text:
Books In Conversation
Against a narcotic culture whose primary desire is stupefaction
Andrea Scrima talks to Rainer J. Hanshe, founder of Contra Mundum Press
Contra Mundum Press, founded in New York in late 2011, is an unusual new press with a distinctive list of publications to date. It debuted with a new translation by Stuart Kendall of the ancient epic Gilgamesh, which unites recent scholarship and a spare poetic sensibility to capture the consciousness of the archaic mind in the early days of our civilization. Thereafter, in rapid succession, CMP went on to publish six more books, including Self-Shadowing Prey, one of the last works written by Romanian Surrealist poet Ghérasim Luca, a stunning linguistic achievement that, as Gilles Deleuze wrote, "makes stuttering an affect of language and not an affectation of speech." Committed to publishing challenging and innovative writing, including texts that have either never been translated into English or have long since gone out of print, CMP defines itself as "dedicated to the value and the indispensable importance of the individual voice." CMP champions innovative fiction, drama, poetry, philosophy, essays, and writings on the visual arts and cinema. Forthcoming this fall is the world premiere of Pessoa's Philosophical Essays and the first English publication of director Elio Petri's Writings on Cinema. In keeping with its international perspective on exceptional literature, CMP's aspiration is to eventually publish books in languages other than English, and its founder, novelist Rainer J. Hanshe, has relocated to Berlin to facilitate this aim.
AS: How long were you thinking of founding your own press, and what was behind the impulse to do it now—in a time when the future of the printed book seems in danger?
CMP: It's definitely a Quixotic gesture, but then I'm not sure how accurate the prevailing lament about the fate of the printed book is, let alone how particular to our era—recall Mallarmé's far more exacting reflections on The Book, and later Blanchot's, who extends Mallarmé's thought when conceptualizing the book as an effect that is always already under erasure. Although brick and mortar stores are shuttering rather swiftly, even in Europe, the community of thoughtful, incisive, critically minded readers has always been a minority, but it has sustained presses like ours. And since Hegel, we've heard numerous repetitions of the 'death lament': the death of art, the death of theater, the death of cinema, and now the death of the book. What are these laments but variations on an eschatological view of phenomena, utterances that demand suspicion. Death is not final, but a process of mutation that carries us into new states.
We hope with Contra Mundum to persist in opposition to many prevailing forces, powers, and trends. The press is informed by a particular aesthetic and vision, as well as a desire for new horizons. A dominant presupposition of our epoch is that 'everything's' been discovered (how can one know?), or is already known, but that's hardly true—there are seminal writers such as MiklósSzentkuthy and others, whom even very cultivated people are hardly aware of. We, as other presses, can present writers in translation that remain little known to the Anglophone world, writers equal in stature, significance, and value to those who currently dominate the literary landscape. The 21st century can be one of entirely new discoveries.
AS: Although you've only just started Contra Mundum, you've already succeeded in drawing considerable attention to your press; the list of translators you work with (Stuart Kendall and Mary Ann Caws, among others) and the writers you've published (including Ghérasim Luca, Miklós Szentkuthy, and Pessoa) in a comparatively short period of time is impressive. You've already received an award from the Petofi Literary Museum for Tim Wilkinson's translation of Szentkuthy's Marginalia on Casanova, the first book of his multi-volume epic St. Orpheus Breviary. While Szentkuthy is regarded by some to be the Hungarian equivalent of Proust, Musil, and Joyce, and the wholly fragmented narrative of his work Prae is probably some of the most experimental writing of the 20th century, he is still largely unknown in the US. Could you talk about the importance of Szentkuthy's writing for contemporary literature?
CMP: Other cultures, if not literature itself, have suffered a significant loss in not translating Szentkuthy during his lifetime. It wasn't until two years after his death in 1988 that he was translated for the first time, into Slovakian. Thereafter he was translated into French in 1991, Portuguese in 1992, Romanian in 1999, Spanish in 2002, and now, finally, into English—it's taken the Anglophone world over 20 years to catch up with the literary consciousness of Slovakia et al., though Tim Wilkinson did translate excerpts of his work, all of which were published in Hungarian literary journals starting in 2005. Imagine Ulysses not being read in translation until 1942 and the effect of that on world literature. The sciences don't suffer from this problem—it would be unthinkable for the notion of relativity not to have been received during its time, but then, the promulgation of scientific ideas isn't necessarily contingent upon translation.
AS: And so his publication in English necessitates a rewriting of literary history, in a sense.
CMP: We're honestly countenancing a writer of Musil's stature, if not of others, or a Hungarian Borges. Ferenc Takács compared him to Lucian, Rabelais, and Burton, so you have the testimony of others making similar assessments in addition to the work itself. And there is nothing more definitive than the actual text. With the proliferation of translations of Hungarian literature into English, most of which post-date Szentkuthy's early work, it will be illuminating to read him within that continuum and for readers to see in what way he foregrounds, is a precursor of, or has significantly influenced other Hungarian writers. As different critics have observed, Szentkuthy uses techniques which were in advance of the modern novel: he was instrumental in undermining realism (Prae was called "an eerie attack on the Hungarian realist novel"), engages in a descriptive analysis of objects (as well as concepts and historical phenomena) akin to that employed in the nouveau roman, though 20 years prior to its development—in other words, he shatters traditional modes, an achievement that led to a certain literary revolution in Hungary. Linearity of time, coherent characterization, and plotline disappeared from his work and were replaced by something alien, a mysterious secret: authorial method." In some ways, though, Szentkuthy is not really a "Hungarian" writer, not in any folkloric or nationalistic sense, for his work doesn't deal with Hungarian reality or culture, except perhaps in extremely covert ways. "Homelessness," said László Németh, "is one of his main distinguishing marks, as compared with kindred Western writers."
AS: It's interesting to think of Szentkuthy as a "homeless" writer when you consider the fact that he chose not to emigrate. In that sense, his "homelessness" was existential in nature, and his only true home was in literature.
CMP: One can be entirely alienated within one's own country, especially if one's politics are not in accord with a ruling regime, or one meets with paralyzing forms of silence. And Németh astutely described Szentkuthy's homelessness as "a higher form of protection of the mind." Considering the time he first began writing, such protection was vital. More than contemporary literature, he embodies Goethe's notion of world literature and, not surprisingly, socialist critics condemned him as being "too cosmopolitan." Consider what Burton Pike said of Musil, which was that, in comparison to Tolstoy, Proust, Joyce, and Mann, whose primary works essentially remain statements about life, "The Man Without Qualities is more than that, it is an open rather than a closed system of thought, a search on the border of the impossible for new directions of moral development." One can think of Szentkuthy similarly, especially his St. Orpheus Breviary, which is evident from how he himself described his epic: "It seeks the man beyond every version of culture, beyond every promise and failure of sciences and mythologies, beyond the remotest periods and furthest lands, beyond the countless yet nevertheless finite shades of psychology: what remains of all this mass of experience that he has left behind? What will usable in the future?" There is an enormity to gain from such writing, as well as just the sheer pleasure of reading his prose, following the arc and twist of his thought and how he cuts and shapes words, sentences, paragraphs, etc. Once a readership for him develops in the Anglophone world, I believe he will come to be recognized as one of the most significant and important writers of the 20th century.
AS: As a wider awareness of your groundbreaking publications slowly but surely spreads, one can't help but wonder about sales. It's common knowledge that the commercial statistics on e-books are beginning to alarm traditional publishers. According to an article published on the Smashwords blog, in 2012 e-books in the US will likely approach 30% of trade book sales, up from 8% in 2010, 1% in 2008, and 0.5% in 2007. In view of these statistics, it seems likely that e-books will become an even more serious challenge to the bound book over the next few years.
CMP: Admiration is one thing, sales another, so whatever attention and accolades we may have received, sales do remain a serious pragmatic concern, especially in the decade of social media, which has engendered a sense of 'community' that is very facile and trite. 'Liking' something is not lending it any concrete support, let alone participating in a community—that has far more exigent obligations. We need more than ever to return to the incisive exhortations on community made by the Jena Romantics, Bataille, Blanchot et al. But what isn't clear from those statistics is what kinds of books those numbers refer to; the data is vague and inconclusive—is it referring to self-help bibles, mass-market fiction, and whatever else the general public is gobbling up? At the risk of overgeneralizing, I don't think those readers are our readers, nor the readers of similar presses, but people buying predominately disposable 'books.'
E-books have their benefits, and they're part of the wave of the future, that's undeniable, but there are few to no instances of the medium being used as the entity that it is; it's largely aping print culture, even to the point of simulating the sound of turning pages, or stultifying the imagination through providing maps, images, extraneous articles, etc., thereby turning a poem into a poem-cum-encyclopedia-picture-book that has nothing to do with its intrinsic form and how it was created.
Physical books, as the seemingly obsolete record, will always have their devotees and continue to be made, for those are specific forms which have qualities particular to them. No e-book will replace the kinds of books that Archipelago or Pushkin Press is making, for instance; they are two different beasts. We've considered publishing e-books, but I'd prefer to wait and not do that until we find artists actually creating works specifically for that medium, books capable of realizing something entirely new with it, in a manner intrinsic to it.
AS: Yes, there has to be an aspect of intrinsic necessity. I have just begun reading a book based on the compositional structure of traditional bagpipe music—Kirsty Gunn's The Big Music. It's the first time I've felt I'm missing an essential dimension to a book—in this case, the sound of the actual instrument and what that communicates on its own. I can well imagine authors working on the borderline between disciplines, incorporating sound or visual material—not to illustrate the text, but to provide an additional, autonomous plane of meaning.
CMP: What the e-book can be, and the new type of writer or writer-designer that it calls for, is something we've not yet seen—the William Blake of e-culture has yet to arrive. Or maybe I'm just not aware of that new visionary. New types of hybrid texts such as you allude to would be the wave of the future. What for instance is our equivalent of Cendrars' & Delaunay's Prose of the Transsiberian? The very medium of the e-book demands an altogether new type of work, something created specifically for that form, as opposed to just taking an existing text and making a digital version of it—a strictly commerce-driven gesture.
AS: In any case, in view of the speed with which the publishing industry is changing, the size of your press provides you with a degree of flexibility and adaptability larger publishers could never hope for.
CMP: Whatever threat there might be is one that Contra Mundum may be able to escape, for, although we intend on producing books with traditional printers, we're largely a print-on-demand company, and this enables us to take considerable risks and publish texts which may have a circumscribed audience, but which remain of fundamental importance. And if we only sell 50 copies of such a book, it remains in print, perpetually, as long as we as a press continue to exist, so with books that develop a readership slowly, there's no risk of their vanishing. If it takes the Anglophone public five years or longer to recognize Ghérasim Luca, for instance, it won't affect the availability of our book. The print-on-demand model significantly reduces expenses, too, which enables us to if not compete with the e-book explosion and larger publishers, to at least sustain our venture in the midst of such all-engulfing octopi. A more serious dilemma is gaining recognition in such an oversaturated age, which is a dilemma every small press faces, whether that means getting reviews, interviews, or simply devoted readers, and many prestigious publishing houses remain bound to models of the past, which makes acquiring rights often difficult, a barrier in fact. I don't see how much longer they can continue to function according to 20th-century models.
AS: A recent statistic has shown that only three to five percent of all books published in the US are translations; only a handful of American presses like yours are dedicated to filling this frankly embarrassing gap. While we can only speculate on the effect literary isolationism has had on contemporary American perception and critical thinking, I wonder if you see a connection between these developments and the near-complete commercialization of what was once regarded as literary culture.
CMP: I always presumed different but was shocked into reality when Jill Schoolman of Archipelago Books mentioned similar facts in an interview almost ten years ago, and her press is one of the many exceptional ones dedicated to ameliorating that lacuna. As for literary remoteness, in 1827, long before the sacrosanct paean about multiculturalism, Goethe sought to hasten the development of world literature, which was burgeoning at that moment. Yet while it took root in Europe, in America it never really did. Many American artists continue to exist in an aesthetic vacuum and don't create within a larger continuum and lineage. Fitzgerald, Steinbeck, and Salinger, all highly over-celebrated, rather average writers, are absolute oddities, though not in a positive way. That they wrote what they did post-Huysmans, post-Musil, or post-Hofmannsthal is baffling.
AS: And yet Tim Parks, in his essay "America First?" (New York Review of Books, July 15, 2010), astonishingly questioned the necessity of translation in his discussion of the Best European Fiction anthology edited by Aleksandar Hemon (Dalkey Archive Press): "It seems to me […] that as we tackle intriguing stories from Latvia and Lithuania, Bosnia and Macedonia, we are struck by how familiar these voices are, how reassuringly similar in outlook to one another and ourselves. […] Across the globe, the literary frame of mind is growing more homogeneous." Clearly, Parks seems to be forgetting a huge cross-section of what is being written today and what has been published over the past several decades. What is your view of this?
CMP: Although there are different forms of homogenization at work in the arts, there is scant validity in asserting that there's a general global literary frame of mind. Would one say that Jelinek and Mathias Énard have homogeneous frames of mind? Or Howard Barker and Krasznahorkai? One could recite more examples but it would be tedious; it's clear to the adventurous and idiosyncratic reader that Parks is mistaken. Art of any merit is unzeitgemäß in the sense of the term as it was conceptualized by Nietzsche. Whatever parallels or intersections there may be between writers of different cultures, a claim of increasing homogenization in literature elides what is different, alien, and foreign, even if it's as subtle as nuances of perception. And to be similar in outlook is not in any way reassuring—that is one aspect of the universal humanistic disposition to be wary of, for it eschews or erases what is strange, unknown, and intractable in favor of a reactive idea of the human as some unchanging and permanently fixed monad. Thereby, anyone outside that concept of the human may be subject to ridicule, persecution, or worse, elimination.
AS: Essentially, it's a political question.
CMP: Ultimately, yes, and the necessity of translation remains a fundamental cultural duty, but one hopefully informed by eros. It's a philanthropic gesture, and more especially on the part of the translator than the publisher since the compensation is generally meager in comparison to the task and the time given to it. The translator's art is sacrificial, more con amore than con i soldi. I as many other people rely on the gift of the translator for that encounter, and to be displaced or de-ranged, to have universal notions shattered is to recognize the fundamental ambiguity of the human, to see oneself as alien and mysterious and thus, hopefully, to welcome not being continuously reassured and to accept and embrace what is foreign.
AS: Another thing on my mind throughout this interview is the notion of 'success'—in the US today, many assume they have a natural right to be successful, and they become disappointed and bitter when they're not. But what is literature, if not adherence to the exigencies of the writing process—even when it doesn't lead to the marketable work, but something that has the potential to pose entirely new questions about what putting words down on a page can mean. Could you talk a bit about Contra Mundum's forthcoming publications this fall and winter?
CMP: What's on the immediate horizon for us is the world premiere of Pessoa's Philosophical Essays, a series of texts extracted from the Pessoa Archive that have essentially never seen the light of day. As a director who worked with some of the most renowned film artists of the 20th century, Elio Petri should need no introduction, but he remains a relative obscurity here in America. Our edition of his Writings on Cinema and Life should hopefully, at least in part, ameliorate that. To coincide with Richard Foreman's forthcoming production at the Public Theater, we'll be publishing his Plays with Films, and then there's Blanqui's Eternity by the Stars, a book of essays by and on Robert Kelly, the selected poems of Emilio Villa, and a few surprises we're working out—it's the winter solstice, so we'd like to present our readers with whatever unexpected gifts we can.
A press's survival is contingent upon the practical necessity of having current readers, and we certainly want a devoted readership for our books, which is more valuable than what is commonly understood by 'success.' What we have here is a certain absolutely vital force … Like any other craftsman, though, a writer should be able to survive and live from his or her work, especially if they are entirely devoted to it. Yet writing, as most art, is considered to be essentially superfluous. Who is an artist before a surgeon? Or a scientist? But the fact that tyrants and political forces of every age have been threatened by art again and again, condemned it as degenerate or poisonous, and have silenced, brutalized, or murdered artists because of their work only serves to illustrate how significant art is, that it is our one greatest power. I would even go so far as to say that the tyrant 'understands' art more than the devotee, for the latter is generally too 'pious' and adoring, almost like a simple-minded believer overwrought by faith who simply loves and finds everything 'great,' whereas the former suffers the transformative threat of art more, is even endangered by it, hence their terror. It is the Platonic fear of art's power over the 'soul.' And the fear of the destruction of the polis, but destruction only leads to new creations. Art is the life force, the vital breath that sustains us in the midst of our most excruciating trials.
Visit Contra Mundum at: http://contramundum.net/


