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Tuesday, 31 May 2011
Call of DudeBro
Beachhead studio's addition to the Call of Duty franchise detailed in this astoundingly obnoxious 7 minute shill. Ladies and gentlemen, Call of Duty Elite. I'm really not sure who this info burp is supposed to appeal to. It seems to have been made by a company that utterly detests its customers, but wants to play like they're pals. A curious proposition since this trail basically announces an entirely invented way to make us, the consumer, slightly poorer. We're all idiots desperate to drop coin at the mere whiff of Stan Bush pop-trash apparently. There's zero indication of what will be free and what will be paid content other than further toady assurances in the attendant paperwork that standard multiplayer will still be free. Free, as in you've already paid retail for the game, and possibly an online subscription fee for your platform.
On-message white noise aside, Elite also seems to be selling on a whole slew of functionality already available in Call of Duty: Black Ops, listing it off in an excited bro voice as if it's all wonderfully new. Heat-maps? Render exports to YouTube? Don't we already have all of that? Explicit strategy guides are new, but how worthwhile would such ubiquitously circulated game plans be? Will they be ruthlessly updated? What can this offer over a quick peruse of GameFAQs or DenKirson's latest graphs and charts? The push on community and matchmaking services is a trifle bizarre too. Yes, in theory it would be nice to play with someone who isn't going to scream racial epitaphs down my ear, but that's a secondary concern to finding a host that doesn't lag me out, something that has already theoretically been taken care of by location filtering on match search results. I say theoretically, because it hasn't.
If Activision really wanted to present a worthwhile function to build a new revenue stream around, there's nothing the Call of Duty series needs more than greater netcode stability, be that under-the-hood tinkering or dedicated servers. Black Ops, in particular, suffers in this regard. You've probably found yourself unconsciously adapting to that title's total imprecision by spraying at your target in small, circular motions rather than straight blasts. In Black Ops you often have to account for where you target may soon be as much as where he is now. But, you know, forget all that, we have statistics! Drop-down menus! I bet you can't wait to give us more money!
Rumours are drifting around about bulletin map updates, rather than larger DLC dumps, with your subscription fee netting you a new arena every month or so. Interesting in theory, but where's the industry to feed this insatiable increment juggernaut? Presumably, Treyarch are now hard at work on Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 to meet their mandated November 2012 release date. Raven Software, the usual map pack team, are knuckling down on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3's online component, as well as the next James Bond studio sinker. Even if they both have teams hard at work, will they be producing work that justifies the level of investment Activision are expecting? If maps are being doled out on a monthly basis does that mean we can expect more 'classic' maps, repurposed from older titles? What happens to our subscription stages when the new Call of Duty title is released? It's incredibly unlikely Black Ops authored stages will be compatible with Modern Warfare 3.
You get a sense that this isn't a trailer designed to appeal to any consumer that actually plays Call of Duty games. Instead it's a camouflage fist-bump reel designed to get Activision shareholders frothy at the idea of extra spends coming their way. In closing, it's also worth pointing out that the everyman twonk hammering on throughout this piece doesn't even kill the chap with the RPG at the end of his slow-mo gameplay clip. There's still a red target report even after all that useless helicopter strafing, and the car exploding. How's that for attention to detail?
Interested parties can sign up for the Call of Duty Elite beta here.
Posted by Chris Ready at 18:41:00 0 comments
Labels: activision, adverts, call of duty, Call of Duty Elite, Call of Duty: Black Ops, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, infinity ward, Raven Software, Sledgehammer Games, treyarch, video games
Monday, 30 May 2011
"What the car look like?"
Courtesy of G4TV, here's ex-LAPD detective Skip Bauchman talking us through one of LA Noire's early cases. Reassuring to see a genuine cop puzzling through LA Noire's slightly confusing questioning system. Often, it's not so much a lack of hard graft policing that trips you up, rather it's an unclear understanding of how your character will contextualise your findings. Also interesting to note that Mr Bauchman approves of cases rapdily descending into violence. Here was me thinking Team Bondi were desperately trying to shoehorn in some more action for the dimwitted and inattentive.
Posted by Chris Ready at 18:57:00 0 comments
Labels: LA Noire, rockstar, Team Bondi, video games
"All they had was $1 cash. Was it worth it?"
Retro City Rampage! What this one-note trail fails to illustrate is that rather than limiting itself to 8-bit yuck yucks at the expense of Grand Theft Auto, Retro City Rampage also takes pot-shots at oodles of NES era greats, from Metal Gear and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, to Bionic Commando and The Legend of Zelda. The Retro City Rampage project began as an unfinished demake of Grant Theft Auto III, designed by Brian Provinciano to run on NES hardware, entitled Grand Theftendo. Provinciano has since recruited a teeny-tiny team comprised of Jake Kaufman and Leonard Paul on tunes, and Maxime Trépanier on cut-scenes, for a final retail iteration.
Posted by Chris Ready at 14:44:00 0 comments
Saturday, 28 May 2011
Mortal Konbat
Mortal Kombat demonstrating a unique aftermarket approach. Want to follow their example? Here's how in four easy steps! First, build a franchise with a unique selling point. Mortal Kombat chose colour-coded ninjas and spine removal. Your mileage may vary. Second, run said franchise into the ground. You want to really destroy it. Produce so much shrieking, broken junk that your brand seems positively radioactive. Bad tie-in movies are a good start, but to really turn the knife you'll need at least a couple of lifeless spin-off titles and perhaps even an animated TV series. The more alienated fans there are at this point, the better.
Third, wait a couple of years until everyone's forgotten just how awful your dimwitted franchise milking got, then announce a back-to-basics relaunch. Extra points for dressing it all up in a High Definition drag that recalls your earlier, more successful, installments! Fourth, when compiling this relaunch be sure to excise the most famous examples of your unique selling point. Mortal Kombat achieved this by ditching the only fatality moves anyone ever liked, and by carefully redesigning all their most popular characters so they looked completely unlike how everyone remembered them. The upshot of all this legacy tinkering? NetherRealm Studios, the current stewards of the Mortal Kombat franchise, get to put together a retro pack featuring all this junked content and sell it as DLC a month after release for a cool cool profit. Ka-ching!
Posted by Chris Ready at 13:53:00 0 comments
Labels: mortal kombat, NetherRealm Studios, video games
Thursday, 26 May 2011
Canon T70
The Canon T70. Just the thing for Katsuhiro Otomo people if they want to photograph Blade Runner blimps. Swiped from Otomblr.
Posted by Chris Ready at 12:30:00 0 comments
Labels: adverts, animation, katsuhiro otomo
Wednesday, 25 May 2011
I Saw the Devil
Revenge films move on a idea of punishment, a wronged party moving heaven and earth to equalise a situation, usually by destroying the transgressor. I Saw the Devil begins like that. Secret service agent Kim Soo-hyun attempts to make himself cold and brutal to track the man who murdered his fiancee. He uses the compassionate leave granted to him to hunt and disfigure a series of likely suspects. Through a pitiless process of elimination, Soo-hyun finds himself orbiting the psychotic Kyung-chul. They clash, Soo-hyun quickly, and easily winning. Finding himself dissatisfied, Soo-hyun releases Kyung-chul, choosing instead to pursue and slowly break him. Soo-hyun theorises this will be torture for the killer, creating a simulation situation where Kyung-chul will feel the same helplessness as the women he murders.
The logic is sound, but profoundly fails to understand Kyung-chul's thought process. Soo-hyun is a man who felt and gave love. Until he embarked on his crusade, he was surrounded by people who cared for and valued him. These ties make him human and vulnerable. Kyung-chul has no such connections. His only imperative is the capture and destruction of women. He keeps his family at arm's length, and serves nothing or no-one but his drives. Above all, there's an idea that he expects to die in their pursuit. The extended catch and release scenarios don't work like punishment for him. He's immune to their spectre. Instead, they are reprieves. They allow him to go on damaging. Kyung-chul never doubts his actions, and certainly never considers revising them. Unlike many cop / criminal examinations, I Saw the Devil draws little similarities between the two states. Each is separate and distinct; and both are undone by presuming to understand the other. Ultimately, Soo-hyun's revenge is limp and self-defeating, torturing only himself. It's one thing to act like a monster, quite another to think like one.
Posted by Chris Ready at 19:57:00 0 comments
Labels: Choi Min-sik, Films, I Saw the Devil, Kim Jee-woon, Lee Byung-hun, Park Hoon-jung
Posted by Chris Ready at 15:16:00 0 comments
Bebop by Dave Rapoza
Snaz glasses! Head on over to Mr Rapoza's blog for more ooze-born merchandise mutants.
Posted by Chris Ready at 12:18:00 0 comments
Labels: Dave Rapoza, teenage mutant ninja turtles
Tuesday, 24 May 2011
World at War
Exhaust World War II for gaming grist, your only alternative is to invent a sequel. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 gets its own HONK trailer (Modern Warfare 2's reveal trail being one of the earliest examples of this blaring alarm noise tease trend I can think of), detailing a world-wide extinction conflict. London popping up here as a rain-lashed locale, after missing out on last year's installment, despite some fleeting early bird assurances to the contrary. It's good to have the SAS back. I'm feeling pretty catered for this year; Battlefield 3 for wet-work reportage, Modern Warfare 3 for 'Europe Must Die!' scenarios.
It's hip to kick the Call of Duty franchise, and the Infinity Ward talent exodus last year had me trembling, but at the very least this reel allays fears we'd be getting a half-arsed side-story. Activision have drafted Sledgehammer Games and Raven Software to plug Infinity Ward's holes, and deliver a pure rugged conclusion to Modern Warfare's unseen war. After some limp teasers, thunder utterly stolen by Kotaku's spoiler-bomb details leak, it's only sensible to go with spectacle. Whether it is or isn't, it feels like a make or break year for Activision's annual Call of Duty production model. Call of Duty: Black Ops's rather dour multiplayer hasn't had quite the same legs as Modern Warfare 2's caffeinated buzz. Nazi Zombies mode aside, there's an idea that the Treyarch installments are merely tolerated, with Infinity Ward providing the real juice. With the studio only a shadow of its former self, is that trend able to continue? Disaster Year hopes so!
Japanese insert for the Mega Drive port of 大魔界村, or Ghouls 'n Ghosts. I especially like the pixel Arthur on the spine, super-deformed slumming it amongst the man-sized adventurers. Poring over the hyper-realised art, you can't help but get a cue for From Software's Demon's Souls, another game that sells on lone, fragile knights bumbling on against nightmarish odds. For more Mega Drive insert scans, check out Ed Oscuro's Mega Drive Resource.
Posted by Chris Ready at 11:35:00 0 comments
Labels: capcom, Ghouls 'n Ghosts, mega drive, video games
Saturday, 21 May 2011
Blondie - Rapture
Posted by Chris Ready at 15:24:00 0 comments
Friday, 20 May 2011
She & Him - Wouldn't It Be Nice
Posted by Chris Ready at 13:30:00 0 comments
Labels: music, She and Him
Rambo by Gabz (Grzegorz Domaradzki)
Posted by Chris Ready at 13:14:00 0 comments
Labels: Films, Grzegorz Domaradzki, Poster, rambo, sylvester stallone
Thursday, 19 May 2011
Undead Hero
After frying my Japanese Saturn in a cable swapping mishap, I'd more or less given up on ever getting to play Treasure's sax-scored, scrolling beater classic Guardian Heroes. Sega and Xbox Live Arcade to the rescue! Can we get HD remasters of Burning Rangers and Radiant Silvergun next please?
Posted by Chris Ready at 14:25:00 1 comments
Labels: Guardian Heroes, Sega, treasure, video games, xbox live
Wednesday, 18 May 2011
Resistance 3 by Olly Moss
Posted by Chris Ready at 16:45:00 0 comments
Labels: Insomniac Games, Olly Moss, Resistance 3, video games
Tech Noir Terminator
NECA finally get their shit together long enough to issue a scale Schwarzenegger dressed in The Terminator's junkie punker threads. Doll accessories include switchable mitts, a .45 long slide with laser sighting, and an Uzi 9 millimetre.
Posted by Chris Ready at 13:04:00 2 comments
Labels: arnold schwarzenegger, Terminator, The Terminator, toys
As two-minute trails go, this is a neat summation of The Last Boy Scout. Too nasty violence followed by a million-dollar zinger, a buddy relationship that borders on paternal, American football, and total Tony Scott grain. The ad also sells on the less cussy Shane Black one-liners, coming on like a snarky Holiday season feel-gooder. 80s synth beats employed to mask and warp the miserable intent behind many scenes. Watching this now you're struck by how much of The Last Boy Scout you remember as either unscored, or with music low-low in the mix. It's all gunshots and people noise in my head. According to the kind of trivia soundbites IMDb has all but eliminated for being too interesting, everyone hated making this film. Damon Wayan's felt marginalised, David Geffen wanted to donate profits to AIDS charities, and Bruce Willis's hairpiece got romanced by a horny cat.
Posted by Chris Ready at 12:06:00 0 comments
Labels: adverts, Films, Shane Black, The Last Boy Scout, Tony Scott
Sunday, 15 May 2011
Posted by Chris Ready at 22:44:00 0 comments
Labels: Buronson, comics, Fist of the North Star, Tetsuo Hara
Beastie Boys - Make Some Noise
Posted by Chris Ready at 17:28:00 0 comments
Labels: Beastie Boys, music
Tuesday, 10 May 2011
Ten Films 2010: The Man from Nowhere
Cha Tae-sik is still, a ghost that haunts a slum tenement. He spends his days hidden in a pawn brokers doling out pocket money to junkies and strays. He keeps himself removed, and impersonal. Half his face is hidden by a mop of unkempt hair, eyes frequently fixed elsewhere. He's Spike Spiegel's languid live-action doppelganger; all boredom and determined disinclination. Tae-sik's sole concession to company is a chatty little girl named So-mi who needs somewhere else to be while her mum shoots up. After some ambitious, but ill-considered, swindling said mother finds herself gobbled up by the organ trade. So-mi is enslaved, drafted to serve a drug trafficking underclass. Tae-sik isn't pleased. He must move now. The Man from Nowhere plays around with prolonged in-action. It understands how to slowly trickle out hero information for maximum pop. It's aware enough to strand its protagonists in unfavourable odds situations just as his past life as a human weapon is teased to light. Violence is kept intimate and ruinous - knees on noses and knives on arteries. Above all, The Man from Nowhere knows that the best kind of avenger is one who no longer gives a fuck. Phantom men with no ties, dedicating their dying act to the utter extermination of everything and everyone foolish enough to stand in their way.
Posted by Chris Ready at 19:46:00 2 comments
Labels: 2010, Films, Lee Jeong-beom, The Man From Nowhere
David Fincher CineMix
Joe Hubbard juggles sound effects and speech mined from Fincher's output to create some wet-slap beats.
Posted by Chris Ready at 19:39:00 0 comments
Labels: David Fincher, Films, music
Posted by Chris Ready at 19:01:00 0 comments
Go Nagai's Violence Jack
Posted by Chris Ready at 00:27:00 0 comments
Labels: comics, Go Nagai, Violence Jack
Monday, 9 May 2011
Mazinger Punch!
Robo-hysteria from Shin Mazinger Shougeki! Z Hen, a TV anime series loosely based on a plethora of Go Nagai manga, and directed by Giant Robo: The Day the Earth Stood Still helmer Yasuhiro Imagawa. As short as this clip is, it's peppered with teeny tiny homages to Imagawa's earlier series: as well as naming this tyrant crusher punch for Chujo the Silent's desperation move, I'm also hearing the sound effect used when The Eye of Folger preps for its disaster attack. Currently pestering Manga Video to do the decent thing and licence this for UK distribution.
Posted by Chris Ready at 23:42:00 0 comments
