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Vice President, Storage Solutions
No one will ever argue that IBM is one of the founding fathers of the storage industry.
In 1949, they figured out how to take the information on 35,000 punch cards and store them on magnetic tape. Through the years, we have seen them evolve that magnetic tape into vacuum tubes, disk platters, and most recently, flash drives. IBM has withstood assaults from competitors, such as Wang, Digital, Amdahl, Memorex, and StorageTek. Today, they face a new line of more agile foes like PureStorage, Infinidat and Nimble. Not to mention the constantly changing landscape of storage, which has moved from the ground to the clouds. Regardless, IBM remains relevant. Their storage offerings have never been stronger and more integrated. A customer can buy into a low level device and still achieve virtualization, compression and performance. The same interface that manages the low level device is able to manage the largest and highest performing set of subsystems in the industry. As an example, IBM has taken their Flash product and integrated it with their virtualization product to create a multi-use, high-performing, economically advantageous, feature-rich, virtualizing storage device that every end user needs to consider. The most recent releases of their DS8 and XIV products will include all flash options, furthering their ability to deliver the highest performance, most advanced function, as well as ease of use.
IBM may not be the market leader in every facet of the storage industry, but they are firmly planted in the upper right hand quadrant of the popular Gartner chart. They have vision and they can deliver. AND, unlike some of their previous competitors, they're not going anywhere. They are still relevant, and they're here to stay.


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Home Appliances
Shop Home Appliances Every Day on Groupon
For every situation that Home-Ec class never prepared you for, there is a home appliance. Need to poach a half-dozen eggs at once? What about a machine whose sole function is to feed you breakfast sandwiches? Whatever your needs, you'll find a plethora of helpful household appliances for it on Groupon; just use the left-hand menu to filter down by category, price, brand, and more.
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For Your ClothesRegardless of how they acquired their clothes, most people want them to last as long as possible. Having your own sewing machine gives you an easy way to mend ripped jeans and t-shirts. If you're fond of suits, collared shirts, and slacks, keep them pressed and at their best with irons and garment steamers.
For Your FloorsWhen it comes to vacuums, Groupon stocks the top names in the industry: Dyson, Hoover, and Shark. If even the thought of vacuuming is too much of a chore, just have a robot do it. You'll also find a wide selection of Roomba models and similar brands.
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subset: commoncrawl


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Move over Miley Cyrus, Kendall Jenner with her commando look at the MMVA looks like she may "wannabe" the next big risque thing on the Internet. Just a little FYI to Miley, sister Kylie Jenner is not too far behind her daring older sister in the "lets show off more skin" trend. At the MuchMusic Video Awards for 2014, the two Instagram-loving girls changed no less than four times for the event.
The Internet has been flooded with stories, and pictures, of the barely legal 18 year-old reality television personality and model with her hip-bone showing outfit at the red carpet show. Kendall, easily the most beautiful of the Jenner clan, is no stranger to showing off a bit of skin, or tantalizing glimpses of her lady bits. Side boob shots and tops that barely cover anything have been the order of the day for quite a while.
"Cheerleader" mom Kris loved the revealing look of both her kids. To prove it, she uploaded the snaps of her two girls to Instagram, of course, and sang their praises. Using the hashtag #MMVA she opined that her offspring looked "stunning." She left out that they also looked to be on course to overshadow their older half-sister Kim Kardashian.
Certainly Kendall has managed to garner her own publicity, and a certain amount of celebrity status, based just upon her looks alone. The younger "Kardashian" has not needed to rely on "leaked" video tape footage to give her a leg up in the personality game. Just being part of the Kim Kardashian reality TV train accomplished that.
Now, however, it is beginning to seem like Kendall Jenner is a Miley Cyrus wannabe. Especially with that commando look she was sporting at the MMVA event in Toronto, Canada on Sunday. So far, the model, along with her sister Kylie, who is still a bit young to be sporting too much in the risque department, have been eating up space in the world of celebrity media.
