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This Wednesday, chef Melissa Muller-Daka and her husband Tarek Daka will open Eolo in Chelsea's former Eros Café space. Muller-Daka is a graduate of both the French Culinary Institute and Columbia University. Her studies in food anthropology are evident not only in the restaurant's name (the Greek god Aeolus sped Odysseus along with a wine bag filled with wind), but also in a "contemporary Sicilian" menu reflecting the area's Greek, Roman, Arab, Byzantine, Norman, and Jewish influences; clearly, Muller-Daka is going out of her way to make this anything but a red-sauce joint. In addition to the now de rigueur rooftop herb garden (available for private parties) and local meat sourcing, she'll eventually bring in her own produce from a New Jersey farm. The interior wasn't ready when we stopped by earlier, but we're told it was put together by a longtime Saturday Night Live set designer, for what it's worth. While we wait for the room to come together, have a look at the menu (which will change according to the season, and also reflect the area's cultural holidays) and a few of the dishes.
~Per la Tavola~
Olivi Siculi Bowl of Sicilian marinated olives, celery, carrot
Olivi in Padella Bowl of warm black Sicilian olives, pepperoncino, garlic confit 4
Sfincione cu cipodda Soft bread, caramelized onion, breadcrumbs, ragusano cheese 5
Sfincione cu Accugiuhe Soft bread, tomato paste, oregano, Sciacca anchovies, black olives 6
~Grappe Appititu - Freddi~
Lingua Cured beef tongue carpaccio, pickled winter melon, croutons, mustard seed caviar 12
Granatu e Cacio Lettuce greens, candied hazelnuts, pomegranate, fried caciocavallo cheese 10
Barbabietole e Pera Roasted red and yellow beets, pickled bosc pear, chestnut cream, mache, chive 9
Confit d'anatra Duck confit, frissee, bibb lettuce, dried cherry reduction, horseradish emulsion 11
Antipasto di Verdura
Choice of 2 6 Choice of 4 11
~Grappe Appititu - Caldi~
Zucca Winter squash & butternut puree, manna, hen of the woods tempura 8
Caprettu Braised goat, sautéed parsnip and celery root, tomato -coriander- cinnamon sauce 10
Maccu cu Granchio Dried fava puree with ricotta, stone crab, wild fennel 13
Beccafico Sardines with breadcrumbs, currant, pecorino, pine nuts cream, mandarin puree 9
Polpette Spiced lamb & beef meatballs, cauliflower, onions, sesame seed cream 10
Pulipetti e Panelle Charred octopus, stewed tomato, chick peas, chick pea fritters, diced potatoes 13
~Primi ~
With the exception of the Tummala, all pastas are fresh and made in-house
Norma Sun-dried tomato tortelli, tomatoes, eggplant , stewed caramelized shallots, ricotta salata 9/18
Tummala del Gattopardo Puff Pastry drum stuffed with penne rigate, meatballs, besciamel,
ragusano, sauce espagnole 16
Gnudi Baked pumpkin gnudi, pumpkin seeds, sage, brown butter, preserved artichokes, black truffle 7/14
Lenticche Burnt wheat tagliatelle, broccoli florets, confit dice carrots, red lentils, cardamom foam 7/14
Cavatieddi cul salmone Cavatelli, king salmon, thyme, confit tomato, cippollini onions,
mustard caper emulsion 8/16
Spaghetti cu Coniglio Bitter Cocoa spaghetti, pancetta, inzolia braised rabbit ragu, thyme 9/18
Pisci Spada cu Cus-Cusu Roasted Atlantic swordfish, apricot puree, almond, confit garlic
& pepper cous -cous, black olive oil 24
Tonnu e Ricci Spice rubbed Atlantic Yellowfin tuna, candied carrots, salsify, fennel puree,
sea urchin emulsion 25
Ippoglosso Alaskan Halibut Cheeks, melted leeks, fingerling potatoes, star anise mussel broth 23
~Pollame e Carni~
Gallettu Seared chicken breast & confit thigh, rosemary chicken jus, garlic whipped potatoes,
charred brussel sprouts 19
Anatra Seared Duck Breast, broccoli greens, pear and saffron risotto, grilled blood orange,
moscato reduction 26
Piccione Crispy stuffed squab, rice, apple beurre blanc, xxxx 22
Porcu Filet of Suckling Pig, pistachio confit, braised red cabbage, baby turnips 23
Collu di Castratu Braised lamb neck, creamy polenta, dried mission figs, oyster mushrooms 22
Confit di Filletto Confit beef filet, sweet & russet potato gallette, escarole, garlic pure e 25
Tasting Menu Format - to change weekly
Amouse Bouche
Appetizer Choice
Pasta Course Choice
Entrée Choice
Dessert Choice
Cookie Plate
Appetizer choice
(pasta is one of the options)
Entrée choice
Dessert choice
Eolo, 190 Seventh Ave., nr. 21st St.


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The biggest question in science fiction and fantasy is, "What if?" And sometimes we can't help applying this to the history of the genre itself. What if some of SF and fantasy's biggest mistakes hadn't happened?
Here are 10 of the all-time great missed opportunities in the history of science fiction and fantasy.
We had our own list of missed opportunities in the genre, and then we decided to see what you guys thought were the biggest examples. So we asked on io9's Facebook page — thanks to everyone who shared their ideas. (It's worth clicking over there to read the whole list.) Here are our, and your, choices for the 10 most regrettable missed opportunities:
10) William Gibson's Alien 3
One of the versions of the third Alien movie that was rejected in favor of the David Fincher was the screenplay by William (Neuromancer) Gibson, which you can read here. It mostly takes place on a space station orbiting Earth, and involves the aliens becoming a kind of airborne contagion that causes people to tear their own skin off and become Xenomorphs. And there's a lot of politics, involving the unscrupulous Union of Progressive Peoples (U.P.P.) trying to turn the arrival of the Sulaco to their advantage. One major plus: Ripley, Hicks and Newt appear throughout. (Thanks John, Michael and Scott!)
9) Neill Blomkamp's Halo
At least the failure of this project meant that we got the amazing District 9. But originally, Blomkamp was in line to direct a Halo movie, until Microsoft, Fox and Universal were unable to agree on some stuff. At Comic-Con promoting District 9, Peter Jackson said the failure of the film wasn't Microsoft's fault, and they were just as frustrated as he and Blomkamp were. Whoever was at fault, though, one thing's for sure — a Halo film from Blomkamp and Jackson would have been something special — just check out Blomkamp's Halo-inspired short film, at left. Too bad it'll never happen now.
8) The Star Trek/Doctor Who crossover
Okay, so this one probably was never meant to be. But when Russell T. Davies brought Doctor Who back to life in 2005, he had a lot of wild ideas — and one of them was to create a crossover somehow between Who and the then-current Star Trek show, Enterprise. Davies told the London Times, "Landing the Tardis on board the Enterprise would have been magnificent." Sadly, Enterprise was canceled before anything could materialize. Mostly I want to see Captain Jack Harkness interact with Starfleet, assuming this would have been during his tenure as a TARDIS passenger.
7) Joss Whedon's Wonder Woman
I still imagine what this could have been like — even if Whedon did dampen my enthusiasm slightly by suggesting that his Wonder Woman would have been akin to Angelina Jolie. I still can't help believing that Whedon's Wonder Woman film would have been something special, and would have proved once and for all that these legacy superheroines can be given a new lease on life. At the very least, it would have been one of the most memorable superhero films of the past decade.
6) Harlan Ellison's I, Robot
Okay, so anything would have been better than the Will Smith abomination. But Harlan Ellison's 1977 screenplay might actually have resulted in a great film. He spent a year toiling over an adaptation of Asimov's iconic short stories for Warner Bros., which owned the film rights. And his finished product, which Asimov himself approved of, took a sort of Citizen Kane approach to telling the life of roboticist Susan Calvin. Sadly, by the time Ellison was done, Warners wanted something more like Star Wars, and they demanded a lot of changes he wasn't willing to make. Ellison's screenplay finally appeared in Asimov's Magazine and in book form. (Thanks Matt!)
5) Guillermo del Toro's At the Mountains of Madness
Apart from Tom Cruise starring, everything about this film project sounded amazing. Del Toro wanted to make a hard R-rated version of H.P. Lovecraft's classic, bringing his full monster-making brilliance to bear. James Cameron was on board as a producer, and he sounded jazzed about this project in a way that he honestly never does when he talks about the Avatar sequels. Cameron described it as a "visual feast" and promised some mind-blowing effects work. (Thanks Lauren!)
4) Star Wars Episodes VII, VIII and IX.
Everybody complains about the prequels, but what about the sequels we never got? Okay, so they might have been just as bad as the prequels — but at least they would have had the advantage of us not knowing how things turn out beforehand. And if George Lucas had felt free to contradict the Expanded Universe books — and if he'd brought in some smart collaborators who were able to bring in fresh ideas — he might have been able to tell some really fascinating stories about what happens after you topple an evil Empire. Not to mention how Leia and Han tried to settle down. Too bad the window for Harrison Ford to come back as Han Solo is probably closed for good. (Thanks Nate and Kojak!)
3) Cancelling (Insert Name of Show Here).
Basically, the television networks' itchy cancellation finger is responsible for countless missed opportunities: shows that could have blossomed and grown, had they been allowed to continue. Including Firefly, Farscape, Space: Above and Beyond, Caprica, Terminator: the Sarah Connor Chronicles, a couple of Stargates, and countless others. Feel free to list all the other shows that were cancelled too soon in the comments.
2) Captain Kirk's Death
I honestly sit and think about what a wasted opportunity Star Trek: Generations represented way too often. If the film-makers wanted to launch a series of movies based on Star Trek: The Next Generation without any sort of passing-the-torch element, they should have gone ahead and done that. But once they chose to include William Shatner and a few other members of the Original Series crew, they took on a responsibility to do them justice. And they failed — not only giving James T. Kirk an embarrassing send-off, but also failing to seize the opportunity to tell an interesting story about the culture clash between the two Enterprise captains. Or what they could learn from each other. Or which one would win in a fight. Or, really, anything interesting. (Thanks, Jonathan!)
1) Not looking past Philip K. Dick for movie source material
As David puts it, a big mistake has been "ignoring all the other Golden Age SF writers to concentrate entirely on Philip K Dick for inspiration." Authors that people would like to see receive a movie treatment include Octavia Butler, Isaac Asimov, Iain M. Banks, Piers Anthony, Frederik Pohl and many others. At least, unlike most of the other items on this list, this is an oversight that could eventually be corrected.

