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Lucky McKee, Jack Ketchum & Andrew van den Houten Discuss 'THE WOMAN'
This year at the Sundance Film Festival our friend Jack Ketchum premiered his new film THE WOMAN to a crowd of unsuspecting press, filmmakers and festival-goers. The Woman was co-written with Lucky McKee, who also directed it. Lucky is, in my opinion, one of the best horror filmmakers working today. With films such as May, The Woods, Red and what was easily the best entry of the Master's Of Horror anthology, Sick Girl, you could understand how excited I was when I read the news that both he and Ketchum would be teaming up to not only pen the script for The Woman together, but also collaborate on a movie tie-in novel at the same time.
Along with tenacious producer Andrew van den Houten and a talented cast and crew, the team spent the next two years bringing the project out of the murky woods and into light. But what exactly was ambling its way out of those dark groves? And were we really prepared to see it in the flesh?
In February of 2010, we received the following statement from Lucky:
"THE WOMAN is an exploration of the very definition of horror. It is designed to incite feelings of fear, shock, nervousness, dismay, anxiety and disgust. It is designed to make you question what it is to be civilized, what it is to be feral and all the shades of gray in between. On a surface level, the film will make you jump, it will make you squirm and, for the more sensitive, it might even induce nausea. It will make you question my intentions in making it, as well as your own desire to watch it."
Then news came in the fall that the film had been accepted into the Sundance Film Festival. This was around the same time that Ketchum was actually hosting and teaching a one month Workshop with us. January rolled around and the elite of the independent filmmaking world descended upon Park City, Utah. The Woman was slated to have its official worldwide premiere on Sunday the 23rd.
And moments after the end credits began to roll, this happened...
Then this happened as the man was escorted to the lobby...
I watched the above the clip early Monday morning and like most people who have seen it, was immediately transfixed by this upset man's rant in the lobby of the theater. I felt we had something special in our hands with this clip. Something that would touch a nerve with people and boil up feelings of intense curiosity, doubt and fear. So I went ahead and Tweeted the clip out to over 305,000 of Chuck Palahniuk's followers on Twitter. I then did the same thing to about 260,000 of his fans on Facebook. And I guess a lot of other sites did the same, because pretty soon the video went viral. As of my typing this, it's about to hit 50,000 views in under a week.
Around this time, writer/journalist and close friend of the site, Joshua Jabcuga (who runs Ketchum's official Twitter) began feeding me inside information from the Ketchum camp as the spectacle of this event evolved and grew legs. During a week when everyone was supposed to be talking about Kevin Smith and his pseudo-auction stunt during the close of his premiere for RED STATE, everyone was instead glued to news about this upset gentleman, who had seen something in The Woman that led him to proclaim that the film should be "confiscated and burned." When Josh suggested that I interview Jack, Lucky and Andrew van den Houten, how could I say no?
A day later, I was on the phone with Andrew and Lucky (still in Park City at the time) and Jack, via snowy NYC, in a four way call that lasted almost 90 mins. Here, for the first time, is the exclusive reaction and backstory to what went down that cold night in Utah, from all three of them. I started with Andrew and Jack, as Lucky was running a little late due to another interview with the LA Times.
Dennis: I want to start off talking about the controversy that went down at the premiere of THE WOMAN. Jack, you weren't there, but what was your reaction to the drama as it was unfolding this past week?
Jack: I've spent the past few days glued to my computer, because I've been getting all these Tweets and Facebook messages. I've been watching the numbers rise on that YouTube video from the people who have seen the guy's rant. And then seeing all these reviews come in which have been so good and supportive. You know, this has been a pleasure. I wouldn't want to do this for the rest of my life though. It would be nice to get back to writing at some point. But you know, it's been a fun ride for me.
Dennis: Andrew, what about you? You were actually in the audience when it happened. What was that like?
Andrew: Not that I don't believe in freedom of speech… I do – but there's certainly an etiquette and a time and a place to voice one's opinion and I felt that that moment in particular was completely inappropriate; to try and lambaste the director in front of the audience right after the credits rolled… for God sake's, man, it wasn't the right venue. Just sit down and comment or question as you will during the Q&A. Or just leave the theater if you don't find the film to be something you're respecting or are into. You know, Sundance offered to refund this man's ticket back?
It was just ridiculous to see this guy try to grandstand and take the attention away from Lucky who, quite frankly, was more stirred up about the fact that this girl had tried to get out of the theater, tripped and fell, and was practically unconscious for about twenty minutes. And here's this clown standing up and trying to divert all the attention to him like a circus ringmaster, meanwhile there's a woman in the back of the theater still trying to recover from an accident. When that [women fell] , Lucky immediately jumped up and actually said "Stop the film." He was really concerned.
Lucky is probably one of the most sensitive and empathetic directors I've worked with in that, he really responds to people and cares about them. He would put someone else's own safety and health over his own ego or movie any second of the day. And I just think this clown was a high-falutin asshole.
Jack: Lucky's got a lot of heart. He's got a lot of heart. Hey, I've got a question for Andrew. I've been asked this several times by people who have seen the video: He announces that he's been in several films. Not to name names, but do we know who this guy is and is there any possibility that he was grandstanding to get a job?
Andrew: Honestly, it would've been a brilliant move as the producer of the film, to go and hire this jerk to get up and do something like this. (laughs) But I think our film evokes enough emotion in an audience on its own. Our immediate reaction was that this guy must have been a left-over protestor from Westboro that was just disgruntled because of the Kevin Smith debacle and therefore was trying to carry it further without film. Several people said they recognized him.
Dennis: I wondered that too though -- what this guy's story was and if there was another reason he was doing this. Because the entire time he was in the lobby being escorted out, he was holding his phone up like HE was recording everything as well.
So tell us what happened after the video. After the film ended and the Q&A was about to begin, what was the general reaction from the crowd?
Andrew: People were shaking. They were shocked. They were overwhelmed by the barbarism of the third act. There was just this underlying tension during the entire screening that culminated into this whirlwind of drama with the woman passing out as well as the gentleman getting up and screaming. I think people were ultimately more surprised and shook up because they saw how shaken up Lucky was too. It just all felt like we were part of some traumatic experience. I've never felt a room feel that uncomfortable after a screening. I suppose Jack Ketchum's THE GIRL NEXT DOOR, which I produced, also evoked a lot of emotion and there was certainly a level of tension that builds up over the course of that film too. But the thing about this movie was that, unlike THE GIRL NEXT DOOR, it's fictional. There was therefore something about going into a film that felt like a family drama but then culminates into a horror film. So when that happened, I think people were just like, "Am I on acid right now?" The vibe was just very unsettling and discomforting.
Jack: Were the questions good?
Andrew: There weren't many actually. Two girls in the front row actually stood up and apologized on behalf of Utah to the entire audience -- and these are women -- because the guy that stood up was saying that this was a poor representation of women and that it showed them in a bad light and was degrading. And these two women in the front row just wanted to say that they found the film to be extremely compelling and was something that really spoke to them.
Dennis: So you guys are still in town with another screening yet, right?
Andrew: Yeah, ever since this video came out, it's been crazy. Last night's screening, I think Variety was there. The LA Times too. I'm really happy the press is coming out to see our film because they all went to go see RED STATE on Monday. (laughs) Meanwhile our film was the one that really deserved to be covered. And last night we didn't have one walk-out during the entire film. The Q&A was brilliant. It was really the way a Q&A should be. Everyone stayed and was completely respectful and was interested and intrigued. And Lucky was in a place last night where he wasn't shaken. So we got to see the Lucky McKee that was really proud of the film he made.
Dennis: Has anyone tried to reach out and contact the man who got upset? Or has he tried to contact you? Or is he really just out of the picture at this point?
Andrew: No, we don't know where he is at this point. I'm curious like you! What the hell was he doing with his camera phone? Very strange.
Jack: Well, you have to wonder what he's thinking right now. He's got to know that all of this has gone viral and that his face is plastered all over YouTube. What's on his mind, I wonder.
Dennis: You guys should try to reach out to him.
Jack: No, you don't reach out to quacks. That's the way you get shot.
Andrew: Honestly, this happening like two weeks after the Gifford shooting, the festival was on high alert and they said they normally wouldn't remove someone from the audience like they did. Quite frankly, the guy sat back down like he was going to shut up and part of me was like, if this shooting hadn't happened and there wasn't this tension in the air and Utah wasn't such a liberal gun state, I'd think, maybe yeah, what they did might make sense. But once he sat down and shut up I don't think they necessarily needed to remove him from the theater. If he did it a second time, you know, I'd say toss his ass out. Some people agree with me, some disagree with me on that. He definitely sat down and bit his tongue after, I just wish he had done that from the beginning. And Lucky even said "Assholes have their right to express their opinions any way they want. It's a free country." And you know what, he's absolutely correct.
(at this point, Lucky joins us)
Dennis: So what the hell, you snubbing me for the LA Times? What sort of rag is that?
Lucky: (laughs) Hey now.
Dennis: Lucky, I talked to Jack and Andrew about the event that transpired during the premiere of THE WOMAN. What was your take on it?
Lucky: At the time it happened it was extremely upsetting. I had been waiting to show this film to people since we all dreamt it up two years ago. When you make these movies, it's an incredibly personal experience that you share with people that are really close to you. And it's really nerve-racking to show it to an audience for the first time. And then to have someone pass out and almost be psychically hurt by your film… that was really disturbing. And then on top of that, to just have this guy blow a gasket in his brain and just lose it on everybody, I just wanted to crawl into a hole, you know? It was just a very upsetting situation. I've been talking about it quite a bit and just trying to analyze it in my brain and what it all means. Ultimately I think it's going to be a good thing for that guy. Because it obviously made him question things. But you know… nobody was on his side when he was freaking out like that. It would've been a totally different thing if there were people that were like "Fuck yeah, you're right!" But all he did was add fuel to the fire and make people question if they could handle the movie. Now the response I've seen online from people is like, if it made that guy freak out that bad I definitely gotta see this, which just went against what he was trying to do by speaking out about it in the first place.
Andrew: There were two people in the back of the theater that I think agreed with him. But they stayed quiet and listened to the Q&A.
Dennis: What's the buzz been around town about the film? I know a lot of people like Patton Oswalt and Drew McWeeney of Hitfix have come out in support of the film.
Lucky: The general vibe has been beautiful. It's nice to be encouraged and have big hitters like Patton and Drew behind you. Drew wrote such a beautiful piece of writing of his experience watching the movie. It just moved me. My family read it and every single one of them, including my father, were reduced to tears. That the movie had such an emotional impact on somebody… It's amazing that you can do something like that to somebody with just pictures and sound… Especially these days when it seems like we've seen everything. It's kind of a beautiful thing.
I still think the guy may surface. I mean, like it or not he's become a viral sensation.
Lucky: Movieline was asking me in an interview the other day if I'd ever like to do an on-camera interview with the guy. And I was like "Not really." (laughs) Obviously the guy hates me and hates the work that we've all done. It's already being accused of being a planted situation, which it's not. If you were there you would know that it was a complete genuine reaction
Jack: Did the girls really form a phalanx and lead you up to the stage?
Lucky: Yep. My girls had my back.
Jack: Which ones?
Lucky: All of them!
Dennis: Talk about the genesis of THE WOMAN. How did you go about writing a script and a movie tie-in novel together at the same time?
Jack: Instant messenger.
Lucky: Yep, exactly.
Jack: How long did we do that? Couple months?
Lucky: Yeah, we'd get on the instant messenger and bang out the story and I'd go off and write a few pages and bring them back and then it would flip and Jack would go off and write and it was just a beautiful collaboration. You know, I'd always say it's like we're living in the future. Here I am sitting in the woods of Oklahoma and Jack is in NY and we're having this intimate conversation and creating this story together.
Jack: We had a lot of fun.
Lucky: Jack really has held my hand and taught me a lot about storytelling and pacing yourself as a writer. He kind of opened this whole new door for me, you know, which is just exploring things from a literary point of view. What a book can do that a movie can't do is enable the reader to inhabit a person. So it was really a wonderful experience for me. I now feel that anything I write in the future has to have that same attention to all the five senses. My ultimate goal when I end up with a film is sight and sound, but with a book you get all five senses. You get the interior of the mind. And it's just fantastic stuff to have access to for your actors and your crew when you finally get to the point that you can actually film it. It was a beautiful process. I hope we do it again, hint, hint!
Jack: (laughs) Me too. Me too. I'm on it. I should add that, as part of this process, Lucky would save all the instant message logs, so by the time we finally started writing we had a really good outline. It would've been really difficult if we had done this by telephone.
Dennis: Andrew, I heard you were inspired after seeing Pollyanna's performance in OFFSPRING and that's what led to all this.
Andrew: Yeah, Jack wrote the novel OFFSPRING, which I was getting ready to direct. And a friend of mine said, "Andrew, if you don't keep the character of The Woman alive in the end, you're missing out on one of the coolest characters in the story." I knew Polly would be phenomenal in that role because I know how strong she is as a woman and how powerful she feels on screen when she wants to. I'd seen her in SEX & DEATH 101 and she had this S&M character she played that was pretty hardcore. And I saw that she had this to side to her that was pretty animalistic and wild.
So after it was suggested to keep her character alive in OFFSPRING I immediately called Lucky about it. I just knew that he would be the perfect person to take this character and, along with Jack, turn her into something much larger and grander. So I flew down to New York City and we all watched the movie (OFFSPRING) at the Kodak screening center. And after it was over, I realized that what I had directed was a beautiful 82 minute screen test for Pollyanna to basically have her own franchise built around her with this character. So that's where it all started.
Dennis: But why the idea to also turn it into a novel? Where did that idea come from?
Jack: We decided to do this simultaneously as a novel and a screenplay. We knew that we wanted to do both. Lucky did the heavy lifting on the screenplay and then he'd pass pages to me. I'd do the heavy lifting on the novel and then I'd pass pages to him. And that's how it worked out.
Dennis: When will the novel be released?
Jack: It's already been out in hardcover limited. It's actually a really gorgeous edition from Bloodletting Press. It's pricey as hell (laughs), I warn you. But it comes with a real human bone embedded in the cover. It's really quite something. (Order it here)
Lucky and I made a deal early on with Leisure books. But they are in the process right now of "restructuring" which really means, we don't know what in the hell is going on with the book right now. We may have to be looking at other options. We may even look at ways to get it out in a different way and in a different form. So really I can't tell you when the book's going to come out, but hopefully very soon because we want to get it into people's hands simultaneously with the film's release.
Lucky, we know that Jack has written other screenplays, but was this your first crack at writing a novel?
