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Watch Harry Styles Plant a Kiss on Zayn Malik in One Direction's 'Our Moment' Short Film
It's only 41 seconds, but it's dreamy! One Direction have shared a short film entitled 'Our Moment' to promote their first fragrance, and the clip features Harry Styles planting a kiss on Zayn Malik.
The clip is subdued -- it's filmed in black and white, and there's an acoustic guitar strumming in the background. The boys hold their fragrance bottle and offer shy smiles. And then, Harry Styles plants a smooch on Zayn Malik's unsuspecting cheek at 19 seconds in, ambushing him. Um, Perrie, are you watching?
Louis looks like a matinee idol with his pompadour. Liam's eyes are so expressive. We already know about Harry and Zayn. And Niall? Well, he is just precious.
Go ahead, Directioners. Watch this 250 times.


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TV Trailer: 'Amazing America With Sarah Palin'
Watch the trailer for television reality series "Amazing America With Sarah Palin," which premiered on the Sportsman Channel on April 3. (Photo/Video: The Sportsman Channel)
This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.
I ... really why our legally lyrics as usual ... the first lady of the outdoor discovered the sport when she ... this shows is the highlight of freedom the area ... where ... the fifth of May able Polman day ... to play the road trip ... never back down ... on the break ... when the Emperor who was paid ... for the Thursday before the age old ... Forstmann shadow


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Banana forager finds skull
KARON: A local man looking for wild bananas in woods to the east of Karon yesterday afternoon found something rather less appetizing: a human skull. Pol Maj Thanate Poungmanee of Chalong Police Station told the Gazette that the man immediately reported what he had found to officials of Tambon Karon, who in turn reported the discovery to Chalong Police Station. At the scene, in foothills about a kilometer from the Karon Health Office, a search by police turned up the rest of the dead person about 10 meters from the point where the skull was found. "Based on the incline of the hill, we think that the skull rolled down from the body," said Maj Thanate. Lying face down, the body – little more than a skeleton – was wearing an orange T-shirt with the words 'Phi Phi' and 'Phuket' printed on the back, and a pair of blue pants. A subsequent autopsy identified the corpse as that of a Thai male. He is thought to have died a month or more ago. There were no wounds detectable on the corpse and the skull was intact and undamaged. The police believe the man may have died either from a heart attack or a drug overdose.
Read more headlines, reports & breaking news in Phuket. Or catch up on your Thailand news.
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Motorbike driver smashes through glass window after accelerator malfunctions
A female motorbike driver has sustained injuries after her motorbike's hand grip malfunctioned and she collided with a glass wall. Chalong Police were notified of the incident at an air conditioning shop at 6pm yesterday on Chao Fa West Road in Chalong.
Police and emergency responders arrived and found the shattered glass wall and a damaged motorbike. The injured 40 year old Naowarat Jankarn had already been taken to Chalong Hospital. She sustained injuries from cuts from the broken glass. Pools of blood were found on the floor.
Ms Naowarat told police that she had parked her motorbike in front of the shop since Wednesday . The motorbike was undrivable because the hand grip accelerator was malfunctioning.
Yesterday she started the motorbike, claiming she had forgotten about the broken accelerator.
Police hunting for driver who threatened others with a gun on Phuket road – VIDEO
PHOTO: Tiw Tiw
The Thalang Police are hunting for the driver who was threatening other motorists on Thepkrasattri Road by waving a gun around out of the driver's window of his red sedan in Thalang this morning.
A Facebook user 'Tiw Tiw' has posted the video with a message reading "where are the police, please follow him. The incident happened this morning in Thalang."
The video shows a car switching from one lane to another. The driver shows a gun in his car window and then appears to throw it out (at least he used his indicator).
The Thalang Police are investigating the incident and want to find the car driver for questioning.
Phang Nga
Phuket's hotel and property players look north
by Bill Barnett of c9hotelworks.com
One of Greater Phuket's real estate and hotel market's that has a decided buzz of late is the area north of Phuket over the Sarasin bridge in Phang Nga.
In Natai Beach, the entry of the Baba Beach Club and nearby Akyra has created renewed visibility for the broad West Coast stretch of white sand beach, extending north beyond Phuket.
Two upscale hotels are in the development phase in the vicinity, with one being flagged to an international hotel operator.
Up at the 1,000 plus rai Thai Muang mega-project, movement is once again underway, as is a nearby massive Japanese-led mixed-use project including a golf course.
Land values are currently running amuck in the Koh Kloi area where the AOT (Airports of Thailand) has reportedly acquired land for an upcoming Phang Nga airport which will provide Phuket with a second gateway alternative.
Premium land transactions are taking place, with the most notable being the recent trade of the former oceanfront site in Bodan that was to be at various stages first a Raffles and later a Ritz-Carlton Reserve.
Looking at Phuket's light-rail initiative, one knock-on effect will be the eventual linkage between the island and larger connection to a broader rail terminus in Koh Kloi. This will likely spur real estate speculators to acquire peripheral locations.
As Phang Nga's West Coast four land highway expansion moves forward to Khao Lak and beyond, Phuket's Northern neighbor is seeing a renewed push in its tourism, property and infrastructure.
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Chipped teeth suggests Homo naledi had a unique diet
There was a lot of excitement when scientists reported the discovery of an entirely new hominin species, Homo naledi, in 2015. Since then, we are gradually learning more about them. For example, earlier this year, researchers found that they lived sometime between 335,000 and 236,000 years ago.
|Teeth don't lie [Credit: Ian Towle]
The young age of Homo naledi suggests they may have shared their environment with humans, raising an intriguing discussion about the ecological niche they would have filled. The preservation of their skeletons is also interesting – the research team that first described it concluded they may have deliberately placed their dead in the cave.
Mapping fractures
In our research, we examined the jaws and teeth of this species. We recorded more dental fractures, or chips as they are commonly called, than in all other closely related species studied. The size, number and position of chips can all give insight into the diet and behaviour of past populations. We can easily work out if a chip occurred before or after death – further wear on a biting surface where the fracture is seen means it appeared during the individual's lifetime.
|Lee Berger from the University of the Witwatersrand holding the skull of Homo Naledi
[Credit: EPA/Shiraaz Mohamed]
In H. naledi, more than 40% of teeth are affected – which is very high. However, this chipping is not distributed evenly over the teeth. The back teeth are the most fractured, with more than half having at least one chip and many having multiple small chips. That said, front teeth are still affected much more than in other species – more than 30% have one chip or more. These results suggest H. naledi regularly chewed on small, hard objects. In fact, the fractures are unlikely to have been caused by any process other than chewing as the areas between teeth are most affected.
To put these results into context, H. naledi has more than twice the chipping rate of Australopithecus africanus, and four times that of Paranthropus robustus, two extinct hominin species often thought to have commonly consumed hard foods (though there's still a lot of discussion about exactly what their diet consisted of). This contrast becomes even more marked when compared to living great apes, with gorillas having around 10% of teeth chipped and chimpanzees only 5%. Furthermore, the multiple small chips, sometimes more than five on a single tooth, found on H. naledi is not found on any individual in the comparative samples studied – strongly suggesting this species had a unique diet.
|Examples of chips in a teeth [Credit: Ian Towle]
Certain samples of modern humans also show a similar chipping rate to H. naledi, including living Inuit and Aboriginal Australians as well as fossils of dead humans from other groups. However, the pattern of chipping is substantially different – modern humans tend to show the most fractures on the front teeth. The few archaeological examples that do have similar fracture patterns support the conclusion that the chipping in H. naledi relates to diet and not to using teeth as tools.
Another intriguing finding is that the right teeth of H. naledi consistently have more chips than left teeth regardless of the tooth type studied (right: 50% vs. left: 38%). It may be possible that this reflects H. naledi individual's handedness leading them to place food items more often in the right side of the mouth. But it may also be related to a predisposition to chew with one side over the other. Once further samples are uncovered this relationship can be explored further.
|Homo Naledi teeth [Credit: Ian Towle]
The results of this study suggest H. naledi may have specialised in eating certain foods such as raw tubers, with grit sticking to the surface. However, it is also possible that they ate a particularly tiny, hard food item, such as a type of nut or seed, or that they cut or somehow dismantled bigger pieces of hard foods into smaller pieces.
For now, all we can conclude for certain is that H. naledi consumed a diet significantly different from any other fossil hominin species yet studied, containing a bigger proportion of small, hard objects. Further research on the microscopic wear of these teeth and studying plant remains in their dental tartar may provide evidence for the exact cause of these dental fractures. Hopefully we'll uncover some of the best kept secrets of this fascinating species soon.
Author: Ian Towle | Source: The Conversation [July 14, 2017]
Labels Anthropology, Early Humans, Forensics, Fossils


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Courtney Yager of CNN has an interesting piece on the work of Harvard University psychiatrist Robert Lifton, who has studied the psychology of genocides and found that situational factors can lead any human to partake in genocides. Yager discusses the work of other social scientists who have come to similar conclusions. We excerpt the story below.
* * *
Adolf Hitler, Pol Pot, Slobodan Milosevic. They are household names, infamous for masterminding genocide. But who were the foot soldiers who did the dirty work?
In many cases they were equally notorious in their communities because they were the friends, neighbors and co-workers of those they raped, slaughtered and buried alive.
* * *
Researchers say most perpetrators of genocide were not destined for murder and had never killed before.
"You don't have to be mentally ill or even innately evil or criminal. You can be ordinary, no better or worse than you or me, and commit killing or genocide," said Harvard psychiatrist Robert Lifton, who has studied Nazi doctors.
"The truth is that we all have the possibility for genocidal behavior."
