text:
Welcome to Project Car Hell, where you choose your eternity by selecting the project that's the coolest... and the most hellish! 1973 was quite a memorable year; engine compression ratios were down as US emissions laws sprouted some sharp claws, the Arabs got so pissed about their ass-whooping in the Yom Kippur war that they cut off the oil, and Richard Nixon was forced to fire Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox in the Saturday Night Massacre, in order to save the country from those pinko traitors who would see a Viet Cong flag flying over the White House and celebrate their victory by dumping a megaton of pure LSD in the nation's water supply! Yes, that was a simpler time, a happier bygone era captured in little square Instamatic photographs; think about that next time you're hearing those oldies wheezing out of the speakers at a car show and some grumpy old guy sitting on an ice chest next to his numbers-matching '74 Charger gripes about how much better things were back then.
First, let's hear what Tricky Dick had to say to those communists in the media who wanted nothing less than total emasculation of the Executive Branch of the United States government. You see, he canned Cox for selfless reasons, yet once again the press was out to get him!
It would have taken a miracle for Nixon to survive impeachment, which is the reason he resigned. Unlike Nixon, however, you won't have the option of resigning from your Pantera project, not when you've managed to buy the car for the once-in-a-lifetime low price of just $2,500. Got your attention now? That's right, this 1973 'Lamborghini' Pantera (go here if the ad disappears), complete with genuine "Clevlander" 351 engine, is sitting there in North Jersey with a 25-Benjamin price tag! The seller states that it's in "Good Shape just rusted," which is much like saying that the reputation of the United States Presidency is in good shape, other than some Watergate damage. The buyer hardly needs to mention that it doesn't run, but he wants to make that fact perfectly clear. The interior is "in tact," though, which makes the project a bit easier, and Ford Cleveland parts are no sweat to find. If you're thinking of just making it run and then enjoying the glory of driving the meanest-looking rustmobile in your town, think again: the Pantera's monocoque construction means that rust anywhere on the body will probably lead to catastrophic structural failure at high speed. But so what? 2,500 bucks!
Panteras are cool, and there's no denying that they're pretty quick, but the Vince Neil stigma is pretty tough to scrub away. And what if you'd prefer a precise, road-gripping machine to a fire-and-brimstone pushrod V8-powered testosterone monster? Well, also available in 1973 was the Lotus Elite, which- thanks to fiberglass monocoque construction and Lotus' famed suspension engineering- weighed about 17 pounds and grabbed the pavement the way the goddamned Ho Chi Minh-loving press sank its fangs into Richard Milhous Nixon and wouldn't let go! That's right, you'll go all Woodward and Bernstein on your favorite twisty mountain road once you get this '73 Lotus Elite (go here if the ad disappears) back into running condition. Actually, it might already be in running condition, but the seller was too busy slamming a huge fist onto the CAPS LOCK key to type out that inconsequential tidbit, though he or she does state that it "NEEDS RESTORATION." All the photographs are from similar angles, so we can't tell you much about the condition other than the obvious missing front body components, and we also can't tell you how many miles are on the clock; if it really has racked up "5000 K" miles, we're looking at a five million mile British car here, which could mean it's the highest-mileage car in the world (though to achieve that figure it would need to have maintained an average speed of a just under 17 MPH the entire time since it was built). Hey, maybe it's really a super-cherry 5,000-mile car, and all for just $3,400. You can't lose!


text: We recently had a short vacation on the Loire Valley and after searching over the internet for "chambres d'hotes" we decided to chose the Moulin de la Follaine. First of all, I must say that the description including photos available on tourist websites is perfectly accurate. The house is a reconditioned old mill (still working) with very nice and comfortable... More

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Today in A State of Trance 752 new tracks by Giuseppe Ottaviani, Bobina, Same K, Steve Helstrip, Kyau & Albert, Cressida and many more! Also some news about #ASOT750NL! Plus new Future Favorite and Tune of The Week! Enjoy! asot 752
Artist: Armin van Buuren
Title: A State of Trance 752
Date Of Release: 25-02-2016
Source: DI.fm (Trance Channel)
Genre: Trance
Quality: MP3 / Joint Stereo
Total Size: 275.9 Mb [SBD 320kbps]
Get ready to nice mix today!! For further info, when radio show starts and how to get broadcast links, please check on "About" page!
Read more… »
Tags: a state of trance 752, a state of trance 752 download, Armin van Buuren, asot 752, asot 752 cue, asot 752 Cue sheets, asot 752 download, asot 752 tracklist, ASOT750 info, ASOT750 news, Cue sheets for asot 752, state of trance 752