Lucky: Yes. After I attempted to make Ketchum's book Red and then that ultimately fell apart for me as a director and was finished by someone else, I took a couple years off and read every John D. MacDonald book, I think about eighty books, and just tried to rebuild my brain, you know, after the devastation of having a movie be taken from you like that. And finally I was just like, "Fuck this, I'm gonna write." So I started toying around with some prose and doing what I can and exploring that world and then ultimately discovering that… I'm a director, you know? That's what I do. That's what I'm trained to do. Yeah, I can write, but in terms of prose and writing books I don't have the special ability that someone like Jack has to do that. I communicate my stories through pictures and sound. I've learned so much by studying the literary side of things and being a part of that with Jack but… any artist needs to be completely honest with themselves about what they're good at and what they're not. And I can write scripts and I can make movies and I can appreciate great literature, but Jack just has a gift in that world. Thankfully, now I have a book with my name on it because I contributed a bunch to it but… I make movies. That's what I do. The book thing is just a cool bonus.
Jack: Lucky was cool enough to invite me to the shoot for the entire thing so I learned a hell of a lot about movies too. So it's been a back and forth, you know? Straight down the line.
Dennis: Lucky, I want to talk about RED a little bit and the controversy with you stepping down from that film. (Authors Note: I'm not talking about the shitty Bruce Willis film, but a film of the same title that came out a couple years earlier.)
Lucky: Actually I didn't step down. I was removed.
Dennis: Well, because of that, when I went into the movie I said, "This is going be a piece of shit." Because whenever you hear about a director being removed from a project, the film always suffers for it. But I have to say, for the most part that film really worked for me. I really thought it had some moments of beauty in it.
Lucky: The reason for that is because it's a great story. And that's all Jack.
Dennis: Well if enough time has passed, I would really like to get your take on the true account of what went down there.
Lucky: It was me surrounding myself with the incorrect people to make a movie... People who weren't intelligent enough to make a movie in an intelligent way. And we got halfway through production and they ran out of money. And of course, it was all my fault. And when we disagreed, the movie got shut down right in the middle of production, which was horrifying . And when we tried to decide how we would remount and get the thing finished, we disagreed on the correct way to go about that and I was removed. I was removed from the situation.
Jack: They shut down for about how long, Luck? It was weeks, right?
Lucky: Yeah, weeks.
Andrew: Here's a good little anecdote. The day that it shut down, I get a phonecall. Jack is like, "Look, these guys wanna talk to you." And I was like, sure I'll talk to anyone. I'm a huge fan of Lucky's, I wanna see the film get done. Of course at that point, all my company's funds were put into THE GIRL NEXT DOOR. I mean, we were literally sitting there in the color correction suite on that film and we get a call from one of the producers on RED and he's like, "Hey man, we need $250,000 by Saturday." And this was like on a Thursday or Friday he's saying this to me. They then pitch me the entire movie, which I already know. And they tell me that if I give them the money, I'm gonna save this movie. And I'm thinking to myself, if Lucky McKee is no longer involved with this project then someone over there did something very incorrect. I mean, producing 101… you don't run out of your production budget halfway through filming. So when I heard that I was so flippant because, a) Jack is someone I've produced several films for. And b) Lucky is somebody who I looked up to myself as a young, fledgling director throughout the years. And so it just absolutely perplexed me that this situation could even happen. It is such an irresponsibility of a producer to even go to that world. I was shocked.
Lucky: Yeah, and ultimately all that stuff going really bad, in a way, created the foundation for the way that Andrew and I work together. And why we want to continue working together. It's respect for what we both do, and honesty about what the resources really are, and not holding anything back from each other, and just, being a fucking team, you know? Not working against each other, but working with each other. At this point, I'm glad things fell apart like that on RED because THE WOMAN is the most unique thing I've ever been a part of.
Andrew: For me, going into THE WOMAN, I had agents in Hollywood saying, "You're gonna work with Lucky McKee!? You're out of your fuckin' mind." I had people saying that to me. And I just said to them, you guys have no respect for someone who's made so many great films. I just said, fuck these people, I'm going to let these guys make their film and they're going to have full creative freedom. Jack Ketchum has been highlighted by greats like Stephen King as being one of the most authentic writers of his time. So I'm going to let these guys go and create art. And Lucky was so thankful and respectful of my film resources. You know, in this industry you kind of fail upwards a lot, and in the independent film world you take the losses and it's a lot of time and energy making a movie and a lot of them don't always make money. But fortunately I've been able to keep pushing along, and Jack has been so supportive. And to see how Lucky works…it's really special, man. I feel like I was allowed to enter a club that I had been a fan of for years.
Jack: Lucky did an extraordinary thing: At the end of each week's shooting, he'd have the editor cut together highlights from the week that he'd then show to cast and crew. And I mean, I've never seen morale jump like that on anything. It was like, "Wow, we're making a real movie here! Let's go shoot some more!' It was really just smart and generous and made a real camaraderie on that set that was just wonderful to watch.
Dennis: Andrew, shortly after the outburst at the premiere of THE WOMAN, you released a video response on YouTube in which you called Lucky's movies "feminist films." Can you elaborate on that a little more?
Andrew: I certainly can. It's pretty straight forward: He makes strong female characters that prevail in the end. In order to represent a feminist statement at the end of the film, one needs to represent, realistically, misogynistic themes. Lucky succeeds on many levels. I was talking to Mark Olsen from the LA Times at the end of the second screening and literally, Mark looks at me and says, "God, this film makes you feel horrible for being a guy."
Jack: There was a discussion from some men in my local bar recently about, how many men we knew who really genuinely liked women, as opposed to how many really preferred the company of men better. And these guys felt that maybe we just had women in the world and tolerated them so we could have sex with them. But Lucky and I are both guys who genuinely like women. And there's no fuckin' way we'd make an anti-women film. I mean, I'd rather talk to most women than to most men. And I think Lucky feels the same way.
Lucky: Yeah, look at my movies. This movie is in fact the first time I ever had a genuine connection with a male actor. Sean Bridgers, the connection that we made, I've never had that before. I mean, all the films that I've made in the past have always been female-centric. My brain works a lot better with women than it does with men. Bridgers was actually recommended by Angela Bettis. It's like he was already cast. She just said, "This is the guy. Lucky, I know you and I know how your brain works and how your heart works and this is a guy that will work in your world." And she was totally right.
Andrew: As a producer you look at Lucky McKee and Jack Ketchum's work and there's just a certain level of "wrongness" that happens throughout the story. It's horrific. The films are definitely tragic. I almost liken them to Shakespearean in that, they have this certain level of visceral quality, but on the other hand, they really do get psychological. Which is fascinating. And I think the psychological and social horror that you find prevalent in Ketchum's stories, such as RED, THE GIRL NEXT DOOR, RIGHT TO LIFE… there's definitely a commentary that's consistently happening. So it's dangerous and risky material to get into but it's the kind of material that, if you do get into it, you can really make art.
Dennis: Yeah, I call it "reality horror." Whenever I read one of Ketchum's books, you know there's never really a monster or anything that supernatural (although he has written some). But the books I like that you write deal with reality, like COVER or THE LOST.
Lucky: Yeah, the monster is you.
Jack: That's what makes it terrifying.
Dennis: So once you had a screenplay, how quickly did the production for THE WOMAN come together?
Lucky: That's all a testament to Andrew who somehow mounted a production during one of the most difficult economic periods in American history. Andrew just keeps pushing. He won't let up. I don't have a brain for that. I mean, I can write the stuff and say what I wanna do and have all these aspirations but I would have no idea how to navigate the business world in terms of how to physically make that happen. Andrew just busts his ass and gets shit done. And that's why I wanted to work with him. Look at his track record. This guy's made half a dozen films already within a very short period of time. So it was a long time coming for me to find a producer who actually clicked with me. The mutual respect was there and… I just hope we keep doing it. I really do.
Dennis: It's probably too early to ask, but has there been any offers for the film yet?
Lucky: I think our key with getting this movie in the right hands, distribution-wise, is patience. Because it's so out there and it's just so… audacious in it's approach that I think there just needs to be time for everyone to realize that people are responding to it. That video right now is up to like 40,000 hits. And each hit that video gets is a ticket sold. If the film is able to elicit that sort of response from a person, people are thinking, "I need to see it." So as a result I've got nothing but positivity from people as a result of someone being so negative. I mean, someone saying my film should be burned!? Are you kidding me!? It's crazy.
Andrew: I've made so many films now and I've personally sold a couple of them, and then also had reps sell a few, and I've been screwed over so many times in this business that—and I don't wanna say that things haven't worked out with a couple titles. They did. They're on their way and they're doing nicely. And all our stuff's been distributed, whether it's Sam Raimi's company at Lionsgate or Anchor Bay. But let's be honest, the business is stacked against you as an independent filmmaker and they're looking to make as much money as possible without paying you any of it. And so from my standpoint, right now, I feel like I'm the coke dealer on the block, and I got the best product. And I know that someone wants to get high on our supply. And I'm just not going to give it away until the right buyer and the right price comes along. It's the type of thing that really is addictive, and as you can see in the YouTube video, 40,000+ people are addicted to hearing about it, but wait till they watch the movie. That's all I have to say.
Lucky: Yeah, the screening last night was just the polar opposite of what we experienced at the first one. There were a couple hundred people there and it was just… love and excitement and understanding of the whole thing. It was just fucking gorgeous. It was just so relaxing to be able to enjoy the film that way. And part of the reason why it was so beautiful of a screening was partly because people had heard the word on the movie by then, and they were prepared. They knew that this was going to have to be something that they were going to endure. And so they didn't just walk into it blindly not knowing what it was. Because, you know, we didn't even do a trailer for this. We were very vague with our synopsis of the film. We just wanted to show it to people and let them talk about it instead of us telling them what they should think beforehand. And now that people are responding… the beauty of things like Facebook and Twitter— if I had those [outlets] when I brought May here nine years ago the movie would've done so much better. Because it's people! Genuine human reactions to the thing. Not a bunch of industry types telling you what you're supposed to think about it. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, that's all made by the audience. It's been a blessing.
Dennis: By that rationale, what's your take on what Kevin Smith did at his premiere for RED STATE. (this is what Kevin Smith did)
Andrew: Lucky is not buying his film for $20, I'll tell you that right now.
(laughs all around)
Lucky: I guess the Kevin Smith thing is politically charged, and I avoid politics like the fuckin' plague. I'd rather make stories about human beings than try to tell people how to vote or how to influence how they feel about things in a political way. Jack's the same way; all we care about is human emotion and how people treat each other. And that's why most of my movies are named after the lead character. MAY is about May. THE WOMAN is about The Woman. Character is everything. It's one of the things Jack and I really click on. It's why I love his books so much and why he digs my movies. It's because we spend so much time building a human being before all the bad shit goes down. Because there's a reason why people have such a psychological and emotional reaction to this stuff because they're invested in these people and their situation. Its people like you.
Jack: With this movie, I think by the time the shit hits the fan, you care about every single person in it. And that was our goal. To leave nobody out.
Dennis: So what's next for you guys? Do you have any other film festivals that you're playing in? Tell me you're coming to Los Angeles.
Lucky: Well, I would love to play AFI's festival again because that's one of my best memories form touring around with May. It's just a beautiful festival. So hopefully we get to do that.
Andrew: We just got an email today to attend the Second Fantasy / Horror Awards show in Italy. They want to bring us out for the premiere of the movie in Italy. And they refer in the invite to "Lucky McKee and the master Jack Ketchum."
(Ketchum laughs)
Dennis: If you have any interest, please bring it to Fantastic Fest down in Austin. That's become one of my favorite festivals and you'll get to screen it at the Alamo Drafthouse.
Lucky: Yeah, I'm dying to show that movie at the Alamo Drafthouse. It's the best audience in America. Beyond, the Brussels Film Festival in Belgium and the Sitges Festival in Spain, those are the best festivals. I mean, this movie is designed for those audiences. They're gonna lose their shit when they watch this movie. Sitges is your dream of what a festival should be if you're a geek like me. It's a theater that holds around 1,200 people and the screen is giant. And you're sitting on a hotel on a cliff overlooking the ocean. And everyone is mingling and there's no velvet ropes anywhere. It's just filmmakers and fans interacting. It's beautiful. I can't wait for October. I mean, a big reason of why we took such a crazy approach to this movie was for those audiences. I'm just so excited to show it.
Dennis: Jack, you think you'll be attending any of those festivals yourself?
Jack: (laughs) Yeah, I'm pretty sure of that.
Lucky: (laughs) There's nooooooo way you're gonna get out of going to Sitges, Jack. I will drag you there. I will stuff you in my suitcase.
Dennis: Well, you guys have all said you had such a great time working together and that you'd totally want to do it again. So I have to ask, do you have anything planned next?
Jack: Not planned, but we do have some ideas. Basically, Lucky's been in a hermitage with The Woman the past couple months. So things are pretty much on the back-burner right now. But I've got some ideas, he's got some ideas. We'll put something together.
Dennis: You think it will be something original, or an adaptation of one of your novels?
Lucky: Both maybe. All of those options are on the table right now. I really want to make THE PASSENGER.
Dennis: Weren't you originally trying to make THE PASSENGER before THE WOMAN?
Jack: Yeah, Lucky's had an option on that for several years now.
Andrew: It's funny, that's actually how I first met Lucky. He came to me to do THE PASSENGER. I had just finished THE GIRL NEXT DOOR and I was like, I really don't want to go back to this sort of story right now. At the time I wanted to do something more in the vein of 70s horror... with that sort of feel. Something like CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST.
So we had set THE PASSENGER up as a deal with this TV network but Lucky and Jack both definitely wanted to have the freedom to do it without having it be edited for TV standards. But they know I'm interested in doing it. I will literally do whatever Lucky wants to do next. I have basically not taken any projects on except for this one movie called GHOUL by the director of THE GIRL NEXT DOOR which is based on a Brian Keene novel that we're going to shoot in May.
Dennis: I want to close with some fun questions. Being a huge horror hound myself, I always need to ask filmmakers and authors what some of their favorite films in the genre are… say, in the past five years.
Lucky: INSIDE. A French film. That's like early Cronenberg right there. Just fuckin' phenomenal. The French stuff, like MARTYRS too, just amazing. People are always asking me what the best horror films of all time are and nobody's ever going to top THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE. It's just not gonna happen. That is THE horror film.
Dennis: Andrew, what about you?
Andrew: I have to say I love Gaspar Noe, and I think IRREVERSIBLE—
Jack/Lucky: Yeah, that's a great horror film.
Dennis: Jack, what about you?
Jack: You've nailed most of them already. I thought A SERBIAN FILM was pretty damn disturbing. Really nasty. The first time I watched it I wasn't real fond of it, but I was a little drunk. (laughs) But I watched it a second time and there's this strange, real intelligence going on in it. And it's really pretty vile, but it wants to disturb you. And I think it's not just the next slasher flick or the next "Saw 12." It's got more on its mind than that. And the other one recently that disturbed me… umm, what was it, "Caterpillar Man?"
All three of us answer at the same time: "HUMAN CENTIPEDE?"
Jack: Yeah, that's pretty whacky too. So I like those both.
Dennis: Alright, final question. And this one is solely for the filmmakers: What's your favorite Jack Ketchum novel?
Lucky: (thinks long) THE WOMAN.
Dennis: Hey, that's not a fair answer.
Lucky: Ha, no. I'd say THE GIRL NEXT DOOR. It's one of the most powerful pieces of writing I've ever experienced. It's the roughest thing I've ever read. But it felt so worth it by the time I got to the end of it because of what it means. It's just beauty, the fact that you can do that with just ink on paper, it just blows my mind. I'm so in awe of that writing. There's just nothing like it.
Andrew: Yeah, I'd agree with that too.


