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I am one of probably four people my age who have never read any of the Harry Potter books or seen any of the movies,* but that seemed unimportant when I headed to Emma Watson's apartment to interview her back in January. I'd just rewatched The Perks of Being a Wallflower and I'd been reading about some of her upcoming projects, so I had a squillion questions about the work she's done since Potter ended and the work she'll do in the future.
If you haven't seen it already, Perks is a flawless high school movie (based on the book by Stephen Chbosky, who also wrote and directed the film) that will make you laugh and cry your eyes out in equal measure. Sofia Coppola's Bling Ring, which comes out June 14, is based on a group of real teenagers who robbed celebrities' homes in Los Angeles 2008 and 2009. I saw a screening of it in April (after this interview, unfortunately), and as soon as it was over I just wanted to rewatch it for all of eternity. Like any Sofia Coppola fan, I was psyched that Emma would be her next ingénue, but this movie is not pretty or dreamy, it's insane and funny and scary, and I couldn't believe how hard I was laughing whenever Emma did something as small as stare at her phone. Watch the trailer—you will DIE at the end:
Emma also recently filmed a leading role in Darren Aronofsky's biblical epic Noah, due out next year. It's sure to be drastically different from anything we've seen her in, and I obviously can't wait.
We sat at her kitchen table while she generously indulged my curiosity and Perks geekdom. Her cat slinked around the chairs, her roommate introduced herself and served some banana bread they'd baked together. It felt sort of like a gals' lunch, or something that sounds less like a yogurt commercial. Emma showed me her journals and we all watched her favorite TED talk. Even though she's been interviewed thousands of times over the 12 years since the first Potter movie, nothing she said felt like a stock answer. Every word seemed carefully chosen, save for a few moments in which she let her thoughts carry her away, and then that was exciting in the way watching people think and seek and find is exciting. She also got almost as hyper as I did when we got to talking about Pretty Wild, and she threw her head back in laughter when she admitted to getting through final exams with the help of The Carrie Diaries.
My dad came by after a couple hours and we'd started saying our goodbyes when I spotted her record player. The needle rested next to Joni Mitchell's Blue, and I couldn't help thinking about what a turning point that album signified in Joni's career and life. Her first three records established her as a commercially successful and critically respected artist, then she decided to take a break from performing to travel and write these incredible songs where she just totally lays herself bare. Those songs became Blue, which was a huge and instant success on basically every level. It's widely regarded as Joni's best album, and 42 years after its release it's still gaining new fans, all of us attracted not just by her mindblowing talent but also by her honesty as she sings about her deepest secrets and desires.
These days Emma Watson seems to be writing her own Blue. She's managed to protect her private life while using her work to reveal the kinds of vulnerabilities that feel the most private. It's taken for granted that starting a career and becoming famous at a young age means sacrificing the space and peace necessary to learn about yourself or the rest of the world, but Emma has made time for both.
She also made time for me, and us, and this interview, and for that I thank her.
TAVI: I have watched Pretty Wild, the reality show about the real-life Bling Ring, so many times. I'm obsessed with Alexis Neiers, the girl you play in the movie. Have you heard from her about the film or anything?
EMMA WATSON: No, I haven't. To be fair to Alexis, [my character] is like three steps removed from who she might be in real life. A lot of the material in the movie was based on an article which was based on a reality show, which we all know isn't real life. I wasn't trying to impersonate her—she just inspired the character. I watched Pretty Wild so many times to try and get her into my brain, though. It gave me anxiety. How do you watch it?
I think I have to pretend that it isn't real. If you think about it too much it's depressing. You have to shut your brain off and be like, "They're not real people!"
But they are! Sofia filmed it in such a nonjudgmental way, though—she never tells the audience how they should feel about these characters, which I think might be quite unsettling for people who want to be told, "We should hate these people." She made it so true to life, it almost feels like a documentary.
My final is tomorrow, so I've been living like a hermit. The only thing I have been watching—such a guilty pleasure, it's the perfect study break 'cause you just don't have to concentrate too hard—is The Carrie Diaries. Have you been watching it?
[Laughs] So embarrassing to admit that! A 23-year-old that's fully been watching The Carrie Diaries.
Not even.
Yep. No, it's absolutely true. That's been my study break.
What was it like working with Sofia Coppola?
It was a real dream of mine. I came to the part in a very roundabout way: I told my agent how much I loved Sofia's work, and she's like, "You should meet with her producer and [unofficial] casting director, Fred Roos," and I did, and we got on really well, and that led to meeting Sofia, and she told me she was working on a project with young people in it. I read the script for The Bling Ring and I just got obsessed. For Sofia Coppola to be making a film which is a meditation on film and celebrity culture and what that all means, how it impacts society, and the psyches of young women in particular—I was like, "OK, I have to be in your movie. I really, really, really want to be in your movie." For my audition I went out and bought hoop earrings and this crazy hat like the one Alexis wears when she goes to see her lawyer, and I put on tons of bronzer and a fake tan—I just went full-out, and had the best time doing it. 'Cause it's really the first time I've gotten to play someone who's a real character, someone just so different from me.
Sofia is incredibly smart, but she doesn't try too hard. She's very, very careful about the casting process, because when we get to the set she just wants to give everyone the space to do their own work. That attitude is so conducive to making a really interesting film, because she's completely prepared to switch around the scene that we're doing on a whim. She'll be like, "You know what, guys? The light looks really beautiful in the room next door, so let's just not do this scene today, we'll do this [other] scene instead." And everyone just moves next door. As an actress working with her, you have to be prepared for anything, because she likes capturing organic things, transcendent moments, changes in the wind and sun—which is awesome because you feel like you're really part of creating something beautiful, but also very unnerving for me because I'm used to being inside a studio at Harry Potter and being incredibly controlled and sticking to a schedule. So it was fun—it felt very freeing.
I've read that the process of filming The Perks of Being a Wallflower was also quite different from the usual rigid studio schedule.
Yeah, we shot it in six weeks. I'd never worked such long hours or so hard in my life, but it was also obviously the most fun. We did a lot of night shoots, and [after shooting] you have so much adrenaline running through your system, it takes a few hours for you to wind down even though it's like four in the morning. So oftentimes we would sit in the parking lot and—it sounds so cheesy—just watch the sun come up. When you make a movie on location, where you have to go and live somewhere outside your comfort zone, you have to create your own family, and you get so much closer than when you're making a movie somewhere where everyone can stay in their own homes. And you're all trying to create something, and through that creative process you make this bond that you wouldn't really have under any other circumstances.
I got to work with Logan [Lerman], who plays Charlie, again in the last movie I did, Noah. He plays my brother, and it was great because we already had that chemistry; we didn't really have to push for it. It was intimidating stepping onto that set, because [the movie] is Russell Crowe and Darren Aronofsky and Jennifer Connelly, so to have Logan there was just immensely comforting.
My understanding is that you read the script for Perks and called your agent and said you wanted to do it, and you found out that it had been sitting on a shelf for a while because no one wanted to make it. Why did you think it was so important for this movie to exist in the world?
Well, I'd been reading scripts for two years before Perks came along, and nothing had really resonated with me in the same way. It was just on my brain, it was on my mind, I couldn't stop thinking about it. It didn't even occur to me that it wouldn't be made, because Logan was already attached, and I'd met with Stephen [Chbosky] and it was like he'd been waiting 12 years, really, to make this film. Then I got a call saying that no one wanted to back it financially. So it took more than phone calls: I actually flew out to L.A. and met with all the different studio heads and basically pitched the movie, which was crazy—I'd never done anything like that before in my life. [The story] just really spoke to my teenage experience and my friends' teenage experiences. I felt like I'd watched too much Gossip Girl and was just dying to see something that spoke to the kinds of issues that I'd encountered as a young woman. It felt unique, and like someone had really written it from the heart.
* I have nothing against HP, I just never got around to it! I didn't expect it to be "my thing" when the first one came out (I was like seven) and then I was too intimidated to start because I was so behind. It's on my reading/watching list, though, I swear.


text: For normal standard sites what would you recomend NGIX or Apache. As far as I know apache has more options and nginx is faster and consume less resources. I haven't use nginx, but I have used Cherokee and is way faster than Apache. Is nginx much faster that apache? Something my vps would like. I am working right now with apache in Debian Squeeze. There is no official doc, as far as I know, on how to use nginx in Debian with Ispconfig because the version is too old. i guess that could be solve without much problem. If I am right on that, how complicated would be to migrate the sites from Apache to NGINX. Most of my sites are Wordpress, but I have one on Elgg, that I know could be troube . Regards, Rafael

subset: commoncrawl


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#5 Farmingdale State - 3, #4 Old Westbury - 0 (28-26, 25-19, 25-15)
Old Westbury, N.Y. - The Farmingdale State women's volleyball team defeated #4 Old Westbury in straight sets, 3-0, last night in Old Westbury, N.Y. The Rams advance to the Skyline Conference Semifinals on Saturday.
Farmingdale State (14-7) was led by senior outside Dominique Cunningham (Amityville, N.Y.) who had a game-high 13 kills. Junior outside Holly Sahner (Dix Hills, N.Y.) tallied 11 kills and five service aces, while freshman setter Sarah Palladino (Lindenhurst, N.Y.) had 30 assists and seven aces, both of which were game-highs. Senior libero Jessica Zimmermann (Seaford, N.Y.) had a team-leading seven digs for the Rams.
Senior outside Tynisha George (Medford, N.Y.) led the Panthers (19-15) with nine kills and eight digs.
Farmingdale State will travel to Newburgh, N.Y. to face top-seeded Mount Saint Mary College in the Skyline Conference Semifinals on Saturday, November 5th at 11:00 a.m.


