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Tuesday, January 31, 2017
"Kill or Be Killed" is a modern graphic novel version of Death Wish
Dylan Cross is your average twenty-something guy. He attends school in a big city, lives in a two bedroom apartment with his roommate, and lately, he's began sleeping with his roommate's girlfriend, Kira. Oh, and when he has time to spare, Dylan dresses up as a masked vigilante and kills random dudes, but only bad dudes. He makes sure they're bad before unloading a cartridge into their chest, therefore his plight isn't completely inhumane.
Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips, the two creative minds from the Criminal series fame, continue their success of writing and illustrating another gripping comic (colors are by Elizabeth Breitweiser, who blends in nicely with the styles of the two men). Kill or Be Killed TP #1 is reminiscent of a present day Death Wish, with Dylan taking the legendary Charles Bronson's burden upon himself, and thus taking the city's trash out one scoundrel, pedophile, pimp and murderer at at time. He's just like you or me, I suppose, but with bigger balls, and less regard for his own safety. The guy is a superhero without superpowers, his one major asset being a deep internal mantra that may as well be the philosophy of Paddy Chayefsky's Howard Beale, "I'm mad as hell and I'm not gonna take it anymore!"
Kill or Be Killed places the reader in the shoes of its complex protagonist, who may or may not have been motivated and convinced to carry out these random murders by a dark, shadowy demon. It could, of course, also be his madness at work, presenting itself in form of a twisted evil entity. Whatever it may have been, one thing is for sure: this new series of Brubaker and Phillips' is sure to keep you glued to its engrossing story and visually rich illustrations.
Posted by acestroke at 9:23 AM No comments:
Pitt sandbags his performance in the disappointing "Allied"
Playing a "couple" who've been assigned to secretly pose as French husband and wife in 1942 Morocco in order to bring down an important German ambassador, Max Vatan (Brad Pitt) and Marianne Beausejour (Marion Cotillard) never manage to come across as characters whose emotions are authentic and whose plight is even remotely significant. Instead, we're watching two actors who are faking their sentiments for the greater good, and the result is a drama that feels very staged rather than one that earns our confidence honestly. Pitt looks especially bored in the role, as if he either knows the final result will be shit, or that the sophomoric script is simply beneath him and not worth his best effort. Any sense of suspense or tension is for the most part absent, because director Robert Zemeckis never quite takes the time to develop the relationship of the two leads, therefore nullifying any potential thrills that their union may have when it's exposed that Marianne may indeed be a German spy, working undercover even after the two have gotten married and had a baby girl together. Allied may look great, but it feels stale and redundant, like a poor man's Casablanca, unable to even muster a memorable line worth quoting later, unlike that timeless Bogart and Bergman classic.
Posted by acestroke at 8:30 AM No comments:
Monday, January 30, 2017
"Lion" is reminiscent of Mira Nair's best work
As an adult tormented by his Indian upbringing in which he was separated from his birth mother, Saroo (Dev Patel) has the appearance of someone whose long, shaggy hair is in much need of a haircut (and perhaps a shampoo or two as well). Adopted as a young boy by a couple from Australia (Tasmania, to be exact), he grows up far, far away from rural and poverty stricken India where he was originally born, only to be haunted by the image of his older brother Guddu during every waking and sleeping hour. Garth Davis' feature directorial debut is really engrossing during its first half, when it evokes the great Salaam Bombay! (by Mira Nair), while its second half, reminiscent of The Namesake (also by Nair), is somewhat less enthralling, because the adult Saroo spends one too many moments looking very sad and nostalgic, when he could - and should - have simply stopped feeling sorry for himself and began the search for his biological family sooner rather than later. Nevertheless, Lion is a heartfelt movie whose final act packs an emotional punch that few in the audience will be able to resist.
Posted by acestroke at 9:22 AM No comments:
Sunday, January 29, 2017
Affleck directs his first turkey in "Live by Night"
Ben Affleck the director has always been more skilled than Ben Affleck the actor. In his new movie, Live by Night, Affleck miscasts himself in a story of bootleggers and gangsters and dangerous dames set during the Prohibition era where he plays a gangster who too easily falls in love with the wrong woman (Sienna Miller, doing her best Irish accent), only to have his heart - and a few of his bones - broken as a result. His Joe Coughlin is a bland, stiff goon whose expression hardly changes, and whose bad-ass gangsta persona is not an aura he exudes; instead, he has to talk about it, and tell his enemies how mean he can really be. Coughlin romances a Cuban beauty (Zoe Saldana), battles a bigot (Matthew Maher, playing yet another loathsome character in an Affleck movie) who keeps shooting up his club, and he faces both the Irish and the Italian mob in a pretty forgettable anti-climactic shootout. There's also an obligatory car chase involving cops-and-robbers, and plenty of sit-downs between gangsters and police officials, and some really nice cinematography (by the great Robert Richardson).
What the movie doesn't have, however, is a story worth following, or characters that we give a damn about, because it has too much story, and not nearly enough plot. Live by Night is a product of a very successful Hollywood actor-director who simply isn't talented enough as a writer to adapt Dennis Lehane's novel (of the same name) to the big screen successfully; it may be time for Mr. Affleck to direct someone else other than himself for a change. This vanity project of his is as forgettable as his recent outing as Batman, but without the box office success to justify its pointless existence.
Posted by acestroke at 10:35 AM No comments:
Saturday, January 28, 2017
"Silence" uses faith as weapon against oppression
If Silence had not been directed by the great American filmmaker Martin Scorsese, I likely would not have sought it out at all. A historical movie of "epic" proportions (its running time, its historical period, and most notably, the characters' need to speak in an oddly accented broken English), it takes place in mid seventeenth century Japan, where two young Portuguese priests (played by Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver) have arrived to search for their mentor, Father Ferriera (Liam Neeson), and also to spread the gospel of Christ. The fact that Christianity is forbidden in feudal Japan, and is punishable by death, adds an element of danger and intrigue to this otherwise long and rather slow moving film. As adapted by Scorsese and Jay Cocks (from a novel of the same name by Shusaku Endo), the screenplay would have you believe that even common peasants in 1640s Japan spoke nearly perfect English, an element I have a hard time believing. Ultimately, the movie is a hybrid of Arthur Miller's The Crucible and pretty much any Akira Kurosawa Samurai movie, where Christian persecution and forced apostasy go hand in hand with inhumane torture and murder of the faithful. Silence is an ambitious film, and a passion project of Scorsese's for over a quarter century, but its analysis and dissection of faith vs. mercy is a bit old fashioned for today's digital age. Had the movie been made a few hundred years ago (an impossible concept, I realize, but you get my drift), I imagine its themes would've been much more relevant.
Posted by acestroke at 8:43 AM No comments:
Friday, January 27, 2017
Chastain chews & spits out D.C. politics as "Miss Sloane"
Washington politics are rarely as exciting and nerve-wracking as they are in John Madden's recent drama, Miss Sloane. As the titular lobbyist fighting the gun industry (for wanting to stop a bill that would ensure further and detailed background checks on any new firearm buyers), Jessica Chastain exudes a certain tough-as-nails machismo not often seen in a female on a big screen Hollywood fare, and her ruthlessness is clearly a necessity in this dog-eat-dog world of our capital's ass-kissing politics (I suspect the same rules apply in Tinseltown, so being a successful actress has prepared her well for this role).
Chastain's workaholic Elizabeth Sloane eats at Asian restaurants alone in the middle of the night, she pays handsome, muscular men for sex, she even gets a new colleague (the timelessly beautiful Gugu Mbatha-Raw) to confide in her, only to use the woman's personal past in order to gain an upper hand in her political gun lobbying battle. She's not so much your typical movie woman as she is a modern, red headed dragon in high heels whose definition of contentment is nothing more than solitude with her smart phone and the misery of her enemies. The always captivating Mark Strong holds his own as Sloane's boss Rodolfo Schmidt, whose own ethics and morals differ greatly from Elizabeth's rule bending and throat stomping desire to win at any cost.
Miss Sloane packs more thrills than your average action movie (it does this while producing only a single gun-shot, and frankly, it could have done without it), and in today's age of over-produced and overblown Michael Bay/Guy Ritchie/Roland Emmerich blockbusters, that is no small feat.
Posted by acestroke at 11:26 AM No comments:
Thursday, January 26, 2017
Post apocalyptic "The Few" dazzles with unique artwork
The artwork by Hayden Sherman in Image Comics' new series, The Few, is gray, brown and green, almost semi-chromatic, and absent of life and joy. Its post apocalyptic setting gives it a doom-and-gloom tone, reminiscent of movies such as The Road, Mad Max, and even Turbo Kid (the villains ride motorcycles and wear goggles, all the while having their faces covered). There isn't much elation to be found in these so-called "remainder States of America".
The writing by Sean Lewis may not be mind-blowing (lines such as "... that baby needs even a piece of shit to look out for him" come across as rather sophomoric), but what he does create is a strong sense of time and place, a world stripped of humanity where danger lurks at every corner. The heroine, Edan Hale, is a twenty-year old black haired, brown eyed tough-as-nails girl, who cares for a stranger's baby as if he were her own, despite the faceless assassins on motorcycles who chase after her through the ominous woods as if she was a helpless prey. A father and son duo come to her aid, and despite a blood-thirsty villain named Herrod wanting to "reign in blood" all the residents of a small trailer community, Edan is forced to flee with her saviors and the baby to the outskirts of the forest they find themselves in, which is marked by a lone wind turbine, sticking out of the sea of trees like a compass out of hell.
The Few #1 is an effective intro to this rather engaging comic book series, its storyline taking off immediately with kinetic energy and imagination, without ever looking back. There's more to Edan than meets the eye, and it remains to be seen just who and what she really is.
Posted by acestroke at 10:33 AM No comments:
Tuesday, January 24, 2017
Portman carries "Jackie" with elegant grace
Pablo Larrain's Jackie might as well be called The Planning of John F. Kennedy's Funeral. The movie deals with the aforementioned President's death and upcoming funeral and then over-long discussion as to where he'll be buried and how his procession will proceed and... but I digress. As Jacqueline Kennedy, Natalie Portman portrays the physical aroma and general demeanor of the first lady convincingly, capturing the woman's pride but also her long suppressed anguish. The movie never quite captures her relationship with JFK, as we hardly see them together; instead, we're left to form who Jackie really was from her friendships with Robert F. Kennedy (Peter Saarsgard) and her priest (John Hurt) - quite an insightful scene that nicely dissects the heroine's soul searching dilemma. There also isn't much of a story, only lots of sadness and countless tears, and the movie has a general made-for-TV feel (with the exception of few F bombs), and if not for Portman, I feel it would've ended up being one.
Posted by acestroke at 11:29 PM No comments:
Sunday, January 22, 2017
"Hacksaw Ridge" manipulates through cheesiness and hypocrisy
In director Mel Gibson's bloody historical war movie, Hacksaw Ridge, Christian fanaticism blends oddly with the patriotic needs to serve one's country to the point of both ideologies contradicting themselves. The protagonist, Desmond T. Doss (Andrew Garfield), is your typical backwoods compassionate idealist, the kind who believes in the "Thou shall not kill" commandment to such an extreme that he actually refuses to carry a fire arm as an American soldier fighting the Japanese during World War II.
