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There has not been a wave of defections by Republicans who signed on to his "no new taxes" pledge and even the few who have spoken about possibly going along with revenue increases won't do so in the end, anti-tax crusader Grover Norquist told NPR Tuesday.
Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, for instance, imagines being willing to accept some increases in tax revenues if "Democrats would agree to fundamental reform of entitlements," Norquist told Morning Edition host Steve Inskeep. But such reform, he said, is something Democrats "haven't done in oh, I don't know, 60 years."
It's like imagining a "pink unicorn," Norquist said. "If you had a pink unicorn, how many dollars in taxes would you raise to trade for the pink unicorn? Since pink unicorns do not exist in the real world, it's never occurred to me to worry about the senator from South Carolina. He's not going to vote for a deal because the kind of 10-1 ratio deal he's talking about with real, iron-clad spending cuts is never going to happen."
Other Republicans will come to the same conclusion, predicts the founder of Americans for Tax Reform.
His analysis of the importance being attached to things said in recent days by Graham and a few other Republican lawmakers seems to agree with what our colleague Liz Halloran wrote Monday over at It's All Politics: "GOP Pushback On No-Tax Norquist: Less Than Meets The Eye." Norquist told Liz on Monday that Graham, Sen. Saxby Chambliss of Georgia and Rep. Peter King of New York (Republicans who have talked of breaking the pledge) aren't in leadership roles on tax issues and dropped the same hints two years ago — but didn't break their pledges then.
Much more from Norquist's conversation with Morning Edition is due on Wednesday's broadcast. Click here to find an NPR station that broadcasts or streams the show. By the way, at one point he talked about "silver unicorns" too.
Norquist also told Steve that:
-- "There's no reason to raise taxes. Taxes should be lower. ... The problem we have is that government spends too much," not that taxes are too low.
-- The stories about some Republicans saying they might break their no-tax pledge are repeats of what was being reported two years ago. "People are turning in the [same] homework for the second time," he said of the news media. But two years ago, Republicans concluded that President Obama and his fellow Democrats had not offered significant spending cuts. Norquist predicts the same will happen during negotiations to avoid the so-called fiscal cliff.
-- Keynesianism is an "economic fantasy" that has hurt, not helped job growth the past four years.
His voice rising as he spoke, Norquist said that "if we'd had a Reagan-sized recovery instead of an Obama-sized recovery over the last 3 1/2 years there would be 11-plus [more] million Americans at work. That's a lot of damaged lives because Obama has a theory and his theory was wrong — that if the government takes people's money and spends it you magically have twice as much money. ... Obama has put his ridiculous left-wing fantasy theories of Keynesianism above the lives of 11 million families in this country. That is an extremely bad thing that he did. And at some point you have to wonder why anybody does that to the country. He's done a lot of damage. We need to undo that damage."
The White House, of course, would make the case that the president's economic policies helped pull the economy out of the Great Recession he inherited. And, as NPR's Mara Liasson has reported:
"Inside the White House, officials say the president will stick to his principles but keep his options open [on taxes, entitlements and other spending]. Spokesman Jay Carney says the president wants a balanced deal.
"If you do that and you get to that $4 trillion mark, the way the president does, you will have a very positive effect, he believes — the president believes — on our overall economic prospects," Carney said, "because you will send a signal to the world that we're getting our fiscal house in order, but you'll also send a signal to the American people that we are doing it in a way that doesn't harm economic growth. It, quite the contrary, boosts economic growth."
Update at 7:45 a.m. ET, Nov. 28. One Republican On Why He Didn't Sign The Pledge:
Morning Edition also this morning aired an interview Congressman-elect Ted Yoho, R-Fla., who says he didn't sign the no-tax pledge because "my philosophy is, I gave a pledge to the people in my district. ... Signing a pledge is not going to fix our debt problems or our financial woes in this country." And, "anybody in their right mind" might be willing to support higher tax revenues if federal spending is brought under control, Yoho said.
Note at 7 a.m. ET, Nov. 28: This post was published at 1:05 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Nov. 27. When we added the audio from the broadcast version of Morning Edition's interview with Norquist, the timestamp was automatically changed to 4 a.m. ET Nov. 28 (Wednesday). It's a technical bug we're working to fix.
So Ted Yoho did not sign a pledge not to raise taxes. Some Republicans who have now suggest they might be able to ignore it as part of a larger budget deal. That calls attention to the activist who wrote it years ago, Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform, who also came by our studios.
I asked Congressman Yoho, of the three moving parts here, which is more important to deal with: taxes, spending, federal debt? Debt. That was his answer. Debt. Is he wrong?
GROVER NORQUIST: Spending is the most important, because the other two derive from the total cost of government, is government spending.
INSKEEP: Well, I think what he's saying, though, is that the national debt is what is seen as a national security threat to the country, that you have, ultimately, debts that you cannot pay, that are unsustainable.
NORQUIST: Right. But the reason you have debts is because you spend too much money. Look, if the government spends $100, whether it takes 90 in taxes and borrows 10, or it takes all hundred, a hundred's gone. It doesn't matter one way or the other. It's the same deadweight cost to the economy.
Now, look, a freshman congressman that gets here hasn't yet figured out the games that politicians play. They cheated Reagan, OK, and they said we'll cut $3 of spending for every dollar of tax increase. Spending went up, not down. They did the same thing to Bush a few years later in 1990. Bush and Reagan were sophisticated people. They were not fools. They wanted the spending cuts, and yet by focusing on the deficit rather than total spending, they ended up getting taken. So, spending is the deadweight cost of government. We've got to keep taxes down. If you raise taxes, they just spend it.
INSKEEP: Is there any political situation in which it may be vital economic policy to accept higher tax revenues as part of a larger deal that also includes spending cuts?
NORQUIST: OK. You're talking about a hypothetical, and this is where someone like Lindsey Graham, Republican who's from South Carolina, has got himself wrapped around the axle.
INSKEEP: He's one of the Republicans who's spoken skeptically of your anti-tax pledge. Go on. Go on.
NORQUIST: No, his anti-tax pledge. He made a commitment to the people of South Carolina. But he has made very clear - and we had a long conversation about this, because I trying to figure out what he was talking about. He images that the Democrats will agree to fundamental reform of entitlements, something they haven't done in, oh, I don't know, 60 years. But we imagine that they're going to. We imagine a pink unicorn.
Now, if you had a pink unicorn, how many dollars in taxes would you raise to trade for the pink unicorn? Since pink unicorns do not exist in the real world, it's never occurred to me to worry about the senator from South Carolina. He's not going to vote for a deal, because the kind of 10-to-one ratio deal he's talking about with real iron-clad spending cuts is never going to happen.
INSKEEP: Wait a minute. You were arguing that the string of Republicans who have said, eh, forget about Grover Norquist, forget about this no-tax flexibility - you're saying that the way they have laid out the potential deal is never going to happen, and therefore they're not actually promising or talking about raising taxes at all?
NORQUIST: Well, I'm speaking, in that case, specifically for the senator from South Carolina. Now, again, we're talking about four or five people, here. OK? I mean, this is not a wave - and, by the way, the same four or five people that we're talking about in all my interviews two years ago when we were going through this same fiscal cliff, although it was the debt ceiling bill. So it's the same cast of characters that have been brought out for the photographs again. And in point of fact, the four or five guys did not turn into a snowball. In fact, we got two-and-a-half trillion in spending restraint and no tax increases, something Obama's trying to re-litigate now.
INSKEEP: Does the cliff need to be avoided, in your view? Is it even something to worry about?
NORQUIST: Well, there are two issues, here. One is the automatic spending cuts. Those are a good idea. I'm open to doing the same number of - in cuts, same size cuts, in a different way. Some of the defense people think that you could save the same amount in defense, but doing it more artfully than the sequester does. Fine by me - as long as it's the same number.
INSKEEP: You're happy to cut spending anywhere you can get it.
NORQUIST: Sure, absolutely, including the defense spending. Second: the $500 billion tax increase that hits on January 1st is something that the Ds have to figure out what to do with. What they did two years ago - what all the same players around the same table, the same chessboard with the same pieces in the same place - was a decision to extend everything two years. They're very likely to do that again at the end of the day, unless Obama overplays his hand. Because, as he made the mistake four years ago, he thinks somebody made him king, and he spent all that money and got the Tea Party and lost the House.
INSKEEP: Grover Norquist, thanks very much.
NORQUIST: You got it. Thanks.
Speaking to Steve Inskeep, the founder for Americans for Tax Reform, Grover Norquist. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


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The recent opening of Chicken Express appears to have taken Ardmore by storm. And there is more to come as a number of different businesses plan to open their doors in the coming months.
Construction at Rib Crib, which will be located at The Commons, is moving along. Code Enforcement Officer Jessica Scott said she expects the restaurant to open within 30 to 60 days. In the downtown area, Mr. J's Sandwich Shop is also moving closer to opening its doors. The shop is located in Paradise Alley, at the former location of Prime, The Burger Dive. Scott said the opening is expected in a month.
Lake Murray Drive will also see an influx of business with the opening of a convenience store and a Dollar General. There was a desire to have a grocery store in that area of Ardmore, but Dollar General will be able to provide some of the same services.
"People wanted a grocery store because there was nothing like that over there," Scott said. "The Dollar General will be very convenient for the residents in that area. We are excited to see development taking place on Lake Murray Drive."
Scott said the new Brad Fenton Nissan facility is nearly ready on Rockford Parkway. A new Farm Credit facility will also be placed on Rockford.
My Dentist recently opened at The Commons and a new dentist office, Aspen Dental, has begun dirt work for a building across from Lowe's Home Improvement. There is also a new daycare that will be coming in at Merrick Circle.