Experts have reached a troubling conclusion: It was actually very easy for the architects of genocide to find more than enough ordinary people to do the killing.
Genocide is often the result of a "perfect storm." A country reeling from political and economic turmoil, a fanatical leader promising to make things better and a vulnerable population targeted for blame — all combine in a blueprint for mass murder.
* * *
For the rest of the story, click here. For other Situationist posts related to genocide, click here.


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Kevin Hagan White, a colossal political figure who helped transform Boston into a world-class city during 16 often turbulent years as mayor, died last night in his Beacon Hill home, his family said. He was 82 and was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease about a decade ago.
A larger-than-life presence in his era, Mr. White had deep roots in the parochial old political culture of the city, but lightning instincts and a roving intellect that propelled him to national stature. Amid society-altering upheavals of the era - the civil rights movement, Vietnam War, and Watergate - he adapted and survived, at times reinventing himself.
From 1968 to 1984, Mr. White was chief executive of a fast-changing metropolis, which had emerged from decades of economic stagnation and insularity with an explosion of growth and construction downtown. But social change tore at the city's fabric. Racial tension and violence during court-ordered school desegregation in the mid-1970s stained Boston's image.
"He was a giant among mayors,'' said Mayor Thomas M. Menino. "I lost a good friend. I offered my condolences to Kathryn and the entire family. It's a sad day for the city. But Kevin left an indelible mark that will never, ever be replaced.''
"He helped make the city what it is today,'' he said.
Raymond L. Flynn, a former city councilor who succeeded Mr. White as Boston's mayor, said, "It's no secret that Kevin and I were rivals for many years. But underneath that sometimes heated rivalry, rooted in different priorities, was a mutual respect. Kevin and I shared a deep love for this complex, fascinating city of Boston.''
A gifted, instinctual, and mercurial politician, Mr. White had national ambitions that were thwarted at each turn. Two years after losing an ill-advised campaign for governor in 1970, he was George S. McGovern's vice presidential choice for about two hours before being passed over. The tumult of the school busing crisis snuffed out his plans for a presidential candidacy in 1976.
Under Mr. White, Boston was a laboratory for urban policy experiments early in his administration. Later years in office were more stagnant, however, the result of chronic fiscal problems, a preoccupation with machine politics, and, ultimately, a wide-ranging federal corruption investigation that ensnared several dozen city employees and businessmen. Although he was never charged, the probe was a factor in the decision by a weary Mr. White not to seek a record fifth term.
Perhaps his greatest legacy was the young, idealistic talent Mr. White attracted to City Hall, which became an incubator for dozens of successful careers in politics, government, and business.
After the mayoralty, Mr. White maintained a low public profile, teaching at Boston University until his retirement around the time of his Alzheimer's diagnosis.
Micho Spring, a top aide to Mr. White for eight years, last night described an administration fueled by the former mayor's passion for the city and his determination to infuse City Hall with voices younger and more diverse than those usually heard in the precincts of power.
"For those of us who were attracted to city government, his political instincts, his innate leadership, his tenacity, and his wit made working for him a defining experience for our entire generation of very young people, and particularly people who had not traditionally been part of city government,'' said Spring, now chairwoman of the global corporate practice for public relations firm Weber Shandwick.
"He really governed from conviction and what he thought was right for the city,'' she said.
Former city councilor Lawrence S. DiCara, who worked with White at City Hall from 1972 to 1981, said, "It's a sad day for Boston.'' Thinking of the 10-foot-tall bronze statue of Mr. White outside City Hall, he added: "As far as I'm concerned, he deserves a statue that is bigger than life.''
Governor Deval Patrick said last night that he was saddened by the news and his thoughts went out to the family.
"Mayor White led the city of Boston through turbulent times, creating a path to prosperity for the city,'' he said.
The son and grandson of Boston City Council presidents, Mr. White grew up in Jamaica Plain and West Roxbury, the oldest of four children of Joseph C. and Patricia (Hagan) White. After withdrawing from Cranwell, a Jesuit boarding school in Lenox, Mr. White, who was dyslexic, graduated near the bottom of his class at Tabor Academy in Marion, where he began to show leadership traits as class president and captain of the baseball team.
He received a bachelor's degree from Williams College, and after graduating from Boston College Law School, split time between private law practice and a prosecutor's job in the office of Suffolk District Attorney Garrett H. Byrne.
In a 1954 marriage of political clans, he wed Kathryn Galvin, one of seven daughters of William J. "Mother'' Galvin, a former Boston City Council president from Charlestown.
Mr. White's interest in pursuing a political career had developed by the time he was in high school. "He was captivated by my father's career,'' recalled Terrence H. White, his younger brother, and manager of Kevin's early campaigns. "My father was a very charismatic guy, gregarious to the nth degree. Politics permeated the household.''
The father-son relationship was very rocky and distant at times, however. "They were so much alike,'' said Terry White. "As my mother used to say, my father was looking at his own shortcomings being graphically demonstrated in a teenager.''
His mother, refined and literate, had a profound influence on Mr. White and his siblings, Terry White said.
Joe White, an old-school, glad-handing Democrat, had served in both chambers of the Legislature and on the old five-member elected School Committee before winning the first of five two-year terms on the City Council in 1951. He played a critical role in his son's early political successes, but died before his son became mayor.
Kevin White made his mark mastering politics in the modern era of television, but his start was the product of old-fashioned, backroom political horse-trading.
In 1960, Mr. White ran for the Democratic nomination for the open position of secretary of state. To win the party's nomination at what was then a binding convention, Mr. White's father and father-in-law called in old markers, including a big chit from then-state Senate president John E. Powers, whom the elder White had backed in Powers's unsuccessful mayoral campaign the previous year.
After two ballots, Kevin White was surging toward victory shortly before midnight at the party's marathon convention in the old Boston Arena. At that point, Powers, chairing the convention, refused to recognize one of Mr. White's opponents who was seeking to adjourn the convention to the following day in an effort to forestall the White momentum and regroup delegates, many of whom had left the hall. Fights broke out on the convention floor and police restored order. Mr. White prevailed on the third ballot to become the party's nominee in November.
During the campaign, Mr. White was such a little-known figure that John F. Kennedy, the favorite-son US senator who was running for president, once introduced him at a rally as "Calvin Witt,'' author J. Anthony Lukas wrote in "Common Ground,'' his account of school desegregation in Boston, which was awarded a Pulitzer Prize in 1986. Mr. White beat a rising Republican star and future US senator, Edward W. Brooke, and went on to win reelection three times as state secretary.
Mr. White did not improve his relationship with the Kennedy clan in 1962 when he supported Edward J. McCormack Jr., the state attorney general from Boston, over John Kennedy's younger brother, Edward M. Kennedy, in the race for the president's old Senate seat. Edward Kennedy crushed McCormack, nephew of US House Speaker John W. McCormack, in the dynastic clash in the Democratic primary.
Restless to advance, Mr. White in 1967 joined nine others seeking to succeed John F. Collins, who was stepping down as mayor after eight years of stolid efficiency that launched urban renewal projects, providing the template for future growth. In the preliminary, Mr. White qualified for the two-candidate runoff by finishing second behind Louise Day Hicks, the School Committee member who had emerged as leader of the resistance to integrating the city's schools and who ran under the slogan, "You know where I stand.''
Breaking tradition, The Boston Globe issued its first candidate endorsement in 72 years by backing Mr. White, who defeated Hicks by 12,552 votes out of nearly 193,000 cast. That signaled the newspaper's intense new interest in local politics under Thomas Winship, who had become editor two years earlier. It also began an almost symbiotic relationship between White and Winship, dominant figures in Boston for the next 16 years.
Mr. White drew bright young political talent, eager to use government as an instrument of social change. Then he delegated authority.
"He was a product of the Irish-American, mostly Democratic, political culture and he was a proud inheritor of that tradition,'' US Representative Barney Frank, who served as Mr. White's chief of staff from 1968 to 1970, said last night. "He was also the first mayor to open up Boston to new trends, hiring women and minorities. There was much more acceptance of a modern city.''
Besides Frank, prominent White administration alumni include Frederick P. Salvucci, who became state transportation secretary and the driving force behind the Big Dig tunnel project; Anne M. Finucane, now Bank of America's global strategy and marketing officer; Paul S. Grogan, president of The Boston Foundation; Robert R. Kiley, who headed the MBTA, New York City's Metropolitan Transit Authority, and the London Underground; Spring; and Robert E. Travaglini, who served as state Senate president.
Mr. White was also an admirer of the approach and policies of John V. Lindsay, then mayor of New York City and breaking ground in a new style of activist urban government. Mr. White's Little City Halls program installed in every Boston neighborhood the Lindsay model that brought services closer to constituents.
Mr. White also began a process of what Boston College historian Thomas O'Connor described as "selling the notion of 'The New Boston,' not just to the city and the neighborhoods, but he literally sold it to the world.''
"He put Boston on the map and began to draw people in masses back into the city,'' said O'Connor. The unofficial launch was the summer of 1976, when millions thronged Boston for visits by Queen Elizabeth II and the Tall Ships, as well as the national bicentennial celebration, which was highlighted by the Fourth of July Boston Pops concert on the Esplanade.
But years earlier, Mr. White had already begun to draw national notice.
In April 1968, as cities were exploding in rage after the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Mr. White persuaded WGBH-TV to broadcast a James Brown concert live from Boston Garden as a way to keep people in their homes. He also secured $60,000 to pay Brown for the loss of ticket revenue. Onstage that night, the Godfather of Soul called the mayor "a swingin' cat.'' Unlike many other major cities, Boston remained relatively calm.
