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This update is long overdue. Sorry 'bout that. When there is a little more time to catch you up, I will. For now I'd like to encourage you to raise a glass to Drew. We have hopped the pond to celebrate his birthday in Dublin, Ireland – home of Guinness (and the leprechauns).
While you are enjoying the frosty beverage of your choice, let our photos set the mood. Even Gina is having a good time.


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How to see a list of Contacts "Do Not SMS"
The Australian Media and Communications Authority (the ACMA) manages the register, including responding to breaches of the legislation.
The legislative arrangements that underpin the register include the:
- Do Not Call Register Act 2006 —establishes the register, and outlines rules for making unsolicited telemarketing calls and sending unsolicited marketing faxes to numbers on the register.
- Do Not Call Register Regulations 2006 —specifies the types of calls that are not telemarketing calls and the people deemed to be nominees of a relevant account-holder
- Telecommunications (Telemarketing and Research Calls) Industry Standard 2017 —sets out the minimum requirements for those making telemarketing and research calls to Australian numbers, including when and how they can make certain calls
- Fax Marketing Industry Standard 2011—sets out minimum requirements for those sending marketing faxes to Australian numbers, including when and how fax marketers can send certain faxes.
Fortix enables you to actively manage your marketing and so provides a way to generate a list of contacts that have requested: Do Not SMS. This article explains how to generate a list: Do Not SMS.
Go to the customers' page by clicking CONTACTS in the main heading bar and then Customers. The customers' page will open with a list of Contacts. Click the More matrix menu option on the right-hand side of the CUSTOMERS list.
The shortcut link in the address is: /?customers
Select Setup by clicking on the spanner Setup option.
Use the slide bar on the bottom of the CUSTOMERS list and find the DO NOT SMS Column on the right-hand side. Click the Eye icon to display Do Not SMS data.
Click Close to Commit the change to the system.
To see a list of all the contacts that SMS can be sent to, Click the Down Arrow and select No. To view a list of all the contacts who DO NOT want to receive SMS, Click Yes.

subset: commoncrawl


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It is 25 years since Francis Tibbalds' seminal 'Making People-Friendly Towns' was first published.
In Francis' own words, from the preface of his book:
"It has always been easy to identify past mistakes. It is altogether more difficult to prescribe better ways of approaching the problem of making urban areas more user-friendly."
This forum welcomes you to join The Conversation – A celebration to mark 25 years since the book was published.
It aims to stimulate debate and propose practical suggestions for continuing his work, to make sure that we create people-friendly places in the future.
Join The Conversation – And put people back at the heart of current debate.
This site brings together the different ways people engage with the theme of 'Making People Friendly Towns' under the following headings:
- Principles for People-Friendly Places
- Delivering People-Friendly Streets
- Studies, Examples and Thoughts


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By Overlord Laharl and LadyChi
A/N: Much thanks to my beta, Jules. How she manages to do everything she does boggles the mind sometimes. She's simply great.
This is both my first one-shot and my first collaboration. It was written literally one night when Chi messaged me and said "Hey, what if we write a missing moment, paragraph by paragraph?" So we did, and what you see here is the result.
Disclaimer: I, in no way, shape, or form, own these characters. That honor belongs to the one and only J.K. Rowling. This is simply my excursion into her magnificent world. No profit is made from this, nor is any copyright infringement intended.
The Common Room fire was crackling, blazing high for the spring, but it was, at the very least, warming Ginny Weasley's toes, about the only part of her that felt warm at the moment.
Below her lay the lifeless body of her brother Fred, he had been moved up to the Common Room with the rest of the Order. Voldemort may have been vanquished, but the war would not soon be forgotten. Despite holding on to the remaining twin's hand, Ginny couldn't feel anything. Her entire world as she knew it had changed and the aftereffects of the war left her numb.
Perhaps the most horrid sight of the evening was the one sitting next to her. Fred was gone, but his brother George remained. At least the shell of him did. His eyes dull and lifeless, George stared into nothing, his eyebrow occasionally twitching with the thoughts only he knew.
It wasn't her brother. Gone was the jovialness, the disposition that would let nothing, not even the war, get him down. For the first time in her life, Ginny saw George vulnerable, and it sent chills down her spine. Nothing would be the same again.
Slowly, she brought her hand to George's back and began to rub it in small circles, the way her mother often did when one of her children was distressed over something, and stared at her mother and father, sitting on a couch across the room.
Each of their faces was shrunken in sorrow, and Ginny could not help but sympathize. Only a few hours ago, she had felt the exact same way, the most important part of her life had nearly been wrenched away from her. Fred's passing was a sorrow, but, as horrible as it sounded, it was not as much of a blow as Harry's death would have been.
The Weasleys had lost one of their own, and yet... at some level, they had all been expecting it. They'd had whispered conversations in corridors and comforted each other through late nights of worrying. The worst had come to pass -- and all Ginny could think about was the boy who still slept in the dormitory upstairs.
The image was still burned into her memory, her worst nightmares incarnate. Her mind replayed Hagrid's somber entrance into the Great Hall, tears flowing like a river down his large cheeks; in his arms was the limp, lifeless body of the one person Ginny had thought about every day they were apart. Worst of all, though, was the triumphant smile etched on Voldemort's serpentine face.
Everything had slowed and focused, as if she were viewing life from behind a pair of Omniculars. The few minutes that she thought Harry had gone from The Boy Who Lived to the Boy Who Died were the worst in her life.
And then, the miraculous had happened. Just at the instant that everything seemed lost, the instant it looked as though darkness would envelop the world and win the war, he disappeared. Ginny had never been happier not to see someone where they were supposed to be.
The battle itself seemed to have gone quickly, and the wizard who had caused so much trouble was vanquished in a manner of seconds... an almost anti-climatic ending to Voldemort. And... Harry's face. She would never forget Harry's face in that instant. She had not seen Voldemort's face when he died, for she could not tear her eyes away from Harry.
He was as glorious as ever, and just gazing upon his face sent shivers down Ginny's spine. She had never been prouder of anyone as she was of Harry. As she watched, Harry's face morphed into a look of relief. A large burden had been lifted from his back. Finally, Ginny knew, Harry would decide his own destiny, one that didn't rely on prophecies or Dark Lords.
The only question that remained was if Harry saw that future as one including her. She often wondered if, when he finally succeeded in killing Voldemort, he might want someone slightly different from her. More worldly, more curvy, more tall. Less... Ginny.
Many times during that year, she had turned to Neville for support. Each time, Neville reassured her that Harry only had eyes for her, but she couldn't help but have doubts. In her darkest times of doubt, the kiss they had shared on his birthday and the promise he had made her that day did their best to comfort her.
If she closed her eyes, she could smell him... feel the warmth and strength of his arms as the circled around her waist. If she pressed her fingers to her lips hard enough, she could evoke the tingling feelings she could only feel if Harry was kissing her.
Ginny was startled from her thoughts as a hand was placed on her right shoulder. Glancing over her shoulder, she reached up and placed her left hand over her youngest brother Ron's, sharing a silent moment of gratitude for the family they had remaining. Ron jerked his head slightly to the right with a smile, motioning behind him. Ginny's face broke into a hesitant smile as she saw Harry's approaching figure.
She was about to open her mouth when Harry stopped just a few feet in front of the couch. "Ginny...George...everyone. I'm so sorry."
Ginny opened her mouth again, about to speak, when she was preempted once more. "Sorry? Harry, you have nothing to be sorry about. We all knew what we were getting into when we joined the Order. We don't need an apology from you, we need to be thanking you," responded the weary voice of her father, Arthur.
"Er... that's not necessary," Harry mumbled. "I'm really going to miss him, you know."
"We all are," Molly said gently. George couldn't speak, but nodded his head fiercely.
"What's important is to remember his sacrifice, Harry. We will all miss him, but he gave his life so that we could all live a better life, free of war. It's going to be tough getting over his loss, but just keep that in mind," Arthur said, a tear welling at the corner of his eye.
While Ginny agreed with the conversation, she couldn't help but begin to be frustrated. For the first time in nearly a year, the boy she loved was in the same room as her, and she couldn't talk to him.
Perhaps Harry had noticed the slightly annoyed look on her face, or perhaps he felt the same way, but whatever the reason, Harry turned to face Ginny and smiled before pivoting his head back to the rest of the Weasley family. "Do you mind if Ginny and I take a quick stroll?"
Despite his grief, Arthur's mouth curled into a slight smile and a small gleam came to his eyes. "Sure, Harry."
Harry began to walk out of the Great Hall, and beckoned Ginny to follow him. "Ginny, these past months have been torture." "You're telling me," Ginny responded, just a bit relieved. "I guess you didn't find any Veelas on your journey?"
"I promised you I wouldn't!" Harry laughed. "If I could have involved you, you know I would have in a second, but if anything had happened to you...well..." Harry choked momentarily.
"Harry Potter, you can be such a git sometimes," Ginny said sternly. "What do you think I would have done if you died? How do you think I felt when Hagrid came into the Hall with your limp body?"
As they continued their walk, Ginny suddenly felt a rush of wind and smelled the burnt smells of the Hogwarts grounds. She had not even realized they had been close to leaving the Castle. Harry almost always had that effect on her. The night sky shone down, the stars smiling on the two of them as Harry put both hands on Ginny's shoulders.
"Ginny, that was a risk I had to take. I couldn't let you do anything to put you in harm's way."
"But what if I wanted to take that risk, Harry?"
"No, I wouldn't have let you." Harry shook his head, saying, "I couldn't live with myself if I was responsible for your death."
Ginny sighed in exasperation. Harry cared about her, but his over-zealous heroics were always frustrating to deal with.
"Ginny, all through those long nights out in the woods, my thoughts were only on you. Every night I would stare at the map, just to look for you, it was the closest I could get to being near you."
A tear welled in Ginny's eyes as she realized the pain the separation had caused him was just as great as the pain it had caused her. The tear fell, but she willed all others away. Ginny Weasley was never one to cry. "Harry, my thoughts never left you either. At nights I lay awake in bed, just praying that Voldemort wouldn't find you before you found him. I wished you were there beside me, comforting me. For a time, I was mad at you for not letting me know what was going on, but now that you're here, that doesn't matter anymore."
Harry's hands tightened a tad on Ginny's shoulders and he gazed into her eyes. Those were the eyes she always got lost in, those beautiful green eyes. He closed his eyes as she did the same, and both simultaneously began to move their faces forward, closing the gap between their heads. Their lips met for one glorious instant, a kiss of hope and happiness, before pulling away all too soon.
Ginny slowly opened her eyes to be greeted by Harry's smiling face. "Ginny, I promise that from now on there will be no more secrets. Everything I know you'll know too."
"Good," Ginny said, beaming as Harry clasped her hand and they both began the walk back to the Common Room, knowing that the beginning of the rest of their lives had happened the night in which their old lives had ended.
Please Note: This is for problems with the formatting or the layout of the chapter. This is NOT for comments on this chapter itself!Any non-technical comments will be ignored.
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The Foundation Fund is the heart of the club. It is the financial source for all of the club's charitable works and enables its members to make a difference in our community and around the world.
The Foundation Fund give the Rotary Club the power it needs to turn the wheel and create change. The foundation Fund is literally the key that powers the club and enables its members to make a difference both locally and around the globe. We tap into a network of Rotarians who invest their time, money, and expertise into our priorities, such as eradicating polio and promoting peace. Foundation grants empower us to approach challenges such as poverty, illiteracy, and malnutrition with sustainable solutions that leave a lasting impact.


