way.
Basically there's no way Krauss couldn't know. And if Rosa can get there and back, it's possible on foot.
That discounts for a moment the point that one could just go in that general direction even not knowing if one is going to reach Kuwadorian. If you know there's explosives, you know she can't move them, and if you just run off into the woods you might get lost but you could probably walk to safety (somewhere outside the blast radius) faster than she could stop you.
The entire plan revolves around the accomplices behaving according to the plan when they're not being monitored by Beatrice directly. All they have to do is lie until Beatrice is out of sight, and just grab everybody and book it for the forest.
|2012-09-14, 13:48
|Link #30580
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: Crime Scene
About discovering Kuwadorian, It could be that Eva used her money and influence to shush that. To avoid all those curious and WH traveling ilegally to the island and discovering what they shouldn't. Yes, the gold was blown up but 10 t of heavy metal would scatter, not dissapear. That could account also for the insane profit she made after Rokkenjima's incident, and be a reason for eva to shut completely the island from foreigners claiming that is just void and half blown and there's nothing interesting anymore.
Even if the police investigated, they couldn't take heavy machines to search for the gold, but some stranger particularly obsessed with a mountain of gold could do it. Or, since it was illegal gold to begin with, the authorities could take it as property of Japan.
But about the serial killing, if Our Confessions is a general sketch to create the gameboards, Yasu's plans were naive and that's why everything went boom on her face... hum... probably
|Thread Tools


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CRESTVIEW � The Crestview City Council indicated it wants to rest discussion on a proposed ordinance that would regulate yard sales.
CRESTVIEW � The Crestview City Council indicated it wants to rest discussion on a proposed ordinance that would regulate yard sales.
Council members expressed hesitation for a proposed itinerate vendor ordinance that city planner Eric Davis presented during a work session Monday.
The proposal prohibits residents from opening home-based businesses without certification; requires that the home occupation take no more than 25 percent of the home�s floor space; prohibits storing business materials; and excludes mobile food vending from being considered at home occupations.
Davis drafted the document following complaints of excessive traffic and parking in residential yards that ruined sprinkler systems. Such problems associated with recurring yard sales have increased following the economic downtown, the workshop packet notes.
City officials raised concerns about the proposal.
Several residents sell items on websites like eBay; many of them store merchandise inside their home or in a nearby shed, Crestview Fire Chief Joseph Traylor said, adding he was concerned about inspecting structures annually.
"The enforcement of inspecting annually commercial office space in residential areas is so overwhelming," he said. "We have enough trouble keeping up with existing (businesses)."
Councilman Thomas Gordon said current laws cover the concerns.
"I'm cautious about setting rules that we cannot and should not enforce,"he said. "... If they are conducting a business, we have laws in place for that; if they are blocking traffic we have laws against that.�
Davis presented options for dealing with homeowners who purportedly have ongoing yard sales. Limiting the number of yard sales a resident can have within 30 or 90 days could help, he said.
"Often it is hard for us to control (yard sales) happening on Saturday and Sunday. Typically we don't have planning or code enforcement staff available on those days,� Davis said.
Council president Robyn Helt favored limiting yard sales between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. on three consecutive days.
City officials said they just want to ensure yard sales do not become a public nuisance or create unsafe conditions.
"If you are going to address it at all, I would like for it to be somewhat vague," Helt said. "I certainly do not want to prevent people from conducting yard sales; it�s part of being an American."
Council members Shannon Hayes, Joe Blocker and Mickey Rytman agreed and suggested resting discussion of such an ordinance until larger problems develop.
Contact News Bulletin Staff Writer Matthew Brown at 850-682-6524 or email@example.com. Follow him on Twitter @cnbMatthew.


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Verschijning van de architect-bemiddelaar
Een verkenning van een architecturale productie gericht op bemiddeling
Architectuur in naam van de vader
Column #3 over de oorsprongsmythen van de architectuur
Uplace of Shopping K? Nee, bedankt
Artikel over de architectuur van een vals dilemma rond winkelcentra
Dood van een dienstverlener
Column over het bouwen als olifant in de kamer van de architectuurcultuur.
Het belachelijk sublieme in de Vlaamse architectuur
Artikel over humor als het teken van kritische afstand in de architectuur
Verslaafd aan architectuur
Een artikel over de betekenis van de Biertempel discussie voor de architectuurcultuur in België
Wafels, bier en architectuur
Een artikel naar aanleiding van de herbestemming van de Beurs in Brussel tot biertempel naar ontwerp van Robbrecht & Daem Architecten.