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Twins, Correia Beat Brewers 6-3
The Twins defeated the Brewers in Milwaukee 6-3 Monday afternoon. Kevin Correia threw 6 innings with 7 hits and 3 earned runs allowed to get the win and improve to 5-4. Joe Mauer was 1-3 with 3 runs scored, Ryan Doumit added a 2-run single and Pedro Florimon was 2-4 with 1 RBI.
Former Twin Carlos Gomez hit 3rd for the Brewers and had 2 homeruns. Glen Perkins threw a scoreless 9th inning for his 10th save. The Twins will play the 2nd game of the 4-game series at Milwaukee Tuesday night at 7:10, pregame on WJON at 6:40.


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Position Statement 32: Access to Medications
Mental Health America (MHA) envisions a society in which all people in need have access to the full array of high quality, evidence-based, culturally and linguistically competent, integrated mental health and substance abuse services delivered in the community, regardless of ability to pay. For many mental health consumers, access to the full range of the most effective medications is a crucial component of successful treatment and recovery. Such medically necessary psychotropic medications, and their combination with other services and supports, are often essential to permit people with mental health and substance use conditions to recover and to lead healthy and productive lives in their communities.
Mental health treatment is complex and studies show that medications in the same class for the treatment of mental illness are not interchangeable the way medications in other classes may be. MHA opposes policies that restrict access to medically necessary medications. Such policies, which include preferred drug lists with prior authorization requirements, restrictive formularies, fail-first requirements, monthly prescription limits, and tiered co-payment structures, not only fail to achieve their intended purpose of reducing overall healthcare costs but prolong human suffering and reduce the potential for an individual with a mental health or substance use condition to achieve full recovery. Moreover, restrictive policies fail to acknowledge that physicians and consumers should make individualized treatment decisions, recognizing the unique and non-interchangeable nature of human beings and psychotropic medications, and acknowledging that lack of access to medications has serious human as well as financial consequences.
The cost of medications has risen over time, especially the newer "biologic" medications, and some biologics and other expensive medications have become unaffordable under drug insurance plans that charge high copays under "tiered" reimbursement structures. This is a serious long-term concern, and MHA has joined with other Medicare advocates in urging reform.[1] This will also be a concern for the states under the Affordable Care Act
MHA recognizes that health care administrators are faced with the challenge of containing costs while maintaining or improving the quality of the care provided to consumers. MHA supports efforts to implement utilization management strategies that promote and improve the quality of care for individuals with mental health and substance use conditions while seeking containment and reduction of pharmaceutical costs. Such strategies – which are premised on open access to all medications approved for the treatment of mental health conditions – include closer scrutiny of utilization data to manage cases of polypharmacy, fraud and abuse; provider education initiatives targeted at high volume prescribers; disease management programs; best practice prescribing edits; and algorithms and other practice standards that promote appropriate prescribing based on clinical data and evidence-based practice. Additionally, MHA supports the use of tools to enhance appropriate prescribing and other treatment practices in light of best practice models. Sophisticated modeling and the appropriate use of consumer and professional boards can assure credibility in the prescription of medicine as well as assuring consideration of the full range of treatment options and the active involvement of consumers in treatment decisions.[2]
MHA believes that decisions should always be clinically based and that best-practice prescribing will provide long-term cost containment. If implemented based upon the evidence, the practices and tools identified below can be useful for policy makers, practitioners, and consumers to ensure appropriate access to and prescribing of medications, leading to quality improvement and cost containment.
- Best practice prescribing edits are intended to promote adherence to accepted mental health medication regimens and well as ensure safe and effective use. Edits are not formulary restrictions, but rather utilize clinical evidence to encourage quality and effective prescribing by preventing therapeutic duplication, overdosing, subtherapeutic dosing, and adverse medication related reactions. Claims data can be reviewed to identify any providers who appear to have unsafe or inappropriate prescribing practices. This practice of processing edits should identify problems or inconsistencies with the clinical evidence around drug interactions, frequency of refills, dose optimization, days supply, and quantities dispensed. Once identified, those providers with prescribing practices that are not clinically based can be targeted for training on best practices and monitored for fraud and abuse.
- Algorithms are treatment protocols for medication prescribing, guiding a practitioner with regard to what drug to try first, and in turn, if it is not effective, which medications can subsequently be prescribed. Algorithms that are clinically based are especially helpful for those providers with less expertise with treating mental illnesses, like primary care providers. If used appropriately, algorithms may help in providing a more thorough and informed clinical response, potentially leading to greater long-term use of outpatient services instead of hospital and institutional care. Algorithms can also define where a new medication fits in the sequence of steps for optimal clinical outcomes. It is important to remember that while algorithms can help assist the clinician in clinical decision-making, they must be voluntary, and they are not a substitute for clinical judgment and common sense. A well-constructed medication algorithm is not a cookbook for care, but can guide the clinician through multiple treatment options. By including prior history, consumer preference, and past responses in each step of the algorithm, a clinician can tailor the treatment to an individual consumer's needs with the goal of achieving full remission, community integration, and recovery. Like other clinical tools, algorithms should not be based on a fail first mentality, use cost rather than clinical evidence as a determiner, or specify which brand of drug is preferable.
- Consumer and professional boards are yet another venue for monitoring the appropriate prescribing of mental health medications. A consumer and professional board can be established by statute to review and implement the coverage practices of state Medicaid plans and the prescribing practices of providers to ensure safety and improve adherence, quality and outcomes. The board may make recommendations based on peer reviewed medical literature, observational studies, health economic studies, and input from physicians and patients. An effective board also recommends prescribing edits that are consistent with best practice and clinical evidence.
Recognizing that many states and insurance providers have already implemented a preferred drug list and fail first requirements, MHA supports the exemption of all medications used to treat mental health and substance use conditions from prior authorization requirements. Such an exemption should address all classes and not include limits based on diagnosis. Moreover, states, healthcare administrators and insurers that have implemented preferred drug lists, fail first policies and other restrictive policies should ensure that the following consumer protection policies exist and are enforced:
- Preferred drug lists should be developed and regularly revised based on clinical evidence and scientific consensus taking into account efficacy, safety, and cost;
- Prior authorization should be timely and efficient so as not to delay access to medication, nor to deter the prescriber from ordering medications that will have optimal benefits;
- Fail-first requirements (currently referred to as "step therapy") and "therapeutic substitution" of cheaper medication are inherently objectionable in that they restrict access to medically necessary medication. Such requirements should be reconsidered and modified or eliminated to provide optimal mental health and substance use care. These policies prevent physicians and consumers from using expensive medication unless and until a trial of cheaper medication fails to mitigate the condition or causes unacceptable side effects. MHA is concerned that the treatment will often fail, and this failure will often have serious negative consequences for mental health consumers and their families and communities. Failed treatment often results in serious symptoms jeopardizing job performance and continued employment, housing arrangements, and family relationships, and even resulting in hospitalization. Thus, these policies are particularly dangerous for mental health consumers in crisis, and policies that defer medically necessary inpatient treatment are most suspect.
- A fail first policy can only avoid or minimize these serious harms if it:
(a) takes into account the history of the consumer's illness and past treatments;
(b) exempts anyone who is already being successfully treated with another medication;
(c) provides a quick and easily accessible mechanism through which a physician can establish a clinical basis for using another medication without trying and failing with the cheapest one; and
(d) establishes policies, standards and practices which minimize the nature and duration of any failure.
- A fail first policy must also take into account the financial realities of the physician and the consumer. For example, a fail first policy imposed in a Medicaid program with very low physician reimbursement rates and which does not compensate them for time spent obtaining an exemption from the fail first policy virtually guarantees that many more people with serious mental illnesses will suffer from the failure of their medication.
- MHA opposes fail first policies that do not carefully and completely address all of these serious problems. Given the prevalence of fail first policies and their increased use in recent years, MHA affiliates and other advocates should make it a priority to monitor compliance with these standards. Prescribers should have the option to designate "Dispense As Written" to prevent automatic switching at the pharmacy point-of-sale;
- A "grandfathering" policy should exist to ensure that consumers who are successfully being treated on a non-preferred medication are not forced to switch.
- Utilization management strategies should be developed by a pharmacy & therapeutics committee that includes practicing physicians in the field of mental health and substance abuse treatment;
- The process for developing state utilization management strategies should include meaningful involvement from consumers and adequate opportunity for public input;
- Appeals and grievance procedures should be clearly disseminated to beneficiaries and should be both accessible and timely;
For further background information and detailed examples of alternative utilization management strategies, refer to Mental Health America's Issue Brief Series: Access to Medications for Public Health Programs,[3] which includes the following components:
- The Case for Open Access to Medications
- State Policies that Restrict Access to Medications
- Essential Consumer Protections for Medication Policy
- Promoting Appropriate Use of Medications
Call to Action
Advocates and MHA affiliates should be vigilant to determine whether the shifting limits on access to medications are both reasonable and flexible and comport with this position statement. Affiliates should give special attention to these concerns in the implementation of the state exchanges and in state Medicaid programs.
Effective Period
The Mental Health America Board of Directors approved this policy on December 6, 2014. It will remain in effect for five (5) years and is reviewed as required by the Mental Health America Public Policy Committee.
Expiration: December 31, 2019
[1] Revising Specialty Tiers: Protecting Medicare Part D Beneficiaries From Burdensome Cost Shifting. MAPRx, http://maprx.info/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/20130725-MapRX-Revising-Specialty-Tiers.pdf
[2] See, e.g., The Indiana legislation that creates the Indiana Drug Utilization Review Board, IC 12-15-35.5 and IC 12-15-35-51, http://www.in.gov/legislative/ic/code/title12/ar15/ch35.5.html , The Wisconsin Mental Health Drug Advisors Group, https://www.forwardhealth.wi.gov/WIPortal/Tab/42/icscontent/provider/pac/mhda/index.htm.spage and complex algorithms like California's CalMEND program, http://www.dhcs.ca.gov/provgovpart/Pages/CalMENDLandingPage.aspx . The CalMEND "Decision Aid for Antipsychotic Use," is a good example. See also, Parks, J., Radke A., Parker G.,, Foti, M-E. Eilers, R., Diamond, M., Svendsen, D., and Tandon1, R., "Principles of Antipsychotic Prescribing for Policy Makers, Circa 2008. Translating Knowledge to Promote Individualized Treatment." 35 Schizophrenia Bulletin 931-6 (2000). doi: 10.1093/schbul/sbn019. Epub 2008 Apr 2. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2728806/.


