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The program review process at Maui Community College occurs within the context of our Mission Statement, Strategic Plan, Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE) reports, Banner student information system data, and guidelines from the legislature, the University of Hawaii Community College (UHCC) system as well as the UH system. The MCC budget process identifies the program review as one of the "Budget Drivers/Parameters" in the Biennium Budget appropriations and annual budgeting process. The MCC Detailed Tactical & Operational Planning Process describes the context within which Strategic Plan implementation and program reviews interface and permit recommendations from the review process to inform the strategic and annual planning and budgeting needs. The influence of the WASC Jr. and Sr. Commission Standards; the county, state, national, and regional economic environment; native Hawaiian issues; demographic shifts; changes in political leadership; and unanticipated natural events also shape the analyses and interpretations of our program review process.
In fulfilling the Maui Community College commitment toward continuous improvement and advancing our mission, the cycle of comprehensive and annual program review reports were completed and submitted with respective priorities and recommendations in October 2005. The comprehensive and annual program reviews, as well as the annual 2004-05 and 2005-06 Program Health Indicators (PHIs), are on file and available on the campus homepage.
The comprehensive reports then underwent the process of analysis and evaluation by two review teams: one composed of internal and external members at the department level, and the other composed of the campus Executive Committee members. After the analysis stage and the recommendations and program review summary were completed, program coordinators again met with the respective Dean to discuss the data from the program reviews and feedback in terms of program effectiveness, demand, efficiency, budget, outcomes, and plans for this and the next year. The ultimate strategy is to implement specific program plans of action and to integrate them, along with the results of data and dialogue from the program reviews, into the college planning, budgeting, and decision-making processes.
The comprehensive program reviews under the instruction component that were reviewed this year on the five-year cycle included accounting, nursing, and the Office of Continuing Education and Training (OCET). Additionally, reviews of non-instructional programs included administrative services and student services. The process further consisted of each degree program's annual PHIs. In subsequent years, the UH system parameters for program reviews under current discussion among the UHCC Chancellors, the Interim Vice President for the UHCCs, the senior administration, and the UH Board of Regents will undoubtedly refine the college's approach to program reviews.
Through Executive Committee presentations by each program leader beginning in March 2005 and continuing through the summer, each of the comprehensive program reviews was assessed to have met the general requirements and expectations of the program review process. Each of these dialogues was taped for the record and subsequent review. This presentation included faculty and staff involvement, external input (program advisory committees), data collection, mission statement development (where they did not exist before, e.g., Business Office and Operations & Maintenance), analysis of accomplishments, identification of program needs and priorities, and plans for improvement.
The instructional comprehensive program reviews from accounting and nursing, as well as from the non-instructional administrative services, were excellent. They established a clear benchmark for future comprehensive reviews. In the administrative services arena, national metrics were sought but not found; UHCC systemwide criteria are now under discussion. OCET systematically addressed most of its metrics; however, the Executive Committee noted that relationships and data regarding program decisions and financial deficits in some of its areas would benefit from more analysis and more assertive financial and programmatic leadership. The student services program ambitiously identified the Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education as its template for criteria against which to measure its progress in meeting program and service goals. Data related to academic advisement and counseling resources connected to student success were recommended. Assessing the consistency, availability, and quality of student services to outreach centers and online students were also identified as challenges to be reported back to the Executive Committee as part of the next annual and comprehensive reports. While there now exists more data than ever regarding student services programs and services, the admissions and records review has not been completed.
As to the annual reviews, the annual program assessments based on PHIs were completed. Importantly, it was noted that student learning outcomes have been developed for each course and program, which is a first and monumental step toward meeting accreditation requirements. The Dean of Instruction provided data and analysis for each program. While there were discussions about individual programs, a summary would be useful of priorities for the entire instructional program based on the data. Such a summary would include program needs; academic actions (including termination, stop-out, revisions, etc.), and faculty, personnel priorities, and overall resource development and deficit reduction plans. Overall, there seemed to be consistent data regarding each program's achievement metrics. However, analyses of data regarding efficiency and effectiveness were uneven. Additionally, involvement by the program advisory committees in the program review process appeared to be uneven and in need of a more systematic scheduling of dialogues regarding a databased program performance review.
The above programs were generally performing satisfactorily in fulfilling their respective missions. The reviews of data were generally very thorough and in all cases presented a comprehensive appraisal of each program's performance. However, there are areas of focus that will preface next year's and future program reviews.
Overall, Maui Community College appears to be fulfilling its mission. The following address aspects of its mission as regards program review.
On affordability. Through significant infusions of Research and Training Revolving Funds and gifts, a robust schedule of classes was offered and 2,998 students were enrolled in fall 2004. In the prior years' program enrollment pattern, the college appeared to be in a consistent growth mode. However, limited resources, increases in power costs, high employment, and depletion of special fund reserves have curtailed overall institutional and programmatic development. To address resource deficiencies in electricity, lecturer, and overall institutional support resources, requests for legislative sustained assistance must be sought. Other sustainable financial strategies will be essential in order to continue development. Although the college garnered over $1.2 million in extramural RTRF resources over the last two years, proposed technology fees, increased the Health Center fee, and increased tuition over the last year, the college's overall resources came uncomfortably close to exhausting all of its resources in the service of its mission. Tuitions, on a comparative basis, still enable students to access excellent value.
On Quality: Through feedback from the Community College Survey of Student Engagement, five of seven benchmarks exceeded national benchmarks. The areas for improvement identified the college's aging computing technology and inadequate financial aid services
Process: Continuous Improvement active, internal review committee, and validation committees will benefit from refinement and more detailed training in assessment, if the same process is repeated. A more direct process is being suggested that would combine the two (internal and validation) committees into one.
Degree Programs: Accounting and nursing instructional programs were assessed to be vital, active, and reasonably efficient.
The college's response to the convergence among program reviews, data analyses, Strategic Plan priorities, and resource availability enlists a combination of strategies and resource applications.
Process Refinement
The Strategic Plan Implementation Committee is presently reviewing and refining this and other analytical processes. As the tuition fee revenues have slightly exceeded our budget projections, the campus instructional priorities will generally be maintained. Budget challenges faced by some instructional and non-instructional programs have revealed that efficiency metrics require special attention, in culinary, oral health, and OCET. Adjustments to address budget requirements in each program have been requested and will be integrated to reverse downward trends in the imbalance between cost of services and revenues. The escalation of electricity and other costs have additionally challenged all facets of the college.
The 2004 Administrative Services program review consisted of a comprehensive review of the Business Office and three annual reviews by Computing Services, Operations and Maintenance, and Personnel Office.
Administrative Services Program Review Conclusions and Recommendations
The Business Office undertook a comprehensive review and analysis of its mission, functions, qualitative data, quantitative data, human, financial and physical plant resources and determined their strengths, weaknesses, and developed action plans, timelines and resource needs to address any areas that were needing improvement.
The comprehensive review revealed tremendous growth in MCC's total financial resources that are processed by the Business Office, with a disproportionate lack of growth in the Business Office staffing to support the increased workload. As result, growth has inhibited the staff's ability to provide careful, accurate, and patient advice, guidance, and overall service to the college staff, faculty, and students. Overall morale of the office is a concern as well as frustration from the college abroad.
In order to address these concerns, the Business Office recommended an action plan, which required immediate filling of all vacant staff positions, increased training of Business Office staff including customer service sessions, increased training for the campus, having breakfast and special Business office staff meetings to allow for staff bonding, and to provide adequate storage space and sufficient funds for general operating costs.
The Computing Services conducted an annual review of their mission, goals, functions, qualitative date, quantitative data, and financial and human resources and determined strengths and weaknesses and a plan to implement improvements. The Computing Services review indicates a unit experiencing increasing workloads in terms of a growing number of computer labs, computers, networking equipment along with the implementation of the Banner Student Database system. Staffing for the department remained level, but an extended leave of absence for a permanent staff member exacerbated the workload issues. Despite the heavy workload, the department's overall satisfaction survey results improved from 2003 to 2004, with the department's quality of service and courteous staff resulting with the higher marks. Also, the average turnaround to complete work orders decreased in 2004.
Computing Services recommended action plan is to fill already funded but vacant positions to support IT Specialist Banner responsibilities and a vacant hardware support IT Specialist. This support would then allow the department to service students needing passwords, and WebCT and UHUNIX problems and also implement the Maximo workorder system for campuswide usage.
The Operations and Maintenance Department conducted an annual review of their mission, goals, functions, qualitative date, quantitative data, financial and human resources and determined strengths and weaknesses and a plan to implement improvements. Similar to the Computing Services unit, Operations and Maintenance experienced overall improvement in its campus satisfaction survey. Courteous and service oriented staff is indicated in the surveys. These improvements are achieved despite increasing workloads, which places MCC custodians and groundskeepers covering substantially more area than their community college counterparts. Vacant positions, unfilled for extended time periods, further exacerbate the workload problems. A lack of equipment replacement funds has impacted the department, as mowers, carts, and vehicles are constantly inoperable and requiring repair.
The recommended action plan is to fill vacant positions immediately. Focus on higher quality work and highly visible areas. Purchase equipment and tools that are better suited for the staff and department. Increase staff training and development. Phase out campus vehicle fleet.
The Personnel Office conducted an annual review of their mission, goals, functions, qualitative date, quantitative data, and financial and human resources and determined strengths and weaknesses and a plan to implement improvements. The Personnel Office received very high ratings from the campus satisfaction surveys in both 2003 and 2004. The quantitative data reflects a high workload volume, which decreased slightly in 2004. This decrease may be a result of the college's financial constraints, coupled with the increased use of RCUH personnel system, which is managed by RCUH human resource department.
The major area of focus for the Personnel Office is to increase campus training and to streamline the overall process.
The recommended action plan is to provide funds for a permanent Personnel Clerk, along with funds to support BRIO software, staff development, storage and supplies.
Administrative Services Departmental Priorities
The results of the Administrative Services program reviews were analyzed. A prioritized matrix of each department's action plans and resource needs was created. Each action item was discussed and a means of financing was identified (in brackets).
Business Office
Personnel Office
O&M, Mailroom, Security
Computing Services
1. Fill Vacant Positions
1. Asst. Pers Officer
1. Fill Vacant Grounds
1. Hire full-time IT Spec
Account Clk Civil Service
(convert to Gfunds/perm)
(.60 to 1.00)
Institutional Support (Banner)
(internal reallocation)
(currently funded)
2. Part-time Casual Hire (RTRF)
2. New Personnel Clerk
2. New O&M Clerk
2. Office Clerk (.50 FTE)
Banner Support (currently only
to June)
(Biennium Budget Req)
(Biennium Budget request)
(Biennium Budget request)
3. Operating Funds ($20,000)
3. Operating Funds ($4,000)
3. Convert Existing General
3. Implement Maximo
EUTF, Training, Airfare,
Laborer to Maintenance
Workflow Module ($2,000)
copying costs
(Budget reallocation if possible)
(Budget reallocation)
(funds for increase salary)
(release for Bohn)
4. Prof Development - Non Credit
4. Storage – Digitzed
4. New Janitor (Culinary Bldg)
4. Info Base
Multi-Purpose Bldg
(no cost)
(Budget reallocation)
(Supplemental Budget request)
(Budget reallocation)
5. Archive Storage - Digitized
5. Training Sessions
5. New Gen Laborer Grounds
5. Ka`a`ike UPS Maintenance
Multi-Purpose Bldg
On-line Training
(Budget reallocation)
(Budget reallocation)
(Supplemental Budget request)
(funded g-funds FY05)
6. RDP - Institutional Support (Fed)
6. Website, Policies Calendar
6. Security Guard (1.00) 47/7
(funded by RDP)
(no cost)
( Partially Funded by Leg FY 2007)
7. Breakfast Meetings
7. Overpayments
7. Upgrade Radio system
(no cost)
(no cost)
(Budget reallocation)
8. Create B.O. Calendar
8. Reference checks for Campus
8. Replace Tractor/Mower
(no cost)
(no cost)
(Budget reallocation)
9. BRIO (on order)
9. New pick up truck (small) and
(Budget reallocation)
van OR ask Dept's to rent
10. Timely Salary Payments
10. Brush Chipper/Mulcher
(no cost)
11. Asst with Hiring Hi-Quality
11. Storage Equipment/Furniture
(Swap meet/Drive in funds)
12. Stream Line process
12. Re-institute Staff Development
The Director of Administrative Services along with the department heads formulated an overall Administrative Services priority of resource needs. Also identified were high priority cost items, which were not identified during program review.
New Item which occurred after the Program Review Process
a. Fill Vacant Electronics Tech Position
Program Review Priorities
1. Fill vacant Grounds Foreman position (OM)
2. Fill vacant Account Clerk (Civil Service) position (BO)
3. Fill vacant Institutional Support APT Banner position (BO)
4. Hire full-time IT Specialist position (Shibano/Harding/Bohn Support (0.40) (CC)
5. Asst. Personnel Officer (Convert to G-Funds/Perm, reallocated salary, need diff) (Pers)
6. Personnel Clerk
7. Computing Services Office Clerk (0.50 FTE) (CC)
8. O&M Office Clerk (OM)
9. Ka`a`ike UPS Maintenance (CC)
10. Operating Funds (BO - $20,000; Pers - $4,000; CC - $2,000) $26,000
Institutional Support Cost Increases in FY 2006 (Non-Program Review)
1. Increase Electricity
2. Security Guard
3. Pa`ina Hood Cleaning
4. Ka`a`ike and Pa`ina Front Glass Treatment
5. Campus Postage
Student Services Program Reviews
Student Services Program Review Conclusions and Recommendations
In AY 2004-05, Admissions & Records, Student Housing, and Student Life were scheduled for comprehensive program reviews. External review teams were formed for each area.
A. Student Housing Comprehensive Review
The external review team for Student Housing noted that this self-study sets a basic "baseline" for on-going program improvement and review. The team also noted that the housing program is meeting the basic needs of students. The team stated that the revenue generated by the limited number of beds (44) seriously handicaps a self-support program.
The major recommendation noted by the team is that the College considers supporting personnel with state General funds. Doing so would free up funds for development of more co-curricular programming. The Dean of Student Services accepted this recommendation. The Dean will submit this recommendation for consideration in future budget planning.
B. Student Life Comprehensive Review
The external review team commended the Student Life program for making progress in budget management and addressing ethics related campus issues. The team also noted that Student Life is understaffed and recommended more institutional support for staffing.
The team's major recommendation spoke of the need of Student Life to be more proactive in it's campus activities. Specifically, the team recommended that Student Life be more active in engaging faculty, staff, and students in developing and promoting "creative" activities on campus, especially given the development of increased student housing in the near future. The Dean accepted this recommendation and will work with the Student Life program to address this and other recommendations in on-going program improvement initiatives and reviews.
C. Admissions & Records Comprehensive Review
Admissions & Records did not complete the required self-study for the comprehensive review. The external team noted that this requirement was not met and recommended that Admissions & Records be rescheduled for a comprehensive review in AY 2005-06 with a self-study deadline of September 30, 2005. The Dean accepted this recommendation. The Dean met with the Registrar to review the team's report and recommendations and sent a follow-up letter summarizing the program review results and recommendations.
D. Annual Program Reviews
Except for programs scheduled for comprehensive reviews, all student services programs submitted annual reviews. The annual reviews consisted of programmatic functional statements, data over the past two years, assessment, and programmatic improvements implemented based on the assessment.
The annual program reviews have provided the college with substantially more data in an organized format than ever before. The Dean met with all student services program directors to review the report and to discuss specific programmatic areas. In future program reviews, the Dean will work with the program directors to strengthen the area of assessment and data analysis, which then must be more clearly linked to programmatic improvements.
Priorities were developed only for those programs completing comprehensive program reviews, specifically Student Housing and Student Activities.
Priority 1. Support Student Housing Director with general funds (currently self-supported).
Priority 2. Create new Student Life position with general funds.
Instructional Services Comprehensive Program Reviews
In AY 2004-05, Accounting, Nursing, and the Office of Continuing Education and Training (OCET) conducted comprehensive program reviews. Each of the programs conducted a self-study, which was then reviewed by a review team (another program coordinator, community person, student, and program-related faculty member) and then validated by three members of the campus Executive Committee.
Centrality: The program is appropriate to the mission of the institution
Workforce Demand: There are 46 annual job openings in Maui County and 1,582 in the state.
Majors: There are 98 majors.
Class Fit: The class fit is 93%.
Graduation Rate: The graduation rate is 27%.
Placement in Employment: The rate is 83%.
Plan of Action: Past plans addressed placement opportunities, relationships with community partners and advisory committee, professional development for accounting professionals, student transfer to baccalaureate institutions, and relationships with other programs at MCC. The current plan addresses issues of academic advising, curriculum revision, new software acquisition and articulation.
Analysis of comprehensive review: The accounting program review was well developed and comprehensive. It covered the goals of the program, and it demonstrated through the SLOs and COWIQ curricular grids how the goals of the program were being achieved. The program review outlined the program's relationship to the MCC Strategic Plan and had a plan of action to address concerns of the program. The components on student services as well as the commentary on distance delivery were good additions, as they tied together the instructional program with the needs of students. The program has identified program and course assessment of student learning outcomes as something it's not only prepared to address but also sees as a means to improving educational effectiveness. Issues of concern include equipment upgrades, rapidly changing technology, and course offerings in a timely manner (a funding issue).
The accounting program identified seven goals, and its review team found that each goal had been met, with four of the goals still needing attention of some kind. The campus Executive Committee identified some mechanical areas of improvement, however, but overall was impressed with the quality and health of the accounting program and the caliber of the faculty and curriculum
Centrality: The program is appropriate to the mission of the institution.
Workforce Demand:
Associate Degree: 321 annual job openings in Maui County and 1,518 in the state.
Practical Nursing: there are 20 annual job openings in Maui County and 81 in the state.
Dental Assisting: there are 10 annual job openings in Maui County and 70 in the state.
Associate Degree: there are 41 majors.
Practical Nursing: there are 51 majors.
Dental Assisting: there are 32 majors.
Class Fit:
Associate Degree: the class fit is 103 percent.
Practical Nursing: the class fit is 102 percent.
Dental Assisting: the class fit is 88 percent.
Graduation Rate:
Associate Degree: the graduation rate is 91 percent.
Practical Nursing: the graduation rate is 91 percent.
Dental Assisting: the class fit is 88 percent.
Nursing Exam Pass Rate:
Associate Degree: the pass rate is 95%.
Practical Nursing: the pass rate is 97%
Placement in Employment:
Associate Degree: the rate is 88%.
Practical Nursing: the rate is 92%.
Plan of Action: Past plans have addressed the difficulty in attracting and retaining qualified nursing faculty, the need to increase the available positions for admission to the nursing program, and funding issues.
Analysis of comprehensive review: The nursing program review contained appropriate documentation of achievements and could serve as a model for other comprehensive program reviews. It was tied to the MCC Strategic Plan and the UH System Plan. The SLOs and COWIQs are well developed and are directly related to the content of the curriculum, which is successfully connected to the program goals. It reflects an integrated process of continual evaluation and adaptation. Most notable is the desire of faculty and staff to provide students with a variety of options in meeting their academic goals. These options include group meetings and support groups, learning contracts, and tutoring and counseling support. Issues of concern include the need for additional slots in the program, the difficulty in attracting faculty with appropriate credentials, and the need for additional funding for such faculty. In addition, there are ongoing discussions with other nursing programs across the UH System regarding coordination, articulation, etc. As the nursing program continues to grow and evolve into an allied health program, there should be a systematic plan to address such growth into other areas within the health field.
The Nursing Program Review Team and the campus Executive Committee cited the nursing comprehensive program review as being a model program review. According to the review team, nursing has succeeded in meeting the program's four goals and identified the support needed to ensure continued success and program growth.
The OCET Comprehensive Program Review was able to clearly document the contributions of the non-credit program. This is a significant accomplishment given that there was no template for a non-credit program mirroring that of the credit programs. Consequently, there are no "markers" such as those provided by the Program Health Indicators for evaluative purposes. However, the program contained extensive information, evidence, documentation, and analysis for the OCET programs. Instead of PHIs, the program utilized national standards from the LERN (Lifelong Learning) guidelines and best practices from programs throughout the country. It is clear from the comprehensive review that OCET is connected to the MCC Strategic Plan and to the UH System Plan.
OCET provides non-credit training in VITEC (business and workforce development training), Comp Tech (computer technology training), PACE (arts, culture and health), Contracts and Grants (customized training for all OCET programs), MLI (Maui Language Institute), and Apprenticeship (Trades in partnership with Unions). The faculty and staff of OCET outlined the qualification of their faculty and staff, as well as their ongoing professional development activities.
The review addressed three major components in the review process: (1) what the objectives for the review period were; (2) how the objectives were achieved; and (3) how unmet objectives could be addressed. However, the program staff are encouraged to "create a culture of evidence" whenever possible. As an example, it would be helpful to know how many students move from the non-credit MLI program to the credit programs at MCC and then to track down their progress in the credit classes. This information could be utilized by the faculty and staff of MLI for programmatic improvement and could answer the "so what" question that is a major component in the assessment process. Revenue generation continues to be a challenge but steps are being taken to address this. They include evaluation from an outside auditor to ascertain fiscal practices, review of the internal organizational structure, and closer coordination with the credit programs in program offering.
OCET has faced a number of challenges this past year, including budget and personnel issues. There was a dramatic drop in funding from the state's Department of Labor & Industrial Relations Employment and Training Fund (ETF), followed by severely decreased funding for Workforce Initiative Act. However, to assist in counteracting these funding decreases, each program developed a business plan, which will help to move the program towards self sufficiency. The campus Executive Committee also expressed some concern about the fiscal management. Therefore, a consultant (retired UH system fiscal officer) was hired to review the OCET fiscal management. He provided an analysis and made recommendations for improvement. OCET has incorporated all recommendations in is fiscal management system. Due to long-term illness and resignation, two full-time positions remain unfilled, and the present staff has taken on additional responsibilities.
Fifteen instructional programs submitted annual program reviews; two did not. The annual review consisted of an overview of the program, the curriculum, its impact on students, and the analysis of the program activities. The Dean of Instruction and the Interim Assistant Dean of Instruction met with the program coordinators to discuss the program's effectiveness and the means to provide continuous improvement. From these conversations, workload issues were clarified and program modifications moved from a conceptual framework to a draft of the revised program map.
Program reviews will serve as one source of dialogue for budget preparation.
In AY 2005-06, the academic support programs and outreach sites will also submit either an annual assessment or a comprehensive program review.
After discussion at the October 25, 2005 meeting the Instructional priority list in order is:
1. Math position 1.5
2. Soc/AJ 1.0
3. Human Services 1.0
The Academic Support Services priority is:
2. Media Specialist III 1.0
3. Library Assistant IV 1.0
The University Center, Maui priority is:
1. APT for University Center 1.0
The OCET priority is:
1. Permanent OCET Director 1.0
2. MLI Director/Instructor
from temporary to tenure track 1.0
Supplies necessary to maintain a high quality of educational experience include:
1. Computer replacement in labs and classrooms
2. Replacement/repair of boards used in the classroom


