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Wednesday, May 12, 2010
The Fate of Disney Villains
It may seem counter-intuitive for an animation studio touting alleged moral messages and lessons learned, but Disney's animated films are pretty heavy on semi-violent karmic death. The lesson is far from nuanced; if you're a bad guy, you will undoubtedly fall to your painful but ultimately deserved death in a waterfall or from a jagged cliff. It's just the way it is. It may be a tough lesson for children--act out and you'll inevitably take a timely plunge off of a precariously unstable branch or railingless skyscraper--but it's an important one nonetheless. After all, without a terrifying threat of impending doom, what's to keep kids from acting out and going the ominous villain route? It's an airtight defense.
For the sake of simplicity and non-visible-from-a-distance blood splatters, a fall is by far the simplest means of eliminating a bad guy in the last ten minutes of a Disney animated film. The pain and suffering is implied without being explicit, though usually not administered in a particularly sadistic manner. In short, the punishment fits the crime while keeping in mind that a point-blank bullet to the face could probably be traumatizing to small children. This rule, of course, does not apply to the good guys, in which gun-induced trauma is not only acceptable but actually encouraged and played for tears. See Mom, Bambi's for more information and, probably, some uncontrollable sobbing.
In the cases of a semi-historical plot, it can be tougher to administer that climactic fall. While Disney movies are often pretty heavy on creative license in their adaptation of an existing story, there are existing premises in which a villain's fall to the death doesn't quite fit. Writers and animators may be forced to deliver a less crushing blow, such as Pocahontas' Ratcliffe's forced return to England to face high treason charges. It may not have the satisfying resonance of a villain's defeated wail growing progressively quieter as he crashes into the middle distance, but for some stories we may just have to settle.
Crime against mermanity: Takes advantage of innocent young mermaid in revealing shell bra; barters voice for human legs.
To be fair: She does offer a loophole to Ariel in the form of True Love's Kiss. What kind of softy villain offers an escape clause? Maybe she's not so bad after all.
Then again: If Ariel fails, she'll be Ursula's slave forever. Plus she has to hang out with those freaky eels. Yikes.
Means of death: Animated heartthrob and all around good-haired hero Eric runs over her with a ship.
Verdict: It's a little more malicious than the standard "Oh, oops, she fell off a cliff" out, but it's satisfying nonetheless.
Crimes against humanity: General deception, hypnotizes sultan, attempts to enslave whole of Arabian royalty.
Also: Owns irritating parrot. This may be the worst offense.
Means of death: Tricked by own greed and overconfidence into eternal imprisonment in the genie's lamp.
Verdict: Not quite a death, but a life sentence comes in as a near second in the Disney animated tropes for villain elimination.
Crimes against African wildlife population: Lies, betrayal, ruthless pursuit of throne, general disregard for Circle of Life.
Means of death: Falls on jagged cliffs. Okay, fine, that's not his death, it's a fakeout. Technically, falls on jagged cliffs and survives.
Add insult to injury: ...only to be eaten by his former allies the hyenas.
Verdict: Totally brutal, and just a tiny bit sadistic. They couldn't have just killed him with the fall? No, no, he needed to doubly learn his lesson...and then be eaten alive by wild beasts. It's warranted.
Percival McLeach
Crimes against endangered species of the Australian Outback: Poaches rare eagles, cruelty and entrapment of animals, terrorizing of adorable mice.
Means of death: Narrowly escapes death by crocodiles; celebrates by falling into waterfall.
Verdict: Classic Disney villain demise. Clean, quick, and a little mean.
Crimes against French provincial townspeople and/or potentially dangerous but ultimately kindhearted monsters: Incredible hubris, undue beast hunting, smelly socks.
Means of death: After the Beast makes a legitimate attempt to spare Gaston's undeserving life, Gaston goes and stabs the big guy in the back. Literally.
And then: ...trips and epically falls into the night.
Verdict: Totally justified. That's what you get for bringing a lynch mob to the castle of a mysteriously furry recluse. He really should have known better.
Shan Yu
Crimes against East Asian warrior culture: Leads the bloodthirsty Huns into China.
Means of death: Gets totally distracted by firework strapped to comic relief dragon; explodes.
Verdict: Not quite the fall we may have been hoping for, though we can assume he did eventually plummet to his redundant death after exploding. Whatever, we'll take consolation wherever we can find it.
Crimes against persecuted Native American population: Greed for gold, exploits land, unreasonably distrust of natives.
Means of death: None. Trapped by settlers and shipped off to England to be tried for high treason.
Verdict: Lame. John Smith gets shot and Ratcliffe gets off with some treason charges? Granted, Smith lives and Ratcliffe's charges are for high treason, but really. How's a five-year old supposed to understand the karmic value in that outcome? "Oh, it's cool. He was sent back to his native country to be tried in a court of law for crimes against the state." They would have done better falling off a cliff and/or into a waterfall. It's a far more resonant visual.
Crimes against Notre Dame hunchback community: Acts totally unjustly while serving as Minister of Justice. Go figure.
Means of death: Loses hold on stone gargoyle, plummets to death from atop Notre Dame cathedral.
Verdict: As far as Disney villains go, Frollo is one of the downright slimiest. Here's a case where a more specifically violent visual may have been welcome.
Crimes against mythological Greek figures: Though justifiably bitter about role as lord of the deceased in the underworld, Hades' quest to overthrow brother Zeus by knocking off Hercules is still pretty villainous.
Means of death: Punched out by super strong Hercules, plummets into River Styx.
Also: Eaten by dead people's spirits.
Verdict: Awesome comeuppance with a real lesson: if you're gonna mess with Hercules, you're going to be smothered by the lingering souls of the dead. That's just the way it goes.
Crimes against tree-swinging contingency of jungle-dwelling humanity: Gorilla hunter and guilty of all-around bad guy-ness.
Means of death: Falls out of tree, strangled by vine, hanged.
Verdict: A little graphic, but overall pretty fair. You don't go after gorillas n' friends. They'll get you.
Posted by Children of the 90s at 6:03 AM 8 comments
Labels: Bad Guys, Cartoons, Features, Movies. Disney
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When you first begin your journey as a freelancer you can encounter situations that can break your heart. I wrote this to help you stay on your path, and how to deal with your friends and family
I really wanted to touch on this to save you heartache. Once you decide to become a makeup artist several things happen:
- Your schedule changes dramatically
- Your language changes dramatically
- Your income changes dramatically
When this shift comes into your life there will be folks who are just not comfortable with it. Your mother may think you will be poor and destitute. Your husband doesn't understand why you must work on this project for free. Your friends can't flow with your hours, and cannot understand why you just talked about the consistency of 4 different types of body lotions for an hour. With my family and friends, the question of how much money I made in the beginning would drive me to total frustration and to tears. They weren't excited when I had just done the best shoot ever. They wanted to know how much that shoot paid. I don't know why, but when I finally decided to step out on my own, and be self-employed this bought on barrage of invasive questions they never dared asked me when I was working in corporate America. I have never had so many people in my pocket before and it was too much to take.
I have never had so many people in my pocket before it was too much to take
Now to their defense–I know it comes from concern, love and just plan trying to understand this business. After all, I just left corporate america, my benenfits and my salary behind to suddenly make no "real" money (I totally get that, I do) BUT dammmnnnn, must you really know how much the gig paid? AND why must I justify why I'm doing what I've chosen as a career path, every single time I mention my latest gig? I longed for the day they stopped asking me–or they stopped blowing off my latest victory with a– Well you didn't make any real money how serious can this career be? kind-of-attitude. I wanted them to come take the journey with me, only to realize they were incapable. I wanted people to marvel in my new found love. I wanted them to love it, because I loved it. I wanted them to keep up my spirits when I was down. BUT they were incapable, because what was needed was an understanding that they lacked, and I grew so tired of trying to explain.
keep your money to yourself
So my advice is–please keep your money to yourself. I made the mistake of thinking I would be rolling in the dough, due to reports on what folks like Kevyn Aucion made at the time. I thought if I made just 1/10th of what he did I would be good to go–WRONG! I went around quoting income, ala Kevyn, but little did I know it would take me years to get that 1/10th. Please know your income will most likely be very, very, very–one more, very, small in the beginning of your career and you will be working for free a lot "paying your dues"
Keep the talk about income to the only person that counts–a significant other you share bills. You may have to do this part time if your salary is extremely important to your households survival. People who are not in this business cannot wrap their brains around working for free, little pay for crazy hours, no medical benefits and definitely no pension. In the end it will just stress you out–and a stressed makeup artist isn't good to anyone.
Now several years later, after much hard work, many highs and some serious ass-kicking lows, I have finally made it to the point where my friends and family –(who doubted my decisions), are now proud of me and they have stopped asking me those dayum annoying questions. And yes, I do get to have dinner with the girls, when I can and I pay my bills.
So to you newbies out there, I understand where you are and I wish for you perseverance, patients, love, and a tenacious spirit.
Never give up, never stop. How will you ever see your dreams fulfilled.
- How do you feel about this? Have you experienced this problem? Did this article help you, let this sistah know. Leave comments below.