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Black Nativity
In a contemporary adaptation of Langston Hughes' celebrated play, the holiday musical drama BLACK NATIVITY follows Langston (Jacob Latimore), a street-wise teen from Baltimore raised by a single mother, as he journeys to New York City to spend the Christmas holiday with his estranged relatives Reverend Cornell and Aretha Cobbs (Forest Whitaker and Angela Bassett). Unwilling to live by the imposing Reverend Cobbs' rules, a frustrated Langston is determined to return home to his mother, Naima (Jennifer Hudson). Langston embarks on a surprising and inspirational journey and along with new friends, and a little divine intervention, he discovers the true meaning of faith, healing, and family.
Starring Forest Whitaker, Jennifer Hudson, Angela Bassett, Vondie Curtis-Hall, Mary J. Blige
Directed by Kasi Lemmons
Running Time - 1:32
Genre - Drama
Opened in Theaters - Wednesday, November 27th, 2013 (2000 days ago)
This movie is not currently playing in theaters.
Home VideoThis movie is likely available now on home video.
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Could Be a Big Light Show in the Sky Late Tonight
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — There's a new meteor shower in town and it might even turn into a full-fledged storm.
Early Saturday, the planet will pass by debris from Comet 209P/Linear. The dusty debris is what creates the meteor shower. Scientists believe the shower could produce three, four or more — possibly a few hundred more — shooting stars per minute.
North American sky-gazers will have the best views. The shower should peak from around 2 a.m. local time until nearly dawn.
Comet 209P/Linear was discovered in 2004. It will be about 7.6 million miles from Earth on Saturday. Next Tuesday, the comet will pass within 5 million miles.
The shower's name is a mouthful: Camelopardalids (CA-mull-oh-PAR-duh-lids). It's named after the giraffe constellation.


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No Violations in Sioux Falls Liquor Check
Police say an alcohol compliance check of more than two dozen off-sale establishments in Sioux Falls on Wednesday turned up no violations.
Police checked 26 establishments, and all were in compliance, with no sales made to the underage person.
Detective Sergeant John Duprey says it was an excellent way to start off 2014.
Businesses that make sales to underage persons could face fines, suspensions or loss of their liquor or malt beverage licenses, and clerks who make such a sale are required to appear in court.


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These beautiful favour boxes have a textured leather effect finish with a gold foiled 50th and two entwined rings. There are punched holes to the top of the favours for threading ribbon through once the favour has been filled. Perfect for ladies table favours
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Favour boxes are supplied flat and do not come with ribbon or decoration. They are sold individually with a minimum order quantity of 10.


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I've been told my dog may be a Tamaskan mix or something... I really don't know. He's been in and out of shelters his whole life and been shot once or twice. This is Ozark my new best buddy (since December). We love this dog
Hello from Minnesota
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Re: Hello from Minnesota
What a beautiful dog and so sad to hear his history. Luckily he's found a forever home with you! And welcome ofcourse!
- Sylvaen
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Re: Hello from Minnesota
Welcome to the forum! Ozark is lucky to have you!
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More on this later, but I recently rewatched Dave Whitlock's video on tying and fishing his NearNuff Sculpin and NearNuff Crayfish. Dave's tying videos are top notch, and those two flies are my go-to patterns for smallmouth and trout in the Ozarks.
My smallmouth boxes are looking pretty sparse these days after years of virtually no fly-tying, so I started in on some tonight. Got six bodies started on size 6 Near Nuff Crayfish. Need to get some brown paint to cover the lead eyes before I dress them. Will do both of those things tomorrow. Enjoyed tying something I can actually see with my aging eyes (damned trout flies!).
After years of tying on a Renzetti Traveler, I'm back with Dyna-King. I recently picked up a Dyna-King Squire, which sadly is being discontinued (but I got it for 25% on a closeout deal). It's not true rotary, but I can live with that, because my preferred right-hand tying position (I'm a lefty) just doesn't work well with the Traveler. Plus, I really love the jaws on the Dyna-Kings.
Was fishing at Roaring River State Park today, and we observed a big crayfish with one claw missing. The relevant thing to this pattern we noticed was that the tips of the pincers on the remaining claw were bright orange-pink, just like Dave recommends painting the tips of the claws on this pattern. He's dead right.


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Red Hot Chili Peppers Drummer Chad Smith Can't Understand Anthony Kiedis' Singing
Evidently "Weird Al" Yankovic was on to something years ago when he parodied the Red Hot Chili Peppers' 'Give It Away' with a "yabba dabba doo" chorus in 'Bedrock Anthem.' Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith says that Anthony Kiedis' singing often sounds like Flintstones gibberish to him.
'I'm in the f—ing band and I don't understand what the guy is saying!" Smith told Bang Showbiz (via STV). "Sometimes he'll get kind of lost and look back at me like, 'What's the verse' and I'm like, 'I don't know, it all sounds yabba dabba doo to me. I don't know what you're saying!"'
Kiedis does have an interesting way of enunciating at times, so we feel Smith's pain. The drummer also told an Australian radio station about the lengths some fans will go to after shows to get close to the band:
"Back in the day, Flea would wear underwear on stage and sweat. People from our road crew would tell us, 'Man, those girls came back and found the underwear, and they squeezed the sweat out and drank it,' and they're like, 'Oh, now I have part of him inside of me.' Isn't that gross? That's some real dedication."
Any fans who want to get that close to the Chili Peppers right now will have to head to eastern Europe, where the band is performing through early August, followed by a headlining gig at Lollapalooza in Chicago. As previously reported, the group plans to release 18 unheard songs between now and January. Smith said, "I'm glad they're going to see the light of day because it's an important part of the band and what we were doing at the time."