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The Seaport District, which was formerly called the South Street Seaport, is one of New York's original commercial hubs. It offers unparalleled views of Brooklyn and the Brooklyn Bridge, the Statue of Liberty, and the Manhattan skyline. An essential part of the city for more than 300 years, the re-envisioned Seaport District, which was temporarily closed in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, now boasts Pier 17. This sprawling new structure offers a 1.5-acre rooftop, as well as restaurants, outdoor bars, shops, and a venue for concerts, culture, and special events. Read on for some great places to dine and drink by the South Street Seaport.
CREDIT: Teddy Wolff
New to the Seaport scene is R 17—a rooftop cocktail bar offering stunning water views. The hotspot offers a new buy-one-get-one specialty cocktail deal daily from 5 to 7pm. The list includes the London Mule (Pimm's No. 1, lemon juice, celery, cucumber and ginger beer); the San Luis Swizzle (Derrumbes Mezcal, genepì, pineapple juice, Peychaud's Bitters, and serrano pepper); The Edmont (Jim Beam Rye, Laphroaig 10-year mist, blanc vermouth, honey, and lavender); or A Manhattan View (Baker's 7-Year Bourbon, Cocchi Barolo Chinato, bitters, and Amarena cherry). The Rooftop at Pier 17, 89 South St., 917-512-7540, r17nyc.com
Bin No. 220
The Seaport area's local wine bar Bin No. 220 entices spring crowds with its new happy hour menu, which includes crowd pleasers such as sangria, wine, beer, and margaritas. Food includes baked cheese fondue, baked artichoke dip, and tomato salad crostini. Happy hour is offered Monday through Friday from 2 to 6pm and every Saturday and Sunday from noon to 4pm. Bin No. 220 is also open for breakfast and lunch. 220 Front St., 212-374-9463, bin220.com
The Dead Rabbit
This tri-level mid-19th century style Irish/New York drinking saloon is celebrating its sixth anniversary. Since its debut, The Dead Rabbit has garnered lots of accolades. It nabbed the "World's Best Bar" title in 2016 at The World's 50 Best Bars in London. Housed in a landmarked building that dates back to 1828, The Dead Rabbit mixes a first-story neighborhood taproom experience with a vast Irish whiskey selection. Its refined second-story Parlor offers world-class original cocktails. It also serves food, including Sunday brunch. (If you're wondering about the name, it's inspired by an infamous street gang that was prevalent in Lower Manhattan in the 1850s.) 30 Water St., 646-422-7906, deadrabbitnyc.com
Fraunces Tavern
Drink like a Founding Father at Fraunces Tavern. History enthusiasts know that this iconic destination marks the oldest bar in New York City and was visited by George Washington at the conclusion of the Revolutionary War. Washington's signature drink was the Hot Ale Flip—the first recorded mixed drink in history. Ale, rum, and molasses were warmed with the Tavern's fireplace poker, and then served in a copper vessel. Fraunces Tavern's other property, Dublin export the Porterhouse Brew Co. Bar, which is located next door, has resurrected the Flip replete with a Colonial era preparation. The Hot Ale Flip incorporates Porterhouse Irish Red Ale, Lemon Hart & Son Overproof 151 Rum, and demerara sugar. It's heated tableside in a copper vessel using a blowtorched loggerhead until it bubbles over with frothy foam. 54 Pearl St., 212-968-1776, frauncestavern.com
Fresh Salt
Neighborhood bar and cafe Fresh Salt's moniker was inspired by the faded advertisement featured on the front of the 1885 smokehouse it now inhabits. The ad states "Fresh, Salt, and Smoked Fish." Since 2004, this Seaport locale has lured everyone from area residents, writers, ambitious start-up types, and office workers to artists, musicians, and the occasional sailor. Fresh Salt was nearly destroyed in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. Thanks to crowd sourcing initiatives, however, it's managed to rebuild. It marks the last remaining bar of the former Fulton Fish Market. The space still feels old-school—its integrity and ol' saloon vibe remain even after the area's revitalization. Happy hour is held daily (including weekends) from 4 to 8pm. Indulge in the Fresh Salt Gimlet, made with jalapeño tequila, lime, and simple syrup and boasts a chili-salted rim. 146 Beekman St., 212-962-0053, freshsalt.com
For more information on South Street Seaport, visit seaportdistrict.nyc.


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Total number of violations issued by BAAQMD to the top 3 odor polluters over the past 3 years.
Monthly Archives: September 2018
1000+ odor complains in Milpitas
More than 1,000 odor complaints were recorded in Milpitas area during the past 4 months. Air quality inspectors were able to trace confirmed complaints to the following sources.
1. Newby Island Landfill (72%)
2. Newby Island Recycler (23%)
BAAQMD is working to strengthen its odor enforcement efforts updates here.
OPINION: We Must Get Rid of The Smell – The Milpitas Beat
First off, let me make something absolutely clear:I hate the word "smell." I doubt any person of reason loves it. I hate it because of what it evokes. To me, when I think of "smell", I think of gross smells. Bad smells. Annoying smells. "Odors" and "fragrances", in contrast, evoke something far
Source: OPINION: We Must Get Rid of The Smell – The Milpitas Beat
The Smell Beat: August 15, 2018 – The Milpitas Beat
Yesterday was a busy one for The Milpitas Smell, a topic my nostrils have forced me to grow passionate about.Since recent data has shown that almost 100% of the people in Milpitas have noses, I continue to be convinced that I'm not alone in this…In the morning, the City of Milpitas Engineeri


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Nativity Scene Removed from Air Force Base
The people who are put in harms way need God. And let's face it, we kinda' need them to have God. So this enforced secularization of the military seems like a particularly bad idea.
GOPUSA reports:
Airmen at Shaw Air Force Base in South Carolina were ordered to take down a Nativity scene only hours after they put it up, military officials said.And down it came.
The Nativity scene was erected in advance of the base's annual Christmas tree lighting ceremony. Airmen said they sent an email to base commanders asking if they could put up a Nativity scene -- and invited servicemen of other faiths to create a display of their own. After receiving no such offers, the airmen went ahead with the scene.
Shortly after it went up, base commanders received a phone call from the Military Religious Freedom Foundation. The group's president, Mikey Weinstein, said he'd received calls from personnel at the base complaining about the Nativity scene, the Sumter, S.C., newspaper the Item reported Tuesday.


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I recently reread Bruce Abernathy's Coleman Griffith Address to the Association for Applied Sport Psychology from 1997. Abnerathy is a terrific scientist and insightful patriarch in the field of sport psychology. In 1997, he strove to remind the field of the dynamic work of Griffith. He highlighted that father of North American sport psych was not a counselor, kinesiologist, or coach educator… but rather all of the above. Abernathy makes a strong plea to the field to not forget its roots and remain a diverse and dynamic field that is inclusive of many sports performance and psychological fields of study. He advocated for this, not simply for nostalgic reasons, but for the relevancy of the field and to take performance enhancement to the next level.
A month ago at an internal professional development workshop at the BU Athletic Enhancement Center, Coach Lagomarsine shared some highlights from the National Strength and Conditioning Association's annual conference. Two of the lectures that stood out to him were about training decision making skills, anticipation, and reaction on the playing field. Certainly these are relevant topics to strength coaches and those striving to develop elite athletes. They are also topics that are ones of psychology… sport psychology. Starting with Griffith and continuing through to Abernathy's work and others like him, sport psychology was at the heart of these discussions. Now too often, sport psychology seems to be on the edge of these discussions that drive sports performance forward.
If this remains the case, player development really is left to be property of other disciplines. This is not what Abernathy espoused over a decade ago and Coleman Griffith many decades before him. Sport psychology is to be at the core of the player development discussion because so much of athletic excellence is not driven by the body, but rather by perception, anticipation, emotion, understanding, memory recall, and purposeful practice planning.
No field has sole ownership of player development, but by forgetting to be diverse and evidence-based experts, sport psychology professionals relinquish their piece of the pie.
No field has sole ownership of player development, but by forgetting to be diverse and evidence-based experts, sport psychology professionals relinquish their piece of the pie. Preparing to be a vibrant part of the player development discussion is not a linear path – it is multi-disciplinary, it requires effortful study, it takes time, and it leaves one in identity-crisis all to often (i.e. Am I Sigmund Freud? Am I Vince Lombardi? Am I Tony Robbins? Am I Stanley Milgram?).
Perhaps the best modern day analogy on this nonlinear skill set is that the sport psychology professional is a psychological mixed martial artist. Like most martial arts athletes, a common code exists for sport psychology practitioners – ethics. Beyond this the varied disciplines of counseling psychology, motor learning, social psychology, organizational behavior, educational psychology, neuroscience, and behavioral medicine all come into play. Like in MMA, the practitioner that leans exclusively on one discipline struggles to find success. The gifted practitioner strives to blend multiple fields of study fluidly together in order to achieve optimal results. With the athlete's well-being and performance in mind the sport psychology consultant is always striving to strengthen one's self in one domain or the other.
Abernathy insight's in 1997 would be equally timely if spoken in a few weeks at the 2010 AASP conference. Merging of fields of study is important for the good of athletes and the good of the field. The world of sport deserves… requires sports performance consultants free of the constraints of a narrow focus of a single discipline.


