text:
I too have separate domain email addresses but I do still use the @comcast.net emails too. We bundle our internet and cable TV (and phone) with Comcast and so far, although pricey, the internet is still by far the best option around here. So, even if we'd ditch the cable TV with Comcast, we'd likely keep the ISP/internet with Comcast. So, our email addresses wouldn't be affected.
I have no idea why my Starz Play app went back to functioning on Thursday, after a week of NOT working... but I'm not complaining. I don't ever try to use the Starz Play app on anything but Rokus. Never on my phone, so I have no idea whether phone apps are being affected differently than the Roku apps/authentications.
I know everything's careening toward being Cloud-based ... not happy about that because of the lack of control. I still try to buy actual CDs for music when I can precisely for that reason: so that I can *have* the music offline and know I still have access to it. And although I buy fewer of them, I still also buy DVDs. (I bought the first season of Outlander, for instance, for the ability to watch it no matter what the cable TV is doing to me.)
We'll see who wins this battle, but I have a feeling that it won't be us unless there is a mass exodus with pitchforks and angry villagers.
austruck1 wrote:
We'll see who wins this battle, but I have a feeling that it won't be us unless there is a mass exodus with pitchforks and angry villagers.
The xfinity Tv app is not available for Apple TV. I am now being blocked from watching starz content using my Apple TV. Subscribers to other tv services are not being blocked from using the Starz app this is rather inconvenient especially when it was previously available.
Yet another update to the iPhone app which explicitly states the the Xfinity authentication is not enabled.
Moderator will soon mark this "solved", as with other STARZ app complaints and hope you go away.
Pitty, too, because I'm trying to watch "The Usual Suspects" (currently on Starz) online and Xfinity has decided that the movie is supposed to end 46 minutes in, cuts away, and inquires as to whether I'd like to watch it again. If only there was a competent alternative...
@Razumihin wrote:
... If only there was a competent alternative...
That's what Comcast has over most of us. My city supervisors ok'd Comcast for my area years ago and I have no other high-speed Internet/TV provider in the area. As neighbors say, if AT&T U-verse ever shows up...we're gone.
P.S. I am posting this at 2:20 AM because my Xfinity service just came back online a half an hour ago after an 1+ hour outage in the wonderful service I pay $250 a month for (the fourth in 3 weeks).
No, not solved. Comcast please take a look at your subscriber feedback here in this thread and uncheck the 'solved' box.
No one cares for your suggested 'redirection', why don't you simply fix the problem ?
Agreed, this is not solved at all.
I did find a workaround with my macbook pro.
Pulled up the movie in my browser on the Xfinity website, used AirPlay to cast it to my Apple TV. Works fine with no restrictions.
My Starz Play (their original app) has been working flawlessly again. I'm watching Outlander episodes early (including this week's episode, which showed up yesterday!) and all is well at the moment.
If I am offered any other app or upgrade, though, I'm not touching it. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
Somehow my Roku has never updated to the new app, so I am still using the original Starz Play app there ... and except for a two-week period where it did the same thing as it did to you (wanted me to reauthenticate, which then didn't work because Starz is not supported via Xfinity/Comcast on that new app), it has been working all right.
Can you downgrade to the Starz Play app? Somehow mine started working again after about two weeks of not being able to authenticate/re-register. I had griped here in a different thread. I still wonder if Comcast quietly did something to allow that original app to go back to working properly.
@khaleesi wrote:
I got another update to the app on my iPhone, and now it simply says "Comcast does not allow Starz login at this time." Special.
Thanks to your post I tried my android app again...no luck...BUT.. I went to my Roku and loaded the app again from there. I then activated through activate.starz.com and in the list of TV provides was now..."Comcast/Xfinity" !!! Now at least the Roku has the app up and running (for now - fingers crossed). Hopefully they'll get the android and Iphone up and running too. BTW, they actually dropped the prices of HBO and Starz in the SF Bay Area to $15 and $10 respectively. Maybe they are feeling the stream pricing.
@mariasull wrote:
My roku is working too!!!
Let's hurry up and break out the pop-corn before it disappears.
Awesome about Roku. Thanks Comcast for doing the right thing for us. Now do the same for the others, please.
There are multiple devices that are unable to watch Starz, besides the AppleTV.
My Roku device is unable to watch since Xfinity app does not work on it.
Windows 10 devices.
XBox One.
There are probably a few more. But until this change came along, I had no issues watching Starz.
P.S. I am posting this at 2:20 AM because my Xfinity service just came back online a half an hour ago after an 1+ hour outage in the wonderful service I pay $250 a month for (the fourth in 3 weeks).
This is probably due to system maint. Between 12am and 6:30am is the time when they will take down various nodes to repair, upgrade, split, etc as it is the time that impacts the least amount of customers.
And exactly WHY will Comcast/Xfinity not be authenticating on the new Starz app?
and which moron in the big building in philadelphia made that decision
What about customers who are legacy video customers only? I can't get xfinity or comcast as a listed provider trying to view Starz through the app. Xfinity TV go seems to work. On T-mobile hotspot, I can't stream the TV GO for free.
Comcast should be ashamed of itself. Publically they are acting like a 5-year old refusing to share. As a paying customer, I'm extremely disappointed (ok, angry) with Comcast with yet more evidence of greed and just plain stupidity in the face of growing and viable streaming alternatives.
I have Starxz, HBO, and Showtime, currently. I watch movies and shows on HBO and Showtime through their streaming apps on Apple TV, with authentication through Comcast. Works great. Why is Starz any different? I already pay for it, after all. Not for any technical reason. My sense is the powers that be at Comcast are having a kneejerk reaction to the spread of outside streaming offerings available outside of their monolithic service and at a much more attractive price.
I am so close to cancelling my TV subscription, it's not even funny. I can get the same shows and movies whenever I want using the streaming services. And the combined cost of these services is far less than my monthly cable TV bill, which is way out of control.
I've decided that I'm only going to wait until the end of the year for some significant progress in cost reduction, authentication, and ala carte offerings. If not, then come January, I'll be cancelling my cable TV subscription. I'm sick and tired of these greedy and obstructionist tactics. While their Internet service has been reasonably priced and reliable (my experience anyway), the same CANNOT be said of the cable TV offering, in spite of mediocre attempts to move into the online arena.
I've put up with this for years because there realy has not been any real alternative. But that's no longer true and these new streaming services along with what I get from the iTunes Store is now a very viable alternative. And cheaper.
I have no idea why Comcast is being as clueless as it is. I'm sure there are some very smart people there who see the writing on the wall, but it's obvious they are not in charge, or have little to no influence.
Just my two cents...
@Be23 wrote:
Still no solution. I want to watch Starz on my Apple TV. PERIOD. It is beyond frustrating that this is not working.
I should not be forced to go into my living room and use the cable box. I should not be forced to use the Xfinity app on a handheld device. I should not be forced to watch from my laptop in bed. I should not be forced to rig a workaround.
As a paying customer I should be entitled to use a service I pay for how I want. I should be granted the same freedom of choice and convenience that other paying customers to this service get from their providers.
What do we PAYING customers have to do to get this matter resolved? Whatever "issue" or failed negotiations are going on between Comcast and Starz, put your big boy pants on and get over it. Fix this for your customers.
Help me. Are you trying to use your Apple TV like I use my mobile devices? I have iPhones and iPads and I am able to watch all the Starz channels.
@RobertWy wrote:
Help me. Are you trying to use your Apple TV like I use my mobile devices? I have iPhones and iPads and I am able to watch all the Starz channels.
Not exactly. Starz has an Apple TV app which runs on the TV version of IOS. If you have Starz as part of your cable TV lineup, the app will allow you access to all Starz content in the same way that the HBO GO app does.
I have a great deal of content (music, movies, TV shows) from iTunes Store that is directly available on my Apple TV. I have full access to HBO and Showtime content, both of which allow current cable subscribers to access their content at their leisure. But not Starz. I can load the Starz app, but when I go to authentice, Comcast/Xfinity is conspicuously missing from the list of supported cable services:
bright house
Charter Spectrum
Dish Network
Time Warner Cable
So why do they (Comcast) allow authentication for the HBO and Showtime apps, but not Starz? Not for any technical reason. Comcast is clearly testing removing access to these standalone streaming apps, even though their customers already pay for it. So a customer has to decide whether to pay extra for the streaming subscription on top of the cable bill, live with the restrictions of force-fed scheduled content, or drop Comcast and go streaming fully. I'm solidly in the drop Comcast camp unless I see some substantive changes in the near future.
This is a total net neutrality violation. It's rediculous that every other cable company will authenticate this but you wont.
I've since cancelled starz on my comcast subscription and subscribed directly to starz via the roku app.
I recommend you all do the same, as this is just insulting.
@Dlaney35 wrote:
This is a total net neutrality violation. It's rediculous that every other cable company will authenticate this but you wont.
I've since cancelled starz on my comcast subscription and subscribed directly to starz via the roku app.
I recommend you all do the same, as this is just insulting.
I think that is what Comcast is hoping you will do.
Comcast is hoping I will stop giving them money and pay Starz, INC. directly, instead?
You sure about that? I think it's quite the opposite, Comcast is scared that people will see the APP has an associated Starz only subscription login, in addition to a cable login option, that they don't like. Comcast doesn't like that Starz too, is attempting to segregate themselves from the a-typical cable package.
Had comcast allowed the new starz app to authenticate on my ROKU, I'd NOT of cancelled starz on my cable package, and thus, comcast would get more of my money.
Now, due to this poor decision, they get LESS of my money.
I'm sure that computes.
Unhelpful Post Removed. CIrcumventing Language Filters in Post.
This is ridiculous - How many people do you need to hear from before action is taken?! What sense does it make to alienate tens of thousands of your loyal subscribers over something as simple as giving access to an application for a channel (Starz App authentication via Xfinity) that we are ALREADY paying for via our cable subscription?! Keep this up and I am gone. I'm sure I won't be the only one. Good luck with this BS strategy.
Language filter was circumvented by not using any bad language. This post merely stated how awful it is to be a Comcast customer. Deleting a post stating such does nothing to improve your customers' opinions.