Creatio ex nihilo
Column #1 over de oorsprongsmythen van de architectuur
Zorg dragen voor architectuur
Artikel over gebruik en postproductie in de architectuur naar aanleiding van het Jozef Plein in PC Cartias (Melle).
Do Good architectuur
Artikel over de rol van ontwerp in zorgarchitectuur.
Pic Nic Architectuur
Een retroactief manifest voor Pic Nic the Streets als bijdrage aan de architectuurcultuur in België. > Version Française > English Version
Wraak op de commons
Een artikel over het nakende einde voor Agrocité en de toekomst voor architectuur onder zelfbeheer.
Architectuur van de schaamteplek
Wie grip wil krijgen op de problemen van in psychiatrische ziekenhuizen, begint bij het ontwerp van de isolatiekamer.
Van Utopia naar Wuustwezel
Er zijn weinig termen die zo'n beladen betekenis hebben in de architectuurgeschiedenis als utopie. Version Français
Relational Architecture
Read about the production proces of the Kanunnik Petrus Jozef Triest Square in the Psychiatric Centre Caritas, Melle. Article in Dutch / English / French
Hoeveel samenwerking kan architectuur verdragen?
Artikel over de tentoonstelling 'Ensembles. Architectuur en Ambachtschap' in deSingel en Vlaams Architectuurinstituut.
Bouwstenen voor het psychiatrisch centrum van de toekomst
Lees meer over de visieontwikkeling rond het psychiatrisch centrum van de toekomst gepubliceerd in Psyche.
Eco-politiek in Brussel: Bas Smets en de Brussels Urban Landscape Biennial
Artikel over het nut en nadeel van landschapsarchitectuur als instrument voor regionale ontwikkeling in Brussel.
Architectuur vol van verlangen
Artikel naar aanleiding van de opening van het Kanunnik Petrus Jozef Triest Plein in Melle.
Proud to present the A+261 issue on architecture and politics - Dutch and French edition.
Architectuur met schaduw
De 20ste eeuw baarde vele duivelspacten tussen architectuur en politiek. Opvallend genoeg wordt de architectuur van het Italiaanse fascisme tot op vandaag geprezen omwille van haar abstracte vormentaal. Dergelijke rehabilitatie is de architectuur van het Derde Rijk nooit te beurt gevallen. België heeft zo zijn eigen kleine trauma in de relatie met de politiek.
Ingebedde architecten
Lees meer over de architectuur van oorlog en vrede
Vakmannen aan het front
Een recensie over de bijdrage van Bravoure in de Architectuurbiennale van Venetie.
Toiletemmers in Werelderfgoed
Er is iets curieus met de inrichting van de gevangenis van Merksplas, waar enkele weken geleden een opstand uitbrak. De geschiedenis van de site reflecteert een utopisch beeld van de gevangenis van de toekomst, de manier waarop omgegaan wordt met die geschiedenis symboliseert dan weer de gemiste kansen.
FPC Gent: geen markt, geen gevangenis
De opening van het Forensisch Psychiatrisch Centrum in Gent zorgt na één jaar werking voor een grote opluchting - zelfs bij voormalige critici. De juiste vraag is niet of aanvankelijke bezorgheid terecht was, maar wel of de opluchting niet een beetje voorbarig is?
Het penitentiair verdriet van België
In de bouw van het gevangenisdorp Haren vormen de lokale en regionale overheid samen front met de actiegroepen tegen de federale overheid - of toch niet? Hoe kunnen we de knoop tussen activisme en politiek ontwarren?
Een psychiatrisch centrum bouwen we samen
Ook architectuur heeft zijn plaats op de Vlaamse Hersteldagen. Doe mee op 18 november in de Vooruit.
Eindelijk een kennisplatform voor humane gevangenisarchitectuur
De website www.prisongear.be presenteert het onderzoek naar een humane gevangenisarchitectuur.
Ontmanteling van de psychiatrische kliniek
Lees de gevalstudies over zorgarchitectuur in Vlaanderen gepubliceerd in Psyche
Een sterke leefomgeving begint met ruimteregie
Wie is er bang van het Bouwmeestercollege?
Iedereen lijkt het roerend eens dat de Vlaamse architectuur zonder de Bouwmeester overgeleverd is aan de wetten van de markt en de willekeur van het politieke bedrijf. Lees de opinie 'De Bouwmeester en de onheilsprofeten'.
