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Andrew Bird is many things, but he isn't lazy. In the three years since the release of his last LP, Noble Beast, Bird has continued his heavy touring schedule, launched his Sonic Arboretum project, and somehow found time to write and record a new album, Break It Yourself. That touring schedule found him playing across Europe, Asia, and the United States, including a prime slot at Lollapalooza in 2009 and a series of special Gezelligheid shows in 2009 and 2010. Bird has also been involved in filming two documentaries: Fever Year, about his 2009 tour, and Here's What Happened, which captured the experience of recording the new album. And yet through such a hectic schedule, Break It Yourself emerges as his best album to date, one that shows him as more comfortable with collaboration and in letting his music stretch past typical structure, spilling over enforced boundaries into panoramic sonic symphonies at the intersection of folk, classical, freestyle jazz, and even pop. The A.V. Club recently talked to Bird about collaboration and improvisation on his new album, his experimentations with sound, and letting his music evolve organically.
The A.V. Club: This is your third album with Martin Dosh, Jeremy Ylvisaker, and Mike Lewis as your backing band. How has this extended collaboration changed the way you approached pulling the album together?
Andrew Bird: This is the first time I've kind of treated it more like a quartet, like a band. The whole record is pretty much live in a room together, no separation, and we've never done that before. I'd brought them in for recordings to be part of the construction of the song, but this is more like four guys playing music together. And as awesome as they are, it took a while for me to feel comfortable with that.
AVC: So there wasn't as much studio massaging post-production?
AB: There was a minimal amount of that. There are no vocal overdubs. All the vocals are live. It's not like we put down basic tracks and then did a bunch of post-production; it's nothing like that. We just took an eight-track tape machine out to my barn, had Mike's Aunt Wendy cook for us, used our front-of-house engineer Neal [Jensen] to record, and it was a pretty un-fussy—it took about seven tracks to do the whole band. The mixing was pretty extensive, and there's a little bit of editing here and there. But compared to most productions, it's about as bare-bones as it gets.
AVC: Do you feel more comfortable fostering collaboration than you did earlier in your career?
AB: Yeah. I'm coming out of an eight-year period of being pretty self-sufficient musically. I felt like it was time to get back to why I started on this path in the first place, which is playing music in a comfortable social—it's a social conduit. That's why I got out of the classical world, taking a more comfortable, enjoyable, social-music atmosphere. I went through [my group] Bowl Of Fire for four or five years, and then sort of disbanded that and then went on this kind of solo course. And that's still a pretty healthy part of what I'm doing, but I don't know. I just got really tired of production. I wanted to not play it safe, to just go out there and play.
AVC: You say you're moving away from classical, but on this album, particularly "Give It Away," you toy with time signature. That's something seen more in longer classical movements than in typical pop songs.
AB: Passages in "Give It Away" are closer to pretty wild improvisation and more jazz spirit than classical; that was just completely off the cuff. And the pizzicato solo—it sounds like a guitar solo, but it's a pizzicato solo—is pretty spontaneous. But there are songs like "Orpheo Looks Back" that have pretty odd time signatures in them. In the past, that's the way an idea would occur to me, not conforming to any bar phrase, and I would just give up at some point trying to keep it that weird, and I would let it conform to that bar phrase. This time, I didn't let that happen. I just made the band try to figure out how to fit that into the puzzle. So you end up with a lot more odd time signatures. And the fact that it's off the cuff—we weren't really expecting to nail the record, so there wasn't this pressure.
In the past, with Noble Beast, the record was one thing and the live performance is another, so I made two records to capture the more experimental live feel and the more carefully crafted pop songs. On this album, I just threw that out the window and brought them back together again. You have these kind of grounded songs followed by wild solos, and that's one of the things I'm most proud of with this record.
AVC: So there was more improvisation on this record than before?
AB: Oh yeah. In the past, I would have improvised until I found a more concise melody, and then pared that down to turn it into a three-and-a-half-minute pop song. And in this one, the original improvisation is what's on the record. There is no paring-down; a lot of what you hear is soloing.
AVC: Did the way you approached recording this new album affect the way you wound up sequencing it?
AB: Not much got cut, and it's almost in order. "Desperation Breeds…" was the first one we did. "Danse Caribe" was the second, although that was the only one that was done in a different studio. And "Give It Away," that was just, second take, the band hardly knew the song and ended up feeling their way through it. The sequencing took a while, though. It always does. I always think of things as an album, not as individual singles.
AVC: I recognized the melody in "Eyeoneye" from an instrumental you performed at one of your Gezelligheid shows. A lot of artists work songs out onstage, but because your music is so often divided between instrumental and vocal songs, at what point in the songwriting process do you decide whether a song is going to be instrumental or vocal?
AB: It depends on what stage I capture it for a record. Those Useless Creatures ideas would have eventually become pop songs if I hadn't captured it in that stage and decided I wanted to do just that, an instrumental record. But I kind of stumbled on that melody around that time of the Gezelligheid, and I thought, "Well, this is an exceptionally nice melody. And I think if I'm really gonna have it reach its full potential, I gotta make it into a song." I just kept hammering away at it for the next couple years. But then a year later, I debuted it at a TED conference, as a half-completed song—I had half the lyrics and half the melody—so the pressure was mounting to have it be this exceptional song. I ended up having to record that song six different ways to be satisfied. It was a burden of expectations, but it kind of ended up working out well for that song.
AVC: Can you elaborate a little on those six different ways?
AB: Well, it started off the first year we did the barn sessions for this record. It always had that melody; you know, [sings the melody]. But the song was darker, brooding. I find it boring when the lyrics are a bit dark and brooding and then the music follows suit. That's not enough tension in there for me. It wasn't lifting off, you know? Then we tried kind of a Stones version of it; I started playing it finger-style guitar, but on the violin, and then working in all these early Keith Richards-type licks. That was cool, but it just sounded like that. That's limiting what this song could be.
I did a more acoustic-guitar, a little dreamier version—it was good. I was ready to put it on the record. It was really getting close, but just on a whim, we tried it in the barn again a year later. We did the whole thing exactly the same to try to nail that song, and also brought a film crew out to film the way we made the record [the documentary Here's What Happened, available with the deluxe version of the new album]. We blew through the whole record to see if we could get any better versions than we did the year before. And while we were filming that one—we weren't really going for a record take, we were just filming—something clicked in the middle of the song where we were just kind of doing another version of it for another camera angle, and we were like, "Holy shit. This is better than any other version we've done." We collectively realized it. You can hear it in the middle of the song; a switch gets flipped and we race to the finish line. It's this injection three-quarters of the way into the song. And that's what you can only hope for, is that a recording that's on a record has a real—that the tempo's kind of fluctuating, the tempo's kind of leaning this way or that way, but it's anything but static. You don't hear that much on records, because they track the rhythm section, and then you sing over it like it's karaoke. I hear that in records and I don't like it.
AVC: In regards to that tension in your music, on "Near Death Experience Experience," you create this imagery of dancing while a plane crashes, backed by an upbeat melody. How do you go about creating this tension?
AB: It's just a reflection of the thought process that's going on as I'm writing the song: "Whoa, this is getting dark. And I think we need some levity here." A lot of the songs do kind of head down that dark path, and then switches get flicked. That song backs off from going over the edge, and it's like, "Wait, wait wait wait. Let's just laugh at ourselves here for a second." The tone of the music, though, I don't really think about that. It's kind of unconscious, the music being happy or sad, for example, or the lyrics. For "Near Death Experience Experience," I was just trying to nail a feel, and the lyrics were kind of immaterial. But they certainly come to me. I'm imagining if you could take a pill that could kind of simulate a near-death experience—which, of course, is impossible, because if you know it's safe, it's not a near-death experience—it would then make you appreciate every living moment. Would you take that pill? And the song is kind of open-ended. I can't resolve that question at all, so it just kind of keeps on grooving.
AVC: You've spent some time recording in New Orleans; how much of "Hole In The Ocean Floor" was explicitly inspired by the BP oil spill?
AB: It was totally inspired by it. I woke up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night, just totally panicked, spooked, thinking. This was before they capped it, so it was just a disaster that's perpetually happening. There's no resolution to it. And I just woke up in this panic like, "Oh, shit, it's still leaking." It sounds ridiculous now, but I felt like I could hear that collective scream of the entire animal planet.
AVC: It seems unusual because it's so explicitly tied to an event. That doesn't happen a lot in your music.
AB: Yeah, I suppose I've done it before. But to tell you exactly what that song is based on is not always that easy to explain as "Hole In The Ocean Floor." That one is a lot about the playing of the music.