Hello everyone,
I apologize for the inconvenience this has caused you. All Xfinity customers with a Starz, Encore, or Movieplex subscription will not have access to the new Starz app or Starz.com. You will be able to view the content through our Xfinity TV (xtv.comcast.net) or Xfinity TV Go (tvgo.xfinity.com) websites and mobile apps. If you have any additional questions or concerns, please let us know.
You should try to install the Staz app on Roku, it works for some of the people here, including me. It does not address your need to watch other Xfinity premium channels on Roku.
I have cancelled my HBO on Xfinity and now pay HBO directly and use the HBOnow app on Roku. Maybe you should try a few of these alternates that do exist. Xfinity's own app is limited in the amount of "on demand" shows v.s. both HBOnow and the STARZ app. They keep saying what is availble on their Xfinity app is equall to the same number of shows on either app...that's not true. Good luck.
Basically, you're saying hey customers, we don't care what you want.
But, it's ok because, we already know you don't care about your customers. We're YOUR customers.
The STARZ app itself is of higher quality then Starz via xfinity.tv - per my encoding data, starz on xfinity is only 720p, while the starz app on roku supports 1080p.
The irony is Comcast is planning an xfinity.tv ROKU app - but, I simply doubt it will work as intended.
The Xfinity TV app is awful compared to premium channel options capability. It's not very good either for Xfinity content.
They aren't even consistant across the platforms. I can log in to Starz with Comcast on my Amazon FireTV box, but not on my Kindle. It makes no sense that you can log in via Comcast one way, but not another.
@aaa1019 wrote:
They aren't even consistant across the platforms. I can log in to Starz with Comcast on my Amazon FireTV box, but not on my Kindle. It makes no sense that you can log in via Comcast one way, but not another.
Sounds like a licensing issue. Or a software development issue. Maybe Comcast doesn't want to go to the expense of developing a cross-platform version of their software when the calculated revenue wouldn't pay for the effort.


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Friday, December 29, 2006
2006 Recap and Pondering 2007
I have 'met' so many wonderful cyber people through this blog, and through your own blogs. I have been inspired by so many of you, and I thank you for your cheers and well wishes as I try to reach new highs.
I began this blog on my 40th birthday. I wasn't looking forward to turning 40, I was quite depressed by the thought. Thank goodness the days leading up to turning 40 were worse than turning 40 itself. As I look toward turning 42 tomorrow, it is no big deal! I'm happy where I am and wouldn't change a thing.
2006 was quite a year for me. I excelled at running, surpassing my wildest dreams and goals. My goals were to PR at all ultra distances 50K-100 mile to 24 hour. I was able to check off that goal. I PR'd at 50K, 50 mile, 100 mile and 24 hour. Running McNaughton 2 hours faster than the previous year gave me the confidence I needed to try 100 miles at FANS. FANS scared me. I had dropped out the previous year at 12 hours and hadn't been able to reach 100 miles during my 2 prior attempts. Lo and behold, I was able to run 116.8 miles and capture 2nd woman. CRAZY. Voyaguer 50 mile came along and I wanted to break 1030. I did, 1026. Incredible when you take into account my first V was 1406, then 1234 and 1045. September brought Superior Sawtooth 100 Mile Trail Race. I was confident that I had a good solid training program to get me to the finish. I logged plenty of miles on the SHT and had Maria to run the race with. Damn. I couldn't finish it. I DNF'd at 77 miles.
My 2006 goals of finishing 3-100 miles races was going to bring me to my 2007 goals: Running The Grand Slam. Because I DNF'd at Superior, I may not have had the confidence to try the GS. I may have decided to finish Superior instead of trying Wasatch. Because I didn't get into Western States, I don't have to worry about it.
That brings me to my main goal for 2007: Finishing the Superior Sawtooth 100 Mile Trail Race. To get to the finish line I will add longer back to back runs on the SHT. My legs gave out at 77 miles. I'll run the 50K up there in May on a Saturday, followed by another 20 mile on the SHT on Sunday. I'll go up for weekends, training back to back long runs mid summer to late summer. I'll finish that race..or damn near die trying!
I'm also going to dip my toes into the sport of triathlon. Those that have been reading my blog since inception will know that my friend Ann and I were training for triathlon in the months before she was diagnosed with Lymphoma, Stage 4. We were biking 20-30 miles and swimming. Her swimming was getting pretty strong, mine still sucked. It still sucks. When Ann was diagnosed at the end of October we still had plans of completing the Chain of Lakes triathlon in May. After Ann passed away in February, I just couldn't bring myself to complete the triathlon without her.
It's been a tough (almost) year that Ann has been gone. Running all of the races this past summer without Ann has been especially tough.
For 2007 I will complete the Chain of Lakes triathlon, in May. I'm going to train with Team in Training for the 2007 Lifetime Fitness Olympic Triathlon and will be collecting funds for Lymphoma Cancer Research in Ann's memory. I'll then try my hand at a 1/2 Ironman..looking like either Pigman or Steelhead. Collecting funds in Ann's name and helping to further the research for Lymphoma Cancers will get me into the pool. I know that Ann will be with me. 2008 will bring another 1/2 Iron and Ironman WI.
I'll also run the McNaughton 100 mile in April; I love that race! This year they are adding a 150 mile option..I just don't know that I want to go around the course an additional 5 times. June will bring me to FANS, and you know, now that the fear is gone I might as well try cracking that 100 again. I'll run my usual favorites: Superior 50K, Afton 50K, Voyaguer 50 mile; yes, I'm a creature of habit. I don't have the money or the time to travel long distances to run my races. I enjoy the Minnesota races very much and am very happy right here.
I guess I better get into the pool...
12 comments:
I've been reading your blog almost as long as you have been writing it. Ever since your BFL/pre-leanness lifestyle days. You have been and continue to be an incredible inspiration to me. Best to you on all of your 2007 goals. Happy New Year.
Julie, you had an awesome 2 years. The life moves forward, the river flows ahead. You will have a fantastic 2007, no matter what you decide to do. Because you belong to kind of people who put their mind and heart and reach for the goal, and if it slips - get up, dust off and make another step to grab it.
Happy New Year!
Hi Julie! I am a lurker and really enjoy your blog. I look forward to reading about your trainings and races. Please tell me......do you have a personal trainer? How do you set up your training program with running and weightlifting??? I am interested in learning.....I am just preparing for my 3rd marathon....at 41! Thanks!
Beth ...
- E-Speed said...
what an amazing year. You are so awesome and so inspirational!
- Julie B said...
Thanks girls! Beth, I worked with a running coach for 4 months last year to help me with speed for my ultras. I guess it helped me! I do use a personal trainer at the gym 2-3x a week. I love lifting. I don't lift as most running coaches state: light and high reps. I like building muscle, I lift heavy as I can go. During the summer racing I lift legs only 2-3 x a month as I'm either tapering or recovering.
I know what you mean about being a creature of habit. It is hard to pass up all the great races that are so close and so nice to run year after year.
I will be looking for some advice in a couple of months as I approach another attempt at completing 100 miles at a 24 hour event in March. Last year I stopped at 50. Here's to a great 2007.
Happy Birthday and Happy New Year Julie!!
My 2007 goal is simple: do half of what Julie does :)
I'm back on my horse and training for the Catalina Island 50 Miler again. I'm adding plyometrics, yoga and lots of resistance training to prevent injury this time. I'm even doing sprinting intervals now...love it!!
Love your spirit Julie. Love how you keep moving forward...that's why we can't stay away from here.
- RunBubbaRun said...
Hi, I have been reading along as of late, I'm contemplating McNaughton as my 1st 50 miler (or Ice Age 50). Look forward to reading your ultra adventures for 2007. Good luck in your TRI adventures also.
Happy holidays.
Happy birthday, Julie! Have a wonderful 2007!
Julie, long time reader, first time poster. I have enjoyed reading your blog for some time, and your stories have been very inspiring to me.
Congratulation on such an amazing year, and happy birthday! Keep it up, and best wishes in 2007!
- Lora said...
Julie, I've followed along for the past year and, as I've told you before, I have been very inspired by you.
Your success with LL got me to try it and....bam! helped me achieve my weight loss goal.
You're the "everywoman" that shows us that if you put your mind to something, you can achieve whatever you want.
I wish you all the best this upcoming year....with great thanks for sharing with us your innermost thoughts. The world is truly a better place because of what you bring to it.
- Vesa Loikas said...
Moi -
I've been following your running via your blog for almost a year now. I thank you for wonderful & inspiring blogging!
My mileage is only about 35k a week but even at that I need help, so keep up the runs and blogging in 2007!
Vesa Loikas, Turku, Finland


text:
Light-heavyweight Krzysztof Soszynski has had a change of opponent -- again -- for his UFC 131 bout in Vancouver this Saturday. UFC veteran Mike Massenzio has verbally agreed to take the bout against Soszynski just six days out from the June 11 event, Dana White announced today.
Originally slated to fight Anthony Perosh, who suffered an injury, Soszynski was then expected to fight Igor Pokrajac, who also suffered an injury that forced him to cancel.
Tibau-Oliveira Replaces Palaszewski-McKenzie at UFC 130 updated May 19
Bart Palaszewski is out of his UFC 130 bout with Gleison Tibau due to injury, said Dana White today. Coming off a four-fight win streak, Rafaello "Tractor" Oliveira has verbally agreed to make his UFC return and face Tibau in a lightweight battle of Brazilian-born BJJ black belts.
Palaszewski was originally slated to fight TUF standout Cody McKenzie, but an injury sidelined the guilliotine specialist two weeks ago.
Danzig Injured, Cowboy to Welcome Rocha to UFC updated May 17
Mac Danzig has had to pull out of UFC 131 with an injury, Dana White confirmed today. Making his UFC debut on short notice, 6-1 BJJ black belt Vagner Rocha has verbally agreed to replace Danzig in the June 4 bout against Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone.
Heavyweight Changes Continue on UFC 131 Card updated May 13
With yesterday's announcement that Shane Carwin will replace Brock Lesnar in the UFC 131 main event against Junior dos Santos, there have been some changes to the June 11th card in Vancouver.