subset: commoncrawl


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On the weekend I attend the funeral of a 90yo. There was only 1 person in attendance with a known connection to the man. I did not know him. He had no known relatives. Why I was there is a complex story, but suffice to say they were 20 people present giving Mr Tibor P an appropriate and dignified exit from this world.
I was struck by many thoughts during the service. Just some of these were - What was Tibor's story? How did he live so long and yet be so alone? There are 20 people here now, but where were they, me... all of us, when he was alive? You really can't take anything with you, and nothing in this world lasts other than your deeds. That is when I really realised giving Tibor, who I did not know, an appropriate burial reinforces our humanity.
For me, this was because it reinforced the value of respect. We showed Tibor respect in a very real way. Respect is a word I often hear spoken about in my work. Relationships are about respect. Relationships involving conflict can only move towards resolution if there is some level of respect.
This workshop will include an overview of similarities and differences between frameworks, process, legislation, interests and stakeholders in workplace and family dispute resolution. The panel will also introduce case studies and facilitate discussion for participants to explore and consider how to manage these issues. Two experienced facilitators, Zandy Fell and Jodie Grant, will share their perspectives in a dynamic & interactive presentation, drawing on the expertise and knowledge of participants in the room.
The event carries one CPD point. Finger foods will be provided and drinks are available at bar prices.
Cost: Free for VADR and VARJ
members (non-members $25)
Venue: Coopers Inn, Cnr Exhibition & Little Lonsdale Street. Click here for more info or to book.
The Zalt Group works with individuals & organisations who want to restore and strengthen workplace relationships.
If you enjoyed reading this blog, you might also like:
Blog insights from my 92-year-old Grand-Mother
Workplace conflict - a Generational difference
Move from "Bloody HR" to "Brilliant HR"
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Team England has officially announced their gymnastics squad for the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, which completes the line-up for the Home Nations.
A squad of 13 gymnasts has been selected by Team England to compete this summer. The men's artistic gymnastics squad includes 2012 Olympic bronze medallists Sam Oldham, Louis Smith MBE, Kristian Thomas and Max Whitlock and five times junior European Champion, 18 year old Nile Wilson completes the line-up.
The women's artistic team is led by European Champion and double Commonwealth Games medallist Rebecca Downie, who's joined by three of the 2014 European Silver medal winning team - Claudia Fragapane, Ruby Harrold, and Hannah Whelan with Kelly Simm taking the final position.
2014 British hoop and ball silver medallist Stephani Sherlock, 2014 British all-around bronze medallist Mimi-Isabella Cesar and 2012 Olympian Lynne Hutchison will all compete in the rhythmic gymnastics competition.
The 20th Commonwealth Games will be held in Glasgow from the 24th July to 3rd August 2014 with 72 Nations taking part in 261 events over 17 sports. The gymnastics disciplines of artistic gymnastics and rhythmic gymnastics form part of the Games with competitors competing for home nations rather than Great Britain/British Gymnastics.
Team Wales
2014 Welsh all-around champion Raer Theaker leads the women's artistic Welsh team. She is joined by 2012 British Junior European team members Georgina Hockenhull and Angel Romaeo, 2014 British floor champion Lizzie Beddoe and Jessica Hogg who finished fifth in the floor event at the Youth Olympics in Singapore in 2010.
The youngest members of the men's team are 17 year-olds Jac Davies and Iwan Mepham from Carmarthen and Barry respectively. Both gymnasts competed for Wales at the Northern European Championships where Iwan won a silver medal for his high bar routine. Iwan has also represented Wales at table tennis. 21 year-old Robert Sansby and Harry Owen from Haverfordwest both competed at the Commonwealth Youth Games in the Isle of Man in 2011with Harry winning a bronze medal in the individual all-around event. 25 year-old Clinton Purnell from Cardiff takes the final spot; he represented Wales in Delhi 2010.
The Welsh rhythmic team is particularly strong with 2014 British all-around champion Laura Halford competing alongside 2012 Olympian and silver medallist in Delhi 2010 Francesca Jones and Nikara Jenkins who has won a hat-trick of British titles.
Team Scotland
2012 Olympic bronze medallist Daniel Purvis and 2008 Olympian and 2013 European Champion Dan Keatings head up the men's artistic team alongside 2012 Junior European Champion Frank Baines, high bar bronze medallist in the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games Adam Cox and Liam Davie who represented Scotland at the 2011 Commonwealth Youth Games in the Isle of Man.
2006 and 2010 Commonwealth Games member Emma White leads the women's team alongside Amy Regan who finished 4th in Delhi in the floor final, Scottish floor champion Carly Smith, former Scottish Junior champion Cara Kennedy and Scottish beam champion Erin McLachlan.
The Scottish rhythmic team is made up of 2014 senior Scottish champion Rebecca Bee and silver medallist Victoria Clow alongside 2013 Australian Youth Olympic competitor Lauren Brash.
Team Northern Ireland
2014 Irish all-around silver medallist Nicole Mawhinney is joined by 2014 Irish beam and floor champion India McPeak and 2012 Junior European competitors Sarah Beck and Ciara Roberts for the women's artistic team.
2014 Celtic Cup parallel bars champion Luke Carson who has made an incredible comeback after a string of injuries is joined in the men's artistic competition by member of the 2014 Irish European team Matthew Cosgrave.
Team Isle of Man
2014 British vault finalist Tara Donnelly and 2013 Island Games champion Grace Harrison lead the women's artistic team joined by Kaitlin Kneen and Nicole Burns.
The men's artistic team is Mukunda Measuria, Harshul Measuria, Anand Patel and Alex Hedges.
Team Jersey
Charlotte Pollard will be the first ever Commonwealth Games gymnast from Jersey. She is the reigning Wiltshire Open champion and won two medals at the 2013 Island Games.


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Online Banking
Online Banking
We love to see our members in person, but Online Banking makes it easy to do your banking via desktop, laptop, tablet or smartphone. In just a few clicks, you can check your balance, view your transaction history, transfers funds and more! It's free, easy and secure with 24/7 account access. Click here to log in.
Online banking
- Track and manage your accounts from any device with an internet connection
- Pay your bills or a person with Bill Pay by scheduling one-time or recurring payments
- Access your eStatements
- View/Print your Check Copies (available for a 90 day period from clearing date)
Here's a couple things you should know about your Online Banking
- Launches in separate tab / page as Net Teller
- Terminology:
- NetTeller ID = FICU Online Banking Username
- NetTeller Password = Password
Mobile banking
With FICU Mobile Banking app you have the ability to manage your account from the convenience of your smartphone. Our app is free and can be downloaded on your Apple or Android device!
- Everything you love about Online Banking on a desktop plus:
- Mobile Deposit for check deposits. Snap. Tap. Done!
Download the iOS or Android App today!
Need help registering for Online banking? Give us a call at (760) 352-1540 Option 0, email us at email@example.com or stop by one of our branches.


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First of all, on the off chance anyone's noticed, apologies for being AWOL lately. Plenty of travel, a busted laptop, a touch of war weariness and the presence of small children… give that lot to 1917's sword bearers during a Mediterranean heatwave, they could've stopped the First World War in no time. In my case it's merely slowed things down a little, and requires me to slip something slight into the early September slot. That's fairly appropriate, because I want to spend a little time on the Eastern Front, and a century ago the war in Eastern Europe was all but over.
July's failed Kerenski Offensive had left the Russian Army in no shape for any kind of attack, while what little coherent energy Austro-Hungarian forces could muster was focused on the Italian Front and everyone involved, including the Romanian Army, had settled for status quo in the Romanian campaign. Only the German high command had the strength to consider attacking options in the east, but its thoughts had turned to exploitation of occupied territories, its ambitions were still centred on submarine warfare and its immediate concern was defence of the Western Front.
All the same, the German Army did bother to launch one last attack in the east, at the far northern end of the front, where a limited offensive launched on 1 September took the Latvian capital of Riga two days later. It did this for three reasons, and one of them was quite interesting.
The first was a matter of tidiness, because Russian positions in front of Riga formed a small but irritating bulge in the line. The second was a matter of provocation, because a move on Riga might suggest a further attack towards Petrograd and add to the ongoing chaos in the Russian capital. The third reason was a matter of military experiment, because the German Army thought it had found a way to beat defensive trench warfare. This was a potentially crucial development, and needed testing.
I think I've made it clear over the years that 'breakthrough tactics' had been tried, tried again and found wanting on all the main European battle fronts since 1915, but were still being used on the grounds that more men and bigger bombardments might just make them work. BEF commander Haig had stuck with breakthrough tactics for his latest attack around Ypres, with disastrous consequences, and was only just learning to make use of the alternative approaches demonstrated at Messines in June. The German Army was meanwhile developing a more radical departure from breakthrough, advocated in print by a French Army captain in 1915 but first put to full practical use during the attack on Riga. Called 'infiltration tactics' by the British, they were known to the Germans as 'Hutier tactics' after the operation's commander, General Oskar von Hutier.
Breakthrough involved a long, a massed bombardment of enemy strong points, followed by a massed, concentrated infantry assault on the wrecked remains of enemy forward positions. Infiltration was preceded by only a brief 'hurricane' bombardment, after which small but powerfully armed units would attack into the spaces between enemy strong points with a view to disrupting rear and artillery positions. Equipped with light machine-guns, light mortars, flamethrowers and sometimes light artillery, and given first call on aircraft support, these 'stormtrooper' units were expected to penetrate as deep as possible behind enemy lines, forcing defenders to abandon the pre-prepared second- and third-line positions that had scuppered so many breakthrough attempts for so many years.
Infiltration tactics certainly worked at Riga, which was defended by the Russian Twelfth Army, led by new c-in-c General Kornilov and pretty much the last coherent fighting force at his disposal. Warned of the impending attack by the transfer of German reinforcements from Galicia, Kornilov was already preparing a retreat on Petrograd (of which more another day) when Von Hutier's Eighth Army stormed into action across a 5km front along the River Dvina.
With important support from German Air Force units enjoying uncontested dominance of the skies, meticulously prepared German divisions carried out the new tactics perfectly, and had established a strong bridgehead across the river by the end of the first day. The Russians abandoned the defence next day, and anything militarily useful was evacuated from Riga before it fell on 3 September. The Russian retreat, though fairly orderly, was not particularly efficient, and von Hutier's forces chased stragglers up the Dvina for the next three weeks before offensive operations were halted. By that time any thoughts of advancing on Petrograd had been shelved as unnecessary, because the Russian war effort appeared to be collapsing on its own.
So were infiltration tactics the key to unlocking the ghastly stalemate of trench warfare? Not really. They did open up the possibility of making relatively large territorial gains in a hurry, but they didn't solve the supply and transport difficulties that had been making long-range exploitation of gains impossible since 1914. Within a few months they would be tested three times on the grand scale – by Austro-German forces on the Italian Front at Caporetto, by the BEF on the Western Front at Cambrai and by the German Army for its 1918 spring offensive in France – and on each occasion attacking forces would quickly run out of momentum and support. Infiltration methods would be used during the relatively open warfare that brought final Allied victory on the Western Front in the autumn of 1918, but only as one element in a blend of tactics, and only for limited, pre-planned infantry advances.
My excuse for wandering off into trench tactics is, yet again, the persistence of popular myths about First World War command attitudes. To listen to the heritage chorus you'd think tossing away tens of thousands of lives, time after time, was fine with most generals so long as there were yet more men available for the next round at the mincing machine. While there is some truth in the accusation at strategic level, most obviously among the German Third Supreme Command, field commanders were almost uniformly horrified by the grim realities of twentieth-century ground warfare, and never ceased trying to change them. Von Hutier and his staff (like Australian General Monash at Gallipoli and British General Plumer at Messines, to name a couple off the top of my head) were prime examples of this determination to alter the equation, and were backed by an embattled German high command desperate for any battlefield edge.
The German war effort didn't need Riga, given that the Russian Baltic fleet had effectively ceased to function, and it didn't need the burden of extra Latvian territory. It had started transferring troops to the Western Front almost as soon as the city had fallen, and left only a skeleton force to occupy the region, a force more concerned with keeping Latvia quiet amid revolutionary turmoil than with bleeding it dry to supply the war effort. That's not to say the people of Riga didn't suffer – even before the occupation their city was wrecked and stripped of food by the retreating Russians – but it does suggest that the German Army, already stretched beyond reasonable limits, had been prepared to mount an entire offensive to test out a tactical approach that might defeat trench systems. Case closed. Generals did care.


