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Before the month ends, I better blog about the celebration I had with Jonathan's family. As mentioned, MIL, Xueli and my birthday all fall on the same month. For the 3 years, we have celebrated our birthdays together in April. 🙂
This year, Jamie treated us to Taste Paradise for dinner.
Food is good. Can never go wrong with Victor and Jamie's recommendations. 🙂
Of course, we did not just have those shown above. We were so busy chatting, taking care of the kids and eating that we forgot to take pictures of the food that were served later. 🙂
The Trio
We never fail to receive flowers from MIL on our birthdays. 🙂
We started the kids off with fried rice. Somehow flavoured rice are Kaiden's favourite. He can always finish at least 2 bowls of fried or chicken rice. *Yummy* 🙂
Tada… Now presenting the couples in order of the Fong ranking. 🙂
Was in awe when the cake arrived. It was the same birthday cake I had the day before with my family's celebration. It was such a coincidence. The cake must be really that good that Jamie and Justin would get the same flavour. 🙂
As usual, the kids can't wait to blow off the candles. Both of them , especially Kaitlyn, are eyeing at the chocolate deco on the cake.
Thank you for celebrating my birthday with me. Really enjoyed myself on both days of the celebrations and with everyone of my family members. You guys are truly the best. 🙂
Outfit of the Day
CatwalkClose – Irregular Pleated Chiffon Pixie Top in Wine (Size M). Nice colour but was a little loose on me. The top was a little short (haha or rather the problem lies with me, got a long torso) so by the end of the day, some parts of the top was already tucked out of my pants. Remedy, I just got a new pair of high waisted pants from CatwalkClose and is so loving it. 🙂
Flowers compliments from FlowerPotties, an online florist which my MIL set up. Though I am not a flower lover but being able to receive flowers on such special day is still a joy. 🙂


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Silverstone racing circuit's new expo building The Wing was the venue these last two days for The Bike Place, a gathering of bike companies showing off their newest wares to bike shop buyers and the likes of us. There was lots and lots of shiny and alluring mountain bike kit but plenty of road-related stuff to keep us happy starting with Sabbath Cycles.
The Midlanders at Sabbath have been selling titanium road frames exclusively now for five years, their trademark being the way they curve their tubes to help the welded joints meet at better angles, they claim, so they can be stronger and lighter. In areas like the rear stays, that's not as remarkable these days as it was when they started; everyone is at it. But Sabbath even curve tubes that don't normally get curved, the down tube on their top-end Nirvana model doesn't just curve once, it does it twice for double the controversy.
Anyway, this year they're courting approval from even the most steadfast of traditionalists by introducing a new model called Aspire that not only has the straightest of straight tubes but even has a reasonable price for a titanium frame of decent quality - check out those welds - at £999. According to their Greg Roche, "we wanted to make a clean and classic frame and were quite surprised when the weight came out at 1,200 grams. Geometry is based on their existing Silk Road model for all purpose road riding; fast enough for racing, stable and comfortable for all day sportive events. They're also selling builds based on the Aspire frame using Shimano Tiagra componentry for £1,599 and Shimano 105 with Fulcrum Racing 7 wheels for £1,799.
Talking of that Silk Road model, a subtle introduction this year to an otherwise externally unchanged frame are discrete mudguard eyes tucked inside the seat stays and just enough clearance to fit 'guards with a 24mm tyre. Internally, the main tubes are now either butted or double-butted to pare some weight and there's a replaceable gear hanger. Also, a good touch on this and all the Sabbath 2012 models will be graphics all in the previously optional sand-blasted finish instead of die-cut vinyl decals which were never our favourite feature. Price on the Silk Road is £1,250.
"Now that the Silk Road will take mudguards, we've felt good about making our September model more of an out-and-out competitor for the Audax purist," says Greg Roche. The head angle is now half-a-degree shallower and the brake bridges are repositioned such that a 28mm tyre will fit along with mudguards. Price is £1,200.
Finally, now that the lightweight advantage of the Silk Road Pro has been somewhat overshadowed by the latest double-butted version of the standard Silk Road, it's been merged into a revamped Monday's Child with even more accentuated "convex radius" seat stays and the most elegant-looking hourglass waisted head tube into which fits a tapered 1 1/8 to 1 3/8 steerer. Price on that one is £1,500.
All the bells and whistles on Koga's Randonneur, even integral lighting
Not that we'd want to see it on every bike but a practical all purpose super-commuter in the European style like the Dutch Koga Randonneur comes complete with a Busch & Muller lighting system where the powerful front light and its switch is built tidily into the front mudguard. The whole lot is driven by a Shimano front hub generator and includes a rear light which, like the front, has a built in capacitor so that the light stays on for a good few minutes when you stop at traffic lights. The bike complete with a pair of Elite insulated drinking bottles and a neat front-wheel fitting bike stand is £1,799.
Chris King, known for hubs, also has a frame brand called Cielo
The stainless steel Cielo Sportif Racer SE frame was the most beautiful we saw at Silverstone, with old-school slim tubes and exquisite workmanship. Cielo is the house brand of Chris King, otherwise know for his hubs and especially headsets which are absolutely the choice for the USA money-is-no-object custom frame crowd. Luckily, we were distracted away before had a chance to ask the price of the frame.
Kona Roundabout - another lovely Mixte frame
We'd previously mentioned the Kona Roundabout with it's old-French-style "Mixte" frame from the 2012 launch in the Autumn but we hadn't actually had a chance to admire the lovely little details. We still haven't ridden it but we'd like to.
Yes, trailers and even ones for your kid's bike
There are various hitches to pull a kids bike but all the ones we've seen look like they're engineered by Walmart. The Swiss-made FollowMe is pricey at £210 but takes any size wheel from 12" - 20" meaning it can grow with the family. In our experience well-made kids' bike paraphernalia can be sold for almost what it cost you when you're done with it. This one either flips up out of the way when you're not towing a child, or completely removes in barely more time using a special rear quick release skewer.
Details: extrawheel.co.uk
We saw the "world's lightest single-wheel trailer" called Extrawheel that's made in Poland and comes with a range of add-on accessories meaning you can carry as many different-shaped loads as you can think of. The big claim is that in using a wheel size to match the towing bike, it's considerable smoother to pull.
Details: cyclesense.co.uk
Velocite launch range in the UK
Velocite is a Taiwanese brand that has been around for five years and it's just starting to get UK distribution right now. The complete range is large although just five bikes are available in our neck of the woods so far – four of them road bikes.
The Magnus comes in at 1,000-1,180g (depending on the frame size). A performance bike, it's built for lightweight and stiffness using high-modulus carbon fibre. The frame features an oversized BB30 bottom bracket and a tapered head tube (1 1/8in up top to 1 1/2in at the bottom.
The gear cables run through the sides of the head tube – the cable stops are within the frame – while the rear brake cable takes the internal route through the top tube. The dropouts are full carbon, the seat clamp is an internal wedge-type design, and the band for the front mech is about the lightest we've ever picked up.
The frameset will set you back £1,960 while complete builds start at £2,720.
The Helios is the aero bike in the Velocite range with a cutaway seat tube that manages airflow over the rear wheel, and a skinny-bladed fork. Again, it gets a BB30 bottom bracket and a tapered head tube but this time you get internal cabling throughout.
The seatpost comes with a saddle clamp that you can adjust back and forth to alter the effective seat angle and a tri version is available with aero bars ready-fitted.
The Helios is available asa frameset for £2,390 and complete builds cost from £2,950.
The Geos is actually the lightest bike in the range with frame weights from as little as 920g. This one comes with a sloping top tube and a compact rear triangle designed to provide stiffness, while plenty of exposed seatpost should provide vibration damping.
The Geos frameset is £1,420. If you want a complete bike, they cost from £2,400.
The final road bike in the range is the Selene. Unlike the other three, this one is alloy - 7005-T6 if you want to be precise about it. All the tubes are custom shaped and butted, and manipulated for each frame size.
As with the carbon bikes, the Selene gets a 1 1/8in to 1 1/2in tapered head tube to provide extra front-end stiffness, and an oversized BB30 bottom bracket. As for the frame weight, Velocite claim 1,200-1450g, depending on the size. The frame is £580 while complete bike builds start at £1,690.
Details: www.velocite-bikes.co.uk

subset: commoncrawl


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A few years ago Paolo Guidetti was leafing through a book on ancient art when he came across a Roman mosaic showing a man's legs dangling from the mouth of an enormous fish. Struck by the picture, Guidetti, a biologist at the University of Salento in Italy, recognized the fish as one that he studies: the dusky grouper.
Today fishers would be hard-pressed to find a dusky grouper that large and so close to the sea's surface. The fish, found throughout the Mediterranean, are endangered. While they can grow to a length of more than four feet and a weight of 100 pounds, most are much smaller, and at sites where fishing pressures are highest they occupy waters too deep to leap out and eat anyone.
To help groupers recover, fisheries managers have established marine reserves throughout the Mediterranean. Evidence suggests the reserves are working: groupers are becoming more common at a variety of depths, and they are generally larger. Yet Guidetti and Fiorenza Micheli, a biologist at Stanford University, wanted to have a more accurate sense of the grouper's historical abundance. To determine just how far recovery efforts had to go, it would be better to know how the fish had fared thousands of years ago.
But how to do that? Thousand-year-old data are hard to come by, so Guidetti and Micheli turned to the mosaics that had first caught Guidetti's eye. They looked in museums and books. They spread the word among other biologists. It took a couple of years, but they were able to cobble together 73 Etruscan, Greek and Roman mosaics from between the first and fifth centuries that showed fish or fishing scenes. Of those, 23 had groupers.
"Using the mosaics, we were able to assess how big groupers used to be and how they were caught," Micheli says. What they saw surprised them. In some mosaics, fishers used nets and harpoons to catch groupers at the water's surface—techniques that would never work today. Others showed groupers so large that they more than justified their historical reputation as sea monsters. "It suggested that groupers were considerably more common and accessible than anyone had thought," says Micheli, whose findings were published late last year in Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment.
Artistic license and a fisher's penchant for exaggeration aside, Guidetti and Micheli argue that older, extrascientific sources can aid in calibrating conservation and management aims. "For these types of questions, we must be willing to consider the importance of less quantitative, more anecdotal evidence," Micheli says. "We wanted to emphasize art as a form of information."
COMMENT AT ScientificAmerican.com/oct2012