subset: commoncrawl


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Galilean Nights: New IYA2009 Cornerstone Project
27 April 2009
Following the unprecedented success of IYA2009's 100 Hours of Astronomy, which featured hugely popular projects such as a Global Star Party, the live 24-hour webcast "Around the World in 80 Telescopes", a Science Centre webcast, and Sun Day, another weekend of astronomy events has been highlighted for 23-24 October 2009. This new IYA2009 Cornerstone Project is called Galilean Nights and will see amateur and professional astronomers around the globe taking to the streets, pointing their telescopes to the wonders that Galileo observed 400 years ago.
The project's focus is sidewalk observations of gas giant Jupiter and its moons and members of the public will as also be able to observe the Sun, our own Moon and many more celestial marvels with the own eyes, much like Galileo did 400 years ago.
In the following weeks we will provide more information regarding this exciting project, please stay tuned. Meanwhile, be sure to save the date and plan to be a part of this unique event!
Search IYA2009 Updates
National Nodes: 148
Organisational Nodes: 40
Organisational Associates:33
National Websites: 111
Cornerstone Projects: 12
Special Task Groups: 11
Special Projects:16
Official Products:8
Media Partners:22


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We are a complete white label solution for travellers business and corporate. The easy to use Global SIM is great for any sort of travel and you'll definitely notice the massive savings!


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Here is a list of the papers that you will probably need:
If the death is not unexpected, you should try to gather these papers in advance (other than the death certificate, of course) to lessen the strain at the time of death.
You should check with your financial advisor as to how you should handle the following assets of the deceased, but some general rules of thumb include:
In most states, only the will and other materials pertaining to the death can be removed before the will has been probated.
You should update your own will if it provides that any of your property will pass to the deceased upon your death.
The best way to avoid overpaying for a funeral is to plan ahead. Further, it pays to know about the "Funeral Rule," the regulation of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) concerning funeral industry practices. The Funeral Rule provides that:
If you have a problem concerning funeral matters, and cannot resolve it with the funeral director, contact your federal, state, or local consumer protection agencies, the Funeral Consumers Alliance, or the International Conference of Funeral Examining Boards.
The deceased is considered covered by Social Security if he or she paid into Social Security for at least 40 quarters. Check with your local Social Security office or call 800-772-1213 to determine if the deceased was eligible. If the deceased was eligible, there are two types of possible benefits.
One-Time Death Benefit
Social Security pays a death benefit toward burial expenses. Complete the necessary form at your local Social Security office, or ask the funeral director to complete the application and apply the payment directly to the funeral bill. This payment is made only to eligible spouses or to a child entitled to survivors benefits.
Survivors Benefits for a Spouse or Children.
If the spouse is age 60 or older, he or she will be eligible for benefits. The amount of the benefit received before age 65 will be less than the benefit due at age 65 or over. Disabled widows age 50 or older are eligible for benefits. The spouse of the deceased who is under the age of 60 but who cares for dependent children under the age of 16 or cares for disabled children may be eligible for benefits. The children of the deceased who are under the age 18 or are disabled may also be entitled to benefits.
Probate is the legal process of paying the deceased's debts and distributing the estate to the rightful heirs. This process usually entails:
The spouse or personal representative named in the will must file a petition with the court after the death. There is a fee for the probate process.
Depending on the size and complexity of the probable assets, probating a will may require legal assistance.
Assets that are jointly owned by the deceased and someone else are not subject to probate. Proceeds from a life insurance policy or Individual Retirement Account (IRA) that are paid directly to a beneficiary are also not subject to probate.
Here is a summary of the various taxes that may have to be paid on the death of a family member:
Federal Estate Tax. Amounts passing to a surviving spouse, and amounts passing to charity, are generally exempt from estate tax. Estate tax is generally only due on estates which, after reduction for what goes to spouse and charity, exceed the unified credit exemption equivalent, which in 2020 is $11,580,000 ($11,400,000 in 2019).
Contact the IRS for a Form 706, United States Estate (and Generation-Skipping Transfer) Tax Return, if you need to file an estate tax return. A federal estate tax return must be filed and taxes paid within nine months of the date of death absent extension.
State Estate and Inheritance Taxes. State laws vary. Many states impose estate taxes, which may apply in addition to federal estate taxes, or may apply even when federal estate taxes don't. Some states impose inheritance taxes on individuals who receive inheritances, rather than on the estate.
Income Taxes. The federal and state income taxes of the deceased are due for the year of death. The taxes are due on the normal filing date of the following year unless an extension is requested. The spouse of the deceased may file a joint federal income tax return for the year of death. A spouse with a dependent child may file jointly for two additional years. IRS Publication 559, Survivors, Executors, and Administrators, may be helpful.
The disclaimer or generation-skipping transfer tax is a way for you to refuse all or part of property that would otherwise pass to you, via will, intestacy laws, or by operation of law. An effective disclaimer passes the property to the next beneficiary in line.
The fact that the property is treated as if it had passed directly from the decedent to the next-in-line beneficiary may save thousands of dollars in estate taxes. The provision for a disclaimer in a will and the wise use of a disclaimer allows intra-family asset shifting and income shifting for maximal use of the estate tax marital deduction, the unified credit, and the lower income tax brackets.
Disclaimers can also be used to provide for financial contingencies. For example, you can disclaim an interest if someone else is in need of the funds.
Yes, the surviving spouse can elect to file a joint return provided they did not remarry prior to the end of the tax year.
Generally, no. Proceeds of life insurance policies are not taxable income unless the recipient paid for the right to receive them. For example, if you purchased a policy as an investment.
Generally, yes. This is known as income in respect of a decedent. Since the deceased has not paid income tax on the distribution, the tax is owed by the recipient. If the value of the account was included in the decedent's estate tax return, you may be entitled to a deduction for a portion of the estate taxes paid.
Assets held jointly with right of survivorship will transfer by law to the joint holder. Insurance policies or retirement accounts with a designated beneficiary will go to that beneficiary. Assets owned solely by the decedent will transfer according to state law. This is known as intestacy. These laws vary by state, but generally, give preference to the spouse and children.


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Supporters of the extremist group known as ISIS or the Islamic State apparently took over the Twitter and YouTube accounts on Monday of the U.S. Central Command, a top military security unit.
Phone numbers of top military officers and what the hackers said were classified documents were posted on Centcom's Twitter feed, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. The Twitter feed for Centcom, which is responsible for U.S. security interests in 20 nations stretching through the Arabian Gulf region into Central Asia, has since been suspended.
At least two videos uploaded to the unit's YouTube account on Monday appeared related to ISIS. One had the title, "Flames of War ISIS Video." Those videos have also been taken down.
"We are aware of the issue and are looking into it," a Centcom spokesman told IDG News Service.
"We can confirm that the Centcom Twitter and YouTube accounts were compromised earlier today," Centcom later said in an official statement. "We are taking appropriate measures to address the matter." The unit declined to comment further.
Neither Twitter nor YouTube immediately responded to comment.
The incident came just as President Obama prepared to announce new cybersecurity measures.


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We didn't think it was possible to reach new heights in regards to offensive alcohol ad campaigns, but Belvedere swept all prior competitors earlier today when the company posted an astounding new advertisement, depicting a man gleefully grabbing a woman from behind while she opens her mouth in horror, clearly terrified out of her mind. Like, there is no way anyone could argue that even .001 percent of her is eager to give this sleazy dude a blow job. "Unlike some people, Belvedere always goes down smoothly," the ad proclaimed.
Facebook comments ranged from "tell the cry-babies to shut up... this picture is AWESOME!!!" to "this kinda looks like rape." Belvedere apparently decided to side with the "kinda" camp, because the photo disappeared from their Facebook page and Twitter account within an hour. An apology followed soon after: "We apologize to any of our fans who were offended by our recent tweet. We continue to be an advocate of safe and responsible drinking."
We're glad they acted quickly — the advertisement made us want to vomit, and we're completely sober — but it's, um, beyond troubling that Belvedere's creative team ever thought it would be a wise decision to essentially equate their product with roofies.