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Swimmer James Magnussen Hopes for the Olympic Gold – Hunk of the Day
The London Olympics are almost upon us, and you know what that means, right? It means swimmers like James Magnussen are throwing off their shirts and diving into the pool for their chance to be a part of it.
Swimming is by far our favorite Olympic sport. None of the others feature hot, half-naked men in Speedos. (Why more sports don't take advantage of this is beyond our comprehension.) But one of our favorite half-naked swimmers is James Magnussen from Australia.
You can tell this guy has a lot of… "skill" in the water and we're hoping to see more of him in the future. Even if you don't think he's as cute as Michael Phelps or Ryan Lochte, but Magnussen definitely gives both of them a run for their money.


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Sunday, June 10, 2018
Tanzania hails Italy and EU in the fight against illicit drug use
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I participated in the Media Competition in writing about VCT (Voluntary Counseling and Testing) in Tanzania which was held between July 15th and October 30th 2008 whereby I emerged among the top five winners. The competition was under the program known as "Tanzania bila Ukwimwi inawezekana" which literally means, Tanzania without AIDS disease transmission is possible". This is a program which was organized by the Association of Journalists Against AIDS in Tanzania (AJAAT) under TACAIDS funding. In the photo, I am being presented with a certificate of participation by the Chairman of the Tanzania Commission for AIDS (TACAIDS) Dr. Fatma Mrisho in a colorful ceremony which was held on 22nd December 2008 at Tanzania Information Centre in Dar es Salaam.


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Twenty-five miles down Carmel Valley Road, on a swath of rolling, oak-studded hills, generations of scientists have quietly studied animal and plant life for 75 years.
Work at the Hastings Natural History Reservation, one of the oldest zoological research stations in the world, has been done mostly out of public view, a seclusion that offers a rare opportunity for the long-term study of undisturbed land.
Related: Grandson has fond memories of reserve
But increasingly, as part of a "shift in focus to a more educational aspect," the reserve is opening its pristine lands for public tours and educational groups, said resident director Vincent Voegeli.
Hastings was established in 1937 as part of the Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at the University of California. It is one of 38 preserves under UC"s Natural Reserve System.
"Hastings is a crown jewel in the NRS system," said Eileen Lacy, the museum"s associate director and curator of its mammals collection. "Field work has always been critical to our role in the museum. Education is gaining prominence as well."
At a recent open house to mark the reserve"s 75th anniversary, researchers and former students took about 75 members of the public on a walking tour of the property"s buildings and filled them in on current scientific studies.
The reserve is situated on 2,700 acres at the northernmost end of the Santa Lucia Mountains and includes creeks, grassland and oak woodland that support more than 1,500 species. The longevity of the undisturbed land means scientists can use information gathered long-term to put a magnifying glass on issues such as climate change.
"It"s a unique place … and there are very few research stations that have that kind of long history," said museum director Michael Nachman, who was a student at Hastings 30 years ago. "People can study individual species for decades and learn things that they would not learn otherwise."
Researchers gave the audience an overview of studies on black widow spiders, oaks, woodpeckers and mice.
Shawn Anderson of Carmel Valley brought her two daughters and their friend to the event, where they heard graduate student Sheena "Spider Girl" Fry of the University of Toronto talk about her black widow research.
Female widows "stay in the web for their entire adult life" and can be 15 times larger than males, Fry said. The males abandon the webs in search of females, so Fry is studying traits that lead to reproductive success.
For Anderson and her children, the tour provided real field experience.
"They are really involved in the habitat nature study classes in the Carmel school district," Anderson said. "It"s a chance to get out here … and learn."
Daughter Katy liked "the cool stuff they talked about, the oak trees, wood rats and black widows and how they are measuring the growth of the tree with that band."
She was referring to a huge Valley oak between 400 and 500 years old. It stands next to the property"s original homestead barn and is wrapped with a dendrometer band, a thin strap of metal secured with a spring that expands with the tree as it grows.
"If that tree could talk, it would have great stories," said director Voegeli.
Voegeli, his wife, Sandy, and son, Hans, 15, have lived at their remote posting for almost two years. They also lived at an isolated research station in the Bahamas but were most recently in Bozeman, Mont.
At Hastings, "in the fall, when it"s really quiet … I won"t hardly see anyone all day," Voegeli said.
It may be quiet to people, but not to animals. Martina Kalcounis-Rueppell of the University of North Carolina played a recording of the night-time wail of California deer and brush mice — normally inaudible to the human ear. Their noises were recorded in ultrasound.
Some may wonder how the sex life of spiders and mice fit into the bigger world scheme.
"The research at Hastings is central to our understanding of the natural world and how it changes through time," said Nachman. The decades-long studies "allow us to study temporal changes that we would never see on a smaller time scale, including things like the ways our changing climate affects local ecological communities."
The study of black widows, whose bite can be harmful to small children, the elderly and those with compromised immune systems, has implications beyond biological curiosity, said Fry. Grape pickers are often bitten by the spiders, "so understanding their lifestyle and habits we can use non-chemical means of trying to control them."
Research at Hastings can provide surprises. A.J. Pate, a seasonal field assistant, saw a mountain lion late one night while out with a woodpecker study group.
"I saw one up in a tree," he said. "It scared the crap out of me."
Though Voegeli, a geologist, and his family live on site, Hastings has not had a resident research zoologist for more than four years. That"s because of state budget cuts, said Nachman.
"We would love to have a position like that," Nachman said. The museum is looking to collect donations for an endowment to fund the position.
For more information about the reserve, see www.hastingsreserve.org.


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The Home of Fashion Film and Live Fashion Broadcasting
Nearly Tom Ford time...
#lfw Tom Ford's really wild show... http://t.co/glVi17Js
Maximilism and some at Tom Ford. #LFW
Where to begin with Tom Ford's show? Pure pre recession decadence. What's better than a puffer jacket? A fur puffer jacket. And the gowns!
Stunning evening in a Lichenstein moment @tomford
Sparkle flash combined with the most beautiful lace is the big news @Tomford
Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel at the Tom Ford show http://t.co/1Ky8ihGx
I loved working on the #TomFord show today
#backstage #LFW #makeupartist #makeup #TF http://t.co/gRuzJOoQ
Photo: Tom Ford - monochrome magic as only Tom Ford can do beaded Zebra. Sophia Neophitou Sophia Neophitou... http://t.co/SyDuZWXS
By the size of Anna's smile, ole Timberlake is certainly showing her a good thing #TomFord #flirtingonthefrow
The many male model mini Tom Ford's are drenched in delicious Tom Ford scent. Dont worry husband, it's look, don't touch! #TomFord
Tom Ford Cross Cultural Multi Ethnic #TomFord http://t.co/K19LNjNE
The Tom Ford show is staged in the Saint James's Palace. #LFW http://t.co/XA7BzELJ
#fashion A gentleman's welcome at Tom Ford http://t.co/iaMb7keP
..have just spent the past few hours dressing 60 male models in suits, there are worse ways to spend a Monday evening! #TomFord #AW13 #lfw
Justine timberlake and Jessica biel at #tomford show #lfw #lancasterhouse
Security is beyond tight at the Tom ford show wow
Champagne reception inside Lancaster House ahead of the @TomFord runway show? Why not! Cheers! #lfw
On my way to Tom Ford. So call me a little limited if you want but things don't get much better than this #happyinmywork #lfw
Oh hello planet Tom Ford. Wall-to-wall handsome men and champagne. If anyone needs me at @obsmagazine i'll be here. Forever. #fashion
The greeting party @TomFord Would you expect anything less? #lfw http://t.co/2W5pzcDP
The world according to Tom Ford. Glamour, opulence and handsome men #halfanhourtoshowtime http://t.co/lvRKqc6F
The venue for Tom Ford's first London show is suitably impressive #londonappreciation http://t.co/TA5aTUiE
Backstage at Tom Ford! #ctfw http://t.co/VGQQTOXe
Alright so it is a bigger show but still quite excited I got an invite to the Tom Ford show.tomorrow....Not going to ask how or why...


