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Getting the House Ready for Fall
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Becky |
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Well, I hate to say it, but if school's not already back in session it's about to be, and it's time to get the house ready for colder months. It's also time to enjoy the bright leaves, crisp air and perhaps a few Sunday football games. Here's a starter checklist to get the house ready as we transition out of summer.
1) Coat closet. It's time to switch out your swimmy shoes and beach bags for fleece pullovers, gloves and fall/winter sports gear. It's also a time to make sure schoolkids have good landing zones for after school. A designated place for their backpacks, coat, shoes, perhaps a flute or a violin and anything else that needs to be close at hand for that groggy morning dash out the door is always a huge help. This can be anything from a kid having his own hook to a basket to an entire locker, depending on how much room you have.
2) Football game kit. If you're big into gridiron and lucky enough to have season tickets, get your gear ready. Have your stadium blanket cleaned, rinse off those camp chairs you bring tailgating, and corral your picnic gear, binoculars, foam fingers, car decals and flags (can you tell I live in the south?), and favorite team colored clothing organized. You may even decide to leave a bunch of this stuff in the car until after the last bowl game.
3) Family room. Call a chimney sweep and make sure your wood burning fireplace chimney is clean and safe for the coming months. While you're at it, order a cord of wood from the woodman. Pull your extra throw blankets out of the mothballs, give them a good cleaning, and drape them over the sofa for chilly nights.
If you like to do some design switcheroo with the seasons, switch out those cotton coastal-inspired throw pillow covers for more autumnal hues and felt or wool, and perhaps switch out an area rug as well.
Thomas Paul Elephant Duvet Cover
4) Bedrooms. If you're the duvet type, give the cover a good cleaning. If you usually switch from cotton to down, find your winter duvets to have on standby. I also like to do the old mattress flip/turn each season; it's an easy way to remember to do it. While you're in there, do that under-the-bed sweep/vacuum that probably doesn't happen all that often. Grab the extension pole and give your ceiling fans and ceilings all a good dusting; summers spiders have probably left quite a few webs around.
MASH Studios LAX Wall Mount Desk
5) Homework station. Make sure your kids have a quiet spot to get their homework done. Outfit it with pens, pencils, erasers, notebooks, a reading lamp and any other supplies they may need.
Phew. You're done. Google a few hot toddy recipes and start getting excited for fall!
Hi, I'm Becky. I live in Atlanta. Besides acting as the Editorial Director here on Hatch, you can find me talking design over at Houzz. Make me happy — leave a comment!


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|This is one our favorite quick meals! Chicken Peppers with Portabello Mushrooms!
Plus I have a little surprise giveaway I want you to read more about!
Today I would like to share with my readers my second blog and a chance for that great giveaway on my heartsmart website called "Blogsgotheart", I would love you to follow and that's where the GIVEAWAY IS! The blog is dedicated to a healthy happy heart. Thanks to Joy for the opportunity to review her books and awesome recipes she shared with me, this great giveaway is what I want you all to be part of ! In addition to my review of these informative books about healthy foods to enhance our lifestyles by eating healthier, I will be cooking up some her original recipes. I also have been given the pleasure to pick four Winners! YES, FOUR!!!! To enter is just a click away! Giveaway ends on July 9th @ 11:58 EST. Take a peek at these two awesome books you may be lucky enough to win! So hop over to Blogsgotheart to enter for a chance to win!
|Don't miss this great giveaway! Check out Blogsgotheart!

subset: commoncrawl


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Hurry up and finish, willya?
That's becoming almost a rallying cry on the Baltimore arts and entertainment scene, as filmgoers, theater lovers, lounge lizards, even merry-go-round riders wait eagerly for new and refurbished venues to open.
Some projects appear to be on schedule, even if fans might think they're taking forever. Others have endured a delay or two — like North Baltimore's Senator Theatre, which the new owners had hoped to have reopened earlier this year — leaving fans champing at the bit.
What follows is an update on eight Baltimore-area projects where the finish line is clearly visible or has just been crossed. The list is by no means exhaustive — the Baltimore Museum of Art, for instance, will be announcing plans Tuesday for the next phase of its continuing $24 million renovation project, while the Maryland Film Festival's plans for the long-empty Parkway Theatre on North Avenue are still in the earliest of phases, with any opening at least two years off.
The Chicken Box
1 W. North Ave.
At its best, the fried chicken takeout joint at North Avenue and North Charles Street was hardly a gem in the cityscape. It was worse after the business closed a few years ago, leaving a grim vacancy. But the lights are back on, the doors back open, and the grease has given way to greasepaint. Baltimore Annex Theater has taken up residence in what has been dubbed The Chicken Box.
The new space is welcome news in the neighborhood, especially after the art-and-theater building Load of Fun a few blocks away shut down in 2012. "There's also a new music venue coming" to the area, said Ben Stone, executive director of Station North Arts & Entertainment Inc., which spearheaded the renovation of The Chicken Box.
Annex Theater gave The Chicken Box a soft opening in May with a gender-bending production of Shakespeare's "Macbeth." With only about 40 seats, things were decidedly intimate for performers and audiences alike.
"I didn't know how the company was going to pull that off, since there really is no backstage area, but they're very creative," Stone said. "North Avenue became their backstage, with the actors going outside."
The facility, which cost about $30,000 (plus lots of in-kind services) and includes office and gallery space, is "certainly a work-in-progress," Stone said. The Chicken Box will get a formal ribbon-cutting ceremony with the mayor on June 26.
The National Aquarium's Blacktip Reef exhibit
601 E. Pratt St.
A 260,000-gallon coral reef exhibit, which aquarium officials promise will make visitors feel as though they are inside an actual reef, is scheduled for a July 10 opening.
The new blacktip reef habitat, a re-creation of an Indo-Pacific reef that replaces the popular "Wings in the Water" exhibit, will include a school of sleek and fast-moving wingtip sharks. Also included in the $12.5 million exhibit will be 15 other marine species and more than 60 varieties of fish.
The tank is in place and has been filled with saltwater, said Jack Cover, the aquarium's general curator. Workers are making sure the exhibit's life-support systems are functioning properly, Cover said — think of setting up a fish tank in your home, but on a massive scale — and are adjusting the lighting.
The exhibit will offer views both above the reef and below the waterline.
"It's amazing, it really is," Cover said. "It just gives you that feeling, like you're the diver."
Inner Harbor carousel
Between the Maryland Science Center and Rash Field
A new Inner Harbor carousel, replacing the 106-year-old amusement ride that was removed by its owner in March 2012, should be in place and operating by mid-July, said Kimberly Clark, executive vice president of the Baltimore Development Corp.
Officials had hoped to have the new merry-go-round in place and running in the spring, but delays in getting the necessary permits and some "electrical issues" have moved the opening into the summer, Clark said.
The new carousel will be operated by Charm City Carousel Entertainment under a $50,000-a-year lease agreement with the city.
The Waterfront Partnership and Greater Baltimore Committee are continuing work on a master plan that could bring other attractions to the Inner Harbor area, Clark said.
Pikes Theatre
1001 Reisterstown Road
Work on bringing back the old Pikes Theatre, a Baltimore County landmark that hasn't shown movies since 1983, should begin in earnest this week, said Ira Miller, who operates Baltimore's Rotunda Theatre and will be operating the restored Pikes.
He said the theater should begin showing films in late July or early August.
The building, which dates to 1937, has housed various businesses since the movies left three decades ago; most recently, a diner operated out of the location. That business, the Pikes Diner, will continue operating out of part of the building once the theater reopens.
"I think that will really liven up downtown Pikesville," said Jessica Normington, executive director of the Pikesville Chamber of Commerce. "We're really enthusiastic about getting the Pikes back as a theater and getting people back in."
5904 York Road
Construction work at York Road's Senator Theatre, closed since April 2012, is between 80 percent and 85 percent complete, said owner James "Buzz" Cusack, who also operates the five-screen Charles Theatre.
Cusack said he is hoping to have the renovated and expanded Senator open in August.
"It better be," said Cusack, who owns the theater with his daughter, Kathleen Cusack Lyon. "We've got to get it open sometime."
While original projections had called for the 74-year-old theater to be closed for about nine months, Cusack said various factors, including recent heavy rains, have contributed to the delay. In addition, the tight space in which workers are working — the expanded theater complex will be taking up 95 percent of the space on-site — has slowed down the pace of work, Cusack said.
But considerable progress has been made, said Cusack, who purchased the theater from the city of Baltimore for $500,000 last September. The Senator's signature murals have been restored and put back up. Work on the roof is nearly done. Construction on additions to the original building is substantially complete. Work on a renovation of the theater's signature marquee, being done by Baltimore-based Belsinger Sign Works, is also nearing completion.
When finished, the Senator will include three smaller screens and a restaurant, in addition to its original theater.
Torrent Lounge
512 York Road, Towson
For 17 years, the Recher Theatre was Towson's most prominent concert venue, hosting acts such as the White Stripes, Motorhead and Patti Smith.
But that ended April 1, when the club closed and began its transformation from a dingy breeding ground for rock bands to an upscale lounge serving sushi and booking electronic dance music DJs.
More than a couple of months later, co-owner Brian Recher says the building is still in the process of shedding its old skin. The theater has been gutted, he says, and plumbing has been reworked. The only rock-club relic remaining is the sound system. Now, his crew has the task of turning the empty space into an LED-lights-filled dance club.
"We've got fancy tiles, new flooring, new ceiling, new everything," Recher said. "It's going to be totally different than the Theatre, ambience-wise."
Recher plans to open the Torrent Lounge in September. He hopes the venue's new look and attitude will eventually win over the Towson residents who expressed concern over a nightclub replacing the beloved concert venue. Recher says he appreciated the scrutiny, and that his goal is to "do right by the community."
"We're redoing the roof and the marquee. New bathrooms," Recher said. "It's going to be so beautiful. We're so excited. [The Theatre] was just beat to hell, man. It's time to fix her up and make her beautiful again."
—Wesley Case
Edgar Allan Poe House & Museum
203 N. Amity St.
Closed for nearly a year, West Baltimore's Edgar Allan Poe House & Museum is on track for an October reopening, under the auspices of the nonprofit Poe Baltimore group. While the house itself and its interior will remain essentially unchanged — it's a small space, and no one wants to change it fundamentally from what it was like when Poe lived there for a few years in the 1830s — officials promise some tweaks that will make for a more visitor-friendly experience. The emphasis will be on telling the story of Poe in Baltimore, and of the house in particular, through a well-marked walking tour and other interpretive exhibits.
Workers are finishing some rehab work inside, including plastering and carpeting, said Poe Baltimore board member Mark Redfield. In addition, he said, the group is in the final stages of obtaining approval of its nonprofit status, and it has begun looking for corporate donors to help put the project on firm financial footing — an essential consideration, as the house originally closed after Baltimore City decided that it could no longer afford the annual $85,000 cost of running it. Last fall, the city approved a $180,000 payment to the nearby B&O Railroad Museum to consult in the house's transition from city-subsidized museum to profit-making tourist attraction.
"We're almost there," said Redfield, a Baltimore-based actor who will be staging a radio theater production of three Poe stories on June 28 at Westminster Hall (just yards from Poe's grave) as a fundraiser. "People just need to bear down now, for the 'roll-up-your-sleeves' part of it."
Chesapeake Shakespeare Company
200 E. Redwood St.
For a decade, this enterprising organization has presented works by the Bard outdoors amid the cool hilltop ruins of the Patapsco Female Institute Historic Park in Ellicott City. If all goes according to schedule, the company will also have a snazzy new indoor venue in downtown Baltimore by the end of 2014.
The 1885 Mercantile Trust and Deposit Company, which has been used as a restaurant and nightclub space in recent years, is being converted to a facility with a 250-seat performance space inspired by the Globe Theatre in Shakespeare's day. The $6.5 million project, designed by Cho Benn Holback and Associates (fresh from creating the new Everyman Theatre), will also house administrative offices and educational rooms. The official groundbreaking will take place July 9.
"This is a pretty exciting moment for us," said founding artistic director Ian Gallanar. "We have a little under $2 million left to raise, and we feel confident about raising it. We will be performing five shows in the theater during the first year. If we can get people coming down there comfortably and happily, it will help other redevelopment projects in that area. That particular block or two needs to get more attention. "
With the arrival of Chesapeake Shakespeare Company, downtown will have three large-scale theater companies. Center Stage and Everyman Theatre "have been enormously generous to us," Gallanar said. "Each of the companies has a distinct point of view and a distinct character. In terms of audiences and opportunities for artists, it's going to beef up the theater community."


