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A Caedea is a thin black cloth glove. They never come in pairs, and the glove is invariably a left handed, or sinister glove. There are few of these dark trinkets still wandering around, and the secret of their creation is a hotly hunted commodity. Many a thief or dark mage would give much for the powers of a Caedea.
The Caedea is evil both in intent and in it's ease of creation. The teeth of a wolf are required, with those of either a rabid, or wolf that died of starvation being preferred. The blood of a murderer is also required, though a few drops from a sadistic serial butcher are as effective as a gallon of blood from a man who accidently killed another man in a brawl. Finally, the black shroud of a false saint, or charlatan is used to make the physical glove. The teeth are placed in the fingers, and the blood is poured into the glove while recitations of black liturgies are repeated under the shadow of the New Moon.
The glove at first appears to simply be a thin black cloth glove. Once donned, the wearer becomes aware of his surroundings with the instincts of a predator, a human hunter. While there is no increase in the abilty to sense smells, or supernaturally divine the emotions of others, the wearer becomes attuned to what their senses can detail. Characters that are not of evil, or chaotis bent will find wearing the glove disconcerting and unpleasant. The longer the glove is worn, the stronger the urge to kill becomes.
The real power of the Caedea becomes most obvious when an opponent is strunk with a barehanded strike in combat. The glove easily seeks out weak points in armor, and in defences. The fingertips bite into flesh with the ease of a wolf taking a deer by the throat, tearing deep into delicate flesh. The glove consumes the blood gluttonously, passing some of the victims' vitality to the wearer and retaining what it needs to maintain itself.
The wounds inflicted by the Caedea are vicious and take twice as long to heal and almost always leave disturbing scars. Those wearers who regularly wear the Caedea become addicted to the altered perception granted by the glove and the steady boosts of vitality gained through murder.
Plot Hooks
A Taste of Evil - A PC gains a Caedea and is able to use the altered animalistic perception to their advantage for a few days before succumbing to the base desire to kill. If the PC engages in combat, the rush of vitality given by a solid strike might draw them into more and more combat. Standard remove cursed item plot follows with the problem that the item isn't cursed, the wearer just doesnt want to be rid of it. Dispel curse - It didn't work…Damn, this must be a potent cursed item.
Hidden Killer - An assassin or thief has found a Caedea and is using it to kill his victims in a brutal Jack the Ripper fashion. The PCs have been brought in to end the string of murders that leave the bodies of the dead in the worst contortions. Who would suspect the elderly gentleman with the immaculate black gloves. (C'mon, no one says you cant find another glove to match a Caedea in appearance.)
Yardsale from Hell - An unwitting person has acquired the Caedea and has accidently killed someone with it. It becomes even more interesting when the person is either a powerful and important person, or an ally of the PCs. They have to find a way to destroy the glove, exonerate their ally, and keep themselves from being caught up in the carnage.


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Thursday, November 8, 2012
Watching Obama Win in Kenya - Not What You Think
20 comments:
And... we are a two party system - not a parliamentary democracy, which makes a difference about how we view winning or losing. We know that we have to wait 4 years to make a change, not that we have to see if someone can form a government. Third party politics don't have resounding success in our history (the Tea Party notwithstanding).ReplyDelete
I think ethnicity still plays a role in American politics - look at the emphasis on the Latino and African-American vote in the postmortems as to why the Republicans lost.
P.S. On my way home from work last night, NPR broadcasted an interview from someone from Kogelo about the reaction to Obama's win. Thought of you -:)Replies
Yup. Ethnicity certainly plays a role in the US too (that was my final parenthetical comment in the post, but maybe it was too obscure?) Anyway, it's just that it doesn't play the ONLY role as it does in so many other places. Interesting point about the parliamentary democracies and coalition building.Delete
Love how thoughtful you are in stating your stand.ReplyDelete
(it is a stand, isn't it?)Replies
Thanks Alison! I think it's a stand. The post kind of meanders. Maybe it's more of a train of thought than a "stand." ;) I guess my stand it being thankful for the relative peace and predictability of our election process and then also realizing there's a lot more tribal about our allegiances than we might suspect.Delete
I've been wondering why I had such an emotional reaction to Obama's win, when I don't even live in the U.S. Yes, Canada is affected by the States' actions, but realistically it's unlikely I'd be tangibly affected by the election outcome. But you're so right - he's my ideological tribe and that's why I care.ReplyDelete
I hope you don't feel spammed by this, but I gave you a Liebster award because I really enjoy reading your blog. I know not everyone likes memes, so if you're interested, it's here: http://inthetesseract.blogspot.ca/2012/11/i-won-lobster.htmlReplies
Hi Azara, That's a perfect example of a true emotional attachment to the US race - when you're truly not affected by the outcome. Great point.Delete
And, I don't feel spammed at all! It's nice when someone I don't know reads this blog and nicer still when they say they enjoy it!! I'm flattered!