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Gas prices remain stubbornly high, even though lower demand has driven down the price of crude oil. Steve Proffitt joins us to explain why.
Here in California, our gas is refined in a special way to reduce emissions, so that makes it difficult or impossible to bring gasoline in from, say Gulf Coast refiners. Also, some refineries have gone off line for maintenance.
Making gasoline, especially making the formulations that meet California requirements is a really tricky business. You have to reshape molecules. It takes a lot of of pipes, pumps and really high tech equipment, and it's not easy or cheap to keep it all working.
But there's yet another thing propping up prices here, even though demand for gasoline has dropped, marginally at least, in California. It's down about 3 percent from a couple of years ago. But even though it's tough to import gasoline into California, refiners here are actually now selling gasoline, to other countries.


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The South Carolina Supreme Court published three opinions, on Wednesday, Wachesaw Plantation v. Alexander, Freeman v. J.L.H. Investments and Stephens v. CSX Transportation.
In Wachesaw Plantation v. Alexander, the Court reversed and remanded the appellate court's decision to be considered on the merits because the issuance of a deed does not moot the appeal of a foreclosure sale.
Accordingly, the Court found that the appellate court erred in declaring the case moot because a deed was issued after the sale of the property.
Justice Pleicones concurred in a separate opinion.
Freeman v. J.L.H. Investments was a class action lawsuit brought under the South Carolina Dealers Act. The Court affirmed the trial court's decision in favor of the car buyers against a motor vehicle dealer. Freeman and similarly situated car buyers filed a law suit under the Act on the ground that Hendrick unfairly and arbitrarily charged all of its customers closing fees that were not calculated to reimburse Hendrick for actual closing costs.
Justice Kittredge dissenting in a separate opinion in which acting Justice Moore concurred here.
Stephens v. CSX Transportaion was a negligence action arising out of a collision between a train and an automoible. The Court affirmed in part, reversed in part, and remanded the Court of Appeals' decision.
The Court affirmed the rulings regarding the denial of Petitioner's JNOV motion and the jury charge issues. The Court held that the appellate court erred in restricting its analysis to those jury charges related to the breach of CSX's and SCDOT's duty of reasonable care. The Court reversed and remanded for anew trial because portions of the judge's charge were erroneous and prejudiced the Petitioner.


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Press Releases
Press Releases
WASHINGTON—Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor today regarding the Senate Democrats' attempt to move the budget bill to conference without assurance that the debit limit increase will not be included in the final report.
For sixty-two days, several of my colleagues and I have objected to the majority's request for unanimous consent to circumvent regular order to go to conference with the House on the budget.
They want permission to skip a few steps in the process, and jump straight to the closed-door back-room meetings.
There, senior negotiators of the House and Senate will be free to wait until a convenient, artificial deadline and ram through their compromise – un-amended, un-debated and mostly un-read.
And with the country backed up against another economic "cliff" crisis, we are concerned they will exploit that opportunity to sneak a debt-limit increase into the budget.
We think that's inappropriate.
And yet, objecting to this dysfunctional, unrepublican, undemocratic process has invited anger and criticism from colleagues here on both sides of the aisle.
We just don't get it, you see.
Proceeding to a secret, closed-door, back-room, 11th-hour deal, we are told, is the way the process works. It's the way the Senate works. It's the way the House works.
It's the way Washington works.
We know this. That's why we're objecting. In case nobody has noticed, the way Washington works… stinks.
Closed-door, back room, cliff deals are not the solution – they're the problem.
The unspoken premise of every argument we've heard in favor of going to Conference on this budget without conditions... is that Congress knows what it's doing.
"Trust us… to go into a back room and cut a deal."
"Trust us… to ignore special interests and only work for the good of the country."
"Trust us… to not wait until the 11th hour, to not hold the full faith and credit of the United States hostage, to not ram through another thousand-page, trillion-dollar bill, sight unseen."
"Trust us… We're Congress!"
As it happens, Mr. President, the American people don't trust Congress – or either party. And we have given them at least seventeen trillion reasons not to.
I can even provide physical evidence to support my claim. If the American people had confidence in the way the Senate works… I know for a fact I would not be here. I don't think my colleagues joining me in this objection would be here, either.
We were not sent here to affirm "the way the Senate worked" as Congress racked up trillions in debt, inflated a housing bubble, doled out favors to special interests, squeezed the middle class and trapped the poor in poverty.
We were sent here to change all that. We are fully aware that "Washington" and the establishments of both parties don't like what we're doing – but as computer programmers say, "that's a feature, not a bug."
The tactics of Washington serve the interests of Washington – of Congress itself, the federal bureaucracy, corporate cronies and special interests.
And does so at the expense of the American people, their wallets, and their freedom.
The only time I can think of when it hasn't worked out that way was with the recent budget sequestration.
And that was – literally – an accident! A mistake.
The sequestration process worked out exactly the opposite of how Washington expected and intended.
There is a reason, Mr. President, that six of the ten wealthiest counties in the United States are suburbs of Washington, D.C. – a city that produces almost nothing of actual economic value.
And it's not because the two parties have been so effective taking on the special interests and doing the people's business.
There is a reason Tea Partiers on the right and Occupiers on the left protest their shared perception that our economy, our politics, and our society seem rigged.
That elites on Wall Street, K Street, and Pennsylvania Avenue get to play by one set of rules… and people on Main Street have to play by another.
It's because they are mostly right. This is our true inequality crisis: not between rich and poor, but between Washington and everyone else.
The national debt, and its statutory limit, is a hidden part of this inequality crisis.
After all, what is new debt but a tax increase on future Americans? On those who cannot yet vote. On those who have not yet been born.
Raising the debt limit thus results in a form of taxation without representation.
That's why the American people resent it.
And it's why Washington desperately wants to raise the debt limit with as little public scrutiny and accountability as possible.
And that's why we're objecting.
Our critics say we should allow the process to move forward so we can have a debate. I don't know if they've noticed, but Mr. President, we're having the debate. We've had it several days in a row.
More than that, we're having the debate here on the floor, open to public scrutiny, and not secretly behind closed doors.
This, right here, is how the process is supposed to work.
The only way the American people can have any hope of supervising their Congress – not ours, their Congress – is for us to do our work above board and in the open, according to the rules.
That's all we're asking for… and only on one issue.
For all our concerns, we have still said all along that we will not block a budget conference. We can go to conference right now.
We're willing to give the majority permission to break from regular order and scurry off to closed door negotiations to cut their back room deal.
All we have asked is one thing, a very small and simple request: leave the debt limit out of it.
Do everything else you want, spend all the money you want, use all the accounting gimmicks you want… but when you go into that backroom, check the debt limit at the door.
That way the American people can have that separate debate, on its own merits, here on the floor.
This should not be controversial. The House Republican budget did not include a debt limit increase or instructions to include one. The Senate Democratic budget doesn't include it either.
House and Senate negotiators, therefore, have no procedural or democratic justification for including a debt limit hike in their talks. They have no right to do it.
Yet they won't promise not to.
Once again, Mr. President: Trust us… we're Congress.
"This is how the Senate works," they say. "This is how we do things."
Respectfully, Mr. President, this is how we fail. This is how we earn our 15 percent approval rating.
We know this is business as usual around here. That's why we're objecting.
If the majority wants to proceed to a budget conference through regular order, we cannot stop them.
But again Mr. President, that's not their request. Their request is for permission to break from regular order, skip a few steps, and go straight to the secret negotiations, behind closed doors, where in the Washington-centered view of the world, the real governing can be done.
The American people do not trust secret, back room deals, and neither do I.
Unless and until the American people are assured then we will not sneak a debt limit increase into the Conference report, I will happily continue to object.