Having been raised in a Christian household where both his parents abhor war but worship the Almighty, young Desmond clashes with his Army superiors to such an extreme that he comes across as a delusional peace-corps servant whose beliefs are completely misplaced in an occupation that is all about death and destruction of the so-called-enemy.
The first half of the movie is sort of like Men of Honor lite; the second half is pretty much the opening fifteen minutes of carnage in Saving Private Ryan, but multiplied tenfold: it's bloody brutal. Gibson here clearly explores his love of God and his passion for defending one's land, but he never considers the contradictions at play. Even though Doss chooses not to commit murder himself, he clearly doesn't object to his soldier buddies slaughtering everyone and everything in sight, a gesture of hypocrisy very much in line with the faith of the so called hero (Wouldn't his anti-murder stance have had more impact if it included boycotting the military draft and avoiding enlisting altogether??? Just sayin').
Hacksaw Ridge is manipulative cinematic propaganda of the Christian ideals and the American need to engage in war, both of which come across as full of shit as its filmmaker's "tolerance" of the Jewish faith.
Posted by acestroke at 5:07 PM No comments:
Friday, January 20, 2017
"A Monster Calls" is an overly sentimental bore
The dramatic storyline in the fantasy-rich and visually stunning A Monster Calls is a bit too sentimental and sappy even for those who generally don't mind melodramatic fares. Young Conor O'Malley (Lewis MacDougall) is a troubled boy whose mother is dying from cancer, and whose life at school is burdened by a mean bully (James Melville), a cliche of a character in every imaginable way. So in order to escape his harsh reality, Conor uses his imagination to create a large tree monster (voiced by Liam Neeson), a creature whose purpose is to obviously mentor and tutor the boy in all the ways of life, and it comes across as an overly obnoxious teacher whose lessons are too old fashioned and preachy. Director J.A. Bayona - whose creepy The Orphanage (2007) is one of the most under appreciated horror movies of this century - has made a film that is, I suppose, only half decent. As much as it succeeds with incredible visuals and impressive effects, the film's screenplay drags with one too many tear-jerk moments, trying to leave its thematic imprint on the audience's brain like a scorching hot cattle-brand iron. Resembling a more grown-up version of Spielberg's The BFG (another ambitious failure), A Monster Calls will likely confuse young audiences with all sorts of out-of-place emotions, all the while boring the adults straight to sleep.
Posted by acestroke at 9:01 PM No comments:
Thursday, January 19, 2017
"Patriots Day" is Berg's United 93
Peter Berg's Patriots Day is a taut and tense drama about the 2013 Boston Marathon terrorist attack that left numerous people dead and badly injured. Unfolding very much like Peter Greengrass' similarly themed but superior 2006 film, United 93, it introduces us to several people early on that fateful day, then lets us follow them as each participates in the incident one way or another. The movie wisely never preaches, but instead presents us with Sergeant Tommy Saunders (Mark Wahlberg), who drops the F bomb like it's going out of style, and appears rather sympathetic as a limping officer who cares more about the victims than the FBI agent in charge of the operation, Richard DesLauriers (Kevin Bacon, looking like he just stepped into this movie from the set of Mystic River). The fact that the bombings in question took place rather recently, and that its coverage by the media has already made most everyone well aware of who, what, when and how may keep the sense of suspense a bit lower than expected. And even though the additional news footage and testimonies from the real-life characters prior to the end credits is superfluous and unnecessary, Patriots Day is still a well made film for everyone looking to wave their red, white and blue flag while honoring the victims of this horrific event.
Posted by acestroke at 9:15 AM No comments:
Wednesday, January 18, 2017
"God Country"'s ideal setting sizzles with mystique
The vast, wounded landscape in God Country is a sight to behold. Barren and void of anything but dirt and wild mammals, with the storm of the century upon it, its mythical stature enough to inspire the unseen narrator to say, "This here story's been passed down in my family for generations now..." Like a poem from a citizen of hell who's looking down at the decaying Earth, it sets up a scenario that is as grand as it is mystical.
God Country #1, written by Donny Cates and illustrated by Geoff Shaw, Jason Wordie and John J. Hill (alternate cover by Gerardo Zaffino), centers on Roy Quinlan, a loyal son whose wife and young daughter have finally had enough with the belligerent threats spewed by Roy's father, Emmet, whose dementia is quickly turning him into a great liability for everyone around him. Emmet's stature is large and in charge, his appearance resembling a deity of the highest order, while his mind is another matter altogether. When an unprecedented storms crashes on their hometown in Texas, it triggers a chain of events that will challenge an otherworldly God to pick a bone with one of the aforementioned characters.
Resembling a Cormac McCarthy novel, God Country is a folk song as much as it is a comic full of elements both fantastical and Western. The artwork is impressive and rich, while the writing is honest and the dialogue minimal, something that actually works in its favor. Of all the recent Image comics debuts, this one should rank somewhere near the top.
Posted by acestroke at 10:56 AM No comments:
Tuesday, January 17, 2017
"Queen" uses chess as tool for escaping poverty
Just like previous chess themed movies involving child prodigies (Searching for Bobby Fischer) and inspiring adults who aim to teach the game to underprivileged youths (The Dark Horse), Queen of Katwe uses a board game - which many around the globe don't know how to play - in order to inspire its audience with an uplifting story of an underdog overcoming all odds in order to succeed as a champion at a very high level. Young Phiona Mutesi (Madina Nalwanga) begins to show serious understanding of the game under the tutelage of coach Robert Katende (David Oyelowo), and soon her chess prowess may be her family's only ticket out of Uganda's slums and into bigger and better things. Director Mira Nair (Salam Bombay, Monsoon Wedding) has made a satisfactory, crowd-pleasing movie that even those who don't understand the game of chess will enjoy, and even though the story is your standard Disney sports cliche, there's a quiet, admirable wisdom quality to young Nalwanga's demeanor. That may not be enough to place Queen of Katwe among the best movies of this sub-genre, but it's certainly the only one I can think of where succeeding in chess doesn't just mean notoriety and fame, but also a better life that includes typically taken-for-granted things such as running water and roof over one's head. Literally.
Posted by acestroke at 9:33 PM No comments:
Thursday, January 12, 2017
Lyrical "Moonlight" sheds poetic insight into seasons of a life
Barry Jenkins' Moonlight is a poetic and often beautiful movie that evokes the early works of David Gordon Green. Shot in lush colors by cinematographer James Laxton, with a dactylic musical score (by Nicholas Britell) that even Terrence Malick might find admirable, the film explores three different chapters in the life of a bullied, insecure young man called Chiron, whose quiet and shy demeanor he embodies early on remain, more or less, the only unchanged characteristic traits as he grows up in his south Florida community. As he deals with his crack addicted mother (Naomi Harris), meets a kind dope dealer named Juan (Mahershala Ali) who shows a genuine father-like interest in him, and engages in matters of sexual curiosity with a classmate (Jharrel Jerome), Chiron boldly epitomizes a struggling teenager whose world can suddenly crash from delivering kindness to delivering blows that leave him bruised and bloodied.
The great Ali (House of Cards) is here, unfortunately, given too little screen time, and - just as he was the best thing about Netflix' Luke Cage, until he was so abruptly taken out - his departure from Moonlight's second and third acts feels even more surprising, especially given how heavily his presence can be seen in all the TV ads and promos for the film. Also, if there is an element I could not altogether grasp, it's Chiron's transformation from a skinny, dorky teen to a muscular, body building, gold-mouthed, pistol carrying dealer; the man looks nothing like his younger on-screen alter ego - but we'll leave the petty nit picking for another time.
Moonlight doesn't have all the answers (the final scene is beautiful in its ambiguousness) but for a movie that explores the identity of a conflicted youth/teenager/adult, it goes about its business as lyrically as a piece of modern cinema can.
Posted by acestroke at 10:53 PM No comments:
Tuesday, January 10, 2017
Supeman-like "Huck" is a hero constructed out of pure goodness
Huck is a very special superhero. Resembling a football linebacker with a heart of gold, Huck is like Forest Gump with super speed, super strength, and an uncanny ability to find anything and anyone with little difficulty. Having been abandoned as a baby orphan on a doorstep of small town Americana, he grows up to be a person of such compassion and consideration for others that his whole life revolves around committing good deeds for his fellow neighbors in the small Northeastern setting. Imagine a simple minded man unable to form a single bad thought in his head, then add physical invincibility. You'd have Huck.
Writer Mark Millar and artist Rafael Albuquerque (colors by Dave McCaig) have created an instant classic comic book that will surely be made into a big screen adaptation (at least one) some day. The illustrations by Albuquerque resemble fine visual compositions of a Pixar animated feature (certain vignettes reminded me of The Incredibles), and Millar creates several multi-layered characters, both good and bad, and fuses the initial home-grown story with Russian spies and super-villains. Especially exciting is the appearance of Huck's biological mom, a matriarch so tough and gifted that she makes Sigourney Weaver in Aliens look like a weakling in comparison.
Huck is basically a superhero comic for those who don't read superhero comics, a story that young and old should enjoy equally. Its breathtaking visuals and honest portrayal of an incorruptible heart will soon elevate it to a universal fan favorite graphic novel. Seriously: if you want to be charmed and experience some edge-of-your-seat thrills simultaneously, look no further than Millar and Albuquerque's Huck.
Posted by acestroke at 9:27 AM No comments:
Monday, January 9, 2017
BBC's "Sherlock" Series 1 infuses modern technology with Doyle's cleverness
As the world's most famous fictional detective, Sherlock Holmes is the ultimate geek's role model, a dork so hell-bent on being odd and brilliant that it's hard not to be impressed with his uncanny detailed insight. BBC's updated take on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's legendary sleuth, Sherlock Series 1, fuses stories that are over a century old with a modern setting and technology, and the result is a marvelous entertainment for the eyes and the ears (especially the ears).
In the first episode, A Study in Pink, recently acquainted Dr. John Watson (Martin Freeman) and his new roommate, Scotland Yard's consulting detective Sherlock Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch), investigate a series of murders in which the victims willingly committed suicide. But how? And who made them kill themselves in exactly the same way, using the same poison? When Holmes questions the killer near the end about his employer, the man responds with, "Moriarty!", an omen of things to come.
The Blind Banker presents Holmes and Watson with a case where strange spray paintings turn out to be foreshadowings for bizarrely staged, mysterious murders. Involved are Chinese smugglers, messages coded in ancient text, and another suggestion of the existence of the mysterious criminal, here presented only as "M".
The final episode of Series 1 places the two protagonists on a case where victims are forced to wear explosive vests and then recite the killer's words to the police over the phone from a secret location. More than any episode so far, the climax of The Great Game finally pits our favorite detective against his arch nemesis, a super-villain known as Moriarty (Andrew Scott). For those familiar with Doyle's original stories of Sherlock Holmes, they should know who this man is.