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Alces Alces
Moose are found in northern climates around the world, often in swamps, spruce forests, and willow and ash thickets.
Moose Can Be Found Throughout the World in Northern Climates
The largest of the deer, moose can grow as long as 10 feet and weigh as much as 1200 pounds, though females are somewhat smaller. It ranges across the world in northern climates, from Scandinavia to Siberia, Alaska, Canada and the northern USA, often in swamps, spruce forests, and willow and ash thickets. It is easily distinguished by its massive size, large nose and the "bell" flap of skin hanging from its throat. Males grow huge flattened racks of antlers each summer, shedding them in winter.
The moose feeds mostly on woody plants in winter, adding water plants to its diet in summer, often wading in to eat, averaging 44 pounds of wet forage a day. Breeding season occurs in early autumn. Contests between males, in which they put their antlers to good use, are impressively violent, often resulting in multiple wounds, the victor winning mating rights. Gestation lasts 8 months, the female usually giving birth to a single calf, which suckles for about 6 months and remains with her for another year.
Although domestication of moose is problematic, they have been used to carry riders and pull sleighs in Europe and Asia. During Ivan the Terrible's 16th century conquest of Siberia, moose-mounted riders were considered enough of a threat that moose husbandry was banned. The same century, the city of Dorpat in Estonia banned moose on its streets, presumably because they spook horses. It was probably this reaction that King Karl XI of Sweden had in mind when he considered forming a moose-mounted cavalry regiment.
Support our work and research to conserve the lands and waters on which all life depends — including moose!