A humane prison is coming to your neighbourhood
As part of the Conflict & Design Triennial the knowledge platform Prison Gear presents design studies that pave the way for a humane prison in Leopoldsburg, Belgium.
Een humane gevangenis komt naar je toe
Als onderdeel van de Conflict & Design Triënnale presenteert Prison Gear twee visieontwerpen voor de toekomstige gevangenis op het militaire domein Reigersvliet in Leopoldsburg.
Limburg City / Stad Limburg
Read the memorandum of the Limburg Europa Workshop / Lees de projectnota van Atelier Limburg Europa
The dismantling of the psychiatric clinic
Read the case studies on care architecture in Flanders
Wat is ontwerpend onderzoek?
Drie vragen over ontwerpend onderzoek, drie antwoorden vanuit de Noorderkempen.
Heeft een gemeenplaats ook een gemene waarde ?
Commentaarstuk bij het Architectuurboek n° 10: Radicale Gemeenplaatsen - Europese architectuur uit Vlaanderen
Is onzichtbare psychiatrische zorg mogelijk?
Review van de opstart Pilootprojecten Zorg door de Vlaams Bouwmeester
Limburg heeft ambitie / Limburg has ambition
Presentatie van de Startnota Provinciaal Bouwmeester Limburg / Presentation Initial Memo Limburg Government Architect
Hoeveel vernieuwing kan de gevangenis verdragen ?
Lees hoe de modernisatie van de gevangenisarchitectuur in handen van Stéphane Beel begon en eindige bij het Ducpétiaux-model.
San Gimignano aan de Zenne
Lees de column naar aanleiding van de Keukentoren van XDGA
Sociaal-realisme of zelfcensuur
Met Jonas Staal schreef BAVO een pleidooi voor een nieuw sociaal-realisme in de kunst. Sociaal-realisme is broodnodig in het tijdperk van de hysterische reproductie.
Nu ook een schreeuw om architectuur!
Niet occupy-en, maar de gevestigde orde verleiden om in crisistijden te investeren in leuke projecten. Lees hier meer over de Studio for Unsollicited Architecture.
Gesloten architectuur is ook humaan
Lees meer over Fleur Agema's gevangenismodel
Waarom kunstenaars niet fascistisch genoeg zijn
Lees het artikel in het decembernummer van Rekto:Verso.
De Culturele Elite
Lees de bijdrage.
Recensies van boek Too Active to Act
Artist Participation in South Africa
The international PR campaign to showcase Rotterdam's robust policy on artist participation is now also tapping into the emerging African art markets.
Denkverbod op liberale kunst
Column over de stellingenoorlog naar aanleiding van de aangekondigde bezuinigingen in de cultuursector.
Maak liberaal kunstbeleid liberaal
Lees BAVO's advies aan staatssecretaris Zijlstra met betrekking tot de noodgedwongen keuzen die de cultuursector in Nederland te wachten staat.
Vrijheidscampagne met inhoud
Edinburgh prepares for artist participation
Kunstenaars vormen een nieuwe alliantie met Geert Wilders / Artists form a new alliance with Geert Wilders
International promotion campaign of the Office for Artist Participation kicks off
The City of Edinburgh will be the first to host an international promotion event of Rotterdam's innovative cultural policies for enforcing the participation of artists in heightening a city's competitiveness and securing social peace on the local level.
Culture and Contestation
The essay 'Neo-Liberalism with Dutch Characteristics: The Big Fix-Up of the Netherlands and the Practice of Embedded Cultural Activism' is published in the book volume 'Culture and Contestation in the New Century'.
Art and Activism
BAVO's essay 'Artists... one more effort to be really political!' is published in the volume 'Art and Activism in the age of Globalisation'.
Boek verschenen: Too Active To Act
Het boek biedt een kritische analyse van de maatschappelijke betrokkenheid van culturele actoren in Nederland in de afgelopen tien jaar.
Commoning the Clinic
Read more about the Kanunnik Triest Square (designed by architects De Vylder Vinck Taillieu) in the Caritas psychiatric centre (Melle) and how it results from a participative process with psychiatrists, managers, staff, and patients.
How much politics can art take?
project: CULTURAL ACTIVISM TODAY
date: 17/01/2009
author: BAVO
source: Open #14
status: article
Today, art that aims to be politically relevant has reached an impasse. To break through this impasse, we call on artists to link radical artistic activism with radical political activism. Only then might art that engages with politics genuinely 'make a difference'.