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City announces Veterans Day holiday schedule of City services
City Hall and most municipal offices will be closed on Monday, Nov. 12, 2018 to observe Veterans Day. Public safety and emergency services will remain in operation. Other City services will operate as follows:
Recycling, organics recycling and garbage will be collected, Police will be on duty, Fire and EMS personnel will be on duty, 3-1-1 Call Center will be operational from 8 a.m.-5 p.m., Downtown visitors will enjoy a parking meter holiday, Dead animal collection crews will be on duty, Animal Care Officers will be on duty, San Antonio Botanical Garden, La Villita and Market Square shops, Bitters Brush Recycling Center, 1800 Wurzbach ParkwayNelson Gardens Brush Recycling Center, 8963 Nelson Rd.
Alicia Trevino Lopez and Doris Griffin Senior Center(with limited services), Limited Fitness in the Park and Cultural Classes will be offered- see November schedule for details, Pre-K 4 SA centers and corporate office, Head Start administrative offices and school district sites.
Alamodome Box Office and Administrative Offices, Central Library and all branch libraries, All Metro Health clinics, Animal Care Services Lobby and Adoption Center Municipal Court, 401 S. Frio, Carver Community Cultural Center, 226 N. Hackberry,Senior Comprehensive Centers, with the exception of those listed above, Senior Nutrition Sites (seniors or the general public may contact individual nutrition sites for holiday schedule information), City of San Antonio Community Service Centers, Child Care Services administrative offices, Office of the City Clerk, Passports, Vital Records and Municipal Archives and Records, SAPD's Administration and Records Section, Parks & Recreation Community Centers, Parks & Recreation Adult and Senior Centers, Enrique Barrera Community Fitness Center, McFarlin Tennis Center, 1503 San Pedro, San Antonio Natatorium, 1430 W. Cesar Chavez, Spanish Governor's Palace, La Villita Administrative Offices, Market Square Administrative Offices, Culture Commons Gallery at Plaza de Armas, Centro de Artes Gallery at Market Square, Willie C. Velasquez Emergency Services Center, SAFD Administrative Offices.


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Defining a problem
Canada continues to expand its interpretation of environmental issues
by Greg Klein
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Amnesty International has not only joined the campaign against a Canadian mining proposal. It's been granted "interested party" status by a federal environmental review panel. So has a nationalist group, the Council of Canadians. The news suggests that Canada has expanded its definition of "environmental" issues even further than the cultural and spiritual matters, and native rights and potential rights, that it has previously considered.
That's the result of legislation passed last June. At the time environmentalists were critical, saying the new law would weaken the review process for resource proposals. But this announcement from a Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency review panel seems to suggest otherwise.
The three-member panel was appointed by the CEAA to review the $1.1-billion New Prosperity Gold-Copper Project proposed by Taseko Mines TSX:TKO for south-central British Columbia. On October 12 the panel announced its selection of interested parties from the groups and individuals who applied for the distinction. Although the panel will also hear from the public, "only those persons with interested party status will be permitted to participate in all aspects of the review during the public hearing phase," the announcement stated.
An international human rights organization and a Canadian nationalist group made the cut. According to the panel they're directly affected by the project, or have relevant information or expertise. The panel's announcement stated that "the explicit definition of 'interested party' and the requirement for the panel to determine whether a person qualifies as an interested party are new" under last June's legislation. To define interested parties, "the panel has followed a liberal and generous approach."
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Part two of our top overseas free agents article will talk about players whose rights are already owned by NBA franchises through being drafted in years past. They aren't really free agents in the traditional sense, but bear with us.
Teams are increasingly using the method of stashing European players overseas as a way of saving valuable roster spots and having their draftees develop on someone elses coin. Weve discussed this method of acquiring assets repeatedly on DraftExpress through the years, in articles such as Waiting for Manu by Heather Allen and Paul Gearan, and The Secondary Market in Draft Rights by Robert Windrem. Some of the best examples of this strategy include names like Arvydas Sabonis, Peja Stojakovic, Nenad Krstic, Andrei Kirilenko and of course Manu Ginobili. Will any impact players be joining this impressive list of players this summer? From what we are hearing, the answer to that is YES.
Navarro Next?
An afternoon meeting today between Barcelonas president Joan Laporta and his homegrown superstar Juan Carlos Navarro yielded a surprising result for Spanish and international basketball fans everywhere. What seemed like a once impossible buyout sum of 10 million Euros (13.6 million dollars) has been lowered in principle by as much as 85%-- to the much more manageable sum of 2-3 million dollars depending on what kind of deal Navarro can negotiate with the Washington Wizards, or any other team that can somehow get a hold of his rights.
And negotiate he will, as sources close to the situation have told us that hes only looking for a contract similar to what Sarunas Jasikevicius signed with Indiana when he came over back in 20053 years and around 12million dollars. The 26-year old Navarro will then likely work out the exact buyout details with the team hes played for his since 1996, and now requests that he only give them a fair amount of money to go along with firm assurances that he will play just for them should he decide to return to Europe one day. Navarro already told us as much (I would play for no other club in Europe) in an exclusive interview he conducted with us back in March, which seemingly set the stage for Barcelonas announcement today.
Its rumored that Barcelona will turn around and use those 3 million dollars or so to buy Rudy Fernandez out of his contract with Joventut and try to get him in a blue-maroon uniform.
Navarro will be giving up some money to leave for the NBAhe reportedly was given a blank check with his name on it to name his price for to rest of his careerbut hes made the decision that its now or never and thats he basically accomplished everything he can at the international level, so its time to move on. He indeed spoke about looking for new challenges in the interview he conducted with DraftExpress.
Our sources in Spain tell us that the Washington Wizards have scouted him extensively this past season, even sending Ernie Grunfeld over on more than one occasion to make contact with him. They consider him a perfect fit for their system, so it shouldnt be a surprise at all to see him end up in Washington DC.
If that cant be worked out, though, then there will surely be other suitors. The Memphis Grizzlies for one, are already looking at Navarro as the perfect companion to keep Pau Gasol happy with the direction the franchise is headed. The two are close friends and play extremely well with each other as weve all seen with the defending World Champion Spanish National Team over the years. If the Wizards opt to keep Deshawn Stevenson over Navarro (they cannot feasibly sign both) then look for Gasol to put pressure on Chris Wallace and the Memphis front office to do whatever it takes to get him in a Grizzlies uniform.
Is he worth all the fuss? Read his scouting report and decide for yourself.
Who Else?
Besides Navarro, there are other players who have been drafted by NBA teams in years past and still have yet to come over. Heres a short run down
Alex Acker, Detroit Pistons- Acker took a fairly strange route to making this list, being drafted in 2005 and playing a year for the Pistons before deciding to leave their qualifying offer on the table to sign with Euroleague powerhouse Olimpiacos in Greece. His rights are therefore owned by Detroit still, and the qualifying offer they made last year is still in effect as long as they still want him. Acker initially signed a two-year deal with Olimpiacos with a team option on the second year. The team decided that they do not want him back next year and already decided not to opt-in. Acker reportedly had some issues with the coaching staff last year and was close to not returning to Greece at one point after taking a short vacation back to the States. He was spectacular at times this season (flirting with an unprecedented Euroleague triple double against Prokom for example) and very average in others, showing the deficiencies he has in his game in regards to his maturity level and defensive ability. Still, with Carlos Delfino being shipped out and only Arron Afflalo competing with him for playing time at the swing position, the Pistons could very well decide to keep Acker if he shows progress during Summer League.
Oleksiy Pecherov, Washington Wizards- The #18 pick in last years draft had just an OK season after returning to the Ukraine to play for BC Kyiv. He will be joining the Wizards once again in summer league and will almost certainly be signed.
Joel Freeland, Portland Trailblazers- The #30 pick in 2006, could barely manage to get off the bench in the ACB league besides playing garbage time minutes. He obviously is a few years away and Portland fans shouldnt be holding their breath at this point.
Kosta Perovic, Golden State Warriors- Sources in Europe tell DraftExpress that Perovic has signed a contract with Golden State and will be on their roster next year. Perovic will have to pay a hefty buyout (even in addition to the $500,000 the Warriors can contribute) to get out of his contract with Partizan. He was actually close to signing a deal with Euroleague Final Four participants Unicaja Malaga, but was swayed to sign in the NBA once the Warriors caught wind of that. He does not seem to fit Don Nelsons system in the least bit, and will likely be joining Patrick OBryant and Adonal Foyle on the end of his bench.
Lior Eliyahu, Houston Rockets- After an impressive season playing for Maccabi Tel Aviv at the top of the Euroleague, Eliyahu is currently in Houston showing off his skills for the Rockets before he joins them for summer league. They might not have a roster spot for him right now, but theres a possibility he could change their mind with the way he plays in Las Vegas. Either way he seems to be developing very nicely.
Erazem Lorbek, Indiana Pacers- Lorbeks (a 2nd round pick in 2005) agent David Bauman told DraftExpress in May that he expects to negotiate a good deal for Erazem Lorbek with Indiana this summer. According to him, all it takes is for Indiana to commit playing time and the right mix of money and years. Lorbek had a very strong finish to the season playing for Rome after bouncing around between Málaga and Treviso.
Axel Hervelle, Denver Nuggets- Hervelle is coming off winning a historic double with Real Madrid after conquering the ULEB Cup and Spanish ACB, and is now in the States with Denver getting ready for summer league. The roster looks a bit crowded with Eddie Najera and Linas Kleiza being similar style players under contract for next year already.
Marcin Gortat, Orlando Magic- Gortat continues to show improvement each and every year, averaging 10.4 points and 5.6 rebounds in the Euroleague playing for RheinEnergie Köln. Hes made some serious strides since we first saw him show off nice physical tools but very few skills at the Orlando pre-draft camp in 2005. Gortat has been training in Orlando for over a week now in preparation for their summer league, according to his agent Guy Zucker, and has every intention of making the Magic squad this year.
Cenk Akyol, Atlanta Hawks- Akyol is also in the States right now, working out with renowned trainer Tim Grover in Chicago. Grover seems to like him a lot from the conversation we had with him earlier today, talking extensively about how well he shoots the ball, but also about his toughness, coachability, and the fact that hes a lot more athletic than people give him credit for. Grover told us that he thinks Akyol should be able to make Atlantas roster and be effective for them, reminding us that hes only 20 years old at the moment. The Hawks will be going to watch Akyol play later this week before he heads back to Turkey to join the national team in preparation for the European Championship in Spain starting in September. Hes reportedly only looking for a minimum contract, and would be amenable to being sent down to the D-League as well if he was asked to. From what weve seen of Akyol with the Turkish National team and Efes Pilsen before he surprisingly fell out of his teams rotation, he looks like he would have been a very intriguing prospect had he not kept his name in the draft back in 2005. They very well could have gotten a steal with the recommendation their international scout Mark Crow made in the late 2nd round.
Mario Austin, Chicago Bulls- The lone American player on this list might also be the highest paid player of anyone here besides Navarro. Austin made close to a million dollars net with Hapoel Jerusalem, and is now a free agent drawing fantastic offers from Euroleague teams. Pini Gershon, the Israeli head coach of Olimpiacos, reportedly offered him 1.5 million dollars net (the equivalent of a 3 million dollar NBA offer) already, which he has not accepted at this point. Austin has developed into one of the best low-post threats in all of Europe over the past few years, and is seemingly exactly the inside offensive presence Chicago is lacking at this point, even if his defensive skills leave a lot to be desired. The problem is its going to cost them in a big way, and their focus seems to be more on resigning Andres Nocioni at the moment. Austins agent Doug Neustadt did not want to say much besides the fact that his clients value in Europe is extremely high. Austin will not be playing summer league for Chicago again, but he will work out privately for them.


