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The Art of Getting Art on Film
What's wrong with movies about composers.
For those of us into music of the classical persuasion, gearing up to watch the new biopic Coco Chanel and Igor Stravinsky inevitably brings up thoughts of other movies about composers, which is to say, how lousy most of them are. For every Amadeus, a decent picture in its way, there are any number like Immortal Beloved, a Romance Channel travesty.
When contemplating the biopic we need to keep in mind that there's no such thing as a "biopic." The word implies "a biographical motion picture" that's not a documentary. "Biography" implies a true, factual narrative of a person's life (given the existential limitations of the "true" and the "factual"). That's why there's no such thing as a biopic.
"Art," Alfred Hitchcock said, "is life with the dull bits taken out." I would argue that real biography doesn't leave anything out, including the dull bits, or at least takes them into account. Beethoven, for example, spent an extraordinary amount of time proofreading engravings of his music, and few earthly endeavors are duller than proofing music. To omit that fact in a biography tends to create a false impression of his life. To include that in a biopic, on the other hand, tends to create a flop. Unlike life, a movie is a communion of art and commerce. Often an unholy communion. An illustrative example from my own experience: A Midwestern woman, a shrink in her day job, used my biography of Johannes Brahms to fashion a screenplay about his relationship with Clara Schumann. The young Brahms fell helplessly in love with Clara while her husband, Robert, his mentor, was still alive, locked up in a mental ward. That emotional morass is, potentially, great movie fodder. And we know a lot about it. But one thing we don't know about Brahms and the love of his life is whether or not they actually, ahem, did the deed. Entirely possible they had an affair in the usual sense, entirely possible they didn't. My screenwriter friend, an earnest and honest person, spent a lot of time anguishing over whether her script should show them in the sack. Finally, she hired a Hollywood agent to promote the screenplay. At that point her dilemma went away. Now the only question was not whether but how many times Clara and Johannes would get it on.
Of course, in theory everybody knows biopics and other "historical" genres mess with the facts to make a better and more profitable story. But in practice most people seem to know that in the way they know pro wrestling is fake or know John Wayne wasn't really a war hero. They "know" those facts somewhere, but they'd prefer not to. They'd rather take fiction as fact because it's more glamorous, more dramatic, more fun. They assume the guy in Amadeus is the real Mozart and the guy in The Aviator is the real Howard Hughes.
We must, I entreat you, separate art and biography. Biopics have to work as story and to sell as product, not serve historical reality. But I add: There needs to be some foundation in reality, and there are lines that should not be crossed. Two movies about Beethoven, Immortal Beloved and Copying Beethoven, have characters who didn't exist and whom the story turns around: his mythical son and a mythical gal who copied his music and—get this—actually conducted the premiere of the Ninth Symphony. Lots of good intentions and the gamest efforts of able leading actors, respectively Gary Oldman and Ed Harris, could not breathe life into those turkeys.
Somehow, once in a while, it works. Amadeus is compelling, and it did one service to biopics about composers. By making Mozart into a hard-drinking and kinky rock star, which is not actually what he was, it helped move us away from the exalted-demigod treacle that once marked biopics from the '30s to the '60s. The process of demythologizing composers began in the '70s with three Ken Russell movies that got progressively more berserk, starting with the "pathetic" Tchaikovsky, then cutting Mahler down to size, and ending with the aptly named Lisztomania, starring Roger Daltrey of the Who and featuring Ringo Starr as the Pope. * (Russell also, as it happens, wrote a novel called Brahms Gets Laid.) Docile and reserved by comparison, Coco and Igor still benefits from these new paradigms. For better and for worse, we can now watch our heroes screwing their famous brains out.
Coco and Igor gets into high gear with a recreation of the legendary riot that broke out at the 1913 Paris premiere of Stravinsky's ballet Le sacre du printemps (The Rite of Spring). Contra legend, much of the audience outrage was in response not to the music but to Vaslav Nijinsky's neo-primitive choreography. In the film the music and dance of the premiere are true to the photos and accounts of the original, and the sequence is breathtaking: Le Sacre still looks, and sounds, revolutionary. Coco Chanel was actually at that performance, and, boy, was she impressed. In the film that eventually leads to her offer to the struggling Stravinskys—composer, tubercular wife, and four children—to live and work in her château. One thing leads to another, deeds are done, complications ensue. Actually, by the end I lost track of how many times. I said it was four; my friend said three. She's usually right about these things.
After the riveting ballet sequence the movie becomes maybe too slow and arty to be a hit at the multiplex. It's heavy on design and glorious with wallpaper. But the movie gets a lot of things right. Leading man Mads Mikkelsen has studied photos of Stravinsky in that period and he nails the look. In those days Stravinsky had an unhandsome but chiseled, fiercely self-contained face. He didn't look like the Romantic idea of a composer; he looked like a Brancusi. In the movie Stravinsky plays a period Steinway, and his playing has a curt, percussive quality that is exactly right. (Mikkelsen is probably faking the playing, but it's actually hard to tell.) The movie implies Stravinsky's heavy drinking started with Chanel's rejection. Although, as a Russian artist, he was probably devoted to the sauce all along and drank as if every night were the eve of Prohibition, I'd call that acceptable dramatic license.
In a film so much given to elegant stylization there are some moving moments, as when Catherine Stravinsky, who knows what's going on with her husband and more or less keeps her cool, tells him that she wakes up every morning to the smell of her own body rotting. Catherine says about Chanel: "She collects people." She's right. Icy Stravinsky has fallen hard, and Chanel the tigress (Anna Mouglalis) soon tires of him. Witness this volley of postcoital nastiness: "I am more successful than you," she says. "I am an artist," he replies. "You are a shopkeeper." Another line stuck with me. He tells Chanel about composing, "It's as if I open a door and the music is there." Stravinsky was virtually in awe of his own gift. He didn't know where it came from. Neither did Mozart. Both made the default guess, which was God. I don't know whether Stravinsky said that line about the door, but he did say this: "I am the vessel through which Le sacre du printemps passed." And, as in the movie, he probably kept a cross on his desk.
So Coco and Igor gets my vote as one of the better entries in the famous-composer genre. Like Amadeus, it handles the music well, as a wordless representation of the characters' inner lives and their fates. I'd call Coco and Igor equal to Amadeus—more accurate if less grounded on a compelling human dilemma. Amadeus is not just about Mozart; it's playwright Peter Schaffer's meditation on a tragicomic reality in the business of art: The distribution of talent and genius is largely up to God. To all the other hardworking but unchosen stiffs, who are the vast majority of artists: If God smiles on a childish oaf instead of you, tough luck.
There's another issue in movies about artists in particular. Fiction vs. reality is not the only problem. There's a standing assumption, especially in America, that artists are kind of stupid and art is basically stupid. It's not something that comes out of skill, experience, wisdom, and work; it just happens. Ed Harris's Pollock, which I think is a splendid film and in many ways true to the life of artists, makes that assumption just as Amadeus does: Artists are incoherent damn fools, but this incredible stuff somehow comes out of them. It's like Kobe Bryant shooting a three-pointer. It appears to happen from instinct and talent, and to a degree it does. Genius is founded on inborn gifts, but that's only the beginning. What you don't see is the thousands of hours of practice and coaching and experience that prepare Kobe's split-second tic of instinct. The same kind of often split-second instinct was behind every note Mozart wrote, and every note he wrote in a piece was done with awareness of every note he'd written up to that one and a lot of the ones he hadn't written yet.
Mozart revealed an almost supernatural talent right out of the cradle; he was rightly taken as a force of nature. But I think at least two composers wrote better and more original stuff in their teens than he did: Schubert and Mendelssohn. Most of Mozart's greatest music was written in his last years, because in fact he worked like a demon (and played likewise), studied the work of theorists and other composers constantly, and knew how to make his models his own. His music grew steadily broader and deeper to his early end. In contrast to the myth, in his more ambitious pieces Mozart did a lot of sketching and revising. Compare that to Ed Harris's Jackson Pollock, staring at a blank wall for a week and then jumping up to paint a "masterpiece" without a thought in his head.
So are there in my jaded opinion any truly first-rate biopics about composers? From several possibilities, I nominate two. The first one concerns musicians most viewers have never heard of: Touts les Matins du Monde, about two 17th-century viola da gamba players and composers, the aptly-named Sainte Columbe and his lionized student Marin Marais. Among the saving graces here are Gerard Depardieu in the lead and a moving story. The power of music isn't stinted. The opening sequence is a marvelous five-minute closeup of Depardieu's face as he coaches students and kvetches and plays—or, rather, beautifully fakes playing—a melancholy air on the gamba while the music washes over his face. The movie is a debate between a worldly and an impossibly ideal vision of music. Both result in cruelties visited on loved ones. The real star of the film, occupying long stretches of the soundtrack, is the beautiful and mournful sound of the gamba. This is a biopic that shows music can carry a movie if the music is joined to subtle acting and atmospheric visuals (based on Baroque painter George de la Tour's candlelit nocturnes).
My second nominee is a bit of a dodge in relation to my topic of movies on classical composers, because it's about Gilbert and Sullivan: Mike Leigh's Topsy Turvy. It's not only about music but is one of the great films about the theater, up there with All About Eve. I'm only modestly into Gilbert and Sullivan, but I've seen the film six or seven times, and it gets better every time. I'm always amazed to find its version of "Three Little Maids from School" sending chills up my spine.
The story concerns the impending dissolution of the partnership and how from that near-collapse rose The Mikado, a Japanese yarn nobody could have anticipated. The movie follows the creation of the opera from its inspiration in a London fair on Japanese culture through the script, the rehearsals, the triumphant premiere. This is a film passionately but unsentimentally in love with the theater, every part of it: the creative process, the egos, the libretto, the music, the costumes, the money, the sex, the drugs, the craziness. It's also in love with how Victorian Brits talked, that mellifluous sarabande danced around actual emotion. I emerged from the movie declaiming to my wife: "I am sure I shall reap the benefit of your remonstrations in the fullness of time."
At the center of the story are depressive, withdrawn, sexless funnyman Gilbert (Jim Broadbent), and the lusty socialite Sullivan (Allan Corduner), who wants to get away from this frivolous stuff and compose a serious opera to inspire England. As always in a Mike Leigh film (he works for weeks in isolation, improvising with his cast, and puts his scripts together from the results) the actors, from bit parts to leads, inhabit their characters at a depth few directors have plumbed.
So once in a while biopics about artists succeed because they are grounded in some fashion in the reality of the creative life and the reality of art, and they are equally grounded on a compelling human story realized by directors, actors, writers, and cinematographers who know how to make a good movie. With the dull bits taken out. And the facts, to some necessary extent, be damned.
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Correction, July 28, 2010: This article originally misspelled the last name of Roger Daltrey. (Return to the corrected sentence.)