Carwin's original opponent on the card, Jon Olav Einemo, will now face fellow newcomer Dave "Pee Wee" Herman, and Herman's original foe, Joey Beltran, will take on UFC debutant Aaron Rosa in bouts verbally agreed to today.
Carwin replaces Lesnar against dos Santos update May 12
After fighting his way back from a severe 2009 bout with diverticulitis to successfully defend his UFC heavyweight title against Shane Carwin last July before losing the belt to Cain Velasquez, Brock Lesnar has been forced out of his UFC 131 main event against Junior dos Santos after being stricken once again with the intestinal ailment.
UFC President Dana White revealed the news on a media teleconference Thursday afternoon.
Stepping in for Lesnar to face dos Santos will be Carwin, the former interim UFC heavyweight champion, on the June 11th event in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Carwin was originally scheduled to face Jon Olav Einemo on the UFC 131 card.
Lesnar and dos Santos have been competing against each other as coaches on season 13 of The Ultimate Fighter reality series on Spike TV.
Pokrajac in for Perosh vs. K-Sos updated May 10
A third fight card in two days has changed due to fighter injury - Australia's Anthony Perosh is unable to compete in his scheduled UFC 131 scrap against Krzysztof Soszynski, Dana White announced today. Igor Pokrajac has verbally agreed to face Soszynski instead at the June 11 Vancouver event.
Edgar-Maynard III Postponed; Rampage-Hamill Headlines 130 updated May 9
The highly-anticipated third bout between UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar and number one contender Gray Maynard will have to wait a little longer, as it was announced today that both fighters have suffered injuries in training camp that will take them out of the UFC 130 main event on May 28th.
Stepping up into the UFC 130 main event slot is the bout between former UFC light heavyweight champ Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Matt "The Hammer" Hamill, and moving to the Pay-Per-View card will be the Thiago Alves vs. Rick Story welterweight showdown.
McKenzie Out, Tibau in at UFC 130 updated May 5
TUF 12's Cody McKenzie is out of his UFC 130 fight with Bart Palaszewski due to injury. UFC president Dana White confirmed tonight that Gleison Tibau, fresh off of a win over Kurt Pellegrino, has verbally agreed to replace him in the lightweight bout.
Yahya Out, Poirier Gets Brit for 131 updated May 3
Rani Yahya has withdrawn from his UFC 131 bout against Dustin Poirier due to injury, UFC president Dana White confirmed today. Stepping in for Yahya will be English striking ace Jason Young, making his UFC debut. Poirier has a dangerous stand-up arsenal of his own and is pegged by many to be a top prospect to watch at featherweight.
McDonald in for Kid against Cariaso updated April 27
Bantamweight phenom Michael McDonald is stepping in on short notice to face Chris Cariaso at UFC 130.
"Kid Yamamoto has withdrawn from his May 28th bout vs Chris Cariaso due to injury," said UFC President Dana White. "In his place will be UFC's youngest fighter and one of it's most exciting, Michael McDonald, who is coming off a recent Fight of The Night performance. Chris Cariaso carries a great record of his own with a fast style and he plans on cementing his place in the bantamweight division with a win over the highly touted prospect. Both have verbally agreed to the fight."
Barao-Escovedo Set for UFC 130 updated April 20
WEC veteran Cole Escovedo, the organization's first featherweight champ, will make his UFC debut at bantamweight against top Brazilian prospect Renan Barao at UFC 130, as the two have verbally agreed to the matchup.
Barao looks to continue his astounding 28-fight unbeaten streak against Escovedo, who's known for being an incredible finisher. Barao was originally scheduled to fight Demetrious Johnson - earlier this week, Johnson replaced an injured Brad Pickett on the same card.
Mighty Mouse in for Injured Pickett vs. Torres updated April 20
UFC president Dana white announced that Brit bantamweight Brad Pickett has suffered an injury, forcing him to withdraw from his May 28th bout against Miguel Torres at UFC 130.
"The fastest man in the division has answered the call, and Demetrious Johnson will move into Pickett's spot to face the former divisional kingpin," said White. "Both men have verbally agreed to the fight."
Johnson was originally slated to fight rising prospect Renan Barao on the same date; Barao's new opponent will be announced shortly.
TUF Alumni Back in the Octagon updated April 11
TUF 11 star Nick "The Promise" Ring will meet James Head in Vancouver on June 11.
"Seven-and-one James Head is coming off an impressive victory over UFC
veteran Gerald Harris and has verbally agreed to make his UFC debut
against the undefeated Canadian middleweight Ring," he said.
McKenzie to face Palaszewski at UFC 130 updated April 10
The master of the McKenzietine, TUF 12 alum Cody McKenzie, will get a tough test on May 28 in Las Vegas when he squares off against WEC vet Bart Palaszewski in a UFC 130 lightweight bout that was verbally agreed to today.
McGee Out, Weidman in at UFC 131 updated April 5
An injury has forced Court McGee to withdraw from his UFC 131 bout in Vancouver. "Undefeated Chris Weidman, who was impressive defeating Alessio Sakara in his UFC debut, has verbally agreed to step in against tough Canadian Jesse Bongfeldt," said Dana White.
"Pee Wee" vs. "The Mexicutioner" at UFC 131 updated March 31
UFC President Dana White announced another heavyweight matchup for June's UFC 131 card. "20-2 Heavyweight Dave "Pee-Wee" Herman has verbally agreed to make his UFC debut against hard hitting Joey Beltran June 11th in Vancouver," said White.
Carwin Returns to Face Newcomer Einemo at UFC 131 updated March 23
UFC President Dana White announced today that Colorado KO king Shane Carwin is expected to make his long awaited return to the Octagon on June 11th against newcomer Jon Olav Einemo.
"Submission wrestling champion Jon Olav Einemo has verbally agreed to make his UFC debut against former UFC interim heavyweight champion Shane Carwin at UFC 131 in Vancouver," said White. "Carwin is an incredibly tough UFC debut for anyone but Einemo's camp loves the style matchup."
Carwin had a roller coaster 2010, winning the interim heavyweight crown with a first round knockout of Frank Mir in March, yet falling short of winning the undisputed crown as he was submitted in the second round of a back and forth war with Brock Lesnar. After undergoing surgery to heal some nagging injuries, he will be back at UFC 131 to take on Einemo, a 6-foot-6 jiu-jitsu black belt who has won six of his seven pro bouts, with the only loss a 2006 defeat in PRIDE to Fabricio Werdum.
Edwards/Stout, Cerrone/Danzig updated March 14
Two thrilling lightweight bouts have been added to the summer lineup featuring TUF stars pitted against WEC favorites who've had success so far in the UFC.
"Donald 'Cowboy' Cerrone and TUF 6 winner Mac Danzig have verbally agreed to meet in what should by a non-stop action fight at UFC 131 in Vancouver," said White. He also confirmed a bout between two UFC veterans on that same card: "Yves Edwards VS Sam Stout, a matchup of top lightweight strikers has been verbally agreed to."
Bantamweights Take Vegas updated March 12th:
The bantamweights will be out in force in Las Vegas this spring, as intriguing 135-pound matchups have been verbally agreed to for the UFC 130 card.
At UFC 130, which takes place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, two of the division's top rising stars will meet when speedster Demetrious Johnson takes on Brazilian phenom Renan Barao. Johnson is coming off a career-best win over Kid Yamamoto at UFC 126, and Barao's stellar win streak, which includes back-to-back WEC victories, speaks for itself.
"One of the fastest men in the sport, Demetrious Johnson, and Renan Barao, with an incredible 27 fight unbeaten streak, have both verbally agreed to fight at UFC 130 on May 28th in Las Vegas," said UFC President Dana White.
Also on the UFC 130 card, Japanese star Yamamoto returns in search of his first UFC win when he faces off against Chris Cariaso.
UFC 131 Card Shapes Up updated March 12th
Also, four bouts on the UFC 131 fight card have been verbally agreed to, including a matchup of rising middleweights:
* Mark Munoz vs. Demian Maia
"Heavy handed Mark Munoz will take on Demian Maia, one of the top Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belts in MMA," says UFC president Dana White.
* Anthony Perosh vs. Krzysztof Soszynski
* Jesse Bongfeldt vs. Court McGee
* Darren Elkins vs. Michihiro Omigawa (at featherweight)
UFC 131 will take place June 11th in Vancouver. More details about UFC 131 including ticket information will be announced soon.
Massenzio Tapped for Soszynski Bout on Saturday
Up-to-the minute news about UFC 130 and UFC 131
Click below for more fight updates:
TUF 13 Finale and UFC on Versus 4
Click below for more fight updates:
TUF 13 Finale and UFC on Versus 4
Watch Past Fights
- Anthony Perosh
- BJ Penn
- Chris Weidman
- Court McGee
- Darren Elkins
- Demetrious Johnson
- Demian Maia
- Donald Cerrone
- Evan Dunham
- Fabio Maldonado
- Francisco Rivera
- George Sotiropoulos
- Jesse Bongfeldt
- Jon Fitch
- Krzysztof Soszynski
- Kyle Kingsbury
- Mac Danzig
- Mark Munoz
- Matt Brown
- Melvin Guillard
- Michael McDonald
- Michihiro Omigawa
- Renan Barao
- Rich Attonito
- Shane Roller
- Vagner Rocha
Saturday, March 7
10/7PM ET/PT -- 2PM AEDT Mar 8
Portland, Oregon


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Hello visitors and members alike, and welcome back to another fun filled drawing tutorial here on DragoArt.com. Today I was going through some e-mails and found a few request. There was one particular request that I thought made perfect sense for me to do since I already have the whole family submitted in the first place. A member requested a tutorial on how to draw The Flintstones Flintmobile step by step. Now for those of you that watch the animated series that is sometimes aired on Cartoon Network, you will recognize this stoneage vehicle that Fred Flintstone owned which was slightly better than what Barney was driving. The Flintmobile was a wagon sized car when he dragged the family along (front and back seats), but when it was just him and Barney the Flintmobile only had one front seat. The car was made out of tree trunks and had wheels carved out of stone. The seats were also made from stone and the steering wheel was wood. The top of the hood and rear of the mobile was covered with some sort of prehistoric fabric almost like a hide-covered canopy that usually had a hole in the back for a rear window. Fred and Barney used to power the car by using their feet to push it and by using their feet to stop it as well. All in all the prehistoric wagon was unique and memorable. This tutorial will show you how to draw The Flintstones Flintmobile step by step. I hope you enjoy this drawing lesson, I will be back soon with more drawing fun. I would like to thank all you members for your awesome ideas for tutorial request. Keep the requests pouring in and I promise they will get filled even if it takes me a little while to do them. Make sure you keep coming back to the site for updated tutorials, you never know you may see the one you've been waiting for.