Creators and executive producers Mark Gatiss (who also stars as Sherlock's brother, Mycroft) and Steve Moffat have upgraded the original story some hundred and twenty five years into present day London, and the result is an engaging and intelligent detective show with very charismatic leads and clever, witty dialogue. Also, London has rarely looked so sexy in the soft-focus/hard-focus establishing shots, playing not only a setting, but an important character in this crime-heavy universe. And let's not forget the actors: Benedict Cumberbatch's depiction of Sherlock Holmes is this century's defining performance of a nineteenth century detective come to life, more eccentric and sarcastic than ever, in a world much more suited to his genius than the one he was originally born into.
Posted by acestroke at 9:18 AM No comments:
Saturday, January 7, 2017
"Monster" one of many things hiding in this Closet
Stephen Dunn's independent feature, Closet Monster, is a visually impressive movie debut about a gay teen's struggles in life and in love. The boy in question, Oscar (Connor Jessup), often escapes into a fantasy world, where he talks to his furry hamster, Buffy (voice of Isabella Rossellini), and engages with violent imagery involving a long metal rod and lots of blood. He's tempted by a colleague at work, and a handsome dark haired young man at a party, and his angst and general frustration with the unfair world around him are convincingly portrayed. Most of the characters are displayed authentically, the one exception being Oscar's douchebag dad, who acts as an annoying stereotype ("You ain't be going to no faggot costume party!") seen countless times before. What the movie lacks in acting talent (the most gifted performer is Sofia Banzhaf, playing Oscar's friend who poses for his artistic photographs with heavy monster make-up), it more than makes up in its director's visual approach to convey such a dubious part of a teenager's imagination so vividly and originally.
Posted by acestroke at 4:21 PM No comments:
"Ouija: Origin of Evil" finally elevates the possession formula
Take note, The Conjuring and Insidious movie franchises. Ouija: Origin of Evil is how one makes a movie about possession without dumbing it down with cliches and stripping it of any possible logic. When a charlatan ghost whisperer's (Elizabeth Reaser, whose 1960s style makes the decade look sexy again) youngest daughter Doris (Lulu Wilson) becomes possessed by an evil spirit as a result of including the Ouija board in her "rituals", both mother and older sister (Annalise Basso) begin to suspect a presence of an otherworldly entity. They seek the help of a trustworthy priest (Henry Thomas, aged gracefully since his breakout role in 1982's E.T.), and that's when the movie shifts into a higher gear that it never quite lets up from. The shots of young Wilson contorting her face in order to express the demon inside her are truly frightening, and the bold ending doesn't play up to its audiences expectations as most movies of this sub-genre tend to. The very last scene, set in a psychiatric hospital, is very imaginative and original, and hopefully is a set up for equally challenging sequels ahead. Ouija: Origin of Evil is a product of bold writing by Jeff Howard and Mike Flanagan (the latter also directed this movie with a singular vision worthy of admiration). If you saw the original from 2014 and - most likely - hated that movie, don't be discouraged, and check out this much superior sequel (or is it prequel?). It will haunt you for days.
Posted by acestroke at 9:12 AM No comments:
Friday, January 6, 2017
Fox's new TV comedy "The Mick" has very little substance
If you've seen the commercials and TV promos for FOX's new comedy The Mick, featuring It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia's Kaitlin Olson, then you've seen the hilarious shots of a little boy who's been so poorly taken care of by his aunt that he's completely broken out with an allergic reaction to ice cream she let him have (but wasn't supposed to). You've probably also seen the riotous scenes where her other nephew was beaten up to a bloody pulp by a school bully after she gave him the wrong advice on how to deal with such an adversary. Funny, funny stuff. I laughed while watching the promos, for sure.
But sadly, those laughs are where the humor in The Mick ends. The Pilot episode gives us little in terms of character, and the heroine referred to as "The Mick" (Mackenzie "Mickey" Murphy) drinks too much and doesn't quite give a shit about anyone (not her deadbeat boyfriend, not even her sister's maid, whom she's clearly using, and definitely not her two nephews and niece). Mick walks around and behaves as selfishly and inconsiderately as a female version of Bad Santa (the problem: that guy actually got laughs). The second episode, titled The Grandparents, presents us with a script whose humor is aimed at an audience that grew up in the 1950s and 60s (people getting tagged by lasers? Mm, not very funny. People getting slapped by their grandma several times until they give in? 🤔 Hmm. Nope, definitely not funny 😞).
The writing by Dave and John Chernin is lazy and without imagination. It's almost as if they just want to extract as many "right now" laughs that they never bother to develop a comedic situation or a character into something that can pay off eventually. If they want to learn how to make an effective show using a scoundrel with a heart who eventually grows on us, all they have to do is watch My Name is Earl. That show had more genuine soul, insight and humor in sixty-seconds of screen time than The Mick possesses in two full episodes. It's a shame, because the promos for it were funny. Really funny.
Posted by acestroke at 9:03 AM No comments:
Thursday, January 5, 2017
Theatrical "Fences" brings out the best from Davis and Washington
In Fences, Denzel Washington's cinematic adaptation of August Wilson's Pulitzer Winning play, the scenes play out just as they would on stage: they're long, without many close-ups, and the protagonist, Troy Maxson (Washington) talks a whole lot and uses pretty articulate vocabulary for a man who can't read or write (but we won't be getting into that). Like a mean grand stage patriarch, Troy is a bully to his son Cory (Jovan Adepo) and wants to discourage his son from potentially attending college by making him quit the football team, because Troy had once upon a time failed as a potential MLB athlete, and clearly doesn't want his offspring to succeed where he hasn't. The real emotional weight of burden here belongs to Troy's wife, Rose (Viola Davis), who has clearly been used and mentally abused by her two-timing, overly controlling husband over the years. I hope that this role finally gets Davis the Oscar she so clearly deserves as one of the finest American actresses. The movie is not as grand as it claims to be, and in a season filled with exciting sci-fi action, rebirth of Hollywood musicals and superb Disney/Pixar animation, Fences drags just a bit in its third act, which feels as if it will last forever (also, the film's dramatic energy is absent whenever Washington's Troy's Maxson isn't on screen). Still, it's a solid ensemble piece from everyone, and a good directing effort from its superstar.
Posted by acestroke at 11:58 AM No comments:
Monday, January 2, 2017
Acestroke's Top 10 Films of 2016
1. Hell or High Water.
An instant classic and a contemporary Western masterpiece for those who no longer remember cinema's most (in)famous bank robbers of long ago, and can now get the best of the past and present that the genre has to offer.
2. Zootopia.
Disney takes on social discrimination in the most original way. Ambitious and moving.
3. The Hunt for Wilderpeople.
A boy and his foster father become targets of a national manhunt in the New Zealand wilderness, and the result is the best coming of age story (for the child and the adult) of 2016.
4. L'avenir. A middle aged philosophy professor has to make adjustments to sudden changes in her life, but realizes that time of change has long passed. Isabelle Huppert's performance is the most authentic of the year.
5. Deadpool. Because some good/bad guys are just so bad/good that they're just ... the shit. The most entertaining movie of the year.
6. Eye in the Sky. Exhilarating and nerve wrecking from opening frame to the last. A bold take on modern warfare.
7. Train to Busan. Zombies on a train. In South Korea. On its way to Busan. Best Zombie movie in many years.
8. Arrival. A mother grieves her daughter, until new arrived visitors to Earth try to teach us that maybe death is not the end. Beautiful and intelligent.
9. The Witch. A creepy-as-all hell minimalist horror movie. What it lacks in gore and blood, it more than makes up in suspense and tension - and imagination.
10. Graduation. An honest doctor wants what's best for his daughter, but when her future is jeopardized, he crosses ethical lines he didn't know he was capable of. A quiet masterpiece.
Posted by acestroke at 9:36 PM No comments:
"Graduation" looks at an honest father's moral dilemma
Christian Mungiu's Bacalaureat (Graduation) is a movie wise about both human nature and the corrupt world of bribes and favors. When a respected Romanian Doctor's (Adrian Titieni) daughter Eliza (Maria-Victoria Dragus) is assaulted by a rapist the day before her final examination, which is ultimately her entry to a college in England, her dreams of escaping the mundane world her parents were subjected to growing up in begins to crumble. The father now must visit various members of Romanian bureaucracy and ask for unusual favors, actions that aren't necessarily legal and fair, but hey, neither was the assault on his daughter the day before the most important moment of her life (the man also got his living room window and his car window broken by an unknown assailant). Director Mungiu continues making some of the most important movies about the state of Romanian life (4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days), and in Graduation he presents us with a good, hard working honest everyman whose values are shaken to the core due to an already unfair system where honesty isn't necessarily rewarded. The craftsmanship of the camerawork is at best minimal: every set-up is executed with one camera angle, and editing is only used to take us from scene to scene, but never within the same scene, a style that the director has been known for. With Graduation, Mungiu has officially arrived on the international scene as one of the world's best filmmakers.
Posted by acestroke at 9:55 AM No comments:
Sunday, January 1, 2017
Zombie apocalypse in "Girl with all the Gifts" feels both old and new
The post apocalyptic, zombie infested London in The Girl with All the Gifts (written by Mike Carey, adapted from his own 2014 novel) looks very much like the one in 2007's 28 Weeks Later (not surprisingly, it sports more or less the same storyline as that Juan Carlos-Fresnadillo directed sequel to 28 Days Later). Abandoned by human population, the quietness and silence surrounding the English capital on Thames river is like an ominous hum of dread, injecting fear and terror into anyone who happens to wander it alone. Melanie (Senia Nanua) is an unusually intelligent girl among children who are called "hungries", or aggressive carnivores capable of devouring human flesh, at an isolated base that's run by scientists and military. When it's discovered that Melanie has a special immunity to the virus, she is taken by Dr. Caldwell (Glenn Close), Sergeant Eddie Parks (Paddy Considine) and her teacher Helen (Gemma Arterton) away to safety after the base is stormed by adult "hungries". The movie's tone remains effectively suspenseful, and its characters quickly grow on us, even though some of the setups feel like cop-outs (Sleepwalking zombies who can't smell or sense humans who are near them unless they detect movement? Too easy). Director Colm McCarthy has created one of the more entertaining zombie horror movies in a few years, and judging by how much competition this particular horror sub-genre has, that is no small feat.
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North 91st Ave, Maryvale
Great for
- No ratings yet
Not great for
- No ratings yet
Who lives here?
- Professionals
- Singles
Got a burning question? Why not ask the locals! Simply ask your question below
North 91st Ave
"Great place to go out! Lots to do"
The vicinity of 91st Ave from Peoria Ave to Glendale Ave is the home for a variety nightlife activities. There is the Jobing.com arena which houses the AZ Cardinals and was the location of the 2008 Superbowl, as wells as plays host for a variety of concerts and events throughout the year. There is also many newer shopping centers, bars, restuarants and movie theater. Closer to Peoria Ave, there is more outdoor and sporting options with the Peoria Sports Complex which has an ice rink and hosts Coyotes hockey. This is one of my favorite parts of Phoenix to hangout in, there are things to do for people of all ages, the Westgate area (bars near the Jobing.com arena) is crowded on weekends and popular with people between the ages of 21 to 35 ish. There are a lot of police on weekends as well monitoring activity, so be careful and safe!
Recommended for
- Professionals
- Singles

