text:
Spend time with your little ones with the family brunch that offers a choice of cuisines from around the world. While you relax, your children will be treated to a host of entertaining activities and performances including a bouncy castle, play area, face painting and Wii games
Saturday brunch (Saturday)
The Pirates and Mermaids brunchafternoon promises "an afternoon of epic swashbuckling fun and deep-sea fun". There are plenty of activities for everyone, including shows from Magic Phil and a bouncy castle. Plus there's a massive international buffet.
Dhs330 (soft drinks), Dhs460 (house beverages), Dhs622 (bubbly), free (kids under five).
Timings: 12.30pm-3.30pm
|The Address, Dubai Marina - Dubai Marina
|04 888 3444
|Sheikh Zayed Road
|Alcohol available, Outdoor seating, Brunch served, Family friendly, Pork served
|Open daily 6.30am-10.30am, 12.30pm-3pm, 6pm-11pm
|Price range:
|Credit Cards Accepted:
Is this your establishment? Want to update any details? Please send your updates here
Mazina on Map
Russ Bilbey Jan 31, 2015 04:20 am
After booking brunch at Mazina I was reading the reviews in horror, however, decided to go ahead on the basis that most of the reviews were more than 2 years old. In the end I was overjoyed that we decided to give it a go. The food was superb, an enormous variety of international, well-presented and tasty dishes and the service was nothing short of outstanding - a continual stream of waiters & waitresses attending to our every need. I would rate this brunch very highly and will likely be going back next week!
Sam shaw Jan 04, 2012 02:38 pm
I feel like I am to write this review purely on the decision of just receiving a follow up text from the mazina saying,"thank you for patronising (spelt wrong) Mazina,we look forward to have you dine with us again!"
Now if it's not bad enough that I made a formal complaint to the man who appeared to be in charge,they have the arrogance to try and wind me up further,leading me to now publicly slate their unprofessionalism!!!!
In brief we were greeted politely but by no means friendly! Every request we had seemed to come with a lot of persuasion from us and not followed up efficiently. Our main came before our starter,which we had waited for 30 mins for! It was cucumber sushi !!!!(must have been waiting for the cucumbers to grow!)
After paying a ridiculous price for an average wine (that no body came to pour all the way through the bottle)I decided to complain. The waiter apologised and offered us free desserts(which we wouldn't have ordered anyway) so we told them that we would prefer the price of the desserts deducted from the bill as we had waited 20 mins for our empty main plates to be removed (they were still there when we left the table to ask for the bill)at which point we were told they can't do that they can only compensate in food value!!!!
After some unpleasant exchange between us we walked out feeling like we had paid massively over what our night deserved and angry at the rudeness of the manager. I wouldn't have made this complaint had the text not been sent to my phone not 24 hrs later telling me I was "patronizing"(well educated manager I see!!!!)
Arthur Dell Aug 07, 2011 08:43 am
Not a very positive experience. The atmosphere gives a feeling of a typical hotel-style buffet-restaurant designed for quantity not quality. The drinks were about AED120 for a double, and while the service was very good, it didn't quite make up for their prices.
Disappointed Guest Aug 06, 2011 02:09 pm
We booked a table at Mazina, but when we arrived we felt the atmosphere lacking. We decided to have a drink at the bar, seeing that we are there. What a shock we had when we received the bill for our drinks! AED60 for a single Bacardi Black and Pepsi and AED50 for single Whisky & Soda.
This is more expensive than Buddha Bar!! What are they thinking?!?!
Roger Thorne Jul 31, 2011 06:24 am
Sorry- they have great serice and the food is very good - but 39aed for a warm bottle beer and 50aed for a small wine - for a brunch ! Sorry but I will not be coming back - there was 16 of us - 16 will not be coming back


text: Dear God *Our hearts and prayers go out those affected by the mega storm Sandy. The devastation is horrible in many areas and we pray to you Lord that you help the authorities, rescues, and re-building. We pray you draw all people to Jesus. We pray over this time when Americans are hurting so badly. There is no politics when people need your help. Thank you Lord. In the Name of Jesus, amen.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Get a Garmin Navigation system with free lifetime map updates for $105 from daily deal site Groupon. This is a national deal, and is redeemed on-line, so anyone can buy this deal! This is selling out fast...
And if you haven't signed up for ALL the big-deal-a-day websites I've written about check out the Master List of Daily Deal Sites.
Subscribe to Mommy's Wish List so you don't miss a deal.
Pay it forward, people!


text:
a lot of people wanted prints for "hotline miami", "sword & sworcery", "the foundling" and "the joker"... there you go! please have a look, i hope there's something for you too.
i will put some more stuff that suits walls and t's up there in the next time, but feel free to tell me what else you want to see on that Society6-profile!
thank you and happy shopping!