In 1970, Mr. White challenged acting Governor Francis W. Sargent, an affable liberal Republican. Mr. White beat three others to win the Democratic nomination, but in the final, Sargent thumped him by about a quarter-million votes, even defeating the mayor in Boston, a Democratic stronghold. During the campaign, Mr. White suffered such a serious ulcer that he required surgery to remove more than half his stomach.
Seeking reelection a year after the gubernatorial fiasco, Mr. White faced four challengers - Hicks, then serving what would be a single term in Congress, and three city councilors, including the hard-charging Joseph F. Timilty, who would duel twice more with the mayor, most famously in their epic showdown in 1975.
Mr. White received less than a third of the vote to finish atop the preliminary field, again drawing Hicks in a final that proved anticlimactic. Mr. White won with nearly 62 percent of the vote.
In 1972, Mr. White came tantalizingly close to the national breakthrough he craved. While the Democratic National Convention in Miami prepared to nominate McGovern for president, Mr. White remained at his retreat at Monument Beach in Bourne. For about two hours, he was McGovern's running mate, until Senator Kennedy, who was protective of his primacy in Massachusetts, and others in the Bay State delegation raised objections.
Mr. McGovern sheepishly withdrew the offer in a telephone conversation and turned to Senator Thomas Eagleton of Missouri, who later withdrew in favor of R. Sargent Shriver after damaging disclosures about Mr. Eagleton's past treatment for depression threatened to scuttle the ticket.
Political commentator Mark Shields, then a consultant who often advised Mr. White, was at the convention and learned of Kennedy's role, the details of which would not be publicized until later that year.
"About a week after the convention, Kevin and I were having dinner in Boston, and I told him that Teddy had sabotaged him on the vice presidency,'' Mr. Shields recalled many years later. "Kevin listens to it, and says, 'Hey, I would've done the same thing to him if I had the chance.' ''
His hope of advancement again dashed, Mr. White turned to city business. By the time McGovern had suffered his crushing defeat at the hands of Richard M. Nixon in November, the mayor was moving to clean up corruption in the Boston Police Department, rocked that year when a raid on the home of a bookmaker turned up an alleged payoff list with the names of 58 police officers.
To modernize the force, Mr. White brought in a reformer, Robert J. diGrazia, who had been police superintendent in St. Louis County, Mo.
DiGrazia's squeaky-clean posture and single-minded pursuit of uniformed miscreants over the next four years made the police commissioner a more trusted public figure in Boston than the man who appointed him.
A transformation to lordliness occurred in 1973 when Mr. White, at a cost of more than $600,000 in public and private funds, renovated the Parkman House on Beacon Hill. The 16-room mansion, a gift to the city in 1908, went from being the headquarters of the parks department to a place for public receptions. In short order, the mayor made it his private retreat.
There, Mr. White lavishly entertained visiting dignitaries. During times of austere city budgets, the exotic menu items from his elegant dinners routinely appeared in print, infuriating the mayor. The Parkman House came to embody Mr. White's champagne tastes, indulged at taxpayer expense, irking critics and earning him the sobriquet "Mayor DeLuxe'' from Peter Lucas, a columnist for the Boston Herald.
Self-assured to the point of arrogance in public, he was witty, humble, and often self-mocking in private, a former aide remembered.
As he geared up to run for a third term, however, Mr. White faced a much more serious problem, a crisis that consumed him and marked the beginning of the end of political ambition beyond City Hall. On June 21, 1974, US District Judge W. Arthur Garrity Jr. issued his order to desegregate the city's schools, starting that fall.
For the rest of his life, Mr. White cast himself as a victim of the order.
The School Department technically fell under the purview of an independent, popularly elected School Committee which for years sanctioned a separate, unequal, and segregated public education system. But the city's schools, like its public housing system, which also fell under court control on White's watch, had never been a top priority of his mayoralty.
Garrity's sweeping order, which called for busing across neighborhoods, produced tension and violence, much of it aired nightly in graphic, nationally televised news accounts. Mr. White tried futilely to defuse the situation, attending scores of neighborhood meetings while struggling to maintain public order.
Garrity's findings were irrefutable, but his rigid orders stoked the chaos by cross-busing students from Roxbury, a black neighborhood, and working-class South Boston, the epicenter of resistance. The violence at times bordered on riots, despite the heavy police presence deployed by Mr. White to maintain order.
"I would not have opposed - I never did oppose - the fundamental concept of desegregation, but I would have fought harder, I think, or used my skills more in the spring [of 1974] and maybe it would have worked,'' Mr. White told reporters as he prepared to leave office.
"I think busing would have worked except when they threw Jeremiah Burke [high school students] into Southie,'' he said. "It was too much in pain, and I missed it . . ... I did it the wrong way. I did it too late.''
After Mr. White left office in 1984, George K. Regan, his longest-serving spokesman, recalled the fallout in a personalized reminiscence of the White era.
"He was getting his head kicked in from both sides,'' Mr. Regan wrote in the Globe. "He received no credit for his efforts, no matter how hard he tried. It was the most frustrating time of his life. Sometimes when he returned to City Hall late at night, there were tears in his eyes.''
Clarence "Jeep'' Jones, a long-time African-American aide who served as a deputy mayor, said Mr. White strove throughout the crisis to avoid alienating any of his constituencies, black or white. In the end, he satisfied neither.
The 1975 reelection campaign against Timilty was the backdraft of the political tinder box created by busing.
Compounding Mr. White's problem were news reports of corrupt fund-raising on his behalf.
"The city was an armed camp,'' recalled Shields, a key adviser on a team of all-star talent working to reelect Mr. White. "At a time when people were not satisfied with the direction of the city, Joe Timilty was an attractive option.''
The contest split families in Boston. Mr. White, who made no secret of his disdain for Timilty, agreed to only one debate - on radio - in the campaign's final month. The mayor, however, was under such strain that aides feared he would suffer a nervous breakdown, Lukas wrote in "Common Ground.''
With the race tightening, two events conspired, by most accounts, to help Mr. White. First, the Red Sox and Cincinnati Reds dominated the news as they vied in a riveting seven-game, 12-day World Series that was extended three days by rain.
"It shortened the election season from three or four weeks down to a few days,'' Mr. Timilty said years later. "You couldn't find a reporter to write about the race. They were all at the games.'' As was Mr. White, who attended the historic sixth game when Red Sox catcher Carlton Fisk poled a game-winning home run in the 12th inning.
In addition, diGrazia, with his straight-arrow image, was thrust by the White campaign into the race several days before the election. DiGrazia said Timilty intended to replace him to please corrupt commanders diGrazia had forced out of the department. But he named no names and Timilty never recovered from the smear.
With that help, Mr. White eked out a slim victory, a margin of 7,436 votes out of 154,687 cast, or less than 5 percent.
In 1979, Mr. White again defeated Mr. Timilty. In contrast to '75, Mr. White was looser and more spontaneous that year. Scott Miller, the mayor's media consultant, recalled a telling moment during a concert on City Hall Plaza that year.
"There was a Ray Charles concert, and the crowd booed the mayor when he came on stage,'' Miller recalled many years later. "Kevin says, 'OK, we decided I'm gonna play the piano, and Ray will run for mayor.' The crowd loved it, and he muttered into the microphone, 'Ah, to be loved in your own city.' ''
That year, Miller and his partner, David Sawyer, turned their client's brooding persona into an asset with their slogan, "The loner in love with the city,'' borrowed from a Mike Barnicle column in the Globe. Mr. White won by 10 points. "An afterthought,'' Timilty later described the final installment of the White-Timilty trilogy.
The '79 race against Timilty marked the penultimate chapter of one of Boston's long-running feuds. The archrivals eventually made peace, at Mr. White's initiation, ending what Timilty in 2005 called "about 20 years of disliking each other intensely.''
It began with a phone call in 1993, as Timilty was preparing to start a four-month federal prison sentence on a fraud conspiracy charge linked to his role in financing a failed condominium development. On the phone was Mr. White, who had endured and survived nearly a decade of withering scrutiny by federal prosecutors.
"He said, 'I think you got screwed, but you handled it as best you could,' '' Timilty recalled his old nemesis saying. "It was a brief conversation. I thanked him. It was a classy act that washed a lot of the old ink.''
More than a decade after that call, the two had a chance meeting on Newbury Street in the Back Bay. "He gave me a big hug and said, 'Call me. I want to take you to lunch,' '' Timilty said. They never had that lunch, however.
A few years earlier, their children reconciled the warring clans. When Gregory Timilty ran and lost for City Council in 1999, Patricia H. White, the youngest of Mr. White's five children, actively supported him. The young Timilty returned the favor when Patricia White followed suit four years later, also losing a bid for the council. She lost again in another council bid in 2005.
Patricia White, whose older brother, Mark, lost a state Senate race in 1986, described her interest in politics as "probably genetic.'' She said she and her siblings "weren't cultivated to get into politics. My parents really separated the kids from their public life and the work they did.''
Her father, absent from home for long periods, particularly in campaign years, nevertheless was an enormous presence in the family's life. "Mercurial, petulant, larger than life. All the words that were used to describe him, he brought them all home with him,'' she said.
Within months of taking the mayoral oath for a third time, Mr. White began the process of becoming a boss in the mold of Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley. Eager to avert another serious challenge, Mr. White ordered the creation of a fine-tuned political organization, with coordinators in the city's 22 wards and captains in every precinct, then numbering 252. Most were city employees. The upshot, critics said, was the politicization of city services.
By 1978, when Mr. White led the fight for a statewide tax classification referendum to benefit small-property owners, the machine was running full bore. Top operatives at City Hall won pay raises for their political work. In 1981, the White machine was an issue when "The Kevin Seven,'' an informal slate of City Council candidates, ran. Only one was elected.