subset: commoncrawl


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The Lion Tamer and The Tiger MomAired on Jul 29, 2014
The Ray family revolves around eight-year old daughter Asia's rising star, and this week there's a huge performance at World of Dance on the line. Questions about the suitability of the choreography put the entire performance in jeopardy. Meanwhile, Asia's parents struggle with their own balancing act.
Diva Days, Red Carpet NightsAired on Aug 05, 2014
This week Asia is slated to perform at the Reality TV Awards, but tensions are already running high in the Ray household, and when Kristie isn't happy with the stage, she tries to pull the plug. Meanwhile, Shawn goes toe-to-toe with Asia's manager.
The Education of Asia RayAired on Aug 05, 2014
Asia's training goes into high gear, and with Shawn out of town, Kristie is overwhelmed–until a special visitor arrives to lend a hand. But while Kristie may be happy for the help, she's less than thrilled by some unsolicited advice–and an attempted intervention.
Managers and MayhemAired on Aug 12, 2014
Asia ramps up her training as an actress, singer and dancer but choreographer Anthony questions whether manager Billy is the right person to take Asia to the top. Anthony's doubts grow stronger when he hears the new song Billy wrote for Asia and decides to spring a surprise meeting with another manager on Kristie–and she is not happy about it! Meanwhile, Kristie tries to figure out how to fit in more time with Bella, who is feeling left out.
It's (Not) My Party and I'll Cry if I Want ToAired on Aug 12, 2014
It's Bella's birthday and Kristie is determined to focus on her, while Asia struggles with the sacrifices she's forced to make for her career. Shawn removes Kristie from Asia's rehearsal with Anthony. Later, Kristie stuns everyone by announcing she and Asia will be leaving Bella's birthday party for a photo shoot, but will Shawn let her walk out on Bella?
What Would Beyonce Do?Aired on Aug 19, 2014
Billy lands Asia a gig opening for a pop star that no one has heard of and things quickly go south once they arrive at venue, only to discover it is a 21 and over nightclub. While Asia is forced to prepare in a tent in the middle of a parking lot, Anthony capitalizes on Billy's absence by blaming him for all of the issues which then causes a major rift between Shawn and Kristie.
Hit the RoadAired on Aug 19, 2014
Asia is heading to Vegas for her singing and dancing debut at Planet Hollywood. Anthony and Billy nearly come to blows as they continue to jockey for control over Asia's career. After his missteps with last week's performance, Billy has to redeem himself in Shawn's eyes if he wants to stay on the team…and Anthony is skating on thin ice, as well. Who will get the upper hand? And will Shawn finally be ready to fire one of them?
Billy's Last ChanceAired on Aug 26, 2014
Its Billy's big chance to prove that he has the chops to take Asia to the next level, but a major meltdown from Asia before her first singing performance at Planet Hollywood threatens to derail everything they've been working towards. Meanwhile, it's decision time–will Billy stay, or will he go?
Eyes on the PrideAired on Aug 26, 2014
Anthony is determined to have full creative control over Asia's performance at the Long Beach Pride Festival. But after missing rehearsals, arguing with Shawn, and disobeying orders, Anthony is on thin ice. In a fraught rehearsal, Anthony drops the ball…and Asia! Facing possible injury as well as chaos on her team, will Asia even take the stage?
Dad-agerAired on Sep 02, 2014
Choreographer Ricky Palomino has given Asia the lead role in his theatrical performance titled "Daylight Come." Shawn decides that this week he and Kristie are going to have a "kid swap" and Shawn will handle Asia's career while Kristie takes on Bella's responsibilities. Will Shawn be able to prepare Asia on his own?
Three Men and a MaybeAired on Sep 02, 2014
Billy books a performance for Asia at R&B legend El De Barge's birthday. Shawn puts Anthony in charge of vetoing this performance if he feels that Asia is not ready. Anthony feels empowered, but Shawn ultimately pulls rank. When Anthony explodes in frustration, both the performance as well as his place on Team Asia are put in jeopardy.
Of Momagers and MeltdownsAired on Sep 09, 2014
With her Universal City Walk performance only one week away, Asia is set to sing her new ballad on the web series, BiteSizeTV. As the pressure mounts, she loses focus and spins out of control just before show time, when Gina confides in Shawn that she feels unappreciated, leading Kristie to explode at the crew and threaten to pull the plug on Raising Asia.
Make it or Break itAired on Sep 09, 2014
It's time for Asia to take the stage at Universal City Walk for the biggest and most important performance of her life. Asia tries to remain calm while chaos reigns during the final performance run-through. Will a technical glitch in the middle of her first song be the end of her chance to prove she has what it takes to become a triple threat superstar?