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First Red-Band 'Upgrade' Trailer Reveals Leigh Whannell's Brutal Sci-Fi Revenge Thriller.
Are you ready for some hyper-violent science fiction starring a guy who looks like Tom Hardy, but isn't? Leigh Whannell, the writer of Saw and creator of the Insidious franchise, is here to scratch your itch with Upgrade, a piece of hardcore pulp entertainment starring Logan Marshall Green that won the Midnighter Audience Award at this year's SXSW film festival.
Blumhouse Tilt just released a red-band Upgrade trailer, and if you're even remotely interested in sci-fi or action filmmaking, stop what you're doing, because you need to see this right now.
Editor: Jean-Pierre Dinnall
Datin Speaks on Hostility Within CHH
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Datin talks about a CHH hostile uprising due to shade being thrown in the community.
Michael B Jordon Producing Hitman Movie
18th October 2018
Michael B. Jordan Producing and Starring in Hitman Movie That Could Spawn a Franchise.
Kanye West & Kim Building Homes in Uganda?
18th October 2018
Kanye West and Kim Kardashian Reportedly Plan to Build Housing for Children in Uganda.
Ruslan & Paul Russell 'Friends' Music Video
17th October 2018
Ruslan & Paul Russell have dropped a music video for their song 'Friends'.
Spotify Expands New Direct Upload Feature
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Spotify has added a new direct upload feature for artists and they plan to expand
Is Chance The Rapper Running For Mayor?
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Lil Wayne Opens Up About Attempted Suicide
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Lil Wayne talks about his suicide attempt in a joint interview with Odell Beckham Jr.
Charlamagne Cancels Interview with Kanye West
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Kanye West's public mental health talk with Charlamagne has been cancelled. Kanye West and
Justin Bieber Raps About Jesus
8th October 2018
Justin Bieber rapped about Jesus while hiking in Los Angeles. Justin Bieber and a
Kanye Wants Kap to Meet Trump
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5th October 2018
Upcoming artists Byron Juane & nobigdyl team up for their new single 'Attention'. Get the
Russ Talks About Artists Being Role Models
5th October 2018
Russ sat down with Genius and talked about the responsibility of artists being role models.
1k Phew – 'Show Love' Music Video
5th October 2018
1k Phew has surprised everyone with a music video for his song 'Show Love'.
Ben Affleck Checks Out of Rehab
5th October 2018
Ben Affleck out of rehab but says alcohol addiction is a 'lifelong struggle' Ben
Chance The Rapper Donates $1 Million
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Chance The Rapper has donated $1 Million to mental health services in Chicago. Chance
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Document Filed To Place 6ix9ine Behind Bars
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The Manhattan DA files a document to place 6ix9ine in prison for up to 3
Kevin Hart & Bryan Cranston 'The Upside' Trailer
4th October 2018
Kevin Hart Teams Up With Bryan Cranston in 'The Upside' Trailer. Kevin Hart plays
Kardashian's Bodyguard Sued For $6 Million
4th October 2018
Kim Kardashian's insurance company is suing her former bodyguard for $6 million over Paris robbery.
Joey Vantes
3rd October 2018
Joey Vantes has dropped a visual for 'For Her', a single off his 'The Fall'
John Givez Drops '2 Steppin' Music Video
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John Givez comes back with a single that will get you '2 Steppin' all over
6ix9ine's Home is Raided By Federal Agents & Gun is Found
29th September 2018
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Will Smith Jumps Out Of Helicopter
26th September 2018
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Spotify Teams Up With Ancestry
25th September 2018
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Apple Cancels Dr Dre's Bio-Drama
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Coca-Cola Developing Cannabis-Infused Drinks
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Neflix Cancels Marvel's 'The Defenders'?
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Andy Mineo Dropping New EP This Friday
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Are You Ready For The 'I Love It' Challenge
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Bow Wow Talks About His Lean Addiction
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|Concord, Mass.
|High School:
|Groton School
|Human Evolutionary Biology
|House Affiliation:
Junior • 2014
Rowed the fourth seat for the second varsity three times and the second seat for the varsity four twice … In the second seat, helped the varsity four to a fourth-place finish at the IRA National Championships … In the four seat with the second varsity, earned a silver medal at the EAWRC Sprints.
Sophomore • 2013
Rowed third, fifth, and seventh seat for the second varsity, including an undefeated season ... Rowed the third seat for the lightweight four second-place finish at the IRA National Championship … Part of the boat that won the lightweight eights race at the Head of the Charles (16:58.83), a first for Harvard at the regatta (Oct. 20).
Freshman • 2012
Rowed for the varsity eight all season … Helped the varsity eight take bronze at the IRA National Championships, the first medal the Radcliffe lightweight crew has captured since 2006 … Contributed to third-place finish at the EAWRC Sprint, the lightweight varsity's third straight bronze … Rowed in win over Princeton to reclaim the Class of 1999 Cup for the first time since 2009 … Topped MIT by over 30 seconds in a lightweight crew sweep to take the Muri Cup … Finished third against No. 2 Wisconsin and No. 1 Stanford in the grand final of a six-team regatta on the Charles River … Contributed to win over Georgetown.
Before Harvard
Participated in crew and field hockey for the Groton School … Head of the community service board … Spent a year volunteering at several philanthropic organizations in Boston, Houston, South Africa and Italy.
Parents, John '81 and Sarah '83, graduated from Harvard. John captained the men's heavyweight crew.