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Social Media Marketing: It`s Complicated
If you can remember the days before Facebook and Twitter, you probably recall a time when social media marketing meant using MySpace, Delicious, commenting on the posts of bloggers dedicated to your niche, making yourself known in forums, and so forth. Nowadays, just trying to keep up with the different categories can make a marketer frantic.
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The Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Tool is an interactive tool designed by scientists at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the National Surgical Adjuvant Breast and Bowel Project (NSABP) to estimate a woman's risk of developing invasive breast cancer. See About the Tool for more information.
The Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Tool may be updated periodically as new data or research becomes available.
- Risk Tool
(Click a question number for a brief explanation, or read all explanations.)


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CAIRO (AP) — Egyptian soccer fans rampaged through the heart of Cairo on Saturday, furious about the acquittal of seven police officers while death sentences against 21 alleged rioters were confirmed in a trial over a stadium melee that left 74 people dead.
The case of the Feb. 1, 2012 stadium riot in the city of Port Said at the northern tip of the Suez Canal has taken on political undertones not just because police faced allegations of negligence in the tragedy but also because the verdicts were announced at a time when Egypt is in the grip of the latest and most serious bout of political turmoil in the two years since Hosni Mubarak's ouster.
Saturday's verdicts also were handed down against the backdrop of an unprecedented wave of strikes by the nation's police force over demands for better working conditions and anger over what many believe are attempts by President Mohammed Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood to take control of the police force.
Tensions over the riot — which began when supporters of Port Said's Al-Masry club set upon fans of Cairo's Al-Ahly club after the final whistle of a league game that the home team won — have fueled some of the deadliest street violence in months. Police guarding the stadium, meanwhile, faced allegations ranging from not searching people entering the stadium to failing to intervene to stop the bloodshed.
Shortly after the verdict was announced Saturday, angry fans of Cairo's Al-Ahly club who had gathered in the thousands outside the team's headquarters in central Cairo went on a rampage, torching a police club nearby and storming Egypt's soccer federation headquarters before setting it ablaze.
The twin fires sent plumes of thick black smoke billowing out over the Cairo skyline, prompting Defense Minister Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi to dispatch two army helicopters to extinguish the fires.
At least five people were injured in the protests over the verdict, a Health Ministry official told the MENA state news agency.
Some demonstrators in Port Said also burnt tires on the city's dock to prevent vessels from coming in and released speedboats into traffic lanes of the Suez Canal in attempts, foiled by the navy, to disrupt shipping in the vital waterway linking the Red Sea to the Mediterranean.
A spokesman for the Suez Canal Authority said shipping was not affected and 41 vessels transited the waterway on Saturday.
General unrest also continued elsewhere in the Egyptian capital, which has seen unrelenting demonstrations and clashes between security forces and an opposition that accuses Morsi of trying to monopolize power in the hands of his Islamist allies.
Two protesters also were killed and 19 injured in clashes elsewhere in the capital that appeared unrelated to the soccer violence, national ambulance service chief Mohammed Sultan said. The fighting occurred near two luxury hotels and the U.S. and British embassies.
The court's decision upheld the death sentences issued in late January against 21 people, most of them Port Said fans. The original verdict touched off violent riots in Port Said that left some 40 people dead, most shot by police.
On Saturday, the court announced its verdict for the other 52 defendants in the case, sentencing 45 of them to prison, including two senior police officers who got 15 years terms each. The two were charged with gross negligence and failure to stop the killings.
Twenty-eight people were acquitted, including seven police officials.
Defense lawyers claimed the case has been flawed from the start with prosecutors collecting evidence in an "unorthodox" fashion and overlooking key aspects of the tragedy such as the fact the floodlights were turned off during the attack on the Al-Ahly fans and the nearest exit gate was locked.
Many of the 74 victims died of suffocation or blows to the head.
Morsi's aides denounced Saturday's violence and sought to dismiss the notion of a country in chaos.
Ayman Ali, a senior presidential aide, called on the media not to provide a "political cover" to the violence sweeping the country and dismissed as exaggerated claims that the country's police force was in disarray.
Another presidential aide, Bakinam el-Sharqawy, lamented that the focus on protests and violence created an image of instability in Egypt that kept foreign investors away.
In anticipation of more violence, authorities beefed up security near the Interior Ministry, which is in charge of the police force, with riot police deploying in the streets around the complex in central Cairo.
The president of the international soccer governing body FIFA appealed for calm.
"I call on football fans in Egypt to remain peaceful. Violence is never a solution and is contrary to the spirit of sport," Sepp Blatter tweeted.
Earlier at the courthouse across town, Judge Sobhi Abdel-Maguid read out the verdict live on TV, sentencing five defendants to life in prison and nine others to 15 years in jail. Six defendants received 10-year jail terms, two more got five years and a single defendant received a 12-month sentence.
The court's decision on the nine Port Said security officers on trial was among the most highly anticipated — and potentially explosive — verdicts. In the end, the judges sentenced the city's former security chief, Maj. Gen. Essam Samak, and a colonel both to 15 years in prison, while the others were acquitted.
Al-Ahly's fans accuse the police of collusion in the killing of their fellow supporters, arguing that they had advance knowledge of plans by supporters of Port Said's Al-Masry to attack them. They also accuse them of standing by as the Al-Masry fans attacked the visiting Al-Ahly supporters.
The court rulings can be appealed before a higher court.
Many residents of Port Said say the trial is unjust and politicized, and soccer fans in the city have felt that authorities were biased in favor of Al-Ahly, Egypt's most powerful club.
In Port Said, a city that for weeks has been in open rebellion against Morsi, the Islamist leader, several hundred people, many of them relatives of the defendants, gathered outside the local security headquarters to vent their anger. They chanted slogans against Morsi's government and the verdicts. Police pulled out of the city on Friday after days of battling protesters in deadly clashes. The army has taken over security in the city, a move that was warmly welcomed by residents.
Some people in a cafe watching the verdict live on TV hit their heads in frustration, while others broke down and wept. Some said they can live with the verdict because an appeal leaves room for hope.
"There's still an appeal process. God willing, our rights will be restored," said Islam Ezzeddin, a local soccer fan. "We are not thugs. I hope to God when there's an appeal, that we feel we live in a country of law and justice."
However, the national railways chief, Hussein Zakaria, ordered trains headed to Port Said to terminate their services at Ismailiya, another Suez Canal city south of Port Said. He said the measure was taken out of fear for the safety of passengers.
Late on Saturday, activists in the city declared the start of a new general strike, with bands of protesters moving around the city pleading with business owners to shutter down.
Batrawy reported from Port Said.