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Daily Archives: 18 October 2015
18 October 2015
OMG! Was that a lot of fun or what!!?
In short, we had an absolute blast at Adam and Ava's various wedding celebrations – there is much too much to tell in one sitting so I'm afraid you'll have to put up with some instalments. This week, our trip out to China and the first wedding celebration in Ava's home town, Liuzhou.
As you know, if you've been keeping up, we spent the last ten days in China helping Adam and Ava celebrate their wedding. This wasn't perhaps the best time for us to visit having just moved house and feeling decidedly unsettled but it was more than worth the disruption and now, with hindsight, we wish we'd gone for a month. It was so much fun. Continue reading
18 October 2015 – Amusements
My wife and I were going through a rough patch financially, but we kept ourselves sane by repeating, "As long as we have each other, we don't need anything else."
But when the television in our bedroom broke and we couldn't afford to repair or replace it, my wife lost it.
"That's just great!" she shouted. "Now there's no entertainment in our bedroom at all!" Continue reading


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End of Game, BC Wins 6-3: Well, BC just outclassed Northeastern in this one. Give the Huskies a huge amount of credit for making it a close contest early in the third period, but ultimately BC was just a more talented squad, and they proved it over 60 minutes.
Good choice on giving the tournament MVP to Kevin Roy and his five goals, even if it was in a losing effort. However, BC's depth trumped Roy's stellar play on Monday, and they're the ones lifting the Beanpot right now. Perhaps most impressively, BC has never lost a Beanpot final that they've been a part of.
Well, thanks for sticking around our live blog, folks. Hope we were able to shed a little light on what's going on on the ice.
3rd Period, 5:15, BC 5-3: Once again, we said Gaudreau would have to figure into this game, and with two goals he has in a big way. That was a more vintage effort from him, being the trailer and finding himself in the right place at the right time.
Now, with time quickly running out, Northeastern's going to have to really bear down and make something happen to catch the Eagles. Otherwise it will be BC raising the Beanpot for the fourth consecutive year.
3rd Period, 15:00, BC 4-3: Well, it would be an improbable comeback, but it's certainly in the works.
After BC takes an ill-advised penalty, Northeastern makes them pay, cutting the Eagles' lead to just one goal with a lot of time left to play. NU looks completely renewed early in the period, keeping their legs moving and skating well, while BC looks to be back on its heels a little bit.
3rd Period, 19:45, 4-2 BC: Well, the Huskies needed a quick goal to open the period, and Roy stepped up. In the process, he becomes the first player to score at least five goals in a Beanpot tournament since 1973.
In actuality, that's a pick that should probably be stopped by Milner. It was just a long-range wrist shot that beat him, without even the benefit of a screen. But, somehow, the seeing-eye shot found its way over Milner's right shoulder and into the short right corner of the net.
Second Intermission, BC 4-1: Well, we're going to let this tweet speak for itself. For the record, Northeastern's president is Dr. Joseph E. Aoun, and apparently he has an awesome sense of humor.
[tweet https://twitter.com/billbarnwell/status/301146386630582272 align='center']
End of 2nd Period, BC 4-1: And here's where the pace of the game becomes important.
For a while it's seemed like the high-tempo pace of the game was not well-suited for Northeastern. And that finally catches up with them at the end of the second period, as the Eagles score another two goals in rapid succession. The second (their fourth of the night) came off a bad misplay by Rawlings, who tried to hand the puck off rather than just covering it.
So, that may have taken some of the wind out of the sails of the Huskies and the third period in general, as BC now has a commanding lead to go with its dominant puck-possession play heading into the game's final third.
2nd Period, 1:08, BC 3-1: Well, that was certainly an innocent-looking play, but it leads to a goal and another two-score lead for BC.
Not much Northeastern goaltender Chris Rawlings could do about that one. It looked like the puck, which was already knuckling, was tipped twice on its way to the goal.
2nd Period, 4:40, BC 2-1: Well, Roy made it happen last week with a hat trick, and now he's picking up right where he left off.
Roy flat out beats BC goaltender Parker Milner with his wrist shot, waiting for a little screen to develop before beating Milner over his left shoulder.
2nd Period, 5:46, BC 2-0: For the record, that second goal was indeed credited to Gaudreau as an unassisted tally.
So, just like we said pregame, Gaudreau ends up playing a big role in the game. And, despite the best efforts of the Huskies' defense to blanket No. 13 and keep him off the puck, he still makes it happen all by himself.
2nd period, 7:52, BC 2-0: No sooner had we mentioned the conspicuous absence of Gaudreau than he makes something happen for BC, setting up (possibly scoring) a goal to put BC up 2-0.
First, Bill Arnold takes advantage of a turnover and some subsequently sloppy defense on the part of Northeastern, putting home a one-timer to draw first blood for the Eagles. Then, Gaudreau makes it happen the old fashioned way, putting puck into the Northeastern crease before taking a couple whacks at the goaltender's pads to tap one over the line.
So, for all their dominant play, BC finally have a lead to show for it with just under eight minutes left in the second period.
2nd Period, 9:54: Although he's done a good job on the forecheck today, it's hard to notice that we haven't taken notice of Johnny Gaudreau much.
The talented offensive player has mostly been kept quiet in the offensive zone, so that's something of a surprise. Give some credit to the Huskies defense for keeping him blanketed, and giving him the extra bump every opportunity they've had.
2nd Period, 11:48: The period began with some furious back-and-forth play, including a golden opportunity from point-blank range for Northeastern's Garrett Vermeersch.
However, Northeaster has also been very, very lucky. First, Colton Saucerman drew a tripping penalty against BC when the real culprit seemed to be his own shoelaces. Then, the Huskies got away with a clear penalty after having six men on the ice for several seconds.
Overall, BC's gotten the better of play, but it's been slightly more even. However, the tempo would seem to favor BC, who's better suited to play an up-and-down, shootout style of hockey.
End of 1st Period: Tempers flare as the whistle sounds due to a late shot on goal, but at the end of a period we're still tied with no scoring.
That being said, BC has clearly, undeniably had the better of play so far. They've simply had the puck in the Northeastern zone for most of the game thus far, as the Huskies are lucky to still be even with the Eagles. After a couple goal-mouth scrums, BC could easily be up by at least a couple goals.
For BC, no one player looks particularly dangerous, but Gaudreau looks like he's really trying hard to find open space, to no avail. Northeastern, meanwhile, needs to find a way to slow the pace of the game and hold on to the puck a little bit. Saponari has given them an occasional threat, but the rest of the team hasn't looked up to the task so far.
However, despite BC's dominance, we're still tied and Northeastern still very much has life if they can get it together.
1st Period, 2:55: Looks like someone on the Huskies is going to go to the box for a hooking call, but more on that later.
Northeastern is finally getting some opportunistic offense together, but it's mostly just from picking off errant pucks in BC's zone. Likewise, their defense has had trouble standing up the Eagles at the red line, but is doing a good job of backchecking and getting sticks and bodies in front of passes.
Vinny Saponari has really been Northeastern's standout so far. A couple times already he's turned on the jets, showing some impressive speed up the boards and putting BC on their heels. Roy needs to be looking for the front of the net to find a rebound or pass from Saponari.
1st Period, 9:36: Halfway through the first period and Northeastern has yet to get a shot on goal, while BC has already had a couple opportunities to poke at loose pucks in front of the goal mouth.
In short, right now BC is just outclassing Northeastern, as the latter wasn't able to get set up at all in the offensive zone on their first power play chance. Northeastern probably needs to simplify its play a little bit and just look to play some puck possession games to try and get the puck into the BC zone.
1st Period, 13:38: Roy gets booked early for a well-deserved penalty, as he just rolled right over the BC player.
On the ensuing power play, both teams can probably take positives away. For the first minute or so BC did well to set up in the offensive zone, nearly getting a goal on a tip that went just wide of the net. On Northeastern's end, they were able to disrupt BC during the second half of the power play, using an effective forecheck to waste some extra ticks in the BC end of the ice.
7:30 p.m.: Alright folks, we're almost ready to drop the puck here, as the BC Eagles will try to win their fourth consecutive Beanpot.
During the pregame Kevin Roy of Northeastern was profiled, and he did indeed look dangerous a week ago, netting a hat trick. However, Johnny Gaudreau is not only one of the best players in Hockey East, but in the entire country. He was kept relatively quiet during the semifinal, having at least one golden opportunity stopped at the goal, so it would be a safe bet that he won't be shut down again.
12:45 p.m. ET: The Beanpot will wrap up on Monday night as Boston College takes on Northeastern at TD Garden at 7:30 p.m.
The Eagles will be going for their fourth straight Beanpot championship. Only two teams have accomplished that feat before — Boston University rallied off six straight from 1995 to 2000 and four straight from 1970 to 1973. BC matched its best streak in 2012 with three straight, which the Eagles had also done from 1963 to 1965.
The Eagles and Huskies come into the Beanpot championship game on different ends of the Hockey East landscape. BC is in first place with 25 points, while Northeastern is dead last with 11.
In the first round of the Beanpot, BC took down Harvard 4-1, while the Huskies shocked BU 3-2.
Stay here for all the action, and tune in to NESN for coverage starting at 7 p.m.
Photo via Facebook/Boston College Athletics/Northeastern Men's Ice Hockey