AVC: Do you ever go into a record with the aim of balancing instrumentals vs. vocals?
AB: Yeah, because I think any songwriter or record, no matter how good it is, can become tedious if it's the same person's point of view. After four tracks, you start to get worn down no matter how good it is. It can be relentlessly good, but it's still going to wear you out. Putting in these instrumentals serves as a break for the listener, and also serves as a chance to enjoy playing for a minute and not worrying about serving the song.
AVC: When you perform these songs live, particularly solo with looping, does that affect the songs' development?
AB: When I brought the band down to the barn, I'd been working on these loops for a long time; I'd play the loop, just to show the band what the feel is like. That also keeps the songs weird, you know? They don't deconstruct it. [I tell them] "These are the way the songs have been going in my head for the last year, you guys just respond to that and see if you can make it better, or add to it." So the loops are always in there. Like "Desperation Breeds…," that's what happened to me: the loop and the band starts. Mike Lewis was playing this odd but awesome bassline, and everyone just felt their way through the song 'til the end. And literally, at the end of that song, we're all looking at each other like, "Okay, we're gonna end the song now." And there's a lot of desperate gestures to each other to try to wrap it up.
To let the loops go and let it just be a four-piece band, something about the loops just keep us in touch with the way the music percolates in my head. And it also keeps things risky onstage. I think that helps the music. Every time we do a song we have to do on TV, it's got something that could go terribly, terribly wrong in it. And again, "Eyeoneye"—it's got, like, you know, it's a song where—on most of these songs, Martin loops me. So I've gotta count the song in, Martin clicks a pedal, and I play violin, and I send this violin signal through Martin's whole chain, which is really—one little cable could be bad, and then the whole thing wouldn't work. Which has happened to me before on TV. So here we are with another single that can and will—well, it keeps us on our toes.
AVC: You're fueled by this internal fear of it failing.
AB: Well, it keeps you from certainly getting complacent, or phoning it in. There's no risk of that, and it's exciting. You get a little panic, a little embarrassment. I think it's a healthy thing in part of a show, as opposed to coasting.
AVC: You've been doing a lot of sound experimentation, like the Sonic Arboretum. In an interview last year, you said "the music I've been making at my barn has recently been less about songwriting and more about just sounds." Did the Sonic Arboretum influence what's on the album?
AB: No, the Sonic Arboretum is really its own thing. It's just an amazing compositional tool that barely scratches the surface of what it could be. My fantasy is to get up and ride my bike to a museum, like the MCA [the Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago], in the morning when everyone else goes to work, enjoy my coffee and compose on the fly for three or four hours, and then sit back and look at what I've done, and then go home. There's not this intense focus on me and my persona. There's also a different attention span for an installation, that you can come and just immerse yourself in it, or just hang around. There's not that clock ticking on that concertgoer's attention span.
But to inform the record, no. The record is its own thing. The record is kind of a performance; it's breathing, lopsided, full of instinctual moods. And so is the Arboretum. It's like a different rate of composing, you know? I'm somewhere on the spectrum between a classical composer that writes stuff down and a total free-jazz improviser. The rate of composition is fast, it's on the fly, but it's not completely free. The arboretum—you could say the ideas that are in the songs are unfolded in the arboretum, opened up and made more pastoral, and have a more distant horizon, more open sky to them.
AVC: You just did an unusual performance in London, in a room in a boat on top of Queen Elizabeth Hall. How did that come about?
AB: They asked me to be the first performer. They had writers and musicians and thinkers in general visit to have a residency, and I got to stay there for two nights. It's this pretty slick little apartment in a Joseph Conrad-themed, Heart Of Darkness boat. It's pretty awesome that an idea so impractical like that could actually make it to fruition. The idea is, if you stay there for a couple of days, how will it influence your performance, or what you do or say? I came in there without a plan and just waited to see what felt right. It kind of fit in thematically, and that's what happened. It was fun.
AVC: Do you have any other sound experiments like the arboretum planned for the future?
AB: We're going to keep developing the arboretum, and that has lots of possibilities. I'd like to have that in a different museum, or maybe turn it into a public art project eventually. Hopefully there's a future in that. And I'll keep waiting for that film that I can give something to as a soundtrack. I know that the next Jim Jarmusch is out there somewhere, so I'm kind of waiting for that. There are little projects that come along that I pick up, like this modern-music, modern-art magazine called Esopus—I have to compose a piece based on this catalogue of very dense scales. I just tune a scale and write a piece based on that. Little things like that. My job is full of surprises.
AVC: Do you see yourself tackling orchestral works or scores on a bigger scale?
AB: Someday. It deserves all my attention. I don't want to do it half-assed. And I don't want to just arrange my songs for orchestra. I think that might be kind of boring and a little bit overdramatic, perhaps. I like being able to travel light. The orchestra's an amazing instrument, but I'm still just having too much fun doing it my way, for the time being.
I'm interested in it, but then you've got to write everything down. I'm going to try it someday and see if it can still be flexible, like I would want it to be. The problem is, when you're working with orchestras, you only get the orchestra for about two hours before the performance to pull it all together, and that doesn't sound like a real collaboration. I might find a more fleet-of-foot kind of ensemble to work with.
AVC: In a 2009 interview while you were promoting Noble Beast, you described how you had previously found indie rock boring and repetitive, but that your view had changed and that you'd grown more patient. Though your music doesn't fit neatly into the indie-rock category, you've still been embraced by that scene. What changed introspectively for you?
AB: It depends on the artist. What's cool about indie rock is that one band can do effectively the same thing as another band, and one band nails it, and the other one doesn't. I like that elusiveness. A band like Yo La Tengo nails it with this sort of minimalist approach, but another band could try to piece their songs together, or do exactly what they did, and it doesn't work. I've always found that whatever you say about indie rock, it is the most inclusive genre or title for anything. It doesn't pin you down too much, like other labels would. It's just newer, it has less baggage. I'm happy to be in that category. When I was younger, I liked music that was more exotic and far-flung, more dense and complicated. Pop music, indie rock, Britpop, and what my friends were listening to did sound kind of boring. But I'm picking up on some stuff I missed because I'm not prejudiced. There is a lot of bad music, and there's some really amazing pieces of music.
AVC: Is there a specific band you missed the first time around, then?
AB: The Smiths—I dismissed them early on. There's a lot of bands I dismissed because they just weren't exciting enough for me to—like I said, it wasn't exotic enough. And this isn't indie rock, but The Band—I missed them the first time around. Not that they were of my generation, necessarily, but it's something everyone should check out. I completely missed The Band until the last two years. And I'm just kind of picking up on this stuff, like Jonathan Richman and Modern Lovers—stuff like that, I would have dismissed when I was younger, and it's really good stuff. Again, this isn't all current indie rock, but it feeds into it. The Velvet Underground, I didn't like them when I was 19, but I totally get it now. There's also Townes Van Zandt, John Prine—and The Handsome Family, of course, has always been a touchstone.
AVC: Your music is at the intersection of several genres: classical, free-form jazz, even pop. Speaking about the music that you sought as a youth, do you see your music as a bridge to similar-minded youths, especially those who are interested in free-form jazz and classical music?
AB: Yeah, and I think what happens is, or what used to happen and still does, to young people, the band they get into, that becomes part of their markation and their identity, that helps them identify others and helps them find their friends. It's a social-networking identifier. I skipped all that, because I was in my own classical universe when I was that age. Now, I kind of have this diplomatic immunity, if you will. I feel like I can jump from one thing to another thing; "The way that song's put together is pretty amazing." You can't script anything that good. It could either be "How Soon Is Now" by The Smiths, or it could be this North African cassette tape, or a gospel tune. I just never got indoctrinated as a musician or as a listener, I just kept listening. That's what I tell young musicians or anyone: just don't stop listening.
AVC: When you record an album, how much thought do you put behind the balance of style in regards to the violin parts? Classical style vs. fiddle, and so on?
AB: Not much thought goes into that. It just tells me what it's supposed to be. "Orpheo Looks Back" is supposed to be more raw, so I'm playing a little more like a fiddle player there. Whereas on "Desperation" and "Danse Caribe," I'm playing a little more like a tenor saxophone player, a little more fluid and round. "Orpheo" is old-time fiddle music; you're playing your own backbeat. The bowing is that way, a little more raw and scrappier. But it's not like, "Okay, I'm gonna play it this way." If I tried to play "Orpheo" with too beautiful of a sound, it would just sound stupid. [Laughs.]
AVC: It would change the meaning of the song.
AB: Perhaps, yeah. But also I want to make sure I got enough things on the record, because I have to play it for the next two years. I want to make sure there's enough ways of playing represented that I'll keep myself entertained and satisfied.