subset: commoncrawl


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Crisis and struggle mark this week's new releases
This week, we begin somewhere at sea:
All Is Lost
4 stars
Rated PG-13, 106 minutes.
Available Tuesday on DVD, Blu-ray and in various download formats.
Writer-director J.C. Chandor has executed a well thought-out story with craft, precision and impeccable rhythm. And he has done this while facing an extreme dramatic challenge.
Robert Redford stars and takes the sole role as an unnamed man alone at sea. His small craft is hit by a loose cargo container, tearing a gap into the boat's side. From there, Chandor has created continuous challenges for the man to remain afloat.
A large dose of believable ingenuity extends the drama, and, through it all, Redford makes us believe the struggle.
The DVD includes commentary and three featurettes of six minutes or less on the story, Chandor and Redford. A segment on sound runs 12 minutes. A four-part featurette on "Preparing for the Storm" runs eight minutes.
Wadjda (2 1/2 stars) The back story on this debut feature from writer-director Haifaa Al Mansour proves more compelling than the film itself: It's the first film from Saudi Arabia by a woman and also the first ever shot entirely in that country.
The feisty 10-year-old title character (Waad Mohammed) wears sneakers to school and threatens convention by wanting to ride a bicycle, all of which sets off the film's transparent narrative. Wadjda cleverly earns and saves money to buy a certain bike. She seizes her opportunity by entering a contest testing participants' knowledge of the Quran.
Little surprise or suspense waits, but in the interim, the director, unwittingly or not, shows a closed, backward society that devalues its women and thrusts them into continuously humiliating situations. Regardless, the well-photographed movie, by cinematographer Lutz Reitemeier, proves entertaining enough while its mere existence is remarkable.
Rated PG, 98 minutes. The DVD includes director commentary, a 33-minute "making of" featurette, and a 38-minute interview with Al Mansour at the Directors Guild of America.
Trans-Europ-Express (3 stars) and Successive Slidings of Pleasure (2 stars) Kino Classics releases two films from writer-director Alain Robbe-Grillet, with plans to release more later this year.
Robbe-Grillet had already established himself as a groundbreaking new novelist when he turned to film scripts. His screenplays shattered convention in much the same way his novels did. Time, space and narrative coherence were treated as pliable elements, often resulting in confusion, as confirmed by anyone who has seen Last Year at Marienbad.
In Trans-Europ-Express (1966), a thriller spoof, he plays himself as he and two assistants board the Trans-Europ train and immediately begin plotting a movie that could take place on that train.
Jean-Louis Trintignant stars as Elias, a Parisian who travels to Antwerp to smuggle cocaine. Or wait, is it diamonds? Robbe-Grillet and his cohorts pose that very question, theoretically flipping between fiction and nonfiction. Poor Elias becomes a pawn of the director's imagination as he becomes entangled with a mysterious woman (Marie-France Pisier) and a shady group of characters.
The end result turns out whimsical, even enjoyable, yet without any pretense at suspense.
Not rated, 96 minutes. The newly remastered HD DVD includes a 33-minute interview with Robbe-Grillet. In a similar 34-minute interview on the Successive Slidings of Pleasure disc, Robbe-Grillet confesses that he made Trans-Europ-Express on a wager, claiming he could make it for a small amount.
In Robbe-Grillet's Successive Slidings of Pleasure (1974), the bare-bones approach is evident, as is the shaky narrative, about a young woman (Anicee Alvina) accused of murder.
Robbe-Grillet milks the scernario for repetitive interpretations, all of which seem to involve young naked women. Trintignant again appears but only fleetingly, as does the esteemed Michael Lonsdale.
Not rated, 95 minutes.
How I Live Now (2 1/2 stars) As some vague conflict brews in Europe, Daisy (Saoirse Ronan), a self-absorbed American, arrives in the English Highlands to stay with relatives. But her frostiness melts in the arms of her hunky cousin, Eddie (George MacKay).
When military authorities separate them and send them into displacement camps, their only thoughts, as a devastating war seems to be taking place, are of returning to each other. The handsome but unbelievable film mixes terrorist menace with cloying puppy love.
Rated R, 101 minutes. The DVD includes six separate interviews with cast and crew, a six-minute "making of" featurette, six minutes of behind-the-scenes comparisons, five minutes of deleted scenes and more.
The Booker (3 stars) This documentary offers lessons in persistence both from the main subject, Steve Scarborough, as well as director Michael Perkins, who followed Scarborough for four years even when things looked dead.
When younger, Scarborough traveled to Japan to study with sumo wrestlers, returning to the United States and a short-lived career as a wrestler. But he still lives his dream, forming a wrestling school in Atlanta, which he hopes someday will lead to a lucrative TV contract.
Perkins probes his subject's determination, fleshing out his life story while trying to uncover what drives him. Not rated, 96 minutes.
And for kids this week:
The Jungle Book: Diamond Edition Disney gives a Blu-ray debut to this 1967 animated classic filled with the engaging animals found in Rudyard Kipling's "Mowgli" stories.
The creatures remain cute and cuddly, even if the voices belong to another generation. Phil Harris voices Baloo the bear and delivers some of the movie's best-known songs from the Sherman brothers. Sebastian Cabot voices Bagheera the panther, with Sterling Holloway as Kaa the snake.
Rated G, 78 minutes. The clear, colorful new Blu-ray captures the film's vibrant colors, and the two-disc set contains more than two hours of supplements, including featurettes on behind-the-scenes action and the music. Plus: a sing-along, a recently uncovered alternate ending and much more.
And finally, from this week's TV offerings:
The Americans: The Complete First Season This compelling series takes place in the 1980s and centers on a married Russian couple, trained in the deadliest and most dangerous forms of espionage, who have been living in the U.S. for years to act as true blue Americans.
Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys, both excellent, play Elizabeth and Phillip Jennings, a Washington, D.C.-area couple who regularly bug the homes of government officials, kill people, and often take false identities in the 13 episodes in this fascinating series created by Joseph Weisberg.
Not rated, 620 minutes. The collection includes commentaries, a gag reel, deleted scenes, and featurettes on the "making of," the art of espionage and "Ingenuity Over Technology."
Family Matters: The Complete Fourth Season This audience-pleasing ABC series, a spin-off from Perfect Strangers, ran from 1989 to 1998. It features the adventures and escapades of Chicago's multi-generational Winslow family, who are always up to something, usually with Laura (Kellie Shanygne Williams) and Eddie (Darius McCrary) in the middle and often with their goofy, nerdy neighbor Steve Urkel (Jaleel White).
The fourth season sees, among many events, Steve with a new girlfriend, and father Carl (Reginald VelJohnson) and Steve on American Gladiators. The season's 24 episodes arrive on three discs. Not rated, 8 hours, 44 minutes.
Also available Tuesday on DVD: The Armstrong Lie, The Best Man Holiday, The Counselor, G.B.F., Spinning Plates.