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|2011-08-24, 02:58
|Link #23901
The True Culprit
|2011-08-24, 07:58
|Link #23902
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Gnawing away at Rokkenjima
I'm going to respond to your post somewhat out of order.
Although, skimming through it again I pretty much came to the conclusion that the Ange-Ikuko/Featherine scenes were meta-meta. Like, truly meta between Ryuukishi (Featherine) and us (Ange). Definitely not laterally related with BATTLER's meta world like I suggested before.
Also because Yasu wants people to think Beatrice exists. And because Touya decided that it's best people don't know what actually happened. And what AuraTwilight said. And maybe 'cause it's just plain fun.
However, written text indicates that the scene is meant to convey something. Written, the magic scenes are a coded message from Beatrice (at least in Legend and Turn) in the form of a challenge to Battler, with the ultimate goal of Battler unveiling Beatrice's true form; it was Yasu's shy way to get Battler to notice and understand her. The magical scenes lose this warm backdrop if they are instead generated entirely from Touya's own imagination, and they also lose their usefulness in understanding how Touya, Yasu, and Ange interact with each other and the rest of the world.
However, I'm not convinced that the magic murder scenes are, as they are directly used to explain plot advancements in Dawn's 1986-Rokkenjima story, complete with Gaap teleporting Eva's corpse into the VIP room from outside. Yes, we all know they are not actually killed until Erika gets to them, but that's normal; a false magical narrative is a legitimate gamemaster's trick for trying to convince their opponents that witches exist.
In other words, if it was a purely meta-event, why does it go out of the way to create a fantasy narrative logically consistent with the mystery narrative?
However, a "good" reader, like Ange, gets it.
Interesting quotes from episode 6 Tea Party:
It's still a bit uncertain, because it's hard to tell when episode 6 Ikuko/Featherine is truly speaking as "Hachijou Touya" and when she's speaking as Ryuukishi himself.
|2011-08-24, 09:23
|Link #23903
Join Date: May 2009
Problem #2: Chick-Beato's existence makes no sense in the story outside of a meta context. Therefore any scene involving her fighting Natsuhi can't possibly make any sense. That means, at best, only the Rosa/Maria, Eva, and Kyrie killings are actually explained in the text if the "magical" scenes appear in it and the "meta" scenes don't. So basically either the meta stuff's in there, or the magic stuff isn't. Well... either that or several magic scenes were removed and at least one wholly replaced.
Problem #3: The setup of the First Twilight in ep6 seems to present a narrative puzzle that is more impactful if the successive discovery of the bodies hits the reader just as suddenly as it hits the characters. If Eva is killed outside and then warped into a closed room, the story seems to lose something. I'd argue the same about Banquet honestly, but we know why that magic scene was in there and it was really not for the benefit of Ryukishi's narrative.
Remember, we can't simply say Legend is an establishing story with magic scenes to come in later works, because:
It's a serious problem. Legend would be grossly incongruous with the rest of the series if it didn't come first. But the story we're told about the provenance of the message bottles makes it absolutely impossible to guarantee that it would be read first. It's not merely a question of a story being lost like Land; without Legend, literally none of the other stories make sense. So Legend is both first and, if magic scenes are integral to the text, completely different from every other story in not having any. Something's very wrong with that.
The only other solution is that Legend did have magic scenes, and the story skipped them (as when Shannon sees the butterflies and the story immediately cuts away) or edited them (like Kanon's death scene, which perhaps could have been longer originally).
|2011-08-24, 15:59
|Link #23904
Senior Member
Yasu/Battler-Beatrice also says that she is 1000 years old and that this story describes her revival in full details and this is all the truth...
Also it's not exactly Ikuko who's talking to Ange there...it's more an amalgation of THE author in form of Featherine. I think in those scenes she is much less Hachijô Ikuko and much more Featherine Augustus Aurora, the representation of the author himself.
And therefore I think we shouldn't only see what BATTLER or Yasu want us to see, because there is also another author and that is Ryûkishi. He might have been a little awkward when it came to showing us which scenario was which at which point...but it was still also a battler between us and him.
|2011-08-24, 18:02
|Link #23905
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Gnawing away at Rokkenjima
It is notable that only Battler's explanation was left out of a set of related deaths; however, I believe that was intentional by our storyteller, BATTLER. Battler's "death" is already odd from a purely mystery standpoint as being the only male victim, and also strange from the standpoint that he has never died in any twilight of any story before. It also makes sense that BATTLER would want to draw Erika's attention to Battler if we are to follow the Genius Battler Theory. In the end, I don't think he's trying to weave an interesting mystery so much as he's trying to convey a message using the mystery/fantasy context, and leaving Battler's "death" unexplained is somehow intended to further this goal. Although Erika fails to get anything because she just tunnel-visions on the mystery.
Assuming my viewpoint is true (magic written, meta not), it is interesting to imagine what the reader is actually getting; imagine if all that we were presented with in episode 6 was the meta-discussions Erika was involved in plus anything that occurs in a Rokkenjima setting, with none of the love duel stuff and none of BATTLER's discussions in his meta-staffroom. What we get is kind of like Turn, isn't it? You know, what with the out of context and out of nowhere magical scenes... and then the trick to get out of the logic error is a lot like Banquet's trick to kill Nanjo. Except that now we get to see how these strange things happen from the gamemaster's standpoint.
Actually... wow, this all makes sense. People did find Turn first, but considered it nonsense because of all the magical bullshit. Then they found Legend, which could be taken seriously by itself, and realized it was the same author, which made people take another look at Turn. In other words, as long as Legend is actually found, it doesn't matter what order they were discovered, because the fact that Legend is the foundation story is clearly self-evident.
As far as the author's delivery method ensuring that Legend be found... well for 4 years it wasn't found. If we're already willing to accept the idea that Yasu dropped her stories into the water with no guarantees that they would discovered, then it's no big change to imagine one story to be more important than the others.
|2011-08-24, 18:44
|Link #23906
Join Date: May 2009
The truth is, Beatrice/"Beatrice"/"Ushiromiya Maria" is a fairly clever person who seems quite adept at planning ahead. So we're just to accept that the establishing story, apparently the only one of its kind ever found (Turn isn't and Land apparently wasn't supposed to be), might have gone missing by random chance, wrecking not just that one story but every other story that might possibly be found? Please.
Look, if you're dealing with a woman who can set up bank accounts and arrange return-to-sender payout mailings, it's a lot easier to buy her paying off a fisherman to "find" and release Legend at some predetermined date in the future. And that's assuming she didn't just survive in the first place and make sure it was "found" herself. Entrusting to fate my exquisitely-sculpted ass.
(* the etymology of "fuck" may not, in fact, be French; I happen to know it is of Germanic origin, don't ask me how, but "pardon my Old Germanic Languages" doesn't have the same je nais se quoi, and you can indeed pardon that French)
|2011-08-24, 21:49
|Link #23907
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Gnawing away at Rokkenjima
We're talking about some emotionally isolated inbred identity-confused penis-less man-girl in love with 3 of her cousins at once here. She might be capable of setting up bank accounts, but she's still coocoo. How could it not be at least possible that she would leave her message-bottles' discoveries to chance? I have a lot more trouble believing that stories could be properly prepared when they couldn't have even been started until 1-3 days before the conference (based on the weather predictions and the prediction of Ange's absence).
If (and I mean if) Yasu actually uses such an unreliable method as bottles-by-sea to deliver her work, then whether she's got everything riding on one single story being discovered, or one of three (that's an acceptable number, right?; Legend, Turn, and Land), it doesn't change the fact that she chose to use a decidedly unreliable method of distribution (when she has access to reliable methods). Indeed the probabilities differ, but it doesn't significantly change the character of the action.
|2011-08-26, 03:10
|Link #23908
Thought Being
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Canada
|2011-08-26, 16:56
|Link #23909
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Gnawing away at Rokkenjima
For any interpretation of the meta-world being in some way a reflection of Touya's mind, it truly is strange how Touya seems to be playing the game with himself once he starts becoming part of the writing process. And if we are to go a bit further and believe that fantasy elements are not written, but projected (an idea not without its merits) then it seems even more strange to imagine that Touya was expressing himself through a conventional mystery while keeping his fantasy interpretation unexpressed. I suppose there is also the matter of Ikuko, who would act as a filter between Touya's ideas and what is actual put to writing.
|2011-08-26, 19:58
|Link #23910
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2011
Ah man, so many posts to read through that I don't completely understand yet because I haven't read ep8.
I really hoped that the Meta-World was really some 10th dimensional story of characters that took precedence over the actual universe(sorta) and that fragments were really existent.
But that's hard to believe with these new theories about the matters.
Now, when you guys say ''Fantasy'' and ''Meta'', you seem to act like they're different, is this because you're talking about Fantasy being on the lines of ''Kanon dueling with a goat'', and Meta being ''Battler complaining to Beatrice when he sees a murder''?
If so, are scenes like EP5's court of illusions Fantasy, or Meta? For that matter, what about the fight between Dlanor and Battler, when Battler supposedly resurrects? Is that Fantasy or Meta?
I could see it as being Meta by some mystery expert correcting Battler's reasoning by quoting the Knox's(Dlanor fighting Battler), but it also felt REALLY Fantasy to me.
Maybe you guys mean: ''Meta= Red and Blue fights'' while Fantasy= ''Bullcrap scenes in the story like Kanon swordfighting a goat''?
Just trying to confirm the specific points here.
|2011-08-26, 20:44
|Link #23911
The True Culprit
|2011-08-26, 21:18
|Link #23912
Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2011
That makes episode 6 a lot more confusing, because in order to kill Kyrie, Jessica acknowledged she had to make a ''closed room murder'' to justify the Fantasy scene.(Well, she was in a situation where closed room would be the only answer to the Fantasy scene).
|2011-08-26, 21:55
|Link #23913
The True Culprit
So? The power of magic requires that humans believe it. If you want your magic to work, it has to look like it was done with magic. On Rokkenjima, closed rooms are the most practical way to pull this off.
|2011-08-26, 21:55
|Link #23914
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Gnawing away at Rokkenjima
But I'll repeat: What you describe is a completely valid and intended interpretation of Umineko.
And on to something else
So, I replayed episode 8's "????" and noticed/remembered a couple important things that bear heavily on the topics of recent discussion.
Kotobuki Yukari (Ange) remembered playing with Maria and her stuffed animal Sakutarou. Hachijou Touya recognized that the author of "Sakutarou's Great Adventure" had to be none other than Ange. So:
-Sakutarou was in fact made up by Maria (not by Touya as I had theorized)
-Touya somehow knew of Sakutarou (even though he had never known Maria at the same time as Sakutarou "existed")
-Ange would know of Sakutarou regardless of whether she had access to Maria's diary or not
-Which also implies a considerably greater possibility of Ange being well familiar with Mariage Sorciere even without Maria's diary
Also of note is the fact that "Hachijou Touya" is only referred to as an author of mystery novels (推理小説) and nothing is mentioned of "Hachijou Touya"'s work including any fantasy elements. This is strong evidence that fantasy elements are purely a meta-projection.
There's also the part of Alliance where Kanon and Shannon talk about their experiences in past stories as well.
So yeah, this stuff really hurts some of my theories. But I have to say that Alliance would be pretty damn shitty as a pure mystery. It would be shitty as a theory too, since Eva's death flags it as obvious fiction.
Last edited by Wanderer; 2011-08-26 at 22:21.
|2011-08-26, 22:17
|Link #23915
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2011
Battler and Ange met when Ange was still a child. Ange said to Battler she had played with Maria and her stuffed lion Sakutarou, which Maria believes to be capable of talking but that, when she had gotten bored with Maria pretending Sakutarou could talk, she had informed her Kirye had told her Sakutarou couldn't talk.
Later Battler goes on Rokkenjima, there's the Rokkenjima incident, he becomes Toya and, among the fragments he remembers there's that Maria had a 'talking' stuffed lion.
Going on. While he was on Rokkenjima Prime he might have asked Rosa where was Maria's lion and she might have told him it broke but that she had made for her another which she had forgotten on the boat.
As Toya, after hearing rumors about how bad of a mother Rosa was he might have joined this bit of memory with the assumption Rosa broke Sakutarou and you have Sakutarou story.
|2011-08-26, 23:09
|Link #23916
The True Culprit
|2011-08-27, 02:48
|Link #23917
Join Date: May 2009
However, there's nothing that would exclude it from his works, at the least.
|2011-08-27, 03:21
|Link #23918
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Gnawing away at Rokkenjima
|2011-08-27, 15:36
|Link #23919
Senior Member
Basically everything that Tôya seems to know he could have learned from Yasu or Maria during his stay on 1986 Rokkenjima. I still lean towards the theory that he actually had some time to look into her diary...there must be a reason why it survived the accident. And it being a source of Beatrice's magic, I highly doubt Maria would have left it at home.
The problem with Ange not possessing the diary is that she had no immediate knowledge of Mariage Sorciere. She was supposed to become a member but it seems like she was expelled before the first actual meeting...at least it's implied by the Maria/Ange plot. Ange didn't seem to have any memory ever meeting "Beatrice" or any of the magical friends before.
Though of course had she taken part in any of the meetings and just forgot about it because she was too young and found it boring (basically it's just Maria, Yasu and Kumasawa drinking tea and drawing some pictures)...this would give even more credence to the Kyrie culprit theory, because her daughter could have told her about there being someone playing out the part of Beatrice.
|2011-08-27, 15:57
|Link #23920
Dea ex Kakera
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: Sea of Fragments
|Thread Tools


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The Nines Hotel
And the billiard room looks like the perfect cozy spot to spend a rainy evening. Along with the lovely decor, we also hear that the hotel has an amazing collection of local artwork that features more than 400 pieces. So if you miss the museum, at least you'll know you got a taste of what the Portland art scene has to offer. Has anyone stayed at The Nines yet? Let us know what you thought.
Images: The Nines