Big things have been planned at Mountain View Mall since an amendment to the Tax Rebate Agreement was approved in September 2012. To this point, there is more in the way of plans rather than actual improvements. One of the reasons is the necessity of gaining easements for necessary additions. Nick Diaz, development services director, said the mall is going through the process of gaining the easements for the water and sewer. That will be important as Staples will move to the former site of Maurice's and will expand the current space. TJ Maxx will move into the current Staples site.
There will also be other renovations made to the mall. Those renovations include improving the parking lot and landscaping.

subset: commoncrawl


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Red Sox - 040 001 010 - 6 11 2***
Phillies - 100 040 60x - 11 14 2
Josh Beckett (3.77, 125 ERA+) / J.A. Happ (2.98, 145 ERA+)
wmtc4 was a huge success, I slept in till 11:30, there is afternoon baseball, the Red Sox are 3 GA in the East and the weather will remain gorgeous for many evening hours of patio relaxation. Perfect.
Since the end of April, Beckett has a 1.70 ERA in seven straight quality starts; in the one game he was tagged with a loss, he allowed one unearned run in eight innings. Over his last four starts, his ERA is a paltry 0.31, with opposing batters hitting [sic] .115/.198/.167.
Happ started the year in the bullpen, but his last four appearances have been starts (log). In those starts: 23.2 innings, 17 hits, 9 walks, 17 strikeouts, 4 home runs allowed, .205/.298/.410.
Jacoby Ellsbury, hitting in the #2 spot last night, homered, singled, walked three times, and stole a base. He's hitting .367/.472/.500 in June. ... A Julio Lugo impersonator went 4-for-5 last night, with two doubles.
Brad Penny, on Joe Girardi's comment that Penny hit Alex Rodriguez intentionally on Thursday night:
I don't care what he thinks. ... We don't go back and say they hit us intentionally. We've got games to worry about ... He needs to worry about managing ... I think he's just frustrated that we have a good team and a good lineup. ... And they called the commissioner's office. Come on.John_W_Henry:
Hope I didn't hurt Mark's feelings!


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다마르케스 존슨
TRAINING: My typical day starts at 9 in the morning with boxing or wrestling and wraps up around 11. Then at 2 it's off for strength and conditioning that usually ends around 3, where it's back for the fighter class at 3:30 which concludes at about 5.
When and why did you start training for fighting? I began training jiu-jitsu in 2001 after watching fights in my barracks room in the military, and once I got out the military I started fighting in April of 2005, mostly because I had competed in a lot of grappling tourneys and did fairly well. Then I met up with Jeremy Horn, watched a friend fight, and then started training. Five months later I took my first fight.
What ranks and titles have you held? Not super big on ranks or belt. I'm the 170 lb THROWDOWN Champion of Utah, I was ranked as a blue belt under Carlos Machado in 2002 but haven't really competed in Brazilian jiu-jitsu since getting a blue belt, However I have been wrestling and submission wrestling under Jeremy Horn since 2004.
Do you have any heroes? My heroes are all those that have helped me accomplish all the things that I have set my mind to. All my close friends and family.
What does it mean for you to fight in the UFC? It means everything to me to be able to compete in the UFC. I feel like the little kid that is slowly starting to realize his dream.
Did you go to college and if so what degree did you earn? I enlisted in the military straight out of high school as opposed to the college route.
What was your job before you started fighting? I was working in the Utah National Guard with the 19th Special Forces Group as an intel analyst.
Specific accomplishments in amateur competition? I never competed in amateur fights. I didn't know there was such a thing till I was already a pro. Basically I jumped right in the deep end.
Specific accomplishments in pro competition? 1st would be winning my first belt; 2nd would be being selected to compete on The Ultimate Fighter
Ranks in any martial arts styles: Blue belt in Jiu-Jitsu under Carlos Machado.
Favorite grappling technique: Whatever wins a fight or grappling match!
Favorite Striking technique: Whatever puts a hurt on my opponent, but liver shots are always good.
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"It was the film of the festival," critic John Powers tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross about Blue Is the Warmest Color, this year's Palme d'Or winner at the Cannes Film Festival. When Powers says "film of the festival" he means "it was the film that people loved the most, some hated the most, and everyone talked about the most."
The movie, directed by French director Abdellatif Kechiche, tells the story of two young women who fall in love with each other. It has been lauded for its acting and drawn attention — both negative and positive — for its controversial sex scene, which Powers calls the film's "centerpiece."
"[It's] the longest, most explicit sex scene I've ever seen in a film that wasn't a film designed for a porn theater," he says, "and partly because the film is very emotional, very natural in its acting."
While Powers found the acting in Blue Is the Warmest Color superior to the acting he saw elsewhere at the festival, it was not his favorite film. That honor belongs to the Coen brothers' new film, Inside Llewyn Davis, about a Greenwich Village folk singer during the early 1960s on the verge of a creative breakthrough that never happens.
"I have not been a great Coen champion or detractor," Powers says. "I've been kind of up and down on them. I think this may be their best film. ... It's really, really funny. It's funny in a way that the Coen brothers often aren't funny, which is it's not snide funny, it's kind of warm, sly funny. ... It's the most muted, quiet, sweet film they've ever made, I think, in part, because they actually love the folk songs."
And then there's the film Powers loved, but that didn't win any awards: The Great Beauty from Italian director Paolo Sorrentino. "I don't know why it didn't win anything," he says, "but things you like don't always win."
Interview Highlights
On Abdellatif Kechiche, the director of Blue Is the Warmest Color
"He now is probably the most acclaimed French director and, curiously, in some ways, the most French French director if you actually looked at the fantasies of Frenchness, of the things they like films to be about — crazy love, big emotions, natural acting, freedom of the body with nudity and all the rest. So he's like Tunisian-born, being condemned by Muslims, yet is somehow quintessentially French in a way that is very interesting.
"So you have that going on with the controversy surrounding it, plus the fact that the acting is really, really great in the film because he's one of the best directors of actors in the world. I kept saying to people in the days after I saw the film that all the acting in the films afterwards didn't look as good as it should, because he's so good at getting people behaving the way people behave that when you see the films afterwards everyone seems kind of actory, like they're working too hard."
On the graphic and buzzed-about sex scene in Blue Is the Warmest Colour
"Somehow you're detached from it, so it's not trying to turn you on — which, I think, is actually a virtue of the way that the filmmaker did it because, in fact, one thing that's undeniable is that the actresses seem excited; the characters are having good sex for them, but at the same time, it's not really intended to or achieving titillation for the audience."
On the movie that got the most 'boos'
"This year's 'boo' winner was a film called Only God Forgives by Nicolas Winding Refn. He's a Danish director who makes tough-guy, stylized, more or less action movies for art house audiences. ... In this one he's made a film set in Thailand where Ryan Gosling is a mama's boy who runs a kick-fighting academy and gets involved in a plot with murder and all the rest. This is the film that — I guess what I would call — the fanboys of Cannes ... were dying to see. ... It was the hardest tickets to get in and the movie started and they were so revved up you could actually feel the palpable excitement of the nerdy guys in the room and then gradually you could feel the air sink out, as if somehow it wasn't the movie they wanted it to be."
On the best party he attended
"My favorite party was a party for the AIDS research organization amFAR. ... Every year they hold a sumptuous party somewhere. This year it was at the hotel Cap d'Antibes and you turn up where hundreds of people are dressed in black tie, including me — I was very James Bond, I must tell everyone. ... You turn up and two things happen: There's entertainment and there's an auction of various things. The entertainment of the night was you got to hear Shirley Bassey sing 'Goldfinger,' so she came out and belted out 'Goldfinger' and did it better than she did at the Oscars. ... You also got to see one of the rare appearances by Duran Duran singing 'Hungry Like the Wolf.' Really, in terms of The Great Gatsby with those crazy parties, at some level you haven't lived until you've been in this huge building filled with black-tie rich people leaping from their dinner table to boogie to 'Hungry Like the Wolf.' "
The Cannes Film Festival, held annually on the French Riviera, is the world's most important film festival. This year's festival wrapped up on Sunday. Our critic-at-large, John Powers, attends it most years and when he does, we like to talk with him about the best and worst films he saw there.
John, welcome back to FRESH AIR. Welcome back from France.
JOHN POWERS, BYLINE: Hello.
GROSS: So let's start with the film that won the grand prize at Cannes.
POWERS: Well, the Palme d'Or winner is a French film called in French, "La Vie d'Adele," but in English it's called "Blue Is the Warmest Color." And it was the film of the festival, by which I mean, it was the film that people loved the most, some hated the most and everyone talked about the most.
The quick version of it is that it's a film about basically centered on two young women who fall in love. And it is a - so it's a lesbian love story but of a very special kind, partly because the film is three hours long, partly because the centerpiece of the film at some level is the longest, most explicit sex scene I've ever seen in a film that wasn't a film designed for a porn theater, and partly because the film is very emotional, very natural in it's acting. So it's an incredibly expressive movie that is also kind of exasperating, especially for English-speaking people, I think.
GROSS: Well, part of it too is that the filmmaker is French-Tunisian and I think this film is going to be very - or is already very controversial in part of the Muslim world and I think it's - correct me if I'm wrong - I think it's already been condemned by Islamic extremists.
POWERS: Oh yes, you know, the interesting thing is the film director's name is Abdellatif Kechiche who is perhaps the most acclaimed film director in France. He's already made two films, one called "The Skive," the other called "The Secret of the Grain," that completely swept the Caesar Awards - which are the French equivalent of the Oscars and were huge hits. And with this, by winning Cannes, he now is probably the most acclaimed French director - and curiously in some ways, the most French French director. But if you actually looked at the fantasies of Frenchness, of the things they liked films to be about - crazy love, big emotions, natural acting, freedom of the body with nudity and all the rest - he gives them all. So he's like Tunisian born, being condemned by Muslims, yet is somehow quintessentially French in a way, that's very interesting.