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Fulworx is a REST framework that uses simple annotations of XWork "Action" implementations to expose restful interfaces. Similar to Struts, Fulworx sits as a controller on top of Restlet. Each action is attached as a resource using Restlets. Standard resources are represented by default as XML (or JSON) using JAXB, but any representation may be specified. Actions may be used in other frameworks such as Struts and Webwork, since they're just XWork implementations.
A PHP class to authorize and access APIs using OAuth 1.0, 1.0a, and OAuth 2.0.
Complex special functions, numerical linear algebra, and statistics in JavaScript.


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Don't throw away yesterday's turkey wishbones. I know three artists who will make them into family heirlooms.
Click here to view a slideshow of photos from the art exhibit.
Atsuko Smith would use the wishbone as a tie pin on one of her origami shirts.
Karen McVay Butch would cover it with a pink crocheted snuggie.
And Neel Foster would turn it into a candelabra or tuning fork for one of her piano pieces.
Their whimsical, engaging show at First Presbyterian Church's Stewart Hall on Washington Avenue makes you feel good. It's a look at the art there is in "leftovers."
The exhibit, open every day except Saturdays through Dec. 7, is called "Re-Remember." It's déjà vu all over again. Re-using, re-purposing, re-cycling, revisiting things, like your grandparents did.
All these works have the woman's creative touch. They grow out of being mothers, homemakers and storytellers.
You can't miss Atsuko's really big "You Are What You Eat." A shadowbox with 24 compartments, each with a shirt (light starch) and necktie. Origami from cereal boxes, candy wrappers, pet food bags, TV dinner packaging.
My cats love the set with the Fancy Feast shirt and Tuna Helper tie. I'm partial to the Land O'Lakes tie. My daughter likes the Minute Maid shirt with the chocolate Pop Tart tie.
Atsuko's "What Shall I Wear Today?" is a favorite of the little girls who wander through from the church day care. It is a drawer full of origami dresses that look like paper doll clothes.
They have such a mother-daughter warmth. I can see Caroline Ingalls by firelight cutting them from flour sacks with Half-Pint on "Little House on the Prairie."
And when have you last seen a cuddly plow? Karen Butch is inspired by old, broken, discarded tools. And she is apt to "cozy" them. Crocheting over them and giving them a new look, a new value.
A 40-pound iron cultivator that she found in a lane and covered with a second skin of sisal looks warm and ready for winter. It has a rich farm smell, and I swear you feel like rocking it to sleep.
Her rakes and brooms, snug in natural woven tones, look like outdoor cousins to Atsuko's dusters made of old newspaper. The end of one rake looks soft like a puppy's paw.
I heard one visitor say that she was going home to make a cozy for her sock monkey. Now that's inspired.
From across the room one of Neel Foster's pieces looks like the piano you've seen accidentally dropped from four stories in so many cartoons. But up close it has a personal story.
"Grace Notes" is made from the piano her husband's mother learned on as a child. The sheet music on it has been played at family funerals and birthdays. You look into it and see back in time. Neel's daughter wants it when it no longer hangs at home.
Neel won't throw anything away. "Thirty Tiny Paintings" is a collection of old styrofoam plates that her students used as palettes. She cut them into squares, laid them out on a piece of scrap wood, and named each one.
"Map of Dreams" is a long piece that looks like it belongs on the mantel. She cut it from a door that once served as the workbench for young painters. So it's covered with random splotches that she's outlined like cloud formations. And, surprise, there is piano wire stretched across it.
This bright little show is not about curbside recycling. It's about heartside-recycling. Hanging on to the things you've touched.
It feels right that it's in a church social hall, during the holidays, where kids walk around, and you smell gingerbread.
Ben Goggins, a retired marine biologist, lives on Tybee Island. He can be reached at 786-6181 or firstname.lastname@example.com.


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MCW07 Exploring Trends in Conductance for Well-Defined Single Molecule Circuits
Licensed according to this deed.
Published on
In our recent research, we have been able to measure and characterize the impact of intrinsic molecular properties on the conductance of single molecule circuits formed with amine-gold linkages 1-4. Experiments are carried out by repeatedly forming and breaking a gold point contact in a solution containing the target molecule. This is repeated thousand of times while measuring the junction current at fixed bias resulting in a large number of independent measurements of the conductance for each target molecule. Amine link groups result in a clear conductance signature that we use to study trends with molecule length, conjugation and structure. The hypothesis that the nitrogen atom from the amine group bonds to a coordinatively unsaturated gold atom in the junction through a donor-acceptor mechanism has successfully explained the observed trends. Each molecule has been analyzed using quantum chemistry techniques based on Density Functional Theory, applied to the molecule bonded to a gold fragment to represent each electrode. In this talk, I will review the experiments and the physical picture of the junction based on the calculations. I will then focus on three recent studies: (i) the impact of substituents on the conductance through diaminobenzene 3; (ii) the trends in conductance through diaminonaphthalene and diaminoanthracene as a function of the location of the amine link groups 4; and (iii) comparison of junctions formed with amine links to those formed with methylthiol and dimethylphosphine links.
- L. Venkataraman, J.E. Klare, I.W. Tam, C. Nuckolls, M.S Hybertsen and M. Steigerwald, Nano Letters, vol. 5, pp. 458-462, 2006.
- [2] L. Venkataraman, J.E. Klare, C. Nuckolls, M.S Hybertsen and M. Steigerwald, Nature, vol. 442, pp. 904-907, 2006.
- [3] L. Venkataraman, Y.S. Park, A.C. Whalley, C. Nuckolls, M.S Hybertsen and M.L. Steigerwald, Nano Letters, vol. 7, pp. 502-506, 2007.
- [4] J.R. Quinn, F.W. Foss, Jr., L. Venkataraman, M.S. Hybertsen, and R. Breslow, Journal of the American Chemical Society, vol. 129, pp. 6714-6715, 2007.
Cite this work
Researchers should cite this work as follows:
Burton Morgan Building, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN


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The rollout, effective Monday, Feb. 10, 2014, covers Amtrak's Lincoln Service, Illini Saluki trains and lIlinois Zephyr/Carl Sandburg trains, all serving Illinois. Also now served are three routes primarily serving Michigan: Amtrak's Wolverine Service, Blue Water, and Pere Marquette. Chicago-Milwaukee Hiawatha Service is also included in the WiFi package.
Notably not in the mix is Amtrak's Hoosier State Service, linking Chicago with Indianapolis and other Indiana locales. Indiana's support for Amtrak has paled in comparison with other Midwest states, particularly Illinois, numerous industry advocates are quick to point out.
"Amtrak trains in Illinois are faster, thanks to our joint commitment to high speed rail," Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn said in a statement announcing the service. "Now, Wi-Fi access on those same trains will make each trip more productive and enjoyable."
AmtrakConnect also is available on Amtrak trains on the Northeast Corridor and on the West Coast.
Amtrak announced its intent to provide WiFi for its Chicago hub services late last year.


