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The statistician in question is Carnegie-Mellon Statistics Professor Cosma Shalizi. He's made a habit of debunking claims by physicists, economists, and computer scientists that their data shows power-law behavior in this-or-that system. When I say he can't distinguish library patrons from monkeys, I don't mean that Prof. Shalizi is near-sighted or that he's unfamiliar with the grooming habits of library patrons. I mean that Shalizi is arguing that the distribution of book circulation that I wrote about two weeks ago can be explained by completely random processes.
In his comment on my blog post, Shalizi reanalyzed the circulation data from University of Huddersfield and shows that it can be fit well by a "log-normal" distribution, and that the very high-usage tail of the Huddersfield data is not consistent with a power law (such as the one I gave in my post). I've confirmed his analysis, which went much farther into the high-usage tail than my first pass. This is done by looking at the cumulative distribution, i.e. plotting the number of books that have circulated less than a certain number of times.
If you want to make the connection to the monkeys in the library, it's important to understand the generating mechanisms that lead to log-normal distributions. These often arise from random growth processes, and are just like the standard "bell-curve", but on a log scale.
Here's how a random growth process could apply to book use. Let's suppose that every day, everyone who has read a book flips a coin. If heads, they do nothing. If tails they try to get someone else to also read the book. The group of people that has read the book thus grows by some percentage. Repeating this process over and over causes the book's usage to grow randomly. If we then measure the size of these groups, the readership sizes will follow a log-normal distribution.
There's a saying among experimental physicists. "Keep taking data until you have enough to write an article for Physical Review Letters. Then stop taking data." In my previous post on book use, I violated this rule by asking other libraries to share their circulation data for analysis. Ross Riker at Goshen Public Library in Indiana stepped up to the challenge.
Goshen has accumulated circulation data since their automation system was installed in 1996. Riker sent me the number of times each of 144,269 items currently held had been circulated, for a total of 3.04 million circulation events. I've plotted the data on the graph below, alongside the Huddersfield data. It looks somewhat different, doesn't it? I sent the Goshen data to Shalizi, and his analysis was that neither log-normal or power-law distributions could fit the data.
Is book use in an American public library governed by different principles from that in a British academic library? Probably not. I noticed that the maximum number of circulations at Goshen was 251. The standard circulation period at Goshen is 3 weeks, so there's one book that's been checked out for 14.44 years solid, or since late 1996, which is about when Goshen began collecting data.
If we want to look at book use, what we should be plotting is the the rate at which the book is being circulated. That's equal to the number of circulations divided by the time the book is actually on the shelf.
After applying time-on-shelf corrections, the data from both Goshen and Huddersfield are well fit by log-normal distributions. To compare the Huddersfield data to the Goshen data, we need to take into consideration another difference. The Goshen data is listed item by item, so if there were two copies of a book, they count as two items. The Huddersfield data groups the circulation counts for all copies of the same book. To properly compute the time-on-shelf factor, I adjusted the circulation rate based on the number of copies held for each book.
After applying the appropriate corrections, the resulting distributions (below) are amazingly similar for the two libraries, and fit beautifully to log-normal distributions. Both distributions even have a bulge at the very highest circulation rates. At Huddersfield, inspection of the relevant bulge items suggests that they're texts used in particular courses, and have circulation times shorter than the main collection.
You may be disappointed to learn that the distribution of book use can be explained by random processes without reference to metadata quality, selection efficiency, or discovery system details. Nor does it derive from a power law characterizing the structure of user networks or citation graphs. All of the circulation distribution data I've looked at is consistent with there being one driving force in the distribution of book use. The non-technical term for this driving force: word of mouth.
Maybe I should stop taking data.
- The formula for a log-normal distribution is:
LOGNORMAL(f,μ,σ,FALSE). (TRUE gives the cumulative distribution function)
- It's not surprising that you get a better fit with a log-normal distribution than with a power-law. The log-normal distribution gives you an extra fitting parameter, after all. But when you include the full high usage tail, the power law predicts a lot more extremely high usage books than is observed.
- The time-on-shelf correction has a bit of fudge-factor in it. If the standard circulation period is 3 weeks, that doesn't mean that every user keeps it for three weeks, or that the book gets reshelved immediately after 21 days. My fit uses an average time-off-shelf period of 18 days.
- My log-normal fit for Goshen has a mean of 2.95 and a sigma of 0.94. For Huddersfield, I get a mean of 2.22 and a sigma of 0.77 after conversion to item data. The larger mean gives the higher circulation per item at Goshen. Feel free to speculate about the sigmas.
- The titles with the highest per-copy circulation rates at Huddersfield are:
- Music in medieval Europe
- An introduction to business ethics
- A guide to the harpsichord
- On humour : its nature and its place in modern society
- Japan
- The BBC and public service broadcasting
- Authenticity in performance : eighteenth-century case studies
- Mozart's Requiem : on preparing a new edition.
- Asia's next giant : South Korea and late industrialization
- Handel's operas : 1704-1726
- Cognitive psychology : a student's handbook
- Raw data sets are available for Huddersfield and Goshen.
- For a readable discussion of generating mechanisms for power laws and log-normal distribution, I recommend "A Brief History of Generative Models for Power Law and Lognormal Distributions" by Michael Mitzenmacher, Internet Mathematics Vol. 1, No. 2: 226-251. [PDF 382KB].
- My comments re Harper-Collins are unaffected by this re-analysis, but my quantitative modeling of the budget impact of the new ebook policy will change a bit.
- Monkeys aren't really random, but I bet if one started reading a book, there would soon be a crowd of monkeys wanting to read the same book!


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Rugby themed task on reading (use of quotations and dialogue, facts versus opinions), researching and writing a short article. Topic links to ICT, suitable for use during e.g. Rugby World Cup, Six Nations Tournament or with any group keen on sport![img_assist|nid=5708|title=|desc=|link=popup|align=left|width=100|height=71]
A set of 3 web research task sheets. Choose between rugby team, football team or favourite singer / group. Provides practice in web research, skimming, scanning and reading comprehension.

subset: commoncrawl


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Advanced Search
Policy & Funding
E-Rate could be in for some major changes as it heads toward "version 2.0."
A bill introduced in the United States House of Representatives Tuesday, known as the "E-Rate 2.0 Act of 2010," would amend the school technology program by adding a five-year, $750 million broadband pilot program for community colleges and head start programs; a five-year, $2.5 billion residential broadband voucher pilot program for high school students; a four-year, $200 million e-book pilot program; and refinements to program administration designed to ease the application process.
In addition, the bill would instruct the Federal Communications Commission to develop a methodology to raise the E-Rate cap to adjust for inflation.
E-rate is a federal program that provides schools and libraries with discounts on telecommunications, Internet, and networking technologies and services. Since its implementation in 1996, it has been targeted exclusively toward K-12 institutions and libraries. The bill, if adopted in its current form, would for the first time extend that reach into higher education.
The bill, H.R. 4619, was introduced by Rep. Edward Markey (D-MA)--lead House author of the original E-Rate legislation--and is currently being co-sponsored by Reps. Lois Capps (D-CA) and Doris Matsui (D-CA). A comparable bill has not yet been introduced in the Senate.
Expanded Broadband: Secondary, Post-Secondary, and Head Start The legislation follows some of the recommendations that have been put forward for the national broadband plan that the FCC is expected to present to Congress in mid-March. This includes authorization for the FCC to launch a pilot program that would provide $500 million per year for five years to secondary schools to fund lower-income students' home broadband access through a voucher system.
Under the current version of the bill, vouchers would be provided to secondary students who qualify for federally subsidized school lunches, who attend secondary schools that participate in the program, and who have access to a computer at home to take advantage of broadband connectivity. Vouchers would be distributed to students through their schools to pay monthly residential broadband fees.