Just recently, both Jenner girls were involved in a three way (four way?) love tussle between Selena Gomez and her beau Justin Bieber. Their involvement caused major eruptions in the Bieber/Gomez camp and caused the former Barney actress and singer to eradicate her "following" list on Instagram. While Selena went into some sort of meltdown over her boo's wanting a taste of Jenner, the two girls went their merry way, completely unfazed by all the negative vibes from Gomez.
In terms of flesh flashing, however, Kylie is moving up quickly in the stakes of revealing little glimpses of her blooming lady bits. At the same award event on Sunday, a few wardrobe changes later, the younger Jenner sported a definite lack of bra with a top that would have shown clearly any "foundational support."
The younger Jenner, who not too long ago had "puppy fat" issues, still has a couple of years to catch up to Kendall. At that time, both of these younger and prettier versions of Clan Kardashian, may have passed the Miley Cyrus wannabe stage and taken over shocking fans with the amount of skin that they show. Kendall going for the commando look at the MMVA may just be stage two of the take over.
By Michael Smith


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Filed under: Interviews | Tags: Canterbury, Club Chemistry, DJ, Jamie Finn, music, No-Wave, No-Wave Social Club, The Farmhouse, UKC
Following last night's No-Wave Social Club, I've been chatting to No-Wave curator Jamie Finn, 24. Yesterday evening, the DJ played a variety of danceable favourites at the Farmhouse, resulting in a happily heaving dance floor.
Alongside his final year of studies at Kent Uni, Jamie has a massive presence on the social scene of Canterbury, as resident DJ and promoter at Indiecate, a monthly night at the Attic and curator of No-Wave. As well as playing other slots in bars between here and Brighton, he is the editor of a new magazine which he also does design work for. Read on to find out more details of this new mag, as well as some exciting stuff coming up in Canterbury, as well as recommendations from the innovative fellow…
What brought you to Canterbury from Liverpool?
Well, University I guess. I visited Canterbury on an open day and really liked it here. The uni also offered a year abroad which in the end I did not take but that helped. The inevitable deciding factor was its distance from Liverpool. I wasn't enjoying being in the city anymore and going to probably the furthest away city in England appealed to me.
What's your favourite venue, a) as a punter, b) as a DJ?
Locally? My favourite place to go is the Farmhouse – really different music and a great crowd. As for DJing, you can't beat The Venue for equipment but without being too obvious, I've been doing Indiecate for so long that I get a really good response from the crowd. It's always so much fun.
What do you think about Canterbury's nightlife and social scene? Is there anything you would like to see change?
If you'd have asked me this a few months ago I would have definitely said live music was missing but with Indiecate putting on live bands and No-Wave likely to do the same, (as well as a few other new exciting events coming,) I think this year is going to be loaded. I am personally in the process of putting together a live music week where loads of venues and loads of bands get involved. It's very much in the planning stage but watch this space. If I had to say now what I think Canterbury needs it's a few more later opening bars willing to take chances on interesting events. I recently saw that Ballroom is going to host a new event called Bombo which seems very exciting.
So, No-Wave Social Club, how did it all begin?
Well, No-Wave began as a cinema club running as an offshoot of UKC's Art Society but it quickly grew to surpass that. No-Wave Social Club started because I used to DJ at the Farmhouse's previous indie night which now no longer takes place. When they stopped, the venue asked me if I would fill in with a new night. I had to idea to extend the name from the cinema club since it already meant a certain notoriety. The Social Club, like everything No-Wave does is non-profit. All the money from the night goes to pay for other No-Wave projects to make it even bigger.
You've posted some opportunities up on Facebook regarding a magazine and some music stuff, what's coming up?
YES. I'm quite excited about this actually. We tried to start a magazine earlier this year but due to poor financial planning it fell apart but was definitely a useful learning curve. Now, with regular funding secured (thanks to No-Wave Social Club) we're ready to go. The first issue of the rebranded No-Wave Magazine will be out first week of October and will be monthly!
Exciting! What's the mag about?