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Cyber Essentials
Cyber Safe for Charities
Threats in scope
Ransomware: A Growing Threat
Cyber Attacks on SME's Are Increasing
11th April 2017
Cyber Resilience Week
8th September 2017
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Layer 7 IT Security
4th May 2017
Cyber Essentials
Ransomware: A growing threat
The year 2016 saw alarming growth in ransomware attacks. It costs businesses and other organizations in the
UK £4.5 million per year
. An
international survey
by Malwarebytes reported that 40 percent of businesses had experienced a ransomware attack in the past year, and more than a third of those affected lost revenue. Victims who haven't prepared face the choice of paying a criminal or losing important data.
Some organisations, such as hospitals, have had no choice except to pay, because of the human cost refusal would carry. However, being well prepared reduces the chances of being hit by ransomware and of having to pay for recovery.
The types of ransomware
Broadly speaking, there are two types of ransomware: locking and crypto-ransomware. The first type prevents use of a computer but doesn't do any permanent damage. It's almost always possible to get rid of it without paying the extortionist. The kind that encrypts files is more dangerous. It makes important files on the target computer unusable, and the only way to get them back may be to pay for the decryption key. It shouldn't surprise anyone that the second type is increasingly popular with cyber-criminals.
Some names are familiar to anyone who follows computer security news: Cerber, Locky, CryptoWall, Petya, etc. These are better described as families rather than specific units of code. The people who create them constantly vary them to elude detection and work around defences. Some use weak encryption schemes, making it possible to recover the files without assistance. Others use the strongest encryption available, leaving victims with no good alternatives.
The creators try to panic victims. The attack announces itself with a message on the computer screen and instructions on how to pay to recover the files. Usually, payment is by Bitcoin, which allows the perpetrator to collect anonymously. Sometimes there's a threat to expose confidential or embarrassing data; this is usually, if not always, a bluff. Often there's a threat to encrypt more files if payment doesn't arrive promptly; that threat is real. The object is to rush the victim into paying, instead of thinking carefully about the alternatives.
So far most ransomware targets the Windows operating system, but attacks on Android devices and Linux servers are on the rise.
The best defences
Attacks of this type usually start with phishing email that tricks the victim into opening an attachment or accessing a malicious web page. This installs a loader, which will download and install the ransomware software. It will surreptitiously encrypt files of selected types, or in some cases encrypt the master file table. Only after the damage is done will it make its demands.
Spam filtering and user education about email will reduce the chances that anyone in the organisation will open a malicious message and let the loader run. Up-to-date security software will reduce the chances that any kind of malware can take root in the system.
The other crucial defence is a current, offline backup. While backup to an attached drive is valuable, it's a weak defence against ransomware, which will encrypt any drives it can reach. Even cloud backup, if it's just to a mapped network drive, doesn't offer better protection. What's needed is a backup to a destination that isn't directly usable as a drive and retains old versions. Many cloud services provide this type of backup. If it performs frequent updates, then the amount of data loss will be limited to whatever changed since the last one. This may be an acceptable loss.
These points apply to crypto-ransomware. Locking ransomware merely prevents use of the computer, and there's never a reason to pay the person who locked it to unlock it. Standard malware removal procedures will get rid of the problem.
Organised criminal activity
Many of the attacks come from well-run criminal groups. Some groups offer "ransomware as a service." For a small amount of money, people with minimal technical skills can have an attack conducted for them and collect the payments. Demands are usually small enough, in the range of a few hundred pounds, that victims may consider it easier to pay than to seek alternatives. Many attacks go unreported outside the business that was victimised. The result is a relatively safe stream of revenue to the criminals.
Planning for ransomware
Businesses should plan ahead, so that they don't have to make policy decisions under pressure. The policy needs to guide their actions at each step.
First, should a business ever give in to ransomware? It's easy to offer an indignant "No," but this has to be backed up with a clear understanding of the worst-case consequences. Some organisations have the luxury of taking a stand, but others don't.
What are the immediate steps to take when an incident is reported? One of the first actions should be to report the event to the
National Fraud & Cyber Crime Reporting Centre
. The next steps should include quarantining the computer, identifying the problem, and determining the extent of the damage.
How should IT staff proceed? The response will depend on the type of attack and currently available remedies. Removing the malware is usually a high priority, but if paying the ransom isn't ruled out, that might prevent restoring the files.
What actions will prevent a recurrence? The IT staff has to determine, if possible, what mistakes allowed the attack to succeed, and what efforts in software, system configuration, or training will reduce the chances of recurrence. Whatever decisions they make about payment, they need to make sure the malware is removed from the machine, and that no other machines on the network have it.
Weighing the alternatives
Deciding whether or not to pay the extortion fee shouldn't be just a matter of which costs less. If you pay, you mark yourself as an easy target and help to finance further attacks. Sometimes there's no choice, but you should make every reasonable effort not to pay a thief. The best way to do that is not to be victimised in the first place.
Contact us
to learn how we can assist you in ensuring you have the appropriate defences and procedures in place.


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Video: Supermarket in Baby Sign Language
Signing: To sign supermarket we first sign eat by placing our dominant hand in front of our mouth and quickly pulling away. The next motion consists of the sign for shop or store. Both hands parallel to your neck with fingers together moving back and forth.
Figure: Supermarket in Baby Sign Language
Usage: We use this sign contextually when we take our babies with us to run errands. This is a really fun sign. We can do it prior to leaving the house to create expectation and upon arrival to the supermarket or grocery store .
Flash Card: Click the link to view the Supermarket Baby Sign Language Flash Card. The flash cards are printable and available in both U.S. Letter and A4 sizes.