text:
03-28-2012 02:45 PM by Guest
KOTOBUKI is manufacturer of fixed and retractable seating for auditoriums, concert halls, cimemas, conference halls, schools, theatres, stadiums and arenas.
03-28-2012 04:20 PM by Guest
Moultrie Manufacturing Company is a major supplier of aluminum products to the building materials and construction industries. Founded in 1952 in Moultrie, Georgia, the company has grown from manufacturing castings to the international sales and...
03-28-2012 05:51 PM by Guest
office furniture: workstations, reception area, executive furniture; hotel furniture: beds, night stands, cupboards; laboratory furniture; chairs & armchairs
03-28-2012 06:20 PM by Guest
Gonzagarredi produces multi-function furnishing systems for buildings destined to cultural activities.
The steady striving for improved performances, also through the use of advanced technological materials, the versatility of the...
03-28-2012 06:22 PM by Guest
Classroom child care furniture & school supplies for children & teachers. Perfect for preschool - kindergarten - church school - day care - after school - infants & toddlers. Also playground equipment for park or school.
03-28-2012 06:24 PM by Guest
Smith System school furniture contributes to the learning environment.
It balances the needs of the student and the demands of the curriculum with the realities of space, maintenance and budgets.
03-28-2012 06:30 PM by Guest
Katalog mebli szkolnych, mebli metalowych, mebli biurowych pomocy dydaktycznych z cennikiem
03-28-2012 07:52 PM by Guest
John F. White Ltd Cabinetmaker are specialist bar fitters, makers of bespoke handmade furniture and manufacturers of bespoke office and school furniture, for clients worldwide.
04-06-2012 07:15 PM by Guest
Ergonomic chairs for home & office. We stock products for bad backs from the best back care brands: Vela, Kab, RH, BMA & more. Stamp out your back pain today!
04-08-2012 12:35 PM by Guest
Busy Kids Furniture - School Furniture - Discount Children's Furniture - Kids Table and Chairs
04-11-2012 07:27 PM by Guest
Georgia Chair Company has been in the quality furniture business since 1914, and offers a full line of products including media center furnishings, shelving, circulation desks, library tables, chairs, rockers, bookcases, stools, desks, and computer...
04-12-2012 01:16 PM by Guest
AGATI designs, engineers, and manufactures finely crafted and timeless furniture for library, education, healthcare, hospitality and corporate markets.
04-12-2012 03:44 PM by Guest
Race, leading the field in the design and manufacturer of auditorium seating systems. Design driven and design led.
From school classrooms to international conference centres, from courtrooms to theatres, Race Furniture is a watchword...
04-12-2012 04:11 PM by Guest
Foliot Furniture create warm and comfortable environment without sacrificing the strength and durability of the furniture needed to endure the test of time. Foliot Furniture combines timeless beauty of solid wood with the lasting resilience of...
04-12-2012 04:14 PM by Guest
Marvel® Office Furniture manufactures innovative office solutions. Marvel Office designs and manufactures innovative furniture.
04-12-2012 04:21 PM by Guest
School and Office Supplies is a leading Irish manufacturer and distributor of furniture and equipment for nurseries, schools, colleges and universities. Our modern ranges of office chairs, desks, storage and display systems are complemented by...
04-12-2012 04:28 PM by Guest
Our vast selection of desks, chairs, bookcases, credenzas, cubicles, files and much more offer endless possibilities. Whether a home office, bank, law firm, school, hospital, hotel, casino or government building, we handle jobs large and small. W S...
04-13-2012 12:05 PM by Guest
Hann Manufacturing Inc. - School furniture
05-06-2012 11:53 AM by Guest
A-V Furniture Plus Inc. offers audio visual furniture such as lecterns, podiums, computer workstations, video carts, tv mounts and much more
05-06-2012 02:12 PM by Guest
Virco School Furniture, Classroom Furniture, Student Desks, Classroom Chairs, Cafeteria Tables, Marker Boards, Chair Desks, Computer Tables, School Chairs and more Discount School and Classroom Furniture.
05-06-2012 02:20 PM by Guest
For 45 years Hertz Furniture has offered school furniture, reception furniture, school desks, school chairs and more to schools, businesses and religious institutions. Hertz Furniture is committed to offering well-made and reasonably priced...
05-06-2012 02:21 PM by Guest
Integrity Furniture offers the best selection in seating, folding tables, bulletin boards, mobile cafeteria tables and staging equipment.
05-06-2012 05:20 PM by Guest
Think affordable design is beyond reach? Discover® the new world where mainstream affordability and high-end designer style combine for the most innovative and complete line of mainstream classroom furniture in over fifty years. For more than 40...