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Used Truck - 2003 Ford Escape XLT Popular 2 2WD in Lockport, Il
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About This 2003 Ford Escape XLT Popular 2 2WD
Vehicle Location:
Lockport, Il
XLT Popular 2 2WD
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Fuel Economy Estimates
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Combined MPG: 22
Estimated Monthly Fuel Cost: $101.14*
*Based on $1.78 per gallon and 15k miles per year.
Actual costs may vary.
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Located at Finishline Cars Inc. in Lockport, Il. Call Finishline Cars Inc. today at 815-215-8383 for more information about this vehicle.
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2003 Ford Escape ReviewThis car review is specific to this model, not the actual vehicle for sale.
Best in its class.
The Ford Escape is one of the best of the small, affordable SUVs, assuming that off-road travel isn't a priority. The Escape offers agile handling on paved and unpaved roads. It accelerates briskly when equipped with the optional V6 engine. It rides smoothly and its refined interior seats four people comfortably. Folding down the rear seats reveals a flat, moderately sized cargo area. Best of all, its price is relatively low.
The Escape was an all-new vehicle in 2001. For 2003, all models have upgraded interior materials for better appearance and feel. The seat fabrics, floor mats and door trim are of higher quality and are available in new patterns and hues. The center stack, door bezels and window switches are painted for a two-tone interior effect, and the window switches are illuminated for nighttime convenience.
For 2003, Ford has added an up-market Limited trim level, and a limited-edition option package called Midnight.
For 2003, Ford has expanded the Escape model lineup from two trim levels to three. XLS starts at $18,800 with front-wheel drive (2WD) and at $21,895 with four-wheel drive (4WD). XLT begins at $22,335 with 2WD and at $23,960 with 4WD. New for 2003 is the Limited, at $25,460 with 2WD and $26,910 with 4WD.
The base XLS comes with a high level of standard equipment that includes air conditioning, illuminated remote entry, power windows and mirrors, a tilt steering column, center console, 15-inch steel wheels and an AM/FM/CD/cassette audio system with a clock. Power for the XLS comes from a 2.0-liter four-cylinder Zetec engine producing 130 horsepower and 135 pound-feet of torque. XLS shifts gears with a standard five-speed manual transmission. A 3.0-liter, 201-horsepower Duratec V6 and four-speed automatic are offered as an option.
XLT comes standard with the Duratec V6 and automatic transmission. XLT also gets four-wheel anti-lock brakes (ABS), premium cloth upholstery, a power driver's seat, privacy glass, a power moonroof, cruise control, a cargo cover and convenience net, fog lights, an in-dash six-CD changer, and white-letter P235/70R16 tires on16-inch five-spoke aluminum wheels.
The Limited comes with premium leather seats, seat heaters, front side-impact air bags, dual front sun visors with illuminated vanity mirrors, an auto-dimming rearview mirror, heated exterior mirrors, Ford's Reverse Sensing System and a MACH Audio in-dash six-CD changer with automatic volume control. From the outside, you can spot a Limited by its monochrome exterior, with body-color cladding, fascias, moldings, door handles and liftgate trim; and by its bright machined 16-inch aluminum wheels.
Option packages are available for each trim level. For example, the XLT Premium Package ($1230) includes leather seating surfaces, leather-wrapped steering wheel, a 60/40 split rear bench seat, front door map pockets, an overhead console with dual storage bins, a front passenger under-seat storage tray, and a power moonroof with sunshade.
New for 2003 is the XLT Appearance Package, which includes glossy Dark Shadow Gray bumper fascias and side cladding, machined bright aluminum 16-inch wheels and Dark Shadow Gray step bars.
Also new is a limited edition XLT called Midnight. The Midnight Escape features gloss black paint on fascias, body cladding and wheel-lip moldings. A unique black trim treatment and ebony Nudo leather-trimmed seats complement the all-black exterior. Midnight comes loaded with side-impact air bags, a MACH MP3 music system, and 16-inch bright, machined aluminum wheels with high-gloss black accents and silver center caps. Midnight options include side-step bars and a trailer-towing package. Ford expects to build no more than 5,000 Midnight Escapes, priced $24,995 for the 2WD version, and $26,445 for the four-wheeler.
The Ford Escape is wider than other compact SUVs, and this gives it a look that is both aggressive and well planted. Ford designers worked to balance the confidence and ruggedness of a big SUV with a sportier image of agility and fun. The Escape's forward-poised stance, large wheel lips, wide body cladding and integrated bumper guard lend a functional appearance, while its short front and rear overhangs add to its sporting appeal. The Escape looks bolder and more aggressive than the Honda CR-V, with a strong family resemblance to Ford's larger Explorer and Expedition.
Being able to see the leading edge of the hood from the driver's seat makes the Escape easier to maneuver in tight places, whether you're deep in the woods or (more likely) in a tight big-city garage. If you are deep in the woods, its 7.8 inches of ground clearance may help clear some obstacles. Outside door handles are easy to grab and feel like they're going to last.
Accessories from Ford Outfitters include a snap-in pet barrier and a system to haul two mountain bikes in the cargo area. Bike racks can also be mounted on the roof; the standard roof rack with crossbars holds up to 100 pounds. We don't like the idea of compromising an SUV's ground clearance with running boards, but Ford claims that the running boards on the Escape do not reduce ground clearance. They are designed to make it easier to lift kayaks, snowboards and other toys onto the roof rack. The rear bumper is also designed to aid roof access.
New for 2003 is an industry-first, dual-loading rack, which Ford calls the No Boundaries Rack System. The No Boundaries Rack System offers a unique sliding rail from the roof that can pull down vertically across the rear of the vehicle and lock into the bumper. This provides two separate loading surfaces: a more traditional one on the roof and an additional one across the rear. When not in use, the sliding rails can be stored within the conventional roof portion of the rack system.
With 133.9 cubic feet of total interior volume, the Escape is among the most spacious of the small SUVs. The rear cargo area offers 69.2 cubic feet with the rear seats folded down, just the thing for a day of antiquing. Even with the split 60/40 rear seats set up to accommodate up to five passengers, Escape still provides 33 cubic feet of cargo space.
Escaping into or out of the front seats is made easier by low door sills and wide door openings. In the front-seat area, the Escape is almost as roomy as Ford's mid-size Explorer. The rear seats offer good knee room.
Ford has significantly upgraded the Escape's interior for 2003. Both XLS and XLT benefit from new interior fabrics and materials with improved quality and feel. There's also a new finish for center stack, and now the front-door power window and lock switches light up to make them easier to find. Side-impact airbags are standard on Limited and Midnight, optional ($345) on XLS and XLT.
White-faced instruments, in vogue these days, are set in a straightforward instrument panel. The audio system and heating, ventilation and air conditioning controls in the center stack are angled slightly toward the driver to ease reach while driving. Ford engineers say they tested the placement of the controls by using blindfolded occupants, but don't try that while driving.
Driving Impression
Sport-utility vehicles are not sports cars. In spite of that, California's twisting Highway 1 is an enjoyable drive in the Ford Escape. Handling is relatively taut, without the mushiness that characterizes larger SUVs with big off-road tires and long-travel suspensions. On muddy fire roads pocked with puddles and potholes, the Escape is a blast. It's one of the best-handling SUVs in this class, much better than a Jeep Liberty, better than a Toyota RAV4, quicker than a Honda CR-V, but not as agile as a Subaru Forester.
Steering is responsive. It feels direct and accurate with no dead spot in the center. There's enough feeling in the steering to impart a sense of control. Though this is not a sports car, the tires grip respectably in paved corners. When pushed beyond their limit, the front tires start slipping before the rear tires, just as with most front-wheel-drive sedans. This is called understeer, and it is intuitive and predictable. The Escape provides surprisingly good transient response in a series of left-right-left corners. This permits quick, yet smooth, driving that will not upset passengers.
The V6 engine delivers good acceleration. While there's no such thing as too much power, it never feels lacking in the Escape. The engine and four-speed automatic transmission communicate and work well together. The transmission shifts smoothly up and down, and chooses gears appropriately for the situation. The engine's broad power band never lugs or strains. This isn't the smoothest V6 on the market, nor is it the roughest. But it is smoother and more satisfying than the four-cylinder engines found in most small sport-utilities. (We have not tested the four-cylinder Escape.)
Escape's brakes are smooth and responsive. ABS comes into play just when expected and is detectable by the familiar pulsating sensation.
As mentioned, the Escape handles well on gravel roads, but it is lacking in serious off-road situations. Its front-drive platform leaves it spinning its wheels on rough, loose, steep trails. The suspension does not have the articulation and travel needed for rugged terrain and there is no low-range set of gears. For serious off-road capability, look to the larger Jeep Liberty, the extreme Jeep Wrangler, or the luxurious and versatile Land Rover Freelander. For everyday road travel, however, the Ford Escape is an excellent choice.
The Ford Escape is one of the best of the small, on-road SUVs. The available V6 engine provides the Escape with the most power in its class. A four-wheel independent suspension and unit-body construction make it handle almost as well as a car. A car-like ride makes it easy to live with. It isn't designed for serious off-road driving, nor are its direct competitors. Overall, we feel the Escape is the best SUV in its class.
Model Lineup
XLS ($18,800); XLS 4WD ($21,985); XLT ($22,335); XLT 4WD ($23,960); Midnight ($24,995); Midnight 4WD ($26,445); Limited ($25,460); Limited 4WD ($26,910).
Assembled In
Kansas City, Missouri.
Options As Tested
XLT premium package ($1230) includes leather seating surfaces, leather-wrapped steering wheel, front door map pockets, overhead console with dual storage bins, front passenger under-seat storage tray, power moonroof with sunshade; Towing package ($350) includes Class II trailer hitch, wiring kit, oil cooler.
Model Tested
3341 S State St
Lockport, Il. 60441
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8:30 pm
Keeping Up Appearances - The Memoirs of Hyacinth Bucket "Daddy's Accident" Hyacinth will go to manic lengths to ensure that even the most routine of daily events is just so, much to the chagrin of husband Richard and neighbor Liz.G
9:00 pm
As Time Goes By "Avoiding The Country Set" Jean and Lionel try stealth and attempt to sneak into his family country home without alerting the country set.G
9:30 pm
The Cafe "A Note to Follow" Mary, Carol's mother, a broad-minded soul in her 70s, is a permanent fixture as people wander in and out of the cafe.G
10:00 pm
The Red Green Show "No Retreat" Harold's company tries to buy the lodge. Red invents Garbage Canadarm and has advice on what to expect after the age of 45.G
10:30 pm
My Family "The Parent Trap" Ben takes delivery of a neighbor's large plasma-screen television and falls in love with it. Meanwhile, Michael's current love interest may be expecting a delivery of a different kind.G
11:00 pm
Doctor Who Series "The Girl Who Waited" Amy is trapped in a quarantine facility for victims of an alien plague - a plague that will kill the Doctor in a day. The Doctor can use the TARDIS to smash through time and break in, but then Rory is on his own. Can he rescue Amy before she is killed by kindness?G