It would also extend broadband support to community colleges and head start programs through a separate five-year pilot program, one that would make available $150 million per year to fund broadband equipment and services.
The bill's language does not make it clear how the annual $150 million amount would be broken down between community colleges and head start programs. But the bill does specify that funding will be awarded to applicants "who demonstrate need, maximum potential of broadband use consistent with their educational mission, and innovation with respect to use of broadband, [W]eb-based information and [Web-based] applications."
The bill also specifies that for the first five years after enactment, the E-Rate 2.0 pilot would serve as the sole source of federal funding for broadband equipment and services for community colleges and head start programs.
E-Books Pilot Project The bill also initiates an e-book pilot project that would award up to $50 million per year for four years to secondary schools. The funds would be targeted toward the purchase of electronic book technologies by schools to be integrated into the curriculum. The bill provides for rulemaking to ensure that implementation is "on a technology-neutral basis."
As it stands in the current iteration of the bill, the e-book program would come up for analysis after three years and for recommendations for extending the rollout during the final year. The bill requires the final assessment of the program to include "metrics to gauge the impact on digital literacy and overall learning associated with the student use of electronic books project."
Application Refinements Finally, the bill also includes provisions to ease some aspects of the E-Rate application process and program administration. Some specific proposed modifications include:
"This critical bill will help narrow the digital divide by increasing the range of the latest telecommunication services and devices accessible to low-income students, including residential broadband services and e-books incorporated into students' classroom lessons," Congressman Markey said in a statement released to the press Feb. 9. "The original E-Rate Bill that I authored has largely fulfilled its mission of linking up schools to the Web. The fact that only 14 percent of K-12 classrooms had Internet access at the time the 1996 bill was enacted, compared to more than 95 percent today, is a testament to that success. Now, with the expansion of the scope of technology, students need more than just Web access at school, and our E-Rate 2.0 bill is intended to reflect those expanded needs."
About the Author
David Nagel is editorial director of 1105 Media's Education Technology Group and editor-in-chief of THE Journal and STEAM Universe. A 29-year publishing veteran, Nagel has led or contributed to dozens of technology, art and business publications.
He can be reached at [email protected]. You can also connect with him on LinkedIn at or follow him on Twitter at @THEDavidNagel (K-12) or @CampusTechDave (higher education).
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Each newspaper issue consists of a set of images, one per page, and a set of text files for the OCR'd text. An item file links the set of pages into a single newspaper document. PagedImgPlug is used to process the item files.
There are two styles of item files, and this collection demonstrates both. The first uses a text based format, and consists of a list of metadata for the document, and a list of pages. Here are some examples: Te Waka o Te Iwi, Vol. 1, No. 1, Te Whetu o Te Tau, Vol. 1, No. 3. This format allows specification of document level metadata, and a single list of pages.
The second style is an extended format, and uses XML. It allows a hierarchy of pages, and metadata specification at the page level as well as at the document level. An example is Matariki 1881, No. 2. This newspaper also has an abstract associated with it. The contents have been grouped into two sections: Supplementary Material, which contains the Abstract, and Newspaper Pages, which contains the page images.
Paged documents can be presented with a hierarchical table of contents (e.g. this one), or with next and previous page arrows, and a goto page box (e.g. this one). This is specified by the -documenttype (hierarchy|paged) option to PagedImgPlug. The next and previous arrows suit the linear sequence documents, while the table of contents suits the hierarchically organised document. Ordinarily, a Greenstone collection would have one plugin per document type, and all documents of that type get the same processing. In this case, we want to treat the XML-based item files differently from the text-based item files. We can achieve this by adding two PagedImgPlug plugins to the collection, and configuring them differently.
plugin PagedImgPlug -screenview -minimumsize 100 -documenttype hierarchy -process_exp xml.*.item$
plugin PagedImgPlug -screenview -minimumsize 100 -documenttype paged
XML based newpapers have been grouped into a folder called xml. This enables us to process these files differently, by utilising the process_exp option which all plugins support. The first PagedImgPlug in the list looks for item files underneath the xml folder. These documents will be processed as hierarchical documents. Item files that don't match the process expression (i.e. aren't underneath the xml folder) will be passed onto the second PagedImgPlug, and these are treated as paged documents.
Note that GLI will not let you add two of the same plugin (apart from UnknownPlug), so this must be added to the collect.cfg file manually. The collection must not be open in GLI while you are doing this.
We have modified the document formatting to display fullsized images, preview images or text, with buttons to switch between them. This involves modifications to the DocumentHeading and DocumentText format statements in the collection configuration file, and some macro definitions in the extra.dm macro file. The extra.dm macro file provides definitions for the buttons (_viewfullsize_, _viewpreview_, _viewtext_) which are used by the format statement in the collect.cfg file. The format statement switches the document display and sets the buttons to be displayed based on the p argument, which is also set by the format statement.
There are 3 ways to find information in this collection:


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College Park, Md. –New research out of the University of Maryland School of Public Health shows that exercise may improve cognitive function in those at risk for Alzheimer's by increasing the efficiency of brain activity associated with memory. Memory loss associated with Alzheimer's disease is one of the greatest fears among older Americans. While some memory loss is normal and to be expected as we age, a diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment, or MCI, signals more substantial memory loss and a greater risk for Alzheimer's, for which there currently is no cure.
The study, led by Dr. J. Carson Smith, assistant professor in the Department of Kinesiology, provides new hope for those diagnosed with MCI. It is the first to show that an exercise intervention with older adults with mild cognitive impairment (average age 78) improved not only memory recall, but also brain function, as measured by functional neuroimaging (via fMRI). The findings are published in the August issue of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease.
"We found that after 12 weeks of being on a moderate exercise program, study participants improved their neural efficiency – basically they were using fewer neural resources to perform the same memory task," says Dr. Smith. "No study has shown that a drug can do what we showed is possible with exercise."
Recommended Daily Activity: Good for the Body, Good for the Brain
Two groups of physically inactive older adults (ranging from 60-88 years old) were put on a 12-week exercise program that focused on regular treadmill walking and was guided by a personal trainer. Both groups – one which included adults with MCI and the other with healthy brain function – improved their cardiovascular fitness by about ten percent at the end of the intervention. More notably, both groups also improved their memory performance and showed enhanced neural efficiency while engaged in memory retrieval tasks.
The good news is that these results were achieved with a dose of exercise consistent with the physical activity recommendations for older adults. These guidelines urge moderate intensity exercise (activity that increases your heart rate and makes you sweat, but isn't so strenuous that you can't hold a conversation while doing it) on most days for a weekly total of 150 minutes.
University of Maryland researcher Dr. J. Carson Smith's study is the first to show that an exercise intervention with older adults with mild cognitive impairment improved not only memory recall, but also brain function, as measured by functional neuroimaging (via fMRI). Dr. Smith is pictured here at the Maryland Neuroimaging Center.
(Photo Credit: John T. Consoli, University of Maryland)
Measuring Exercise's Impact on Brain Health and Memory
One of the first observable symptoms of Alzheimer's disease is the inability to remember familiar names. Smith and colleagues had study participants identify famous names and measured their brain activation while engaged in correctly recognizing a name – e.g., Frank Sinatra, or other celebrities well known to adults born in the 1930s and 40s. "The task gives us the ability to see what is going on in the brain when there is a correct memory performance," Smith explains.
Tests and imaging were performed both before and after the 12-week exercise intervention. Brain scans taken after the exercise intervention showed a significant decrease in the intensity of brain activation in eleven brain regions while participants correctly identified famous names. The brain regions with improved efficiency corresponded to those involved in the pathology of Alzheimer's disease, including the precuneus region, the temporal lobe, and the parahippocampal gyrus.