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Dave Bartholomew
He introduced the world to the New Orleans sound.
Dave Bartholomew had many talents and roles, but his outstanding accomplishment is his star-making ability. He discovered Fats Domino, Lloyd Price and a seemingly endless revolving door of New Orleans virtuosos.
Dave Bartholomew proved himself to be a man of many talents: bandleader, trumpet player, songwriter, producer, arranger, talent scout, businessman and more.
He was also a recording artist, scoring one national R&B hit ("Country Boy," which went to Number Fourteen) in 1950. However, it was in his non-performing roles that Bartholomew had the greatest impact on popular music. One of the key architects of the New Orleans sound, Bartholomew served as a major behind-the-scenes figure in the transition from jump blues and big-band swing to rhythm & blues and rock and roll in the postwar era. In particular, he will forever be revered for his work with Fats Domino, one of the Crescent City's greatest musicians and a true pioneer in the rock and roll revolution.
Bartholomew brought Domino to Imperial Records in 1949 and collaborated with him as a songwriter, producer and arranger until 1963 (except for a year-long business-related hiatus in 1951). The records they made together introduced the big beat of New Orleans to the world. While Bartholomew's work with Domino dominates his resume, that charmed association is only part of the story. The list of acts that Bartholomew worked with over the decades is a who's-who of New Orleans rhythm & blues, including Smiley Lewis, Lloyd Price, Shirley & Lee, Earl King, Roy Brown, Huey "Piano" Smith, Chris Kenner, Robert Parker, Frankie Ford, James Booker, Jewel King, Bobby Mitchell, James "Sugar Boy" Crawford, Pee Wee Crayton and Tommy Ridgley. Beyond his work with Domino, two of the biggest records in which he played a major role were Smiley Lewis's "I Hear You Knockin'" (written by Bartholomew) and Lloyd Price's "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" (with Domino on piano), which was the top R&B hit of 1952.
Dave Bartholomew was born in Edgard, Louisiana, on Christmas Eve, 1920. He learned to play tuba and trumpet as a youngster and performed in bands with much older musicians while in his teens. He played trumpet on a Mississippi riverboat in Fats Pinchon's band, becoming the bandleader when Pinchon left. Disciplined and talented, Bartholomew learned how to score and arrange music during a stint in World War II. After the war he returned to New Orleans and formed his own band, which became one of the most popular in the city. Its members included such local legends as drummer Earl Palmer and sax players Lee Allen, Herbert Hardesty and Red Tyler. The emphasis was on horns; there were four saxes in the band, which rocked and stomped behind Bartholomew, who played trumpet and sang. As music historian Robert Palmer noted, this outfit served as "a model for early rock 'n' roll bands the world over."
In 1949 Bartholomew cut his fourth single, "Country Boy," which would become a national hit on the DeLuxe label. That same year, he met Lew Chudd, owner of Imperial Records, while playing at a popular Houston nightclub. Chudd hired Bartholomew as an A&R man, giving him free rein to find and record talent. At Bartholomew's suggestion, they checked out Fats Domino at New Orleans' Hideaway Club, where he had become one of the city's hottest attractions. It turned out to be a fortuitous evening for all concerned, as Chudd signed Domino and Bartholomew became his producer and collaborator.
With Domino and others, Bartholomew oversaw a string of classic recordings that brought the sound of New Orleans to the teenage rock and roll audience, especially in the latter half of the Fifties. "I never had a budget," Bartholomew told writer Adam Block. "Any talent I saw, I could record. I worked for Lew Chudd for thirteen years, and no matter what I wanted to do, he never once second-guessed me." In addition to working prolifically for Imperial, Bartholomew also occasionally produced sessions for artists on Specialty, Aladdin and other labels.
Right out of the box, he scored on Imperial with Jewel King's "3 x 7 = 21," a Number Four R&B hit. On its heels came "The Fat Man." It was the first of literally scores of hits for Fats Domino, who became an iconic Fifties rock and roller under Bartholomew's tutelage. He didn't just produce Domino all the way into the early Sixties; in many cases, he had a hand in writing the songs as well. Many of Domino's best-known numbers, along with numerous album and EP cuts and B-sides, bore a Domino-Bartholomew songwriting credit. Some of the classics among them are "The Fat Man," "All By Myself," "Ain't It a Shame" (a.k.a. "Ain't That a Shame"), "Blue Monday" (written solely by Bartholomew), "I'm in Love Again," "I'm Walkin'," "The Big Beat," "Walking to New Orleans" (co-written by the duo with Bobby Charles) and "Let the Four Winds Blow."
"Ain't It a Shame," in particular, was a turning point, as Bartholomew deliberately moved Domino away from the rough, bluesy feel of his prior records with a bit of sweetening. "We had to sweeten the lead up so we could sell it," Bartholomew noted, "but we still kept the rough background. And 'Ain't It a Shame' went over to white." In other words, it brought the white teenage audience into the fold, and Domino and Bartholomew never looked back. Their records both bridged and transcended genres. Bartholomew has noted that Domino went beyond R&B to encompass elements of pop, country and Dixieland jazz.
"Fats has a tendency to sing C&W," Bartholomew noted in a 2001 interview with Goldmine's Bill Dahl, "[and] he's got Dixieland with a beat, which is a little different thing." Moreover, the two men occasionally picked pop standards for Domino to cover, revamping the arrangements to give them a modern feel (as with "Blueberry Hill," Domino's biggest hit). Expanding his sound beyond blues and R&B allowed Domino to appeal to diverse audiences, from young rock and roll fans to older listeners who preferred jazz, country and pop. And yet because it was built on a solid musical footing, their music proved impervious to fads and remained well-liked across the decades.
The complementary chemistry between Bartholomew and Domino was another key to their success. Bartholomew was focused and disciplined, goading his musicians to work productively, while Domino was more spontaneous, laid-back and playful. "Many times I think Fats' very salvation was Dave being able to be stern enough and rigid enough to insist on things getting done," Cosimo Matassa told writer Rick Coleman. "He was adamant as he could be about the discipline of the players."
Bartholomew referred to himself as a slave driver, but his unfailing commitment to the music was borne out by the quality and consistency of the records he produced. For this he is celebrated as one of New Orleans' most significant musical figures, having played a major role in shaping the rhythmic orientation of that city into a sound everyone would come to know and love as rock and roll.
Inductee: Dave Bartholomew (born December 24, 1918, died June 23, 2019)


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FAIRFAX, Va./STATE COLLEGE, Pa.--In a big weekend for the UMBC men's and women's track and field teams, the Retrievers picked up four golds and two school records as the team competed at the Penn State National Invitational and the George Mason Patriot Games.
At Penn State, senior Keith Onto (Point Pleasant, N.J./Point Pleasant Boro/St. Francis (PA)) finished second in the heptathlon with an IC4A-qualifying score of 5,194 points.
In the women's pentathlon, sophomore Chowan Brightful(New Market, Md./Linganore) broke the school record and finished eighth with 3,227 points.
Junior Joshua Hewitson (New Market, Md./Linganore) earned bronze in a UMBC season-best time of 1:03.78, while senior Michael Christmas (Invercargill, New Zealand/James Hargest College) finished the 800-meter run in ninth with an IC4A-Qualifying time of 1:54.80.
Freshman Jake Albino (Hampton, N.Y./Minisink Valley) placed fourth in the 1,000-meter run in an IC4A-qualfying time of 2:29.53, while senior Chris Snyder (McConnellsburg, Pa./McConnellsburg) earned silver in the 1-mile run in an IC4A-qualifying time of 4:14.28.
At the Patriot Games, for the second week in a row, junior Laura Walker (Eldersburg, Md./Liberty) broke the school record in the women's pole vault and finished foutth with a mark of 3.25m.
Junior Imani Colbert (Upper Marlboro, Md./C.H. Flowers) won the 60-meter hurdles in a time of 8.95, while fellow junior Fallon Rovel-Jones (Owings Mills, Md./New Town) placed sixth in 9.54.
Junior Kiki Malomo-Paris (Northern Ireland/Glenlola Collegiate School) took home silver in the long jump with a leap of 5.42m.
Freshman Kirsten Jones (Brentwood, Tenn./M.L.K. Magnet) earned bronze in the 200-meter dash in a UMBC season-best time of 26.17. Jones also finished fifth in the 500-meter dash in a time of 1:18.88 and freshman Deborah Adelola (Lanham, Md./Bladensburg) placed sixth in 1:19.10.
Senior Jasmine Batchelor (Farmingdale, N.Y./Farmingdale) and freshman Tina DiPaola(Pasadena, Md./Chesapeake) finished in a tie for sixth in the high jump, reaching marks of 1.50m. Junior Chrissy Robinson (Lusby, Md./Patuxent) placed sixth in weight throw with a heave of 13.22m.
On the men's side, senior Sam Wilson (Davidsonville, Md./South River) won the pole vault, hitting a mark of 4.30m, while sophomore Shioma Obemeata (New Rochelle, N.Y./Iona Preparatory/St. Francis College) won the triple jump with a leap of 13.81m.
Obemeata also took home silver in the long jump with a mark of 6.53m, while freshman Mo Drammeh (Frederick, Md./Thomas Johnson) placed second in the high jump, reaching a height of 1.95m.
Sophomore Cameron McDearmon (Owings Mills, Md./Franklin) won gold in the weight throw with a heave of 15.83m, while junior Aaron Brooks (Upper Marlboro, Md./Dematha) placed second in both the weight throw and shot put.
Freshman Andrew Smith (Chadds Ford, Pa./Garnet Valley) earned silver in the 1,000-meter run in 2:32.56, while fellow freshman Brandan McGee (Hiram, Ohio/Crestwood) placed fifth in the 1-mile run in 4:20.84.
Sophomore Trae Proctor (Brandywine, Md./Thomas Stone) and senior Keith Brown(Columbia, Md./McDonough) placed third and fourth in 60-meter hurdles in 8.26 and 8.46, respectively.
Freshman Kyle Baker (Bowie, Md./Archbishop Spalding) and sophomore Pat Balderson(Mount Airy, Md./Linganore) finished fifth and seventh in the 60-meter dash in 7.16 and 7.19, respectively.
Junior Patrick Hairfield (Abington, Md./Archbishop Curley) finished fourth in the 800-meter run 1:58.75, while junior Arjun Pradeep (Ellicott City, Md./Mount Hebron) placed fifth in the 400-meter dash in 52.03.


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The bond of love between a brother and a sister is one of the deepest and noblest of human emotions. 'Raksha Bandhan' or 'Rakhi' is a special occasion to celebrate this emotional bonding by tying a holy thread around the wrist. This thread, which pulsates with sisterly love and sublime sentiments, is rightly called the 'Rakhi'. It means 'a bond of protection', and Raksha Bandhan signifies that the strong must protect the weak from all that's evil. We at Myflowers2india.com provides a large variety of Rakhi Combos which includes Rakhi with Flowers, Rakhi with Cakes, Rakhi with Chocolates, Rakhi with Dry Fruits , Rakhi with sweets etc..We Send Rakhi to India Same Day.With us Sending Rakhi to India online is very easy all you have to do is to select the product from our portal and book your Order for Rakhi Online.We will deliver Rakhi to your brother in India Same Day.
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Raksha Bandhan have many historical values in past there ware queen her name is Rani Karnavati she is the most significant evidence of Raksha Bandhan history. When Rajput were fighting Muslim invasion, Rakhi at that time meant a spiritual binding and protection of sisters was foremost. When Rani Karnavati the widowed queen of the king of Chittor realized that she could in no way to defend the Sultan of Gujarat, Bahadur Shah, she sent a Rakhi to Emperor Humayun. When Humayun got the Rakhi he without wasting a time he stand on Rani Karnavati side and gives her a promise to protect her emperor with enemy. If you are staying abroad and want to Send Rakhi to India from USA or Send Rakhi to India from UKor from any part of the world, like Australia , New Zealand, Canada etc. No need to worry, all you have to do is to book your Online Rakhi to India with us. Our portal provides a large variety of Rakhi Gifts for Brother in India .