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Search launched in NH for missing hiker or hikers
STRAFFORD, N.H. (AP) — A search for a missing hiker continues on a New Hampshire mountain.
Searchers from the Strafford police and New Hampshire Fish and Game gathered Sunday evening to begin looking for a man who was reported missing on Blue Job (jobe) Mountain.
Initial efforts to reach the man by cell phone were unsuccessful, and a dog failed to pick up the missing man's scent.
Fish and Game spokeswoman Jane Vachon says the search continued into Monday morning.


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For the Leavenworth County Development Corporation, 2013 was a good year, and things may continue to be on an upswing in 2014, the organization's president said.
For the Leavenworth County Development Corporation, 2013 was a good year, and things may continue to be on an upswing in 2014, the organization's president said.
LCDC President Blaine Weeks spoke Friday about some of the economic development organization's success stories from 2013. His comments came during LCDC's annual membership meeting.
He said LCDC had a hand in projects that resulted in 58 new jobs and more than $22 million in capital investment in Leavenworth County.
"These accomplishments are achievable when we all work together," Weeks said.
About 100 people attended Friday's meeting at the Riverfront Community Center. Attendees included local business leaders and elected officials.
"Speaking with one voice and working together makes us much more effective in growing our community," Weeks said.
He reviewed projects from the last year in which LCDC provided services to businesses that opened in the county and existing businesses that expanded.
He highlighted other important activities from the past year, including improvements to the Gary Carlson Business Park in Leavenworth and a business park in Tonganoxie.
Weeks also noted that LCDC partnered with the Hallmark Cards plant and Eisenhower VA Medical Center in Leavenworth for Classroom to Career events for local high school students.
Friday's meeting also included remarks from Bryan Adams, a client results executive for the
North Kansas City, Mo., based Cerner Corporation.
He discussed the potential for growth in science, technology, engineering and mathematics jobs in places such as Leavenworth County.
Adams, who lives in Leavenworth County, said the outer boundaries of metropolitan areas are seeing more economic growth than the center of major cities.
Several members of the LCDC Board were elected to serve additional three-year terms during Friday's meeting. One new member, Brian Habjan, was elected to the board.
Rick Schneider, nominating chairman, said serving on the board requires sacrifices from the business owners and community leaders who join the organization.
"Those sacrifices help ensure the economic health of the community and overall economic growth," he said.


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Neighbors helping Neighbors
August 29, 2014
Watershed Management Group (WMG) Tucson CO-OP
Do you like the idea of Neighbors helping Neighbors, like the traditional BARN RAISING concept?
WMG mission is to "develop community-based solutions to ensure the long-term prosperity of people and health of the environment. We provide people with the knowledge, skills, and resources for sustainable livelihoods".
If you'd like to learn about water harvesting and could use assistance, check out WMG Tucson CO-OP Program! Members can attend workshops and volunteer to help with projects at people's homes, learning practical skills which they can apply to their own landscape to conserve water/energy, grow food, promote wildlife and more.
It's really COOL! Hours of volunteer time are tracked, and you can later donate those hours to other projects, or host a project at your home and have volunteers, with certified instructors, come help you!
Membership is free, and you'll get a weekly bulletin announcing volunteer opportunities, upcoming workshops, events, and other member benefits.
To Learn More: Call 520-396-3266 or go to: www.WatershedMG.org/Co-Op


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You�ve heard of getting cold feet? Well, I was beckoned to get out of bed the other morning at 5:55 a.m. because of �hot feet.�
You�ve heard of getting cold feet? Well, I was beckoned to get out of bed the other morning at 5:55 a.m. because of �hot feet.� My alarm was set for 6 a.m.; those last five minutes of sleep are the most important and they will be lost forever.
There is no getting those five minutes of sleep back and no nap can compensate for them. The only sleep that is better than the last five minutes of sleep you get in the morning is the sleep that you get after you hit the snooze button on your alarm (or turn it off).
My daughter was concerned that an area of the tile floor in the bathroom was warmer than the rest of the floor. I walked into the bathroom and gave it the �toe test.� Indeed, it was warmer than the rest of the tile in the bathroom.
The �hot spot� seemed to be isolated to a few tiles and rectangular in shape on the floor. My first thought was that there might be a hot water line leaking because it was definitely warmer than the rest the of the floor. On hands and knees, I held my ear down to the tile to listen for a hissing or dripping.
There was no sound, but the dogs decided they needed to lick my free ear. What is it with dogs and ears?
I went downstairs to look up at the ceiling and check for water on the ceiling. Thank goodness, there was no water on the ceiling. Checking the floor again upstairs, I found that the isolated area of tile was still noticeably warmer than the rest.
It was puzzling, but I had to go to work.
The plumber was called; he came out and checked for leaks and everything else a plumber does for $125 an hour. The plumber found no leaks.
We had to be happy about no leaks; we pay plumbers on a regular basis to feel happy - at least I do. When you look at that way, the price is a bargain. I�ve never been to a psychologist or psychiatrist, but I would bet they charge more than $125 an hour.
In the event you actually do have a problem with your toilet or water line, a plumber can fix it. A psychologist or psychiatrist more than likely would not be able to help you with those types of problems. The bottom line is � plumbers are worth the money.
Possibly, there was a ghost in the upstairs hall bathroom. Judging by the heat of the bathroom floor, I figure it was the ghost of a large man with hair on his back that likes to stand in front of the mirror with his heels together.
Envisioning what the ghost would look like, I tried the movement for a fellow at work. It can be done (heels together striking a Charles Atlas-like pose).
No, I don�t believe in ghosts, but there had to be an explanation. We have lived in this house for almost ten years.
What could it be?
The fellow that lived in the house before me was an avid photographer who was really into some sort of multi-level marketing that involved selling or pretending to sell some sort of beautification products.
Perhaps there were some really steamy photographs under that tile bathroom floor or perhaps it was a hiding place for something else really hot, like a secret stash of beautification products.
I still can�t decide what to do. Should I tear the floor up and see what�s under there? Should I knock a hole in the ceiling from below?
Worrying about such things is not good for you. Unfortunately, I was not at home when the plumber came or I would have asked him. Perhaps a phone consult is a possibility.
There are folks who have these seminars where they help companies build a feeling of teamwork and confidence. One seminar I read about lets their attendees walk on hot coals. This is supposed to give them confidence and make them feel they conquer the world or sell more products.
That�s it.
I�m going to check with my homeowners association about pitching a tent in my backyard and letting folks come walk on the warm tile in my upstairs hall bathroom. They would pay me to stay overnight in the tent and walk on the warm tiles in the morning. It makes sense to me. If you are going to pay someone to walk on hot coals, you would pay to walk on my hot tiles. There has to be a market for it.
On second thought, I�m just going to call the plumber back. That�s another good thing about plumbers, they generally don�t charge for phone consultations.
Read more stories at www.CranksMyTractor.com.


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The safety of Saint Louis University students, faculty, staff, patients and visitors is our top priority.
SLU's Department of Public Safety (DPS) is staffed with 80 dedicated officers who patrol campus around the clock. Each is armed and licensed by the St. Louis County Board of Police Commissioners and has undergone training in both active shooter response and fair and impartial policing. As licensed private security officers, SLU DPS officers have the authority to arrest, and to search for and seize evidence in connection with an arrest while on Saint Louis University property.
All members of our community play an important role in keeping campus safe and are encouraged to report any criminal act, unsafe condition or suspicious activity.
To make an anonymous report, call 314-977-3000 (toll-free at 1-877-525-5669) or email a Voluntary Confidential Report.
Primarily operated and managed by DPS student workers, SLURide provides safety escorts to areas on and adjacent to campus, including the Grand MetroLink station.
To request an escort, call 314-977-7433 (977-RIDE) with your name, phone number, current location, destination and the number of riders.
If you lose a personal item on campus, call 314-977-2376 or check our online listing of found items. DPS keeps found items for 60 days. They can be retrieved at the Wool Center.
Find out about where to park on campus, SLU parking regulations and how to pay a fine. If you've locked your keys in your car or have a dead battery, call DPS at 314-977-2376.
In addition to AED/CPR, first aid and community emergency response training, SLU DPS offers:
Email email@example.com for more information.
Students, parents, faculty and staff are informed in the case of a campus emergency via SLU's emergency notification system. Depending on the event, alerts may be issued by text, phone call, email, social media and through electronic signage on campus.