It will be an alternative culture magazine focused on music art and film. There will be a leaning towards local events but also some really good international stuff. I'm quite excited about our interview with Canadian director Guy Maddin in which he reveals an exclusive for us!
You've certainly got your fingers in lots of pies, which one's your fave?
I am very proud of Indiecate, it's kind of became the flag-ship for the indie scene in this city and I get nothing but good feedback and I work with some really great people on it. I have to say though, that since No-Wave is entirely my project, I do have affinity for it. I'm very proud of No-Wave as a whole so I would probably say that. I would like to give a little mention to my new club night Hang The DJ which will be launched later this month in The Attic.
So lots of new ventures in the near future! Where would you like to see your No-Wave enterprise going next?
Well, interestingly enough someone asked me to work with them on some experimental theatre pieces recently which is really exciting. I'd like for the magazine to be a success and I think that it will be. I've thought about trying it in different cities as well but we will see.
Also, please can you recommend any books/films/music and why you rate them.
Oh, wow, there are so many! I'll give one for each:
Book – I recently read 'I'll Never Get Out Of This World Alive' which I really enjoyed. It's about a doctor turned heroin addict who is haunted by the ghost of Hank Williams. It's very fun and quite well written.
Films – My favourite film of the year is Animal Kingdom. It's a drama about an Australian crime family, but it's about so much more than that. Power dynamics for example feature heavily in it. I am a fair believer in the power of realism over idealism. Not in terms of plot so much but in terms of believable characters and dialogue. A film can be said in space but as long as the human interaction is real then I think it's good. This was full of that backed by some amazing performances.
Music – I love the Balam Acab CD. I actually did a remix of one of the songs on it, which I am quite proud of. It was the album of the week on the radio show I host which is every Wednesday at 8 o'clock on CSR FM.
Thanks Jamie! What an inspiring chap.
See Jamie at No-Wave Social Club is at Farmhouse once a month.
High Rankin plays at Indiecate this Thursday.


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Happy Valentine's Day! One of my favorite fine artists that work with pop-ups is Colette Fu. She is known for her large scale pop-ups that deal with various themes like Chinese ethnic groups, food and consumerism and haunted locations. In fact, she currently has an exhibition of her recent series "Haunted Philly" at The Athenaeum of Philadelphia until March 18th.
Last year, Colette travelled to California to collaborate with Duck Studios to create a series of charming pop-up inspired commercials for the Children's Medical Center in Texas. On February 5th the International Animated Film Society held the 38th Annual Annie Awards for excellence in animation. It was announced that "Brooke's Broken Heart" won for best animated TV commercial. Enjoy this heartwarming video today.


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Amid fears that the current White House administration may intrude on state-permitted cannabis programs, lawmakers are drafting up strategies to protect their marijuana businesses from federal prosecution.
The most drastic of these plans come from Colorado, where a bill has been introduced into Legislature that would allow everyone in the recreational marijuana business to switch over their licenses to the state's medical marijuana program, as reported by the Associated Press.
If passed, the measure would give the roughly 500 licensed recreational weed cultivators and retailers the ability to rebrand themselves as MMJ providers in the hopes that it would shield them from interference from the DEA and other federal agencies. The plan is not without its problems.
For one thing, there's the major decrease in tax proceeds the state would see. Anyone who made the switch would suddenly pay a lot less in taxes (2.9 percent for medical vs. 17.9 percent for recreational), so it seems likely that many of them would do so and fast. If that happened, the state would see its marijuana tax revenue drop by more than a $100 million, an amount of money they would probably miss.
But the drafters of the bill think that drop in tax dollars would be preferable to a possible annihilation of the recreational marijuana program. "If there is a change in federal law, then I think all of our businesses want to stay in business somehow. They've made major investments," said State Senator Tim Neville, one of the lawmakers who sponsored the bill.