So you have that going on with the controversy surrounding it, plus the fact that the acting is really, really great in the film because he's one of the best directors of actors in the world. And I kept saying to people in the days after I saw the film that all the acting in the films afterwards didn't look as good as it should because he's so good at getting people behaving the way people behave that when you see the films afterwards everybody seems kind of actory, like they're working too hard.
GROSS: So do you think is very, very long sex scene in the movie is meant to be arousing for people in the audience?
POWERS: I don't think it is. Interestingly, a lot of people complained that it wasn't arousing enough, which I think is that they felt that it was clinical. And I don't think it's actually clinical, but that somehow you're detached from it so it's not trying to turn you on, which I think is actually a virtue of the way that the filmmaker did it. Because, in fact, one thing is undeniable is that the actresses seem excited. The characters are having good sex for them. But at the same time, it's not really intended to or achieving titillation for the audience. It goes on too long and maybe it ogles the women's bodies a little bit, but having said that, it's not some sort of cheap HBO, Showtime, ghastly sex scene of the kind that makes me want to turn off the TV. It's a completely different thing.
GROSS: So John, I am very selfishly now going to ask you about the film that that played at Cannes that's the film that I most want to see that I'm most curious about, and it's the new Coen Brothers movie, "Inside Llewyn Davis," which is set in 1961 in the Greenwich Village folk scene. What did you think?
POWERS: Oh, it was my favorite film at Cannes.
GROSS: Oh, good.
POWERS: I, you know, I have not been a great Coen champion or detractor, I'm kind of up and down with them. I think this may be their best film. And what it is it's in a way it's a very simple story. An actor named Oscar Isaac plays Llewyn Davis, who is a sort of a folk singer in the early '60s based kind of loosely on the singer Dave Van Ronk. And what he is is he's a guy who sings traditional folk songs and has a beautiful voice and somehow he's just not making it, you know, that he struggling in his career and then you watch a more or less go through a day or two or three as he struggles, and he travels around more or less trying to make his career go. And he has a kind of odyssey, accompanied in a huge part by a cat that he somehow finds himself stuck with.
So you have a kind of selfish, grumpy, artistic folk singer caught with a cat, traveling around trying to get his life together. And at that level basically, that's the plot. It's in some way it's kind of the shaggy dog story, but in fact, what it's all about is about this guy who was at this moment of history who has talent and his perceptions are the perceptions of a person who is living in the Bob Dylan era. He actually will remind you in some of the things he says of something that Bob Dylan might have said but he hasn't yet adjusted his music to the world that Bob Dylan will create. He's not Bob Dylan. He's a really good folk singer on the verge of a breakthrough of consciousness who isn't making the breakthrough himself.
The film is also - may I just because maybe this makes it sound serious - it's really, really funny; that it's funny in a way that the Coen Brothers often aren't funny, which is it's not snide funny. It's kind of warm, sly funny. They are no big caricatured characters. There's no nasty violence played for laughs. It's the most muted, quiet, sweet film they've ever made, I think in part because they actually love the folk songs. And there's a lot of folk singing in the film.
GROSS: Are they original songs or old folk songs?
POWERS: They're all - there's one new song, a hilarious kind of gimmick song that people sing in the thing. But all the rest are all old folk songs played absolutely straight. And part of the interest of the film and the achievement of it this actor Oscar Isaac who people know if they, if they see the film they'll know him from other things, is that he actually sings live these songs very beautifully while playing the guitar. And, you know, the music producer, T-Bone Burnett, in talking about it, he thought this might be unprecedented in movie history, that somebody came in, learned 30 minutes of music and then performed it live. So he's giving a really, really great performance.
GROSS: Tell us about another film that was a favorite of yours at Cannes.
POWERS: Oh, I think the film that didn't win anything that I really loved was a film called "Le Grande Bellezza," "The Great Beauty." It's by a guy named Paolo Sorrentino, who has been struggling for years to make the great film that you always think he's going to make.
This one is essentially his version of "La Dolce Vita" meets Fellini's "Roma." It's set in Rome and it's about a guy who is a writer, whose kind of - if you remember "La Dolce Vita," Marcelo Mastroianni played a kind of observer of the rich person's scene, and this guy is the older version of that. And he essentially just looks at the rich people in Rome behaving decadently and stupidly.
You see all the phony art. You see all the crazy dancing. You see all the meaningless sex. But as the movie progresses, you get this vision of the world in which there's all this craziness and selfishness. Yet if you look properly, there are all these little glimpses of beauty underneath.
Part of that beauty is simply Rome, so that this is the most beautifully shot film about Rome I've ever seen. I mean I think almost everybody I know thought: I've got to go to Rome...
POWERS: ...when they watch this movie, 'cause somehow the filmmaker, Sorrentino, got them to just let him like empty out entire streets so that the hero can walk at night. And it's just ravishingly beautiful. But what the film is about is about finding the beauty in the ridiculous and the absurd. And it's really very moving. It starts off so aggressive 'cause it's loud music and Italian people going crazy. And it ends quiet and soft and beautiful.
I mean it was my favorite thing. I don't know why didn't win anything, but you know, things you like don't always win - that's the story of the world.
GROSS: Usually at Cannes there's at least one film that gets a lot of boos.
People are very - are not reluctant to let their emotions be known. So what got the most boos this year Cannes?
POWERS: This year's boo winner was a film called "Only God Forgives," by Nicolas Winding Refn. He's a Danish director who makes tough guy, stylized, more or less action movies for art house audiences. His last film was a film called "Drive," with Ryan Gosling. In this one he's made a film set in Thailand where Ryan Gosling plays a mama's boy who runs a kick-fighting academy and gets involved in a plot with murder and all the rest. This was the film that I guess what I'd call the fanboys of Cannes - and there are a lot of them, the ones who just really love cool action movies - were dying to see. It was the film that people came the earliest to see. It was the hardest ticket to get in. And the movie started and they were so revved up, you could actually feel the palpable excitement of the nerdy guys in the room.
And then gradually you could feel the air sink out, as somehow it wasn't the movie they wanted it to be. And you know, they felt it was a disaster in part because the guy they think of as the hero - the Ryan Gosling figure - turns out to not be the fantasy figure they want in a movie. He can't fight. He's a mama's boy with an overbearing mother, played by Kristin Scott Thomas.
But he is a mama's boy who can't deal with his mom. It order to escape her, somebody else has to kill her for him. So this is like almost the nightmare of a fantasy for someone who goes in loving the tough guy fantasy of tough guy drivers and tough guy outlaws.
The hero here is a guy who can't do any of this stuff and needs a real man to do it for him; which is like the most paranoid nightmare, I think, of the kind of fanboy who loves Refn's work.
GROSS: You're making it sound interesting.
POWERS: Well, it's only 90 minutes. I mean I thought it was kind of interesting because I felt as though he, Refn, was unconsciously making a movie about his fan base, which is something you don't see very often. The audience that loves him tried to say they liked it but they thought it was a - they didn't like it really. And the rest of the world never liked this guy's films anyway, so they gleefully booed.
And it must be said that at Cannes, people don't just boo, they like booing. You know, it's a great release, partly 'cause, you know, in this case people stood outside at 7:30 in the morning to see the film. So when it wasn't good, they were ready to boo. And boy, did they.
GROSS: My guess is our critic-at-large John Powers. We'll talk more about the Cannes Film Festival after a break.
This is FRESH AIR.
GROSS: Let's get back to our conversation with our critic-at-large, John Powers, about the films he saw at this year's Cannes Film Festival, which wrapped up on Sunday with the awards ceremony.
So Best Actor and Best Actress, Best Actor went to Bruce Dern, who is in Alexander Payne's new film, and Best Actress went to the woman who was the lead in...
POWERS: Berenice Bejo.
GROSS: Yes, I don't know how to pronounce it. She was the lead in the French film "The Artist," which won all the awards at the Oscars, what, two or three years ago. So thoughts about their wins?
POWERS: Well, I think, you know, Bruce Dern is very, very good in the Alexander Payne movie. He plays an old guy who has gotten one of those Publishers Clearinghouse things and thinks he's won a million dollars and is going off to claim it in Lincoln, Nebraska, accompanied by his son, played by Will Forte from "Saturday Night Live." And he more or less plays a kind of crabbed, difficult guy who's a cussed(ph) figure.
In fact, I don't think he was the best actor in the festival. I think Michael Douglas did a better job in "Behind the Candelabra," which just showed on HBO. But Bruce Dern is really, really good. It was actually a good festival for him because when they showed "The Great Gatsby" on opening night, you got to see that Joel Edgerton's performance as Tom Buchanan wasn't as good as Bruce Dern's in the earlier film version.
So, Bruce Dern not only won Best Actor, he got to be the best Tom Buchanan in "Great Gatsby" at Cannes.
POWERS: So the Best Actress went to Berenice Bejo who everyone remembers from "The Artist." She was in the new film by the guy who made the "A Separation." And it's a kind of, once again a domestic family mystery. She's very, very good in the film, but she's not as good as Adele Exarchopulos and Lea Seydoux, who are the two stars of the film that won, "Blue is the Warmest Color." Their performances were off the charts great, whereas she's merely really good.
GROSS: Well, Cannes isn't just about movies. It's about parties.
GROSS: What's the best party you went to?
POWERS: Oh, my favorite party was a party for the AIDS research organization amfAR. And every year they hold a sumptuous party somewhere. This year was at the Hotel Cap d'Antibes. And you turn up where hundreds of people are dressed in black tie, including me - I was very James Bond, I must tell everyone.
