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COLUMBIA, S.C. – Virginia Tech defeated South Carolina, 86-67 in a men's basketball hurricane relief exhibition game on Sunday afternoon at the Colonial Life Center in Columbia, South Carolina. Sunday's exhibition event raised funds for those impacted by the recent storms, as net proceeds from the game will support hurricane relief efforts in Texas, South Florida and Puerto Rico. There is an additional online donation campaign.
In the game, the Hokies took a 36-30 lead into the intermission. In the second half, Tech outscored the Gamecocks, 50-37. The largest lead was the 19-point final margin. Five Hokies scored in double figures, led by freshman Nickeil Alexander-Walker, with 18 points in his first appearance in a Virginia Tech uniform. Ahmed Hill added 14 points and Kerry Blackshear Jr., had 12 points and eight rebounds, while Justin Robinson added 12 points and a game-high eight assists. P.J. Horne, a freshman forward for the Hokies had 11 points.
Hassani Gravette led the Gamecocks with 15 points and Wesley Myers added 11 points. Tech shot 50.9 percent from the field, including 57.1 percent in the second half. Tech also forced South Carolina into 17 turnovers. The Hokies open the regular season on Friday night at 6 p.m., as they host Detroit Mercy in Cassell Coliseum. The game is the first game in the 2K Classic, benefitting the Wounded Warrior Classic.
Donations can still be made to the hurricane relief effort. Fans are encouraged to log on to: https://crowdfunding.giving.sc.edu/project/8207


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Ola bloggers and welcome back to week two!
Today my class and I worked alongside Bishop class (Year 2/3) as part of a Tuakana/Teina session.
Tuakana means your older brother or sister and Teina means you little sister or brother.
First we discussed how to be effective Tuakana. I learned that I have to be clear about what they are doing and my instructions have to be clear and to encourage them while they are talking.
The biggest challenge I came across was telling them what to do and how to do it.
Next week I am looking forward to seeing the juniors do there own stop go animation.
Thank you see you next time.

subset: commoncrawl


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Is there a way to paste insert a number of smaller text frames into a larger multi-frame story, and have them behave exactly like normal text, flowing from one frame to another as necessary?
If I add any more text to the first page as shown above, then assuming the equation frames are anchored to the maint text, InDesign will by default simply push the math equations down the page into the margin (and eventually off the page). I'm wanting to be able to add text wherever I need and have the equations flow just like normal text, like this:
Any ideas?
If I am understasnding you:
just copy and paste the smaller text box into larger box:
Copy with Selection Tool and Paste with Text tool
You need to put a paragraph return and change leading to your satisfaction


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Sync Joomla mySQL with MSSQL database
Budget £20-250 GBP
We have a MSSQL database sitting on a remote server that has a built in online services (web) module which displays web pages written in asp. Our current online prescence is restricted to updates, joining (subscriptions) and renewals and most importantly a searchable members directory...
Unfortunately the system hasn't been developed in 7 years and we wish to move on by using a Joomla driven website with Community Builder and CBsubs.
My understanding is that the SQL database is quite tightly locked down (my last employer investigated integration with a third party application and had to purchase a rather 'restrictive' API) but I am aware of other users having built their site in Joomla so there must be a way of synching.
I am looking for someone who can assist in synchronising the MSSQL db with the joomla mySQL db and community builder. We are looking to have quite a lot of functionality on the site but really only wish to sync data with the MSSQL db data that is relevant to certain individual attributes (lookups) and of course payments.
I am only looking for developers with experience in this matter and would request an explanation of how the synch would work.
Unfortunately we are a not for profit organisation so money is a wee bit tight.
4 freelancers are bidding on average £238 for this job
Greetings of the day ;) I can accomplish this task for you.


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I love this book and could browse and dream forever. Excellent product, well packaged and arrived on time, Thank you.
Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable
*An electronic version of a printed book that can be read on a computer or handheld device designed specifically for this purpose.
Formats for this Ebook
|Required Software
|Any PDF Reader, Apple Preview
|Supported Devices
|Windows PC/PocketPC, Mac OS, Linux OS, Apple iPhone/iPod Touch.
|# of Devices
|Flowing Text / Pages
Book details
- PDF | 980 pages
- Anon(Author)
- Naismith Press (4 Mar. 2011)
- English
- 5
- Poetry, Drama & Criticism
Review Text
Quality miles better than expected, delivered on time
Thank goodness for Kindle free samples!Given the extortionate price asked for the Kindle version of this book (£132.06 would you believe), you would think they could have afforded a proofreader! Instead, they clearly scanned the book and put it for sale without further effort. Reading the free sample I discovered that this book is called "BEEWEE'S DIOTIOMEY OF PHMSES AND FABLE". The introduction lists earlier word-studies "admitted as wahiuts for after dinner": these include Ducange's SoraoflTO. The errors go on and on: kindhness, good-humour?smdi, hick the bucket, poUte refusal, objeot, AdiMamUes, all within a couple of pages. What a farce!
Once upon a time, Brewer's used to sit on my bookshelf gathering dust. It was, I felt, the sort of book that, as a lover of reference books, one ought to own … but, I realised, I never actually USED it. Then, one day, I took it down, blew off the dust and looked up something, I think I was truing to glean some additional in formation about heraldry. Four hours later, I came up for air, having spent a blissful afternoon doing the literary equivalent of "surfing" - following one cross reference to another from Greek mythology, through theology, Harry Potter, sporting slang, Tudor eating habits, demonology, pop groups, Somerset folk lore and much more besides.I then took the book to bed and proceeded to read it cover to cover (not at one sitting I hasten to add). I know of no other reference books with which one could do this without eventually dying of fatigue or terminal boredom. I emerged exalted, educated and converted. There may be little logic or reason behind the eclectic, eccentric, inconsistent criteria for inclusion and exclusion but, once you have grasped the spirit, if not the law, behind them you will fall in love with the book, occasional inaccuracies and all. This explains why it defies the internet, literary competition and remains in print to this day, loved like a faithful if slightly dippy ancient family dog by all those who have taken the time to explore between its idiosyncratic pages.
this is a must
This Kindle version is an appallingly bad OCR-scanned version of an older version of the book. It's very poorly done, containing myriad errors on every page, thus completely defeating the purpose of Brewers Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. An official version would be welcomed, but this is a travesty.
unreadable due to hundreds upon hundreds of mistakes from scanning.No spell check has been performed! how is this even allowed to be on kindle site?!My strong advice is Do not buy
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favorite songs for the moment October 20, 2004Posted by rockerfem in Uncategorized.
favorite songs:
1) "Taning" by Imago.
Tama bang aminin na nating may taning ang pag-ibig natin?
2) "Vindicated" by Dashboard Confessional.
I am vindicated, I am selfish, I am wrong.
I know I'm right I swear I'm right. I swear I knew it all along.
And I am flawed,but I am cleaning up so well.
You are seeing in me now you swore you saw myself.
3) "Masaya" by Bamboo.
Ang pag-ibig, ganyan talaga. Ako'y nilamon ng pag-ibig.
4) "Love Song" by 311.
However faraway, I will always love you
However long I stay, I will always love you
Whatever words I say, I will always love you
I will always love you
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Six months ago, European Bar Tender School launched their Ticket to the World competition offering a once in a lifetime opportunity for two lucky people to explore the possibilities of an international career in bar tending, with rigorous training in a number of cities across 5 months.
The European Bartender School (EBS) is the largest and most professional bartending school in the world. Throughout it's 14-year history they have trained thousands of bartenders to be able to travel the world and work wherever they like. Alternatively, many former EBS students use their skills to comfortably finance their way through college and get to know as many people as possible during their shifts!
|Jesper Rydberg and Skye Burkin – Mixing 8-Degrees Cocktails in Generator Dublin on the 18th September
an open invitation to you all to come along for the evening!
|Niall d'Arcy is currently a Resident DJ at Hidden Agenda and The Workman's Club
|Generator Hostel Dublin, Smithfield Square, Dublin
Looks like the makings of a great night!


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(Sad this is the only picture I got of Corbin and I...)
On Halloween we took Corbin to Mapleton to Trunk or Treat and he had a blast. People in my in-laws ward really go all out decorating down this road for the kids. There was hot cider, donuts, and popcorn bags. Corbin had a blast.
16 Weeks
So I went to my 16 Week Appointment on Nov 3rd.
* The baby's heart beat was at 160 which is pretty fast so according to the old wives tale that could indicate a girl..
* My blood pressure is low, so this explains all the dizziness and fainting. Not dangerously low or anything, I just need to be careful. (unlike the reckless pregnancy I've been living so far..?)
* Made the appt for the Ultra sound, Dec 6th. Apparently right after Thanksgiving they are really busy. So I'll be 21 weeks instead of 20.


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I have lost count of the number of times I have been seated round about middle and off as you look at this Picture taken today in Saundersfoot carrying out valuable research. I realised today that it has been a wasted effort because I neglected to keep the proper records.
What happens is that Ann goes round the shops and I sit quite near to the whelk stall as was and sneer internally at the passers by as I await her return. In itself this would not be a valuable contribution to the advancement of science. However in addition to sneering I got into the habit of assessing each person who crossed an invisible line running from the whelk stall as was to me. I put them into one of two pigeon holes. The slim and the obese. Those of indeterminate size I mentally discard.
So I sit there counting the obese on the fingers of my right hand and the slim on the fingers of my left hand and when I get to more than five I perform a strange little mental trick that I cannot explain that enables me to continue counting.
How valuable this data would have been had I written it down when Ann turned up instead of immediately forgetting it and saying something like "Where have you been?"
I realised today too with even greater regret that were I to observe my present self crossing the line from where the whelk stall was to the bench where I sit I would have no option but to count myself on my right hand.