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August 5, 2012
This is another super simple and delicious summertime pasta salad.
I don't normally eat much pasta; but there's something about the Summer that makes me want to experiment with different cold pasta salads. (And, I'll admit that I've never really been a fan of cold pasta salads.)
We have a lot of cookouts with friends in the Summer and not only are pasta salads easy to throw together, but they also feed big crowds and are a perfect side dish for grilled chicken, fish or burgers.
Last weekend I took Bry's favorite Angel Hair Pasta Salad to his birthday celebration with the family and several of his hungry fellow sailors. It was a hit, as usual, but we managed to save one small dish of leftovers for the birthday boy. 🙂
The Seashells with basil, tomato, and garlic pasta salad that I made for our 4th of July celebration was also a huge hit with all our friends and with a lot of our readers. A big thanks to all our new readers that found us via Pinterest!
I found the original recipe for the BLT Pasta Salad on Food Network; but I adapted it, like I always do. I don't know why, but I just can't follow a recipe exactly as written. I'll read it a couple of times for inspiration and will almost always change it up.
I decided to nix the milk, sour cream and mayo in the original recipe and try some yummy Caesar dressing instead. Then I thought I might as well throw in some black olives and Parmesan to make it more like a Caesar salad.
It did not disappoint.
Caesar BLT Pasta Salad
(adapted from Food Network)
16 oz. mini farfalle (bowties)
1 lb. bacon
1 pint sugar plum tomatoes, sliced
1 c. Gardini's Caesar dressing
1 c. sliced black olives
1/2 c. parmesan
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 c. olive oil
Juice of one lemon
4 c. chopped romaine lettuce
Cook the pasta in a large pot of salted water to al dente, then drain. (I cooked mine the night before and tossed it with the olive oil and lemon juice and marinated it in the refrigerator overnight.) This keeps the pasta from sticking together.
Cut the bacon into bite size pieces and cook in a large skillet until crisp. Drain on paper towels. Discard the bacon grease; leaving just a tablespoon or so in the skillet. Add the sliced tomatoes and minced garlic and toss in the skillet for just a couple of minutes to cook the garlic and soften the tomatoes. Remove from heat and let sit until cool.
Since the pasta is nice and cold from being refrigerated overnight; just mix in the Caesar dressing, bacon, tomato mixture, olives and Parmesan, then toss in the chopped lettuce at the end and it's ready to go! Serve at room temperature.
Again; simple and delicious.
Note: I've made plenty of pasta salads with spinach but this is the first time that I've made one with lettuce; and, at first, I was a bit skeptical as to how it would turn out. But, my hungry, meat and potato eatin' guys raved about it and all my friends loved it.
Obviously, you want to serve this salad pretty soon after it's made so the lettuce doesn't get all limp and wilted; but we snacked on it hours later and it was still very good.
I really hope you'll try this one. Enjoy!
BigSis' Vegan Twist: Adios to the bacon and parmesan for starters. I wouldn't sub a faux bacon, since most that I've tried wouldn't stay crispy in a moist salad. Many aren't vegan anyway. To replace the salty flavors from the bacon and cheese, I'd use a really flavorful kalamata olive, some capers, and a sprinkle of nutritional yeast.
We also need to cut the Caesar dressing since anchovies are part of the traditional recipe. We definitely want the Caesar flavors in this recipe but without the fishies, so we can make our own dressing or buy one. I think this recipe for vegan Caesar salad dressing sounds awesome. Follow Your Heart makes a vegan Caesar salad dressing if you don't want to make your own. That should do it!
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subset: commoncrawl