The Avalanches - Since I Left You
Posted by Chris Ready at 23:07:00 0 comments
Labels: music, The Avalanches
Posted by Chris Ready at 21:23:00 0 comments
Rather than manufacture any sequences with a recognisable sense of tension or terror, Scream 4 is more comfortable taking diminishing swipes at the building-blocks of its own genre. Characters auto-critique their actions to a suffocating degree; for some reason director Wes Craven finds it interesting to shoot endless scenes of TV actors standing around trying to work out the perfect fake-out context for their own, inevitable, death. Scream 4 doesn't have anything to talk about. Unlike the original Scream's obsession with masculine violence within the knife and knicker genre, Scream 4 doesn't seek to deconstruct a distinct horror movement. Instead it more-or-less disregards current torture trends, or even PG-13 demakes, to invent meaningless 'new' rules based on no film anyone has ever saw. The film's violence is significantly more frenzied for this outing though, despite a series low 15 certificate, and the killer's identity and motive absolutely pop, but there's barely any foreshadowing to help the knife twist land. A bold, teeth-kicking conclusion is swerved too, wasted to serve a static fourth act where punishment is meted out. Brand boredom maintained for the inevitable fifth instalment then.
Posted by Chris Ready at 16:55:00 0 comments
Labels: Films, Kevin Williamson, SCRE4M, Scream, Wes Craven
Gunbuster vs 250,000,000 Space Monsters
Those Space Monsters are in deep shit.
Posted by Chris Ready at 16:48:00 0 comments
Labels: animation, gunbuster, hideaki anno
This Evangelion 2.22 score excerpt plays over a city-at-rest montage in the feature, but close your eyes and you can imagine Oliver Reed picnicking with his beloved; a quiet moment in an otherwise brutal Italian Poliziotteschi flick scored by Ennio Morricone.
Posted by Chris Ready at 16:24:00 0 comments
Labels: Evangelion: 2.0 You Can (Not) Advance, Films, hideaki anno, music, neon genesis evangelion, Shiro Sagisu
Training Montage
These bulletin length, character focused clips for X-Men: First Class do a better job of selling concept than the cheapy mainstream ad campaign. Instead of lightly underwhelming CG submarines being held aloft, these ads have zeroed in on minutiae, teasing a film built on X-Kid specific training sequences. With the Harry Potter franchise wrapping up, and this 60s set revision kicking off, why not make bratty school-set hijinks the crux of this film's shilling? Professor Magneto laughing at an incompetent child whiffing his abilities is worth a million million computer generated missile attacks.
Posted by Chris Ready at 16:12:00 0 comments
Labels: adverts, Films, Jane Goldman, marvel, Matthew Vaughn, X-Men: First Class
Rage Quit: Call of the Dead
Via the medium of screaming, LtMkilla critiques the latest DLC addition to Call of Duty: Black Ops. His points are valid; the Romero golem's constant presence can become incredibly frustrating, and the Nazi Zombie mode in general gives only the barest concession to the solo player. The reward structure of the latest map baffles too; before the hidden story fragments formed a meta-game for the confident player, here they're the mission. If you want to add to your achievement score, look forward to scraping through mid-teen rounds whilst hunting for disappearing Vodka bottles.
Posted by Chris Ready at 15:55:00 0 comments
Labels: call of duty, Call of Duty: Black Ops, treyarch, video games
Carlos Ezquerra's Major Eazy
Posted by Chris Ready at 15:24:00 0 comments
Labels: Carlos Ezquerra, comics, Major Eazy
Eagles - Desperado
Plinky plonky soft rocker, featured heavily in Japanese sneak peaks at 13 Assassins, Disaster Year 20XX's latest obsession.
Posted by Chris Ready at 15:15:00 0 comments
Sunday, 1 May 2011
Alexandre Aja's COBRA
News to me! Remake vandal Alexandre Aja is bringing Buichi Terasawa's cigar smoking space-cad Space Adventure Cobra to the big screen. Only another two years to wait! I should make some time and cue up Piranha 3D for homework; Aja's The Hills Have Eyes remake pushed all the right nasty buttons. Image courtesy of Premiere.Fr
Posted by Chris Ready at 23:31:00 0 comments
Labels: Alexandre Aja, Buichi Terasawa, Films, manga, Poster, Space Adventure Cobra
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Tuesday, 29 April 2014
Chinese Puzzle (Casse-tete Chinois)
'Chinese Puzzle' is a French film with French, English, Spanish and Mandarin dialogue that is set mainly in Brooklyn, New York City. The wife of a Parisian writer leaves him and takes their two children to set up home with a new lover in New York. The writer, who has previously fathered a child with two Lesbians, all three of whom happen also to live in New York, follows his estranged wife and children there, marries a Chinese American and subsequently is joined by a former girlfriend and her son. Got all that?
It sounds quite ridiculous and perhaps incomprehensible when set out like that but the film explains it all with clarity and a surprising level of charm amongst the humour. The Chinatown of Brooklyn and what I guess are the cafes in its surrounds all convey the thrill and vibe of life in New York City. I love the glimpses of daily New York life whether it is in children's playgrounds, on graffiti drenched rooftops or at the outdoor Chinese dance/exercise sessions.
A little awkward in its early scenes 'Chinese Puzzle' develops into a real delight.
Posted by Victor at 07:00 2 comments:
Monday, 28 April 2014
Posted by Victor at 23:09 No comments:
Sunday, 27 April 2014
City moments
|Archibald Fountain @ Hyde Park
|Anzac Day match @ Sydney Football Stadium
|Busker on a tall bike & onlookers @ Circular Quay
|Kings Cross
|Art & laundry @ Darling Point
Posted by Victor at 07:00 8 comments:
Saturday, 26 April 2014
|(Sydney Theatre Company)
There are eight people in the photograph above, right? Wrong. I thought so each time I looked at the photograph but when I noticed in the program for the Sydney Theatre Company's current staging 'Perplex' that only four performers are listed I looked again at the photograph, a bit more carefully this time, and realised that each performer appears in it twice.
A simple sleight of hand that reflects the play's origins. The program states the play originated from a nightmare dreamt by its author Marius Von Mayenburg and indeed as it unfolded the content of the play reminded me of the style of dreams I have experienced. Not the content of the dreams necessarily but the style. So often in my dreams a scenario unfolds, at times clearly at times somewhat uncertainly, until I realise I am dreaming something quite different from earlier in the dream and then finally, always the case at the end, a difficulty recalling just what it was that I had dreamt.
The four performers play a number of different characters, although their names remain unchanged, and those characters and their relationships morph seamlessly and almost unnoticeably mid scene time and again. In a sense the content of the play - deliberately fuzzy and confused as it is - didn't matter, the message I took from it was how I can't ever really, fully know others nor can they really, fully know me.
Signage at the entrance to the auditorium warns that the play features full frontal nudity and adult themes and it most assuredly does. If you are offended by male nudity then you have been warned.
Posted by Victor at 08:08 2 comments:
Friday, 25 April 2014
Anzac Day
Wednesday, 23 April 2014
Posted by Victor at 23:00 No comments:
Tuesday, 22 April 2014
The Other Woman
One of the funniest things about 'The Other Woman' occurred before the movie with a number of older women purchasing tickets for it at the box office in the mistaken belief they were seeing the Charles Dickens art house biopic 'The Invisible Woman'. What a surprise awaited them.
'The Other Woman' is certainly no work of Dickens. A forty-something lawyer is dating a businessman who she discovers to be a philanderer. The film then sets about showing how the women he has misled set about seeking their revenge.
This is comedy at its basest with outcomes you can see coming from a mile away yet it has its moments especially in its second half. A very large Easter holiday female dominated audience responded happily to the events in the movie; Dickens or not.
I found a couple of the female characters to be especially irritating but otherwise went along with the mindless enjoyment one feels when revenge is successfully exacted.
Definitely not for the art house set.
Posted by Victor at 09:16 No comments:
Monday, 21 April 2014
The Grand Budapest Hotel
I usually approach a Wes Anderson film with caution. The trailers for his films invariably make them appear interesting and hilarious but too often I have found the trailers contained all the best bits and the films themselves to be less interesting than I had expected.
The trailers for 'The Grand Budapest Hotel' have been as tempting as any for his earlier films so my expectations were high. The film centres on M Gustave H (Ralph Fiennes) the super efficient bisexual concierge of a grand pre-war European hotel who beds his wealthy elderly female guests and enjoys the fruits of their gratitude thereafter.
The film is lush, colourful and stylish and shamelessly indulges in cheesy effects. It is also, in Anderson's usual style, quite quirky.
Once again, many of the best moments are revealed in the trailer but this time there is still sufficient left over for the film to maintain interest.
Posted by Victor at 08:40 4 comments:
Sunday, 20 April 2014
'Divergent' is set in a war ravaged Chicago of the future where the entire population is broken into five groupings which determine their behaviour and character. Children are born into the grouping of their parents and on their eighteenth birthday they get a once only, non revocable, choice to remain or change to another group.
The film opens with the heroine having to make her choice and then spends most of its duration depicting the training she receives to remain in the group she chooses. There are some interesting issues here relating to people's desire to belong and fit in but the film focusses on the wham bam action of the situation rather than any moral issues.
The film is derived from books which I understand are very popular amongst young women in particular and it is worthy that the story is built around a heroine rather than yet another beefy, boofy bloke. At the session I attended the audience was about 95% mid-teenage yet it is an "M" rated movie and most of the action revolves around murder, mayhem and violence.
Technically well done but this won't appeal to a broad audience and it is best viewed with your sense of logic suspended.
Posted by Victor at 09:00 2 comments:
Saturday, 19 April 2014
Friday, 18 April 2014
After the 'ball is over......
Football, that is. The crowds filling Platform 1 to the city at Olympic Park station after the Good Friday National Rugby League fixture this afternoon between South Sydney (the Rabbitohs) and Canterbury (the Bulldogs).
One train was about to arrive. I made it onto the following train.
One train was about to arrive. I made it onto the following train.
Posted by Victor at 19:48 4 comments:
Thursday, 17 April 2014
The new boss
After yesterday's stunning events we have just had elected a new leader of the NSW Liberal Party and hence the next Premier of NSW, Mike Baird.
Mr Baird is certainly a better looking Premier (in my opinion) than his predecessor but I fear that in other respects he may be no improvement in relation to the gay community. Whereas Barry O'Farrell stated his support for gay marriage I understand Mr Baird has previously referred to 'those who choose the live homosexual lifestyle' when referring to gay issues.
Mr Baird has been elected leader of his party unopposed.
His deputy will be Ms Gladys Berejiklian, arguably the most active Minister for Transport the state has ever had. She was also elected unopposed.
With regard to Barry O'Farrell, he will not be entitled to the retirement perks that his predecessor Premiers enjoy because he has not served as Premier for a minimum of five years. The irony is that it was Mr O'Farrell who in 2012, as part of 'belt tightening' who changed the rules to enforce this minimum qualifying period for future Premiers.
|Mike Baird
Mr Baird is certainly a better looking Premier (in my opinion) than his predecessor but I fear that in other respects he may be no improvement in relation to the gay community. Whereas Barry O'Farrell stated his support for gay marriage I understand Mr Baird has previously referred to 'those who choose the live homosexual lifestyle' when referring to gay issues.
Mr Baird has been elected leader of his party unopposed.
His deputy will be Ms Gladys Berejiklian, arguably the most active Minister for Transport the state has ever had. She was also elected unopposed.
|Gladys Berejiklian
With regard to Barry O'Farrell, he will not be entitled to the retirement perks that his predecessor Premiers enjoy because he has not served as Premier for a minimum of five years. The irony is that it was Mr O'Farrell who in 2012, as part of 'belt tightening' who changed the rules to enforce this minimum qualifying period for future Premiers.
Posted by Victor at 15:31 9 comments:
Meanwhile in the main game......
|(Sydney Morning Herald)
His performance as Premier of New South Wales is a matter of personal opinion but whether you feel he is one of the best or one of the worst Premiers of New South Wales no-one I know has ever suggested he has acted corruptly or is a shady character.
I feel for Barry O'Farrell. Giving misleading or false evidence to the Independent Commission Against Corruption is a criminal offence and so he has resigned after failing to remember - assuming that he isn't lying that it was a memory failure - that he received the gift of a $3,000 bottle of wine. Why he didn't at least register the gift at the time remains a mystery.
The Opposition Leader, John Robertson, is still in his position even though he has previously admitted failing to report the offer a $3,000,000 bribe. But that wasn't a matter investigated by the ICAC.
Meanwhile the main players in the current and previous investigation by the ICAC into alleged corruption involving millions of dollars continue to go about their daily business smiling sickeningly in the public's face and wearing their allegedly corrupt behaviour almost as a badge of honour.
Justice, like politics, sometimes seems very dirty to me.
Posted by Victor at 07:20 5 comments:
Wednesday, 16 April 2014
Posted by Victor at 23:00 No comments:
Tuesday, 15 April 2014
Laptop crackpot
|(from Dave Does The Blog)
How I feel this evening.
I spent the best part of four hours this afternoon assisting a friend to obtain satisfaction from the Dell support service. To put it bluntly her Dell laptop was 'cactus'. My friend could neither shut the laptop down nor restart it effectively nor could she access the internet or email even though the modem and the wireless connection were working.
No doubt my friend must take some of the blame as she unknowingly clogged the laptop with all manner of useless and possibly dangerous files but I have to say I wouldn't take possession of a Dell product even if it was offered to me for free on the evidence of her experiences. It didn't help that my friend took advice dispensed on ABC local radio last week to safeguard the security of her data - advice that she didn't really understand - and pressed four buttons which supposedly would permanently delete some unwanted documents but which instead seems to freeze everything.
To top off my frustrations I came home to find that Tradies, about to perform major maintenance on my apartment building, have dumped their heavy equipment in front of my garage without giving me any notice and completely blocked my access to it.
On the bright side though, my friend's laptop is now working again (but I no longer care).
Posted by Victor at 19:00 4 comments:
Labels: complaints, computers, home, wtf
Monday, 14 April 2014
Posted by Victor at 23:30 No comments:
Sunday, 13 April 2014
The Gigli Concert
|(Darlinghurst Theatre Company)
In 'The Gigli Concert' currently being staged by the Darlinghurst Theatre Company a wealthy Irish building developer seeks out a faddish therapist for assistance ostensibly because he wants to be able to sing like the famed Italian tenor Beniamino Gigli (1890-1957) even if only for an hour. The fact that the therapist is a drunken wastrel of sorts seems to matter nought to the 'patient' and in the manners of these things the therapist in the end undergoes a treatment of his own.
This is quite a nicely acted piece but I found it overlong. I'm sure the play could have delivered an impact at half the length. There is a lot of the real Gigli's singing during the play which is fine for opera buffs but the recorded works were mostly dour and morose in tone and by the end I was sick of the sound of the arias.
In addition to the generally good acting I have to compliment the performers on their timing - dialogue and movement to the music - which was precise and really skillful.
Posted by Victor at 22:00 No comments:
Saturday, 12 April 2014