But what if there isn't a change in federal law? So far, everything from Attorney General Jeff Sessions regarding cannabis enforcement is all talk (though it is a lot of talk). And though the White House has delineated a difference between recreational and medical cannabis (a "big difference" according to spokesperson Sean Spicer), the fact remains that under federal law medical marijuana isn't really any more legal than recreational marijuana and they can go after it just the same.
Meanwhile other states have taken different tactics to protect their cannabis businesses. Oregon lawmakers are trying to pass a bill to ban cannabis stores from keeping data on their customers which could be used by law enforcement agencies. California is also weighing a bill which would block its local law enforcement from assisting federal agencies with investigations of legal cannabis businesses.
Photo via Flickr user Dank Depot


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From USA Today
"Business executives and politicians endlessly complain that there is a "shortage" of qualified Americans and that the U.S. must admit more high-skilled guest workers to fill jobs in STEM fields: science, technology, engineering and math. This claim is echoed by everyone from President Obama and Rupert Murdoch to Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates.
Yet within the past month, two odd things occurred: the US Census Bureau reported that only one in four STEM degree holders is in a STEM job, and Microsoft announced plans to downsize its workforce by 18,000 jobs. Even so, the United States House of Representatives is considering legislation that, like the Senate immigration bill before it, would increase to unprecedented levels the supply of high-skill guest workers and automatic green cards to foreign STEM students.
As longtime researchers of the STEM workforce and immigration who have separately done in-depth analyses on these issues, and having no self-interest in the outcomes of the legislative debate, we feel compelled to report that none of us has been able to find any credible evidence to support the IT industry's assertions of labor shortages."
In other words, the shortage of US high tech workers is a big lie perpetrated by business leaders, President Obama, Republican Party lawmakers, and many Democratic lawmakers. Keeping wages, salaries and benefit packages low by importing the foreign high tech workers into a market in which only one of four highly qualified US citizens can find a job is nothing short of criminal, but it keeps labor costs down and corporate profits and share prices up. The labor market, in other words, is being manipulated to the benefit of the 1 percent.
Apparently, that's what the US government is supposed to do. That's the job of politicians: keep wages, salaries and benefits low by keeping an excess supply of labor flowing into the US job market. Who are these politicians working for? The Koch Brothers and Bill Gates or us? Okay, they work for the rich guys, and to hell with us.
Why would they do this?
According to USA Today, "It is well documented that loopholes enable firms to legally pay H-1Bs below their market value and to continue the widespread age discrimination acknowledged by many in the tech industry."
That's why companies are exploiting the large existing flow of guest workers to deny American workers access to STEM careers and the middle-class security that should come with them. Imagine how many more Americans would be frozen out of the middle class if politicians and tech moguls succeed in doubling or tripling the flow of guest workers into STEM occupations.
Click the link below for more on this story from USA Today.
Bill Gates Tech Workers Fantasy–USA Today


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Sometimes it's worth the effort to make a real tomato pasta sauce. This is the perfect thing to make in summer when you have plenty of ripe tomatoes.