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Değerli Arkadaşlarım,
Bugünlerde iletişimin frekansını artırdığımın farkındayım ama gözüme çarpanların çöp sepetine gitmesine gönlüm razı olmuyor. Bir de sizlerden gelen geri bildirim iletişim yoğunluğunu daha değerli kılıyor.
Harvard Business School'da bir sosyal sorumluluk programı var. Aşağıda ön bilgisini aktarıyorum. Dileyen arkadaşlarım http://www.exed.hbs.edu/programs/csr/'dan ayrıntılı bilgiye ulaşabilirler. Biraz pahalı olmakla birlikte (6.000 USD) içerik olarak anlamlı geldi. 15-18 ekim 2008 tarihlerindeki bu programı bilgilerinize sunuyorum.
Corporate Social Responsibility
Strategies to Create Business and Social Value
Designed to help senior executives integrate social responsibility with corporate business strategy, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) explores the opportunities and challenges related to investment decisions. You will learn how to improve economic performance while contributing to society.
What You Can ExpectThis executive education program explores both current and next-generation models of corporate social responsibility. You will discover how to align corporate culture with social responsibility strategies and measure their impact on the organization—and on the bottom line.
What You Can Expect
Through an in-depth exploration of the dilemmas, challenges, and complexities inherent to current models of corporate social responsibility, the program will push the frontiers of the field and bring into focus the next generation of issues facing practitioners. You will learn how to:
· Understand the effects of strategic corporate social responsibility—its benefits and its costs
· Drive corporate social responsibility throughout the organization, integrating it with corporate strategy, decision making, and risk assessment
· Realign corporate culture with corporate social responsibility strategies
· Understand the political context of operations, and successfully interact and communicate with governments, NGOs, and key stakeholders
· Ensure that systems are in place for both avoiding potential damaging events and mitigating the effects of a crisis after it has occurred
· Identify and explore the most critical emerging issues facing the field of corporate social responsibility in the next decade
How Will My Organization Benefit?
Executive Education programs at Harvard Business School are a significant investment for both you and your organization. Going far beyond the basic transmission of skills and theories, each program provides applicable lessons in the classroom that can be implemented successfully within your organization. You will acquire a fresh perspective on global business from our groundbreaking curriculum, world-renowned faculty, and an accomplished group of elite peers from around the world.
Your Course of StudyBy examining the link between society and the organization, the program addresses the challenge of integrating social values and corporate values. The curriculum emphasizes how to negotiate terms of investment, manage risk and decision making, and measure performance.
Who Is Right for the ProgramThe program is for senior executives in charge of socially responsible corporate programs or who oversee areas such as public affairs, philanthropy, environmental health and safety, or community affairs. Senior corporate officers with P&L responsibilities that include CSR-related dimensions may also apply.
Your Course of Study
Through case analyses, faculty lectures, classroom exercises, small group discussions, and exposure to the latest research, HBS faculty help senior executives to develop and manage strategic corporate social responsibility initiatives that integrate with their business practices and produce measurable results. In addition, you will have numerous opportunities to learn from the varied experiences and global perspectives of your peers.
Core topics include:
Managing for Social and Firm Values
· Making the business case by calculating benefits and costs
· Recognizing the links between the welfare of society and that of the organization
· Proactively examining opportunities designed to benefit the organization and the community
· Integrating corporate social responsibility best practices into key business areas
· Identifying and managing the primary positive as well as negative impacts
Driving Corporate Social Responsibility Throughout the Organization
· Aligning corporate social responsibility strategies and goals with organizational goals
· Embedding corporate social responsibility within the company culture for long-term sustainability
· Integrating corporate social responsibility metrics into the company's general performance management systems
· Effectively disseminating information on corporate social responsibility policies internally
· Providing continual company-wide visibility of the individual and departmental impacts from socially responsible practices
· Communicating the impact of corporate social responsibility to capital markets, shareholders, and other stakeholders
Managing Risk and Decision Making
· Evaluating complex environments and potential impacts before making capital investment or other business decisions
· Interacting successfully with governments, NGOs, and stakeholders
· Decentralizing to avoid a one-size-fits-all approach across the organization
· Identifying vulnerabilities and predicting possible pitfalls
· Developing preparation and prevention processes for handling crisis scenarios
· Integrating corporate social responsibility initiatives in vendor and supplier agreements
Dates and Fees
October 15–18, 2008
15 Eylül 2008 Pazartesi
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By Charles Bear · Posted 24 Nov 2017 at 15:37 · 507 views · 0 comments
Our annual Christmas tournament will take place on Saturday the 9th December, at 14:00. This tournament has been proudly sponsored by Sacconne & Speed. Please note that you will need confirm participation to be eligible for the draw via Whatsapp or text to Val Jarvis or emailing firstname.lastname@example.com will also be a junior tournament in the morning. For this event please liaise with the Junior Coaching Staff either Dave Goodwin or Alison Balban.Also click on the link to add your name to the event.https://www.facebook.com/events/1748350411855684/?active_tab=about
christmasgpa eventjuniorspool tournament
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Commie is the new name of my PDA, an iPAQ 3955. I didn't want to name it Packer, in case people thought I was a Wisconsin Packers fan. Commie, however, has prompted me to attach this graphic to his exterior:
My car's name is Sly (as in Sylvester). He looks like this [picture removed].
Prior to that, I owned a 1992 Honda Civic LX in navy blue. He was never named, which was supposed to prolong his life, but it didn't work.
There was Skippy [picture removed] who was both my first car and my fourth car. I drove Skippy in high school for two years, and then got to drive him while I was in college. then bought me Merle, [picture removed] who lasted many years, through college and into Michigan. then owned Skippy, and sold him to me (Merle was given to a college professor). He had a computer problem, and I drove the church van for several months. Briefly I drove a really old truck. Skippy was fixed, and then promptly died again, when I bought my Civic. Which died on Labor Day 2003. And then I bought Sly.
Other things that have been named? Most recently, the squirrels that hang outside our apartment, Merle, Berle, Earl, and Girl.
I'm sure some of you have great stories – please share!
Wisdom Source: Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen
Today's Wisdom: Proverbs 10:7, "We all have happy memories of the godly, but the name of a wicked person rots away."


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The former sitcom star is apparently serious about running for president.
She filed paperwork to the Green Party to run for its nomination.
She writes on Twitter, "green party is the synthesis between right and left: the middle way= The Way. pro small business, pro social safety net& women's&gay rights."
Some other policy points:
"as potus, I will pursue all lawbreakers-financial terrorists first."
"I am pro the Middle and Working Classes, who are being strangled 2 death by dem&repub. Green Party is 4 small business&social safety net."
"if ppl will merely do as I tell them to do just this one time, I promise everything will get a lot better quickly4 the majority. #nutn2lose"
The Green Party also confirmed that Barr had filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission, although it has not yet been posted to their website.