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Cisco Systems lawsuits (re China)
|In 2011 two seperate lawsuits were filed in US court against Cisco Systems regarding the company's activities in China. Both sets of plaintiffs allege that Cisco helped the Chinese government build computer systems used to track and prosecute political dissidents. This tracking led to many of the plaintiffs being arrested, arbitrarily detained, tortured, and killed. In 2014, the lawsuits were dismissed. Both judges presiding over the two seperate cases cited the claims had a lack of connection with the US to proceed in court.
In mid-2011 two separate lawsuits were filed in US federal court against Cisco Systems and its top executives regarding the company's activities in China. Human Rights Foundation filed a lawsuit on 19 May 2011 in California on behalf of 11 members of the Chinese Falun Gong movement against Cisco and certain of its executives, including CEO John Chambers. The second lawsuit was filed on 6 June 2011 in Maryland on behalf of three jailed Chinese writers. Both sets of plaintiffs allege that Cisco helped the Chinese Government build computer systems used to track and prosecute dissidents.
The lawsuits allege Cisco designed and maintains a censorship network known as the Golden Shield Project, with the understanding that Golden Shield would be used by the Chinese authorities to monitor and access private internet communications, identify anonymous blog authors and to block online publications critical of the Chinese Communist Party. The Falun Gong plaintiffs allege that, by using Cisco's network, the Chinese authorities tracked the online activities of the Falun Gong movement. They allege that some of the Falun Gong members were arrested, arbitrarily detained, tortured and killed, while others disappeared.
The second lawsuit alleges that the defendants' role in creating the Golden Shield enabled the Chinese Government to identify and jail each of the plaintiffs. The writers had each published articles on the internet supporting democracy and human rights and critical of the Chinese Communist Party. Each writer alleges that he was subsequently detained and tortured by the Chinese authorities. They brought the lawsuit under the Alien Tort Statute.
Cisco denies all accusations, claiming it sells the same equipment in China that it sells in other countries around the world.
In February 2014, the judge in the lawsuit filed on behalf of the three jailed Chinese writers dismissed the case ruling that the court lacked jurisdiction. He also found Cisco was not at fault for abuses carried out using the censorship network.
In September 2014, a US federal court dismissed the lawsuit against Cisco over allegations of abetting torture of Falun Gong practitioners in China ruling that the allegations did not have sufficient US ties for a US court to hear the claims under the Alien Tort Claims Act.
In January 2016, NGOs filed an amicus brief that urges a US court of appeals to reinstate the Falun Gong practitioners lawsuit against Cisco. In April 2017, the plaintiffs in this case asked the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to revive the allegations.
- "Lawsuit Accuses Cisco of Complicity in Oppression Abroad", Jennifer Wadsworth, San Jose Inside (USA), 24 May 2017
- "Cisco Won't Face Claim it Abetted Torture in China", Elizabeth Warmerdam, Courthouse News Service (USA), 11 Sep 2014
- "Cisco Slapped With New Suit", Richard Finney, Parameswaran Ponnudurai, Radio Free Asia, 7 Jun 2011
- "Cisco rejects Falun Gong 'China online spying' lawsuit", BBC, 24 May 2011
- "Falun Gong members sue Cisco for helping China build its national firewall, called the Golden Shield", Associated Press, 23 May 2011
- [PDF] Doe et al. v. CISCO Systems, et al. - Order granting motion to dismiss, US District Court of Northern District of California. 5 Sep 2014
- [PDF] Du Daobin, Zhou Yuanzhi, Liu Xianbin, and Does 1-10 v. CISCO Systems, Inc., Thomas Lam, Owen Chan, Rick Justice, John T. Chambers - Complaint, 6 Jun 2011
- Doe et al. v. CISCO Systems, John Chambers, Thomas Lam, Owen Chan, and DOES 1-100 - Class Action Complaint, 19 May 2011
All components of this story
Plaintiffs in Cisco lawsuit ask Court to revive US case over alleged surveillance of Falun Gong members in China
Author: Jennifer Wadsworth, San Jose Inside (USA)
"Lawsuit Accuses Cisco of Complicity in Oppression Abroad", 24 May 2017
...[P]laintiffs in a class-action claim [are] accusing Cisco of designing software, hardware and training to help China's ruling party persecute Falun Gong adherents...The lawsuit hopes to addres an evolving legal question: Can American corporations be held liable if foreign authorities use their product for repression? The federal district court in San Jose dismissed the case in 2014, saying Falun Gong victims...failed to prove that Cisco knew its product would enable oppression. But [in April 2017], the plaintiffs asked the...Court of Appeals to revive the allegations....Cisco has assiduously denied the allegations...Since a 2013 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum, however, lower courts have differed over how to apply the majority's ambiguous holding that the Alien Tort Statute may only apply to actions abroad if the allegations "touch and concern" American territories. [The Falun Gong members' counsel] argued that the claims against Cisco meet that "touch and concern" standard...
- Related stories: Cisco Systems lawsuits (re China)
- Related in-depth areas: Latest Legal News
- Related companies: Cisco Systems
EFF says Cisco shouldn't get off the hook for torture in China
Author: Stephen Lawson, IDG News Service
Cisco Systems built a security system for the Chinese government knowing it would be used to track and persecute members of the Falun Gong religious minority, according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation technology rights group. Falun Gong practitioners alleged the same thing in a lawsuit that a federal judge in Northern California dismissed in 2014. That case is being appealed, and on Monday the EFF, Privacy International and free-speech group Article 19 filed a brief that supports the appeal. The case highlights the risks technology companies take by selling software and hardware to customers around the world. Some of those customers may use the technology in ways that raise objections in other countries, creating legal problems or just tarnishing a vendor's reputation..."We have always maintained that there is no basis for the allegations against Cisco, and there is no merit to the case," Cisco said via email. "We do not customize our products in any way that would facilitate censorship or repression."
EFF To Court: Cisco Must Be Held Accountable For Aiding China's Human Rights Abuses
Author: Electronic Frontier Foundation
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is urging a federal appeals court to reinstate a lawsuit seeking to hold Cisco Systems accountable for aiding in human rights abuses by building the Chinese government a system that Cisco officials knew was intended to identify—and facilitate the capture and torture of—members of the Falun Gong religious minority. In an amicus brief filed Monday with the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, EFF and the groups ARTICLE 19 and Privacy International argue that the plaintiffs sufficiently alleged that Cisco understood that the "Golden Shield" system (also known as The Great Firewall) it custom-built for China was an essential component of the government's program of persecution against the Falun Gong—persecution that included online spying and tracking, detention, and torture.
- Related stories: Cisco Systems lawsuits (re China) NGO asks US appeals court to revive case against Cisco over alleged complicity in Chinese Govt. abuse
- Related companies: Cisco Systems
Doe, et al. v. Cisco Systems: Brief of amici curiae Electronic Frontier Foundation, Article 19 and Privacy International in support of Plaintiffs-Appellants & reversal
Author: Sophia Cope, Electronic Frontier Foundation
This is the second Alien Tort Statute ("ATS") case in which plaintiffs allege that the technology giant Cisco specially built surveillance, censorship, and other repressive products for the Chinese government that targeted disfavored groups — here, a religious minority called the Falun Gong, and in the other, prominent democracy activists — who were then subjected to torture and other recognized human rights abuses…In the digital age, repressive governments do not act alone to violate human rights. They have accomplices — including American technology companies like Cisco, as alleged by Plaintiffs — with the sophistication and technical know-how that those repressive governments lack. If aiding and abetting liability under the Alien Tort Statute is to mean anything, it must apply to cases like this…
- Related stories: Cisco Systems lawsuits (re China) NGO asks US appeals court to revive case against Cisco over alleged complicity in Chinese Govt. abuse
- Related companies: Cisco Systems
Blog series on lawsuit in USA against Cisco over alleged complicity in provision of surveillance system targeting Chinese dissidents
Author: Beth Van Schaack, Stanford University, in Just Security (USA)
"China's Golden Shield—Is Cisco Systems Complicit?" 24 Mar 2015
This is Part I of a series on a case pending in the Northern District of California against Cisco Systems involving the company's provision of technology to help construct, operate, and maintain China's Golden Shield, a network surveillance system that was allegedly used to target Falun Gong practitioners for persecution. Part I outlines the claims in and procedural posture of the case; Part II discusses some of the legal issues in play with reference to other cases of corporate complicity in human rights abuses under the Alien Tort Statute...[Also refers to Nestlé, Shell]
- Related stories: Cisco Systems lawsuits (re China)
- Related in-depth areas: Latest Legal News
- Related companies: Cisco Systems Nestlé Shell
Access to justice for victims of human rights abuses needs to be strengthened
Author: Sif Thorgeirsson, Manager, Corporate Legal Accountability Project, Business & Human Rights Resource Centre
'Closing the courtroom door: where can victims of human rights abuse by business find justice?', 1 Dec 2014
…[M]any victims of business-related human rights abuse have no access to judicial remedy in their home country…The majority of cases of abuse we see at Business & Human Rights Resource Centre occur in weak governance zones, which often do not have an independent judiciary, and sometimes lack fully functioning courts…Of the 108 legal cases the Centre has profiled,…[54%] are related to extraterritorial claims…[but t]he effect [of Kiobel] has been a near-freeze on victims seeking justice through this…avenue. At the time of…Kiobel…, there were at least 19 corporate Alien Tort cases pending in US courts. Since then, only one new…case has been filed…While the scope for remedy from US and English courts is narrowing…there have been three cases filed in Canadian courts addressing extraterritorial business-related human rights abuse...[and]…cases…have been filed in France, Switzerland and Germany…Concerted action is needed by governments and others to reverse the trend toward closing…avenues to justice…[Also refers to Occidental Petroleum, Cisco Systems, Drummond, Chiquita, Rio Tinto, Daimler, ExxonMobil, Nestle, CACI, L-3 Titan, Nevsun, Hudbay Minerals and Tahoe Resources]
- Related stories: Abu Ghraib lawsuits against CACI, Titan (now L-3) Apartheid reparations lawsuits (re So. Africa) Chiquita lawsuits (re Colombia) Cisco Systems lawsuits (re China) Daimler lawsuit (re Argentina) Drummond lawsuits (re Colombia) ExxonMobil lawsuit (re Aceh) Hudbay Minerals lawsuits (re Guatemala) Nestlé lawsuit (re Colombia) Nevsun lawsuit (re Bisha mine, Eritrea) Occidental lawsuit (re Colombia) Rio Tinto lawsuit (re Papua New Guinea) Shell lawsuit (re Nigeria - Kiobel & Wiwa) Tahoe Resources lawsuit (re Guatemala) Show moreShow less
- Related in-depth areas: Blogs & commentaries Latest Legal News Latest News on Pacific Business & Human Rights
- Related companies: CACI Chiquita Cisco Systems Daimler Drummond ExxonMobil Hudbay Minerals Nestlé Nevsun Occidental Petroleum Rio Tinto Shell Tahoe Resources (part of Pan American Silver) Titan (now L-3 Titan)
Standard behind US Court dismissal of Alien Tort case against Occidental & AirScan "sufficiently vague for corporations to hide behind", says journalist
Author: Siddhartha Mahanta, Foreign Policy (USA)
"Suing companies for atrocities has never been harder. Thanks, Supreme Court!", 18 Nov 2014 [Subscription required]
On Nov. 12 [2014], the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals…ruled…in Mujica v. AirScan that the families of the victims of a…1998, cluster bomb attack on…Santo Domingo, Colombia, could not make claims against two American companies...Occidental Petroleum and AirScan...allegedly complicit in the attack...The Colombian helicopters that bombed Santo Domingo did so to protect the Caño-Limón pipeline, owned by Occidental, according to the plaintiffs. Occidental allegedly provided financial support to the Colombian military, [and gave] it office space to plan the…raid, the plaintiffs said…[I]n Kiobel vs. Royal Dutch Petroleum Co...Chief Justice John Roberts...[said]..."even where the claims touch and concern the territory of the United States...they must do so with sufficient force to displace the presumption against extraterritorial application."...Now, that "touch and concern" standard has returned...[Judge] Bybee wrote that the [Alien Tort Statute] didn't apply [in this case] because the…claims…failed to "touch and concern" the [US] with sufficient force...Relying on a standard as ill-defined as touch and concern, it seems, creates language sufficiently vague for corporations to hide behind. [Also refers to Exxon Mobil, Cisco, Shell]
- Related stories: Cisco Systems lawsuits (re China) Occidental lawsuit (re Colombia) Shell lawsuit (re Nigeria - Kiobel & Wiwa) US court dismisses Alien Tort case against Occidental & AirScan over alleged complicity in Colombian bombing Show moreShow less
- Related in-depth areas: Latest Legal News
- Related companies: AirScan Chevron Cisco Systems ExxonMobil Occidental Petroleum Shell Unocal (part of Chevron)
Cisco Won't Face Claim it Abetted Torture in China
Author: Elizabeth Warmerdam, Courthouse News Service (USA)
A group of Chinese and U.S. citizens cannot continue with their lawsuit alleging that Cisco Systems abetted the torture of Falun Gong practitioners in China by collaborating with the government on a customized security system, a federal judge ruled…Members of the religion filed suit against Cisco, claiming that the company helped the Chinese government to develop and maintain "Golden Shield"…[a] system…allegedly used to eavesdrop and intercept the communications of Falun Gong believers…apprehend and torture members because of their religious beliefs, and ultimately suppress Falun Gong believers through human rights abuses against them…The Falun Gong followers also asserted that the U.S. District Court had federal jurisdiction…pursuant to the Alien Tort Statute (ATS) and Torture Victims Protection Act. However, U.S. District Court Judge Edward Davila found that…[a] stronger showing is needed that tortious acts were planned or executed in the United States in order to overcome the presumption against extraterritoriality…
Cisco is mute on accusations of aiding Chinese state snooping
Author: Dave Neal, Inquirer (UK)
Networking equipment vendor [Cisco Systems] has been accused of helping the Chinese authorities snoop on, discriminate against and violently suppress the religious group Falun Gong…The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)…has filed a request to submit an amicus brief in a US District Court in California…It asks the court to let the case "Doe vs Cisco Systems" go ahead..."The central claim…is that Cisco purposefully customised its general purpose router technology to allow the Chinese government to identify, track, and detain Falun Gong members."…The EFF alleges that Cisco was asked to customise its kit so that the Chinese authorities could pick up Falun Gong 'signatures' and enable the logging and monitoring of traffic patterns…[It]…alleges that Cisco knew about this customisation, knew that it would be used to repress the Falun Gong, and still marketed and supported the technologies "towards that purpose"…Cisco has declined…to comment on the views of the EFF and its lawsuit.
- Related stories: Cisco Systems lawsuits (re China)
Cisco cleared in rights case, as tech sector watches [USA/China]
Author: AFP
A US court has cleared Cisco Systems over liability for human rights abuses in China…The Maryland judge dismissed the case, saying Cisco -- one of the biggest makers of computer networking equipment -- was not at fault for abuses carried out by Beijing using the "Golden Shield" censorship and surveillance project to find, arrest and torture political opponents…Judge Peter Messitte, in a February 24 opinion, sidestepped some of the key legal questions in ruling that the court lacked jurisdiction over the US tech giant's activities, but added that he "harbors doubt that corporations are immune" from the Alien Tort law…Activists hoping to use the US courts to hold corporations accountable for complicity in rights abuses expressed disappointment over the decision…Cisco welcomed the court decision…While the US courts have been unreceptive to lawsuits, multinational companies are facing pressure on other fronts to step up efforts on human rights…[Refers to DaimlerChrysler (now Daimler), Facebook, Google, Shell, Yahoo]