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Add new criteria in symfony 3.4 for google map request -- 2
Бюджет €250-750 EUR
The website is done with the framework Cocorico on Symfony 3.4.
[login to view URL]
Dev environnement is availlable with Docker, ready to play.
Actually there is only one type of anouncement : offerers. I want to add a second type of annoucement : askers. We have to add this criteria in the database and in differents menus : creation, modification, search. Additionnaly, I want to modify th request to google map to show askers or offerers depending on the search filter value of this criteria.
23 фрілансерів(-и) у середньому готові виконати цю роботу за €518
Hello. I can do your task. About me: — 9+ year of experience. — Any tasks — Improve your ideas
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text:
Amusement Vision
|Amusement Vision
|Basic Information
Business Type
Parent company
Amusement Vision, Ltd. is a video game developer formerly known as Sega AM4. AM4 was a special research department of Sega known for the development of arcade games such as Virtua Striker (1994).
Amusement Vision was formed in 2000 and is currently considered to be a second-party developer to SEGA.
Games developed by Amusement Vision[edit | edit source]
- Daytona USA 2001 (2001) (Dreamcast)
- Super Monkey Ball (2001) (GameCube)
- Virtua Striker 2002 (2002) (GameCube))
- Super Monkey Ball 2 (2002) (GameCube))
- F-Zero GX (2003) (GameCube))
- F-Zero AX (2003) (Arcade))
- Shining Force: Resurrection of the Dark Dragon (Game Boy Advance)
- SpikeOut: Battle Street (2005) (Xbox)
- Super Monkey Ball Deluxe (2005) (Xbox/Playstation 2)


text:
A new Windows 8 feature called Windows To Go (WTG) allows users to boot a computer from a Windows 8 image on a USB drive. WTG is attractive to organizations because users who need to connect to the organization's network from an unmanaged computer can do so using a corporate-sanctioned instance of Windows 8 Enterprise edition. However, use of WTG generally requires devices to have Software Assurance (SA) on Windows, an Intune subscription, or a Virtual Device Access (VDA) subscription, and customers must be careful to properly license both the creation and use of the WTG image on USB drives.
The WTG Experience
To use WTG, a user inserts the WTG USB drive into the computer's USB port and restarts the computer. The computer will then boot from the Windows 8 Enterprise edition image on the USB drive, and the user can then authenticate as required to access the corporate network. While a computer is running a WTG image, the user has access to almost all of the hardware inside the computer, including the computer's processor, RAM, graphics processor, network cards, and wireless modems, and any other attached peripherals, such as a keyboard, a mouse, and a monitor, but by default the user cannot access any data on the computer's internal hard drive or leave any data behind on the hard drive when finished. When the user has finished working, the user shuts down the computer, removes the USB drive, and takes it along to the next computer.
Before a user can use WTG to boot a computer, an administrator has to use a tool, such as System Center Configuration Manager or the Create a Windows To Go Workspace wizard included with Windows 8 Enterprise edition, to create a customized corporate image. These tools allow an administrator to build a bootable image that contains all the necessary Windows 8 Enterprise edition components, as well as any utilities, such as antimalware and virtual private network clients, and applications, including custom line-of-business applications, that the user will need. The WTG USB drive can also be encrypted to protect the information on the drive if it is lost or stolen.
The main attraction of WTG is improved security: Users can employ home computers or other computers that an organization does not control, using a Windows image that the organization does control and maintain. WTG can also be useful in other situations, such as shift workers or contractors who need to employ personal configurations on computers shared with other users.
Two Distinct Rights Needed to Use WTG
Using Windows 8's new WTG feature requires two distinct use rights:
- The right to create and place a Windows 8 Enterprise edition image on USB drives
- The right to use such drives to boot computers with the Windows 8 Enterprise edition image.
Creating and Storing WTG Images
Three device-based Windows subscription options include the right to create and store an instance of Windows 8 Enterprise edition on USB drives:
- A Windows client OS license covered by SA, a subscription add-on to licenses that offers version-upgrade rights and other benefits
- A Windows Intune subscription, an offering for computers licensed with the Windows client OS that provides Microsoft-hosted management infrastructure and malware protection
- A VDA subscription, which allows access to Windows client OS instances running on a Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) by devices that are not licensed for the OS (such as an Apple iPad) or by devices that are licensed for the OS, but do not have active Windows SA or Intune.
To determine how many WTG USB devices can be created, an organization must count the total number of active Windows SA, Intune, and VDA device subscriptions they have. The organization can then create up to two times this number of WTG imaged drives, which can then be used to boot the devices with SA, Intune, or VDA subscription coverage, or with the roaming rights detailed below.
For example, consider an organization that has 500 information workers, each with their own computers. The organization has an additional 1,200 shift workers, who share 600 physical computers (on two different shifts). If all 1,100 computers have a Windows Professional license with a current SA subscription, the organization may create 2,200 USB drives with Windows 8 Enterprise edition images for WTG. This would be sufficient to cover the information workers using WTG as well as the shift workers, who could boot the shared computers with their own WTG images. As a practical matter, an organization that acquires the Windows OS under an Enterprise Agreement, which includes SA, is unlikely to run short of WTG USB drive creation rights.
Booting a WTG Image
The same three subscription types entitle a user to boot a licensed computer covered with the subscription using a WTG USB drive. (For an illustration of this right, see "May I Use a WTG Drive?".)
Furthermore, each of the three subscription options also confers special, albeit limited, WTG roaming use rights to the single primary user of a licensed device, where Microsoft defines a single primary user as the user who uses the licensed device more than 50% of the time in any 90-day period. Whenever the single primary user is off the organization's premises (such as at home or in a hotel), the user has the right to use a WTG USB drive to boot any "qualified third-party device," defined as a device not covered by either of the three subscription types and not "controlled" by the user's employer (with "controlled" generally understood to be a proxy for device ownership or management). These rules are the same as the rules for roaming access to the Windows client OS in a VDI.
However, although shift workers have the right to boot a computer at work (on work premises) from a WTG USB drive image, the "more than 50% of the time" clause in the single primary user definition appears to preclude WTG roaming rights for shift workers. In addition, under certain Bring Your Own Device scenarios, a worker bringing a laptop to work might need a Companion Subscription License (CSL, originally called Companion Device License) to have the right to boot the laptop on premises from a WTG USB image.
License Compliance
Despite the potential benefits of WTG, use of the technology may create license compliance issues related to tracking the number of WTG USB drives configured and in use, as well as monitoring that only appropriately licensed devices are booted with WTG USB drives. Furthermore, other software installed in the Windows 8 WTG image—whether published by Microsoft or another vendor—will have to be properly licensed.
Because both the right to create and the right to use a WTG image are derived from licenses sold by subscription, the WTG right is nonperpetual; administrators may not create and users may not access or use WTG after the Windows SA, Windows Intune, or VDA subscription expires.
For more technical background on Windows To Go, see "Using the Windows To Go Feature of Windows 8".
Windows To Go licensing rules are documented in Microsoft's Product Use Rights (PUR) document, published quarterly at www.microsoft.com/licensing/about-licensing/product-licensing.aspx. The August 2012 edition is the first to include mention of Windows To Go rights.
The Companion Device License is introduced in "Windows 8 Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Licensing" on page 18 of the June 2012 Update.
VDI licensing rules are outlined in "Licensing the Windows Client OS on VDI Today" on page 15 of the June 2012 Update and "Windows 8 Virtual Desktop Infrastructure Licensing" on page 18 of the June 2012 Update. Although there are significant differences, licensing Windows To Go is substantially similar to licensing Windows for VDI.


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Tuesday afternoon, as students left after school activities, there was still a sense of shock.
"I'm a little depressed because this was probably the best two years of my life," sophomore Sarah Duda said.
Students say there was an assembly called a little after 2pm, and no one knew what it was for. There, administrators dropped the bombshell.
"They just showed us like, a graph of how the student enrollment would go down each year," junior Kyria Patrick said. And those were the reasons given to close.
"There was a lot of crying," junior Jasmine Middleton said. "Everybody was just bawling because, ya know it's kind of tough you build a bond with people for years and stuff. It's like a home. This is like my home. It's hard."
Parents report receiving panicked texts from inside the school, the phone calls from their daughters in tears.
"I'm in disbelief right now," Danee Williams, a parent, said. "Shocked. A little heartbroken, and don't know where to go from here. We're gonna just pray on it and see."
Even the kids will tell you there are financial worries as well.
"It's hard because other schools tuition isn't as reasonable as ours and a lot of people can't afford it and we don't really know what to do," Patrick said.
In a statement, the schools operators, the Sisters of the Most Precious Blood in O'Fallon, laid out the issues.
"For more than a century, St. Elizabeth Academy has made a positive difference in the lives of thousands of young women, carrying out our mission to develop the successful woman inside each girl. That is why this was such a heartbreaking decision. However after more than three years of discussion, intense research, input, and prayer we see no other way. Sadly the declining enrollment, the increasing deficit, and the cost of maintaining the aging physical plant make it no longer feasible to continue," said Sister Susan Borgel, CPPS, President of the School.
But that none of it changes the fact that most of the girls here will be forced to a new school. Forced to start over.
"We can't graduate from here. And we were just so ready for our senior year, and our prom and everything," Patrick said. "It just hit us hard, like really hard. I have to process it for a while."
School will remain in session through the end of this school year.


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On any given day, an estimated nearly 400 Hennepin County young people don't have stable, permanent places to stay. But a recent collaborative effort to house and employ local homeless youth made serious headway toward turning that statistic around.
During a 100-day challenge that ended Nov. 8, a coalition of 30 public, private and nonprofit groups set the ambitious goal of moving 150 young people from homelessness to more stable situations. But they exceeded their benchmark by finding housing and/or employment for 236 local teens and young adults.
The county's success moves the region and state closer toward preventing and ending homelessness altogether. And it demonstrates the power of well-coordinated, focused public-private partnerships.
Last summer, Hennepin County and four cities (Baltimore; Columbus, Ohio; Louisville, Ky.; and Palm Beach, Fla.) were selected for the challenge by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The charge was to find housing for homeless young people, ages 16-24, in just over three months. HUD provided training and technical assistance to the Hennepin County team, but no direct funding. The progress occurred largely using existing resources from the organizations involved.
More than 35 percent of the local young people involved were reunited with family members. And for those who needed to work, the coalition matched them with job training, work readiness, and other educational programs, jobs and paid internships.
David Hewitt, director of the Hennepin County and Minneapolis Office to End Homelessness, said that HUD and the Rapid Response Institute provided a methodology for expediting results and ongoing mentoring for the local team. He said the groups involved included nonprofits; city, county and state representatives; members of the business and law enforcement communities; and front-line advocates. The initiative also included formerly homeless young people.
Hewitt said the county's application for the federal challenge was the only one to focus on employment. "Youth want and need housing ... and jobs,'' he said. That's one of the most valuable things we've learned — we have to bring both of those worlds to homeless youth.''
He added that the challenge participants also learned how crucial family reunification could be for younger teens. Helping them establish caring, supportive connections to immediate or extended families can make a world of difference.
Hennepin County and its municipalities can add the recent success with younger people to the strong state and local record of housing homeless veterans. In September, the Richard A. Brustad Homes near Fort Snelling opened with 100 units designed for vets. And according to the Minnesota Office of Veterans Affairs, homelessness among veterans dropped by 47 percent in Minnesota from 2010 to 2014.
Like everyone else, young people and veterans need stable and safe places to call home. The successful Hennepin County youth effort brings the region closer to meeting that need.