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Burnham on Crouch, Essex
Our experienced technicians will come out to you at work or
home & repair your iPhone securely in front of you while you
carry on your day
Our Call-Out iPhone Repair Service covers the whole of Burnham on Crouch and surrounding areas.
Forget the hassle of going out to a shop or sending your phone off, our iPhone repair technicians will come out to you at work, home, hotel or any location you choose and repair your iPhone securely at your convenience in about 30 mins! We will come out to you anywhere in Burnham on Crouch or surrounding areas
We can normally come out to you Same Day to repair your iPhone!
Your iPhone repair is carried out in front of you, so you can be absolutely sure that your personal data stays secure
All our technicians (our iTechs) have undergone rigorous technical and quality checks and all repairs are carried out to the highest standards using the best quality parts
You only pay after your device has been repaired and you are 100% happy. If we can't fix it, you don't pay!
All our iPhone repairs come with our no-fuss 12 month warranty
We will come out to you to fix your iPhone anywhere in Burnham on Crouch and surrounding areas.
We repair the full range of iPads and iPhones:
iPhones: 7 Plus, 7, 6S Plus, 6S, 6 Plus, 6, 5S, 5C, 5, 4S, 4, 3GS, 3G
iPads: Air 2, Air, Mini 3, Mini 2, Mini, 4, 3, 2, 1
We can repair almost any problem on any iOS device. Some of the most common problems we can repair include:
Apple iPhone 7
Screen Repair
Apple iPhone 6
Screen Repair
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As a business owner working in the customer care industry I have to give credit where credit is due! I have found imend to be prompt, professional and efficient from start to finish. I contacted them to replace the cracked screen for my iPhone 7 at 8am via their website. Within 2 minutes I had confirmation by text, a phone call 5 minutes after that to confirm details and to be informed that an iPhone technician would be calling to book an appointment, which he did a few minutes later. Excellent service!!! Zac arrived promptly at my home at the agreed time, an extremely smart, friendly and professional young man, the imend identification very reassuring. Phone was fixed within 30 mins with a receipt/12 month guarantee emailed to my phone before he left!! Needless to say I have been very impressed with this service, have all ready recommended them to numerous friends and would have no hesitation using their services again. Thank you very much! X
Just had my phone fixed by i mend, seamless. Filled in a form online at midnight and a consultant called back the next morning at 7.30am. The consultant came to my place of work and my phone was fixed in front of me in 20mins! I would highly recommend. Very reasonable price and saves having to wait it in long queues in Oxford Street!
Done within a day of booking, job done in 15 mins, good price.
An absolutely brilliant service! Fantastic price and extremely professional. Came to my work and done it in the car park within 15 minutes, excellent service and will definitely use again!
A fast efficient and effective service with a very personable technician
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|Buy One Get One Free! $19.95
|Buy Two Get One Free! $39.90
|Select Any 19 Titles $199.00
|Six Blu-ray Discs $89.00
|The American Christmas Carol $25.00
|Nine Blu-ray Discs $129.00
|Select Any 40 Titles $399.00
|Fifteen Blu-rays for $199 $199.00
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The ribbon-cutting ceremony at The Art House on Christopher Columbus Drive drew a curious cross-section of the city's population. While political types mingled with many of the usual social elite, the crowd on June 6 also included artists and Ward F residents.
Although ostensibly a luxury rental building, The Art House lobby also serves as an art gallery, designed primarily to promote local artists while serving as a funding vehicle for art education.
The Art House is a new residential building featuring 119 luxurious rental residences with indoor and outdoor amenities, including a rooftop pool. While being sold as part of the Powerhouse Arts District, the building – located only a few steps from the Grove Street PATH – fills in a gap in development of Grove Street area.
Developed by The Shuster Group and designed by Fogarty Finger Architects and LWDMR & Associates, The Art House provides new luxury accommodations in the middle of an area long seen as a rival to New York City's West Village.
The cutting of the ribbon on the gallery space also sets into motion rental of units that are expected to start being occupied on Sept. 1.
"Too often art is absent from the poor community." – Alvin Pettit
Among those who attended the event were curator James Pustorino and artists Edward Fausty and Maria Pavlovska.
Commerce and the community combine
Fulop said developer The Shuster Group was local and had developed other projects, but this is the company's first foray into downtown.
The educational program is a joint effort between The Mary McLeod Bethune Center and the City of Jersey City to promote local artists by displaying and selling their creations to help inspire underserved youths through advanced visual arts courses.
Complete with a red carpet and welcoming attendants offering glasses of champagne, the gallery got a first class kick off.
"The Art House is a building where we can see how the developer and community can come together and create a win-win-win situation for everyone, "said Eyal Shuster, owner of The Shuster Group.
He said as an individual who is raising his family in Jersey City, he wanted this space to reflect the win-win-win motto his company has adopted.
"At the entrance of this space we have an art gallery that we have created in order to showcase the local Jersey City artists," he said.
"Seventy percent of the profits go to the artists, 30 percent go to a not-for-profit organization we have partnered with and the city to help underserved teenager at several locations to get exposure to artist. We will have classes in which local Jersey City artists will be paid to teach teenagers art."
In addition, Schuster Group hired five ex-offenders to work on the construction through the city's Employment Training Center.
"We helped them through the city to go back to a normal life," he said. "Although we were skeptical at the beginning, we saw that it was an amazing program, that helped us a lot and I'm sure helped those five individuals."
A hint at Jersey City's future
"Jersey City is going through one of the great revitalization stories in the entire country," Fulop said. "Two decades ago, this was a section of the city was severely challenged. Over time and through investment and partnerships, that has really changed. Right now in Jersey City we have under construction 6,000 units and we have about 25,000 in the pipe line over the next two years. We will overtake Newark as the largest city in the state at some point in 2016. I can comfortably tell you over the next five years the 20 largest buildings in New Jersey will be here. We're doing it smartly and were doing it with partners like Eyal Shuster."
Fulop said this project is important because five or six years ago there was a project here that was started, and the developer at the time failed.
"For several years what sat here was a half-completed project," Fulop said. "We got complaint after complaint after complaint about the construction site that was literally abandoned. Eyal is modest. But he tries to touch on all parts of Jersey City. That is important. He has taken this site and rebuilt it and taken projects on the other side of the city in Ward E and Ward A as well."
Artist Alvin Pettit said he was pleased with the developer and the city for bringing arts to every part of the city.
"Too often art is absent from the poor community," he said. "The residents will now have five outlets where they can create. I've been a working artist for the last 20 years. I've done murals and had people come up to me countless time telling me their son or daughter likes to draw. But in certain areas, they've never been in an art gallery."
Al Sullivan may be reached at email@example.com.


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Banks give their clients a card called "Visa" which enables the customer to withdraw money from the bank even if there is no money in his account at that time, on the basis that after a specific amount of time has passed, he will repay the bank, and if he does not pay within this set time, the bank will charge interest, more than the amount withdrawn. The customer also pays an annual fee for using this card. Please tell us the ruling on using these cards, may Allaah reward you with good.
Praise be to Allaah.
This transaction is haraam, because it involves a commitment to pay ribaa (interest) if one does not pay within a certain time. This is an invalid commitment even if a person believes or thinks it most likely that he will pay before the time is up, because things may change and he may not be able to fulfil the commitment. This is a matter which has to do with the future and man does not know what will happen to him in the future. So this kind of transaction is haraam. And Allaah knows best.