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Google faces antitrust lawsuit on U.S. mobile internet search
May 2, 2014 6:31 AM
(Reuters) - Consumer rights law firm Hagens Berman said it filed a nationwide antitrust class-action lawsuit against Google Inc alleging the company "illegally monopolized" the Internet and mobile search market in the United States.
The lawsuit alleges that Google has expanded its monopoly of the internet search market by pre-loading its applications onto Android mobile devices through its Mobile Application Distribution Agreements.
According to the lawsuit, Google's role in placing this suite of apps, including Google Play and YouTube, has hampered the market and kept the price of devices made by competing manufactures like Samsung Electronics and HTC Corp artificially high.
Google said Android and Google can be used independent of each other.
"Anyone can use Android without Google and anyone can use Google without Android. Since Android's introduction, greater competition in smartphones has given consumers more choices at lower prices," Matt Kallman, a Google spokesman, told Reuters.
Steve Berman, the attorney representing consumers, alleged that Google had not achieved its monopoly by offering a better search engine, but through anti-competitive placement and market manipulation.
The case is in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, 5:14-cv-02007-HRL.
(Reporting by Arnab Sen in Bangalore; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)


text:
As noted earlier, the unions opposing the Oklahoma right-to-work amendment challenged the amendment's provision barring employers from discriminating against union members — a counterintuitive objection, since it questioned a provision meant to protect union members. Still, this challenge was meant to persuade the court to annul the entire amendment on grounds that the amendment's parts were not severable. Specifically, the unions challenged the nondiscrimination provision on grounds that it was pre-empted by the federal NLRA.*
But neither of the U.S. Supreme Court rulings in Lincoln Federal and American Sash explicitly discussed the issue of whether right-to-work provisions protecting union members were pre-empted by the NLRA. This silence was seen as key by the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in its analysis of Oklahoma's right-to-work amendment:
"It is readily apparent that the Court in Lincoln Federal and American Sash was focused on the very narrow question of whether the state provisions at issue violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. There is absolutely no discussion of the question of preemption and, hence, no indication that provisions [that prohibit discrimination against union members] are not preempted by the NLRA."[32]
The 10th Circuit also contended that equal protection concerns do not mandate that state right-to-work laws contain provisions protecting union members from employer discrimination:
"Nor can Lincoln Federal and American Sash be read to stand for the proposition that the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment requires the states to adopt [clauses that prevent discrimination against union members] if they choose to enact right-to-work laws. The Court was not required to reach this ultimate question because the state schemes at issue in both cases provided mutuality of protection [i.e., protection from discrimination for both union and nonunion workers]. Lincoln Federal, 335 U.S. at 532-33; American Sash, 335 U.S. at 541."[33]
The court also provided a second rationale for its view that a union nondiscrimination clause was not necessary on equal protection grounds by discussing the level of scrutiny to which the right-to-work amendment's language would be subject in the event of an equal protection challenge. The court claimed that such a challenge almost certainly would fail because it would be subject to the lowest level of judicial scrutiny (known as the "rational basis" test):†
"Moreover, we note that neither union nor non-union status implicates a fundamental right or constitutes a protected class, so that a statute which addresses or favors one group over another need only reflect a rational basis. Accordingly, for defendants to prevail on their claim that the Fourteenth Amendment mandates mutuality in the treatment of union and non-union workers they must demonstrate that it would be irrational for a state to only provide protection against employment discrimination to non-union workers."[34]
In rejecting the argument that the nondiscrimination clause was necessary to satisfy the equal protection clause, and in noting that the Supreme Court had not made a ruling regarding pre-emption, the 10th Circuit felt justified in pre-empting the Oklahoma nonunion discrimination clause. This holding increased the number of pre-empted provisions in the amendment to three (the hiring-hall provision, the paycheck-protection provision and the union-nondiscrimination provision). The court then asked the Oklahoma Supreme Court to decide the question of severability.**[35] In addition, the 10th Circuit sought guidance from the Oklahoma Supreme Court on the technical question of whether the federal trial court should have applied the Oklahoma severability statute in this case, given that the law being challenged was a constitutional amendment, not a statute.[36]
* The pre-emption in this case would occur in the technical sense that the federal law would supersede the state amendment. Practically speaking, the "pre-emption" would have had no effect on the legality of discrimination against union members, since the NLRA prohibits such discrimination, just as the Oklahoma amendment attempted to do.
† When a law is challenged on grounds that it fails to satisfy the federal Constitution's equal protection clause, it is subject to one of three levels of scrutiny. Strict scrutiny typically applies whenever the claim is based on an allegation of racial discrimination or a denial of a court-recognized fundamental right. Intermediate scrutiny generally applies to allegations of sex discrimination. The lowest level of scrutiny — "rational basis" review — applies to any other challenges that are based on the equal protection clause, and this review requires only that a governing body have some "rational basis" for its legislation. In practice, this rational basis test rarely leads to a law being overturned.
** The legal process in which one court asks another to decide a question is known as "certifying" the question.


text:
The GREBE Business Supports Catalogue
This GREBE Business Supports Catalogue has been developed following a review of Renewable Energy business support funding mechanisms and funding options available to support the development of renewable businesses in the NPA region.
It provides information on the funding mechanisms currently available in the partner regions (Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Norway and Scotland). The information will be useful to both funding agencies (e.g. business support agencies and municipalities) and to SMEs giving details of funding options available in their regions.
The main focus is on public body support for renewable businesses but both private sector and social investment options have been included where appropriate. The supports included are for SMEs and Micro businesses but also include options for those SMEs expected to grow rapidly (e.g. High Potential Start Ups). The business support funding mechanisms considered vary from standard 'hard' business support options (e.g. loans and venture capital) to softer supports (e.g. innovation schemes, business partner search supports etc.)
A short introduction on the methods and types of supports in each partner region is provided. Information for each partner region is it then organised under the following categories:
- - Financial Support (grants, loans, equity investment)
- - Taxation or welfare supports or concessions for businesses
- - Soft supports e.g. mentoring, training, specialist advice, networks
- - Research and Development Supports
- - Social and Community supports (focused on not for profit)
- - Other- e.g. Incubation space or office space etc.
Within each of these categories there is considerable variation in the ways different funding options are implemented and these differences will impact on the success of schemes. We hope that by using this catalogue those who seeking funding and support for renewable businesses will have a clear portfolio of options which are available to them.
The GREBE Business Supports Catalogue was updated in November 2017 and is available on the GREBE Project website (http://grebeproject.eu/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/GREBE-Business-Supports-Catalogue-updated-November-2017.pdf), and regional catalogues were developed for the each of the six partner regions and are available to download at http://grebeproject.eu/publication/
The information in this catalogue was used to create the GREBE Funding Tool which is available at http://support.renewablebusiness.eu/. This Funding Option Decision Support Tool has been developed to highlight the most relevant funding options available to renewable energy businesses given their location and the type of funding required. This support tool can be used by both renewable energy businesses seeking funding of various types and potential funders.
A video on the GREBE Funding Support Tool is available here.


text:
Much to the chagrin of children everywhere another school year is about to start, and that means that parents across the country are busy stocking up on school supplies. These next few weeks can be a real budget buster from mom and dad but, if you're keen on staying within budget as you get the kids ready to go back to school, avoiding the spending mistakes below will certainly help. Enjoy.
One of the first things many parents fail to do is check the supplies they already have at home before heading to the store. Many times the most in-demand items, like notebooks, pens, lunch boxes, backpacks and so forth, are already in your home's closets, drawers and desks. Going through all of those locations and looking for those items before you head out to the store may well save you quite a few bucks.
One mistake that many parents make is they fail to create a school spending plan. On average, a shopping list for school will have approximately 18 items on it. Creating a shopping list and setting a dollar amount that you wish to spend for those items, and in total, is a great idea before you head out to the store. Sitting down with the kids to create a specific list of essential items, determining what they need as opposed to what they want, can also save you a lot of time and money.
The biggest drawback to shopping without a plan, or a list, is that it can lead to overspending. Frankly, even if your state is one of the 16 that offers a sales-tax free holiday weekend, it doesn't mean that you need to purchase things that aren't necessary.
Many parents also make the mistake of buying things in bulk just to save more money. Frankly, buying a whole lot of items that your children aren't actually going to use just because you can save a few more dollars really doesn't make a lot of 'cents' (pun intended). It can be difficult when prices are so low on bulk items but, again, money "saved" on something that isn't used is money that hasn't been saved at all, just spent. The easiest way to avoid this is quite simple; don't ever buy anything just because it's a "great deal", only purchase it if your children actually need it.
One way that many parents are saving money on school supplies in the last few years is to team up with other parents in their neighborhoods and buy everything together, so that they can take advantage of the bulk savings. If you're on good terms with your neighbors and have children of similar ages, this might be a great way for you to save some money this school year.