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How Georgia Tech and Tulsa Met in the 1944 Sugar Bowl
There was wide speculation during the week following Tulsa-Tennessee that the Sugar Bowl might be scrapped until the end of the war. Fred Digby doubted anything that severe would be done. "They'll do whatever Uncle Sam thinks best," he wrote. "Two years ago the Sugar Bowlers announced their policy would be to carry on unless the government thought it best to call a halt. To date, the government has not asked anything except that ticket sales be confined to the New Orleans area. This was done, and to the letter."
When the Association met that January, there was no official mention of temporarily suspending the Sugar Bowl other than to refute the idea had substance. President Joseph B. David said, "We held our regular monthly board meeting tonight, and no discussion of the matter was had."
Selecting bowl teams was a chore in the 1943 football season. The best teams were those whose schools were involved in military training, such as the Navy V-12 program, and those on military bases whose participants were still amateurs. Washington and Southern California, both members of the Pacific Coast Conference, were announced early as the Rose Bowl combatants. The reason for the choices was the travel that would be involved for an Eastern or Southern team.
Iowa Preflight and Southwestern Louisiana Institute, a strong team with a military program, appeared the favorites for on berth in the Sugar Bowl. Georgia Tech, a Navy training school, was the Southeastern Conference champion. It was the choice for the other spot, though badly beaten by No. 1-ranked Notre Dame. Iowa Preflight was eliminated because the Navy had a 48-hour limit on furloughs. The Mid-Winter Sports Association disclosed its pick in late November, Georgia Tech – with the most defeats, three, of any team that had ever competed in the Sugar Bowl – was pitted against the undefeated, once-tied Tulsa.
Receiving and accepting the invitation was a historic occasion for Georgia Tech. It completed Coach Bill Alexander's circuit through the four major bowls. He had taken Tech to the Rose Bowl (1929), the Orange Bowl (1940), the Cotton Bowl (1943), and now the Sugar. Tech became the first school to complete the cycle.
This would not be the same Tulsa team that competed in New Orleans in 1943, although its roster did carry a couple of familiar names. Maurice "Red" Wade, who had played with Missouri against Fordham in the 1942 Sugar Bowl, was now with Coach Henry Frnka's Hurricane. Ed Shedlosky, who had played with Fordham in 1942, had also transferred to Tulsa. Only six members were back from the previous Tulsa squad, and 24 of the 40 team members for 1943 were classified 4-F by the draft or had medical discharges. Nine others were 18 years old and expecting draft notices, or under draft age.
Guard Ellis Jones was missing an arm. Another player had one lung. A third had one kidney. Coach Henry Frnka had one athlete who had a large area of scarred tissue, and another who had to play in a special shoe because of a severed Achilles tendon. Red Wade, who suffered an attack of osteomyelitis when he was 13, had back and ankle problems.
This team surprised everyone, including Frnka. Time magazine ran a story on the Hurricane headlined "Rejected, Deferred, Unbeaten." Embarrassed about 'Franka's 4-Fs', Washington authorities asked for a quiet review of draft physicals.
Recap excerpted from the book "Sugar Bowl Classic: A History" by Marty Mulé, who covered the game and the organization for decades for the New Orleans Times-Picayune.


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Tuesday, June 21st 2011, 4:41pm
Tuesday, June 21st 2011, 5:52pm
Tuesday, June 21st 2011, 6:47pm
Wednesday, June 22nd 2011, 6:56am
Thanks. About how much more (A guesstamate in percentage) did it cost over a "run of the mill" system?I've done systems like that, with mammoth overkill capabilities, and in my opinion, they are more praiseworthy in concept than in reality.
Supreme Member
Location: Northern New Jersey
Wednesday, June 22nd 2011, 9:34am
Wednesday, June 22nd 2011, 10:04am
It will mostly depend on your city water supplier. Big Water takes a separate tap and a larger meter. Some of that expense may come back if the separate meter allows for paying lower sewerage (sometimes, sewerage fees come as a multiple of the meter reading)Thanks. About how much more (A guesstamate in percentage) did it cost over a "run of the mill" system?I've done systems like that, with mammoth overkill capabilities, and in my opinion, they are more praiseworthy in concept than in reality.
Wednesday, June 22nd 2011, 2:14pm
Wednesday, June 22nd 2011, 8:03pm
Sunday, June 26th 2011, 11:37am
Grey said... "In short you want to find out your static pressure (at the outside bib for example), your flow rate, sizes of your water supply line, water meter. After some calculations you would get a value of dynamic pressure available for sprinklers. That pressure would determine maximum spacing of your sprinkler heads and what type of sprinklers to use, i.e. spray heads or rotors covering areas."
Yeah, done that, got very miserable results for what I "want" because my static pressure at the hose bib is regulated by the pressure valve supplying the whole house. That pressure has to remain below 50 psi or else I get water hammer at the farthest faucet (poor plumbing design by the builder ). One would think that 50psi is a good starting point but I only get 5.5 gpm (avg of three 5-gallon bucket tests) from the hose-bib closest to the water meter.
I have just finished the yard measurements and the next step will be to have a separate meter installed (largest supply line diameter that the city will allow for residential -- don't know, will find out). Then I can do the measurements using as much pressure as the city will give and as much gpm that the meter will pass.
I am stuck on building a system with the least amount of zones as possible... I am a stubborn man.
Sunday, June 26th 2011, 8:14pm


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Stefania Casini welcomes you to SUSPIRIA.
I want to caution WatchBlog readers that the version of Dario Argento's SUSPIRIA which is being shown this month on Action Max, the Cinemax subsidiary, is not only the cut US theatrical version (which renders nearly all the violence incoherent) but, for some reason, the stereo surround track is lacking much of its original, room-shaking bottom end. However, on the plus side, it IS being shown in True HD -- as far as I know, the film's high definition debut. For this reason alone, I found it hard to peel myself away... the wallpaper alone (blue velvet, silver foil...) is enough to poke your eyes out. Next showing is at 2:30am eastern, tonight -- and sister station Thriller Max HD is showing MOTHER OF TEARS just before at Midnight.


text:
Write a News Story
Meet a Pioneer Pilot
Amelia Earhart Home
Back to
Story List
Woman flys airplane amazing triumf or amazing tragedy?
By: Sean P.
California, Age 12
Woman pilot Amelia Airhart flys over pacific ocean. she hasn't returned yet but it's been confirmed that she is on her way back. She's almost out of fule so were hoping and you should be praying that she comes home safely
Back to
Story List


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How Community Technology Centers are Aiding the Recovery in Haiti
I recently had the pleasure of meeting Neelley Hicks of United Methodist Communications. I was looking for people who work at the intersection of technology and education in developing regions. Her energy, compassion and dedication to this work is quite inspiring. As it turns out, the UMC team was in Haiti this week and I wanted to provide a brief update of their trip.
The team arrived on Monday and traveled to Thomas, LeVegue, Mizak and Petit Goave through the week. Their objectives were to assess and report on how new technology is changing lives. This is an anniversary trip where they will check in on last year's programs, and start new ones. The team posted a great summary of this week's work on their website.
"These centers give people who are otherwise off-the-grid access to information through the Internet that can help them live more productive and economically viable lives," said the Rev. Larry Hollon, chief executive of United Methodist Communications. "This is a key tool for the church to use for human empowerment."
Inspiring a Community of Entrepreneurs
Through daily text message exchanges with Neelley I was able to get real-time updates, and learn how the children were responding. One memorable exchange was with a 12 year old girl who when asked what she wanted to learn said "everything, I want to know everything about computers."
Visits to rural and under-served communities by organizations such as UMC provide local community members with opportunities to learn what other regions are doing. One leader told Neelley "there is no lack of resourcefulness, only lack of resources." This is so very true, and it describes the need for durable development and a desire for long term success. People want to be self-sustaining, and recognize that technology is a means by which they can create new economic opportunities.
It's not enough to provide equipment and infrastructure. Inspiring a community of entrepreneurs (even if they're 12 years old) is how permanent change is made, and how global shifts come about.
Sustainable Support Comes in All Forms
Even with our focus on how technology, the same can be true of other contributions. L'Auchard Fatal received a goat from the sustainable agriculture project supported in part by the United Methodist Committee on Relief at the Vialet Center in Vialet, Haiti. Mr. Fatal said his life has been made better because he can now buy food and send his children to school.
Did You Know? Cisco's VNI Service Adoption Forecast. In Latin America, laptops will be the largest residential device/connection category with 126 million by 2016. This is up from 24 million laptops in 2012.
Photo credits: Mike DuBose of UMNS.
Join our team of VNI-SA bloggers.
Do you have an interesting story of how technology has changed your community, your work, or your business? Is technology providing opportunities that impact the socio-economics of the world around you? Contact us at firstname.lastname@example.com if you'd like to contribute to this blog series.
What is VNI-SA? It is the Service Adoption forecast portion of our popular VNI research. VNI-SA studies the end user adoption rate for a wide variety of services around the world. Read more at http://www.cisco.com/go/vnisa
In an effort to keep conversations fresh, Cisco Blogs closes comments after 60 days. Please visit the Cisco Blogs hub page for the latest content.


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Guitar World - Nov-12 -Green Day
In this issue, Green Day makes the biggest move of their career with the release of three new albums: ¡Uno! ¡Dos! and ¡Tré!. Billie Joe Armstrong tells the story behind this year's most ambitious music project!
Guitar World then goes into the trenches with the guitarists from Cannibal Corpse, the Faceless, Job for a Cowboy, Between the Buried and Me and other acts from this year's tout -- and lives to tell the tale.
With Last of a Dyin' Breed, Lynyrd Skynyrd returns to the hard-hitting southern rock for which it became famous. Gary Rossington talks about Skynyrd's longevity and the making of their 13th disk.
Also, rare interviews with guitar legend Jimi Hendrix that provide insight to his genius!
Plus, GEAR!
- Dean Custom 550 Floyd
- Peavey Triple XXX II
- G&L Tribute Series
& more!
And 4 SONGS with Guitar & Bass TABS!
- Ozzy Osbourne Road to Nowhere
- Zac Brown Band Chicken Fried
- Lynyrd Skynyrd Gimme Back My Bullets
- Slipknot Vermillion
And much, much more!


text:
What is the American Dream?
- 1 المشاركة
In our literature class, we have been discussing the idea of the "American Dream." This "dream" was first manifested by the primary idea of immigration. It began with the Puritans and the Separatists - two groups of people seeking an escape from persecution. To me, this essential creation of our nation built upon the desire of freedom is incredible. Our nation fought herself over the liberty of other men, and tested whether a unique country built from this principle would last. Yet, throughout history's course, this American dream has drastically changed.
Firstly with the issue of illegal immigration, while it is not quite just, why are we now persecuting those trying to achieve the American dream, those who have arrived like our ancestors? America is supposed to be a land of opportunity and a safe-haven for those from corrupted and oppressed places. Can the first settlers to America be viewed as illegal immigrants? The "American Dream" has also changed into concepts based on greed, wealth, and materialism. Our freedoms and rights are so pervasive, we don't even acknowledge them any more. It would take a foreigner from a country without our same basic rights to notice. No longer are we striving to obtain freedom and intellectuality at our highest potential (as most kids today are already seemingly entitled to this), we're focused on when the next iPhone comes out, who has the newest Nikes, who earns a higher salary. But are these so important they exceed our recognition and appreciation of our rights, of the abundance of food, clothes, water we have?
It was inevitable that the American Dream has evolved over time, but was it really for the better? America has the potential to be even greater, but with our current mentality and priorities, have we regressed into a materialistic society concerned only with fame other frivolous desires?