This was a good recipe, I found it too bland for my taste, so I added at the 2hour cooking point about 1 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of pepper, 1/2 teaspoon of Oregano and 1/2 teaspoon of thyme. Also after the first 2 hours of cooking it covered, I let it cook uncovered to reduce it, making it thicker and more flavorful. I will make again with the additions. - 13 Sep 2002 (Review from Allrecipes USA and Canada)
This was my very first time making tomato sauce from scratch. We have a bumper crop of Roma tomatoes this year, more than we know what to do with so I decided to try out this recipe and hopefully freeze off the extra sauce for the winter months. It was fantastic! Only I can see why some folks might be having problems with this recipe, the recipe says "10 Tomatoes' but does not specify how large the tomatoes should be. For all practical purposes, it should say "10 large Tomatoes" because the size and the amount of the other ingredients DOES make a difference! Having said that, I quadrupled this recipe (using the portion converter) since I had 40 very medium Roma tomatoes, cut down on the amount of peppers and carrots, I used chopped baby carrots too since that made it much easier to cut into small pieces. I also threw in 2 dried red chillies (you can get them from the Indian grocery) along with the bay leaves and celery stalks while the whole thing simmered, in order to give it a bit of a kick. I also replaced the Italian spices with fresh thyme and oregano like other posters had recommended. It was superb! It freezes well too and can easily be warmed up and be added with either cooked ground veal or pieces of Italian sausage for a non-vegetarian sauce for later on. - 13 Aug 2007 (Review from Allrecipes USA and Canada)
This is a great basic recipe! Easy to follow and easy to do as this was my first attempt to make homemade tomato sauce. I did make changes. I carmalized the onions and omitted the carrots and burgundy. Also, after the sauce had been cooking for two hours, I poured it into the blender to puree it; my kids hate vegetable chunks in their sauce, so I did this to disguise the other veggies! Sneaky, huh. Also, I added salt and used oregano, thyme, and parsley instead of a general Italian seasoning. Overall, this was a great recipe starter for a tasty sauce! - 15 Jul 2003 (Review from Allrecipes USA and Canada)


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Iran's propaganda is losing its effectiveness, but the West must remain on guard
Over the years, the "Islamic Republic of Iran" has found frequent success with one key strategy for reinforcing the regime's hold on power while keeping would-be threats to the theocratic system at bay. The regime's operatives and lobbyists have tirelessly promoted a narrative that discounts the country's pro-democratic voices as marginal and lacking in organization or public support. At the same time, they have sought to portray democratic organizations in a negative light, so as to justify the crackdowns that might help to make that false narrative into a reality.
Fortunately for the future of the country, the appeal of the democratic opposition has remained so strong that these crackdowns have proven ineffectual. The standard-bearer of that opposition, the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI or MEK), has lost over 100,000 members since the 1980s as a result of Tehran's assassinations, torture and execution of political prisoners. In the summer of 1988 alone, 30,000 political prisoners were put to death following a fatwa by the regime's founder, which declared opponents of the fledgling theocratic system to be enemies of God.
Despite all this, the Iranian opposition has grown both domestically and internationally. On January 9, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei acknowledged that that MEK had played a leading role in organizing and initiating the nationwide anti-government protests that were then still at their height. The demonstrations were subsequently dispersed following the shooting deaths of 50 peaceful participants, but not before they spread to more than 140 cities and towns, giving rise to chants of "death to the dictator" and other slogans that clearly expressed a popular desire for regime change.
Many experts on the Middle East have suggested that the January uprising never came to a proper end. On that view, the government repression only put the nationwide movement on pause, while also adding to the grievances that make it so likely to resurge. Public protests have continued almost constantly in spite of the familiar, violent response from the regime.
Although the clerical regime has fallen far short of its goal of destroying the opposition, it has enjoyed complicity from the international community. But that pattern may finally be at an end, leaving Iran without one major component of a strategy that includes propaganda, deception, terrorism, and repression.
The advent of the Trump era certainly has much to do with the shift away from a policy of reaching out to so-called moderates who encourage the destruction of Iran's pro-democratic voices. But this shift has been a long-time coming, for two main reasons.
First, policies of outreach and appeasement have consistently proven to be disastrous, most recently when the empowerment of "moderate" Iranian President Hassan Rouhani led to the explosion of Iranian influence all across the Middle East.
Second, the list of prominent Western politicians and scholars who support the MEK has steadily grown as people have enjoyed more and more exposure to its platform and ideals while also recognizing the dubious origins of disinformation against the opposition.
In 2012, the Pentagon commissioned a report which identified Massoud Khodabandeh and his British wife Anne Singleton as operatives of the Iranian Ministry of Intelligence and Security who had by that time spent 10 years presenting themselves as counterterrorism experts while in fact engaging in an aggressive demonization campaign against the opposition.
It goes without saying that the more such tactics are exposed, the less success Tehran will have in suppressing those forces that could organize the democratic sentiment which is predominant both inside Iran and throughout the global Iranian diaspora. This in turn will leave the regime exposed if it attempts to continue with other aspects of its multi-pronged attack against the opposition.