text:
Announced on Wednesday, The Daily was touted by its creators at News Corp. as a rethinking of journalism for a new audience and new technology. There's just one problem with the hype: Rupert Murdoch's new iPad newspaper closely resembles other—often unsuccessful—attempts over the last decade to "reinvent" the news. The only difference, from a user perspective, is that a few semi-new digital flourishes have been thrown into the mix.
This isn't a problem with the platform, per se. The Daily is well-designed, and as my Macworld colleague Jason Snell said: "I can see the $30 million they spent." The app's carousel menu makes navigating the news a tactile, pleasurable experience, and there's plenty of multimedia—audio versions of stories, videos to accompany stories, and stunning 360-degree panorama photos from major news events. There's even a nifty story commenting system that lets users express their opinions in 60 seconds of audio, recorded directly from your device. (Having moderated comments for a daily newspaper Website, though, I pity the poor News Corp. employees who will have to wade through all the audio files reported as "abusive" by other users.)
But we've seen most of this before. Every major newspaper Website features videos these days, and a number of them even make great use of big and panoramic photos. The Economist's app beat The Daily to the punch in offering audio transcripts of the written stories. All in all, the app isn't quite as innovative as Murdoch and Apple would have you believe.
Having built a kinda-new wineskin, Murdoch's wine seems awfully familiar … and underwhelming. With its breezy, pointed headlines—"Here we snow again, America"—The Daily strongly resembles News Corp.'s own New York Post . With its energetic coverage of sports, it is reminiscent of USA Today . With its emphasis on graphics and photos of beautiful people, The Daily seems like People or Us Weekly .
But in its overall mix—light on news, heavier on celebrities and jocks, every item short and punchy—The Daily most reminds me of two other attempts to save daily newspapers from hemorrhaging young readers: Red Streak and RedEye, two free tabloids that appeared in Chicago a decade ago, aimed at twentysomething commuters who, it was thought, weren't interested in news unless it was chopped up and dumbed down. There wasn't much there there, and the same seems to be the case with The Daily: Murdoch's reinvention of journalism looks a lot like the one before it.
(And, it should be noted, the "legacy" newspapers behind the RedEye and Red Streak—the Chicago Tribune and Sun-Times, respectively—have both been in bankruptcy in recent years. So much for reinvention.)
One of the clearest indications that The Daily is tied to old-school ways of thinking, though, is the presence of sudoku and crossword puzzles in the app. There are plenty of iPad offerings in both genres for dedicated puzzle-players, so it's perplexing to see The Daily duplicate those efforts instead of concentrating on what it should do best: news.
The Daily isn't a total disappointment. It seems most promising as a platform for advertisers: ads are quite easy to overlook on newspaper and magazine Websites, but on The Daily they fit into the natural flow of reading, and can grab your attention with eye-popping graphics. There is some promise here.
As a piece of technology, then, The Daily is promising. As a journalistic endeavour, though, it's confusing. Who is the intended audience? News junkies? Unlikely. New Yorkers? There's a Big Apple feel to the content, but the coverage is everywhere and nowhere all at once. Commuters? Why would they shell out a dollar a week for this when they can pick up a similar product, for free, off the rack in a subway kiosk?
This is kind of shocking, given the stable of smart and talented journalists recruited to launch The Daily. As it stands, though, there's only one clear reason that this iPad newspaper exists, and that's to put money in Rupert Murdoch's pocket. There are probably worse goals imaginable, but it's hardly compelling for news consumers.
[Joel Mathis is a freelance journalist and political columnist for Scripps Howard News Service. He lives in Philadelphia.]


text:
- Offers
- Last minute
- Il Mercato
- News
- Experience
All the structures
The province of Forlì-Cesena in Emilia Romagna has about 400,000 inhabitants.
The province of Forlì-Cesena is divided into two districts, Forlì and Cesena, each with 15 municipalities.
Forlì is a richly cultural city located on the ancient Via Aemilia. Its major monuments are in Piazza Saffi where the beautiful Abbey of S. Mercuriale is located with its bell tower and cloister, also the Post Office Building, the Town Hall, the Civic Tower plus Palazzo del Podestà and Palazzo Albertini, both from the fifteenth century.
Visit the Civic Art Gallery containing Antonio Canova's Hebe, which became a symbol of the Romagna School. The 166 cm high marble statue depicts Hebe, cupbearer of the gods and daughter of Zeus and Hera.
Cesena lies in the Savio river valley. The beauty of the old town was mostly created in the period of the Malatesta family dominion. Cesena's famous library is also from the Malatesta period.
The library was founded by Novello Malatesta, who wished to extend the twelfth and fourteenth-century collection located in the monastery of S. Francesco.
Novello Malatesta's extended library also included a new building: the Libraria Domini, completed in 1452.
Also worth a visit are the Benedictine Abbazia del Monte, and the Malatesta fortress.
A jewel in the Cesena province is the small town of Longiano. Small, yet a town with as many as five museums! The Museum of Vintage Records contains the first recording from 1877.
Also visit the permanent collection of sculpture by Domenico Neri.
Roncofreddo in the Cesena hills can also be reached by bike from Longiano.
In the past Roncofreddo was surrounded by walls in the shape of a flattened ellipse, but there are few visible remains today. Visit the Town Hall with its Civic Tower, the Parish Church of S. Biago and the Malatesta Fountains just outside the town.
Another wonderful town is Terra del Sole. Worth seeing are the Governor's Palace, the churches of S. Reparata and S. Barbara, the sixteenth-century fortress and the 2087 meter long town walls.


text:
I've been chatting with Beat every day, but because I post updates on Facebook, I didn't think to repeat them here. He's doing well. Since he left McGrath he's been traveling in close proximity to Tim and Loreen, and camps with them, much like we did before McGrath. It's been tough going since they reached the Yukon River. A cold snap moved in with temperatures down to 30 below, followed by a wind event that drifted in the trail, slowing their progress and forcing them to walk through their exhaustion all night a few days ago because it was just too cold and windy to stop. They're approaching the coast now, less than thirty miles from Unalakleet, but now a winter storm is moving in that could dump 5 to 10 inches of snow on the region. Fans of this race will probably always remember 2014 as the "easy" year for human-powered travel on the Iditarod Trail — but things are *never* easy for the walkers, and they're out there long enough that the weather can and will throw everything their way. I toss and turn every night because I feel so anxious for Beat out there. I get wiped out by four hours of biking, and I just can't imagine how he keeps going everyday, taking care of himself while dealing with such dangerous weather conditions in such a remote area. But every time he calls, he's bursting with positive emotions, and hasn't yet revealed any hints of resignation or despair. He loves this, and of course I relate to his feelings, but it's still difficult to really understand everything he's going through mentally and physically.
On some levels, I wish I was still out there as well. But I'm also glad to be curled up in a warm bed this night, planning small these small adventures.


text:
rated 0 times [ 3] [ 0] / answers: 1 / hits: 2841 / 1 Year ago, thu, april 21, 2022, 10:37:36
I'm trying to upgrade and while doing so, I get the following:
devteam@hephaestusx:~/Projects$ sudo apt-get upgrade
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
You might want to run 'apt-get -f install' to correct these.
The following packages have unmet dependencies:
libboost-python-dev : Depends: libboost-python1.46-dev but it is not installed
E: Unmet dependencies. Try using -f.
devteam@hephaestusx:~/Projects$ apt-get -f install
E: Could not open lock file /var/lib/dpkg/lock - open (13: Permission denied)
E: Unable to lock the administration directory (/var/lib/dpkg/), are you root?
devteam@hephaestusx:~/Projects$ sudo apt-get -f install
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
Correcting dependencies... Done
The following extra packages will be installed:
libboost-python1.46-dev libboost1.46-dev
Suggested packages:
libboost1.46-doc libboost-date-time1.46-dev libboost-filesystem1.46-dev libboost-graph1.46-dev libboost-iostreams1.46-dev
libboost-math1.46-dev libboost-program-options1.46-dev libboost-random1.46-dev libboost-regex1.46-dev libboost-serialization1.46-dev
libboost-signals1.46-dev libboost-system1.46-dev libboost-test1.46-dev libboost-thread1.46-dev libboost-wave1.46-dev doxygen default-jdk
The following NEW packages will be installed:
libboost-python1.46-dev libboost1.46-dev
0 upgraded, 2 newly installed, 0 to remove and 2 not upgraded.
6 not fully installed or removed.
Need to get 0 B/8,151 kB of archives.
After this operation, 80.1 MB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue [Y/n]? y
(Reading database ... 226442 files and directories currently installed.)
Unpacking libboost1.46-dev (from .../libboost1.46-dev_1.46.1-5ubuntu2_amd64.deb) ...
dpkg: error processing /var/cache/apt/archives/libboost1.46-dev_1.46.1-5ubuntu2_amd64.deb (--unpack):
trying to overwrite '/usr/include/boost/aligned_storage.hpp', which is also in package libboost1.40-dev 1.40.0-6ubuntu1
dpkg-deb: error: subprocess paste was killed by signal (Broken pipe)
Unpacking libboost-python1.46-dev (from .../libboost-python1.46-dev_1.46.1-5ubuntu2_amd64.deb) ...
dpkg: error processing /var/cache/apt/archives/libboost-python1.46-dev_1.46.1-5ubuntu2_amd64.deb (--unpack):
trying to overwrite '/usr/lib/libboost_python-py26.a', which is also in package libboost-python1.40-dev 1.40.0-6ubuntu1
dpkg-deb: error: subprocess paste was killed by signal (Broken pipe)
Errors were encountered while processing:
E: Sub-process /usr/bin/dpkg returned an error code (1)
Any idea on how to remedy this?
More From » apt


text:
Bob Marley – Roots Rock Reggae
Robert Nesta "Bob" Marley OM (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981) was a Jamaican reggae singer-songwriter, musician, and guitarist who achieved international fame and acclaim.
Starting out in 1963 with the group the Wailers, he forged a distinctive songwriting and vocal style that would later resonate with audiences worldwide. The Wailers would go on to release some of the earliest reggae records with producer Lee Scratch Perry.
After the Wailers disbanded in 1974, Marley pursued a solo career which culminated in the release of the album Exodus in 1977 which established his worldwide reputation and produced his status as one of the world's best-selling artists of all time, with sales of more than 75 million records. He was a committed Rastafari who infused his music with a sense of spirituality.
Early life and career
Robert Nesta Marley was born on the farm of his maternal grandfather in Nine Mile, Saint Ann Parish, Jamaica, to Norval Sinclair Marley (1885-1955) and Cedella Booker (1926-2008). Norval Marley was a European-Jamaican of British heritage.
Norval claimed to have been a captain in the Royal Marines, though at the time of his marriage to Cedella Booker, an African-Jamaican then 18 years old, he was employed as a plantation overseer.
Though Bob Marley was named Nesta Robert Marley, a Jamaican passport official would later reverse his first and middle names. Norval provided financial support for his wife and child but seldom saw them as he was often away.
Bob Marley attended Stepney Primary and Junior High School which serves the catchment area of Saint Ann. In 1955, when Bob Marley was 10 years old, his father died of a heart attack at the age of 70.
Marley and Neville Livingston (later known as Bunny Wailer) had been childhood friends in Nine Mile. They had started to play music together while at Stepney Primary and Junior High School. Marley left Nine Mile with his mother when he was 12 and moved to Trenchtown, Kingston.
Pages: 1 2
You must be logged in to post a comment Login