A clockwork butterfly
|Butterfly is married
Tonight, as regular as clockwork, a couple of minutes after 8pm I heard through my closed windows, the dull thud, thud, thud of fireworks going off. For the past three weeks, Tuesday to Sunday inclusive, those fireworks have sounded at virtually the same time. It is the moment that Butterfly marries her Pinkerton.
Opera on the Harbour is being staged adjacent to the Botanic Gardens about four kilometres from my home, I guess, as the crow flies. Each of the three outdoor opera seasons has had fireworks as an added inducement. In the first year the fireworks concluded the performance of La Traviata. The second year the fireworks came early in the final act of Carmen. This year the fireworks come at the earliest time of the evening; that point in Act 1 of Madama Butterfly when Butterfly has married Lieutenant Pinkerton.
This year the season has been marred by rain. It rained the night I attended and it rained tonight and it has rained on many of the nights. I wondered whether the performance could continue the night I attended and marvelled that it did and I have marvelled on subsequent nights that the performance was going ahead in even heavier, steadier rain. The sound of the fireworks told me so. Regularly at a couple of minutes past 8pm.
Tomorrow night is the final scheduled night. More rain is forecast. I won't be home at 8pm to hear that thud, thud, thud as I have a play to attend. I may have heard my last Opera on the Harbour fireworks as the gossip is that the seasons will not continue. If so, I will miss those fireworks but the compensation is that there seem so many marketing and special occasion excuses for fireworks on other nights of the year.
Posted by Victor at 22:30 4 comments:
Labels: celebrations, displays, events, opera, sydney
Friday, 11 April 2014
'If that is what you want to believe'
I bought a new camera yesterday for a forthcoming overseas trip. A compact digital camera. I already have a fancy digital SLR camera so it is not essential for me to have purchased this latest camera but I had two reasons for doing so.
First, the compact camera is easier and lighter to carry around day after day and suitable for those quickly taken snaps when you are on the run. Second, the camera has GPS capacity so the photographs I take with it will be labelled with the location. The second factor was the clincher in my decision to have an additional camera available on the trip.
The salesman tried to sell me a 'care protection service'; in effect an additional warranty. I've seen/heard enough consumer information programs on television and radio to know that these 'services' are a money earner for the retailer and an unnecessary duplication from the consumer's perspective of what the retailer is liable to provide under existing consumer law.
The salesman was quite insistent. It wasn't enough for him that I answered 'no' to each of his three proposals that I purchase the 'service'. He then asserted that without my purchase of their 'service', the retailer would not replace the camera should it require replacement. I responded that in those circumstances they would be required to replace the camera and if they refused to do so I would not hesitate to refer the matter to the Department of Fair Trading.
The salesman wasn't deterred. 'If that is want you want to believe' he told me three times. I think he might have continued to push the 'service' if it wasn't that I told him that I would walk away and he would have lost the sale. I'm glad that he then backed off. The camera had been discounted 30% and was significantly cheaper than the price for that camera at the other outlets in the shopping mall.
Posted by Victor at 15:25 5 comments:
Wednesday, 9 April 2014
Posted by Victor at 23:30 No comments:
Monday, 7 April 2014
Posted by Victor at 23:12 1 comment:
Sunday, 6 April 2014
The Great Beauty (La Grande Bellezza)
'The Great Beauty' won this year's Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film of the Year and the equivalent award at the Golden Globes and the BAFTAs. Clearly it is highly regarded by those who assess these things in the industry but for much of its length - and it is a long film - I found it pretentious and tedious.
And yet in the hours after seeing it I mulled it over in my mind and re-evaluated aspects. There was more substance to the film than I gave it credit during the viewing. Obviously it was worthier than my initial viewing had me thinking.
The main character - Jep Gambardella - is a published author. He published one book 40 years or so earlier than the contemporary events in the film and his reputation lies mainly from that and his social jottings for a magazine. His circle of friends all wonder when he will produce a follow up book.
Jep spends his time amongst the fashionable people dispensing sometimes opinions to them which they scarcely seem to recognise as being insulting. Perhaps they are cowered by his superior manner.
His world is one of considerable beauty; his apartment overlooking the Colosseum in Rome is superbly located and he is always dressed to perfection whether formally or in casual mode. The homes of those in whose lives he moves are like museums. There is no ugliness in his life, or rather what might otherwise seem ugly is exotic or bizarre rather than negative.
I thought most of these characters were horrible - maybe beautiful but horrible nonetheless. Looking back there were some telling scenes. Two standout in my memory. In the first, dozens of partygoers watch silently as a child works herself into a state of hysteria throwing paint onto canvas to produce a work of 'art' that they no doubt will battle each other to spend a fortune purchasing. Later, Jep hosts a lunch for a Mother Teresa like character with one guest in attendance a Cardinal whose spiritualism ranges from exorcisms to dispensing recipes for cooking rabbit.
There are many interesting images in the film which is only fitting given its title but in real life I'd run a mile from this mob.
Posted by Victor at 16:10 No comments:
Saturday, 5 April 2014
The Government Inspector
|Belvoir St Theatre
You have announced that you are staging 'The Philadelphia Story' and have sold loads of tickets and then learn you don't have the rights to stage the work. What to do? In the case of Belvoir St Theatre you decide to stage 'The Government Inspector' instead. Except that the play you stage is not actually Nikolai Gogol's 'The Government Inspector' but a play inspired by Gogol's 'The Government Inspector' called 'The Government Inspector'.
Get it?
Well that is what Belvoir Street Theatre (in conjunction with Melbourne's Malthouse Theatre) did. The work commences with a helpful explanation about the loss of rights for the originally intended staging and that staging's substitution by another work and that we, the audience, will not be seeing either work. That is the prelude for 80 minutes of fun and games as a theatrical company battles hidden and mistaken identities to get a work to stage.
It is quite a clever idea using the reality of the lost rights and the dramatic mechanisms of the announced substitute to produce another work altogether that makes fun of the actual situation. Hidden identities are a feature in both 'The Philadelphia Story' and Nikolai Gogol's 'The Government Inspector'.
The creative team and the performers have conjured up an enjoyable entertainment throwing inhibitions out of the window and making fun of themselves and the situation whilst doing so.
This Government Inspector may not be as witty as a Philadelphia Story but it is arguably funnier than the Government Inspector from which it gained its inspiration.
The play may drag occasionally but overall it provides plenty of fun for those who enjoy an inside glimpse of theatre life.
Posted by Victor at 16:48 2 comments:
Friday, 4 April 2014
Dulwich Hill and back
I've had my first go on the extended light rail service to Dulwich Hill and back. The full journey including a ten minutes or so turnaround wait at Dulwich Hill was about ninety minutes.
The good news, which the newspapers seem to be taking glee in reporting as bad news, is that the service seems to be popular. My trip was between 10.30am and Noon on Thursday a time when you might expect patronage to be light yet in both directions the seats were fully occupied and many passengers had to stand for most of the distance.
Unfortunately I failed to get much in the way of interesting photos. On the way to Dulwich Hill I was seated on the sunny side of the carriage and glare restricted photo opportunities. On the return trip I grabbed the last of the few seats the Spanish origin vehicle provides and was pinned in an awkward position facing the rear.
Passing alongside Darling Harbour passengers can see the remains of the Exhibition and Conference Centres both under demolition in preparation for the construction of newer and bigger replacements.
There is no doubt that some passengers, like me, were senior citizens on a sightseeing trip but there were also many obvious commuter passengers travelling various sectors of the line. The tram ran at good speed at some points but there were also some slow portions. There are still many workers at points along the line. Obviously the extended service has been opened even though work on completing the extension is ongoing.
The good news, which the newspapers seem to be taking glee in reporting as bad news, is that the service seems to be popular. My trip was between 10.30am and Noon on Thursday a time when you might expect patronage to be light yet in both directions the seats were fully occupied and many passengers had to stand for most of the distance.
Unfortunately I failed to get much in the way of interesting photos. On the way to Dulwich Hill I was seated on the sunny side of the carriage and glare restricted photo opportunities. On the return trip I grabbed the last of the few seats the Spanish origin vehicle provides and was pinned in an awkward position facing the rear.
|Waiting for the tram to arrive at the Central Railway terminus
|Hawthorne, one of the new tram stops
|Dulwich Hill tram stop and terminus
Passing alongside Darling Harbour passengers can see the remains of the Exhibition and Conference Centres both under demolition in preparation for the construction of newer and bigger replacements.
|Demolition of the Exhibition Centre
|Inside the 'Spanish' tram nearing Central Railway
|On the Up ramp over Eddy Avenue
|The driver's cabin on the 'Spanish' tram
|The 'Spanish' tram on the Central Railway Colonnade terminus
There is no doubt that some passengers, like me, were senior citizens on a sightseeing trip but there were also many obvious commuter passengers travelling various sectors of the line. The tram ran at good speed at some points but there were also some slow portions. There are still many workers at points along the line. Obviously the extended service has been opened even though work on completing the extension is ongoing.
Posted by Victor at 21:17 4 comments:
Wednesday, 2 April 2014
Dulwich Hill tram extension too popular
It is early days but this report in the Sydney Morning Herald about the initial success of the Dulwich Hill light rail extension is interesting and possibly an indication of things to come, especially the planned extension to the University of New South Wales.
|(Sydney Morning Herald)
Posted by Victor at 20:47 7 comments:
A foggy day in Sydney town....
It was a coolish and gorgeous Autumn morning in Sydney when fogged rolled in over the harbour around 8.30am.........
As usual fog in Sydney turned into a magnificent sunny day with a maximum temperature of 26ºc (78.8ºf) at 2.05pm which is pretty good for Autumn.
|Fog rolling in over Double Bay
|Double Bay disappearing
|Opera House sails just visible but CBD and Harbour Bridge totally obscured
Posted by Victor at 15:12 4 comments:
Tuesday, 1 April 2014
Night Watch
A flash mob with a difference;
Posted by Victor at 17:41 2 comments:
Labels: art, music, people watching
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Winter Ride
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This article is part of our Road Trip for Good series with the incredible humans behind the popular 2 Traveling Dogs! Each week they will share their adventure in a new state, and their pups, Peanut Butter Brickle and Digby Pancake, will pick their favorite "Marked Territories." Each state will highlight one special rescue organization that is doing fantastic work to help the dog community. For more detailed coverage, be sure to visit 2TravelingDogs.com!
From one-day trips to weeklong adventures, North Carolina inspires any dog parent to explore! Unforgettable views, history and hikes make a trip to North Carolina road-trip worthy!
This unique park showcases the tallest, natural sand dune system in the Eastern United States. Located in Nags Head, North Carolina, take your dog on a walk that you both will never forget. Bring your leashed dog and walk up the dunes while gazing at kite boarders and sand boarders. Remember that the sand can get hot, so plan accordingly and watch the weather. Bring lots of water and remember to pick up after your dog so that they will always be welcome here.
2. A Day Trip To The Biltmore Estate Grounds
Head to the grounds of the Biltmore Estate located in Asheville, North Carolina. Sometimes you just need a taste of history and beauty and you definitely shouldn't leave your dog behind! Completed in 1895, George Vanderbilt's 250-room chateau is as impressive today as it was more than a century ago. Dogs are allowed to explore the beautiful grounds and more than 250 acres of landscaped gardens. Walk around the grounds and gardens and then hike the Deer Park Trail, a 2.4 mile round trip jaunt. Your best friend is also welcome to join you at several restaurants with outdoor seating in Antler Hill Village, and even the winery! Yes, we said winery. Of course, dogs cannot go inside any of the buildings.
3. Take Your Senior Dog On A Joy Ride Along The Blue Ridge Parkway
Just because your dog can't go on a strenuous hike doesn't mean you both can't appreciate the scenery of North Carolina together! Get your best buddy and hit the open road! The Blue Ridge Parkway travels 252 miles along the ridge of the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina. Make sure to cross the Linn Cove Viaduct, seemingly suspended in midair along the southern face of Grandfather Mountain. Stop at one of the many overlooks for picnic and photo opportunities. Because sometimes a road trip is more about the road.
4. Hike To The Top Of Chimney Rock at Chimney Rock State Park
Some of North Carolina's most breath-taking scenery can be seen from Chimney Rock at Chimney Rock State Park. If you want to see the views from the top of Chimney Rock with your dog, eat a big lunch and climb all 499 stairs on Outcroppings Trail. On your way, you will see the Grotto, Subway and Pulpit Rock. From these vantage points on the trail, you can see views of Hickory Nut Gorge, the Carolina Piedmont and Lake Lure. Both you and your dog will feel a real sense of accomplishment together after reaching the top, but don't forget, you have all those stairs on the way down too. Pack plenty of water, snacks and energy for a view worth the effort! Make sure you know your dog's health condition and stamina before making the climb.
5. Wright Brother's National Memorial
Wilbur and Orville Wright achieved the first successful airplane flight here in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina on December 17, 1903. Your dog may not understand airplanes, but you both can enjoy a stroll through history together at this expansive property with beautiful scenery. Visit the spot where the Wright brothers first took flight and the locations where they landed, then take a hike up to the Monument and enjoy the view with your dog. All dogs must be leashed and are not allowed in any buildings.
6. Gaze Up At Bodie Island Lighthouse At Cape Hatteras National Seashore
Visitors traveling towards Hatteras Island in North Carolina can't miss this black and white horizontal striped lighthouse. The 156′ ft. lighthouse still shines a beam 19 miles offshore. Take a walk with your dog here on the grounds surrounding the Bodie Lighthouse and enjoy a mixture of marshlands, maritime forest and small saltwater ponds.
7. Brickle and Digby's Paw-Picked Rescue: Outer Banks SPCA
The Outer Banks SPCA are the proud operators of the Dare County Animal Shelter serving the Outer Banks region of North Carolina. They provide a loving environment and temporary housing for lost, stray, or unwanted domestic animals in Dare County. These are people who work together for the good of this community, its animals and its residents. Volunteers make a difference here in a big way. From taking dogs on walks, to taking them for field trip days, having children read to its residents and even having weekend sleepovers, this shelter proves that communities can come together in creative way to make magic happen. To find your new best friend, visit their website at www.obxspca.org or their Facebook page.
Be sure to check 2 Traveling Dog's pupcoming schedule to see if Brickle and Digby will be in your neighborhood!
Next stop…Virginia!