It's so nice to read such a fresh perspective on politics. It's true, even our "worse" candidates are not nearly as terrible as in other countries. And we do take for granted our right to vote, to express our feelings, to criticize the opposing party.ReplyDelete
I've never understood the whole, "I'm moving to Canada if my guy doesn't win!" mentality over politics. I also think that the power a divided Congress wields trumps the power a President holds. Checks and balances and all...ReplyDelete
When the election results came in, I was surprised that my reaction was an overwhelming sense of relief. As in I sighed a sigh bigger than any sigh I'd ever sighed. Relief. Because he stands for my values, too, and I was really starting to worry that my values were going to get lost in the political rhetoric of the right. Relief.
- AnonymousNovember 14, 2012 at 6:50 PM
I definitely agree that it would take quite some time before either candidate would have been able to make any waves that we would feel. It would be wonderful to have a fairy godmother as President of the US to wave her wand for us and make everything better.ReplyDelete
The day after the election, I told my son that Obama had won, and I said, "Go Obama!" and then I thought I should be a good sport, so I said, "But I'm sure either one of them would have done a good job as President." My six-year-old then said, "How do you know? How do you know Romney would have done a good job? Has he ever been President before?" Hmm... well, no. Good point, son. At least with Obama, we know what to expect.
"I want Obama not because I think I'm going to personally benefit but because I think he represents my values more than the other guy." <--That's just it. I couldn't t get past Romney's human rights stance (or lack thereof), first and foremost. It was so interesting to read the Kenyan perspective and be reminded that it matters more in some places. You are right, things won't really change here - the pace is too slow and by the time we gain tractions, a Republican will be back in office...(hope not but that's the pattern.)ReplyDelete
Really interesting perspective! Thanks for sharing.ReplyDelete
"The other" in my America is not necessarily someone who looks different than me, but someone who thinks differently from me. This line stuck out for me. And then how we handle those differences. With a lot of relationships or my feelings about certain people, I feel the tribal thing... a sense that we share a common history, ground. Very thought provoking post. I'm still mulling it over as I finish typing here.ReplyDelete
Nothing like some Kenyan perspective to make it seem strange that we get so vitriolic about politics over in North America. And I agree with Gina's comment about your line defining "the other"... what wise words.ReplyDelete
Always great to hear your perspective. I think this election would have been more pleasant from a distance of a few thousand miles!ReplyDelete
I am probably the least political person out there, but I was rooting for Obama and relieved when he won. And I'm Canadian so it shouldn't have mattered as much as it did.ReplyDelete
How interesting to be in Kenya during this election. I love your perspective. Thanks for sharing.ReplyDelete
I am totally with you on this. I voted for him because he seems like he shares more of my values. I hope no one asks me to be more specific, because for me it just might be "I know it when i see it" kind of answer. So grateful to read your words.ReplyDelete
This is a well written post that really brings home just how functional our democracy is on some key levels. Even in a hotly contested, close election the results are respected and the country goes on with business at usual. We tend to take that kind of stability for granted but when you think about it it really is quite remarkable. Great post!ReplyDelete
I'm amazed, every election cycle, that despite the inflammatory rhetoric (which needs to be dialed down dramatically), people in the US do *not* take to the streets. God knows our financial divides are deep enough that there could be "rabble" in the streets demanding bread & storming the barricades. On some level I suppose I WANT the fact that "my guy" won to matter, and matter deeply, but the cynic in me agrees that, alas, he will make incremental changes rather than sweeping re-directions. And it does feel tribal, actually - and no, I don't think that's a good thing, either. Because factionalism rips apart the fabrics of communities...(And I'd say to your friend who admired Romney's concession speech, what does she think of him now, as he sour grapes his way around the country begrudging his loss & blaming pretty much everything else other than "I ran a crappy campaign and said a lot of bile-filled stuff that maybe I don't even really believe.") Sorry. Off my soap-box now. I will go find someone else's blog to rant in. : )ReplyDelete
It really is truly complicated to see out this type of fantastic articles with a few useful data and factsReplyDelete
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text: On May 4, 2010, at 12:38 PM, Marcus Engene wrote: > There's a bug in watermark.c in ffmpeg 0.5.1 when you watermark formats with RGB32 colorspace. > > Please consider applying the attached patch. It also contains a small optimization. Please submit separate changes in separate patches; otherwise, they become very difficult to review. In particular, don't mix whitespace changes with actual code changes. See http://ffmpeg.org/developer.html#SEC8.


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Pitu Cachaca (700ml)
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Cachaça is a sugar cane distillate, which is similar to white rum. However, it is not made of molasses but from the juice of unrefined sugar cane of which only the first pressings are used. A maturing process of several weeks in wooden vats allows the flavour to unfold completely, making the taste of Cachaça Pitú lighter and smoother than that of many types of rum. It is subsequently an ideal base for cocktails. Cachaça is considered a national drink amongst Brazilians who consume an astonishing two billion litres a year. It is the basis of the Caipirinha (pronounced Kaay-peer-REEN-ya), which became one of the worlds most popular cocktails towards the end of the millennium leading to a world Cachaça shortage. The spirit has been in huge demand in Australia for some time with many bars using White Rum as an inferior substitute.