DragoArt members upload artwork and drawing tutorials! They are also allowed to leave comments on tutorials, profiles, etc. Many more features, as well; it's way better than just being a boring guest! Register Now!


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Friday, January 16, 2009
Does "Whom" Still Exist?
After a winter holiday, the Grammar Gang is back! We want to poll our readers and ask whether the word "whom" still has a place in their everyday vocabulary. Do you still use, or perhaps hear others using, the relative/interrogative pronoun "whom?" Or do the people who use "whom" all sound like nineteenth-century Victorians who just stepped out of a time machine?
What is the word "whom" anyway, and how should you use it?
"Whom" is a pronoun that always refers to a person. You would never use "whom" to refer to your pet rock or your most recent video game purchase. Secondly, "whom" provides a signal that the person in question is the direct object of the verb. In other words, whomever (see!) the "whom" refers to is receiving the action of the verb (not performing the action). As my German 102 instructor once said, the direct object is the thing that is being verbed.
"Whom" can function as a relative pronoun or an interrogative pronoun. Though the names of these words may sound scary, they stand for a group of words that you probably use everyday. The relative pronoun introduces additional information about someone or something. There are specific relative pronouns:
who, whom, that, which, whose, where, when, and why
The name, relative pronoun, comes from the type of clause that it introduces, namely the relative clause. These clauses are subordinate clauses (i.e. cannot stand alone as complete sentences), and they provide additional information about someone or something. Here are two examples:
The man, who is standing in the corner, is my father.
The boy, whom the teacher told to go outside, is crying.
There are many questions surrounding relative clauses at the moment. Some of them have to do with punctuation (to comma or not to comma), and some of them have to do with the pronouns themselves, such as whether you can use "that" to refer to a person. For more on relative clauses, you can visit the materials published by the OWL here: http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/645/01/
So, who will answer this post? And to whom shall I reply?
11 comments:
First of all, thanks for the good explanation of whom.
I still use this word, instinctively. But I tell my French students who are learning English to forget about it in day-to-day use. I want them to recognize the word but I'm less concerned if they learn to use it.
- January 17, 2009 at 7:22 AM
- med tutor said...
I seldom use the word "whom", except in formal situations. I occasionally speak the word but almost never write it.
- January 18, 2009 at 2:21 AM
'To whom it may concern'
I think that 'whom' is becoming unfashionable in everyday English speech but is still used in formal writing like the phrase above in letters of introduction or references.
I like to use whom when I am looking to emphasise a point when speaking. For example: 'To whom am I speaking?'
Great grammar point Brady!
- January 18, 2009 at 4:47 PM
- Rachel Cotterill said...
I'm erratic about whether I use it in speech. I avoid it in my writing (unless editorial guidelines dictate otherwise) because I would prefer to be consistent, and being consistently correct requires much more effort than a simple search/replace at the end to remove any 'whom's which have crept in.
Does anyone apart from me still use 'one'? I got mocked for that at school but I still say it instinctively.
- January 25, 2009 at 5:04 PM
- Brady Spangenberg said...
Great point, Rachel. "One" is another pronoun that is falling into daily usage oblivion. I think the loss of the indefinite third person pronoun is even more lamentable than "whom," mostly because "one" is being replaced by "you." It is possible to avoid "whom" in one's writing, mostly because it is only used in a few specific cases. On the other hand, there are many more instances that require "one/you." As most of us have come to learn, it only takes one "you" to wreck a perfectly good paper in the eyes of our readers.
- January 26, 2009 at 8:23 AM
- Rachel Randolph said...
Great blog! I really enjoyed this post on the use of whom and whether it still exists. I used to be intimidated by the word and avoided using it, but once I finally understood the rules of usage, I started to use it more often.
Dianna Booher's book, Booher's Rules of Business Grammar: 101 Fast and Easy Ways to Correct the Most Common Errors (McGraw-Hill) has an easy memory tip that has helped me.
Substitute he (the subject word) and him (the object word) for who and whom and let your ear do the rest. If he sounds right, use who or whoever. If him sounds right, use whom or whomever.
I know the word is fading and in most cases can be avoided, but it never hurts to know the proper usage.
To your continued success,
Rachel Randolph
- February 6, 2009 at 9:05 AM
I'm with Susanna on this one. Sometimes you're on the phone and you expect the caller or receiver to identify themselves as a matter of courtsey, but they don't! It then sounds rather rude to ask, 'Who am I taking to?'. However, asking 'To whom am I speaking?' makes the point politely and achieves the required response.
I think this is the only context where I use 'whom'.
- February 23, 2009 at 9:24 PM
- Karla said...
I love your German instructor's definition of a direct object as something that's being verbed. lol
I not only use whom, but I also know when to use it and why. More and more I hear bombastic people using the word when they want to sound important and knowledgeable. Instead, they just sound stupid. And no, I don't sound like a Victorian escapee; I sound like someone who paid atten in third grade. It's not that complicated.
This was a good post, mostly. However, the statement that "Secondly, whom provides a signal that the person in question is the direct object of the verb. In other words, whomever (see!) the whom refers to is receiving the action of the verb (not performing the action)" was incorrect. Whom can signal that the person may be a direct object. It can also be an indirect object, or more commonly, the object of a preposition, the prepositional phrase serving as an indirect or direct object. Your final question (And to whom shall I reply?) is an example of the latter. But whom is always an object of something, be it verb or preposition.
A related pair of words that are very often misused is whoever and whomever. People often assume that the word form after a pronoun has to be the object whom or whomever. But when there is a whomever clause serving as the object of a preposition, then whomever is not the object itself; then entire clause is. Whoever would be the subject of the verb in the clause, so using whomever is a mistake.
Example: I will give the pen to whoever raises her hand first. (Not whomever.)
- March 28, 2009 at 11:21 AM
Which of the following two sentence is correct and does use of a phrasal verb (stand for) make a difference to the usual rule of "whom" after a preposition?:
1. Who do NGOs really stand for?
2. For whom do NGOs really stand for?
(NGO = non-government organisation (a charity in everyday parlance).
- May 12, 2010 at 1:01 AM
- Brady Spangenberg said...
This is a situation that really does not have a good answer. Both sentences seem awkward, but there really aren't any other options. The first recommendation is to substitute "what" for "who/m," because "who/m" should really be used in place of persons, and (argue with me if you like) organizations are not people. Secondly, the best advice is to select another, non-phrasal verb like "mean," as in, "What does NGO mean?"
Hope this helps,
- May 17, 2010 at 4:49 AM
- Andrea Duff said...
Hi - I indadvertently deleted a comment which I distinctly remember had a reference to the use of 'whom' as being 'academic BS'. I wonder if whoever (note, I did not say 'whomever' or 'whomsoever' wrote it could post it again because it was a feisty and useful post - I thought.
- May 19, 2010 at 1:24 AM


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Call of the Wild
Call of the Wild
by Jack London
Welcome to the E-world version of Call of the Wild by Jack London. This version is produced from the etexts made available to the public domain by Project Gutenburg.
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We have also made allowances for those who may wish to read this as a book. At the bottom of each page you can choose next or previous to go to each file sequentially through the entire work.
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These books are made available free of charge to the end user and are in the public domain. You are free to print and distribute this copy. To make it easier we have provided a "printable" version of each section and is available as a link on each page.
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Gnumeric Crunches Numbers Like a Pro
Nov 14, 2012 5:00 AM PT
Gnumeric is a lightweight spreadsheet program that is fast and feature complete.
Much like its chief open source competitors OpenOffice and LibreOffice, its graphical user interface is nothing fancy. What it lacks in colorful design or exciting visual menu displays, however, it surpasses with its format flexibility and easy operation.
It might seem counterproductive to use a spreadsheet application outside a business suite, but no real reason justifies not doing so. Word processing and calculation functions are foreign to each other, and no integrated link exists between programs within an office suite. So launching Gnumeric rather than the OpenOffice or LibreOffice equivalents takes the same click on a menu entry.
The Gnumeric spreadsheet is part of the Gnome desktop environment, but you do not have to run the Gnome desktop to use it. Gnumeric runs just fine in Ubuntu's Unity, Linux Mint's Cinnamon shell and the KDE desktop as well. I have yet to find a Linux distro that could not handle the package.
Do not think of Gnumeric as a clone of other spreadsheets. Gnumeric's strength is its ability to import and export files saved with other spreadsheets. If you use it in business, Gnumeric has an added benefit of minimizing the costs of transition.
Few Issues
The Gnumeric spreadsheet is unique in that it has very little overhead. Substituting one app for another often carries a trade off in functionality, or ease-of-use or file compatibility. I have used Gnumeric for several years with both OpenOffice and LibreOffice. The only snag I ever had was in earlier versions.
Every so often, a file created in one of the other two heavyweights that contained comments embedded in cells would be lost if I edited one or more comments and resaved the file. I have not noticed that issue in Gnumeric 1.11.6, the latest version.
Never did I encounter a problem reading or saving spreadsheet files created in other spreadsheet programs. Similarly, no one who received a spreadsheet file I created in Gnumeric and saved in Excel or Lotus or ODT formats ever complained about not being able to use it.
Format Fundamentals
Gnumeric works well with other spreadsheet files. It has an ample library of built-in plugins for commonly used spreadsheet file formats. These are pre-installed and active To turn off any unwanted plugin, just uncheck it the Tools / PlugIn menu.