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December 13, 2015
Sunday | December 13, 2015 | 16:03 PM
As Advent rushes past (It's the pink Sunday already?), I wanted to provide a round-up of a few of the December happenings at the Cathedral.
Last weekend's Giving Tree program was a huge success. According to Mary Wollgast who coordinated the program, we sent out more than 500 gifts to five different social services agencies. Several of the groups we help are only served by the Cathedral parish at Christmas. It is good these organizations know they have friends here.
Mary has already re-upped for next year (gotta love that!) and will actively work to expand our outreach a bit. If you happen to know of a group or organization that could use some Christmas cheer next year, please reach out to Mary directly at 815-252-2405. We'd love to find a few more underserved organizations to work with next year.
Huge thanks to all who purchased gifts and helped out with this wonderful outreach!
Last Thursday, we hosted the annual Christmas luncheon for the senior priests of the Diocese. This is a Diocesan event, but it has been held here at the Cathedral since Fr. Stanley Orlikiewicz came up with the idea. It was originally aimed at the retired priests, but as people like Fr. Jim Lennon can attest, our "retired" priests are still very active in ministry. Hence it's now known as a senior priest event.
It's a festive afternoon, and the fraternal spirit is strong. The men enjoy a nice plated lunch and the chance to catch up with one another as well as Bishop Conlon, Bishop Siegel, Vicar for Priests, Fr. Bill Dewan and our own Fr. Brad.
They also receive a gift card from the Diocese. A few years ago, we started attaching the gift card to a tin of homemade Christmas cookies just to fancy it up a bit. Well let me tell you, they like the gift card. They LOVE the cookies.
This year, our bakers outdid themselves and each priest went home with a full-to-the-brim tin of cookies. I know all of our bakers loved sweetening the priests' holidays.
Thanks to Anna Foreman, Patty Eggen, Rosie McCune, Renee Gambino, Karen Slattery, Beverly Reeves, Kim Baker, Kathy Staracinich, Sonia Dominguez, Jennifer Groves, Kelly Alt, Amy Holbrook, Mary Grady, Kellie Bailey, Bonnie Petak, Kathy DelRose, Liz and Madeline Odeen, Angela and Dale Simpson, Pam and Joey Cannestra, Joan Featherstone, Heather Offerman, Laney O'Connor and Kristina and Lukas Klein.
Later this week, a merry band of elves will go out to area nursing homes and senior living facilities to take poinsettias to some of our parishioners. This is a great way to stay in touch and spend some quality time with folks who don't get to the Cathedral much these days. Our thanks to Pat Rolih for coordinating everything and to Rosemary Lux, Kathy DelRose, Isabel Voitik, Sandy Grynevich, Jim and Jane Murphy, Mary and Jacque Wheaton, Pete Pluth and Kathy and Annie Staracinich for making the visits.
Last Sunday I wrote about Art and Joan Siegel and the incredible work they do decorating the Cathedral for Christmas. (Remember, you can get in on the fun—1:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. SUNDAY.) After all that work, we don't have the heart to ask them to work their magic on the gym for the 4:00 p.m. Mass on Christmas Eve. So, the parish staff has taken on this project.
For some of us, this is a bit out of our comfort zone. Way out. But over the past few years, we have become a smooth operation. We have become pretty adept at assembling the large nativity crèche, fluffing trees and creatively draping things so it looks less gym-y. The end result is a lovely space for 450 more people to celebrate Christmas with us.
Now a word on the parking lots: They are definitely bigger than last Christmas, but they are not limitless. If you want to assure yourself a spot in the lot (and a pew or a chair for that matter) for the 4:00 p.m. Masses on Christmas Eve, come early. If you are planning to attend Mass in the gym, consider using the Douglas Street teachers' lot. Our outstanding ushers will be working their own magic to get everyone a seat.
Eileen Hooks Gutierrez
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Miyazakis Howl Heard All Over Japan
Although most American and European box-office watchers are chronicling the performances of The Incredibles, The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie and The Polar Express this week, a different kind of animated movie is setting records in Japan. Hayao Miyazakis Howls Moving Castle took in a $14.3 million on 448 screens last weekend, making up for 72% of the regions box office, according to Variety.
Based on a fantasy book written by Diana Wynne Jones with a script by Reiko Yoshida, the movie centers on an enchanted 18-year-old named Sophie who is trapped inside an old womans body and her encounter with a wizard named Hauru who inhabits a magical moving castle. Reportedly, Disney will release the film in the U.S. some time next year. To find out more about the project, visit www.howlthemovie.com.
Miyazaki fans can also look forward to the DVD release of three of the Japanese masters earlier worksNausicaa of the Valley of the Wind, Porco Rosso and The Cat Returns on February 22. To be released by Walt Disney Home Entertainment and Studio Ghibli, these two-disc packages will feature English-language voice cast in addition to the original Japanese language tracks, storyboards and behind-the-scenes featurettes, all presented in a pristine digital format. The English-lingo version of Nausicaa features the voice talents of Patrick Stewart, Uma Thurman, Alison Lohman and Edward James Olmos. Porco Rosso offers the voices of Michael Keaton, Brad Garrett and Kimberly Williams, while The Cat Returns showcases the vocals of Anne Hathwaway, Cary Elwes, Peter Boyle, Elliot Gould, Andy Richter. Each title will be available for $29.99.


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Fire Eater
Luke is feeling okay. Maria has dumped him, but he's going to hang out with the guys. The night on the town with beer and curry got replaced with curry and a couple cans at the café due to Tyrone giving Roy a driving lesson. Still okay, Luke figures, even if the curry won't be what he was looking forward to. Roy is "a korma kinda guy – mild, inoffensive," he tells Gary.
Roy serves the meal while telling them the history of curry in the British Isles. He relates a funny moment in Vanity Fair, where Becky Sharp misguidedly eats a chili to cool her mouth after a spicy curry. Well, you had to be there, he realizes as Tyrone, Luke and Gary stare uncomprehendingly at him. He continues ladling the curry, saying he hadn't made it quite as hot as the traditional recipe from Goa that he found had called for.
Roy and Tyrone on one side of the table talk and eat, savouring the flavours. On the other side, Gary and Luke eat, and look increasingly uncomfortable. Their eyes water and Luke begins pulling at his shirt. But he will not admit it's too hot for him. He likes curry that blows your shirt off, he'd told Gary.
It's little moments like that I've looked for in Coronation Street lately. They are in short supply.
Sarah and Bethany are wearing on my last nerve, as they are on David's. Carla and Nick cozying up to each other has been fun. But Erica's return, and her news, will blow that fun out of the water. Sally and the wannabe Banksy is great, but so far is similar to the sofa story. Increasingly loopy Jenny Bradley is causing fights everywhere. Maria getting a punch was great, just because. The enjoyment in that makes up for Sophie being right about Jenny even while she's still irritatingly self-righteous.


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Interesting article on why there will be not one winner for location-based services. To read click here.
Category Archives: Geo Location
What is wrong with current location-based checkin service?
Location-based check-in service came into prime-time of social networking in year 2009 with launch of Foursquare, a location-based social networking application for mobile devices, and then tons of other similar apps such as Gowalla (recently acqui-hired by Facebook), Loopt, Scvngr, Hotlist, and many more are trying to crack location-based services. Few of them are moderately successful but none of them have been able to get location-based services into mainstream of social network. Facebook too tried with Facebook Places (which is now simply called "Check In") and has now integrated location as part of every Facebook action (status update, pic upload, etc). Continue reading


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HELP! I need to tap into the wider hive mind if it is still there.
I once heard an anecdote about somebody asking if comics were art? Allegedly a DC Comics editor, responsible for some classic characters, responded "Not while I'm here they ain't!"
Anyone know who that editor might have been?


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According to mobile operator executives attending Openwave Mobility's Mobile Video Industry Council(MOVIC) Livecast, most operators believe that cloud gaming could represent 25 per cent to 50 per cent of 5G data traffic by 2022, based on the rapid progression of cloud gaming services in recent months.
5G networks will support cloud game streaming, enabling consumers to play digital games on their handsets without the need to own or install a copy of the game. These subscription-based services will give consumers access to a high-end gaming experience without requiring additional hardware.
"The recent emergence of cloud gaming platforms including Google Stadia, Apple Arcade, Microsoft xCloud and Snap Games has not escaped the attention of the operator community," said John Giere, President and CEO of Openwave Mobility. "Over-the-top (OTT) players have ambitious plans to become the 'Netflix for gaming', hosting libraries of thousands of instantly accessible games that, ultimately, will consume three to four times the amount of bandwidth on 5G networks, compared to standard definition video traffic. Needless to say this will impact mobile operator data strategies."
Giere concluded: "While 5G network rollouts are still in their infancy, OTTs are already planning Augmented, Virtual and Mixed Reality services, in addition to cloud gaming. Combined with the expected continued growth of streaming video, these services will rapidly eat into the additional bandwidth provisions of 5G."
MOVIC was set up as a forum for mobile operator personnel to share data, best practice and strategies with their peers, relating to the growth of mobile video and other emerging forms of mobile traffic. The events have attracted senior technical and business executives from many of the world's largest mobile operators.
@hiphopdlx #HHDLX