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Shopping in Cambodia
Cambodia travel guide
When shopping in Cambodia, you'll find fine silks, textiles, statues and carvings, along with silverwork and art. Cambodia is a treasure trove for exotic items, especially for Buddhism-themed ornaments. They are sold in boutiques, on the street and in large markets, both in Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. You can also stumble upon interesting items in smaller towns across Cambodia.
In some markets though, without a basic foundation in the Khmer language, you'll find it tricky to bargain prices down to your desired mark. It's a good idea to take a Khmer-speaking friend along or stick to the big markets with their mostly tagged items and fixed prices.

subset: commoncrawl


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CIUS 'disappointed' by EC out-of-quota sugar measures
The European Commission announced in November last year that it would release an extra 1.2m metric tons (MT) of sugar onto the EU market following supply complaints from organisations such as the CIUS, Caobisco (The association of chocolate, biscuit and confectionery industries of Europe) and BDSI (German Confectionery Association).
Forward-planning constraints
CIUS, which represents companies including Nestlé, Mondelēz International and Coca-Cola, said the first tranche of out-of quota sugar resulted in only an added 200,000 MT onto the EU market.
"CIUS is disappointed at the limited volume released although it recognises the reduction applied to duties…Sugar users are unable to plan forward their needs until the end of the marketing year if the market is held artificially tight," it said in a statement.
CIUS: Release total volume without levies
The organization has called on the European Commission and member states to release the total volume of out of quota sugar in the next tranche due at the end of February to ease supply tensions.
It has also requested that the remaining out-of-quota sugar be released without levies instead of tenders at reduced rates.
Quota system
The Agricultural Committee of the European Parliament recently voted to extend sugar quotas until 2020 rather than abolish them in 2015. The decision is not final and a vote will be made at a plenary session in Parliament in March. A final decision must be made by June.
CIUS hopes that the EU will abolish sugar quotas at the earliest opportunity and will gradually reduce import tariffs.
Leonardo Bichara Rocha, senior economist at the International Sugar Organization, recently told this site that even if the sugar quotas run until 2020 there will be enough sugar on the EU market for the next seven years. See HERE.
In contrast, procurement heads for Mondelēz International and Nestlé have said that the quotas are causing significant supply constraints leading to sky-high prices.


text:
Slackware64-13.1 ChangeLog (2018-06-01)
Fri Jun 1 21:28:10 UTC 2018
- patches/packages/git-2.14.4-x86_64-1_slack13.1.txz
This update fixes security issues:
Submodule "names" come from the untrusted .gitmodules file, but we
blindly append them to $GIT_DIR/modules to create our on-disk repo
paths. This means you can do bad things by putting "../" into the
name. We now enforce some rules for submodule names which will cause
Git to ignore these malicious names (CVE-2018-11235).
Credit for finding this vulnerability and the proof of concept from
which the test script was adapted goes to Etienne Stalmans.
It was possible to trick the code that sanity-checks paths on NTFS
into reading random piece of memory (CVE-2018-11233).
Credit for fixing for these bugs goes to Jeff King, Johannes
Schindelin and others.
For more information, see:
(* Security fix *)


text:
REKT is an LT Forum RPG (Role Playing Game). This means it's something kind of along the same lines as Dungeons & Dragons, although it uses a very different set of rules. Players do things, and I do rolls (if necessary) and tell them the results. You have a broad world to explore and manipulate, and level up after missions. You purchase gear and take care of it, and can make friends or enemies. Teamwork is key - lone wolves tend to die quickly.
A basic overview of the plot:
In the far future, humanity has conquered most of the known galaxy, forcing the alien minorities to small reservations at the edges, while humanity itself has populated the wealthy inner worlds near the galaxy's center. Crime, corruption and prejudice runs rampant, and prisons are bursting at the seams. Large prison corporations with prison ships fly from planet to planet, relieving each of some of their more dangerous criminals, and then execute them or put them to work as slave labor as they will. Tartarus Inc. is one of these, with its 13.5km-long megaship Tartarus.
Tartarus permits about 1/30th of its inmates - the best of the best - to become part of its REKT program - or REquisitional Knowledge Troops. The players are among these. They get sent out to steal, gather, or otherwise discover important technology and materials from dangerous locations. Many of them die. If those that survive complete ten missions, they're free to leave, and receive a full pardon.
TL;DR: Players are inmates aboard a prison ship, in a program that sends these inmates out to dangerous regions of the galaxy to collect anomalous materials.
These rules apply to all members, including the GM. Violating any of the rules may result in a warning, moved/deleted post, or just getting banned from the game.
Above all else, please be polite as you engage with your fellow REKT players!
Rules of conduct:
- All rules for the rest of the forums still apply here.
- Be polite to other players. The exception is if your character is talking to another character: in those cases, you can be as rude as you like - if it's in line with your character.
- If your character is active, you are required to post at least monthly between missions (more often if not), or your character will be moved to the AWOL list. You can rejoin later - if there's room.
- If your character is inactive (i.e. you're in line for a turn), you need to post in the main thread at least once every three months (or talk semi-regularly in IRC) so I know you're still available to play.
- You can only have one active character at a time.
- Read the game rules before attempting to make a character! At least have a basic understanding of what you're getting into.
- Keep large discussions out of the mission threads and Tartarus threads. Those stay in the main thread.
- Do not post in the mission thread if you are not part of the mission, even in ((out-of-character brackets)). This applies even if you were part of the mission, but died.
- If you are in a mission, do not post in a campaign hub thread (Tartarus, Nemesis, briefing room, etc).
- GM decisions are final and non-negotiable.
- If you die, you cannot post with that character anymore unless - and until - it is resurrected. If it is a permadeath, you cannot post with that character again at all.
- No sexual talk, either in character or out of character. If you really want to sexually roleplay, take it to PMs. The GM will not take part in it.
Is this really a game you want to play?
Try checking out our REKT Player Litmus Test if you're unsure about playing. It may be able to help!
How to make a character
- Read the rules here.
- Copy the character sheet from here.
- Fill it out and post it in the main thread.


text: Handle large office filing tasks with these Smead color file folders. The vivid hue makes it simple to spot your project files without having to flip through labels, while the sturdy construction can withstand frequent review. With 1/3-cut top tabs, these file folders offer ample space for handwriting or printed labels. These Smead color file folders have 3/4-inch scoring for easy expansion.


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Rule #1 - Be Patient - Rule #2 - Don't ask when, if you don't contribute - Rule #3 - You have coding skills - LinuxMCE's small brother is available: http://www.agocontrol.com
I tried several times to install using the CD's but with no luck. I kept running into errors of missing libraries as well as other issues. I finally got wise and tried the DVD approach which worked out well. Installed on the first try. So if you have the option, go for the DVD approach.
That is usually caused by not properly folowing the instructions and mixing incompatible versions of (K)Ubuntu and LMCE.
I did closely follow the instructions but it is entirely possible that I missed something. I started with a fresh install of kubuntu as to avoid any conflicts as per the documentation. The install bitched about something different on each attempt and just died. Leaving me to start over with a fresh install of kubuntu and begin again.Just adding my experience to the discussion.
did you check the MD5sums on the ISOs