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|Episode Description
|Friday, May 24, 2013 - 7:00 AM
"Created Equal"
The high ideals of the Declaration of Independence that "all men are created equal" didn't make it into the Constitution in 1787. It took three-quarters of a century, and a bloody civil war, before the Fourteenth Amendment of 1868 made equality a constitutional right and gave the federal government the power to enforce it. The far-reaching changes created by that amendment established new notions of citizenship, equal protection, due process and personal liberty. D
|More on WORLD (MT)
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Taunting taxpayers: Manchester teachers union won't budge
December 15. 2013 3:29PM
At this point, we assume that the Manchester Education Association is just playing with the city, like the French knight in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Feeling safely ensconced in its impenetrable castle, the union continues to taunt the city for fun.
Last week the school board committee appointed to negotiate a new contract gave up after months of failed negotiations. The union had rejected a contract similar to ones accepted by school paraprofessionals, principals, and every other city union.
The city's proposed contract guaranteed raises, capped only by the city tax cap, every year for the life of the contract. Like the other union agreements, employees would have to contribute more toward their health premiums. But nowhere near what is paid in the private sector. The city would pay from between 80 and 95 percent, depending on the health plan chosen. The highest a teacher would have to pay is 20 percent. The national average for the private sector is 28 percent.
A frustrated school board voted unanimously last week to name Mayor Ted Gatsas as the chief negotiator with the unions. Considering how many school board members regularly clash with Gatsas, that was an important vote. It said to the union that even its allies on the board are so fed up with its intransigence that they are willing to let Gatsas get the credit if he can work a deal. Taxpayers should hope that he does. This absurdity has dragged on too long.


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I've recently moved to Melbourne and was wondering if anyone knows of any catechumen classes in the CBD that I can get to via public transport? I did a liturgy class with the Russian Orthodox Church for the past year back in the US and wanted to move forward with being a catechumen and get baptized. I do speak some Russian and am learning a little Church Slavonic so would like to stick with a Russian Church if at all possible. Many Thanks
Thanks for your response. Unfortunately Yarraville would be quite far for me as it already takes me an hour by train to get into the CBD. I'm out in the Eastern suburbs. I did stop by the orthodox mission next to Parliament station yesterday and it was very nice so I think that will be my home away from home at least for the time being until I get settled more permanently.
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The Religious Notes column is published every Saturday to highlight special religious services (fundraisers go in the Calendar). E-mail information to firstname.lastname@example.com, bring in printed information to 30 E. First Ave. or mail it to The Dispatch, P.O. Box 908, Lexington, 27293. Notes must be submitted by noon Wednesday to run the following Saturday. Notes will run no more than two times prior to the event.
The Religious Notes column is published every Saturday to highlight special religious services (fundraisers go in the Calendar). E-mail information to email@example.com, bring in printed information to 30 E. First Ave. or mail it to The Dispatch, P.O. Box 908, Lexington, 27293. Notes must be submitted by noon Wednesday to run the following Saturday. Notes will run no more than two times prior to the event.
Bethesda UMC
Jonathan Spangler will be at the church during the 10 a.m. Sunday School hour Sunday, .
Buncombe Baptist
The church, 539 Hairston Road, will host guest speaker the Rev. Calvin Crump at the 11 a.m. worship service Sunday. He is the retired pastor of Shadyside Presbyterian Church.
East End Baptist
The church, 377 Heath Church Road, will have an IMPACT Youth Rally and The Ball Brothers in concert Oct. 5. The rally starts at 3 p.m. and is open to any youth in seventh to 12th grades for $10/person for all day (includes admission to concert). Registration is requested by Sept. 28 at 249-4484.
The Ball Brothers concert starts at 7 p.m. and is open to the public. Tickets available for $10 donation.
Faith Baptist
The church, 4518 Shiptontown Road, will have a Fifties Café and Cruise-in from 4 to 7 p.m. Saturday. Bring a canned food item for the Upper Room Food Ministry in Southmont. Motorcycles are welcome. Bring a chair to enjoy live music by Billy Myers and Tony Corner. For more information, call Freddie Moretz at 798-1840.
Florida United Holy
Fred T. Jones III, a member of the church, 760 Moore Drive, will speak at 3 p.m. Sunday.
Grace Alliance
The church, 457 Burkhart Road, is having Global Focus Weekend through Sunday. The Alliance Men of the church will sponsor a hamburger and hotdog supper under the shelter, weather permitted at 5 p.m. Saturday. Randy and Marsha Barnwell will be speaking during the Sunday School hour beginning at 9 a.m. Sunday followed by the 10 a.m. worship service with the Barnwell's. A covered dish luncheon will follow after the morning service. Cheryl Solvig and her daughters will be speaking to us during the 6 p.m. service.
Hebron UCC
Stephen B. Boyd, the UCC minister for military chaplains and specialized ministers, will speak at the church, corner of Old Highway 52 and Hebron Church Road, Midway at 10:45 a.m. Sunday. A full pancake breakfast will be served at 9 a.m. For more information, call 740-5780.
Mt. Zion Wesleyan
Sisters Live in Concert will be at the church on Mt. Zion Church Road at 6 p.m. Sunday. Love offering will be taken. For more information call 472-4239.
New Life Worship Center
The church, 171 Garden Drive, will have its seasonal tea at 5 p.m. Saturday. Inspiration dance ministry will minister in dance, and there will also be singing.
Now Faith Family Worship Center
The church, 721 S. Main St., will have Family and Friends Day at 11 a.m. Sunday. Guest speaker Dana Phillips, the associate minister of Galilee Baptist Church, Winston-Salem.
New Jerusalem UCC
The church, 4104 Jerusalem Road, will host a fall revival at 7 p.m. Oct. 7. The Rev. David Crook, pastor of First UCC in Winston-Salem, will be the guest speaker. Special music will be presented by the New Jerusalem Choir.
The Pentecostal Church of the Living God
The church, 1214 S. Salisbury St., will have singer Chuck Compton at 6 p.m. Oct. 6.
Union Chapel AME Zion
The Missionary Department of the church, 4329 Sowers Road, Linwood, will sponsor a Rainbow Tea at 5 p.m. Saturday. The guest preacher will be the Rev. Kinston Jones, pastor of Siloam AME Zion Church, Statesville. For information, contact Edna Griffin 752-2204
Zion UCC
The church, Thomasville, will welcome Danny and April Hall who will share their missionary work in Angola on Sunday. They will share during the Sunday School hour from 9:15 – 10:15 a.m. in the fellowship hall. During worship, Zion welcomes local recording artist, Mitch Snow, who will present special music in the 10:30 a.m. worship service.


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Sat 18th May at 7:30pm
The Lumberjacks
@ City Varieties Music Hall, Leeds
Featuring: Stewart Francis, Craig Campbell, Glenn Wool
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Check out the info below for future tour dates, and track them to receive alerts when they tour near you
See all dates for The Lumberjacks
The Lumberjacks: Stewart Francis, Craig Campbell, Glenn Wool
Canadian stand up comedians Craig Campbell, Stewart Francis and Glenn Wool are touring the UK with their hilarious Edinburgh Festival 2012 show.
Fifteen years ago, the three fresh faced young Canadian comics made their Edinburgh debut at the fledgling Stand Comedy Club. A decade and a half later and they've grown into formidable performers with an enviable string of broadcast credits and live touring under their belts.
Between them, they have appeared on: Mock The Week, 8 Out Of 10 Cats, Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow, Live At The Apollo, Russell Howard's Good News and Dave's One Night Stand. They have also toured solo across the UK, US, Scandinavia, Canada and Australia.
Each of them could and have filled theatres up and down the land. But this year they're back together in a feature length. All three will perform new material as well as classic routines.
The Lumberjacks return!
Please note, over 16's only.
Please note that the artists appearing may be subject to change.
Stewart Francis
'With Francis it's all about puns... He'll fill every minute with comedy bargains in the form of non-stop quick-fire gags, rarely giving you time to cease giggling until the next one starts... Quite simply, the service Francis provides is good old-fashioned joke telling with a hook, punch-line and a dose of panache thrown in for good measure' (Warwick Arts Centre)
'A brilliant comic brain... this stand-up cracks some of the best one liners I've ever heard' (The Guardian).
'Perfectly crafted gags' (The Sunday Times).
Stewart Francis was named in Ents24's top 5 hardest-working comedians of 2015.
Stewart Francis tour dates
Craig Campbell
Described by some as the Canadian Billy Connolly, Craig never fails to entertain. The wild man of Canadian comedy delivering in style and occasionally making up one third of The Dinks. His unique humour fuses together whimsical anecdotes with salty stories of sex, drugs and circumcision.
However, be warned, his laid-back manner and genuine warmth belie the true outrageous nature of his material. Still, his stoner philosophy and risque subjects have won him devoted fans worldwide.
He has supported Frankie Boyle and performed on Michael McIntyre's Comedy
Roadshow (BBC One), Russell Howard's Good News (BBC Three), and was responsible for
easing the contractions of an expectant mother who laughed so hard at his performance on
Dave's One Night Stand (Dave) - which detailed an encounter with a badger...her waters broke.
'Bringing a tale to life like a young Billy Connolly' (Edinburgh Evening News)
'One of the most skilled storytellers and jokesmiths on the circuit... Craig is simply a very, very funny man' (Chortle).
Craig Campbell tour dates
Glenn Wool
Inventive Canadian stand-up Wool certainly cuts a dash on stage with his heavy black eyeliner, long leather coat and distinctive cowboy hat. Already an established comic in the USA with his laid back, confident and edgy style and stunning improvisation. No subject too sensitive, no issue too extreme. He tackles a wide range of subjects from religious fundamentalism to current world politics and does it in such a way that you hardly notice that that is what you are listening to.
'Wincingly funny, it's enough to buckle a bull moose' (Melbourne Age)
'Effortlessly funny wit an affability that other comics can only dream of. You have to go see Glenn Wool' (The Guardian)
'Edgy, imaginative, funny and original... Tipped for greatness' (The Daily Telegraph).
Glenn Wool tour dates