text:
This is a fun meme co-hosted by McGuffy's Reader and 15 and Meowing. Be sure to visit and join in the fun!
Here are the fill-ins:
1. A book I would like to see made into a movie is ____________________.
2. If I could afford a billboard, it would say __________________.
3. I have a hard time _________________________.
4. I really enjoy _____________________________.
Here are my responses:
Although I do not generally watch horror movies anymore, and this book was very scary to me on so many levels, I think that Beastia would make a great horror movie! This book was so scary at some points that it had me fighting off tears and a panic attack. It is a very short, but powerful, book.
Okay, chances are if I'm seeing a billboard, I'm on the road somewhere, maybe even the freeway. So, if I were able to afford a billboard (and maybe all of them along my path), it would say, "Back off, bucko!" Or, maybe even, "Slow down! Walmart will still be there. You, however, might not make it if you keep driving like that!"
I have a hard time performing or being in front of people. I am a behind-the-scenes person. David is our front-man.
I really enjoy researching our family's history and photographing things in nature. I can't imagine a life that didn't include these things.
|©2017 Suzanne G. McClendon
Have a blessed day, y'all!
Notice: This post contains affiliate links. If you click a link and make a purchase, we may financially benefit from your transaction, at no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support.
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More specifically, the NHL schedule for next year will ditch the current format and return to its pre-lockout roots. The division games will be reduced from 8 per team to 6, which means every NHL team will play every other team at least once a year. Which is how it should be.
Friday, November 30, 2007
Everything old is new again
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Two Wins Does Not a Day Off Make
Ladies and Gentlemen, The Deuce:
Well, that didn't take long, did it? After putting in two good efforts against two strong teams, New Caps bench boss Bruce Beaudreau gave the team the day off on Sunday. The result: The Caps apparently forgot how to try again.
Last night, the Caps put forth another stinker, a lackluster effort on national TV. Once again, The Russian Machine was the only one who appeared to care out there. Particularly stinky were Alex Semin, back from a 17-game absence (with a game or two in between), Michael Nylander, and Tomas Fleischman. Nylander and Fleischman should both be credited with assists on the Sabres second and third goals, since their horrible giveaways directly contributed to Buffalo scores. I like Nylander a lot, and he is a wizard in the offensive zone with the puck on his stick, but when he has an off game, he REALLY has an off game.
The rest of the Caps looked like they have all season, tentative, slow, and weak. The lack of a bruiser on defense who can actually move his feet (sorry, Erskine) is really starting to get old. In fact, I'm afraid our father, Original Six, is going to burst a blood vessel in his head if the D don't start hitting out there.
The Sabres forwards (and every other team's for that matter) fly around in the Caps' zone all game, trying spin-a-ramas and behind the back passes and all manner of things they would NEVER try against, say, the NJ defense. Somebody, at some point, has just got to tattoo someone out there. Also, could somebody tell Morrison and company that when somebody slashes Olie, you are allowed to shove them, push them, give them a face-wash, SOMETHING for crying out loud?! Anyway, on to the game analysis, depressing as that may be.
Going in to the game, I told Grumpy 3 that the speedy Sabres forwards would give our D fits, and that we would have a tough time beating Buffalo with all the speed they brought to bear. Well, they were faster, and we didn't hit them, but it was actually the Caps, not the Sabres, who killed the Caps last night. If not for the two egregious turnovers mentioned earlier, we might have been in this game until the end. Miller made a couple of great saves against the Russian Machine, and Nylander again missed a wide-open net. But what was most noteable last night was the lack of effort on the Capitals' part again.
I hope Bruce bag-skates them today until they puke. Somebody needs to motivate these guys. Before it kills our father.
Monday, November 26, 2007
Notes on the beggining of the Boudreau era
Not a bad way to start an NHL coaching career, eh? First, Coach Boudreau leads the Caps to an overtime victory in Philly (snapping a 5 game losing streak), then another win over Carolina at home. Since it's nearly impossible for a coach to drastically change a team's philosophy in only a couple days, let's look at the simple changes he's made to the Capitals gameplan that seem to have reinvigorated the team.
First, Boudreau has abandoned the concept of having two balanced power play lines and has instead stacked his first line with the best available talent. Playing Backstrom, Nylander, and Ovechkin at forward and Tom Poti and Mike Green on defense, the Caps power play unit has managed to pot 4 power play goals in two games. Even better, they've actually been goals created by the entire power play unit, not just individual brilliance from the Russian Machine as had been the case for the past couple seasons.
It's amazing to see how much more puck and player movement the Caps have had on the power play. With two outstanding setup men and the league's premier finisher down low, defenses have been forced to collapse on the forwards, and with Mike Green given the, ahem, green light to attack the weak side the Caps have looked actually looked like the talented offensive team they are. Two outstanding passes from our Swedish centers resulted in two goals by Green, and the Caps power play is back from the dead.
Second, Coach Boudreau has focused on maintaining an aggressive forecheck system instead of sitting back and allowing opposing teams to build up steam headed into the neutral zone. Not only has this made it more difficult for teams to start their attack, it's also resulted in many more opposition turnovers in the neutral zone and the Caps offensive zone, which has lead to the Caps having to cover much less ice in order to generate an attack.
While it's tough to say whether the Caps can sieze on this newfound momentum and claw their way back into the playoff picture, one thing is for sure. The Caps have become a much more fun team to watch, and a much less fun team to play against.
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Hanlon let go
Per the Caps, Glen Hanlon has been relieved of his coaching duties and replaced on an interim basis by former Hershey Bears head coach Bruce Boudreau. The move was not unexpected considering the Capitals are off to their worst start in over 25 years. However, Hanlon's tenure in Washington should not be judged based solely on this year's merits.
Glen Hanlon lead a team with a pittance of NHL caliber talent for two seasons, and for the entirety of those two seasons we almost never saw a team that gave less than everything it had. I don't think it's overreaching to say that the Capitals overachieved for those two seasons, and their coach's optimism, patience and understanding were all major reasons for that.
Unfortunately, most coaches in the NHL are not measured on what they do for young teams or how they teach young players to grow into NHL regulars, but on their records. As the team matured and new talent was added, Coach Hanlon eventually had to be measured by the standards of other coaches: wins and losses. But let us not forget that Glen Hanlon was the right coach for the Washington Capitals for two seasons. He should be commended for the job he did with the organization during that time.
Now it's time to move in another direction. So thank you Coach Hanlon for the job that you did in the previous two years. Caps fans will not forget you for it.
Now a new era begins. While it's far too early to say whether the Boudreau experiment will last past this season, it's clear that it was time for a change. Welcome Coach Boudreau.
And lets go Caps.
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
More on the offensive production woes
Unfortunately, the offense isn't as bad as it looks on paper. It's worse. Lets break down the list of goaltenders the Caps have faced this year and the result:
Opponent - Result - Goals sc0red - goals against - goaltender - (b) = backup
atl - w 3-1 goaltender: Lehtonen
car - w 2-0 Grahame (b)
nyi - w 2-1 Dipietro
nyr - l 1-8 Lundqvist
buf - l 3-7 Miller
nyi - l 2-5 DiPietro
pit - l 1-2 Fleury
tam - w 5-3 Denis (b)
van - l 2-3 Luongo
stl - l 3-4 Legace
tor - w 7-1 Toskala/Raycroft
nyr - l 0-2 Lundqvist (SO)
phi - l 2-3 Nittymaki (b)
car - l 0-5 Ward (SO)
atl - otl 1-2 Pavelec (b)
ott - w 4-1 Emery (b)
tam - l 2-5 Holmqvist
fla - l 1-2 Vokoun
tam - l 2-5 Holmqvist
fla - l 3-4 Vokoun
Of the Caps 6 wins, a full half have come against goaltenders that are not currently considered starters for their respective teams. At this point, the "we ran into a hot goaltender" excuse is getting as played out as it was in the mid 80s. The Caps barely hold a winning percentage against the league's second tier goaltenders (3-2). It has to be said... it's not the goaltenders, it's the offensive system (or lack thereof).
Tonight, the Caps have a chance to start turning things around against the Thrashers. If the team can't claw out a win on home ice tonight, there may be some folks who get much longer than expected stays at home after the holiday.
Monday, November 19, 2007
So Long, Sudsy
Per the horse's mouth, the Capitals have traded Brian "Granite Chin" Sutherby to Anaheim for a second round pick in the 2009 entry draft.
Friday, November 16, 2007
Welcome to Lottery City
Ladies and gentlemen, the Deuce:
Early this morning, J.P. of Japers had his post-game offering. Just one mistake, he had the score 3-2. Wishful thinking, J.P. You're giving the Caps' offense WAY more credit than they deserve. TWO whole goals in one game?! Come on, that's expecting an awful lot. Last night, like this whole season, was atrocious. I wanted to throw up, in part because I knew I'd be reading the same ridiculous, "we're getting our chances, the puck's just not bouncing our way" quotes again today. Good teams make their own bounces. Of course, we are nowhere NEAR a good team right now. In fact, we're bad. Really bad. Has the Peerless Prognosticator upped the Playoff Threat Advisory to RED yet? If not, he should.
There are so many bad qualities about this team right now that it would take me all morning to focus on all of them. Bad line combinations, bad matchups, bad in-game adjustments, poor effort, bad giveaways, atrocious power play, bad penalty killing, bad offense -- just BAD. And of course, the most frustrating part of it all is that we as Caps fans just KNOW this team is better than this, much better (of course, we're the only ones who think this right now). Anyway, before I go through the litany of woes, I'll just look at one of the worst aspects of the Caps offense this year (there will be time to go through another after tonight's thrashing at the hands of the white-hot Lightning): The "Power" Play:
First, let's look at the personnel we could throw out there together (and no Glen Hanlon, I will not include Donald Brashear or Joe Motzko as possibilities):
Ovechkin, Clark, Nylander, Backstrom, Poti, Green. There are six guys to choose from who could legitimately play on the first power play for most teams. I won't include fringe PP-types like Pettinger and/or Flash, because they haven't proven themselves yet in that capacity. Now with those six players to choose from (and you can take out Clark if you want because of all the games he missed with injuries), shouldn't the Caps really be better on the PP than 15.0%? I think so. The Caps have scored 12 PPGs in 18 games so far -- pretty bad. It's even worse when you consider that five of those tallies have come from Ovechkin -- and at least 3 of them were individual efforts that in no way reflected a nicely set up passing play resulting in a PPG (if I remember correctly, two have come on rapid fire wristers off the faceoff, and one came where he dangled his way down the left side, cut into the middle around the defenseman, and scored on the rush). So that reduces the true PPGs from 12 to 9. So basically, without OV's great individual efforts, our PP would be second worst in the league, second only to the woeful Edmonton Oilers power play which has tallied only SEVEN times this season. But I can undertstand EDM's woes: Souray is injured, and the rest of their PP consists of Shawn Horcoff, Rafi Torres, Dustin Penner, Joni Pitkanen, and Dick Tarnstrom. Yikes. So as you can see, there is absolutely NO excuse for the Caps' players listed above to be producing at the level of EDM's PP, which is essentially what they are doing.
So what's the problem? Well, as I've detailed before, the first problem is that Hanlon got way too cute at the beginning of the season, and tried to have TWO good PP units when he really should have been focusing on just one. The exact same mistake he made last year. The result -- you had the evil Victor Kozlov playing with OV and Clark, and Poti and heaven-only-knows who else manning the point. The problem -- those guys couldn't maintain possession of the puck down low. The second unit was Backstrom, Nylander, and Pettinger playing with, gasp, Pothier and Green up top. Not surprisingly, Nylander, a puck possession and passing specialist, leads the team with 8 power play points (3 PPGs, 5 PPAs). In other words, if Nylander and OV ain't on the ice, don't even bother watching! After a few games of this two-headed monster, I was begging Hanlon to put OV and Nylander together. But he steadfastly refused until just three games ago -- against Carolina. Just before that game, I asked Mike Vogel why Hanlon wouldn't put OV and Nyls together. Here was his response:
Well, they tried it last night. I am one who believes if it's going to work and work well in the long run that 8 and 92 are going to need some practice time together. Anyone who has watched Nylander play has to know that he is not the easiest guy in the world to play with. As to why they hadn't tried it before, two reasons. One, they truly believe that the best chemistry combos are with 8 and 25 and 92 and 28. And second, I think they believe the resulting line combos make the team a bit weaker defensively."
Fair enough. But when Semin went down, it should have been obvious to Hanlon that he needed to play his best players together. That has only just started to happen. And I, for one, don't think Nylander would be that hard to play with. Just go to the net and put your stick on the ice -- he'll get the puck to you in great scoring position.
Back to the PP. So the two PP idea didn't work out. The first line didn't work the puck well down low -- in part because of the Caps' D-men's total inability to put a puck anywhere in the vicinity of the net (Pothier). Because nobody feared a big blast nice and low and on net from the point, they cheated down on Ovechkin, knowing he was the only real threat on the "first" power play (I know, you're saying "What? They weren't afraid of Kozlov?) So, about eight games too late, Hanlon adjusted by putting OV on the point. Not a terrible decision -- now teams have to cheat out high, opening space for the other guys to work down low. He also moved Nylander to the first PP. The only problem -- now there's no finisher to bury Nylander's nice thread-the-needle passes.
The Deuces's solution -- Nylander, Clark, and Ovechkin down low -- this allows Clark and OV to win loose pucks, and Nylander to control the play and look for any opening to split the box and hit OV for a one-timer. Poti and Green up high. And Tom, for crying-out-loud, shoot the frikkin' puck every once in a while. Don't get cute -- just crush it. You're supposed to have a bomb from up there, make teams fear it. If not, we'll just call up Godfrey. At least three times last night I watched Poti pass up a good shot opportunity from the point because it wasn't perfect. Who cares? Put it on net, and Clark and OV will do the rest.
So there you have it, the solution to all our power play woes, and the ticket out of Lottery City. Maybe.
And, oh yeah, here are Original Six's words of wisdom on last night's game: "The season is not over however I think that it may be time to look at hiring a new coach that will light a fire under some player's butts. I love Glen Hanlon but it is now obvious that he cannot motivate these players. Is Mike Keenan still alive?"
Friday, November 9, 2007
Raise your hand if you saw THAT coming
Now allow me to call all of you with your hands raised liars. What an impressive 4-1 victory over the artists formerly known as the hottest team in the league. The Caps put together one of their better overall games of the year and, thanks to the brilliant goaltending of Olie Kolzig, dominated the Senators for all three periods. The Senators faithful sounded much more like a crowd of 8,000 than a packed house of over 18,000.
It looked to be all doom and gloom for the Caps in the second with the score knotted at 0 when Jeff Shultz and Tom Poti were whistled for minor infractions within a minute of one another. On the ensuing penalty kill, Dave Steckel broke his stick, and Caps fans everywhere waited for the hammer to fall... and waited... and waited... and nothing happened. Olie Kolzig played like a man possessed, the defense held, and the Caps were able to get a stoppage of play. Glen Hanlon wisely spent a timeout to rest his weary penalty killers, who responded by snuffing out the rest of the Ottawa penalty. If the Caps are able to reel off a few wins and get themselves out of the cellar, that penalty kill will be pointed to as the turning point in this young season.
A little more than halfway through the second, someone finally let Viktor Kozlov know the season had started, and he responded with an impressive effort, scoring once on a great individual effort and setting up two more Caps tallies on his way to being named the number one star of the night. Also notable was Nicklas Backstrom potting is first NHL goal, and the Russian Machine sealing the victory with a pretty delayed snapper late in the third.
The Caps need to carry all the momentum they can muster into Saturday's tilt against Tampa, where the Caps look to break out from the bottom of the standings and start the rise to the middle of the pack. Tampa has yet to win on the road, and the Caps will have had a couple days to soak in the glory of this victory and rest up for the game. All signs point towards a hard fought Caps victory, as long as someone can keep Kozlov awake during the game.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Uh oh...
While we'd love to be optomistic about tonight's faceoff with the Senators, it's very, very difficult to see anything but another Carolina-style whuppin coming. The Caps are sliding dangerously close to irrelevance, having won only 2 of their last 10 games. The Senators, meanwhile, have won 9 of their last 10 and are 13-1 overall. They've mowed down the opposition, racking up goals to the tune of 3 1/2 a game.
The one place to find solace? The Caps beat Toronto by a larger margin (6 goals) than Ottawa (4) in their last meeting. Hey, you gotta find SOMETHING positive in there.
The Caps clearly need a win, but just as important, they need a breakthrough game on the scoresheet. While I'm no fan of moral victories, a 5-4 loss to the league's best team would be something to build on going into this weekend's matchup with Tampa. But in order for that to happen, the Caps need to do the little things that they have been missing.
On the power play, the Caps need to abandon the whole "Holmstrom-like" concept of planting someone in front of the net at all times. A strategically timed skater moving across the goaltender's field of view is just as valuable as a flat footed player in front, and said player is much less likely to be killed by an Ovechkin one timer. So Glen, please stop trying to murder your players by setting stationary screens in front of the net when you KNOW your snipers pick top corners, and do it at high velocity. At this rate, if a change isn't made every player on the roster will be knocked out by an OV slapper by the end of the season.
At even strength, the Capitals absolutely must play physical hockey in all three ends. To paraphrase the great Herb Brooks, the Caps are not talented enough to win on talent alone. The Caps need to grind against skill teams (Ottawa, Carolina, Tampa), play with skill against grind teams (New Jersey, Vancouver), and they've done precious little of either as of late.
Third, to make this even a remotely close game, Olie Kolzig needs to channel a performance from the 1998 playoff run and frustrate the Senators snipers early. If he can hold the score to 1 or 2 goals in the first two periods, the Caps have a chance. If not....
Despite how dire the situation looks, the Caps don't need a win tonight to keep their hopes alive. What they need is a strong performance heading into Saturday's Southeast Division showdown with Tampa, which IS a make or break game for them. I expect a gritty performance, and maybe an OT point tonight.
Caps 4, Sens 5 (OT).
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Join The Deuce's Boycott
The Deuce is ticked. The Deuce was looking forward to watching The Russian Machine dominate Kovalchuk tonight, and in the process forgetting about that-which-need-not-ever-be-mentioned-again that-happened-last-night. But then, thanks to J.P., the Deuce discovered the following:
"Because the NHL has decided to give the Versus Network exclusive rights to some Monday and Tuesday night telecasts, Tuesday's game from Atlanta will not be telecast in the Washington or Atlanta areas. Instead, viewers can watch the New York Rangers against the New York Islanders on Versus."
Now the Deuce is pissed. I have to watch two teams I can't stand rather than watching the Caps try to finally break out of this horrible slump. And you just KNOW now that I can't watch, OV will have four goals, three set up on beautiful passes by Nylander. Damn you Versus. Damn you to hell. Why couldn't you black out LAST night's game? Now there's one I wouldn't have minded. Anyway, The Deuce encourages everyone to join him in a boycott of tonights NYC Suckfest. We may not be able to watch the Caps, but the least we can do is refuse to watch Jagr and Witt.
Update: Looks like we're going to miss Chris Bourque's NHL thanks to the "exclusivity agreement." This sucks.
Caps Run Into Juggernaut; Canes 5, Caps 0
Ladies and gentlemen, the Deuce:
Well, that was fun, wasn't it. Last night a desperate Glen Hanlon finally did what Caps fans have been begging for for weeks now and the result was -- a total domination at the hands of the Hurricanes. Make no mistake about it, the Caps got absolutely destroyed last night. Anyone who watched saw a thorough domination by what, at this point at least, appears to be one of the best teams in the league this year. Right now, the Canes are playing like the team that won the Cup two years ago. And the hapless Caps simply could not compete. So enough of that. Let's try and analyze what we can from last night's debacle.
1) Glen Hanlon finally gave in and played OV with Nylander and Backstrom. And while no result from last night can be characterized as "good," there are two positive takeaways here: the first is that for most of the time they were together, they controlled the play and got good scoring chances -- it's just that nothing was going to get by Ward last night. The second is that we now know that Hanlon is desperate enough to try this, so we should be able to see more if it. I honestly think if this line plays together against most teams in the league, they're good for at least 2 goals a game.
2) Where is the fire? Why aren't Sutherby, Bradley, and Laich playing like their jobs depend on every shift (because they do). We're down four and five zip, and these guys aren't hitting out there. (Although in their defense, it may be that they simply couldn't catch the blazing fast Canes).
3) What happened to the tightened standards and the "New NHL" last night. Every time the Caps would try to skate the puck up ice last night, they got whacked, not just hooked, but whacked repeatedly on the stick and forearm by the Canes. The Russian Machine especially is going to have to spend all day with his arms in a tub full of ice water. Not saying it would have made a difference last night, because nothing would have, but come on ref, throw us a freakin bone here, will ya? In one eggregious example Staal just about took Oveckin's arm of with two two-handers in a row, causing OV to lose control of the puck and resulting in an offside call. And no penalty. Oh well.
4) Is it just me, or was that a reputation call on Brashear last night? Yes, he hit the guy into the boards. This is hockey, isn't it? And that defenseman already had his face next to the glass, since he was turning away from another Cap (Laich?) who tried to hit him. Five and a game? Only if your name is Brashear (or Pronger)? It seems like Brash gets more than his share of these types of calls. Let's just say I think the refs tend to focus on him when he's out there. And we can't afford any "extra" scrutiny from the officials.
5) The best part of last night's game? That the Caps play again today, so we can forget about it fast. I expect a much better game against Atlanta, since the Russian Machine always gets up to play against another Russian superstar, and Atlanta is not nearly the team Carolina has been in its last 8 games. Too bad Thrasher Killer Semin won't be in the lineup, since he's always good for two or three against ATL.
BOLD PREDICTION: Caps Right the Ship. Caps 5, Thrash 3. Nylander and Ovechkin combine for 3 goals and 6 points. Kovalchuk only nets 2.*
* - all of this goes out the window if Hanlon abandons the Nylchkinstrom Line. Or at least the Nyl-chkin part of it.
Monday, November 5, 2007
A tale of two (Southeast) cities
Since shutting out the Hurricanes in their first meeting of the season, Carolina and Washington have been teams headed in opposite directions. Carolina has been inconsistent, but still able to post a respectable 6-2-2 record in their last 10 games, while the Caps have gone a pathetic 2-8-0. Carolina is scoring at a league leading pace (3.79 goals per game) while the Caps have scored a paltry 2.53 goals per game. Carolina sits first in the Southeast division with 19 points, while the Caps sit tied for last with 10.
The Caps have already been bitten hard by the injury bug, with Tom Poti, Alexander Semin, and Chris Clark all missing chunks of the schedule. While Poti may play tonight, neither Semin nor Clark will be available.
So how do the Caps right the ship against Carolina, and gain some momentum going into a stretch of 11 in-division games out of 14? While there are many areas that need improvement, there are three that come to mind:
1. More physical play from the top 2 lines. The Caps may not be the group of rough and tumble grinders from last season, but they need to play more like they are. While nobody expects Nylander or Backstrom to level anyone, every player on the Caps roster needs to rededicate themselves to playing the body. I'm not asking for devastating open ice hits like the one Ovechkin laid on Staal last time the two teams met, but is it too much to ask for Viktor Kozlov to actually lay his gigantic frame into an opposing player rather than meekly swiping a poke check attempt at them?
2. More movement on the power play. Since Hanlon has finally decided to throw all his best offensive players on the ice at once, it would be nice to see them create some confusion among the defenders by having the players shift their positions on the ice, rather than simply passing around the defensive box for a minute looking for a clean shot. The way to create shooting lanes is to draw defenders away from their assigned areas, which can only be done by moving forwards across shooting lanes while the puck is being moved. Doing so has several positive effects. First, it creates a momentary screen, so the goaltender temporarily loses sight of the puck. Second, it either forces a defender out of position if one wing is overloaded or leaves an open man in the position the moving player occupies. The point man on that side then has an option to either skate the puck at goal (if the defender follows the moving forward), shooting through the screen, or passing to the open man at the back post (if the defender does not break formation and follow his man). Any way you slice it, the offense has many more options than just passing around the defensive box. Movement on the power play creates offense. Right now the Caps are standing still.
3. Move Kolzov to the wing and move Nylander to the first line. At this point there is absolutely no excuse not to play your best set up man with your best shooter. Furthermore, chemistry with Ovechkin or no, Kozlov has looked absolutely atrocious his last few outings, and something needs to change. If lining Nylander up with the Russian Machine seemed like a no-brainer at the start of the season, it is even more so now with the Caps struggling to find their way on offense. And the Caps have enough natural centers on the roster to allow Nick Backstrom to continue to play the wing without disrupting the entire lineup if they still feel he's not ready to take on the position. (Never thought I'd be typing that sentence a year ago)
4. Get Mike Green shifts with the first line. Right now Greener is the 4th best offensive player in the lineup (behind OV, Nylander and Backstrom). While he still holds the puck too long and is a genuine heart attack waiting to happen in his own zone, he has the talent to draw defending players to him on a rush, freeing up Ovechkin from the constant double teaming he receives and allowing him to take on defenders one on one after a pass. And any time the Russian Machine is one on one with anybody in the league, it's a good thing for the Caps.
So there we have it. Four ways to improve the Caps chances as they head into a stretch of hockey that may well define their season. Lets hope that Hanlon makes at least some of those adjustments and the Caps right the ship. I don't even want to think about what might happen to the Caps season if he doesn't.
Friday, November 2, 2007
Caps Continue to Forget About Offense: Rangers 2, Caps 0
Ladies and gentlemen, the Deuce:
Anyone who watched the game last night should have known we were in trouble halfway through the first period when we were outshooting the Rangers 8-0, and had 0 goals. You could see Lundqvist starting to find that "zone" that means nothing short of a screened shot or a rebound was getting by him. And you could also see it on the Caps' faces (see, Kozlov, Victor; Nylander, Michael). Of course, there is one thing that can put a puck past even the hottest of goalies: A great first line.
Now I know, I know, the Caps were severly depleted yesterday, missing Chris Clark and Ankle Semin and Groin Poti and blah blah blah and The Donald was double shifting last night and so on. You know when is a good time to just say, "screw it," and throw out your best players together? Um, when there are no other options.
I've said it before and I'll say it until Hanlon or somebody out there listens. A great 1st line in the NHL can get you 3 goals a night. At least. And last night, Ovechkin-Nylander-Kozlov/Backstrom would have been nearly unstoppable. It bears repeating: Nobody in the NHL can take the puck off Nylander's stick. They know it, and just back off him, giving him even more room to operate and look for a sweet pass. Now imagine that the other team has to worry about Ovechkin as well as Nylander (we don't know what this would look like because Hanlon hasn't put them on the ice together for a single even-strength shift this season). It would be awesome.
It's almost as if Hanlon knows this is what everyone wants to see, and is just resisting to be stubborn. Glen, we won't think any less of you as a coach if you recognize that Ovechkin-Kozlov was a mistake. In fact, it will mean you know how to make adjustments, which, I hear, is kind of important in an NHL coach. Let's look at the other teams that played last night:
OTT 6, ATL 4: Alfredsson had 2 G and 2 A, Heatley had 2 A, and Randy Robitaille, filling in for Spezza, had 2 G. On the other side, Kovalchuk had the hat trick and Hossa an assist.
DET 2, CGY 1: Shockingly, the Zetterberg/Datsyuk line combined for 4 points (2G, 2A) - on the other side, Tanguay had a goal, assist to Iginla.
STL 3, MIN 2: The big line of Tkachuk/Kariya/Boyes that killed the Caps came through with a goal for Tkachuk, assists to Kariya and Boyes, and on the other side, the big Gaborik/Demitra line got all the scoring for Min, with a goal and and assist each.
In Colorado, the big Crosby/Malkin line ended up with BOTH Pens goals, both by Crosby, assist to Malkin (now there's a coach who isn't afraid to put his best players together, EVEN THOUGH BOTH ARE CENTERS! Who cares??!! Put your superstars together, and nobody can stop them!). For COL, the Sakic/Smyth line (who by the way have been tearing up the league), finished with assists from both Sakic and Smyth.
In the Columbus/Anaheim game, everyone fell asleep. Columbus, which has no stars, finished with 20 shots and no goals in the shootout. Rob Neidermeyer scored with an assist from Pahlsson for ANA.
Nashville got two power play goals and points on all three goals came from four players: J.P. Dumont, Jason Arnott, David Legwand, and Martin Erat. Vancouver's big Sedin line was shut out.
MON: 5, PHI: 2: Koivu, Higgins, Kovalev, Latendresse get four of the five goals. For Philly, Upshall and Richards get the goals, with assists from Carter and Danielle Briere.
I think that's enough. As you can see, for almost all of these games, the star players scored most of the goals (no surprise there), but the great majority of those goals came from superstars playing TOGETHER - Heatley/Alfredsson/Robitaille; Zetterberg/Datsyuk/Holmstrom; Tkatchuk/Kariya/Boyes; Crosby/Malkin/Whoever, Sakic/Smyth/Whoever (ah, to be Whoever). So you're telling me that Ovechkin/Nylander/Whoever couldn't come up with two measley goals last night?! REALLY? Well, how about we test the hypothesis before we dismiss it Glen! I'm tired of this impotent offense. I'm tired of "spreading the (lack of) scoring around." I'm tired of "just wait until Semin gets back." I'm tired of playing Russians with Russians and Swedes with Swedes. STACK A FRIKKIN' LINE HANLON -- SEE WHAT HAPPENS. You just might like what you get. Especially when Semin and Clark are out, and you're playing Nylander with Brooks Frikkin Laich and/or The Donald. We are wasting Nylander's all-world talents. You don't think the Rangers would kill to have him back right now? Let's do something with him!