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Denver, CO – The Colorado Rockies have named former shortstop Walt Weiss as their sixth manager in franchise history.
Weiss spent four years as the club's shortstop from 1994-98 before returning as a special assistant to the general manager from 2002-2008 after he retired from baseball in 2000.
Weiss played 14 major league seasons with Oakland, Florida, Colorado and Atlanta and compiled a .258 average with 25 home runs and 386 RBI in 1,495 games.
He was named AL Rookie of the Year in 1988 and was a member of four World Series teams, including the 1989 World Series champion Oakland Athletics.
The 48-year-old New York native takes over as the club's new skipper in place of Jim Tracy, who resigned on Oct. 7 after three-plus seasons as the Rockies' bench boss.
Tracy took over as Colorado's manager in 2009 after Clint Hurdle got the team off to an 18-28 start and guided the Rockies to a 74-42 record the rest of the way before being bounced by Philadelphia in the National League Division Series.
Tracy garnered NL Manager of the Year honors for his effort, but Colorado struggled to a 220-266 record over the next three years, including a disappointing 64-98 campaign in 2012.


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From California to New York, from Texas to Minnesota men and women are coming to Columbus to be honored for their love of small hamburgers. White Castle is inducting 13 new cravers to the Cravers Hall of Fame on November 16 at their headquarters in Columbus, Ohio. The ceremony will be followed by a private dinner at the Ohio Historical Socciety. The White Castle corporate archives, which includes business records, photographs, advertising materials, motion picture films and audio recordings, is housed at the Ohio Historical Society Archives/Library and available to researchers. A selection of over 500 images of photographs and advertising materials from the archive is available online in the White Castle Digital Collection that is part of the Ohio Memory digital library. Additionally, there is a small exhibit about the history of White Castle on the museum floor. White Castle created the "Cravers Hall of Fame" in 2001. However, there are photographs in the archives that show us people of all ages have been craving White Castle for decades.
Did you know one of the founders of National Coming Out Day (October 11th) is an Ohioan? Read her story and about the origins of NCOD!