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by Phil Wicks
Not a new model on the block but seeing as the Japanese Autobac Super Gt series is shaping up to be a perennial along side such classes as WTCC, FIA GT championship and A1 GP then it gfoes without saying that there are going t be many more races, many more seasons and any more liveries to come. So, rather than focus on the latest livery I have decided to do a semi retro on the Ninco Raybrig Honda.
JGTC or Super GT to give it its correct title, has been running for some years now in Japan and with the expansion of media coverage and the attraction of some international names it is, like WTCC and FIA World GT, now being raced at some of the leading tracks around the world. The bulk of the racing is still at home in Japan though and the bulk of its attraction is also still in Japan. Unless you have unlimited satellite facilities it is unlikely you will see a regular televising of this series, unless you live in Japan, of course.
There are two groups to the Super GT class. The premier class is the GT500 class based around motors producing 500 hp and the other is the GT350 class. The GT500 has a limited number of makes entered although there are a good few teams so as a spectator sport you would need to affiliate yourself to a team in order to appreciate it more. The main makes involved have been Honda NSX's, Toyota Supra's, Nissan Z33's and Lexus SC430 although the Toyotas have been replaced by the Lexus' for 2007 The 350 class races a lesser rank of cars and contest their own series , a bit like a mini Le Mans really, but I am focusing on the Honda NSX by Ninco.
The model externally is quite eye catching in its blue and white livery and looking over it gives you an idea of its quality and finish. The body work is well detailed but lacks that fine detail that the Chinese made Scalextric cars have. Although good by most standards, not quite that same crispness in detail and tampo and everything is covered in a rather heavy clear lacquer coat, except for under the rear wing where it seems to have had a dust over leaving a very 'orange peely' patch under it, but then Ninco seem to be aimed at the more serious racer rather than the study shelf!
The door mirrors look very sturdy and Ninco don't yet subscribe to the flexible mirror group and I suspect that regardless of their strength of manufacture, the door mirrors are doomed to become a statistic not too far down the road!. The wing is probably mounted a bit stronger than some of the other model but it is still vulnerable. This will be removed for racing. A steady hand and a hot soldering iron held beneath the rear wing heat welds but NOT touching will allow me to carefully pull them through the body, there by making the wing a removable object and free from harm!!
Talking of removable objects, there isn't much that is going to become a deslot victim except for two tiny aerofoils mounted on the front air dam. Well, one of these fell off before it made the track so the other was removed (just a tug!) and both were sticky taped to the display case to be refitted in the model's twilight years. Once again there is a half driver's tray as is the norm with most Ninco models. I don't have a problem with that and wouldn't mark the model down because of it. Bearing in mind that this is a slot car and not a diecast, there probably won't be too much time oggling the interior. Number one, there aren't any opening doors to oggle through and number two, there isn't a great deal to see through minimal side windows!
The wheels and tyres are surprisingly round and free from eccentricity. Ninco are renown for having at least something out of round up the back but this time they seem to have cracked it!! Tyres too, took little sanding to get tem into some sort of shape, thereby retaining vital tenths of millimetres of tyre depth rather than half of it ending up on the floor! A quick test of the wheel security also reveals that potentially, ALL the wheels are likely to stay ON after a good race session, truly!! Not a loose or slipping one amongst them.
Underneath the model, all is Ninco. I'm still not fully convinced by angle winders. Most of my racing is non magnet and I feel that I ought to do something about the fact that most of the NC5 motor is in the left hand side of the car?? The chassis too, has less of itself where the spur gear recess is. I just get the feeling this car is heavier one side?? The other thing too, is the fact that a huge piece of rear chassis is missing where the motor sticks through. Ninco's weakness is in the chassis where the wheel wells come close to the motor. Even though there is extra deep webbing in the chassis moulding between axle and motor, there is still bend in the chassis, and guess what, you've guessed, the d**N MOTOR IS LOOSE. After all these years the motors still come loose out of the box, WHEN is Mr Ninco going to do something about this. The whole area around the rear of this model is a potential disaster area and I have already had feedback about this model and its weak chassis from fellow slot racers.
Moving on, we have the guide up front, one of Ninco's trademark spring-loaded guides. I don't mind these but they do need work from new. The braids will be changed to tinned braids and the guide, which has a suspect amount of front / back slop, will get a thin piece of plastic card stuck to the top side of the guide shoe to encourage it to point up at the front instead of down and run on the front edge of the braids!! One of the chassis' redeeming features is that it has only two retaining screws, Saints preserve us!
Taking these two screws out and lifting the body off the chassis reveals Mr Ninco's tried and tested chassis layout. I must admit that it's been a while since I looked inside a modern Ninco car and I was pleased to see they now cross brace the chassis inside with extra fillet type mouldings. This has to be a plus even though it will reduce the effect of allowing the magnet closer to the rails when the chassis screws are backed off a little. Ninco needs all the help it can get in the magnet department.
The front axle is very snug. It runs in the chassis and unless you keep it lubed, a couple of years or less down the road will see it wear through the mounts and become a bit of a loose cannon as do most of its predecessors. It's a good wide axle though and a good wide chassis to boot! Moving back is the button magnet. Nothing new here. It doesn't feel any more powerful than previous magnets either. If you ever want to increase the magnetic downforce of a Ninco model, it's as simple as placing another button magnet on top of the existing one. No glue, no nothing. The flux density will hold it in place even in the biggest of crashes.
One worrying thing is the proximity of the bare wires beside the motor?? Not happy Jan! Would a severe 'T' boning in a hard race cause these to touch?? Not happy Jan! I am told the little green doobrie is an inductance and is part of the RI measures for the model. In the past, I have desoldered them and fixed the lead wire direct to the motor. This time, as I have some telly addict neighbours, I am going to solder a wire bridge across the little beggar. This should remove any doubt about drop in power and I might even retain a vestige of RI ability! No? well it was just a thought!
Moving back I see the rear axle is a good fit in its mounts. Side play is minimal and gear mesh is sound, although I did slide the pinion along the armature shaft a little to reduce backlash in the gears to a minimum. I am told the axle mounts in the chassis are a weak point to so I'll be monitoring this over the months. Rear hubs and tyres, as mentioned before, are good and I am not expecting any nasty surprises in that department.
Underneath the body is simple and all the heat welds look sound even if one or two are a bit over done. The body feels quite light but when tapped it doesn't rattle so I'm expecting a quiet model on the track too. So it's a pretty straight forward layout and no surprises. Basic, well proven Ninco and, all going well, it should be able to out run the Scaley peril on board tracks, or plastic tracks with long straights. But I have bought it to contest a local JGTC NON MAGNET series! What have I let myself in for?? So while the body is off, I have poked out the magnet, there, that's done it now! Racing will e conducted on Red racer Hobbies "Red Raceway' We can contest with Ninco NC5's or Scaleys with the 20,000 motor upgrade. Have I made the right choice, time will tell.
Traction magnet racing
So, with all that behind us we can move on to the track. Even though most of you don't need reminding I will run it past you again. Ninco make fast cars, no one can deny that, but the problems start when the straights run out!! On their home track they can put up a reasonable amount of competition but on all other makes (that I've tried anyway) they slowly start to loose the plot. The stumbling point is the mid mounted magnet. Scalextric have the drop on them and on all but the fastest of tracks it should not be hard to get a Scaley to out manoeuvre a Ninco car, true! The more slippy the track surface, the worse it gets and if you are racing on Carrera track expect disappointment. In fast corners this model gives the impression that it is going to do the business but if pushed, at the last minute, it will step out and valuable tenths will be lost if you stay in the slot. It isn't a sudden 'off' like a Scalextric or an SCX car. You can almost sense it coming to the point that you do have time to back off and save the situation. Almost a psychic link!!
Board track / non magnet racing.
Now this is a different kettle of fish! Ninco love board track! Once the motor is glued in, tyres are trued and treated, axles are secured and the rear chassis is braced you will be uncatchable in the 20,000 rpm motor range. The long arm motor delivers its power smoothly and controllably unlike the shorter 'S' can Mabuchi who's power come in with a sting. Corner exits and straight line acceleration are impressive, even with the original rubber on the back. The car has a low C of G and uses this well. On non magnet plastic track racing, a good tyre selection will see the model deliver. All in all and with the addition of a little ballast to take it up into the 90 gram bracket this model is a pleasure to drive. The back stays put in the quickest of bends and there is no fierce 'tail wagging' even when you are being pressed hard.
I have spent some time with mine, non magnet, on Carrera track for the purpose of the up coming races. I have introduced a modest amount of weight to the model and firmed up the front end. The motor has been well glued in with hot glue and in the process I have stiffened up the rear end. On initially running the model I was pleased with its behaviour although on one banked bend it persistently went straight on if I hit it too hard. I attribute this to the front of the model lifting the guide out of the slot on the banking and have taken measures to overcome this. The motor works better with use and it is getting to the point where it is singing. The gears were provisionally a bit whiney but after treating them with a couple of applications of Tamiya fine polishing compound it is now probably one of the quietist Ninco angle winders I have driven! The only disappointment I had after 30 minutes running was that the model was involved in a 'T' bone deslot where another model hit it fair and squarely in the side. This resulted in a section of rim breaking away from the left hand rear wheel. The bulk of the wheel is intact and hopefully it won't affect the wheel / tyre concentricity.
Wheelbase 79.0 mm
Front axle width 62.5 mm
Rear axle width 62.5 mm
Overall height 36 mm
Overall weight 85.0 grams
Front axle load 32.0 gm
Rear axle load 53.0 grams
Front / Rear weight dist 38% / 62%
Pinion 12z
Spur gear 32z
Final drive ratio 2.66 : 1
Rear wheel diameter 21.5 mm


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Mark Blakley Memorial Award
Amount: $1,615
Due Date: Friday, February 22, 2019
Offered to a new or currently enrolled student attending full time who is pursuing the fine arts (writing, painting, sculpture, photography, etc.). Award will go to a student who shows talent, potential and creativity.
- Letter of application addressing your talents, achievements and needs as they relate to this award.
- A "piece of self" that captures an essential picture of you as a person, for instance, a piece of writing, a work of art (see How to Apply #5), a portfolio or some other creative endeavor. Be sure each piece is labeled with your name.
- Two letters of recommendation written within the past year that address your talent, potential and creativity.