POWERS: And I...
GROSS: No, you weren't.
POWERS: Oh, OK...
POWERS: OK, I was a short James Bond. Can we go that far?
POWERS: And you turn up and two things happened. There's entertainment and there's an auction of various things. The entertainment on the night was you got to hear Shirley Bassey sing "Goldfinger." So she came out and belted out "Goldfinger" and did it better than she did at the Oscars.
GROSS: That's why you felt James Bondish.
POWERS: I think that is why I feel - I think that probably is the connection. You know, and she was really, really good, and it was fun to hear her. You know, you also got to see one of the rare appearances by Duran Duran, singing "Hungry Like the Wolf."
And really it's - you know, in terms of "The Great Gatsby" with those crazy parties, I mean at some level you haven't lived until you've been in this huge building filled with black tie rich people leaping from their dinner table to boogie to "Hungry Like the Wolf."
It's out of this world. But the amazing thing is not that. It's the actual auction, where they auction off for a million and a half euros, in this case, the right to attend all the Oscar parties, including the behind-the-scenes Oscar parties on Oscar night. That went for a million and a half euros.
My favorite, and the best, of course, was the bidding for the right to sit next to Leonardo DiCaprio as you got blasted into outer space on Virgin Galactic Airlines. That went for a million and a half euros, which is basically $2 million.
So you have that going on. You have rich people swirling. I got to step on the back of Paris Hilton's dress, even though I didn't want to - I got bumped into it. And you know, got to see also lots of beautiful people. There were lots of famous stars there. Leonardo DiCaprio was there. Nicole Kidman was there. I hadn't seen Goldie Hawn in a long time; there was Goldie Hawn.
You know, as I say, Shirley Bassey who, I think, looked younger than some of the members of Duran Duran...
POWERS: And she must be, you know, 100, whereas the Duran Duran guys looked a bit like they'd lived the rock star life. So at 50 they were in worse shape than Shirley was.
GROSS: Is Leonardo DiCaprio planning on going into outer space?
POWERS: Yes, he is. I think, you know, he - I think it's not deep outer space. I mean I think it's one of these things where you get out of the stratosphere and then just come back down. So it's more like a shuttle flight. But yes, he is. No, I mean I think he'd already bought his ticket. And the question was: Who would get the ticket next to him? So I mean he is a great supporter of amfAR and so he was a good sport the entire night.
You know, all the stars are actually very, very happy to be there and it's an exciting thing. I mean it's real spectacular "La Dolce Vita" stuff.
GROSS: Some of the films that you've mentioned will probably get a lot of attention when they open in America. Would you just tell us, I mean briefly, about a film you think we should see that won't have all that ballyhoo when it opens?
POWERS: There's a lovely little film called "The Lunchbox." It's an Indian film which is set in Mumbai. And it basically involves the way they use lunchboxes in Mumbai, which is that people send them to the office from their home. This one has to do when a lunchbox gets sent to the wrong person. The guy who gets it sends it back to the person with a note and gradually they develop a relationship between a lonely business guy and a lonely wife.
It sounds simple but it's nicely turned, beautifully acted and very moving and has a really, really great performance by Irrfan Khan, the great Indian actor who people will remember as the older guy in the "Life of Pi." It's a very, very good film, very touching. I think people are really going to like it.
GROSS: Well, John, thank you for telling us about Cannes. It's always great to talk with you.
POWERS: Oh thank you, Terry.
GROSS: John Powers is FRESH AIR's critic-at-large and is the film and TV critic for Vogue and vogue.com. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


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Pack of 50: 23122
Pack of 50: 5027455373768
Pack Weight: 54g
Approx. Height: 30mm
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Turner Signs WNBA Training Camp Contract
Lincoln - Former Husker and Nebraska native Yvonne Turner signed a WNBA training camp contract with San Antonio, the Silver Stars announced on Wednesday.
Turner, a first-team All-Big 12 selection and the conference Co-Defensive Player of the Year in 2010, is in her third season of professional basketball overseas after going undrafted by the WNBA following her senior season at Nebraska in 2010.
Turner, a 5-8 guard from Omaha, was the 2006 Gatorade Nebraska High School Player of the Year and a first-team WBCA All-American at Bellevue East. She was a three-year starter for the Huskers and helped Nebraska to the best season in school history in 2009-10, as NU finished 32-2 and 16-0 in the Big 12 on its way to the NCAA Sweet 16.
Turner, who has played professionally in Australia and Germany the past two seasons, is currently playing for Dynamo-GUVD Novosibirsk in Siberia. Competing in Europe's best domestic league, Turner is averaging 13.6 points, 3.1 assists and 2.6 rebounds per game this season.
Turner is expected to join former Husker teammate Kelsey Griffin when WNBA training camps open later this spring following the completion of the collegiate season. Griffin, who was a first-team All-American and the Big 12 Player of the Year as a senior alongside Turner in 2010, has spent the past three seasons with the Connecticut Sun.
Griffin is currently playing professionally in Australia for the Bendigo Spirit with former Husker and 2012 Canadian Olympian Chelsea Aubry. Another former teammate of Turner, Griffin and Aubry, Cory Montgomery, is playing in the same Australian league for the Logan Thunder. Mongtomery was a also a first-team All-Big 12 pick in 2010 and a third-round WNBA selection of the New York Liberty.


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photo 1 of 4
Fabiano Scherner
When and why did you start training for fighting? 1997 in Brazil.
What ranks and titles do you hold? Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, World Champ in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, 6x
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Champ, IFC Americas Heavyweight Belt
What is your favorite technique? Armbars and Guillotine
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Friday, Oct. 11, 2013
#1 Maryland (12-0, 3-0 ACC)
#9 Princeton (6-3, 3-0 Ivy)
Game Time: 6:00 p.m.
Location: College Park, Md.
Stadium: Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex
Live Stats: UMTerps.com
Live Updates: https://twitter.com/TerpFieldHockey
Listen Live: WMUCSports.wordpress.com
Event Information
• Admission and parking are both free. The parking lots around the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex will be open at 4 p.m.
• Live stats will be available at UMTerps.com as well, and the game will be broadcast live online for free on Maryland's campus station, WMUCSports.wordpress.com.
• Live updates will also be available at http://twitter.com/#!/TerpFieldHockey.
Scouting The Terps
• Maryland is ranked No. 1 in the Penn Monto/NFHCA Division I National Coaches poll. The Terrapins are coming off of their 16th overall Final Four appearance and fifth straight.
|2013 Maryland Terrapins 12-0, 3-0 ACC (Penn Monto/NFHCA Division I National Coaches poll #1)
|Digital Media Guide
• The Terps are coming off of a dominant 6-0 win over Hofstra Tuesday in College Park. Maxine Fluharty and Ali McEvoy each scored twice to lift the Terps over the Pride. Fluharty scored the first 7:34 in with a put-back after a penalty corner. McEvoy expanded the lead in the 21st minute when she sailed in a shot from the outside left corner of the circle. She added a made penalty stroke to make it 3-0. Fluharty scored the Terps' fourth goal in the 29th minute off a penalty corner, then Jill Witmer and Welma Luus scored in the second half.
• Maryland has the nation's top offense. The Terps lead the country in scoring average (4.97), goals scored per game (5.00), scoring margin (3.73), assists per game (3.67), and points per game (13.67).
• In their 12 games of the season, 15 different Terrapins have scored and 11 have scored two goals or more. Senior Jill Witmer sits at No. 10 on Maryland's career scoring list with 58 goals scored in her four years. She has 141 points in her career, which puts her at No. 9 on Maryland's career points list.
• Twelve Terps have notched an assist. In all, Maryland has 44 assists on 60 goals scored so far this year.
Scouting The Tigers
• Defending national champion Princeton is 6-3 overall this year and 3-0 in Ivy League play. The Tigers beat Columbia, 5-0, Friday. Allison Evans is leading Princeton with seven goals this season for 17 points.
|2013 Princeton Tigers 6-3, 3-0 Ivy (Penn Monto/NFHCA Division I National Coaches poll #9)
• Maryland owns the all-time series over Princeton, 16-7-1, but the Tigers won both matchups last year.
• The Tigers won 3-2 on Oct. 4 last year in New Jersey. Then-No. 5 Maryland held a 2-1 lead with goals from Alyssa Parker and Katie Gerzabek at halftime. The Tigers tied it up eight minutes into the second half, then took the lead in the 50th minute. | RECAP
• In last year's NCAA Semifinal, the sixth-ranked Terrapins fell to No. 2 Princeton, 3-2, on a penalty stroke awarded to the Tigers in overtime. The scoring went back and forth with Ali McEvoy making a penalty stroke in the 58th minute to tie it at 2-2. In the 76th minute, Princeton advanced to the national title game off a made stroke. | RECAP
Play the Best
The Terrapins will play one of the strongest schedules in the country.
• The Terps will play nine games against eight of the other 15 teams in the 2012 NCAA Tournament. They are 5-0 vs. those teams.
• The Terrapins will face off against all three of the other 2012 Final Four teams in Princeton, North Carolina and Syracuse.
• Maryland will play 12 of the teams ranked in the Penn Monto/NFHCA Division I Preseason Poll in 13 regular season games. So far, Maryland is 7-0 vs. ranked teams.
Head Coach Missy Meharg
The 2010 and 2011 NFHCA National Coach of the Year, Missy Meharg returns for her 26th season at the helm of the successful Terrapin field hockey program. Her current career record is 462-112-9 (.800). Below is a breakdown of just a few of her highlights since she took the reins in 1988:
• Seven-time National Champions
• Nine ACC Titles
• Nine NFHCA Coach of the Year honors
• Six ACC Coach of the Year awards
• 15 NCAA Final Four Appearances
• Seven Honda Awards won by five players
• 88 All-ACC selections
• 14 ACC Players of the Year
• Seven ACC Rookies of the Year
• Five Olympians
Staff Updates
The Terrapins welcome a newcomer and a returnee to the program in 2013. Joppe de Vries joins the staff as a new assistant coach/technical director. Maryland alum Steve Simpson returns as a volunteer assistant.