text:
Devotees of a healthy lifestyle are true fans of sports. They do not only watch events on TV or visit competition halls; they take up various activities to maintain physical fitness. Sports wallpapers might be ideal assistants in the fight against laziness, unhealthy diet, and bad habits. Wanna check it out?
Images of people doing exercises or celebrities with a universal acclaim as well as of field-specific inventory are supposed to be inspiring. When you feel lack of motivation to advance in soccer, rugby, cricket, ice-stating, hockey, tennis, car racing, etc., take a look at your beloved sportsmen, adopt their practices and charisma. This done, success won't make you wait long. Who knows, maybe in the future you'll become a champion, breaking all past-by records?
To continue, in order not to stop your efforts in achieving new heights, it is recommended that you should have a constant reminder. This might be your coach, a friend, or some visual motivators in the form of wallpapers on sports. You can apply a theme-based background to all available gadgets (desktop/laptop PC, smartphone) so that the inspiration could be at hand wherever you are.
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My 2006 LR3: The Cautionary Tale
in Land Rover
This is not a flame. It is a recitation of facts. My lease is up in 7 months. I had intended to do a lease to buy--because I run up a lot of mileage; but instead I will give LandRover of Massapequa back the vehicle and pay the overage. My LR3 sits in the garage and I rent cars to travel on business and to go to the mountains. The saddest part is that once the LR3 was ON the mountain, it was everything a LandRover should be. However, the following components (read: Big hunks of the vehicle) have been replaced under warranty with not even a sheepish look. Getting towed in is a real pleasure.
At two weeks: Entire driver airbag assembly needed replacement. Took 8 weeks and a hissy fit to get one. Had a faulty drivers' airbag in the meantime (that's for caring about my safety guys)
At 7500 miles: air suspension fault leading to highway blowout while waiting for replacement air suspension compressor; Air suspension compressor (and rear tire) replaced.
At 20000 miles, entire fuel assembly/fuel tank replaced due to "known issue" with fuel entering vapor uptake line.
At 30000 miles, suspension settings (design flaw for which there is a class action suit in California) causing uneven wear on two rear tires. Without explaining the problem, LR says "Oh get two new tires and put them on the front". This is because, once the problem begins, it is chronic and the front tires, once rotated back, will experience the uneven wear as well.
I can't get on the road with this vehicle because I no longer have faith that it will get me from NY to VT to MA safely. So I don't. Quality survey's have already rated this vehicle as the bottom-of-the-barrel. And they're right.
Please be forewarned.
At two weeks: Entire driver airbag assembly needed replacement. Took 8 weeks and a hissy fit to get one. Had a faulty drivers' airbag in the meantime (that's for caring about my safety guys)
At 7500 miles: air suspension fault leading to highway blowout while waiting for replacement air suspension compressor; Air suspension compressor (and rear tire) replaced.
At 20000 miles, entire fuel assembly/fuel tank replaced due to "known issue" with fuel entering vapor uptake line.
At 30000 miles, suspension settings (design flaw for which there is a class action suit in California) causing uneven wear on two rear tires. Without explaining the problem, LR says "Oh get two new tires and put them on the front". This is because, once the problem begins, it is chronic and the front tires, once rotated back, will experience the uneven wear as well.
I can't get on the road with this vehicle because I no longer have faith that it will get me from NY to VT to MA safely. So I don't. Quality survey's have already rated this vehicle as the bottom-of-the-barrel. And they're right.
Please be forewarned.
Oh my God ! You call that a problem vehicle ? You better never buy a Mercedes, Toyota, BMW or some "American" POS - then you'll know real problems. I've had my early 05 LR3 HSE for two years and 22000 miles and have yet to experience anything but complete satisfaction. I've had the "recall" items taken care of even though I had no problems, and that's it. My LR experience has been nothing but fabulous...and this is my third Land Rover.0
I'm pleased for you. Somebody must be having positive experiences because they keep selling. However, a class action suit and a bottom-of-the-heap quality rating are statistically telling. Nevertheless, enjoy your vehicle.
On the other hand, I don't think it's appropriate for you to make light of these issues, nor to make gross generalizations about other vehicles that you do not own. If you have only driven 22000 in two years, you are not the same type of driver that I am. I put on 28500 in one year. I spend more time on the road. What to a local driver might be an inconvenience that gets serviced and goes away, to a distance driver renders the vehicle unusable over 400 miles of travel at a pop. (And once you leave a metropolitan area, it's not like Landrover dealerships are a dime a dozen.)
The service manager and I have agreed that this vehicle was, metaphorically speaking, built on a Friday afternoon before a three day holiday weekend and Joe Blogs was well into his first Guinness. Apparently, there are lots of those types at the Land Rover assembly line.0
It can happen with any make and is not limted to Land Rover alone.
What made it worse is that you drive a huge amount of miles a year(ever thought of leasing two less expensive vehicles? It might work out better in the long rung)and that there are not many Land Rover dealers around.
Secondly RE: The fuel system: Are you sure you did not get a 2005 LR3? The fuel tank recall was limted to certain 2005 MY LR3s.
Thirdly RE: Class Action Suit: Cali's law suit regulations are so linent almost anyone can sue for any reason there. The tire problem has been aknowledged by Land Rover through revised rear suspension settings and a prorated tire program.
I even posted the details of the prorated tire bulletin on this board once. I could go track it down again if you like.0
Ah, good call British-rover. It was an EARLY 2006 model. Acquired in Sept. 2005.
And you are right, but I can't afford to do the mileage I do and do the prorated tire stuff--that's just plain silly.
While bad cars "happen", my need to post this on a board is my only recourse from a dealership that should be working with me to salvage their reputation and get me out of this vehicle. From a sales perspective, they are not smart enough to recognize the value of saving one customer and asking me, in return, to acknowledge their salesmanship/customer service. They are blithely permitting me to wave in the breeze until my lease is up.
Thus, they deserve their bad press. (And this is easier than me taking out a permit to picket the dealership.)
Also, bear in mind that, acknowledged or not, there ARE gender issues when assessing the reliability of a vehicle for a person who travels a long route on a highway. I don't care if the recalls/roadside assistance/accommodations are top notch. I do not want my safety compromised in anyway by being on the side of the road. I was dreadfully disappointed to discover that a Jiffy Lube in New Hampshire didn't stock the oil filter for the LR3. And I posted, when it happened, about my horrid experience trying to find a replacement tire in Hartford on a holiday weekend. These types of little inconveniences render the car only appropriate for soccer moms and the Joneses. I, honest to goodness, got the vehicle to climb Killington, stick to a wet highway in the Northeast, and handle sand in Montauk. In addition, the seat was far more comfortable than the XC90, as I'm short. My point here is that, if I had purchased the car with faulty criteria or on a whim, I'd just chalk it up to an error in choice. But I'm doubly determined to post this message because, other than knowing what I know now, by my buying criteria alone, I'd be at risk to make the same choice again. And statistically, there are enough lousy Land Rovers out there, that it should remain a car of only enthusiasts and soccer moms in my (newly derived) opinion.
eldaino Member Posts: 1,618its obvious you are a lr hardcore, but to slam other companies for no reason is a bit silly. Every car manufacturer has its share of problems. Just like you have had a great experience with your land rover, others have had them with mercedes, bmw, toyota and i daresay some american vehicles! :P
It strikes me as a litte weird that you would read that post and still have the gall to say, 'you call that a problem vehicle'?, like if its normal for a vehicle to have to have that all replaced and the companies you listed afterwards have the same things happen to THEM ALL the time.
nor to make gross generalizations about other vehicles that you do not own
To be fair, neither should one make generalizations about a model based on a single ownership experience.
tidester, host0
Your point is taken, tidester. But please note that these issue are not unique to my LR3. They are all well documented "known issues". It's just that while some people have experienced one of them, I seem to have a hat trick. And the net net is that I can't do anything with the suspension except keep replacing the tires. I assure you, I am envious of happy LR3 owners everywhere. But LR3 potential buyers deserve as much information as they can get.
tyresmoker Member Posts: 266I have a RR. I LOVE my RR. I DO NOT like the amount of time is spends in the shop. When it is in the shop, I always get an LR3 loaner. When I return the loaner, I always ask the LR folks "how on the planet could anyone actually think the LR3 is a good purchase?" That truck is a piece of dudu. I had a laoner about 6 months ago, it had 700 miles on it when I picked it up. It had 720 miles on it when the flatbed came and got it. A main oil seal let go.
I had one last month with 19k on the clock. It reminded me of an Explorer my buddy once had with over 150k on the clock. It was that noisy and loose.