A few years later, Mr. White defended the change during an interview with editors and reporters of what was then the Boston Herald-American, saying: "In my early days, I hired nothing but talent. But they didn't know how to fight in the bureaucratic jungle. . . ... So I took some neighborhood people and tried to make them what I consider myself to be - someone who loves politics and who's also good at management.''
If his political style was turning prosaic, Mr. White's governance was producing stylish landmarks that became a more tangible part of his legacy. In 1976, Faneuil Hall Marketplace opened, a monumental refurbishment of the deteriorating Quincy Market complex that Mr. White's City Hall office overlooked. Suddenly, an eyesore of open stalls and warehouses became a "festival marketplace,'' much copied in other US cities. Decades later, it remains a centerpiece of urban vitality.
It was a source of great pride to Mr. White, who, late in his final term, meted out mayoral credit for various redevelopments.
"The Prudential Center is [John B.] Hynes,'' he told a reporter, referring to the former mayor. "Center Plaza and City Hall belong to John Collins. But Faneuil Hall,'' he said, pointing his thumb to his chest, "Faneuil Hall is mine!''
There were other successes - and failures - but in 1983 as he prepared to leave office, Mr. White stood over a scale model of downtown and proudly kept score for a reporter: 38 new office buildings since 1968, 50 more renovated, and 17 hotels built or planned. The triumphs included Copley Place and the reclamation of the Charlestown Navy Yard and waterfront, from the North End to Rowes Wharf.
But as much as he presided over the remaking of Boston's skyline, Mr. White also politicized the labyrinthine process, opening himself to charges that only favored developers need apply. Despite his efforts, Mr. White was unable to deliver the original proposal of Mortimer Zuckerman for a mammoth, 35-acre, five-skyscraper plan for Park Plaza. The 1971 blueprint, which collapsed in 1977 under the weight of intense opposition from preservationists, called for a series of 30- to 60-story towers.
"Kevin White was an extraordinary man, who did a lot of great things for the city of Boston, but we fought over a lot of things, including Park Plaza,'' said Henry Lee, president of the Friends of the Public Garden, which was created to fight Zuckerman's plan. "He told me in 2003 he thought we were right.''
A year into his final term, another element of the White legacy began to emerge: corruption at City Hall. Suffolk County and US prosecutors were already assembling cases against a few mid-level officials when the news hit in March 1981 that city employees were being asked to donate to a birthday celebration honoring the mayor's wife. These were not political donations but gifts, $122,000 in all before Mr. White, engulfed in a furor of outrage and preliminary inquiries, canceled the event.
That July, President Ronald Reagan appointed a little-known Republican lawyer, William F. Weld, as US attorney. Expanding an existing probe, Weld and an elite team of prosecutors launched a dragnet-like investigation into seemingly every aspect of Mr. White's administration and his personal finances.
The results - a barrage of indictments, guilty pleas, and convictions - became Weld's chief credential when he won the first of two terms as governor in 1990. His investigation produced charges of fraudulent disability pensions, bribery, extortion, and perjury that brought down several dozen businessmen and city employees, including a number of key operatives in Mr. White's political machine.
Mr. White and those close to him maintained he was clean. But in a 1988 interview, he recalled a 1983 poll he commissioned that showed "something like 75 percent of the people thought I and my administration were corrupt.
"Typical of the Irishman, I said, 'Let 'em drop dead,' '' Mr. White remarked. "But I really don't think people believed that of me. Crazy? Maybe. Time to go? OK. But I don't think anyone believed there was deep corruption at the top.''
As the federal investigation crested, a large and talented field of candidates assembled to challenge the vulnerable incumbent. A year before the election, the Globe, dependably supportive of his past candidacies, advised him not to run again. "Of the half-dozen candidates now running, any of them would be preferable to Kevin White in 1983,'' the editorial said.
Mr. White was so wounded by the rebuke that for a decade he did not speak to Martin F. Nolan, the editorial page chief and author of the editorial. Nevertheless, Mr. White remained coy about his intentions, and in the early months of the election year, the beleaguered mayor's future became the dominant subject of discussion and speculation.
Always possessing a flair for the dramatic, Mr. White had a remarkable ability to command the media's attention at levels rarely seen since his exit from the public stage. In spring 1983, as the deadline for filing nomination papers approached, the frenzy was especially intense. Reporters staked out his office and home on the flat of Beacon Hill, and headed to New York City where the mayor, with his chief advisers and media handlers, was videotaping his announcement.
On the morning of May 26, the Boston Herald broke out its largest type for a front-page headline, "White Will Run.'' The newspaper's star columnist, Lucas, who, by prearrangement, interviewed Mr. White by telephone the previous night, wrote the famously wrong three-paragraph story without specifically identifying as his source the mayor he had needled in recent years, and who later admitted he misled him.
That night, Mr. White announced he would not seek another term. "There will be no 'Last Hurrah' for this city,'' he declared in a five-minute paid political announcement broadcast on three Boston television stations and nine radio stations.
In addition to his wife and brother, Mr. White leaves two sons, Christopher of North Carolina and Mark of Newton; three daughters, Caitlin G. White Strawbridge of Belmont, Elizabeth of Hingham, and Patricia of Newton; a sister, Maureen Mercier, of Gross Pointe Farms, Mich.; and several grandchildren.Stephanie Ebbert, Andrew Ryan, Bryan Marquard, and Stephen Smith of the Globe staff and Globe correspondent Amanda Cedrone contributed to this report. Brian C. Mooney can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com.


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WDWalrus needed a new logo design and created a contest on 99designs.
A winner was selected from 141 designs submitted by 34 freelance designers.
Perfect Gardeners
Our main goal is to inform the consumer about what they are buying and
how to apply these products. We can make that all possible by shopping online and getting your yard care supplies delivered to your door when you need them. Even if you have time to go to
the store and buy your supplies, how many folks know exactly what they are buying? Most people grab the bag with the cheapest price or smallest quantity. We will take the guesswork out of keeping a healthy green yard, one that you will be proud of. Your yard will be the one envied by all your neighbors; all with out the fear of burnt grass, dead roses, or insects taking over.
Our website will be an information center that also sells products. Products you do not have to go to the store and pick out with the help of an employee that was in paint yesterday and hardware the day before.
Products include: Fertilizer (for Spring, Summer, Fall), Annual Fertilizer Program, Weed Control, Pest Control, Organic Solutions, Accessories such as Dry fertilizer spreaders and Liquid sprayers.
Home Owners that take care of their own yards and gardens.
We aim to supply these products to you cheaper than going to the store and educate you on your yard and garden needs.
The logo will need to look good in full-color and as a one-color icon / emblem for gloves, t-shirts, hats, labels, etc where full-color is impossible or impractical.
We will be using this logo in sizes as small as 32x32 pixels @ 72dpi up to very large banner / poster size.
Two versions of the logo (one single-color and one full-color).
Please do not use any stock images or clip art in the logo.
Overall feel should be organic, hands-on, friendly, and professional (not cartoony). It should appeal to home-owners - we can help improve their yard and garden.
Files we will require:
Print File Format - Adobe Illustrator .ai (vector, CMYK)
Web File Format - Adobe Photoshop .psd (layered, RGB) and .jpg
Font file(s) (preferably .ttf)
Find out how a design contest works or learn more about our logo design services.


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Italo Cunha and The Mates
July 12, 2012
Italo Cunha, is an award-winning, up-and-coming jazz guitarist, vocalist, producer, and musical director who quickly gained recognition in his country.
300 Athenaeum Street;
Cambridge, MA 02142
Thursday, July 12; Noon - 1:30 p.m.
Italo Cunha, born in Brasilia, Brazil in 1992, is an award-winning, up-and-coming jazz guitarist, vocalist, producer, and musical director who quickly gained recognition in his country.
He's received such awards as first prize Festbandas (2004), Musical Revelation at the Toque de Classe Institute (2005), the youngest recipient ever of a contemporary musical education degree from the Toque de Classe Institute, the Guitar Department Award (2011), the Jimi Hendrix Award (2010), and third prize in the International Guitar Competition of Souza Lima/Berklee College of Music.
He's also had several television, newspaper, magazine, and radios appearances in Norway, Brazil, Dominican Republic, and U.S. Cunha has been performing professionally since the age of 12 and has toured Brazil, Norway, Argentina, Chile, Dominican Republic, and the U.S. He arrived at Berklee at age 16 on a scholarship, where he had the opportunity to work with many great artists such as Marc Johnson, Mark Walker, Hal Crook, Lee Ritenour, Eliana Elias, Dave Santoro, Leo Blanco, Greg Osby, Mark Turner, Terri Lyne Carrington, and many more.
Currently Cunha on the jazz label Jazz Revelation Records for the second consecutive year. He also has recorded for Paramount Pictures Studio.


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Training >> Browse Articles >> Patrol
5 Must-Do Patrol Car Checks
Dr. Richard Weinblatt
Whether you have a shared patrol car or a take-home unit, almost every officer, deputy sheriff, and trooper I know checks over their car and its equipment before the shift. After all, this is your mobile office. You need it to do your job and its smooth operation may even save your life one day. Some agencies mandate the inspection in policy, while others leave it up to the crime fighter. While most officers do fine checking things such as the cruiser's mileage and the emergency lights, here are five things that aren't checked by all officers prior to the shift. If you are checking these things, kudos to you, but if you aren't, you do soAn.
Under the CarWhile we don't want to be paranoid, the hidden area underneath your patrol car should be checked. The paranoia is justified to some degree given the recent events in rural Riverside County, California where members of the Hemet city police department were targeted with a number of harmful actions including an incendiary device that was attached to an unmarked unit.