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It's a MAD MAD MAD Mad Movie Week--Day Three, Review #99
It's easy to watch something like the classic 1935 chiller Mad Love (aka The Hands of Orlac) and bust out the old cliché, "Boy, they sure don't make them like they used to!" And you'd be right, of course. The 30s and 40s were the golden age of gothic horror, and though acting techniques have become more naturalistic and set design more realistic, though plots have become more horrifying and monster make-up more technically brilliant, still, there's something about these old school horror tales that will always chill and delight the receptive viewer. It's like reading Stephen King, then going back and reading Poe. Both have their strengths, but Poe just has that old school something that King's just not old enough to have acquired yet.
Nope, they sure don't make them like they used to.
However, to give credit where it's due--in point of fact I don't think they EVER made them like Mad Love.
There's so much wonderful stuff in this movie it seems almost a shame to talk about it, for fear that someone who hasn't watched it will be robbed of a thrilling, wonderful discovery. On the other hand, I don't think knowing ahead of time could make it any less wonderful than it is. Mad Love doesn't depend on shocking you for its effect, and doesn't require your ignorance for its majesty. Still, if you want to come in fresh (only like 70 years AFTER the fact...), go watch now. I'll be here when you get back.
After an opening credit sequence that is awesomer than many full-length movies, we open on a hanged corpse swinging in the breeze! Hey, we've only got 68 minutes, folks, we've got to hit the ground running! As it turns out the corpse is NOT real--it is in fact a wax figure hanging outside the Theatre du Horreurs, a thinly-disguised Grand Guignol stand-in that's all the rage in the Montmartre.
Yvonne Orlac is receiving buckets of flowers from a mysterious fan. Reading the ornately lettered and high-sentiment card, Yvonne smiles to her lady in waiting. "A gentleman of the old school, Marie." The elder lady sniffs. "Old or new, they all try the same things." It's quickly revealed that Yvonne's admirer is Dr. Gogol, a brilliant surgeon famous for fixing up wounded soldiers returned from WWI. He's occupied the same box every night since opening, and these are not the first flowers Yvonne has received from him, making it a bit of a good-natured scandal backstage.
Meanwhile, Dr. Gogol himself--the intense, inimitable, shaven-headed Peter Lorre--is arriving for the Theatre du Horreurs' final performance of the season. We get some great dissolves and cool looks at the theatre employees in spooky uniforms (including a Devil Ticketseller and a Headless Hat-Check Girl) before Gogol stops to stand before a wax figure representing "Yvonne Torturée." After getting angry with a drunk who speaks disrespectfully to the dummy, Gogol takes possession of his box and the show is ready to start.
Hearing the curtain call, Yvonne delays while waiting for her husband's radio program to start--hubby Steven Orlac (Colin "It's alive! ALIVE!" Clive) is a concert pianist getting ready to play in a distant town, sending messages to his wife via wireless through coded coughs. Once out on stage, Yvonne gives the crowd what they want--which is apparently Yvonne strapped to a wheel of anguish and branded with hot irons! Of course the gore is implied here (the Grand Guignol was famously goopy with its fx), but shots of the leering, beast-like faces of the audience and Gogol's intense, creeperiffic stare are more than a little unsettling, even now.
The last performance is a smashing success, and we learn that Yvonne is retiring from the stage to be a full-time housewife to Steven. When Marie asks whether she will miss the crowds, Yvonne replies, "Steven will be my audience!" What, you mean for the torture act? Oooer, missus! Then again, those stuffy English types are notorious for their under-surface boiling perversions...
Gogol comes backstage to thank Yvonne for all the "pleasure" she's given him getting stretched and branded every night. It must be said that in a lifetime of super-fucking-creepy roles, Lorre has never been creepier than he is right here. His huge eyes, bald pate, and the constant low-angle/eccentrically lit shots of him make for some wonderfully eerie portraiture, and Lorre's facial expressions and quiet, accented voice take him from zero to Disturbing in 0.5 seconds--a new record!
Making his move on the flattered but visibly weirded-out actress, Gogol is crushed to discover she will not be returning for the next season. "But I must see you again...I MUST!" Gogol insists, driving Yvonne even further away. He doesn't help his case when, after wrangling an invite to the cast wrap-party, he grabs her and ill-advisedly tries to plant a slobbery kiss right on her lips! Heartbroken at his rejection, Gogol stops on his way out long enough to purchase Yvonne's wax image from the tradesmen ordered to melt it down, ordering it delivered to his house the next day. SAY NO MOOAH.
Rollo aboard. Rollo is a circus knife thrower who killed his father over a woman and has a date with Lady Guillotine as a result. An American newspaper reporter has been assigned to cover the case. Both Rollo and the reporter are used for comic relief, but the actors portraying them are wonderfully brash and entertaining, particularly Rollo himself, who nonchalantly shrugs off his death sentence with the quip, "Well, we all get it in the neck eventually!" That's the American spirit!
While Yvonne and Marie wait at the station in Paris, tragedy strikes offscreen as the train jumps its track, leading to much loss of life. Again, though we don't get to see the wreck itself (nothing like the Great Model Train Crash of '33 a la The Invisible Man), what we see of its aftermath is even more chilling--the undersides of upended train cars, bodies strewn around the tracks, officials searching desperately for survivors. A desperate Yvonne discovers Steven in one of the cars, alive but horribly maimed--his hands are crushed, and must be amputated to save his life. His career is over!
Or is it? Reminded by Marie of her creepy but devoted admirer's speciality, Yvonne swallows her pride and her gorge and goes begging to Gogol for help. Not wanting to fail her and provoked by a Japanese male nurse who says saving the hands is impossible ("Impossible?" Gogol shouts, a mad gleam in his huge eyes, "Napoleon said that word is not French!"), Gogol manages to get the recently-executed Rollo's body delivered to his lab for an impromptu first-of-its-kind double-hand transplant. Naturally, it works like a dream. Gogol is a genius! (Earlier we saw Gogol witnessing Rollo's execution--once again we see not the blade falling, but Gogol watching it with a look of sick fascination, his eyes cutting down as the guillotine does its work. Again, a chilling bit of visual direction.)
"a long and expensive process," and proceeds to get the Orlacs in his deep, deep debt. (A fantastic montage/dream sequence here puts the figurative point on it superbly.) Drowning in medical bills, Steven decides to go see his cantankerous stepfather to ask for a loan.
Stepdad is a right bastard, however, gloating over Orlac's troubles and taunting him with the long-gone possibility that he could have been a partner in the old man's curio shop. Infuriated by an off-color comment about Yvonne's professional prospects, Stephen grabs a knife from a counter and tosses it at the old man, speeding it expertly through the store window! Amazed and disturbed at his newfound knife-throwing abilities, Stephen flees the store.
Meanwhile, Gogol is having long, intimate conversations with the Yvonne's wax likeness, which he's taken to calling Galatea after the Greek myth. (Since it was 1935, the appellation "Melissa Realdoll" was not yet available.) When Yvonne herself comes to the clinic to plead with Gogol to help Steven more, Gogol's lusts boil over and he advises Yvonne to leave her "broken" husband for him, the world-famous doctor! She refuses, claiming that even if she didn't have Steven, there's something about Gogol that repulses her. Gogol does not handle it well. "I, a poor peasant, have conquered SCIENCE!" he cries. "Why can't I conquer LOVE?" Poor Pete. If only he'd lived in the age of the internet, he doubtless could have found someone to cater to his "special needs."
Lacking both the outlet of cybersex and an anatomically correct wax doll, Gogol decides instead to have his revenge by driving Steven Orlac MAD! Gogol murders Steven's stepdad with a knife, then stages what has to be one of the greatest "drive you mad" scenes this side of Salon Kitty's bread penis. Playing on Steven's "psychotic" idea that his hands possess Rollo's knife-throwing, murderous desires, Gogol dresses in shades, a neck brace, and metal gauntlets to convince Steven that he is Rollo, raised from the dead with his head reattached by Gogol! Since this image is on the cover of many vhs versions of the film and litters the net in tributes to Lorre it's not much of a spoiler to show it, so get a load of THIS nightmare fuel:
It all winds up in a wild finish as Yvonne gets trapped in Gogol's lab, breaks the statue of herself, then has to pose as her own effigy when the deranged Gogol comes back flush with his success. "He thinks he is mad," Lorre intones, gearing up for the Line of His Career: "He does not know...It is I who am MAD!" If you don't get chills listening to that, get off the boat and turn in your horror fan card. You're done here.
When his Galatea comes to life (just like in the myth!) Gogol almost tops that by quoting Vicar-poet fave Robert "Fucking" Browning while he tries to strangle Yvonne with her long hair ("Porphyria's Lover." Go read it, it's excellent.), but is stopped when Orlac uses his newfound knife-throwing skills to bury a blade in Gogol's kidneys from 30 yards!
I dunno about you, but I'm SPENT.
This is what Mad Mad Mad Mad Movies is all about. I mean, let's take a quick tally: we've got mad scientists, creepy wax figures, murderous transplanted body parts, torture as entertainment, train wrecks, guillotine scenes, devil masks and headless hat check girls--and I haven't even mentioned the carnivorous plants in the lab or the drunk housekeeper with the pet cockatoo! Add Romantic poetry and comic relief that's actually funny, and you've got a winner by any standard. All in less than 70 minutes!
Director Karl Freund does an even better job here than he does helming the rightly-legendary 1932 fear flick The Mummy--the low-angle shots and strange lighting, the German expressionist shot compositions and interesting use of shadows as actors in scenes, the montage/nightmares and a neat recurring mirror-motif--all stuff to make an old-school horror geek shriek with joy. Just absolutely flawless stuff.
Acting wise, you can't overstate Peter Lorre's awesomeness here. You know all those super-caricature impressions people do of Lorre? The Tweety-in-Looney-Tunes stuff, the basis of Boo Berry? THIS is the movie they're imitating, but strangely all those caricatures don't detract one iota from the power of Lorre's performance. You WILL believe a man can go mad!
As to the supporting players, nobody does stuffy upper-crust English twat like Colin Clive; his kissing scene with 3-foot splints on both hands must be seen to be believed. Though "Sir" Frances Drake as Yvonne is no great shakes, she DOES have the big doe eyes working for her, and makes a very convincing wax model of herself, it has to be said. Edward Brophy as Rollo and Ted Healy as Reagan the American Reporter do great work as well, and the lines they're given to spout by the army of MGM Writers are genuinely funny and entertaining. Cool cool stuff.
Mad Love--and even one or two before it--but I feel safe in saying it has yet to find its equal. Any fan of Lorre, the old black & white chillers, or cinema in general owes it to himself to seek this one out and bask in the rays of awesome it emanates. The Duke and I plus all our servants give this the Off-the-Thumb-Scale rating. Not to watch and enjoy this one...would be...MAD!!!
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Mad Love (1935): or, No School Like the Old School
It's a MAD MAD MAD Mad Movie Week--Day Three, Review #99
Posted by The Vicar of VHS at 2:01 AM
Labels: '30s, 3+ Thumbs, Dolls Dummies and Puppets, Mad Mad Mad Mad Movie Week, Mad Science, Peter Lorre, Psycho Killer
9 comments:
- Karswell said...
Yes! An unparalleled classic of the highest order, and one of Karswell's top 25 greatest horror films ever. And speaking of the Lorre cartoon voice connection, there's those classic lines from Ren and Stimpy lifted directly from Mad Love...
- July 2, 2008 at 11:05 AM
- Jo said...
Since I'm super young [and loving it, haha] I'm only been really getting into older movies pre-70's the last year or so and I absolutely love them. Here's yet another to add to my list of must-watch. Our video shop here has only recently been getting in older titles again as they get re-issued. Aside from there, where would you suggest I find older movies? Online searches typically just bring me to torrents, but maybe I'm silly and avoid that route. I really like getting the whole package and watching it on my own big screen. So, uh, help? :)
- July 2, 2008 at 7:42 PM
- Karswell said...
>where would you suggest I find older movies?
- July 2, 2008 at 9:27 PM
- Jo said...
I'm from the great land before Netflix, otherwise known as Canada. And Zip.ca [our cheap knockoff version] fails in comparison.
- July 2, 2008 at 9:34 PM
- The Vicar of VHS said...
There have been a lot of great dvd box sets put out the last few years I would suggest investing in. My copy of Mad Love is a part of this Warner Brothers Legends of Horror set, which also has the wild mad science flicks Doctor X and The Return of Dr. X, Boris Karloff in The Mask of Fu Manchu, and Tod Browning's Devil Doll and Mark of the Vampire (starring Bela Lugosi!). A sound investment for any horror fan.
And then of course there are the Universal Legacy Sets, which are absolutely ESSENTIAL. Also this, and this, and ESPECIALLY THIS--all great places to jump in with classic horror.
Educate thyself! :)
- July 2, 2008 at 9:58 PM
- The Vicar of VHS said...
Also, enter the MMMMMovies 100th review contest! Only 1 day left!
- July 2, 2008 at 9:58 PM
- Karswell said...
Hey, is it too late to enter the contest again?
- July 3, 2008 at 10:29 AM
- The Vicar of VHS said...
Ha. Stop it, my sides.
I'm just trying to push things up into the d20 realm. Otherwise I'll have to combine a d10 and something else, possibly dividing and rounding up and accounting for partial saving throws, and that's like, MATH. Nicer to have a nice round number.
- July 3, 2008 at 11:17 AM
- Tenebrous Kate said...
Vicar--I hope you will give me a free pass on this, but I JUST saw "Mad Love" for the first time tonight. I know, I know--worse yet, I was probably watching the same Stephen Segal movie for the fourth or fifth time when the universe wanted me to be watching this other, much finer film. "Mad Love" is made of such amazing excellence that I HAD to come back here to say "thanks" for the not-so-subtle hint to see the damn thing before reading your review. All I have to add is that Yvonne was a FOOL for spurning Dr. Gogol. Seriously, why can't these awesomely evil guys get a break? And further more, where are they when *I'm* single? Sheesh. All I've ever asked for was the obsessive love of a twisted, megalomaniacal genius. That, and great outfits (which, might I add, Yvonne totally rocked throughout).
Also: +10 points for "Salon Kitty" reference. APPROVED.
- July 10, 2008 at 11:03 PM