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New Data on Islet Autoantibodies in Young Children Defines Early Type 1 Diabetes Development
Tara Wilcox-Ghanoonparvar, 212-479-7524; firstname.lastname@example.com
–Long-term study reveals that multiple islet autoantibodies in young children indicate a high risk of developing type 1 diabetes within 10 years, clarifying the window for potential prevention strategies–
New York, NY, June 19, 2013 – A decade-long JDRF-funded study led by the Institute of Diabetes Research in Helmholtz Zentrum München, Germany, is providing a deeper understanding of the link between autoantibodies and the risk of developing type 1 diabetes (T1D), highlighting the importance of pre-diabetes research into possible preventions for the disease. The study, "Seroconversion to Multiple Islet Autoantibodies and Risk of Progression to Diabetes in Children," was published today in The Journal of the American Medical Association.
Researchers in Colorado (DAISY study), Finland (DIPP study), and Germany (BABYDIAB) followed children from infancy until as old as three years old, to determine the presence of islet autoantibodies—markers that indicate the activation of the autoimmune attack on insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas. T1D occurs when these beta cells are destroyed, rendering people with the disease unable to produce their own insulin. The new findings reveal that nearly 70 percent of the 585 young children studied (in all three countries) who had two or more autoantibodies developed T1D within 10 years, with 84 percent developing T1D in 15 years. The study also revealed that 14.5 percent of the 474 children with a single islet autoantibody developed T1D within 10 years, and that progression of the disease was faster for those who showed the presence of antibodies at younger than three years old. The risk for children without autoantibodies was only 0.4 percent by age 15 years.
"This is the first true estimate from when we think the process of type 1 diabetes starts, and the largest dataset that exists, with over 13,000 children followed from birth and over 1,000 children who developed antibodies," said Anette-Gabriele Ziegler, M.D., director of the Institute of Diabetes Research, who led the study in Germany. "I believe that this sort of data should make us consider whether the status of confirmed multiple islet autoantibodies be used in the staging of type 1 diabetes. This will allow more consideration for intervention necessary to stop or delay progression to the full and irreversible metabolic disease."
"These findings will help us to better identify children who are at the highest risk for developing type 1 diabetes, and allow scientists to focus prevention efforts on groups who are most likely to become insulin dependent," said Jessica Dunne, senior scientist at JDRF. "Prevention of type 1 diabetes is a priority for JDRF, and it is work like this that sets the stage for our efforts."
As a next step, JDRF and its partners are advancing research to develop potential vaccines for T1D and to test compounds that may prevent onset of T1D in those at risk for the disease. A critical part of that effort is a study funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) through the Special Diabetes Program (SDP) called TEDDY (The Environmental Determinants of Diabetes in the Young), which is testing whether factors such as antibiotics, viruses, gut microbes, cows' milk, deficiency of vitamin D, omega-3s, or other environmental causes are triggers for the onset of the T1D in those at risk. JDRF is a leading advocate for the renewal of the SDP in Congress, which funds $150 million a year in T1D research through the NIH.
About JDRF
JDRF is the leading global organization funding type 1 diabetes (T1D) research. JDRF's goal is to progressively remove the impact of T1D from people's lives until we achieve a world without T1D. JDRF collaborates with a wide spectrum of partners and is the only organization with the scientific resources, regulatory influence, and a working plan to better treat, prevent, and eventually cure T1D.
As the largest charitable supporter of T1D research, JDRF is currently sponsoring $530 million in scientific research in 17 countries. In 2012 alone, JDRF provided more than $110 million to T1D research. More than 80 percent of JDRF's expenditures directly support research and research-related education. In 2012 Forbes magazine named JDRF one of its five All-Star charities, citing the organization's efficiency and effectiveness.