There are already some signs of that exposure. Last year, two Iranian dissidents were assassinated in Turkey and the Netherlands, and just last month two Iranians were arrested in Albania where they were reportedly suspected of planning terrorist attacks against the large Iranian dissident community there. In recent years, Albania took in the majority of the MEK members who had been living in dire conditions in Camp Liberty in Iraq, under constant threat of attacks from Iranian-backed forces.
In September 2016, then-Secretary of State John Kerry described the evacuation of Camp Liberty as "a major humanitarian achievement." To this it might be added that it was also a triumph of global opposition to the Iranian propaganda campaign by individuals like Anne Singleton, which sought to obstruct the relocation and justify leaving the Iranian dissidents to die under rocket attacks, unsanitary conditions and a medical blockade.
But despite that triumph, let no one think that the propaganda element of Tehran's anti-MEK campaign is at an end. The aforementioned Anne Singleton and several lobbies of the Iranian regime are presently scheduled to address a meeting at the European Parliament, as part of their demonization campaign.
A theocracy that ruthlessly stifles opposition at home and exports its unbridled terror the world over should not be allowed to exploit our democratic system to pursue its sinister objectives, including endangering the safety and security of Iranian exiles.


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Recently, I was told that it was hypocritical for me when I
primarily discuss personal and professional development, to venture away from
those topics and ponder other issues, in this case a political viewpoint in
regard to leadership. I was also told I would lose credibility if I took a
stand, and voiced my opinion related to politics and made it public. Could that
be any more incredible?
My goodness, where are we going as a citizenry when voicing
an opinion and taking a stand on a belief decreases your credibility? If that
were the case, we might as well throw courage into the human character trashcan.
Credibility is established, or negated, based on principled behavior not an
opinion. Because a person has an opinion not in alignment with yours does not
mean he or she is not credible. Credibility is defined as, "worthy of
belief or confidence, trustworthy; capable of being believed, believable."
Worthy of belief or confidence is established by ones character, and the behaviors
reflecting that character.
What makes you credible? It will always be your
behaviors that supersede your degrees, diplomas, and the number of letters
after your name that legitimizes your credibility. Having attended West Point
certainly provides credibility, but it is my behavior that either validates or
diminishes the credibility of attending that institution, and the ideals it
represents. You can have a bachelor's, a master's, or a doctoral degree in a
certain field, but it is the application of those credentials that establishes
your credibility. Reinforcing that credibility with a consistency in behavior
that reflects your core values is integrity, establishing your reputation.
is defined as, "the estimation in which a person or thing is held,
especially by the community or public generally; repute." What is your
estimation of an individual who stands for nothing and is indecisive, or an
individual who is inconsistent? For example, a person who professes tolerance
and then is intolerant, righteous, and indignant when you disagree with them? I
would doubt he or she would be a person who be held in favorable repute.
Effective leadership is taking a stand, going out on a limb, thinking out of
the box and being decisive. Ineffective leadership is flip flopping, being
narrow-minded, going with the flow, being passive, bowing down to criticism,
not stirring the pot, and lacking the courage to act on your principles. How
many times have you heard someone say, " I don't agree, but I don't want to
say, do, or attach my name to anything because it may cause someone to get
upset at me." Or, "I don't agree but that's not my problem, he is just an
idiot, let someone else challenge him." Is that credible?
Everyone has the
right to an opinion and the freedom to express it, thank you First Amendment.
However, to personally attack another based on an opinion lacks integrity, and
undermines credibility. Of course, we do not act on everything we disagree
with, but there comes a time where we should all step up to the plate when we
passionately believe in a cause. The beauty of our Constitution and the
Democracy it supports is that it provides all of us the opportunity to do just
that. Maybe everyone should take a deep breath in this present political
environment, and realize that not everyone is always right or wrong all the
time. If your feathers are ruffled because of an opinion then refute the
opinion with facts and figures. I respect an individual who can take a stand on
an issue and do it with professionalism and clarity, even if I do not agree
with the stand they are taking.