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HAMILTON, Bermuda (AP) — A charter passenger jet made an emergency landing Tuesday in Bermuda after the captain reported a possible fire in the cabin, officials in the British island territory said.
Thomas Cook Airlines Flight 149 landed safely in Hamilton and the passengers and crew were safely evacuated, said Lt. Jay Donawa, a spokesman for the Bermuda Fire and Rescue Service.
"No injuries were reported and there was no fire on board when the aircraft landed," Donawa said.
The A330 aircraft had 338 passengers and was traveling from Cancun, Mexico, to Manchester, England, when the captain declared an emergency about 8:20 p.m. and diverted to Bermuda. The craft landed about 40 minutes later with emergency personnel waiting.


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Taji Moore scored 17 points and Frink Middle School defeated Greene County 51-47 Tuesday to capture the middle school conference championship.
Taji Moore scored 17 points and Frink Middle School defeated Greene County 51-47 Tuesday to capture the middle school conference championship.
Rujon Walters and Kris Wooten added 14 points each for the Cavaliers, who improved to 11-1 overall and 7-0 in the conference.
They wrap up the season on Monday at Rochelle.
NORTH LENOIR 65, SOUTH JOHNSTON 54: At South Johnston, the Hawks snapped a two-game losing streak with a dominant Eastern Carolina 3A win.
North Lenoir (10-9, 5-2) had five reach double figures, raced out to a 15-3 lead after the first quarter then led 35-18 at halftime. Jauquaz Jones had 16 points, Billy Summers had 12 points, John Carlton had 11 points, Braxton Davis had 10 points and Tyree Hough had 10 points for the Hawks, whose bench played the majority of the second half, coach Anthony Loftin said.
North Lenoir is alone in second place behind Erwin Triton, which was off on Tuesday, in the standings. The Hawks host Triton today.
NORTH PITT 63, GREENE CENTRAL 62: At Greene Central, the Rams� late rally fell short in Eastern Plains 2A Conference play.
Brandon Belcher scored 13 points and Javan Rozelle added nine points as the Rams (3-15, 0-7) tried their best to pull the upset but couldn�t in a game where a different team won each quarter.
North Pitt (6-2 EP2A) led 19-12 after the first quarter then the Rams outscored it by 10 in the second to lead 33-30 at the break. The Panthers led 50-44 going into the final period before Greene Central tried its best to rally by outscoring North Pitt by five in the final 8 minutes.
The Rams travel to SouthWest Edgecombe today in a make-up game of Friday�s weather-related postponement.
WILSON CHRISTIAN 58, BETHEL CHRISTIAN 56: At Bethel, the Trojans fell short in a NCCSA contest.
Jordan Stallings scored 19 points, Davon Edwards added 15 points and Conor Rivero chipped in 12 points for Bethel (17-5, 5-2), which travels to Greenville Trinity Christian on Friday.
Other area boys scores:
East Carteret 89, Jones Senior 56
Goldsboro 69, Ayden-Grifton 56
PARROTT ACADEMY 46, RALEIGH GRACE CHRISTIAN 33: At Parrott, the Trojans picked up an Eastern Plains Independent Conference win.
Erin Hughes had 24 points, eight rebounds and five steals and Brooke Uken added 12 points and 11 rebounds for Parrott (7-8, 4-4).
WILSON CHRISTIAN 58, BETHEL CHRISTIAN 28: At Bethel, the Trojans were handed a league defeat.
Haley Moody scored 11 points and Kelsey Worthington added 10 points for Bethel (12-8, 5-3).
SOUTH JOHNSTON 46, NORTH LENOIR 43: At South Johnston, the Hawks were denied their first league win of the season. No other details were reported.
North Lenoir is now 2-17 overall, 0-7 in the EC3A.
Other area girls scores:
East Carteret 42, Jones Senior 39
Goldsboro 55, Ayden-Grifton 25