text:
Rams won't comment on report Titus Young will be cut
The Rams are declining to comment on the odd report that surfaced this morning saying they would release receiver Titus Young today, just 10 days after they claimed him off waivers from the Lions.
PFT reached out to the Rams this morning when the talk of Young being released first surfaced, and the team told us that it has no comment. However, head coach Jeff Fisher is scheduled to appear at a press conference today to formally introduce Tim Walton as the team's new defensive coordinator, and Fisher is expected to answer questions about Young at that press conference.
The story that Young would be cut began with, of all people, Rob Parker, the commentator who was fired by ESPN for making asinine comments about Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III being a "cornball brother." Parker is now writing for a website called The Shadow League, and he reported there that Young would be cut and may never play football again. Parker isn't known for breaking news, but he does live and work in Detroit, so he may have a connection with Young, who has played for the Lions for two years.
We'll be keeping an eye on St. Louis for official word about Young's future, or lack thereof, with the Rams.


text:
BETA: This is a new service - your feedback will help us to improve it. Find out more about the beta phase.
Details of this orphan work
These are the known details of this orphan work. If you know who the right holder is for this work, please contact us.
Work details
Thumbnail of still image:
Applicant or licensee name:
Hayward Gallery
Applicant or licensee country:
United Kingdom
Application number:
Application date:
Status of application:
Licence Expired
Title or short description:
Greenham Common, 1980s1 photograph: Lyn Barlow and two other women breaking through the fence at Greenham Common.Women's Library reference number: 7LBA.O.01Photographer/copyright holder unknown
Full description:Unknown photographerLyn Barlow and two other women breaking through the fence at Greenham Common,1980sB/W photograph, 19 x 25.3 cm (h x w)Original photograph courtesy LSE Library CollectionsCopyright holder unknown
Category:Still visual art
Type of work:
Museum, gallery, library or archive holding the work:
Details and dates of publication, broadcast and/or distribution:
|In a display at an exhibition.
Known creators or right holders
Known identifiers
eg International Standard Book Number (ISBN)


text:
Following in the grand tradition of our sister cells in New York, Vienna, and Montreal, we have recently secured some funding to produce a Mobile Broadcast Unit – a Copenhagen-style, front-loaded cargo bike, outfitted with a deep cycle battery, power inverter, beamer, laptop, camera, and sound system with fm transmission.
This will allow us to do guerilla projection bombing anywhere in Berlin.
Anyone with interest and/or experience in bike modding and mobile power is welcome to contact us and become involved.
Once we have finished construction, we will be offering the MBU as an equipment grant to other artistic, social, and political groups for events (MayDay riots, anyone ??)
Thanks to the Berlin Chapter of the Awesome Foundation and KulturAmt Nuekölln for the support. We'll make you proud!


text:
HAGAMAN – Fonda-Fultonville High School's Matt Hoffman and Jamie Kasza have been named winners of the Fulmont Roadrunners Club's annual Cross-Country Runner of the Year Awards, according to an announcement by Fulmont Roadrunners President Ginny Mosher. The awards honor 2012's top male and female cross-country runners in Fulton and Montgomery county high schools.
In addition, the Roadrunners honored the boys cross-country team from Fonda-Fultonville High, which won the Section II Class C Championships for 2012 and finished second in the Class C New York State Championship. Members of that team, coached by Mark Therrien and Mike Benton, included Matt Hoffman, Tyler Angioli, Jimmy Westman, Cameron Gilligan, Dylan DeSorbo, Dalton Hunter, Omijah Piening, Damian Freeman, Jacob Shave and Cole Wozniak.
For their achievements, the individual winners, Hoffman and Kasza, and the championship team received special recognition at the Fulmont Roadrunners' annual Winter Wimp foot race, which took place Jan. 12 in Hagaman.
Hoffman, a senior at Fonda-Fultonville High, concluded his outstanding cross-country season with a first-place finish in the Section II Class C Championships race, and he was fifth (of 130 competitors) in the State Class C Championship. Other highlights of his 2012 running year included first-place finishes in the Burnt Hills and Utica Proctor invitationals and a first in the Colonial Council Championships.
Highlighting the running year of Kasza, a freshman at Fonda-Fultonville, were a first-place finish in the Class C Section II Championship race, followed by a ninth-place finish (of 127 runners) in the New York State Class C Championship. Her season also included firsts in the Fonda, Burnt Hills, and Grout invitationals and seconds in the Utica Proctor and Fort Plain Invitationals.
Outstanding XC
Runner Awards
In addition to the overall winners, the Fulmont Roadrunners select the top male and female cross-country runners in each of the Fulton and Montgomery County high schools that field cross-country teams. They too were honored at the Winter Wimp.
Winners of these Outstanding Cross-Country Runner Awards for 2012 were Megan Ottati and Nick Raponi, both seniors, at Amsterdam High School, senior Mackenzie Ottati and junior Greg Bogdan of Broadalbin-Perth High School, senior Quinn Li O'Shea of Canajoharie High School and junior Jordan Ahrens of Fort Plain High School, junior Kimberly Geniti and senior Tyler Angioli of Fonda-Fultonville High School, sophomore Brittany Craven and senior John Knox of Gloversville High School, seniors Emily Fettinger and Eric Brower of Johnstown High School, and seniors Lidija Nikollaj and Tom McClellan of Mayfield High School.
The Fulmont Roadrunners initiated the high school cross-country awards program 17 years ago as part of its efforts to encourage and reward young runners in Fulton and Montgomery counties.
It also awards scholarships annually to outstanding high school seniors in the area who compete in varsity running programs and are going on to college. Amsterdam High School track and cross country coach Stu Palczak heads both programs for the club.


text:
- Publishers
- Gingko Press
- series: Juxtapoz
Comic book series : Juxtapoz
We love catching an artist when they are doing big things. For KAWS, he is all about big things these days, as in big sculptures in big sculpture parks. For the May 2016 issue, we talk to the Brooklyn-based icon about the quiet intensity of his new exhibition and retrospective at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park in the UK, as well as his history as it has led him to be one of the most influential artists of his time.
Here's what's also in the May 2016 issue:
—Deanna Templeton and the process of "Swimming Pool"
—Josh Sperling and his unique use of shape
—Tom Sachs and Satan Ceramics give us a top-secret recipe
—Aesop Rock talks process with Alex Pardee....
—... and then interviews Ben Tolman
—Josh Jefferson makes perfect strokes
—Michael Sieben gets a six-pack with Souther Salazar
—Mary Meyer puts fashion on point
—Nicolas Menard breathes new life into design...
—We blow glass with Pilchuck Glass School...
—... While we ride trains with McNair Evans
—... and we get an intimate tour of Moscow....


text:
Author(s): Crowther, D.R. , B.K.W. Booth
Full reference:
Crowther, D.R. and B.K.W. Booth 1981. A Micro Computer Catalogue for Excavation Small Finds, in: Graham, I. and E. Webb (eds.), Computer Applications in Archaeology 1981. Proceedings of the Conference on Quantitative Methods, Institute of Archaeology, London, March 21-22 1981. Institute of Archaeology, University of London, London, pp. 44-50.
By downloading this paper, you agree to the following conditions of use:
- Personal use: Users are only allowed to download the paper for personal use. He or she is not allowed to copy the paper, or substantial parts thereof, for other purposes. Users are not allowed to make any commercial use of the paper, for instance by selling it. Copyrights of third parties must always be respected.
- Bibliographic reference of the paper: When papers are cited in publications, this must be indicated by the correct bibliographic reference.
Downloadable file: 07_Crowther_Booth_CAA_1981.pdf
Year of publication: 1981
Year of CAA: 1981


text: On the Norwegian archipelago of Spitsbergen you can find Pyramiden, an abandoned mining town that's been almost entirely uninhabited since 1998. Founded in 1910, his town of 1,000 was a model Soviet outpost. That is, until the fall of Communism made it a less desirable place to live. Here's a recent news report from Russia Today, and you can see tourist footage of the town here.