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Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Wild Wednesday
Posted by ~Bekah
Shelby's "Faux-Hawk" lol...this is how her hair, what little she's got (she's gettin more though!)does every day! It's real curly after her bath though! She is obviously really worried about it..haha
(One of few Pics w/o a "hair adornment!" No one will recognize her! LOL...)
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The history of horror is a vast and perhaps foolhardy thing to tackle. No matter how hard you try, there are films and horror subgenres that will slide through the cracks..
But horror is somewhat unique among the film genres in that there is a recognizable pattern that happens again and again. A film will come along and terrify an audience capturing their imaginations and making bank- Filmmakers flock to the cash cow like vampires to blood which leads to sequels and imitators – sometimes better than the original. But eventually the sequels run out of steam and the subgenre created by the original smash hit fades into memory lurking in the corners of history waiting to be rediscovered and reborn- this process is commonly referred to as cycles. Although other genres behave similarly, the unique appeal of horror from its low budget requirements to broad multinational appeal, make horror especially susceptible to these boom and fade cycles.
But as we look at how the genre changes over time, we must not think of the history of horror as being a rigid one way street. New films borrow from old films all the time, a constant remix of subgenres and new techniques to make something for the contemporary culture.
So who did the first horror films borrow from? Monsters, murderers, demons and beasts have been around since antiquity, ghost stories told round camp fires since we learned how to talk. But the roots of filmed horror were an extension of a genre of literature that got it's start in the late 1700s: Gothic Horror. Developed by writers in both Great Britain and the United States the Gothic part of the name refers to pseudo medieval buildings that these stories took place – think of a old castle on a dark and stormy night – gloomy forests, dungeons and secret passage ways.
Famous gothic writers include Mary Shelly, Bram Stoker and of course Edgar Allan Poe.
It was from Gothic literature that the first horror films found inspiration. And why not? The genre was popular in both books and theater at the time. Although the term horror did not come into use for film until the 1930s, early filmmakers and film goers certainly showed an interest in the macabre as evident In this snippet of a "Spook Tale" from 1895 created by the Lumiere brothers.
In 1896 Georges Méliès would go on to create what is considered to be the first horror film ever made: The Haunted Castle 1896.
"The Manor of the Devil" – with bats, castles, trolls, ghosts, and a demon – played by Georges Méliès himself, you can see the elements of gothic horror are already firmly entrenched by this time in the public psyche.
Silent films in the teens and 20s were still exploring the possibilities of this new filmmaking medium. Several experiments were conducted including the first Frankenstein adapted by Thomas Edison's studios in 1910 and Dante's Inferno by Giuseppe de Liguoro in Italy in 1911. But the heart of horror in silent films would start to beat only after conclusion of the first world war and in ashes of the tattered country of Germany.
German Expressionism was a style of cinema that emphasized expression over realistic depictions of reality. Starting off as a rising movement throughout Europe, German filmmakers and artist developed this unique style inside a cultural bubble that was the result of embargo in place during World War I. Without the influx of an already internationally powerful Hollywood, the German cottage film industry grew quite quickly and creatively. A consortium of German industries came together and convinced the German military of the importance of a German film unit – this would become the Universum-Film Aktiengesellschaft – the UFA. But by the time the company was operational, Germany had lost the war, and the UFA turned it's goals to producing films for profit.
On the slate in 1919 was a film written by Carl Mayer and Hans Janowitz with Robert Wiene set direct. The result would be a film that would be go on to be the Great Grand Daddy of all horror films: The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.
In the first few years of the Wiemar Republic, electricity was still scarce and German industries were allotted power on a quota basis. UFA had used up almost all their quota that year so the filmmakers decided to paint the shadows on the set rather than try to create them naturally with electric light.
This technique combined with the sharp angles and bizarre perspective distortion created an unforgettable look that established German Expressionism both artistically and as a commercially popular style of cinema.
German filmmakers continued the tradition of Expressionist horror films with The Golem: How He Came into the World in 1920 which was lensed by Karl Freund who also shot Metropolis and F.W. Murnau's Nosferatu In 1922.
The German film industry did well in the immediate post war era… much better than the rest of the German economy which was mired in runaway inflation due to the War reparations Germany was obligated to pay under the Treaty of Versailles. Fortunately for the film industry, people flocked to the movies because it was the only form of entertainment that people felt they were getting their money's worth. Berlin became the cultural center of Europe despite the shaky economy.
To stabalize the currency, the WWI allies offered Germany the Dawes Plan in 1925 which was a system of loans and agreements aimed to try to get the economy back under control. Unfortunately the Dawes plan also curtailed German film exports – the result was many independent studios lost financing shut down for good.
Even the national studio UFA was at the brink of collapse in 1925. A good oppurtunity for Hollywood to swallow up a once powerful foreign competitor. Paramount and MGM lent $4 million in exchange for collaborative rights to UFA Studios, theater, and personnel establishing the Parufamet Distribution Company in 1926.
This agreement effectively moved German Expressionism into Hollywood as scores of artist traveled to the US to work in Hollywood studios. Many German artists decided stay permanently, some even returning as refugees from the growing German Nazi movement in the 1930s. The German Immigrant contribution would leave a lasting mark on the style of films in the coming years.
It's hard to overstate the effect that sound had on transforming cinema in the late 1920s. It was a radical artistic leap, and probably more so for horror than any other genre except perhaps the musical – just try turning off the sound on your favorite horror film – it just wouldn't have the same impact.
In the tightly controlled Hollywood studio system of the 1930s, there was one studio that would be responsible for the first cycle of horror films – Universal Pictures. One rung beneath the big five were the little three: Universal, Columbia and United Artists who made and distributed pictures but didn't have any theater holdings. During the silent era, Universal was responsible for the few achievements in American horror most notably The Phantom of the Opera and Hunchback of Notre Dame both starring Lon Chaney. But in the 30s, Universal really sunk their teeth into horror, kicking off the Universal Gothic horror cycle:
Their first hit was Dracula, directed Tod Browning and lensed by UFA cinematographer Karl Freund starring the Hungarian Bela Lugosi in 1931.
James Whale continued the cycle with Frankenstein with Boris Karloff also in 1931.. Karl Freund even got a shot at the director's chair with The Mummy in 1932. Followed by James Whale again with the Invisible Man in 1933, Stuart Walker's Werewolf in London 1935 and Hambert Hillyer's Dracula's Daughter in 1936.
But the Universal Gothic Horror Cycle began to lose steam and fall into the pit of self parody with titles like The Invisible Man Returns, The Mummy's Hand, andFrankenstein meets the Wolf Man in 1943. Moving into 1940s, the Universal Monsters stable started to be treated like Batman villains bringing all the characters together in 1944's House of Frankenstein and 1945's House of Dracula. And by 1948 when Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein in a surprising popular comedy outing, Universal would retire the first string of monsters from serious horror filmmaking.
In Macabre 1958, Castle promised every customer a $1,000 life insurance policy should they die of fright. House on Haunted Hill in 1959 was filmed in "Emergo" which triggered a skeleton that would fly around the theater suspended on wires. Once kids knew this was coming they'd bring their slingshots and see who could be the one to shoot it down. And the Tingler, also in 1959, wired up movie theater seats with joy buzzers and encouraged the audience to scream as a way of calming down the spine monster that was let loose in the theater.


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Jason Hope has recently expressed that he is indeed a true believer in "The Internet of Things". He is an entrepreneur who has made a name for himself through entrepreneurship, writing, and commentating on the most recent trends in the field of technology.
Jason Hope has written about the subject extensively, referring to the Internet of Things as being the greatest new wave of progress that has hit the technology industry. The articles that he has produced are greatly regarded as being among some of the most preeminent authorities on the direction the new forms of technology is headed towards.
Like Jason Hope on Facebook
The Internet of Things pertains to connected technology which enables a variety of different devices to sync with one another. It includes devices that are utilized in daily life, such as vehicles, electronic devices, kitchen appliances, and street lights. In its very essence, the trend encapsulates devices' capabilities of connecting through identical networks to share data for the purposes of increasing efficiency while cutting down the amount of waste that is produced. As explained by Hope, the Internet of Things has potential to change the way businesses operate and has potential to become the biggest advancements in the industry of technology for several years to come.
The Internet of Things is greatly influential, as expressed by Jason Hope. He has stated that it is most likely to be the biggest investment that will be taken on by many of the world's largest corporations. As the global economy begins to embraces some of today's technological advancements, it is going to be necessary for different companies to keep up with the pace of the Internet of Things. Jason Hope predicts that it is going to end up fueling a world that consists of all conceivable devices connecting with one another. His vision seems to be quite accurate as things have been going lately.
Check Inspirery For more details about Jason Hope.