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No matter what happens in Commonwealth Stadium on Saturday, the Kentucky and Louisville football teams will have a difficult time matching the heat — metaphorically and literally — generated by their schools' volleyball teams Tuesday night.
Memorial Coliseum's lack of air conditioning added to the competitive challenge as Kentucky and Louisville went the limit of five exhausting sets.
"I didn't even play and felt I lost six pounds out there," UK Coach Craig Skinner said after his team prevailed 17-25, 25-23, 25-20, 19-25 and finally 15-11.
When U of L Coach Anne Kordes arrived at the post-match news conference a few minutes later, she noted the sweat-stained seat she was about to take.
"The chair's all soaking wet," she said. "I'm sure I'll make it wetter."
The temperature on UK's new Taraflex vinyl court as the match began was 91 degrees. Four large ceiling fans, two over the stands along each sideline, barely stirred the air.
After Louisville won the first set 25-17, the Cards narrowly missed a chance to really turn up the heat, figuratively speaking. The Cardinals trailed 24-18 and the UK public address announcer spoke in capital letters to the crowd: "GET ON YOUR FEET!! SET POINT, CATS!!"
But U of L won the next point, then the next, then the next and finally closed to within 24-23.
Then Kentucky won a point to close out the set.
"We could have packed it in when they got it to 23," Skinner said.
Louisville saw a potentially pivotal moment melt away.
"There's no question," said Kordes, who is due to give birth to her first child (a daughter) in early November. "We go up two-zero (in sets), it's mental on both ends."
From there, the two teams settled into a siege.
The announced crowd of 1,888 — the largest for a UK home match this season — included former NBA superstar Patrick Ewing. His daughter, Randi, plays middle blocker for Louisville.
The memorable volleyball competition marked the first time the elder Ewing had been back in Lexington since his Georgetown team lost an epic 1985 national championship game to Villanova in Rupp Arena.
"Bad memories," Ewing said with a smile.
An assistant coach with the Charlotte Bobcats, Ewing said the match was probably the only time he'd see his daughter play this season.
His daughter played three seasons for Fordham before transferring to Louisville to attend graduate school. Like her father, Randi wore No. 33 and stood as an imposing figure (she's listed at 6-foot) in the scoring area.
A bit of history occurred in the third set, which saw Kentucky score the first six points and never trail. Outside hitter Whitney Billings made her sixth dig en route to 11 for the match. That marked the 1,000th of her career. With her 1,000 kills already in the books, Billings became the first UK player to make the 1,000-1,000 double.
In the fourth set, Louisville took the initiative. The Cardinals scored the first six points of the set and kept Kentucky at bay to set up a dramatic fifth and deciding set.
Fittingly, the set punctuated an evenly played match. The score was tied at 7-7, 8-8, 9-9, 10-10 and 11-11 before Kentucky won the final four points.
All the while, Skinner kept his blue tie knotted at his neck. It remained pressed against the top of his buttoned white shirt as he met reporters afterward.
"Funny, I saw an ice bucket behind the bench and I thought about sticking my head in it," he said when asked about never loosening the tie.
Players from both teams spoke of the competition as a blessing. It made the heat recede to some subconscious area of the mind.
"We do practice in it," opposite hitter Shelby Workman said. "It's definitely not been that hot for a while. But in August, it was 100 (degrees). We just have to fight through it."
Both teams had to.
"I've been in (heat) before," Louisville libero Caitlin Welch said. "I'd rather be in it and play rather than watch."