text:
The Whole Foods Experience: Part One
Shortly after hitting send on his withering, now-legendary resignation letter, the former employee of a Toronto-area Whole Foods flew to South Korea to begin an exciting new career chapter, far, far away from sociopathic co-workers who walk into people. He has so far ignored our requests for comment—but you haven't!
We've received over 100 personal anecdotes and counting from Whole Foods employees past and present. The vast majority of them side with our quitter, but there were those who defended the company, some even passionately so. What follows is a representative sampling of the ones we found most interesting.
We'll run more of your Whole Foods stories in future installments. In the meantime, grab a bag of Himalania Antioxidant Secret Trail Mix and hunker down, folks. This will take a while.
"The Toronto Quitter Is My Friend and Co-Worker"
I worked with the disgruntled employee for about four years until he quit on Friday. He's a friend. He sent me an early draft of the letter last week, which I can forward if you need proof or whatever. While I don't think the personal attacks were necessary, the critiques of the company were spot-on, and even too generous in some areas. Just in case you do a follow-up post I thought I'd mention a few things:
- He almost certainly meant to write twenty seconds instead of twenty minutes. We've spoken at length about it before he ever wrote the letter. Employees, or "Team Members" as they're called, routinely get written up for being mere seconds late, regardless of the validity of the excuse (TTC strike, car accident, etc). Three lates is a final warning. A fourth late and you're terminated. I find this unreasonable.
- Whole Foods "carefully calibrated image" is just that - an image. Store recycling bins are emptied into the garbage every single day without fail. The company routinely drops small local vendors in favour of large conglomerates based kilometres away.
- The company has formed its own version of newspeak. There is an exclusive vernacular just for the "Team Members" and "Team Leaders". It didn't used to be so bad, but we have always had 7 AM Saturday meetings in which we are asked to shout slogans ("We're number one!" and other nonsense). As the rhetoric has ramped up over the past few years, so has the blood pressure of most people working for the company. (Not me. I work here part-time to put myself through school. I don't give a shit about this place. In fact, I'm typing this at the Toronto Whole Foods right now.) It is not at all unusual to see managers come in on their day with worried frowns. Of course, they are not paid to come in, but they're afraid not to because of the giant red hammer of bullshit and paperwork they will be required to fill out should they not meet their budgets and margins.
- The company does download responsibilities onto less-senior employees without compensation. One man working here has been ordering the dairy products for over a year. But since he doesn't have the official title of "Dairy Buyer", he is paid $13.50/h instead of $16/h, which is the base wage for a "buyer". He buys the dairy. But he is not a Dairy Buyer. It's newspeak. This happens all over the company.
- All of what he said was true, and there are other things. Have you seen Office Space? The TPS reports scene? That's what this place is like except it's not funny because it's actually happening to us.
I'm glad you posted the letter. The company has its own server and so yanked his email off it within minutes of him sending it. Now that you've posted it, everyone can read it (though again, I think the second half of the letter was a bad idea). You might also be interested to know that over four employees that I know of contributed to the letter, so it's not actually all him, though he was willing to take the heat for it.
"The Toronto Quitter Is a Rich Brat"
Hi. As a 7 year employee of whole foods market i'd like to say that I'm rather disgusted at the email I received from [the resignation letter writer] from the Toronto store. There may be shreds of truth about the people he called out by name but I cannot and will not agree with him about the state of the whole company. To touch on a few themes he brought up: The store I work for employs some of the hardest working people I've ever known. They care about our customers, they care about good quality food, they care about the environment actually, the list could go on. We are always working to eliminate waste in any way we can but of course, we are a business. Its difficult to be 100% green as a business. As for our customers and being abused by them, doesn't this happen in all customer service jobs? We have a lot of dicks and a lot of great people. You can't throw every person out of the store for being a jackass. My leadership team does stand up for us in times where it matters. (This coming from a person who was recently called a piece of shit for demo-ing beef kabobs. But that's a whole other story). People are insane no matter what you do or where you go. Sometimes its easier to agree to disagree just to get them out the door.
A friend of mine works with [the resignation letter writer] and the kid comes from a ridiculous amount of money. He was lazy, rude, and confrontational. He's throwing a hissy fit plain and simple. He got passed up for a job promotion because he's lazy. He disagreed with the decision and now he's got a vendetta. Looks like he got his 15 minutes. His decision to email the entire region was immature and ridiculous. I stand by whole foods being an outstanding company to work for. I make almost 40k a year without a degree. I love the people I work with. My store leadership works their ass off 7 days a week. Not only do they have to run the overall operations of the store day to day, they are also working the floor, in departments, and dealing with 15 other things all at once. I have more respect for them than I can even express. Of course we are not without our flaws but what company isnt? So fuck [the resignation letter writer]. little brat should have worked harder.
"Your 'Clopen' Lacks a Sense of Urgency"
I've worked at two Whole Foodses. In 2006 I worked at a large store (with a wine shop! and a chocolate fountain!) before the corporate culture took over, and it was one of the most fun work experiences I've had. I returned to the company in 2010 and it was the worst. After three months, I was called into the office by two blanched managers who had written my last check and already clocked me out. Despite the fact I had never called in sick or been late, they were firing me for the nebulous infraction of "a lacking sense of urgency."
My job? Scooping egg salad into containers and putting price stickers on the bottom. From their expressions it seemed they thought I would flip out (perhaps as others had done for being fired for such a bullshit reason?), but I calmly agreed that yes, my sense of urgency was probably a little bit wanting. We were, after all, just slicing ham.
I did have a few bones of contention at the second store I worked at similar to those of the letter-writer:
Starting in training, we were thoroughly indoctrinated against conventional (or non-organic) produce with tons of video montages of crops being sprayed with pesticides. But it's not like Whole Foods doesn't sell non-organic produce. The availability of out-of-season produce shipped year-round from other countries was to me always an indication of their most evident core value: Money (Creating Wealth Through Profits & Growth)
Something my smaller location also used to pull was pouring products like pizza sauce from cans into "Whole Foods" containers, to give them the appearance of house-made sauce. Ours was not a full service kitchen and why we didn't just fill the shelves with things that we could make was beyond me. (Selling the Highest Quality Natural and Organic Products Available)
While I didn't have any especially good ideas on how to accomplish it, I also really would have liked to see more minorities shopping in Whole Foods. Denver is a phenomenally diverse city, but you'd be hard pressed to see more than one black or Mexican person a day shopping (much less working) in Whole Foods. (Caring about our Communities & Our Environment)
The zillions of plastic gloves was definitely in conflict with the environmental goals. When I last left [the plastic gloves] were neither recyclable nor compostable, and I went through at least 30-40 pairs per shift. I currently work with food where simply having competent, healthy staff (who aren't afraid to call in sick) who wash their hands has been enough to avoid any charges of food poisoning.
The "Whole Body" department really is full of snake oil. At one point I was advised to buy expensive pro-biotic "pearls" when what I ended up needing was a Cholecystectomy. I cringe to think about how much money people dump into trying to solve their problems by taking the advice of the perfect-looking community college student in the body and vitamin aisle when what they need is treatment by a medical doctor.
This is all to say nothing of their treatment of employees. I would say the treatment is very Wal-Mart-esque, but at Whole Foods it's much more conspicuous and tempting to complain because of the big stink they make about how great it is to work there. The fact is, when you actually ARE good to your employees, you don't have to throw yourself a parade about it:
When I was hired the second time, they were in a "full-time hiring freeze" during which no one was being hired for full-time (and all new employees were scheduled at just enough hours not to qualify as full-time). The benefits were so incomprehensible that I never even used them when I had them in 2006
Formerly known for their "express yourself!" dress code and mentality, I returned to find pages of extremely specific rules regarding which hair colors, piercings and tattoos were appropriate and in which precise amounts.
Whole Foods is where "the clopen" was introduced into my vocabulary: There until 11p.m. one night, in at 6a.m. the next. Very healthy!
FREE employee coffee was replaced by "discounted" employee coffee. It went from being such a nice little perk to a slap in the face.
Like I said: It wouldn't be that big a deal if I were working somewhere where my expectations were to be treated like a robot, but it was an especially violent dashing of my hopes to experience it at precious Whole Foods. If I were ever to work for a grocery store again, I think I would try to knock off a Safeway employee so I could have their job. As for shopping, I can be found mostly at Farmers' Markets, vitamin cottage and on the Internet.
"Shades of White"
As a former Whole Foods employee (Massachusetts, 1996-2002 Fresh Pond, River Street, Brighton, and Prospect Street Stores), I can tell you, minus the histrionics, that letter wasn't too far off the mark. I'd also add Whole Foods isn't the beacon of diversity it paints itself to be. It's diverse alright, as long as you're White.
I'm half joking when I make that comment. There were many female, gay and lesbian team leaders, but they were, for the most part, all white. Most of the upper management and leadership in the company were White and male. I heard many racist comments directed at myself and other non-white employees, but it wasn't a big surprise, since most of us were used to having racial epithets thrown at us on other jobs. Most of his complaints were things that I saw happen, or happened to me.
Whole Foods is just another brand name, nothing special. I expect racism at most levels of American society, so it really wasn't that surprising. I just think it's amusing the amount of time they invest in an image most sensible people know is a desperate put on for the dollars of the environmentally challenged by a man without the courage to simply say he's a die-hard capitalist.
"They Called Me Racist"
I was fired from whole foods for this. I worked there for over two years and had worked my way up to Backup SSI/Signmaker from MAINTENANCE! They basically called me a racist. I had managers tell me to fuck off, coincidentally the same manager who instead of calling me in for a disciplinary conference when he "found" the document that lead to my termination....faxed it to the corporate offices in Texas. Attached is their response to me trying to work out a solution other than termination.
"The Catastrophe Plan"
I used to work at WFM and I used to be a licensed insurance agent. Calling their health insurance plan "affordable" is a little misleading. The plan costs a non-smoking "team member" $10 a paycheck. There's a $2,000 prescription drug deductible that must be met before the company covers drug claims. There's a $6,000 max out-of-pocket for all other medical expenses. The company does provide a "Personal Wellness Card" based on service hours. That can roll over, but unless the "team member" has been there for 10,000 service hours it doesn't add up to too much. Perhaps $1,200 or $2,000 a year. So one would have to hope they don't use it for several years so they could cover the deductibles. The drug deductible resets every year, so in essence, there is no prescription drug coverage. Considering most employees make $10-$15 an hour, one incident could put that person in considerable financial stress. It's not anything more than a catastrophe plan. It's good if the employee suffered a brain trauma, but not much else.
"We Had a Suicide This Year"
It's all true. I've worked at WFM for nearly 5 years now. It's really was awful whoever wrote that letter says. Unfortunately, the job market sucks, so many of us get stuck there. They also regularly schedule you to work until 11 pm on one night then 6am the next morning. This happens once a week for many of us. They deny you summer vacation. Then when September comes, the students are back, and no one is allowed a vacation. Then its Christmas, which in this world means 10 hour shifts and a lot of hard work. I just had my 30 birthday, and my brother couldn't get any time at all off for it. My boyfriend (he's the assistant team leader), very rarely puts in time off requests, and he was also scheduled to work that day. (I truly never cared much about birthdays, but it was my 30th so we wanted to do something special).
There is NOTHING to recommend this place. You have the barest essential healthcare, you work, you are expected to give your all, holidays mean you work harder, you never see your family, and there's very little monetary compensation for it. I had to fight tooth and nail to get a 50 cent raise when they promoted me to supervisor. And that was after they said if I didn't just accept the position, they would have to offer it to somebody else. I make $13.50 an hour. I am now 30, and have been working there for almost 5 years. I live paycheck to paycheck. We are forbidden to talk to each other about how much we make. If you do you get a verbal warning. I have never had a warning.
They fire "trouble-makers". They figure out some way to. Can we get them on points? Sick calls? Watch them and make sure you email us in detail. I know all of this because I am a supervisor and have been asked to do this on more than one occasion.
Anyway, I have many more stories, and many more friends who could give you detailed complaints that would all agree with that letter. I can assure its worse than you think. We had a suicide this year. He jumped in the river. He worked overnights. Please don't use my name. I could lose my job.
"Outsourcing the Deli Counter"
I was there for several years doing graphics for the marketing folks. This guy forgot one of my favorite things: Almost all of the prepared foods come from Sysco, not the sales floor. The only time you'll be eating anything even remotely similar to organic romaine in your $9 caesar salad, is if they had bunch of it on spoil in the produce department.
"Happily Employed"
I just finished reading "A Disgruntled Employee's Epic Resignation Letter" and, although I found myself nodding at a few points, I remain mostly unconvinced that Whole Foods is entirely to blame for the writer's poor work experience and not say, his seeming inability to arrive to work on time or to appreciate a free and perfectly good t-shirt. I've been happily employed by Whole Foods for almost two years now, and at a reasonable wage considering the entry-level type work I do as a cashier. Granted, I'm not sure how they run things in that particular store in Canada, but the same strict standards and core values that define Whole Foods are generally upheld across the board, so any incidences of recycling crimes or team member abuse most likely do not have the John Mackey seal of approval. We may put potato chips on our endcaps every once in a while, but we also employ Healthy Eating Specialists to host free cooking classes for team members and offer discounts to events like health-themed movie screenings and road races. Every other store meeting is indeed held at the ungodly hour of 6 or 7 AM, but team members can opt out of two each year, and besides, there are usually raffles for prizes in addition to complimentary breakfast. If there is any bullshit going on, at least the company tries hard to seem genuine. I do cringe at the sight of pounds of edible and delicious food being dumped into the garbage disposal at the end of each night, so I will allow that we could do a better job of decreasing waste and feeding local communities. In the end, Whole Foods is like any other large profit-driven company that will occasionally put the environmental mission on the backseat in lieu of perfecting its image or ensuring efficiency. But despite the drawbacks, Whole Foods is still a far cry from Walmart, even a faux hippy one, and I happen to think our pizza tastes just fine.
Still haven't had your fill of Whole Foods horror stories? There's more on the way. In the meantime, our lines are always open.
Read a Disgruntled Whole Foods Employee's Epic Resignation Letter