In the early 1990s, Francis Fukuyama, in the context of his thesis of the end of history, was also able to announce, without much resistance, the end of 'all art that could be considered socially useful'.1 Recent history, however, contradicts him. The past decade has seen a genuine regeneration of socially engaged art. Instead of the end of history, we have undergone a resurgence of all kinds of movements that had seemed, after a long struggle and many human sacrifices, to have been vanquished. The many 'neo-movements' that dominate the present political climate, like neoliberalism, neoconservatism, neotribalism and neoracism, attest to this.
A notable aspect of this revival of engagement in art is the shift in emphasis from classical art criteria such as meaning or form to criteria such as result, performativity or even utility value. For a growing group of artists, art has long ceased to be about what it says, represents or reflects, but about what the work 'does', effects or generates in the social context in which it operates. The central question is how a particular artistic action 'makes a difference'. This 'making a difference' is interpreted in the most pragmatic of ways, out of the conviction that, given the urgency of often harrowing social injustices, there is no need for high art statements, preachy manifestos or sublime expressions of moral outrage. On the contrary, there is a perceived imperative to produce concrete interventions that immediately improve the fate of certain groups in society, that help them survive in their day-to-day existence or that break through a particular social impasse. Again, the emphasis here is not so much on symbolic expressions of sympathy or the visualization of a certain critique of the injustices in question: the point is to present solutions, create toolkits and do-it-yourself guides that allow disadvantaged social groups to better their situation. A hallmark of this form of engaged art is its no-nonsense attitude, its realism: if you are not striving for immediate improvement in the fate of the victims, you have no right as an artist to produce great art. In short, the slogan is 'less high art, more pragmatism please!'
Examples of such pragmatic art are legion. They can range from establishing an alternative hotel in a multicultural, disadvantaged neighbourhood in order to create employment for and empower local residents, to setting up a project through which children, in the midst of the neoliberal restructuring of their neighbourhood, are given the opportunity to design their own park facilities, to designing innovative outbuildings to alleviate space shortages in under-subsidized schools to creating a collective monument for the residents of a neighbourhood who have to make way for a new project development.
Art, in these cases, is seen as a highly effective and innovative means to fulfil traditional activist tasks, comparable with creating an awareness, among disadvantaged social groups, of the injustice to which they are subjected on a daily basis, harnessing their dissatisfaction, coming up with strategies to influence politicians, attracting the attention of the media, etc. Nevertheless, these artists often explicitly distance themselves from 'real' activists. They fault the latter for a lack of creativity or accuse them of favouring their own political interests or ideological preferences above the interests of the people. The shortcomings of the language of activism is often emphasized as well, as leading only to polarization and completely wrapped up in the bargaining game between the citizen and the political establishment. The reasoning is that it is better to realize a few small, modest goals than to aim too high and ultimately, after a long process, end up disappointed, with the population in question remaining empty-handed.
NGO art
It is noble and necessary that artists undertake direct action against the often harrowing injustices peculiar to the present time. When it comes to gauge the effectiveness of these socially engaged practices in tackling the current malaise in a more fundamental sense, however, they are often found lacking. One of the reasons for this lies in the preoccupation with direct action, with wanting to immediately 'do what can be done within the realms of possibility'. Unlike traditional activism, these artists are not interested in initiating long-term political processes in which 'the impossible is demanded' and of which no one knows whether they will ultimately produce a concrete improvement for the social groups in question. They reason and operate like humanitarian organizations or NGOs: rather than addressing the larger, political issues, they focus on what they can do immediately within the limitations of the feasible, for instance relieving the urgent needs of an afflicted population (shelter, food, medicine, etc.). Like humanitarian organizations, this 'NGO art' entails a measure of self-censorship. Humanitarian organizations deliberately avoid speaking out about political issues, for fear that the relief effort might be compromised, as the local authorities could refuse the organization access to the country for political reasons, for instance. If the motto of humanitarian organizations is 'first the victims, then politics', the motto of these artists is 'no politics please, only the victims'.
NGO art in fact is characterized by a denial of politics: it concerns itself, above everything else, with the practical feasibility of a given action. These artists deliberately avoid confrontations with authorities or investors, because this could compromise their ability to obtain the permits or funding they need to implement their actions. The question of what can be done here and now and how this can be achieved most efficiently is more important than exposing and combating more underlying structures – which is after all the essence of politics.