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This Blog accompanies my class Miss Bronte Meets Miss Pym. There are graphics and photos, bliographies and lists of books in print. Included is information about related topics and The other Brontes, Shirley Jackson, Laura Ingalls Wilder and Susan Glapsell. Please visit often, and feel free to visit whether you are in my course or not. In Memory of our Friend Cathy Berta
Friday, January 4, 2013
Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, I Love Lucy, The Dick Van Dyke Show, and The Mary Tyler Moore Show; From Excellent Women to Feminine Mystique
I love Samantha, and the way she took control of any any situation; I loved the BW episode where Endora meets Darrin, and she lectures him on preventing Samantha from being herself and practicing witchcraft. Of course, even though Endora is cast as the villain, Samantha defies everyone, and stil uses witchcraft. Samantha, Jeannie, Lucy, Laura Petire, and even Mary Richards all seem to have extraordinary natures that do not jive with the feminine mystique of their time. They are excellent women with unusual and amazing skills, but they can't use them. Poor Lucy has great ideas, but is always doing "splaining," and in one episode, she and Lucy are ridculed and reprimanded for demanding Equal Rights as women. And, there were women writers, producers, and creators, Lucille Ball herself, involved in what has been voted as the best sitcom every. Jeannie knows better than Tony, and could prevent a lot of disasters, but if "Master" tells her not to, she can't do it. Mr. Grant tells Mary she has spunk, but that he hates spunk. Laura Petrie is talented and capable, as is Sally Rogers the writer, but Laura dissovles into Rob's masculine arms with "OOH, Rob!" when things get too touch, and the multialented Sally is reduced to joking and prowling around for a man. Don't get me wrong; these are among my all time favorite TV shoes, but after reading Friedan's "Mystique," I can't help but see that she is right, despite any exceptions that anyone carved out for themselves. Like Pym's excellent women, they are doomed to making tea or its equivalent, giving parties, and making the men in their lives feel smarter and more authoritative than they really are. Your thoughts?
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text: Breadcrumb Home > Dictionary Cite Meaning of auriferous Find definitions for: au•rif•er•ous Pronunciation: (ô-rif'ur-us), [key] — adj. yielding or containing gold. Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease. See also: auriferous (Thesaurus) auriculoventricular auriform Related Content Daily Word Quiz: sylvan Analogy of the Day: Today's Analogy Spelling Bee: Today's Spelling Bee Frequently Misspelled Words Frequently Mispronounced Words Easily Confused Words Writing & Language