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A very Happy Tuesday to you Ladies! After travelling back home to Kenya briefly, being back in the UK,I cannot help but to make comparisons between the massive growth in the Natural Hair movement in Africa and the presence of the movement here in the UK. Here are my views....
Natural Hair Movement still weak in the UK!
Tuesday, 13 December 2016
Labels: Kenyan Mystic, videos
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Last updated December 2022. This Privacy Policy is effective as of November 18, 2014.


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What to Keep in Your Fire Safe
This post may contain affiliate links. View our disclosure.
If you only do one thing to improve your finances this year, focus on getting all of those things into your fire safe that should be there already. And if you haven't bought a fire safe yet, go order one right now! Seriously. This isn't something to put off. Life happens, and it happens fast. It doesn't care about best intentions, and it doesn't care how busy you are. Just ask the girl who found herself with a 90% gutted house after her neighbor's tree came crashing down. Yep, I've lived through the what if, and I'm here to tell you that setting up a fire safe is the single best thing that you can do to protect your finances and your memories. It also happens to be the single best thing that you can do for your family. If something should happen to you, making your important papers easy to locate will make a painful time just a bit less trying. I know nobody wants to think about these things, and I know that the process of setting up a fire safe is a real drag. Believe me; I know. But I also know that it is so vitally important, and so incredibly good for your peace of mind.
Ready to put in the work to set yours up? Here's what I recommend including in your fire safe:
- Home inventory list (both a written inventory and photos or a DVD of your property) Use my printable home inventory list to get the job done.
- Receipts for all major purchases (either physical or digital copies)
- Birth certificates
- Social security cards
- Voter's registration cards
- Passports
- Marriage License
- Military Documents
- Important account information (account names, account numbers, account holder's name(s), contact addresses, contact phone numbers, usernames and passwords) Here's a printable that you can use
- Copies of all insurance policies (life, home/renter's, auto, disability, umbrella, health, etc.)
- Copies of your diplomas, degrees, certifications and important recognitions
- Record of your childrens' fingerprints and DNA, along with a recent photo (our police department makes little ID booklets for free at community events)
- Copy of your will and power of attorney (if applicable), along with your lawyer's contact information
- A copy of your vehicle titles, house deed (if applicable) and property survey
- A copy of the front and back of all of your credit cards, debit cards and driver's license (to help you identify and report when a card has been stolen)
- A copy of all important papers (past tax returns, loan documents, investments, settlements and agreements)
- Current medical information (including contact information for your doctors and pharmacy and a record of all medications that you take
- Special family photos (either physical or digital copies)
- Keys (a spare for each vehicle and your safety deposit box)
- Backups of important computer files
Once you have all of that buttoned down, make an extra copy of your will, power of attorney, home inventory list and anything else that's especially critical, and give it to someone you trust for safe keeping. It's better to have too many copies than too few.
Ready for your next organization project? Start with these. Then, come back for more:
- How to Organize Family Records
- How to Organize House Records
- How to Organize Users' Manuals
- How to Organize Auto Records
- How to Set Up a Household Notebook
- How to Organize Tax Records
- How to Organize Financial Records
Many web browsers have their own built-in PDF viewers, but they tend to be buggy. If you're having trouble printing or editing one of our printables, click here for help.