As far as "they all do that"??
In the past year, my RR has had over $8000.00 in warranty work done on it.
My sister bought an LX470 at about the same time. Her warranty bill over the same time period? $0.00.0
But please note that these issue are not unique to my LR3.
Of course. I wasn't taking a position.
Click on the "Consumer Rating" link near the top of this page for additional perspective.
tidester, host0
woodyww Member Posts: 1,806This is a really old story with Land Rovers. I loved my '98 RR, when it wasn't in the shop, but I bailed on it (at a big loss) after a year because of way too many problems.
There was a L-T test in Car & Driver on a Disco I in the mid-nineties--I think they needed almost every single component on the vehicle repaired or replaced in the time they had it.....0
explorerx4 Member Posts: 18,724you didn't really go to jiffy lube, did you? that is just plain scary(going to jiffy lube with any vehicle).2020 Ford Explorer XLT, 91 Mustang GT vert0
njrovertech Member Posts: 1boy land rover owners can be a whiney lot,yes its true there are often issues,but as we say in the shop......it is what it is! these are a nich vehicle and really need to be recognized as such,yes they are getting better in many ways,but with all the high-tech things to make it the most capable luxo-4X4 offroad and on road,the drunkin brit. quality just is part of the charm shall we say.if you wanted a lx470 lexus than you would buy one.its all in the charm of the LR brand.0
picard12 Member Posts: 55Thank you for your warning Sherry. Your LR3 problems are typical of incompetence of British engineering. I only look at Japanese brand names when buying new a new car.
Land Rovers look good on websites and at autoshows. However, their reliability is on par with the Russian automobile, LADA.Why can't the British learn engineering skills of Japanese?? Land Rovers has been in the business longer than any Japanese car makers yet, they can't design simple things. These are disposable vehicles for the rich who want to dump their cash into the sewers.0
mwbinutah Member Posts: 5This kind of attitude and lack of reliability will keep most reasonable people away from Land Rover. I am hoping that the "charm" of serious malfunctions/poor reliability is something that is on the way out, especially since I am interested in the new LR2. The LR2 is going to appeal to a new customer base, consisting of busy professionals that use their car to get to work and then play on the weekends. I can tell you that many will not put up with poor reliability, especially when the market is so competitive, with cars from Acura (RDX), Toyota (RAV4 V6), even Mitsubishi (Outlander) that can match the performance and features of the LR2. I will probably wait a year to see how reliable the LR2 turns out to be.0
Thought I'd share that I used my head and found someone who would be vested in getting on my side--turns out the owner of my LR dealership also owns the Volvo dealership next door (my other car is a Volvo--we're on #5 in my family). While the XC90 was too large for me to drive, my DH would love an XC70. So I told the general manager that if he went across the street and got me out of my LR lease and made the mileage overage go away, he moves an XC70 here and now.
Well bless his little cotton socks, the GM ate 7 months of lease, $2500 in mileage and moved a car. (Which just serves to point out that there's no money in the individual cars--just the volume and the financing.)
Older and wiser for my experience. Want to give a great shout out to Volvoville in Massapequa NY.0
lr3looser Member Posts: 9Tire problem at 12,000 miles rear tires have cupping. No support from Land Rover of Naperville.
Parking brake solenoid failed and burned up the rear brakes.
Sun roof drained into car and carpeting now has mold and smells with no dealer help. Dealer has automatic car wash and washes car every time you take it in. However it doe not get the tailgate of the LR3 and the wash guys just dry the dirt left into the paint!0
ronald57 Member Posts: 3I bought an LR3 in early 05.In less than 9 months the air compressor pump went out 3 times ,once in n.o.,la.,where i was stranded for two weeks while they got the part from the U.K. Of course trip interruption paid for everything,2700.00$ lodging meals,etc. Then back in ca. two more failures .Unable to file ca. lemon law because all three repairs must be done in ca. to qualify. Well being a third of a monk(for those of you who watches The Monk,(tv series). I cound'nt wait to sell this lemon on craigslist as quickly as i could,fortunately i sold it within 3 calls. Happily driving 07 Toyota 4runner 4x4 now, with piece of mind.0
Do you still own the LR3? I have a 2007 and I wish I never bought it! I have the same problems with the tires. And, recently while driving home from Vermont in a snow storm with 4 kids the car, had a system engine failure and the car stopped working while on a busy highway. Land Rover isn't taking any responsibility.
Is the class action suit in California settled? I'd to find out more about it.0
My god, the "whaaaaa crowd" on here is almost funny except it's so sad. My 05 LR3 HSE is at just over 30,000 miles and has been perfect. Just like my 2000 Discovery II. I've had numerous Toyota trucks, Mercedes', BMW's, and other junk vehicles (34 total) and the LR's have been the best of all by far. I've done my maint. as it should be - every 3750 miles - and even though I've had "recall issues" taken care of, they were not done because there were any problems. My tires have at least another 10,000 miles left, the brakes are only 40% worn, and there have been no glitches. WHAT A WONDERFUL VEHICLE !!0
morocco2 Member Posts: 43Totally agree. I have a 2007 LR3 HSE and it has been a pleasure to own such a solid, versatile and reliable vehicule :shades: I have 40,000km (27,000 miles) on it I recently change the front and rear break pads but that was expected on such a heavy vehicle (I changed them on my Ford minivan at 50,000km) Tires are due in a few months. The only draw back presently is the price of fuel.... So far no recalls and two minor issues promptly fixed by dealer. 1st day I picked it up I noticed condensation in one headlamp assembly. They promptly replaced the entire head lamp assembly and the problem was gone. The other minor issue was one of the door trims was loose the fixed it during a regular maintenance visit. This winter has been brutal up here in Canada's National Captial with close to 15 feet of snow over the winter. The LR3 was flawless and got me and my family where nobody dare to go.
My lease is up in 16 months and I am looking at repeating or upgrading to a Range Rover Sport HSE0
Yea, it would have been really sad if any of my kids got hurt because of the piece of crap you call a wonderful vehicle. I've got 30,500 miles on the car which just got all new brakes and new tires with the 30,000 maintenance right before the piece of s___ dies on me driving down the highway. Just figure you got lucky.
All of the mechanics I know said Land Rovers are the worse cars on the road. I should've listened to them. Just bought a 2007 Mercedes S550, now that's A WONDERFUL VEHICLE!!!!0
gillz Member Posts: 15Cars and quality are a very polarizing topic. My '07 LR3 has 20k and problem free and not all smooth hwy miles. Have been off in the desert and over rocks that several Jeeps got high centered on.
Interesting you bring up a Mercedes. My family has owned several C and E classes. The C230 spent more time on a flatbead tow truck than on the road. Had the transmission replaced not once, but twice within 25k miles ! Now have a BMW 750i ('06) and the tires/brakes last about 20k miles, lots of wind noise from the sunroof when closed (dealer says 'that's the way it is'!) and when starting cold, the engine shakes the car so much would spill your coffee.
Happy when I get back in my LR3 given the experience with 'German Engineering'.0
You are worried about reliability and you bought a S-Class Mercedes????
While the current generation S-Class W221, has done fairly well Knock on wood the previous generation S-Class W220 did not do well at all. That Mercedes was one of the lease reliable luxury vehicles produced in recent memory and severely damaged the reputation of Mercedes.
The W221 has been much better but after how poor the W220 was I wouldn't give Mercedes a pass yet. Just keep that in mind.0
olatej23 Member Posts: 3British rover,
can you advise as to the details of the prorated tire bulletin for the LR3, I purchased my LR3 in Dec 05 and we have had air suspension issues, which the dealer has fixed 2 times, though we still get a an air deflating noise from the rear of the truck when it is parked. We have had uneven wear on the rear tires but the dealer said it was alignment issue, but a re-alignment has not fixed the problem...The tire surface is uneven, do we still have any recourse....we have 22000 miles on it
murphy4 Member Posts: 92I have 3 young boys and we are considering buying a new LR3. Currently dealers seemed to be almost giving them away. My wife is the primary driver and typically drives 8000 to 9000 a year.
Any thoughts? Third row useful?0
chuka1 Member Posts: 1I own a 2006 LR3 and it is the first car to give me monumental problems. First I had a cracking sound whenever I turned the vehicle backing up. Then the emergency brake locked up on me. It was fixed by the Landrover dealer and it lasted ALL OF one day!! After that, it locked up and had to be towed. After this, I am done with Landrover. :mad:0
ifti Member Posts: 1I had a same problem with my LR3, 2006 and I have 50,000 miles. I don't know what is causing the rear tires to wear out unevenly and I am taking to the dealer next week. I don't know what he is gonna say ?. I wish I know better.0
jgatti Member Posts: 1My '06 LR3 SE is just short of 120k miles. Outside of regular maintenance the only thing I've had to replace is the air suspension compressor. I think some people are just lucky, or it may be due to driving habits and how people maintain their vehicle. I've had fewer problems with my LR3 than Hondas, toyotas, and BMW's over the past 22 years I've been driving.0