Included in this hefty list is Microsoft Excel formats xlt/xlw, Lotus 1-2-3 formats wk1/wks, and the generic Comma/character Separated Values CSV formats. As noted, it also easily handles OpenDocument's ods/odt and Star Office sxc/stc files.
Among the less-common file formats Gnumeric handles effortlessly are Data Interchange Format (.dif), Applix version 4 (.as), gnu oleo (.oleo), Linear and integer program expression format (.mps), The Microsoft Multiplan Symbolic Link Interchange (.sylk), Wordperfect family "plan perfect" (.pln), Quattro Pro (tm), Xspread (sc) and Ashton-Tate programming language dBASE (.dbf).
Admittedly, you will never encounter some of these legacy file formats. The point is that Gnumeric handles them and thus is an ideal replacement or conversion tool. Gnumeric can export to Latex 2e (.tex), troff (.me) and .html formats as well.
Accuracy Assured
I often find a attitude of distrust among new Linux users regarding the use of third-party programs. Some people tend to view spreadsheet apps bundled with office suites as more reliable. So they consider more obscure substitutes to be riskier to use.
Not so with Gnumeric. It is far from an obscure program, and it is very much part of a suite of software associated with the Gnome project.
That said, the Gnome community cites accredited reports that certify the accuracy of calculations Gnumeric performs.
The bottom line regarding match computations with Gnumeric is that this spreadsheet app gets the same answers as its competitors, but does so faster.
Feature Frenzy
Gnumeric is more than a simple and limited calculation program. It is a fully-functional spreadsheet capable of manipulating and analyzing numeric data. Its uses include keeping track of information in lists and organizing numeric values in columns.
While it is defined by developers as lightweight, Gnumeric is not short on features. For example, it offers 100 percent of the worksheet functions in Microsoft Excel, plus it has 154 functions not found in that commercial business spreadsheet.
It also comes with basic support for financial derivatives (Black Scholes) and for telecommunication engineering. It is adept at handling analytics and advanced statistical analysis. If you need it, this app can implement complex optimization modeling or perform tasks involving numbers, dates, times, names or other data.
Gnumeric handles extensive random number generation and performs and updates complex calculations by defining each step of the calculation and modifying particular steps subsequently. Also, it can create and display or print graphical plots of data using bar plots, line graphs, pie charts or radar charts.
No Frilly Interface
If you are familiar with Excel or OpenOffice and LibreOffice spreadsheets, you will have no trouble opening an existing file and continuing where you left off in these other programs. Similarly, starting a new spreadsheet calculation in Gnumeric is no different than beginning a project in these other applications.
Microsoft's ribbon menu style is not replicated in Generic. Instead, you will find the same standard menu interface that works in traditional spreadsheet apps. Many of the typical tasks such as inserting a chart involve highlighting the data cells and clicking on the Charts button in the tool bar
Even the location of menu options is fairly consistent. All of this contributes to making Gnumeric easy to use. If you are familiar with the spreadsheet environment, you can expect little to no learning curve.
I found that the only significant adjustment in using Gnumeric is an occasional anomaly in how to construct a formula. But for standard math functions, the integer strings are easy to follow.
The bottom line is, Gnumeric is an interesting and easy to use alternative to more complicated spreadsheet programs. It comes with an impressive array of graphs and advanced functionality.


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HPLC Column Compartment Parts and Accessories
- Products [8]
- Learn More []
- Documents & Support []
UltiMate™ TCC-3000RS/SD Biocompatible Valve Pods (Thermo Scientific™)
Switch between multiple columns in an TCC-3000RS/SD LC column compartment with UltiMate 3000 TCC-3000RS/SD Biocompatible Valve Pods.
UltiMate™ TCC-3000RS/SD SST Valve Pods (Thermo Scientific™)
Choose TCC-3000RS/SD SST Valve Pods for Two-Position HP Valves for use with the TCC-3000RS/SD Thermostatted Column Compartment.
UltiMate™ ACC-3000T Column Clips (Thermo Scientific™)
Select the correct clips to mount multiple columns inside the Thermo Scientific™ Dionex™ UltiMate™ 3000T Column Compartment based on column OD.
UltiMate™ TCC-3000RS/SD Valve Drives (Actuators) (Thermo Scientific™)
Support a typical configuration for a Thermo Scientific™ Dionex™ UltiMate™ 3000 LC System TCC-3000RS/SD thermostatted column compartment with UltiMate TCC-3000RS/SD Valve Drives.
UltiMate™ ACC-3000T Postcolumn Cooler (Thermo Scientific™)
Minimize noise and drift in high temperature chromatography applications.
UltiMate™ ACC-3000T Front Cover for UltiMate ACC-3000T Column Compartment (Thermo Scientific™)
View the configuration of your column compartment without opening it.
UltiMate™ ACC-3000T Precolumn Heaters (Thermo Scientific™)
Reduce your run time with efficient precolumn heating for high temperature chromatography.
UltiMate™ TCC-3000 Eluent Preheater (Thermo Scientific™)
Maintain your eluent at a precise temperature for high temperature chromatography.


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Scientific Poster Presentations
The Scientific Poster Presentations is a forum of more than 300 exhibits presenting timely, innovative findings on original scientific research. In order to accommodate more poster presentations, posters will be on display for one day only—Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday.
Attendees are especially encouraged to visit the poster presentations during the lunch period, when authors will be at their booths to discuss their work and answer questions. Additionally, on Tuesday, October 28, Program Committee Chair, Valerie W. Rusch, MD, FACS, will facilitate a lunchtime tour and discussion of the Posters of Exceptional Merit. The authors will present their distinguished work and an award will be given to the Best Scientific Poster.


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Coupang's on Fire in Korea's Hot M-Commerce Climate
Jun 9, 2014 10:19 AM PT
Sequoia Capital recently led a US$100 million round of funding for South Korean retailer Coupang, suggesting that the rapidly growing Korean e-commerce market is the hot new scene for investors looking to capitalize on a country full of mobile shoppers.
Founded and run by the Korean-born, Harvard-educated Bon Kim, the site has grown to become Korea's leading online retailer. The recent round of funding gave it a $1 billion valuation.
Kim launched the store when he realized there was a market itch in Korea that he could scratch -- his native country was full of smartphone users that loved to shop, but lacked a leading online platform for doing so.
After securing early funding from investors including Greenoaks Capital Management and Rose Park Advisors' Disruptive Innovation Fund, Kim launched Coupang in 2010. The company originally was modeled like a daily deal site such as Groupon -- the "cou" in Coupang comes from the word "coupon" -- but since has branched out to include merchandise and is now more of a marketplace like Amazon.
It still offers deals on things like travel packages, tickets to events or local attractions, but it also serves as a one-stop shop for goods including fresh food, consumer electronics, fashion and beauty merchandise, home goods and toys. You name it, you can probably buy it on Coupang, and you can often have it delivered that same day.
Keys to Success
By 2013, during its third full year in operation, Coupang had brought in more than US$1 billion in sales, a benchmark it hit quicker than any other Korean e-tailer. The latest round of funding will help as the company pursues further growth in what Coupang CFO Richard Song described as a $45 billion e-commerce market.
"All the strategies deployed by Coupang since its inception will drive innovation in the Korean e-commerce market," e-commerce consultant Rob Abdul told the E-Commerce Times.
Curation is one of those strategies. Coupang offers personalized recommendations for users so they won't be overwhelmed by the seemingly endless offerings on the site.
Delivery is another selling point for Coupang. With its own delivery team, and because the dense urban settings in most of the country make getting from point A to point B relatively easy, Coupang is able to offer free two-day delivery on almost all items, and often can handle speedy same-day delivery.
Mobile strength has been critical to the site's success. Super-fast Internet speeds and a site optimized for mobile consumers have made it easy for tech-savvy Koreans to turn to their smartphones to do their shopping. Since August of last year, mobile transactions accounted for more than 70 percent of the company's sales.
All in all, Coupang has figured out a winning business model in its market, said Yujong Hwang, Ph.D., associate professor at the Driehaus College of Business at DePaul University.
"Coupang has successfully positioned their strategy in the e-commerce market with their focus on mobile commerce and customer service," he told the E-Commerce Times. "They have a user-friendly interface and one of the biggest supply chains in the Korean market. It is defnitely perceived as one of the top three e-commerce companies in the Korean market at this time."
Making Foreign Dollars Count
Coupang's success could make it seem as if the Korean e-commerce market is ripe with opportunity, said Anat Zeelim-Hovav, professor at the Korea University Business School.
"For one, the infrastructure here in Korea is much more advanced and affordable than it is in the U.S.," he told the E-Commerce Times. "Second, people use public transportation, so they have plenty of down time which they can use for mobile commerce. Third, delivery here is cheap and fast."
That doesn't mean foreign entrepreneurs should think they can achieve easy success in Korea, said Zeelim-Hovav.
"There are a myriad of obstacles for foreigners to penetrate the Korean market," he said, citing challenges including cultural differences in the corporate world.
Instead of eBay trying to tough it out in Korea, the company spent $1.2 billion buying Gmarket in 2009, which was at the time the leading online retailer in the country. Earlier this year, Groupon announced a $260 acquisition of Coupang competitor Ticket Monster and quietly withdrew from its core business there.
Going forward, the market will be driven by acquisitions or major investments -- not by attempts on the part of foreign companies to mold to the Korean landscape, said Hwang.
"The Korean e-commerce market is growing very fast and uniquely," he noted. "It is called the world's incubator for new technology. That makes it difficult to get into the market by foreign competitors. Sequoia Capital's $100 million is a good example of how the market perceives the future value of the e-commerce market in Korea. I expect it will be more for mergers and acquisitions, such as a company buying Ticket Monster or JobKorea in the future, than trying to make it in Korea."


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Price from
Discover the delights of cosmopolitan, history-rich Alexandria
Soak up the seaside ambience and ancient heritage of Alexandria, Egypt's second largest city. Travelling via Cairo on this short independent trip, you'll have the chance to see some of the country's most compelling sights, from the Italianate architecture and Greco-Roman statues of the Alexandria National Museum to the 15th-century Qaitbay Fort by the harbour.