The exercise intervention was also effective in improving word recall via a "list learning task," i.e., when people were read a list of 15 words and asked to remember and repeat as many words as possible on five consecutive attempts, and again after a distraction of being given another list of words.
"People with MCI are on a very sharp decline in their memory function, so being able to improve their recall is a very big step in the right direction," Smith states.
The results of Smith's study suggest that exercise may reduce the need for over-activation of the brain to correctly remember something. That is encouraging news for those who are looking for something they can do to help preserve brain function.
Dr. Smith has plans for a larger study that would include more participants, including those who are healthy but have a genetic risk for Alzheimer's, and follow them for a longer time period with exercise in comparison to other types of treatments. He and his team hope to learn more about the impact of exercise on brain function and whether it could delay the onset or progression of Alzheimer's disease.
Source: University of Maryland


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Tata Motors Cars Service Centre - SAB Motors, Mathura Road
Review Us
- 3.8
- rakesh jhaPosted on: 22-09-2023Rated
Good service
- Deepak ParijaPosted on: 23-08-2023Rated
Awesome hospitality and energy of staff
Tata Motors on Social
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SOUL #ColoursOfAdventure Terms & Conditions The #ColoursOfAdventure contest is a free-to-enter contest for everyone on FB,TW, IG, FB Groups & Whatsapp. Where the participants can take part and winners of the contest will be gratified with Tata Motors Gift Hamper. The details of the contest and its terms & conditions are explained herein below. Please read the terms and conditions carefully before taking part in Colours of Adventure contest. By taking part, the participant agrees to be bound by this terms and conditions. The information provided by Tata Motors Limited {hereinafter referred to as "TML", "Tata Motors" or the "Company"}, is subject to the participant's acceptance to the terms and conditions below. 1. Eligibility This is available for the audience on FB, TW, IG, FB Groups & Whatsapp 2. 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Quick, let's cover it
Mr. McFly, Mr. McFly, this just arrived, oh hi Marty. I think it's your new book. What, what, ma? Jennifer. Lynda, first of all, I'm not your answering service. Second of all, somebody named Greg or Craig called you just a little while ago. Dammit, Doc, why ...Read more →


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from the University of Rochester and Texas A&M University have
found that, over a period of five months following the disastrous 2010
Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill, naturally-occurring bacteria
that exist in the Gulf of Mexico consumed and removed at least 200,000
tons of oil and natural gas that spewed into the deep Gulf from the
ruptured well head.
researchers analyzed an extensive data set to determine not only how
much oil and gas was eaten by bacteria, but also how the characteristics
of this feast changed with time.
significant amount of the oil and gas that was released was retained
within the ocean water more than one-half mile below the sea surface. It
appears that the hydrocarbon-eating bacteria did a good job of removing
the majority of the material that was retained in these layers," said
co-author John Kessler of the University of Rochester.
The results published this week in Environmental Science and Technology
include the first measurements of how the rate at which the bacteria
ate the oil and gas changed as this disaster progressed, information
that is fundamental to understanding both this spill and predicting the
behavior of future spills.
noted: "Interestingly, the oil and gas consumption rate was correlated
with the addition of dispersants at the wellhead. While there is still
much to learn about the appropriateness of using dispersants in a
natural ecosystem, our results suggest it made the released hydrocarbons
more available to the native Gulf of Mexico microorganisms. "
measurements show that the consumption of the oil and gas by bacteria
in the deep Gulf had stopped by September 2010, five months after the
Deepwater Horizon explosion.
"It is unclear if this indicates that this
great feast was over by this time or if the microorganisms were simply
taking a break before they start on dessert and coffee" said Kessler.
"Our results suggest that some (about 40%) of the released hydrocarbons
that once populated these layers still remained in the Gulf post
September 2010, so food was available for the feast to continue at some
later time. But the location of those substances and whether they were
biochemically transformed is unknown."
studies of the Deepwater Horizon spill had shown that the oil and gas
were trapped in underwater layers, or "plumes", and that the bacteria
had begun consuming the oil and gas. By using a more extensive data set,
the researchers were able to measure just how many tons of hydrocarbons
released from the spill had been removed in the deep Gulf waters. The
team's research suggests that the majority of what once composed these
large underwater plumes of oil and gas was eaten by the bacteria.
John Kessler, recently appointed as Associate Professor in the
Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences of the University of
Rochester, worked with graduate research assistant Mengran Du at Texas
A&M University to analyze over 1300 profiles of oxygen dissolved in
the Gulf of Mexico water spanning a period of four months and covering
nearly 30,000 square miles.
researchers calculated how many tons of oil and gas had been consumed
and at what rate by first measuring how much oxygen had been removed
from the ocean. Mengran Du explained that "when bacteria consume oil and
gas, they use up oxygen and release carbon dioxide, just as humans do
when we breathe. When bacteria die and decompose, that uses up still
more oxygen. Both these processes remove oxygen from the water." Du
added that it is this lower oxygen level that the researchers could
measure and use as an indicator of how much oil and gas had been removed
by microorganisms and at what rate.
work was supported by the National Science Foundation with additional
contributions from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration,
the Sloan Foundation, BP/the Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative, and the
Chinese Scholarship Council.
Assessment of the Spatial and Temporal Variability of Bulk Hydrocarbon Respiration Following the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill
Source: University of Rochester


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Grab ahold of Shimano's Dura-Ace Di2 Front Derailleur and say hello to near-telepathic shifting. This futuristic front derailleur monitors the position of both derailleurs and trims automatically, ensuring that you have proper derailleur position and no chain rub, no matter what chainring and cog combination you may find yourself in. This is also the fastest and most accurately shifting front derailleur Shimano has ever made, getting you into the big ring more reliably and with greater speed. The derailleur uses Shimano's E-Tube wiring system for waterproof connections and simple, clean setup, and the lack of cables and housing increases service life and reliability.
Braze-on mount
Capacity is calculated by subtracting your smallest chainring's tooth count from the largest chainring's tooth count. Example: 46/34/24 chainrings: 46 - 24 = 22-tooth capacity.
114 grams
Part Numbers
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B&Co. has made every attempt to ensure that the information contained at this site has been obtained from reliable sources. B&Co. is not responsible for any errors or omissions, or for the results obtained from the use of this information. All information in this site is provided "as is" with no guarantee of completeness, accuracy, timeliness or of the results obtained from the use of this information, and without warranty of any kind, express or implied, including, but limited to warranties of performance, merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. In no event will B&Co., or B&Co.'s stockholders, agents or employees be liable to you or anyone else for any decision made or action taken in reliance on the information in this site, or for any consequential, special or similar damages, even if advised of the possibility of such damages.


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About ForeverYoung299
Hi reader! You are invited to spam my wall!
Here are some random facts about me.
I am not a believer of academic studies. Sounds pretty weird, does it? I don't care. Studying is all about knowing not getting marks in the exams. However, sadly, now I am a student of Class 9 and exams are still a burden on me.
I can't write a novel nor a good short story. I am best at writing novellas. Fantasy is my genre. I see writing as a good escape from the current situation of the World... Currently, I am working or at least trying to work on a project called... Eh... Not yet named. A fantasy project. Sometimes, I see a bit too deep at various subjects which even the writer didn't see. Now it often leads to awkward situation.
I love dancing. I am a moody painter, when I like to draw, no one can stop me and vice versa. Hope all these chunks of information make sense
Writing, dancing, doing craft works.