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I play games on Facebook occasionally and I can tell you that at some point, most people (including gamers) get annoyed by the constant game requests popping up everywhere, even your phone! You don't have to be a victim to these requests and you don't have to unfriend the people that are sending the requests. You can take control of the issue.
Some things to think about:
1. Don't blame the gamers. They aren't bugging non-gamers on purpose. Seriously, they don't get some secret thrill from getting on your nerves with their requests. Blame the games if you need to find fault somewhere. It's basic business marketing schemes at work in cyberspace. If a gamer sends you a request, then they assume that you play or it was an accident.
2. Gamers aren't sending you requests every day. Well, not always. If your name is somehow in the list of people who play the game, most gamers aren't checking through the names of request recipients so you're getting it accidentally along with the real gamers. Invitations to games might be made once then the game will send the request to you every freaking day in the hopes that you will finally be bored enough to check it out one day.
3. Don't be mean and rude to gamers because you're irritated by their games. People that do this make me really mad because it tells me that they don't care about the person they're calling out. It also tells me that they are too lazy or incompetent to figure out a solution to the problem without resorting to such low actions. You have the power to fix the problem. If you don't know how, then I assume you at least know how to Google it and find the solution. Right? It's not difficult and if you care enough, you'll find the time. It's no different than people using coupons and price-matching at the store or the old person wearing out their brakes while driving 5 mph with a line of cars behind them. If you can't bring yourself to do anything because you feel the gamer should take control of the situation, then at least send them a private message. Don't embarrass them. Not cool.
4. Don't assume that gamers are lazy slobs with no life. Many are introverts and it's their way to escape or relax. It's no better or worse than watching tv or reading a book for relaxation; it's just different. Many people also have jobs or situations where they spend a lot of time waiting for other people. That gets boring! All I'm saying is instead of being critical and judgmental, you can try being understanding.
5. You will not offend a gamer by blocking a game or ignoring a request. No one can play all of the games out there and everyone does this. Gamers understand that it's not everyone's cup of tea. In fact, the gamer will be relieved to know that they are not going to accidentally annoy you with their games if you chose to block the games.
6. How to block. It's a pain but once blocked, it's done. Until Facebook pulls one of it's usual stunts. When you seen the game request, type in the name of the game and go to their Facebook page. NOT THE APP! To the left of the game's page, you will see three dots next to "Share". Click the dots and scroll down to "Block Application".
You can also click on "Games" on your newsfeed page (left side under "Apps"). At the top, click on "Activity". Then you can choose "Invitations" or "Requests". Click on the game name. A box will come up inviting you to Play or Cancel. Look at the bottom right of the box. Click "View in App Center". At the right you'll see some options including the Block option. Click it and you're done.
I hope you find this helpful and that it will help create peace and understanding on this topic. We fight about enough things, lets cross this one off the list. It's easily remedied. I hope you care enough about your friends to try.


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Egg Cartons Decorative Mirror
Even though, this Egg Cartons Decorative Mirror made by Johanna from Better Homes and Gardens is all about flowers, I could try this project and have some fun with it. As we don't eat eggs at all, I would have to ask my neighbour to store those cartons for me in case I want to make such recycled mirror frame for my Mom's birthday.
Don't be discouraged by the number of tools you'll have to use to complete this craft. It is actually worth to prepare all supplies very carefully as it'll only help you gain this amazing effect. After finishing, don't forget to throw the rest of cartons to recycling bins. As you can see, recycling doesn't have to be boring. Both, Ombre Spoon Mirror, and this one out of egg cartons are examples of creative crafts that literally reflect your attitude to ecology.
Check out the tutorial on Better Homes and Gardens.