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Fred found me on Instagram and asked if I could shoot some headshots for him as he started his modeling career. Little did I know he was a full time Civil Engineer during the day.
We met at a local park where we could hang out and shoot some headshots and portraits. I had a great time getting to know Fred and what he did for a living. Being a civil engineer paid the bills, but after hearing from multiple people that he should be a model, he decided to give it a shot. I was the first professional photographer that Fred shot with so I wanted to make sure he had a great experience.
Fred brought several outfits and we were able to get a few shots in each of them. We played around with poses for his portraits and found some backgrounds that wouldn't be too distracting for his headshots. The photos turned out great and he was very happy.
Hopefully we'll be able to shoot again soon if he's not too busy traveling the world.
Drop us a line to book your session!


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Google Authenticator 2.0 for iOS Launches: Supports iOS 7, Retina Display, iPhone 5 [u]
Google Authenticator for iOS has been updated to 2.0, which should please iOS 7 beta users as the latter caused the app to not function properly. Also part of this update is support for the Retina display and also the iPhone 5:
What's New in Version 2.0.0
Support for retina display and iPhone 5.
Improved user interface.
Minor bug fixes.
Improved accessibility support.
The updated app looks great and 2-step codes now are larger and easier to read. Below is the old app, which looks pretty horrific:
….and here is the new 2.0 update, which looks pretty damn good and has similar design cues from Google's family of iOS apps:
Do note once the update is installed, you will be required to re-add your accounts. How to do this? Easy.
Go to your Google account settings (on your computer is probably easiest) > Security > 2-step verification (click 'edit'; it'll ask you to re-enter your password) > click on 'Move to a different phone' > Launch the Google Authenticator app on your iPhone, tap the check-mark in the top right corner > tap the '+' icon > Scan Barcode > scan the code on your monitor with the app > when account is added, enter the 6 digit code on your computer. Done.
Google Authenticator launched back in Feburary of 2011 and is also used by Dropbox as part of its 2-step security process. I would highly recommend you take the extra time to setup 2-step security on your Google and Dropbox accounts for extra peace of mind.
Click here to download Google Authenticator 2.0 for iPhone–it's free. Let us know how you like this update!
Update: The app has been pulled from the App Store, most likely because of the update bug which deletes your existing accounts.