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Keep Watch @ Public Pools
Royal Life Saving is targeting high-risk areas for toddler drowning deaths such as public pools. With lack of direct supervision by a parent or carer believed to be a contributing factor in 70% of all drowning deaths at public pools,the Keep Watch @ Public Pools program aims to eliminate all drowning deaths and reduce the number of near drowning incidents at these facilities.
The program targets parents and carers of children to help them understand their responsibilities and the dangers of leaving their children unattended at the pool.
Keep Watch @ Public Pool Policy
- Children (under 10 years) are not allowed entry unless under active supervision of a person 16 years or older.
- Parents and guardians should actively supervise their children at all times and be dressed ready to enter a pool. For 0–5 year olds and non-swimmers, a parent or guardian needs to be in the water at all times and within arms' reach of the child. It is best if you are engaging with your child i.e. playing with them, talking to them.
- Constant active supervision is required for children aged 6–10 years old. Parents and carers must be prepared to enter the water with this age group.
- For 11–14 year olds it is recommended that parents regularly check on their child by physically going to where they are in or around the water.
The Keep Watch @ Public Pools policy and the ages within it represent minimum standards only. Royal Life Saving encourages pools to adopt a higher standard wherever possible.
The recommendation for parents to physically check up on 11–14 year olds is intended to educate parents that this group is still at risk despite having a high degree of independence and parental supervision is an effective means of increasing their safety. Facilities should assist in the education of parents by drawing parents' attention to the 11–14 recommendation. Facilities should also develop strategies for parental supervision of this age group as part of their policies and entry requirements.
What is active supervision @ Public Pools?
Active supervision at public pools consists of four key elements:
Be Prepared: Ensure you have everything you need before getting into the water, such as towels and dry clothes.
Be Close: Always be within arms' reach of your child.
All of Your Attention: Focus all of your attention on your child and get into the pool and talk and play with them.
All of the Time: You should never leave your child alone in the water, nor should they be left in the care of an older child or with the assumption that your responsibility diminishes due to the presence of lifeguards.
Keep Watch @ Public Pools Resources
There are a wide range of resources available to swimming pools and aquatic facilities that sign up as Keep Watch @ Public Pools partners including:
- Information Manual
- Lifeguard Induction Video
- Information Brochures
- Lifeguard Information Cards
- A range of signage including Entry Signs, Carpark Signs and Lap Signs
- Posters
- And more...
Click here to download a print friendly version of the Keep Watch @ Public Pools Information Manual
Guidelines for Safe Pool Operation
The Keep Watch @ Public Pools program ensures that participating pools exceed the recommendations outlined in the Guidelines for Safe Pool Operation and therefore promotes a higher standard of supervision in the aquatics industry.
Risk Management
The safety guidelines and risk management systems for all aquatic environments are essential for developing a water safe community.
The increased demands on facility managers, duty supervisors and lifeguards to improve safety standards and keep abreast of industry best practice can be difficult and time consuming. Yet implementation of risk management and occupational health and safety measures are essential to maintaining an efficient and safe aquatic operation.
To assist aquatic facilities achieve this, Royal Life Saving has introduced a range of Aquatic Risk Management Services:
- Expert Witness Reports
- Customised Lifeguard Training Systems
- Management Consultancy


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It's sorta like a combination Willie Nelson song and The Wizard of Oz: the world's spinning out of control and nobody seems to know who's behind the curtain turning the knobs and pulling the strings.
Energy prices in the stratosphere (fill the tank today because tomorrow it'll cost more), rampant food price inflation, a housing market that's on the ropes, a financial system beset by one mismanagement scandal after another, a U.S. dollar that's taking a drubbing from other major currencies, and everything touched by oil (just about everything in daily life) more costly — it's a grim scenario, with no relief in sight.
Corn, wheat, rice, and soybean prices are at levels farmers couldn't have imagined in their wildest dreams three years ago, but at the same time growers are confronted with sharply rising costs for every input needed to produce, harvest, and transport those crops.
Toss in planting-time rains/floods in the Midwest, water curtailments in the West that will keep 200,000 acres or more out of production, spring flooding and other weather problems over much of the Mid-South, and a mixed bag of problems in the Southeast, and it's not a pretty picture for the start of a season when world stocks of major commodities are shrinking and demand is burgeoning.
And despite the man behind the Federal Reserve's curtain saying last week that a major downturn in the U.S. economy was less likely (two days after gasoline had shot up 15 cents or more overnight), Joe and Jane citizen are reduced to watching helplessly as the purchasing power of their stagnant salaries spirals downward.
Even more desperate are those with fixed incomes, such as Social Security or pensions, or "safe" investments such as CDs and money market accounts — the meager interest from which is gobbled up by inflation.
Like ostriches with their heads in the sand, it's only with recent months that the Fed and the administration have even acknowledged the existence of significant cost-of-living inflation, continuing instead to publicize the relatively minor increases in inflation for the core Consumer Price Index, which doesn't include energy or food.
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, faced with a public whose pocketbook knows all too well the impact of skyrocketing prices, is now talking tough about inflation and a concern for the public's growing expectation that inflation is becoming the norm.
Lynn Franco, director of The Conference Board Consumer Research Center, said of the organization's May report: "The Consumer Confidence Index now stands at a 16-year low. Weakening business and job conditions, coupled with growing pessimism about the short-term future, have further depleted consumers' confidence in the overall state of the economy.
"Consumers' inflation expectations, fueled by increasing prices at the pump, are now at an all-time high, and are likely to rise further in the months ahead," Franco says. "As for the short-term outlook, the Expectations Index suggests little likelihood of a turnaround in the immediate months ahead."
Toss into all that the billions of dollars being poured into the folly that is Iraq, and the road ahead appears pocked with economic land mines.


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By Andy Sullivan
WICHITA, Kansas (Reuters) - First came the recession, throwing thousands out of work. Then came the drought, choking crops and draining reservoirs. Then came the president, arguing that the private-plane buyers who fuel this city's economy benefit from an unfair tax break.
President Barack Obama's proposal to reduce that tax break has won wide support among Democrats who see it as an example of how the U.S. tax code is too generous to the wealthy.
But what looks like a loophole in Washington appears much different in this prairie city of 400,000, where leaders of all political stripes worry that Obama's rhetoric is already undermining an industry that accounts for 1 in 10 jobs in the region.
"I'm certainly disappointed that he would do something of this nature," said Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer, a Democrat who displays Obama's portrait on his office wall. "As long as you're doing something to threaten my aviation industry ... I'll continue to speak out against it."
Brewer's vow could serve as an early warning for Obama and lawmakers in Congress as they try to streamline the U.S. tax code in order to lower rates or narrow trillion-dollar deficits.
The idea of eliminating perks in the nation's tax laws may sound appealing in the abstract. But many changes - particularly to provisions that have helped to create jobs - are likely to spur bipartisan blowback from places like Wichita that are still struggling to emerge from the country's deepest recession in 80 years.
In Wichita, a city that bills itself as the "Air Capital of the World," business and labor leaders are questioning why a president who bailed out Detroit's auto industry seems less concerned about the impact his words might have on another manufacturing industry that employs 1.2 million people and exported $4.8 billion worth of aircraft last year.
"It's so frustrating," said Republican Representative Mike Pompeo, who represents the region in Congress. "All the aviation manufacturers want is for him to stop talking down their industry. Don't write them a check, don't give them a tax credit, don't hand them a subsidy. Stop bashing them."
The International Association of Machinists, a labor union with close ties to Obama's Democrats, has warned that Obama's push to raise taxes on private-plane buyers could undermine his efforts to boost the economy.
Obama's allies say that it is only fair to ask affluent private-plane buyers to pay a bit more in taxes at a time when social programs that help the poor are facing sharp cutbacks.
"These things don't exist in a vacuum, and you have to balance the benefits with the costs," said Michael Linden, director of tax and budget policy at the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank. "Why should (jet tax breaks) be prioritized over, say, nutrition assistance to low-income families and pregnant women?"
Aviation has been a central part of Wichita's economy since the first commercially built aircraft in the United States were produced here in the 1920s.
Home-grown companies such as Cessna, Beechcraft and Learjet spurred development of the private-aircraft market after World War II. Alongside large-plane makers such as Boeing, they anchor a local network of more than 200 machine shops and other parts suppliers.
Wichita now has the highest concentration of aerospace manufacturing jobs in the United States, according to Wichita State University economics professor Jeremy Hill.
Those jobs pay well: The industry's average annual wage of $74,000 is nearly twice the regional average.
The city produces nearly half of all private aircraft worldwide. According to the nonpartisan Brookings Institution, exports account for nearly 20 percent of Wichita's gross metropolitan product, making it the most export-intensive city in the United States. Brewer and other civic leaders hope to boost exports further in coming years as China loosens its airspace restrictions and allows the country's newly minted billionaires to fly in style.
Private-aircraft sales have always risen and fallen along with the economy, but the 2008 recession proved especially severe.
Sales fell by 29 percent from 2008 to 2011, and the lower end of the market was hit especially hard as small-business buyers were unable to get bank loans, said aviation analyst Richard Aboulafia.
In Wichita, Hawker Beechcraft filed for bankruptcy and Textron Inc unit Cessna laid off 12,000 workers, two-thirds of its local workforce. The unemployment rate climbed to 10.6 percent in July 2009 from 3.5 percent in October 2007.
Meanwhile, Wichita's main product was taking on unwelcome political baggage.
After auto executives were widely criticized for flying their corporate planes to Washington to ask for a bailout in 2008, the business jet came to symbolize corporate excess.
As the recession hammered Washington's balance sheet, Republicans pressed for deep spending cuts to narrow budget deficits that amounted to more than $1 trillion annually. Democrats countered with a proposal to raise revenue by eliminating some of the subsidies and breaks in the tax code that collectively deprive the government of more than $1 trillion in tax revenue each year.
One item on their list: reducing the tax benefits given to those who buy planes for business uses.
Obama has framed the choice in the starkest possible terms.
"Are Republicans in Congress really willing to let these cuts fall on our kids' schools and mental healthcare just to protect tax loopholes for corporate jet owners?" he asked in a radio address on February 23.
Such rhetoric initially caught industry officials by surprise.
"The first time we heard 'corporate jet loophole' we couldn't figure out what they were talking about," said Ed Bolen, who heads the National Business Aviation Association.
The U.S. tax code treats private aircraft as it does bulldozers, computers and other business equipment: Companies that buy them are allowed to deduct the cost from their tax bill over five years. The deduction applies only to planes used for business purposes.
The depreciation schedule has been in place for decades. It is supposed to reflect how long a product will be useful to a business. But private planes and factory machinery can be used for decades, while computers and mobile phones can become obsolete before the five-year depreciation period expires.
Obama and his Democrats say the depreciation schedule for corporate jets should be stretched out to seven years, to treat private-aircraft purchases like commercial airliner purchases.
That would effectively raise the cost of buying a private plane because customers would be able to deduct just 14.29 percent of the price from their tax bill in the year of purchase, rather than the 20 percent that current law allows.
The change would generate an additional $300 million in tax revenue each year, about as much as the U.S. government spends in 45 minutes.
Republicans are eyeing an overhaul of the tax code as well to try to lower corporate and personal income tax rates. That could lead to a longer depreciation period for business-plane buyers, but industry officials and advocates said they wouldn't necessarily object as long as their sector were not singled out.
"They're perfectly prepared to be part of a solution for corporate tax reform," said Pompeo, who ran an aerospace parts supplier before his election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2010.
Analysts say the business-plane industry probably wouldn't see much change if Congress stretched the five-year depreciation schedule to seven years, because taxes are only one factor that businesses consider in buying planes. The change also wouldn't apply to the 60 percent of sales that are made abroad.
"It can help, but it certainly doesn't make or break the industry," said aviation consultant Brian Foley.
Others say that Obama already has hurt the industry even though his tax proposal hasn't advanced in Congress.
As he strolls through the repair bays and passenger lounges at Yingling Aviation, a truck stop of sorts for private planes next to Wichita's Mid-Continent Airport, owner Lynn Nichols says Obama's rhetoric has led some of his customers to park their jets to avoid stigma.
Decisions like that translate into less maintenance work for Yingling, fewer plane sales for manufacturers and lower sales at area grocery stores, he said.
"I think Obama's been able to demonstrate to everybody he's a pretty good politician, but I just wish he'd be more mindful of the hurt that he creates," Nichols said.
While Obama has argued that business-plane buyers should pay more taxes, he has backed other tax breaks that could help the industry.
He has extended a temporary recession-fighting measure four times that would allow businesses to write off 50 percent of the cost of new capital purchases in the first year - a much more dramatic break than would otherwise be granted under the tax code. Plane manufacturers say they see an uptick in sales toward the end of every year as customers decide that the enhanced tax break provides enough incentive to make a purchase.
Obama also has proposed additional tax breaks for domestic manufacturers, though that measure has not become law.
The president's overall message is "a bit schizophrenic, isn't it?" said Brad Thress, Cessna's senior vice president of business jets.
Obama allies say the tax breaks favored by the president make more sense because they seek to boost economic activity as a whole.
The five-year depreciation schedule, by contrast, amounts to a special break for private-plane buyers who can afford to pay a bit more to help reduce the deficit, they say.
"If you can afford to buy a private jet, you can afford to depreciate it over seven years," Linden said. "Show me any mom-and-pop hardware store that owns a corporate jet, and I have a bridge to sell you in Brooklyn."
Chuck Pierson doesn't run a hardware store. But the Wichita dentist says it would be much harder to keep up with new developments in his field without his propeller-driven Cessna 421, which he has flown to out-of-the-way places like Bozeman, Montana, to examine new equipment and learn how to train his staff on new techniques.
Pierson said tax benefits were a factor when he was deciding whether to upgrade from a smaller aircraft in 2011. Aircraft purchases shouldn't be treated differently from the other equipment he and his partners have bought to improve their practice, which employs 30 people.
"They might think that it's a luxury, that we like to go around on Saturday afternoons and buzz fields or something, but it's a vehicle just like any other type of transportation for us," he said.
(Editing by David Lindsey and Tim Dobbyn)