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By Kareem Raheem
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - A suicide bomber blew himself inside a Baghdad cafe popular with young people using the Internet, killing a least 27 and wounding dozens more in one of the worst single attacks in the Iraqi capital this year.
The late evening blast in west Baghdad came just two days before provincial elections that will be a major test of Iraq's political stability more than a year after the last American troops left the country.
Police and witnesses said emergency workers struggled to extricate victims trapped when the blast collapsed part of the building that also housed a shopping center below the Dubai cafe which was on the third floor.
"It was a huge blast," a police official at the scene said. "Part of the building fell in and debris hit people shopping in the mall below."
Ten years after the U.S.-led invasion, Sunni Islamists linked to al Qaeda carry out at least one major attack a month, but insurgents have stepped up suicide attacks since the start of the year as part of a campaign to provoke confrontation between the country's Shi'ite and Sunni Muslims.
More than 30 people were killed in a series of bombings across Iraq on Monday and more than a dozen election candidates have been killed in the run-up to the vote.
Security officials have been expecting more attacks before Saturday's ballot for provincial councils that will be a measure of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's political muscle before the parliamentary vote in 2014.
A surge in violence in Iraq has accompanied the political crisis in the Shi'ite premier's government, where Shi'ite, Sunni and ethnic Kurds share posts in a fragile power-sharing deal that has been mostly paralyzed since U.S. troops left in December 2011.
Al Qaeda's local wing, Islamic State of Iraq, has said it will keep up attacks and security officials say the group is gaining ground and recruits in the western desert bordering Syria, thanks in part to a boost from the flow of insurgents and funds into the neighboring country's war.
(Reporting by Kareem Raheem; Editing by Michael Roddy; Writing by Patrick Markey; Editing by Michael Roddy)


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DENVER (AP) – An annual aerial survey of forest health in Colorado shows the mountain pine beetle epidemic is slowing dramatically, but the spruce beetle outbreak is expanding, forest officials said Wednesday.
The mountain pine beetle epidemic has spread by 31,000 acres, down from an increase of 140,000 acres reported last year, the U.S. Forest Service and Colorado State Forest Service said. Since the first signs of the outbreak in 1996, the infestation has grown to nearly 3.4 million acres, or roughly 5,300 square miles. The infestation remains active from Estes Park to Leadville.
Meanwhile, the spruce beetle outbreak spread to 183,000 new acres in 2012, bringing the total infestation since 1996 to about 924,000 acres.
The most significant spruce beetle activity has been in southern Colorado in the San Juan and Rio Grande national forests, forest officials said. Spruce beetles typically attack spruce trees downed by high winds, then move into the surrounding trees as the insects' numbers grow.
Beetle activity has increased as trees have been stressed by factors including dense stands of trees, ongoing drought, and warmer winters that haven't been killing off as many insects.
Interim state forester Joe Duda said active forest management to reduce stands of weakened trees, along with a vibrant forest products industry that can use the wood from forest thinning operations, are needed to help reduce risks of massive wildfires blazing through stressed trees.
Late last year, the Colorado companies Confluence Energy and West Range Reclamation won 10-year stewardship contracts to thin national forests in Wyoming and Colorado. At least some of the wood was expected to go toward heating homes. Companies also have stewardship contracts in the Front Range and Pagosa Springs areas.
(© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)


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Does anyone know anything about GRAMMARLY?
A website program that allows you to copy/paste your work, and then it will give you a critique/feedback on mistakes within it.
There is a monthly charge of, I think, $7 or so, dollars a month.
I belong to an amazing Buddy Group, and they help me tremdously, but having a program like this would keep me from driving them crazy..
Or do any of you know of another program that does the same thing, but better/cheaper? even Free? (I love FREE)
, in advance for your help.


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26th annual Tour de Nebraska Bicycle Tour is June 19-23
LINCOLN – The 26th annual 5-day Tour de Nebraska bicycle ride will head to beautiful central Nebraska on its 306-mile round trip journey, June 19-23, 2013. Approximately 300 cyclists will leave Doniphan on Wednesday, June 19 and camp overnight in Loup City, Callaway, Holdrege and Blue Hill. "We are very excited about the route this year—because we will be riding on some quiet roads that wind through some of the most beautiful areas in the state," according to Susan Larson Rodenburg, who organizes the tour with her husband, Rich. The noncompetitive circle tour will start and end this year in Doniphan, just south of Grand Island and 85 miles west of Lincoln. It will then proceed to overnight host communities of Loup City (Wednesday, 6/19), Callaway (Thursday, 6/20), Holdrege (Friday, 6/21) and Blue Hill on Saturday, 6/22), before returning to Doniphan on Sunday, June 23. The Tour de Nebraska bicycle adventure is a mental and physical challenge for cyclists of all ages. Participants come from across Nebraska and other states, including California, Minnesota, Idaho, New Mexico, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, Virginia, Kansas, Missouri, South Dakota, Colorado, Iowa and Arizona. "Our cyclists like the size of Tour de Nebraska because it's big enough to meet some new people, but small enough not to overwhelm the communities we visit," Susan Rodenburg said. "We have families, school teachers, busy executives and others who all share a passion for cycling and want to get off the beaten path. They can ride all day at their own speed so they can take full advantage of sightseeing and food in the small communities along the way. By the time the tour ends, we are all bonded in one way or another." The Rodenburgs created Tour de Nebraska 26 years ago after many of their friends expressed interest in doing a statewide tour. Since then, it's grown from 11 cyclists to nearly 300 cyclists. "We really didn't know what we were getting into that first year, but it became a labor of love for us. We love to see our friends enjoy cycling and showing them the beauty and friendliness of rural Nebraska is frosting on the cake," Susan Rodenburg said.Tour de Nebraska arranges meals, rest stops, daily maps, itineraries, luggage/gear transfers, emergency sag support on the highway, daily fruit and water. Riders camp at city parks or sleep inside at high school gymnasiums. The Rodenburgs help local communities along the route prepare for rest stops and overnight stays. TDN's Official Bike Shop is Cycle Works of Lincoln. "We encourage the communities to show what they have to offer and to highlight their community spirit, history and friendliness – all unique to Nebraska," she said. "We work closely with the local organizers to assist them in providing everything we need. Most find that hosting Tour de Nebraska is not only fun but a great way to bring new revenue to the area. It's always exciting to find out what they have planned for us."The favorite rest stop and overnight host towns chosen by the riders receive cash awards. "It's a small token of thanks for their efforts," Rodenburg said.Organizers also present daily spirit awards (The Sophie Trophy) to build camaraderie among riders. The coveted Tour de Nebraska Team Spirit Award is presented during Saturday night's Tour de Nebraska Banquet to a deserving individual who has shown a great amount of spirit, humor and joy while facing the challenges of the tour. Tour de Nebraska is 5 days instead of 7 like many other tours, making it perfect for first-time tourists or those with limited vacation schedules. There are many repeat riders. "It's like a family reunion on wheels," Rodenburg said.The $285 registration fee includes: TDN t-shirt, daily maps and itineraries, TDN handbook, meal and camping arrangements, fruit, kick-off breakfast, sag service, luggage transport and Saturday night's Tour de Nebraska Awards dinner. Registration information is available online at: HYPERLINK "http://www.TourdeNebraska.com" www.TourdeNebraska.comor by request to: email@example.com, 402-440-3227.


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36 Makeup-Free Celebrities Caught on Camera! (PHOTOS)
December 2, 2013 by Maria Valiente
Believe it or not, even Hollywood's most glam stars opt to skip the lipstick and mascara once in a while. Much to their dismay, there's nothing relentless paparazzi love more than snapping a starlet who looks less than picture perfect. Of course, many young starlets end up getting the last laugh because they look super gorgeous even without all the cosmetic frills.
Click through to see celebs stepping out in public completely au naturale.