Tasting Note: Clear. Ripe guava and grape aromas. A smooth, round entry leads to a slightly glycerous, moderately full-bodied palate with excellent, refined tropical fruit flavors mixed with white pepper and beautifully balanced sweetness. Very smooth and drinkable. 40%alc.vol.
RATED: 89 points (Highly Recommended)
- Tasting note sourced from www.tastings.com
Classic Cocktail: The Caipirinha
Like any classic, the Caipirinha (roughly translated as 'little peasant girl') has a traditional method of mixing which requires a certain attention to detail.
A wooden muddler can be used to grind the sugar and lime in order to release the oils in the skin as well as the juice in the flesh of the limes.
Fill the glass with crushed ice. Add 30-60ml of Pitu Cane Spirit, stir and it's ready!
In recent years, some bartenders have developed the humble Caipirinha by adding fresh fruit such as blackberries during the muddling (crushing) stage to create new flavours, thus creating for example a 'Black berry Caipirinha.' Cachaça Pitú also lends a certain Brazilian exoticism to other drinks such as cola and orange juice.
Click here for more Classic Cocktails.


text:
Just a quick note to say: I will be launching my new website within about a week and my book launch will come in approximately the next 2 weeks!
I'm excited to share with all of you what I've been working on so diligently.
I would appreciate any support I can get on my book. Upon launch, please check it out and give me a review on Amazon or a testimonial on my website! Or BOTH! 🙂
If you know anyone who would like to start their own business and they don't know where to start, please send them my way.
I am also looking for JV partners on my launch. If you're interested or know someone who would like to help promote me and my book, please send them my way!
I appreciate your patience while my blogs are getting a little short and boring…I do have much more to offer in the way of useful and helpful information coming up!
God bless and see you on the other side!


text:
At 9pm,
The bells rang
And we glanced up
Admiring the stars
Wondering where we fit in.
At 10pm,
The bells rang
And you reached for my hand,
Nodding at each other
We knew.
At 11pm
The bells rang
We lay our heads on the grass
Curling our toes around the spears.
At midnight,
We were gone.
Possibly a part of the stars.
No longer tangible.
And still the bells rang.


text:
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Kicking off the Magic Millions carnival, the Pacific Fair Magic Millions Polo takes place on Sunday 7 January 2018 from 11.30am to 5pm.
The stylish Pacific Fair Pavilion experience includes an all day, premium food and beverage package and prime viewing position immediately beside the polo ground. Located alongside the VIP Marquee, gather with friends for a magical day at the 2018 Pacific Fair Magic Millions Polo.
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Enjoy high-action polo in picturesque surrounds as some of the world's finest polo players take to the field including world-famous Polo Player, Nacho Figueras and British Royal, Zara Phillips.
A day at the polo is as much about finding the perfect outfit as it is the horses and the match. So we've enlisted the help of Style Ambassador Yvette from @fashionevolve to make choosing your frock and accessories a breeze.
Stayed tuned after Christmas when Yvette will be providing tips and tricks for dressing for the polo. You'll be winning Fashions on the Field before you know it!
© AMP Capital Shopping Centres 2019. All Rights Reserved.


text:
Please please please - when you come to talk to me about as a service offerings (regardless of IaaS / PaaS / SaaS / TaaS) please have the full story and capability
I am really getting bored of talking technology and not focusing on the service wrapper element ( the clue is in the as a SERVICE phrase)
Everything is possible at the technology layer - service model and operating model is king!
Additionally - when you tell me you have done this for 100's or 1000's of customers before - this should mean that you have a clue... You can help me with operating model definitions etc - please prove and evidence this - as it may allow me to choose you as one of my vendors of choice.
Finally - please do not bullsh!t me - it will become obvious very quickly that you have not done something before / don't understand the service wrapper / can't glue yourself into an operating model (nor help define it) - this alone will at best get you sent to the naughty corner, at worst be asked to never darken my doors again...
Many thanks


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Print Recipe
The Great British Bake Off is back and will be joined by 'An Extra Slice' - the hilarious specials to unpack each week.
Host Jo Brand will be chatting to a panel of celebrity Bake Off fans, looking at all the shenanigans and goings-on in the tent. Jo will shine a spotlight on the best, the worst and the 'must try harder next time' bakes from the latest episode and interview the baker who left the tent that week.
The studio audience of Bake Off fans will be challenged to bring a bake from home and reveal their efforts on the show, plus viewers will be invited to share photos of their efforts too - the delightful, the delicious and the downright disastrous.... Read more.
Please note, LifeStyle cannot respond to all comments posted in our comments feed. If you have a comment or query you would like LifeStyle to respond to, please use our feedback form.


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Valentines Day is right around the corner, and is more often than not a time that we show care towards those we love. Here at the Partnership for Successful Living it is no different as we continue to show compassion and care to those we serve throughout all of the programs across the six agencies, be it in providing housing to Veterans or helping those looking for treatment through the Nashua Safe Station program. This year, we have partnered with several businesses in downtown Nashua so that you can help the PSL while also showing your loved ones you care at the same time!