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- This event has passed.
Sunday Service
September 9 @ 10:00 am - 12:00 pm
|Recurring Event (See all)
An event every week that begins at 10:00am on Sunday, repeating until December 30, 2018
Calvary Fellowship Gig Harbor is a nondenominational church affiliated with Calvary Chapel. Our supreme desire is to know Christ and be conformed into His image by the power of the Holy Spirit. We meet Sundays at 10 am for our weekly service! Join us for worship and teaching.
Joining us for the first time? Get started here.


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Deal's Economic Grade: Incomplete
The federal-budget deficit deal represents, at best, a messy intermission in the fiscal-cliff saga. There are no heroes. There are a few tears of relief, but no celebratory high fives. There is no great catharsis.
The provisions range from the first big tax increase in 20 years to a renewal of a tax break for profits earned by businesses in American Samoa.


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Next Meetup
What we're about
Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law
The Congregation of the Lamp of Invisible Light is a cabalistic and hermetic fraternity for men and women interested in the spirituality of the New Aeon as expounded by the poet, magician and initiate Aleister Crowley. The main ritual and techniques have their origin in the dark arcanum of the ages.
The purpose of the Congregation is to spread the Light and to keep this light shining for any seeker that would like to partake of it. The ritual and service is offered to the public in general.
The New Aeon and Thelema
In 1900, Aleister Crowley continued his spiritual and magical work after the fall of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, by traveling to Mexico City and creating his first magical order, the Lamp of Invisible Light. At that time, Crowley met with various masons and met who would become the first priest of his Order, Don Jesus Medina.
The concept was simple and beautiful, and marked the beginning of Crowley's personal development in this journey that culminated in what we know today as the "Vision and the Voice". This journey ends with the spiritual stage of inner light: The Lamp.
The Congregation of the Lamp of Invisible Light intent is to keep this Light available and ready for those who are in need of it by continuing with Crowley's concept in a new form. The Light never went out.
The Central Ritual incorporates techniques based on the Cube of Space (a cabalistic model for the Universe) and other Hermetic teachings. It is a participatory ritual and has a deep impact to open our inner self to the energies of the present Aeon.
Furthermore, the Congregation of the Lamp of Invisible Light aligns itself with the principles of Thelema, the teachings in the Book of the Law and its message of Life, Light, Liberty and Love.
Love is the law, love under will


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Volunteering in the Local Community
There are many volunteer opportunities available in St. Joseph County in a wide variety of agencies. At Saint Mary's, we are fortunate to be a part of a community in which service is a primary value and agencies are very welcoming of students. On the left side of the screen, click on the tab titled "service agencies by category" and explore what's out there for you!
You are also invited to stop by the OCSE in 220 Student Center or make an appointment with our staff to find a volunteer opportunity that matches your interests.


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John Habib's City Sports: Field hockey players stick it to cancerBy JOHN HABIB
New Hampshire Union Leader
August 09. 2013 10:39PM
Two years ago, the Playing for a Purpose High School Field Hockey Jamboree was established to educate the public about the different types of cancer.
Spearheading the fight against cancer were twin sisters Jenna and Kelly Frietas, senior field hockey players at the time for Manchester Memorial who are now at UMass-Lowell.
They drew inspiration from their mother, Christine, who was diagnosed with melanoma 12 years ago.
Since 2011, Christine — supported by her friends and family, including husband, Robert, and daughter Cara — has survived surgery to remove a tumor near her heart and underwent two successful brain-tumor operations, the last one just four months ago.
"The Norris Cotton Cancer Center, the Elliot Regional Cancer Center and my surgeon, Dr. N. Ross Jenkins from the New Hampshire NeuroSpine Institute of Bedford, have taken me under their wing and have been wonderful over the years," said Freitas. "My daughters with tremendous help from (former Memorial coach) Rebecca Libby started the jamboree game and we're making sure it continues to help other cancer patients."
Money raised from the past two jamborees have totaled nearly $10,000 for the Dartmouth-Hitchcock's Norris Cotton Cancer Center, and the third annual jamboree is set for Wednesday, Aug. 28, from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Manchester Memorial's Chabot-McDonough Field.
"Every cent raised and donated to the Norris Cotton Cancer Center goes to patient services and research," Christine said. "Our goal is to raise money towards curing cancer and we're asking the public to support us."
Six teams will be wearing colorful t-shirts to raise awareness of different forms of cancers: pink for breast (ConVal of Peterborough); gray for brain (Hollis-Brookline); dark blue for colon (Littleton); black for melanoma (Manchester Memorial); white for lung (Stevens of Claremont); and peach for uterine (White Mountains Regional of Whitefield).
Milly's Tavern, 500 Commercial St., will host a pre-jamboree event on Tuesday, Aug. 27 from 6 to 10 p.m.
There is a $10 admission fee. A silent auction and raffles will be offered to help raise money.
On jamboree day, Playing for a Purpose t-shirts will be sold and organizers will operate a concession stand.
There will also be a raffle for the "Quilt of Hope" sewn by Christine's mother-in-law, Mary Freitas, with 12 different colors representing cancer types in it.
For information and tickets for Milly's Tavern pre-jamboree gala contact Christine Freitas at 759-7728 or send an e-mail to firstname.lastname@example.com.
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The Manchester Catholic Athletic Hall of Fame has announced eight inductees to its class of 2013 who will be honored at a ceremony on Saturday, Nov. 9, at Trinity High School.
The inductees include Daniel Hanagan, Bishop Bradley '66; George W. Smith, Bishop Bradley '54; Mark Foley, Trinity '86; Marc Caron, St. Anthony-Trinity '73; Jeff Chenard, Trinity '81; Shane LaPorte, Trinity '92; Tunji Awojobi, Trinity '93; and Chris Brickley, Trinity '05.
Table reservations and tickets information can be obtained by calling Eileen Smith at 668-4837.
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On Monday, a fund-raiser for the Babe Ruth World Series-bound Manchester Mickey Hanagan All-Stars will be held from noon to 9 p.m. at Billy's Sports Bar. Money raised will help defray the cost of the trip to Moses Lake, Wash., for the start of the 14-year-old World Series on Aug. 17.
Owner Billy Laberge has offered to donate a percentage of all receipts on Monday. A sports memorabilia silent auction and 50-50 raffles will also be offered that day.
The Manchester Babe Ruth League will also welcome donations from the general public.
"City Sports" appears Saturdays in the New Hampshire Union Leader. Email staff reporter John Habib at email@example.com.