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Great Character Actors of Today #3
July 5, 2011
Name: Zeljko Ivanek.
Best Known As: The courtly, corrupt, and ultimately tragic high-powered lawyer Ray Fiske on Damages, a very affecting performance despite the shakiness of Ivanek's Southern accent.
Trademarks: Hiding behind an unpronounceable Slovenian name, this very American stage actor has a dimunitive frame, a prominent forehead, and a crooked, sardonic mouth, all of which tilt his casting toward the debauched or the demonic.
First Glimpsed In: The cult horror film The Sender, with our friend Shirley Knight.
First Big TV Exposure: Part of the Tom Fontana repertory, Ivanek played a prosecutor on Homicide and the governor on Oz.
High Art Moment: Ivanek was part of the amazing ensemble in Dogville, Lars Von Trier's best film, and its disastrous sequel, Manderlay.
Ivanek the Terrible: Lately he's been overexposed as TV's go-to guy for generic villainy: miscast as a rogue military operative in Heroes, miscast as a deranged redneck on Big Love, nothing to do as a vampire judge in True Blood. Somebody should use Ivanek against type as a nice guy, before I get tired of him.
One Response to "Great Character Actors of Today #3"
February 26, 2012 at 5:16 pm
He made quite an impression on The Edge of Night. The show offered him a contract which would have insured a certain number of appearences, but he declined.