text:
"Heart Of Steel" (season 1, episodes 38-39; originally aired November 16-17, 1992)
I've always had a soft spot for Barbara Gordon (Melissa Gilbert). With two older sisters, I looked up to strong female figures as a child, and Barbara was my first exposure to plucky, young heroines, a type that I would later admire with Buffy Summers, Kitty Pryde, and Veronica Mars. I never read Nancy Drew, but I imagine Barbara had little mysteries she solved as a child with her stuffed bear, Woobie, while her father conferenced with Batman and Robin on the GCPD rooftop. (That would actually make a pretty cute comic, maybe with Amelia Rules! creator Jimmy Gownley at the helm?) Later in life, I grew to appreciate Barbara for wholly different reasons, as I followed her comic exploits as Oracle, the information hub of the DCU after she was paralyzed by the Joker. Barbara didn't let her disability stop her mission, and that strength of character is on full display in her Batman: The Animated Series debut, "Heart Of Steel."
Written by Brynne Stevens and directed by Kevin Altieri, "Heart Of Steel" captures the mini-movie feel of the Fleischer Superman with a retro sci-fi story, an aggressively art-deco design, and impressively smooth animation courtesy of Sunrise. This is some of the strongest direction from Altieri yet on the series, with creative camera angles and a strong use of negative space to break from the more traditional action cartoon look of the last few episodes. Stevens' plot hits the major points of a solid B:TAS story with a focus on Bruce Wayne and an antagonist with a personal, emotional motivation, but where this episode succeeds most is in its expansion of Batman's supporting cast. For the first time, we get a glimpse of Commissioner Jim Gordon's (Bob Hastings) personal life, and his love for his daughter goes a long way toward making him a more relatable character.
In Barbara's introductory scene, we see a Jim Gordon unlike the forceful, confident commissioner we've come to know on the series. His daughter now a college student, Jim struggles to accept that Barbara is no longer the young girl that needed her father's protection and Woobie's comfort. Jim's reaction to Bruce asking about Barbara's stuffed animal is probably my favorite Jim Gordon moment of the series thus far, as he blushingly admits Woobie "knows the way better than I." In a scene featuring a beautiful redhead and a teddy bear, Jim Gordon is the most adorable thing in the room. And Jim's last line, "Barbara forgot her bear," is delivered by Hastings with an overly deliberate nonchalance that makes it obvious Jim needs Woobie more than his daughter does anymore.
When Jim is replaced by a robot later in the episode, Barbara's first big clue that something is wrong is when the impostor knocks Woobie off the couch, showing no emotional connection for the cherished family possession. Just as her father latched onto the stuffed animal while Barbara was away, Woobie becomes Barbara's only connection to the father she once knew, and she confides in the bear as she heads off to rescue her father in second half of the episode. Did Carl Rossum's (William Sanderson) daughter have her own Woobie? A toy that she slept with every night, took on every road trip? Was it incinerated in the car accident that took her life?
When robotics genius Carl Rossum lost his daughter, he set out to create an artificial intelligence that could replace humans, whose decisions cause the loss of human lives. He really should have considered just what a free-thinking supercomputer could mean for human lives, because his prototype A.I. HARDAC (Holographic Analytic Reciprocal DigitAl Computer) plots to take over Gotham City with an army of robots running on WayneTech software. "Heart Of Steel" begins with a blonde Marilyn Monroe-type entering a Wayne Enterprises building just before the guards close up for the evening, leaving a briefcase at the front desk, then exiting without a word. Oh, the days before "If you see something, say something." Randa Duane (Leslie Easterbrook) would not be able to get away with leaving a package unattended like that nowadays. The briefcase transforms into an four-legged robot that breaks into the building's vault, stealing the "protein-silicon wafer chips" that will allow HARDAC to create more advanced robotic replicates of Gotham's citizens.
Bruce is still in the building when the suitcase goes after the microchips, and it's interesting to note that Bruce has equipped his offices with secret passageways and storage areas in case Batman is needed. When the security guards tuck Bruce away for safety, he exits through a revolving wall, reappearing as Batman to fight the briefcase. The music is one of the strongest elements of the episode, with Richard Bonskill and Tamara Kline handling the first part and Carl Johnson scoring the second, and the quick horn melody brings suspense and tension to a scene that is essentially Batman versus a killer carry-on. There are elevators in almost every major action sequence of the episode, which I'll just assume represent mankind's never-ending quest for technological advancement and its potential to eventually destroy us. The elevator always falls, crushing everything in its path on the way down.
When the suitcase shoots a rocket off the roof, Batman unfolds the Bat-glider he has stored for moments just like this, taking to the sky as the rocket is retrieved by Randa Duane. The chase ends with Batman getting shot down by the machine guns in the trunk of Randa's self-driving car, returning to the Batcave with the destroyed Bat-glider. Altieri makes some inspired directorial choices to add some variety to a typical Batcave sequence, focusing the camera on Alfred's cleaning efforts as the conversation proceeds. Showing the scene through the reflection in a bucket of water as Alfred wrings a mop into it is not only a creative way to tell the story visually but also emphasizes the majority of Alfred's work: cleaning up after his master. The blood stains in the Batcave don't just mysteriously disappear overnight, and Bruce can't really hire a cleaning service.
The next day, Bruce conferences with Lucius Fox about the robbery, and he decides to visit Carl Rossum, the only man who would have any interest in AI of that level. Before Bruce begins his investigation the next day, he is reacquainted with Barbara Gordon, whom he hasn't seen in four years. Barbara probably had the biggest crush on Bruce when she was in high school, and she's confident and maybe a little flirty when she sees Bruce again. It's a perfect introduction to the character, showcasing her relationship with her father and the spunky personality that will push her to become Batgirl. Gotham City is a boy's club, but if any woman is going to break through the superhero glass ceiling, it's Barbara Gordon.
When Bruce visits Cybertron (nice nod to Transformers), he is greeted by the eccentric Rossum, who has largely kept himself in seclusion since the death of his daughter. More great music as Bruce walks through Cybertron's facilities, with a piano creating a smooth-jazz elevator music melody that is broken by horns to create a more ominous tone. The art-deco design is highlighted in the Cybertron scenes, particularly in the sleek design of the robots, with rounded edges and long limbs reminiscent of the Iron Giant. Sunrise has a lot of experience animating mechanical figures, having done multiple Gundam series over the years, and their animation is consistently smooth and detailed.
Whenever I hear Sanderson's voice, all I can think of is Deadwood's E.B. Farnum, even though Rossum is modeled after Sanderson's character in Blade Runner, and his distinct voice works perfectly for animation. His portrayal of Rossum isn't malevolent in any way, and he makes it hard to blame the character for HARDAC's actions, despite his role in its creation. When Bruce is shown HARDAC, he meets Randa, Rossum's assistant whom Bruce woos in hopes of getting information. Too bad she's a robot. His plot backfires when the compact Randa left in Bruce's office steals design specs from Bruce's computer, forcing Bruce to leave Randa at Wayne Manor while he goes to Wayne Enterprises. Randa incapacitates Alfred and searches the house, discovering the Batcave and tampering with its computers to attack Batman when he returns. Despite learning Batman's identity, HARDAC is a machine focused on a singular objective, and revealing Bruce Wayne's secret identity isn't necessary if everyone is going to replaced by robots anyway.
Euipped with all the materials needed for an army of replicates, HARDAC replaces major figures in Gotham with robots he controls, including Jim Gordon, Harvey Bullock, and Mayor Hill. Barbara Gordon is the first person to catch on that people are being replaced, and she uses the Bat-signal to call Batman for help. Barbara handles her first meeting with Batman better than most do, showing little fear toward a figure that she's probably gotten to know fairly well through her father. As she tells Batman that her father has been replaced, Bullock-bot shows up to shut her up, leading to the first scene of Barbara in action.
With Batman about to get his head stomped in, Barbara shoots Batman's grappling hook at Bullock's leg, wrapping the cord around his leg as Batman pushes him into the Bat-signal. The image of Bullock being electrocuted on the Bat-signal is incredible and really captures the intensity of the moment. Barbara believes that she has just killed a man that was like an uncle to her, and as she approaches the body with tears in her eyes, the flesh ashes away, and the robotic skeleton attacks. The scene is an emotional ride and ends on a comedic highpoint with a fantastic one-liner from Batman as Barbara insists she join him in his investigation: "Please let go of my cape." That's the thing with Barbara Gordon, though: Once she grabs hold of something, she never lets go.
As Bruce is ambushed by robots at his induction to a new Gotham social club, Barbara sets off to Cybertron, giving her best Solid Snake impression as she stealthily maneuvers the building. Unfortunately, the transforming garbage cans get her, and she joins the rest of HARDAC's prisoners until Batman charges in to save the day. The final fight sequence is fluidly choreographed, and the way that the humanoids move emphasizes their robotic nature as they move on all fours, skittering and leaping as they attack. With her father and the rest of the copied people free, Barbara helps them escape before Cybertron goes up in flames, returning into the fray to help Batman once the men are safe. The episode's title isn't referring to HARDAC and his robotic operatives, but Barbara, whose strength and devotion never wavers. The end of the episode foreshadows her continued involvement with the Bat-family, but as much fun as she had working with Batman, there's no better reward for Barbara than heading home with her dad.
Stray Observations:
- Bat Beatdown: Whenever Batman uses an elevator to crush a robot. Which happens often.
- Love that Batman sticks his hand out to stop the elevator from closing on him.
- Nails on a chalkboard as Batman drags the suitcase across the hall is a cruel sound to endure.
- Great direction for unfolding Bat-glider. Batman theme as a bird's-eye view reveals the bat shape.
- "I do wish you wouldn't be so rough with your toys, master Bruce."
- "Sounds more like swimsuits."
- "I'm fine."
- "Squeeze may not be the best word."
- Dishwasher that turns into Jacuzzi? Nice.
- So much tazing/electrocuting this episode.
- Gotta love Bruce's one brown and yellow suit.
- "I'm gettin' a sore throat."
- Batman getting hit in the face with a pipe. Oof.
- "It's suddenly less pleasant up here."
- Things in Barbara's detective bag: hacksaw, crowbar, tape, mirror, screwdriver, flashlight, camera, and film. Girl is prepared.
- That powder on a keypad trick does not work.
- "I'm sure the investigation will prove exactly that." Mayor Hill, just being an asshole as usual.