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Raleigh social media marketing agency Social Media Lynx launched updated services including social media account management, Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram growth and others. The company works with social media experts, web designers and content writers to provide complete solutions for businesses in all industries.
Social Media Lynx, a digital marketing agency based in Raleigh, North Carolina, announced an updated range of services for local businesses looking to increase their social media presence through effective marketing and reputation campaigns. The company provides project-based Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest campaigns, social media account management, page creation and many other services.
More information can be found at https://socialmedialynx.com/services.
The advent of social media has led to a series of dramatic developments in business marketing, with companies moving away from exposure-focused strategies to highly-targeted campaigns based on reaching clients with the highest interest in their particular products and services. With Facebook alone having well over one billion active users, social media is one of the most promising means of growing a business through digital resources.
Social Media Lynx provides complete project-based services for local businesses interested in developing a reputable online presence and implementing effective social media campaigns. The company has recently updated its services to provide affordable solutions and free trials for various services.
Clients can contact the Raleigh digital marketing agency for its Twitter Growth Engine service. This monthly solution is ideal for businesses looking to develop a large, relevant Twitter following, typically guaranteeing between 200 and more than 1000 new followers each month, depending on the size of the initial account.
Social Media Lynx allows its clients to post, follow and use their accounts as necessary, the agency working in the background to favorite, follow and share targeted content and connect with relevant profiles, thus increasing organic following and building a large audience.
Similar services are available for Instagram, Pinterest and Facebook, the company working with professional social media experts to ensure sustainable social media growth.
Additionally, clients can benefit from a wide range of copywriting and content writing solutions. A full list of services is available at https://socialmedialynx.com/services.
Interested parties can find more information by visiting the above-mentioned website.


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Powell Communications represents executives and businesses across the marketing, media and advertising industries.
We are all about PR.
But not
Instead, we employ a new style that combines your communications needs with consideration and counsel on your high-altitude business goals. As such, we leverage our own process – one that's been refined and shaped over years of strategizing and working hard for our clients. We represent advertising, marketing, media, technology and entertainment industries, and we'd love to hear from you too.
We believe in more than netting you pertinent press (though of course we are masters of that too). We concentrate on developing communication strategies that truly deliver against your business objectives.
We help position and reposition brands, businesses and executives. We are always proactive. Just as we are always inventing new ways to make news and to connect our clients with the people they most want to work with. Whether that's other clients, other talent or both.
Our clients are creative and talented account handlers. And therefore so are we. We know how it feels in your shoes, for we are a team who once fought on your fields of battle. And always for the win.
Our clients are responsible for some of the most innovative ideas in business. We represent brand marketers, ad agencies, creative boutiques, strategic consultancies, digital and media companies, design firms, production companies, and even a few modern business schools. It's our job to make sure their insights make it to the press. The right way.
"Powell knows what it takes to grow a creative organization; they've done it successfully themselves. We were both startups when we first met and we have grown up together. It's been fun and rewarding."
Sir John Hegarty Co-Founder
"Powell invented the B to CMO PR category 15 years ago. I should know - I hired them for BBH New York as their very first client. When it comes to insightful, strategic, business goal-oriented PR, nobody does it better. I recommend you hire Powell immediately."
Cindy Gallop Founder of BBH NY
CEO, Make Love Not Porn
"Powell is a creative, passionate team, that both thinks strategically and executes flawlessly to drive great awareness, interest and engagement with a brand's marketing and marketers."
Esther Lee Executive VP and Global CMO
"In the ad industry, they are the kingmakers."
David Slayden Executive Director and Founder
"As partners they are thoughtful, energetic and wise. Listen to their counsel; in my experience, they will usually make you better."
Alison Burns Global Client Services Director
+1 212 475 6301
+44 7740 793224
40 Exchange Place
Suite 210
New York, NY 10005


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Connor Wickham has returned to Sunderland following a loan spell at Sheffield Wednesday and will be welcomed straight back into the squad for the crunch clash with Norwich City on Sunday.
Having been unable to put seven substitutes out in some games, and even more catastrophically against Queens Park Rangers where our most attacking option was David Vaughan, the move to bring him back was an absolute no-brainer.
Dave Jones was keen to extend the 19-year old's spell in Yorkshire, but admits we needed him more as he told The Sheffield Telegraph today;
I've been really pleased with Connor during his loan, he was a pleasure to work with and a talented player.
I've spoken with Martin O'Neill and we really wanted Connor to stay but I fully understand that Sunderland have a striker shortage at the moment.
If it is something we get a chance to look at again, we would certainly like to have him back.
Wickham didn't really pull up any trees at Hillsborough scoring one goal in six appearances, but he's badly been missed up here in recent weeks and hopefully he can come in and do something so Martin O'Neill isn't tempted to send him out on loan again.
Wickham will go straight into the squad against Norwich City on Sunday, against whom he had a decent outing earlier in the season.
In other returning from loan news, Adam Reed is back from his spell at Portsmouth, however this is unlikely to make any impact on anyone apart from he might get to play more FIFA with David Meyler.