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NOTE: Blimey! is no longer being updated. Please visit http://lewstringercomics.blogspot.com for the latest updates about my comics work.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Promoting OINK! in 1986
I'd forgotten I had this. Back in 1986 when Oink! was about to be launched, IPC sent a four page A4 promotional flyer to newsagents. I thought I'd show it here so you can see how Oink! was announced to the trade...
(As you may know, "S.O.R." means Sale Or Return, which newsagents always preferred because it meant they wouldn't be stuck with unsold copies as they would with Firm Sale.)
Instead of the increasingly expensive TV advertising that IPC had indulged on previous launches, this time the company decided to give away a full 32 page preview issue of Oink! bagged with three of their most popular comics. The contents of the preview issue contained the material we'd submitted in 1984 for the "dummy" issue (a mock up used by editors to convince management of a new comic's potential). It featured the debut stories of Tom Thug, Horace (Ugly Face) Watkins, Rubbishman and others who would become regulars in the fortnightly. None of the strips in the preview issue were repeated in the comic so the preview issue itself is a collectible item. Here's the cover by Ian Jackson...
A few issues into Oink's run, another preview issue was bagged with a few other comics, but this time it merely reprinted issue 7.
Friday, November 25, 2011
Team Toxic investigate the Bubbles of Doom!
When bubbles filled with farts burst forth on the surface of the sea gassing trawlermen it's up to Team Toxic to get to the bottom of it. The latest issue of Toxic, out now, features the Team investigating The Bubbles of Doom.
Toxic No. 195 also features other new comic strips Captain Gross, Luke's Spooks, and Busted Bieber. There's also a bunch of features and several free gifts (including a basketball game and 'Nail Through Finger' prank I did the artwork for).
More details on the Toxic website, which shows the cast of the Horrid Henry movie enjoying the current issue...
This issue will be out until 6th December. The following day will see the Christmas issue on the stands. Here's a sneak preview of what's coming on December 7th...
Toxic No. 195 also features other new comic strips Captain Gross, Luke's Spooks, and Busted Bieber. There's also a bunch of features and several free gifts (including a basketball game and 'Nail Through Finger' prank I did the artwork for).
More details on the Toxic website, which shows the cast of the Horrid Henry movie enjoying the current issue...
This issue will be out until 6th December. The following day will see the Christmas issue on the stands. Here's a sneak preview of what's coming on December 7th...
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Commando comics 4447 to 4450
Four more Commando editions on sale now!
Commando No 4447: Colours Of Courage
The proudest possessions of any regiment are its colours — the flags which it carries into battle. Its history is recorded on these colours, the victories it has won.
A regiment guards its colours fiercely. To have them captured by the enemy is a terrible thing. But when a man hands over the colours to save his own skin it is a disgrace that brave soldiers can hardly bear think about.
Introduction by Calum Laird, Commando Editor
If there are two things difficult to get right in a Commando they are French Resistance stories and ghosts. Resistance stories could easily be 63 pages of skulking about avoiding searching German soldiers and ghosts could easily look like normal characters drawn without enough ink.
Thanks to ace story-teller Cyril Walker, Colours Of Courage cracks along with plenty of action to break up the tension. And Arthur Fleming — an art teacher from Glasgow — manages to skilfully depict a glowing figure despite only having black ink and white paper to work with.
Wrapped in one of Ian Kennedy's superbly drawn and laid-out covers it's got all it needs for a cracking Commando.
Colours Of Courage, originally Commando No 1182 (December 1977), re-issued as No 2412 (October 1990)
Story: Cyril Walker
Art: Arthur Fleming
Cover Art: Ian Kennedy
Commando No 4448: The Four Scars
Corporal Bill Kirk felt the tiny life-raft rock lazily as the Jap struggled aboard. Both turned to look at the sinking Jap prison-ship they'd been on — Bill a prisoner, the Jap a guard. Then they turned back, to look at each other; and what that Jap read in Bill Kirk's eyes made him start back in fear.
But there was no escape for him. With only the vast empty ocean and the sharks circling the raft for witnesses, they grappled in a fight to the finish.
Introduction by Calum Laird, Commando Editor
I've mentioned before that I my childhood Commando issues at the back of the garage a few years ago. Some I had to look at again to refresh my memory, but not this one. I don't know how many times I read and re-read this in the 60s but it must have been a lot because I had almost total recall.
Ken Barr's cover with its ethereal hand hovering over the action, Victor de la Fuente's action-packed, high-energy inside art and Eric Hebden's crackerjack of a story with its startling twist were just what the doctor ordered in 1965…and are equally so today. I think so anyway and I hope you'll agree.
As an aside, Ken Barr used a sheet of transparent plastic sheet with the outline of the hand painted on it to get that ghostly effect. I certainly didn't know that in 1965.
The Four Scars, originally Commando No 185 (October 1965), re-issued as No 831 (April 1974)
Story: Eric Hebden
Art: Victor de la Fuente
Cover Art: Ken Barr
Commando 4449: Days Of Danger
Simon Katz was a young German and a fervent anti-Nazi. A brilliant mathematician, he escaped Germany by the skin of his teeth and went to work as a code-breaker for the British.
Not long after, Sergeant Barney Taft also made an escape – from the bullet-strafed beaches of Dunkirk.
Though they were on the same side, when circumstances threw the pair together, they clashed bitterly. But could they manage to work together against a ruthless enemy? They would have to if they were to survive.
Story: Stephen Walsh
Art: Vila
Cover Art: Nicholas Forder
Commando No 4450: The Nightmare War
Private Franz Bauer, a German Army engineer wounded during the invasion of France, was haunted by the deaths of his comrades in the same battle — wiped out by a mine. When he recovered he threw himself into his new job developing the remote-controlled Borgward IV demolition vehicle, hoping it might save other German lives.
His chance to save thousands of lives would come, but he would be working alongside an unlikely ally — someone who had nightmares every bit as bad as Franz's.
Story: Mac MacDonald
Art: Keith Page
Cover Art: Keith Page
Monday, November 21, 2011
Sneak peek: The Dandy No.3562
Here's a quick preview of The Dandy that will be on sale from Wednesday. With a festive cover by Nigel Parkinson the issue begins the run up to Christmas with The Dandy Advent Calendar across the centre pages by Nigel Auchterlounie (who also has a brand new series beginning this issue; My Freaky Family.)
And just what is Postman Prat up to?
Be prepared that this week the price has risen to £1.99 (after being the lower price of £1.50 for a year). Unavoidable sign of the times unfortunately, but bear in mind it used to be £2.50 just over a year ago and it cushions the blow a bit. Better still, it's far cheaper if you subscribe at 15 issues for just £15. (Then you'll get your Dandy in advance, like I did.)
Update: It didn't take long for some to start complaining on various forums about the price increase. Dandy-bashing (and Beano-bashing) seems to be a popular sport amongst some comic fans. Well, I say comic fans. I get the impression that Dandy and Beano are the only titles some of them follow, judging by how they seem oblivious to the fact that budget cuts and price increases are affecting many titles.
They also complain about the reduction in originated pages in Dandy and Beano. (Perhaps they haven't noticed that practically every Marvel and DC comic - dozens of titles - have also lost two pages of strip content recently, and that Marvel raised their prices from $2.99 to $3.99.) Folks, look beyond Dandy and Beano. Look beyond comics. There's a recession on and it's not getting easier.
As I've said on various comic forums (and which has pretty much been ignored by the critics) each British comic is allocated its own budget. Sadly, these days, that budget can't always stretch to fill every page with new strips. So editors have to spread it out. Some weeks the comics will feature more new stuff than others. A reduction in new material one week might simply mean more is being allocated for an upcoming issue (eg: the Christmas issue). I think fans should respect the editors for doing a juggling act, not crucifying them for not spending money they don't have. No one likes the situation, but the scrutiny and sneering of some "fans" towards children's comics does no one any good and just creates a growing, unpleasant pessimism on the forums.
And let's not forget that reprints and "filler" (feature) material are not a recent development in British comics. Far from it! For just one example, 40 years ago The Dandy was running three pages of reprint every week, when it just had 20 pages. The IPC comics were often much worse, with reprints being a frequent way to pad out their weeklies. A better awareness of history might calm the outrage of critics somewhat.
Does anyone have a time machine I could borrow? I want to go back to 1890 to moan to Alfred Harmsworth about the number of reprints in Comic Cuts No.1. It'll be the death of the comic industry that one.
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Dandy and Beano begin digital editions
You can now buy The Dandy and The Beano to read on the iPhone or the iPad reports Scotland's Courier newspaper.
The comics are now available on the App Store as an alternative to buying the long-running paper editions. It's a far more convenient and, perhaps, more reliable way of obtaining the titles than hunting them down in newsagents. Mike Stirling, editor of The Beano said "it guarantees our fans can enjoy The Beano 24/7".
I think this is a welcome move by DC Thomson that should be applauded. With an increasing problem of poor shelving displays in newsagents and the simple fact that many children just don't look for comics on the stands any more, digital editions are a good alternative to offer them.
The App requires iOS 3.2 or later.
For more information visit the Courier website:
Thursday, November 17, 2011
The Phoenix Issue Zero coming soon
Readers anxious for the January arrival of Britain's new children's comic The Phoenix will be pleased to hear that a special preview issue will be available this weekend.
This free limited edition is issued in cooperation with Waitrose, and will only be available by checking out this week's issue of Waitrose Weekend (out today). A promotional code in the magazine can then be used to obtain a copy of The Phoenix preview edition by logging on to http://www.thephoenixcomic.co.uk/waitrose/