It is precisely this compulsion to achieve immediate results that prevents NGO artists from contesting the crisis in which the public now finds itself in a more fundamental way, and condemns them to political neutrality in order to realize their actions. This also makes them extremely vulnerable. Because they suppress any fundamental political critique in order to achieve their actions, these actions can be easily co-opted by the system as a sign that things are not so bad in the world after all. The NGO artist can easily be co-opted by the system, to give the victims of increasingly structural injustices the feeling that their voices still count. It is already standard practice for governmental authorities or market players to recruit artists or curators at an early stage in societal processes and in setting up artistic programmes, sometimes in interaction with the victims, that document the negative side-effects of the policy. In such cases, artists are manoeuvred into the same dubious position as that of the 'embedded' journalists in the Iraq war.
Making art 'political'
In addition, critics will rightly point out that we are dealing here with mediocre art, or worse still, with a form of activism that uses art or cultural instruments to achieve its aims. Despite the aversion of NGO artists toward traditional, political activism, it is difficult not to classify them as activists, albeit of a more humanitarian-pragmatic kind. Instead of offering fierce political resistance to the status quo, they concentrate on achieving 'small but real' improvements in people's lives.
Many will counter that the artist cannot forget that he is an artist before anything else, that art is his most important domain of action and expertise, and that this is therefore where his priorities must lie. If, on the contrary, you consider art an effective instrument to achieve political ends, it logically follows that it is difficult, if not impossible, for an artist to practise a personal, autonomous politics and not be co-opted into dubious government schemes or market operations. The flaw, in this view, lies in the NGO artists themselves and in the excessively literal, instrumental uses of art. If the artist wants to be politically engaged, the contention goes, he must do so within his own, artistic medium.
Thomas Hirschhorn, in the context of the work Swiss Swiss Democracy, famously said that he does not make political art: he 'make[s] art political'. As a protest against the shift to the right in the political climate of Switzerland, which he says has been effectively camouflaged by democratic processes, he occupied the Swiss cultural centre in Paris for eight weeks. Using all kinds of media – collages, a daily newspaper, philosophical lectures, theatre performances – he exposed the obscene underbelly of Swiss democracy.2 This action was specifically directed toward a concrete political situation, and its political character is evident. Yet this action should not be seen as a form of activism, with the aim of organizing opposition to the rise of extreme-right ideology in Swiss politics. As Hirschhorn constantly emphasizes, his primary preoccupation as an artist is the form and not the politics. Of foremost importance to him is the two-part question of how you give shape to resistance and what its artistic quality is. Indeed, in public, Hirschhorn categorically refuses to discuss his political motivations or the social and political issues he broaches in his work. He is only willing to discuss his artistic choices and motivations – for instance the specific use of material and colour in the decoration of the space. Nevertheless, his work is clearly an indictment of a particular political development, and this is explicit in his work. He does not shy, for example, from including political pronouncements in his work or directing insults at politicians. However, he consistently insists that he is an artist first, that his intervention is primarily artistic. Only in this capacity can he be judged for his work.
Isn't this ambiguous position the core of Jacques Rancière's view of the relationship between art and politics – a view that is steadily gaining in influence today? Rancière defines political art as, on the one hand, a politics of 'autonomy' (this is the struggle of artists to be recognized as practitioners of an autonomous discipline with the right to a distinct, independent place in society) and, on the other, a politics of 'heteronomy' (the struggle of art to, instead, fuse with social reality, to use society as material that can be organized according to artistic rules). Or as he puts it himself, 'a critical art is … a specific negotiation … [t]his negotiation must keep something of the tension that pushes aesthetic experience towards the reconfiguration of collective life and something of the tension that withdraws the power of aesthetic sensibility from the other spheres of experience.'3 In this way, a long-lasting struggle within modern art between various avant-gardes is ingeniously resolved – think, for instance, of the conflict between constructivists and formalists, or the continually recurring debate about whether art should leave the safe bounds of the museum and go out into the street or instead choose the museum as one of the last sanctuaries in society. Rancière's ingenuity lies in that he does not decide in favour of one of the two parties, but instead elevates the conflict or the tension between the two camps to the level of a solution in order to confront the vexed issue of the relationship between art and politics.