Check under your car for explosive devices, as well as debris, is mentioned in the Florida Basic Recruit Academy's vehicle operations portion. You can use a mirror at the end of a pole or you can kneel and look under the car directly. Either way, it's a few moments well spent. Ask them in Hemet. I bet they'll agree with number one on the list.
Tire pressureAs a vehicle operations instructor, I have long been aware that folks routinely bypass checking the tire pressure. This can be deadly especially for officers that are traveling at high speeds on highways.
Prisoner compartmentFor some cars still outfitted with removable seats, law enforcers should lift and observe if any weapons or contraband has been placed there by detained suspects or transported prisoners. While some agencies have outfitted their squads with piece molded seats, all should be checked. In addition to officer safety issues, the practice of checking before and after every shift and every person being placed in the rear of the patrol car is a powerful statement that can be made on the witness stand and cements the chain of evidence issue
Ankle restraintsWhile many agencies have transitioned to hobble restraints, quite a few still have metal ankle cuffs in their patrol cars' inventory. Much like I had mentioned in a previous article on handcuffs, ankle cuffs are not checked with the frequency and regularity of a firearm. I have seen cuffs that have cobwebs and dust caking them. When an officer needs this piece of equipment, finding them in disrepair will not make this tough job any easier.
VisorsCheck your visors for items that have ended up there over time that probably shouldn't be. This particularly rings true for officers who have the benefit of having a take home unit.
For example, many officers shove paperwork above the passenger side visor and then forget about it. That could be a problem if that paperwork is a subpoena or an important piece of case documentation. I have also observed officers sliding pictures of their family up there. Well, remember the often angry passenger locked in your backseat who has nothing but time to study the faces of your family in the hopes of running into them at a store later.
Even if you are the diligent officer that checks his or her patrol car regularly, be sure that you go above and beyond and inspect beyond the usual places. That attention to detail may make the difference in your cases or your officer safety.
Dr. Richard Weinblatt, "The Cop Doc," is a former police chief, ex busy jurisdiction patrol deputy sheriff, and criminal justice educator who has written articles and provided media commentary since 1989. He can be reached via www.TheCopDoc.com.


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Saturday, December 20, 2008
Welcome Chloe!
33 comments:
- Jodi said...
Congrats Grandma! She is gorgeous!
- December 20, 2008 at 1:17 PM
Congrats! There's nothing more awesome than your first grandchild!! Especially when it's your daughter having her first daughter. What a Christmas gift! I have 4 grandchildren now but that first girl is just over the top! We "lived" in NICU for 2 months & that first girl still has a special place in my heart.
- December 20, 2008 at 2:05 PM
- Pauline said...
Many congratulations! She is gorgeous!
- December 20, 2008 at 2:29 PM
- Sue said...
Conratulations GWAMMA! I know you think you can't love your own children anymore than you do, and then along comes a grandbaby. I am in awe of the love I feel for my first grandbaby born last year. Life just stopped as I knew it and is now focused on him.
I live in The Dalles and we got a foot of snow yesterday and waiting for more! Hang in there GWAMMA and keep us posted!
- December 20, 2008 at 2:39 PM
- mudmaven said...
Congratulations to all of you! She is just beautiful. NICU folks are really wonderful. Our twin grandchildren were in for 2 months and they took such good care of them. Thoughts and prayers are headed your way! Stay warm. ~chris
- December 20, 2008 at 2:57 PM
- pescbrico said...
Congratulations!!! I'll pray that the surgery goes well.
- December 20, 2008 at 3:38 PM
Congratulations Grandma!
- December 20, 2008 at 5:02 PM
- Pam Speidel said...
How exciting to have your first grandchild! I'm so happy for you Nancy! What a beautiful Christmas blessing!
- December 20, 2008 at 5:28 PM
- Flossie's Follies said...
She is beautiful, congratulations to all, will keep everyone in my thoughts and prayers, all will be well.
- December 20, 2008 at 6:17 PM
Congratulations!! There is nothing better than being a grandma. I have 9 grandkids and one on the way in April and they are all precious. I will be praying for the baby and her surgeries.
- December 20, 2008 at 6:18 PM
- Tonya said...
Congratulations Nancy to you and all your family! You guys are in our thoughts and prayers as you head into Monday and beyond.
Chloe is just precious.
- December 20, 2008 at 6:39 PM
- Stampinwizard said...
Congratulations! I know you will be blessed with is beautiful new granddaughter in your life. I am a stamping friend of Sue (suesstampingstuff) who has also left a comment on here and I also live in The Dalles...she is right your love keeps growing as you get grandchildren...the rewards of having children - grandchildren. I have two beautiful granddaughters who bless my life daily. Enjoy! I will be keeping Chloe and everyone in my thoughts and prayers.
- December 20, 2008 at 7:13 PM
congrats on the new grandchild. what a beauty. babies are such a wonderful miracle from God. prayers are lifte in Chloe's name for a successful surgery and complete healing.
i also live in the portland area (Tualatin) and am enjoying the beauty of the snow falling but not enjoying traveling around town in all this white stuff with the icy stuff underneath.
again, congrats and enjoy your precious granddaughter.
- December 20, 2008 at 9:14 PM
- reflections:0) said...
They do have some good coffee shops up there...
Stay safe with all this crazy weather that we are getting...
- December 21, 2008 at 12:10 AM
congratulations Grandma !
She is beautiful !
- December 21, 2008 at 12:50 AM
- Pamela said...
Congratualtions! Speaking from experience, she will "steal" your heart. What a precious gift.
- December 21, 2008 at 4:28 AM
- Jami {sgtStamper} said...
Congratulations on becoming a Grandma!! My prayers are with Chloe and the rest of the family!!
hugs, Jami
- December 21, 2008 at 4:40 AM
- Charlene H. said...
Congratulations Grandma! Aren't you going to just love that word. I'll be keeping you all in my thoughts and prayers.
- December 21, 2008 at 7:35 AM
- Jenn D said...
Congrats on the birth of your first grandaughter. I hope everything goes well tomorrow. You will all be in my thoughts.
- December 21, 2008 at 9:15 AM
Baby Chloe is every bit as beautiful as her mommy and daddy. Congratulations and TFS your little miracle. I am praying, praying, praying :-) Love to all....
- December 21, 2008 at 10:02 AM
- Jane Wetzel said...
Congrats to you and yours Nancy! God bless that little one! Jane :)
- December 21, 2008 at 11:09 AM
- Jen said...
Congratulations! What a wonderful way to celebrate the holidays...a Christmas-time baby!!
- December 21, 2008 at 11:40 AM
- TN Granny said...
Chloe is absolutely precious so pretty and petite. My thoughts and prayers will be with you especially on Monday.
God Bless
- December 21, 2008 at 3:26 PM
Congratulations. She is beautiful. Sending prayers your way. God Bless.
JoAnn B. firstname.lastname@example.com
- December 21, 2008 at 6:36 PM
- Dawn Easton said...
Oh Nancy, Chloe is beautiful! I'm happy to hear everyone is doing well. I'll be thinking of you all while she has her surgeries. Congratulations to everyone!
- December 21, 2008 at 7:09 PM
- Nancy Riley said...
Congratulations, Nancy! Chloe is just so precious and beautiful! My prayers have been and will continue to be for Chloe, the entire family, and all the healthcare professionals involved in Chloe's care.
Huge cyber hugs to you, my friend ...
Nancy Riley
- December 21, 2008 at 8:35 PM
Oh Nancy, what a perfect little angel. All babies are lovely but Chloe is truly beautiful. You must be so proud of yourself; what a very clever Grandma you are.
Congratulations and Hugs to you all.
- December 21, 2008 at 11:09 PM
- Mercy said...
congratulations, nancy...she is beautiful!
hugs and prayers for the upcoming surgery days!
- December 22, 2008 at 6:09 PM
- silkeledlow said...
AWWW - Nancy - she is gorgeous for sure!!! Welcome to this world little Chloe!!!
My thoughts and prayers are with you all!!! God is watching over her!!!
Hugs ~Silke~
- December 22, 2008 at 7:17 PM
- Jackie Pedro said...
Congrats to you Grammy!! What a beautiful girl! Prayers that she has a successful surgery!!
- December 22, 2008 at 8:12 PM
Congratulations! Chloe is just beautiful.....lots of prayers for the best possible outcome from surgery!
- December 23, 2008 at 9:43 AM
- sissabrinam said...
- This comment has been removed by the author.
- December 25, 2008 at 7:20 PM
- sissabrinam said...
Congratulations Nana!
May our Heavenly Father continue to bless you and your family! May God Bless your first grandbaby, with peace, comfort, good health, love and joy! Peace and Blessing A Fellow Craft SaBrina aka Auntie Beanie.
- December 25, 2008 at 7:21 PM


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Welcome to the CRG Discussion Forum!Forum registration problems: Make sure you enter your email correctly and you check your spam box first. *Then* email KurtS2@gmail for help.Classified ads are not allowed on the forum.
If it does fit like I think it will, I will weld up the vent holes and see how it looks.
Hey guys,I am considering doing away with the fresh air "slotted" cowl vent on my 69 Camaro since I have installed a vintage air system and do not need these and have capped them off.


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The haters are alive with "The Sound of Music Live!" -- and NBC's live-musical star Carrie Underwood is quickly learning that there's no way to stop them.
The former "American Idol" winner, who played governess and would-be nun Maria Von Trapp, was the first to be dropped from several people's favorite things list because of her novice acting chops.