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'Sweetening the Pill or How We Got Hooked On Hormonal Birth Control' is now available to buy as a paperback and e-book at all of the book-selling online outlets.
Here is a link to the new website where you can find all of the coverage of the book release.
Plus, I update the Sweetening the Pill Facebook page daily so please join me there.
Or follow me on Twitter - @hollygriggspall
Thank you for all of the support. Feel free to email me for anything at email@example.com
Thursday, May 23, 2013
Sweetening the Pill: The Book is out now
Posted by Holly Grigg-Spall at 11:06 AM
1 comment:
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


text: Here is some pics of my car that i am working on. Right now i am doing the floor pan since it is rusted out. I plan to do the drivers side then move to the passenger side next. I cut out the bad stuff then welded in new, 18 guage sheet steel. It was my first time welding so i didn't know what to look for in a weld. I have since come across this website and it has helped me tremendously! I still am considering getting lessons, but i wonder if i can teach myself to get good, and develop my own technique? I have since cut out the steel and am going to weld in for the second time hopefully with better luck. Any help/advice/tips about my car and/or welding is greatly appreciated.


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Author Notes: I was finally able to retire the uber-traditional creamed onions from the Thanksgiving table with the advent of this recipe, but not without a great deal of resistance from the aunts and uncles. The first time I made it, I tried to slip it quietly onto the table and conceal it behind the mashed turnips. Naturally, no one was fooled. The chatter stopped immediately. Lifted glasses of wine were halted in mid-air. Parents quickly covered their children's eyes. (Ok, I made that last part up.) But every single one of them was just ... staring. What?? No creamed onions??!! From their expressions, you would have thought I was making them eat lutefisk instead of turkey. It took two passes around the entire table before Aunt Inga, who was well onto her third glass of chardonnay by then and had missed the first couple of go-rounds, took a spoonful, more or less by accident. After tasting it, she then proceeded to yell at everyone for being such hidebound traditionalists and how they should stop it and it was delicious even without the cream and cheese and the bread crumbs, and so on, although her choice of words was much more colorful. Anyway, the glazed onions are now a fixture. But was a long time before I was brave enough to start tinkering with the mashed turnips ... —wssmom
Food52 Review: If you're shopping around for a light and easy counterpart to heavy holiday sides, this is your dream recipe. Between the tartness of the cider vinegar, the sweetness from the honey and the richnees of the butter, the onions end up coated in sweet and sour glaze goodness. - Andrea —The Editors
Serves: 8
2 pounds fresh cippolini onions (preferred) or small boiling onions
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons of your favorite honey
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons sherry, such as Dry Sack
salt and pepper
parsley for garnish
- If using fresh onions, blanch in boiling water for about a minute; drain, rinse, cool, and slip off skins. If you must use frozen onions, add to boiling water for a few minutes; drain, and proceed.
- Over medium heat, melt butter in a 12-inch, steep-sided skillet (or a cast-iron pan) and stir in the honey, apple cider vinegar and sherry until combined.
- Add onions and enough water to cover, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until the liquid has reduced to a glaze, about 20-25 minutes.
- Salt and pepper to taste and garnish with some chopped parsley.
- This recipe is a Community Pick!
- This recipe was entered in the contest for Your Best Root Vegetable Side
- This recipe was entered in the contest for Your Best Vegetarian Holiday Side
More Great Recipes:
Onion|Vinegar|Honey|Parsley|Sherry|Vegetable|Make Ahead|Cast Iron|Serves a Crowd|Christmas|Fall|Thanksgiving


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Sponsorship marketing is typically done for promotional purposes, to generate publicity, or to obtain access to a wider audience than your budget can afford. Although you may think of corporate sponsorship's as in-kind donations, that's not longer the case. It's a booming $11 billion dollar industry according to IEG's 2004 industry report.
Sponsorship marketing is done financially or through the provision of products or services to support an event, activity, person, or organization where two or more parties benefit from the arrangement. The key to building successful sponsorship programs is to match the correct products or services with the people who want to purchase them.
Benefits of Building a Sponsorship Marketing Program
- Low cost way to create visibility and traffic for an organization.
- Increased marketing dollars to stretch limited budgets.
- Inexpensive way to increase sales.
- Increased loyalty through consistent brand building.
- Increased pr/media exposure.
- Exciting employees and incenting sales representatives.
How it Works
What attracts a sponsor is "eye balls". The more people or targeted impressions you can deliver to a sponsor, the more money or services you will be able to attract. It's that simple.
Any organization can start a marketing sponsorship program. Of course the success of it depends on: what your organization does, who your customers are, and how you structure the exposure for the sponsor.
Organizations Most Attractive to Sponsors
Still not sure if it's worth devoting time or money to building a sponsorship program? Then, check out the top five industries, according to IEG, that companies with sponsorship dollars are looking to spend them with:
- Sporting events or venues
- Travel or Entertainment Organizations
- Educational or Non-Profit organizations
- Art Related Organizations
- Web based businesses or organizations with highly visited websites
Getting Started-Seven Steps to Building a Sponsor Program
1. Define your product / service
Be as specific as possible about what your organization has to offer. While your organization's activities are the main product, other products or services can also be considered as offerings to sponsors including: sales materials, uniforms, preferential booking of facilities or discount rates.
2. Define the Target Market
A sponsorship marketing strategy will only by successful if it is aimed at the appropriate group of people. You can quickly identify your target market by looking at your current customers and considering common factors that they share.
– Demographics age, sex, marital status, occupation, ethnic groups, religion, education, etc
– Psychographics behavioral groups such as skiers, skateboarders, families
– Geographic location (local, regional, national)
3. Set Your Objectives
A clear, documented idea of what it is your organization is trying to achieve is needed.
Do you want to have your brochure costs covered by a sponsor, increase your advertising buys, or maybe have the cost of your next special event covered?
4. Develop a Marketing Strategy
When your objectives are clear, the next step is to develop a marketing strategy to help achieve those objectives.
If you want to have your next brochure costs covered you strategy may revolve around selling advertising in it. If, on the other hand, you want to cover the cost of your next special event, you need to use different strategies such as emphasizing how the sponsor will be represented at your organization, in promotional materials, and advertising. Remember, the more people you can deliver to a sponsor, the more valuable they will find your program. Use whatever means it takes to do that: newsletters, signs, radio or TV spots, press releases, website, etc.
5. Develop an Action Plan
Once you know what you want to do, it's time to actually do it! The key to a good action plan is to outline the activities to be achieved—assign people to get the tasks done and make sure to set a realistic deadline. Don't forget to set up a reporting process so you know what's done and what might need extra attention.
6. Build your Sponsor Packet
The Sponsor Packet is what you will use to communicate your sponsor program to prospects. In its most basic format, a Sponsor Packet would include:
a) Description of who you are and what you do
b) Description of the target market you can deliver to sponsors
- I. E.g. 25 – 35 year old family heads of households
c) Summary of your marketing objectives
- I. E.g. To expand marketing exposure
d) Marketing strategies
- I. E.g. Online and offline Sweepstakes
e) e). Action plan
- I. E.g. Develop online and offline entry forms and promotional flyers to be distributed by sponsor. Promote will begin 4 weeks ahead of the giveaway through radio ads, press releases, and local search engine marketing.
7. Package it.
You'll be asking a lot from your sponsors so make sure your presentation represents you well. Be accurate and concise with your content. If possible try to have it professionally printed and include photographs to enhance presentation. The use of special paper and covers can also enhance the presentation.
Put It To Work
After you've completed your sponsor packet, it's time to put it to work.
1. Company's. Determine the company's best suited as a sponsor to your organization. Create a contact list that includes as much information as possible.
2. People. Find out who you should address the sponsorship proposal to (usually the Marketing Manager and include their proper title and position. Ensure you have the correct spelling.
3. Contact. Speak briefly with them on the phone to let them know you will be sending a proposal.
4. Timing. Present your sponsor packet proposal well in advance. Businesses budget for sponsorship annually. They can also take a while to approve sponsorship proposals, particularly if they have to be cleared by the General Manager or Board of Directors.
5. Follow up. Allow a week after you have sent a proposal before making a follow up call. The
sponsor may not be able to answer at that stage. However, it provides an opportunity for them to ask any questions. Offer to come into their office to speak to them if they so desire. Ask them when you could expect to receive an answer.
6. Reporting. Once a sponsorship has been negotiated and secured, ensure you keep in regular contact with your sponsor. A letter or phone call once a month letting them know about your organization and how the sponsorship is going is good practice. Send any material that may be of interest to them – newsletters, any promotional material or photographs involving promotion of the sponsor.
To see some sponsorship templates, visit myMarketingGuide.com