Between now and February 11th, when you visit Martha's Exchange, jajaBelles, WineNot or Fortin Gage and purchase any of the following, a $5 donation will be made to us thanks to you:
Additionally, if you visit Fratello's and purchase a $50 gift card, a $10 donation will be made.
For $120, you can order a bundle that includes the chocolates from Martha's Exchange, the cookies from jajaBelle's, the deluxe option from WineNot AND a $50 gift card to Fratello's. Along with the purchase of a bundle, you will be entered to win two tickets to the Symphony NH and Debussy aFire show at the Riverwalk Cafe on February 17th! Each purchase of this bundle will result in a $20 donation to the PSL – how great is that?
To purchase a bundle, please contact Samantha at 603-816-6366 or email@example.com. For individual items, please visit each location. This opportunity is only available until February 11th, so make certain to act fast!
A big special thanks to all who are involved!
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Mid-year box office check 2015
We've gone through six months of the year, so it's a good time to look at how the box office is going (based on movies released in the USA through the end of June).
It's entirely possible that this year will have the largest dogro (domestic gross) to date (not adjusted for inflation), especially since there are some really big movies yet to come.
Breaking it down, what do we see?
Jennifer Lopez is a movie star
That might not be the lead in stories you'll see in other publications about this year at the movies, but the success of The Boy Next Door is staggering, and largely due to J.Lo.
Oh, I'm sure some of you want to jump in and say that Chris Pratt is a bigger star.
Well, The Boy Next Door has a dogro of $35.4m on a reported production budget of $4.0m. That's a return of 885%, nearly triple golden in our awards system.
It did that in part because of its star's (and sorry, John Corbett and Kristen Chenoweth, but I doubt very many people went to see the movie who weren't significantly interested in seeing J.Lo) smart and relentless promotion, appearing on TV shows, in magazines, and so on.
Universal has it figured out
Universal is one of the most geek-friendly studios ever (along with Hammer in England, and AIP). Of course, they had the famous horror cycle starting with Boris Karloff in Frankenstein and Bela Lugosi in Dracula, and continuing in that cycle until they may have killed it with Abbott and Costello Meets fill-in-the-blank. The list goes on and on from The Creature from the Black Lagoon and The Incredible Shrinking Man, to their relationship with Steven Spielberg, bringing us Jaws and E.T. This year, four of the top 5 of
The Measured Circle's Most Profitable Movies
at time of writing are from Universal:
- Jurassic World ($478m in profit, domestic gross ((dogro)) versus production budget…419%)
- Minions ($201m in profit | 372%)
- Furious Seven ($160m in profit | 184%)
- Pitch Perfect 2 ($154m in profit | 631%)
Those are four very different movies, with different target audiences. Yes, they are all sequels/prequels, but that's certainly no guarantee of success (for an example from this year, Hot Tub Time Machine 2 didn't domestically make back its budget…which was $14m). They did have a couple of misfires (Blackhat and Seventh Son), but they've more than made up for it.
So does Blumhouse
Universal has been investing money, and getting a return on it. Blumhouse, on the other hand, spends very little money…but has a higher percentage return than Universal…and they've been doing that for years. Looking at 2015:
- The Lazarus Effect ($25.8m dogro on a $3.3m production budget | 782%)
- Insidious: Chapter 3 ($52m dogro on a $10m production budget | 520%)
- The Gallows ($21.9m on a $100,000 production budget | 21,580%) (note: this was released July 10th, so it's past our cut-off…but it's still a stand-out, so we'll cheat a little) 😉
Golden movies on our list
To get to our list, a movie has to dogro at least $40m. We also give awards to movies, based on their returns…at least 300% return is "Golden" (double, and this is still dogro versus production budget, is "Money"). These movies are Golden this year:
- Pitch Perfect 2 Double Golden (at least 600% return)
- Jurassic World (highly unusual that a movie with a $150m budget to go Golden)
- Minions
- Fifty Shades of Grey
- Magic Mike XXL
- Insidious: Chapter 3
The $500 Million Club
We also track
The Measured Circle's Box Office MVPs
To get on the list, an actor needs to be first billed in a movie that dogros at least $100m, and appear in at least one other movie that dogros $40m.
Eleven actors are on that list, and six of them have had movies on our list that dogroed at least $500m this year:
- Judy Greer: Jurassic World ($628.0m); Tomorrowland ($91.8m); Ant-Man ($120.0m) | Tentative total: $839.8m
- Hayley Atwell: Cinderella ($201.0m); Avengers: Age of Ultron ($456.0m); Ant-Man ($120.0m) | Tentative total: $777.0m
- BD Wong: Jurassic World ($628.0m); Focus ($53.8m) | Tentative total: $681.8m
- Stellan Skarsgård: Cinderella ($201.0m); Avengers: Age of Ultron ($456.0m) | Tentative total: $657.0m
- Samuel L. Jackson: Kingsman: The Secret Service ($128.0m); Avengers: Age of Ultron ($456.0m) | Tentative total: $584.0m
- Dwayne Johnson: Furious 7 ($350.0m); San Andreas ($151.0m) | Tentative total: $501.0m
Of these six, only Samuel L. Jackson is repeating from 2014…although Dwayne Johnson was on the list for 2013.