"Plain and simple: Mean people need Jesus," Underwood tweeted Friday, a day after the live special. "They will be in my prayers tonight ... 1 Peter 2:1-25."
PHOTOS: Scenes from 'The Sound of Music Live!'
That's one lonely goat herd and a totally different tune from what she tweeted soon after Thursday's live performance, which brought in a hearty 18.5 million viewers overall and delivered a 4.6 rating with viewers younger than 50, Show Tracker reported.
"Glory to God tonight...I couldn't be more proud. What a tough thing to pull off and we did it! I am so blessed!!!" she wrote.
The live production of the Rodgers and Hammerstein 1959 Broadway musical, also starred "True Bloods" star Stephen Moyer as Maria's employer and love interest, the strict Capt. Georg Von Trapp; Laura Benanti as the Captain's fiancée, Elsa Schrader; multiple Tony Award-winner and "Private Practice" star Audra McDonald as Mother Abbess and "Smash" alum Christian Borle as family friend Max Detweiler. Somehow, each supporting star outshined Underwood in a show fraught with numerous problems, which were promptly maligned on social media.
PHOTOS: Carrie Underwood: Onstage and backstage
The country singer, who seemed most in her element when singing her lines, already had a big habit to fill since Julie Andrews personified Maria to millions of fans in the wildly successful and beloved 1965 film adaptation of the play.
As it turns out, the real Von Trapp family, on which the musical is based, was unhappy with Underwood's casting even before the show went on.
"Although her voice is amazing, she doesn't have acting experience," Myles von Trapp Derbyshire, the great-grandson of the real-life Maria, told ABC News. "It's just the overall image, she's a country star, she won 'American Idol,' she's very public in kind of a tabloid way."
PHOTOS: Movie scenes from 'The Sound of Music'
So how do you solve a problem like Underwood's Maria? The family actually preferred to cast Andrews' "Princess Diaries" costar Anne Hathaway, who won the supporting actress Oscar for her role in the film adaptation of the musical, "Les Miserables."
"Here's someone who just won an Oscar for a similar situation," Derbyshire, 28, said of Hathaway. "She was able to act and sing."
Kym Karath, who played Gretl Von Trapp in the film, echoed the family's sentiments.
PHOTOS: Julie Andrews' life in pictures | Walk of fame
"Love Carrie Underwood but this role is just not right for her," Karath tweeted during the show. "She is lovely her voice is beautiful but acting is wrong."
"To be clear I love Carrie Underwood. Just not as Maria. She was brave to take it on. And this doesn't lessen my respect for her talent," Karath added.
Even before the show, Underwood was weary of the impending criticism.
"I get hate tweets and stuff like, 'You're not Julie Andrews!' " the 30-year-old told Entertainment Weekly. "I know I'm not Julie. Nobody is and I would never pretend that I was. … I know my place."
Andrews, however, seemed ready to pass the torch.
"Fifty years later, it's time somebody had another crack at it," Andrews, 78, told Zap2It earlier this year. "I had the best time of my life doing it, and it did wonderful things for me."
"I think it's great that it's being done again, but doing it live must be so daunting," she added. "I do hope it works for Carrie, because she's lovely and I'm a fan. I wish her well."
Nonetheless, perhaps it's so long and farewell to Carrie's acting career.
Pamela Anderson debuts new brunet hair style
Keri Russell separates from husband Shane Deary
William, Kate, Idris Elba attend 'Mandela' U.K. premiere
Follow Ministry of Gossip @LATcelebs.
PHOTOS: Celebrity portraits by The Times
PHOTOS: Royal visit to New Zealand and Australia
PHOTOS: 2013 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show


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New antibody conjugate drug improves survival in older patients with acute myeloid leukaemia
Out of the 1,115 patients who took part in the trial, 68 per cent relapsed on the new treatment within three years, compared with 76 per cent of those who had the standard treatment. And 25 per cent were still alive after three years, compared with 20 per cent of those who had the standard treatment.
The drug – called Gemtuzumab Ozogamicin (GO) – is part of a new class of 'antibody conjugate' drugs, which involve attaching chemotherapy molecules to antibodies specifically designed to recognise proteins on the surface of cancer cells, thereby targeting the cancer while leaving healthy cells unharmed.
The results of the trial show that adding GO to treatment could improve the effectiveness of chemotherapy without excessively increasing side effects, providing a potential lifeline for older AML patients who are often too frail to tolerate more intensive chemotherapy regimes.
The results are published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
Chief investigator Professor Alan Burnett, from Cardiff University's School of Medicine, said: "These promising results demonstrate how targeting a protein present in more than 90 per cent of AML patients can boost treatment without excessively increasing side effects.
"Although there has been some controversy around the use of GO following its withdrawal in the US two years ago, these results appear extremely promising and suggest no such cause for concern if the appropriate dose is given. Crucially, this represents some of the first progress in treating AML patients of this age group for at least 20 years."
Trial participants were recruited at 149 hospitals around the UK and Denmark. All patients had been recently diagnosed with either AML or high risk myelodysplastic syndrome, which can develop into AML, and the majority were aged over 60. Each patient was randomly assigned to receive one of two standard chemotherapy regimes, either with or without GO.
Kate Law, Cancer Research UK's director of clinical research, said: "In general the outlook for leukaemia patients has improved dramatically in recent decades. But when leukaemia is diagnosed in older people it's much harder to treat and there is a real need for effective treatments that are suitable for this age group.
"Importantly this new trial shows that GO may have particular benefits for patients over 60, who may be unsuitable for other more intensive treatments. This is good news and we are now looking to see if these results can be replicated in younger patients."
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With The Box hitting theaters this weekend, we're about to get another dose of director Richard Kelly's evolving mythos, which began with Donnie Darko and continued with Southland Tales. So what is Kelly's Darko Mythos?
When a creator invents a fairly consistent set of rules, images, and characters in his or her fiction, often they get referred to collectively as a "mythos" (like the Cthulhu Mythos) or a "verse" (like the Whedonverse). Kelly has said explicitly that there are interconnected ideas underpinning his cult hit Donnie Darko, weirdo political epic Southland Tales, and forthcoming movie The Box (opening tomorrow). Kelly's movies are deliberately crafted to remain open to many interpretations. But there are a few consistent themes that form the shadowy pillars of what I've come to think of as the Darko Mythos.
time travel
In Donnie Darko, the half-mad protagonist Donnie is given a book called The Philosophy of Time Travel by one of his teachers. Reading it, he realizes that he's accidentally entered a "tangent universe" created by a rift or portal in space-time. Tangent universes diverge from reality very dramatically, are extremely unstable, and eventually come to an abrupt end. It appears that Donnie may have entered the tangent universe when a jet engine crashes into his bedroom while he's out sleepwalking with shady figure in a bunny suit named Frank (who turns out to be a figure from Donnie's future). Donnie lives in the tangent universe for a month, then travels back in time to the moment when the jet engine crashes into his room - only this time, he's in the bed. His death allows several other characters to live, and it's possible that they remember the tangent universe in dreams.
Critics have suggested that Southland Tales may also be set in a tangent universe, because the graphic novels accompanying the film describe several of the characters traveling through space-time rifts. The movie begins with two characters, Roland and Boxer, driving through a rift and traveling back in time for an hour. Southland Tales also tells the story of an alternate United States which has been attacked with nukes and hit by an energy crisis nearly as dire as peak oil. It's possible this entire vision of the United States is a tangent universe, which is destroyed at the end of the movie when the twins Ronald and Roland Tavener rise above Los Angeles in a floating ice cream truck and touch their hands together.
Time travel, in the Darko Mythos, is associated with relatively short-lived, parallel worlds headed for an apocalypse.
water flows through everyone and everything
As Kelly told us earlier today, he includes a lot of water imagery in his work because he thinks it represents a force that connects humans with each other and the water-logged Earth itself. In Donnie Darko, many of the characters (including Donnie) sprout long, watery tentacles that emerge from their chests. These watery appendages are connected with the way people move through time, and they are sometimes depicted as tunnels. You could call them souls, or simply a representation of the water that every human - no matter how despised or despicable - carries within them.
Water plays a role in Southland Tales as well. A crazed inventor at the Treer Corporation has created something called "fluid karma" that uses quantum particles to generate energy. It's touted as a replacement for oil, but also seems to be causing rifts in space-time.
Look out for water symbolism in The Box, too. A very strong theme in the Darko Mythos is that all human beings are connected. Every death leads to someone else's survival, and every crime is counterbalanced by an act of (sometimes bizarre) justice. People transform each other's lives across time and vast distances without realizing it.
mirror worlds
One of the iconic moments in Donnie Darko is when Donnie looks into the mirror and sees Frank in his bunny suit. There are several scenes where we look out of the mirror into Donnie's face, and watch him pounding against the mirror with his fists or a knife as the surface of the mirror ripples like water. In Southland Tales, the mirroring is even more bizarre. Two of the main characters are twins (or possibly just alternate versions of the same guy) named Ronald and Roland Tavener. Meanwhile, a character named Boxer (played by Dwayne "Rock" Johnson) has traveled back in time via a tangent universe, but his original self has died (which you see in this image of him looking at his own dead body).
In a world riddled with alternate universes, where everybody is connected, it's no surprise that doubling is a major aspect of the Darko Mythos. The mirror represents another version of the self, or perhaps just an imperfect way of looking at yourself. Either way, mirrors in the Darko Mythos remind us that we can never truly know ourselves. Even when we stare right into our faces, we see something mysterious.
apocalypse and redemption
The Darko Mythos possesses what you might call an agnostic form of Christianity. The trajectory of tangent universes seems to be an apocalypse that also inspires redemption: One of the notable aspects of Donnie Darko is that nearly every character is redeemed in some way, partly as a result of Donnie's actions. Even the seemingly-evil bunny Frank finds redemption in the end, when we discover that he's just a regular kid whose death in the tangent universe has turned him into one of the "manipulated dead."