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May turned out to be CBOE's second highest volume month during the Exchange's Extended Trading Hours options session. Average daily volume during ETH in May was 11,763 contracts per day, surpassed only by November's 14,118 contracts per day. However, May's volume was much more consistent, as opposed to the November volume which was highly concentrated in a single trading day in the wake of the U.S. Presidential election. More market participants appear to now be relying on the ETH session on a regular basis, rather than simply using the session to react to global events during non-U.S. hours.
A key driver for the increased ETH volume has been increased liquidity support from the London dealer community.
CBOE's ETH option session offers trading of SPX and VIX options from 8:00 a.m. London time until 2:15 p.m. London time. More information about ETH can be found here at www.cboe.com/eth.


text: Future Constructor & Architect is the industry's leading must-read specification resource, inspiring and informing those key decision-makers within the architectural trade. The monthly printed and online publication is renowned for delivering though-provoking editorial content and exclusive project profiles amidst an enviable catalogue of product launches in a vibrant and refreshing design. Future Constructor & Architect's unprecedented level of credible editorial coverage cements its position within the architectural industry as an informative and inspiring resource. Each month Future Constructor & Architect's pages are filled with the latest from the architectural trade – from recent contract wins, to accomplished high-profile projects and stimulating advisory-led topics. As a dependable publication within the architectural industry, Future Constructor & Architect dedicates over 50% of its pages to regular thought-leadership articles and inspiring project-led case studies. To receive monthly updates on the latest from the architectural trade, sign up free to Future Constructor & Architect today.


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I have been getting mails about my blog, why I hardly post pictures of myself and also people wanting to know what my personal style is about and first off, thanks to everyone who sent me mails, I really love communicating with my readers. So, yesterday…I think i was really missing home (Nigeria) hence the colors, lol but i really have to say I was feeling myself.
I decided to take a few snapshots using my iphone camera. I do have a canon but i can't find my battery charger so i have to get a new one so i can post better pics for you guys. In the mean time though…bare with me **kisses**
I also started using lipliners recently and boy do they make a whole lot of difference…a good difference that is. I used MAC Currant lipliner and MAC girl about town and it turned out to be fantastic match! The currant lipliner pretty much goes with any lipstick in the pink – purple color range. You like?
Blouse – Zara
Skirt – Zara
Necklace – Zara
Bracelet – Micheal Kors
Watch – Christian Bernard
Shoes – Nine West
Follow my personal account on IG @omoyele_o
Have fab weekend!xx


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You can judge good quality pasta just by looking at it. Good pasta will have a unique yellow color. Properly grown, stored, milled, and dried, pasta will have very few defects such as black specks, white spots, or cracks. During cooking, the pasta will release only a small amount of starch, will not clump together or form surface stickiness, and it should have good texture and elasticity upon chewing. Visually the pasta should be an amber yellow color, uniform in size and shape, and without grayish or reddish shades. Good quality pasta will have a pleasant taste and aroma, and always cook al dente.


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Dear Fellow Foreign Dignitary Visit Enthusiasts,
In honor of Chinese president Xi Jinping's recent visit to the US (and to Boeing), I have prepared a two-page China market study. The bottom line finding of this mini-study: China matters more than ever as an aircraft market. It matters less than ever as an aircraft producer.
Good news first: China is setting records as a market, in many ways. Last year saw 268 Airbus and Boeing deliveries to China, or 20% of total world deliveries. That's a record for China in raw numbers, and a record as a percentage of the market. In 1991,China accounted for just2%ofworld deliveries. In 2007 that figure was just 12%.
China is also now the largest jetliner market in the world. Last year Airbus and Boeing delivered 182 jetliners to US airline customers, or just 13% of total industry output. All these numbers exclude new lessor deliveries to airlines, which wouldn't tip the balance in the US market's favor.
Most importantly, China is also now the last BRIC standing. While Boeing deliveries to China went from 9% of total jets delivered in 2007 to 18% last year, the company's exports to Brazil, Russia, and India collapsed. The three countries accounted for 12% of Boeing's output in 2007, but just 5% last year.Given the direction of the Brazilian, Russian, and Indian economies, it's not surprising that deliveries to those countries have fallen to just 2% of Boeing deliveries in 2015 (through the third quarter). Meanwhile, China has risen to 20%. In aviation today it's useless to talk about the BRICs. It's just China.
Interestingly, the numbers show yet again that having a China production line does no good at all for an aviation company. In 2007 (two years before Airbus's Tianjin line opened) Airbus delivered 68 jets to China (15% of company output), easily beating Boeing, which delivered just 39 (9% of Boeing output). Since then, with the Tianjin line going full throttle, Airbus has grown its China deliveries to 140 jets, a 10.9% compound annual growth rate (CAGR). In the same period, Boeing deliveries to China grew to 128 jets, an 18.5% CAGR. If new leased jet deliveries are added,Boeing delivered 155 jets to China last year, or 21.4% of all company deliveries. Boeing's market growth in China significantly outperformed Airbus, and Boeing didn't need to invest in an in-country production line. Of course, Airbus could have asked McDonnell Douglas or Embraer for their opinions about a China line. Both of them had miserable China production line experiences.
Speaking of China facilities,while President Xi visited,Boeing announced an agreement with China to build a 737 completion center. This is a completion center, not a manufacturing center or a final assembly line. Transplanting a completion center involves surrendering all of America's vital technologies associated with carpet stapling, painting, and seat installation. In other words, it won't enable China's aerospace industry development. In fact, talking about in-country production lines and completion centers brings me to the not-so-good news for China: they're moving backwards as an aircraft manufacturer, at least in relative terms.
Consider: the new Boeing center will open around the time 737MAX deliveries begin. Meanwhile, in March 2014 China signed an agreement with Airbus extending the Tianjin line to cover production of the next-generation A320neo series. So, China is building facilities for imported aircraft that compete with its own C919. This reflects a lack of confidence in the C919, as well as a Chinese airline preference for Western jets.
Meanwhile, September saw another delay announced for the ARJ21, China's second jetliner (after theY-10) and possibly the first to enter production. The new schedule calls for it to enter service next February. The original plan, when the jet was launched 12 years ago, was for it to enter service in 2007. It's the heaviest jetliner (on a per-seat basis) designed in many decades, which is not surprising since it's basically a shrunken DC-9. It's powered by GE's CF34 engine,which has been around for 40 years and will soon exit production for everybody else.Any airline using this aircraft will be at a severe competitive disadvantage relative to any carrier using modern aircraft.The ARJ21 launch user is Chengdu Airlines, which, bizarrely, is owned by COMAC itself.
The only possible defense of this aeronautical atrocity is that it's a learning experience. China's attention is now turning toward the larger C919, itself delayed until around 2019. Yet the same fundamental problem that hobbled the ARJ21 – a demand for technology transfer from all Western suppliers without any intellectual property protection for these suppliers – is in play for the C919, and will likely ruin the bigger jet too. As for the next step, there's talk of following the 919 with the 929, a twin aisle model. The plan is for China's state-owned aircraft industries to build it with help from Russia's state-owned aircraft industries. The outcome of this fiasco is basically pre-ordained. And don't forget my favorite theme in aviation: new market entrants have almost no chance. The CSeries train wreck illustrates that vividly.
There's worse news. Last year, according to the US International Trade Commission, China provided just $482 million in parts and structures for all US aircraft primes, including Boeing. That's less than half of Mexico's role in US aircraft manufacturing ($1.16 billion), and just 10% of Japan's role ($4.86 billion). Relative to 2013, last year China's output grew by a mere 5.9%. Mexico's grew by 37.7%. The average year-over-year increase for the top 15 suppliers was 15.1%. This kind of structures and components work is how you build an aerospace industry, and it's more profitable than less risky than building home-grown aircraft. In pursuit of its ill-advised jetliner programs, China has neglected huge opportunities in the global aircraft manufacturing supply chain.
To look at China's aviation position from a more positive angle,most economists agree that the Chinese economy needs to move away from production for foreign markets and towards domestic consumption. As far as our industry is concerned, that's exactly the way the country has been heading.
In addition to small and big market studies,my job is to write aircraft reports.Updates this month include the Rafale, C-17, Super Puma, AH-1, Tiger, Avanti, and the Military Transport overview. Have a great autumn.
Yours, 'Til Beijing's Aviation Museum Gets Its First ARJ21 Next Year,
Richard Aboulafia