The other bit of Phoenix news, and the most important, is that from today you can begin subscribing to the new comic ready for its launch in early January.
This free limited edition is issued in cooperation with Waitrose, and will only be available by checking out this week's issue of Waitrose Weekend (out today). A promotional code in the magazine can then be used to obtain a copy of The Phoenix preview edition by logging on to http://www.thephoenixcomic.co.uk/waitrose/
The other bit of Phoenix news, and the most important, is that from today you can begin subscribing to the new comic ready for its launch in early January.
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
Prepare for Worlds End
Over the past few years comic artist Tim Perkins has been hard at work on his creator-owned graphic novel Worlds End, and now the end product is about to be launched.
Described as the first of a series of "science fusion" graphic novels, Worlds End Volume 1: The Riders on the Storm, is a fully painted book intended for all ages that is set on another world called Gaeryth, where a Mathemagician, called Gweldar, his familiar, Geek, a young boy, Ralf and a mysterious girl called Zephol are all that stand before an invading alien horde intent on aqua-forming the otherwise tranquil planet in the far reaches of space.
88 full colour pages for £15.99, hardback, with a foreword by Bryan Talbot and introduction by John Ridgway. The book can be pre-ordered from the website of Tim's company, Wizards Keep, at this URL: http://www.wizards-keep.com/index.asp-Q-Item-E-worlds-end-volume-1-the-riders-on-the-storm--73814029--1
Having seen preview pages of the book I can thoroughly recommend it. There's some stunning visuals in there and even though I don't usually go for such fantasy-based comics I became drawn into the world that Tim has created. I'll be covering the book in more depth soon but for now here's the official YouTube trailer for it:
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Monster Mash!
One of the enjoyable things about working for Oink! comic back in the 1980s was the opportunity to do numerous one-off or short run strips as well as regular characters. Monster Mash appeared in Oink! No.13, the Halloween issue for 1986, and was a collaboration between editor Mark Rogers and myself.
Mark had originally sent me an idea for a story called The School Dinner Monster and asked if I had any ideas to add to it. I added a few bits and bobs to the plot and dialogue, and thought the title Monster Mash was catchier. I gave the name 'Pigzilla' to the giant robot pig, although Mark changed that to the much more inspired Pigswilla.
As Oink! was printed on quality paper (as opposed to the newsprint of its companion comics Buster, Whizzer & Chips etc) I knew we could be a bit more adventurous with the rendering of the artwork so I thought a grey wash would give it more depth. I was really pleased with how the strip turned out and it remains one of my favourite pieces 25 years later. The artwork is a bit rough in places but I'm still happy with it.
I felt that with Monster Mash and some of the other material that myself and other contributors did for Oink! that we were stepping outside the usual conventions of British humour comics and moving away from the standard schoolkid-with-gimmick that had dominated IPC's comics since 1969. And we were all having great fun doing it. This comedy-adventure, comic horror stuff was what comics should have been doing more of in my opinion.
As it turned out, it seemed most readers still preferred the more traditional schoolkid strips, and Oink! folded after just two and a half years. Then again, Whizzer & Chips folded a few years later, and that was the most traditional "safe" comic in IPC's stable. Perhaps it was just a sign that readers were being distracted by video games.
Pigswilla returned for two or three more complete stories during the run of Oink! and I'll show them here at some point in the future.
Sunday, November 13, 2011
Terry Willers 1935 - 2011
Sad news of another passing in the world of comics and cartoons, cartoonist Terry Willers died on November 9th, aged 76.
Although born in the UK, Terry lived and worked in Ireland for over 40 years. He began his drawing career aged just 15, working for a Disney studio in London. He went on to draw newspaper strips for various European newspapers including strips from the Dutch Toonder studios in the 1960s. It was also during the Sixties that Terry became an artist on Odhams' Wham! weekly as one of the people brought in to "ghost" the look of Leo Baxendale's work. Willers' own style was still evident in those pages though and he was allowed to sign his work. He also worked on strips for other comics, such as The Dandy and The Beano.
In Ireland Terry drew cartoons for The Sunday Independent, The Farmers Journal, The Evening Herald and The Wicklow People. He also worked in television, producing cartoons for Hall's Pictorial Weekly (for which he won an award) and The Mike Murphy Show. He was also a founder and chairman of the International Cartoon Festival in Rathdrum during 1992 - 94. (The 1992 event attracted over 30,000 people!)
Here are a couple of the strips he drew for Wham! General Nitt and his Barmy Army appeared in issue 86 (5th Feb. 1966) and Georgie's Germs appeared in issue 88 (19th Feb. 1966):
For more information on Terry Willers and a better sampling of his work visit these sites:
Friday, November 11, 2011
Mick Anglo 1916 - 2011
Mick Anglo, creator of Marvelman, passed away on October 31st at the age of 95.
Although Marvelman was easily the character he was most associated with, Mick Anglo's career in publishing saw him enjoy a variety of accomplishments. He freelanced in commercial art when he left school, drew cartoons for overseas army newspapers during the war, and then became an author of western, romance and crime novels under the name Johnny Dekker as well as continuing to draw for various publishers.
Between 1950 to 1952 Anglo produced various comic strips for the Arnold Book Company (run by Arnold Miller) and for Arnold's father's company L.Miller & Son. In 1954 Anglo opened his own company, Gower Studios, to package comics for various publishers (ie: produce full comics to the specifications of a publisher, ready for printing). Mick Anglo's staff included Ron Embleton, Bob Monkhouse, and Denis Gifford. He also gave Don Lawrence his first break, years before Lawrence would go on to produce the stunning Trigan Empire series.
When legal problems between Fawcett Publications and National Comics (now DC Comics) forced Fawcett's Captain Marvel comics to close, Mick Anglo created Marvelman to fill the gap for the Captain Marvel UK reprints, with Anglo and his studio producing brand new stories. The similarities between Captain Marvel and Marvelman were plain to see, but readers eagerly took to the character (and its spin-offs Marvelman Family and Young Marvelman) and the comics continued into the early 1960s. Bearing in mind those comics were weekly, Anglo's output was considerable. Even today, Marvelman remains the most successful British superhero in terms of how many issues were produced (346 issues, plus the same number of Young Marvelman comics, and 30 issues of Marvelman Family).
Mick Anglo continued to produce more comics in the 1960s, including, amongst other things, becoming editor of City Magazines' TV Tornado in 1967, and Super DC for Top Sellers in 1970. He retired in the 1980s.
In 1982 Dez Skinn revived Marvelman (with Alan Moore as writer and Garry Leach as artist) for the new monthly anthology comic Warrior. Here things became darker, not only in the tone of story but also in reality, with Marvel Comics threatening legal action over the name of the character, with Marvelman becoming Miracleman for the American editions published by Eclipse Comics. The story of further developments is a saga in itself, but in 2009 Mick Anglo sold the rights of Marvelman to Marvel Comics. Since then, Marvel have produced a mini-series of reprints (Marvelman Family's Finest) and a few hardback reprints. No new Marvelman series has yet been announced.
For a feature on Super DC see here:
Thursday, November 10, 2011
John Ryan Exhibition
I've just been contacted by Isabel Ryan, the younger daughter of Captain Pugwash creator John Ryan, and she tells me there's a retrospective exhibition of her late father's artwork opening on November 19th at the Rye Art Gallery, East Sussex.
Isabel says she enjoyed selecting the work for the show and that the exhibition will feature "book illustrations, strip cartoons, and TV animations (over 50 works)".
The poster above gives the details and you can find out more at http://www.ryeartgallery.co.uk
(As many of you will already know, before the TV series made the character famous Captain Pugwash made his debut as a comic strip in Eagle back in 1950. For a previous blog entry about John Ryan see here.)
Wednesday, November 09, 2011
The Dandy gets BIGGER
A few weeks ago The Beano added 4 extra pages and now it's the time of The Dandy to increase its page count to 36 pages every week. The price remains the same, at just £1.50 an issue, but the paper stock changes to a thinner, glossy format, similar to that used by American comics. Reproduction of the artwork is perfect, and I'm sure everyone will be pleased with that, although I do miss the sturdy paper stock that was used over the past 12 months.
As you can see from Nigel Parkinson's great cover, Bruce Forsyth is back in his own comic strip inside (well, for one week only). It's just like the days of Film Fun when Brucie was the cover star back in 1962! Artwork below by Roy Wilson.
Tuesday, November 08, 2011
Commando comics this week
Published this Thursday here's the latest four editions of Commando. Continuing to celebrate its 50th anniversary one of the issues reprints No.2 from 1961, with a reprint of issue 1 coming next month.
There's also two stories set in World War 1 as an appropriate tie in to Armistice Day.
Here's all the info from editor Calum Laird:
Commando No 4443: Killer In No-Man's-Land
As a soldier in the no-man's-land between your own trenches and the enemy's in World War One, you expected to get shot at. British soldier Alan Roux and his mates certainly did.
What they didn't expect was to have to dodge bullets fired from their own side.
Story: Mac MacDonald
Art: Vila
Cover Art: Ian Kennedy
Commando No 4444: Kings of the Castle
Many strange battles were fought during the 1914-18 war but surely the strangest involved a pair of French regimental policemen, a squad of Australian infantrymen, a bunch of escaped German POWs…and a mediaeval stone tower.
Story: Mac MacDonald
Art: Keith Page
Cover Art: Keith Page
Commando No 4445: THEY CALLED HIM COWARD!
The powerful Japanese Army was island-hopping its ruthless way down through the South Seas towards Australia. Many a brave Aussie soldier, standing his ground in the green hell of the island jungles, was bulldozed into eternity by the sheer weight of the Nipponese army.
And one Englishman in the Australian army was caught up in the desperate battle.
Bob Palmer he was christened, but COWARD was the name they branded him with. Coward, the word that turns a man into the loneliest being on earth, for what soldier seeks a coward for company?