Southland Tales is in some ways a retelling of the Book of Revelation from the New Testament, so it's packed with Christian imagery. But it's also full of psychic porn stars and sympathetic neo-Marxists, who seem to have claims to truth that are equal to the claims of the Bible. I'm going out on a limb here, but I'd venture to say that Kelly's view of redemption is a surreal blend of Christian spiritual love, carnal connection, and Marxist social justice. There is never any specific "God" in Kelly's work, but characters find something akin to godliness when they see and acknowledge their primal connection to other people.
Holiness and redemption in the Darko Mythos often involve a character or characters sacrificing themselves to save other people or to make the world a better place. These are not sacrifices to appease a Christian God, but rather to affirm the connectedness of all humanity. These are sacrifices even a neo-Marxist could get behind, because they aren't about going to heaven, but instead preserving the physical, carnal, human world.
military industrial entertainment complex
Southland Tales is about what happens to the United States when Republicans expand the USA-Patriot Act massively in the wake of nuclear attacks, and then institute a special surveillance agency called USIDent. It's also about how Hollywood movies and reality shows on the internet have intermingled to create a giant war of propaganda and counter-propaganda fought entirely on screen. At the same time, there are hints of government experiments with space-time that may have led to the surreal world of the movie itself, where neo-Marxists and internet porn stars are trying to subvert the surveillance state.
In Donnie Darko, the fate of the tangent universe hinges on a massive airplane engine that travels through time and eventually crushes Donnie. Even though his characters wade through mirrors and erupt with time-traveling spiritual essences, Kelly's Darko Mythos is packed with images drawn from the world of industrial technology.
You can expect to see more of this in The Box, whose main characters are part of the NASA Langley Research Center community. (In fact, The Box has a Space Age era origin in a Richard Matheson short story called "Button, Button" published in 1970.)
The Darko Mythos is also saturated with entertainment technology, from movies to the Web. During one of the pivotal moments in Donnie Darko, Frank opens a portal in a movie screen where Evil Dead is playing, and we see time/water swirling around in the center of an image from Sam Raimi's classic horror movie. One of the main characters in Southland Tales, internet porn reality star Krysta has developed precognition and written about the future of the world in a weird screenplay called "The Power," which is about a porn star trying to save the world (this subplot is mostly in the graphic novels associated with Southland Tales, not in the movie).
Ultimately the Darko Mythos is exploring mysticism in a world ruled by industry and the pseudo-rationalism of high tech propaganda. His characters, through excursions into madness and horror, always discover that beneath the trappings of modern life there lurks a primal spirit that connects all of us - across time and between mirror universes. It's a spirit that flows like water through everyone, from pornographers and NASA engineers to Christians and snotty teenage girls in the Sparkle Motion dance troupe. It's even in you.
Salon's summary of Southland Tales helped me immeasurably in writing this.


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You heard it here first (unless you follow me on Twitter, then you heard it there first).
That could be the most excellent name for a line including the Sabres newest Finns, Ville Leino and Joel Armia. Of course, the Sabres need to complete a transfer and a contract to get Armia across the pond, but he'll be here sooner rather than later.
As we mused earlier, an addition of fellow Finn Teppo Numminen to the coaching staff could complete the trifecta, and give Lenio and Armia perhaps their best chance to succeed in Buffalo.
As Regier has stated, we're likely done in the UFA market, so we can all settle in and get ready for next season. Oh, and as for next season, I think Leino said it best as to what we are in for:
"To be honest with you I think they (Sabres) deserved to win (the playoff series). It will be a good fit for me. I think it's going to be a good team in the future, a lot of young guys. They made some good adds, good defensemen lately. It's a great hockey town, and I think we have a good chance to win next year. I'm really excited."
Meanwhile, the Sabres' additions of Regehr, Ehrhoff, Leino, and their re-sigining of Cody McCormick, puts their salary cap number at $66 million, above this year's set limit of $64.3 million. They can remain over the cap by 10 percent% until the season opener. So maybe, we're in for some more summer surprises through the trade market.
Darcy – well done, sir!
Go Sabres.
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Let's not kid ourselves. Textbooks cost money.
In recent years, rising costs of paper, ink, and delivery have narrowed – if not totally destroyed – the profit margin on books which fail to become bestsellers. The amount of time and energy needed to get a book into the hands of its readers means that many works become obsolete by their date of publication.
That all changes with electronic publishing. Not only can bloggers retain complete artistic control over their intellectual product, bloggers quickly bypass some of the traditional obstacles encountered when publishing a text in hard copy:
Cost considerations:
- Bloggers are not held hostage by variations in the prices of ink, postage, and/or paper.
- Bloggers don't need to worry about physical restrictions imposed by page size, book size, shipping weight and/or availability of shelf space.
- Bloggers face no extra cost to add color to their presentations.
- Bloggers don't need to worry about the high price of binding a book – or publishing a book whose binding eventually falls apart.
- Bloggers don't need to budget for a sales/marketing campaign or particular size of print run.
- Bloggers don't need to pay the costs of warehousing inventory which might end up being remaindered.
Strategic risks:
- Bloggers don't need to compete against other titles in a publishing house's line of books.
- Bloggers don't need to negotiate with publishers through agents.
- Bloggers don't need to battle ridiculously outdated publishing concepts such as claims that "You can't have a murder mystery that's more than 225 pages....."
On the flip side, however, are the creative advantages:
- Bloggers can update their work at any time.
- By taking advantage of the hypertext links, bloggers can insert value-added reference links to intellectual content which is available to anyone on the Internet without any violation of copyright law.
- Bloggers can get direct feedback from their readers.
One of my favorite quotes comes from the final scene of Hello, Dolly! at the moment when most of the principal characters have gone upstairs to get their money out of Horace's safe. Left alone in Vandergelder's Hay & Feed Store, Dolly Levi lovingly wraps her arms around the cash register, turns to the audience, and utters Thornton Wilder's famous words:
"Money, money, money, money, money -- it's like the sun we walk under -- it can kill and it can cure. Horace Vandergelder never tires of saying that 99% of the people in this world are fools and, in a way, I suppose he's right. We're all fools. Himself, Irene, Cornelius, myself. We're all fools – and we're all in grave danger of destroying the world in our folly. Yet the surest way to keep us safe from harm is to give us those few things in life which will make us happy – and that takes a little bit of money!
"Now, the difference between a little bit of money and no money at all is enormous – and it can shatter the world. And the difference between a little bit of money and an enormous amount of money is very slight. But that, too, can shatter the world. It's all a question of how it's used. As my late husband, Ephraim Levi, always used to say: Money -- you should pardon the expression -- is a little like manure. It doesn't do anyone a bit of good unless it's spread all around, encouraging young things to grow."
A lot of hard work went into creating Dictation Therapy For Doctors. If this blog has been of value to you and you would like to make a donation to its author, please feel free to use one of the following options (the amount you donate is entirely your choice).
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Busytown: To infinity and beyond
25 Responses
It looks like a fantastic invention, not quite the imagined rocket pack, but definitely a fun toy with probable military applications as well.
I'm sure Ian Sinclair was excited to be the first journalist to give it a spin, but to spend a significant portion of the news item gloating about all the other major news agencies queuing up to have a go was cringe worthy.
The on screen "Sunday Journalist" tag under Ian's name was a clue for the inevitable Sunday program promo from Simon after the item.
The gloating and promo during the news were an unwelcome distraction from the invention.
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I think "to infinity and beyond" is probably a little premature, he does say no one has been up more than 2 metres yet (probably need a private pilot's license for more)
It is now only a short hop to cities on the moon. Thank god we are finally living in the future: "so long suckers!" Shhwwooooooossshhhhh!!!
ps. Vanessa Martin is totally awesome! There is no way my partner would do that (though that's possibly because of my dodgy mechanical skills).
So he turned to his wife. "I said, 'Hey, Vanessa, what are you doing tonight?'
actually... my first thought was, "he must have had her life insured"
He should call it the "Jet PAC" where PAC stands for "Personal Air Craft". That way he could keep the whole Jet Pack vibe while more accurately describing it. (Like everyone refers to a JetSki when in fact they are officially referred to in the industry as "Personal Water Craft")
As for licensing, I suspect that it will be light enough to qualify as a microlight helicopter under CAA rules. That means that you won't need a full PPL(H) to fly it. (but maybe a microlight pilot's cert will be needed)
My main worry is that the likely operational envelope for this machine will be a bit on the dangerous side. I'd put money on the fact that this device has no equivalent of a helicopter's auto-rotation mode due to an engine failure.
Further to that I'd also be interested to know the minimum altitude from which a ballistic parachute could be deployed to make a successful save from a mechanical failure.
Without auto-rotate, there would be a "death-zone" between the altitudes "high-enough-that-the-fall-will-kill-you" and "high-enough-that-the-chute-will-save-you".
Good luck, Glenn Martin, but try not to kill anyone (especially yourself) too soon.
P.S. Would I fly one? You bet your sweet ass I would...
However, I suspect that I am well over the weight limit.
It's basically an airborne lawnmower
My lawns often get that long as well. I didn't know someone else had come up with an invention to chop them by hovering above them.
Technically (i.e. pedantically) speaking, it's not actually a jet pack or a rocket pack (not having jets or rockets in it).
I'm going to call it a D.A.F.T (Ducted Air Fan Turbine), in the hope that it catches on.