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This is an opportunity for drummers around the region to gather and celebrate the rhythms of earth and life. Anyone with a djembe, dunan frame drum, or any other percussive instrument is welcome. For those interested in exploring, show don't have a drum, we will have a few spares. This group will explore a variety of rhythms, learn to speak through drumming, and develop a camaraderie that invokes the healthy vibrations of the earth. Men, women and teens are heartily welcome to enjoy this circle. Don't be concerned if you are not a strong drummer. Many of us are novices, who come to have fun, learn new things and meet new people.
Register by 1/12.
Facilitator: Susan Lee
Office Phone: (815) 877-0118
Fax: (815) 877-0265
3333 Maria Linden Dr.
Rockford, IL 61114
Monday - Thursday
9:00a - 5:00p


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One thing that amazes me is that there is no consistent standard for dealing with ethics issues in government. Here is just one example: Tom Daschle is a very wealthy man, not because of his government salary, but because his wife is an extremely highly-paid lobbyist. Now why do you think his wife makes so much money? Is is because she is so exceptionally persuasive? Or is it possibly because her husband is the Majority Leader of the United States Senate? Gosh, I dunno……. This would appear to be an obvious conflict of interest, requiring full disclosure at the very least. But one of the many bad effects of feminism is that it is now considered impolite to assume that there is some relationship between a husband and a wife…OK, admittedly, there are a few instances where there is no relationship at all, like the Clintons, but the vast majority of the time this is an absurd supposition. Yet it is the assumption that apparently governs conflict of interest analysis. According to the official doctrine, it is of no concern to Tom Daschle that his wife is becoming a multi-millionaire through her lobbying efforts, and to Mrs. Daschle it is the merest coincidence that her husband happens to be the Senate Majority Leader. Does this make any sense whatsoever? Of course not. But feminism rules, and therefore Mr. Daschle, the sources of whose wealth are unknown and can only be speculated about, has no compunction whatever about refusing to disclose his joint tax returns. This obviously makes no sense, and it seems fair to assume, absent disclosure, that Daschle is feathering his nest at the public's expense, but don't wait for a story on this in the Washington Post or New York Times.
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text:
Welcome to adidasoutletstoreonline.us Shop
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adidas outlet store is a German sports goods manufacturer Adidas AG is a member company. Its founder Adolf Adi Dassler (Adolf Adi Dassler) named in 1920 near Nuremberg Herzogenaurach began production of footwear. August 18, 1949 to register the name of adidas AG. Adidas was originally set up by the two brothers, after the split, Adolf's brother Rudolf Dassler (Rudolf Dassler) opened a sports brand puma. Its classic advertising slogan: "Nothing is impossible" (Impossible is nothing). March 2011, spent 160 million euros to enable new slogan --adidas is all in (all out effort).
Adidas owns the three major series: athletic performance series performance (three stripes), sports the traditional series of originals (clover) and sports fashion series style (ball type LOGO) (divided into three sub-brands: Y-3, SLVR, NEO LABEL)。
Introduction to Trademarks
Adidas logo has three. Adidas Classic Series corresponding logo is Trefoil, adidas factory store fashion series corresponding logo is a round half a pack of three stripes logo and Adidas sports performance series corresponding logo is our most common in the Adidas store in three stripes flag (which was also referred to as three blocks of logo).
We promise all the shoes are originals
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text:
LEAVE YOUR LEGACY in this one of a kind, TORNADO PROOF, low maintenance, ''LOG CABIN'' with steel roof, constructed to last thousands (yes THOUSANDS) of years. Made from over 180 tons of concrete & two miles of rebar. This home has a certified engineers stamp to withstand an EF5 tornado. AMAZING features include: High energy efficiency heating & cooling, pest proof,fire proof (to structure), weathering steel roof with no maintenance for at least 250 years. 20'stone fireplace, quiet peaceful location, Branson Schools,located 2.5 miles from Hwy 65. Classic ,natural landscaping. The most amazing feature of this home is being able to leave your family with unparalleled safety,security & a home that will last for generations. All measurements are approximate. Photo Cred Lana Raquel Photography
Take Hwy 465 west to the south west outer road. Turn right onto Victor Church road Go Approx. 2.4 miles property is located on the right.
A real estate transaction is a multi-faceted process with many moving parts. That's why we offer a wide array of services to help you through the process. Whether you're buying your first condo or selling your third home.
Results from this calculator are designed for comparative purposes only, and accuracy is not guaranteed.
The data relating to real estate for sale on this web page comes in part from the Internet Data Exchange (IDX) of the Southern Missouri Regional MLS, LLC , Inc. Real estate listings held by Brokerage firms other than Murney Associates, Realtors are marked with the IDX logo and detailed information about them includes the name of the listing Brokers. The information being provided is for consumers' personal, noncommercial use and may not be used for any purpose other than to identify prospective properties consumers may be interested in purchasing. The information being provided is not guaranteed, and all information should be verified by the consumer. Any representation that a web site contains all listings shall only mean that the web site contain all listing available to the public through the IDX data feed. There may be other properties offered through a REALTOR® that have not been displayed on this site. © 2019 Southern Missouri Regional MLS, LLC All rights reserved.
Last Updated: April 25, 2019 7:47 PM
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text:
by Clark Groome
Abstract impressionist Mark Rothko believed that as an artist, "I'm here to stop your heart. I'm here to make you think. I'm not here to make pretty pictures." That's one of the central points in playwright John Logan's engaging and enlightening "Red," which is being given a strong Philadelphia premiere through Nov. 13 at the Philadelphia Theatre Company's Suzanne Roberts Theatre.
Rothko never did paint pretty pictures. What he created instead were works that used blocks of color to create, he hoped, an emotional and intellectual response.
According to "Red," Rothko was commissioned to paint a series of murals for the Four Seasons Restaurant in New York's under-construction Seagram Building. The two years that he was working on his canvasses, 1958-1960, comprise the time when "Red" is set. To help him accomplish his work, he hires Ken as his assistant. Rothko makes it clear from the beginning that he is not going to be the young aspiring painter's rabbi or teacher or father or friend; he's only going to be his employer.
Nonetheless, over the two years that the two work together they do talk about life and art and what it is to be an artist. We learn more about the artist Rothko than we do about his art. What is clear from their conversations is that while Rothko wants his art to evoke feeling and thought, he himself couldn't be bothered trying to find out anything about the young man who not only does his bidding but also challenges his views as an artist.
In PTC's production, Stephen Rowe is Rothko. He blusters and strains and talks and judges, all the while referring to his paintings as though they were his living offspring. He also finds it tough to accept the changes in the art of the 1960s, which Ken (the superb Haley Joel Osment) thinks is the future, just as what Rothko and his contemporaries created was 30 years before.
While "Red" is a fiercely intelligent and challenging play, it is also a passionate investigation into the souls of its two characters, both ably limned by Rowe and Osment.
Director Anders Cato and designers James Noone (set), Alejo Vietti (costumes), Tyler Micoleau (lighting) and Josh Schmidt (sound) create an environment in which the art and the artist come alive.
Rothko says that when he was starting out, "We had nothing to lose and a vision to gain." With that, he sends Ken out to "make something new." It's a tacit admission that just as his group of young artists had killed cubism, maybe the new folk — Ken included — will replace the abstract expressionists (a label Rothko always hated).
The significance of the title is that in much of Rothko's work, red is a major component. His greatest fear, however, is that black will swallow up the red. Whether or not that's a fear of death, or just a fear that his work won't be appreciated, is never clear.
PTC's fine "Red" is an intelligent bio-drama that in addition to capturing the artist's soul is also an enlightening 90 minutes for those of us who marvel at but know little about how and why an artist what he does.
For tickets to the Philadelphia Theatre Company's production of the Tony Award-winning "Red," playing through Nov. 13, call 215-985-0420 or visit www.philadelphiatheatrecompany.org.