text:
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text:
CHANEL Glossimer - Unity
149 reviews
87% would repurchase
Package Quality: 3.9
Price: $$$$
Package Quality: 3.9
Price: $$$$
Where to Buy
- When you make a purchase through these links, we may receive a commission from the eBay Partner Network or other affiliates.
Start your review
on 4/15/2014 6:14:00 PM
Age: 36-43
Skin: Other, Other, Not Sure
Hair: Other, Other, Other
Eyes: Other
Elegance in a tube!! Theeeeeee most beautiful bronze MLBB lipgloss. I love browns in general so this is in my wheelhouse. If you are on an extreme budget, WnW BronzeBerry is similar but not identical. Just sayin'. I have bought 3 Glossimers this week (Unity, Brilliance, & Constellation which Constellation went back). I also own Twinkle. Each Glossimer color is so unique, Chanel does such an awesome job of coming up with beautiful colors. I want to go back for Blizzard & Giggle!! If you are buying your 1st Glossimer, you cannot go wrong w Unity.
on 7/17/2012 7:16:00 PM
Age: 44-55
Skin: Oily, Medium, Warm
Hair: Brunette, Straight, Medium
Eyes: Hazel
My BFF. I have been wearing Unity for years now, I love it, never lets me down.. its a beautiful sheer, bronz'y, heavenly color that compliments most skin tones. Does not feel sticky, stays on a good while and does not have an odd taste that most glosses do. I recommend this line especially this color.
on 6/14/2011 10:55:00 PM
Age: 36-43
Skin: Other, Other, Not Sure
Hair: Other, Other, Other
Eyes: Other
This is my favorite gloss of all time! Like others have said, I can't believe there aren't more (raving!) reviews for this one! I've been wearing Unity for about 7 years now. It's the perfect shade of nude/pink with the perfect amount of shimmer.The gloss consistency is excellent -- not sticky at ALL and it has nice staying power. The only downfall is the $$$. When I started buying this one it was around $20. Now, about 7 years later, it's it's almost $30 with tax! Though I wish it were cheaper, the ridiculous price still doesn't deter me. This is my HG!
on 5/22/2011 10:17:00 PM
Age: 19-24
Skin: Oily, Dark, Cool
Hair: Brunette, Kinky, Medium
Eyes: Blue
I walked into Lord and Taylor wanting a new Chanel Glossimer, and my Chanel rep Didi recommended this..I told her I didnt want anything dramatic , too bright, not too dark..She pulled unity out and said let's try this one.. at 1st glance I was thinking no way, this looks too dark...I couldnt have been more wrong, it goes on lighter than it looks in the tube...beautiful shimmer! gorgeous natural glossimer! Im mac nw45 for reference..stunning on me..compliments were flying at me left and right!
on 12/19/2010 3:41:00 PM
Age: 36-43
Skin: Oily, Fair, Not Sure
Hair: Blond, Wavy, Other
Eyes: Green
This is one of my absolute favorite lipglosses of all time. It looks a lot darker in the tube, but goes on as a beautiful glossy nude color without a ton of shimmer.
on 1/1/2010 8:27:00 PM
Age: 36-43
Skin: Dry, Fair, Not Sure
Hair: Brunette, Other, Other
Eyes: Brown
I love this color! It was not very impressive in the tube, a little muted but shows up beautifully on the lips - can't really describe the bronzey shade. Definitely one of my top two glossimers (I have sunset gold, pinup, pagoda, hibiscus and blizzard)
on 12/16/2009 8:57:00 PM
Age: 30-35
Skin: Oily, Olive, Not Sure
Hair: Brown, Straight, Fine
Eyes: Brown
My favorite lip gloss! I love Chanel Glossimers and this color is amazing! I've been wearing it for years and is one of the few products I'm loyal to. Neutral but not too nude or boring. Shiny and a hint of shimmer, without being glittery. This is my go to for a natural look or to balance a smoky or done-up eye. Highly Recommend!
on 7/10/2009 1:26:00 PM
Age: 30-35
Skin: Combination, Olive, Not Sure
Hair: Brunette, Other, Other
Eyes: Brown
I wonder why there are not more reviews for this lipgloss! It has been years since teh last review! I am always on teh serach for a lip gloss taht actually shows up and brightens my face, and finally I found it! Unity is beautiful, in day light it has a nice natual glossy look and at night it reflects light to brighten up teh whole face.
on 4/13/2009 1:21:00 PM
Age: 19-24
Skin: Sensitive, Dark, Not Sure
Hair: Black, Other, Other
Eyes: Brown
absolutely LOVEEEE this gloss! I've searched the land for the best "nude" lip gloss for my dark skin complexion and this hits it RIGHT on the nail! Not too "light", but just "right" (~.~). I wasn't too excited about hearing the makeup consultant say "$29.50" at the cash register, but I guess it was worth it, lol...I am the ultimate lip gloss fanatic! Whenver I buy multiple glosses, I end up giving some of the others away - just so I won't feel bad about spending so much money on such a product! lol
on 3/20/2009 5:55:00 PM
Age: 44-55
Skin: Dry, Olive, Warm
Hair: Brown, Wavy, Coarse
Eyes: Green
This is only the 2nd Glossimer that I have gotten (the 1st being Spark) and I LOOOVE it!! The color is an unusual bronzy rose (similar to Laura Merciers' Ambre Rose but not quite as dark) which is perfect for my NC30-35 olive complexion. The formula is amazing! It's a little thicker than some brands but not sticky at all!
Popular Lip Glosses
Popular Lip Glosses
Where to Buy
- When you make a purchase through these links, we may receive a commission from the eBay Partner Network or other affiliates.


text:
Jaybird Freedom 2 In-Ear Wireless Bluetooth Sport Headphones with SpeedFit
Jaybird Freedom 2 Bluetooth Sport Headphones take advantage of advanced engineering for an ultra-small metal design that delivers your music with custom sound—no matter where your run takes you. Freedom 2 with SpeedFit is sweat-proof and fits right out of the box with a reassuring Secure comfort-fit for any ear size. As one of the smallest wireless headphones ever, Freedom 2 with SpeedFit gives runners a truly carefree wireless music experience.
Secure-fit frees you from thinking about your ultra-small buds staying in—no matter how hard you run
Speedfit lets you switch to an under-ear fit in seconds for easy access to the mic when a call comes in
Freedom 2S sweat-proofing technology stands up to every drop of sweat you dish out
Jaybird app lets you customize your sound and helps maintain drop-free Bluetooth signal strength
Up to eight hours of battery life so you can run as long as you like
What's in the Box
Jaybird Freedom 2 In-Ear Wireless Bluetooth Headphones
Four silicone ear tip/fin combos
Integrated cord management
Charging clip
USB 2.0 charging cable
Shirt clip
Carry pouch
Tech Specs
Other Features: All Weather, Bluetooth, Charging, Inline Volume Control, Sports & Fitness, Wireless
Form Factor: Earbud
Cable Length: 15.98 in./40.6 cm
Bluetooth Compatibility: Bluetooth 4.0
Power Source: Battery power, USB
Batteries: Rechargeable Lithium Ion
Battery life: Up to four hours plus four hours on the included charging clip
Charge Time: Approximately two hours
Height: 0.79 in./2.01 cm
Width: 0.9 in./2.28 cm
Depth: 0.26 in./0.66 cm
Weight: 0.53 oz./15.15 g
Manufacturer Information
Part Number
Mfr. Part Number: 985-000783
UPC or EAN No.: 097855138309
Note: Products sold through this website that do not bear the Apple Brand name are serviced and supported exclusively by their manufacturers in accordance with terms and conditions packaged with the products. Apple's Limited Warranty does not apply to products that are not Apple-branded, even if packaged or sold with Apple products. Please contact the manufacturer directly for technical support and customer service.
Warranty: One year
iPhone Models
- iPhone XS
- iPhone XS Max
- iPhone XR
- iPhone X
- iPhone 8
- iPhone 8 Plus
- iPhone 7
- iPhone 7 Plus
- iPhone 6s
- iPhone 6s Plus
- iPhone 6
- iPhone 6 Plus
- iPhone SE
- iPhone 5s
- iPhone 5c
- iPhone 5
iPad Models
- iPad Pro 10.5-inch
- iPad (6th Generation)
- iPad mini 4
- iPad Pro 12.9-inch (2nd Generation)
- iPad Pro 12.9-inch (1st Generation)
- iPad Pro 9.7-inch
- iPad (5th Generation)
- iPad mini 3
- iPad mini 2
- iPad mini
- iPad Air 2
- iPad Air
Mac Models
- 12-inch MacBook
- 13-inch MacBook Air
- 11-inch MacBook Air
- 13-inch MacBook Pro - Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C)
- 13-inch MacBook Pro
- 15-inch MacBook Pro - Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C)
- 15-inch MacBook Pro
- 21.5-inch iMac - Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C)
- 21.5-inch iMac - Thunderbolt 2
- 27-inch iMac - Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C)
- 27-inch iMac - Thunderbolt 2
- iMac Pro
- Mac Pro
- Mac mini
Apple TV Models
iPod Models
- iPod touch (6th Generation)
- iPod touch 5th Generation
- iPod touch 4th Generation
- iPod nano 7th Generation
- iPod nano 6th Generation
Answers from the community
Are these headphones compatible with the Apple Watch?
- Asked by Susan C from Midhurst
- on Dec 7, 2017
- Answered by Christopher B from Jackson
- on May 9, 2018
Compatibility: Requires iOS 11.0 or later.
Jaybird MySound
The Jaybird App allows you to discover new music to power your run, and customize the EQ settings of your Jaybird headphones.
Say goodbye to prescribed sound settings built into your headphones! With the Jaybird App you can customize your own EQ presets, then save them to your buds no matter what music device they're paired with.
If you're looking for new music to push your limi ts, then try the Jaybird music feature. Explore Spotify playlists of other users to find new music to run and workout with.
EQ functionality is compatible with Jaybird Freedom, Freedom 2, X3, X4, RUN, Tarah and Tarah Pro. …