There you are…halfway through the year, and there is a lot more coming!
Join thousands of readers and try the free The Measured Circle magazine at Flipboard
* I am linking to the same thing at the regular Amazon site, and at AmazonSmile. When you shop at AmazonSmile, half a percent of your purchase price on eligible items goes to a non-profit you choose. It will feel just like shopping at Amazon: you'll be using your same account. The one thing for you that is different is that you pick a non-profit the first time you go (which you can change whenever you want)…and the good feeling you'll get. Shop 'til you help!
This post by Bufo Calvin originally appeared in the The Measured Circle blog. To support this or other blogs/organizations, buy Amazon Gift Cards from a link on the site, then use those to buy your items. There will be no cost to you, and a benefit to them.


text: BUSINESS The 'King of Queens': Kevin James 5:00 AM PDT 5/14/2007 by Christy Grosz , AP FACEBOOK TWITTER EMAIL ME Empty Critics like to talk about shows using pejoratives such as "formulaic" and "predictable," but CBS' "The King of Queens" turned those negatives into positives. After nine years on the air, the show's formula proved prescient, and the predictability of its characters became comfortable for audiences. Oh, and lovable stand-up comic Kevin James became a primetime star. On the eve of the series' final signoff, James spoke with The Hollywood Reporter's Christy Grosz about how the show changed his life and how wistful he feels about seeing the end of its run.The Hollywood Reporter: Critics were not kind to "The King of Queens" when it debuted, so it must feel pretty good right now not only to have proven them wrong but to have seen the New York Times write about the show's creative resurgence in the last few seasons. Kevin James: Whether they like or don't like the show, that's fine, you know? It's very difficult in the beginning to identify with a character. It takes a little while, and if a show can survive long enough for people to really get into the characters and identify with them, that's a great thing. Unfortunately, a lot of decent shows don't get that opportunity, and they're canceled really quick when they could have turned out to be a great show as well. THR: What do you consider the key to the show's success? Most shows don't reach 100 episodes, let alone 200 these days.James: I think in the beginning, we were in a hammock spot. We were in between "Cosby" and "Everybody Loves Raymond," and "Raymond" was kind of doing really well, and we kind of piggybacked on them for a while until we got strong enough legs. We kind of developed a little audience that followed us and liked us, and when they moved us, we panicked, but we held on like they couldn't kill us. THR: How does it feel to leave behind a character that you've played for nine years?James: No doubt about it, it's amazing. It's longer than I've done anything in my life. I've never held a job for that long, so in that respect it's bittersweet, you know? You look back, and you're proud of what you did, and you're like, "Wow, this was really a great run." But you just miss everybody so much -- it's this feeling of, "How can we re-create this? Can we go on more?" It's so sad because right down to everybody on the crew, I spent more time with them than I did with my actual family in the last nine years. THR: You're starring in Universal's comedy "I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry" with Adam Sandler this July. Are you planning on pursuing film full time now, or would you ever consider doing another primetime series? James: I would! Not right away -- I think people are kind of sick of me in primetime. I'm going to enjoy my daughter, (and) we've got another girl on the way, so I'm going to be enjoying them for a little bit. But definitely, I would never rule out doing a sitcom again because I just had so much fun. The hours are the greatest, and as much as I love film -- and I do -- there's no replacement for that live audience. It's something that I've grown accustomed to over the last 10 years, and it's something I know I'm going to miss. I get it a little bit with stand-up, but I just miss doing a different play every week. THR: It seems like it gives you an opportunity to kind of reinvent the show every week. If you're not happy with one episode, you've got next week. James: Exactly. It's like we did 207 very short movies. When you're working on a movie for what could be two years from writing to (shooting) and editing, if it's something that doesn't do well, it's so brutal. I feel for these people that have movies bomb out of the gate -- it's out of the theater a couple weeks later, and it's gone. It's so much effort for this one night, one weekend. That is the one benefit of a TV show: If you miss one week, you go, "All right, we'll get 'em next week."THR: So, should we keep an eye out for "The King of Queens" reunion show in a couple years?James: I wouldn't hold your breath, but who knows? You never know. I'll never say never. I'm one of those guys who may just do it for my own benefit, just have them come over -- and we'll just act out a play in my house. FACEBOOK TWITTER EMAIL ME Christy Grosz firstname.lastname@example.com @thr AP firstname.lastname@example.com @thr


text:
Ray Kroc is a milkshake maker salesman who is intrigued by a large number of orders one day and decides to track down the business buying them. It's a burger restaurant in California owned by two brothers named Richard and Maurice McDonald who have revolutionised dining with their lightning fast service and quality control. Ray starts to see potential in the company and tries to encourage them to branch out, and while the McDonald brothers are initially hesitant, they soon slowly allow Kroc to take over their business without realising that they are in danger of losing their hold on it. Kroc wants McDonald's and he's not going to let anyone stand in his way.