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SKF receives several 2014 Supplier Quality Excellence Awards from General Motors
2014 December 12, 14:00 CEST
Gothenburg, 12 December 2014: General Motors has recognized SKF as meeting or exceeding a stringent set of quality performance criteria, and achieving the cross-functional support of the entire GM organization.
Tryggve Sthen, President SKF Automotive says, "The key to successful work is to never stop challenging yourself, to continuously review what you do and how you do it. Knowing our customers well and their specific requirements, we can fully utilize our capabilities. Delivering quality and meeting required performance standards is a must. Being recognized by GM year after year with awards and large business agreements is evidence that we provide value and deliver on our promise."
This is the third year GM is honoring suppliers who are making noteworthy contributions to GM's goal of providing the best overall customer experience in the automotive industry.
"The suppliers receiving these awards have demonstrated their commitment to quality excellence and their outstanding performance is essential to GM's efforts to provide its customers with the best products and services in the industry," said Sheri Hickok, GM executive director Supplier Quality. "
SKF supplies bearing and sealing solutions to GM for many different applications like wheel end, suspension, steering, driveline, engine and e-powertrain. The factories awarded are located in the USA, Brazil, Argentina and Germany.
Aktiebolaget SKF
For further information, please contact:
Press Relations:
Monique Turner, +1 267 436 6836; +1 215 801 8722; email@example.com
SKF is a leading global supplier of bearings, seals, mechatronics, lubrication systems, and services which include technical support, maintenance and reliability services, engineering consulting and training. SKF is represented in more than 130 countries and has around 15,000 distributor locations worldwide.
® SKF is a registered trademark of the SKF Group.
™ BeyondZero is a trademark of the SKF Group.


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Handling Errors in External Table Data
A newer version of this documentation is available. Click here to view the most up-to-date release of the Greenplum 5.x documentation.
Handling Errors in External Table Data
By default, if external table data contains an error, the command fails and no data loads into the target database table.
Define the external table with single row error handling to enable loading correctly formatted rows and to isolate data errors in external table data. See Handling Load Errors.
The gpfdist file server uses the HTTP protocol. External table queries that use LIMIT end the connection after retrieving the rows, causing an HTTP socket error. If you use LIMIT in queries of external tables that use the gpfdist:// or http:// protocols, ignore these errors – data is returned to the database as expected.


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Best Heart-Healthy Tips
Clyde Yancy, M.D., president of the American Heart Association, shares the simple secrets for lowering cholesterol and blood pressure and achieving heart health.
How to Lower Your Cholesterol
Know Your Stats See your doctor to find out if your cholesterol is in the healthy range—less than 200 mg/dL. Your LDLs (the harmful cholesterol) should ideally be less than 100 mg/dL, while your HDLs (the "good" type) should be more than 60 mg/dL. Also evaluate your eating and exercise habits. Take a free heart-health assessment at heart.org/mylifecheck.com.
Get Moving People who begin a new exercise routine increase their HDLs. Every little bit helps—walking just two hours a week can improve cholesterol.
Watch the Fats If you consume about 2,000 calories a day, you should limit your total fat intake to 50 to 70 grams. But not all types are created equal. Reduce saturated fats in your diet to less than 16g per day and eliminate trans fats altogether. Concentrate on eating foods with omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, like fish, nuts, and vegetable oil.
How to Lower Your Blood Pressure
Nearly one-third of Americans have high or borderline blood pressure, but it's possible to beat it without medication. Through a combination of diet, exercise, and weight loss you can lower your blood pressure by as much as 10 to 14 mmHg overall, says Dr. Yancy. Here are his other must-follow tips:
Get Checked After age 35, you should have your blood pressure taken every year. Anything above 140/90 is high, but you should consider making lifestyle changes if your stats are over 120/80, as that signifies prehypertension.
Pass on the Salt Too much sodium contributes to high blood pressure. The average American consumes about 4,000mg per day, but you should limit intake to 1,500mg. Don't add salt when cooking and try to avoid processed foods (one can of prepared soup can contain 600 to 800mg).
Start Walking Aerobic exercise makes blood vessels more flexible. A brisk 30-minute walk five days a week can lower blood pressure by about 5 mmHg. Walking off the weight helps too—lose 22 pounds and you can knock off an average of 8 mmHg, which is on par with taking medication.
How to Lower Your BMI
About half of Americans are considered overweight or obese based on their body mass index (BMI), says Dr. Yancy. BMI is an important indicator of heart health because extra weight can raise blood pressure and cholesterol. Dr. Yancy's tips for lowering yours:
Know the Numbers You can calculate BMI by dividing your weight in kilograms by your height in meters squared. Or simply go to the BMI calculator at americanheart.org/bmi.
Change Your Diet Eat 3 to 4 servings of both fruits and veggies a day. Aim for 2 to 3 servings of fish per week and 2 to 3 servings of whole grains a day. Reduce daily fat intake to fewer than 70 grams. Limit sugar-sweetened drinks to 100 calories a day.
Walk It Off Exercise helps you slim down and is the best way to maintain a healthy BMI. Find a walking route in your neighborhood and grab a pair of sneakers. Even if you're crunched for time, sneak in a workout in the morning or on your lunch break.
Originally published in the May 2010 and June 2010 issues of Family Circle magazine.
All content on this Web site, including medical opinion and any other health-related information, is for informational purposes only and should not be considered to be a specific diagnosis or treatment plan for any individual situation. Use of this site and the information contained herein does not create a doctor-patient relationship. Always seek the direct advice of your own doctor in connection with any questions or issues you may have regarding your own health or the health of others.


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Difference between revisions of "Amusement Park Equipment (Safety)"
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'''The Department of Industrial Relations (DIR)''' has jurisdiction over complaints or inquiries on por…')
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Revision as of 20:32, 7 June 2010
The Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) has jurisdiction over complaints or inquiries on portable amusement park equipment. DIR also assumes responsibility for ski lift and elevator safety requirements and complaints.
Local city or county offices have jurisdiction over permanent amusement park equipment in city or county parks.
Department of Industrial Relations
Division of Occupational Safety and Health (CALOSHA)
Northern California Amusement Ride Office
2424 Arden Way, Suite 340
Sacramento, CA 95825
(916) 263-3511
Southern California Amusement Ride Office
2000 East McFadden, Suite 210
Santa Ana, CA 92705
(714) 567-7211
Department Publications: None are offered by the Consumer Information Center.
Other Publications: None
Other References: Elevators
Consumer Resource & Referral Guide
Directory of State Agencies
Directory of Federal Agencies
Return to DCA Home Page


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Consider the experiment in this link.
The experiment includes using a ruler as a lever, with an inflated balloon on one side and a balloon which is not inflated on the other.
The aim of the experiment is to show that air has mass.
I have seen many kids performing similar experiments.
But, if the air pressure inside the balloon is equal to that outside, then the buoyant force will cancel out the weight of the air inside the balloon, won't it?


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Couple's Retreat
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Interior designer: Skye Kirby, Lillian August, 32 Knight St., Norwalk, CT 06851; 203/847-1596, lillianaugust.com.
Text by Jenny Bradley
Photographs by Squire Fox
There are few summer getaways more desirable than the Hamptons. That may be partly due to the see-and-be-seen social scene, but the Hamptons' intense natural beauty is impossible to ignore. In fact, it's downright inspiring. Just ask Skye Kirby, designer and vice president of stores and marketing for retailer and interior design firm Lillian August. While the scenery served as Skye's muse as she created the pool house-turned-couple's retreat for the 2009 Hampton Designer Showhouse, the retreat's inner beauty gives the area's outer beauty a run for its money.
Envisioned as a summer studio for an artistic couple, the pool house boasts charming interiors inspired by the long, wide beaches and the energetic surf juxtaposed with acres of farmland nestled between the ocean and the bay, explains Skye.
The neutral color palette is injected with only the slightest hints of color--in the form of Hamptons blue (of course) and ocher. "I used a lot of heathery colors inspired by the Hamptons landscape--grasses, blue sky, sea, sand," says Skye. "All these subtle colors--gray-blue, green, and gold--really influenced the interior palette. It feels very Hamptons-y. And very refreshing."
Substantial, curl-up-and-cozy furnishings from Lillian August, flagstone floors, and sisal rugs encourage the low-key, sand-between-the-toes lifestyle. A peppering of soft pattern does nothing to discourage the dreamy, soul-soothing atmosphere. Nor do the purposefully simple accessories. "Lack of clutter is an absolute must for a body-and-soul retreat," notes Skye.
Another must? A "wonderfully cushy" bedroom. Upstairs, the master bedroom provides the one exception to Skye's light-and-airy color palette. The combination of a curvaceous tufted headboard and layered bed linens balances the charcoal-gray-and-ocher scheme to create a retreat that is neither purely masculine nor purely feminine. It's handsome, yet alluring.
Across the hall lies another of Skye's body-and-soul-soothing necessities--a creative space in which to focus on any and all right-brain activities that tickle your fancy. In this case, that creative outlet revolves around art. An under-the-eaves artist's studio is outfitted with a highly edited and fittingly sculptural selection of furnishings. The only hint of color comes from the artwork and the ocher valance--inspired by the golden glow of the undulating wheat field.
"That field is hypnotizing," effuses Skye. "When it flows in the wind, it resembles the ocean. A sea of wheat. It's incredibly soothing and inspiring."
A trio of vintage outdoor pieces from Lillian August creates a cozy poolside area ideal for a quiet tête-à-tête.
Table; chairs; vase on table; planters: Lillian August, 203/847-3314.
Put-your-feet-up living room furniture from the Lillian August Collection for Hickory White. Drapery fabric by Romo. Lamps from Lillian August.
Upholstered sofa ("Belvedere" in "Mike"/Linen); upholstered sofa ("Albert" in "Vinson"/Beige); club chair ("Albert" in "Erdel"/Seafoam); chair ("Quinn" in "Hawks"/Seafoam): Lillian August for Hickory White, 336/884-2244, hickorywhite.com.
Coffee table ("Sydney"); console table ("Sigvard): Lillian August for Hickory White, 828/322-8624, hickorywhite.com.
Pillows on sofa with Greek key trim; tray on coffee table; coral; lamps on console table; baskets; floor lamp beside wing chair: Lillian August, 203/847-3314.
Art behind console: Janet Slom, 917/846-7827.
Carpet ("Madagascar"): Merida, 800/345-2200, meridameridian.com.
Drapery: Romo, 212/319-7666, romo.com.
Drapery hardware: Robert Allen, 800/333-3777, robertallendesign.com.
Art on wall beside club chair (Something, by Julie Headland): Julie Headland, julieheadland.com.
Paint ("Seapearl" #OC-19): Benjamin Moore & Co., 888/236-6667, benjaminmoore.com.
A subtle sea-and-sand-hued Greek Key border on floor cushions from Lillian August maintains the pool house's cozy and tranquil mood.
A table from BoBo Intriguing Objects serves as a desk in the studio. The shade fabric is F. Schumacher & Co.
Desk ("Tapestry Table"): BoBo Intriguing Objects, 404/355-2309, bobointriguingobjects.com. Custom finish through Lillian August Workshop, 203/847-1596, lillianaugust.com.
Desk lamp; desk chair (one-of-a-kind); ottoman ("Billy Stool," from Artesia); stool; easel (antique); sculpture on desk: Lillian August, 203/847-3314.
Art on easel (by Julie Headland); art on wall beside desk (by Julie Headland): Julie Headland, julieheadland.com.
Carpet (Nostalgia Collection): Fibreworks, 800/843-0063, fibreworks.com.
Shade fabric ("Trellis Print," by Trina Turk): Schumacher, 800/523-1200, fschumacher.com.
Paint ("White Sand" #OC-10): Benjamin Moore & Co., 888/236-6667, benjaminmoore.com.
Driftwood sculpture is available at Lillian August.
Sculpture on desk: Lillian August, 203/847-3314.
The curvaceous tufted bed and wing chair are from the Lillian August Collection for Hickory White. Shade fabric is F. Schumacher & Co. Striped rug is Tamarian.
Bed ("Devonoshire Queen Bed" in "Burberry"/Slate); upholstered chair ("Clayton Chair" in "Mike"/Linen): Lillian August for Hickory White, 336/884-2244, hickorywhite.com.
Mattress (Hastens 2000T): Lillian August, 203/847-3314.
Bedside table ("Alfred Chest," Antiquaire Collection): Lillian August for Hickory White, 828/322-8624, hickorywhite.com.
Striped rug (Tsukden lamb rug): Tamarian, 800/854-0538, tamarian.com.
Shade fabric ("Bleecker"/Twilight #174040): Schumacher, 800/523-1200, fschumacher.com.
Art beside bedside table: Janet Slom, 917/846-7828.
Paint ("Baby's Breath" #OC-62): Benjamin Moore & Co., 888/236-6667, benjaminmoore.com.
A serene under-the-eaves bathroom.
Vanity; mirror; sconce; sink; faucets; tile: through Farrell Building Company, 631/537-1068, farrellbuilding.com.
Drawing of girl on door; painting over towel rack: Janet Slom, 917/846-7827.
Vase on vanity: Lillian August, 203/847-3314.
Skye Kirby's 10 "must-have" body + soul elements
Soft color
Heathery grays, blues, golds, and whites--in the Hamptons, these colors come naturally from the landscape and the ocean.
Comfortable seating and ottomans
When you want to cuddle up and relax, you always need a place to put up your feet.
A clutter-free zone
I am a believer that less is more. Over-accessorizing can take away from the calming nature of a room and become distracting.
Whether to read, to escape into, to inspire, or just to look good.
There should always be a good source of music to set the mood and create relaxation.
I'm a big believer in having a throw in every room to wrap yourself in--preferably while enjoying that good cup of coffee or tea.
A view
Orient your space to the best view. If you don't have a view, create one with original art or photography of the things you love.
Light and candles
Always maximize natural light. Ambient light can also effectively create a mood, if done with thought. And don't forget the candles.
Flowing fabrics
I love flowing panels. When the windows are open, the breeze creates a rippling that is not unlike the water.
Creative space
Create a space for whatever your pleasure is, a place that's totally dedicated to your creative outlet.