text:
Facilitating the spread of knowledge and innovation in professional software development
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Microservices written in Go was a key component of a new system that would enable The Economist to deliver scalable, high performing services and quickly iterate new products. Go's baked in concurrency and API support along with its design as a static, compiled language enabled a distributed eventing system. Overall, The Economist team's experience with Go has been positive experience.
Suudhan Rangarajan deeps dive into how Netflix used a set of three core foundational principles to iteratively develop their architecture. He specifically talks about what patterns they observed in their previous architectures and how they arrived at a list of practices to create an Evolutionary Architecture.
In this article we described how Analytics Zoo can help real-world users to build end-to-end deep learning pipelines for big data, including unified pipelines for distributed TensorFlow and Keras on Apache Spark, easy-to-use abstractions such as transfer learning and Spark ML pipeline support, built-in deep learning models and reference use cases, etc.
In this podcast recorded at QCon New York, Shane Hastie, Lead Editor for Culture & Methods, spoke to Sangeeta Narayanan of Netflix about improving the developer experience, and why it matters.
Greg Burrell presents Netflix's journey from siloed teams to their Full Cycle Developer model for building and operating their services at Netflix. He discusses the various approaches they've tried, the motivations that pushed them to keep evolving, and the lessons learned along the way.
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Horizontes Antropológicos
Print version ISSN 0104-7183
ALVES, Caleb Faria. The agency of Gell in the anthropology of art.Translated byBruno Reinhardt. Horiz.antropol. [online]. 2008, vol.4Selected edition, pp. 0-0. ISSN 0104-7183.
While delineating the parameters for an anthropology of art, Alfred Gell's famous book, Art and Agency, overlooked, for the most part, anthropological tradition. This raises questions as embarrassing as they are ignored: is it possible to produce good theory with no references to achieved knowledge in this particular field? Are the subjects within anthropology so differently pursued that it is not possible to refer to a common way of approaching them? What exactly do we lose with such a self-centered narrative? My point of view is that theory cannot be treated like a list of sentences that can be added to one another, according to their isolated importance. This article proposes an analysis of Alfred Gell's narrative, of how he connects its propositions. I will examine, overall, his readings, the authors he quotes like Peirce, Sally Price and others, and how he fits them along his argumentation. The objective of this exercise is to put in evidence, beyond Gell's definitions, some conceptions about art contained in his formulations, and to enlarge the range of potential references available for an anthropology of art.
Keywords : Alfred Gell; anthropological theory; anthropology of art; symbolic conventions.


text:
Image by The Rusty Projector via Flickr
I could have sworn I had already posted this poem here on my blog, but I just searched for it in vain. And for some reason, I feel that I ought to post it now.
The Lord is bringing significant healing to my life, but I have a long way to go. And sometimes, especially for the sake of those who are still "in the valley," it is good to revisit the pain. Not for the sake of morbidity, but for encouragement. Because if God can bring me out of this valley, as deep as it was, He can bring anyone out of their valley too.
I wrote this poem back in 2006, when I had already been in my "valley" for about seven years. It took that long to be able to face the pain enough to put it into words.
The poem is about the time when my two-year-old son changed virtually overnight…from a seemingly normal toddler to an autistic stranger. It is called:
When Shadows Aren't Enough
Yeah, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death…
My son is lost in that valley.
He died. He lives.
Two years old.
Tearing into Christmas presents
Voicing his thoughts with newly-learned words.
Adorable, squeezable, lovable, loved.
His words give way to screaming.
Endless, throat-tearing screaming.
Little body stiff in my arms.
Twelve, fourteen, eighteen hours each day
His shrieks rake my ears, shred my soul
Screaming, and screaming, and screaming.
For months.
Hands forget how they once played.
Now they flap before a stranger's eyes
No longer willing to meet my own.
Sleep mocks me.
Hope perishes.
Sanity flees.
Nothing exists but screaming, and screaming, and screaming
And three little faces who look to me
To give them life
While I am dying.
I reel in this valley of death that is not death.
Through? There is no "through."
I sink to my knees
But find no comfort there.
No God
And no strength to rise again.
The air in this valley
Fills lungs with dust
Parches them with dread
Not the fear that death will come,
But that it will not.
"If You have any compassion at all
Be done with shadows which bring no relief!
Let this be simply the valley of death.
End it all. Please just end it all."
Our breaths keep coming.
His rip the air with cries of torment.
Mine can only breathe, "I hate You, God. I hate You."
Slowly the horror abates
But endless months in the shadow of death
Have transformed me into a shadow of life.
I am hollow.
Nothing remains of me.
I am without form, void, in darkness.
The Spirit hovers
He has little to work with.
The fragments He finds are seething with rage
At Him.
He sings, and I weep.
I don't want to, but I do.
He praises, and I feel it.
Sometimes I can even join in, feebly
Pushing the words out past thick clouds of fury.
I am so glad I still can.
Because if He is life
Then a shadow of life is not enough
Not in a place such as this.
I stagger to my feet
And risk a few unsteady steps.
For I do not hate life
Or the One who is Life
But only the shadow that hides Him from me
Here in this valley.
Now, the post script. Ten years after my son and I entered that valley together, God has restored both of us in ways I could never have imagined. Yes, my son is still autistic and bipolar. Barring a miracle, he always will be. Yes, he relies on powerful medications to keep him at a functional level of emotional stability. But he is a beacon of hope; a hopping, jumping, hand-flapping miracle who sings God's praises sometimes for hours on end. His growing faith is precious and inspirational. He is one of God's precious diamonds, and the gleam is already sparkling despite the surrounding coal.
What's more, God led me into that valley as a self-deceived lost person, someone who believed herself saved but had never been born again. He led me out of it as His daughter.
For many years I would have told you that I hated the valley, and that it was proof that God hated me. Now I would not trade it for anything. I'm glad it's in the rearview mirror, and I hope I never have to walk through it, or one like it, again. But if I do, may I remember God's faithfulness through it all, and may I be comforted by the knowledge that He brings the greatest good out of the worst trials.
And God grant that the same may be true for you.


text:
Fresh direct from the vault, here's the original manuscript version of a story that Pat Jordan did for TV Guide in 1988.
The Horse Lovers
By Pat Jordan
The movie is "Bluegrass," a four-hour, CBS-TV mini-series. The actors are Cheryl Ladd, Brian Kerwin, Anthony Andrews, Mickey Rooney, and Wayne Rodgers. The setting is Lexington, Kentucky, Bluegrass Country, where thoroughbred racehorses are bred and trained on rolling pastureland that is zoned strictly for horse farms. The time is late fall. The grassland is turning brown. The leaves on the trees have faded from bright orange to the color of mud. The horses graze quietly in the pasture until another horse intrudes on their meal. They twitch, rear up, and gallop after the intruder, snorting out their hot breath into the damp, cold air. They curl back their lips, baring teeth, and nip the intruder on the flanks before slowing finally and then stopping to graze again.
The fictional plot concerns the efforts of Maude Sage Breen (Ladd) to fulfill her dream of breeding a Triple-Crown thoroughbred. She is thwarted at every turn by her ruthless neighbor, Lowell Shipleigh (Rodgers) and aided by her recovering alcoholic trainer, Dancy Cutler (Kerwin). It is Dancy who wins Maude's love in a romantic joust with the mysterious Anglo-Irishman, Michael Fitzgerald (Andrews). What unites them all, however, hero, heroine, and villains alike, is that they are all horse lovers.
Scene One
A cold, blustery day at Crestwood Farms outside of Lexington, Ky. Brian Kerwin and Charles Cooper, a black actor from Cincinnati, are huddled in the equipment barn trying to keep warm while waiting for their cue from the Broodmare Barn up the hill where, today, history will be made. The birth of a foal will be filmed for national television. Kerwin and Cooper sip coffee from Styrofoam cups while speaking in hushed reverential tones as if they were expectant fathers in a hospital waiting room.
"Oh, shucks, Miss Scarlett," says Kerwin, smiling, "I don't know nuthin' bout birthn' horses." Kerwin, with a veterinarian's help off camera, is expected to aid in the birth of the foal. "They told me that if it's a breech birth I have to reach up my hand into the mare and turn the foal's head around," he says. He shakes his head at the mystery of what he is about to partake in. Cooper tries to reassure him.
"I aided at my wife's delivery of our son," Cooper says. "It was a Caesarian birth. All I could do was stroke her forehead." He flutters his long eyelashes. "It was a beautiful experience."
Kerwin nods with admiration. Both men look down at the dirt floor, shuffle their feet. Kerwin begins to talk about the breeding sequence he was involved in filming a few days ago. He had to help a stallion insert his penis in a mare while the crew filmed the scene. "It was all very tastefully done," He says. Cooper nods in perfect understanding.
Just then, a woman enters the barn. "It's time," she says to Kerwin. He crumples up his coffee cup and discards it in a trash barrel. Then he smoothes the sides of his reddish hair. His lean face is bruised and cut. Make-up applied today, after last night's flight sequence staged at a roadside tavern.
Scene Two
Flashback to midnight of the night before. "Little Jim's Tavern" out on Georgetown Road next to "The Slumber Inn Motel." The dirt parking lot, which is usually crowded with rusted Chevys and battered pick-up trucks, is dominated this night by the huge vans of the film crew. Two police cars, their lights blinking, guard the road as if for intruders.
Inside, the small, cave-like, drinking man's bar is strangely lighted by colorful neon signs that the crew has placed on the bar's usually blank, concrete walls. The middle of the small room is dominated by three cameras and their crews and bright spotlights aimed toward a corner of the bar where the fight sequence will be staged. The actors are settling into their places for last minute instructions.
At the other end of the bar, in darkness, the bar's regulars, farm hands, construction workers, and long-haul truck drivers, are loitering around, drinking beer and bourbon, smoking cigarettes, and shooting a few games of pool with Jimalou, the bar's regular, plump, blonde waitress. "My father owns this place," she says, as she leans over the pool table and sights the eight ball. "He always wanted a boy."
Bonnie, the regular barmaid, is pouring drinks for the regulars as she is expected to do for the actors when the scene begins. Bonnie has short, dark hair, lots of blue eye-make-up, and she talks out of the side of her mouth, just as one would expect a barmaid in a roadside tavern to talk. Bonnie is a barmaid. Tough, funny, caustic.
"What's the difference between being a barmaid and playing a barmaid?" she says. "Simple. I get it right the first time."
"Bonnie's the reason we come her," says Marshall, a regular. "She makes us feel at home."
"Sure does," says D.B., tilting back his cowboy hat. "Abuses us just like our wives." Everyone laughs out loud. One of the film crew looks back at the laughing regulars as if they were misbehaving third graders. He is a very short, bald, finicky-looking man with a red beard. He puts his hands on his hips.
"Quiet, puhleeeze!" he says. Then he turns toward a man who is smoking a cigar. "An no cigar smoke in here," he adds.
"You're kidding?" says the man. "In a bar?"
"No cigar smoke in this bar!" says the red-bearded man. Just then one of the crew turns on the smoke machine. Smoke billows into the bar until visibility is zero. Bonnie fakes a few coughs and flaps her hands at the smoke.
"It's never been this smoky in here," she says.
"And we never had a fight in here·, either," adds Jimalou.
The second assistant director, a woman, begins to wave her clipboard wildly in the smoke to get the extras' attention. "Everyone, everyone, to their places, please!" she calls out. "Have we had everyone?"