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Tim Burton's 'Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children' Needs More Peculiarity [Review]
Posted on Friday, September 30th, 2016 by Angie Han
On paper, Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children sounds like a perfect combination of talent, material, and timing. It's essentially an X-Men movie, in keeping with the current craze for superhero films, but one with a fanciful gothic vibe. It is directed by the master of fanciful gothic vibes, Tim Burton — who knows a thing or two about superheroes and big-budget blockbusters already. It's led by the living Tim Burton drawings Eva Green and Asa Butterfield. Oh, and it's based on a bestselling novel by Ransom Riggs.
In short, it has all the makings of a big hit that brings some much-needed quirkiness back to the multiplex. So why, then, does it all feel so… uninspired? So familiar? So not-very-peculiar?
Miss Peregrine opens in sleepy suburban Florida, where teenage Jake Portman (Asa Butterfield) lives a life so unremarkable he might as well not exist at all. His parents (Chris O'Dowd and Kim Dickens) barely seem to notice him; the popular kids at school certainly don't. His closest friend might be his paternal grandfather Abraham (Terence Stamp), but sadly he is killed off by a Slenderman-like creature within the minutes of our meeting him.
As Jake struggles to come to terms with Abraham's death — and the uneasy feeling that something isn't quite right about it — he heads to Wales to seek out the orphanage where Abraham grew up. He soon learns, though, that it's no ordinary children's home. It's a haven for "peculiar" kids with superpowers, hidden inside a time loop set to September 3, 1943 and overseen by the unflappable Miss Peregrine (Eva Green). Imagine if Mary Poppins took over Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters and furnished it with wares found by searching for "steampunk" on Etsy, and you've more or less got the idea.
But wait, there's more: Miss Peregrine and her children are in danger thanks to the evil Mr. Barron (Samuel L. Jackson), who commands a team of wights (evil peculiars, basically) and hollowgasts (those Slenderman-like monsters) and believes these peculiars are their key to immortality. And wouldn't you know it, it turns out Jake has a secret of his own that might make him the peculiars' last, best hope for survival.


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|Damian Camp (L) with Jin Qiansheng of CAIB (R)
Jet lag be damned, Damian Camp spent a good part of Tuesday night in Wisconsin celebrating, even though – by Kiwi time and his own body clock – it was 3:00pm tomorrow in Hamilton, New Zealand.
Camp's got $9 million reasons to be happy, his tiny Pacific Aerospace Limited just landed a contract to sell airplanes in China.
Now you know and I know that everybody and his geeky pocket protector-wearing brother is eying China as the next new market for airplanes, as I wrote for the International Herald Tribune a month or so ago.
But Pacific Aerospace isn't Airbus or Bombardier. It's not even Cessna, who's Caravan is the plane Pacific Aerospace is trying to beat with its single engine P-750 extremely short take-off and landing aircraft.
|The P-750 takes off from a dirt strip. Photo courtesy Pacific Aerospace Lid.
Last year at this time, I visited the Pacific manufacturing plant, and found an almost family-like atmosphere where workers in coveralls turn out handmade airplanes one by one.
The P-750 carries 4,200 pounds, 900 pounds more than its empty weight, flies for 1,100 miles and can take off on dirt, grass or gravel runways in just 720 feet. Give or take a few feet, these are some pretty impressive qualities and it is no surprise the airplane attracted the interest of China Xi'an Yanliang National Aviation Hi-tech Industrial Base. In the agreement the two entities just announced, Pacific will supply P-750s to Xi'an which will in turn use the airplanes in the presently-booming autonomous region of Mongolia.
The biggest industry in Mongolia right now is mining and Damian says his airplane is well suited to use in this environment. "Mining, humanitarian work, connecting communities, it's an extension of what we're already doing," he told me in in a phone call Tuesday night.
Since 2004, Damian says they've sold 84 P-750s which are in service in Southeast Asia, New Guinea, Australia and New Zealand. Damian was a trooper, interrupting the celebration going on at Oshkosh to answer my questions about the just-announced deal. It has been a while in the making and Damian is not alone in discovering that despite the hype, riding the anticipated wave of general aviation business in China ain't exactly like a day at Bondi Beach.
|Hawker Pacific in Shanghai Photo by and courtesy of Carey Matthews
I heard that before. In Shanghai, last month, Carey Matthews general manager of the Shanghai Hawker Pacific Business Aviation Service Center, took me for a leisurely tour of the ultra-lux FBO he's running across the airfield from the airport. The business is a joint venture between the Shanghai Airport Authority and the Australian Hawker Pacific and they've created a beautiful place. The waiting room is on par with some of the finest first class lounges I've seen and I'd eat off the floor of the hangar, but its quiet there. A little too quiet.
|Night operations Photo by and courtesy of Carey Matthews
Carey says progress here is like the riddle, "which came first, the chicken or the egg?" It is expensive to bring private aircraft into the country so development of FBOS has been slow. Without airports where they can land their planes and have them serviced what incentives are there for the Chinese to buy GA airplanes?
"There's a lot that's missing," Carey said in understatement, but don't misunderstand him; He is doing the Field of Dreams-thing "If you build it they will come."
Over at Pacific Aerospace they're liberated from some of the hurdles facing Hawker Pacific. Xi'an Hi-Tech Indusrial, the group committed to buying five P-750s each year over the next three years already has a need for this specific heavy lift airplane that is simple to fly, resilient in operation and can land and take off nearly anywhere.
Later today the P-750 XTOL will show its stuff on a demonstration flight at Air Venture. But I think there are a few Kiwi aviation executives who are already flying high.