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Criterion February Releases (US - DVD R1 | BD RA)
Criterion announces their release schedule for this February...
The Ballad of Narayama
Quote: Release Date: 5 Feb 2013
Synopsis: This haunting, kabuki-inflected version of a Japanese folk legend is set in a remote mountain village, where food is scarce and tradition dictates that citizens who have reached their seventieth year must be carried to the summit of Mount Narayama and left there to die. The sacrificial elder at the center of the tale is Orin (Kinuyo Tanaka), a dignified and dutiful woman who spends her dwindling days securing the happiness of her loyal widowed son with a respectable new wife. Filmed almost entirely on cunningly designed studio sets, in brilliant color and widescreen, The Ballad of Narayama is a stylish and vividly formal work from Japan's cinematic golden age, directed by the dynamic Keisuke Kinoshita.
Disc Features
-New 4K digital master from the 2011 restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
-Trailer and teaser
-New English subtitle translation
-A booklet featuring an essay by critic Philip Kemp
The Kid With a Bike
Quote: Release Date: 12 Feb 2013
Synopsis: Twelve-year-old Cyril (Thomas Doret), all coiled anger and furious motion, is living in a group home but refuses to believe he has been rejected by his single father (Jérémie Renier). He spends his days frantically trying to reach the man, over the phone or on his beloved bicycle. It is only the patience and compassion of Samantha (Cécile de France), the stranger who agrees to care for him, that offers the boy the chance to move on. Spare and unsentimental but deeply imbued with a heart-rending tenderness, The Kid with a Bike is an arresting work from the great Belgian directors Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne, masters of the empathetic action film.
Disc Features
-New digital transfer, supervised by director of photography Alain Marcoen, with 5.1 surround DTS-HD Master Audio soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
-Conversation between film critic Kent Jones and directors Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne
-Interviews with actors Cécile de France and Thomas Doret
- Return to Seraing, a half-hour documentary in which the Dardennes revisit five locations from the film
-New English subtitle translation
-A booklet featuring an essay by critic Geoff Andrew
On the Waterfront
Quote: Release Date: 19 Feb 2013
Synopsis: Marlon Brando gives the performance of his career as the tough prizefighter-turned-longshoreman Terry Malloy in this masterpiece of urban poetry, a raggedly emotional tale of individual failure and institutional corruption. On the Waterfront charts Terry's deepening moral crisis as he must choose whether to remain loyal to the mob-connected union boss Johnny Friendly (Lee J. Cobb) and Johnny's right-hand man, Terry's brother, Charley (Rod Steiger), as the authorities close in on them. Driven by the vivid, naturalistic direction of Elia Kazan and savory, streetwise dialogue by Budd Schulberg, On the Waterfront was an instant sensation, winning eight Oscars, including for best picture, director, actor, supporting actress (Eva Marie Saint), and screenplay..
Disc Features
-New 4K digital restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
-Alternate presentations of the restoration in two additional aspect ratios: 1.85:1 (widescreen) and 1.33:1 (full-screen)
-Alternate 5.1 surround soundtrack, presented in DTS-HD Master Audio on the Blu-ray edition
-Commentary featuring authors Richard Schickel and Jeff Young
-Conversation between filmmaker Martin Scorsese and critic Kent Jones
- Elia Kazan: Outsider (1982), an hour-long documentary
-New documentary on the making of the film, featuring interviews with scholar Leo Braudy, critic David Thomson, and others
-New interview with actress Eva Marie Saint
-Interview with director Elia Kazan from 2001
- Contender, a 2001 documentary on the film's most famous scene
-New interview with longshoreman Thomas Hanley, an actor in the film
-New interview with author James T. Fisher ( On the Irish Waterfront) about the real-life people and places behind the film
-Visual essay on Leonard Bernstein's score
-Visual essay on the aspect ratio
-A booklet featuring an essay by critic Michael Almereyda and reprints of Kazan's 1952 ad in the New York Times defending his testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee, one of the 1948 New York Sun articles by Malcolm Johnson on which the film was based, and a 1953 Commonweal piece by screenwriter Budd Schulberg
Chronicle of a Summer
Quote: Release Date: 26 Feb 2013
Synopsis: Few films can claim to be as influential to the course of cinema history as Chronicle of a Summer. The fascinating result of a collaboration between filmmaker-anthropologist Jean Rouch and sociologist Edgar Morin, this vanguard work of what Morin would term cinéma verité is a brilliantly conceived and realized sociopolitical diagnosis of the early sixties in France. By simply interviewing a group of Paris residents in the summer of 1960—beginning with the provocative and eternal question "Are you happy?" and expanding to political issues, including the ongoing Algerian War—Rouch and Morin reveal the hopes and dreams of a wide array of people, from artists to factory workers, from an Italian émigré to an African student. Chronicle of a Summer's penetrative approach gives us a document of a time and place with extraordinary emotional depth.
Disc Features
-New high-definition digital transfer of the Cineteca di Bologna restoration of the film, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
- Un été + 50 (2011), a seventy-three-minute documentary featuring outtakes and new interviews with codirector Edgar Morin and some of the film's subjects
-Archival interviews with codirector Jean Rouch and Marceline Loridan, one of the film's subjects
-New interview with anthropology professor Faye Ginsburg, organizer of several Rouch retrospectives
-New and improved English subtitle translation
-A booklet featuring an essay by scholar Sam Di Iorio
Sansho the Bailiff
Quote: Release Date: 26 Feb 2013
Synopsis: When an idealistic governor disobeys the reigning feudal lord, he is cast into exile, his wife and children left to fend for themselves and eventually separated by vicious slave traders. Under the dazzling direction of Kenji Mizoguchi, this classic Japanese story became one of cinema's greatest masterpieces, a monumental, empathetic expression of human resilience in the face of evil.
Disc Features
-Restored high-definition digital transfer, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition
-Audio commentary by Japanese-literature professor Jeffrey Angles
-Video interviews with critic Tadao Sato, assistant director Tokuzo Tanaka, and legendary actress Kyoko Kagawa, on the making of the film and its lasting importance
-A book featuring an essay by film writer Mark Le Fanu and two versions of the story on which the film was based: Ogai Mori's 1915 "Sansho Dayu" and a written form of an earlier oral variation
News by Jonathan Hogberg
DV20 Member Join Date: July 2012 Location: United States Posts: 36
Nothing for me...
vegeta84 Member Join Date: August 2011 Location: United States Posts: 31
They need to release all the Hideo Gosha films they are hoarding. I need a Hunter In The Dark release soon.
Cinque Member Join Date: June 2007 Location: United States Posts: 710
"...I coulda been a contenda!"
Might have to check out On The Waterfront...
Might have to check out On The Waterfront...
Mr. Myers Member Join Date: June 2009 Location: United States Posts: 75
Screw them!, they never include spanish subtitles options in their editions
Matt Stilwell Banned Join Date: October 2004 Location: United States Posts: 517
Not to be rude or anything, but does Criterion ever put out things that more than a very small number of people have heard of ?
Chamboosy Member Join Date: July 2007 Location: Australia Posts: 111
Kid With a Bike and On the Waterfront for me. Might grab Sansho the Bailiff as well.
Edit: 100th post... only took me five years.
Edit: 100th post... only took me five years.
Stubby Member Join Date: December 2006 Location: United States Posts: 291
Matt Stilwell wrote: Not to be rude or anything, but does Criterion ever put out things that more than a very small number of people have heard of ?
Not rude, just showing your ignorence of classic and foreign films
Not rude, just showing your ignorence of classic and foreign films
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The Lake Local School District launched a community survey Dec. 9 to gather feedback from district residents. The survey is a random sample intended to reach more 300 households within the district.
The Lake Local School District launched a community survey Dec. 9 to gather feedback from district residents. The survey is a random sample intended to reach more 300 households within the district.
Respondents can expect a 15-minute response time and are encouraged to partake in the survey as it's the district's way of listening to those who support the schools.
"Communications is one of our strategic planning initiatives and the community survey is one of the tools we use to listen to the community," Superintendent Jeff Wendorf said. "The district does a strategic plan in late January and the results of the survey will help us determine where to go as a district. This is a survey of the community versus a survey of the parents in the district."
Lake partnered with an outside firm to conduct the community survey and compile the results. Wendorf said using an outside firm ensures the results are statistically valid and ensures that it is a random sample survey.
"If we don't ask the community what they know or want from the district, we're just acting in the dark," Wendorf said. "We have to be able to know and respond to what the community wants. If a district doesn't do that, they are being anecdotal. The survey is one of the only ways to collect accurate data from those within the community who may not have kids enrolled in the district."
The strategic planning team, comprised of community business professionals, parents, teachers and others, will use the results generated to help with development of the district vision.
Wendorf said the results of the survey also will be presented to the board of education as part of the strategic planning. The board needs to approve the plan before the district can put it into action.
Some of the areas asked about on the survey include:
- Respondents' perception of the district: How do they view the district? What do they think of the way the district sets priorities for spending?
- Communications: How does the respondent get communications from the district? How would they like to get communications? What information would they like to receive from the district?
- What is the respondents' connection to the district? Do they have children or grandchildren enrolled?
- Demographics: Are you a homeowner? Do you rent?
The district began strategic planning in 1995 as a way to set Lake's vision and goals. Wendorf said the community survey is a big part of the planning because it helps give the district focus and helps the administration and staff to develop an action plan.
This marks the third time the district has conducted this type of survey. The first was in 2009 and the second was in early 2012.