text:
Congressional Reps More Focused On Short Term Cash Over Long Term Innovation
from the not-the-way-to-encourage-innovation dept
Representative Greg Walden, an Oregon Republican, who is chairman of the panel, said the law that gave the F.C.C. the ability to conduct "incentive auctions" of newly available spectrum required "maximizing the proceeds from the auction."You see, apparently these members of Congress don't want the FCC to do what's best for the country or for innovation. It doesn't want the FCC to do what's best for long term growth (which, in turn will increase tax revenues over the long term). No, these members of Congress instead are only focused on the big upfront number of getting cash now from telcos, even if it means less innovation, less useful tools for the public and less tax revenues down the road. I guess it shouldn't be any surprise that telco companies are among the top five contributors to Walden's most recent campaign (coming right after... lobbyists). Whatever happened to that idea that elected officials should have to wear patches, a la Nascar, of who funds their campaigns?
For the F.C.C. to obtain the highest price for the spectrum it sells, it should limit the size of guard bands, Mr. Walden said; he said the six-megahertz minimum size proposed by the F.C.C. was unnecessarily fat.


text:
Answer: For humans, figure that normal untrained characters can leap 4' high and 5' long. Characters with either the acrobatics or gymnastics skills increase their distance by 2' per level of experience (Note: This is 2' for either skill; having both skills will NOT increase the distance beyond the 2'). Modifying a character's leaping distance for physical attributes (i.e. speed, strength, and/or prowess) is an option for the individual GM. If so applied, characters with Superhuman/Supernatural Strength would leap twice the normal distance (i.e. 8' high and 10' long plus 4' per level of experience).
Answer: This would be an option for the individual GM. The standard rule though is that M.D.C. being do not gain M.D.C. bonuses from physical skills. They do though gain the other bonuses from physical skills
Answer: The psychic characters powers are very specific and natural powers. They cannot suddenly just develop a new set of natural powers.
Answer: They continue to progress in the new O.C.C.
Answer: The Russian Borgs have a slightly better base of sense of touch.
Answer: Yes, they retain their classes original abilities but they are frozen.
Answer: If the spell can be used by either OCC, use the higher level of the two.
Answer: Yes, they would.
Answer: Yes it is a legal combination.
Answer: No, P.P.E. isn't doubled by chi multipliers.
Answer: Generally when first encountered, and something startling could occur, i.e. not just walking down the street of a Wolfen city, but turning into an alley in Timro only to bump into the chest of a Wolfen Legionnaire would cause a HF roll.
Answer: Yes, since its considered a cybernetic conversion and would have the negative effects related to that.
Answer: It is considered Superhuman not Supernatural.
Answer: Descriptions and bases for these skills are on pages 150-151 of Phase World.
Answer: It will depend upon the specific creature(s) involved and the specific augmentations but, in many cases, they can get these Bio-Wizardry enhancements.
Answer: Not for rudimentary piloting; yes for anything beyond that.
Answer: Conversions for the Palladium 1st Edition should appear in an upcoming issue of the Rifter. For now, just extrapolate the Yin-Sloth OCCs over to the 2nd Edition rules.
Answer: He can use a Bio-system arm.
Answer: CHI was introduced in Ninjas & Superspies. It is the energy of life that flows through the earth and every living thing. It was included on the Sourcebook character sheet because that character sheet was originally designed to encompass that system as well. On the later character sheets (such as those in Rifts: Mechanoids and Rifts: England), CHI was dropped. If you are integrating CHI into a non Ninjas & Superspies campaign, it is equal to a character's P.E. plus any modifiers for specific martial arts.
Answer: No, S.D.C. is a one-time bonus. However, it can be deliberately augmented (but will not automatically improve with experience like hit points do).
Answer: A P.S. of 24 would have no problem, a P.S. of 20-23 would suffer a penalty of -2. to strike.
Answer: If the adventure is taking place in Japan (or with someone who has been trained in the Japanese martial arts), use the Rifts: Japan rules; otherwise, use those in the Conversion Book.
Answer: So far none has been specifically done for Phase World. There are rules in Aliens Unlimited Galaxy Guide for the Heroes Unlimited systems but will require conversion for the M.D.C. setting of Phase World. The other option is to find something similar to what you want to make and base your stats on it. If you wanted to make stats for a CAF Troop shuttle use the stats from the TE "Rain of Death" as guidelines to what type of stats it should have.
Answer: The experience tables in the various Palladium games only go up to 15th level due to space limitations; however, it is possible for characters to advance beyond 15th (if the GM allows it). It is simply a matter of extrapolating. Take the difference in experience points for the O.C.C. between 14th and 15th level and use that as the amount needed for each level above 15th (Note: this is just a guideline, a GM who wishes to could double or triple the experience points needed to advance at these high levels). There is no upper limit other than what the GM will allow for their individual campaign. Spell casters that surpass 15th level will continue to receive their normal P.P.E. increase per each level.
Answer: The base physical training SDC bonus begins at 30 before the other bonuses.
Answer: Treat multiple O.C.C.s in Rifts as you would in Palladium. Characters that wish to learn a new O.C.C. must first advance at least one level in their current P.C.C./R.C.C. At second level (or wherever desired), they may opt for training in the new O.C.C. as soon as they reach that new level (it cannot be done after they have advanced in their new experience level). When the character begins their new training, they are zero-level in the new O.C.C. The character must earn experience points equal to the new O.C.C.'s second level (if Men of arms or adventurers) or third level (if magical or psychic). When that amount of experience points is acquired, the character has passed their apprenticeship and is now at first level in his new O.C.C. Once characters change over to their new O.C.C., they retain their old skills (but frozen at the levels they achieved before the change) but all new P.P.E., S.D.C., and other increases will be based upon their new O.C.C. all new experience points are awarded to the new O.C.C. Characters who change to a new O.C.C. will get all of the O.C.C. skills and special abilities, but only HALF the number of O.C.C. related and secondary skills. When powers/skills are duplicated, they get whichever is the better of the two, they do NOT add them together. For special powers and abilities that specific O.C.C.s may possess, adjust where necessary. At the GM's discretion, characters may continue to change O.C.C.s repeatedly as long as they pay the experience points for their apprenticeships.
Answer: Yes, that could be done.
Answer: No, they do not get the bonus at first level.
Answer: A character returning to its original OCC would have to undergo a refresher period equal to its 1st level of experience to get back to its original level of its former OCC. It seems like a fair ruling.
Answer: The Blacksmith Optional O.C.C. from Northern Hinterlands (page 168-169) has the Metalworking skill in its description that can be used for this.
Answer: Pilot Jet Aircraft.
Answer: Supernatural P.E. would allow a person to keep running almost indefinitely without tiring, resist magical disease, and heal faster than normal.
Answer: No, the Juicer drugs and M.O.M. conversion are incompatible with each other.
Answer: It is possible.
Answer: Standard things (starting up a vehicle, mounting a horse, etc.) do NOT require a piloting roll; however, complicated maneuvers do
Answer: For attempting a task that they are unskilled in, a character should roll percentile vs. an applicable attribute (i.e. IQ, ME, PS, PE, etc.).
Answer: It is the most applicable attribute.
Answer: Perception Rolls are on pg. 66-67 of the Nightbane RPG. Essentially it involves rolling a D20 (with possible bonuses for high IQ, and certain R.C.C./O.C.C.s) vs. a given situation (ranging from easy to difficult).
Answer: Generally if a R.C.C. selects a O.C.C. they lose their R.C.C. skills unless stated. Certain skills inherent to the race may be retained, like native language, or skills common to all in the race.
Answer: Some systems start their table at 16 and some at 17, but the bonuses are still the same for the same attribute. You can use whichever table you prefer. With Skills, you should use the skill percentage for the particular dimension/system being played in. For example learning a language in a TMNT setting you should use the TMNT version of the skill, but if learning in Rifts use the Rifts version of the skill.
Answer: It an omission, feel free to add the attribute bonuses to save vs psionics
Answer: Yes they can.
Answer: When in Facade form they are considered SDC creatures, and when in Morphus they are MDC creatures.
Answer: The best answers are in the Rifts Conversion Book or in the Rifter #3 (mystic china conversions)
Answer: Notes for attributes beyond 30 are provided in the Rifts Conversion Book, or in Heroes Unlimited. For P.S. beyond 30 the damage bonus increases by +1 for every point beyond 30. So your character with a P.S. of 75 has +55 to SDC damage.
Answer: The base saving throw vs coma/death is P.E. + 1% per level, so bonuses to coma/death will apply.
Answer: The save target number is based on the disease itself. P.E. Bonuses apply to this save
Answer: There are conversion notes in the back of Ninjas and Superspies, for integrating the two games.
Answer: There are no special penalties for having zero PPE. With rest the PPE level will be restored.
Answer: Technically they can research new wards, but most of the secrets of ward magic are lost, and they are using only the remnants. Lost wards of legends may be discovered by the diabolists like lost circles or spells.