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We know that insuring your vehicle is not only a basic obligation but a legal and important necessity in the modern world. And these days, your auto insurance needs are more complex than ever.
And we all know that an accident can have a devastating physical and emotional toll on you. And there can also be a major financial impact, especially when it comes to one of your most treasured and vulnerable assets – your automobile. And with the major rise in the number of automobiles and drivers on the road today, even the safest of drivers today face the risk of an accident.
That is why we offer you custom auto insurance packages to provide you with the coverage you need and substantial ways to save. Rest assured knowing that if a problem arises, be it a collision, the theft of your car or a personal liability – you'll be protected from the financial hit.
So no matter if you lease, finance or own your car, we can help you with :
- Liability Coverage: If you injure someone or damage property, we cover the costs
- Direct Compensation: If your car is damaged in an accident that is not your fault, we've got it covered
- Uninsured Automobile Coverage: Your medical costs and damage are covered if an uninsured driver is at fault
- Accident Benefits Coverage: If you are involved in an accident, regardless of who's at fault, we cover all medical and other expenses you are entitled to receive
Contact us now and talk to one of our agents to find out more about the coverage we can provide and to get a custom auto insurance plan for your needs and budget.


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Optimal Sound Reduction for Quality Living
Our Partner
The Most Resilient Material for Noise Reduction
QuietSound™ Rolled Underlayment, manufactured by our Californian partner, US Rubber, is the premium solution for noise transmission in all kinds of multi-story buildings.
Our sustainable, recycled rubber underlayment provides optimal sound reduction while remaining impervious to the elements. Unlike natural cork, recycled rubber remains permanently resilient and will not become brittle with exposure to air.
Not only does QuietSound™ prevent the annoying sound transmission of foot traffic to the floors below, it also effectively deadens the transmission of interior noise, such as from stereos and voices.
Our acoustic underlayment can be used with laminate, hardwood, and engineered wood floor systems as well as most ceramic and stone tile installations.
The Greeen Advantage
- Qualifies for LEED* (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) points under Green Building Council Certifications.
- Collaborative for High Performance Schools (CHPS) certified. (ext LINK)
- MAS Certified Green
- Helps conserve energy
- Made of recycled tires
- Fully recyclable at end of life
- Very low Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs)
- High Rises
- Condominiums
- Schools
- Multi-family homes
- Hospitals
- Apartment Buildings
- Theaters
We supply our acoustic underlayment to all GCC countries: the UAE, Oman, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia. To assist you with solutions for your project, please contact us.


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Hey Sis, we're thinking of you. This dive's for you!
Chris and Laura
Hey guys! Congrats on the first course!! Once you get the second under your belt you will have lots more interesting dives to go on. Would love to hear about it!!!
Laura Beauchamp Reply:
July 26th, 2010 at 2:43 am
Hi Kelli. We have completed our Advanced Open Water diving course. We have tentatively scheduled two more places for us to practice our skills, one island in Thailand and another area off the coast of Vietnam. We'll let you know how it goes all by ourselves! Eeeeekkkkk.


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Other Online Resources
- Cadw: Days Out in Wales
- North American Association for the Study of Welsh Culture and History
- Swansea University Milne Collection (one of the largest collections of literature on the American Civil War in the UK)
- Swansea University Texas Partnership (ongoing collaboration & partnership with several universities in Texas)
- Wales and the USA
- Wales International
- Welsh and Successful in North America Today (PDF, 24 pages)
- Wikipedia list of Welsh Americans
Cultural Connections
Some notable cultural connections in Wales are as follows. If you think we've missed one, please get in touch!
Dolwyddelan Castle
This castle was the birthplace of Madoc, Prince of Snowdon.
Legend has it that Madoc sailed to America in 1170, arriving in present day Mobile Bay, Alabama. Unfortunately, he was never heard from after his second voyage to America.
More information about the legend is on the website of Historic-UK .
The Welsh Government's historic environment service Cadw has this visitor information.
Dolwyddelan Castle
+44 (001690-750366
St. Giles Church
Elihu Yale, the founder of Yale University, is buried outside the west door of the Church.
The parish church is also known as one of the "Seven Wonders of Wales". The Wrexham Council website has this to say about the church:
"St Giles is considered the greatest medieval parish church in Wales. Whilst steeped in history and abounding with treasures and delights for the visitor, it also remains a busy and popular church with the congregation committed to worship, and acknowledging the presence of God in our daily lives.
The Great Tower is one of "the Seven Wonders of Wales", and inside, a ceiling adorned with 16 colourful angels playing instruments and singing, greets the eye."
The Church is open daily but visitors are recommended to check opening times with the parish office prior to visiting.
1 Temple Row
+44 (0)1978-355-808
Gwydir Castle
The Castle contains carved and gilded paneling that was at one time owned by American press mogul William Randolph Hearst.
The panels were inherited by the Metropolitan Museum of Art after Hearst's death and have been restored to their original form in the Castle.
Gwydir Castle
Llanrwst, Conwy
North Wales
+44 (0)1492 6416-87 –
National Slate Museum
Dinorwig Slate Quarry in Padarn Country Park
This listing of events, performances and other activities is for information purposes only and does not constitute an endorsement by the U.S. Embassy. All opinions expressed by the artists, writers, and performers participitating or contributing to the events listed are those solely of the participants and contributors and not of the United States Government or its designated representatives. Listing information is believed to be correct at the time it is listed but the U.S. Embassy accepts no liability for subsequent changes to these details and no reliance should be placed upon them.


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✓ Worldwide Shipping ✓ Nearly 50 years of providing quality Styles for Life ✓ Quality Italian Leather ✓ 20 Store Locations
For any advice or questions regarding products, sizing, delivery and orders, please do not hesitate to ask our Customer Service Team.
Our hours of operation are Monday to Friday from 9.00am - 5.30pm [GMT].
We will endeavour to respond to any email within 24 hours excluding outside working hours or Bank Holidays when we will then endeavour to respond on the next available working day.
Please be aware that during peak times our Live Chat will be switched off and not be displayed.
Carl Scarpa Stores
Carl Scarpa Head Office
Carl Scarpa is the trading name of CS Calzature Limited.
Registered in Ireland, Company No: IE301366
Address: 21 North Park, Finglas, Dublin 11, Ireland
Head Office Ireland: +353 01 804 1140
Head Office UK: +44 20 80982005
Customer Service Ireland: +353 01 864 1955
Customer Service UK: +44 20 80982006


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How to add a text/ button over an image which is inside a cell?
I am building a responsive site. So as suggested in example I went with a table layout for the entire page. And, placing elements in cell. Facing problem, when there's an image inside cell, and I want to add text & button on it. How do I achieve that?
Hi there,
After placing the element on the canvas, you just need to drag the element into the table through the outline panel. You'll know it has been correctly dragged into the table when you look to the outline panel and see the image or text within the cell.
I have done in the similar way to get the image in the cell. Probably you didn't get my query. Please see the attached image. The big image is already there in the cell. And, I want to insert another TEXT element in the same cell but over the image. I am facing trouble when I try to place the TEXT on the image. It doesn't allow and the TEXT stays outside of the image.
Hi there,
Apologies for any miscommunication. You can do this by changing the layout of the cell by selecting the cell, then looking to the properties panel and change the layout from vertical to free. See the attached screenshot.


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The Mojo Company's Matt Monge discusses how a quality workplace culture fosters success...
If you've ever purchased anything from online shoe store, Zappos!, or read the book "Delivering Happiness" by the company's CEO, Tony Hsieh, then you know how a quality culture can benefit the workplace -- and ultimately its profits. Well, The Mojo Company'sPresident & Principal Consultant, Matt Monge, is applying this same philosophy to the credit union industry. Matt talks about how building and maintaining a quality culture within the workplace can do nothing but benefit an organization -- morally and financially. Matt has a huge heart for credit unions and a ton of motivation to make this industry better and better. Enjoy the show!
Visit: www.themojocompany.com
Matt's article on workplace culture: From Catchphrase to Culture
Comments are closed.
Mike Lawson, Host
Married to a beautiful and wonderful wife, raising 5 kiddos (including twins!), enjoy helping others tell their stories, and love surfing SoCal waves. Keep it simple.
September 2023


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On 29 May, we are going out to open Parenta Trust's first pre-school in Uganda! It's the result of lots of hard work fundraising, much of which came from our Maidstone to Monaco banger rally last year (we're going again this year, if you're interested!).
As you can imagine, the children who will be attending the school do not have the same access to clothes and equipment as we do in the UK, so we're hoping you can help!
Do you have any old equipment or clothes?
We'd love to go bearing gifts, so please do let us know if you have any of the following that you no longer require:
- Clothing
- Sports equipment
- Educational posters
- Art supplies (like those little foam letters that children can paint and stamp)
- Any other suitable equipment for under-5's
Obviously, we'll be taking it as luggage so the lighter the better!
Email email@example.com, and we can pass on the address to send it to.
Thank you for your support!
You can make a donation to the next pre-school through our Just Giving page!