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Stream Funkmaster Flex Freestyle Part 2, the newest drop from ASAP Rocky which features ASAP Mob. The cut was released on Tuesday, December 6th, 2011. Things are looking better for ASAP Rocky with each new release, which Funkmaster Flex Freestyle Part 2 has proven yet again. It's worthy addition to the impressive body of work ASAP Rocky has been developing over the years. We're looking forward to hearing what's next.
Hear more of ASAP Rocky on CEO Freestyle. If you're down, make sure to visit ASAP Rocky's profile page for the newest info, news, songs, and mixtapes. Check out ASAP Rocky's Facebook and Twitter.
Who else would you like to have seen on the track? Thoughts?


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What is DACA?
On June 18, 2012, President Obama announced that certain immigrants who had arrived in the U.S. as children would be allowed to temporarily remain in the U.S. with work authorization. The program, called Deferred Action for Certain Childhood Arrivals or "DACA", does not grant immigration status and does not provide a pathway to citizenship. It is a temporary authorization to remain in the U.S. with work authorization. An applicant for DACA has to have entered the U.S. before the age of 16, must have been under the age of 31 on June 18, 2012, and for the most part have a clean criminal record.
DACA, like many immigration processes, is more complicated than it appears at first glance. Although an applicant is eligible for DACA, information provided on the application can be used to deny future immigration applications. It is important that an applicant receives a comprehensive evaluation of his or her immigration case before filing DACA or any immigration application.
Important Note: Donald Trump has stated that he intends to end DACA. As of November 2016, Becker & Lee LLP is recommending that people who are eligible for DACA, DACA extensions, or DACA Advance Parole (permission to travel internationally and return to the US) consult with an immigration lawyer before filing any DACA-related filings.
Contact one of our DACA attorneys of Becker & Lee LLP to learn more.


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What comes to mind when you hear the term "Link Ninja"? You might think of a person in black stealthily moving from roof to roof with sword in hand ready to carry out top-secret missions, but this is not what we are talking about.
A link ninja is one of the most vital personnel members belonging to a team of SEO experts. This highly valuable person is responsible for obtaining quality links to and from your site in order to build its credibility in the eyes of the major search engines for ranking purposes.
What Does a Link Ninja Do?
Link ninjas must be skilled and clever to complete their linking tasks. Some of their main job duties and responsibilities include:
- Creating and implementing link building strategies to get high quality link-recommendations for your website
- Requesting links from highly reputable sources within your niche market in order to boost your credibility amongst both consumers and search engines
- Submitting your website to popular/high-traffic web directories
- Adding and/or deleting links on assigned websites
- Creating buzz about your company, services and products via blogs and popular forums within your niche market
- Developing relationships online with webmasters, bloggers, etc.
- Maintaining detailed documentation about specific activities
Links to your website from reputable sites act as high quality recommendations. The major search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing like to promote sites with quality links in their organic results and consumers have a tendency to purchase services and goods from companies that seem credible.
Link building helps you achieve status amongst the people who matter—the search engines and consumers. With strategic link building, link ninjas can help send wanted traffic to your site through quality incoming links.
With their skill and knowledge, link ninjas are irreplaceable in Search Engine Optimization. Without quality link building, your site can potentially end up being just another glanced-over website. Word of mouth is still one of the best forms of marketing and since the Internet is primarily a visual/text information platform, link building is the closest thing you will get to high quality recommendations from the most reputable names in your field of business.


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Thursday Thoughts: Sugar
7 comments:
- Biz said...
A long time ago, one of my co-workers bought me sugar free chocolates from Fannie Mae. They were delicious!
They were small, so I ate one - so good! So I ate another - four in all.
I spent the next 4 hours in the bathroom and missed my train going home! Learned my lesson the hard way!
It's funny because people associate diabetes with sugar - when its all about the carbs.
Great post!
- September 17, 2010 at 12:07 AM
- Emily said...
Simple sugar is a term that is misleading. Maybe refined sugar is what people mean?
I don't think sugar causes diabetes per se...as you mentioned it is a multifactorial disease. I think those w/ diabetes would be wise to focus on complex carbs and avoid refined and added sugars. I think moderation is the best concept as you said. Consuming too much sugar, no matter what form is not a good idea.
- September 17, 2010 at 1:25 AM
- Special K said...
SUGAR DOES cause diabetes! Period...right? I know we talk about "moderation" but really, that term is pretty vague. If you start dissecting how much "sugar" is in a packet of ketchup, it becomes obvious that it is hidden in everything. so many comments on blogs "everything in moderation" doesn't really penetrate. Too much is too much, and too little is too little. We need more guidance on WHAT IS MODERATION. One diet coke a day?
As a dietician...if you calculated your sugar intake tomorrow in teaspoons, what would it be?
- September 17, 2010 at 2:37 AM
- MelindaRD said...
Moderation actually will be an individual thing, so for everyone it is different. I use percentages of calories for fat, protein and carbs to determine that balance, but since people have different calorie needs, it is different for everyone so it is hard to say what moderation is...since it's not the same for everyone...unless you like math since the ranges can be calculated based on needs. I would calculate my needs in grams of sugar, not by teaspoons since that is less helpful for a patient or client to visualize, unless I show them test tubes labelled with different foods.
1 slice of cake once a month is certainly moderation over 1 slice of cake everyday, so the key for moderation is balance, which is know is another vague term. Really the food guide pyramid id a good place to start at least serving amounts wise from the food groups, but then choices still need to be made from there. Looking a bread, 2 slices for a sandwich is moderation, and for most people, 4 slices for 2 sandwiches is not moderation...although for some, they need these calories. Yes, it is a tough one to define, but when looking at the big picture of one's diet, it should be easy to see where things are not in moderation. Eating the same thing day after day actually is not moderation (mostly applied to things like "unhealthy, but could apply to healthy foods too).
- September 17, 2010 at 2:43 AM
- Andrea@WellnessNotes said...
I like that you point out to look for "added sugar" and that "natural sweeteners" are still sugar. And that it's important to read labels and know all the different names for sugar... I try to monitor my sugar intake and know that I eat things with sugar in them; some of the foods don't scream "sugar" but have quite a bit (I LOVE ketchup and have to really work on eating not too much for example.)
Love your Thursday Thoughts series!
- September 17, 2010 at 2:46 AM
- eatingRD said...
Great post, I too like to look at reducing refined and added sugars as well as the entire picture for a particular individual. I first thought about it from an athletes perspective and simple sugars are actually quite perfect during intense physical activity again based on needs and all kind of other factors :)
- September 17, 2010 at 6:40 AM
- Gina; The Candid RD said...
I basically tell people this; If you want to lose weight, decrease your added sugar! And you know what? it works. It's America's problem, lets face it, we are consuming too much of the stuff. And yes, as you said, honey , agave, and any other"natural" sugar counts too!!!
- September 17, 2010 at 9:00 PM


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Here is a particularly exciting post – not only is it a dinner menu, but it is from the first dinner party at my new business venture, Hel's Kitchen in Montpelier, VT.
Hel's Kitchen will offer takeout dinners Monday through Thursday and a casual, family style sit down dinner every Thursday at 7:00 pm. It's a small space, and the Thursday dinners will bring together 15 people at a communal table. The menus will change every week, following different themes across the country, around the world, and also along various flights of fancy. The restaurant is co-located with Salt Cafe, which offers fine dining versions of similar themes each weekend.
I started my trial runs at the restaurant this past week! I'm offering two dinners (now sold out) which are both themes I had wanted to do at our Thursdays with friends, but ran out of time before we switched to this new venture. Last week was Taiwan, next week is Malaysia.
Here's the other thing – Hel's Kitchen has its own blog, Menu Notes. The Hel's Kitchen roving menu is meant to encourage folks in exploring different foods – including in their own kitchens (or at least in places beyond Hel's Kitchen, a trip to Taiwan wouldn't be the worst idea). Writing about my food projects is one way to help with that exploration. Up in the Menu Notes right now you'll find an article about the Taiwan Night menu, with recipe links.
Since I work at Bear Pond Books and hoover up every new cookbook that comes my way, it should surprise no one that a cookbook inspire this dinner: The Food of Taiwan by Cathy Erway. Here's a bonus list of a few more Taiwanese recipes by Erway gleaned from around the web (or, heck, you could always just buy the book).