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The native writing systems of Ancient Egypt used to record the Egyptian language include both the Egyptian hieroglyphs and Hieratic from Protodynastic times, the 13th century BC cursive variants of the hieroglyphs which became popular, then the latest Demotic script developed from Hieratic, from 3500 BC onward.
Most surviving texts in the Egyptian language are primarily written in the hieroglyphic script. However, in antiquity, the majority of texts were written on perishable papyrus in hieratic and (later) demotic, which are now lost. There was also a form of cursive hieroglyphic script used for religious documents on papyrus, such as the multi-authored Books of the Dead in the Ramesside Period; this script was closer to the stone-carved hieroglyphs, but was not as cursive as hieratic, lacking the wide use of ligatures. Additionally, there was a variety of stone-cut hieratic known as lapidary hieratic. In the language's final stage of development, the Coptic alphabet replaced the older writing system. The native name for Egyptian hieroglyphic writing is sẖ3 n mdww nt̪r or "writing of the words of god." Hieroglyphs are employed in two ways in Egyptian texts: as ideograms that represent the idea depicted by the pictures; and more commonly as phonograms denoting their phonetic value.
For example, the hieroglyph representing the biliteral pr is typically used as an ideogram to denote the word 'house'. In addition, the same glyph is used as a phonogram to write the word pr(y) 'to go out' due to the similarity in pronunciation. To leave no doubt as to which word is actually meant, a vertical stroke is drawn underneath the glyph to mean 'house', whereas a pair of walking legs is added next to the same glyph to clarify that pr(y) 'go out' is meant instead. To further clarify the pronunciation, the hieroglyph for mouth (ro) is typically added in between the house and the walking legs, so that the whole combination encodes the word pr(y) like this: "Word that sounds like a word for house which ends in an r and is related to walking => to go out". Hieroglyphic writing is thus an intricate mixture of phonetic and semantic components.
Apart from hieroglyphs, hieratic (a cursive version of hieroglyphic writing) and demotic (even more cursive and abbreviated) were employed in Egypt's 3,000+-year history of hieroglyphic writing. As Egypt became part of the Greek and (later) the Roman empire, the hieroglyphic writing system was replaced by the Greek alphabet used first to write magical and later Christian manuscripts (Coptic). A few extra characters had to be added to represent sounds of the Egyptian language which did not exist in the Greek pronunciation of the time (e.g., the phoneme /f/). These characters were taken from the demotic script.
Hieroglyphs were used for most of the surviving forms of written communication during the Old and Middle Egyptian eras, at least for official documents; hieratic was already being used for day-to-day administrative needs during the Old Kingdom. Religious texts during the Demotic era were also typically written in hieroglyphs when they were inscribed on temple walls and stelae; hieratic was used for religious documents on papyrus. (Administrative works were of course written in Demotic.) The last datable hieroglyphic text was written in 394 AD.
The majority of hieroglyphs seen in any particular text do not represent the objects they depict. They mostly represent sounds or were used as "determinatives" to show what conceptual category the word referred to. Hieroglyphic could be written in the following ways:
It XD is generally an easy task to determine which way to read the hieroglyphs even if the meaning is not understood. Hieroglyphs with a definite front and back (for example, a human or animal) will generally face the beginning of the sentence, as well as being oriented in the same direction as any large human or divine figure in the associated art work. (However, in some instances, they will be reoriented out of respect to face any important personage, such as a king or deity.)
As an example, if a tableau contains a picture of a man seated and facing right, then all hieroglyphs written in text above or behind the man, and having a definite front and back, would be oriented to the right as well. The actual hieroglyphs would be read from right-to-left because these images almost always face the beginning of the sentence. (Text written in front of the man might very well be oriented to the left, facing the man out of respect.)
Hieroglyphic texts that do not display this behaviour are said to be in retrograde. Once one understands hieroglyphic it is easy to determine if one is examining a retrograde text because it will simply make no sense if read normally.
As an aid to reading, and perhaps to the ancient Egyptians' sense of aesthetics, hieroglyphs were also packed together into neat patterns. In general, two or more short or thin symbols (depending on which direction one was writing the hieroglyphs) would be written in the same block as each other. Occasionally, a tall or wide symbol would be made smaller and placed with another short or thin hieroglyph. Beginning in the New Kingdom, however, these compositional blocks were lengthened, often becoming virtual columns, albeit short ones if written in an otherwise horizontal text.
Finally, hieroglyphic had no standard punctuation. Religious texts generally have no punctuation at all, whilst texts from the latter part of the ancient Egyptian language have full stops between important lines of thought.
Hieroglyphic writing dates to c. 3200 BC, and is composed of some 500 symbols. A hieroglyph can represent a word, a sound, or a silent determinative; and the same symbol can serve different purposes in different contexts. Hieroglyphs were a formal script, used on stone monuments and in tombs, that could be as detailed as individual works of art. In day-to-day writing, scribes used a cursive form of writing, called hieratic, which was quicker and easier. While formal hieroglyphs may be read in rows or columns in either direction (though typically written from right to left), hieratic was always written from right to left, usually in horizontal rows. A new form of writing, Demotic, became the prevalent writing style, and it is this form of writing-along with formal hieroglyphs-that accompany the Greek text on the Rosetta Stone.
Around the 1st century AD, the Coptic alphabet started to be used alongside the Demotic script. Coptic is a modified Greek alphabet with the addition of some Demotic signs. Although formal hieroglyphs were used in a ceremonial role until the 4th century, towards the end only a small handful priests could still read them. As the traditional religious establishments were disbanded, knowledge of hieroglyphic writing was mostly lost. Attempts to decipher them date to the Byzantine and Islamic periods in Egypt, but only in 1822, after the discovery of the Rosetta stone and years of research by Thomas Young and Jean-Francoise Champollion, were hieroglyphs almost fully deciphered.
Until recently, given the time span we are talking about, the decipherment of hieroglyphic was hampered because those attempting to decipher the hieroglyphs assigned emotional meanings to the actual symbols used. For example, some people believed that the hieroglyph for son, a goose, was chosen because geese love their sons above all other animals. This hieroglyph was chosen, though, simply because the word for goose once had the same sound as the word for son. A further impediment was the lack of complementary material, that is to say material of the same work written close to another translation.
Athanasius Kircher, a student of Coptic, developed the notion that this last stage of Egyptian could be related to the earlier Egyptian stages. Because he was not able to transliterate or translate hieroglyphic he could not prove this notion. However, in 1799 when the discovery of the Rosetta Stone occurred, scholars finally had an example of hieroglyphic, demotic and Ancient Greek that they were all reasonably certain were the translations of the same passage. In hieroglyphic, the name of the King or Pharaoh and gods' names are often placed within a circle called a cartouche. Jean-François Champollion, a young French scholar, demonstrated how the name Kleopatra could be made in hieroglyphic. Furthermore, by using an impressive knowledge of Coptic he surmised that a number of symbols showing everyday objects could be pronounced as in Coptic.
Applying this knowledge to other, well-known hieroglyphic sources clearly confirmed Champollion's work and linguistic scholars now had a way to work with and delineate the language into nouns, verbs, prepositions and other grammatical parts.
Other texts discovered in Egypt and dating to the period before Islam include those written in:
Egypt, Near East, Egyptian hieroglyphs, Roman Empire, Ancient Egyptian religion
Greek alphabet, Phoenician alphabet, Egyptian hieroglyphs, Latin alphabet, Greek language


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Starting with Nam Cheong, I am a little amazed by how it can remain profitable despite being in a highly cyclical shipbuilding industry. Shipbuilding industry is closely linked to the economy as ships are usually in high demand when international trade volume is high. In recent years, the shipbuilding industry suffers from over-capacities and recession, causing the Baltic Dry Index to fall from a high of 11,793 in 2008 to 1341 currently. Over at the newspaper, what I read about shipping is that the overcapacity requires years to correct and it is turning out to be a subprime crisis of its own kind where the bank restricts financing and more ships get defaulted, pushing prices lower and lower. I have not dare to venture into this area as I don't even understand what freight rate is, but I am now more comfortable with it after spending days understanding it.
Business model and financial statement are often interlinked, both can often tell you a lot about the other. To understand how is it able to maintain its profit during tough time, we have to look at its business. Nam Cheong's core business is in building of OSV which stand for Offshore Support Vessels. While oil rig builders are often considered support services to the Oil Exploration and Production, OSV provides support services to oil rig in the form of a transportation for all the goods and equipment needed to build and maintain an oil rig. Therefore, actual demand for OSV depends on Oil Rig which depends on the Oil E&P, which means there will be a significant lag time behind a demand surge.
Looking at the above Income Statement, one thing that caught my attention is the low operating expense to total revenue ratio which stands at an average of 5-7%. Low operating expense ratio is critical for a company in a cyclical industry as sharp drop in revenue is often a norm and operating expense is not something that can be cut as easily as cost of goods sold. And the reason behind this low operating expense lies in its asset light model where it only operates on a 12/6 hectares of land in Sarawak. This yard has a annual capacity of 12 ships and they only have 100 full-time employees at the shipyard as the rest are outsourced. The question will then be - how scalable will this business be?
The management has come up with a scalable model that allows them to scale up and down in both upturn and downturn. They have linked up with shipyard in Fujian where they will outsource production of ships when demand outstrip their capacity. Thus, the company has been operating on an asset light model where they will not face overcapacity and cost overrun during a recession. Till date, they have successfully delivered 70 ships outsourced from 5 yards in Fujian. Fujian is chosen as it used to be the hometown of their chairman. The most important aspect of this outsourcing model is not the ability to scale up but the ability to quickly scale down during a recession. This has also helped to reduce capital expenditure greatly and increases FCF yield.
Profit margin wise, they are better on average than their peers like STX OSV and Otto Marine by a number of percentage point. The reason for their higher profit margin lies not in their outsourcing model but in their "build-to-stock" business model. Normally, companies operate on a "build-to-order" or a "pull" inventory management system where they will produce when their inventory is running out soon or upon order. In the rare "build-to-stock" model, the company will manufacture the product in advance of order which makes it susceptible to the problem of overstocking.
In the case of Nam Cheong, they will build ships in advance of orders according to the demand they predicted for the year. This can work for the shipbuilding industry as a ship takes 18-24 months to be built which equates to a lead time between oil prices and actual deliveries. And the group has also realised that in 80% of the time, customer's orders are homogeneous. In mass producing in advance, the group also stands to benefit from economics of scale through saving engineering man hour.
Therefore, by building in advance, customers will be willing to pay more as they are able to have their ships delivered earlier and this reduces the customer risk that demand will fall by the time ship is delivered. This has been why they have managed a higher profit margin than peers, though the risk of overstocking is high as they are debt-financed. In such a case, the management's integrity and competence is of utmost importance.
In terms of barrier of entry, they has been well-supported by the protection coming from Malaysia's government as seen from the above. As such, Nam Cheong is rather well-shielded from competition from its foreign peers unless MNCs are willing to concede part of the shareholding. As a result of its build-to-stock model, it is able to provide "Letter of Authorization" for owner-charterer bidding for contract with Petronas. Under this system, Nam Cheong promises to deliver the ship for the contract bidder should he win the contract with Petronas which will enhance the contract bidder's chance of securing a contract. And the reason why this work for bidding with Petronas is that they have in 2008 announced that they "may award future long term charter contracts in Malaysia to OSVs built in Malaysia". As such, Nam Cheong has become the preferred OSV supplier within Malaysia's OSV operator. They are also going to benefit from Petronas's 5-years capex plan of RM300 billion which is 80% more than spending from 2006-2010.
Nam Cheong is the largest OSV builder in Malaysia and is the first in Malaysia to build the AHTS and DP2 OSV. As shown below, Nam Cheong is a clear market leader among the OSVs builder in Malaysia with a large portion of international clientèle base. Even in Asia, it is also one of the biggest OSVs builder in the region.
- With the build-to-stock system commanding higher profit margin, why is it not being copied by other builder?
- If ships can be completely outsourced for production to the Chinese shipyard, why can't non-Malaysian customers source directly from the Chinese at a cheaper price?
- In the case of a sudden downturn and there's surplus ships, is Nam Cheong able to convert them for chartering purpose? Will there be sufficient demand to take up the chartering?
- Other than the build-to-stock model, what else is stopping other Malaysian OSV shipbuilder from issuing a Letter of Authorization for contract bidding?
- Are they impacted by the recent announcement of minimum wage in Malaysia given that a huge portion of workers in their shipyard are contract workers?
- How can we be confident that the company will be able withstand a crisis just because they has ridden through the 2008 GFC unharmed?