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Peter King, left, is a makeup and hair designer for "The Hobbit" trilogy. (Los Angeles Times; Warner Bros.)Link
Makeup and hair designer Peter King, right, applies makeup for an extra on the set of "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey." (Todd Eyre / New Line Cinema / MGM / Warner Bros.)Link
Galadriel actress Cate Blanchett, left, with makeup and hair designer Peter King on the set of "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey." (Todd Eyre / New Line Cinema / MGM / Warner Bros.)Link
Peter Hambleton, left, who plays Gloin and John Callen who plays Oin on the set of "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey." (New Line Cinema / MGM / Warner Bros.)Link
Stephen Hunter as Bombur, left, Adam Brown as Ori, Hark Hadlow as Dori, Jed Brophy as Nori and Peter Hambleton as Gloin in "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey." (New Line Cinema / MGM / Warner Bros.)Link
Ian McKellen as Gandalf, left, and Hugo Weaving as Elrond in "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey." (New Line Cinema / MGM / Warner Bros.)Link
Graham McTavish as Dwalin, left, Ken Stott as Balin and Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins in "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey." (New Line Cinema / MGM / Warner Bros.)Link
Peter King attends the Oscar-Nominated Makeup Artist and Hairstylist Symposium in Hollywood in 2004. King won the best makeup Academy Award that year for "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King." (Jesse Grant / WireImage)Link
Peter King, left, and Richard Taylor show off their Oscars for best make-up for "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" on Feb. 29, 2004. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)Link
Peter King, left, award presenter Scarlett Johansson, and Richard Taylor show off their Oscars for "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" on Feb. 29, 2004. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)Link
"The Hobbit" may be one of J. R. R. Tolkien's simpler tales, but creating 13 individual yet cohesive hairstyles (and beard-styles) for the dwarfs in "The Hobbit" was no simple task. That challenge fell to makeup and hair designer Peter King, who won an Oscar with Richard Taylor for "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King." King, who has worked on all of Peter Jackson's films since "The Lord of the Rings," including "King Kong" and "The Lovely Bones," spoke with Hero Complex about designing the hairstyles for "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey," opening in theaters Dec. 14.
HC: What's it been like to return to Middle-earth after all this time?
PK: Like we've never been away. We had a break of what, eight, nine years and a few other films in between, but it was great. Like going back to see an old friend, really. It was lovely to go back somewhere that you know well, and you know the people. It's almost become a second home to me, New Zealand, with working there.
PHOTOS: 60 images from 'The Hobbit'
HC: What were your impressions when you first found out there was to be a "Hobbit" movie?
PK: When I was over there doing "Lovely Bones," I met Guillermo [del Toro], who was over there obviously discussing "The Hobbit" and stuff, so I had an inkling it was going on, but Guillermo was doing it, and he was going to use his own people and so on and so forth. So I never really thought about it. And then I got the phone call saying, "Now Peter's going to direct it, so would you like to come and play?" And I was filming "Pirates of the Caribbean," so I left a few weeks early on that one so I could come and start "The Hobbit."
HC: Can you tell us about your process?
PK: I mean, it's far more work than we had on "Lord of the Rings," really, because first of all, we had these 13 dwarfs, these main characters who are on throughout the whole film. So Richard Taylor and WETA and Peter and Fran [Walsh] and everyone, it was a very collaborative thing. WETA brought a lot of conceptual work for the dwarfs, and then we whittled it down to the areas we liked for each dwarf, because we had to make sure they're a band of people, so they all look like the same race. But within that, they had 13 different personalities, so we had to tell them apart and get to know them and understand them. So we went through the process first of all of designing the actual look, and then they were sculpted so we could see what they looked like in a three-dimensional idea. Then it was over to me to actually get all the hairwork done, and we decided on the colors of the hair and how we were going to do it. Then we designed all the prosthetics, and they were made by WETA for us, and then they came to us, and we applied them, myself and Tami Lane who was in charge of the prosthetic team. We started playing with it, really. And then we had this whole series of things we call show-and-tells, which is where we make the character up completely in makeup, hair costume, everything. That's where the final designing happens, with myself, Peter, Fran, Philippa [Boyens] and heads of lots of departments, costume and so forth. Once we saw the whole thing in front of us, it's then we started making final decisions about what we designed. Sometimes what we thought was going to look good maybe wasn't working quite as well, so we had to change things.
PHOTOS: Meet the dwarfs from 'The Hobbit'
HC: Were there a lot of last-minute changes?
PK: I think nearly for every dwarf, once we got them in front of us, we changed stuff. A lot of it wasn't huge changes — we were changing hairlines, changing hair color, changing prosthetics, changing beard shapes. So we went through a lot of processes. To get their initial look, each dwarf went through about three or four show-and-tells. And then throughout the filming for the two years, for every look, for every different costume or breakdown of costume or whatever, we went through a show-and-tell series. I don't know how many times we had the dwarfs in front of us all made up and everything so we could be absolutely sure that we were happy with the way they looked before we shot them. And if you think about that, that was only 13 characters, and we then had the rest of the cast. So we did the same for every single character, and I think I'm safe in saying that for every single major character, and at least half or two-thirds of the other characters either had prosthetics or wigs or both. And then after that, every single dwarf had to have a scale double, and a stunt double and a riding double. So for each principle dwarf, we made six wigs and eight beards. And then Gandalf comes along, and he has five wigs and five beards. And everyone has to have a scale double. Most of them have a stunt double and some will have a photo double because it wasn't just one unit shooting. All in all, we had hundreds of wigs made, we hired hundreds more. Our basic team — makeup, hair and prosthetics — was 37 people. Sometimes, with extras, we'd go up to 100 people just in a day doing makeup and hair.
HC: That must be such a time-consuming process.
PK: Because we're using encapsulated silicone, which is a fairly new product, it's very easy to apply, and it's much easier to blend the edges, so actually the prosthetic time was cut down. Which was great for the artists, 'cause they were doing this every single day, virtually. So I think the whole process was around two and a half to three hours for each dwarf [for full makeup, prosthetics, hair and costume].
HC: How did you go about choosing the hair colors?
PK: In the book, they're actually described as having blue beards, green beards, silver beards and so forth. But we left that behind because you really want people to believe these characters. Where Tolkien said silver beards, we've had gray beards and so forth, but we haven't had any strange colors, just because it might look too comical, and we want to take this seriously and believe in Middle-earth. So Gloin, he has to be red because he's the father of Gimli in "The Lord of the Rings." We had to make him the same color hair, and we had to give [Peter Hambleton] contact lenses, because we knew he was in the same family. We just chose different colors to suit their characters. You've got Bombur with the Friar Tuck haircut with a huge, great big beard that goes right around. And then Fili and Kili are the two young guys — the sexy dwarfs, if you like. One's got an Irish accent. We laid off on the heavy prosthetics on those. The elder ones have got bigger foreheads, but these guys are supposed to be young, so we pulled the prosthetics back a little bit, because we had the idea that they were young and would grow into what some of the older guys were. They had a sparkle and a twinkle in their eye and were always getting into mischief.
HC: How was it working with the actors?
PK: You've got 13 individual characters, but they're a great band of actors to work with. They were very good, and they were very patient. Because the costumes and the padded suits and everything to bulk all their size up were fairly heavy. They made them as light as possible but they still used to get very hot. And we had to keep them cool because if they got too hot, the prosthetics would fall off and melt. So we had all this stuff going on for trying to maintain them.
HC: Did you look anywhere in particular for inspiration for their hairstyles?
PK: We didn't really look to anything. It was just everyone sitting down and thinking, "What would these dwarfs look like? And how can we make them look like dwarfs but also believe that dwarfs exist?" We know that the dwarfs have beards and so on and so forth. We had Gimli from "The Lord of the Rings," so we had that set up. A lot of them had big, thick wiry hair and big hands. So we're using the hairstyles and the makeup and everything to make sure the scale is right. We couldn't have a dwarf with silky hair because everything else would look out of proportion. So their hair had to be quite bulky. Most of the wigs were either yak or yak-and-hair mixed. We actually bought all the yak that was in England at the time. We cleared all the hair suppliers out of yak. We used so much — 60 to 80 kilograms of yak hair.
HC: Of all the work you did — elves, wizards, dwarfs — which look are you most proud of?
PK: I think I'm very very pleased with the 13 dwarfs, I have to say. We worked for four or five months before we put them in front of a screen or a camera. When you see the 13 dwarfs, they're a band of guys who look ferocious and crazy, and I think for all the team, for everyone involved in creating that look, I think they should all be applauded.
HC: You have quite a bit of fantasy experience before doing these Tolkien films, including "King Kong" and "The Golden Compass." Is this a realm you enjoy working in?
PK: It's a realm I've actually ended up in, which of course I love, because it's a great place to be. What I also really love is period drama, but I don't get asked to do that so much now. Early on I did things like "An Ideal Husband" and "The Importance of Being Earnest" and other stuff like that. So doing fantasy work, I think that comes from having a theater background, and I'd worked with theater and opera before I started in films, and nearly everything was period then; so I've actually learned an awful lot over the years about periods and what happens in periods and my knowledge is quite extensive now, so it comes quite easy to me. I'm not daunted. It's one step further to start imagining things. Having all of that information in your head, you then somehow pick out little bits and bobs and put other bits together and start inventing and creating something else. Some people say, "Oh God, I'd be terrified to do that, because thinking of all the ideas and everything," but for me, personally, it's like a great challenge. Where can we go and do something that maybe these other people haven't seen before? Which gets harder and harder as you go on, because everyone's doing everything now. But it's a challenge, and it's fun, and I don't think I'd be very good at just doing present-day stuff. I'd want to do something a bit more adventurous. It's somewhere I do like to be. I like being creative as opposed to just replicating. The sky's the limit. With the prosthetics and everything now, you can do everything you can imagine. You're not held back.
HC: You have a long history of working with Peter Jackson.
PK: I've done everything with Peter since "Lord of the Rings." We worked on our first project together, and now we just always work together. He always gets me, and we always collaborate. We work very well together. I'm someone who doesn't bother people very much, and I get on with my work, and he likes to get on with his, and occasionally we have meetings to discuss stuff, and that's how it's done.
HC: How are the looks you created for "The Hobbit" different from "The Lord of the Rings"?
PK: There are new characters that actually I can't speak about because they're not in the first film, but in the end, you have to be able to watch "The Hobbit" and then "The Lord of the Rings," and there has to be a language that is common to all of the films. You can't do something so different with this, especially with the characters we've already seen. You can't really change Galadriel or Gandalf. We tried to make him look a little bit younger in this one, though he's now 12 years older. You can't change things you've already seen, so therefore the only scope we have is the new characters, like the 13 dwarfs, but they still have to be of Middle-earth. There is a language that we created in "Lord of the Rings" that we really have to pay attention to and not diverge too much, otherwise, especially because we're making these 12 years later, it would be too incongruous. It would be a sudden jump from one to the other, and you would say, "Oh, these were made then, and those were made now." We really tried to avoid that, so there's always been certain things that we've thought about, and we've said, "No, we have to stay with this or we have to stay with that, because this is Middle-earth." And Philippa Boyens, who knows everything about Middle-earth, was always great to go to and say, "We want to do this, are we veering too far away from Middle-earth?" And she'd go, "No, because Tolkien said that blah blah blah blah blah." So we always had this point of reference in Philippa and people making sure we were still in Middle-earth, and not leaving it and going somewhere else. In that sense, techniques have changed, but our languages have really stayed the same.
— Noelene Clark
PHOTOS: Meet the dwarfs from 'The Hobbit'
Sylvester McCoy's loves: Radagast, 'Doctor Who'
Costume designer's favorite look? Radagast
Fili actor Dean O'Gorman talks sexy dwarfs
Tami Lane on dwarf wrangling, silicone magic
Peter Jackson talks Smaug cameo in first film
'Hobbit' offers more 'sophisticated' Gollum
Peter Jackson has 'absolute belief' in 48 frames
Peter Jackson's unexpected journey to three films
New Zealand releases Tolkien-themed coins