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JB: Okay. So lets just start off nice and light by talking about cinema that you enjoy. In recent times you cited Magnolia (P.T. Anderson, 1999) as one of your favorite films. What makes this film stand out above all others?
ME: Firstly a correction. I have stated that I think Magnolia is the greatest film of all time and I've said that since I first saw it five years ago. And as for why? Film is a directors medium. Anderson is a brilliant storyteller and I think Magnolia would be the best film of all time even on a technical level. The music, the editing, the photography... it creates an incredible mood and atmosphere and I think the mastery behind the camera is stunning. But it also works on a much more intimate, emotional level. Every character, even if I don't relate to them, I feel for them. Every time I re-watch the film it's like meeting up with old friends still in the same dislocated pit of despair and I want them to get better. It's such a complete vision and just overpoweringly emotional, filled with great scene after great scene. The ending has me in floods of tears.
JB: One of the things I felt about Magnolia was that if a standard audience that was used to seeing your standard family film blockbuster saw this, they would very much not enjoy themselves. Is this true in your eyes? What are your thoughts on the matter?
I think it's very untrue and I would argue that you're projecting your negative response to the film onto a presupposed audience, which is always unwise. I think as a three hour melodrama it would be tough to adjust to but people need variety. What better break from family friendly spectacle than a gritty, emotional character piece? It's all about investment. If you don't invest in Magnolia you won't like it. It doesn't matter about colour or religion or background; film is universal. I think Magnolia is a work of art and no matter what you're used to or where you're from if you invest in this story you have the possibility of being rewarded. It's an incredibly affecting piece of work.
JB: What are the films that really get to you? Shed a tear or two maybe? What are these films and why did they make you react in that way?
ME: Well obviously Magnolia. I think the last scene is a beautiful moment; the joining between two lonely and broken souls who need each other so desperately. It's a confession of love in a film that has been unrelentingly bleak and every time it makes me cry and gives me hope. The films of Lars von Trier make me cry often. The Idiots (1998) and Dancer In The Dark (2000) especially. To say why would be to spoil moments in those films but I felt strongly for the characters and their circumstances. The Idiots actually made me sad for days, it took a while to get over. The ending of Let The Right One In (Tomas Alfredson, 2008) lifts my heart. I wept like a child at the swimming pool scene. I don't shed a tear for Before Sunrise (Richard Linklater, 1995) because it's not that kind of film, but it's my second favorite film of all time and it fills my heart with joy and sadness equally. The feeling of innocence, love and hope and uncertainty in that conclusion (and equally in the sequel Before Sunset, 2004) is incredible.
JB: There has always been a divide to what the critics think and what audiences feel when they watch a film. Do you think this is because of a different mindset or because of the circumstances of the two audience types?
ME: It probably is down to mindset but this is hard to answer. A critic still enjoys a film, they still experience it because they are an audience member. It's just that they have a more detailed knowledge and point of reference to back up their opinion. So this is always acting subconsciously (or consciously) when looking at the mise-en-scene etc. I've never known how not to watch a film that way, so I can't speak for the public. But I find it hard to believe a mainstream audience member doesn't notice differing quality of direction or coherency in a film, or doesn't feel offended by certain morals that are present in 'light' entertainments or even artistic works.
JB: There are many types of film genre. What are your favorites and why?
ME: I think science fiction and westerns are extremely interesting as they can work in both an entertainment and artistic sense, as well as being existential and elegiac respectively, which are interesting themes to present technically and emotionally. They're both very accessible and popular genres for exactly that reason. Most people can kick back to Star Wars (George Lucas, 1977) or Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid (George Roy Hill, 1969) and those are great films. But the genres also pivot off into fascinating dimensions such as The Ninth Configuration (William Peter Blatty, 1981) and The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford (Andrew Dominik, 2007). Action is also lots of fun to kick back to, when it's done well. Horror is also a big one for me, I love being scared by a film and taken into the dark depths. This is a hard question to answer as a critic because i've seen amazing films from every genre. Magnolia is a drama so how can I not say that? A character study will always appeal to me. The genre I like least is comedy but there are films in that genre that I think are masterpieces.
JB: I think it's more obvious that audiences today would like something more action packed or glamorous compared to say an arthouse film that inspires thought and creativity. How do you think the film industry needs to overcome this problem? Or rather do you think they plan on correcting this 'mishap' at all?
ME: I don't think they plan on fixing anything as long as the films they distribute widely are popular. If something makes money Hollywood assumes people like it, so they make another one. And people keep going to see it because it's there and they don't have the time to look outside of the listings for their local multiplex. They have lives to live. Most people want to go to the cinema after work or at the weekend to have a good time and invest into something, so it has to be easy. If you make the art easy, if you put it in the cinemas there's a 50/50 chance that people will give it a try. And if that makes money we'll get more of that. Hollywood just needs to be more adventurous. America makes great films like they always have, it's just that they get released for three days in an underground theatre because Transformers 2 (Michael Bay, 2009) is on general release. And it's as simple as that.
JB: Lets see what you make of certain directors. John Woo has made several masterpieces in both the western and eastern markets of film. Which would you say are the best and why?
ME: The only difference between his Eastern and Western work is tone. There are stinkers and masterpieces in both. The Eastern work is slightly more stylised and cheesy, but they are also products of their time. The Killer (1989) is his best Eastern film. It may be very silly and has no continuity but the action is relentless and brilliantly directed. His worst work in this market is the early musicals he directed, which he really didn't want to be making; subsequently the direction is uninspired. As far as his Western work goes Paycheck (2003) is rubbish and Broken Arrow (1996) is formulaic but fun. Face/Off (1997) could make a claim for the greatest action movie of all time; it's absurd, sure. But the character relationships and psychological aspects are great, the performances are spot-on and the action is just exhilarating. But his best film is M:I-2 (2000) which is his cheesiest and silliest piece of work, but for that reason I adore it. Everything from Tom Cruise's hair to the Hans Zimmer score and the gunfights is pure popcorn pleasure. There are very few films I can re-watch as often as that one.
JB: How about a star this time. Tom Cruise. A man that's been in many films with many themes. What are your favorite scenes that this actor has performed in and how do you think his style has changed over the years of his A-List Hollywood career?
ME: He's managed to balance the action movies and intense dramas perfectly. You have to ignore his personal life as it has nothing to do with his art and he excels as an actor. I've already expressed love for Magnolia and M:I-2 and they show the full extent of his range. Magnolia is an ensemble drama but Cruise stands out because his intensity and the qualities of his character are at odds with his grinning star image. The scene where his character, Frank Mackey, is sat at his fathers bedside and begins to break down, equally saddened and resentful, is some of the best acting i've ever seen. M:I-2 is a more physical performance and in this area he succeeds as well. It's hard to determine what makes somebody a convincing action hero but Cruise has done it time and time again. His style hasn't changed that much, he's just learnt to challenge himself in a variety of roles. You could argue that Eyes Wide Shut (Stanley Kubrick, 1999) is more accomplished than War Of The Worlds (Steven Spielberg, 2005) but he brings the same dedication to every role. That smile may have won over many people but it's the steely glare that got him accolades and an OSCAR nomination as an actor. Basically he has it all.
JB: We've recently watched Mulholland Drive (David Lynch, 2001). What was it like watching a film that had a non-linear storyline with a very surreal body compared to your standard family film i.e. the latest Harry Potter.
ME: Watching a film with a non-linear storyline is always interesting, when used effectively. Lynch delves into dream worlds and fantasies and he blurs realities so it's perfect. For me it's an instantly engaging experience because it just demands more attention. Fundamentally the difference is that one is a work of art and one is a mainstream product. I really like the Harry Potter films, they have great production values, talented directors, a great British cast and it feels like a really coherent vision with passion behind it. As franchises go I think they've just got better and better. But it's aimed at the kids. There's simply no point straying into surrealism and non-linear narrative in that kind of movie. It works for what it is but it's a throwaway product. Mulholland Drive is something to take with you. It's layered and endlessly fascinating. No matter how much effort goes into a Harry Potter production it won't be a David Lynch film.
JB: Do you think this film could have been marketed better during its day so that it was brought to mainstream audiences? Possibly giving them a better insight into what film can do?
ME: I think Mulholland Drive is an excellent film for mainstream audiences to watch because it has elements of noir, mystery and romance, also referencing popular films like Sunset Boulevard (Billy Wilder, 1950). It's surreal and complicated but it has a familiar point of access and you can market that quite easily. Ultimately I think David Lynch films are easy to promote, just put all the genre convention into the trailer and you'll lure in an unsuspecting crowd. Again, it's all about investment. Unless you don't give a film like Mulholland Drive a chance from the start and instantly write it off as pretentious you can't help but be drawn into it. No matter the product I think people like to talk about films after they've seen them and Lynch knows how to provoke discussion.
JB: Lets pan outwards now. Cinema as a whole can have many uses. It can portray a simple moral or argument. Or it can comment on an entire era and society. What makes you so passionate about cinema? What keeps you watching films and not drifting on to new pastimes?
ME: It would be too easy to say a fascination with the moving image, but that's what it comes down to. The composition of a piece of cinema, the way a story unfolds is just endlessly interesting and exciting to me. Every film is a new experience, it'll take you somewhere new and because of the range of cinema; genre, country, decade - the possibilities are endless. I think it has a lot to do with retaining a sense of wonder too. I opened myself up to films when I was young, I didn't go out very much and every day held a new story. There is something almost childlike about cinema fanaticism. Watching an auteurs body of work is a treat for all the senses. It's visual, aural, it gets the brain working and the heart pumping. Take Alfred Hitchcock for example, and Psycho (1960). I think that's the best example of storytelling in cinema history, nothing unfolds the way that film does. And it has all you could want. Complex story, interesting characters with psychological depth, mystery, horror, excitement. It's perfectly made too, as with most of Hitchcock's films. The shower scene is a great example of what cinema can do - it's when a master storyteller turns his tale on its head in a powerful moment of sex and violence, perfectly directed, edited and scored. And most of the themes in that moment and many of his stylistic flourishes, reoccur in his body of work. The way cinema explores dreams, space, history, fantasy, relationships, crime, sexuality, religion, nature, addiction, music, architecture, violence... nothing else compels me in the same way. Cinema makes me laugh, cry, jump out of my seat and think hard about issues and themes not just in the past, not just in the present but also in the future. The depth of cinema is profound beyond all other art forms. The beautiful scenery of Manon Des Sources (Claude Berri, 1986), the wit of Manhattan (Woody Allen, 1979), the pure thrill of Evil Dead II (Sam Raimi, 1987). I owe my life to cinema. It's the most important thing in the world and I say that with absolute sincerity.
JB: Think about what we discussed about audiences being passive and watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXttqg0RWU8 (Clash Of The Titans, Louis Leterrier, 2010, trailer). Perhaps do the more emotive, provocative films have an impossible task in trying to get the audiences attention and non-passive time when they have films like this to go up against?
ME: Hard, but not impossible. When I look at the trailer for Clash Of The Titans I see what everybody else sees - an action-packed piece of popcorn entertainment. And it's a pretty good trailer in terms of representation of its product so I understand why people would want to kick back to that on a Friday night. But they, as well as I, must know that it's just popcorn entertainment. We have to remember that not everyone who sees these movies which make millions of dollars actually like them. I'm sure many people leave the cinema wanting more. The problem is that the cinemas which screen blockbusters like this one only show trailers for the next big blockbuster so people simply aren't aware of the diversity they could have. The two big releases this week are Predators (Nimrod Antal, 2010) and The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (David Slade, 2010) and they'll be filling multiplexes all over the country. But there are also films like Frownland (Ronald Bronstein, 2007), Leaving (Catherine Corsini, 2009) and London River (Rachid Bouchareb, 2009) finally getting releases over here, the latter of which I think is an important film for audiences to see. But they'll never hear of it until they stumble across it on television in four years. If the task is impossible it's only because of Hollywood marketing. If you advertise these films in the cinema, if you play these films in the cinema, audiences will embrace the ability to choose.
JB: Now watch this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-egQ79OrYCs (The Last Airbender, M. Night Shyamalan, 2010, trailer). Perhaps certain film studios have become so confident in their money making schemes that the actual products they are releasing to the public no longer fit the bill. Would you agree?
ME: Yes and no. Yes because you're talking about blockbuster season and as long as a movie has a target audience or a demographic that Hollywood can aim at, they'll release the movie. No because the quality of the product is down to the people making the film. Unless something is literally so bad it's unwatchable I think Hollywood will meet its release dates - it's bad publicity if they don't and the movie has a bigger chance of flopping. In this case it's an M. Night Shyamalan film so the chances of a masterpiece are slim nowadays. But it has an audience. And on the other hand there are movies like Inception (Christopher Nolan, 2010) and Toy Story 3 (Lee Unkrich, 2010) being released this summer which have got some of the best reviews of the year and they look brilliant. And it's because they're being made by a visionary filmmaker and an animation studio with five OSCARS behind them. Filmmakers believe in quality; Hollywood believes in quantity.
JB: Last one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CvUxdQ4q-Lg (Taken, Pierre Morel, 2008, trailer). We have often disagreed on how good this film is. But could it not be said that a simple message of the power of love between family is all that needs to be portrayed in a film to get a point across? And the more flamboyant the way this message is put across can only reinforce the message and make it stronger to its audience? Surely that's a satisfactory role for cinema that has the passive audience but at the same time that moral value?
ME: Sure, but you're assuming that Taken has all that when it doesn't. Any message the film was trying to make (and i'm not sure it has one) is lost in the fact that Taken is such a stupid and racist production. These moral values of an audience you talk about should be able to pick up on that. There are many films about the love between family, many of them dramas, some of them action films, but none that spring to mind involve killing every cliched sex trafficker in Europe (which seems to be what their non-specific population consists of). It's not a satisfactory role for cinema, as long as you're packaging it in this kind of product. Taken is the most basic level of a long-established genre and it says nothing interesting about its central theme - the love of a father for his daughter. I don't think anyone left Taken with a sense of accomplishment or a stronger sense of values.
JB: So overall what puts you off a film? The story? The themes? The messages and feelings it tries to promote? (if there are any!)
ME: As a cinema fanatic and critic i'll watch pretty much anything but you get to a point where you know certain things will hold nothing of value for you. Catherine Breillat is the most horrid, stupid hack of a filmmaker and i've seen five of her films. She's made quite a few more but at this point I know they'd do nothing but make me angry so I avoid them. Same goes for these football hooligan films starring Danny Dyer etc. Because those films are really stupid and lacking in morals. A lack of morals will always turn me off a film; if something is racist or sexist for no reason other than being that way. This Is England (Shane Meadows, 2006) has a lot of racist content and themes but it's making a point about them and it's a very affecting drama and a fascinating time capsule for our country. Context will always be the deciding factor for me I think; the context in which a theme or idea is displayed. I also don't like films that preach to me, that can be annoying. But I think it's important to have an open mind and embrace as much of the medium as you can. Because cinema is a very special thing and the stories it holds are endless...


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Jury Hands Microsoft A Win In CAC Suit
The jury came to its verdict after a seven-day trial in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas. It decided that CAC's patent was invalid.
"We are gratified by the jury's verdict," said Andy Culbert, Microsoft associate general counsel and senior patent attorney.
"As we have said...
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Ken Jennings on Parenting Myths
Ken Jennings won over $2.5 million during a legendary 74-episode run on "Jeopardy!" Since then, he's expanded his brand with an app called
Trivia Death Match
, a weekly
news quiz for Slate
, a weekly email trivia game, the
puzzle in Parade magazine, and some books, including "
Because I Said So!: The Truth Behind the Myths, Tales, and Warnings Every Generation Passes Down to Its Kids
," which is now available in paperback. When Ken joined me on America Weekend, we discussed some of those myths, whether he's ever applied to write trivia questions for a game show, what he thought of NBC's "Million Second Quiz," and what's up with Watson, his IBM nemesis.
, then
click here
to subscribe to these podcasts via iTunes!
Previously on Harris Online...
My conversation with Ken Jennings about his "Trivia Almanac" and more (1/17/08)
My conversation with Ken Jennings about his first book, "Brainiac" (9/13/06)