• De Vries comes to College Park after coaching and teaching at the University of Amsterdam. He has been in coaching circles in the Netherlands for over a decade and has coached prominent clubs, including the Rotterdam Hockey Club and former Terrapin Berber Rischen. He worked on the South African hockey staff training goalkeepers for the 2012 London Olympic Games.
• Simpson, a 1988 graduate of the University of Maryland, began working alongside the program as an undergraduate student. He was hired by Meharg in 1995 and was an assistant through 2003. Together, they won the 1999 national title. Since then, he coached at New Hampshire and UMass and most recently, at Syracuse.
Oh Captain, My Captain
Brooke Cabrera, Ali McEvoy and Sarah Sprink were voted tri-captains by their teammates prior to the start of the season.
• Cabrera, a redshirt junior, will help with off the field team chemistry and leadership.
• McEvoy, a senior who was recently named to the Preseason All-ACC Team, has started throughout her career for the Terrapins' defense. She and Sprink will help lead the Terps on the field.
• Sprink will serve as the Terrapins' liaison with officials as NCAA field hockey moves into using a referral system.
Three Named to All-ACC Preseason Team
• Three Terrapins were named to the 11-member Preseason All-ACC Team - Maxine Fluharty, Ali McEvoy and Jill Witmer.
• The Terrapins were picked to finish second in the ACC and received a first-place vote.
• The Terrapins have won nine overall ACC titles. Most recently, they won three straight from 2008, 2009 and 2010.
• Witmer was named to the All-ACC Team last year, while McEvoy made it in 2011. This is Fluharty's first honor from the conference.
Home Sweet Home
Since its opening in 2003, the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex has provided the Maryland hockey program a huge home field advantage.
• The Terps are 121-13 (.903) all-time at the Complex.
• Maryland won 38 straight games at the Complex from Oct.11, 2008 through Oct. 14, 2011. The streak ended with a 5-2 loss to then-No. 1 Old Dominion.
• The Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex has played home to 20 of Maryland's NCAA Tournament games, including two Final Fours (2007, 2010). The Terrapins are 19-1 in those games and won the 2010 national title on their home field.
Pack the House
The Maryland field hockey team has increasingly attracted more and more fans to the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex season after season.
• The Terrapins have led the nation in attendance for three straight years and the ACC for six years. In 2012, Maryland averaged 643 fans per game with 7,725 fans coming out to the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex.
• An NCAA record crowd of 2,381 came out to watch as Maryland beat North Carolina 3-2 in double overtime for the 2010 national championship at the Complex.
Terps in Openers
• Maryland is 36-3-2 in season openers and the Terps have won their last 18 straight.
• The Terrapins haven't opened the season at home in the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex since 2000. They've opened 26 of their 40 seasons on the road.
• The Terps are 10-1 in home openers at the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex and have outscored their opponents 46-11 in those 11 games.
Home Openers at the Field Hockey & Lacrosse Complex
9/13/03 - Maryland 6, Drexel 0
9/4/04 - Maryland 6, Old Dominion 0
9/2/05 - Maryland 4, Michigan 0
9/4/06 - Maryland 1, Old Dominion 0
9/2/07 - Maryland 3, Michigan 2 (2OT)
9/5/08 - Maryland 8, Old Dominion 1
9/6/09 - Maryland 4, Michigan 1
9/3/10 - Maryland 3, Old Dominion 1
9/4/11 - Maryland 2, Michigan 1
8/31/12 - Old Dominion 2, Maryland 1
9/3/13 - Maryland 8, Drexel 3
Terps When...
|2013 Terps When...
|vs. Top 5 opponents
|vs. Top 10 opponents
|vs. Top 25 opponents
|vs. unranked opponents
|vs. 2012 NCAA Tournament teams
|Day Games
|Night Games
|Leading at half
|Trailing at half
|Tied at half
|Maryland has more shots
|Opponent has more shots
|Shots are tied
|Maryland has more saves
|Opponent has more saves
|Saves are tied
|Maryland has more corners
|Opponent has more corners
|Corners are tied
|Maryland scores first
|Opponent scores first
|Games decided by one goal
|Games decided by 2-4 goals
|Games decided by more than 4 goals
|On Sunday
|On Monday
|On Tuesday
|On Wednesday
|On Thursday
|On Friday
|On Saturday
|In August
|In September
|In October
|In November
Meharg Named ESPNU/ESPN The Magazine Top 20 Recruiter
Terrapin head coach Missy Meharg was named one of college athletics' top 20 recruiters by ESPNU/ESPN The Magazine in January 2012.
"ESPNU AND THE MAGAZINE asked an all-star panel a seemingly simple question: Who are the top 20 recruiters in college sports? We spoke with three dozen experts, from Mag college football Insider Bruce Feldman to volleyball legend Karch Kiraly to women's World Cupper Cat Whitehill. Turns out, baseball coaches aren't the only ones pulling roster magic from a hat half-filled with scholarships."Coach SchoolSport
|ESPNU/ESPN The Magazine Top 20 Recruiters
|1. Pat Henry
|Texas A&M
|Track/Cross Country
|2. Anson Dorrance
|North Carolina
|Women's Soccer
|3. Ed Orgeron
|Southern California
|Football (Asst.)
|4. Chris Dailey
|Women's Basketball (Asst).
|5. Missy Meharg
|6. Mike Krzyzewski
|Men's Basketball
|7. Russ Rose
|Penn State
|Women's Volleyball
|8. Barton Burns
|Football (Asst.)
|9. Jay Clark
|Women's Gymnastics
|10. Chad Holbrook
|South Carolina
|Baseball (Asst.)
|11. Dan Jordan
|12. John Calipari
|Men's Basketball
|13. Mike McGraw
|Oklahoma State
|Men's Golf
|14. Jovan Vavic
|Southern California
|M/W Water Polo
|15. Thad Matta
|Ohio State
|Men's Basketball
|16. Kelly Inouye-Perez
|17. Mike LoPresti
|Women's Bowling
|18. Tosh Lupoi
|Football (Asst.)
|19. Kelly Amonte Hiller
|Women's Lacrosse
|20. J Robinson
Support the Terps
• To support the Maryland Field Hockey program, join the Corner Club today! Log on to CornerClub.org for more information.
• Follow Maryland field hockey on Twitter for in-game updates during all games and the latest info! Check out http://twitter.com/#!/TerpFieldHockey!
Follow Maryland Athletics on Twitter
Media Information
• Email Straight To You: If you would like the latest Maryland field hockey news emailed directly to you as soon as it breaks, email field hockey contact Rose DiPaula with "Field Hockey E-Mail" as the subject and you will receive every update.
• Terps on the Web: For up-to-date game stories, statistics, schedules and results, and other Maryland athletic department information, please log-on to www.umterps.com on the Internet.
• Live stats: Follow Terps games live in 2013 on your computer with Live Stats. Links for all games that will be available can be found at www.umterps.com.


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Hunter Keeton of Owen County will compete in the Kentucky State Spelling Bee Saturday at the Frazier International History Museum in Louisville.
Keeton is one of approximately 60 Kentucky and Southern Indiana youngsters who will compete in one of the major events of the Kentucky Derby Festival.
The state winner will receive a U.S. Savings Bond valued at $10,000 upon maturity, a trophy, the latest edition of the Merriam Webster collegiate dictionary and a $25 Amazon.com gift card.
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Nadezhda Popova, a Soviet aviator who became one of the most celebrated of the so-called "Night Witches," female military pilots who terrorized the Nazi enemy with their nocturnal air raids during World War II, died July 8. She was 91.
Her death was reported by The (London) Daily Telegraph. The place and cause could not immediately be confirmed. In a statement, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych called Popova's life "an example of selfless service to [the] Motherland." Her "feats in the course of the Great Patriotic War," he said, "will never be forgotten."
Popova was among the first female pilots to volunteer for service in the Soviet military during World War II and became a squadron commander in her swashbuckling all-female regiment. She flew 852 combat missions — including 18 during one night — and was honored as a Hero of the Soviet Union, one of the nation's highest decorations.
Like American women in the age of Amelia Earhart, many Soviet women had become enchanted with aviation in the 1930s. They were initially rejected for combat service during World War II, but Soviet leader Joseph Stalin thought better of the decision in 1941, when Germany broke the Soviet-German nonaggression pact and invaded.
Led by Marina Raskova, a renowned aviator who would later die in a plane crash, three women's regiments were born of necessity. While other nations employed female pilots largely in support roles, the Soviets dispatched their female aviators on delivery and reconnaissance missions, as well as daring raids to take out enemy targets. The women were treated in many respects like their male colleagues, although they did receive larger soap rations.
Popova served with the night bombers, perhaps the most feared of the three all-female regiments. Their planes, rickety two-seaters made of plywood and canvas, were jerry-rigged as bombers.
The pilots achieved a degree of surprise by shutting down their engines in the last stages of their bomb runs; the Germans heard only the hiss of the air flowing across their wings and, likening the sound to that of a broomstick in flight, came to refer to the women as Night Witches.
"The Germans spread stories that we were given special injections and pills which gave us a feline's perfect vision at night," Popova told historian Albert Axell in an interview for his book "Greatest Russian War Stories, 1941-1945." "This was nonsense, of course," she continued. "What we did have were clever, educated, very talented girls."