Rancière's solution has strategic advantages. One could see it as a 'third way'. On the one hand, it enables the artist to intervene in political issues without compromise and to transcend the boundaries of art. This coincides with Rancière's artistic politics of heteronomy. Yet at the same time, this takes place in a way (through aesthetics) or from a place (an arts centre) that is outside politics. This is its autonomous dimension. Finding this grey zone – which Rancière calls the 'zone of indistinction of art and life' – thus has a dual advantage. On the one hand, it is difficult for the politicians involved to 'aestheticize away' the accusations expressed by the artist, dismiss them as 'merely art', as the opinion of just one eccentric artist: the political accusations are too direct for this. On the other hand, it denies politicians the opportunity to defuse the indictment in the usual way, with familiar political arguments: it is too artistic for that. This third way prevents the confrontation with the artist becoming a home match for the political establishment. It creates an alienation in politics, and that is undoubtedly its power.
Emphasis on the artistic
It is tempting to see Swiss Swiss Democracy in terms of Rancière's concept of political art, balancing, as it were, on a tightrope between autonomy and heteronomy. However, Hirschhorn remains too much within the safe boundaries of art, that is to say, on the autonomy side of the tension arc.4 In spite of all of Hirschhorn's rhetoric in the context of Swiss Swiss Democracy about artistic courage – he said, for instance, that 'an artist needs to be able to make a wild gesture, be courageous'5 – one might wonder how much courage it took to organize, in a cultural centre in Paris (albeit Switzerland's), an art event that explicitly does not want to define itself as political. Would it not have been more daring to act, on the contrary, in a more explicitly, deliberately political way and to devote attention, in addition to the artistic programme, to activist matters such as organizing opposition to the extreme-right in Switzerland? Even when we evaluate Hirschhorn's 'making art political' using criteria such as those presented by Rancière, namely in terms of a tension-filled negotiation between autonomy and heteronomy, does his 'method' ultimately not come up short? Through the constant emphasis on the artistic character of the event – with the emphasis on non-participation, the rejection of any political-strategic calculation, etc. – does the discussion about the tension between art and politics, between autonomy and heteronomy, not come out too much in favour of autonomy? In short, does Hirschhorn not stay on the safe side of the line between art and politics, instead of pushing this envelope, crossing the line or questioning it, which would have been a much 'wilder gesture'?
After all, Hirschhorn's constant emphasis on the artistic made it relatively easy for the political establishment to criticize his action as art (indeed as 'bad art') and dismiss it as a one-man action by an eccentric, media-obsessed artist. Had he anchored the action in a political movement, this would have been much more difficult already. Had the illusion simply been created that this action was merely the top of the iceberg of a widespread, popular resistance against the extreme-right in Switzerland – a strategy that the Slovenian avant-garde group Laibach, for instance, successfully employed in 1980s communist Yugoslavia6 – it could not have been so easily ignored or dismissed as 'harmless art'.
Hirschhorn's emphasis on the artistic character of his protest action meant that he primarily reached an art audience. This marked the whole action as 'preaching to the choir'. Nor did Hirschhorn push the envelope in terms of his audience. Christoph Schlingensiefs, for instance, as a form of resistance against the rise of the extreme-right in Austria, organized a 'Big Brother' show in Vienna in 2000 with his action Bitte liebt Österreich. Because of its populist genre and its presence in the public space, he reached an audience that did not automatically identify 'the right' as the ultimate evil that must be eliminated.
A call to artists
But is Rancière's sophisticated solution to the problem of the relationship between art and politics in terms of a tension of conflict between autonomous and heteronomous strategies not excessively marked by the trauma that art suffered in the twentieth century? Should his theory not be read against the backdrop of the now dominant view that art under communism and fascism got too close to politics, that with its political passion and enthusiasm it transgressed a critical line that led to the death of art? To maintain the tension between art and politics, between autonomy and heteronomy, could then be seen as a defence mechanism, to prevent its political enthusiasm leading to another catastrophe. When Rancière reproaches certain contemporary art practices such as relational art forno longer believing in a radical transformation of the status quo – he speaks here of a post-utopian condition - does this criticism not apply to Rancière himself?7 Is his sophisticated definition of political art not equally motivated (as in the work of his great opponent, Jean-François Lyotard) by a defensive reaction to the various experimental hybrids of art and emancipatory, utopian politics in the twentieth century?
A crucial point, however, is that for Rancière the negotiation between autonomous and heteronomous trends has not always been the essence of political art. For him it is merely inherent to the current dominant regime of art. The definition of art is historically determined, which means that it is 'not politically neutral'. And the same holds for political art defined in terms of a tension between autonomy and heteronomy, the latter too is expressly not outside every discussion or outside history. It is not a dogma or set concept, nor a set prescription that can be absorbed or dissolved by the political establishment. It can therefore be questioned or found wanting because of its ineffectiveness to generate political effects through art.