text:
...have been very busy.
Wednesday before last:
- found a job opening for a chemistry/physics teacher 7th to 10th grade at a private primary school in Hjørring
- called and talked to the vice principal
- was invited to an information meeting on friday
Last friday:
- had said information meeting with vice principal and principal
- lasted nearly an hour
- They stated several times that I was a quite promising candidate for the job
Last wednesday:
- former colleague sends me a text, asking if I was interested in a four months part-time position teaching mathematics 11th grade at Aalborg Studenterkursus
- call the vice principal at that school
- am asked to meet him thursday
Last thursday:
- nervous as heck
- meet with vice principal
- get the job on the spot
- get keys
- get rfid chip and code for alarm
- get books
Last friday:
- meet my 'mentor', a future colleague who will be guiding and introducing me to the school and the subject.
So, from monday on I'm employed again. As a mathematics teacher, which I can teach with my M.Sc. in engineering. 450 hours, 150 of which are classes, from now til New Years, with a possible tenure position after that.
I'm freaking happy!


text:
Murphy to Lead Physics Research Institute
Associate Professor Thomas E. Murphy, will become interim director of the Institute for Research in Electronics and Applied Physics (IREAP) effective February 1, 2012. Professor Daniel P. Lathrop, will step down as IREAP director to become associate dean of research for the University of Maryland College of Computer, Mathematical and Natural Sciences (CMNS).
IREAP applies basic science skills to practical problems and engineering skills to fundamental scientific investigations. The institute is recognized internationally in high-temperature plasma physics, plasma spectroscopy, relativistic microwave electronics, high-brightness charged particle beams, laser-plasma interactions, nonlinear dynamics (chaos), ion beam microfabrication techniques, microwave sintering of advanced materials, nanoscience and nanotechnology. IREAP is a joint institute of the A. James Clark School of Engineering and CMNS, and is one of the premier research operations on campus.
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January 11, 2012
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* 9-22 Update on this post—Thanks to everyone for your great comments and input. Jane from PA was the winner of the give-away, but if you haven't read the post yet, please do so. It's full of compelling information.
Did you know?
• Almost 29 million pounds of antibiotics are sold for subtherapeutic use in agriculture each year (2009 estimate from the FDA). Animals are routinely given antibiotics to compensate for the unhealthy living conditions on factory farms. The overuse of antibiotics in our food supply is connected to the increase in antibiotic-resistant organisms. Unfortunately, that impacts the treatment of life-threatening diseases in humans. According to the State Environmental Resource Center, the USDA estimates that 70% of all food borne illness in the US can be traced to meat.
• In his book, Healing the New Childhood Epidemics: Autism, ADHD, Asthma and Allergies, Kenneth Bock, MD states that in the past 2 decades, autism has increased 1500%, ADHD 400%, asthma 300%, and allergies 400%.
• Recombinant bovine (cattle) growth hormone (rBGH / rBST) is a genetically engineered hormone approved by the FDA in 1993. The product, used to increase milk production in dairy cows, carries with it an elevated risk to the animal of mastitis (udder infections), digestive disorders, and a host of other negative health conditions. Treatment requires routine antibiotic injections. These hormones and drugs find their way into the milk supply. Canada, the European Union, Japan, Australia and New Zealand have banned the use of rBGH. We have not.
• Genetically engineered (modified) foods contain genetic material that has been artificially altered. These foods convey characteristics that weren't previously found in our food supply, including the possibility of new allergens. Eighty percent of all processed foods in the US contain GMOs (genetically modified organisms).
• Epidemiological studies indicate that exposure to certain crop pesticides may increase the risk of Parkinson's disease by up to 75%. Exposure to multiple chemicals acting synergistically may increase the effect of each chemical.
• A recent study published in the Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics found the prevalence of food allergies in children under the age of 18 to be 8%. Among children with food allergies, 38.7% had a history of severe reactions and 30.4% had multiple food allergies.
• Researchers at the University of Southampton found that hyperactivity and behavior problems increased in children who were exposed to artificial food colors and the preservative sodium benzoate. Check here for details.
• Through extensive research, Dr. Joseph Murray (Mayo Clinic gastroenterologist and Celiac disease specialist), has found that Celiac disease is five times more common now than it was 50 years ago. He believes something has changed in our environment to trigger the increase. This isn't about an increase in diagnosis, it is about the increase in occurrence. Check here for his explanation. There has also been an increase in non-Celiac gluten sensitivity and wheat allergy.
• The wheat we eat today is very different from the wild version our ancestors first cultivated thousands of years ago. We now have over 25,000 genetic variations of wheat, many with high yield and high gluten properties. Gluten is a common ingredient in processed food, is difficult to digest and is of no biological value.
• On their website, the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, states that the prevalence of asthma increased 75% from 1980 – 1994. Asthma rates in children under the age of five have increased more than 160% in that same time period. In 2007, 29% of children who had a food allergy also had asthma.
• In a 2008 press release, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) announced that the number of young people who had a food or digestive allergy had increased by 18% between 1997 and 2007. The CDC report determined that children with food allergies were up to four times more likely to have asthma.
I could go on (and on), but you get the idea. These are random facts that impact our health. I believe they're all connected. What we eat today is vastly different from what our grandparents ate fifty or sixty years ago. The introduction of highly processed foods, the overuse of antibiotics, genetically engineered ingredients, additives and dyes, crops sprayed with pesticides, fast food on every corner, patented seeds, and compromised soil have all played a part in changing the quality of the food we eat and how our bodies react to that food.
Why does it matter?
A large part of the immune system is located in the gastrointestinal tract. When we eat foods that contain pesticides, additives, hormones, antibiotics, etc., it confuses the very system that is designed to keep us healthy. We end up with nutrient deficiencies, food intolerances/sensitivities, bacterial imbalances and an increased risk for all kinds of diseases and disorders.
Robyn O'Brien, founder of the AllergyKids website and author of The Unhealthy Truth, is on a mission to raise awareness regarding the proliferation of toxins in our food supply and how that relates to the rapid rise in serious health conditions. I've met Robyn on a couple of different occasions and had the pleasure of joining her and several other health bloggers for lunch recently. We're all in this together and sharing reliable information about the toxic changes in our food supply is important. For more information about Robyn, check out her TED talk video. She has a fascinating story.
I don't often do give-aways or events on my blog as I'm too scattered, busy, and unorganized to commit to them. But – I'm passionate about wholesome, nourishing food. I'm also a nutritionist and mom to four kids and I don't like the thought that my family (or yours) is being exposed to dangerous substances without our knowledge. Several other writers who attended the lunch with Robyn are participating in this "awareness" event and giveaway as well. Please see the links below. I'll be adding more as the posts are published.
Okay, no more ranting. If you made it this far, please leave a comment and I'll pick one lucky reader to receive a copy of Robyn's informative and eye-opening book (The Unhealthy Truth), a copy of the Stonyfield Organic Yogurt cookbook and 5 coupons each for Oikos organic Greek yogurt and YoBaby organic yogurt. To increase your karmic odds, but not your statistical odds, please share this post with your friends and join me on Facebook and/or Twitter. I add lots of good information on both social network sites that I don't have time to post here on the blog. I'll give it a couple of weeks and then I'll have my 5 year old neighbor pick the winning number out of a hat. I have no desire to figure out how those random raffle picker programs work, so you'll have to trust that my little neighbor and I will do this fairly.
Check the following posts for more information. It's a blog hop!
Write Mind Open Heart (The Unhealthy Truth – with giveaway – and why I'm on alert for frankenfood)
Stapleton Moms (Just one thing to make your family healthier: no rBGH in your milk)
Mile High Mamas (I fed my family WHAT? Toxic secrets revealed in The Unhealthy Truth)
Lifenut (A food fight for our lives)
Evolving Mommy (The Unhealthy Truth)
Good luck!
Tags: ADHD, Autism, Food additives, GMOs, Pesticides, Robyn O'Brien, The Unhealthy Truth


text:
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? Is it another Superman-related blogpost to tie in with today's release of Man of Steel? Hold on to the bulging blue bicep of Oxford University Press and prepare to gaze below in wonder as we take you on a ride over the past 80 years of Superman.
To understand Superman's beginnings we must, with the help of the American National Biography, fly all the way back to 1930. This was when cartoonist Joe Shuster first met writer Jerry Siegel, while they were both working on the Glenville High School newspaper. Their first collaboration was a parody of superhuman fictional heroes called "Goober the Mighty", and their first formulation of a character called Superman was for a mimeographed fan magazine they produced starting in 1932 called Science Fiction. At this point Superman was an evil figure bent on world domination.
The pair re-envisioned the character as an alien from another planet who was devoted to truth and justice on earth, who disguised himself as the shy, bespectacled reporter for the Daily Planet, Clark Kent, but who, when trouble threatened, was able to transform himself into Superman: "Faster than a speeding bullet! More powerful than a locomotive! Able to leap buildings in a single bound!" After several efforts Shuster was able to realise Siegel's concept, and Superman gained the physical form that we recognise today: handsome chiselled features, blue skin tight outfit, big red pants, swishy cape, and the large "S" shield across the chest.
While the concept was original, behind it was a wealth of cultural influences: the mythic figures Samson, Hercules, and Beowulf; romantic fictional characters such as the Three Musketeers and the costumed Scarlet Pimpernel; science fiction texts by Jules Verne, H. G. Wells — and especially Philip Wylie's novel Gladiator, which featured a superhuman protagonist; adventure characters from the comic strips, such as Tarzan, Buck Rogers, and the sailor with superstrength, Popeye; and the swashbuckling costume films of Douglas Fairbanks.
Supersuccess and superstruggles
After moving to New York and meeting hard times, Shuster and Siegel sold the character in March 1938 to the firm that would become DC Comics for $130. In June, the first Superman comic book appeared, and it was immediately obvious that the young men had made a disastrous mistake. A Superman comic strip began newspaper syndication in January 1939; a separate Superman comic book appeared that summer; a radio show debuted in February 1940; a series of animated films from Fleischer Studios began release in 1941 (see the first episode below); and in the decades to follow he would rarely be off television and cinema screens. Legal battles have ensued ever since over the copyright, but Shuster and Siegel were never able to gain a share of Superman's earnings in their lifetimes. Siegel worked most of his life as a clerk-typist, Shuster as a messenger.
The phrase "Is it a bird? Is it a plane?" was never actually used in Superman. The Oxford Dictionary of American Quotations reveals that the passage which became famous (before it was misremembered) as the lead-in to the Superman radio show is:
"Faster than a speeding bullet! More powerful than a locomotive! Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound! Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird! It's a plane! It's Superman!"
Superman's costume would not have been made from lycra, which wasn't invented until the 1950s. The word kryptonite does not currently appear in the Oxford English Dictionary, though it does appear in Oxford Dictionaries Online. Without Superman the word brainiac would not exist as we know it. It was first used in a Superman comic strip from Action Comics in July 1958:
"Did the earthlings dare to send a ship to stop me, Brainiac, Master of Super-Scientific Forces? We'll show them, Koko!"
It was the name of a super-intelligent alien character, apparently coming from a blend of brain and maniac. The OED records that Action Comics discovered that a real Brainiac existed "in the form of an ingenious 'Brainiac Computer Kit' invented in 1955 by Edmund C. Berkeley [to build small electronic computing devices]. In deference to his 'Brainiac' which pre-dates ours … we are changing the characterization of our 'Brainiac' so that the master-villain will henceforth possess a 'computer personality'."
Superstage and superscreen
There has been a version of Superman on stage or screen in every decade since his first appearance in print.
1940s: Kirk Alyn was the first man to portray Superman on screen, in two widely distributed Superman serials, the first appearing in 1945.
1950s: A popular television series, The Adventures of Superman, with George Reeves ran for 104 episodes between 1952 and 1958.
1960s: A musical called It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Superman was produced on Broadway in 1966 with Bob Holiday as Superman, but closed in the same year.
1970s and 1980s: Superman returned to the big screen in 1978, starring Christopher Reeve in Richard Donner's Superman, which was followed by sequels in 1980, 1983, and 1987.
1990s: Another television series, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman, began in 1993, which this time placed the main focus on the relationship between Teri Hatcher's Lois Lane, and Dean Cain's Clark Kent.
2000s: Smallville, which began in 2001, featured a teenage Clark Kent (Tom Welling) before he donned the blue tights. Then in 2006 came Bryan Singer's attempted cinema reboot, Superman Returns, starring Brandon Routh. It received generally positive reviews, but the planned sequel was cancelled.
2010s: Man of Steel, directed by Zack Snyder and starring Henry Cavill, is released on June 14th 2013.
So, as we have returned to the present it seems the time has come to set you back down on your balcony and let you brush your hair, you're looking a bit windswept. OUP of course haven't got a hair out of place — we applied brylcreem before the flight. You should now be prepared for a trip to see Man of Steel this weekend. Do be gentle with him, he's been through a lot.
NOTE: Superman is a registered trademark of DC Comics.
Image credit: Man of Steel Movie poster via manofsteel.warnerbros.com used for the purposes of illustration. TM & © 2013 WARNER BROS. ENTERTAINMENT INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. TM & © DC COMICS (From DC Entertainment)