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I mostly agree with Morrison's prediction for the end of paper (something I've been predicting for a while now--print will become a niche market) and the end of publishers (which I've also been blogging about for years.)
But then Morrison takes a giant leap and says that authors will also go extinct. He ends it with:
But ultimately, any strategy conceived now is just playing for time as the slide towards a totally free digital culture accelerates. How long have we got? A generation. After that, writers, like musicians, filmmakers, critics, porn stars, journalists and photographers, will have to find other ways of making a living in a short-term world that will not pay them for their labour.
And then:
I ask you to vote that the end of "the book" as written by professional writers, is imminent.
Well, you can go ahead and ask. But you're wrong, Ewan.
One of Morrison's problems is being unable to differentiate between the organizations that support artists, and the artists themselves. He uses a lot of examples, and on the surface his arguments seem solid, but they topple easily once counter-examples and some basic logic is applied.
So go read the article, then come back here and I'll attack it, point by point. I'll put his points in italics.
Most notable writers in the history of books were paid a living wage.
That's because publishers, who controlled distribution, decided who would be published and who wouldn't, and paid those writers advances. Though "living wage" is incorrect, as the majority of professional writers also need day jobs, now and throughout history.
But the end of paper books and publishers does not presume writers will no longer be paid. The model is changing, but writers will still be paid in the new model. More of them than ever before.
The economic framework that supports artists is as important as the art itself; if you remove one from the other then things fall apart.
Wrong. There can be many different types of economic frameworks that support writers. Publishers, the state, ereader manufacturers, and ultimately the readers themselves. I can take away publishers, and even heavyweights like Amazon, and still get paid.
But Amazon isn't going anywhere anytime soon.
Without advances from publishers, authors depend upon future sales; they sink themselves into debt on the chance of a future hit.
I didn't get a single advance for any of my self-pubbed ebooks. Yet I'm getting rich. The investment to self pub an ebook is minimal, and since most writers already have other jobs, their livelihood isn't dependent on immediate success. If anything, the legacy publishing industry has taught writers how to live frugally, waiting for long periods of time before (hopefully) getting paid.
I know plenty of writers. Plenty comment here on my blog. Have any of you sunk yourselves into debt on the chance of a future self-pubbed hit?
When authors either self e-publish or do deals through agents that to go straight to digital they embrace a philosophy of the digital market called the long tail.
This is a big jump in logic without any proof at all to back it up.
While Amazon may profit from the long tail, that isn't how I'm earning my money. I'm selling a shitload of ebooks. So are many others.
While there are no doubt some authors selling very few copies, Morrison incorrectly assumes that all authors will make very little money. Like any industry, some will make a lot, some will make a little.
But unlike other industries, Ebooks are forever. That's a long time to find an audience. What sells 5 copies in one month may sell 5000 the next. After the initial investment (the writing, the uploading) an ebook will continue to earn money.
Morrison presumably got paid for his article. One lump fee, and that's it.
When I publish an ebook, someday my grandchildren will be making money from it. That's the kind of long tail that applies here. Not one company making a lot of money off microsales. But one IP selling for a hundred years.
I've mentioned before that this is not a zero sum game, and books don't compete with each other. People who buy ereaders read (and buy) more books than print readers. This industry is growing, and will soon be global, allowing for more writers to get a piece of the pie.
The reason why a living wage for writers is essential is that every industry that has become digital has seen a dramatic, and in many cases terminal, decrease in earnings for those who create "content".
Disregarding his flat-out wrong assumption that most artists earn living wages in the first place, the digital revolution has no doubt hurt industries unprepared for it. That can be proven. It is also proven that those prepared for it (Apple, Microsoft) have found the profits that the old guard lost.
But has digital really hurt artists? Morrison points to other industries. Let's see if he makes any sense.
First of all, I'm not going to comment when Morrison brings up the piracy meme, which he does many times, except to say that:
Repeating the fairy-tale that piracy hurts writers is lazy researching.
So let's look at other industries through Morrison's monocular.
Home video - Sites like Netflix and LoveFilm have thousands of films available to watch entirely for free or with subscriber packages for a few pounds a month.
Hollywood is doing fine. So is Netflix. And these exist because movies exist. Movies made by artists. So, obviously, somewhere down the line the artist is getting paid.
Though DVD and Blu-Ray sales are supposedly falling, streaming and downloading are rising, and enough people pay for them to support artists making new movies.
YouTube has become a cash cow for popular artists. I watch a video, or a coming attraction, then go buy the song or the movie. I do this all the time. So do millions of others.
Music - The total income of the industry dropped by 25% between 1999 and 2008 and is expected to fall by 75% by 2013.
That stat tells me the record companies are hurting. And it serves them right, for forcing $17 CDs on us when we only wanted one song. Maybe Sony and Columbia should have embraced mp3s rather than fought Napster, and they'd be profitable like the iTunes store.
But are artists being hurt? Is the musician without an RCA album deal better off now that digital has exploded, or not? Are big name artists being hurt because they are selling fewer CDs?
I'd like to see evidence showing me the artist is being harmed by digital. All I see is record companies bemoaning their loss of control.
By the way, the statement: "I had a way to make money, now that way is gone, therefore I can never make money again" is such a stupid thing to say that I won't even bother refuting it. Yet it is one of Morrison's main arguments.
Porn - One top porn star, Savannah Stern, has cited that, on par with most of her colleagues, her earnings fell in 2010, from $150K a year to $50K.
No doubt the Internet has changed porn. But there is more porn than ever, and someone is making money on it or it wouldn't exist. While Ms. Stern may not be starring in those big productions anymore, I'm sure a woman with her considerable talents can find a way to exploit them on the world wide web. There are plenty of popular pay sites, and Savannah could also do her own live webcams. I also hear the Mustang Ranch is hiring.
The point is, she can still get paid for having sex, even though DVD sales are dropping, and her job is still a lot cooler than mine.
Computer games.
More piracy bitching. Look, I know pirates steal games. I've done it myself. But last I heard, the videogame industry was making more money than Hollywood. There are more opportunities than ever before. Farmville and Angry Birds, anyone?
Just like porn, or writing, video game artists aren't entitled to earn a living at their craft. Talent and hard work does not mean the world owes you. You have to keep at it until you get lucky.
Newspapers - As newspapers lay off staff to cut costs, they confront the fact that newspaper readership is tied to an ageing demographic.
I've been comparing the publishing industry to the newspaper industry for years. They both rely too much on selling paper, and they're paying for it.
While the Internet is replacing print, it still needs writers. If you're an old-school reporter who got laid off, here's an idea: Write a book. You know you always wanted to. And don't bother with all that finding a publisher BS. I've heard that self-pubbing is a viable option...
Photographers - Picture desks now use amateur online photo archives instead of commissioning new images and get pictures for a fraction of previous costs or entirely for free.
Wow. With that many people going to online photo archives, maybe photographers should start putting their works up for sale on online photo archives?
Like an ebook, a jpg is forever. One pic could sell hundreds of times (and some do, as I spy the same images used over and over on ebook covers.)
Thanks for bringing this up, Ewan. I thought I was the only one weeping for all of the unemployed telecommunications artists.
Oh, wait. There aren't any artists in telecommunications.
Hmm. So why did you...?
Got it. You were trying to say that new tech makes things cheaper.
I agree 100%. I can't wait for a $49 Kindle. It'll help me get even richer.
The Internet - Many of the largest growth industries in the last decade provide an entirely free service to the consumer: Google, Yahoo, YouTube.
These are all uber-rich companies, making money via advertising. They also require user-aggregated content, i.e. artists, in order to exist.
And I'm pretty sure that many artists use Google, Yahoo, and YouTube to find fans who then go on to buy their art.
I'm also sure that there will one day be ads in ebooks.
These digital providers are not in any way concerned with or interested in content, or what used to be called "culture". To them culture is merely generic content; it is a free service that is provided in the selling of customers to advertisers. Ideally for service providers, the customers will even provide the culture themselves, for free. And this is what we do when we write blogs, or free ebooks or upload films of ourselves, at no cost.
And yet, with all of this free content available, I'm still selling hundreds of ebooks a day.
Here's the problem with the crux of Morrison's argument. Already, in the world, on the Internet, there is enough free media to take a man from cradle to grave. We can watch non-stop free movies and videos, listen to non-stop free music, play non-stop free videogames, and NEVER run out of free content for our entire lives.
And yet movies, TV, videogames, music, along with books and porn, continue to make billions of dollars worldwide. Even though all this free stuff already exists.
While the future will no doubt offer more free content, the whole "race to the bottom" is fear-mongering BS.
Newsflash: We're already at the bottom. And artists are still making money.
Reread that, over and over, until the piracy meme and the "race to the bottom" meme stop getting hashed out over and over by those who refuse to listen to logic or think things through.
All that is clear is that for authors and publishers to abandon each other only accelerates the race towards free content.
No, Ewan, that's not clear at all. By abandoning publishers, many authors are reaching more fans and making more money than ever before. Many authors are getting readers for the very first time, because they were excluded from the legacy industry. The pie is getting bigger, soon to be worldwide, and we can all get a slice.
I like free content. Some of my writing is available for free, by my choice. I'm also widely pirated in both ebook and audio.
Free exists right now, and it hasn't hurt me, or the artists who are working to understand this digital revolution rather than fear it.
As we grow increasingly disillusioned with quick-fix consumerism, we may want to consider an option which exists in many non-digital industries: quite simply, demanding that writers get paid a living wage for their work.
What does this even fucking mean? Do I write my state senator? Do I get an online petition going? Do I contact every person who ever sent me fanmail and demand more money from them?
I think not. Instead, I'll just keep writing ebooks, selling them for cheap, and getting rich.
I ask you to leave this place troubled, and to ask yourself and as many others as you can, what you can do if you truly value the work of the people formerly known as writers.
Joe sez: Here's what you troubled souls can do. Download my ebook, SERIAL, for free. Like half a million other people have.
Then leave a comment on my blog, which is free, and gets tens of thousands of hits a day.
And while you do that, I'm going to go buy a new car. For cash.