text:
The original reason to have another conversation with Grateful Dead archivist and producer David Lemieux was to discuss May 1977, a 14-disc box set that includes five complete shows from consecutive stops in St. Paul, Minnesota (5/11), Chicago (5/12, 5/13), St. Louis (5/15) and Tuscaloosa, Alabama (5/17).
Before we connected there came the announcement of a screening of Sunshine Daydream, the film chronicling the Dead's legendary Aug. 27, 1972 benefit for the Springfield Creamery at Veneta, Oregon. It's part of the Meet Up at the Movies showings that have occurred over the past few years. "Sunshine Daydream" takes place at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 1 (Jerry's birthday). To find out more information or a showing near you, go to www.fathomevents.com.
Still, in the stream-of-consciousness format that usually happens between us neither subject is tackled at the beginning. A recent visit by representatives of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum brings back memories of the Dead's exhibit in Cleveland and Lemieux's interview appearance there.
"I just had a meeting yesterday with Howard [Kramer, Rock Hall curator] because they were returning all the Grateful Dead stuff we'd loaned them for the exhibit," said Lemieux.
"They borrowed a lot of stuff from California, from GDP directly, quite a bit of stuff, from Mickey personally and from quite a few private collectors. They loaded up a big truck. Man, they packed it well. They had like a fine art packing company. Everything was in great shape."
I mention that the Grateful Dead exhibit, which ended in March, has been replaced by another high-quality representation focused on the Rolling Stones' career.
"I was absolutely blown away by the entire Museum. It really exceeded my expectations, the Dead exhibit and the two floors [it encompassed]. So, if they have that kind of space for the Stones…man, I have no reason right now to be in Cleveland but I'd like to get there and see that. It sounds really cool.
"As I told Howard last night, "You really did the Dead proud." He did a wonderful job on that. So, I'd love to get back there."
But that's for another day. Getting to the first order of business…
Because this interview is a bit rushed in order to get it done before I head off to Bonnaroo, I didn't get to plow my way through the entire box set…
Did you get the physical box?
Yes! Yes! That's the first thing I want to talk about.
I haven't seen it, but I heard it's gorgeous.
To tell you the truth, I didn't open it up for like a day or two because I just wanted to stare at it.
I've only seen it on my computer. So, I'm anxious to get my hands on one and I don't think that I will for a few weeks. But I've heard from you now and a couple other media people who are just blown away by it, which is good. And I certainly do think the music and sound quality inside match it. So, this is not to say on my behalf or for my work but certainly the bar has been raised high going back a few years. I certainly think this one is up there with it.
Now as the producer of the box set, how much input do you have? Were you the supervisor in the construction of the box itself?
No, no, Masaki Koike of Phyx Design. There's an interview with him on Dead.net. He's a genius. I've been seeing his work for years. He did a funk box set for Rhino. He did a couple of Phish box sets. He's done some major work. And then, when you look at some of his stuff online you're like, "My God! He's done some of my favorite package elements."
So, this was completely his design. And also Doran Tyson and Ryan Wilson at Rhino on behalf of the Grateful Dead (Tyson is the box set's Associate Producer). They certainly worked very close to Masaki. They got that ball rolling.
It goes back to October 2012, about eight months ago, when we first started talking about what we were going to do for 2013. And when we set on this box set — and we had some good discussions down in L.A. with Mason Williams, the Director of A&R at Rhino who is no longer with Rhino, but he's the one that said "This package, I'm just visualizing this should be a Masaki package." So, really, kudos to Mason for suggesting Masaki.
Absolutely one thing I know I'm not is a micromanager. And when we're working together with someone as talented as Masaki, I don't have anything to say; slight suggestions when he goes in a certain direction and I don't think it's right for the Grateful Dead or for the era then I give input but minimal because he generally was pretty darn bang on. He thought so far, no pun intended, so far outside of the box that I trusted his instincts. I haven't physically held the box but when I saw it, I trusted in it completely. So, 100 per cent kudos to Masaki and zero kudos to me on the packaging besides for being blown away and approving it.
This is really, conceptually, and again Ryan and Doran in terms of kind of format of what they wanted it to be was the five individual shows in their own package and the book in its own thing. Those kinds of elements would come from Rhino. In terms of execution and the actual specifics and the cut outs [on the box itself], that's all Masaki.
It kinda looks like a psychedelic stained glass window.
Yes, exactly. And Masaki is the kind of guy who can not only visualize these kinds of concepts but he can execute them. Again, I've never worked with him but…oh no…you know, I did work with him when we did a vinyl release about a year ago for Record Store Day. It was the May 1971 Winterland two LP set and Masaki did the cover art, the whole lay out and package for that and it was just terrific.
So, it's a Iove working with our usual package designer, Steve Vance but in this case it was a change that was interesting. And the reason that Steve didn't do it, partly, Mason came up with Masaki and suggested it but also Steve has been so busy with other things that we've had him working on. It worked out well that we went in this other direction on this one and it's, as you say, a spectacular box.
Before we get to the shows themselves, let me go back to it, when they say you are the Producer of the box set how would you describe what you do? Are you more on the music side and just a benevolent supervisor of the packaging and other aspects of it?
When you're dealing with archival releases an important role certainly is selecting the shows and selecting the concept of what to do. First and foremost, what I'm doing is looking at what we've done the last few years. Let's go back three or four years and we did the Warlocks box from 1989 and then we did of course, in 2011 Europe '72 and then we did the Spring of 1990 box last year. So, we wanted to go in a direction that was a little different from all of those. We put pen to paper and say, "Okay. What year does that open up? Well, certainly the '76 to '78 range is a good candidate for this next release. Then, we looked into May 1977, Spring '77 and we thought of a couple of ideas and how to do something from it. When we realized that there were five consecutive shows in the middle of the tour right after Cornell, not only five shows but five very, very good shows, five excellent shows.
Really, it always comes to the music. The concept of, "Okay, let's come up with a box set from Spring '77…" but then we really need to focus on the music. If the music doesn't warrant it, we certainly don't do a 14 CD box, just as Europe '72 warranted a 73 CD box. And this one warranted five consecutive shows on 14 CDs. So, you're looking at that. So, it's conceptual in terms of what is the overall project we're going to do and then picking the specific shows and then working closely with Jeffrey Norman, who is doing all the audio work, of course, helping him along in terms of CD breakdowns, in terms of proofing the CDs that he had been working on.
All that kind of stuff and hiring liner note writers, working with them. In this case we had Steve Silberman and Blair Jackson. That would be part of my role, and then working with James R. Anderson, our photographer, as well as Alexandra May Hunter, another photographer whose photos are included in the box and finding a good number of photos that we could end up including in the box and negotiating with them. There's a business side of things that I have to deal with in terms of…we set production budgets and we say, "Okay, we have this much for photos and this much for liner notes…" Then, part of my job is to allocate that money to the photographers and making sure that we don't go over budget and get as many photos as we can for the budget while also being as fair as we can to the photographer. That's one thing that we do try to do is be very fair to our contributors, whether they're photographers, liner note writers…
So, yeah, it's a lot of things. It's all consuming in terms of the music, proofing that then the package elements, approving and proofing that. And when you get to a package that's this beautiful, there are many, many iterations of it, dozens really. I've got folders on my computer with images and just the constant matter of looking at things and going, "Well, this one is good but maybe a little more red would be good." And then he goes back and tweaks it and comes back. So there's a lot of back and forth with that kind of stuff. Again, with a package like this, it's just so outside of the box in terms of different from anything we've done. We really trusted Masaki so it wasn't really so much changing things, it was just seeing what works best. It goes right up to the marketing side of things and then the publicity side of things. Doing things as I'm doing now with you.