Answer: A similar process to that of creating spells, try looking in Through the Glass Darkly for ideas.
Answer: There are no rules as such for doing this. The character should be a hardware character, and would suffer from massive penalties. Crossdimensional travel devices can be found in Transdimensional TMNT.
Answer: Yes they can elect to take a O.C.C. at a later level. Use the rules for changing O.C.C. (tall their powers and abilities from the Neo-Human are frozen).
Answer: It is not possible to be a half anything (with the exception of a very few cases such as human/ogre) in Palladium. Vampires since they are dead are likely to be sterile.
Answer: P.E. in Melees is a good suggestion if not doing anything.
Answer: Generally the invisibility is Invisibility Simple, unless otherwise stated.
Answer: It is generally up to the GM as to the limitations involved. Generally MDC if any is converted to SDC, and a AR provided if applicable. Also repair, and recharging might be a problem, i.e. once the gun/laser runs out of ammo, it is useless.
Answer: TMF is detailed in TMNT Guide to the Universe. and is a version of PP for vehicles, the higher it is, the more maneuverable the aircraft is. For more detail on TMF it is recommended to look at this book.
Answer: Yes they can.
Answer: They can see all the details as if the invisible object was visible.
Answer: To make this easier for mixed games, converting MDC to SDC is essential, but you can do what you want in your game. If you believe that their stay in the fantasy world is a short stay, then you could rule MDC damage and armour remains MDC, with a possible dimensional devolution to SDC over time (weeks, months).
Answer: Depends on the armour involved, most armors would take several melee rounds to 2 minutes to don, however armored vests, jackets/coats can be easily put on quickly (several attacks/actions).
Answer: The MDC values are correct. However as GM you may wish to adjust these values in your own campaign.
Answer: Yes, only 2D6 MD is restored though.
Answer: It has no effect in game terms apart from physical attributes of P.S., and P.E..
Answer: Supernatural P.E. provides 4 hours sleep per night indefinitely without any ill effects although 5-6 hours is better. Rules for Sleep Deprivation can be found in the Heroes Unlimited G.M.'s Guide.
Answer: Bio-regeneration common to many MDC creatures could be considered akin to the Healing Factor Super ability (minor) in Heroes Unlimited. These creatures have normal Chi, but can heal chi at their normal rate, and are invulnerable to Dim Mak. If they are infected with negative chi, they can dispel it at one point per hour.
Answer: There are no rules for psionics in Robotech, except for certain races in the Sentinels. If you want psionics you can adapt the rules from Nightbane, Rifts or Systems Failure.
Answer: If you are using Ninjas and Superspies and Mystic China in Rifts, it is recommended that you incorporate Chi into Rifts. As to the Skill Programs, use those programs with Ninjas and Superspies characters, otherwise, use the standard OCC skill system from Rifts.
Answer: The menace is in relation to the characters. I.E. a horde of 20 Orc warriors, a Solitary dragon etc.
Answer: Those who know him, or of him, tend to be very very afraid...
Answer: The damage bonus remains SDC only, so a character with a supernatural Strength of 28 wound do 3D6 M.D. plus 13 S.D.C. damage with a punch. In M.D. combat the S.D.C. damage is simply removed for a total of 3D6 M.D.
Answer: Since they are bonuses, they are only one time only.
Answer: Use the better of the speed multipliers.
Answer: The rules for this can be found in the Rifts Book of Magic on page 21.
Answer: Technically yes, But the chemicals would have no effect at all, nor would the bio-comp function.
Answer: They do not.
Answer: Mutant animals cannot interbreed with humans, or any other mutant animal (unless they are of the same species).
Answer: It can be used for first impressions, and as a aid in role playing. I'll try and talk him into letting me sit in the sports car (GM rolls for the PC to see if the NPC trusts the PC to allow him to sit in the car). There is no save, but role playing may add bonuses or penalties to this role. Other factors like voice only, may negate the P.B. bonus.
Answer: There are no hard and fast rules, the best idea is to use the gods for a template, or look at Pantheons of the megaverse.
Answer: You use the modified P.E. attribute to determine base hit points etc.
Answer: Coalition Navy has rules for nuclear weapons, Dead Zones (radioactive hot spots) can be found in Warlords of Russia.
Answer: He loses the 4 other skill choices because he has 8 total OCC related skills.
Answer: No, however, given enough time, O.C.C. bonuses, and experience the skill could be raised to 98% which is the maximum.
Answer: Only to skills, not spells or psionics that give a percentage.
Answer: The bonuses from Physical skills are one time bonuses added to the character when the skill is first selected. Also physical skills cannot be selected multiple times.
Answer: No, and No, he is just very powerful/Knowledgeable, but he doesn't become a immortal, except perhaps in legends and tales of his exploits.
Answer: It is possible, Roll a D20, with modifiers based on the circumstance (the GM should decide the modifiers) and if the roll is below the attribute then the roll is successful.
Answer: The skill program contains no skills, instead skills from the Pilot Basic category can be selected as Secondary Skills.
Answer: Your P.P. attribute on a D100.
Answer: Minor repairs can be done in a hour or so, longer repairs up to several hours, while extensive repairs may take days or weeks to do. This all depends on accessibility of spare parts and components, tools and facilities.
Answer: New Psionics will not be gained as they increase in level. The character literally forfeits their old class, training in their new one, so all progression in their old class is effectively frozen. The same applies to other classes that could get psionics (they do not gain them).
Answer: You roll once per section, but additional rolls may be required depending on the severity of the damage. As for repairing armour, generally require 1-2 hours per 10 M.D.C. in workshops, and can take up to 3-4 times longer to perform.
Answer: There are no modifications.
Answer: With a high powred R.C.C. like a Dragon, they continue to use the R.C.C. experience table.
Answer: A Operator could do that, but such patching would be temporary, and may not hold, or be really effective.
Answer: There is no limitation to psionic characters having magic tattoos apart form the standard limitations applying to race.
Answer: It is the same as normal magic.
Answer: You use the highest skill.
Answer: As for the Psychology Skill it can be found in Beyond the Supernatural 1st edition (currently unavailable), and its base skill is 40% + 5% per level. It is a Science Category Skill.
Answer: No, dead is dead, bio-regeneration will not be able to save the characters life at this point.
Answer: You cannot.
Answer: They can, in this case the soul would be the bug.
Answer: This is to get the skill experience points, only meaningful use of the skill should count (used under stress, to do something important etc, not just because they can). When used in the manner above it should not gain experience points.
Answer: Yes it is possible.
Answer: They are taught the fundamentals of combat, without being taught to pilot them. This allows them to act as more effective gunners and assistants to the pilot.
Answer: There is a normal saving throw vs. psionics.
Answer: Since a dragon has a supernatural strength they are not equal, but if the dwarf got supernatural strength then they would be equal.
Answer: Your base skill is your M.E. attribute expressed in percentile (a M.E. of 15 would mean a 15% base skill for meditation). The +20% from Nei Chia Wu Shih is added to the amount figured out from M.E. So a M.E. of 15 would equal 15% plus the 20% for a total of 35%.
Answer: Use the highest.
Answer: You only get what is listed under the program (not what is in the category). Selecting the program again will allow you to pick more skills from the appropriate category.
Answer: Depends on the type of gas involved:
Answer: There are no skill defaults as such in the Palladium System. Many tasks cannot be attempted if the correct skill is not possessed, however you may be able to perform some tasks with a related skill by taking a penalty to the skill assigned by the individual G.M. I.e. attempting to fix a biplane with the auto mechanics skill when you do not possess aircraft mechanics. However fixing a computer without Computer Repair or Computer Operation (for software failures) is impossible unless detailed manuals etc exist which would give a base skill level again determined by the G.M. based on the quality of the material.
Answer: For the very light suits no skill would be required except what is required for advanced systems (read sensory instruments, weapon systems, jet pack if a jet pack is built in etc.). For heavier units a skill like Pilot Robots and Power Armour is appropriate.
Answer: Unless otherwise stated the strength is not supernatural (it can be made supernatural through the use of magic such as tattoos etc).
Answer: They can, and no the magic scent can't be hidden.
Answer: It all depends on the circumstances. Where all you have to do is to follow instructions, rolling near the base percentage will work, but where feedback is required, or a delicate touch, etc like feeling the tumblers of a lock (which the person whose skills are being used cannot feel) then the percentage should be much lower, or even impossible to perform.
Answer: That really depends on the race of character and the stage of the pregnancy. Though there are no penalties and bonuses listed the individual G.M. should feel free to assign such especially towards the later half of the pregnancy.
Answer: You cannot take the same physical skill twice
Answer: The closest rules would be in Further Adventures in the Northern Wilderness.
Answer: Generally One roll per task (in the above case, once per piece of music).
Answer: They do.
Answer: It is the Tracking skill form the Espionage category.