An even more radical questioning of the established definitions of what art – especially in its relation to politics – is therefore more imperative than ever. We must once more experiment freely with new hybrids of art and politics.
Our analysis of the limitations of the positions of NGO art and of 'making art political' shows that what the one has too little of, the other has in excess. The anger, arrogance and outrage, as well as the radicalism, expressed by Hirschhorn's Swiss Swiss Democracy – which we judged to be too artistic – is exactly what the NGO artists censor. They try at all costs to avoid this 'aesthetics' of anger, this 'artistic' expression of outrage, in order to achieve the small artistic actions with which they hope to improve the lives of the victims of present-day neoliberalism. They refrain from expressing anger about the structural injustice done to these people in order to be able to anchor their actions in the existing order. In doing so they make themselves politically harmless. On the other hand, Hirschhorn's confrontational style generates little effect because he categorically rejects any anchoring of his actions in real, social, political processes – something the NGO artists are perhaps too good at, or too naïve – in the name of the autonomy of art. This results in his actions being isolated and dismissed as 'merely art'.
To break out of this impasse, we argue that art should enter into alliances with radical social resistance movements (and therefore not with government authorities, developers, etc.), with social movements that demand a radical transformation of the existing order. Art must take care not to be a cosmetic operation that merely assuages structural injustices temporarily for a specific group. This hot-wiring of radical artistic activism and radical political activism is still a relatively unexplored area today. We therefore want to issue the following call to socially engaged artists: 'Artists . . . one more effort to be really political!'
1. Francis Fukuyama, The End of History and the Last Man (New York: Free Press, 1992), translated as Het einde van de geschiedenis en de laatste mens (Amsterdam: Olympos, 1999), p. 344.
2. The action took place from 4 December 2004 to 30 January 2005. The philosophical lectures were handled by Markus Steinweg; the theatre performances took place under the direction of Gwenaël Morin.
3. Jacques Rancière, 'The Politics of Aesthetics', see www.16beavergroup.org/mtarchive/archives/001877.php.
4. With this we expressly do not mean that artistic, aesthetic or formal aspects are entirely irrelevant to a political struggle. On the contrary, the aesthetic pleasure that a work like Hirschhorn's Swiss Swiss Democracy generates in the conception of powerful ways of ridiculing what one opposes or in the expression of anger of social or political abuses must be judged in a positive way. It is a valuable weapon in a political struggle. Activists often lack it. This can make the artist of inestimable value. However, art must be framed in a more generalized struggle with many more dimensions than just artistic quality!
5. The quotation continues: 'Art provides resistance. Art is neither active nor passive, art attacks - through my artistic work I will grapple with reality in all its complexity, massiveness and incomprehensibility … I will be brave, I will not be lulled into sleep, I will work on and be happy.'
6. See Alexei Monroe, Interrogation Machine: Laibach and NSK (Cambridge/Mass.: MIT Press, 2005).
7. See Jacques Rancière, Le partage du sensible: Esthétique et politique (Paris: La Fabrique, 2000).


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|This article is written from a
Real World perspective.
The Walt Disney Company is one of the largest media and entertainment corporations in the world. Founded on October 16, 1923, by brothers Walt and Roy Disney as an animation studio, it has become one of the biggest Hollywood studios, and owner of eleven theme parks and several television networks, including ABC and ESPN. Disney's corporate headquarters and primary production facilities are located at The Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California.
Disney produced, distributed and owns the movies, TRON and TRON: Legacy and all of the TRON-related characters and copyrights. One of its subsidiaries, Disney Interactive Studios, produced and distributed the video game TRON 2.0 and TRON: Evolution.
TRON Cross PromotionsEdit
The Walt Disney Company, operating in support of the TRON franchise, have slipped various references into their other Disney characters and products. The use of TRON-related copyrights also extends to adapting existing Disney-owned assets to increase the exposure of the TRON brand.


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I'm extremely troubled by the fact that this essentially gives a blank check to the government to take anyone's property at any time. They don't have to show blight or anything. They can force you out of your home, against your will, as long as they give you some money back (amount determined by themselves). If a group of residents in one area do not want their homes bulldozed to make way for a Wal Mart, then that Wal Mart ought to find somewhere else where the residents ARE willing to give up their homes. That's how the free market is supposed to work - offer enough money that people are motivated to leave, and if they're still not motivated, then find somewhere else. Essentially, this ruling puts the rights of corporations and developers above citizens.