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Day Four at AGU didn't have as much climate stuff as the first three days. Aside from Al Gore, I went to a number of ice core and ocean sediment presentations.
First I heard the end of a presentation on lake sediments, saying that there were more droughts/century in the past in New England.
Then a modeler who discussed a supposed reconciliation between GISS model E and Dasuopu results. The GISS unit cell was 4 degrees lat and 5 degrees longitude, with the relevant gridcell assigned an altitude of 4000 meters. An article by Bradley et al was mentioned, as was Hansen PNAS 2006 for a supposed difference in temperature trend between E and W Pacific. She said that they could not replicate a result of Guiot et al and did not pursue that line further.
Then to D. Schneider from Colorado who discussed high-resolution Antarctic ice cores over the past two centuries (GRL Aug 2006) referring to Law Dome, Dronning Maud, ITASE 2001-1, ITASE 2001-5 and Siple Dome, analyzing dO18 and dD. He did principal components analysis and claimed the ability to reconstruct the Southern Annular Mode. The ice cores had an anti-correlation of -0.6 in the interior and +0.2 on the outside of the annulus. The PC1 had no trend over the 19th and 20th century. However the late 19th century was lower than the earlier 19th century or the 20th century. This negligible bit of red noise was noted up as a trend.
Then to Urman who discussed tropical ice cores and cyclones. He put up a correlation map between cyclone activity and PAC1 SSTs. More cyclones started further east in Nino years and fewer in Nina years. The Nina typhoons were more zonal, while Nino typhoons often went further north. He asked whether ice cores could clarify the dispute between Webster and Chan 2006 as to whether typhoon data from the 1950s showing elevated typhoon levels was valid. He showed a graph with strong decadal correlation between Quelccaya dO18 and PAC2 SST (0.893 — definitely a high correlation) and with NW typhoons (0.58). His legend said that he used centered 5-year averages. SM note: Quelccaya precipitation actually comes from the Atlantic and even from the Amazon basin from the South American monsoon. So there are a couple of legs to this proposed teleconnection.
Then I went to a session describing an ocean sediment core from Kau Bay, Indonesia, a closed basin of about 470 m in depth with a sill of only 40 m depth. The anoxic depth had been surveyed a couple of times — anoxic levels began at relatively shallow depths in a 1930 survey after a strong El Nino; only at the base in 1985 after a Nina; and once again at higher depths in 2003 after a Nino. She suggested a steady reduction in Nino frequency since about 700 BP. I left the session early to wait for Al Gore.
After the Gore speech, I went to some ice core posters. Kreutz described a new core from Mount Logan. There are now 4 cores from this area — 3 taken around 2002-3. We've discussed Fisher's core from the Summit which has a sharp decrease in dO18 in the mid-19th century through the 20th. A shorter core (showing the same phenomenon) had been taken in 1980 — so this has been known to (say) Lonnie Thompson for some time. The new Fisher core was also from the Summit. The Kreutz core (Eclipse) was taken at a lower elevation and showed less centennial-scale variability. Kreutz and Fisher have concluded that the higher elevation core is reflecting precipitation from a much greater distance while the lower cores are more local. He showed a panel of comparanda from Seager et al (which is a version of the Graham-Hughes presentation discussed previously).
A nearby poster showed temperature estimates from several Canadian Arctic cores — Hudson Strait, Baffin Island, Beaufort Sea. The estimates were done from dinoflagellate cysts; sedimentation rates were 1.7- 4 mm/year, sampled every 10 cm, thus about 20 years resolution. He reported that temperatures in the Hudson Strait about 4000 years ago were up to 11 degrees C higher (!), but not much difference at the Beaufort Sea. The explanation for this was that the warm Greenland Current penetrated much further north into Canadian Arctic waters at this time (as seen trough North Atlantic flora).
Nearby was a poster for a short drill core from the Pamirs from a very large glacier. The reconnaissance was done by a group from the University of Idaho. Their glacier was 1 km thick — pretty remarkable. (The day before, Lonnie Thompson said that the 160 meter thick Quelccaya glacier was as good as it gets.) They are trying to get NSF funding — I hope that they get it. Maybe they will even archive their sample results before 20 years has passed.
Then to poster 1234 -Neny Fjord, Norway had a thick (12 m ) Holocene sequence with basal C14 date of 8060 C14 BP. 1235 — a record from Cabo Frio at the South Atlantic Convergence Zone.
Then to a presentation by Nicola Scafetta on his latest thoughts on solar-climate relationships building on several earlier articles. He made the obvious point that forcing factors prior to the 20th century were agreed to be solar and volcanic. Thus variation in a reconstruction — whatever the merit of the reconstruction — had to result from these factors. He then took the view that feedback to solar forcing should be deduced from this information rather than on a priori grounds. He then used the various temperature and solar reconstructions to give bounds to each. Of the temperature reconstructions, Mann and Jones 2003 was at one end of variability (0.2 deg C) and Moberg at the other end (0.8 deg C). (As an aside, in the discussion of reconstructions here, I've not really tried to assess the knock-on impact in attribution studies, although I'm obviously aware of the issue; for those who say that these reconstructions don't "matter", here's a case where they are being used for forcing attribution.) e also noted the big differences between variability in different iterations of solar reconstructions, with Lean et al 2005 being much less variable than the earlier versions. He also drew attention to the lag factor between forcing and temperature (his tau) resulting from ocean inertia. He mentioned that a tau of 10 was held to be sensible for physical reasons, but that the tau from some solar proxy-temperature proxy combinations was much less. (He noted that differences for solar variability resulted even from interpretations of ACRIM where an adjustment in the middle of the record was not without controversy and led to different knock-on results.) The tau of MJ03-Lean 2000 was 0.75; 3.75. Scafetta had an interesting graphic showing the GISS model against actuals — something dear to Willis' heart. Prior to 1958 in this graphic, the GISS reconstruction was really bad. He mentioned a possible feedback from solar forcing onto cloud cover.
I browsed more ice core and sediment posters for a while. One that caught my eye was from Wyss Yin of Hong Kong (U43B-0858) who had a theory of why CO2 levels rose in interglacials. He was a geologist who had studied dozens of boreholes in the Hong Kong shelf. He pointed out much loess had been de-calcified. He proposed that dropping ocean levels led to exposed continental shelfs, that this exposed marine pyrite, which then oxidized and dissolved carbonates yielding carbon dioxide. I don't know whether this can be reconciled with timing (and, in particular, with the ice core information.) However, there are many Pleistocene loess exposures and lots of potential information to be assimilated.


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Phil Woods
This CD could have been titled Finally! Dianne Reeves has long had the potential to be the top female jazz singer, but so many of her previous recordings were erratic as she skipped back and forth between idioms without committing herself. However, after years of flirting with jazz and being seemingly undecided whether she would rather be a pop star, she at last came out with a full jazz album in 1996, and it is a gem. The supporting cast on the ten selections (which feature different personnel on each cut) is remarkable and everyone gets a chance to play: trumpeters Clark Terry and Harry "Sweets" Edison, altoists Phil Woods and Bobby Watson, tenorman James Moody, trombonist Al Grey, harmonica great Toots Thielemans (on "Besame Mucho"), pianist Kenny Barron, bassist Rodney Whitaker, and drummer Herlin Riley. In addition, Joe Williams shares the vocal spotlight on "Let Me Love You" and a touching version of "Tenderly," Germaine Bazzle sings along with Reeves on "Side by Side," and a rendition of Charlie Ventura's "Ha!" has a vocal group consisting of Reeves, Bazzle, Terry, Moody, and the young Kimberley Longstreth. Other highlights include Nat Adderley's "Old Country," "Some Other Spring," and "Cherokee." Despite the heavy "competition," the leader emerges as the star of the set due to her beautiful voice and highly expressive singing. This highly recommended CD is the Dianne Reeves release to get. ~ Scott Yanow