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It took an eight-hour wait, but Amelia Valenciana was still thrilled to meet "her future president," Hillary Clinton at a book signing event on Thursday.
Valenciana, 55, a quality assurance analyst at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, walked across the Barnes & Noble at The Grove holding up a new copy of "Hard Choices" signed by Clinton. Valenciana said she couldn't miss the "once in a lifetime opportunity to meet her."
"We need a woman in the office," Valenciana said. "She should be our first woman in the office. I think we had men doing enough damage."
More than 2,000 people gathered outside of The Grove for Clinton's autograph session.
The book, which covers a series of political crises and events that Clinton faced during her years as secretary of state, sold 85,000 copies in its first week.
Some fans came early in the morning carrying blankets and snacks as they waited in line.
Marilyn Dunlap, a tourist from Columbus, Ga., came to the event with her daughter, carrying a bag with cookies, water and a blanket. They joined the line at 6 a.m. and had about 100 ahead of them.
"I've been admiring her from the start — how she conducts herself. I think this country is ready for a woman and I think she is the best candidate."
Victoria Velasquez, a political science major at Notre Dame, jumped up and down after talking to Clinton.
"As a student, I see a lot of challenges of being both a Catholic and Democrat," Velasquez said. "I thanked her for her service and for her fight for the justice in our world. Then she told me how Pope Francis is somebody who is fighting for justice for all people. She said that most basic Catholic beliefs are things that Democrats believe in."
Despite a long wait, some fans said it was worth it.
Evan Noorani, a TV and broadcast major at Chapman University, said he didn't expect to get any advice from the former secretary of state.
"I told her that I'm starting the broadcast and journalism program and my goal is if she runs for office to be a White House correspondent and doing something with her presidency by the time she is out." Noorani said.
He said Clinton looked impressed with his plans and advised him to study hard.
A woman in the crowd held a sign that declared "I'm ready for Hillary."
Clinton chatted with fans as she offered autographs and high fives.
But not everyone in the crowd said they supported Clinton's possible political ambitions.
Chrisopher Roy Veech, a West Hollywood resident, said he doesn't plan to support her for president if she runs, but he was glad he had the chance to briefly chat with her.
"I'm so touched," Veech said. "I was not even expecting to be able to speak to her."


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Jerusalem-based Navajo Systems has announced that its Virtual Private SaaS (VPS) for the LotusLive cloud security solution has been added by IBM to its LotusLive "Integrated Apps" list. LotusLive iNotes is a described as a security-rich, web-based e-mail service that provides messaging and calendaring capabilities. Navajo's VPS for LotusLive is expected to provide enterprise-exclusive control over the encryption of remotely stored cloud data, consequently mitigating the data regulation restrictions which may apply to private data stored in the cloud.
Although LotusLive iNotes already offers enterprise-grade security in terms of data protection, user access and physical security — Navajo claims its VPS technology will provide an additional encryption layer in which the enterprise has full control over its sensitive data since it holds the encryption keys and is solely responsible for its data security. This provides an elevated level of assurance that regulated information or confidential customer data is never stored or processed outside the organization in readable form.
"We are proud that leading SaaS providers such as IBM LotusLive has recognized Navajo Systems as an important part of their cloud ecosystem," said Dan Gross, CEO of Navajo Systems. "LotusLive customers now have an elegant way to comply with any data-related regulations, which may apply to corporate data stored and processed in the cloud."


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What Women Were REALLY Doing While Men Were Watching the 2012 Super Bowl
Super Bowl Sunday – there was excitement in the air, mixed with the smell of wings and spilled beer. It didn't matter if your team played – you're men and you sat in packs in front of television sets across the world — grunting, yelling, cheering, fist-bumping, farting (yes, we heard that).
It's a man's man's day. It's man to the 10th power. It's a day celebrating all that lawn-mowing, spider-killing, jar-opening, "does-this-make-me-look-fat?" answering you've done the other 364 days of the year. You drank, ate, scratched your balls unapologetically. And while there was Madonna thrown in to keep your lady from flipping the channel to Lifetime, the night wasn't about her, beyond her expertise and ability to hustle in the kitchen.
What you don't know is that Super Bowl Sunday was as much of a holiday to the ladies. While you were preoccupied by Neanderthals in helmets and tights (I mean, really, let's just all admit they're tights. Who are we lying to?) we had a night uninterrupted to live out our wildest fantasies. While you were watching the big game, here's what your women were doing:
Having massive all-girl pillow fights in lingerie
"This bed is so bouncy! Oooh, Monica, WARDROBE MALFUNCTION! Let me lick that whipped cream off you, Veronica."
Nefariously plotting female world domination
While wearing lingerie, of course. Women of the world, UNITE!
Opening jars, stomping spiders and laughing about gullible men
"I can't believe they get off on feeling all macho by 'saving' us.' [Giggle, giggle]
Playing video games
In lingerie. And beating all your high scores.
Brainstorming color schemes for when we'll take over the Super Bowl and make it the 'Fabulous Bowl' with the help of our gay friends
"What if, instead of football being the main event and the halftime show being crammed into 15 minutes, we reversed it? It can be a concert/Broadway show with a football break in the middle! And glitter. So much glitter!"
Talking to your mom on the phone about your childhood
"OMG, he wet the bed until he was 12? Aww. He must have been so embarrassed. No wonder he doesn't like my waterbed."
Online shopping with your credit card
"Oooh, are those Manolo Blahniks on sale? No? Then I'll take two pairs!"
Spitting on all the sandwiches in the world
Every sandwich. All of them. Now you get in the kitchen barefoot and with a bowling ball strapped to your abdomen.
Feeding Ryan Gosling grapes
We wear tiny, sexy togas and feed that sexy, sexy man, big, juicy grapes, pushing them past his delicious lips, onto his wet tongue, uhhhh, this leads me to my last item…
Draining the world's supply of AA batteries
Enough said.


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SOUTHEND United's Sean Clohessy will make his 150th appearance for the club when Northampton Town visit Roots Hall tomorrow.
And the reliable right-back believes it is a game Blues cannot afford to lose.
Paul Sturrock's injury hit side sunk to ninth in the League Two table following their midweek defeat to Cheltenham Town.
But Clohessy is hoping for a different outcome this weekend.
"We didn't get the result we wanted against Cheltenham and I don't think we can afford to lose to Northampton as well if I'm being honest," said the 26-year-old.
"We want to stay up with the leading teams and that's not going to happen if we drop more points tomorrow.
"However, Northampton are in a similar situation to ourselves and will also be wanting to get the win so it's going to be difficult."
Blues are now two points and two places below the play-offs and sit just one position below Northampton in the standings.
That makes it another crucial clash at Roots Hall this weekend.
But Clohessy insisted it was not made extra special by his own landmark appearance.
"It's nice to reach a personal milestone like that but it doesn't make any difference to the actual game," said Clohessy.
"It's already a very important one and I hope I can mark my 150th game with a good performance and result to help us move back up the table."
Clohessy joined Blues in the summer of 2010 after a very short spell with Bath City.
Prior to that, the former Arsenal trainee had been playing non league football with Salisbury City and feared for his future in the game.
"I was stupid to sign for Bath who were part time and at that time I was thinking about what I could do for work as well as football, " said Clohessy.
"I couldn't think of anything though and luckily for me Tommy Widdrington then came to Southend and brought me in.
"I've been delighted to have played so many games here because that was my number one aim.
"And I just hope we can pick up the points we need to get promotion this season."


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Lobbying for Alpha Cen
Philippe Thebault sent me a link to an article on the Alpha Centauri planet search published earlier this month in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. The text is in German, but the Google translator does a passable job of getting the gist across.
I got my first inkling of the Geneva Planet Search's Alpha Centauri campaign through Lee Billings' article in Seed Magazine. (See this post). In the Frankfurter Allgemeine article, Francesco Pepe gives further details — Alpha Cen B is one out of ten stars that are receiving special scrutiny for terrestrial planets at HARPS. They are getting one observation every two weeks, meaning that the star is being hit roughly one out of every two of their planet search nights:
"Allerdings müssen wir uns Harps mit anderen Gruppen teilen", sagt er. Zudem ist Alpha Centauri B nur einer von zehn Sternen, die sie auf erdähnliche Planeten absuchen wollen. "Aber alle zwei Wochen schauen wir damit auf Alpha Centauri, und das Gerät ist sehr effizient."
This quote implies that my speculations regarding the Geneva team's data collection rate on Alpha Cen B were somewhat overheated. Instead of getting 100 ultra-high-precision HARPS velocities per year, it looks like a more realistic estimate of their current rate is 25 velocities per year. Since signal-to-noise increases as the root of the number of observations, this means that the minimum mass threshold for Alpha Cen Bb at any given time is approximately doubled relative to my estimates at the beginning of the Summer. Instead of arriving at 2.5 Earth masses in the habitable zone a bit more than a year from now, they'll be at roughly 5 Earth masses.
Now nobody likes backseat drivers. As the saying goes, "theorists know the way, but they can't drive", and theorists have had a particularly dismal record in predicting nearly everything exoplanetary.
But nevertheless, I'm urging a factor-of-four increase to that data rate on Alpha Cen B. I would advocate two fully p-mode averaged velocities per night, 50 nights per year. I know that because Alpha Cen B is so bright, the duty cycle isn't great. I know that there are a whole panoply of other interesting systems calling for time. It is indeed a gamble, but from the big-picture point of view, there's a hugely nonlinear payoff in finding a potentially habitable planet around Alpha Centauri in comparison to any other star.
During the next few months, it's inevitable that one of the numerous Super-Earths that have been turning up in the radial velocity surveys will be announced to be observable in transit (see, e.g. this post). When that occurs, we'll effectively have had our last first look at a truly new category of planet — the logarithmic mass interval between Earth an Uranus is currently by far the largest among the 70-odd planets that have accurately determined radii. My own guess is that the emerging population of super-Earths will be better described as a population of sub-Neptunes. That is, the transit depths will indicate compositions that are largely water.
So if 5-Earth mass planets turn out to be primarily water-based rather than rock-based, it's (in my mind) an argument in favor of cranking up the data rate on Alpha Cen B. There were no structurally substantial quantities of water in the Alpha Cen planet-forming environment. If we're seeing sub-Neptunes rather than super-Earths in the HD 40307, Gliese 581, et al. systems, then the odds are heightened that any planets orbiting Alpha Cen B are less than 2 Earth masses. There's no payoff in tuning your Alpha Cen B strategy for sub-Neptunes. Finding truly terrestrial-mass planets will require paying full freight.
In the early nineteenth century, the detection of stellar parallax was a problem fully equivalent in both scientific excitement and prestige to the modern-day detection of the first potentially habitable extrasolar planet. I think it's worth noting that the prize of discovery of the first stellar parallax went not to the eminently capable (but overly cautious and slow-moving) observer who accumulated data on the best star in the sky, but rather to an observer who focused on a rather obscure star in the constellation Cygnus.
Here's a link to the article, "Thomas Henderson and Alpha Centauri" by Brian Warner of the University of Cape Town.