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Cam and The Kilty Pleasures in Las Vegas
jul. 11º, 2014
While on vacation in Las Vegas, Cam runs into Langham (guest star Fred Armisen) who's having a bachelor party that includes a "Bananas and Cabanas" pool party, where the winner of the "Most Creative Speedo" wins tickets to the all-male Scottish revue, The Kilty Pleasures. From Episode 518, "Las Vegas."
"Have you ever seen a Scottish person this tan?" Cameron points out on the poster. "I'm embarrassed even looking at it!"
Claire retorts, "Then stop."
Find out what else happens in Vegas by watching this "Just the Jokes" highlight clip.
RELATED: See the funniest bits from each episode in the"Just the Jokes" videos»
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There's a good chance that writer Travis Beacham is going to have a better summer than you or I. His giant monsters versus giant robots screenplay, Pacific Rim, has been brought to life by director Guillermo del Toro and is being released this July starring Charlie Hunnam, Idris Elba, Rinko Kikuchi, Charlie Day and Ron Perlman. If that wasn't cool enough, his first graphic novel, a prequel to the film, Pacific Rim: Tales From Year Zero is in stores now with a cover from the inimitable Alex Ross.
Travis was extremely generous to take some time to discuss the film, his creative process and his approach to world building.
How did the prequel comic come about?
When we were creating the movie we wanted there to be a world that was bigger; that it went beyond the boundaries of what you saw. We wanted it to seem very big, that it had history and texture. So in creating the world of the movie we ended up creating a lot of ancillary details and a lot of history and a lot of backstory. Some of which we didn't end up using in the movie and we knew we weren't going to end up using in the movie. But having thought about it in such detail, it gave us a confidence in which we tell the story. So when the time came to talk about doing a graphic novel, I felt rather than do a beat for beat adaptation of the movie, it would be fun to utilize a lot of this story matter that we already created and do something that's additive to the experience of the movie and fleshes out the universe a bit more.
Were you a comic book fan before working on the book?
Absolutely. Ever since I was a kid, really.
I know that you sold Pacific Rim based on a 25 page pitch and I've read that it's become a 1000 page film bible. What's the experience been like both working with Guillermo del Toro and seeing your concept come to life?
Guillermo is fantastic. I was really glad to finally get to work with him. He almost did the first spec script that I sold, Killing on Carnival Row, a little while back in 2005. We got really close, like within a hair's trigger and then Hellboy 2 ended up getting green lit first. When he got interested in Carnival Row and came on board it felt it felt kind of like kismet. Working with him is really fantastic; we're fans of the same stuff and we have the same language of references and things like that. He comes to it with a really,really earnest enthusiasm for this sort of material and it's always a pleasure to work with someone like that.
I think the Bible came together because both of us being such nerds in this arena, we're obviously very detailed at heart. If you're a fan of something, like Star Wars and you get curious about it and you want to learn more about it. We are first and foremost, fans of the idea of Pacific Rim. So it was fun to sort of create this encyclopedic lore surrounding it. I think it just sort of tapped into the fan section of our brain. Seeing it come together in that level of detail was an extremely rewarding experience and it's a sandbox that I could play in for a long time.
Both Pacific Rim and your screenplay Killing on Carnival Row feature pretty elaborate worlds that you created. How does he approach this stuff? Does he "build the world" first and then find the story? Or do you construct the story and then build the world around it?
It's sort of a little from Column A and a little from Column B. I think the story comes and I think the characters come, first and foremost. But only for me in a very kind of non specific sense. So it's like first, you know who it's about and you know what their problem is and then before I get really into specifically outlining beat by beat what happens, I like to have a lot of prep work done about the world in which it's taking place. I don't ever think the world is ever the star of it. It's definitely a necessity. Especially when you're working in genre stuff. Because real world dramas already have the benefit of having a world. Everybody knows New York City exists. Everybody knows LA exists. You don't have to explain how the traffic works or how the city was founded, that kind of thing, you take those details for granted.
So in working in the invented world, and putting your characters and story in that invented world, and in order to make that feel like a real experience, you have to have things that are taken for granted. You have to know them in order to take them for granted if that makes sense. People can sense just from the level of confidence that you have in telling a story; they have this subconscious ear for a syntax of a real world and you have to try really hard to duplicate it. And you can't fake it, you have to do the legwork and really think about "well, how many people live here, and blah, blah, blah". One thing that I really hate just in the process of writing is you get to someone who needs to drop a line as to how old something is or how big something is and you have to stop everything that you're doing and figure out exactly what that is.
For me, it helps to have all that sort of information to begin with and to sort of be able to pick and choose from as I please and as I need it so when I get to a line about how old something is or big an object something is, I can be like I've already figured that out and not have to think about it.
One of the things that struck me about the Pacific Rim screenplay was the glossary in the beginning, because once that was there the language wasn't so foreign. I thought it was really fascinating and really well done. It doesn't feel made up. The language feels very organic.
It's ridiculous how much time I spend naming stuff. I have notebooks and pages with lists of just nonsense. I'm sure if someone just picked it up and looked at it, they'd say this guy is just nuts. I spend so much time going over and finding exactly the right words and exactly the right connotation to call something.
Does Jaeger mean anything?
Yeah, it's German for "hunter". I spent so long trying to name these machines and come up with some sort of unique name for them. I was looking at different translations for the word hunter when I came across the word Jaeger and as soon as I saw it, I was like that's it. That's the one. I like that it means hunter, I like that it sounds like Chuck Yeager's name and I like that when you look at it, it vaguely looks like the word jaguar, because it reminds me of Jet Jaguar from the old Godzilla movies. As soon as I saw it, I underlined it and knew; they are Jaegers.
The graphic novel covers several important moments in the Pacific Rim universe including the first Kaiju attack and the invention of the Jaegers. Were these moments cut from the script or was this part of the backstory that you had?
This is all from the backstory that we had. You know the original attack in the movie it's referenced and especially in the first draft of the script it's referenced sort of in passing and the logic behind having the Jaegers is referenced but as far as the dramatic arc of what that was like, it's not really a meal that the movie gets into. The movie is sort of a drop in.
It takes place about a decade after the first Kaiju attack, a little more than that, about twelve years for the most part. And the graphic novel takes place sort of at the other end of that timeline and it shows how our world became the world in the movie. The movie has a very specific character focus and a very specific dilemma and you didn't necessarily need all of that exposition in great detail.
Nevertheless having come up with it for the world I think we all saw that there was a lot of drama in the backstory that we had come up with. And drama that could in theory stand on it's own two legs in the graphic novel and be a great tale within in it.
I've heard that one of the obstacles of Killing on Carnival Row is it's cost prohibitive in part because of the detail of the world that you created within it. Is that something that you'd be interested in adapting into a graphic novel? Is the project still in development?
I would love to revisit it in any medium that it could possibly be viable in. It's another world that I'm really truly in love with and I think it's the script that learned how to write scripts doing. It's a sentimental favorite of mine and I would totally revisit it in any way that I could. I hold out hope that it will be a movie someday. It has a lot of good will out there and I'm gratified that so many people appreciate it so much. I hope and in my heart I like to think that one day you'll see it on the movie screen; it's just a matter of when the stars align to make that happen.
So what is your favorite giant monster?
In the movie or in all?
In all, what was your inspiration or tentpole creature that you referenced when you were getting into writing the script, and which giant robots, too?
One of the first movies I have a memory of seeing is Godzilla. I think it was the 1985 one (laughing). So he's always going to be a sentimental favorite, like the T Rex in the dinosaur world. He's got an iconography behind him and I've sort of known him the longest. Design wise that would be a tougher question to answer. I've alway loved that sub genre of giant monsters, all of the Harryhausen movies, King Kong, all of the Godzilla movies, Gamera, and the cartoons and anime.
I remember watching Voltron when I was a kid. And I've always been a fan of that stuff. And this movie, really comes from that. I was just walking around at one point and thinking when are they going to make a modern movie in that sub genre? Some modern special effects summer movie and then at some point I realized I was the they in this equation. I'm a screenwriter. If I can't come up with an idea and pitch it for something I love then there's something wrong.
I know you have coming up Ballistic City and Pacific Rim 2. Is that the only thing on your slate and can you talk about them a little bit?
I can't say much about Pacific Rim 2. Those are definitely my priorities on my slate right now. We're definitely having conversations right now about what Pacific Rim 2 would look like and the fun thing is these aren't conversations that we just started having creatively.
These aren't just conversations that we just started having immediately when we realized Pacific Rim was going to be a big deal, but as a fan of stuff you wonder what happens when the credits stop rolling; you wonder what happens to the characters that you love, what happens to the world that you love. Even in the writing of the first one and the conversation associated with that there was always some level of curiosity as to what a second movie would look like, so these were just organic extensions of those conversations.
Ballistic City looks like it's going to be a lot of fun. It's being developed at AMC. It's sort of a sci-fi/crime drama that takes place inside this generational ship going from Earth to an unknown destination. The focus is on characters who were born in this place. Have never seen Earth. Have never seen a planet and will probably never live long enough to get to the destination. It takes place in totally within the midpoint of this self contained setting in this journey and this Dickensian sort of crime story and I don't mean Dickensian as in steampunk or anything. But I mean more in the sense of the characters and their dynamics. It's a fun world to work in. It's sort of the sci-fi show that I've been itching to see on TV for a long time.
What are you currently geeking out over?
I'm really dying to see the new Superman movie (Man of Steel). I've been a firm believer in Superman. Everytime there's a Superman versus Batman conversation I'm sticking up for "Big Blue". I'm very anxious to see it; the trailer looks really, really great.
In comics, I'm always interested in anything Grant Morrison writes, anything Warren Ellis writes and I'm also super excited for Joss Whedon's new tv show (Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) He's always been sort of an idol of mine.


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I've been doing my compulsories, which means dutifully avoiding news from Vancouver until prime time. In a world of Internet alerts, it isn't easy.
Overall the athletic performances are masterful, of course, but the broadcast production is feeling a bit uninspired.
Notes from the couch on NBC's Olympics telecast:
1. The tape delayto Mountain and Pacific time zones is infuriating in the Internet age. Many people have suggested NBC should stream events live. That misses the economic reality. Having paid more than $800 million for the broadcast rights, they'll lose money on the deal as it is. They need to amass a big prime-time audience and can't "give away" footage. It's a no-win situation until the whole thing goes pay-per-view one day. Which will be another sort of infuriating.
2. Some of the commercials are better than those during the Super Bowl — the "Thanks, Mom" Tide ad is a sentimental favorite.
3. NBC's Bob Costas and Cris Collinsworth, aging preppy goofballs, need young blood at the desk. At least they have the good sense to knock themselves — for their sports jackets, for their general out-of-it- ness when it comes to snowboardcross racing. "X Games, that is my life, as you know," Costas joked.
4. Most athlete interviews are painful. Let them jump, skate, schuss — anything but talk. Edit those featurettes down to essentials.
5. Smart move by NBC to forbid further replays of the luger's fatal accident after too many views on Friday. Imagine parents everywhere throwing themselves in front of the screen to protect the kids.
6. Xenophobia watch: Can we have a bit of excitement for the rest of the world, please? "Focus on the red bib, just look for the red!" we were instructed before Lindsey Jacobellis' ill-fated snowboardcross run. Why not just look for the medal winners? The heavy promotion leading up to Shaun White Night (Wednesday) was Michael Phelps- ian. The star-making machinery churns: Apolo Ohno and Lindsey Vonn, who poses for runway glamour shots, are cast as national heroes.
7. Best feature: from Canadian TV, about gold-medal moguls skier Alexandre Bilodeau and his older brother Frederic, who suffers from cerebral palsy. The speech- and motor-challenged big bro was Alexandre's inspiration. Images you don't normally see on prime-time American TV.
8. Who is Christine Lee, and why, during KUSA's otherwise admirable "Olympic Zone" preshow, does she mispronounce "salmon," putting an emphasis on the "L"?
9. As Vancouver slogs through its warmest January on record, KUSA's Susie Wargin was drafted into meteorologist duty. No competition for Kathy Sabine, she allowed, but she noted flowers sprout where snow should be.
10. The ratings took a hit against "American Idol" and "Lost," but nearly 28 million viewers have been tuning in nightly — more than for the Turin Games, fewer than for Salt Lake City.
Fox31 does politics.
"The Political Page: Special Edition" airs Friday, 9:30-10 p.m. on KDVR-Channel 31, highlighting issues in the gubernatorial race and others. Political reporter Eli Stokols, formerly of KWGN, takes a behind-the-scenes look at John Hickenlooper storming the state, Scott McInnis courting the Tea Party groups while trying to maintain voters in the middle, and "a city that, because of budget cuts, has turned off street lights, fired police, no longer waters grass or picks up trash in city parks, and has tent cities of homeless people living on its river banks. This is Colorado Springs . . . a conservative bastion and home to some of the lowest property tax rates in the entire country."
Stokols clearly benefited from the two stations' merger and hopes to do more long-form political coverage. "There's a niche for us," he says. "We're not trying to dumb stuff down, but we do want it to be watchable. Politics doesn't have to be the vegetables of TV news."
Joanne Ostrow: 303-954-1830 or email@example.com


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Nine people have been killed after a train hit a minibus on a level crossing in central Poland.
The force of the impact hurled the vehicle 30 metres down the track.
The crash happened on Monday near the city of Lodz. The crossing had no barrier or guards.
The minibus was carrying 10 people at the time. Most of the victims are understood to be from Ukraine.
It is the second major rail accident in Poland this year. In March, 16 people were killed in a head-on collision between two trains in the south of the country.