- Start
- Cairo, Egypt
- Finish
- Cairo, Egypt
- Destination
- Egypt
- Style
- Peregrine
- Code
- Physical rating
- Trip rating
- 9 reviews
- Ages
- Min 15
- Group size
- Min 1, Max 4
Why you'll love this trip
Discover the heritage of Alexander the Great's seaside metropolis by exploring the collections of the Alexandria National Museum
Visit the site of one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World – the Alexandria lighthouse
Learn more about an important WWII battle at one of Egypt's best museums, the El Alamein War Museum
Enjoy plenty of free time taking in the romance of Alexandria's waterfront
Is this trip right for you?
We recommend that you refer to your governments travel advisory before booking any tours to Egypt, as this may affect insurance policies.
The length of the drive from Cairo to Alexandria can depend on the traffic. Your departure will be early, but this is to beat as much of the traffic as possible and make for a more enjoyable trip.
Sturdy, comfortable walking shoes are essential, as there will be a fair amount of exploring done on foot.
Egypt can get hot in the summer months of July and August. Where possible, sightseeing takes place in the morning before the heat becomes too intense.
Our Independent Experiences have been designed for just one to three people, departing every day of the week for most Experiences. You can mix and match to create your perfect trip combination, then we'll arrange the transport between each experience for you. You will have local guides at most destinations and activities. It's independent travel without the stress.
- Mediterranean Azur Hotel or similar (1 night)
Included Activities
- Alexandria - Alexandria National Museum-Entry Fee
- Alexandria - Catacombs of Kom Ash-Suqqafa
Meals IncludedThere are no meals included on this day.
- Mediterranean Azur Hotel or similar (1 night)
Included Activities
- El Alamein - War Museum
- El Alamein - Commonwealth War Cemetery visit
Meals Included
- Breakfast
- Lunch
Meals Included
- Breakfast
Meals2 breakfasts, 1 lunch
TransportPrivate vehicle
AccommodationComfortable hotel (2 nights)
Included Activities
- Alexandria - Alexandria National Museum-Entry Fee
- Alexandria - Catacombs of Kom Ash-Suqqafa
- El Alamein - War Museum
- El Alamein - Commonwealth War Cemetery visit
Dates & availability
Trip search is unavailable.
There are currently no scheduled departures on our Alexandria Experience - Independent trip. If you are interested in other trips in the region visit one of the links below.
Jump to a departure month
Important notes
1. This Independent Experience starts at 8am on Day 1 and finishes at approximately 2pm on Day 3.
2. You will be picked up on Day 1 from the Joining Point Hotel listed in the Essential Trip Information for this itinerary.
3. If you require pick up from another centrally-located hotel in Cairo, please inform your booking agent at least 14 days prior to departure.
Following recent safety incidents we recommend that you check your government's advice for their latest information on travelling in Egypt before your departure and ensure that your travel insurance covers you for all areas of your itinerary. We have links to prominent government travel advisories and regular updates on issues affecting this trip on our Travel Alerts page - https://www.peregrineadventures.com/travel-alerts
Essential trip information
Want an in-depth insight into this trip? Essential Trip Information provides a detailed itinerary, visa info, how to get to your hotel, what's included - pretty much everything you need to know about this adventure and more.View Essential Trip Information


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Lead-Bismuth Eutectic or LBE is a eutectic alloy consisting of 45 percent lead and 55 percent bismuth. It is foreseen as a possible coolant for Generation IV nuclear reactor systems. The most interesting properties of LBE in comparison with lead and water are presented in Table 1. A principal advantage of LBE over lead is the low melting point of 125 °C, rather than lead's 327 °C. If the heat source in a nuclear system is shut down, then it is much easier to avoid freezing of the coolant.
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OPTIONS OUTDOORS: If you've ever joined your pals on a spontaneous camping trip, you know it is pretty much about you and your sleeping bag and Nature, capital N. Which is cool: It's so soft and plaid and nubbily and you like it, for options for ways to spend the night outdoors don't typically abound. That is not the case at El Capitan Canyon, which has become known for approaching the art of outdoor overnight enjoyment in a myriad of offbeat and whimsical ways. There are the posh tents that have been written up in every magazine from here to the furthest place from here, and the gorgeous yurts. The cedar cabins, too, get the love, as do the make-your-own-s'mores kits and the on-property llamas and the whole feeling of being one with nature but also having one's own private little slice of privatedom (not to be undervalued for the adventurer who wants to be very adjacent to the al fresco world but perhaps not in the middle of it). Now the Santa Barbara property has something new for the summer of '14, though, like other structures around the bucolic space, the new things fit snugly in, like a corral cabin next to a creek. Oh, did we just tip our hand there?
WE DID: El Capitan Canyon opened thirteen Corral Cabins in June. The "contemporary rustic" buildings are slightly set apart from the Safari Tents and yurts and Cedar Cabins, lending a little bit more quietude (though that abounds throughout the grounds). The cabins include separate living areas, and fireplaces and kitchenettes with full fridges. There are bathrooms, too, and Western decor to hee-yaw over (the cabins' name hails from a corral which was once in the area). If you stay in these luxe-y, larger spaces, you still have a crack at the gratis El Capitan bikes and the other good things the property offers (like the summer activities -- hello hikes, yoga, stargazing...). Want to know more? Grab your hiking stick and wend your way over here.


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01070National Economic Accounts of Forestry
There was no annual programme for years 1997 and 1998
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Judge deals blow to SEC case vs Nacchio, others
A federal judge in Denver dealt a blow this week to the Securities and Exchange Commission's civil lawsuit against five former Qwest officials, including former chief executive Joe Nacchio.
U.S. District Judge Marcia Krieger ruled that the SEC doesn't have enough evidence to prove initial allegations that the defendants improperly booked revenue for Qwest from 1999 to 2002. She ordered the SEC to focus on claims that Qwest misled investors by not separating monthly, recurring sales from lump sum, one-time revenue in the company's regulatory filings.
Investors and analysts generally place more value on recurring revenue because it better reflects a company's financial condition.
"It becomes a very technical case, and sounds like one that is not going to be very easy for them to win," said former SEC attorney Peter Henning, now a law professor at Wayne State University.
The SEC said today that it will not drop the 5-year-old suit and is deciding whether to ask for a reconsideration on Krieger's ruling.
"The SEC is planning on going forward," said SEC attorney Polly Atkinson.
Krieger's order states that she has not addressed "the major thrust" of the case.
"That should tell you what part of the case has been affected by this," Atkinson said.
In addition to Nacchio — who is serving a six-year prison term for criminal insider trading — defendants in the SEC case include former Qwest president Afshin Mohebbi, former chief financial officer Robert Woodruff and former accountants Frank Noyes and James Kozlowski.
The SEC is seeking the repayment of stock-sale profits, bonuses and salaries earned from 1999 to 2002.
Initial claims focused on billions of dollars in supposedly phantom revenue that Denver-based Qwest booked from swaps of network capacity with other telecommunications companies. Qwest recorded the revenue in a lump sum rather than spread out over the life of the multiyear contracts
The suit is now focused, in large part, on disclosure issues — a change that could trim several weeks off a potential trial and cut the number of witnesses by at least half.
"This is a pretty significant development," said attorney Kevin Evans, who represents Kozlowski. "If this case were to go to trial in the posture that it is today, based upon the order, it would alleviate my need to call at least 30 witnesses and at least four expert witnesses."
Krieger left intact a claim against Noyes connected the alleged backdating of a network capacity swap between Enron and Qwest in September 2001.
Insider trading charges against Nacchio and Woodruff also remain. Kreiger ruled that the SEC can't use findings from Nacchio's criminal conviction because the facts in the cases are different.


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Use the stats command and functions
This topic discusses how to use the statistical functions with the transforming commands
eventstats, and
- For more information about the stat command and syntax, see the "stats" command in the Search Reference.
- For the list of stats functions, see "Statistical and charting functions" in the Search Reference.
About the stats commands and functions
streamstats, and
eventstats commands each enable you to calculate summary statistics on the results of a search or the events retrieved from an index. The
stats command works on the search results as a whole. The
streamstats command calculates statistics for each event at the time the event is seen, in a streaming manner. The
eventstats command calculates statistics on all search results and adds the aggregation inline to each event for which it is relevant. See more about the differences between these commands in the next section.
chart command returns your results in a data structure that supports visualization as a chart (such as a column, line, area, and pie chart). You can decide what field is tracked on the x-axis of the chart. The
timechart command returns your results formatted as a time-series chart, where your data is plotted against an x-axis that is always a time field. Read more about visualization features and options in the Visualization Reference of the Data Visualization Manual.
chart, and
timechart commands (and their related commands
eventstats and
streamstats) are designed to work in conjunction with statistical functions. The list of statistical functions lets you count the occurrence of a field and calculate sums, averages, ranges, and so on, of the field values.
For the list of statistical functions and how they're used, see "Statistical and charting functions" in the Search Reference.
Stats, eventstats, and streamstats
eventstats and
streamstats commands are variations on the
stats command.
stats command works on the search results as a whole and returns only the fields that you specify. For example, the following search returns a table with two columns (and 10 rows).
sourcetype=access_* | head 10 | stats sum(bytes) as ASumOfBytes by clientip
ASumOfBytes and
clientip fields are the only fields that exist after the stats command. For example, the following search returns empty cells in the
bytes column because it is not a result field.
sourcetype=access_* | head 10 | stats sum(bytes) as ASumOfBytes by clientip | table bytes, ASumOfBytes, clientip
To see more fields other than
ASumOfBytes and
clientip in the results, you need to include them in the stats command. Also, if you want to perform calculations on any of the original fields in your raw events, you need to do that before the stats command.
eventstats command computes the same statistics as the
stats command, but it also aggregates the results to the original raw data. When you run the following search, it returns an events list instead of a results table, because the eventstats command does not change the raw data.
sourcetype=access_* | head 10 | eventstats sum(bytes) as ASumOfBytes by clientip
You can use the
table command to format the results as a table that displays the fields you want. Now, you can also view the values of
bytes (or any of the original fields in your raw events) in your results.
sourcetype=access_* | head 10 | eventstats sum(bytes) as ASumOfBytes by clientip | table bytes, ASumOfBytes, clientip
streamstats command also aggregates the calculated statistics to the original raw event, but it does this at the time the event is seen. To demonstrate this, include the
_time field in the earlier search and use
sourcetype=access_* | head 10 | sort _time | streamstats sum(bytes) as ASumOfBytes by clientip | table _time, clientip, bytes, ASumOfBytes
Instead of a total sum for each
clientip (as returned by
stats and
eventstats), this search calculates a sum for each event based on the time that it is seen. The
streamstats command is useful for reporting on events at a known time range.