Student, Writer


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The Harvard International Law Journal has a fascinating exchange on Nineteenth-Century International Law. In "Universal International Law: Nineteenth-Century Histories of Imposition and Appropriation," Arnulf Becker Lorca challenges the notion that international law became universal through a unilateral process of European expansion. Rather, he argues, international law became universal during the nineteenth century as semi-peripheral jurists appropriated and reinterpreted international law to include non-Western sovereigns.
According to Becker Lorca, "a generation of non-Western international lawyers studied European international law with not only the purpose of learning how to play by the new rules of international law that Western powers sought to impose on them, but also with the aim of changing the content of those rules" (482). As Becker Lorca shows, non-Western jurists successfully reshaped some of the central elements of the European law of nations, namely, positivism, the standard of civilization, and absolute sovereignty "to advocate for a change in extant rules of international law and to justify the extension of the privileges of formal equality to their own states in their interactions with Western powers (482-483)."
Becker Lorca's article points up the enduring question of the tension between imposition and appropriation of Western legal norms in the nineteenth century. While his argument focuses on the development of nineteenth century international law, its central issues are relevant, more broadly, to legal historians working to understand the movement of laws and legal norms between Western and non-Western legal experts either under conditions of formal colonial rule, unequal treaty relations, or informal imperial rule in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
You can download the complete exchange, including a response from Gustavo Gozzi, "The Particularistic Universalism of International-Law in the Nineteenth Century," at the website of the Harvard International Law Journal.


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Washington County Attorney
Employer / Organization
Next Election
Nov 08, 2022
Filing Window
Dec 01, 2021 - Sep 01, 2022
The county attorney is the chief prosecutor for the district, representing the government in criminal cases. The attorney investigates crimes, decides whether or not to bring charges against suspects, negotiates plea bargains, and tries cases before juries or judges. The attorney may also serve as legal counsel for the government.
Application GuidelinesIf you would like to be included on the ballot for county office, follow these three steps. 1) Contact the county clerk or election commissioner. This office can provide information about the availability of filing papers and answer questions regarding nominating petitions and other ballot procedures. 2) Arrange to pick up required paperwork. 3) Return your completed paperwork within the designated filing window. The September deadline is for general election candidates who file by petition. Non-incumbent primary candidates must file by March 1.
Submit application to:
Washington County Clerk, 1555 Colfax St., Blair, NE, 68008, US


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Fair Game
DedicationTo all those who live in the dark fighting monsters so the rest of us stay safe
Chapter One
"Go home," Bran Cornick growled at Anna.
No one who saw him like this would ever forget what lurked behind the Marrok's mild-mannered facade. But only people who were stupid — or desperate — would risk raising his ire to reveal the monster behind the nice-guy mask. Anna was desperate.
"When you tell me you will quit calling on my husband to kill people," Anna told him doggedly. She didn't yell, she didn't shout, but she wasn't going to give up easily.
Clearly, she'd finally pushed him out to the very narrow edges of his last shred of civilized behavior. He closed his eyes, turned his head away from her, and said, in a very gentle voice, "Anna. Go home and cool off." Go home until he cooled off was what he meant. Bran was Anna's father-in-law, her Alpha, and also the Marrok who ruled all the werewolf packs in his part of the world by the sheer force of his will.
" Bran —"
His power unleashed with his temper, and the five other wolves not counting Anna who were in the living room of his house dropped to the floor including his mate. Their heads were bowed and tipped slightly to the side to expose their necks.
Though he made no outward move, the speed of their surrender testified to Bran's anger and his dominance — and only Anna, somewhat to her surprise at her own temerity, stayed on her feet. When Anna had first come to Aspen Creek, beaten and abused as she'd been, if anyone had yelled at her, she'd have hid in a corner and not come out for a week.
She met Bran's eyes and bared her teeth at him as the wave of his power brushed past her like a spring breeze. Not that she wasn't properly terrified, but not of Bran. Bran, she knew, would not really hurt her if he could help it, no matter what her hind brain tried to tell her.
She was terrified for her mate. "You are wrong," Anna told him. "Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. And you are determined not to see it until he is broken beyond repair."
"Grow up, little girl," Bran snarled, and now his eyes — bright gold leaching out his usual hazel — were focused on her instead of the fireplace in the wall. "Life isn't a bed of roses and people have to do hard jobs. You knew what Charles was when you married him and when you took him as your mate."
He was trying to make this about her, because then he wouldn't have to listen to her. He couldn't be that blind, just too stubborn. So his attempt to alter the argument — when there should be no argument at all — enraged her.
"Someone in here is acting like a child, and it isn't me," she growled right back at him.
Bran's return snarl was wordless.
"Anna, shut up," Tag whispered urgently, his big body limp on the floor where his orange dreadlocks clashed with the maroon of the Persian rug. He was her friend and she trusted the berserker's judgment on most things. Under other circumstances she'd have listened to him,but right now she had Bran so angry he couldn't speak — so she could get a few words in past his stubborn, inflexible mind.
"I know my mate," she told her father by marriage. "Better than you do. He will break before he disappoints you or fails to do his duty. You have to stop this because he can't."
When Bran spoke, his voice was a toneless whisper. "My son will not bend or break. He has done his job for a century before you were even born, and he'll be doing it a century from now."
"His job was to dispense justice," she said. "Even if it meant killing people, he could do it. Now he is merely an assassin. His prey cling to his feet repentant and redeemable. They weep and beg for mercy that he can't give. It is breaking him," she said starkly. "And I'm the only one who sees it."
Bran flinched. And for the first time, she realized that Charles wasn't the only one suffering under the new, harsher rules the werewolves had to live by.
"Desperate times," he said grimly, and Anna hoped that she'd broken through. But he shook off the momentary softness and said,"Charles is stronger than you give him credit for. You are a stupid little girl who doesn't know as much as she thinks she does. Go home before I do something I'll regret later. Please."
It was that brief break that told her this was useless. He did know. He did understand, and he was hoping against hope that Charles could hold out. Her anger fled and left . . . despair.
She met her Alpha's eyes for a long moment before acknowledging her failure.
Anna knew exactly when Charles drove up, newly returned from Minnesota where he'd gone to take care of a problem the Minnesota pack leader would not. If she'd been deaf to the sound of the truck or the front door, she'd have known Charles was home by the magic that tied wolf to mate. That was all the bond told her outright, though — his side of their bond was as opaque as he could manage, and that told her a whole lot more about his state of mind than he probably intended.
From the way he let nothing leak through to her, she knew it had been another bad trip, one that had left too many people dead, probably people he hadn't wanted to kill.
Lately, they had all been bad trips.
At first she'd been able to help, but when the rules changed, when the werewolves had admitted their existence to the rest of the world,the new public scrutiny meant that second chances for the wolves who broke Bran's laws were offered only in extraordinary circumstances. She'd kept going with him on these trips because she refused to let Charles suffer alone. But when Anna started having nightmares about the man who'd fallen to his knees in front of her in mute entreaty before his execution, Charles had quit letting her go.
She was strong-willed and she liked to think of herself as tough. She could have made him change his mind or followed him anyway. But Anna hadn't fought his edict because she realized she was only making his job harder to bear. He saw himself as a monster and couldn't believe she didn't also when she witnessed the death he brought.
So Charles went out hunting alone — as he had for a hundred years or more, just as his father had said. His hunt was always successful — and, at the same time, a failure. He was dominant; he had a compulsory need to protect the weak, including, paradoxically, the wolves he was there to kill. When the wolves he executed died, so did a part of Charles.
Before Bran had brought them out to the public, the new wolves,those who had been Changed for less than ten years, would have been given several chances if their transgression came from loss of control. Conditions could have been taken into account that would lessen the punishment of others. But the public knew about them now, and they couldn't allow everyone to know just how dangerous werewolves really were.