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10) Bright Eyes - Noise Floor (Rarities: 1998-2005) (Saddle Creek)
Ever since I became a fan of Bright Eyes, lo those 18 months ago or so, I've slowly been building up my collection of recordings by Conor Oberst and company. I've discovered that while the "genius" (or annoying whiner, take your pick) from Nebraska made some good albums before 2005's double dose of I'm Wide Awake It's Morning and Digital Ash in a Digital Urn, Oberst's best work was saved for EPs, compilations and singles. Many of the rarities I downloaded over the past year quickly became my favorite songs in the Bright Eyes catalog. Now a good chunk of that rare material is all in one place on Noise Floor. Tracks 2 through 5 on this disc ("I Will Be Grateful for This Day," "The Trees Get Wheeled Away" "Drunk Kid Catholic" and "Spent On Rainy Days") are as good a lineup of four songs as there are in the entire Bright Eyes catalog. "Spent on Rainy Days," drawn from a collaborative EP with Spoon frontman Britt Daniel, is tremendous and makes me wish these two would record an entire album together. My only complaint about this compilation is that isn't enough tracks. There's at least two more albums worth of material floating out there that deserves to be placed under one umbrella, if for nothing else to save me the pain in the ass of looking for some limited compilation that came out in 2002 only in New Zealand. Or something like that, not that I'm a bitter collector or anything…
9) The Replacements - Don't You Know Who I Think I Was? (Sire/Reprise/Rhino)
Most Replacements fans I know didn't buy this compilation. That's because they already own all the Mats albums and the 1997 Sire/Reprise era collection All For Nothing/Nothing For All, which was chock full of an entire disc of rarities. Don't You Know Who I Think I Was? serves as a fine introduction for someone who's never heard The Replacements. Most of their best songs—"I Will Dare," "Unsatisfied," "Bastards of Young," "Alex Chilton," etc.—are here, just waiting to blow someone else's mind like mine was in 1988 when I first heard Paul Westerberg and crew. And hopefully this compilation did that trick for a few folks. But for long-term fans of the band, all we need are the two new "Replacements" songs. Now I used those air quotes around the band's name because "Message to the Boys" and "Pool and Dive" aren't really Replacements songs. They're solo Paul Westerberg tunes that just happen to feature his former bandmates Tommy Stinson on bass and drummer-turned-artist Chris Mars on backing vocals. Is it really fair to call these new songs "Replacements" songs when the drum seat is being filled by the man pictured next to ubiquitous in the dictionary, Josh Freese, and Slim Dunlap (who logged four years on guitar) isn't involved at all? You know, I'm not sure. I suppose if Westerberg, Stinson and Freese toured under the Replacements name, I would sell off body parts (mine and someone else's) to go. And as much as I enjoy "Message to the Boys," it sounds like a Westerberg song. A really damn good Westerberg song. And nowadays that is more than enough good news for my ears.
8) The Pretenders - The Pretenders (Sire/Real/Rhino)
Years of Chrissie Hynde making crazy statements on behalf of PETA, cranking out subpar album after subpar album with a rotating cast of lead guitarists and bassists and being as cranky as Lindsay Lohan gets without her special Strawberry Quik powder in almost every public appearance I've seen pretty much dimmed my enthusiasm for The Pretenders. This jam packed two-disc reissue of their 1980 debut blew away all those negative thoughts. Damn I forgot how sexy Hynde sounded when she was pissed ("Precious," "Tattooed Love Boys") about boys, not about the Chicken McNuggets I just ate. And could I have gone so long without having "Mystery Achievement" on CD? Wow, I had forgotten how smoking James Honeyman-Scott's solo is on that song until I cranked it at my office when everyone else had left for the day. Like most Rhino reissues the bonus disc is packed with great rarities, demos and some scintillating live material recorded at the BBC. Now I can understand how The Pretenders made the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Now when are The Go-Gos getting in?
7) The Monkees - The Monkees: Deluxe Edition (Rhino)
Who knew that the songs that weren't Monkees singles could be so good? I had no idea. I think that in my entire life I've seen parts of three episodes and half of that trippy movie Head once on cable, so I never knew the depth of quality to their albums. "Last Train to Clarksville" is the best known song here, but "This Just Doesn't Seem to Be My Day" or "Tomorrow's Gonna Be Another Day" could have been smash hits as well by my ears. Even the obvious throwaway track "Gonna Buy Me a Dog"—with its bordering on laughter lead vocal by Mickey Dolenz—rocks pretty damn hard for 1967 pop. And once again Rhino outdoes themselves in the reissue department, packing this double disc set with stereo and mono versions of the albums, 17 rare and previously unreleased tracks and some thoroughly researched liners notes about the creation of the "Pre-Fab Four" and their debut album. Hey hey, I'm a Monkees fan!
6) Feist - Open Season (Remixes and Collabs) (Interscope)
French-Canadian singer-songwriter Feist left me unimpressed with her debut album Let It Die. Listening to Open Season, I do believe that when I first listened to that album I must have a) been in a pissy mood, b) hadn't gotten my ears cleaned at that point in 2005 c) thought the title of Let it Die was her comment on my latest relationship or d) all of the above. Hmm, I'm gonna guess d). What a fantastic voice she has, and all of these remixes of her songs put the focus squarely on her pipes. Her cover of the Bee Gees "Love You Inside and Out," a stripped down version recorded at the BBC, is quite possibly one of the best covers recorded in the past five years. I had listened to Open Season at least four times before I realized that she was covering the same song. Even when I read that it was a Bee Gees cover, I had to Google the lyrics just to triple check. Now that's the sign of a cover that works. Other highlights include a great Postal Service remix of "Mushaboom" with gloriously wimpy vocals from Death Cab for Cutie's Ben Gibbard and the lovely French ditty "Tout Doucement." My love of Open Season is just another shining example of why I shouldn't always listen to new albums while I'm cranky. Sorry Feist—I promise to give your next album my full and undivided attention.
5) Open Season featuring the Songs of Paul Westerberg (Lost Highway)
As much as I liked the new "Replacements" song, I like these songs Paul Westerberg wrote for this animated film even more. And since Josh Freese and Tommy Stinson play on a few of them, it makes almost as much sense to call this soundtrack the new Replacements album. (Well, except a new Replacements album wouldn't have Talking Heads' "Wild Wild Life" dropped in the middle for no discernable reason.) Considering my favorite solo song Westerberg ever did is "Waiting for Somebody" from Cameron Crowe's Singles, it makes me think he should write for films 100% of the time. If watching an animated bear helps him pen a song as goofy as "Right to Arm Bears," then let's send this guy a bunch of kids DVDs and lock him in a studio. It's also rather strange to see "Good Day," Westerberg's tribute to his late bandmate Bob Stinson, on this soundtrack. I haven't seen the film (maybe when it comes to one of the 178 HBOs I subscribe to I'll find the time) so I'm rather afraid to see where it's placed in the film. I can't imagine a bear in the film dies after a lonely life in Minneapolis, but who knows?
4) Bee Gees - The Studio Albums 1967-1968 (Rhino)
This six disc box set took me by surprise just as much as the Monkees reissue on the previous page. Who knew these first three Bee Gees albums contained so many great pop songs? (Well, my co-worker Michael did, but I never would have believed him.) The hits like "Massachusetts," "To Love Somebody" and "I've Got to Get a Message to You" are all here (in mono and stereo form), as well as quirkier tunes like "Harry Braff," "Craise Finton Kirk Royal Academy of Arts," "Cucumber Castle" (get your mind out of the gutter on that one) and a song that could perhaps be a country hit today on its title alone—"I Have Decided to Join the Airforce." And the loads of bonus tracks feature some genuinely weird material. "Mrs. Gillespie's Refrigerator" is pretty damn psychedelic for a three minute pop song, while "Come Some Christmas Eve or Halloween" prefaced the whole consolidation of the holiday season by a couple of decades. (And somehow I still like Thanksgiving in the midst of that calendar shift.) I don't know if I could in good conscience recommend this box anyone expect a huge Bee Gees fan (that $74.98 list price is a bit much to pay) but who knows—you might become a big fan after giving it one spin.
3) Graham Parker & The Figgs - 103 Degrees in June: Live in Chicago (Bloodshot Records) In last year's Top 20 I wrote this about the second Graham Parker and The Figgs show I saw on their Songs of No Consequence tour. "[The Figgs] opening set (with guest guitarist Brett Rosenberg) was just about as perfect a 45 minutes as you'll ever see in music. That pace didn't let up when they came back out with GP. Every note was in the right place, all the harmonies soared, the solos were immaculate and their enthusiasm on stage was met with an ecstatic response from a packed venue." Two weeks later Parker and the Figgs played at the Double Door in Chicago, and they were still in that groove where a band and its material mesh perfectly—and the crowd knows it. Throughout 103 Degrees in June you can people yelling at certain parts, just screaming because they are having a great time and know they are witnessing a great performance. I think guitarist Mike Gent (whose enthusiasm for Parker's work is evident throughout the entire set) summed it up best when I emailed him to say that 103 Degrees was smoking hot—"It's our finest work with him yet." Indeed. We can only hope for more work between these two artists down the road.
2) Neil Young - Live at Fillmore East (Reprise)
The June 2nd, 1988 issue of Rolling Stone featured Neil Young on the cover. Young is pictured in his bluesman's grab for the album he had recently released with The Bluenotes, This Note's For You. I was a subscriber to Rolling Stone at the time (hey, who knew that it would start sucking later on) and had spent an entire year immersing myself in as much Neil Young music as I could during my post-high school summer and first two semesters at college. So I read and reread that entire Neil Young interview the very day it showed up at my house. One thing that struck me in the piece was when Young mentioned that he was working on another compilation called Decade II that would features songs since the first Decade was released in 1977 and a bunch more unreleased tracks. This excited me to no end, since the unreleased songs on Decade (like "Love Is a Rose" and "Winterlong") were some of my favorites in his catalog. So I waited, figuring that within the next year we would have another multiple disc set to enjoy. And waited. And waited some more. Every couple of years Young would mention this project, which in the 90s changed to the Neil Young Archives. And then I waited some more. I WAITED FOR HALF OF MY LIFE FOR THIS. Then, out of seemingly nowhere, the first release from the Neil Young Archives appeared, with more promised soon. And the only reason I can see for it coming out now is that Young's health scare last year made him less inclined to keep tinkering with this project. So I guess the question is this: was the wait worth it to get Live at Fillmore East, a six song live disc that features a tune ("Come On Baby Let's Go Dowtown") that already appeared on 1975's Tonight's the Night? Well yeah...I mean, fuck yeah, it was worth it. What else did you expect me to say? Words escape me while listening to these powerful performances. As a matter of fact, I'm going to end this entry here and just air guitar to the 16 minute and 9 second version of "Cowgirl in the Sand."
1) eels - With Strings-Live at Town Hall (Vagrant)
Ever said to a friend, "yeah, I really wanted to go see _____ at _____, but I couldn't because something came up. Oh well, I'm sure they'll be back?" Fill in the first blank with eels and the second with Town Hall, and that's the exact line I said to a friend back in mid-July 2005. I missed this eels show because I was going to Philadelphia to help out with our coverage of the Live 8 concert. (Yeah, I don't remember what it was about either.) I had three friends tell me in no uncertain terms that the gig was amazing because it wasn't a standard rock show—the strings supplied a bulk of the instrumentation. I though that as much as I liked the eels and their latest album Blinking Lights and Other Revelations, I wasn't sold on a show dominated by strings being that good. And then I downloaded With Strings, and proceeded to curse Bob Geldolf and Bono quite loudly for their damn good intentions on my train ride home. I interviewed that dude from Linkin Park and missed this concert? I will now slam my keyboard against my ears. This stunning document of eels mastermind E's inventive idea to shun a proper rock band for his 2005 tour is one of the best live albums I have ever heard. Simply put, it's a must have for any fan of good pop songs that lay life's emotions bare. (And for those downloaders, the iTunes version features three bonus tracks, including a great cover of Prince's "I Could Never Take the Place of Your Man.")
10) Marah - Austin City Limits Festival, Zilker Park, Austin, TX 9/16
I've got two commandments about rock shows—I should be able to grab a cheap beer at the venue and they shouldn't happen anytime before lunch. Marah's set at the second day of ACL violated one those rules—they went on at 11:45 a.m. My friend Stacy and I remarked that the guys in Marah looked like they hadn't bothered to go to sleep the night before. Singer-guitarist Serge Bielanko confirmed just as much for us, saying "I guess you had two choices this morning—it was either go get a coffee and a breakfast burrito or come see the Marah. We appreciate you coming out this early here in the morning. To me, this is the equivalent of 4:30 in the morning. Me personally, I would have been having the breakfast fucking burrito." Of course, this being Austin, Serge would have been having a breakfast fucking taco, not burrito. Yet even with all the talk of yummy Tex-Mex food, Serge and singer-guitarist-brother David Bielanko sure didn't act as if was before noon. Their energy crackled off the stage and into the crowd at the start of the set and didn't let up for 45 minutes. They ran around as if it wasn't 90 degrees, jumped off the stage into the photo pit to get closer to the fans and even busted out a crowd-pleasing, fist-pumping verse of "Baba O'Riley" in the middle of one of their Springsteen-like tales of life in blue collar Philly. Next year I think Marah should kick off the festival at 9:00 a.m., and I'll bring breakfast tacos enough for everyone.
9) The Minus 5 - Southpaw, Brooklyn, NY, 3/26
I've said it before, I'll say it again and I'll write it in this paragraph right now: Scott McCaughey writes some of the catchiest songs ever. Any time I get to see him play in either of his bands, the Minus 5 or the rarely- ever-touring-outside-Seattle Young Fresh Fellows, I know that 90 minutes to 2 hours later I will have laughed a whole lot, bobbed my head and sung along to a bunch of songs. McCaughey is also one of the few people that I would go see perform on a Sunday night when there are new episodes of The Simpsons and Family Guy to be had. This first Minus 5 show out of two in New York was the most fun I had on a Sunday night in 2006. McCaughey joked about all the new songs with guns (which made me think about how the area where Southpaw is located used to be dangerous years ago) and made some very odd crack about being stalked by a woman. Alas, I was the only person that laughed at the joke, which caused everyone around me to sort of give me a look like I should be put in jail. After the show my odd sense of humor was appreciated by none other that the Minus 5's bassist, Peter Buck, who also plays in some other big band whose name I can't quite recall. Buck said to me, "Thanks for coming. I'm glad you enjoyed it. And I especially liked the fact you enjoyed the stalker comments." Somehow I felt just a tiny bit better after that.
8) Robyn Hitchcock & the Venus 3 - Hiro Ballroom, New York, NY 11/17