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Manohla Dargis of The New York Times filed her first report for this years Cannes Film Festival, and leads off with the opening night film:
CANNES, France — Sometime after the entree had been served at the opening-night dinner on Wednesday at the 56th Cannes Film Festival, after Harvey Weinstein had pumped half the hands in the room, and Wes Anderson, Bill Murray and Bruce Willis had entered to applause following the premiere of their film, "Moonrise Kingdom," the pink lights were dimmed, and the waiters began weaving among the tables, carrying large, heavy blocks of illuminated ice. With their tiny interior lights glowing and embedded plastic cups holding haute cuisine soft-serve, it looked as if a fleet of toy U.F.O.'s were landing — or a deconstructed igloo. At Cannes, even dessert is a show.
"These are what we call art films," Mr. Murray had said about Cannes several hours earlier at the news conference for "Moonrise Kingdom," as the roomful of journalists knowingly cooed and laughed. Mr. Anderson, at Cannes for the first time, was seated dead center at an elevated table — the cast member Jason Schwartzman squeezed in at one end, with his colleagues Mr. Willis and Edward Norton knocking elbows toward the other — but the love soon gravitated to Mr. Murray. "I really don't get any other work but through Wes," he said, as if to explain his long working relationship with Mr. Anderson. The room laughed again.
And then Mr. Murray did what savvy celebrities sometimes do when they're playing the game of up close and personal. He flattered the flatterers: "How did you people like the movie?"
We liked it just fine, some much more than others. A love story about two 12-year-old runaways, set in 1965, the film is one of Mr. Anderson's supreme achievements: It's wondrously beautiful, often droll and at times hauntingly melancholic. While the critics, reporters and programmers who packed into its first press screening on Wednesday morning didn't respond with thunderous applause, neither were there any of the dreaded Cannes boos. The French seemed somewhat cool toward "Moonrise Kingdom." Perhaps its scripted subtleties had been lost in translation, although the Cahiers du Cinéma critic gave it three of three stars in one poll. The Americans, many of whom will weigh in when it opens in the United States next Friday, seemed generally pleased.
To read Dargis' full write-up of the first two days of Cannes, you may click here.


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I lend $25 to an entrepreneur ($25 is the minimum they accept). But I also purchase two $25 gift certificates that I then email to two members of my PLN. I'm asking those folks to then do two things.Team Shift Happens has (as of this writing) 133 members who have made 1108 loans for a total loaned of $33,125. You don't have to join the team, but please consider giving. I'll be sending out my gift certificates next week (Thanksgiving here in the U.S.), but these obviously make great gifts for many of the holidays coming up.
First, they can choose which entrepreneur to loan the $25 to. Then I'm asking them to consider doing the same thing – purchasing two $25 gift certificates and emailing them to two members of their PLN (with the same request that those folks continue the cycle, sending two Kiva gift certificates to folks in their network - a Kiva Pay It Forward plan). It would also be great if they blogged about it and left a comment on this post.
Since I'm apparently always going to be connected to the phrase Shift Happens, I thought I'd try to use that to do some good, so I created Team Shift Happens on the Kiva site:
We loan because Shift Happens, and we want to be the change we want to see.So, those email requests will also ask that when they make those loans they consider adding them to Team Shift Happens so that we can keep track of the total. They still direct where the loan goes, it just gets aggregated under the team. Joining Team Shift Happens is completely optional, and is not the point of all of this, but it's just an interesting way to try to keep track of the lending spurred by the original blog post.
There are many worthy causes out there, this is obviously not the only one. But, if you're like my family and you already have more than enough "stuff," perhaps you could dedicate some of that disposable income to this cause.
For those of you interested in possibly doing this with your students, Bill Ferriter has compiled some nice classroom resources you can use with students around microlending. I'm also asking my Algebra students to consider contributing. William Chamberlain is also jumping in this year with his school.


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|May 19, 2011
'Critical baby step' taken for spying life on a molecular scale
|(Nanowerk News) The ability to image single biological molecules in a living cell is something that has long eluded researchers; however, a novel technique, using the structure of diamond, may well be able to do this and potentially provide a tool for diagnosing, and eventually developing a treatment for, hard-to-cure diseases such as cancer. In a study published today, Thursday, 19 May, in the Institute of Physics and the German Physical Society's New Journal of Physics, researchers have developed a technique, exploiting a specific defect in the lattice structure of diamond, to externally detect the spins of individual molecules.
|Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) has already taken advantage of a molecule's spin to give clear snapshots of organs and tissue within the human body, however to get a more detailed insight into the workings of disease, the imaging scale must be brought down to individual biomolecules, and captured whilst the cells are still alive.
|Co-lead author Professor Phillip Hemmer, Electrical & Computer Engineering, Texas A&M University, said, "Many conditions, such as cancer and aging, have their roots at the molecular scale. Therefore if we could somehow develop a tool that would allow us to do magnetic resonance imaging of individual biomolecules in a living cell then we would have a powerful new tool for diagnosing and eventually developing cures for such stubborn diseases."
|To do this, the researchers, from Professor Joerg Wrachtrup's group at the University of Stuttgart and Texas A&M University, used a constructed defect in the structure of diamond called a nitrogen vacancy (NV)—a position within the lattice structure where one of the carbon atoms is replaced with a nitrogen atom.
|Instead of bonding to four other carbon atoms, the nitrogen atom only bonds to three carbon atoms leaving a spare pair of electrons, acting as one of the strongest magnets on an atomic scale.
|The most important characteristic of a diamond NV is that it has an optical readout—it emits bright red light when excited by a laser, which is dependent on which way the magnet is pointing.
|The researchers found that if an external spin is placed close to the NV it will cause the magnet to point in a different direction, therefore changing the amount of light emitted by it.
|This change of light can be used to gauge which way the external molecule is spinning and therefore create a one-dimensional image of the external spin. If combined with additional knowledge of the surface, or a second NV nearby, a more detailed image with additional dimensions could be had.
|To test this theory, nitrogen was implanted into a sample of diamond in order to produce the necessary NVs. External molecules were brought to the surface of the diamond, using several chemical interactions, for their spins to be analyzed.
|Spins that exist within the diamond structure itself have already been modelled, so to test that the spins were indeed external, the researchers chemically cleaned the diamond surface and performed the analysis again to prove that the spins had been washed away.
|Professor Hemmer continued, "Currently, biological interactions are deduced mostly by looking at large ensembles. In this case you are looking only at statistical averages and details of the interaction which are not always clear. Often the data is taken after killing the cell and spreading its contents onto a gene chip, so it is like looking at snapshots in time when you really want to see the whole movie."
|"Clearly there is much work to be done before we can, if ever, reach our long-term goal of spying on the inner workings of life on the molecular scale. But we have to learn to walk before we can run, and this breakthrough represents one of the first critical baby steps."
|Source: Institute of Physics