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Day 2 in Jakarta has been anything but uneventful. After having our first night's rest in a bed in three days, we woke up to a mid morning breakfast in the hotel. Shortly thereafter, we headed to the hotel pool for a regen session.
Regen session
This session consisted of everything you'd expect it to, from stretching to water jogging, but it ended with a little fun and games. The group was split into two teams for a relay race. There was some impressive, and equally unimpressive, swimming on display. Many were capable of sporting a relatively decent free stroke, while some brought more entertainment than ability to the swimming pool. We witnessed everything from sharp diagonal turns, to uncoordinated arm splashing, to pure abandonment of swimming and just running on the bottom of the pool. There are swimmers, and then there are not. D.C. United has both.
Practice session
After lunch we left for training at a local turf field. Many abandoned their cleats for running shoes and practice began. About 15 minutes into the session the floodgates opened. It rained like I've never seen before. I'm not talking about some Maryland/DC/Virginia rain, this was Indonesian rain. This rain is a whole different breed than anything we've ever seen. It was thick, fast, heavy, and unwavering. For 10 minutes we endured the onslaught before Ben finally called it a day and we started setting up for our coaching clinic. But wait, if it's raining so hard, how can we have this coaching clinic? Great question.
The flood
So, we're setting up cones and goals for the clinic looking around and everyone's eyes are asking the same thing, is this for real? And yes, it is. We are having this clinic because the kids waiting under the covered patio are looking out like nothing is happening out of the ordinary. Apparently, this is a daily occurrence during the wet season in Indonesia. Apparently, every day, the force of God is unleashed through rain upon the people of Indonesia. And no way is that going to stop them from playing some soccer. They ran around like it was 70 and sunny while we all looked around for Noah's Ark.
In the end the clinic went well, and it concluded with some pictures and autographs.
The Embassy
Our day ended at the United States embassy. Ambassador Blake and his family welcomed us in where we were greeted with handshakes and introductions. We quickly made our way to the buffet and ate some of the best food we've had thus far on the trip. After talking with some of the numerous guests we took pictures with owners Erick Thohir and Will Chang with the US Open cup trophy (still unsure if this was the real trophy or an imposter). ** Editors Note: I am pretty sure the Open Cup trophy is NOT in Indonesia** As the night drew on, the previous days of travel began hitting everyone once again. Eyes were beginning to glaze, and it was clear we had to head back to the hotel before someone took refuge on the couch.
3 Things I've learned thus far in Jakarta:
- For any trip expected to be around a 30 minute drive, plan a minimum 5 hour cushion
- Driving is not for the weak of heart, there are no lanes, no rules, no courtesies…Survival of the fittest
- Goat crossings are to be expected
Here are some photos from Day 2:


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Cases assigned to First Division:
FIA Card Services NA, a National Association v. Jimmy Taylor.
Ford Motor Credit Company LLC v. Robert B. Taylor.
Cases assigned to Third Division:
Atlantic Credit and Finance, Inc. v. Timothy Jordan.
Discover Bank v. Maxine L. Davis.
Cases assigned to Fourth Division:
State of Arkansas v. 2008 Chevy Silverado VIN No. 2GCEK13M781190318, $10,864 U.S. Currency (Phillip Dixon and Krystal Journigan).
State of Arkansas v. $180 U.S. Currency, 2009 Nissan Versa VIN No. 3N1CC11E99L467909.
State of Arkansas v. $1,027 U.S. Currency, 2008 Honda Acura VIN No. 2HNYD28478H504184 (Michael Boughton and Tiffany Weaver).
State of Arkansas v. $737 U.S. Currency (Jerry Williams)
Pope County Clerk Laura McGuire issued marriage licenses to the following couples between June 15-22:
Terry T. Boyd-Ormsby, 39, of Russellville, and Karen S. Barefield, 29, of Atkins.
Toby D. Dover, 47, and Sherri L. Freeman, 47, both of Russellville.
William E. Gmaz Jr., 60, and Pamela S. Bagby, 58, both of Russellville.
Jason T. Holder, 32, and Bretta L. Adams, 32, both of Russellville.
Robert E. Horton II, 25, and Kylie K. Jones, 27, both of Russellville.
Jackie E. Hubbard II, 30, and April S. Johnson, 32, both of Russellville.
Allan P. Hutcherson, 40, and Jamie L. Campbell, 35, both of Russellville.
Spencer A. Jaye, 20, of Vilonia, and Nicole L. Eggers, 19, of Russellville.
Ronnie D. Johnson, 53, of Russellville, and Denti Widiarti, 32, of Dover.
Paul D. Lyles, 45, and Jean Marie Houseman, 43, both of Russellville.
Joshua A. Maldonado, 21, and Sophia L. Hernandez-Vega, 19, both of Russellville.
Miguel Martinez-Gonzaleez, 32, and Ana D. Estrada, 45, both of Russellville.
Steven L. Powell, 21, of New Blaine, and Holly A. Mikel, 24, of Conway.
Wesley J. Rials, 27, of Ozark, and Erica D. Taylor, 21, of Russellville.
David L. Walton, 48, and Donna K. Ashlock, 46, both of Russellville.
Jerry D. Webb, 19, and Tara E. Bratton, 19, both of Russellville.
The following divorces were recorded in Pope County Circuit Court between June 15-22:
Debby Flournoy v. Daniel Flournoy.
Andrea L. Moore v. Larry Moore.
Maria Reyes v. Fernando Paz.
April M. Flanery v. Danny L. Flanery.
Gary V. Kuca v. Nancy Harris.
Cora F. Adams v. Charles L. Adams.
Tina R. Miller v. James B. Miller.
Eugenia Anderson v. Bobby D. Anderson Jr.


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Reliever Mota decides to retire after 14 seasons
Right-hander played for seven big league teams and made 743 career appearances
By Dick Kaegel / MLB.com
MESA, Ariz. -- After 14 big league seasons, relief pitcher Guillermo Mota has decided to call it quits.
His retirement was announced on Sunday by the Royals, who signed him to a Minor League contract in January and invited him to their Major League training camp. He never pitched for the Royals, but did for the Expos, Dodgers, Marlins, Indians, Mets, Brewers and Giants.
"He's had a great career and he's a great kid. I had him in Milwaukee," Royals manager Ned Yost said.
Not exactly a kid, Mota, 40, did not pitch last year after being on his second World Series championship Giants team in 2012. He didn't pitch in that World Series, but did in 2010 -- when he had two scoreless outings against the Rangers.
"I've always admired Guillermo as a person and a player. I'd like to thank him," Royals general manager Dayton Moore said. "However, in talking with him, he indicated that he wanted to spend more time with his family."
Mota, 6-foot-6 and 240 pounds from San Pedro de Macoris in the Dominican Republic, joined in the Royals' hijinks on the first day of full-squad workouts. Several veteran pitchers, reacting to a rookie's remark, wore OLD GUY instead of their names on the back of their uniforms. Mota, the most senior of all, wore REAL OLD GUY on his jersey.
Originally signed by the Mets as an infielder, Mota pitched as a reliever in 743 Major League games with a 39-45 record, 10 saves and a 3.94 ERA. Between 1999 and 2012, only five pitchers made more relief appearances than Mota. He was traded six times. He was also twice suspended by Major League Baseball for testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs, first in 2006 and again in 2012. In addition to the Giants, he also reached postseason play with the Mets in 2006 and the Brewers in 2008.
Mota's career included some colorful incidents involving batters who he plunked with pitches. While with the Dodgers in 2002 and '03, he had scrapes with the Mets' Mike Piazza, both times in Spring Training games. During his second stint with the Dodgers in 2009, he was ejected after plunking the Brewers' Prince Fielder, who later tried unsuccessfully to enter the Dodgers' clubhouse to confront Mota.
"He's a good guy," said Royals reliever Francisley Bueno, who had a locker next to Mota. "I played with him in the Dominican. He had 14 years in the big leagues. He had two World Series rings. He won with the Giants two times."
Mota obviously had fans. A couple of days before Mota decided to leave camp, a fan stood near the players' entrance at Surprise Stadium with a big sign that implored Mota to stop by and sign his baseball.
Did Mota sign that ball?
"I think so," Bueno said with a smile. "He is a good person."
Dick Kaegel is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


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The Utah Fire & Rescue Academy provides a wide variety of training opportunities to fire and emergency service providers in several formats. Fire departments throughout Utah can request Academy deliveries of many basic training and live-fire courses at their locations or in their region. Most of these classes are completely subsidized by the state and are therefore free to fire departments. Curriculum for Firefighter I & II, Haz Mat, Apparatus Driver Operator and other courses are available for loan to departments wishing to conduct their own training through our Supported Delivery programs. Some of these classes can also be delivered to non-fire agencies and businesses at a reasonable cost.
Advanced and specialized courses are also available to fire departments at low cost. Many of these are delivered during our seasonal fire schools. These schools bring together emergency personnel from Utah and surrounding states to receive instruction from the best regional and national instructors available. Some of these courses can also be taken on the road by special request. UFRA is also a delivery partner for National Fire Academy (NFA) Regional, Direct Delivery and hand-off classes as well as National Wildfire Coordination Group (NWCG) courses.
Many UFRA training courses can also be delivered for college credit that applies towards a UVU Associates Degree. UVU tuition and fees may apply.
UFRA courses are designed to meet the NFPA Professional Qualifications requirements for Certification. Certification testing can be administered at the conclusion of many classes. The Utah Fire Service Certification System is accredited by the International Fire Service Accreditation Congress and the National Fire Service Professional Qualification System and recognized by state, federal and international agencies.
The ten acre UFRA facility at the Provo Airport is a modern, comprehensive facility with extensive fixed props, structures and classrooms to support a multitude of simulated fire, rescue, haz mat, terrorism, WMD, emergency medical, wildland and other emergency scenarios. UFRA also utilizes a fleet of mobile props and training systems to assure that audiences statewide can receive high quality instruction using state-of-the-art equipment and techniques. We have recently added an advanced computer lab to support Fire Inspector, Incident Command, Homeland Security and other training.


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Quote:I was just curious how many of the Karateka here cross train with other arts? If so, what do you cross train with - and why? Only curious - happy to see all replies and reasons.
Night club fight footage and street fights captured
with the world's first bouncer spy cam
to Matrix!
Learn ten times faster with new training method. Learn entire arts
for as little as $10 per disk.
Self Defense
Stun guns, pepper spray, Mace and self defense products. Alarms for personal and home use.
Stop An Urban Gorilla: Get 2 FREE TASER M26C Replacement Air Cartridges With Each New TASER M26C!