I'm not the only person who appreciates the greatness that is the Minus 5—Robyn Hitchcock likes them so much he used them as his backup band. The Venus 3 configuration sees Peter Buck back on the Rickenbacker guitar (and it sounded oh so good), Scott McCaughey on bass and harmony vocals and Bill Reiflin on drums. This trio formed a rock solid foundation for Hitchcock to explore his entire catalog of quirky pop songs. It might be blasphemy to say this, but I believe that the Soft Boys songs Hitchcock and the Venus 3 did this night ("Queen of Eyes," "I Wanna Destroy You") were even better than when I saw the Soft Boys reunion tour a few years ago. And to hear Buck's classic chiming 12-string on cuts like "Flesh Number One" and "Madonna of the Wasps," well, it brings out the old "reminiscing about his college radio days" guy in me. Another highlight of any Hitchcock show is his ability to go on these extended soliloquies that can be puzzling and painfully funny—usually at the same time. He was his talkative self this night, spinning tales about Mick Jagger, elephants, God, Jesus and what seemed to be hundreds of other topics. I anxiously look forward to the day when someone finally releases a Hitchcock version of Having Fun on Stage with Elvis.
7) Mark Knopfler & Emmylou Harris - Radio City Music Hall, New York, NY 6/22
I must admit, I didn't expect much from this show, as Knopfler and Harris's collaborative album All the Roadrunning didn't do too much for me. It did start out a little rough (especially vocal mix-wise) but settled down after a few tunes. And then Knopfler pulled out the Dire Straits classic "Romeo and Juliet" and it was, in a word, breathtaking, and somehow much, much better than the previous Knopfler solo tour I saw back in the late '90s. When Knopfler and Harris started singing "This is Us" something clicked—between them, between their band, between themselves and us in the audience. It was that tangible feeling in the air when you just know that the moment you're in is pretty damn good and you want to bottle it up for future reference. The song clocked in at probably at a little over five minutes, and I wished that it could have gone for another 10. The set closer "Why Worry" was a great surprise, and showed just how well Knopfler and Harris's distinctive voices work together. Hopefully their brief tour will encourage them to work together in the not too distant future.
6) Nada Surf - Hiro Ballroom, New York, NY 11/27
In scoring tickets for this show I felt like part of the...well, what is this Generation of 20 year olds who text message all the time and make sentences that look like Prince song titles called anyways? Generation Y? Z? AA? Whatever they're called, I was one of them for a night. I text messaged some number I saw on Nada Surf's website for what they called a "Flash Concert." That's apparently a play on "flash mob," where those Generation AA's get together at a public place after getting a text message. Usually it's done as some sort of civil disobedience or some crap like that, I'm not sure. All I know is that I had to show up at the Hiro Ballroom, show the text message saying I was on the list and I got in. I wasn't sure if the band would give it their all for a free private show, especially after they've been off the road for a while. But they flat out rocked. At one point drummer Ira Elliot kept having a problem with the snare. During "Popular" Elliot hit his snapping point—he started hitting the drums so hard it looked like he wanted to break all of them in half. Afterwards singer-guitarist Matthew Caws said, "Wow dude, you went all Tommy Lee at the end of that." It was awesome. (And yes, I did yell out for "Shout at the Devil.") They did every single song in their catalog that I love. I could haven't been happier singing along with "Killian's Red," "Inside of Love" and especially "Blankest Year" and "Do It Again." During the latter track I started really pogoing and screaming the words to the last refrain: "Maybe this weight was a gift/Like I had to see what I could lift/I spend all my energy/Walking upright." All those 20-somethings quickly cleared out so the old man could act like a kid again. Again, it was awesome. (And thankfully my new New Balance sneakers did the job and saved me from walking like an 80 year-old man the next day.)
5) The Figgs - Maxwells, Hoboken, NJ 6/16
With all The Figgs shows I've seen over the past decade (60 plus now), I've discovered one thing that never fails to kick the intensity up a notch—when guitarist Mike Gent is ticked, they rock harder. Now Gent might dispute this claim (and I'm sure he'll tell me one way or another if I'm wrong), but I've seen it a few times and believe it to be true. The event this evening that got his annoyance level up a bit was when the act on before them went well past when The Figgs were supposed to hit the stage. We're talking at least an hour later than it was supposed to be. Heck, Mike had to be getting ticked, because I certainly know I was. So indeed, the rock was brought when they finally got on the stage. They played seven songs that ended up on the great Follow Jean Through the Sea, did my favorite unreleased track ("Who's Your Mother Out With Tonight") and blasted through the venomous true story that is "Fucks Off." All in all, it was well worth getting back to Brooklyn after 3 a.m.
4) World Party - Irving Plaza, New York, NY 9/9
I must publicly thank my co-worker Dave Schulps, for if he hadn't raved about the World Party gig he saw in Los Angeles, I never would have finagled myself a spot on the guest list. I'd been a big fan of the band since I first heard "Ship of Fools" yet had only seen them once before back in 1993 when it seemed Karl Wallinger was going through the motions while opening for 10,000 Maniacs. This jaunt was much different, as it was Wallinger's first full band tour since he had a brain aneurysm over five years ago. I can't even imagine what it must feel like to get a second chance after staring down death, but I can say I've seen how it can impact a person's take on their own songs. Wallinger had a grin etched on his face for 90 minutes straight. The pure joy the man got from playing with what is a kick ass band came through in every song he sang. Wallinger's vocals on the studio versions of his songs such as set opener "Put the Message in the Box" and "Is It Like Today" always seemed to me a little bit detached, as if he needed to put some distance between himself and his words. Not on this night. Wallinger's passion for these songs rang through loud and clear. The set went deep on Goodbye Jumbo songs, with seven cuts played. And with many lyrics in those songs about not letting life pass you by ("See the world in just one grain of sand/You better take a closer look/Don't let it slip right through your hand") it was obvious that the meanings to many of his own words had changed for Wallinger. Even "Way Down Now," which is not the most uplifting song, came across now as anthem of carrying on. And damn, this audience was glad Wallinger carried on. Irving Plaza wasn't sold out, but the rapturous ovation Wallinger and company got throughout the evening was so loud I thought I was at the Garden. And it was obvious that Wallinger was touched by all of it. Someone left him a bouquet of flowers at his feet, and I could have sworn that he looked a little choked up when he went to the mic to thank the anonymous fan who had left them. Overall, it was stirring example of the healing power of music. Wait, did I just write something that New Age-y? Fuck, I am going soft…
3) Gnarls Barkley - Austin City Limits Festival, Zilker Park, Austin, TX 9/15
I thought I had seen some sweaty people in clubs before, but nothing could compare to the oceanic waves of perspiration coming off of Cee-Lo's head during this late afternoon set. Even though we were pretty far away from the stage, the video screen left no doubt as to the hotness up there. Whew, I'm starting to wipe my own forehead thinking about it. Somehow that didn't stop Cee-Lo and company from delivering the most surprising performance of 2006. Sure, I loved "Crazy," but after a couple of listens St. Elsewhere seemed to pale in comparison to that gem. Heck, my friend Stacy and I half-heartedly went to that stage with very low expectations. I figured we'd bag it after a couple of tunes. Yet we stayed all the way through, becoming more and more impressed with each tune. Live, all of those moody songs take on a much bigger life. The claustrophobic and paranoid tone that carries through the album is replaced by one of pure exhilaration on stage. The band that Cee-Lo and Danger Mouse put together stick to the basic arrangements yet add enough, well, let's call it ooompf, that 40-thousand people in 97 degree heat can jump around and dance. Somehow I don't think Nickel Creek (our other option) would have given me the energy to stand for an hour on that day.
2) The Minus 5 - Mercury Lounge, New York, NY 3/28
The Minus 5 show I mentioned at number-nine was just as much fun as this show, which came two nights later. But that show didn't have a smoking guest appearance by Lenny Kaye on guitar, and it didn't have the surprise performance of one of my favorite songs ever. Singer-guitarist Scott McCaughey walked up to the mic at one point and said, "This next song is a cover. It's by one of the best bands you'll ever see, and this song is probably one of the best you'll hear this year." Then McCaughey kicked off that killer riff that starts off the Young Fresh Fellows' "Hillbilly Drummer Girl." I started jumping up and down, screaming "yeah, YEAH!" All of the people around me at the front of the stage gave me some extra space for the rest of the show after that little display. And then two people came up and asked me, "Who does that song originally?" "Ugh," I thought, "How could these people not one of the best Fellows songs ever?" After the show was over I went up to Scott, gave him a hug and thanked him for breaking out that song, telling him he had no idea what it meant to me. The Minus 5 have covered a Fellows track before—"I'm Not Bitter" from 2003's Down With Wilco was first released on a rare Fellows LP—but I never expected this song to ever make a Minus 5 set. Hey, the Fellows have played New York only three times in the past 12 years, so I'll take what I can get. And for it to be this song, well, it was almost too much.
1) Soul Asylum - Irving Plaza, New York, NY 8/3
I can't exactly explain why this Soul Asylum show was slightly better than the gig I raved about in last year's list. Perhaps it was that I knew every single one of their new songs this time around. Or the fact I was able to drink copious amount of Rolling Rock. Or that when my friend Eric said to me, "Do they ever do that 'Summer of Drugs' song anymore," and then a couple of songs later they did it, completely blowing our minds. Or that each gig seems like a New Orleans style funeral/celebration of their late bassist Karl Mueller. Or that "Cartoon" is still one of the best co-lead vocal songs ever. Or that approximately 18 guitarists joined them on stage to do this year's anthem "Stand Up and Be Strong." I just don't know and I can't explain it. All I know is that I never felt better coming out of a show this year than I did that night.
The Long Winters
How was I to know that cleaning my desk one fateful Friday would lead to one of my favorite new quirky pop bands? Frontman John Roderick's creative wordplay and knack for memorable melodies sucked me in on Putting The Days to Bed and inspired me to buy the entire catalog and then write an entry for Trouser Press. Think about it—I liked this guy's music so much I spent my own money on it and volunteered to do extra work for no pay. What am I, an asshole? (Don't answer that, we all already know what the correct response is to that rhetorical question.) I spent a couple of weeks listening to only their three albums and one EP on my commutes back and forth to work. I was amazed by the interesting characters I found throughout Roderick's lyrics. The debut Worst You Can Do Is Harm captures people on the seedier side of life: common thieves, murderers ("Government Loans"), drunks and junkies ("Medicine Cabinet Pirate"). The follow-up When I Pretend to Fall features insanely catchy songs that border on the nonsensical at times ("Shapes" opens with the line "Rice won't grow at home and the Moon doesn't favor girls"—huh?) The only problem about discovering a band's entire catalog at once? The wait for their next album seems to take fooooorever.
Nada Surf
I'm not sure that this technically counts as a rediscovery, since I only discovered how much I truly liked this band in 2005. But it's my list and I'll do whatever the hell I want. I did like Nada's 2003 album Let Go when I initially played it, but I had no idea how much I loved it until I put it on the iPod and was dumbstruck one night at the Clean Rite (the name of my local laundry joint) by the power of "Inside of Love." I won't rehash what I wrote about the song earlier this year (because it's too damn long). However, I will say that seeing the band play it twice in two months and encouraging people to two-step while they performed it somehow turned "Inside of Love" from a "feeling sorry for yourself" song into a "c'mon, smile and have a laugh about yourself and your pathetic life and maybe grab a drink" song. And that's a lot more fun than being depressed for four minutes and 58 seconds. At least I hope it is.
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Other Musical Stuff From 2006
Posted by Figgsrock2 at 5:00 PM
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Way back in 2010, in my third-ever(!) post, long before I became the incredibly long-winded blogger you know (and hopefully love!) today, I wrote this post about Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere. I wouldn't say that it was a negative review, but it certainly wasn't a glowing rave. Just a sort of above-average rating, I suppose.
I bring this up for two reasons. The first, of course, is that I'm here to review the Author's Preferred Text re-release of Neverwhere. The second, though, is much more interesting to me. See, time a funny thing and it often changes and distorts our perspective of the past. When I picked up the re-released version of the novel, it was because I for some reason had a memory of reading the book as being some sort of life-changing experience. I had a vague idea that I might have written about it the first time I read it, but I didn't remember for sure. Going back and re-reading that post, however, was unexpectedly surreal. I have no memory of writing it, thought write it I did. Moreover, if this was how I'd felt about the book, why then do I remember it as though I'd found the Holy Grail upon reading it? Where did this nostalgia come from if my initial experience with it was not unadulterated awe so much as mild amusement?
I don't know the answer to that, honestly. How did "enjoy" become "love?" I'm not sure. I'm not sure how I read it back then and, apparently, had such a hard time with the plausibility. I mean, of course it doesn't sound realistic, it's a fantasy novel. I suppose I was young and stupid, but I was still a writer and apparently had no trouble with 'salem's Lot. Apparently vampires were more believable than an underground civilization. Even then I'd written a story about a ghost, and somehow didn't look at that as an unreasonable stretch. But London Below? No, God forbid that one is believable.
Failings of youth aside, the point remains that somehow my memory twisted itself, and an adoration was born for a novel that I apparently didn't hold in as high regard as I remembered. While I don't know what the reason for that is, exactly, I do have some idea of what might have contributed.
In Elizabethtown, Claire Colburn (Kirsten Dunst) says to Drew Baylor (Orlando Bloom), "I'm impossible to forget, but I'm hard to remember." I've watched that movie quite a few times — to be honest I don't even have a guess how many. More than five times, certainly. Possibly more than ten, for all I know. But in all that time, I never really understood what that line meant. I knew it was a great line, but I just wasn't really able to parse it out.
Since you're reading this blog I assume you're an intelligent human being, which means you know that I'm bringing up that line because I've figured it out at last. I've read a few of Gaiman's books, and I've always enjoyed them. But to be totally honest, I remember very few, if any, of the details of the stories contained within. I find it impossible to forget reading them, impossible to forget how much I always enjoy the experience, but quite difficult to remember any specific details. I don't think it's a failing on Gaiman's part, by any means. The man is a phenomenal writer, a master of subtle wit and deceptively clever puns. I just don't have a memory for specifics where his work is concerned. Even now Neverwhere is fading, and I finished it little more than a week ago. Gaiman's work is fleeting and ephemeral, which I suppose is in keeping with the kind of strange material and worlds he so often writes about.
I suppose I should probably get to the actual review portion. As far as the novel proper goes, I couldn't even begin to tell you what's been changed from the original release. After all, I hadn't read any version of the book for about five and a half years by the time I started reading this. I can tell you that I did love it this time. Like, I look back at my old post and don't understand who that person was that wrote it. I will still agree that it's probably not the absolute best book I've ever written — I think that title still belongs to Lang Leav's Memories, though Joe Hill's work is definitely up there as well. But it's certainly one of my favorites. Maybe the first time I read it, I missed the magic it contained, or I didn't pick up on the humor. Maybe I was an elitist prick and thought I was too good for a light-hearted fantasy. I don't know.