I dont think that would answer the question of whether its desirable or not. Here in my town the city decided to put up several condos that block the bay view of some residents and in their minds detract from the rustic quality of the town. These people are out in full force against it, calling town meetings and picketing. That has hardly detered city planners who are not simply trying to create what would be a boon for the contractors or the future landlords (no matter what opponents say, read anti corporation argument) but rather recognize that without organized development ultimately the local region will suffer sprawl and overcrowding. This is a case in my mind for not heeding the outcry of some group of citizens who the press and they themselves would have you believe speak for the town at large and instead looking at down the road a ways for the good of the entire area region.


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LAB 44 necesitaba un nuevo diseño de página web y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 80 diseños de 12 diseñadores freelance.
LAB44 is a French Web agency specialized in Commercial websites and E-CRM solutions.
Our customer, Locafrais, is a French leader in the refrigerated rental market with a large refrigeration equipment offer. Their customers are large and middle sized retail stores, and activities such as butcher's shop, caterers, ice-cream makers, dairy farmers etc.
The website is geared to the high retail stores in France such as Carrefour, Auchan, etc.
For now, this will not be an online rental website.
Will be an corporate website and needs to meet the following requests:
- communicate about company's history;
- communicate about Locafrais professional delivery processes;
- communicate about Locafrais different refrigeration equipments: range of furniture and professional show equipments, products specifications.
Locafrais current website: http://www.locafrais.fr/
Websites the client likes:
See preferred inspiration #1 (attached as a file below)
http://www.petitforestier.fr/ (competitor - don't clone it, too small)
http://www.eurexpo.com/ (for the menu navigation effects)
Websites we don't like: (these are competitor websites)
Our customer Locafrais requires a simple, clean and professional corporate design that:
- is easy to navigate;
- identifies Locafrais as a french dynamic industry player with a european exposure that garantees his customer availiability, adaptability, efficiency, tracking system etc.
- follow the same blue based color scheme used in Locafrais's brochure, but don't limit your inspiration to this brochure. Keep in mind that the client sells refrigeration equipment keeping the products fresh. Don't use dark, dull or unnatural colors. Be creative. The brochure is attached bellow.
- try using a gradient as a background using shades of blue and white. Think ice.
- use the existing logo of Locafrais;
- the home page should be centered in the browser window;
- the menu that should be available on all pages, making it easy to navigate the site;
- design a light, clean, well balanced, fast loading layout;
We don't want :
- use of templates;
- black or dark backrounds;
- busy, cluttered pages;
- bad use of stock photos;
- a flash website.
Design only. No coding. No logo design.
Designs MUST be in layered Photoshop format only.
DELIVERABLES: Product page + Home page.
The pages should be almost the same with a few differences - see the attached wire frames.
The wire frames are for orientative purposes so you know what is needed on a certain page - feel free to move the elements around as needed - BE CREATIVE..
Please take care of the details and alignments.
Although it is perfectly fine and logical to with the Home page, given the similarities, we would prefer that you work on and submit the Product page as it is more complex.
Top menu structure:
Accueil (Home)
Nos Meubles ( Our products)
Nos services (Our Services)
Société (Company)
For the COMPLETE MENU STRUCTURE see the attached file: site-map.jpg


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- Description
- Tasting Notes
- What's Inside
- Shipping
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He taught you how to drive, he showed you how to throw a football, he told you to "walk it off" when you fell, your dad has tried to lead you on the right path your entire life and whether you appreciated it or not at the time, his words and actions have helped guide you and mold you into the person you are today.
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Monogrammed Compass with Chicken Soup for the Soul® Thanks Dad is a hand delivered gift. These gifts are delivered by one of our local design centers located throughout the United States and Canada.
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"Unborn in the USA: Inside the War on Abortion" weaves a riveting story from more than 70 exclusive interviews with pro-life activists and seldom-seen archival footage. This provocative film documents one of the most controversial social movements in American history. When the Supreme Court's 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade affirmed a woman's constitutional right to privacy, a new movement-dedicated to criminalizing abortion-was born. Now, more than 30 years later, with President George W. Bush's conservative appointments to the Supreme Court, Roe v. Wade teeters on the brink of reversal. The film asks and answers the question "in the struggle for dominance over a woman's right to privacy, who wins?"
Unborn in the USA: Inside the War on Abortion is not showing in any theaters in the area.