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Learn a variety of useful techniques for tackling the quantitative reasoning sections of the computerized GRE® revised General Test (Course 2 of 2).
Learn More>>
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KABUL, Afghanistan, April 29 (UPI) -- The Central Intelligence Agency sent millions of dollars in cash to the Afghan government in attempts to maintain U.S. influence, a New York Times report said.
The CIA's main goal in providing the money was to keep access to President Hamid Karzai and to ensure the agency's influence in the highly centralized government, but the payments have not always produced the desired result, the Times reported Sunday.
The cash payments, delivered to the presidential palace in suitcases, backpacks and even plastic shopping bags, began after Iran began giving money to the Afghans in an influence-buying campaign designed to wedge them away from the United States, the report said.
Karzai signed a strategic partnership deal with the United States last year that Iran objected to but, on the other hand, he wants to control militias created and funded by the CIA to target al-Qaida members and insurgent commanders, the report said.
Handouts of CIA cash have been routine since the start of the war, with the agency buying the services of numerous warlords during the 2001 invasion, the Times said.
Much of the money is used to pay off warlords and politicians, some of whom have ties to the drug trade and even the Taliban, the report said. The effect, some American and Afghan officials told the Times, has essentially left the Afghan government in the hands of organized crime syndicates.


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Arrest made in 6-year-old girl's slaying
SEATTLE — A 17-year-old boy was arrested Saturday in the death of 6-year-old Jenise Wright, who went missing last week in Washington, authorities say.
The teenager, whose name was not released, will be charged with second degree murder, first degree manslaughter and rape, according to Kitsap County Sheriff's Lt. Earl Smith.
No exact cause of death was immediately released.
Smith said at a news conference Saturday afternoon that deputies and FBI agents arrested the boy at his home without incident. The teen lived in the same Bremerton-area mobile home park as the girl.
Sheriff's Office spokesman Scott Wilson said he wasn't sure if the suspect and Jenise knew each other.
The Washington state crime lab made positive confirmation of the suspect through forensic evidence. Earlier in the week, the sheriff's office had collected DNA cheek swabs from dozens of nearby residents.
The family of Jenise Wright was notified of the arrest about an hour after it took place. A growing memorial at the entrance to the neighborhood includes silver balloons, stuffed animals, lit candles and flowers.
"There's a lot of grief," Wilson told The Seattle Times.
Jenise's body was was discovered near Still Creek mobile home park, where her family last saw her a week ago when she went to bed. She was reported missing the next day, Sunday, launching a search with more than 100 people and 15 agencies, including the FBI.
Several hundred people turned out Friday night for a vigil to honor her.
The Kitsap Sun reports that he says the little girl's mother, Denise Wright, wanted to thank the search and law enforcement personnel who have worked on the case. The girl's father, James Wright, issued a statement through Byron, saying that he hopes "something positive can come from this tragedy."
"She was a happy child, a bright light for those around her," Smith said.
Wilson said searchers were re-canvassing the area where the body was found in search of more clues.
"We're going to be at this. We've been at this since Monday. We're going to continue at this all day, all night, all weekend. We're not giving up," said Wilson. "Nobody's going home."
The FBI's Specialty Search Dogs Unit discovered the body after volunteer canine search teams reported their dogs showed interest in a particular area.
Jenise Wright's father was charged more than a decade ago with molesting two girls, ages 8 and 15, court records show.
Wright, was charged with first-degree child molestation in February 2000, accused of molesting an 8-year-old girl following a New Year's Eve celebration, according to court records. The girl told a detective and case worker that Wright inappropriately touched her.
More than a year later, in June 2001, the charges were amended to include third-degree child molestation after a 15-year-old girl who was babysitting the girl on that same New Year's Eve said that Wright touched her breasts and put his hands down her pants, according to court documents.
In December 2001, Wright pleaded guilty in Whatcom County Superior Court to a misdemeanor assault charge related to the older girl. It was not immediately clear why the molestation charges were dropped.
He eventually pleaded guilty in Whatcom County Superior Court in December 2001 to a misdemeanor assault charge related to the older girl. It was not immediately clear why the molestation charges were dropped. Prosecutors there did not return calls.
A judge in Whatcom County Superior Court sentenced Wright to a year in jail but suspended the entire jail term on the condition that he follow certain conditions, including paying fees.
Contributing: Associated Press


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Latest News
In Turkey, Obama delicately avoids talk of 'genocide'
ISTANBUL, Turkey — The world was simpler when Barack Obama was campaigning for votes.Candidate Obama could charge that a country such as Turkey carried out a long-ago genocide, wooing votes from the descendants of more than a million Armenians slain by the Turks, and vowing not to back down from tough talk if elected.
Now, visiting that same country as president, Obama has changed his words, if not his worldview.Courting the Muslim world and a crucial ally in a tinderbox part of the world, President Obama said Monday that he still held the same views about what the Turks did to the Armenians.
He carefully avoided using the word genocide, however, and strove instead to prod the Armenians and the Turks — not to mention Armenian supporters at home — to turn away from a painful past and focus instead on improving relations.
The challenge of fulfilling a campaign promise without offending his hosts forced Obama to navigate between U.S. politics and international diplomacy as he wrapped up an eight-day trip to Europe and the doorstep of Asia that helped punctuate his transition from candidate to world player, all while remaining ever the politician.
As a presidential candidate, Obama bluntly characterized the deaths of Armenians here nearly a century ago as genocide. The flash point is the deaths of as many as 1.5 million Armenians at the hands of the Turks starting in 1915, as World War I raged and the Ottoman Empire started to break apart.
"There was a genocide that did take place against the Armenian people," Obama said during the campaign. "It is one of these situations where we have seen a constant denial on the part of the Turkish government and others that this occurred."
Mindful that other presidents have promised to call it genocide only to change their tune once in office, Obama campaign adviser Samantha Power told Armenian-Americans at the time that Obama was different.
"He's a true friend of the Armenian people and an acknowledger of the history," she said. "I hope you in the Armenian community will take my word for it, but if not . . . pay attention . . . to everything that comes out of that person's mouth, Barack Obama's mouth, because he's a person who can actually be trusted."
Saying the word as president, however, would chill relations and perhaps even cost support from Turkey, which Obama deems crucial to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan as well as his broader outreach to the Muslim world.
"I have not changed views," he said when he was asked about his stance with Turkish President Abdullah Gul standing beside him earlier Monday in Ankara.
He didn't use the word "genocide," however, nor did he repeat the condemnation he made as a presidential candidate while he was courting Armenian-Americans.
Speaking later to the Turkish Parliament, he sidestepped the question of genocide, referring to it only as "the terrible events of 1915."
"While there has been a good deal of commentary about my views, this is really about how the Turkish and Armenian people deal with the past," he said. "We have already seen historic and courageous steps taken by Turkish and Armenian leaders. These contacts hold out the promise of a new day."
Attending a reception Monday evening at the Dolmabahce Palace along the Bosporus strait in Istanbul, Obama met the foreign ministers of Turkey and Armenia to discuss normalizing relations and to "urge them to complete an agreement with dispatch," according to a senior Obama administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity as a matter of policy.
The descendants of the Armenians, many of them in California and elsewhere around the United States, have long sought a formal recognition of what they and many historians say was a planned genocide. A resolution is pending in Congress.
The Turks, however, have called the Armenians victims of a civil war, and reject the characterization of genocide.
Obama's refusal to use the word genocide on his visit, as well as his focus on improving relations between Armenians and Turks, probably will make it even more difficult for sponsors to win congressional approval of the resolution calling the deaths a genocide.
"The biggest issue on the U.S.-Turkish agenda . . . is the Armenian-genocide resolution," said Bulent Aliriza, the director of the Turkey Project at the Washington-based Center for Strategic and International Studies, a national-security research center.
The diplomatic consequences would be significant at a time the United States is steadily improving relations with Turkey, which blocked U.S. troops from transiting its territory in the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
The United States is particularly keen on better relations as it seeks Turkey's help in winding down American involvement in Iraq and steps up the war in Afghanistan.
"None of the areas of cooperation . . . will materialize if (the genocide resolution) passes," Aliriza said. "The Turks will undoubtedly retaliate, and we may go into a deep freeze in the U.S.-Turkish relationship if it passes."
Obama also used his visit to Turkey, a secular Muslim country, to reach out.
"The United States is not at war with Islam. In fact, our partnership with the Muslim world is critical in rolling back a fringe ideology that people of all faiths reject," he told the Turkish Parliament.
He added, however, that he seeks a better relationship with the Muslim world beyond fighting the al Qaida terrorist network.
"We will listen carefully, bridge misunderstanding and seek common ground," he said. "We will be respectful, even when we do not agree."
He also planned to speak directly to people from Turkey and throughout the region in a televised town-hall meeting in Istanbul.
World leaders condemn N. Korea launch but have few options
Obama commits U.S. to eliminating nuclear weapons
Again, Armenian genocide resolution confronts a president