They women generally ranged in age from 17 to 26. Popova was 19 when she joined the pilots and became "one of the best, and one of the luckiest," according to The Moscow Times.
"When the wind was strong it would toss the plane. In winter when you'd look out to see your target better, you got frostbite, our feet froze in our boots, but we carried on flying," she said. "If you give up nothing is done and you are not a hero. Those who gave in were gunned down and they were burned alive in their craft as they had no parachutes."
Once, she watched four planes crash, carrying eight women to their deaths. "What a nightmare," she said decades later, "poor girls, my friends, only yesterday we had slept in the bunks together."
Popova remarked that perhaps she was born lucky. One time, she counted 42 bullet holes in her plane. "Katya, my dear," she said to her navigator, "we will live long."
Nadezhda Vasiliyevna Popova was born Dec. 17, 1921, in what is now Dolgoye, Ukraine, according to the Daily Telegraph. She planned to become a teacher or a doctor, until one day a plane landed near her home and she met the pilot.
"I had thought only gods could fly," she said in an account published in the book "A Dance With Death: Soviet Airwomen in World War II," by Anne Noggle. "It was amazing to me that a simple man could get in a plane and fly away."
Popova joined a flying club and later graduated from an aviation school. When the war started, she was working as an instructor. She said that she decided to join the military after losing her brother in the war and after watching Germans abuse her townspeople.
"I saw the German aircraft flying along our roads filled with people who were leaving their homes, firing at them with their machine guns," she said. "Seeing this gave me feelings inside that made me want to fight them."
Over the course of the war, Popova said, she fought in Belorussia, Poland and Germany. In 1942, she was shot down in the North Caucasus. Retreating with the infantry, she met her future husband, Semyon Kharlamov, also a decorated pilot. They were married for many years until his death; together they had a son, who grew up to be a general in the Belarusian air force. A complete list of survivors could not be determined.
Minerva, an academic publication on women and the military, cited Soviet records indicating that the women's regiments flew more than 30,000 combat sorties. Their ranks produced at least 30 Heroes of the Soviet Union — about a third of all women so honored — and at least three fighter aces.
Decades after the war, Popova, who often was called Nadya, reflected on the perils she had endured. "At night sometimes, I look up into the dark sky, close my eyes and picture myself as a girl at the controls of my bomber," she said, "and I think, 'Nadya, how on earth did you do it?' "


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It's 5:30 a.m. I have dozed fitfully since 4:30 a.m. I am never up this early but couldn't get back to sleep.
Last night Cole was lying down on a shelving unit I put by the window in my office. It has a pillow and a comfy mat. The edge of the short curtains was on the pillow and mat and he started to slip.
I went to help him but he semi-fell to the floor, right in front of Zoe. She did a banshee freak-out, thinking she was being attacked. She went at Cole so fiercely that he peed himself. I hauled her out.
Oscar waited outside the office door for her and chased her under the bed and hissed at her. Cole's protector I guess.
Not long after I went to bed Zoe got up and lay down by my left side and went to sleep. Oscar was on the other side of me. About 2 am Zoe spotted him and lunged for him; I had my hand on her so pulled her back. She went under the bed, a favourite spot.
4:30 am - Oscar is watching Zoe who is giving little growls under the bed. I had taken two small rags and sprayed Feliway on them...I know it doesn't work fast, but I had to try something so early.
ANYway, Zoe went on another banshee attack on Oscar. Again I pulled her away and she ran under the bed. I then noticed I needed a couple of bandaids, one on my right hand and the other on my left foot.
When I brought Zoe home just over 2 years ago things were going very well. Then there was another 'accidental' attack where all three of them went on a gallop out of my room and down the hall. Zoe, 9 lbs, was sandwiched between Cole and Oscar, each 16 lbs on a good day. They got to the living room and she attacked, banshee screams and all. Cole wet himself again. I kept Zoe separately in my bedroom for 3 or 4 days.
I will call the vet tomorrow. My regular vet is not in til Tuesday. I think Zoe needs a good checkup at least, a geriatric one, and maybe something mild and long term to take the edge off until she gets more comfortable with my two.
I wish I could turn the clock back, but I can't.
Prayers and good thoughts for Zoe and a more peaceful household, please. Thank you.
So I will call the vet tomorrow


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Stardock announces that Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion is smashing all the company's previous sales records. They offer some details on this, including some praise for the impact of sales on Steam, clearly putting the rivalry over once having owned the competing Impulse service in the rearview:
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The Oklahoma Department of Labor, in partnership with the Oklahoma Safety Council, has launched "Oklahoma's Speak Out for Workplace Safety!" Video Contest.
This first-ever statewide initiative is designed to educate high schools students, grades 9 through 12, about injury prevention while on the job.
As students enter their first job, the workplace should be a challenging and rewarding experience for them. Therefore, to introduce the concept of workplace safety into the classroom, teachers will be required to teach "Youth@Work – Talking Safety published by NIOSH." From there, students will produce a PSA video based on the safety concepts learned from the curriculum.
The purpose of the contest is to help students recognize their vulnerability to injury and illness on the job and how this may impact their lives. Furthermore, the contest will help students recognize that workplace injuries are preventable and predictable. As they learn to recognize hazards found on typical teen job sites, they are able to analyze the steps that can be taken to avoid injury and illness at work, understand their rights and responsibilities at work, and demonstrate how to communicate effectively with employers if they feel unsafe at work.
For teachers specializing in the hospitality and restaurant industries, the Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education will also provide teachers with "Workplace Safety in the Restaurant Industry," published by C-CAP.
"We are very excited to implement this young worker safety endeavor to more than 500 schools across Oklahoma," stated Mark Costello, Oklahoma Labor Commissioner.
The top six student entries, one from each region, will win an iPad.
The deadline for students to submit entries will be March 8.
For contest rules, go to http://www.ok.gov/odol/Workforce_Protection/Child_Labor/2013_Contest/index.html.


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With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Jason Varitek called for a slider, Schilling said no and threw a fastball, which Shannon Stewart lined to right field. Two pitches later, Mark Ellis fouled out to Alex Cora and the game was over.
IP H R ER BB K BF PITSchilling went to a two-ball count on only seven of 29 Oakland batters. He threw three balls to only one of those seven: Jack Cust in the 2nd.
Schilling 9 1 0 0 0 4 29 100
The Red Sox's run came on David Ortiz's solo home run in the top of the first.
Curt Schilling (3.91, 115 ERA+) / Joe Blanton (3.81, 113 ERA+)
Blanton will have a hard time matching his effort from his last outing, but he'll give it a try. Blanton took just an hour and 49 minutes to pitch a shutout on Saturday night against the Twins, holding them to three hits and striking out six.
Schilling couldn't build on his dominant previous start against Cleveland, allowing five earned runs and nine hits against the Yankees at Fenway. ... He has allowed 89 hits in 76 innings this season.


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Chad Billingsley (1-4) vs. Oliver Perez (2-2).
COMMENTS: Happy Cinco de Mayo! Los Mets beat the Diamondbacks yesterday, 5-2. Thanks, Mets! Today we root for you...to lose! And what better way for the Dodgers to start a new winning streak than against resident Mets headcase Perez? The Mets have lost four of his six starts; his last outing lasted 1 2/3 innings and earned him the enmity of teammate Billy Wagner. Meanwhile, Billingsley leads the Dodgers in strikeouts with 40 (Derek Lowe and Hong-Chih Kuo are tied for a distant second with 25 each). Billingsley's losing record is more an indication of his weird inability to pitch a smooth fifth inning than anything else.
The Dodger bats took the day off yesterday with the exception of Andre Ethier (solo homer) and—gulp—Juan Pierre (.324/.395/.382. That's right, OBP > SLG). Which begs the question...what to do with $18 million paperweight Andruw Jones? Joe Torre is trying everything short of offering a cigar and rum to Jobu in an effort to diagnose Andruw's malaise. Since Perez is as hittable a pitcher the Dodgers will see this week, Andruw's whereabouts today—lineup or bench?—will give us some insight into Torre's feelings about his slump. The rest of the Dodgers' offense would be well served to give Billingsley some early run support so he doesn't feel as if he has to throw a perfect game in order to win.


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Sunday, February 13, 2011
Posted by Dawn at 8:52 PM
28 comments:
life can be seriously so funny i never think
- February 14, 2011 at 3:10 PM
- Frau Mahlzahn said...
Oh, do I agree. Especially, if you have a husband, who lets you down in the morning and walks out on you despite the fact that you have an important appointment _and_ a sick kid... and comes home at night with flowers, thinking _that_ will make up for it... But, boy, is it fun to slap him with the flowers! (That should teach him, *ggg*).
But on the bright side, follow the link to see what our oldest one did for us this morning:
Jelly in form of a heart, and chocolade that she meltet to put in heart forms. So sweet!
So long,
- February 14, 2011 at 3:20 PM
- Kathy said...
I completely agree! I really like your version of heart candies.
- February 14, 2011 at 3:30 PM
- Melissa said...
Love it, esp the last one!
- February 14, 2011 at 3:46 PM
- MyMom said...
Couldn't agree more, you had to be reading my mind!!!!!!
- February 14, 2011 at 4:44 PM
- Kelly L said...
Funny... My 14 year old came to me crying yesterday that ALL her friends have boyfriends for Valentines but her.... oh geez...
Love to you
I've Become My Mother
- February 14, 2011 at 5:26 PM
- Tonia said...
Well for those who think this is a dumb holiday as you do here's another way to view the day and a better reason to wear red:
Written by: Cynthia R.
I want everyone to forget about the contrived and unnecessary day that is Valentines and instead think of Feb 14 as Heart Kids Awareness Day. 1 in 100 babies are Born With A Broken Heart and that is far more important in my eyes. Today 6 moms will have a baby born with a congenital heart defect(CHD)they wont care how many flowers and chocolates they have around them.