Example 1
This example creates a chart of how many new users go online each hour of the day.
... | sort _time | streamstats dc(userid) as dcusers | delta dcusers as deltadcusers | timechart sum(deltadcusers)
dc (or
distinct_count) function returns a count of the unique values of
userid and renames the resulting field
If you don't rename the function, for example "dc(userid) as dcusers", the resulting calculation is automatically saved to the function call, such as "dc(userid)".
delta command is used to find the difference between the current and previous
dcusers value. Then, the sum of this delta is charted over time.
Example 2
This example calculates the median for a field, then charts the count of events where the field has a value less than the median.
... | eventstats median(bytes) as medbytes | eval snap=if(bytes>=medbytes, bytes, "smaller") | timechart count by snap
Eventstats is used to calculate the median for all the values of bytes from the previous search.
Example 3
This example calculates the standard deviation and variance of calculated fields.
sourcetype=log4j ERROR earliest=-7d@d latest=@d | eval warns=errorGroup+"-"+errorNum | stats count as Date_Warns_Count by date_mday,warns | stats stdev(Date_Warns_Count), var(Date_Warns_Count) by warns
This search returns errors from the last 7 days and creates the new field, warns, from extracted fields errorGroup and errorNum. The stats command is used twice. First, it calculates the daily count of warns for each day. Then, it calculates the standard deviation and variance of that count per warns.
Example 4
You can use the calculated fields as filter parameters for your search.
sourcetype=access_* | eval URILen = len(useragent) | eventstats avg(URILen) as AvgURILen, stdev(URILen) as StdDevURILen| where URILen > AvgURILen+(2*StdDevURILen) | chart count by URILen span=10 cont=true
In this example, eventstats is used to calculate the average and standard deviation of the URI lengths from
useragent. Then, these numbers are used as filters for the retrieved events.
About calculating statistics
Use stats with eval expressions and functions
This documentation applies to the following versions of Splunk® Enterprise: 6.2.0, 6.2.1, 6.2.2, 6.2.3, 6.2.4, 6.2.5, 6.2.6, 6.2.7, 6.2.8, 6.2.9, 6.2.10, 6.2.11, 6.2.12, 6.2.13, 6.2.14, 6.2.15, 6.3.0, 6.3.1, 6.3.2, 6.3.3, 6.3.4, 6.3.5, 6.3.6, 6.3.7, 6.3.8, 6.3.9, 6.3.10, 6.3.11, 6.3.12, 6.3.13, 6.3.14, 6.4.0, 6.4.1, 6.4.2, 6.4.3, 6.4.4, 6.4.5, 6.4.6, 6.4.7, 6.4.8, 6.4.9, 6.4.10, 6.4.11, 6.5.0, 6.5.1, 6.5.1612 (Splunk Cloud only), 6.5.2, 6.5.3, 6.5.4, 6.5.5, 6.5.6, 6.5.7, 6.5.8, 6.5.9, 6.5.10, 6.6.0, 6.6.1, 6.6.2, 6.6.3, 6.6.4, 6.6.5, 6.6.6, 6.6.7, 6.6.8, 6.6.9, 6.6.10, 6.6.11, 6.6.12, 7.0.0, 7.0.1, 7.0.2, 7.0.3, 7.0.4, 7.0.5, 7.0.6, 7.0.7, 7.0.8, 7.0.9, 7.0.10, 7.0.11, 7.0.13, 7.1.0, 7.1.1, 7.1.2, 7.1.3, 7.1.4, 7.1.5, 7.1.6, 7.1.7, 7.1.8, 7.1.9, 7.1.10, 7.2.0, 7.2.1, 7.2.2, 7.2.3, 7.2.4, 7.2.5, 7.2.6, 7.2.7, 7.2.8, 7.2.9, 7.3.0, 7.3.1, 7.3.2, 7.3.3, 7.3.4, 8.0.0, 8.0.1, 8.0.2
Hello Skallaje
The stats command returns calculated results. It does not return the full event.
Instead, to get what you want, perform the following:
source="SampleFilePERF.log" | sort -<fieldname> | tail 1
Notice that you must specify a descending sort of the field whose min value you want.
The following command should return the minimum value and it does.
source="SampleFilePERF.log" | stats min(ELAPSED_TIME_ms)
When I click on the returned minimum value, it should show me just the one event (or record) that is related to the minimum value. But, it doesn't. It shows all events from the log file. I have almost exhausted the entire Splunk documentation for Search, but can't find the command that would provide me the output I am looking for.
Is there a command that returns an event that is related to the output of an aggregate function (stats min | max) ? Responses are much appreciated.


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While some may remember Nicholas Hoult as the kid in About a Boy, over the past few years he's proven that he's definitely capable of playing adult roles in such films as A Single Man, X-Men: First Class, and Clash of the Titans. However, while he might have been playing more mature roles, he hasn't been the lead in any of these films.
That all changes in 2013.
With leading roles in Warm Bodies and Bryan Singer's Jack the Giant Slayer, Hoult is starting a new chapter in his career, and based on what I saw while visiting the set of Jack back in 2011, I think he's going to easily make the jump. During a group interview on the set, Hoult talked about bringing the fairy tale to life, the 3D, what his version of Jack is like, and so much more. Hit the jump to either read or listen to the interview.
Before getting to the interview, if you haven't seen the trailer for Jack the Giant Slayer, I'd watch that first:
If you'd like to listen to this interview, click here. Otherwise the full transcript is below.
We should probably start with the most important thing – horse injuries? Horse stepping on feet?
Nicholas Hoult: You guys saw that? [Laughs] I can't remember what I said, so apologies. It was pretty painful.
You took it pretty well, actually.
Hoult: Did I?
I think you were surprised.
Hoult: [Laughs] It was a bit of a shock. There's been a few little injuries along the way.
Can you talk a little about getting involved in this project? This is one of those films where there's a lot of talk about who was going to land this role. Were you aware of all the names circling this project or were you just sort of keeping your head down?
Hoult: The first time I heard about it was a real long time ago, I think it was when we were doing press for A Single Man. I met Roger [Mussenden], the casting director back then, and then it went really quiet for a fair while. I think Bryan [Singer] went to work a lot on previz and all that sort of stuff. So nothing really happened and then I got cast in Mad Max and then that got delayed and then went on to X-Men and met Bryan. He mentioned he was doing this and that he was prepping it all basically while we were filming X-Men. But at the time, Mad Max was going to be shooting again while this was filming, so I wasn't really in the running for it and then that got delayed again. I think I missed the first set of screen tests because we were filming up in Georgia for the final battle sequence of X-Men and then came in and did a few screen tests the beginning of this year and it worked out. It was very lucky.
What's your Jack like?
Hoult: What's my Jack like? He's a dreamer. He's a young farmer. He hasn't had an easy upbringing and then he's kind of catapulted onto this epic mission and falls in love with a princess. He's an average hero, an average guy who becomes a hero. He's a good guy, which is nice, playing a good guy for once, but he's fairly laid back, understanding of the princess's situation and wants to become a Guardian and protect her. He has to overcome quite a few of his fears of heights and thunder and all these sorts of things along the way. But, yeah, he's just an average guy.
What sort of training did you have to do for this role? We heard there was some rock climbing and stuff like that.
Hoult: Yeah, we did rock climbing, which was lots of fun actually. I don't know if you've seen any of the beanstalk stuff, but we spent a lot of time climbing on beanstalks with the rain effects on and the wind machines battering us. So we did a fair bit of climbing, a bit of horse riding. Not that I've actually done that much riding. I've done a lot of standing with horses. That was mainly the training, that sort of stuff.
Any combat training?
Hoult: No, we did a bit of fitness training just because there's a lot of running around and jumping and all that sort of stuff, but apart from the giants Jack doesn't actually fight any humans.
What about Jack's princess? Is she a damsel in distress at all? How does that romance start?
Hoult: No, she's a headstrong, fiery young princess who isn't too happy being cooped up in the castle and she goes on these little escapes occasionally. The first encounter they have, there's actually a pantomime going on of Jack and the Giant Killer and they're both watching in the audience and he sees her getting accosted by some drunks and tries to do the heroic thing, the good thing, as we all hope he would, and step in to try to help, but that doesn't quite go to plan and he gets knocked out. [Laughs] So that's their first encounter is him trying to help her and later on she turns up at his house. He's a bit surprised basically. She gets caught out in a storm, ends up there and then this whole adventure begins.
We saw some previz of the beanstalk going up. Can you talk about the challenges of filming that sequence?
Hoult: Ah, yeah, that sequence is really cool. They built Jack's uncle's house in the studios and then had it on a rig whereby the whole house would shake and the floorboards would explode. There was like a ram in the floor. I would be running to try to get to Ellie and it hit me in the stomach, lift me up and then I get thrown out through the roof. It was a lot of fun to do all that and there's a bit of dialogue in that scene as well. So that was that sequence and then the princess is trapped inside the house with the beanstalk growing and lifting up into the sky, so Jack's trying to get in to save her and help her. I think I'm giving away quite a lot of the story. [Laughs]
We have Warner Bros. in the room with us. Don't mention the vampires.
Hoult: There's vampires and some aliens.
This is based on something a lot of people already know. Isn't some of what you've said so far part of the original myth?