As I mentioned, there'd a lot of really clever, subtle humor in this book. For instance, at one point the party encounters a thick fog, which causes one of them to cough. His response? "Fog in my throat." A blink-and-you'll-miss-it pun that gave me a good chuckle. My personal favorite, though, is his descriptions of Croup and Vandemar early in the novel:
"There are four simple ways for the observant to tell Mr. Croup and Mr. Vandemar apart: first, Mr. Vandemar is two and a half heads taller than Mr. Croup; second, Mr. Croup has eyes of a faded china blue, while Mr. Vandemar's eyes are brown; third, while Mr. Vandemar fashioned the rings he wears on his right hand out of the skulls of four ravens, Mr. Croup has no obvious jewelry; fourth, Mr. Croup likes words, while Mr. Vandemar is always hungry. Also, they look nothing at all alike." (Neverwhere, Author's Preferred Text edition, page 6)
I mean, come on, that's just a truly beautiful set up for a joke. I hope I never forget it. And that's the kind of thing that makes this book tick. Yes there's a strong plot and great characters, there are twists and all sorts of strange, marvelous things. But the best part is Gaiman's sense of humor shining through everything else.
As this is a special edition of the novel, there are, naturally, some extra bits at the end, after the novel itself is over. The first is the original, alternate prologue which introduces Croup and Vandemar in a much less spectacular way (read: it's a straight introduction without the punch and humor of the one that actually made the cut). To be honest I think it was pretty weak, and I'm glad it was cut and replaced with the one that was actually in the book.
The second thing included in the book is a short story, which was finished not terribly long before this release. It takes place during the novel after certain events in the novel itself that I can't mention because spoilers, and stars the Marquis de Carabas. When I first started reading it, I wasn't sure that it felt quite right; I wondered if after so many years (about two decades, according to Gaiman's introduction to this story), our author had lost sight of the narrative voice that was so strong and perfect in the novel. But thankfully I was wrong about that. In fact, there's a lot more humor in this story than the novel, I felt, although part of that could be because in a short form work, there's less space to spread the jokes out in. The story is quite striking because it gives us a great deal of insight into the character of the Marquis and into his past. In the novel itself, he's quite a mysterious character, about whom we know precious little; in fact, for a great deal of the book we're not even sure whether or not we should trust him. After this story, some things in the novel come into focus more clearly, in some ways, because we understand more about who the Marquis is and can better grasp his motivations.
When it comes down to it, I really do recommend Neverwhere. That much, at least, hasn't changed in the past five and a half years. The enthusiasm and sincerity with which I recommend it, however, has, and I think that was lacking last time. So there you have it. Time may have altered my memories and revisiting the book may have led to a new conclusion, but the fact remains that Neverwhere is a gem of a novel, the likes of which you don't often see. Whether it's your first time or your fifth, you owe it to yourself to take a trip into London Below.
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Set in Granite –
Do Not Harden Your Hearts
Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says,
"TODAY IF YOU HEAR HIS VOICE, DO NOT HARDEN YOUR HEARTS AS WHEN THEY PROVOKED ME, AS IN THE DAY OF TRIAL IN THE WILDERNESS, WHERE YOUR FATHERS TRIED Me BY TESTING Me, AND SAW MY WORKS FOR FORTY YEARS."
I Break Hard Rocks With Patience
"Is not My Word like fire," declares the Lord, "and like a hammer that breaks a rock in pieces?" (Jeremiah 23:29)
When the sentence for a crime is not quickly carried out, people's hearts are filled with schemes to do wrong. (Ecclesiastes 8:11)
The King's Heart is in the Lord's Hand
The king's heart is like channels of water in the hand of the LORD; He turns it wherever He wishes. (Proverbs 21:1)
So the Word became human and made His home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen His glory, the glory of the Father's one and only Son.
(John 1:14)
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:10)
Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; therefore He will rise up to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for Him! (Isaiah 30:18)
He led them out of Egypt and performed wonders and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea and for forty years in the wilderness. (Acts 7:36)
Living in the material world is as wandering in the desert. Are we still wandering and wondering: What does God want from us? What do we want from God? Or are we seeing the wilderness from the eternal perspective? To walk through it as Jesus who is the Same yesterday, today and forever—saying "man does not live by bread alone but by every Word that proceeds out of God's mouth." Four thousand years are just like the forty.
Time is given in order to change our focus on "me, myself and I" in wandering and wondering in the struggle and the pain and turn our hearts to be fixed in faith on the Risen Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
Come walk with me, Let us sing to YaH;
Let us trumpet with joy to Her who is our safe stronghold.
Let us come to His presence and give thanks and make a pleasing harmony to Him
with our singing.
I was glad when they said unto me—"let us go unto the House (family) of the Lord together!"
Let's go, let's go together, journey together, seeing His Eternal home in our hearts fixing our eyes on the pilgrimage through songs and psalms of thanksgiving and rejoicing in the power of praise as it lifts us up over hills and through the valleys across oceans and deserts- a holy sojourn, on earth as it is in heaven as we pilgrimage to the Holy of Holies, into the Temple of our hearts, as we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all unrighteousness.
We are One in the Spirit, We are One in the Lord!
When you go through deep waters, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown. When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you.
But now, thus says the LORD, your Creator, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel, "Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine! "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, Nor will the flame burn you. "For I am the LORD your God, The Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I have given Egypt as your ransom, Cush and Seba in your place. (Isaiah 43:1-3)
God's Final Word: His Son
In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways,
but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, and through Whom also He made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of His being, sustaining all things by His powerful Word. After He had provided purification for sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. So He became as much superior to the angels as the name He has inherited is superior to theirs. (Hebrews 1:1-4)
This is the genealogy of Jesus the Messiah the son of David, the son of Abraham. (Matthew 1:1)
For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.
(Habakkuk 2:3)
And will not God bring about justice for His chosen ones, who cry out to Him day and night? Will He keep putting them off? (Luke 18:7)
If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. (1 Peter 4:14)
For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for Him. (Philippians 1:29)
Hear me, you who know what is right, you people who have taken My instruction to heart: Do not fear the reproach of mere mortals or be terrified by their insults.
(Isaiah 51:7)
Has His unfailing love vanished forever? Has His promise failed for all time?
(Psalm 77:8)
He will swallow up death forever. The Sovereign LORD will wipe away the tears from all faces; He will remove His people's disgrace from all the earth. The LORD has spoken.
(Isaiah 25:8)
"Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. "Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me. "Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." (Matthew 5:10-12)
But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. (2 peter 3:8-9)
Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written, "VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY," says the Lord. "BUT IF YOUR ENEMY IS HUNGRY, FEED HIM, AND IF HE IS THIRSTY, GIVE HIM A DRINK; FOR IN SO DOING YOU WILL HEAP BURNING COALS ON HIS HEAD." Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:19-21)
This morning the Lord took me back to a dream He'd given me awhile back to be as Queen Esther towards those who lie for we are not on trial. It is the trying of our faith which is more precious than gold but when it is revealed for what it is, they are condemned.
God will make them bow at our feet & confess that He loves us. We are to be as Queen Esther who held not just one but two feasts for her
husband and his guest, who was the wicked Haman the enemy of her people and he would not have been so merciful to spare her life either.
In the end Haman's plans were exposed for what they were, he was at her feet begging for mercy and he was hung on his own gallows.
If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat; if he is thirsty, give him water to drink.
(Proverbs 25:21)
But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.
(Matthew 5:44)
"But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you."
(Luke 6:27)
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:21)
Jesus Greater Than Moses
Therefore, holy brothers and sisters, who share in the heavenly calling, fix your thoughts on Jesus, whom we acknowledge as our apostle and high priest. He was faithful to the One who appointed Him, just as Moses was faithful in all God's house. Jesus has been found worthy of greater honor than Moses, just as the builder of a house has greater honor than the house itself. For every house is built by someone, but God is the builder of everything. "Moses was faithful as a servant in all God's house," bearing witness to what would be spoken by God in the future. But Christ is faithful as the Son over God's house. And we are His house, if indeed we hold firmly to our confidence and the hope in which we glory.
Forty long years I was grieved with that generation, and said, "It is a people that errs in their heart."
They have not known My ways." Therefore I swore in my wrath, "They won't enter into My rest."
Warning Against Unbelief
So, as the Holy Spirit says:
"Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion,
during the time of testing in the wilderness, where your ancestors tested and tried Me,
though for forty years they saw what I did.
That is why I was angry with that generation;
I said, 'Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known My ways.'
So I declared on oath in My anger,
'They shall never enter My rest.' "
See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called "Today," so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.
We have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original conviction firmly to the very end. As has just been said:
"Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion."
Who were they who heard and rebelled? Were they not all those Moses led out of Egypt?
And with whom was He angry for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies perished in the wilderness? And to whom did God swear that they would never enter His rest if not to those who disobeyed? So we see that they were not able to enter, because of their unbelief.
And God said, "I will be with you. And this will be the sign to you that it is I who have sent you: When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain."
(Exodus 3:12)
You let people ride over our heads; we went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance. (Psalm 66:12)
Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart.
(Psalm 24)
Jesus is the SAME yesterday today and forever. He is the Way, the Truth and the Life; no man comes to the Father but through Him.
Unto us is opened a great and effective DOOR (Jesus, the Narrow Gate) but with it are many adversaries.
I would rather be a door keeper in the House (family) of the Lord than to dwell in the tents of wickedness.
One in Christ
But now in Christ Jesus you who formerly were far off have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who made both groups into one and broke down the barrier of the dividing wall, by abolishing in His flesh the enmity, which is the Law of commandments contained in ordinances, so that in Himself He might make the two into one new man, thus establishing peace.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us and we have seen His glory as the only Son of the father!
Behold the King! Behold the Servant! Behold the Son of Man! Behold the Son of God! This is the Message the Good News the Gospel
of Jesus Christ the Son of the Living God.
He opened up the Way home to the Father in the unfailing love of becoming flesh and bearing our sin to death on the cross and when he arose, it was with healing in his wings. We are healed and forgiven brought back to newness of life in proper relationship with God the Father through the sacrifice of Christ the Son. The curse over the earth broken. Sin and death, defeated! Jesus is the Victor! This is the victory that overcomes the world—even our faith!
Have faith in God. It takes both faith and patience to INHERIT His promises. Wait I say on the Lord and He shall strengthen your heart.
Courage is strength that comes from rejoicing that the Lord's patience is causing men to turn from sin home to Him in His unfailing love.
The earth age is the time in the wilderness. Heaven touches earth in the incarnation of Jesus and through His death and resurrection,
His followers are extending the Father's Divine Grace up until the return of Jesus Christ.
Answer my prayers, O True God, the righteous, who makes me right.
I was hopelessly surrounded, and You rescued me.
Once again hear me; hide me in Your favor;
bring victory in defeat and hope in hopelessness.
How long will you sons of Adam steal my dignity, reduce my glory to shame?
Why pine for the fruitless and dream a delusion?
Understand this: The Eternal One treats as special those like Him.
The Eternal will answer my prayers and save me.
Think long; think hard. When you are angry, don't let it carry you into sin.
When night comes, in calm be silent.
From this day forward, offer to God the right sacrifice from a heart made right by God.
Entrust yourself to the Eternal.
Crowds of disheartened people ask, "Who can show us what is good?"
Let Your brilliant face shine upon us, O Eternal One, that we may know the undeniable answer.
You have filled me with joy, and happiness has risen in my heart, great delight and unrivaled joy,
even more than when bread abounds and wine flows freely.
Tonight I will sleep securely on a bed of peace
because I trust You, You alone, O Eternal One, will keep me safe.
(Psalm 4)
On earth as it is in heaven
Just as Jesus took on flesh and was tested in the wilderness, man does not live on bread alone but by every Word that proceeds out of the mouth of God. God is not a man that He should lie. Jesus as a Son is Faithful over the Father's house. The One who calls you is Faithful AND True. By faith and patience we inherit the promises of God. His will be done on earth as it is in heaven in our lives which is the "earth" today. We are inheriting His promises as we take the "land" (our hearts) back for the Righteous King (Christ Jesus) and enter into His Rest,
The PROMISED LAND, the abundant life, the glory of the Lord. The wilderness is necessary for training and disciplining in righteousness even as Christ though a Son learned obedience by what He suffered. The trying of our faith is more precious than gold.
Those who hunger and thirst after righteousness are happy. Righteousness is here put for all spiritual blessings. These are purchased for us by the righteousness of Christ, confirmed by the faithfulness of God. Our desires of spiritual blessings must be earnest. Though all desires for grace are not grace, yet such a desire as this, is a desire of God's own raising, and he will not forsake the work of his own hands.
The children lead us when we take our first steps in our journey. They are closer to the simple place where sea and dry land are not yet separated. In their laughter and play they live and continuously revive the magic of creation. (Matthew Henry on Matthew 5)
Arise, return to your Father's house today!
Even as the prodigal returned to his right mind then to his father's house for there even the servants fare better than the world's workers.
Closing Appeal for Steadfastness and Unity
And my God will meet all your needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus.
But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect, to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel. (Hebrews 12:22-24)