But there was no craven blood in Bob Palmer's veins — and he proved he was ready to spill every drop as he blasted Jap after Jap into kingdom come.
Introduction by Calum Laird, Commando Editor
A classic Commando tale this, a man the victim of a misunderstanding who has to prove his accuser wrong. And with plenty of action along the way to add some spice. That the two men are on the same side but different nationalities hardly matters nor that there's a third character trying to be a peacemaker between them.
What does matter is the use of the emotive word Coward in the title and through out the story. It's one of those loaded words that can't be spoken except without venom — as amply demonstrated here by Sergeant Fettis.
Note to the 1961 Commando editor…the word Coward in the title is far too small, make it bigger.
They Called Him Coward, originally Commando No 2 (June 1961), re-issued as No 2531 (January 1992)
Story: Castle
Art: Bonato
Cover Art: Ken Barr
Commando No 4446: MYSTERY IN THE DESERT
It was going to be Captain David Poole's toughest mission yet. Posing as a German spy he was to feed the Nazis with false information which would lead their forces into a trap.
Everything was going like clockwork until David met up with a certain Australian pilot — and then everything started to go terribly wrong.
Introduction by Calum Laird, Commando Editor
As I recall, Ken Gentry who penned this tale was a South African newspaperman with a sideline in Commando stories. I worked on a few of his over the years. Here he weaves a web of deceit with a double-crossing British agent, a straightforward Aussie pilot and a luckless German commander.
Cecil Rigby who provided the inside art for the story had also worked on newspapers, as a very good caricaturist and he wasn't bad at Commando either, having been in at the start.
Ian Kennedy, who provided the cover, puts himself in the cockpit of every plane he draws. I hope he made an exception with this one — that looks like a painful crash.
Mystery In The Desert, originally Commando No 1370 (November 1979)
Story: Ken Gentry
Art: Cecil Rigby
Cover Art: Ian Kennedy
The Goodies in Cor!!
As most of you know it's been a long standing tradition for British comics to sometimes feature strips based on celebrities of the day. One such example was in 1973 when Cor!! started running a humour strip based on TV stars The Goodies. The artwork was by Joe Colquhoun, most famous for being the first artist of Roy of the Rovers in the 1950s and for his remarkable work on Charley's War in the 1980s.
Here he displays his ability to turn his style to humour. It's a million miles away from the grim trench warfare of Charley's War but Joe's excellent brushwork still shines.
Interestingly, Cor's cover illustration of The Goodies was later re-used and re-coloured for The Goodies Fun Book in 1977 which reprinted the strips from Cor!! (See here for more info.)
Monday, November 07, 2011
It's Judge Sweeny Toddler!
Back in 1985 IPC indulged in a rare moment of self-parody in the comics departments when the cover of their humour weekly Whoopee! spoofed 2000AD. For one week only the popular bad baby strip Sweeny Toddler became Judge Sweeny Toddler in a homage to Judge Dredd. Even the logo for that issue was redesigned to mimic the then-current 2000AD masthead.
Script by Graham Exton, artwork by Tom Paterson. Anyone found not laughing will be sentenced to 30 days in an iso-cube.
Script by Graham Exton, artwork by Tom Paterson. Anyone found not laughing will be sentenced to 30 days in an iso-cube.
Saturday, November 05, 2011
Firework fun in the Fifties
It's Bonfire Night and the stars are bright. Well, it's forecast clouds and rain actually but you can still enjoy the fireworks in this trip back in time to look at the pages of a couple of 1950s comics.
First up, here's the 1954 firework edition of TV Fun No.60. The cover strip featuring diminutive funnyman Arthur Askey was drawn by Arthur Martin, who would in 1971 be the original artist of Chalky for Cor!! comic.
The firework theme didn't dominate this issue of TV Fun. Including the cover strip only three of the comic's 16 pages featured bonfire night strips. Inside, Professor Jimmy Edwards is on the receiving end of more explosive fun, illustrated by Reg Parlett...
The prolific Reg Parlett was also the artist of the back cover strip, Sally Barnes. Reg of course illustrated thousands of pages spanning over a career of more than 60 years. The body language of the characters in this strip is superb, proving Reg to be a true master of comic art. Like his brother George, Reg was particularly good at drawing the curves of the female figure, something that Amalgamated Press played up in the 1950s but which Fleetway toned down in the 1960s.
A few years earlier Radio Fun had featured a couple of firework-themed strips in its 1950 issue. The AP comics were going through a bad patch at the time. Due to what the editor termed "production difficulties" (industrial action by the printers) some comics skipped several weeks. When Radio Fun did reappear its cover showed a combined numbering (No.627/8/9/30) and combined dates on the page headers (Oct. 14/21/28/Nov. 4, 1950) even though it only had the usual 16 pages.
Obviously this meant that scheduling a theme issue was difficult in case the comic didn't appear that week (subsequently there was only one Christmas themed strip in the late December issue of that year). Therefore only two firework themed strips were in the Radio Fun of 1950. Here's cockney spiv Arthur English "The Prince of Wide Boys". (Artwork was, I think, by Alex Akerbladh.)
From the same 1950 issue here's Douglas Cardew Robinson (drawn by Reg Parlett) indulging in more firework tomfoolery. You'll notice that all of these strips involve characters coming into direct contact with exploding fireworks. Something that UK comics eventually stamped out in later years for fear of presenting dangerous explosives as toys.
However, this week the firework fun is back in the pages of The Dandy and The Beano (and a half page strip in Toxic)! Here's Postman Prat living up to his name in the current Dandy, drawn by me from a script by David Mason...
Wherever you are, have a happy and safe November 5th!
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If you've had your ear to the ground recently, you've likely been hearing a lot about service-oriented application development with OSGi and Spring Dynamic Modules. In this second article in the Hello, OSGi series, find out why Spring DM is such an exciting option for developers already familiar with Spring configuration, who want to exploit OSGi's modularity, easy versioning, and application lifecycle support.
OSGi, also known as the Dynamic Module System for Java, specifies a modular approach to Java application development, as well as a set of standardized methods for managing dependencies between modules. The Spring Dynamic Modules for OSGi Service Platforms project (Spring DM) allows you to build Spring applications that can be deployed in an OSGi container. For Java enterprise developers familiar with the Spring programming and configuration model, Spring DM is an easier way to become familiar with OSGi's modular approach to application development. In addition to enabling Spring developers to access OSGi's modular framework and dynamic configuration, Spring DM provides the low-level coding required by most OSGi applications, so that you can focus on your application's business logic.
The first article in this series ("Hello, OSGi, Part 1: Bundles for beginners") introduced a standard approach to OSGi development using the OSGi API and the open source Equinox container implementation. You learned about the OSGi architecture, especially containers and bundles, and had your first experience developing an OSGi-based Hello World application. The application example did not run very deep because the goal was simply to grasp the fundamentals of OSGi.
In this article, you'll build another Hello World application, this time using the Spring DM framework. You'll learn what Spring DM is and how it leverages OSGi's separation of application logic into modules, as well as its runtime enforcement of module boundaries. You'll also learn how to use Spring DM to do the following:
- Dynamically install, update, and uninstall modules in a running system.
- Build service-oriented applications (SOAs) by dynamically discovering and using services provided by other modules in a system.
- Use Spring's
DataSourceclass to instantiate, configure, assemble, and decorate components within and across system modules.
As you'll see, using Spring DM will free you of some of the rote work, and even the harder work of understanding what is happening beneath the hood with OSGi. As a result, you'll be able to get deeper into your application logic, and do it sooner in the development process.
To follow the examples in this article you will need a development environment consisting of Eclipse 3.3 and Spring Dynamic Modules. For the final exercise you will also need an RDBMS such as Apache Derby. You'll find more below about setting up your Spring DM development environment in Eclipse 3.3.
OSGi and the Spring framework
Currently, OSGi's popularity is very much on the rise. Several application servers have been repackaged to leverage OSGi's modular framework, including IBM's WebSphere Application Server, BEA's microService Architecture (mSA), and JOnAS 5, an open source application server built from the ground up on an OSGi architecture. JBoss has also recently announced its work on an OSGi-based classloader and its intention to create an OSGi core specification implementation. Perhaps most importantly, the Eclipse Foundation's OSGi container/runtime component engine, Equinox, has recently been elevated to top-level project status, where it will serve as the basis for the new Eclipse Runtime Initiative.
Even before OSGi achieved its current surge in popularity, there was talk of combining it with Spring. Eventually, this talk led to the Spring Dynamic Modules for OSGi Service Platforms project. The functionality of Spring DM can be divided into two main components: First, it provides Spring framework JARs in the form of OSGi bundles. As you know from the previous article in this series, OSGi bundles are nothing but Java Archive (JAR) files that contain additional entries in a
META-INF/MANIFEST.MF file, which acts as the deployment descriptor for an OSGi bundle. (Note that you cannot deploy a JAR file directly when using OSGi; you need to package it using the OSGi bundle format.)
Second, Spring DM provides three OSGi-specific Spring bundles/JARs:
Applications built using Spring DM are built differently from those that use the Spring framework. When you build a Spring application, you define your configuration information in one or more Spring configuration files, which are mostly XML files. The Spring framework uses these config files to create an application-context object at application startup. After the application context is created it is used to instantiate, configure, assemble, and decorate objects within the application.