It was up to the pack Alpha to take care of dispensing commonplace justice. Previously, Charles had only had to go out a few times a year to take care of bigger or more unusual problems. But many of the Alphas were unhappy with the new harshness of the laws, and somehow more and more of the enforcement fell to Bran and thus to Charles. He was going out two or three times a month and it was wearing on him.
She could feel him standing just inside the house, so she put a little more passion into her music, calling him to her with the sweet-voiced cello that had been his first Christmas gift to her.
If she went upstairs, he'd greet her gravely, tell her he had to go talk to his father and leave. He'd come back in a day or so after running as a wolf in the mountains. But Charles never quite came back all the way anymore.
It had been a month since he'd last touched her. Six weeks and four days since he'd made love to her, not since they'd come back from the last trip she'd accompanied him on. She'd have said that to Bran if he hadn't made that "Grow up, little girl" comment. Probably she should have told Bran anyway, but she'd given up making him see reason.
She'd decided to try something else.
She stayed in the music room Charles had built in the basement while he stood upstairs. Instead of words, she let her cello speak for her. Rich and true, the notes slid from her bow and up the stairway. After a moment she heard the stairs squeak a little under the weight of his feet and let out a breath of relief. Music was something they shared.
Her fingers sang to him, coaxing him to her, but he stopped in the doorway. She could feel his eyes on her, but he didn't say anything.
Anna knew that when playing on her cello, her face was peaceful and distant — a product of much coaching from an early teacher who told her that biting her lip and grimacing was a dead giveaway to any judge that she was having trouble. Her features weren't regular enough for true beauty, but she wasn't ugly, either, and today she'd used some makeup tricks that softened her freckles and emphasized her eyes.
She glanced at him briefly. His Salish heritage gave him lovely dark skin and exotic (to her) features, his father's Welsh blood apparent only in subtle ways: the shape of his mouth, the angle of his chin. It was his job, not his lineage, that froze his features into an unemotional mask and left his eyes cold and hard. His duties had eaten away at him until he was nothing but muscle, bone, and tension.
Anna's fingers touched the strings and rocked, softening the cello's song with a vibrato on the longer notes. She'd begun with a bit of Pachelbel's Canon in D, which she generally used as a warm-up or when she wasn't sure what she wanted to play. She considered moving to something more challenging, but she was too distracted by Charles. Besides, she wasn't trying to impress him, but to seduce him into letting her help. So, Anna needed a song that she could play while thinking of Charles.
If she couldn't get Bran to quit sending her mate out to kill, maybe she could get Charles to let her help with the aftermath. It might buy him a little time until she could find the right baseball bat — or rolling pin — to beat some clarity into his father's head.
She deserted Pachelbel for an improvised bridge that shifted the key from D to G and then let her music flow into the prelude of Bach's Cello Suite No. 1. Not that that music was easy, but it had been her high school concert piece so she could practically play it in her sleep.
Her fingers moving, she didn't allow herself to look at him again,no matter how hungry she was for the sight of him. She stared at an oil painting of a sleeping bobcat while Charles stood at the door and watched her. If she could get him to approach her, to quit trying to protect her from his job . . .
And then she screwed up.
She was an Omega wolf. That meant that not only was she the only person on the continent whose wolf would allow her to face down the Marrok when he was in a rage, but also that she had a magical talent for soothing wolfish tempers regardless of whether or not they wanted to be soothed. It felt wrong to impose her will on others, and she tried not to do it unless the need was dire. Over the past few years,Anna had learned when and how to best use her ability. But her need to see Charles happy slipped over the barrier of her hard-won control as if it wasn't there at all.
One moment she was playing to him with her whole self, focused solely on him — and the next her wolf reached out and calmed Charles's wolf, sent him to sleep, leaving only his human half behind . . . Charles turned and walked purposefully away from her without a word. He,who ran from nothing and no one, exited their house by the back door.
Anna set down her bow and returned her cello to its stand. He wouldn't come back for hours now, maybe not even for a couple of days. Music hadn't worked if the only thing holding Charles in its spell was his wolf.
She left the house, too. The need to do something was so strong it had her moving without a real destination. It was that or cry, and she refused to cry. Maybe she could go to Bran one more time. But when the turnoff for his house appeared, she drove past it.
Like as not Charles was headed to Bran's to tell his father what he'd done for the wolves of the world — and it would be . . . awkward to follow him, as if she were chasing him. Besides, she'd already talked to Bran. He knew what was happening to his son; she knew he did. But,like Charles, he weighed the lives of all of their kind against the possibility that Charles would break under the strain of what was necessary,and thought the risk acceptable.
So Anna drove through town, arriving at a large greenhouse in the woods on the other side. She pulled over and parked next to a battered Willys Jeep and went in search of help.
A lot of wolves called him the Moor — which he disliked, saying that it was a vampire kind of thing to do, take a part of who a person was and reduce him to it with a capital letter or two. His features and skin showed traces of Arabia by way of North Africa, but Anna agreed that certainly wasn't the sum total of who he was. He was very beautiful,very old, extremely deadly — and right now he was transplanting geraniums.
"Asil," she began.
"Hush," he said. "Don't disturb my plants with your troubles until they are safe in their new houses. Make yourself useful and deadhead the roses along the wall."
She snagged a basket and started picking dead flowers off Asil's rosebushes. There would be no talking to him until he'd accomplished what he intended, whether that was to calm her down before they talked, get some free labor, or merely keep the silence while he tended his plants. Knowing Asil, it could be all three.
She worked for about ten minutes before she got impatient and reached for a rosebud, knowing that he always kept an eye on anyone working with his precious flowers.
"Remember the story of Beauty and the Beast?" remarked Asil gently. "Go ahead. Take that little bloom. See what happens."
"'Beauty and the Beast' is a French fairy tale and you are a mere Spaniard," Anna told him, but she took her fingers off the bud. Beauty's father had stolen a flower at great cost. "And in no way are you an enchanted prince."
He dusted off his hands and turned to her, smiling a little. "Actually I am. For some definitions of 'prince.' "
"Hah," said Anna. "Poor Belle would find herself kissing your handsome face and then, poof, there would be the frog."
"I think you are mixing your fairy tales," Asil told her. "But even as a frog I would not disappoint. You came to talk fairy tales, querida?"
"No." She sighed, hopping up to sit on a convenient fl at table next to a bunch of small pots that held a single pea-sized leaf each. "I'm here to get advice about beasts. Specifically, information about the beast who rules us all. Naturally I sought you out. Bran has to quit sending Charles out to kill. It is destroying him."
He sat on the table opposite hers and looked at her with the space of the narrow aisle between them. "You do know that Charles lived nearly two hundred years without you to take care of him, yes? He is not a fragile rosebud who needs your tender touch to survive."
"He's not a killer, either," Anna snapped.
"I beg to differ." Asil spread his hands peaceably when she snarled at him. "The results speak for themselves. I doubt that there are any other wolves with so many werewolf kills under their belt outside of present company." He indicated himself with a modest air that was a tribute to his acting skills, since he didn't have a modest bone in his body.
Anna shook her head at him, her hands curling into fists of frustration. "He isn't. Killing hurts him. But he sees it as necessary-"
"Which it is," murmured Asil, clearly patronizing her.
"Fine," she agreed sharply, hearing the growl in her voice but unable to keep it down. Failing so spectacularly with Bran had taught her she needed to keep her own temper in check if she wanted to convince old dominant wolves of anything. "I know that it is necessary. Of course it is necessary. Charles wouldn't kill anyone if he didn't see that it was necessary. And Charles is the only one dominant enough to do the job who is also not an Alpha, since that would cause trouble with the Alpha of the territories he must enter. Fine. It doesn't mean that he can continue like this. Necessary does not mean possible."