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Most Viewed YouTube Video
Most Viewed YouTube Video
Do not think you want to get yourself out there and their profits to reach new levels of success. Internet marketing can be the obvious solution. Internet marketing offers quick and can be an easy way to advertise your business to online consumers. Continue reading through the article below and you can learn new methods for utilizing your experience with internet marketing. The most viewed YouTube Video.
Keep an eye on competitors and their tactics, and learn from what they are doing. If you find that you are interested in their products, or see why their customers would be, which you should incorporate into your own marketing campaigns.
This will help new visitors get a quick idea of what your company is all about. This will help you to highlight a specific product or service.
Always have a signature for your emails, regardless of the recipient's identity. This is like a business card, and you should distribute it at every opportunity. By allowing the recipients of your e-mails to see how your business really is, you offer everyone you email a link to your business.
Make a plan for your site and do everything you can to stick to the plan. Know what you intend to write and make every effort to get your messages out clearly. Keep guidelines in mind so you are writing.
The Internet is always changing, and it is changing quickly, so staying abreast of the latest innovations and high ranking websites can help you a lot in knowing the best routes to take to make your product readily available to the general public.
If you follow these guidelines, you will notice higher profit margins, increase sales volumes and increased productivity. You should now understand why the world of internet marketing is so important to every business. Use these tips to improve your Internet marketing plan, and enjoy the influx of customers.


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Obesity Should Be Considered as Contagious Disease, Study
A new study, conducted by a pair of US economists, suggests that being in a social network with a higher level of obesity puts people at risk of increasing body mass index (BMI).
The study was conducted on families living on military bases. The researchers found that exposure to communities with higher rates of obesity was associated with higher BMI in parents and children.
With the help of data from the Military Teenagers' Environments, Exercise, and Nutrition Study, the scientists combined details on 1,111 young adolescents and more than 1,300 parents assigned to one of 12 military bases in the US.
The authors explain in their report: "While this study cannot definitively rule out the role of shared environments with the available measures, these findings suggest that other mechanisms may be at work."


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Spring 2020: M202D24 - Math Olympiad Level 2
The course is designed for second grade gifted students. It adds depth to the selected Common Core State Standards grade 2 and 3 with a focus on word problems, mental math, and critical thinking skills. In addition, students will broaden their mathematical skills by learning different problem solving strategies in a fun and stimulating environment. Students will practice these skills weekly and have the opportunity to participate in 2-3 different math competitions.


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Can Parents Influence a Child's Handedness?
If you're a lefty, you might have vivid memories of parents and teachers doggedly trying to get you to use "Mr. Righty" instead. If you see signs of left-handedness in your toddler, you might wonder if there's anything you can do at an early age to encourage right-handedness, since around 90 percent of the world functions that way. While you can set up situations that prompt your tot to choose the right hand over the left, in the end, the choice is his.
A family history peppered with left-handers might increase the chances that your toddler will have the same preference, although genetics isn't the entire story. According to Dr. Chris McManus, author of Right Hand, Left Hand, parents who are left-handed are more likely to have a left-handed child; if you both use your left hand, your toddler has a 26 percent chance of doing the same. If only one of you is left-handed, the chance of having a left-handed child is around 19 percent, still higher than the average 10 percent.
Social Influences
Until recently, parents and teachers often tried -- sometimes vigorously -- to change a lefty's hand preference. Techniques from smacking a lefty's hand with a ruler in school every time he used it to tying a young child's left hand behind his back were used with some children in the past. The current rate of lefties is about three times higher than the percentage of left-handers between 1880 and 1900, when left-handedness fell to its lowest levels, according to a University College London study. So while you can change your child's handedness through punitive methods, it's not recommended.
Simple Techniques
If your toddler didn't show a definite hand preference from birth, you could show him how most of the world operates by hanging toys to hit at near his right hand from infancy on, by putting silverware and cups on his right side or by placing crayons or other tools into his right hand to help him lean toward the right rather than the left. For a child with a definite and early hand preference, manipulating your toddler's world to make it easier to go right probably won't change a thing. Most kids develop a hand preference between 18 months and age 3 to 4, but some take even longer to make up their minds.
Why to Try
It's still a right-handed world, so if your little scribbler doesn't seem to have a preference, it won't hurt to try and encourage right-hand use by placing writing objects in that hand. But if he comes out of the womb sucking his left thumb and never looks back, accept the fact that your little one is a member of the minority and start buying left-handed scissors and tools so he won't become frustrated at being left in a right-handed world.
- Better Health Channel: Left-handedness
- University of Wisconsin Extension: Is Your Child Left-Handed?
- Laterality: Science in the Making: Right Hand, Left Hand
- Molecular Psychiatry: LRRTM1 on Chromosome 2p12 is a Maternally Suppressed Gene that is Associated Paternally with Handedness and Schizophrenia
- Anything Left Handed: What is the Chance of Having a Left Handed Child?
- Jupiterimages/Photos.com/Getty Images


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Types and standard of evidence required.
It is expected that you will provide a diversity of evidence types to support your demonstration of competence. The list above is not exhaustive and you may find other appropriate forms of evidence depending on your qualification, experience and work contexts.
Indirect evidence may include:-
It is vital that your evidence (Especially written) is referenced to the learning outcomes and assessment criteria that you are undertaking. A clear referencing system is important.
Suitability of evidence
In order for you to be regarded as successful, your evidence should be sufficient, relevant and authentic.
What is sufficient?
Your evidence must cover all aspects of the learning outcomes and assessment criteria for each unit you are seeking to achieve. Sufficient does not mean a mass of evidence. It simply means collecting enough evidence to demonstrate competence
What is authentic?
You must be able to explain and substantiate the evidence you put forward. It is important, therefore, to ensure you only submit evidence that represents YOUR OWN WORK. There must also a declaration that is completed at the end of your qualification to confirm your evidence is authentic.
What is relevant?
Any evidence must relate clearly to the qualification you are seeking to achieve. Assessors are only interested in evidence directly related to the requirements set out in the units. That is, evidence which clearly links to the specific outcomes in the PoE. You should avoid the inclusion of reference documents, training materials and other evidence that does not relate to the outcomes at all.
What does a portfolio of evidence look like?
For the purposes of this registration, a hard copy of a portfolio of evidence will be submitted. A neatly covered A4 file must be used.
Inside the portfolio of evidence
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Today's Scripture Focus: Leviticus 8:1-9, 36
In Exodus chapters 25-31, God gives commandments for constructing the Tabernacle, its furnishings, and the consecration of its priests. All commands are fulfilled in Exodus 35-40—except for the consecration of the priests. That would have to wait until instructions were given for offering sacrifices, since that would be an intricate part of the ordination ceremony. Sacrifice instructions have now been given in detail in Leviticus chapters 1-7. Regulations have now been given for what constitutes a proper sacrifice, various categories of sacrifice, what is to be burnt, what is to be taken outside the camp, and what is to be given to the priests.
So, in today's scripture focus, it is now time to ordain those whom God has set aside to offer sacrifices on behalf of the people, and perform the daily worship rites in the Tabernacle. Remember, it is Aaron, the brother of Moses, and his male relatives who will serve as priests—in other words, only men of the tribe of Levi. Moses gathers what is needed according to earlier instructions, and commands all the people to "assemble". This is the first time this word is used in scripture, and it is from the Greek translation of this word—ekklesia– that we get our word for "church". So, in a way this is the first church service ever recorded in the Bible!
Though Moses was not a priest in the official sense used here, he was often referred to in scripture as God's priest and prophet. As the leader of God's people, it was Moses who performed the ordination of Aaron and the other male Levites. First, Moses "brought forward" the men. This is the same term used for what is done with the sacrificial offerings. The priests were the first sacrifices offered to God in the new Tabernacle. In the same way that animal sacrifices had to washed with water so as not to pollute the altar, the priests were ceremonially washed with water so that no incidental dirt would come in contact with their special garments.
Once Aaron is dressed, Moses anoints everything in the Tabernacle—including Aaron—with oil. This shows it all belongs to God. He then repeats this process with the rest of the priests. Finally, the very first sacrifices must now be offered in the Tabernacle. As we discussed last week—first a sin offering, in this case a bull, is offered to atone for the sins of the priests. Then, a burnt offering, this time a ram, is given to signify they are dedicated to God. Other special offerings of dedication are given. Finally, a wave offering shows the priests are unified with the people they are serving. Having performed the first sacrifices, the priests are put to work!
- Go around the table and share prayer requests. Have someone lead in prayer.
- Let everyone who would like to share anything exciting from their week.
- Ask these three questions. Let as many answer each one as they would like.
We will soon be in a building project. Once it is completed, our new addition will be "dedicated" to God in a special worship service. What does it mean to have a building dedicated to God? What limits does that put on its use? Should we treat the building differently than we do others, or behave differently in it?
Is there anything in today's scripture that especially speaks to you?
What questions would you like to ask about today's scripture?


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One of the best features of jQuery is the way it handles events. In jQuery you can code many different types of events that you can not usually available through traditional HTML and JavaScript.
Today we will examine a few of the different events and how they can be used to help make your application more feature rich and your code much cleaner and easier to read and/or modify.
You will be able to see all the examples I talk about today here.
Let's look at the code we are going to examine:
<script type="text/javascript">
$(document).ready(function() {
// Move the mouse
$("#mouse_move").mousemove(function(event) {
alert('You moved the mouse over this area');
$("#mouse_click").click(function(event) {
$("#text_functions").keypress(function(event) {
alert('You Pressed a Key');
$("#text_functions").keydown(function(event) {
alert('You Pressed a key down');
$("#text_functions").keyup(function(event) {
alert('The key went back up');
mousemove – The event will fire when the mouse enters the DOM object.
mouseclick – The event will fire when the mouse is clicked within the DOM object
keypress – The event will fire when a key is pressed within the DOM object
keydown – The event will fire when a key is pushed down with in the DOM object
keyup – The event will fire when a key is on the way up with in the DOM object.
The example may seem incredibly simplistic, but you can use this information to create nearly any web application.