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The Securities and Exchange Commission declined to respond Friday to concerns that Southern California Edison may have failed to notify investors about significant safety concerns at its San Onofre nuclear plant.
Rep. Edward Markey, a minority member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, wrote to the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday to express concern that plant operator Southern California Edison may have left out crucial information about the plant's faulty steam generators from its disclosures to investors. Rapid degradation of the recently replaced generators has kept the plant shut since January 2012.
Securities commission spokesman Kevin Callahan declined comment on the letter and said the agency "can't confirm or deny the existence" of any investigation until action is taken for violations or deficiencies. Probes by the agency are sometimes made public only by the company themselves in their advice to investors.
Markey, a Democratic congressman from Massachusetts and Sen. Barbara Boxer, of California, allege that an unreleased report on the root causes of the San Onofre outage shows Edison and generator manufacturer Mitsubishi Heavy Industries knew of the generator problems before installing the equipment — yet chose not to make some safety enhancements to avoid a stricter regulatory review.
Edison said it had not seen the Mitsubishi analysis and that it did not install generators that it believed would not perform safely.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has the Mitsubishi report on the root causes of steam generator problems. But both the agency and federal lawmakers assert that it cannot release proprietary information contained in the document.
The nuclear safety agency has requested a redacted version from Mitsubishi that it can share with the public, but Mitsubishi had yet to comply on Friday, according to nuclear commission spokesman Victor Dricks.
"I believe they are going to provide it to us," Dricks said. The commission will review and possibly challenge omissions by Mitsubishi.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is actively investigating whether Edison provided the agency with complete and accurate information about the San Onofre steam generators.
Edison International, parent company to Southern California Edison, plans to file year-end 2012 financial results to the securities commission on Tuesday.
In his letter, Markey asked the securities commission about possible sanctions and possible precedent setting cases involving energy companies.
Destructive vibrations within the Mitsubishi generators have been traced to botched computer codes that miscalculated steam flows, along with some fabrication issues.
Edison's decision to forgo advance regulatory approval of the generators through a license amendment review is being challenged by a nuclear watchdog group. Edison is asking for federal approval to restart the Unit 2 reactor at partial power. The Unit 3 reactor has been set aside indefinitely with more severe damage to its generators.


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how do programs catch hotkeys like that? all window managers have this - fluxbox, kde, gnome I'm sure, and they catch your keypress no matter what program has active keyboard focus.
devices in /dev/input are all (or should be, anyhow) unreadable by any but root, so that idea is out the window.


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As the weekend approached we made plans to leave Friday after work. We knew that it would be a pitch black night with the moon setting at the same time as the sun, but hoped that the so-called minor/minor would produce a hot bite.
Started to load the boat a bit before 6 and discovered an electrical gremlin in the boat. After about 20 minutes of fretting and diagnosing we determined that it was unlikely to present a safety issue, so we decided to design some work around solutions and head out. As we cleared the Venice jetty and headed offshore so did the storm over Charlotte Harbor. So now we had an electrical issue and weather? Great. But everyone kept a positive attitude and we headed for our overnight destination in 180 feet.
We arrived just as the last bit of light disappeared and set the anchor in the pitch dark. My first try was off the mark and it took only a few minutes of fishing to confirm that fact. Everyone did a great job helping to safely pull and redeploy and we were on the hook at our intended spot.
The current made it a bit of a challenge to find the right set up, but once we had the weight and bait combo dialed in we had a steady supply of mangroves, flag YT and fat bee-liners coming over the side. Meanwhile, Bob left the light tackle snapper fishing to everyone else and concentrated on dropping big baits to the bottom. After a few big bites that ended with pulled hooks, he dropped a plate-sized pin fish and it was game on. 10 minutes later the fish starts to show in the halo of light under the boat . someone get over here and gaff my big gag, no my big mutton, holy crap stick that PARGO!!! And with that we had a big, toothy, mean looking Cubera on the deck and Bob (now known as Pargo Bob) was the happiest fisherman in the Gulf.
Then, as we were about to start the series of shifts over night the electrical gremlin departed from the boat like nothing was wrong. And, the storms that followed us out from Charlotte Harbor dissipated and left us with a black starry sky. Suddenly we were feeling like the luckiest boat in the Gulf.
Fishing was OK all night long and we contined to drop snapper in the box. And, our luck continued with storms moving north and south of us confirming that we were the luckiest boat in the Gulf.
We needed to be back at the dock by noon, so we pulled anchor at first light and headed for a couple bottom spots. First stop singles, doubles, triples, everyone hooked up. Red Grouper all over the deck. After a few drops we decided that we had hit the spot hard enough and headed for stop #2. Same thing as stop #1 - red grouper sacrificing themselves for anything dead or alive and gags going crazy for anything metal. Truly a remarkable bite.
Then Mikes jig gets wacked and he is tight to a big gag . Wait why is that gag running? And coming up? Holy crap . Big wahoo. Clear the decks and hit the throttles. It did not take long for him get the fish under control only two trips around the entire boat. But, hooking and landing a wahoo are two different things. Now Col. Jim is the member of the crew best known for his ability to sleep anywhere and at anytime and Mike looks over and sees him dosing off while leaning on the gaff. Jim, are you SURE you are going to stick this fish? As the fish comes boat side Jim summons his inner Marine and scoops it out of the water like he was using the pick gaff on a 22 red group. One final point, it was a great team effort to land the fish, but Mikes angling was pretty stud. We all refer to his jigging set up as the Barbie Rod I think the line from one of our 50s weighs more than the entire set up. But, with a short rod, unforgiving braid and jig tied to mono that fish came to the boat. High five all around and suddenly everyone was talking about sashimi and all the other great ways to enjoy fresh wahoo.
So, its 930 am we have our limit of grouper (gags and reds), a bunch of snapper, Almaco, a Cubera and a 50 lb hoo. Time to button up and head for the barn.
We had great sea conditions the entire trip and then hit confused conditions with 40 to go. At that time I was feeling pretty fortunate and happy to have a great boat under my feet, but even happier to have a bunch of good friends (albeit now pretty smelly ones) to fill it.
Some notes if you are headed out Reds were eating anything dead although squid produced smaller fish and gags ate anything made of metal. Pelagic trolling is impossible right now with broken weed everywhere. We were all set up to troll at first light and did not even try.
Tight lines - Anzuelo. Here's a couple quick photos.


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Sandberg disappointed in attempted swipe tag
By Todd Zolecki / MLB.com
PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -- There are new rules about catchers blocking home plate, and the Phillies have covered how they want their catchers to handle those situations numerous times.
So Phillies manager Ryne Sandberg did not like what he saw from catcher Lou Marson in the seventh inning of Monday's 6-1 loss to the Rays at Charlotte Sports Park. Rays designated hitter Vince Belnome hit a ground ball to Phillies first baseman Darin Ruf with runners on second and third with one out. Ruf made a nice throw home and Marson was in front of the plate, but Justin Christian avoided the attempted swipe tag and scored. The inning got worse from there, with the Rays scoring four more runs.
"That's an example of how we're not going to do it," Sandberg said. "You've got the ball, you block the plate and he doesn't score. So that was an example of how not to do it. [Pitcher Michael Stutes] is out of the inning and it's a whole different thing. So that was not a good play."
Asked if catchers could still be trying to figure out the new rules, Sandberg said, "We've covered it five, six times. We've covered it for two weeks. That's a swipe tag. We don't want a swipe tag right there. He's got the ball. He's got 10 or 12 feet to play with. He's got the ball. In any situation, you block the plate. It was bad technique at home plate."
Cedeno scratched Monday with lower-back tightness
PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -- Ronny Cedeno has a chance to win a utility infield job, but he needs to play to have any shot at unseating Freddy Galvis or Kevin Frandsen.
He was a late scratch in Monday's 6-1 loss to the Rays at Charlotte Sports Park after feeling tightness in his lower back. He said it is the first time he has had a back issue this spring.
"I don't want to push it and get hurt," he said. "I want to take care of it, feel better in a couple days and be ready."
Cedeno, 31, has played with the Cubs, Mariners, Pirates, Mets, Astros and Padres over a nine-year career. He has hit .246 with a .644 OPS, but his value is his defense and ability to play nearly everywhere. He has spent most of his career at shortstop, but he has also played the other three infield positions, plus the outfield.
Hernandez finds success sticking to simple mantra
PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. -- Roberto Hernandez's mantra is simple: Keep the ball down.
He struggled to stay true to that in his Grapefruit League debut on Wednesday, when he got roughed up in two innings, but he fared much better on Monday afternoon in a 6-1 loss to the Rays at Charlotte Sports Park. He allowed just one hit and struck out three in three scoreless innings.
"I worked in my last bullpen at keeping the ball down," Hernandez said. "That's what I did. Keep the ball down. Don't overthrow. That's what I did and why I had everything working today."
Hernandez threw more sinkers Monday, instead of more four-seam fastballs like Wednesday.
"Every pitch felt good," he said.
Worth noting
• Right-hander Stutes was a valuable member of the 2011 bullpen, making 57 appearances. But he has spent the past two seasons recovering from right shoulder problems. It has affected his velocity. His fastball, which averaged 93 mph in 2011, sat in the 88-89-mph range on Monday.
"It looks like he's still on his way to come back," Sandberg said. "His velocity is down right now from where it was then. He's still coming back from that injury. The lack of velocity shows that."
• Maikel Franco went 2-for-4 and Ruf went 1-for-3 on Monday. Ruf is hitting .308 this spring.
"That's two days in the row he's hit a couple of vicious, vicious line drives," Sandberg said of Franco. "I just see him adjusting pitch to pitch. He'll see one pitch, and later on, whether it's that at-bat or later in the game, I see him adjust to the pitch. He's been good. And Darin Ruf continues to have quality at-bats. That last one where he hit a slider to right field [in the eighth], that's just a nice piece of hitting."
• Sandberg complimented how backup catcher Wil Nieves worked with pitchers early in the game.
Todd Zolecki is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.