Asil sighed. "Women." He sighed again, theatrically. "Peace, child. I do understand. You are Omega and Omegas are worse than Alphas about protecting their mates. But your mate is very strong." He grimaced as he said it, as if tasting something bitter. Anna knew that he didn't always get along with Charles, but dominant wolves often had that problem with one another. "You just have to have a little faith in him."
Anna met his gaze and held it. "He doesn't bring me with him anymore when he goes. When he came home this afternoon, I used my magic to send his wolf to sleep, and as soon as the wolf was quiet he left without a word."
"You expected living with a werewolf to be easy?" Asil frowned at her. "You can't fix everyone. I told you that. Being Omega doesn't make you Allah." Asil's long-dead mate had been an Omega. Asil had taught Anna all that she knew about it, which he seemed to believe gave him some sort of in loco parentis status. Or maybe he just patronized everyone. "Omega doesn't mean power without end. Charles is a stone-cold killer — ask him yourself. And you knew it when you married him. You should quit worrying about him and start worrying about how you are going to deal with accepting the situation you got yourself into."
Anna stared at him. She knew that he and Charles weren't bosom buddies or anything. She hadn't realized that he didn't know Charles at all, that Asil saw only the front he put on for everyone else.
Asil had been her last, forlorn hope. Anna levered herself off the table. She turned her back on Asil and strode to the door, feeling the heavy weight of despair. She didn't know how to make him, to make Bran, see how bad things were. Bran was the one who counted. Only he could keep Charles home. She had failed to persuade her father-in-law. She'd been hoping that Asil might help.
It was still light out and would be for a few more hours, but the air was already stirring with the weight of the waxing moon. She held the door open and turned back to Asil. "You are all wrong about him. You and Bran and everyone else. He is strong, but no one is that strong. He hasn't picked up an instrument, hasn't even sung a note for months."
Asil's head came up and he stared at her a moment, proving that he knew something about her husband after all.
"Perhaps," he said slowly with a frown, rising to his feet. "Perhaps you are right. His father and I should speak."
Asil let himself into the Marrok's house without knocking. Bran had never objected, and another wolf might think he just never noticed. Asil knew that Bran noticed everything and had chosen to allow Asil's subtle defiance for his own reasons. And that was almost enough to make Asil knock on the door and wait for an invitation to enter.
Leah was on the living room couch, watching something on the big TV. She looked up as he passed by and didn't bother smiling, while a woman screamed shrilly from the surround-sound speakers. When Asil had come to Montana, Leah'd flirted with him — his Alpha's mate,who should know better. He'd allowed her the first one, but the second time he'd taught her not to play her games with him.
So she sat on the couch, glanced up at him and then away, as if he bored her. But they both knew that he scared her. Asil was slightly ashamed of that, only because he knew his mate, dead but still beloved,would be disappointed in him. Teaching Leah to be afraid of him had been easier and more satisfactory than just letting her know that her flirtations were unwelcome and would not gain her whatever it was that she wished.
Had he not expected the Marrok to execute him in short order—which was the reason he'd come to the Montana pack — he might not have done such a thorough job of it. But he was not unhappy that Leah ignored him as much as possible — and less unhappy that the Marrok would not kill him than he had expected to be. Asil found that life still had the power to surprise him, so he was willing to stick around for a little while longer.
He followed the sound of quiet voices to the Marrok's study, pausing in the hallway to wait when he realized it was Charles, himself, talking to his father. Had it been anyone else, he'd have intruded, expectingthe lesser wolf — and they were all lesser wolves— to give way.
Asil frowned, trying to decide if what he had to say would play better with Charles in the room or not. Strategy would be important. A dominant wolf, such as he or Bran, could not be compelled, only persuaded.
In the end he decided on a private talk and continued on to the library where he found a copy of Ivanhoe and reread the first few chapters.
"Romantic claptrap," said Bran from the doorway. Doubtless he'd scented Asil as soon as Asil had walked by the study earlier. "As well as historically full of holes."
"Is there something wrong with that?" asked Asil. "Romance is good for the soul. Heroic deeds, sacrifice, and hope." He paused. "The need for two dissimilar people to become one. Scott wasn't trying for historical accuracy."
"Good thing," grunted Bran, sitting down on the chair opposite the love seat Asil had claimed. "Because he didn't manage it."
Asil went back to reading his book. It was an interrogation technique he'd seen Bran use a lot and he figured the old wolf would recognize it.
Bran snorted in amusement and gave in by beginning the conversation. "So what brings you out here this afternoon? I trust it wasn't a sudden desire to read Sir Walter's dashing romance."
Asil closed the book and gave his Alpha a look under his lashes. "No. But it is about romance, sacrifice, and hope."
Bran threw his head back and groaned. "You've been talking to Anna. If I'd known what a pain in the ass it would be to have an Omega who doesn't back down in my pack, I'd have —"
"Beaten her into submission?" Asil murmured slyly. "Starved and abused her and treated her like dirt so she would never understand what she was?"
The silence became heavy.
Asil gave Bran a malicious smile. "I know better than that. You'd have asked her to come here twice as fast. It's good for you to have someone around who doesn't back down. Ah, the frustrating joy of having an Omega around. I remember it well." He smiled more broadly when he realized he'd once thought he'd never smile at the memory of his mate again. "Irritating as hell, but good for you. She's good for Charles, too."
Bran's face hardened.
"Anna came to see me," Asil continued, watching Bran carefully. "I told her she needed to grow up. She signed on for the hard times as well as the bad. She needs to realize that Charles's job is tough and that sometimes he's going to need time to deal with it." That was not exactly what he'd said, but he'd have bet it was what Bran had told her. His Alpha's blank face told him he was right on target.
"I told her that there was a larger picture that she wasn't looking at," Asil continued with false earnestness. "Charles is the only one who can do his job — and that it has never been more necessary than it is now, with the eyes of the world on us. It's not easy covering up the deaths with stories of wild dogs or scavenger animals eating someone's body after they died from something else, not anymore. Police are looking for signs that their killers might be werewolves, and we can't afford that. I told her she needed to grow up and deal with reality."
The muscle on Bran's jaw tightened because Asil had always had a talent for imitation— he thought he'd gotten Bran's voice just about perfect on the last few sentences.
"So she gave up on me," Asil said, back in his own voice. "She was leaving while I sat content in the smug knowledge that she was a weak female who was more concerned with her mate than with the good of the whole. Which is only what a woman should be like, after all. It really isn't fair to blame them for it when it inconveniences us."
Bran looked at him coolly, so Asil knew he'd hit hard with that last remark.
Asil smiled ruefully and caressed the book he held. "Then she told me that it's been months since he's made any music, viejito. When was the last time that one went more than a day without humming something or playing that guitar of his?"
Bran's eyes were shocked. He hadn't known. He rose to his feet and began pacing.
"It is a necessity," Bran said at last. "If I don't send him, then who goes? Are you volunteering?"
It would be impossible; they both knew it. One kill, or maybe as many as three or four, and his control would be gone. Asil was too old,too fragile, to be sent out hunting werewolves. He would enjoy it entirely too much. He could feel the wild spirit of his wolf leap at the chance of such a hunt, the chance of a real fight and the blood of a strong opponent between his fangs.
Bran was still ranting. "I cannot send an Alpha into another pack's territory without it becoming a challenge that will spawn even more bloodshed. I cannot send you. I cannot send Samuel because my oldest son is even more at risk than you are. I cannot go because I'd have to kill every damned Alpha— and I have no desire to take every werewolf into my personal pack. If not Charles, then who do I send?"