As Mahatma Gandhi stated, "There are seven things that will destroy us: Wealth without work; Pleasure without conscience; Knowledge without character; Religion without sacrifice; Politics without principle: Science without humanity; Business without ethics."
As a society, have we lost an understanding of the significance in being mannerly toward one another? Are we too self-centered or self-absorbed with our own agendas that we carelessly disregard our behavior toward others? What mannerly path are our youth on, and what is the exemplifying trend that we as parents and adults display to our young?
Unfortunately, there is a persuasive thought that we may have lost the societal battle in creating a citizenry that is mutually respectful and considerate. But I believe the battle is not lost, and it is time for all of us to initiate a resurgence in reinforcing the manners that we expect from our children and one another.
The common courtesies of "thank you," "please," and "you're welcome" should never be neglected. Small acts of kindness such as opening a door for someone should not be forgotten—whether it be pulling out a chair to assist in the sitting process or standing when ladies excuse themselves from the table. You may think that is old fashioned, out of date, and not necessary, but it sure feels nice to be treated with a degree of respect and politeness.
The fact is that being polite and displaying manners is the right thing to do. Whether someone responds or not is irrelevant, but it should not deter us from continuing to set the appropriate example.
Let us all take the time to be more cognizant of how mannerly, or not mannerly, we are to one another and the example we set for our children. Our little darlings are not always so darling. Educating them in understanding the important role of manners and holding them accountable should not be diminished by societal acceptance of behaviors that are disrespectful toward others.
Have you ever abandoned a task or dream because of the overwhelming feeling of stress, self-doubt, or awareness that an alternative course might be easier, but less rewarding? Self-discipline mitigates those feelings, weaknesses, and temptations. In fact, self-discipline is perhaps one of the most important character traits for all people to display—both professionally and personally.
increases in alcohol and drug abuse, acting upon temptations for personal
gratification, and the willingness to violate one's personal core values for
self-serving financial gains are all results of a loss of individual
self-discipline in our society. The ever-increasing advancements in media and
internet technology only fuel the exposure to the lure of being distracted from
one's primary focus, a proper life path, and a difficult task at hand.
For example, as a student, would it be easier to continue to work on a research paper, or to goof off on a site like Facebook? As an employee, is it easier to sit down at night and watch the "boob tube" (literally), or to work on developing one's mind or skills through constructive reading and intellectual engagement with others? On a personal level, is it easier to eat cake, or to say "no" and eat healthy to maintain proper weight? A lack of self-discipline is a, if not the, primary factor for the hindrance of personal growth and professional development.
Five steps to strengthen your self-discipline are
1. Reinforce an understanding of the core values that you believe in and reflect who you are. Define those values and incorporate them in the process of accomplishing the task at hand.
2. Take "baby steps" when beginning the pursuit of a new endeavor. It is imperative to not look at the entire vision at hand, but approach the task day-by-day. The old adage of "do not bite off more than you can chew" is essential.
3. Establish a moral compass that is in alignment with the core values you espouse to. A clear sense of your morality will subdue the temptations of the deadly sins we are exposed to every day. Personally, I define morality as how I treat another human being, and I believe we should treat one another with dignity and respect. Take the time to assess how you would want to be treated if you were walking in another's shoes.
4. Manage your time and effort by planning properly and executing the task efficiently. Prioritize the elements of the task at hand to best reach that goal in the most efficient manner possible.
5. Finally, visualize the light at the end of the tunnel, and anticipate the satisfaction of the successful completion of that goal.
Remember, Concerted Effort + Determination = Self-Discipline. There is nothing more satisfying and self-respect developing than the knowledge that your efforts and determination were the primary factors in the achievement of your success. Successful leaders are always self-disciplined in the pursuit of their passions, dreams, and goals. Be that leader and set a positive, self-disciplined example every day for those around you.
You may have many acquaintances, but are they true friends? As the days of our lives pass by with the joys and sorrows we experience, it is the presence of friends that enhance our experience of joy and provide compassion during time of sorrow.