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My lovely neice brought a smile to my face when she posted this on Facebook.
We have had some glorious sunshine for the past couple of weeks, but we should know it won't last. The forecast for this week is very much cooler during the day, frosty nights and the threat of rain, or even snow, mid-week. We are desperately in need of some rain.
The garden is at that magical Spring stage where something new comes up every day.
I spent some time removing all the ugly 'Honesty' planted last year. The seeds were free with a magazine but the leaves are so big and unattractive, they had to go. I finally got around to digging up the pink phlox which was badly in need of splitting. It has now been redistributed to the new border and shared with Raewyn. The Gaura seeds didn't take long to germinate and have now been potted on. The Night Phlox looks a bit delicate but is beginning to stand up a bit more while the cosmos are now producing proper leaves. I sowed the white sunflower seeds collected last year as well as the nicotiana so am now waiting with baited breath. I received a free packet of centarea 'snowman' which also germinated really quickly. The Orlaya Grandiflora is yet to make an appearance. My previous sowing of verbena bonariensis came to nothing as I think I covered them too thickly with vermiculite. The additional seeds I scattered over the top seem to have made the required response. The free tomato seeds received with Gardeners' World magazine have been sown and I am intending to grow them in hanging baskets. The chilli seeds kindly donated by James and Rin have been planted in a hanging pot. I'm not sure whether they will germinate but thought it worth a try. The echinacea seeds haven't germinated, I think I planted too deeply. The trollius has been retired to the fridge for a couple of weeks. I couldn't resist ordering Cerinthe Major Purpurascens and some Schizotylis, Pink Princess and Fenland Daybreak which are due to arrive at the end of April.
The carrots have been sown in their usual bag and purple mange tout in Quadgrow. The donated onions are doing well and the beautiful white blossom suddenly appeared on the damson tree. The two apple trees are about to burst into blossom also, I just hope the forecast frost doesn't kill it.
Finally, I dug up three heucheras to split and redistribute.
A busy couple of weeks but I suspect activity will be curtailed with the deterioration in the weather. However, having turned the conservatory into a small nursery, I will have plenty to keep my eye on.


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A slight but persistent decrease in Nunavut's tragically high suicide rate has officials hoping that programs to help those at risk are finally taking hold.
"We have a really strong partnership in Nunavut," said Karen Kabloona, a deputy minister in the territory's Health Department. "We have a way forward. It's based on evidence and what Nunavummiut say needs to happen."
Suicide among Inuit has been a long-standing and difficult problem in the Eastern Arctic that has touched nearly every family. At its worst, in 2004, the five-year average was 121 per 100,000 people — nearly 11 times the national rate.
Since then, suicide in Nunavut has been up and down. But since 2014, it's decreased slightly every year.
Statistics compiled from Nunavut's chief coroner say last year's rate was 106 — a 13 per cent drop.
"The trends are hopeful," said Jack Hicks, a researcher with experience in the area.
"The good news is that suicide prevention efforts are far more effective than they were just a few years ago. All our work is finally paying off."
Since 2011, funding for mental health and suicide prevention has grown to almost $34 million in the most recent budget from almost $9 million.
The territory's multi-year action plan addresses overall community mental health, specific people at risk and families who have lost loved ones.
Young people are a major focus. Many communities run youth nights and cultural activities to keep kids busy in tiny, isolated communities.
Kabloona said giving teens emotional coping skills is crucial. That was one of the major goals at a youth camp the territory offered last summer.
"They get together and learn traditional skills, but they also have gathering times when they talk about their emotions and they learn to cope with the emotions they feel," she said.
The territory has taken a successful prevention program from the south and "Nunavutized" it, said David Lawson of the Embrace Life Council, which works with the government on suicide prevention.
"There's certain elements that needed to be more specific to Inuit," he said. For example, losing one's job is a significant risk factor in the south, but not in Nunavut.
As well, every community now has mental-health staff, Kabloona said. Referrals for those in trouble have been improved and the number of fly-in counsellors has increased.
Different agencies are working together. If teachers see a student struggling, there's a way for them to pass that along.
"We can now share personal information for people who are at imminent risk," said Kabloona. "We could do better, certainly, but we do have a lot of mental-health support in communities."
Inuktitut language counsellors are available to work with bereaved families and communities, where one suicide can trigger others. Community members are being trained to form bereavement support groups.
Substance abuse issues are also being attacked. Day treatment is more widely available and a new treatment centre in Cambridge Bay offers on-the-land programming. The territory still relies on sending patients who need residential treatment to the south.
Research suggests many of Nunavut's mental-health problems stem from lingering effects of an abrupt transition to community life and government control that cost Inuit so many of their traditional ways and independence.
That, too, is being addressed, said Lawson.
"Crisis response teams are trained in intergenerational trauma — not just what's going on right now, but there has been training around historical trauma and acknowledging them."
Workshops on the relationships between Inuit and southern governments are bringing old hurts to the surface where they can be addressed, said Kabloona.
"What we find is that older generations of Inuit will say that they've never been able to talk about this before. And younger Inuit will say they had no idea. There are things we can do about intergenerational trauma."
Kabloona emphasized that all programming is directed and controlled by communities. They have to request what help they want.
Nobody pretends that the battle is won. Nunavut's suicide rate remains nearly 9 times the national average.
"There are still too many deaths by suicide in Nunavut," Kabloona said.
Still, the improvement gives hope.
"We are very happy and hope that the number of deaths continue to trend downward."


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Being an empath and a psychic in today's chaotic mess of a world has challenges all it's own. I never really examined them out of necessity because for 8 years I lived with a hoarder (my ex boyfriend) and had a brief stint with an OCD ( room mate). In order to survive the energies I had to go into a state of denial just to be able to achieve some level of happiness and that all by itself if a skill. I can make myself happy and positive even in the midst of extreme, prolonged adversity. But … the energy that it takes to "handle" the barrage of negative overload was so intense that my magick and manifestation skills appeared to be below par. And yet, I was spending hours meditating. Today I realize that when ALL my energies are channeled in one direction and not spread out thin in order to maintain some semblance of "balance," I can literally manifest whatever I want … but it takes a conscious effort not to waste precious energy on just "keeping it together."
For the past two weeks I've been consistently letting go of things and people that are not conducive to the type of energy that I want which is strong, free flowing and self-renewing. Moving forced me to throw away a lot of things that I didn't need. And, financial concerns forced me to cut loose projects and people that appear to be a waste of time with little or no pay off. There are opportunities and then there are traps that appear as opportunities. Right now I have no interest in wasting my precious time on traps.
Even good intentions can be squandered by a lack of focus and concentration. And, the truth is I have always had the focus of a laser beam and some people don't appreciate that until it's far too late.
After making some major changes that incurred the wrath of people who were either not getting what they wanted from me … or from people who thought that they could "control" me in order to make me "better," I've learned that I am my own guru. Seriously, when I'm free from the opinions, hectic thoughts and random fears of people, I have an internal compass that is very accurate. Furthermore, I think that I have a far better grasp on reality than the people who thought that they knew better. The difference that made them think that I was stupid or delusional is the fact that I didn't worry or fret which they saw as being "responsible," but which I see as being a waste. I fix problems … that takes energy … worrying about them and blaming other people takes away from the energy that can be used to fix or cure something. Once again my laser focus has made me misunderstood, but at this point I don't care.
This morning I'm vibrating as myself … I feel healthy … confident … and ready to tackle the day without the anxiety that I have discovered that I can absorb from anxious people. By myself I'm calm, cool and collected and I like that.


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Walking for Health – a Champion's Story
Categories: Physically Active
By Hannah Brilling, Keene State Nutrition Practicum Intern
The U.S. Surgeon General recently released a call to action, urging Americans to embrace walking, walkability, and health, called Step it Up!.
The number one goal listed? To make walking a National Priority. What are some Healthy Monadnock Champions doing to make walking a priority?
Deb Arvidson chooses to walk because it is simple:
"I don't have to keep up with an instructor, or worry about weights or equipment–in the past these factors always led to a pulled muscle or injury which would kill my momentum and cause me to give up."
Deb knew she had to "get moving" when knee and back pain were developing from sitting all day for work. When a few friends got fitbits, she decided to give one a try… what started as a goal of 4000 steps kept building to become more of a lifestyle than about the steps. Deb was surprised how the small reward of a smiley face on her fitbit dashboard after meeting her daily goal helped to keep her motivated.
Deb started her journey with a 4000-step goal and a commitment to sensible portions, fewer crackers and more greens. Pretty soon, she was increasing her step counts from 4000 to 6000, and, finally, to 10,000 steps and a weight-loss goal. A huge milestone for Deb came when she hiked Mount Monadnock with her daughter; An accomplishment that proved to her that she was serious about staying active and wasn't going to fail.
How to keep Going and going… and going and going…
Deb began walking last fall, and since that time she has made walking a daily habit. If she takes a few "vacation" days, here or there, they are planned and she walks a little further the days before and after.
Just like getting enough sleep or eating healthy, Deb says she still has to make an effort to keep walking a priority. Some strategies she uses to stick with her plans? Planning it as part of her daily schedule, involving friends, finding a variety of routes close to home to prevent boredom, and having some back-up plans ready for rough weather.
Since leaving behind a to-do list (at work or at home) can be difficult, Deb tries to think of the time she spends walking as valuable "me" time. Although it may not have been what originally motivated her, the mental benefits of regular walking have become as much a benefit to Deb as the more tangible physical results. In addition to having reduced knee and back pain and losing 30 pounds, Deb can also walk off her stress and she loves to "walk for several hours and have a complete train of thought without any interruptions". While she knows the desire to keep going has to come from within, Deb says connecting with positive, active people has been one of the most important influences.
Thanks, Deb, for your story, insights, and inspiration!