Asil bowed his head to Bran's anger. "That's why you are the Alpha and I will do anything I can to never be Alpha again." He stood up,head still lowered. He caressed the fabric cover of the book and set it down on the table. "I don't think I really need to read this book again. I have always thought Ivanhoe should have married Rebecca, who was smart and strong, instead of choosing Rowena and what he thought was right and proper."
Asil left Bran alone with his thoughts then, because if he stayed,Bran would argue with him. This way, Bran would have no one to argue with but himself. And Asil had always credited Bran with the ability to be persuasive.
Bran stared at Ivanhoe. Its cover was a dull blue gray, the weave of the cloth a visible sign of its age. He ran his fingers over the indentations that were the title and the line drawing of a knight wearing sixteenth-century armor. The book had once had a paper cover with an even less appropriate picture on the front. Inside, on the flyleaf, he knew that there was an inscription that he didn't open the book to find. He was pretty sure Asil had been here long enough to go through the whole damned library to fi nd this book. Charles had given it to him, maybe seventy years ago.
Merry Christmas, it said. You've probably read this book a dozen times before. I read it for the first time a couple of months ago and thought that you might take comfort in this tale of the possibility that two dissimilar people might learn to live together—a good story is worth revisiting.
It was a good story, even if it was historically inaccurate and romantic.
Bran took the book and replaced it gently in the bookshelf before he gave in to his impulse to rip it into small pieces, because then he wouldn't stop until there was nothing left to destroy— and no one could manage him if that happened. He needed Charles to be something he was not, and his son would kill himself trying to be what his father needed.
How long had he lied to himself that Charles would be fine? How long had he known that Anna was right to object? There were many reasons, good, sound reasons, for Bran not to be the one doing the killing. He'd given Asil one of them. But his real reason, his true reason,was more like Asil's, though that one was more honest about it. How long would it be until Bran started to enjoy the pleading, the suffering, before the kill? He didn't remember much about the time he let his wolf take charge, though the world still had record of it and it had happened more than ten centuries ago. But some of the memories he did retain were of his terrified victims and the satisfaction their cries had brought him.
Charles would never do that, would never glory in the fear others felt of him. He would never do more than what was needed. A paradox,then. Bran needed Charles to be just what he was— and Charles needed to be the monster his father was to survive it.
The phone rang, saving Bran from his thoughts. Hopefully it was a different problem he could sink his teeth into. Something with a solution.
"I won't do it," Adam Hauptman said when Bran called.
Bran paused.
It had surprised him no end when Adam, of all his Alphas, had been the one best suited to deal with the feds. Adam had a terrible temper and not as tight a leash on it as was prudent. For that reason, Bran had kept him back, out of the limelight, for all of Adam's looks and charisma. But his experience in the military and his contacts as well as an unexpectedly good understanding of politics and political blackmail had turned him gradually into Bran's most useful political chessman.
It was unlike Adam to refuse.
"It's not a difficult assignment," Bran murmured into the phone,holding back the wolf who wanted to insist on instant obedience. "Just an exchange of information. We've lost three people in Boston and the FBI thinks it's connected to a larger case and want a werewolf to consult with. The local Alpha isn't qualified— and he's too young to be good at diplomacy when his own people are dying."
"If they want to fly out here, that will be fine," Adam said. "But Mercy's legs aren't healed and she can't get around in the wheelchair without help because her hands were burned."
"Your pack won't help her?" Icy rage froze his voice. Mercy might be mated to Adam, but to his wolf she would always belong to Bran. Would always be his little coyote, who was tough and defiant, raisedby a good friend because Bran couldn't trust his mate with someone he cared about who was more fragile than his grown sons.
Adam gave a huff of laughter that eased Bran's ire. "It's not that. She's grumpy and embarrassed at being helpless. I had to leave last week on business. By the time I got back, the vampire had to come take care of her because she'd driven everyone else off. I don't have to listen when she tells me to leave her alone, but everyone else does."
Pleased at the thought of Mercy ordering around a bunch of werewolves,Bran settled back in his chair.
"Bran? Are you all right?"
"Don't worry," Bran said. "I'll get David Christiansen to do it. The FBI will just have to wait a week or so until he gets back from Burma."
"That's not what I was asking," Adam said. "Volatile is not a word I'd normally apply to you— but you aren't yourself today. Are you all right?"
Bran pinched his nose. He should just keep it to himself. But Adam . . . He couldn't talk to Samuel about this; the only thing that would do would be to make his oldest son feel guilty.
Adam knew all the players and he was an Alpha; he'd understand without Bran having to explain everything.
Adam listened without comment— except a snort when he heard how neatly Asil had turned the tables on Bran.
"You need to keep Asil around," he said. "The rest of them are too intimidated to play games with you— and you need that now and again to keep you sharp."
"Yes," said Bran. "And the rest?"
"You have to back off on the death sentences," Adam said with certainty. "I heard about Minnesota. Three wolves took out a pedophile stalking a third grader with a rope in his hand and a stun gun in his pocket."
Bran growled. "I wouldn't have objected except they got carried away and then left his half-eaten body to be discovered the next day before they told their Alpha what happened. If they'd just snapped his neck, I could have let it go." He pinched his nose again. "As it is, the coroner is speculating all over the papers."
"If you backed off , Charles wouldn't have to go out and kill so often,because you wouldn't have so many Alphas refusing to take care of discipline."
"I can't," Bran said tiredly. "Have you seen the new commercials Bright Future has sponsored? The endangered species hearings are beginning next month. If they classify us as animals, it won't be just the problem wolves being hunted."
"We are what we are, Bran. We're not civilized or tame, and if you force that upon us, it won't be only Charles who loses it." Adam let out a breath and in a less passionate voice he said, "In any case, maybe giving Charles a break on other fronts will give him more rest."
"I've freed him entirely from his business obligations," said Bran. "It hasn't worked."
There was a pause. "What?" said Adam carefully. "The business? You've turned pack finances over to someone else?"
"He'd already backed away from most of the daily chores of running the corporation; put it in the hands of five or six different people,only one of whom knows that it's owned by Charles's family. He does that every twenty years or so, to keep people from noticing that he doesn't age. I brought in a finance firm to take over the pack's other holdings, and what they aren't handling, Leah is."
"So Charles is doing nothing at all except going out and killing? Nothing to distract him, nothing to dilute the impact. I know I just said he might need a break, but that's almost the opposite. Do you really think that's a good idea? He enjoys making money— it's like an infinitely complicated game of chess for him. He told me once it was even better than hunting because no one dies."
He'd told Bran that, too. Maybe he should have listened more carefully.
"I can't give him the finances back," Bran said. "He's not . . . I can't give him the finances back." Not until Charles was functioning better,because the money the pack controlled was enough to mean power. His reluctance to trust Charles, who had engendered it, made Bran admit, at least to himself, that he'd noticed that Charles was in trouble a while ago.
"I have an idea," said Adam slowly. "About that task you had for me—"
"I'm not sending him to deal with the FBI," said Bran, appalled. "Even before . . . this, Charles would not be the right person to send."
"He's not a people person," agreed Adam, sounding amused. "I imagine the last year and more hasn't helped that any. No. Send Anna. Those FBI agents won't know what hit them— and with Anna as a cushion, Charles may actually do them some good. Send them in to help as well as consult. One of us can tell the cops a lot about a crime scene that forensics can't. Give Charles something to do where he can be the good guy instead of the executioner."
Let him be a hero, thought Bran, his eyes on the Ivanhoe in his bookshelf as he hung up the phone. Asil had been right to point out that there was nothing wrong with a little bit of romance to cushion the harsh realities of life. Adam might have given him the Band-Aid he needed to help his youngest son. He devoutly hoped so.