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Steve Massa, Ben Model and other assorted cinegoons keep poking around the Museum of Modern Art in NYC and those Cruel and Unusual Comedy Boys keep making my day! Just heard that they have found a fragment of a rare LKO comedy that features Babe Hardy. FRECKLED FISH was one of the "Charlie of the Orient" films. Can't wait to see it!!
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
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Vanderbilt Student Communications - Thank You to "The Tunnel"
I recently received an alumni newspaper from Vanderbilt Student Communications. What, you may ask, is VSC? This is the non-for-profit holding group for the student newspapers, radio station, television, etc. at Vanderbilt. Pretty boring stuff to most.
I graduated in 1993 after working for the newspaper, The Vanderbilt Hustler, and other publications as a photographer and writer for all four years of college. (Scared my mother to death when I came home telling her I was a photographer for the Hustler). Again, you likely are tempted to add "and didn't date much" to "pretty boring stuff."
We somewhat affectionately referred to ourselves as "tunnel rats" since we never saw the light of day from working in the bottom of Sarratt Student Center. Most other people didn't refer to us as anything.
My hands stunk almost permanently from film chemicals. Negatives wound in pitch black to an old boom box containing a Yes mixed tape (don't know where either came from) with the LED's blacked out with tape. Developer (pushing T-Max films way beyond 400), stop bath and then fixer. Then repeat for the prints. Speed was everything - it was a matter of pride who could guess the exposure and then develop, wave by the stop bath and slam into the fixer. Test strips were for pansies. Digital cameras were a myth.
I haven't really touched a camera since.
Then I tried to write a bit. I really stunk at basic reporting but found some satisfaction in opinion and humor writing. Most were tongue-in-cheek adolescent ramblings. But there were a few I remain proud of today - stories brought up in philosophy classes. Stories that emptied the stands of a literary magazine. A few articles that got me threatened and more that got me laughed as a fool - deservedly so.
Today I use bullet point memos, Visio diagram and Blackberry-length emails. This is easily the longest thing I've written in ten years that doesn't involve a budget spreadsheet or SQL to query a database.
I learned to love the elegance of black and white photography. Several will remember a picture I took of the ball popping out of Corey Harris' arms on the LSU goal line - it captures a moment better than any video.
I also saw arguably the best sports in Vanderbilt history from the best seat in the house - on the sidelines.
I learned to love the written word - and respect the power each word can have to hurt and to heal.
I learned how to get people talking and, at the same time, how to begin dealing with my basic introversion.
I discovered a work ethic that I didn't know I had - and that work should have a passion and purpose (because the money stunk).
I learned that despite what professors said, they did give you better grades for well-formatted documents. Thank you PageMaker.
I became enthralled with how technology could actually be used in the real world. Certainly few of my classes prepared me for life outside of the West End corridor.
I learned accounting was hard - and waiting until the last minute was no way to run a business.
I made friends that I still keep in touch with. Not well enough, I might add. But I respect them because we all went through it together and they taught me a lot.
I didn't do so well in class - my grades were less than spectacular. (I think I once wrote "if you take the square root of my GPA it doesn't change that much"). My parents were none too thrilled.
Also, despite a variety of rumors, nothing ever happened in the darkroom - but not for a lack of trying.
That stupid newspaper taught me about desktop publishing, networking, pre-press, people management and production schedules - things vital to modern marketing success.
I brought in the first film scanners and proper network for file sharing. Remember, this was 1993 - there was only one book on the whole campus library system about the Internet (Zen and the Art of the Internet - Divinity Library in a three ring binder - I know because I checked it out). God only knows how many hours I wasted playing with this stuff.
Why tell this story? In 1995, another Vanderbilt grad and I started a direct mail agency with no money and a computer split on our credit cards. While he sold and wrote copy I started doing the design (badly), networking (better) and database work (pretty good at the time if I may say so myself). It was just two people then and, weirdly, the tunnel knowledge - from tech to working with people to basic accounting - starting showing up as a guide in our business.
Long story short, exactly ten years later we had fourteen million dollars in profitable sales, ninety employees and sold to a large publicly traded database marketing company. We did it by building a team and that was eerily familiar at times to "the tunnel" - especially since our office space stunk. There are certainly better entrepreneurial stories, but I am proud of mine nonetheless.
To make it absolutely clear, without my time in the tunnel, nothing would have ever started.
Too rarely in life, because of this damn work ethic, have I stopped to look around and reflect. Even less frequently do I say "thank you" to people and organizations. Well, without VSC my path in life would be wildly different - just maybe as good but no way as interesting.
So, thank you to all the names I remember but won't embarrass and also to those I don't recall. Also, to all of you out there just leaving the tunnel - trust me the hard work will pay off.
Oh, and there is hope. My wife is a beautiful, intelligent sorority girl from Vanderbilt that never understood the pointless inside-joke personals in the back of the Hustler. She married me anyway.
Friday, May 13, 2005
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Today's topic to be discussed quickly before I am late for neuroscience:
Melky Cabrera.
Melky was not our Opening Day center fielder last year, but most of you will probably agree that he should have been, yet, at the same time, those of you hoping for a Santana deal were ready to throw him in the mix.
What gives?
As Yankees fans, we're kind of spoiled with our center fielders. I mean, DiMaggio, Mantle, etc...
We're used to a lot of talent out there.
Melky's good, but his biggest asset is the one most easily overlooked--his arm in center field.
We've gone from Bernie Williams--a homegrown kid and fan favorite, to be sure--whose arm was a bit of a liability now to Melky, whose arm has saved G-d-knows-how-many runs. I think it was something like sixteen outfield assists? It might actually be more than that, but I do remember that number coming up in discussion.
Will Melky ever hit .300? It's certainly possible. It might take a career year for Melky to reach that goal, but people forget, he is going into his third season. Most people don't have career years their third season in the bigs. It happens, sure, but few are considered a veteran in their third year.
So it's certainly true that we've got some great outfield talent in the minors, and when Damon, Matsui and Abreu come off of the books, this will (hopefully) prove very useful, but don't go overlook Melky Cabrera.
He's a bigger asset to the team than you realize.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
The Melkman Always Rings Twice (?)
Today's topic to be discussed quickly before I am late for neuroscience:
3 comments:
Neuroscience! Awesome! :DReplyDelete
Melky should totally start in CF. He has a CANNON of an arm, and his range is good. His bat is more than "acceptable" for such a great CF, and that might improve. He might turn into a .300 or greater player.
Intangibly he and Cano bring a ton of youthful energy to the team. One thing that is overlooked when building the Yankees is team chemistry. When the team gets too old, I think they stop having as much fun.
I think that Melky is an acceptable center fielder. He has a great arm but it would be nice to get more production out of that spot.ReplyDelete
Agreed. Calling him "such a great CF" is a little to far. Good arm, decent range, but he doesn't project so well, although there is still room for improvement because he's so young.ReplyDelete


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Garth Brooks: "I Will Never List My Music on iTunes!"
Garth Brooks, whose music isn't on iTunes, to make songs available digitally on his own site.
The country singer made the announcement Thursday, July 10, at a press conference in Nashville, Tennessee. Brooks said in the past he had no animosity with Apple, but that he disagreed with Apples approach to selling music. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP, File)
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Garth Brooks, one of the last musicians to refuse to put his music on iTunes, will only make his songs available digitally on his own website.
The 52-year-old country singer made the announcement Thursday at a press conference in Nashville, Tennessee.
Brooks is one of music's top-selling artists. He said in the past that he had no real animosity toward Apple, but he has disagreed with its approach to selling music.
Others were like Brooks (and refused to join iTunes) until eventually reaching sales contract deals, including AC/DC, the Beatles, Radiohead and Led Zeppelin.these deals have never been made public, although it is assumed that these are extremely lucrative deals not on option for other musicians who want to sell their music through the iTunes store.


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If I were to experience a colorful soft and fuzzy nightmare about pengiuns it would look like this:
These were made by the lovely Jenn who was part of my group (#28) in the holiday ornaments swap. The penguin that I recieved is the little mint colored fellow just to the right of center. The kids made sure he was front and center on the tree so I'd see him every day. Don't get me wrong I can appreciate all the work that she put into the little guys and I can see why everyone is fawning over them, she did a lovely job – I just have penguin-phobia.
If you'd like to, go check out the flicker group to see all the 400+ amazing ornaments that were swapped this year 🙂


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As I leaned over, it was a pleasant surprise to see myself – my reflection was beautiful! All this time I thought of myself as being quite ugly, being surrounded by murky water. It was a miracle to realize the beautiful world and all the wonderful blessings!
click on image to view larger
|Leaning Over to see Myself - 11x14 inches, Oil on Canvas Panel


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Many thanks to reader and prop trader Juan Villegas of Columbia, who has arranged for me to give a free webinar on the topic of raising trading performance. I'm especially excited that portions of the webinar will be translated into Spanish for traders south of the U.S. border.
So often, traders have the feeling that they are on the verge of breakthroughs in their trading, but can't quite make the transition. What holds them back? What needs to happen to reach that next level of performance? I'll offer concrete ideas and tools in the webinar.
The session will be held on Wednesday, March 10th at 6:30 PM Central Time; 7:30 PM Eastern Time in the U.S. To register for the session, sign up at the Go-To-Webinar sign up page. There may be limits on the number of participants, so please sign up promptly if you're interested.
I look forward to the session; there will be a Q&A session after the talk. As always, thanks for the interest.
Tuesday, March 02, 2010
Free Webinar: How to Get to the Next Level of Trading Performance
Posted by Brett Steenbarger, Ph.D. at 1:50 PM


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Ah-nold has not tolerance of your crybaby bullshit. He's still with the times. So go be a girlie man somewhere else, or you're terminated.
I think hes maid just got terminated
The T2000 isn't making swords with his arms any more
You know Arnold has seen one or two close up before.
I know the new terminator movie would be gay.
^I KNEW the,,,,
I believe that the color of his picture got MF" FUCKED UP When he try to uploading this picture to this message board... If you do not like my explanation, YOU WILL BE TERMINATED BITCHESS....
The Sperminator
I bet it's tough being gay, but I imagine it's even tougher being a colorblind gay person. You'd miss out on a lot of gay action if you couldn't see the rainbows.
The Terminator doesn't give a fuck about who's following him.