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The Commodore 36 has been a favourite of anyone with an eye for good lines on a proper sea-going boat since the design was first introduced in 1996.
The class has gradually evolved over the years with only minor changes to the hull design, but major improvements to the machinery and fit-out. The latest boats retain the attractive lines and the superb sea-keeping, but are faster and have more modern accommodation than their earlier sisters.
Central Deck Saloon
Aft stateroom
Aft Heads
Forward cabin
Forward heads


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Flights from Bucharest (Otopeni) (OTP) to Austria in August 2018
Price information
* Basic fare, unless indicated otherwise – checked luggage is subject to surcharges. Price per leg and person. Limited seating capacity.
From just €289.99*
Fly from Bucharest (Otopeni) to Austria from just €289.99* in August 2018. We'll show you which destinations in Austria you can fly to from Bucharest (Otopeni) (OTP) Airport each day in August 2018.
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Email Deliverability: Best Practices and Future Trends
The first part of this series went over email deliverability issues and began discussing best practices. This article continues our discussion of best practices (including ways of making sure your message is relevant to your prospects) and looks to the future when authentication and reputation will matter even more than they do currently.
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What do healthy horses and healthy fish have in common? More than you think. Conservation Authorities across Ontario typically develop big picture aquatic resource management plans for local watersheds that identify what they and private landowners alike need to do to improve the health of local land and water resources. This plan provides a foundation upon which to make environmentally sound decisions that balance growth and urbanization with local natural resources, rural communities, and their businesses.
Aquatic Resource Management Plans are developed with the knowledge of past and present fish communities, water quality, and physical conditions like drainage area and geology that define the system's current state of health. It provides long-term guidance to biologists as they establish priorities for enhancement and protection of sensitive aquatic resources. These plans often get to a level of detail whereby Conservation Authority staff and their partners, can identify issues that are preventing the system from achieving its optimal health. Given that the majority of land within the average Ontario watershed is privately owned, they recognize working with private landowners on their lands is key to addressing these issues.
A fisheries biologist often points directly to the equine landscape as a positive contributor to healthy watersheds and fish communities. Most equine establishments sustain many acres of well-managed pasture. When pasture is grazed on a proper rotation, frost-seeded in early spring to increase plant production, and small depressions or wet areas are drained using French drains, the horse and the fish in nearby streams maintain better health. We know the replacement of pasture or other natural vegetation communities with impervious surfaces like paving found in urban areas contributes to disturbed and contaminated runoff. Scientists have found that when 10% of a watershed is covered by these impervious surfaces, there is a rapid decline in fish habitat and an increase in erosion and loss of bank stability of creek systems.
Well-managed horse pastures improve water quality by capturing sediment and recycling nutrients before they enter a local creek. They also allow water to filter back into the ground, replenishing groundwater resources, which helps to sustain creek base flows and water temperatures for resident and migrating fish populations. Quite simply, these pastures contribute to a better ratio between pervious and impervious surfaces on a watershed scale, contributing to that critical guideline of less than 10% imperviousness.
While not every equine establishment has a direct relationship with a stream or resident fish community, the fish you find "down watershed" are directly affected by your actions, positive or negative, wherever you are. You could compare fish populations to the canary in a coal mine, acting as an indicator for watershed health. For example, excessive nutrient loading in a creek that hosts breeding and resident brook trout will cause water temperatures to rise to a level that is not tolerated by that fish species. Breeding, spawning, and nursery habitat will be negatively impacted and eventually that population of fish will disappear. What it tells us as horse owners, is that if you look after the health of your horse and its surrounding environment, the fish will quite simply look after themselves. So fish and horses do have a lot in common.
By Patricia Lowe, Central Lake Ontario Conservation Authority
Sosurce: www.thehorse.com
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What I learned at fashion week…
1. I want to be 23 again. Seriously? Nah*, but perhaps instead of studying history, just to realise that I'd rather do Italian studies (because didn't I want to do art history in the first place?), but then deciding that North and Latin American studies would be even better, I'd now be focussed and strive to become a photographer… or a journalist… or wait!, maybe a stylist… or a designer??? Okay, obviously no change here.
2. I really need to learn to pose! You'd think I should know how to do this by now, but as soon as someone aims a camera at me I get all wooden, want to hide and a stare into the lens with a terrified gleam in my eyes.
3. It's so much fun to meet other bloggers! So many cool people… Amazing how a common activity can connect you.
4. Have to book an appointment at the hairdressers to sort out my fringe!! What's wrong with it?!? It looks like it's got a life of its own. Maybe I need to stop cutting it with nail scissors?
So I've made an appointment with the hairdresser, bought the most expensive anti-wrinkle cream I could afford (just loved it when - after having waited in a long queue with many other women, all grasping the new super lotion that's supposed to match laser treatment - the shop assistant at the Clinique counter bent over to me to whisper in my ear: "You are going to love this!". I beamed back at her: 'I know I will! Hope dies last!'). Plus a few extra hours of sleep… Soon to appear: The New Me.
*Don't worry, I'm not going into the whole age issue again. It's so boooring.
P. S. Before I forget... This was one of the outfits I wore to fashion week. I had to 'celinify' the old leather skirt a bit.
leather skirt: diy, blouse: marc aurel, cardigan: from mum, shoes: bally, bag: diy, scarf: inherited from my grandma


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Welcome Back to Ongaku Eternal! We are glad to have you here and hope you will enjoy and become part of our community once again. The site is still under construction but the Downloads section and Forum should be operational for the most part. Thank you again and we look forward to what the future brings :-)Dismiss Notice
Also please join our partnered Reddit as well: www.reddit.com/r/hiphopjapan


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eXceLon wrote:
Da Xiang wrote:
Maybe all of this is part of why the news cycle has now gone so quiet. Large Japanese exporters probably don't like their surging Chinese gravy train disappearing over some unoccupied isolated rocks. $$$ talks. This one looks like an economic (at least for the near-term) loser for Japan.
Seems to me that Japan had very little control over the "news cycle" of this controversy. The Japanese government only purchased the islands in a (failed) attempt to avoid this type of controversy... it was seen as preferable to allowing Tokyo's sinophobic mayor to acquire them. At that point the controversy was pretty much out of their hands, all they could do was sit back and let the rage in China play it's course.
There has been a lot of speculation that the outrage in China was encouraged and manufactured as a distraction while the Communist Party sorted through some internal issues. It's possible that Chinese authorities simply saw no further need for the controversy to continue, and simply allowed it to die.
Of course one wonders if they accounted for the longer-term consequences of stoking such hatreds. If Chinese public distaste for Japanese brands continues, and Japan is forced to cut back on investments and manufacturing in China, it could hurt China just as much as Japan.
Oh I wasn't trying to suggest anyone had control over the news cycle in this story. Only that Japan decided that because of the economic damage being caused by all the news that was flying around internationally, that it would be in their best economic interests to back away from this whole dispute--at least for now.
I'm not overly concerned that this will produce long-term "Chinese public distaste for Japanese brands". Didn't the story linked a few posts ago already state that the Japanese mfg plants in China were already getting back into production albeit at a lower level than had existed before the shit hit the fan.
edit: Meant to add that when I was in town a few days ago, the papers covering the Chinese character for 'Japan' on the sushi restaurants have been removed. Looks like things are returning to normal here.