I'm sure Cynthia is a heart mom like I am. I copied the post. All of us heart moms have been posting all week because CHD Awareness week if Feb 7-14.
Some of the facts:
# 1 birth defect
# 1 cause of birth defect related deaths
About 1 out of every 100 babies are born each year with some type of CHD. (approx 40,000/year)
Nearly twice as many children die from CHD in the US each year as from all forms of childhood cancers combined, yet funding for pediatric cancer research is five times higher than funding for CHD.
All we want is for friends and family to spread awareness. They don't check for this defect even with these facts. A lot of babies go home and die. A simple Pulse Oximetry test on a newborn would catch most of them but the hospitals are not required to do it. Parents need to ask for it. You need to be aware in order to "know" you need to ask.
So if you're not big on celebrating Valentine's day spread awareness instead. Wear Red to show you care for the "broken hearts".
I have laid my baby on an OR table and kissed him as he fell asleep. I have handed him to a surgeon knowing they would stop his heart, and prayed it would beat again. I have learned more then I ever thought I could. I have cried more than I ever thought possible. And celebrated victories that I never would have thought of. I have walked a road I never knew existed. I will walk this road forever. I am a heart mom to my son Justin.
- February 14, 2011 at 5:30 PM
- Mum - Mainly Upbringing Monsters said...
LOL! We have a bug spray here called 'Pea Beu' maybe it would work on 'Peabo'
I'd LOVE to see your heart candies marketed!
You'd make a FORTUNE with those!
- February 14, 2011 at 5:37 PM
- justjaime31 said...
HAHA I got a nice card filled with scratch off tickets today! I won $10 :-)
Doesnt quite make up for the fact that i really wanted Elton John tickets, but maybe it is the thought that counts?? :-S LOL
- February 14, 2011 at 6:04 PM
- Jane B. said...
Hey Dawn - you can get more of those nasty little candy hearts here: http://despair.com/bittersweets.html
Cracked me up.
- February 14, 2011 at 6:56 PM
- April said...
Did you know the person who introduced chocolate as a part of Valentines Day was anti-Valentines Day? It was her way of coping with the stupid holiday.
- February 14, 2011 at 9:05 PM
- Doug and Anna said...
I agree! I totally agree! I've been married for almost 10 years, been together for almost 12 and we never celebrated Valentine's Day. I've told him many times that he can buy me flowers any day of the year EXCEPT today. We both really hate Valentine's Day. It helps that I am from Europe originally and didn't grow up with this made up holiday.
- February 14, 2011 at 11:18 PM
- Tammy said...
I want my two dollars!
- February 14, 2011 at 11:38 PM
- V1nce said...
I myself do not partake of this horror-day. It's not that I think it sucks, I just really really really dislike wrapping myself in a huge red bow and chasing people down the street. I think I'll try a bow next but I'm NOT wearing a diaper!
- February 14, 2011 at 11:41 PM
- Stephanie said...
A Valentine mascot -- a manbaby in a diaper!!! You crack me up. Hey, I LOVE YOU! Isn't THAT enough? xoxo
- February 15, 2011 at 12:01 AM
- WeaselMomma said...
Thanks for the laughs!
- February 15, 2011 at 4:27 AM
- Amanda said...
I agree. My husband and I exchange cards, but that's it. The only time we make a big deal out of Valentine's Day is when he's deployed, and then even holidays like Flag Day become super important.
- February 15, 2011 at 6:30 AM
- Erica said...
hehehehe these are good.
on the last one, i saw someone else saying something about cupid being the last thing they thought of when they thought of romance. another person replied: perhaps it's there to remind us of the consequences of romance. haha
this rings true in my house... three yr old son, who wishes not to wear clothing, running around with weapons. yup. cupid has taken up permanent residence.
- February 15, 2011 at 7:49 AM
- Emily said...
Seriously... I opened up Facebook yesterday morning, and almost every single person was positively gushing about Valentine's Day. Posting pictures of their red roses, and boxed chocolates, and their last-minute dollar store stuffed animals. Ugh! So irritating.
My husband and I have been happily married for 7 years, and we don't celebrate Valentine's Day. Oh, sure, we tried a few times while we were dating. But it sucked every year, so we thought, why bother? Why do the exact same thing everyone else is doing on the exact same day, and take all the meaning out of it? No thanks... we stayed home, gorged ourselves on popcorn and licorice, and watched Mythbusters with our 4-year-old son. :)
- February 15, 2011 at 8:06 AM
- mamaduck27 said...
We actually had the nicest Valentines Day ever this year. We home school the five kids we have left at home (ages 17 to 7), and one of the assignments yesterday was to make a valentine for each of their siblings and write something you like about them. Got a lot with sentiments like, "Your enthusiasm is sometimes annoying, but I do think it's your best quality," "You do have a great sense of humor, even though you do kindof smell." One of my sons even made himself a valentines listing the things he likes about himself!
Hubs read us his annual Valentines Day story to the giggles of all the kids and hysterical shrieks from our 7yo daughter at the part about the hero having nightmares about giving speeches in his underwear.
We all ate a family favorite meal together, followed by some active games on the Kinect and then huge banana splits. The movie choice? The latest Shrek movie, which Hubs hadn't seen yet... and he was tearing up at the end.
Everybody was happy and loving toward each other, for once! It's days like this that I look around at my family and pray, "Lord, please let me remember this!!"
- February 15, 2011 at 9:54 AM
- Nancy said...
Amen! Loved this blog!
- February 15, 2011 at 11:03 AM
- Tracie Rathsack said...
Lmao - "you have to eat it. It's the law".
yep. My dude and I promised no candy. We're both dieting. So we went to a hibachi place and privately poked fun at all the romanticals.
Of course, we were there too...
- February 15, 2011 at 11:14 AM
- Anon said...
What? Valentine's Day is great! It's the most fun day of the school year for the kids. Mine are in 1st and 4th grade. They have parties, they do candy heart math, they get "mail"--it's great! If they bring Valentines, they have to bring one for the whole class, and they all do. They're all really nice kids. I don't think it would cross any of their minds to exclude anyone.
At home, we pretty much make it a family affair. I make a special V-day treat. I eat some extra chocolate. My husband did get me a present this year, but honestly, I would rather he didn't. And I wouldn't want to go out to dinner on the actual 14th and compete with all the other people trying to get into a restaurant just because it's the 14th. I'd rather go a day or two early or late, and I'm all for bringing the kids!
- February 15, 2011 at 12:36 PM
- mommeeof10 said...
Hubby got me a really nice Valentines gift, which will also cover mothers day, my birthday, our anniversary, etc. he bought me a knew washer and dryer, the big front loading whirlpools and their pedestal bases. The old ones still work, somewhat, but they keep breaking. We have a service plan from sears, but still, being without a working washer and dryer with a family this big is unpleasant. Once the plumber and electrician come, I'll hook up the old ones again and have 2 until they die again. Then they are going to the appliance graveyard, er dump. :)
- February 15, 2011 at 7:30 PM
- Beth said...
Love your post. Like the heart candy the best. They are terrible in every way.
Yesterday on the big V day I spent 12 hours at the hospital with my DD#1 who is post back surgery. I came home to a charmer who was mad at me because although I texted him about what was going on at the hospital and thagt I had no idea when I would get home, he was mad that I didn't call to say I was going to be really late. Got home 12:30 AM. He ius still not talking to me. Ahhh silence.
- February 15, 2011 at 11:54 PM
- The Mommy said...
The best thing for us about Valentine's Day is that my son was born. We have a reason to celebrate without buying into the cheesy-ness of it all!
Oh, and I really like to make fun of people who can't say it. It's VALENTINE - with an "N" not "M". GRRRRR!!!
- February 16, 2011 at 11:23 AM
- knackeredmama said...
Thank you, this is my first Valentine's Day as a very newly single mom and almost everywhere I turned people were gushing happy, and I wanted to smack people. This was funny and true.
- February 17, 2011 at 9:46 PM
- CLewis said...
I have an acquaintance from high school who has an Anti-Valentine party each year (actually kissed her current husband for the first time at said party years ago...but I digress) and makes cookies with those exact sentiments on them!
- February 18, 2011 at 10:02 PM


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We are down to just five full weeks left in the regular season, in addition to the short final week that starts on Monday April 15 and ends on Wednesday of that week. If you're interested in seeing weekly schedule numbers for the rest of the season, they're included at the end of this column. Mike Gallagher also put together an incredibly detailed schedule report that can help you win your league.
Games Played for Week 20
4 Games – ATL, DAL, GSW, LAL, MEM, MIA, MIL, MIN, NYK, OKC, PHX, SAN, WAS
3 Games – BOS, BRK, CHA, CLE, DEN, DET, HOU, IND, NOH, ORL, PHI, POR, TOR, UTA
2 Games – CHI, LAC, SAC
Mo Williams Jazz – Mo-Will has scored just 18 points in his three games since returning from a thumb injury, but is starting at point guard for the Jazz and is playing more than 25 minutes per game. His shot hasn't started falling yet, as he's hit just 7-of-27 shots over his last three games, but he should be getting ready to put up better numbers going forward. The Jazz go 3-4-4-4-2-2 to finish up the season.
Marco Belinelli Bulls – Belinelli is hot and the Bulls backcourt is fairly depleted. He's scored 20, 21 and 22 points in his last three games with 10 3-pointers and 15 assists. He's also played 41 or more minutes in three straight games and I doubt the return of Richard Hamilton will hurt him much. The biggest problem is that the Bulls play just two games this week, but then go 4-3-4-4-2 to finish up. Nate Robinson is also coming on again and we just don't know if or when Derrick Rose is going to make his debut. If Robinson was dropped in your league, think about grabbing him. He's having a nice day against the Lakers on Sunday.