Continue: The Founder Trailer
John Lee Hancock - Celebrities attend the 19th Critics' Choice Movie Awards Ceremony LIVE on The CW Network at The Barker Hangar. - Los Angeles, California, United States - Thursday 16th January 2014
John Lee Hancock - Variety's Creative Impact Awards And 10 Directors to Watch Brunch Presented By Mercedes-Benz At The 25th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival - Palm Springs, California, United States - Sunday 5th January 2014
John Lee Hancock and Sue Hoover - "Saving Mr. Banks" - Los Angeles Premiere At Walt Disney Studios - Burbank, California, United States - Tuesday 10th December 2013
John Lee Hancock and Family - AFI FEST 2013 Presented By Audi - Disney's "Saving Mr. Banks" Opening Night Gala Premiere At TCL Chinese Theatre - Hollywood, California, United States - Friday 8th November 2013
P.L. Travers was an Australian author who, in the early sixties, went into negotiations with Walt Disney over the rights of her novels surrounding the character Mary Poppins. It was eventually released on the big screen and won five Oscars, though its production was not without its conflicts. Travers' initial aversion to Hollywood didn't help matters, and she was unnerved by the idea that Disney might turn her beloved character into a prancing, dancing, twinkling fairy godmother. However, when Disney began to understand that Mary Poppins' place in the story was less about the children and more about their father - and, in effect, her own father on whom she based him on - the pair began to bond better and Travers was finally willing to unleash her story onto the world.
'Saving Mr. Banks' is the story of how 'Mary Poppins' was put to film in 1964 by Walt Disney, thirty years after P.L. Travers began writing about her. It is about the conflicts between Travers and Disney and Travers own struggles with her personal life when we discover just how true to life the story really was. It has been directed by John Lee Hancock ('Snow White and the Huntsman', 'A Perfect World', 'The Blind Side') and written by Kelly Marcel ('Terra Nova') and Sue Smith ('My Brother Jack', 'Peaches') and it is set to hit UK cinemas on January 17th 2014.
After the gorgeous Ravenna (Theron) marries and then murders a benevolent widower king, she locks his beautiful daughter Snow White (Stewart) in a tower.
All the better to continue draining the youth from the entire kingdom. But just as she prepares to take the now of-age Snow's heart, Snow escapes into the woods, and Ravenna hires huntsman Eric (Hemsworth) to find her. Of course, Eric switches sides when he finds her, joining with Snow's childhood sweetheart William (Claflin) and a gang of dwarves to end the evil queen's reign.
Continue reading: Snow White And The Huntsman Review
Leigh Anne (Bullock) is a Memphis housewife with a fast-food magnate husband, Sean (McGraw), and two bright, witty kids (Head and Collins). Meanwhile, the hulking, black 17-year-old Mike (Aaron) has been admitted to her daughter's posh private school, and Leigh Anne takes an interest in him when she discovers that he's essentially homeless. Eventually he becomes part of the family, emerging from his shell after a lifetime of abuse and discovering that he has a skill for American football. Although he'll need a tutor (Bates) to improve his grades so he can play.
Continue reading: The Blind Side Review
John Lee Hancock Thursday 12th November 2009 Nashville screening of 'The Blind Side' at the Regal Nashville, Tennessee
Nobody survives the gauntlet... no one, that is, except for the filmmakers of My Dog Skip.
Continue reading: My Dog Skip Review
The Alamo isn't a patriotic, heart-swelling epic. It's a dull, rotten, dreary, excruciatingly-long miniseries which sadly reduces men of historical significance to dirtbags fighting over dirt. Yawn. Ugh. Another $100 million that could have saved the Texas school system.
Continue reading: The Alamo (2004) Review
Bastille rocked up at The Winter Gardens in Margate for their 'Doom Days Club Nights' tour, making sure they were playing in more unfamiliar towns...
Stealing Sheep made their way down to Elsewhere in Margate to put on their wholly unique and utterly captivating live show.
Melting Vinyl brought local talent to the fore as it showcased a set by Tokyo Tea Room on the day of their latest EP release, 'Dream Room'.
The Who, Stormzy and more coming this month.
For the Nottingham date of Feeder's Tallulah tour, you just know before it even starts that it's going to be a banging show.
Holy Moly & The Crackers journeyed down from their hometown of Newcastle Upon Tyne to play in Canterbury, where they thought they'd be playing to...
Ray Kroc is a milkshake maker salesman who is intrigued by a large number of...
P.L. Travers was an Australian author who, in the early sixties, went into negotiations with...
There's an oddly over-serious tone to this fairy tale, as if the filmmakers thought they...
Based on a remarkable true story, this film has quite a lot in common with...
The wise man once said "You can't run through the gauntlet of PACs without getting...
A soldier's life has been famously characterized by hours of boredom punctuated by moments of...


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Thursday, October 17, 2013
Jorge Mascarenhas - My Favorite Horror Story
I love horror, and choosing a story was tough. There's one that always stuck with me since childhood when I was living in Brazil: The Legend of the Headless Mule. The Headless Mule is a monstrous mule with a bright flame where her head should be. Her horseshoes are made either of silver or steel and make a loud noise as she gallops. Even though she supposedly has no head, she can be heard neighing in the distance. Sometimes, the neighs turn into terrifying screams and wails. One of the oldest versions mentions the Headless Mule being a queen that often visited the cemetery at night. One day, her husband decided to follow her and was horrified to discover his wife eating a child's corpse. Being found out, she transformed into a monster and galloped into the woods, never to return.