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He is survived by his three children, Sammy Ussery (Danielle), Russellville, Tammy Varner, Rogers, Tim Ussery (Jennifer), Seattle, Wash.; six grandchildren, Braden, Cort, Sophie and Bella Ussery, all of Russellville, Ally Varner, Rogers, Larkin Ussery, Seattle, Wash.; his mother, Mary Jo Ussery, Greenbrier; brother, Joe Ussery (Carol), Greenbrier; nephew, Cody Ussery, Greenbrier; two nieces, Stacey Ussery and Shelley Barr, both of Greenbrier; and Judy Swafford, Russellville.
The son of Jo Jo and Mary Jo Wyatt Ussery, he was born Nov. 2, 1953, in Conway. He was a 1971 graduate of Mt. Vernon High School and attended Central Baptist College on a basketball scholarship and received his bachelor of education from the University of Central Arkansas.
Jackie began his coaching career with Caddo Hills Public Schools in 1977, then Quitman and then Enola School districts. He moved to Russellville in 1984 to work as a lineman for Arkansas Power and Light (Entergy) and also worked several summers as a park ranger for the Arkansas Army Corps of Engineers. He restarted coaching at the Russellville School District in 1995 and retired in 2008 as Assistant Transportation Director for Russellville School District. He was a member of the Arkansas Activities Association, the NEA and the AEA
Jack was known for his friendly smile, funny stories and positive attitude. He lived every day to the fullest and cherished the time he spent with his children and grandchildren, who referred to him as "Pop", "Ol' Pa" and "Papa Jack". As a coach, he was an encouragement to hundreds of students and impacted countless lives.
He was a member of the First Baptist Church of Russellville. He was preceded in death by his father, Jo Jo Ussery; grandparents, William Joseph Ussery and wife, Viva Lee.
Funeral will be at 10 a.m., Wednesday, Jan. 9, 2013, at Humphrey Chapel. Dr. Stephen Davis and Wesley White will officiate. A graveside service will be at 2 p.m. Wednesday, at Mount Vernon Cemetery in Faulkner County by Humphrey Funeral Service. Visitation will be from 6-8 p.m., on Tuesday, at the funeral home.
Pallbearers will be Bill Henderson, Steve Hawkins, Jerry Grinder, Cody Ussery, David Ussery and Josh Blackmon. Honorary pallbearers are Denny McCrotty, Matt Kordsmeier, Glen Kordsmeier, Joe Sitkowski, Jeff Holt, Jim Dickerson and Randy Willison.
Memorials may be made to Arkansas Hospice River Valley Home, 2405 E. Parkway Ste-3, Russellville, AR 72802. Internet obituary and on-line guest book are available at http://www.humphreyfuneral.com


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I believe the talking newspaper would be a separate spell after the translation spell (the blind person would obviously want it spoken in a language he understood). Yet if a spell can make a newspaper change its language, couldn't there just as well be a spell that makes the reader understand the language already printed?
Whenever I consider the possibility of spells of this type, I see it as a magic that is creating information or knowledge (since we all have to study to learn a new language). One of J.K. Rowling's own Principal Exceptions to Gamp's Law is supposed to be information, yet I see many stories that use plots/spells where this supposed basic wizarding world rule is contradicted. Does anyone else ever consider this, or is it just me?


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As Arkansas Tech's starting quarterback during the 1996-97 seasons, Todd Cooley emerged as the school's single-season passing leader and still ranks second in career passing yardage.
So when Cooley returned to campus as the Wonder Boys' offensive coordinator, it would only be natural for anybody to assume that he would turn Tech's offense into a group that will pass first and think about running later, right?
Not so fast with that projection, according to Cooley.
"I'm sure people think that, since I was a quarterback, I want to throw the ball around all the time," he said. "But that's not the case. I hope to have a balanced offense, and we'll try to run with the ball as much as throw the ball. I want to be aggressive on offense and spread the ball around, where we can have nine or 10 players touch the ball and give them some space where they can make some plays."
Cooley approached Tech head coach Steve Mullins during the offseason and proposed the changes that he thought needed to be made for the upcoming season. Mullins agreed and allowed Cooley to call the offensive shots.
"I tell you, Coach Mullins has been great to me," Cooley said. "He's turned me loose witht he offense, and he doesn't mind changing things as long as it's a sound plan and you believe in it. And I trust Coach Mullins enough where if I have a question about something, he'll help me out."
Tech's offense has not had much to brag about the past two seasons - one of the reasons why the Wonder Boys finished 4-7 in 2002 and 5-6 last year. Tech has not finished higher than eighth among Gulf South Conference teams in any major statistical category, including dead last finishes in total offense both seasons.
So how does Cooley expect to change that kind of production? In a variety of ways.
The Wonder Boys' new offensive scheme will give opposing defenses plenty to think about. Tech has shown a variety of packages on offense during the spring and in the offseason, going anywhere from a one-back alignment to the Wishbone formation.
"While we stressed on being balanced, we're going to be very multiple," he said. "We've implemented a lot more principles on offense, so we can find different ways of moving the ball and not feel like our offense is handcuffed. We're not going to line up in the same formation twice. We're going to use a lot of formations, as well as use motions, shifts and moving people around.
"We're running a lot of the same plays, but because we can do it out of so many different formations, it will look like we're running something different. We want to make opponents have to spend time adjusting to what we do. If we have to cause somebody to do something different defensively, then we'll have a big advantage."
With the changes on offense comes a new line of personnel in the skill positions. Of those skill position players listed as starters heading into Tech's season opener, only fullback Chris Johnson saw any significant amount of playing time last season.
Junior college transfer Jason Campbell has emerged as the starting quarterback ahead of returning starter Mike Edgeworth. Campbell and Johnson will be joined in the backfield by junior Marcus Godfrey, who is back after sitting out all of last season.
"Jason came in here as a player sight unseen with two things on his mind - go to school and play football," Cooley said. "I'm excited about all four quarterbacks we have, but Jason outperformed the others. Mike will admit he hasn't had the best preseason, but he's young and will be fine.
"Marcus has returned, bigger and stronger, and he feels he's grown up a lot. He should be one of the better backs in the league. But we have some others that can contribute back there. Chris Johnson and Lance Goodin will be counted on heavily at fullback, and we have guys such as R.J. VanHook, Ty Hopkins and Edrick Hines that will get a chance."
Michael Crooks, who came to Tech with Campbell, will start at flanker, while Thomas Hosey will be at split end and former Russellville Cyclone Josh Rogers will start at tight end. Others expected to contribute are receivers Craig Gobroski, Mark Caldwell and Chris Gunter, as well as tight end Seth Jones.
"(Assistant) Coach (Mark) Taylor has done a great job with these guys," Cooley said. "He's turned what appeared to be a sub-par position for us into a strong point. This has become a fun group that comes to work and makes plays. We can get three or four of them on the field and cause problems for others."
Where Tech will enjoy experience is in the offensive line. Returning as starters are center Bailey Dickson, tackles Kyle Jackson and Marc Stringer and guards John Trafford and Jonathan Hayes, while Eric Featherston and Bud Dunn are also pushing for extensive playing time at center and tackle, respectively.
"I'm excited about the experience we have up front," Cooley said. "That's going to be a big bonus, and that's where we need experience with everything else new going on. These guys have been through wars together, and I believe they'll be fine.
"It's obviously going to be different being on the sidelines here rather than being a quarterback on the field. It's going to be more challenging being a coach, but I'm excited about the challenges that are ahead."


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Bonjour! Que pasa? You have reached Kals Author Page. Unfortunately, Kal is busy collecting fly embryos til 7 tonight, so youll have to put up with me. Where to start with Kal? Well, as you may have guessed, shes the unfortunate slave of a Drosophila geneticist and is fondly known as the little one of the lab. Her notorious sweet tooth makes her quite energetic, but there are also times when shes very introvert-ish and would prefer to curl up with a book instead of dancing the night away in a hot and sweaty room.
Kal enjoys many things. Bollywood films, for one (as should be obvious to anyone familiar with Bollywood). She is also your stereotypical Indian geek who is fascinated by genetics and neuroscience. She adores the Steelers and likes playing piano, running, badminton and bharatanatyam.
General and Dark/Angst are Kals favorite categories. She loves the Weasleys (especially Ron), though she has recently taken up writing some of those darker characters. Her OTP is R/Hr, and other favorite ships include Rowena/Salazar, Ted/Andromeda, Fred/Angelina, and L/J. Kals writing process is rather long. She takes her time with her one-shots, allowing them to fester (lovely word) for a few months before actually writing them. (Shes also a manic reviser and paranoid perfectionist who harbors OCD-like symptoms). Therefore, dont be surprised by how few fics she has published.
MNFF is most likely Kals favorite haunt. She hearts the friends and skills shes acquired here. She loves being an Alpha member of the Bannermakers Association and running the Susan Bones Book Club. She has, and always will be, a loyal badger.
(She also enjoys e-mails and questions, so please dont hesitate to contact).
I heart Sentinelle to death for making it (won the excerpts challenge, folks)!!
P.S. SilverrKiss - my favorite person of all time and my partner in crime. And, if you're wondering, she is by far immensely superior in writing talent to my measly skills - so go check out The Silver Vial immediately. ;)