Hoult: That's the thing; the really nice thing when I read the script was the ending of the story and how it all ties together, and this is basically not the "Jack and the Beanstalk" you see in pantomimes or the story you know. It's based around it obviously, but then it's basically if this tale's been retold over many generations through lots of families and ends up becoming the story we know nowadays, so it's kind of the tale of behind that, and altered into a fairy tale romantic adventure.
Can you talk a little bit about the 3D cameras? Is this your first time working with them and have there been any challenges doing so as an actor?
Hoult: As an actor, it slows the pace down, so there's challenge in that way. When you're doing a scene, you kind of build up a momentum sometimes and you get into a rhythm of doing it and that kind of gets knocked down a little bit because it takes longer to set up and arrange. In particular with this one, the fact that he's not doing post-converted, Brian and everyone are spending a lot of time making sure that it's worthwhile seeing it in the 3D, and it's actually an added effect sort of thing and a part of the experience, so it slows the pace down, but looks fantastic I think.
Can you talk about working with Eleanor? This is kind of her first big, leading role, did you guys have some time before shooting to get to know her and build a rapport?
Hoult: Yeah, we did on the screen test actually and the thing that I really liked about the fantasy thing was that she instantly had that heroic feistiness to her, she'd take the piss out of me right from the off and I was like, 'Okay, this is someone I can have fun with for four months,' and she had that quality to her that the princess has to have. So we have fun and we have a laugh about it.
How's it been working with Bryan on this as compared to X-Men?
Hoult: Well, Bryan on X-Men, he visited a couple of times on set, but he wasn't around, he was off working on this, so I chatted with him twice, so this is obviously a very different experience. He's fun to work with. He also takes the piss out of me; maybe I'm just an easy target. [Laughs] You sense that he's got a very clear vision and is obviously extremely intelligent in how he's making the film altogether and what he needs to tell the story. All his films are exciting to watch and entertaining, so there's that, but then he's got to be aware of being technical with you when he needs to just to make the shot work or working on the dialogue. You have to keep on your toes because he adapts a lot throughout while we're shooting; the script will be changing, the scenes will be changing, the shots will be changing and then you have to keep your wits about you to make sure that you keep up with him.
What do you think you've learned on set?
Hoult: To always be on the ball and listen and be aware of what's going on around, because you can learn a lot and it helps with what you're doing to just be aware of everything that's going on.
I'm going to ask an X-Men question. Critics and audiences seem to really dig the movie; were you surprised by the success of it and the enthusiasm, because I know you guys were filming really close to release?
Hoult: It was up to the cusp, yeah. It was a very quick turnaround and they were definitely under the gun a little bit. I don't know, I think for us, with Matthew [Vaughn] directing it and the script, we knew it was a good story and, obviously, with X-Men already having the fan base it has. It was just great that everyone enjoyed it and I could take my family along, my mates and they all really enjoyed it. They thought it was fun.
What'd they think of you turning into the Beast, with all that makeup?
Hoult: They thought it was pretty funny. [Laughs] I think because my family and friends had known what it was like inside of it, they kind of pitied me a little bit, because they knew how painful it was being inside that thing. It was very hot and uncomfortable.
How do you think they'll react to this?
Hoult: My parents have been along actually and Bryan's shown them a couple of sequences and they're very excited about it. It's looking great.
You've worked with some really prolific older actors. Have you gotten any really memorable advice from them on sets?
Hoult: I think to be as prepared as you can and it's just concentration most of the time. That's the thing that you learn from them; you watch and they've got concentration and just an awareness of everything going on around and they're very observant as well. The best actors I've worked with, they're very giving as well. When you work with them, they'll be there and they'll give as much off camera as when they're on camera and sometimes that's not the case with some of them, so that's all really great to have that. And they help. It makes it very easy when you're acting with actors when it doesn't feel like acting, it's just doing.
You're wrapping on this thing in like a week and a half; you looking forward to your vacation or are you jumping right back into something else?
Hoult: I'm starting – I take about a week or two off and then I'm starting in Montreal on a film called Warm Bodies. Jonathan Levine's directing. I'm playing a zombie.
That's actually an interesting twist on the zombie thing. If I'm not mistaken, the zombie can think?
Hoult: Yeah, he can think. He's lost his memory of words a lot, so his speech isn't grand stuff. He captures a living girl and for some reason doesn't eat her brains, [laughs] and kind of falls for her. Basically, it's about him regaining his humanity.
You have a week between this and that; are you rehearsing to play a zombie?
Hoult: No, I'm very tired, so that might help. [Laughs] But no, I have the week and then we have a few weeks prep on that so I'll work with Jonathon and try and come up with something.
Are you going to have a voiceover to rely on for that because the majority of that book is all in his head?
Hoult: Yeah, there is voiceover, which works well because he's very eloquent and funny and charming in the voiceover, so it shows kind of the person inside that's trapped basically.
When you were younger, were you a fan of the "Jack and the Beanstalk" fairytale? Do you have memories of it being read to you?
Hoult: My older sister was in the pantomime with Timmy Mallet, I think. Having grown up over here with pantomime season and all that sort of stuff, yeah, off course I have fond memories of it. And it's been nice; on set actually people brought their kids along and the kids are really big fans of the story. One of our sound guys, his son was playing Jack a few weeks ago in a school production of it, all that sort of stuff. I asked him for any tips actually. [Laughs]
You've been filming this for how many months?
Hoult: I think nearly four.
Is there a big challenge in maintaining the energy over the four months?
Hoult: It can be on these types of shoots where there's lots of special effects and stuff, and sometimes the pace is quite slow because of the very technical stuff, like the things they're doing here with the SimulCam, lining all those things up and making them work. It can be a bit of an endurance test in some ways whereby you've got to make sure that you're still on point and have the energy when the cameras are rolling. I don't want to say too much because then I might not have the energy when the cameras are rolling. [Laughs] Yeah, it can be a bit of an endurance test.
Someone like David Fincher will do like 90 takes. What's typical for Bryan Singer?
Hoult: Until he gets it right. We haven't been anywhere near 90, that's for sure. It really just depends on all the technical aspects of it working and the scene working. Sometimes you can do two or three takes and they're happy and they got what they need and then other times you can go out and do ten, eleven.
That doesn't seem like that high a number.
Hoult: No, it's not. I mean, I haven't actually kept track of our highest amount of takes yet. There's probably something involved in there going wrong.
You still have a week and a half, too.
Hoult: Yeah. [Laughs] But yeah, I don't think there's been many scenes that have required a ridiculous amount of takes, from what I can remember. Probably erased it from my memory. [Laughs]
What's your interaction like with the military guys in the film? Can you talk about working with those actors and also what your character's up against?
Hoult: Well, the guardsmen are obviously Ewan McGregor, Eddie Marsan and those guys. I kind of become, not part of them, but on the mission with them and obviously this is an exciting thing for Jack because they're the lead soldiers that he looks up to and wanted to be at a young age. It's a lot of fun doing those things with those guys. Eddie's like one of the funniest people, and Ewan as well. They're very relaxed on set and easy to get along with. We have fun. There's some funny scenes between us I think. Yeah, so it's lots of fun those days, we're all climbing the beanstalk. And then we've got Stanley [Tucci] playing Roderick who's the bad guy we've just watched some of his stuff and the look he's created and the persona is fantastic.
Do you have a lot of scenes with Ian McShane?
Hoult: I've got a few scenes with McShane, yeah, generally after I've come back down the beanstalk and he's aware that there's a slight romantic connection between his daughter and me. McShane's funny. He's a funny man. He likes to rip me a little bit. Yeah, just test out the younger actors a little bit.
Is there an intimidation factor with Ian? He's got a presence.
Hoult: That's a tricky one. Is it rude to say no? [Laughs] No, I don't find him too intimidating, but obviously at first, with any actor, like with Ewan and all those guys, when you're first on set and you've seen them in the films and respect their work and look up to them and stuff, there's always that intimidate thing, but while you're there they don't make it feel as though they're judging you, but obviously part of your brain is going, 'They're judging me,' [laughs] so you want to do a good job and make them like you.
Hypothetically speaking, have you borrowed anything from set? Because I know you're barred from taking anything from set legitimately.
Hoult: Uh, yes. Yes, I have. [Laughs] But the people that gave it to me or their departments would get in a lot of trouble if they found out. But of course, you've got to take a few mementos here and there just in case I fall on hard times, I can eBay them. [Laughs]
But we'll know where they come from! [Laughs]
Hoult: Yeah. No, that really was a warning though. [Laughs]
Why's Nick's sister selling things on eBay? [Laughs]
Hoult: I've got six tons of beanstalk in my backyard.
We also saw that there was a whole bunch of filming outside London and in different locations; what's the furthest you've traveled for filming on location or have you pretty much been here?
Hoult: First we went to Wales. I think we're gonna be going up to Scotland, Isle Scott. Isle Scott? Those are the furthest reaches we've been to, Cheddar Gorge we went to for a little bit, Norwich Cathedral. It's been nice because we've been all over and they've built fantastic sets. It helps a lot when you're trying to imagine a lot of things and the little stuff isn't there, the good sets and the things, really to work with it, that helped a lot.
With going to all these places and covering all these different scenes, is there any one thing in terms of your preparation that stays consistent? Anything you have to do before you hit the set?
Hoult: Before I get to set? I would say learn my lines, but the lines change a lot of the time on set as well, [laughs] so, you know, read over the scenes that have happened just before hand and to just make sure that it's making sense. Being malleable is quite effective.
Jack the Giant Slayer opens March 1. Here's more from my set visit:
- 15 Things to Know About Bryan Singer's Jack the Giant Slayer From Our Set Visit; Plus Video Blog Recap and Written Report
- Ewan McGregor Talks His Character's Role in the Story, Working with CGI, Similarities to How to Train Your Dragon & More on the Set of Jack the Giant Slayer
- Bryan Singer Talks Big Visual Effects, 3D, Unfriendly Giants, Bringing a Fairy Tale to Life on a Grand Scale, and More on the Set of Jack the Giant Slayer
- Eleanor Tomlinson Talks Elaborate Costumes, Filming the Beanstalk Sequence, How She Landed the Role, and More on the Set of Jack the Giant Slayer'