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Summer Healthy Hit Pilates boot camp
11 July 2017 @ 8:00 am - 8:45 am
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Summer Healthy Hit Pilates boot camp
Come on guys, get fit for summer! Places are booking really fast so choose your dates and message me ASAP to book
Grid Work Clinics
A series of poles and small jumps to help improve balance, engagement, activity, technique and performance for dressage and jumping horses. You don't even have to leave the ground to benefit!
Rider Alignment/Position lessons
Jo is an Equipilates affiliated coach, Jo is now available for rider alignment sessions. Position analysis on the saddle horse, using the ABC (Alignment, Breathing and Core) technique for riders, followed by exercises and releases to improve your position and effectiveness in the saddle. Come for a saddle horse session alone or add it to the start of your lesson and we can incorporate the techniques. A must for all you dressage divas!
Dressage Test Practice
Practise any dressage test and receive feedback to improve your marks. 20x40m available within the menage all year round and 20x60m grass arena available during summer months. Both with white boards and flower pots.
£25 for 30 minute session
Equipilates™ Biomechanics screenings
Available by appointment.
Intrinsic biomechanics screenings and correlating exercises address any low grade muscle spasm, nerve and joint mobility issues which may be affecting your ability to use your core muscles, your shock absorption capacity and your symmetry in the saddle.
The pelvis is the first part of your body which receives movement forces directly from the horse, and therefore restrictions here directly influence your position in the saddle- it is really common to have a pelvis which is twisted, shifted or tilted to the side, perhaps tipped too far forwards or backwards on one or both sides and legs which aren't quite the same length!
These issues, which can develop into discomfort and compensatory patterns involving many other areas of your body, will be pinpointed in your screening and are so often helped quickly with simple and effective exercises.


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Good free host?
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Re: Good free host?hosting.web tr, space is small but good. My block is used: Kurumsal SEO
Re: Good free host?I heard good things about Zoho and they are providing free domain and hosting for a year. After that you have to pay for it.
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Re: Good free host?Absolutely the best free service: Hostinger
Area limited but ideal for new projects!
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Re: Good free host?
HTML.net wrote:PeterS wrote:Hi, can anyone recommend a free hosting?
Take a look on this list: http://www.free-webhosts.com/no-forced-ads.php
There are plenty to choose from. I don't have any experiences with any of them so I can't recommend one over the others. But check the reviews.
Good luck,
- Andreas, HTML.net
Way to Manage your POS Maintenance in the Omni-Channel World
Today's connected consumer has a great deal of information at their fingertips, including information like inventory levels, price comparisons, and brand loyalty levels, and, as a result, they expect the same of retailers. Customers expect to be recognized by various channels and be fully engaged, whether online or in-person, by their favorite retailers. This has created requirements for store systems to have universal views of inventory and customer data, resulting in the need for POS and store systems upgrades, as well as the emergence of mobile for retailers that want to be clear leaders within their segment. A sales associate with a POS-ready mobile device in their hands leads to more floor space for products, real-time insight into data, and the ability to save a sale by putting an "endless aisle" within a matter of a few touch points. Omnichannel pos software
Understanding Order Management in Magento
So you have received an order on your Magento website, now what?
You move on to the next phase called order management.
However, before you can start processing orders, there are things and terms that you need to understand from the get-go.
That will prevent confusion or other potential problems from arising.
In this tutorial, you will be introduced to Magento orders for the first time. And what better way to understand them than to familiarise yourself with the following:
order fulfillment management
States and Statuses within Magento
The order management workflow from start to finish
The process for creating an order manually
I have used free-webhosts.com for free host too. I think it pretty good( than others I've tried before).
Last edited by braveluke on Fri Jan 26, 2018 6:31 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Good free host?web hosting 000 is a free website who offer free web hosting, but free hosting is bad it may hack your personal website or details
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Nebula Project
Supplemental Custom Widgets for SWT (and more)
The Nebula project is a source for custom SWT widgets and other UI components.
Please add your topics for the next meeting
Nebula_Gallery_Explained : How does the Gallery widget work and how to write a custom renderer
Nebula_Gallery_Status : Why is Gallery labeled as Beta
Nebula_Gallery_FAQ : Frequently Asked Questions
Common code for custom widgets :
Nebula CWT Animation : Quick overview of the animation package included in CWT.
Nebula_XViewer_Getting_Started : XViewer examples and explanation.
Developer resources
Nebula_Actions : List of current issues requiring committer action.
Nebula_Setup : Project set and instructions
Nebula_Builds : Overview of Nebula builds with Maven Tycho, on Hudson or locally
Nebula_Examples_Webstart : How to generate examples as webstart.
Nebule/New_Contributions: How to start your contribution.
IP Log
The IP log is automatically generated from bugzilla[1].
Nebula_Releng : How to set up the build process for Nebula project with Athena CBI (old way of building).


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|The looming US "fiscal cliff" is one of the main downside risks to the global economy in 2013, with Latin America and East Asia and Pacific to be among the most affected if it materializes. Several developing country central banks have eased monetary policy in recent months on concerns about the growth outlook, but they may now pause as growth is expected to pick-up and as they assess the impact of the monetary easing in high-income countries. Precious metal prices have risen sharply on supply concerns, related to labor disputes in South Africa's platinum mining sector, and on higher investment demand, related to uncertainty about the global outlook and the Federal Reserve's quantitative easing QE3.
|One of the main downside risks to global growth is the looming US "fiscal cliff". Automatic tax hikes and spending cuts are set to take effect starting in 2013 if the US Congress fails to agree on an alternative debt-reduction plan. The US's Congressional Budget Office forecasts that the US fiscal deficit will decline 3.3 percentage points to 4% of GDP in 2013. In the event the full "fiscal cliff" materializes we estimate global growth will be 1 percentage point weaker than our revised 2.6% forecast (which assumes that only about 30% of the fiscal cliff will materialize), as US growth would be 2.2 percentage points lower in 2013 at -0.2%. The Euro area would also fall back into recession, as output is expected to decline by 0.4 percentage points relative to the baseline growth of 0.3%. Growth in developing countries would be 0.6 percentage points lower in 2013 with the more open economies and the ones that have strong economic linkages with the US being the hardest hit.
|Concerns about growth following disappointing outturns in 2012H1 prompted several developing country central banks to ease monetary policy in July-August. Central banks of several developing countries, including Brazil, Colombia, and the Philippines cut policy rates between late-July and August. Brazil's easing cycle was one of the most aggressive, (500 bps since August 2011), slashing the policy rate to a record low of 7.5% by late-August. In contrast Russia's central bank raised its policy rates by 25 bps, the first hike in 16 months, on inflation concerns. We expect developing country central banks to remain on hold over the next months, given the expected pick-up in growth in Q4 and as they pause to assess the impact of monetary easing in the US, the Euro Area, and Japan. In China, concerns about growth deceleration in the context of low inflation may prompt further easing. If investors' appetite for riskier assets intensifies, bringing hot money back to emerging markets, central banks may cut rates further and/or impose capital controls to stem currency appreciation.
|Precious metals have risen sharply on rising investment demand and supply concerns. The precious metals prices are up between 15% and 30% from the lows reached in the May-June period. Gold prices rose 15% to $1,770 by mid-September, matching the year-ago all-time highs, while silver and platinum prices rose 30.6% and 22%, respectively. Demand for precious metals by institutional investors (who are increasingly turning to platinum) has increased recently, following the Federal Reserve's QE3. In addition, labor disputes in several South African platinum mines that began a month ago and escalated in early September, have pushed platinum prices to 6-month highs.
Download the Prospects Weekly as PDF here.