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SR Picks: Our Favorite Cult Movies
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The other day, we Screen Rant writers were chatting online and the subject of cult movies came up. Immediately I began thinking of all the cult movies I've seen and loved (or loathed) – so I thought it would be great to list some of our favorite cult movies individually, and as a group.
As we were compiling our lists, we debated what, exactly, constitutes a "cult movie." We talked about different criteria… for instance movies that fail at the box office (or do only modestly well), but then do terrific on home video. Or maybe they tank overall, but have a small, passionate (and underground?) fan base. Then there are movies that gain some popularity, but are really, really weird. SR boss Vic Holtreman even posed the question on Twitter, and got some great answers.
To settle any debates about whether any of our picks were actual cult movies or not, we consulted Wikipedia, and found this definition:
"A cult film (or cult movie/picture) is a film that has acquired a highly devoted but relatively small group of fans. Often, cult movies have failed to achieve fame outside of the small fanbases… "
They do have a list of exceptions… for example cases where a cult film became recognized by mainstream audiences. Films like Rocky Horror Picture Show, Blade Runner, Evil Dead, and others. But we'll still consider those cult films, just ones that are more widely known now.
I also think there are movies that start out as cult films, then become major hits and can't be considered "well-known cult films" (like the aforementioned Evil Dead). I'm talking about movies like Austin Powers, which became a cult flick for a very short time on VHS and DVD, before becoming so big, it spawned two major grossing sequels and possibly a fourth film.
And finally, don't confuse a cult film with a "sleeper" film, which does well in theaters – but only after word of mouth spreads. There's Something About Mary can be considered a sleeper hit.
So with that criteria in mind, here are Screen Rant's favorite cult movies (most of these favorites lists are not in fave to least fave order):
Heath McKnight (in no particular order):
"For me, I saw a lot of these cult movies in the theater and I honestly thought they'd do at least pretty good at the box office. I still fell in love with them, especially when I could watch them over and over again on DVD. I know they're cult films, but I'd name at least three or four as my all-time favorite movies."
- Blues Brothers – "If this movie comes on, I'll watch it no matter how many times I've already seen it."
- Office Space – "My best friend and I went to see it when it opened 10 years ago–no one was there, so I thought that was the end of this movie."
- The Big Lebowski – "Saw it while in film school with some fellow students and we laughed it up in the empty theater"
- This Is Spinal Tap – "Another brilliant comedy. 'Rock and roll!'"
- Transformers (1986 original) – "My mom took me to see it in theaters when I was only 10 years old. When Optimus died, I started crying and my Mom said, 'He's just a robot.' When she cried thinking Johnny 5 died in Short Circuit 2, I said, 'He's just a robot!'"
- The Three Amigos – "I used to watch this with my friends in high school–lots of laughs."
- The Thing (1982) – "For me, 'The Thing' made me want to become a filmmaker–I've seen it probably 50 times since I first saw it 20 years ago."
- Airplane! – "One of the funniest films ever."
- Space Balls – "I never get sick of this movie, just like 'Blues Brothers;' some of my oldest friends and I still quote this movie. 'Give me paw!'"
- Nightmare Before Christmas – "I was in high school and I took a girl to see it. We were the only ones in the theater, just like with 'Big Lebowski' and 'Office Space.'"
- Mallrats – "I saw this over and over again while working at a movie theater, then saw it a lot on DVD a few years later."
- Best in Show – "Yet another movie that I thought would rock the box office and sat pretty much alone in the theater, laughing."
Kofi Outlaw:
"My definition of a cult movie is a movie that I totally get when I see it, even though so many other people in the theater around me don't seem to get it at all. Until the DVD drops, and then, finally, other people seem to get it too."
- Ghost Dog
- The Big Lebowski
- Office Space
- Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels
- Belly
- Memento
- American Pimp
Vic Holtreman:
"From the definition above, movies that I find I love watching over and over again are often the ones from which you can quote lines of dialog over and over and over again. I've included one favorite quote from each film (but there were many to choose from!)"
- Plan 9 From Outer Space – "You humans are stupid, stupid, stupid!"
- They Live – "I have come to chew bubblegum and kick ass."
- The Princess Bride – "Ah, look who's so smart? He's only MOSTLY dead."
- Monty Python and the Holy Grail – "WHAT is your quest?"
- Ferris Bueller's Day Off – "Four thousand restaurants in the downtown area, I pick the one my father goes to."
- Dark City – "SHUT IT DOWN! SHUT IT DOWN FOREVER!"
- Army of Darkness – "Come to daddy."
- Kentucky Fried Movie – "Nuclear missiles are headed towards the United States… film at 11."
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory – "Invention, my dear friends, is 93% perspiration, 6% electricity, 4% evaporation, and 2% butterscotch ripple."
- Airplane – "Joey, do you like movies about gladiators?"
- Animal House – "They took the bar! They took the whole f$$%ing bar!"
- The Breakfast Club – "Does Barry Manilow know that you raid his wardrobe?"
- The Usual Suspects – "The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he did not exist."
- Raising Arizona – "I'll be taking these Huggies and whatever cash ya got."
- Dawn of the Dead (1978 original) – "The only person who could miss with this gun is the sucker with the bread to buy it."
Sabrina Cognata
"For me, cult movies are about special moments you can share with strangers. Not long ago I was talking with a friend when I said, 'I had the strangest dream,' when some guy sitting near us leaned over and said, 'Was it a dream where you see yourself standing in sort of sun-god robes on a pyramid with a thousand naked women screaming and throwing little pickles at you?' And I knew that guy was awesome. It's about minutia and appreciation for things that were overlooked the first time around. But most of all it's about being an elitist over something that people, for the most part, do not get or understand."
- Dazed & Confused
- Pee Wee's Big Adventure
- Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
- Real Genius
- Big Lebowski
- They Live
- Heathers
- Rushmore
- Roadhouse
- Big Trouble In Little China
- Three Amigos
- A Fistful of Dollars
- Bloodsport
- Master of the Flying Guillotine
Ross Miller:
"I would classify a movie described as 'cult' as one which you can watch over and over again, quote lines throughout your daily life (often at the extreme annoyance of family and friends!) and never get tired of them. Alongside my list, I have put just one of my favorite quotes from each of them."
- Donnie Darko – "Do you believe in time…travel?…"
- The Big Lebowski – "That rug really tied the room together."
- Office Space – "Why does it say there is a paper jam, when there IS no paper jam?!"
- A Clockwork Orange – "There was me, that is Alex, and my three droogs, that is Pete, Georgie, and Dim, and we sat in the Korova Milkbar trying to make up our rassoodocks what to do with the evening."
- Brick – "Throw one at me if you want, hash head. I've got all five senses and I slept last night, that puts me six up on the lot of you."
- Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind – "Sand is overrated. It's just tiny little rocks."
- Ichi the Killer – "There's no love in your violence."
Rob Keyes:
"I define cult films as movies not made with a massive budget and not receiving a wide successful box office. Cult movies spread through word of mouth, earning their success through a highly devoted fanbase – They become more popular after their initial release. The movies I chose are all movies that I had to watch more than once and ones that are extremely memorable for me."
- Boondock Saints
- Primer
- Donnie Darko
- Office Space
- The Usual Suspects
- Army of Darkness
- Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior
- Equilibrium
Bruce Simmons
- The Rocky Horror Picture Show – "Was just a classic weekend routine for several years."
- Harold and Maude – "It makes depression be in vogue."
- The Shawshank Redemption – "Just a classic tale of revenge."
- Dawn of the Dead (1978 original) – "A creepy movie without millions being spent to make it creepy."
- Faces of Death, Vol. 1 – "There's a reason my buds put the tape in, said check this out, and left the house! This vid is scarred on my mind forever. Wow!!!"
Carl Lee
"Most of my film collection is made of cult films. I originally had listed movies like 'Boondock Saints' and 'Reservoir Dogs' but the selected ten can be found somewhere near my desk or already in my players. Their subject matter, story arc, or overarching theme has become the unheard second opinion and guiding light against the grain of the mainstream. Yeah, I have blockbusters (who doesn't) but the discs that bare scratches from being played too often are the following."
- Belly
- Blood In, Blood Out
- Closer
- Cry Baby
- Hard Candy
- 12 Monkeys
- Fight Club
- Pulp Fiction
- Scarface
- The Shawshank Redemption
Niall Browne:
"My cult favorites are films that I can watch over and over again without becoming bored. Sure they may not be loved by a lot of people – 'Ishtar' and 'The Postman' are prime examples but they do have a special place in my heart. They are also films that should (must?) be watched by film fans to really celebrate the true spectrum of the medium."
- Ed Wood
- Big Trouble in Little China
- Hudson Hawk
- The Postman (with Kevin Costner)
- Ishtar
- Blow Out
- Flash Gordon
- Time Bandits
- Elvis The Movie
Finally, here is our combined Top 10 Screen Rant list of favorite cult movies (in order):
- Office Space
- The Big Lebowski
- They Live
- The Usual Suspects
- Army of Darkness
- Donnie Darko
- Big Trouble in Little China
- The Shawshank Redemption
- Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
- Airplane
Now that you've seen our favorite cult hits, we want to see yours! What are the cult movies you pop into the DVD player (or even the VCR)? And if you don't agree with our picks, we'd love to hear what you think.
Oh… and a post about cult movies just wouldn't be complete without at least one image from Army of Darkness. :-P
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Handcuffed celebs enter BB house
The latest edition of Celebrity Big Brother launched tonight and took a new twist as the 12 contestants went into the house handcuffed together in pairs.
First to go in was the unlikely couple of comic Jim Davidson and Linda Nolan of the Nolan Sisters - who had announced before the show began that she did not like male chauvinist pigs.
Davidson described himself in his pre-show video as a "dirty stand up comedian" - "I've always thought that dirty jokes were the best", he said.
He told how he was a year late appearing on the Channel 5 show. "I was arrested as part of Operation Yewtree, I denied the allegations, and after nine months, the police decided that they had no alternative but to just do no further action," he said.
He added: "Do I hate women? No, not all of them" and "I'm really excited about going into the Big Brother house, and I hope there's lots of women with big knockers."
Nolan said in her pre-show video: "I don't like male chauvinist pigs. I think if I went into the house and there was a male chauvinist pig in there, if he does upset me, or some of the other women in the house, I wouldn't be frightened to tell him. I had Jim Davidson thrown out of a club once, so God help me if Jim Davidson's in there now."
When they were introduced to each other, she told him: "I think you're lovely when you're sober."
The next celebrity to be presented was former N-Dubz star Dappy, who said in his video: "Am I a bad boy? Yeah, a little bit. This year's been a bit crazy for me, the media has painted me out to be some sort of a monster, I'm simply here to repaint that picture."
He was shackled to Daily Mail journalist Liz Jones, who said in her video that she was "very OCD" and told host Emma Willis: "I quite like my own space."
When they were handcuffed together, she was asked how it was going to work, and said: "I especially like my own space around men," adding: "I think he's looking nervous."
Next to be handcuffed were Sam Faiers, of The Only Way Is Essex, and US actress Jasmine Waltz.
Faiers said in her video: "I'm 100% single, so if there's a nice guy in there, who knows." When they were shackled together, Waltz said: "I like this, she's hot."
Also handcuffed together were pop star Lee Ryan from boy band Blue and glamour model Casey Batchelor; Made In Chelsea's Ollie Locke and 82-year-old entertainer Lionel Blair, who asked "Couldn't you get me somebody good looking?" and Apprentice runner-up Luisa Zissman and former world heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield.
Davidson and Nolan were given the power to release one of the couples, including themselves, and chose Dappy and Jones. Davidson said: "I think they both look a bit stressed."
But Dappy and Jones were told that they would be among three pairs who will face eviction from the show next Wednesday.