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1 comment:
Kristina Carroll
October 19, 2013 at 4:38 PM
That mule is terrifying. What a great horror story!
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[Corrected drug submersible range] WASHINGTON: The automatic, across-the-board spending cuts known as sequestration will reduce the Coast Guard and Navy forces available to intercept South American cocaine to record lows, said Rear Adm. Charles Michel, the Coast Guard two-star who commands Joint Interagency Task Force-South (JIATF-South). The result? "The sequestration cuts in aircraft and ships that are given to me will result in 38 metric tons additional of cocaine [entering the US]," Michel estimated.
For comparison, JIATF-South seized 152 tons in all of 2012, so losing 38 tons would be a 25 percent reduction in seizures. At current street prices, he added, "It's over a billion dollars in trafficker profits."
Those missing 38 tons don't just mean strung-out Americans: "All that's going to get dumped into Mexico and Central America on the way to the United States," he added, further destabilizing countries with sky-high murder rates.
The fundamental problem predates the sequester. US Coast Guard and Navy resources dedicated to drug interdiction have been declining for "the last couple of decades," ever since their "War on Drugs" peak, Michel told reporters at Defense Writers' Group breakfast. During those decades there's been progress, especially in Colombia, which produces an estimated up to 97 percent of all cocaine sold in the United States. But the narcotraficantes who survived have become much more sophisticated, advancing from the "go-fast" speedboats of the Miami Vice era, to "semi-submersible" craft barely visible above the surface of the water, to fully submersible submarines. As a result, even before the sequester hit, the rate at which the US and its foreign partners in JIATF-South intercept drug shipments has been on a long-term downward slope.
When the then-chief of US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), Air Force Gen. Doug Fraser, spoke to the Defense Writers' Group last year, he estimated that his subordinates in JIATF-South were only able to intercept about 33 percent of the drug shipments they knew about and were able to track. But that was through the end of 2011. "Last year [2012] we were somewhere around the upper 20 percent," said Rear Adm. Michel this morning. "This year [2013], it's probably more likely to be between 20 and 25 percent of the known cocaine flows into the United States, so the number's actually going down… although the final statistics are not in."
"The primary reason is the lack of surface vessels," Michel said. "There's actually more intelligence out there on the movement of cocaine than there are surface vessels to go interdict." (Someone once told him this obviously means JIATF-South has too many intelligence assets and should give some up: "Give me a break," Michel groaned). "Last year we had an average of eight [Navy and Coast Guard] surface vessels," he said. By the end of this year, with the sequestration cuts, he said, "we're going to see less than half that": several Coast Guard cutters and, at most, a single Navy frigate.
"It breaks my heart when we see multi-metric ton loads of cocaine go by and I don't have the ships to target it," Michel said. "Once it gets on the land it becomes almost imposible to police up." While JIATF-South seized 152 tons of cocaine last year, law enforcement on the borders only seized 26, and all law enforcement within the US seized 36.
"The beauty of getting out on the water is you get much closer to the head of the snake," Michel said. "It's much more efficient," because it intercepts drugs at the wholesale stage of the business.
The geostrategic pecularities of cocaine actually favor the United States. All production in the world comes from three countries, Colombia, Ecuador, and Bolivia, from which there is no way to easily ship drugs, or any product for that matter, to the US by land. The Pan-American highway actually has a gap in southern Panama amidst the nigh-impenetrable jungles of the legendary Darien. That forces drug traffickers to concentrate their product in large, multi-ton loads and move them by air or sea — which exposes them to sophisticated US sensors.
The problem is the smugglers have gone, not underground, but underwater. "It requires specific DoD [Defense Department] high-end capabilites to do the work against the semi-submersibles," Michel said, let alone the true submarines. One drug sub seized in Ecuador was deemed capable of making a 6,800 nautical mile journey without ever surfacing, he said: "You're not going to get that unless you have very sophisticated ASW [anti-submarine warfare] capabilities." (Navy sub-hunting skills have actually been eroding since 9/11 over more than a decade of land wars).
Sub-hunters are not something US law enforcement agencies can provide, Michel said — nor most non-US militaries, for that matter. Latin American nations have the boats to intercept smugglers on the surface if someone tells them where to look, Michel said, but they mostly lack US-style reconnaissance aircraft, surveillance satellites, and signals interception capabilities. Without US help, he said, "most of the Central American countries are virtually blind."
Stopping the trade on land is hard. US intelligence has dissected captured submarines trying to figure out some key component whose supply could be cut off, but in fact, "they can build it all from common parts, anything that's available from the Colombian and Ecuadorian equivalent of Home Depot [and] down at the marina… wood and kevlar and fiberglass," Michel said. "It isn't constructed from a factory, [it doesn't] leave from a port."