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Sunday, February 15, 2009
Scenic Sunday
12 comments:
- Baruch said...
Great photo! I love taking photos of benches and your photo has so much on offer. It's scenic, has great cloud formations, it has a bench in it and it has been all captured beautifully - well done!
- February 15, 2009 at 1:37 AM
- VALKYRIEN said...
That is a great photo! Great angel - and lovely colours! I clicked to enlarge - and then I could see the beautiful hills - I love this picture!
And I added you to my bloglist - you have more great pictures on your blog!
- February 15, 2009 at 1:54 AM
- Mirage said...
Oh I love this shot!!! Everything is perfectly set, the bench the sky and love the colors!
- February 15, 2009 at 3:00 AM
- Pacey said...
You are so kind to share all your photos to everyone for personal use, that's a good spirit, I'm impressed. And you do have good photos. I'm following your blog. Happy Sunday!
- February 15, 2009 at 3:05 AM
- Sharon said...
Such a well-groomed park. Beautiful photo and I LOVE those puffy white clouds:)
- February 15, 2009 at 4:43 AM
- Daryl said...
Nice shot ... there is something about benches that are so appealing, they make such nice subjects and this is no exception.
Thanks for visiting mine!
- February 15, 2009 at 5:24 AM
- AngelPearls said...
Theanks for the visit! Wonderful clouds/ blue sky!!//Eva
- February 15, 2009 at 7:16 AM
- Shinade said...
Wow this one is incredible!! That cloud just sets everything off. I would love to do a series of benches myself. But,I live out in the middle of nowhere and lately haven't had the time to take a day just getting pictures.
I love this!! Thanks for the wonderful effort so that we could enjoy the beauty also!!
Happy Sunday:-)
- February 15, 2009 at 11:00 AM
I love it when the skies look like that - I could do without the storm, but I love it!
This photo is gorgeous! You really captured it very well!!!
- February 15, 2009 at 2:44 PM
- George said...
What a beautiful sky and landscape. No wonder this is a favorite spot.
- February 15, 2009 at 5:34 PM
- Kerri said...
This is a BEAUTIFUL image! I LOVE benches and the sky in the background is awesome!!
- February 16, 2009 at 8:46 AM
- studio lolo said...
wow, you couldn't have set this up if you tried! Synchronicity!!
- February 27, 2009 at 9:34 PM


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The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the major metropolitan newspaper near the scene of Chris Benoit's 2007 double murder/suicide, has a new interview with father Michael Benoit restating his position that untreated brain injuries were the cause of the tragedy. See "Chris Benoit's father: Murderous rampage resulted from brain damage, not steroids," http://www.ajc.com/news/chris-benoits-father-murderous-683532.html.
The senior Benoit's views are a restatement of what he has been saying ever since doctors examined Chris's post-mortem brain tissue and found that he had Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy. What is significant is the growing evidence of how widespread CTE is: it also turned up in the brain of the only other dead wrestler studied, Andrew "Test" Martin, and in football and hockey players. Moreover, many were suicides – or suicides in all but name – in which the public never would have considered CTE as a major factor, if not the factor, prior to the recent spate of new scientific research.
I'm not ready to go as far as Mike Benoit and assert that CTE was the sole reason for what happened in Georgia. But we'd all be crazy to dismiss that possibility in light of how much more we're learning about the disease. Most crucial, I think, is how closely connected CTE and drug abuse may be in depression, with the former even leading directly to both of the others.
Irv Muchnick
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Atlanta Newspaper Revisits Chris Benoit Story With Brain Trauma Perspective
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Separate names with a comma.
Discussion in 'Off Topic' started by Hiroshi Awazu, Jul 12, 2012.
I love all the gymkhana movies! they have awesome edits, but they dont realy impress me that much there are 100s of retakes and reshots, i want to se it in "One" flow
this is way more impressive!
I like the car that he is driving better too


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by Fenwick Rysen
OBJECTIVE: To draw the power of the Fotamecus time manipulation egregore into the participants and thus imbue them with the ability to distort time.
BACKGROUND: Fotamecus was initially a sigil used to alter time that, through constant use, was imbued with a life of its own as a servitor. Fotamecus subsequently was released to the internet, and the power of hundreds of users around the globe was enough to eventually push him over the border into egregorehood, beyond the control of any one individual. Fotamecus is diametrically opposed to Chronos, espousing a model of time as fluid and malleable instead of fixed an immutable. Further information about Fotamecus may be found elsewhere.
NOTES: This isn't really a very structured ritual; it's mostly social in context with a short ritual-like component at the very end. If it feels like you're not doing a ritual until about step -4, you're doing it right. This is probably because of the heavy kitchen-witchery style of most of this ritual.
• An oven
• Sugar cookie dough (either ingredients for home-made or a supermarket pre-packaged dough)
• A cookie sheet
• A small clock for each participant
• A Fotamecus Talisman (this can be a paper drawn with the sigil or any physical object other than a mechanical timepiece)
• A small magnet and glue (optional, necesarry only if talisman is to become a refrigerator magnet)
• Participants, one of whom is Head Cook (HC)
-10. Participants gather, chat, socialize, and have fun. People should be entertaining themselves with food, conversation, games, etc. The central area around which this circulates should eventually move towards the kitchen.
-9. The participants start baking cookies. If you've got pre-pack cookie batter, this is as simple as slicing the cookies and tossing them on the tray. If you're baking from scratch, the HC should be incharge and ask people to measure and mix things for him/her, trying to get everyone involved.
-8. Once you have one cookie on the tray for each participant, everyone should gather and simultaneously impress their clocks into their cookies while saying "Praise unto Fotamecus! Chronos, your time has come!".
-7. Put ze cookiez in ze oven an' bake 'em.
-6. Socialize some more; have fun. Play a game of Twister. Put a Monty Python movie on for atmosphere. Get some shinai and spar in the back yard. Engage in meaningless ontological debate. You get the general idea.
-5. Retrieve da cookiez. Let 'em cool. (450 + 98.6 = bad)
-4. Participants gather in temple space (or, it true kitchen witch style, use the kitchen area) with the cookies and the Fotamecus Talisman. Form a circle together around the altar (dining table or counter). Cover the altar (table) with an altarcloth (tablecloth) upon which is painted the sigil of Fotamecus. Alternatively, use a piece of butcher paper on which the sigil is scrawled with whatever was handy at the moment. Place cookies upon the altar (table) in a circle around the talisman.
-3.5 Insert Banishing/Opening Ritual here if so desired (or clean, disinfect, and mop the kitchen).
-3. All participants gather in a circle around altar (table) and join hands, raise them upwards, and look up while calling out loudly, "Fotamecus, We Call Upon You!". Hands are lowered but still held, eyes focus on altar, and all call out, "Fotamecus, Come Witness This!"
-2. Participants break hands, and the HC takes the talisman in his hands and holds it above the altar. All participants place a hand above and below the HCs hands, completely enclosing the talisman. Following the HCs lead, participants begin to breathe deeply in unison, focusing upon the talisman held in the center of their hands. Participants draw in as much power as they can and force it through their hands into the talisman. Slowly the breathing gets faster and faster. A gnosis should begin creeping up slowly, and as it creeps up, the breathing becomes faster and faster, the group moving together as they breathe power into the talisman.
-1. As gnosis is reached, all participants place their dominant (writing) hand upon their cookie while keeping their other hand on the fist containing the talisman. Then all participants call out, "Fotamecus, Come Feed Us!" and visualize the energy from the talisman running up their arms, into their body, back down the other arm and into the cookies. Continue to call this out throughout this process, not necessarily in unison.
0. When each participant feels they have charged their cookie, they raise their cookie skyward, call out, "Fotamecus, Come Feed Me!" and take a bite their cookie, other hand still joined above the altar, still drawing in the power of Fotamecus from the talisman. Feel this power settling in your stomach as you eat the cookie, welling throughout your system, becoming a part of you.
1. After eating the cookie, return the other hand to the center and wait for all to be done; resume breathing in unison, but slowly and at a comfortable, regular pace. Try to feel the power of Fotamecus spreading throughout your body, the ability to manipulate time at will. Let your mind wander on those thoughts.
2. When all have re-joined hands in the center, all say in unison, "We Are Fotamecus! Chronos, your time has come!". Then the Head Cook calls out, "Let the Battle be Enjoined!!!" and all give the best battle cry they can.
3. Congratulations, you are now a warrior of Fotamecus! Spend the next few days trying to alter time, possibly with the use of the Fotamecus sigil, possibly without.
4. Either keep the Fotamecus talisman on hand for the next ritual, draw lots to see who gets to keep it, or give it to an individual if their is overwhelming consensus as to who should have it. Or glue a magnet to it and stick it on the refrigerator.
• When impressing the clocks into the cookies, identifying marks can be impressed into the cookie as well to help remember which cookie belongs with which person. Alternatively, each individual cookie can be cooked on aluminum foil that is marked with the participant's name/sigil/idenitifier.
• If there aren't enough clocks to go around, everyone can place their hand on one clock and impress each cookie one at a time together while repeating the phrase for each cookie.
• If call-and-repeat must be used for the group lines, it should be called by the HC, and then the HC will repeat it with everyone else in unison.
• Any othe food that will take an impression of a clock is a suitable substitute for the cookies.
• If agreed upon beforehand, instead of simply breathing in unison, all participants can chant the mantric sigil "Fotamecus" in unison with their breathing.
• In case anyone missed the obvious symbolism: You're eating a clock (well, a symbol of one at any rate). You are thus conquering it, becoming its master. It's been imbued with the power of Fotamecus and you have drawn that power into yourself, literally digesting it, so that this power becomes a part of you. Duh.


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Wednesday, November 02, 2016
FBI investigation centers on "pay-to-play"
Bret Baier of Fox News put together exactly what is happening in the FBI investigation of Hillary Clinton, including the fact that the agency's national security unit is investigating connections between the Clinton foundation and her work at the State department. The emails are the key.
What many of us have said all along appears to be coming true. She sold out the country as secretary of State.
I voted for McGovern in large part because of Watergate. The things I suspected proved true later.
Vote Trump. We must stop her. If we cannot hold her accountable now, we never will.
Now for Game Seven.
6 comments:
Imagine the stress on honest people involved in this investigation. The higher ups don't want them to do anything.ReplyDelete
Depending on whom you read, things don't look good for Frumpty.ReplyDelete
This and the rumor about the Hillary Express, if true, should do it.
We shall see if any part of this administration is not yet fully corrupted.ReplyDelete
Quick, Don! Save us from Joe Buck!ReplyDelete
- AnonymousNovember 3, 2016 at 12:49 AM
The Cubs just won the World Series. Another black swan has landed.ReplyDelete
-Mikey NTH
Don, Several months ago you said that the scandals would not stop HiLlARy and that the issue which would be her undoing was the health one.ReplyDelete
Is there a chance this will bring her down, or is this a mega distraction from the Health?
The enormity of all things Clinton is impossible for fiction. No one would believe it, yet here we are living it. If, after all this, she beats or more likely cheats Trump, we are screwed and we know it.