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Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon celebrated their fifth wedding anniversary in a big way on Tuesday night -- to say the least! The musically gifted duo renewed their vows at Disneyland in a lavish ceremony fit for a prince and a princess. Mariah initially tweeted that the park was shut down for the renewals, writing, "On our way to renew our vows. I love you @NickCannon shut down Disneyland KKLB." But Disneyland PR rep George Savvas has since refuted that the couple actually closed the park and rather it was "an after-hours private party, which we have been doing here for 50 years. No Disney park guests were inconvenienced in any way, as the park was closed before this private event began."
The "American Idol" judge documented each beautiful moment of the day -- which also marked the second birthday of their twins -- via social media, starting with a post to Twitter that said, "Happy 5th(!!!!!!!) Anniversary to the Best Husband in All The Land & 2 years ago pon de delivery room=luckiest Mommy in The WORLD! #HappyBirthdayDemBabies! #iluvroc&roe!!!! Just felt like tweeting you before sunset on #4:30." At the ceremony, the bride wore a gorgeous white gown and made a "grand entrance" to the castle in a pumpkin carriage with daughter Monroe. Meanwhile, her hubby and son, Moroccan, stood waiting dressed in Prince Charming outfits..
If that wasn't exquisite enough, Nick gifted his special lady one of the most sparkly gifts we've ever seen -- a enormous chandelier -- which Mariah gushed about on Twitter, saying "Happy Anniversary from my Husband to me!!!!#4/30 #Grateful!!!"
If this is their fifth anniversary, we can only imagine what will happen on their 50th!
Article courtesy of OMGYahoo..


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G.I. Joe: Resolute (US - DVD R1)
Cobra Commander announces that he won't take anymore of Gabe's crap...
The child of anti-Reganites, I was not allowed to watch the '80s G.I. Joe series, or play with the toys. But children practice their own brand of osmosis, and group-mind-meld, so I learned the basics of the series anyway. Years later the original G.I. Joe animated movie became a guilty pleasure, something I've always enjoyed more than its wildly popular sibling film Transformers. I'm not really a fan, but I understand the phenomenon enough to get a little excited by G.I. Joe: Resolute, a decidedly more adult take on the animated heroes. The story is simple. After years of brute force terrorist attacks Cobra, lead by the ever emotive Cobra Commander, takes a more nuanced approach to world domination. The heroic Joes are caught off guard by the layered attack, and the future looks generally bleak.
Beyond being a series fan's dream, G.I. Joe: Resolute is an action animation fan's dream. Even those missing particularly fond memories of the original G.I. Joe series, or it's several dozen iterations, should be excited by the mix of writer, director, and cast. Writer Warren Ellis is arguably one of the most consistently good writers in modern comic history (for my money he sits just behind Grant Morrison), and is recently known for bringing his own slant to popular series like Iron Man and the Fantastic Four. Director Joaquim Dos Santos hasn't been on the block too long, but those of us that pay attention to such things will remember his name from some of the best action based episodes of Justice League Unlimited and Avatar: The Last Airbender. The dialogue track is filled-out by voice acting favourites like Grey DeLisle ( Avatar), Stephen Blum ( Cowboy Bebop, Wolverine and the X-Men), Charlie Adler ( Rocko's Modern Life) and Eric Bauza. Actually, that's the entire cast. Apparently these four people voiced the entire movie.
But I'll be honest; I'm mostly here to see what Warren Ellis can bring to the table. Ellis' more recent popular work (what I've read) has seen the writer less concerned with overt politics (as seen in his most influential creation Transmetropolitan), or spirituality, and more defined by his interest in developing real-world technology (his Iron Man run is a good example). The man is good at finding relatable means to realistically explain the most outlandish comic book elements. I still haven't seen Stephen Sommer's live action G.I. Joe flick, but from what I gather from the trailers it appears Ellis has put a whole lot more thought into the tech of Resolute, and there's a lot of it. As a non-fan of the series Ellis also brings a refreshing perspective in some respects to the on-going G.I. Joe mythology, while still paying homage to the classic stories (painting Cobra Commander as a man who meant to be incompetent all these years is a definite highlight). The comic book dialogue is mostly fun, without overstepping his bounds into absolute stupidity (Scarlett's expressions of love for Duke start to push it, but are reeled back in just in time). In short, the script services fans without placating them.
The Snake Eyes/Storm Shadow stuff is a little old hat, especially following years of Batman cartoons specifically concerned with martial arts and honour. Still, Ellis wears old hats surprisingly well (he wears lots of hats well, do a Google image search), and more importantly Dos Santos brings his A-game. The ninja fight itself features some of the coolest animated combat since Avatar: The Last Airbender ended, and the TV-14 rating allows for a little more oomph than the Nickelodeon series allowed. It ends with a sort of awkward homage to Kill Bill 2 (which was a less specific homage in itself), but overall, it's pretty cool stuff. The non-ninja hijinx are pretty ace as well, including enough massive explosions, bloody shoot-outs, and epic machinery moments to please even hardened Joe fans, and in the end, it kind of is about the action.
Paramount is not releasing G.I. Joe Resolute on Blu-ray, but this SD DVD is presented in an anamorphically enhanced 1.78:1 widescreen, which is better than the shorts looked streaming from the internet. Overall detail is a little fuzzy, and the colours are a bit dim, which is a common look for modern Anime. I have no idea why, but I think it's often a stylistic choice. Even in HD the semi-recent Batman: Gotham Knight was a little dim and a little blurry. Perhaps the look is meant to make the film look more like a live action production. I don't know. Non-stylistically speaking this particular standard definition transfer features quite a bit of edge-enhancement and black line jaggies. The colours, though a bit dim, are pretty thick, and beyond the edges are relatively noiseless. The red-baked interior of the Joes' drop plane is surprisingly clean and rich, though, which points more towards the lack of hue intensity throughout the rest of the print being a purposeful element, for whatever reason. The digital augmentations are brighter and poppy without too many jaggies of their own. The rough blends appear to be another purposeful element, but it is a bit distracting on a large set.
The video quality is a bit iffy, but the Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack is a glorious feast of melodramatic music, hardboiled dialogue, and aggressive special effects. The special effects occasionally lack punch, but the fact that the track is clear and pointed while still being so busy is pretty cool. Bombs and gunshots are obvious highlights, but the more subtle sound of swishing swords and whizzing bullets are the most satisfying elements and the most subtle throughout the stereo and surround channels. The dialogue is sharp and crystal clear, if not entirely a naturalistic part of the soundscape. The music is especially bassy, and the bass does not warble or lose definition during more intense moments. The score is also the most consistent surround element, often working as a duel side stereo track.
The special features are kind of slim, but definitely better than nothing. Things start with 'Now You Know' (02:00), an especially cool teaser trailer featuring footage not found in the film proper. It's followed by an interview with the filmmakers (Steve Drucker, Joaquim Dos Santos and Dan Norton, 20:30). Ellis is missed, and the production is a little creaky (talking heads aren't much fun), but the interview questions are actually pretty solid (if not a bit nerdy), and the results pretty informative. Things are completed with a storyboard gallery, character bios, and trailers for other Paramount releases.
G.I. Joe Resolute isn't an instant classic, or a must see, but it's a rare case of fan-service-meets-thoughtful improvement. The producers behind tripe like Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen might want to take notice of this deft balance. With a little more room to breath Resolute could've made a perfect toy-based movie, and would've probably been $100 million cheaper than the live action Joe film fans got, and apparently hated. I still haven't seen it. A Blu-ray would've been nice, but it's a short feature, so Blu-ray prices might not have been worth a purchase. Worth a look for both the franchise's fans, Warren Ellis' fans, and fans of action animation.
Review by Gabriel Powers
Existing Posts
I dont know why, but this cartoon never interested me at all. I watched like four episodes and shut it off.
Wonderful review, Gabe!
Can't wait to watch this properly stitched together. Shame there's no Blu though...
Can't wait to watch this properly stitched together. Shame there's no Blu though...
I still want to see this one.
Good to finally have this in complete, proper movie form. It was absolute torture waiting in-between the shorts they were showing weekly on the Adult Swim website....
One long movie.
a potentially silly question but...
is it edited together as one long movie or is it split up into the little "episodes" like it was on the internet?
is it edited together as one long movie or is it split up into the little "episodes" like it was on the internet?
Thanks for the review. I've never been a big GI Joe fan, but I'll be checking this one out under the title of "Warren Ellis fan".
This product has not been rated
Disc Details
Release Date: 3rd November 2009
Discs: 1
Disc Type: Single side, single layer
RCE: No
Video: NTSC
Aspect: 1.78:1
Anamorphic: Yes
Colour: Yes
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1 English
Subtitles: English, French and Spanish
Extras: Now You Know Teaser, Interview with the Filmmakers, Storyboards, Joe Files
Easter Egg: No
Feature Details
Director: Joaquim Dos Santos
Cast: Grey DeLisle, Stephen Blum, Charlie Adler and Eric Bauza
Genre: Action, Adventure and Animation
Length: 58 minutes
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At one time or another, almost all children complain of a headache. In fact, the three most common recurring pain symptoms that pediatricians see are abdominal pain, chest pain, and headaches.
While a sudden severe headache may suggest a serious problem within the head or central nervous system and require prompt evaluation, headaches are most often a symptom of other medical or emotional problems. Your child may be feeling stress and tension. Or she may have a cold, the flu, or strep throat. Sometimes fevers and headaches occur at the same time, so if your child complains of head pain, check her temperature.
Some children experience a recurrent headache called migraine, which can begin in childhood. Unlike headaches caused by tension, these are often accompanied by other symptoms. Children may have a premonition that they will occur. Often, the headache occurs along with nausea, vomiting, or visual disturbances. The head pain itself is typically throbbing or stabbing and may affect one or both sides of the front part of the head. There may also be other unpleasant sensations in the head, including burning, tingling, aching, or squeezing. The child may prefer a darkened room. Migraines tend to run in families.
Migraine pain is cause by chemicals produced in the brain that alter blood vessels in the brain. (By comparison, stress headaches are characterized by a contraction of the muscles at the back of the head.) The head pain typically lasts for several hours or even overnight.
In diagnosing your child's headache you pediatrician will look for an underlying disease or condition. For most types of headaches, rest and some pain medication like acetaminophen on nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs may be all that is necessary, along with treatment of the primary disorder. Depending on the type of headache, your doctor might also recommend prescription drugs or stress-management techniques. If migraines occur more than two to three times a month-and particularly if they interfere with attending or functioning well in school-your doctor may prescribe medication as a preventive measure. A number of oral and nasal drugs that can control the attack are now available for older children. The doctor may also suggest some counseling to explore whether emotional factors may be contributing to the headaches. Headaches should not be allowed to control home or school activities.