Tony Allen & Jerryd Bayless Grizzlies – Allen has hit double digits in scoring in four straight games and is averaging 11.4 points, 5.6 rebounds and 1.2 steals over his last five. Bayless has also scored in double digits in three straight games and might also be worth a look in your league, especially if you need threes. He's hit five of them over his last three games and the Grizzlies go 4-4-4-4-3-2 to finish up the season.
Alec Burks Jazz – Burks has hit double figures in scoring in four of his last five games, and is averaging 12.2 points, 3.6 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.2 steals and 0.6 3-pointers over his last five. Those aren't mind-blowing numbers, but the Jazz have a decent schedule to finish the season, going 3-4-4-4-2-2, making Burks worth a deep-league look.
Luke Ridnour & J.J. Barea Timberwolves – Ridnour had just seven points on Saturday but is averaging 13.6 points, 4.0 assists, 1.0 steals, 1.0 blocks and 0.6 3-pointers over his last five games. Barea has hit double digits in four of his last five and is averaging 13.0 points, 3.4 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.0 steals and 1.8 3-pointers over his last five, despite not playing 30 minutes in any of them. Both players are going to see plenty of run alongside Ricky Rubio going forward, and their 4-4-4-4-4-2 schedule is as good as it gets.
Gerald Henderson Bobcats – Henderson has scored 11 or more in five straight games and is averaging 15.0 points, 3.2 rebounds and 2.6 assists over that stretch, but hasn't been stealing, blocking or hitting threes, and is shooting just 39 percent in those five games. But the minutes are there, he's helping to pick up the scoring slack left by the disappearance of Byron Mullens, and the Bobcats finish up 3-4-3-4-3-2. Guard Ben Gordon has quietly scored between 13 and 19 points in his last four games with seven 3-pointers, meaning he's also worth a look now that he's finally out of coach Mike Dunlap's doghouse.
Marcus Morris & Markieff Morris Suns – Both Morris boys have started the last two games for the Suns with Marcin Gortat's season likely over. Markieff played just 19 minutes on Saturday, finishing with 14 points and five rebounds. Marcus has scored in double digits in four of his last five games and is averaging 12.0 points. 3.8 rebounds, 1.8 steals and 1.6 3-pointers over that stretch. Both players are worth a close look in most leagues, and I prefer Marcus given his numbers over the last five games. But if Markieff sticks in the starting lineup, it could be a coin toss as to who will be better going forward. The Suns finish with a 4-4-3-3-3-2 schedule.
Martell Webster & Trevor Ariza Wizards – Webster is starting and scored 20 points with four 3-pointers on Saturday. He's averaging 12.2 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.2 3-pointers over his last five, while Ariza comes off the bench when Webster is resting. Ariza blew up for 26 points on Saturday with 10 rebounds and five 3-pointers. Ariza is averaging 14.0 points, 6.6 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 0.8 steals and 2.2 3-pointers over his last five. Ariza's been a little better recently, but I don't fully trust him coming off the bench. But any way you slice it, both players are worth owning in most leagues, and the Wizards' schedule finishes up 4-4-4-4-3-2, which is very nice. Just beware that both players could take a little hit once Bradley Beal is back from the ankle injury that's kept him out of three straight games.
Dorell Wright Sixers – Wright has quietly scored between 10 and 20 points in his last five games, averaging 14.4 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.2 steals and 2.8 3-pointers for the Sixers. Keep in mind that Nick Young has been out with an ankle injury, but Wright has also been seeing some run at power forward. And given his strong play in 27 minutes per game over his last five, Wright looks like a smart pickup right now. The Sixers finish 3-4-4-3-4-2.
Mickael Gelabale Timberwolves – Gelabale's been starting in place of injured Andrei Kirilenko and scored a season-high 19 points on Saturday, hitting 8-of-10 shots and two 3-pointers in that one. He had scored six or fewer points in his previous nine games and is far from a guarantee for fantasy production going forward. But as long as he's starting, he'll be worth a look in some very deep leagues. The Wolves finish 4-4-4-4-4-2, which is as good as it gets.
Spencer Hawes Sixers – Hawes has been a bit inconsistent all season but the good news for him is that Andrew Bynum is showing no signs of playing this season. Hawes has hit double digits in rebounding in three of his last four games and is averaging 9.8 points, 8.4 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.2 blocks over his last five. And with Bynum still not in the picture, Hawes looks like a fine pickup right now.
Jermaine O'Neal Suns – O'Neal has missed three straight games while attending to his daughter's heart surgery, but could be back in action on Monday. And with Marcin Gortat's season essentially over due to a foot injury, O'Neal could be a beast the rest of the way, if he can stay healthy. He had a great February when he averaged 11.4 points, 8.5 rebounds and 1.9 blocks in 22 minutes a night. And considering Gortat was healthy and starting throughout that run, O'Neal's numbers should be even better the rest of the way. Just keep in mind that I still don't trust his legs, and this party could end as quickly as it started. O'Neal's remaining schedule is 4-4-3-3-3-2.
Jonas Valanciunas Raptors – Andrea Bargnani injured his right elbow again on Friday and didn't return to the game, which could open up more minutes for Valanciunas. He is averaging just 6.6 points, 5.6 rebounds and 0.8 blocks over his last five games, but has scored 12 and 10 points in each of his last two. He hasn't been much fun to own this year, failing to live up to the hype time and time again, but if Bargnani's going to miss time, Valanciunas could finally start doing something.
Chris Kaman Mavs – Kaman has gotten a pair of DNP-CDs in his past six games, including a Wednesday benching against the Rockets. He had started three straight games before the latest benching and was back on Friday against the Pistons when he had 10 points and six boards in 15 minutes. Kaman's minutes are shaky, Rick Carlisle obviously doesn't trust him, and it will likely remain a mystery as to whether or not he's playing on any given night. But considering all that is working against him right now, the numbers have been decent in limited run. And if Carlisle ever gives him a solid 25 minutes per game, Kaman could be a solid fantasy center down the stretch.
Marreese Speights Cavaliers – Speights had just nine points and one rebound in 24 minutes on Saturday, but had scored in double figures in four straight games before that. He's averaging 13.4 points, 5.6 rebounds and 0.8 blocks over his last five games, getting 23 minutes a night. He had a little more upside when Tyler Zeller was out with an illness recently, but either way, Speights has been playing well enough for consideration.
Short-term Injury Fill-ins
Mike Dunleavy Bucks – Ersan Ilyasova missed Saturday's game with a knee injury and Dunleavy had nine points, eight boards and two 3-pointers in 31 minutes in a rare start. If Ilyasova's going to miss more time, Dunleavy should be a strong spot starter until his teammate returns.
Carl Landry Warriors – David Lee was out on Saturday with a bruised knee, and while he says he's going to play on Monday, there's not guarantee it happens. Any time Lee is out, Landry should be a strong fantasy option, and he had 18 points and 10 boards in Lee's absence.
Ed Davis Grizzlies – Zach Randolph has been out with a sprained ankle and Davis has gone for 12 points and nine boards in two straight games. We don't know when Z-Bo's going to be back in action, but once it happens, Davis' value will take a major hit.
Steve Novak & Kenyon Martin Knicks – Carmelo Anthony continues to miss games with his knee injury and Novak blew up for 20 points and five treys on Saturday. And with Amare Stoudemire done for the regular season, Novak should get plenty of run down the stretch. Kenyon Martin is also going to become relevant with Amare's injury, but I don't trust him enough to throw him in lineups right now.
Weekly Games Played Schedule (Weeks 20-25)


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Dear... Miss Snark,
Why exactly is 'Ms. Snark' snarlworthy?
I know several women of a certain age (that 'certain age' being, in some cases, no more than 30) who think that being addressed as 'Miss' is condescending and shows they're not taken seriously. On the other hand, I know women of any age who think that being addressed as 'Ms' is condescending and shows they look old and/or divorced. (Don't ask how anyone can 'look divorced'.) To say nothing of 'Mrs'! That is, apparently, condescending, sexist, chauvinist, fascist, and shows they're not taken seriously AND look old. In other words, modern etiquette has become so tough one would prefer to stay at home.
Still, even if I were to find out the agent's marital status and age, and use a complicated mathematical formula to find out the likelihood of her preferring one title over another, I could never bring myself to address any woman as 'Miss' (or indeed 'Mrs') in a business context. Not even Miss Snark. And I hate, hate, *hate* the idea of starting a query letter with, say, 'Dear Seraphina Snark'.
But what is one to do if even 'Ms' can rub an agent the wrong way? Should I save myself from etiquette migraines by restricting my queries to the plain Misters?
Thank you,
Miss Petunia Paranoid`
Dear Miss Snark has nothing to do with everyone else and everything to do with the name on the masthead of this blog. IF the name on this blog was Snarly Snark you'd be quite correct to make no assumption of gender and say Dear Mr/Ms Snark, or Dear Snarly Snark, or even should the mood strike Yo Snarl.
However. Miss Snark, the literary agent should be obvious to anyone. Thus Dear Miss Snark.
The most basic rule of etiquette in social and business situations is you call someone as they ask to be called. Thus "Dr. Laura" even if that violates every rule in Emily Post's Big Book of Clue Cards; "Captain Janeway" rather than "ma'am", "Kid Rock" rather than Mr. Rock; and of course everyone knows the New York Times is having its own special kind of fun calling P. Diddy "Mr. Diddy" and 50cent "Mr. Cent".
Call people what they want. Ms is fine if you don't know. But, if you don't know Miss Snark is Miss Snark, you're Mr/Ms Nitwit.