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And, with our online financial management tool, you can access real-time information, execute transactions, make inquiries and run and download reports 24/7. Using the latest Web technology, we deliver a customizable and comprehensive package of information reporting, image delivery and transaction initiation services in a single suite.
Scott Henderson
Scott is a Senior Vice President at Northern Trust Company and is responsible for managing Northern's Treasury Services Consulting division. The Treasury Consulting Division provides Northern Trust clients with assistance in evaluating their existing cash management structure, support in analyzing and implementing treasury management solutions designed to optimize cash flow and streamline payment and financial operations, as well as advice regarding payment industry trends and best practices.
Scott joined Northern Trust in 2003 and has twenty-five years of banking industry experience, including more than ten years in the treasury management services field. Prior to joining Northern Trust he worked for National City Bank and predecessor organizations of J.P. Morgan Chase in several different capacities, including treasury management sales, procurement card product sales, corporate banking relationship management, asset-based lending, and asset-backed securities underwriting.
Scott has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Coe College in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and an MBA degree from DePaul University in Chicago. He is a member of the Association for Financial Professionals (AFP), and was a member of AFP's working committee that created the first standard RFP for purchasing cards in 1998. He earned the Certified Cash Manager (CCM) designation in 2000, and currently holds AFP's Certified Treasury Professional (CTP) designation.
Northern Trust Corporation. Head Office: 50 South La Salle Street, Chicago, Illinois 60603 U.S.A. Incorporated with limited liability in the U.S. Products and services provided by subsidiaries of Northern Trust Corporation may vary in different markets and are offered in accordance with local regulation. For more information, read our legal and regulatory information about individual market offices.
This material is directed to professional clients only and is not intended for retail clients. For Asia-Pacific markets, it is directed to institutional investors, expert investors and professional investors only and should not be relied upon by retail investors.


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Associate Dentist to join our well-established practice inAccrington, Lancashire.
What we do matters. Our customers trust us with one of their most important assets, their smile. Patient care is our passion and we believe everyone deserves a happy and healthy smile, which is why we thrive on having the very best people in the industry working with us to ensure we all keep on smiling.
Here at Oasis Dental Care (now part of Bupa) our people are at the heart of everything we do, because we care. We have created environments where people can look forward to coming to work, feel empowered and benefit from working collaboratively with brilliant & talented experts. So joining us isn't just for a job, but a career.
As an Associate Dentist you'll be benefiting from a supportive practice team, a well-managed appointment book, exceptional development and opportunities to take you as far as you want to go; and that's just to mention a few, so what's not to love?
This exciting opportunity also offers:
- 2 Days per week
- Excellent private earning potential from an established private & Denplan patient list
- 883 UDAs also available
- Additional discount for utilising Oasis Labs
- Continuous Professional Development
The Practice: Established with 5 spacious surgeries, modern working environment, fully computerised, R4 Software, OPG, digital x-ray and fully Air Conditioned. Experienced longstanding associates, supported by a team of qualified professional support staff.
Oasis Accrington is a well-established 5 surgery practice nestled in the heart of the town, close to Blackburn. We were established in 1988, and you will be joining a team with an excellent reputation that has just joined Oasis Dental Care. The practice provides mostly private dental care, but also has a small UDA contract.
Why join Oasis? Here's a selection of the fantastic incentives we have to offer:
- Excellent Working facilities and the latest equipment
- Highest standards of clinical governance & expert support
- On-boarding and Induction process
- Oasis Indemnity that offers you full cover, bespoke to Oasis
- Sponsored Education
- Career Mobility


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Disposal at sea permit No. 4543-2-04430
Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999
Notice is hereby given that, pursuant to section 127 of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999 (CEPA 1999), Disposal at Sea Permit No. 4543-2-04430 authorizing the loading for disposal and the disposal of waste or other matter at sea is approved. The permit is published on the CEPA Registry on Tuesday, June 2, 2015.
1. Permittee: Department of Public Works and Government Services, Quebec City, Quebec.
2. Waste or other matter to be disposed of: Dredged material.
2.1. Nature of waste or other matter: Dredged material consisting of gravel, sand, silt, clay and colloids.
3. Duration of permit: Permit is valid from June 9, 2015, to June 8, 2016.
3.1. The disposal at sea activities are restricted to the followings periods: from June 9 to June 30, 2015; from September 1, 2015, to April 14, 2016; and from June 1 to June 8, 2016. The Permittee may modify the duration of the restriction periods with the written approval of the Department of the Environment.
4. Loading site(s): Cap-aux-Meules Access Channel, Quebec, 47.37450° N, 61.85183° W (NAD83), as described in Figure 3 of the environmental effects screening report titled "Dragage d'entretien du chenal d'accès au port de Cap-aux-Meules, Îles-de-la-Madeleine" (April 2014), produced by the Department of Transport and approved by the Department of the Environment, submitted in support of the permit application.
5. Disposal site(s):
- PBCM-1, 47.36650° N, 61.79967° W (NAD83). The disposal site is located approximately 4 km east of the loading site.
- Cap-aux-Meules Access Channel, 47.37450° N, 61.85183° W (NAD83).
6. Method of loading: Dredging will be carried out using a clamshell dredge, a hydraulic shovel or a suction dredge.
7. Route to disposal site(s) and method of transport: Most direct navigational route from the loading site to the disposal site via towed scow.
8. Method of disposal: Disposal will be carried out by bottom dumping or suction dredge, and levelling of the seabed in the channel by a steel beam, a scraper blade, a wire mesh or a hydraulic shovel.
9. Total quantity to be disposed of: Not to exceed 3000 cubic metres, place measure.
10. Fees: The fee prescribed by the Disposal at Sea Permit Fee Regulations shall be paid by the Permittee in accordance with those regulations.
11. Inspection:
11.1. By accepting this permit, the Permittee and its contractors accept that they are subject to inspection pursuant to Part 10 of the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999.
11.2. The Permittee shall ensure that records of all loading and disposal activities are kept on site for the duration of the permit and are available for inspection by any enforcement officer or analyst, for two years following the expiry of the permit.
12. Contractors:
12.1. The loading or disposal at sea referred to under this permit shall not be carried out by any person without written authorization from the Permittee.
12.2. The Permittee shall ensure that all persons involved in the loading, transport or disposal activities authorized by this permit conduct these activities in accordance with the relevant permit conditions.
13. Reporting and notification:
13.1. The Permittee shall provide the following information at least 48 hours before loading and disposal activities commence: name or number of ship, platform or structure used to carry out the loading and/or disposal, name of the contractor including corporate and on-site contact information, and expected period of loading and disposal activities. The above-noted information shall be submitted to the Regional Director of the Environmental Protection Operations Directorate, Department of the Environment, Quebec Region, 105 McGill Street, 4th floor, Montreal QC H2Y 2E7, 514-496-6982 (fax), email@example.com(email).
13.2. The Permittee must complete the Register of Disposal at Sea Operations as provided by the Department of the Environment. This register must, at all times, be kept aboard any vessel involved with the disposal operations and be accessible to enforcement officers designated under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, 1999.
13.3. The Permittee must keep a written register of the time of departure of the vessel to the disposal site and advise the Canadian Coast Guard station once per day of the departure times entered in the register. The Permittee must record these communications in the register mentioned in paragraph 13.2.
13.4. The Permittee shall submit a written report to the Minister, as represented by the Regional Director of the Environmental Protection Operations Directorate, Quebec Region, identified in paragraph 13.1., within 30 days of the expiry of the permit. This report shall contain the following information: a list of all work completed pursuant to the permit, including the names of the loading and disposal site(s) used, the quantity of matter disposed of at the disposal site(s), the dates on which disposal activities occurred and the Register of Disposal at Sea Operations.
13.5. At all times, a copy of this permit and of documents and drawings referenced in this permit shall be available at the loading site and on all powered ships directly engaged in the loading and disposal operations.
Alain Gosselin
Regional Director
Environmental Protection Operations Directorate
Quebec Region
On behalf of the Minister of the Environment
Signed on: May 28, 2015
- Date modified:


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Sermons are listed below by date order, use the filter to help find a specific sermon, change the date order or just browse them all by scrolling down the page.
Please note: For Sermons listed that are more than two years old; the MP3 may no longer be available for download online, but may be obtained by contacting the St Marks Berowra office.
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Sermons (1)
|The Love God
|Genesis 29:1-18 (Part of the Counterfeit Gods series).
|Preached by Philip van't Spyker on August 3, 2015 (Family Service).