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NEW YORK (AP) - One of the lawyers chasing the assets of jailed Ponzi king Bernard Madoff remembers a day four years ago when he didn't know who Madoff was.
David Sheehan has spent nearly every day since trying to recover as much as possible of the $17.5 billion in losses calculated since Madoff was arrested on Dec. 11, 2008.
He's the chief counsel for the trustee tasked with recovering the losses. They have secured nearly $9.3 billion so far and hope to collect at least $3 billion more.
If all goes as planned, he says the losses will be cut to around $5 billion of the original amounts thousands of investors put into Madoff's sham investment business.
Sheehan says it's more than they thought possible when they started four years ago.


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Dietrich von Hildebrand, was one of the world's most eminent Christian
philosophers. A professor at Fordham University, Pope Pius XII called
him "the 20th Century Doctor of the Church." He is the author of many
books, including Transformation in Christ and Liturgy
and Personality.
Reprinted from the October 1966 issue of TRIUMPH
Moreover, these innovations are said to have the sanction of Authority: they are represented as an obedient response to the spirit of the Second Vatican Council. This is said notwithstanding that the Council's Constitution on the Liturgy goes no further than to permit the vernacular mass in cases where the local bishop believes it desirable; the Constitution plainly insists on the retention of the Latin mass, and emphatically approves the Gregorian chant. But the liturgical "progressives" are not impressed by the difference between permitting and commanding. Nor do they hesitate to authorize changes, such as standing to receive Holy Communion, which the Constitution does not mention at all. The progressives argue that these liberties may be taken because the Constitution is, after all, only the first step in an evolutionary process. And they seem to be having their way. It is difficult to find a Latin mass anywhere today, and in the United States they are practically non-existent. Even the conventual mass in monasteries is said in the vernacular, and the glorious Gregorian is replaced by insignificant melodies.
MY CONCERN is not with the legal status of the changes. And I emphatically do not wish to be understood as regretting that the Constitution has permitted the vernacular to complement the Latin. What I deplore is that the new mass is replacing the Latin Mass, that the old liturgy is being recklessly scrapped, and denied to most of the People of God.
I should like to put to those who are fostering this development several questions: Does the new mass, more than the old, bestir the human spirit -- does it evoke a sense of eternity? Does it help raise our hearts from the concerns of everyday life -- from the purely natural aspects of the world- to Christ? Does it increase reverence, an appreciation of the sacred?
Of course these questions are rhetorical, and self-answering. I raise them because I think that all thoughtful Christians will want to weigh their importance before coming to a conclusion about the merits of the new liturgy. What is the role of reverence in a truly Christian life, and above all in a truly Christian worship of God?
Reverence gives being the opportunity to speak to us: The ultimate grandeur of man is to be capax Dei. Reverence is of capital importance to all the fundamental domains of man's life. It can be rightly called "the mother of all virtues," for it is the basic attitude that all virtues presuppose. The most elementary gesture of reverence is a response to being itself. It distinguishes the autonomous majesty of being from mere illusion or fiction; it is a recognition of the inner consistency and positiveness of being-of its independence of our arbitrary moods. Reverence gives being the opportunity to unfold itself, to, as it were, speak to us; to fecundate our minds. Therefore reverence is indispensable to any adequate knowledge of being. The depth and plenitude of being, and above all its mysteries, will never be revealed to any but the reverent mind. Remember that reverence is a constitutive element of the capacity to "wonder," which Plato and Aristotle claimed to be the indispensable condition for philosophy. Indeed, irreverence is a chief source of philosophical error. But if reverence is the necessary basis for all reliable knowledge of being, it is, beyond that, indispensable for grasping and assessing the values grounded in being. Only the reverent man who is ready to admit the existence of something greater than himself, who is willing to be silent and let the object speak to him- who opens himself-is capable of entering the sublime world of values. Moreover, once a gradation of values has been recognized, a new kind of reverence is in order-a reverence that responds not only to the majesty of being as such, but to the specific value of a specific being and to its rank in the hierarchy of values. And this new reverence permits the discovery of still other values.
Man reflects his essentially receptive character as a created person solely in the reverent attitude; the ultimate grandeur of man is to be capax Dei. Man has the capacity, in other words, to grasp something greater than himself, to be affected and fecundated by it, to abandon himself to it for its own sake - in a pure response to its value. This ability to transcend himself distinguishes man from a plant or an animal; these latter strive only to unfold their own entelechy. Now: it is only the reverent man who can consciously transcend himself and thus conform to his fundamental human condition and to his metaphysical situation.
Do we better meet Christ by soaring up to Him, or by dragging Him down into our workaday world?
The irreverent man by contrast, approaches being either in an attitude of arrogant superiority or of tactless, smug familiarity. In either case he is crippled; he is the man who comes so near a tree or building he can no longer see it. Instead of remaining at the proper spiritual distance, and maintaining a reverent silence so that being may speak its word, he obtrudes himself and thereby, in effect, silences being. In no domain is reverence more important than religion. As we have seen, it profoundly affects the relation of man to God. But beyond that it pervades the entire religion, especially the worship of God. There is an intimate link between reverence and sacredness: reverence permits us to experience the sacred, to rise above the profane; irreverence blinds us to the entire world of the sacred. Reverence, including awe-indeed, fear and trembling-is the specific response to the sacred.
Rudolf Otto has clearly elaborated the point in his famous study, The Idea of the Holy. Kierkegaard also calls attention to the essential role of reverence in the religious act, in the encounter with God. And did not the Jews tremble in deep awe when the priest brought the sacrifice into the sanctum sanctorum? Was Isaiah not struck with godly fear when he saw Yahweh in the temple and exclaimed, "Woe is me, I am doomed! For I am a man of unclean lips . . . yet my eyes have seen the King?" Do not the words of St. Peter after the miraculous catch of fish, "Depart from me, 0 Lord, because I am a sinner," testify that when the reality of God breaks in upon us we are struck with fear and reverence? Cardinal Newman has shown in a stunning sermon that the man who does not fear and revere has not known the reality of God.
When St. Bonaventure writes in Itinerarium Mentis ad Deum that only a man of desire (such as Daniel) can understand God, he means that a certain attitude of soul must be achieved in order to understand the world of God, into which He wants to lead us.
This counsel is especially applicable to the Church's liturgy. The sursum corda-the lifting up of our hearts-is the first requirement for real participation in the mass. Nothing could better obstruct the confrontation of man with God than the notion that we "go unto the altar of God" as we would go to a pleasant, relaxing social gathering. This is why the Latin mass with Gregorian chant, which raises us up to a sacred atmosphere, is vastly superior to a vernacular mass with popular songs, which leaves us in a profane, merely natural atmosphere.
The basic error of most of the innovations is to imagine that the new liturgy brings the holy sacrifice of the mass nearer to the faithful, that shorn of its old rituals the mass now enters into the substance of our lives. For the question is whether we better meet Christ in the mass by soaring up to Him, or by dragging Him down into our own pedestrian, workaday world. The innovators would replace holy intimacy with Christ by an unbecoming familiarity. The new liturgy actually threatens to frustrate the confrontation with Christ, for it discourages reverence in the face of mystery, precludes awe, and all but extinguishes a sense of sacredness. What really matters, surely, is not whether the faithful feel at home at mass, but whether they are drawn out of their ordinary lives into the world of Christ-whether their attitude is the response of ultimate reverence: whether they are imbued with the reality of Christ.
THOSE WHO RHAPSODIZE on the new liturgy make much of the point that over the years the mass had lost its communal character and had become an occasion for individualistic worship. The new vernacular mass, they insist, restores the sense of community by replacing private devotions with community participation. Yet they forget that there are different levels and kinds of communion with other persons. The level and nature of a community experience is determined by the theme of the communion, the name or cause in which men are gathered. The higher the good which the theme represents, and which binds men together, the more sublime and deeper is the communion. The ethos and nature of a community experience in the case of a great national emergency is obviously radically different from the community experience of a cocktail party. And of course the most striking differences in communities will be found between the community whose theme is supernatural and the one whose theme is merely natural. The actualization of men's souls who are truly touched by Christ is the basis of a unique community, a sacred communion, one whose quality is incomparably more sublime than that of any natural community. The authentic we communion of the faithful, which the liturgy of Holy Thursday expresses so well in the words congregavit nos in unum Christi amor, is only possible as a fruit of the I-Thou communion with Christ Himself. Only a direct relation to the God-Man can actualize this sacred union among the faithful.
The depersonalizing "we experience" is a perverse theory of community.
The communion in Christ has nothing of the self-assertion found in natural communities. It breathes of the Redemption. It liberates men from all self- centeredness. Yet such a communion emphatically does not depersonalize the individual; far from dissolving the person into the cosmic, pantheistic swoon so often commended to us these days, it actualizes the person's true self in a unique way. In the community of Christ the conflict between person and community that is present in all natural communities cannot exist. So this sacred community experience is really at war with the depersonalizing 'we-experience" found in mass assemblies and popular gatherings which tend to absorb and evaporate the individual. This communion in Christ that was so fully alive in the early Christian centuries, that all the saints entered into, that found a matchless expression in the liturgy now under attack-this communion has never regarded the individual person as a mere segment of the community, or as an instrument to serve it. In this connection it is worth noting that totalitarian ideology is not alone in sacrificing the individual to the collective; some of Teilhard de Chardin's cosmic ideas, for instance, imply the same collectivistic sacrifice. Teilhard subordinates the individual and his sanctification to the supposed development of humanity. At a time when this perverse theory of community is embraced even by many Catholics, there are plainly urgent reasons for vigorously insisting on the sacred character of the true communion in Christ. I submit that the new liturgy must be judged by this test: Does it contribute to the authentic sacred community? Granted that it strives for a community character; but is this the character desired? Is it a communion grounded in recollection, contemplation and reverence? Which of the two -- the new mass, or the Latin mass with the Gregorian chant evokes these attitudes of soul more effectively, and thus permits the deeper and truer communion? Is it not plain that frequently the community character of the new mass is purely profane, that, as with other social gatherings, its blend of casual relaxation and bustling activity precludes a reverent, contemplative confrontation with Christ and with the ineffable mystery of the Eucharist?
OF COURSE OUR EPOCH is pervaded by a spirit of irreverence. It is seen in a distorted notion of freedom that demands rights while refusing obligations, that exalts self-indulgence, that counsels "let yourself go." The habitare secum of St. Gregory's Dialogues-the dwelling in the presence of God-which presupposes reverence, is considered today to be unnatural, pompous, or servile. But is not the new liturgy a compromise with this modern spirit? Whence comes the disparagement of kneeling? Why should the Eucharist be received standing? Is not kneeling, in our culture, the classic expression of adoring reverence? The argument that at a meal we should stand rather than kneel is hardly convincing. For one thing, this is not the natural posture for eating: we sit, and in Christ's time one lay down. But more important, it is a specifically irreverent conception of the Eucharist to stress its character as a meal at the cost of its unique character as a holy mystery. Stressing the meal at the expense of the sacrament surely betrays a tendency to obscure the sacredness of the sacrifice. This tendency is apparently traceable to the unfortunate belief that religious life will become more vivid, more existential, if it is immersed in our everyday life. But this is to run the danger of absorbing the religious in the mundane, of effacing the difference between the supernatural and the natural. I fear that it represents an unconscious intrusion of the naturalistic spirit, of the spirit more fully expressed in Teilhard de Chardin's immanentism.
Again, why has the genuflection at the words et incarnatus est in the Credo been abolished? Was this not a noble and beautiful expression of adoring reverence while professing the searing mystery of the Incarnation? Whatever the intention of the innovators, they have certainly created the danger, if only psychological, of diminishing the faithful's awareness and awe of the mystery. There is yet another reason for hesitating to make changes in the liturgy that are not strictly necessary. Frivolous or arbitrary changes are apt to erode a special type of reverence: pietas. The Latin word, like the German Pietaet, has no English equivalent, but may be understood as comprising respect for tradition; honoring what has been handed down to us by former generations; fidelity to our ancestors and their works. Note that pietas is a derivative type of reverence, and so should not be confused with primary reverence, which we have described as a response to the very mystery of being, and ultimately a response to God. It follows that if the content of a given tradition does not correspond to the object of the primary reverence, it does not deserve the derivative reverence. Thus if a tradition embodies evil elements, such as the sacrifice of human beings in the cult of the Aztecs, then those elements should not be regarded with pietas. But that is not the Christian case. Those who idolize our epoch, who thrill at what is modern simply because it is modern, who believe that in our day man has finally "come of age," lack pietas. The pride of these "temporal nationalists" is not only irreverent, it is incompatible with real faith. A Catholic should regard his liturgy. with pietas. He should revere, and therefore fear to abandon the prayers and postures and music that have been approved by so many saints throughout the Christian era and delivered to us as a precious heritage. To go no further: the illusion that we can replace the Gregorian chant, with its inspired hymns and rhythms, by equally fine, if not better, music betrays a ridiculous self-assurance and lack of self-knowledge. Let us not forget that throughout Christianity's history. silence and solitude, contemplation and recollection, have been considered necessary to achieve a real confrontation with God. This is not only the counsel of the Christian tradition, which should be respected out of pietas; it is rooted in human nature. Recollection is the necessary basis for true communion in much the same way as contemplation provides the necessary basis for true action in the vineyard of the Lord. A superficial type of communion -the jovial comradeship of a social affair -- draws us out onto the periphery. A truly Christian communion draws us into the spiritual deeps.
The path to a true Christian communion: Reverence . . Recollection . . Contemplation
Of course we should deplore excessively individualistic and sentimental devotionalism, and acknowledge that many Catholics have practiced it. But the antidote is not a community experience as such-any more than the cure for pseudo-contemplation is activity as such. The antidote is to encourage true reverence, an attitude of authentic recollection and contemplative devotion to Christ. Out of this attitude alone can a true communion in Christ take place. The fundamental laws of the religious life that govern the imitation of Christ, the transformation in Christ, do not change according to the moods and habits of the historical moment. The difference between a superficial community experience and a profound community experience is always the same. Recollection and contemplative adoration of Christ-which only reverence makes possible-will be the necessary basis for a true communion with others in Christ in every era of human history.
Last modified 22nd May 1999, by David Joyce.