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|Syntactic Confectionery Delight
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No matter what you see in the comments, either it's pro-OOP or anit-OOP, you should learn about OOP.
First its not that hard to learn (it's not nuclear science, it's not even math, relational database used to be math whatever that means!).
If there is one thing I learned about programming from PerlMonks website; it's there is several pardigms for programming(I dont remember the node name or author, sorry, but there is a specific node that I mean): functional, procedural, OOP, and ... well and more to come I hope! OOP will not corrupt your mind if you learn it.
Mostly people who attack it, are just turned off by other people who are so very ooh-no ooh-my pro-OOP. But OOP is really interesting, as many ppl say, and will continue to say.
OOP can be thought of in many ways, you can think of it as an upgrade to procedural programming, or the next logical step in the comp.lang evolution. In a procedural lang you manipulates data.
Just data you cannot manipulate anything that can not be seen as data!
Data are of course: Numbers(int, floats) and characters (strings!),data here is basically what ever you can insert from your keys in your keyboard...did i miss anything thing.
And functions are functions, anything you cannot describe as data, you had to code a functions to represent it, and still those function can only manipulates data!
OOP offers you a real way (by real I mean OOP is not just a theory, you have real implementation of its concepts) to manipulate more then just data, you can manipulate objects (and that is part why I think OOP implementations that don't support operator overload are missing a great deal!). Of course data can be objects, and objects can be anything. The gotcha here is, objects can only be anything that can be described in functions/methods and data; but hey, look around (at the different programs that exist today), that really almost anything!
So why not think of a button as a function that draw a button!
Don't you think it's better (a better and easier way to think when designing a program) to put a button object, on your window object (function..eek!), and add textArea objects and label objects to make a form!
Yes GUI programming is one area of design that benefits a lot from OOP.
So the bottom line is OOP is way of thinking when designing a program that is actually supported by langs that implement the concept and allow you to code what think the way you think it.
And yes if all you wanted to manipulate is just numbers and characters, OOP would not give you much of and edge.
But still its great to be here when you need it!
And believe it or not OOP offer you a lot more then what I said, take Inheritence, this feature proved to be a great way to organize and upgrade object. And offered a great maner of code reuse. Abstract object at the top more detailled ones as subs, and subs for subs...
A change in the the father Object with affect all its sons! WOW..thats impressive, not impressive to do, but to think about this way, and you know what you really code it that way, you can probably still do the same with regular modules. But isn't a lot more logical and fun to think about it in term of objects!
It really reduce the gap between modelling a program/system and the actual code.
I guess this is all.
In reply to Re: Re: Object Orientation is:
by systems


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IR400 Point IR Gas Detector
The IR400 Infrared (IR) Point Detector is a hydrocarbon gas detector that continuously monitors combustible gases and vapors within the lower explosive limit (LEL) and provides alarm indication. It features an industry-leading response time of ≤ 3 seconds, even with a splash guard installed. All electronics are contained within an explosion-proof housing so that the IR400's detector information can be processed locally. Configurations with analog output, Modbus and HART are also available.
S4000CH Combustible Gas Detector
The S4000CH Intelligent Sensor is a microprocessor-based transmitter designed for use with General Monitors industry-leading catalytic bead sensors. It features one person calibration and virtually self-calibrates by simply activating a magnetic switch and applying gas. It monitors combustible gases and vapors within the lower explosive limit (LEL) and provides status indication and alarm outputs. Complies with ANSI/ISA 12.13.01-2000 performance requirements for combustible gas detectors.
580A Dual-Channel Combustible Gas Monitor
The 580A is a compact, highly-versatile system for continuously monitoring combustible gas (hydrocarbon) concentrations in two locations. The system consists of two remote catalytic sensing assemblies and a solid-state controller. The controller automatically displays the higher reading channel on a digital display, scaled from 0-100% LEL (lower explosive limit). Manual override switching permits readout of the low channel at any time.
610A Four Channel Combustible Gas Monitor
The 610A is a system for continuously monitoring combustible gas (hydrocarbon) concentrations in four locations. The system consists of four General Monitors remote catalytic bead sensing assemblies and a solid-state controller. The controller features four independent channels, each having its own circuitry. The 610A features a digital display of gas concentrations in % LEL (0-99% lower explosive limit) for each channel.
4802A Zero Two Series Control Module for Combustible Applications
The 4802A is a single channel Combustible Gas Control Module that has been designed for use with our proven catalytic bead sensors. It is designed to monitor combustible gases and vapors within the lower explosive limit (LEL) and provide status indication and alarm outputs. Microprocessor-based electronics allow all options to be user selectable through the front panel interface. A digital display indicates gas concentration, fault codes, calibration cues and setup options. Other features: LED indications of status, as well as open collector and relay outputs.
DC110 Eight Channel Combustible Readout / Relay Module
The DC110 is an eight-channel Readout / Relay Module designed to be used with up to eight of our remotely located Combustible Intelligent Sensors. The front panel contains a digital display that indicates 0-99% LEL (lower explosive limit) of the combustible gas being monitored by the Intelligent Sensors.


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- The Genealogists for Families team on Kiva is now one month old. Our 40 members in Australia, Canada, USA, England, Scotland, Wales, Netherlands and Czech Republic have loaned a total of $1,450 to 58 individuals or groups. One loan is already 6% repaid.
- If your name does not appear on our Team Members list but you want free publicity for your Web site, blog or business, do this:
Log in to your Kiva account. Click 'Lender Page'. Click the radio button beside your name (not the one beside Anonymous). Edit other sections of that page as you wish, and include a Web address for your business, blog, online family tree or whatever. Click 'Save changes'.
Please invite your friends and workmates to take part in the Genealogists for Families project. Everyone is welcome - not just family historians. We are helping people and we are having fun!


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ODU Advances To NCAA Second Round With Thriller Over Winthrop
By ODU Athletics
Nov. 11, 2006
NORFOLK, Va. (November 11, 2006) - Old Dominion men's soccer advanced in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2003, edging Winthrop 4-3 on penalty kicks after the two squads were scoreless in double-overtime on Saturday afternoon at the ODU Soccer Stadium.
The Monarchs (13-5-2) advance to Wednesday's second-round contest at 14th-seeded University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C. at 7:00 p.m. The Tar Heels (11-5-3) received a first-round bye.
The Eagles completed their season 15-3-4.
Winthrop jumped ahead 2-1, before Old Dominion tied the penalty kick shootout 3-3 with one Winthrop shooter left. The Eagles' goalkeeper Patrick Mitrovich took the fifth shot which hit the left post sending the game into extra PK's. Old Dominion's Greg Mottinger's shot saw the back of the net in the sixth round and Winthrop's David Kenga's shot was deflected by Monarch goalkeeper Evan Newton, allowing ODU to advance to the second round.
The Monarchs outshot the Eagles 14-4 and held Winthrop shotless in the first half of regulation. Winthrop's Mitrovich finished the match with six saves, while ODU's Newton did not face any shots on goal.
"I would give my defense an A+ [because] they contained a team that scored 51 goals this year," stated ODU Head Coach Alan Dawson. "Evan is a freshman, but he has a lot of experience in goal. Today he was the hero."
Old Dominion advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2003 with a 6-3 win over N.C. State, but fell to Maryland 2-1 to finish that season 15-4-1. A year ago, the Monarchs received a first-round bye, but fell to Wake Forest 2-1 in the second round.


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In the near empty confines of Town Hall on May 4, the East Hampton Town Planning Board approved the Reform Club's application to erect two small sheds on its property on Windmill Lane in Amagansett.
Questions as to whether the changes to the property and its structures — changes that began in 2007 a year after Randy Lerner purchased what had been a modest seasonally operated inn — should have triggered site plan review by the board were rendered immaterial by the vote.
Two members voted against the application: Peter Van Scoyoc, who at a planning board meeting on April 19 had argued that earlier changes to the property were illegal, and Eileen Catalano, who at that same meeting said that previous remodeling on the site without planning board approval "was a mystery to everyone."
The five other planning board members voted in favor of the application. A.D.H.


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To the dismay of many Jets fans, today's Pro Football Talk on NBCSN featured the worst losses in franchise history. To the delight of many Jets fans, the show also included the team's Mt. Rushmore.
Once again, PFT and PFT Planet agreed: Joe Namath, Mark Gastineau, Don Maynard, and Curtis Martin.
Ross Tucker made the case for Joe Klecko over Gastineau, arguing that Klecko was the steak and Gastineau was the sizzle. And then Ross drooled all over his shirt after he mentioned steak.
See the discussion and the voting results below.