Quoting Kyle: "It's basically an airborne lawnmower
My lawns often get that long as well. I didn't know someone else had come up with an invention to chop them by hovering above them."
The Flymo does a pretty good job. ;^)
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Can the Airforce buy these? Seriously, how cool would that be? And since they're made in the back of a shed, they can't be that expensive!
We finally got our jetpacks. And it's only 8 years after 2000. We're almost on schedule!
Without auto-rotate, there would be a "death-zone" between the altitudes "high-enough-that-the-fall-will-kill-you" and "high-enough-that-the-chute-will-save-you".
High enough to kill or seriously injure you would probably only be about 2-4 metres, depending on how you fall, from my knowledge or rock-climbing danger zones. With that heavy thing on your back it's probably worse. Safety and liability issues will determine whether this thing ever gets off the ground.
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I could also be a grump and disdain the amount of energy required, compared to the simple, beautiful and amazingly (99%) efficient bicycle, but for the moment I'll just bathe in the wonder of it all.
I could also be a grump and disdain the amount of energy required, compared to the simple, beautiful and amazingly (99%) efficient bicycle
Oh, that reminds me of my favourite antipodean invention of late:
More here. Lovely! And vastly more pleasing to the ear than the D.A.F.T...
a fun toy with probable military applications as well
So could a force of elite kommandos wearing these cross the Tasman and invade Bondi?
seven weeks after the birth of his second child, Mr. Martin figured his prototype was now powerful enough to lift its first flier, so long as that person weighed less than 130 pounds.
As I read that I was staring to think that he strapped the *baby* to it and flew it around?
the simple, beautiful and amazingly (99%) efficient bicycle,
Yeah, I saw ET too.
The Flymo does a pretty good job. ;^)
Pah. Like a flymo would last 10 seconds on the tangled jungle that is my backyard.
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Oh, that reminds me of my favourite antipodean invention of late:
Madin's musical bikes
More here. Lovely!
Check out this lovely bicycle/bubble blower/instrument of guerrilla gardening. Something to make you smile.
Yeah, I saw ET too.
See also this flying bike. Who can forget the Gossamer Albatross?
Bicycles might be 99% efficient (at least, if they don't have rear suspension). People are only maybe 15% efficient, so only 15% of the energy in your food is converted to motion. Also, unless you munch raw sugar cane as your sole energy source, your food isn't neccesarily an optimal energy efficient fuel.
To say nothing of the petroleum products used in making and washing a garish lycra costume for each day of the week. Smugness must have an energy budget, too.
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Oh, I hope I haven't derailed this thread. The energy used is pretty small by all measures, although we haven't yet created the perfectly efficient human. We're working on it.
I do hate lycra though, unless worn by the dance mega group, the Real Hot Bitches. These people have the right idea about what to wear on a bicycle.
Gossamer Albatross
I allways visualised that as a seagull caught in a condom or maybe a bird in Lycra. :-0
these guys have built a vehicle that does over 3500km on a litre of petrol. You couldn't cycle very far on the energy equivalent of that much food.
Of course, most people eat way more food then they need, so bikes run on waste energy.
No worries, George - not so much derailing as going off road. And what's the point of a bike if you can't do that every now and then?
The bubble bike is brilliant. And I love that Copenhagen blog. Not just for the gals in their cute dresses, I'm at least as interested in what the bikes are wearing. What I wouldn't give for one of those low slung cargo bikes with the front kid seats. Way more sensible than the (increasingly) top-heavy rear seat I'm currently using...
This is how biking often looks in my town, alas. (If you click on the video, language definitely NSFW). Although we're steadily trying to change it.
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The bubble machine. I had to start the computer to check I hadn't dreamed it. Seed carrying bubbles, crikey, thats practical. I want one for my old 28 inch wheeled, black bike.
Just when you start to think that No. 8 wire is an outdated myth, a Christchurch inventor unveils his personal jetpack at the world's biggest air show in OshKosh,Wisconsin.
The actual No. 8 wire is a thing of the past. The modern equivalent is a different material. Its high tensile steel. Its got to much spring in it for mending top dressing planes, as was previously prescribed by 'kiwi ingenuity', good keen farmers from the hilly back blocks, that played rugby in the snow. I think the mythical historical, is in the romantic nationalist pride complex. I'v __seen__herd of the similar phenomena, 'clever people, with limited resources' culture developing elsewhere, like way out the back blocks, the united states. I think it's called Yankee ingenuity. Or indeed another strain might be found in indonesia. I believe, the Soviets also had the smarts.
But I do like to think I'm embellished by cleverness by virtue of the fact, I have a shed. But I reckon an entire engineering firm would be more on the money
I still feel cynical about the lawnmower/spacecraft contraption. I's looks, from its not really a proper prevue film, like a power tool that being operated inappropriately. I do however rather like this thing.
Well there my grizzled opinion, from the back of a shed. Now I'm of to the Wellington library, where I know it's warm and dry.
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Jolisa, if you like the Copenhagen blog, you might be interested in their more practical (although definitely retaining the same ethos) sister site Copenhagenize for ideas and inspiration.
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Herald today is reporting that the parachute can deploy from as low as thirty meters - say, ten stories up. So assuming that you could survive a two-metre fall without injury (with 100kg of petrol engine and propellors on your back), that's a 28-metre risk zone.
I prescribe quick takeoffs and landings, and extremely bloody conscientious maintenance when you're on the ground.
Technically (i.e. pedantically) speaking, it's not actually a jet pack or a rocket pack (not having jets or rockets in it)
Even more pedantically speaking, it is actually "Jet" propelled. The fact that the jet of air that lifts it is produced by ducted fans driven from a reciprocating internal combustion engine is beside the point. However, I do admit that in modern parlance "Jet" and "Gas Turbine" have become synonymous...
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Abstract: How to Stage a Bloodbath: Artificiality and Theatricality in the Roman Arena
This lecture examines an understudied aspect of arena spectacles – evidence for stagecraft in Roman arena spectacles – and explores the reasons why the producers of games went to such lengths to theatricalize them. Drawing on a wealth of iconographic, epigraphic, and literary evidence, we survey the scale and variety of stage sets, artificial scenery, and other apparatus used to enhance the spectacle. Not only were installations specifically built to accommodate sets (think of the Colosseum's famed hypogeum) but amphitheatral staff were specially dedicated to overseeing their proper deployment. Beyond the raw wonder stagesets elicted from spectators, they more importantly played an important role in making the violence of the games palatable and acceptable: the sets – along with the overall constructed environment, the costumes of the performers, the musical accompaniment, the added attractions (acrobats, animal performers, mock fighters, prize distributions) – set the brutality into an artificial and theatrical context for the spectators, and as such played an analogous role for the way violence is similarly framed in modern entertainment.
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It's different, all right. In fact, if one knows anything about Amelia Earhart, you might find this fictionalized account of what happens after her disappearance to be confusing, frustrating and possibly offensive.
But "This Is Different," by local author Mary Walker Baron, takes readers on a bizarre and mysterious adventure from an unknown island in the South Pacific to New York City in the year of Margaret Mead's death, 1978.
Why the year of Margaret Mead's death? you might ask. Because Baron's book implies Mead is Amelia Earhart's lesbian lover.
Earhart doesn't emerge as herself in this novel straight away. We first meet Mere, Star of the Sea, who is anxiously awaiting the arrival of a package, delivered yearly, for her and the native islanders with which she resides. The anticipation of this package is intense, relying on a banana leaf and some amateur sailors.
Mere hopes that her one true love will arrive with the package, although it has been years since they last saw each other in person. Readers will truly be sucked into the anticipation and angst of Mere through a number of chapters as she copes with disappointment and the realization that she must leave the safety of her island home.
Mere has certain rituals she enacts throughout the course of her island day, but as the story unfolds, one gets a sense that these rituals are more than just habit. It is almost as if the main character has a form of obsessive compulsive disorder. Additionally, clues and tidbits emerge as Mere leaves the islands and travels to New York to meet her mysterious lover, and this mystery divulges itself in a complicated, confusing breakdown of Mere at the Natural History Museum.
At this point in the story, not only does Mere seem OCD, but it appears as if she is delusional and possibly suffering from dementia or Alzheimer's. The poor lady is a mess — and seems to believe she is famed aviatrix Amelia Earhart!
While Mere is incarcerated in a mental institution for claiming she is Earhart (no one believes her), the sickly Margaret Mead makes her debut to rescue Mere/Amelia and take her to Mead's home. Mere/Amelia is then asked to portray the role of an island witch doctor, sent to cure Mead of her ailments, because explaining to the world who she really is would just be too complicated.
Ultimately, the most redeeming quality of this novel is the ever-present theme of love and its many manifestations. Other characters that come and go from different scenes demonstrate how one person can experience so many forms of love, being loved and suffering from love.
From Mere's island friend and companion in her bed, to a war veteran who takes her under his wing when she is flailing around New York, it is obvious that the author wants to portray Amelia as poly-amorous and bisexual. This, in addition to her proclivity for obsessive-compulsive ritual and almost autistic reactions to certain elements she is exposed to, makes for a complex main character. If you can wade through the confusion, the underlying plot is well developed and manages to make its way to a worthwhile conclusion.
Mary Walker Baron has an interesting story to tell, one that will leave the reader questioning who the real Amelia Earhart was, and whether is it possible she is alive and well and living in a greenhouse in New York. Still confused? Guess you'll have to read the book and hope it helps!
LYDA TRUICK has a Masters of Library and Information Science and can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com
WHAT: "But This Is Different" by Mary Walker Baron, Steel Cut Press, January 2011
COST: Paperback: $14.95; available at local retailers and online