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Story highlights
Leaked documents show spy agencies pried into online video games
"World of Warcraft" and "Second Life" were among those targeted
Documents were leaked by former contractor Edward Snowden
Tech companies have called for tighter surveillance restraints
Spies with surveillance agencies in the United States and United Kingdom may have spent time undercover as orcs and blood elves, infiltrating video games like "World of Warcraft" in a hunt for terrorists "hiding in plain sight" online.
That's the finding of the most recent round of documents released by National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden to British newspaper The Guardian.
Agents from the CIA, FBI and Pentagon and England's Government Communications Headquarters infiltrated WoW and virtual world "Second Life," as well as collecting information on the Xbox Live gaming network, according to the documents.
A 2008 NSA memo called online gaming a "target-rich communications network" where terrorists could communicate "in plain sight."
None of the newly leaked documents, published this time in conjunction with ProPublica and the New York Times, mentioned specific terrorist activity foiled via the projects.
But apparently so many agents were engaged in playing video games for national security that a "deconfliction" group was created to make sure government agents weren't accidentally spying on each other.
Unlike traditional console and desktop games in which players compete in a closed environment, massively multiplayer online games (MMOs) allow players from around the world to team up and play together, often in real time using in-game communication tools.
"World of Warcraft" is the most popular online role-playing game ever. It peaked at about 12 million subscribers in 2010 and still has more than 7 million, according to Blizzard.
It's unclear whether the agencies had surveillance capabilities within the massively multi-player games that normal players would not. A spokesman for Blizzard Entertainment, which owns "World of Warcraft," told The Guardian it is unaware of any surveillance having taken place.
"If it was, it would have been done without our knowledge or permission," the spokesman said.
On Friday, Microsoft announced it was strengthening encryption across many of its services in an effort to push back against "government snooping."
And Monday, the company joined Google, Facebook, Yahoo, Apple, Twitter and LinkedIn issuing a public statement asking the world's governments to rein in online surveillance.
While acknowledging the scope and popularity of online gaming, some security experts were questioning Monday whether spying on digital playgrounds is either wise or effective.
"I think I've heard it all now," wrote British security analyst Graham Cluely.
"Obviously online games which include chat or IM facilities do provide a method for people to communicate … but how practical is it to have a team of spies sniffing around 'World of Warcraft' to see what they might find?" he wrote.
Opinion: Why we should watch out for the watchmen of government secrecy
"Why aren't they also snooping – maybe they are! – on the chess app I have on my smartphone? Perhaps every time I mess up my Dutch Stonewall defence it's not really an indication that I'm a lousy chess student, but instead a coded message for my opponent to launch an attack on SCADA systems in the Netherlands?"
Snowden, 30, has admitted he was the source behind the leak of classified NSA documents, which revealed the existence of top-secret surveillance programs that collect records of domestic e-mails and telephone calls in the United States and monitor the cell phone and Internet activity of overseas residents.
A former contractor with the agency, he is wanted in the United States on espionage charges.


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Pigs and Playstations
Think that you can outplay a pig on your Playstation? You may be surprised. According to research, pigs are much smarter than dogs, and they even do better at video games than some primates. In fact, pigs are extremely clever animals who form complex social networks and have excellent memories. Eating a pig is like eating your dog! As actor Cameron Diaz put it after hearing that pigs have the mental capacities of a 3-year-old human: "[Eating bacon is] like eating my niece!"
Pigs Have Feelings Too
Ninety-seven percent of pigs in the United States today are raised in factory farms, where they will never run across sprawling pastures, bask in the sun, breathe fresh air, or do anything else that comes naturally to them. Crowded into warehouses with nothing to do and nowhere to go, they are kept on a steady diet of drugs to keep them alive and make them grow faster, but the drugs cause many of the animals to become crippled under their own bulk.
Porking You Up
It's a fact—ham, sausage, and bacon strips will go right to your hips. Eating pork products, which are loaded with artery-clogging cholesterol and saturated fat, is a good way to increase your waistline and increase your chances of developing deadly diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, osteoporosis, Alzheimer's, asthma, and impotence. Research has shown that vegetarians are 50 percent less likely to develop heart disease, and they have 40 percent of the cancer rate of meat-eaters. Plus, meat-eaters are nine times more likely to be obese than pure vegetarians are. Every time you eat animal products, you're also ingesting bacteria, antibiotics, dioxins, hormones, and a host of other toxins that can accumulate in your body and remain there for years.
Pigs Prefer Mud, Not Crud
Pigs are actually very clean animals. If they are given sufficient space, pigs are careful not to soil the areas where they sleep or eat. And forget the silly saying "sweating like a pig"—pigs can't even sweat! That's why they bathe in water or mud to cool off. But in factory farms, they're forced to live in their own feces and vomit and even amid the corpses of other pigs. Conditions are so filthy that at any given time, more than one-quarter of pigs suffer from mange—think of your worst case of poison ivy, and imagine having to suffer from it for the rest of your life.
Farming Family Values
Factory farms are pure hell for pigs and their babies. Mother pigs spend most of their lives in tiny "gestation" crates, which are so small that the animals are unable to turn around or even lie down comfortably. They are repeatedly impregnated until they are slaughtered. Piglets, who are taken away from their distraught mothers after just a few weeks, have their tails chopped off, their teeth are clipped off with pliers, and the males are castrated—all without painkillers.
The Manure Is Blowing in the Wind …
A pig farm with 5,000 animals produces as much fecal waste as a city of 50,000 people. In 1995, 25 million gallons of putrid hog urine and feces spilled into a North Carolina river, immediately killing between 10 and 14 million fish. To get around water pollution limits, factory farms will frequently take the tons of urine and feces that are stored in cesspools and turn them into liquid waste that they spray into the air. This manure-filled mist is carried away by the wind and inhaled by the people who live nearby.
Bacteria-Laden Bacon and Harmful Ham
Extremely crowded conditions, poor ventilation, and filth in factory farms cause such rampant disease in pigs that 70 percent of them have pneumonia by the time they're sent to the slaughterhouse. In order to keep pigs alive in conditions that would otherwise kill them and to promote unnaturally fast growth, the industry keeps pigs on a steady diet of the antibiotics that we depend on to treat human illnesses. This overuse of antibiotics has led to the development of "superbacteria," or antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains. The ham, bacon, and sausage that you're eating may make the drugs that your doctor prescribes the next time you get sick completely ineffective.
Hell on Wheels
More than 170,000 pigs die in transport each year, and more than 420,000 are crippled by the time they arrive at the slaughterhouse. Transport trucks, which carry pigs hundreds of miles through all weather extremes with no food or water, regularly flip over, throwing injured and dying animals onto the road. These terrified and injured animals are rarely offered veterinary care, and most languish in pain for hours; some even bleed to death on the side of the road. After an accident in April 2005, Smithfield spokesperson Jerry Hostetter told one reporter, "I hate to admit it, but it happens all the time."
Killing Them Without Kindness
A typical slaughterhouse kills up to 1,100 pigs every hour, which makes it impossible for them to be given humane, painless deaths. The U.S. Department of Agriculture documented 14 humane slaughter violations at one processing plant, where inspectors found hogs who "were walking and squealing after being stunned [with a stun gun] as many as four times." Because of improper stunning methods and extremely fast line speeds, many pigs are still alive when they are dumped into scalding-hot hair-removal tanks—they literally drown in scalding-hot water.
Ditch the Bacon and Get Fakin'
Save pigs from hell and yourself from bad health by feasting on faux pork products instead. Stuff a sandwich full of Yves brand veggie ham slices, or throw some Lightlife Smart Bacon into a sizzling skillet—the freezer and "health food" sections of your local grocery or health food stores are packed full of these and other tasty substitutes.
'Meet Your Meat': Pigs


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Live from New York, It's Naomi Campbell!
She's the reigning queen of the runway whose face has graced the covers of magazines all over the world. But these days, Naomi Campbell isn't just a legendary supermodel. For the second time, Campbell is bringing her model competition show, Oxygen's "The Face" back to the U.S..
Although the Executive Producer and model mentor is known for being the toughest coach on the show, Campbell tells AOL.com's Brian Balthazar that she's got a nurturing side toward her team of models behind the scenes! "I actually would go in the mornings and, this is off camera, and go in and wake up my girls personally. I talk to them, I wake them up softly... I want to know how they feel, what they're doing, did they eat right last night, did they drink enough water, are they cold, is there a draft coming through the window?"
Campbell also says that "The Face" has given her an opportunity to teach the next generation of models what she's learned over her 28-year career as a supermodel while keeping her private life safely in the background. "I truly came on the show because of the mentoring aspect, " says Campbell, "I've been asked to do many shows over the years and I don't want to show my life in that way. I am known publicly, but I want to keep whatever I have left privately for myself."
Despite Campbell's career as a famous face, not many know about her other talent – comedy! The beauty revealed to Balthazar that not only does she want to appear on "Saturday Night Live" she's actually willing to do impressions! She did one for AOL.com (click the video!) and says about her quest to become guest host, "There's nothing better than making fun of yourself. It's just fun, I mean, what do I have to lose?"
Catch "The Face" Wednesday nights at 10pm ET on Oxygen!