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KISSIMMEE, Fla. – Julio Teheran struck out 10 in six hitless innings and Dan Uggla homered as a split squad of Atlanta Braves beat the Houston Astros 3-2 Saturday.
The Astros' runs came in the ninth on a homer by Rick Ankiel off closer Craig Kimbrel.
Teheran, who won the job as the Braves' fifth starter this spring, walked three and has 1.04 ERA in six starts. The right-hander pitched five hitless innings against St. Louis on March 12.
Evan Gattis homered for the third time in two games. The Atlanta catching prospect has five homers this spring. Jordan Parraz also homered for the Braves.
Philip Humber, who will start the Astros' third game of the season, allowed three runs and three hits in six innings. He struck out four and walked none.


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A whole roast turkey with all the fixin's, Alton's recipe is a classic that will make your meal one to remember. Bon appetit!
*Cook's Note: The bag is optional. Once the stuffing is made, you can place the stuffing into the bag and then place the bag into the cavity of the turkey.
Preheat the oven to 400ºF.
Place the turkey into a deep, high-sided bowl on its end with the stuffing end up. Set aside.
Heat the chicken broth in the microwave in a large microwave-proof container. Place mushrooms in a glass bowl and pour heated broth over them. Cover and allow to sit for 35 minutes.
In a large mixing bowl toss the onion, celery, and green pepper with the oil and salt. Place the vegetables on a sheet pan and roast for 35 minutes. During the last 10 minutes of cooking, spread the cubed bread over the vegetables, return to the oven, and continue cooking.
Drain mushrooms, reserving 1 cup of liquid. Chop the mushrooms and place in a large microwave-proof bowl with the vegetables and bread, reserved chicken stock, cherries, pecans, eggs, sage, parsley and black pepper. Stir well in order to break up pieces of bread. Use your hands to combine, if necessary. Heat the stuffing in a microwave on high power for 6 minutes.
While the stuffing is heating, rub the bird with oil. Working quickly, place the stuffing into the cavity of the turkey to avoid losing heat. Place the turkey into a roasting pan, on a rack, and season with salt and pepper. Place the roasting pan on the middle rack of the oven. Roast for 45 minutes and then reduce the heat to 350ºF and cook for another 60 to 75 minutes or until the bird reaches an internal temperature of 170ºF. Serve immediately.


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this description.
Here's the Analog Input sketch from the Examples in the Sketchbook. For this circuit you need an LED in pin 13 (as we've done before) and a potentiometer (any size) in analog pin 2. To wire up the potentiometer you connect the center lead to analog pin 2. The two sides get hooked to power. One side goes to positive volts and the other goes to the ground.
By adjusting the potentiometer you should be adjusting the blink rate of your LED. Notice we do not need to do pinMode for the potPin. All analog pins are inputs. If we want an analog output we need to use one of the digital PWM pins.
Now lets use the potentiometer as a light dimmer. We're going to leave the potentiometer in pin two, but we're moving the LED to pin 11, which is a PWM pin. The easiest thing would be to read the potPin and use that as the val in analogWrite(ledPin, val), but this will not work. analogRead will return a value between 0 and 1023, while analogWrite wants a value between 0 and 255. To do this we're going to use a new command. The map command will work for this.


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The Signature Style of Paul Revere
I'm skeptical of most things from the Revolution that aren't clearly contemporaneous, and some that are. I was therefore skeptical about the authenticity of this portrait. As Skinner says, it's the only known painting credited to Paul Revere. For his engravings he relied on other artists like Christian Remick and Henry Pelham, or he copied prints from Britain. Even that note on the back of this picture's frame says:
The portrait is a really creditable piece of painting, revealing the facial evidences of individual character, a work that must enhance his artistic reputation, at present resting upon the various engraved Views in which the figures barely escape caricature.Yet the draftsmanship is neither so competent nor so incompetent as to indicate, at least to these untrained eyes, whether it's authentic. If George W. Bush can take up painting in retirement, why couldn't Revere?
On the other hand, if the only thing connecting this artwork to Revere is his signature, I figured I should take a hard look at that. I went looking for other examples of Revere's signature, and found variations over time.
Here's how Revere signed the 1767 non-consumption agreement recently digitized at Harvard's Houghton Library:
Massachusetts Historical Society:
1816 receipt:
American Antiquarian Society.
And, of course, someone else writing Revere's name on this watercolor could have found similar examples to copy.
In sum, I was hoping to find definitive evidence to confirm or allay my skepticism about this painting, and I didn't find it in the signature.
TOMORROW: Peeking inside the frame.


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Hoping to make Android more attractive to security-minded CIOs, Samsung has added encryption and integrated Cisco's AnyConnect VPN client on its latest smartphone, the Galaxy S II, it said on Sunday at the Mobile World Congress.
The encryption is implemented on the phone's hardware to improve performance, according to Samsung. Data stored on both the internal and external storage can be encrypted. Security features are not much use for an enterprise without the ability to manage them, so Samsung also announced it has partnered with Sybase on mobile device management.
Using Sybase's Afaria platform, an IT department can enforce device encryption. Other features include the ability to control what applications are installed on the Galaxy S II or if the user is allowed to use the camera, the Bluetooth or the Wi-Fi connection.
While Sybase is helping Samsung to protect data on the smartphone, Cisco helps protect corporate data, including e-mail and virtual desktops, between the Galaxy S II and the enterprise network. Cisco's AnyConnect client is used by more than 40 percent of enterprises, according to Samsung.
The partnership with Cisco includes integration of its online conferencing platform WebEx and the Mobile client on the Galaxy S II, as well. The latter allow users to make voice over Internet Protocol calls via a Wi-Fi network. Using WebEx, Galaxy S II owners will be able to view shared desktops, browsers, applications and documents with live annotations. Meetings can be started directly from the address book.
The last part of Samsung's push to make the Galaxy S II more enterprise friendly is its implementation of Microsoft's Exchange ActiveSync protocol, which will, for example, allow users to look for contacts using Exchange's Global Address List, while also being able to synchronize e-mail, calendar, contacts and tasks.


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The new issue of The New Republic cover story (The Feminists of Zion An unlikely alliance between Orthodox and progressive women will save Israel from fundamentalism) is about us. It is about Haredim, modern Orthodox, and women. These are things we discuss regularly online and at our Shabbos tables, and in our coffee rooms. The story is remarkably accurate and balanced, displaying a very deep understanding of the issues in Israel today. I recommend reading the article immediately.
Imagine a spectrum of religious fundamentalism in the orthodox Jewish community. On one end you have extreme Haredi sects and on the other end you have completely secular Israelis. On most things and for most of time the people in the middle, let's call them modern orthodox, skewed their allegiences toward the Haredi side. Orthodoxy is the great uniter. The assumption is that any two orthodox people will have more common interests than an orthodox and a secular Jew. This is how things were.
In essence, the article argues that while naturally aligned with their fellow orthodox Jews, women from the modern orthodox community in Israel are finding themselves aligned with secular feminist Jews in Israel. The collective pain that is felt due to the oppressiveness toward women in the extreme and not so extreme Haredi world is taking a toll. Women have been attacked physically, verbally, and psychologically for a long time and it is starting to create a negative reaction.
Several times the article mentions signs that tell women how to dress. We have become accustomed to these signs. But the women in the article argue that the signs give license to thugs who want to make a statement to women. To them, the signs mean much more than "Please be sensitive to our religious beliefs." Part of that is because these standards are entering the public sphere and are no longer just limited to the private insular neighborhoods. But the other part of it is that the signs are somehow justifying the negativity and violence toward women.
What has happened is that women who feel hurt and abused are turning to secular and Reform Jews for salvation. Feminism is a dirty word in many orthodox communities, even in some places within the modern orthodox community. But it's becoming a necessary evil for modern orthodox women who are not feminists at all to ask for help from feminists. It's odd when orthodox people are funding they have more in common with secular and very liberal Jews than fellow orthodox Jews. But that is what is happening.
The article also talks about modern orthodox women who sympathize with the Women of the Wall. I wish they would be more vocal but i was heartened to hear it.
Last week I wrote about finding common ground and room for dialogue between modern orthodox and yeshivish Jews in America. (See:
Maybe Rabbi Birnbaum Has a Point: A Solution) I think what we are seeing in the article in TNR is what will happen if we can't work together. If the people in the middle start to feel like the liberal and secular Jews are more sympathetic to their way of life, the great split that has been predicted for years, will finally happen. Modern orthodox Judaism will become an independent group.
Some might say, what's so bad about that? Well there are plenty negative consequences to mention. But I will mention the two biggest issues. First, the Haredi institutions will fall without modern orthodox support. Some might say that's not so bad either. I disagree. Their services are necessary, as is their trap door into engagement with society. On the other side, without a connection the Haredi community, the modern orthodox community will be hard pressed to support its own institutions for lack of qualified teachers and rabbis.
It's not in our best interests to see a formal split. It might happen in Israel and it might happen in America. I think we should do everything we can to prevent it. The first thing we need to do, is get together and talk.
Visit Fink or Swim.


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Please join the AmeriCorps for a community service event in honor of MLK Jr. Day!
Make it a day on, not a day off!
We will be pulling invasive species of Himalayan blackberry and English ivy.
Refreshments will be provided!
RSVP to Sarah at email@example.com
Share that you're going with your friends using the Facebook event HERE!
BROOKE ASKEY is the Citizen Science Educator and an AmeriCorps Member at the Port Townsend Marine Science Center


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If your friends all fly Sikorskys and you must make amends, plead with the Lord to buy you a Eurocopter EC145 outfitted in "Mercedes-Benz style" with leather and wood. Then laugh heartily at those sad working-rich folks flying generic helicopters.
The concept of a "Mercedes-Benz style" helicopter was introduced last year at the European Business Aviation Convention and Exhibit (EBACE) and apparently the idea found enough takers to interest both Benz and Eurocopter to pursue the joint venture.
"Mercedes-Benz style" allows the brand to share its designers and license their name/work/aesthetic to yacht makers, ateliers, appliance manufacturers. Whatever they want. Smartly, they've started near the top of the transportation food chain where parent company Daimler has few conflicts.
Eurocopter's EC145 is a workhorse vehicle used for passenger transportation, medical transport, and other missions that require a small craft with a large space. In maximum passenger configuration it can move eight people, making it more like the R-Class of the skies. Remove three chairs and it's an E-Class. Remove another three and it's an S-Class. Remove the roof and it's no longer a helicopter.
Designers in the MB Advances Design Studio in Italy added the custom cabin with wood flooring, soft-touch plastics, comfortable leather seats, and other typically Benz features to remake the vehicle in the true Mercedes-Benz style.
Is it too much to ask for an AMG version?