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The first video game I ever fell in love with had no graphics whatsoever. It was all text, and text alone: dim green, amber, or white characters on a dark background—that's all the earliest monitors could handle. It was a game from the mid-eighties, based on the Douglas Adams novel, "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy."
To play, you'd just type instructions in response to prompts: a terrifically frustrating and tantalizing ordeal.
go east
You can't.
get towel
There's no towel here.
But eventually, in the middle of a fit of weird semantic rage, you'd hit on the right phrase.
turn on the light
The bedroom is a mess.
It is a small bedroom with a faded carpet and old wallpaper.
There is a washbasin, a chair with a tatty dressing gown slung over it, and a window with the curtains drawn. Near the exit leading south is a phone.
Your reward: the treasure of glowing new sentences—sometimes even a long scroll of paragraphs—to read.
By such halting, wonderfully infuriating means you advanced through the game—a game full of jokes! Splendidly goofy, yes, but also a game that would cheerfully annihilate you and return you to the starting point with the cruelty of an affectless, chomping, yellow Pac-Man. (There are many browser-based versions of these old games online if you'd like to try.)
As matters progressed through the eighties and early nineties, the pleasures of controlling moving images on a screen, of bewitching sound effects and saturated colors, came to video games, and these were seductive in a new and different way. But, so far as wild graphics and kinetic surprises were concerned, Pac-Man, Space Invaders, and even my beloved Crystal Castles ("Get the gems, Bentley Bear!") really had very little on the powerful thrills of a state-of-the-art pinball machine. I wonder whether even a modern video game has equalled the satisfying visceral chunk of a pinball table delivering a hard-earned (or fortuitous) replay—a sensation that coursed straight through one's keyed-up paws to light the whole prefrontal cortex with a corresponding bong of pleasure. The delights of video games, from the first, were something altogether more inward, more purely intellectual, than those of pinball, however bellicose and violent the setting. The scale, intricacy, and richness of today's games would have stunned the table-rattling pinball wizards of yore. And now, modern video games are showing signs of morphing into other, still more subtle and complicated forms; among other things, they're becoming an increasingly sophisticated vehicle for storytelling.
The narrative pleasures once provided by my first video-game love came to mind some weeks ago, when I happened upon an interview with Tom Bissell and Rob Auten about their experiences writing Gears of War: Judgment, the fourth installment of the massively popular Gears shooter franchise from Epic Games, which comes out today. In this chapter of the saga, a group of comrades-in-arms faces a war-crimes tribunal, and their story is revealed to the player in flashback. The description given by Bissell and Auten of this writing gig, so complexly interwoven with the efforts of designers, actors, and artists, struck me as the possible sign of a simmering new direction not only for video games but for literature. For the first time, it seemed to me like video games might hold possibilities for the telling of stories in a newly sophisticated way. It turns out that the evolution of storytelling in video games is substantially more complicated than I imagined.
Tom Bissell has a history with the Gears franchise. He wrote a 2011 book, "The Art and Design of Gears of War," that could only be obtained as part of a special release of the game, the Gears of War 3: Epic Edition. I am no big fan of violent shooter games, but was sorely tempted by the excerpt of the book that appeared on Grantland. Here, Bissell expounds on the charm of "conceptual contrast" in Gears.
Gears is a science fiction game that grounds its weapons in the technology of the Vietnam era and draws its architecture from Regency Britain.… Marcus and Dom are huge, ostensibly indestructible giants, and yet the vast majority of the game finds them diving toward cover with Nureyevian grace and cowering behind it like boys playing hide-and-seek. Finally, there is no conceptual contrast more Gearsian than getting blown into bloody pork chops by a Locust fragmentation grenade only to hear, during the failure screen, a lilting, plangent version of the Gears of War theme played on, of all things, a piano. Amazingly, none of these elements ever seems dissonant or self-negating; most barely become the object of conscious notice. This is because much in the world of Gears has an important video game quality that Chris Perna, Epic's Art Director, described to me in this way: "It just is." Isness is a large part of what makes Gears of War effective.
The theme of conceptual contrast in Gears is echoed by Bissell's involvement in the process. He is a well-known writer whose recent essay collection, "Magic Hours," contains a fine piece on his efforts as an editor at W. W. Norton to republish the Paula Fox novel, "Desperate Characters," and a corking appreciation of the novelist Jim Harrison. Bissell is equally well known as a gaming aficionado who documented his obsessive attachment to the Grand Theft Auto series in the Guardian in 2010.
I contacted Bissell to ask him what he thought about the potentialities of video games as literature, and began by telling him how much I'd loved the literary quality of the Hitchhiker's Guide game.
What I felt about Hitchhiker's Guide was, this is fun in the way that the sense of discovery in reading is fun, except that I am interactively making it happen; I've unlocked this revelation. And seeing you talk about this game reminded me of that feeling, something I hadn't thought about in a long time.
People are doing genuinely cool stuff with games as a storytelling medium right now. There's this eerily affecting game out from Telltale Games called The Walking Dead—the game version of the TV series. Obviously it's got zombies, and so it's both incredibly violent and upsetting, but, unlike most zombie games, you're not just constantly pulling the trigger. It's not a shooter. It's not a shooter. In fact, it's using the devices of one of the purer, more literary game genres out there: the old-school, point-and-click adventure game. You walk around static environments, looking at stuff, picking stuff up, and talking to people. That's really what the game is about: talking to people, forming relationships. The relationship between the two main characters (a disgraced black academic and a little girl) is genuinely affecting. I wouldn't put it on the same level of affecting-ness that you'd find in a really good literary novel, but there are times when it comes tantalizingly close to that. So it's a writer's game, in that sense. It's a game that manages to create high drama out of deciding whether or not to cut a little girl's hair, believe it or not, because if he keeps her hair long, a zombie will be able to grab it. And you have to have this conversation with her, and sort of allow her to see why she needs to get her hair cut without really telling her why, because you don't want to alarm her. It must sound like pulpy nonsense described in this way, but the way the game humanizes these people really pays emotional dividends.
More and more, I'm seeing that games are mining good, old-fashioned human anxieties for their drama, and that's really promising. Games, more and more, are not just about shooting and fighting, and for that reason I'm optimistic and heartened about where the medium is heading, because I think game designers are getting more interested in making games that explore what it means to be alive. It's one of the reasons I'm happy to be doing this, and hope I can keep doing it.
How long will it take before we see a game that has the quality of a literary novel? That pushes the same buttons, as it were.
It depends what you mean by "quality." There's never going to be a direct one-to-one ratio here, you know. But there have already been a few games that approach something akin to the "literary," at least for me. One of the games that I'm really looking forward to—a game that I actually worked on a little bit—is called The Witness, which a game designer named Jonathan Blow is going to release in the fall. Jon is a member of the game world's genuinely provocative advance guard. I feel no hesitation in calling him a genius. I wrote a little bit for an earlier version of the game, and so have had the privilege to play it quite a bit. I can say it's really going to be a special, and possibly even groundbreaking, experience. It's an incredibly personal, strange, and moving work of art. It's a first-person walker, I would say, in that you have the typical first-person viewpoint but you don't have any tools or items. You have only your virtual eyes and your non-virtual brain to help you out. All over the island are these amazing interactive puzzles, which start off seeming fairly simple but, by the end, become impressively complicated and elaborate. But they always make sense. Jon's goal in the game is nonverbal communication. It's how his puzzles teach you to pay attention to what's around you without using any words. It's also kind of about physics, insofar as I can tell! The first time I played it, I looked at Jon and said, "This is the next step." It might be the game that finally moves people who think games are a waste of time to say, "I get why this medium is important, and why people are so fascinated by the possibilities here."
Right? And if games become a thing like, "Oh! They tell really good stories in these now!" Oh my god, there will be a total stampede.
Sure, but now that I've worked on a few games, I've grappled with the degree to which games are not really a writer's medium. Film's not really a writer's medium, either. Good writing certainly doesn't hurt, but it's not the thing that saves the day. I've been quietly lobbying for games that are smart and intelligent, even if they're about blowing lots of shit up. At the same time, though, pure storytelling is never going to be the thing that games do better than anything. Games are primarily about a connection between the player, the game world, and the central mechanic of the game. They're about creating a space for the player to engage with that mechanic and have the world react in a way that feels interesting and absorbing but also creates a sense of agency. So writing, in games, is about creating mood and establishing a basic sense of intent. The player has some vague notion of what the intent of the so-called author is, but the power of authorship is ultimately for the player to seize for him or herself. This goes for any kind of game. I think good game writing is a process of getting out of the player's way. You give him or her just enough to work with narratively, but ultimately you let the player tell his or her own story.
A kinetic, direct element that you wouldn't have in a novel.
Yeah, or a film, for that matter.
A hands-on-ness.
"Immersion" is the big watchword that game people use all the time. But to me it's not a matter of being "immersed" so much as it is simply being interested. (A game designer and academic named Richard Lemarchand made this argument beautifully at the G.D.C. [the Game Developers Conference] a couple years ago.) And you can be interested in all sorts of ways. One of the frustrating things for me in the last few weeks has been seeing the "video-game violence" debate. There's been a dispiriting lack of recognition of the sheer number of games out there that aren't violent, that are thoughtful.