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Dark Journalist
The Space Fence: Covert Agenda Explained
In this exciting episode Dark Journalist Daniel Liszt welcomes back Chemtrails Expert Elana Freeland. Her classic book, Chemtrails HAARP & The Full Spectrum Dominance of Planet Earth, is the definitive book on these suppressed subjects. Her new book, Under An Ionized Sky: Chemtrails & Space Fence Lockdown, is the first major in-depth examination of the murky covert program that has been under development since the 1980s under the Reagan Administration where it was a major aspect of the SDI Star Wars Program.
Roots of the Space Fence: SDI Star Wars
When President Reagan announced that the US would be pouring vast resources into a major weaponization of Space with what he called the 'Strategic Defense Initiative' or 'Star Wars' it was widely assumed that it was meant as a missile shield program to deflect Nuclear Missile Launches from Russia. It's true purpose may have had just as much to do with protecting the world from 'An Alien Threat' as Reagan suggested in a UN Speech, that would bring the world together to fight a common enemy.
An Ionized Atmosphere: Space Fence Deployment
When the Soviet Union Fell ion December 26th, 1991, it was widely assumed that the SDI program was abandoned along with this historical event. In fact it appears that all of the research around Star Wars was reintegrated into a covert initiative for building a Space Fence that would serve as a Major Global Surveillance and Control Grid. What was missing in the 1980s to realize this vision, came along in the 1990s with the development HAARP and the successful efforts to Ionize the Atmosphere. With this being achieved over the last two decades, the conditions are perfect for the full deployment of The Space Fence and all of its terrifying implications of worldwide dominance over communications and a new paradigm of Space being Weaponized.
Shocking, exciting, unnerving, bold and informative, you don't want to miss this fascinating Dark Journalist episode...!


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This feature-length documentary offers a glimpse at the unknown world that lies beneath the Arctic ice. Arctic IV follows Dr. Joseph MacInnis, a specialist in underwater medicine, as he probes and explores the polar depths. Filmed at Resolute Bay, Dr. MacInnis and his team must chip through over 2 metres of ice and dive into the frigid, watery depths at the North Pole - all in the name of science.
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So, I was bored this afternoon, chores done (except for a haircut), presents rapped, house clean. Movie time! I decided "what the heck, I'll give Avatar a whirl." Matinee rate of $9.25 for a 3-D movie. $10 for some darned good popcorn and a coke (I went to a different theater than usual. Screen was a bit smaller than my normal spot, but, sound was fantastic.) My overall grade would have to be an A/D. Why the two grades?
Visually, this was a completely stunning movie. I caught myself not thinking that this was a mostly computer animated movie, and just fell into the scenes, especially with the 3D, which was done extremely well, and drags you right in. It was a cornucopia of delight for the visual cortex. Avatar gave you time to process the majesty of the scenes, and enjoy and revel in them. The details are simply stunning. All the animated creatures, from the tiniest to the largest, went light years beyond previous animation. They had facial expression, incredible movement, and emotion. And, it was a good thing they showed emotion, because the rest of the movie inspired very little emotion from myself or the 60% or so filled theater.
The overall plot was not bad, if kinda done before. A former Marine, who is paralyzed from the waist down during combat, is transported to a far off planet to work as an avatar which looks like one of the native people. Mean mercanaries working for a company want to move native people away from their home to get at the precious materials. Man goes native, rallies native people, beats company. It can be worked. The only problem, James Cameron didn't. It wasn't that the dialogue was bad. It was basic, but, OK. The acting from the live actors was fine. Even the "acting" from the computer animation was just fine. But, it just didn't inspire an emotional response.
When Sully (the Marine) is falling in love with one of the natives, and she reciprocates that love, you barely feel it. When the tree is destroyed (trying to keep the spoilers to a minimum), you barely feel it. When the natives are fighting to defeat the corporation, and win (well, you knew they would, right?), you barely feel it. When the bad guy is killed, you barely feel it. When Sully becomes…….well, you get the drift.
Through the entire visual feast, there is little to inspire an emotional response. Has anyone seen "Marley and Me"? You just felt the joy, the sorrow, the love, the heartbreak. Something as simple as a puppy running loose on the beach brought a smile. When Marley had trouble getting up the stairs to the front door, you felt sad. Avatar brought almost no emotion. The audience was silent and still. You know what it is like to sit in a theater and pick up the emotions from everyone else. During Terminator: Salvation, I had the feeling that everyone wanted to walk out. Here, everyone just wanted to sit and relax like they would while watching one of those Sunrise Earth programs, or the ones where they fly over the countryside in some locale.
As far as being anti-war, anti-military, massive kumbaya with nature? Eh. There were some elements of the first two, but, it didn't make me want to flip the screen off. Nature? A couple scenes were perhaps a little overdone, but, it was just a nice bit. Perhaps if there was any frickin' emotion in the movie, I might have been like "whatever. Envirowackos." The "green" stuff actually worked, most of the time. Ant-corporate? Just didn't see it, though, it is amusing that some feel that that was a message, considering how much corporate money Cameron would have had to take to make the movie. I'm not sure what Roger Ebert was seeing, but, one thing he doesn't talk about is how it affects the viewer. Because it doesn't. If you read so many reviews by pro's and viewers, they talk about how stunning it was visually, but, very little about being emotionally involved and how great the story was.It wasn't racist, as one liberal contends. It didn't suck, as a conservative contended. It just was.
That is why I gave it the dual ratings. Visually, a solid A. For the lack of emotional content, a D. The story itself would deserve a C+. Is it worth seeing in the theaters? I have to say "yes." You just will not get the full scope of the stunning visuals on your TV, even if they give away the same type of 3D glasses as are used in the theaters (unfortunately, movie studios give you the red/green ones when you buy them for home viewing, which just isn't the same.) But, go to a matinee, and save a few bucks.
Crossed at Pirate's Cove


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Danish House Doctor have recently started a new blog (march -10), take a look for plenty of inspiration and nice stuff. Pictures via House Doctor.
Wednesday, 30 June 2010
Tuesday, 29 June 2010
Yesterday I got a Beautiful Blogger award from Ragnhild at "Mine venners hjem". This picture is from her own lovely home. Thanks Ragnhild!
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Etiketter: Awards
Monday, 28 June 2010
Summer inspiration
Hope your weekend was great! I thought these pictures was nice inspiration for a sunny and hot day like today.Via Sköna Hem, photo: Svante Sjöstedt.
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Etiketter: Diningroom, Livingroom, Storage
Thursday, 24 June 2010
Front cover love II
Another lovely cover, this time Italian Vogue from 2003, I also think this picture from Elle is very charming.
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Etiketter: Fashion, Front cover love
I have a dream of living in a house like this with large rooms, impressive windows and solid materials. I think this interior is classy, important-looking and intellectual – in a good way.
This is the house of gallerist and art collector Thomas Andrae. Pictures via Freunde von Freunden. Photo: Ailine Liefeld.
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Etiketter: Homes
Tuesday, 22 June 2010
Friends style II
Photo: Mia Linnman
This retro-mix styled apartment belongs to one of my workmates. It's a small, light apartment with only one room and a kitchen but I think Linda (picture above) has made it very personal and nice, soon she's moving to a bigger place.
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Etiketter: Friends style, Homes, My pictures
Monday, 21 June 2010
New week!
I start this monday with some random pictures by photographer Pia Ulin. Have a lovely new week!
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Etiketter: Bedroom, Livingroom
Thursday, 17 June 2010
Fashion friday
I love fridays! And I get very much inspired of fashion pictures like these. Photos: Romina Shama, bottom picture David Mandelberg.
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Etiketter: Fashion
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