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Clue: Red giant in Scorpius
We have 1 answer for the clue Red giant in Scorpius. See the results below.
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Related Clues:
- Scorpio's brightest star
- Giant star in Scorpius
- Star in Scorpio
- Brightest star in Scorpio
- Southern Hemisphere supergiant
- Star in Scorpius
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- Red giant in Scorpio
- Star of Scorpio
- Supergiant in Scorpius
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The pervading thought among most health club operators in the United States is that fitness club product and brand innovation begins and ends in America. The significant majority of U.S. club operators seek knowledge and information either by attending one of the U.S.-based conventions or trade shows (e.g., Athletic Business, Club Industry and IHRSA), reading one of the U.S.-based publications (e.g., Athletic Business, Club Industry, Club Insider, Club Business International, Recreation Management, etc.), or networking with peers they have met while attending industry events.
Most U.S.-based operators do not commonly seek ideas and best practices from their colleagues overseas, including those in Asia, Canada, Europe and South America. Many of my American colleagues believe that health/fitness operators overseas do not have best practices or innovations that would lend value to their existing expertise—after all, didn't the health/fitness industry start here in the United States and then blossom as a global industry because of America's leadership?
Interestingly, the health/fitness industry's roots lie squarely in the heart of Europe. The founders—or as they are often referred to, the fathers of fitness—are Europeans: Pehr Henrik Ling of Sweden, who founded Swedish Medical Gymnastics, and Johann Guts Muth, the grandfather of German-style gymnastics. The first true equipment innovations started on the European continent (e.g., Gustav Zander's resistance equipment using cams and pulleys or Joseph Pilates' reformer), as did the first clubs (Turnverein's club in Germany or Triatt's in Paris). Although the start of the modern era of the health/fitness industry might lie in the hands of a few entrepreneurial Americans (Vic Tanny and Ray Wilson), the innovations that will take the industry to the next level lies equally in the spirit of both American organizations and those of our colleagues in the international arena.
European operators are bringing business practices to the budget club sector or, as some call it, the high-volume, low-price sector. An associate of mine in the United Kingdom, Ray Algar, reflects in his 2010 U.K. Low Cost Gym Sector Report that the European budget club sector leverages five core elements: 24-hour access, ability for one staff person to operate the club, extensive use of technology and online joining, a membership offering at half the price of the mid-market clubs, and a fitness center or gym-only proposition (no group exercise).
These European practices, as well as those executed by leading operators in other foreign markets, might hold additional promise for American companies who already operate a budget brand (e.g., Planet Fitness, Blink, Crunch franchise clubs, Gold's Gym Express, etc.), as well as provide a benchmark for entrepreneurs now considering the budget segment.
The following are European lessons in budget club offerings:
Deliver a great value at a very reasonable price, but don't give it away. Yes, we all know that Planet Fitness is $9.95 in some markets, some of the new Crunch franchise clubs sell for less than $10 per month, and even the new Blink clubs operated by Equinox offer access to a single club for as little as $15 per month. At first glance, most of us would say this is an incredible value. The question is, are these clubs offering a great value or are they just selling access at a very low price such that it ignores the other key elements of the overall value equation? In Europe, the leading player in the budget segment is McFit of Germany, with more than 120 owned clubs and growing. McFit is not alone in servicing the European budget segment. German operators such as Pure Fitness, Clever Fit and Jumpers, as well as UK operators the Gym Group and Fitspace also serve the needs of this fast growing segment, which has existed for nearly two decades in Europe. The difference is that you will not find these European clubs selling memberships for under $10 per month. Rather, they offer a convenient, simple and no frills experience at a reasonably low price, typically under 20 Euro on the mainland and 20 pounds in England. For example, McFit, which sells for 16.90 Euro per month, equates to approximately $24 per month, while the Gym Group, which sells for around 16 pounds per month, equates to nearly $26 per month. The point is that in nearly every case, the European operators offer a budget experience that is nearly two times more expensive than their U.S. counterparts, yet manage to attract similar levels of membership per square foot (2 to 5 square feet per member). For example, as of year-end 2009, McFit, which typically occupies around 2,000 meters, averaged approximately 7,100 members per club, with many clubs having membership levels considerably higher.
Leverage technology for maximum efficiency, convenience and profit. The European operators offer memberships entirely online. You cannot purchase a membership at the club or from a sales person, something that U.S. operators are now adopting. Yet, technology goes well beyond merely offering memberships online. McFit may have one of the most sophisticated IT systems for supporting its membership offering, providing a complete turn-key system that creates dialogue between members, provides exercise program orientations, exercise instruction, nutritional guidance, information sharing and purchase of additional amenities. The Gym Group in the United Kingdom also leverages technology to bring incredible value to the membership experience. Possibly one of the more unique technology tools offered by these clubs is the use of imbedded chip technology. The clubs provide cards with imbedded chips that allow members to access the facility, access lockers, take a shower, get a towel, purchase a monthly supply of beverage access, buy a headset, get a tan, and if they wish, to participate in a special course. In several clubs, the embedded cards even provide access to specific workout machines, such as high-tech treadmills and vibration machines.
No frills with frills. The budget club concept depends on eliminating operational waste or, as we might say in the United States, cutting out the fat. Well, our European colleagues seem to have taken this to another level by eliminating nearly every frill but allowing members to access those frills with a little flare. Want a shower? Well how about paying for it? Even better, how about a time limit on those showers, sort of like a coin operated car wash but instead operated by technology in many cases and always with a time restriction? Like your sport drinks? How about a month's unlimited access to your favorite sports drinks and beverages (30-second time limit to fill that cup) for less than 10 Euro per month and, for your convenience, using your chip embedded membership card? Don't stop with drinks and showers. How about retail products and other amenities? These budget clubs have a way of getting members to spend far more than they may have originally intended because they give it a little flare.
Social media masters. The budget operators in Europe have become masters at leveraging the Internet, and especially social media, in spreading their message to the masses. McFit has an enormous and enthusiastic following on Facebook (more than 11,000 likes on its official page as of September 2011) and YouTube. Visit YouTube and you will find hundreds of member-generated videos that directly or indirectly promote the virtues of McFit. Interestingly, McFit is not alone. The members of other budget club operators in Europe and in other international markets have found a means to use these social media outlets to create incredible fan bases or, in the new marketing vernacular, cult brands.
Membership package flexibility. Many of our European counterparts have forgone the contract-only mentality that pervades the U.S. market. Furthermore, they offer a variety of membership options ranging from one-day memberships to one week, one month, one year, etc. Beyond the elimination of the contractual barrier (purchasing via a contract is available and provides a lower price) or the basic mid-term and long-term membership offering, these clubs also market and charge for their memberships not on a monthly basis but on an every other week cycle, understanding that by doing this, they actually collect more money on an annual basis. For example, instead of 12 monthly payments (12 months at 16.80 Euro per month, which equals 201.60 Euro annually), they offer 26 payment cycles (26 payments at 8.40 Euro equaling 218.40 Euro annually), resulting in receiving two more weeks of payments.
Clean and stylish. In the United States, most budget clubs take a box-like approach to their design, usually converting a strip mall space or similar available space into a club that has little aesthetic appeal. Many international budget clubs believe that esthetics are an important element of the experience (e.g., design for experience) and, therefore, add elements that appeal to the senses and not just the pocketbook. For example, Jumpers offers a beautiful lounge, soft lighting and some unique design elements that give the budget club an open, warm and "clubby" feel. Another area in which budget clubs in Europe and South America, at least in the majority of instances, exceed their U.S. counterparts is in the area of cleanliness. Cleanliness seems to be an essential element of the budget club experience overseas.
Leveraging a one-staff person approach. As reflected in Algar's 2010 report on European budget clubs, this sector is founded on the principle of operating with one staff person to serve the membership base. Interestingly, although these facilities have only one employee, members can access assistance through a host of approaches. At McFit, technology and members supply information and assistance, while at the Gym Group, independent personal trainers provide 10 hours of complimentary service weekly to support member needs. When visiting several Gym Group clubs, I was astonished by the level of service I received from their independent trainers, especially since they did not receive pay for the 10 hours they committed to serving the club members. When visiting several McFit clubs, I was pleasantly surprised by the level of assistance that I could obtain between the clubs' IT kiosks, informational placards and members. In many cases, the service available to members of these clubs exceeds what you might obtain if visiting one of the many U.S. operators and even European operators who charge twice as much.
My intent in sharing these methods of European operation is not to point out the weaknesses or strengths of any particular market but instead to highlight the incredible value in expanding your learning opportunities beyond the U.S. coastlines. The industry players in Asia, Australia, Canada, Europe and South America all have some unique and innovative approaches to operating successful and profitable clubs that in some cases mimic those of the United States, but in many cases differ considerably. If club operators are intent on achieving continuous improvement, then they need to seek the best practices from both international colleagues and domestic associates. In doing so, we can emerge as stronger operators and a stronger industry.
Stephen Tharrett is president of Club Industry Consulting. He is the author of four books and is a former board member and president of IHRSA. Tharrett is involved in public speaking, having served as an international keynote speaker at conventions in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, England, Ireland, Japan, Russia, Singapore, Spain and Turkey, as well as domestic conventions such as Athletic Business, CMAA, IHRSA and SIBEC. He can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com.