I've been asked a few times to weigh in on the "violent video games" debate, but I hesitate to because I feel like the N.R.A. set a trap by shining a spotlight on video games. Which isn't to say that I think that games are entirely blameless. Games, generally speaking, are probably way too violent.
As a parent I've always thought it's the unmixed-ness that could become a problem, with any particular toy, medium, or game. I wouldn't mind a kid in my care experiencing such a thing once, or once in a while, mixed with all the other stuff. O.K., play this game, but also see "The Little Mermaid," read "The Phantom Tollbooth," go see "Jules et Jim."
As long as games are part of a thinking person's culturally balanced diet, I don't worry too much.
So back to narrative questions. In novels now, we have partisans of, say, Jonathan Franzen—subscribers to the nineteenth-century idea of fiction; then we have the po-mo, post-Beckett side of it: open-ended stories, experiments of all kinds. Can the technology of games further the project of fiction in some way that we haven't foreseen, or could it maybe even amplify the nineteenth-century style, or the experimental one? (Like "The Diamond Age"! Are we going to see a game that is "The Young Lady's Illustrated Primer"? Because sign me up.) What's going to happen?
I used to think that games were a great storytelling medium, potentially, and that idiot writers were fucking it up. I don't believe that any more. I now believe that whatever the purpose of this medium is, it's not quite to tell stories.
What were the first games? Space Invaders, Pac-Man. These were goal-oriented activities that had a vague overlay of story. So now we fast-forward thirty years, and games are primarily story-like experiences organized around the successful achievement of goals. And so the balance has flipped. The storytelling game and the purer, more traditional type of video game are, I think, on a path of divergence right now: whatever is happening in video games is going to split these two kinds of games off from each other, and so storytelling games are, eventually, going to become their own thing.
Increasingly, I think entertainment in general is going to have more interactive element to it. I know that that sounds horrifying, because most entertainment that has tried to incorporate some kind of interactive element has been so miserably terrible. But the generation coming of age right now is taking it for granted that the things they watch and read have some type of input/output aspect to them. How that's going to manifest itself in a broader cultural sense I don't know.
Consider the difference between an ordinary movie and, like, "Synecdoche." It's almost not the same thing, like James Bond vs. "Synecdoche." You might watch a Bond film in order to escape your thoughts, and "Synecdoche" in order to enter into them more deeply. Much as I love James Bond, I don't think of it as literary in any way, but I think of Charlie Kaufman's work as absolutely literature. What made me so excited about your work was seeing you do this for games.
You might rethink that after playing Gears! Which is a bananas game—in a way I love and respond to, but still bananas. The thing that most excited me about the process of seeing a game through from beginning to end was the magical confluence of a bunch of super-talented, super-dedicated people, from the artists to the programmers to the actors to the concept and environment artists—everyone seeing the same light at the end of the same tunnel and working together to create a world and a vision. For the Gears game, I barely even met most of the people who worked on it, but I'm now intimately familiar with their work, having played the game through so many times.
That was fascinating. My wonderful co-writer, Rob Auten, and I would take these empty-vessel characters—who didn't have any dialogue assigned to them yet—and run through exceedingly primitive versions of the game world, figuring out, inch by inch, what the "story" was supposed to be about. It was like writing a script after all the sets and costumes had been designed!
It involves so many disciplines, so many different kinds of people and artists. It was invigorating, and fascinating.
When I saw the video of you and Rob, I thought, Is this maybe the next step in fiction, in certain ways? You have all these multiple ways the story can come out; a new thing that could be made really serious, right? Am I making this up?
No, you're not, though I must say that Gears isn't quite that kind of a game. There are various kinds of storytelling avenues a game can take. Some have multiple, various paths but wind up at the same destination; some plunge straight ahead in a linear path, so that the story is pretty much the same for every person who plays it; and some are fearsomely, awesomely variable.
Like Skyrim? (Skyrim being a wildly popular "open-world" game, in which the player can wander freely rather than having to stick to a predetermined narrative path.)
Indeed. The point is that there's no such thing, really, as "video-game storytelling." Different kinds of games have different kinds of storytelling methods. Writing Gears has more in common with action-movie screenwriting than writing something like Skyrim does. But what's interesting about writing a game like Gears is that there's just so much procedural dialogue you wind up having to write. By that I mean dialogue that's totally dependent on what the player's doing: shooting, killing, blowing stuff up, reloading, taking cover, all of that.
What do you have to write for someone when you're blowing something up?
Gears is very over the top, very cartoonish. It has a sense of humor about itself, so you're allowed to have a little bit of fun. If, say, you knock an enemy down on the ground and the enemy's crawling around, you can then go and pick him up and use him as a shield while other people are shooting at you. One of my favorite lines that we wrote for that particularly grim contingency was "Let's see how popular you are." Obviously, that stuff's hugely fun to write. In the end, we wound up writing something like twelve thousand lines of purely procedural dialogue. At a certain point, when you're trying to think of literally the forty-seventh different way to say, "I'm reloading," it gets a little mind-numbing. It's only when you're actually playing the game, and hearing this stuff, that you see what variety and a sense of humor does to lighten the experience.
When you are writing prose, you're very carefully withholding and handing out information, revelations, in a way that you feel is going to be entertaining to the reader. A lot of what you've just been saying makes me think you're sensitive to that with respect to writing a game, as well. But these revelations, in a game, might come about in the course of dozens or hundreds of interactions with this text you've written. So how much does that come into play when you are structuring the narrative?
This is the really tricky thing with game writing: you have very limited control over the pace of the player's experience. A movie or a TV show is designed to be finished in one sitting, so the stories structure themselves around the reasonable expectation that the person watching isn't going to stop in the middle of it. Games tend to be, what? Seven hours, sometimes even thirty-five hours long? That makes the stories much harder to structure because you can't control the way the player is going to experience them. A lot of game studios rely on three-act structures, rising tension, character arcs—all these engrained Hollywood story ideas that I'm not convinced have a hell of a lot of applicability to games.
Think about this, though: What other kind of other storytelling experiences does what I describe above remind you of? It reminds me, at least, of how we read books. You read for a while, but then your subway stop comes, and you stop. Or you read before you sleep. Or read in the waiting room at the orthopedist's. There's a grab-it-while-you-can story imperative with both books and games. Also, both have to be interesting on a moment-to-moment basis. However, game stories, unlike the kinds of stories you find in books, need to be a lot simpler. Video games generally don't reward narrative complexity, because most of them are about going somewhere and doing something, and then going to another, similar place and doing a similar thing. In that sense, the story is sort of there to make you forget that what you're doing is actually incredibly repetitive.
So many games give us the opportunity to play from the perspective of "the good guy": on the one hand the explicitly violent ones might create a lot of moral ambiguity—that we're entertained by the carnage—but on the other hand most games provide opportunities for players to experience a really Manichean narrative assumption of good vs. evil. Where do you fall on the John Gardner spectrum of morality in storytelling?
Gardner has a quote in "On Becoming A Novelist" that I love, even if I don't fully agree with it: the purpose of art, he says, is to show people the proper beliefs and impulses. Or something like that. I think I kind of, sort of, still believe that to some degree. You certainly wouldn't want to write a book extolling the virtues of serial murder, would you, even if it were really well written.
Well, "Lolita" extols something pretty terrible.
I guess I think the highest purpose of fiction is to show that all people are fundamentally worthy of mercy. Carrying that imperative over into a game like Gears is a harder project, to say the least, because it's a game about pushing forward and shooting as many living things as possible. Now, these living things are these silly monsters that, you know, aren't "real," so the moral considerations are slightly different. Walking the line between honoring the fictional reality of what the game's characters are going through, which is horrifying, but also allowing the gamer to have fun while doing horrifying things—yeah, that was a bit of a tonal challenge, and it took us a while to get it right. Tone is such a massively important part of how the story stuff in games gets processed. It's important to get it right, or else everything falls apart.
If combat has any positive attributes, it's that, for a lot of people, it forms the most intense emotional relationships they will ever have with human beings for the rest of their lives. So I think a shooter, which is what Gears is, can awaken some of those borderline—I don't want to say positive attributes of combat, but it does touch on some of the exhilaration of combat. I'm not the first person to suggest that, within the horror of combat, there is something beautiful and exhilarating. The reason shooters are so popular, I think, is that we all want to touch that fire. We want to put our hands in just far enough to feel the heat without actually burning ourselves. In that sense, I'm not entirely sure how different playing video games is from playing Cops and Robbers.
Maria Bustillos is a writer living in Los Angeles and a frequent contributor to Page-Turner.
Credit: Microsoft Corporation.


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3d Pirate ship puzzle
Beautifully crafted 3d puzzle - children will feel a sense of excitement and achievement after completing this beautiful puzzle. A bonus is the fact that they will be developing their concentration, patience, problem-solving skills and so much more.
How to assemble
After unboxing, there are 4 sheets of A4 size die-cut with shape of items and the base. Each item is numbered.
Push out the items and base from the die-cut frame.
Read the number on the item and find the matching number on the base.
No tools or glue needed.
Have FUN !
Finished size : 26 x 24 x 15cm
Material : Foam / paper