So how do you stop a drug-smuggling submarine, I asked the admiral after the breakfast broke up. As long as the so-called "war on drugs" is actually run under law enforcement rules, you can't simply drop a depth charge on a sonar contact and sail away — but you can't exactly put flashing lights on a nuclear attack submarine and have it order the drug sub to pull over, either. Michel didn't want to give away any operational details, but from what he did divulge, it didn't sound like there were many tricks of the trade to give away.
"I don't want to go too much into the tactics," Michel told me, "but we're working on trying to figure out a non-deadly-force method of communicating with the submarine, and then getting it to surface, and arresting the individuals and collecting evidence."
That sure makes it sound like no one has yet figured out a way of forcing a sub to surface without dropping a depth charge on it, which is illegal. Presumably any fully submersible vessels that have been captured must have been taken before or after they submerged, at the very beginning or end of their journeys. That, in turn, requires keep track of them en route.
Ultimately, however, Michel sees JIATF-South evolving from "taking down bad guys on the water" to the more comprehensive and sophisticated "network identification and attack" techniques that US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan developed to go after the makers and financiers of roadside bombs, rather than just sweeping up low-level bomb-emplacers and triggermen. Half of Michel's staff is military, and "a lot of those military guys are coming back from the warzone," he told reporters. "This is the same type of asymmetric warfare… directly convertible."
Drug organizations have started seeding their cocoa fields with explosive booby traps — what have been known, since 2003, as IEDS, improvised explosive devices — to kill or maim anyone trying to clear fields by hand. And the US Drug Enforcement Agency recently broke up a plot by both retired and current senior officers of the military of Guinea-Bissau — "a true narco-state," Michel said — to sell shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles to Colombia's FARC, a drug-funded insurgency.
International law and national strategy never anticipated that weapons like MANPADS (man-portable air defense systems) and diesel submarines "would reside in anything other than a state," Michel told me after the breakfast. "So we're in a kind of brave new world, but that's what you've got with transnational criminal organizations, you've got attributes of nation-states" because they're so well-funded. (The military theory term for this lethal blend, where an elusive non-state network gets state-calibre weaponry, is "hybrid threats," and they're a subject of increasing high-level concern.)
If it can make it through the current budget crisis, JIATF-South intends to start using human intelligence, signals intercepts, radar, and new cyber capabilities — which Michel would only hint at, although he did say the US was "on the edge of something big" — to unravel drug networks all the way back to the kingpins. But, he said, the enemy is evolving too.
"They step their game up every time we step our game up," Rear Adm. Michel said. "They are as innovative, creative, and ruthless as anyone I've ever seen…. They're brilliant, evil people."
Updated 6:20 pm to correct drug submersible range.


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On a Sage-Grouse Lek: The Male Display
Popping their inflatable neck pouches all day is physically demanding. See the bombastic display of the sage-grouse in slow-motion and learn why the show must go on.
Climb into a blind with biologist Marc Dantzker to get a first hand look at the drama that unfolds each year on a Greater Sage-Grouse lek.


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My Soldier
My Soldier
She knew when she said "I do"
The dreadful day would come,
When her soldier would have to leave,
To fight for everone.
She didn't want him to leave.
To the Army, she said "NO"
Then she had to say goodbye,
Her soldier had to go.
To her hours seem like days,
She wants him to come home.
The weeks and months go by so slow,
She feels so scared and alone.
The fear is overwhelming,
She wants him to be safe.
She knows deep in her heart,
He shouldn't be in that horrible place.
She dreams about the day,
When he will be returning home.
Shes been waiting for the day,
She'll no longer be alone.
Her mind can't help but wonder,
As she sits at home and cries,
"Can I still stay strong,
If my soldier dies?"
She lies awake at night and thinks,
"Where could my soldier be?"
I'm not dreaming...This is real,
God send my soldier back to me!
Nichole Webber


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Brussels sprout: (n) a vegetable consisting of the small compact bud of a variety of cabbage.
I was thinking about tough jobs:
Being the promotion agent for O. J. Simpson.
How about this?
Social media guru for the Facebook page of Adolph Hitler.
Or …
The marketing representative for Brussels sprouts.
This is a vegetable that has a public relations problem at nearly every turn. (Or turnip, for that matter…)
It is often described as a very small cabbage–not that cabbage has a great following itself. So being deemed a smaller rendition of an "also-planted" vegetable is not a "heady" proposition.
Brussels sprouts are fussy about being cooked. Some people like to keep them crisp and others, well-done. For those who like them kind of soggy, crisp is inedible. Likewise, the crispers choke on the "softies."
Brussels sprouts also suffer under the dubious honor of being healthy. It would be a wonderful world if people were actually concerned about their health. Most people become interested in their well-being just about the time they grab their chest with a heart attack.
So it becomes an issue of taste. It's gotta taste good. To accomplish that, we cover them in butter. Butter can make almost anything taste good, including snails.
But the problem is, when you put butter on Brussels sprouts, it's like sending a choir boy to a maximum security prison to hang out. That which was good will certainly be tainted. The butter turns the Brussels sprouts into liquid death.
Do I like Brussels sprouts? Yes.
Would I serve them at a party? No.
Because deep in my soul, I really like people.
Thank you for enjoying Words from Dic(tionary) — J.R. Practix