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Over the last decades, the American economy has been funneling wealth and income from the top income bracket to the bottom ones. This has generated a huge concentration of wealth and income never seen before. Usually, we think this is an issue only for the poor people; however, studies have demonstrated that inequality is actually bad for everyone.
Inequality generates many effects. On one hand, studies suggest that the inequality depresses economic growth, but also gives rise to criminal behavior. How does this work? Studies show some possible mechanisms through which inequality affect growth like less education opportunities for the poor, but also less social mobility. On the long term, this can translate into them being less productive; therefore, lower wages, etc. Now, how does this translate for the rich? Rich people depend on people to buy/use their products/services, so with lower wages people will not buy their goods, translating into loses for them.
Returning to the idea that inequality breeds crime, the implication is that high levels of inequality create a permanent underclass forced to compete, sometimes violently, either with itself or with other classes for scarce resources. This is clearly seen in our country, with a Gini Coefficient of 48.2, the level of inequality is clear. This is one of the main problems that affect society, and it is a known fact that it will have repercussions in the long run for economy growth.
So, next time you think inequality affects only poor people, think about it again, and all its repercussions for everyone.
Hello Melissa, I totally agree with the idea that inequality is not only hurtful and detrimental for poor people, but for society as a whole. As established in Chapter 5, people (of all social status, including rich people) should not only be concerned about their own consumption but also about inequality as a whole. Inequality has many different consequences, including the damage of the social cohesion that exists in every culture and reaches everyone in the society. One of the long-term consequences of inequality is the fact that individuals will not be able to share common experiences, and their view of the world will be completely different. As a consequence, the markets will start to malfunction since people can't empathize with each other or even worse, won't understand the reality others are living. A very preoccupying consequence of this, in my view, is that institutions and then markets as a whole will not be able to function properly.
One example of this can be seen in the financial market. For instance, people go to financial institutions whenever they want to save their money. They do so because they believe that the financial institution will render back their money as established in the contract, and with some extra money as as result of the time value of money (in the form of interests). Financial institutions will then lend this money to people or enterprises who have good ideas but a lack of funding, and thus, need to borrow. Financial institutions also place their trust within these individuals. In exchange for temporarily borrowing, the enterprises or entrepreneurs will pay an additional cost (also in the form of interests). The financial institutions will then benefit from the different between what they charged to the borrowers and what they payed to the lenders and will have fostered more productive activities to take place in the economy. Whenever trust disappears from the equation (as in the case of high inequality within a country), these types of mechanisms will not be able to function properly thus hurting the economy as a whole (and not only poor people!)
Just like you, I think that inequality is harmful to the whole society in many ways. I personally believe that what mostly affects our society nowadays is the lack of empathy inequality generates. As Barack Obama once said, "The biggest deficit that we have in our society and in the world right now is an empathy deficit. We are in great need of people being able to stand in somebody else's shoes and see the world through their eyes."
But is inequality a real cause of the lack of empathy? Perhaps it´s the other way around and the rich get further in life because they're less worried about other people's needs.
I think that in some way the lack of empathy contributes to perpetuate a more unequal society. However, it is also true that lack of empathy is one of that main consequences of inequality and there´s even some evidence that confirms it. People with higher socioeconomic status are worse at understanding other people´s emotions, they are more focused on the self. To test if this was an innate condition of the rich, Keltner made an experiment in which he manipulated people´s sense of status. Despite their real socioeconomic status, people temporarily made to feel higher on the social ladder had a harder time understanding others' emotions. On the other hand, people made to feel lower class showed more empathic. High-income people are not born coldhearted, they are just not good at recognizing people´s emotions , especially when someone is suffering. This was shown by anoter experiment in which some students watched a video about children suffering from cancer. While the heart rate of low-income students slowed down as they watched the video (a physiological sign of compassion), the high-income students´ hearts did not presented any change at all.
It must be noted too that rich people are not just less empathic with poor people, they are less inclined to connect with anyone, even if this person belongs to their same social class. This phenomenon is shown in a study made by Kraus and Keltner in 2009. In their experiment, students from wealthy families were less engaged with conversations than students from a lower social class. They showed disinterest towards the other person that was talking to them; they continuously checked their phones or searched through their bacpacks. Sometimes they didn´t even response or nod, even if that person was as wealthy as them.
Empathy is a necessary value for a society to develop correctly. It´s important in different aspects of life; from a personal level, with friends and family, to a more institutional level, affecting the market in case of lack of trust.
Signs of Socioeconomic Status, A Thin-Slicing Approach. Michael W. Kraus, Dacher Keltner. First Published January 1, 2009 Research Article
It is debatable until which extend these inequality indicators have an effect. Papers with empirical evidence would be appreciated.