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Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Great Guitar Solos #2: Pavement, "The Hexx" (Stephen Malkmus)
Solo bits: 3:36-4:28
I like to think that Stephen Malkmus became a great lead guitarist and soloist without even realizing it. In several interviews, particularly in Pavement's early days, Malkmus would talk about how the majority of guitarists he most admired were rhythm guitarists, and he felt his own inner jamminess was unremarkable by comparison. Of course this didn't stop Malkmus from playing extended guitar solos that became longer and more conventional as his career progressed (his recent solo album Real Emotional Trash is the culmination of all these disparate Dead and Television influences manifesting themselves in long, awesome yet empty guitar solos). This mirrored Pavement's rise from Fall-influenced indie stalwart to modern classic rockers. Malkmus was always in charge of Pavement (really, someone try to convince me that Spiral Stairs did anything), and by acting as the lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter, he set himself up as a Hendrix type as opposed to, say, a Mark E. Smith.
Malkmus was also, of course, way too laconic and guarded onstage to act as if he was the guitar genius that he was. As a result, he's not generally thought of as a guitar hero, at least not compared to other 90's stalwarts like Kurt Cobain, Graham Coxon, Jonny Greenwood, Kevin Shields, Doug Martsch, and a few others. What these guitarists all have in common is that they all tried in different ways to act like they weren't guitar heroes--but really, they probably knew they were, and took their role as an opportunity to fuck with audience expectations of guitar heroics. In terms of sheer ability, Malkmus could play as well as any of them, save perhaps Coxon and Greenwood. There are many cases of Malkmus' guitar genius at work on even the earliest of Pavement albums, but for me his crowning achievement is the second-to-last song on their last album Terror Twilight, which is entitled "The Hexx."
"The Hexx" stands out, as the title might suggest, as Pavement's spookiest song, a swirling dirge with an odd riff at the center that transforms into a righteous if obscure chorus. Placed as it is on Terror Twilight, it has an odd cleansing effect, given how tuneful and even pleasant the rest of the album sounds (Pavement was in full-fledged pop mode by this point). In fact, I'm surprised that this song even exists, given how puzzling and atonal the main riff is. However, several listens have confirmed to me that it works perfectly within the context of the song, and is in fact a very good example of Malkmus transforming odd noodlings into beautiful songs that automatically strike the listener as classic tunes. This is a gift that few possess.
The song starts out with the aforementioned riff, played by Malkmus, who also starts off singing about "Capistrano swallow" and God swallowing peoples' radars and stuff like that. Eventually the drums and bass kick in, as well as another guitar, although its purpose in the mix is negligible in my opinion until the very end of the song. After working through some very Pavement-sounding lyrics, the riff dissolves into some delicious chord changes, wherein Malkmus aches, "but I...I, I...saw you...reeling in the parking lot," with the "parking lot" part being reinforced by a sharper, more typical riff. After that business is done, Malkmus whispers something that sounds like, "for the pauper's grave," and the chords disappear into the stratosphere, leaving the arch-angular riff to fend for itself again. More nondescript noises are piled on. The drums come back, and finally, out of the ether, Malkmus plays his solo.
The first thing one will notice is that this is a remarkably bluesy solo for a song whose structure seems so ostensibly anti-blues: there's no real tonal center to hold onto, but Malkmus somehow manages to fit in a whole minute of perfectly-controlled blues playing. It sounds like he is playing laconically at first, and he never really gets around to building up speed, but somehow he manages to bypass that and ratchet up the tension simply by playing tiny, perfectly considered groups of notes that never really overlap with each other. Malkmus isn't afraid to wail on the same note over and over, nor is he really concerned with going up and down the fret board. He finds a happy medium, and plays his heart out without coming across as either showy or bored. The end of the solo is really nothing more than an arpeggio that remains constant through the growing sea of noise, and even as it changes around him, he once again finds the tonal center before breaking with it altogether and leading to the triumphal finish.
It's possible with solos like "The Hexx" that you won't really get it the first time you hear it. I know I didn't. It's such a small work of art that it's barely noticeable, especially on an album so full of good moments, but if you pay attention long enough, you see that Malkmus managed to challenge the entire entire idea of what a solo must sound like and where it should fit in, and for this, someone must recognize this beautiful moment for what it is. Listen to it five times in a row, and I guarantee you will know what I mean. Sometimes great expression means facing the challenges your own work faces in a way people won't immediately recognize.
4 comments:
- AnonymousNovember 18, 2009 at 8:14 PM
You know, I think K. Peterson and I had a conversation back in 12th grade about what an oddity "The Hexx" was in the Pavement catalogue. That solo is a favorite moment in a favorite Pavement song. I haven't been able to connect with Real Emotional Trash in nearly the same way, maybe because the solos are less concise, and don't seem to suddenly materialize like that one does.ReplyDelete
(Does "Carrot Rope" ruin the flow of that album, by the way? A bit like turning on cartoons after watching No Country for Old Men. Deliberate tonal shift I'm sure but christ, what an annoying one.)
Not sure I buy Pavement as modern classic rockers. "Type Slowly" (my #2 late-Pavement guitar moment) has always suggested Television to me. Easier for me to hear the band hinting at the breadth of influence on those last two albums than locating myself in a tradition that specific.
PS - Hi Nathan!
The first time I heard Carrot Rope, I thought it couldn't have been a Malkmus song and was convinced that Spiral Stairs must have written it. If it had to be on the album at all (which is a big if!), then it shouldn't have ended it. The Hexx would have been a perfect ending. But that's a very minor negative comment and probably the only negative comment I would ever make about Pavement.Delete
Greg! I agree with you completely about "Carrot Rope." When I heard it the first time I thought I had just accidentally wandered into an episode of Theodore Tugboat or something. Its unrelenting buoyancy makes it even more disturbing, in a way, than "The Hexx."ReplyDelete
Re: Pavement as classic rockers, I think songs like "Spit On A Stranger" definitely point to a certain Dead-related strain of classic rock, which I realize is not necessarily what gets played on classic rock radio (oddly, I never hear the Grateful Dead on the radio--they need to make way for their Poison and Ratt, I guess). Anyway, Pavement fits fairly easily into my conception of what will be played on the radio 30 years from now, along with Nirvana, Weezer, whatever.
What's up with your blog?
- AnonymousFebruary 23, 2014 at 11:14 PM
Totally rad post. The guitar solo on the Hexx is a stunner, and as timeless as guitar playing gets IMO. Glad to have found such a perceptive public articulation of its greatness, nearly five years after you originally posted it.ReplyDelete


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While the Final Fantasy VII remake won't be out until sometime in 2016, you can still get your FFVII fix by taking a look as this amazing cosplay:
Final Fantasy Cosplay Reenacts Famous FFVII Moment
Done by cosplayers Wes Johnson and Sarah Quillian, and photographed by Jan-Michael Losada, Aerith's (SPOILER ALERT) unexpected death is depicted in an amazing and beautiful way. Quillian explained that for the underwater shots, she actually had to stay submerged in water for some length of time, which was not an easy thing to do.
Underwater requires that you trick your brain to push past the point where it is demanding you return to the surface for air. The position I had to be in, in order to sink slowly to the bottom of the pool, also allowed water to flow up inside of my head! It was definitely an exhausting day, but I'm so happy with how the photos turned out!
Be sure to let us know what you think of the Cloud and Aerith Final Fantasy VII cosplay in the comments section below.
[Source: DeviantArt via Escapist Magazine]


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One of our biggest goals for this winter was to cut back on the amount of home heating oil that we used. I just went back through my records and found some interesting progress.
In winter 2007-2008, we got our oil tank filled four times:
- November 23
- December 28
- January 23
- March 6
We got the tank filled again in May, and that oil lasted us throughout the summer, fall, and into December of 2008.
In winter 2008-2009, we've only had our tank filled twice:
- December 13
- February 20
We've basically cut our home heating oil consumption in half from last winter to this winter. When we factor in the drop in the cost of oil, it's a savings of over $1700!
How did we do it? We froze our buns off! We lowered the thermostat in our house to 55 degrees, and we supplemented with wood in our woodstove, which helped us bring the temperature up to 60-65 degrees on most days. We've definitely adjusted to the cooler temperature, but we also bundle up at home. I've worn my warm sweatshirt over my clothes almost every day, and I've doubled up on socks. If we're sitting on the couch, it's always under blankets.
Ed and I are proud that we conserved so much oil, both for our bank account and for the environment. However, almost all of the guests at our house complained that it's too cold, and there were many times that we exlaimed we were sick of winter and tired of being cold.
We hope that by next year we'll be able to get a new wood-burning furnace that will heat our home more efficiently than our wood stove, but I'm not sure if that's a realistic goal for next year. The bonus would be that it would heat our hot water, too, so we would save even more oil. We'd also be able to bank the fire before we go to sleep or leave for work, which would keep our house warmer.
Have you been trying to conserve fuel this winter? How's it going?