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The presence of abnormal proteins, primarily a monoclonal antibody produced by a plasma cell myeloma, will result in the hyperviscosity of a serum or plasma sample. Such highly viscous samples are difficult to pipette and may cause falsely low results in autoanalyzers for which sampling occurs through syringe-controlled sampling, where short sampling is possible. Compare this process to attempting to sip honey through a straw. Extra pressure is required to accomplish the task, and even where possible, the ability to accurately aspirate and dispense is compromised.
Many autoanalyzers are equipped with pressure sensors that will alert operators to the need to retest the sample after checking for clots and sample viscosity.
For manual procedures where operators pipette the samples using a micropipette, such hyperviscous samples must be handled with caution to ensure that intended volumes are being added with accuracy. Occasionally, it will be necessary to first dilute the sample using pipette tips with a larger bore and intended for larger sample volumes to overcome the matrix effect.
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If you follow Kiki's List, you already know that when Krista throws a party, she does an incredible job creating a magical party space incorporating her fresh and modern style. {I wrote about her Yo Gabba Gabba party last year}. The recent Tinker Bell party she hosted for her daughter's birthday was incredible! She took a classic theme and gave it a modern twist. I love every detail!
{Photography by Little Moon Photography}
The dessert table is GORGEOUS! I just love all of the bright colors. the backdrop fabric is by Heather Bailey and the beautiful cake is by Tastefully Treated.
Krista created the dessert table labels herself using MS Word and the glitter ribbon is from Michael's.
Krista also worked with another fabulous vendor, Sweet Nothings, who helped her create the dessert table.
Krista has mad flower arranging skills which you can see in this party. Even though she stayed up until 3:00 a.m. creating the arrangements, she said it was all worth it in the end. I completely agree...just beautiful!
I have been dying to make a "runner" just like this by cutting out circles from paper. It looks fantastic!
The party guests participated in a game of Pixie Tag. Can we say 'precious'?!
The colorful goody bags looks so good hung up on the fence! The bags were filled with goodies fit for fairies and little Peter Pan's.
Another activity at the party was Fairy Freeze Dance!
Looks like the birthday girl was pleased with her party!!
You won't want to miss more details of this enchanted party on Kiki's List. Be sure to stay a while and browse through her creative blog!
Party styling - Krista Salmon of Kiki's List
Photography - Little Moon Photography
Dessert Table - Sweet Nothings
Cake - Tastefully Treated
Backdrop Fabric - Heather Bailey
Flowers + Styling - Wegmans, Krista Salmon
Pixie Dust - Kit Kraft
Paper goods - Krista Salmon
Wreath + Woodchips + Moss rocks - Save on Crafts
Goody bags - Michael's
Peter Pan hats - Goods Place
Fairy wings + wands + swords +tutus - Designed2BSweet


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I never saw drug-taking: Hird
Suspended Essendon coach James Hird has claimed he never saw any first-hand evidence of his players taking performance enhancing drugs during his time as coach.
Giving evidence for a second day in the Federal Court, Hird revealed the extent of his disagreement with Essendon over the handling of their supplement's saga, while saying the AFL and not the club was the main instigator of their "self-reporting"
Essendon are attempting to have the joint AFL and ASADA investigation into the Bombers supplements program ruled illegal, which could render the show causes notices to the 34 players invalid.
And as he did yesterday, Hird said he was consistently at odds with former chairman David Evans and ex-CEO Ian Robson over what had happened at the club, but never felt he could go public with his dissent.
Finishing his evidence, Hird said from early February he was questioning where the evidence was as to performance enhancing drugs being used by his players.
"I didn't believe it, I hadn't seen it, I wasn't aware of it," Mr Hird said.
Hird also said the veteran club doctor Bruce Reid also had his doubts.
"I trust him with my children's life, my life and my wife's life - he said that he did not think it was true, and he said it hadn't happened," Hird said.
Both Hird and the club claim ASADA unlawfully used the AFL's compulsive powers to gain information they could not have got otherwise - and then gave the information back to the league bosses, against their confidentiality provisions.
Hird insisted that in his view the club had not "self-reported", but had been heavily influenced by former AFL boss Andrew Demetriou and his successor Gillon McLachlan.
"I don't believe the board did agree to self-report. Andrew Demetiou said it was his belief we had taken performance enhancing drugs - and their advice was that we come forward," Hird said
Hird also detailed a showdown he had with his former bosses over the Bomber's own internal report compiled by Ziggy Switkowski.
"I was disappointed with David Evans on this day ... and remember talking to him about certain aspects of the report I did not think were accurate," Mr Hird said.
Former ASADA boss Aurora Andruska took the stand, to answer questions about the joint investigation.
Quizzed by Neil Young QC, Ms Andruska strongly denied that the AFL had been leading the way in the early days of the investigation into Essendon - and said coopeartion between clubs and ASADA was "fundamental".
"The government had stated that the co-operation and using the sports to do its work was the way we should operate," Ms Andruska said.
And she also pointedly refused to deny there was pressure coming from the Gillard government to hasten the investigation, only saying: "I ignored all political pressure."
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Wild Magic
by Tamora Pierce
Young Daine's knack with horses gets her a job helping the royal horsemistress drive a herd of ponies to Tortall. Soon it becomes clear that Daine's talent, as much as she struggles to hide it, is downright magical Horses and other animals not only obey, but listen to her words. Daine, though, will have to learn to trust humans before she can come to terms with her powers, her past, and herself.
The last few weeks have been rather stressful; the type of stress that leaves one absolutely drained. I found myself putting aside all my currents reads and pulling a childhood favorite off of the shelf in the wake of this exhaustion. I first read Wild Magic, and the rest of Tamora Pierce's The Immortals series, as a pre-teen. I instantly connected to the main character because I could relate to her social awkwardness and passionate love for animals. Wild Magic is the first book I remember actively picking out by myself, and the cover is worn and faded because I have read it at least 15 times. So, I was a tad hesitant to read it with the intentions of reviewing it.
I still absolutely love this book!
Wild Magic provides the origin story of Daine, a young girl with an amazing knack with animals. She is escaping a violent past when she, and her trusty pony Cloud, land a job with the horsemistress of Tortall. Daine soon establishes a happy life in her new kingdom, and even makes some lasting friendships. Readers follow Daine throughout the start of her new life and are drawn in to the action when she must use her talents to fight immortal creatures and protect Tortall from invasion.
Adventure, immortal creatures, and magic?! My pre-teen heart just ate this book up! I would definitely recommend Wild Magic for pre-teens, or teenagers, looking for something different. I feel that the plot, which is well developed, is even complex enough for adults looking for a light read. Pierce provides well-developed characters with each remaining unique and separate from the others. Wild Magic, and the rest of The Immortals books, are set in the same world as Pierce's other youth series, but it is considered a side-series and is often over shadowed by Pierce's main book sets.
Now this novel is geared for younger audiences, so some of the 'teaching' moments can resemble the end credits of many 1980s cartoon episodes (my favorite example would be Thundercats). Daine is supposed to be 14 years old but I always felt like she read older and this discrepancy can get confusing at times. Many characters lack the flawed personalities one comes to expect in YA and adult fiction, but this doesn't make the characters any less effective. Wild Magic provides examples of tolerant relationships and friendships, promotes social equality, pushes girls to think outside the box, and doesn't spend 300 pages describing a tortured crush/lust/love relationship. All of these are positive traits that make this book worth sharing.
Reading Wild Magic was like being visited by old friends I haven't seen for years. My husband noted my giggles and smiles as I read and expressed his pleasure at my uplifted spirit. Wild Magic definitely holds an honored place on my shelves.
Has anyone else read Pierce's Immortals series? Do you have a favorite book that has stuck with you for decades? If so, what is it?


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Three grower representatives from each district (West Prince, Summerside, Charlottetown, Montague/Souris) make up our 12 member Board of Directors, plus one Young Farmer non-voting representative. They oversee the Potato Board Head Office, Fox Island Elite Seed Farm, and the Borden Inspection Station. The Potato Board Head Office oversees our four committees: Processing, Farm and Seed, Tablestock, and Environment and Research.
Below is an overview of the Potato Board's Strategic Objectives for 2020-2024:


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Dr. Buzz Aldrin and Governor Gary Herbert Dinner
A dinner was arranged at the Grand America Hotel with Dr. Buzz Aldrin Governor Gary Herbert, Jeanette Herbert, U.S. Senator Orrin Hatch and his Chief of Staff Rob Porter (current White House Staff Secratary), U.S. Senator Jake Garn and his wife Kathleen Garn, ABC 4 Utah General Manager Richard Doutre Jones, Four Star General Robert Oaks and his wife Gloria Oaks, Buzz Aldrin and his mission director Christina Korp, Dan Farr, Stephanie Breur Farr, Bryan Brandenburg, Jamie Brandenburg, Ronald L Fox who arranged everything. John Farr took this photo and many others. Our guest Dr. Buzz Aldrin was impressed with Utah's hospitality, from beginning to end.