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Victoria's Secret Angel Candice Swanepoel posed in yet another bikini shoot on Thursday, this time against the stunning backdrop of St.Barts.
The 24-year-old South African stunner was doing what she does best, showing off her envious figure in a turquoise blue bikini as she got to work for the lingerie giant.
Blue crush: Victoria's Secret Angel Candice Swanepoel posed in yet another bikini shoot on Thursday, this time against the stunning backdrop of St.Barts
Candice's pretty swimsuit was adorned with a paisley print and ties at the sides of her bottoms.
Standing in water as the waves crashed around her, her blue eyes seared into the camera's lens.
Spliced: The 24-year-old's paisley printed bikini was blue at the front and yellow at the back
Showing off her best assets: The blonde beauty stretched her supremely toned and tanned figure out to display all her best angles as the cameras clicked away
She also wore minimal jewellery in an effort to not distract away from her bikini.
In between takes, Candice's hair and make-up was touched up by several stylists on hand.
Natural beauty: The supermodel required minimal make-up during the shoot and wore her blonde locks out in a natural wavy style
The trip to the St.Barts is just what the doctor ordered for the VS star as Candice just recently suffered from the flu.
Last weekend she tweeted: 'Happy Sunday everyone. Staying in with flu watching one of my favs x'
Down time: Candice lapped up the sun in between takes
'Woke up in st Bart's this morning. Thankful x,' she tweeted on Thursday.
Candice just recently walked the Victoria's Secret runway for their famous show last month.
Touch-up: A make-up artist and hair stylist made sure that Candice was camera ready
Missed a spot: Candice also appeared to have some fake tan applied to her body
Candice proved to be the world's sexiest cleaner when she strutted her stuff with a feather duster in hand whilst putting her trim figure on display in bejeweled lingerie.
For her second look, Candice transformed into a butterfly as she wore her golden locks down in luscious curls.
White hot: Candice later changed into a white and gold bikini and posed in front of a yellow hammock
Tough gig: The supermodel lounged in the sun inside the hammock as she was surrounded by handsome and shirtless male assistants
For her final ensemble, Candice brought the ultimate flower power to the stage.
With her customised wings covered with lavender petals, the blonde held her hands to her hips and owned the runway.
A dream in tangerine: Candice looked equally stunning in a plunging orange bikini
Thankful: Candice was clearly pleased to be in the warmer climate and tweeted a picture of herself lounging in the sand wearing a sun hat


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Prometheus (2012)
4/4 stars
You can scream but no one can hear you. Prometheus .this movie was not a alien prequel it was just a horror sci-fi film but is the film good well I can say yes.this movie as good visual effect's and like able characters and that's it.and this movie will get a 4/4 star's "best movie of 2012".
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Friday, 2 November 2012
Friday Art Journal
My son asks me often "How do you know?" It's a good question. I find myself asking the same thing. How do you know... you're enough? How do you know... you're on the right track? How do you know... this is what you want? The answer must lie within. I have to trust myself. We all have to trust ourselves. Tonight's art journal page is my little reminder.
5 comments:
Beautiful chaos <3ReplyDelete
Good question and good answer, love your journal.ReplyDelete
Thanks Kristen & Melissa! You ladies are fabulous.ReplyDelete
Hey there. I checked out your website + enjoy your spartan design aesthetic. So clean and lovely! I like the feel of your blog, too. This post. Totally get it. For me, a haunting question which surfaces every now + then is how do you know...when well is good enough? And then I remember and am glad to send that question on its merry way.ReplyDelete
Exactly! Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving a note Jenny. xReplyDelete
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