A true friend inspires goodness, empathy, and mutual respect. It is a bond that transcends time and distance, and invigorates memories of happiness, fun, excitement, challenge, sadness, and perseverance all in one sphere of trust. True friendship is not judgmental but supportive in good times and bad. It is a unity of life between two human beings where the experiences of one are the experiences of the other.
Although technology has enhanced the speed and our capability to communicate with one another, it has also created a world of pseudo friends. Social networking sites have provided an outlet to share our lives with those around us, but how many of your Internet acquaintances are really true friends? Would they ever put your agenda and needs before their own? Would they literally be there for you because you needed them? Do they really care about you, or is it just an opportunity to project themselves on to others?
Friends anchor us when the sea of life is unsteady, and yet encourage us to continue the journey. A friend is one who jumps aboard when others have abandoned ship. Your real friends do not focus on your faults, but always see your strengths. As Helen Keller stated, "With the death of every friend I love, a part of me has been buried, but their contribution to my being of happiness, strength, and understanding remains to sustain me in an altered world."
Genuine friendships create a treasure chest of love, respect and richness in life that is priceless and forever memorable. As the beauty of a flower is expressed through its petals, so is the beauty of who we are expressed through our friends. Know who your true friends are, and you'll be closer to knowing yourself.


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Big Boo, Bowie Lover, Big Dyke: Lea DeLaria Brings Her Powerful Blend of Comedy and Jazz to the McCallum TheatreOctober 18 2018
Lea DeLaria is known for different things in different circles.
Mainstream audiences know her for stealing scenes as Carrie "Big Boo" Black on Netflix's hit series Orange Is the New Black.
LGBT audiences know her as a pioneering comedian. She started performing in San Francisco in the early 1980s, and became the first openly gay/lesbian comic on a late-night show when she appeared on The Arsenio Hall Show in 1993.
Music-loving audiences know her as a fantastic jazz musician—who paid tribute to the great David Bowie with her album House of David, released in 2015, just months before Bowie passed away.
All of DeLaria's talents will be on display when she performs at the McCallum Theatre at 8 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 8. In fact, DeLaria usually blends these talents when she performs—because audiences can't handle her otherwise, she said during a recent phone interview.
"I do music and comedy together, because my comedy's so loud, fast, vulgar, in your face, rowdy and crazy that people can only take it for about five minutes, and they're like, 'Mommy, make it stop!' she said. "So I always add a little music. That gives people a rest from my crazy, rageful, screaming comedy style."
DeLaria will be performing some of her Bowie covers from House of David.
"He was a big supporter of this record. He championed it on his website and his social media. He told people to contribute to my campaign so that I could get the record made," DeLaria said. "We released the cover of that album on his website. He was involved with it, which I think was kind of lovely.
"I loved him my whole life. I grew up in the Midwest—St. Louis. So, in 1974, when David Bowie walks out onstage in a fucking skirt and starts singing this amazing rock 'n' roll, my queer little heart in the Midwest went, 'Oh my god.' I mean, it was like the greatest thing I'd ever seen.
"He was probably the first real performer in the public eye who taught me that one, being weird is cool, and two, to be true to who you are as a performer. He was always ahead of the curve."
DeLaria was born into music, in a sense.
"My father was a jazz pianist. He was always playing in the house, rehearsing in the house," DeLaria said. "He would come home late from gigs and bring the guys home, and they would play. Me and my siblings would sit at the top of the steps and listen to them play music when it was like 2 o'clock in the morning—when we should be in bed. So I've always had a love of that music. He spotted it in me immediately at a very young age and taught me to sing and really instilled a passion of that music in me. In fact, it was the first thing I ever did professionally—I used to sing with him when I was a kid at the club."
Comedy came naturally to DeLaria … as did being outspoken and political.
"I was a big voice in San Francisco in the '80s during the AIDS crisis and was working with ACT UP," she said. "That's my history of comedy, and that's why I've always been a really radical comic—a really in-your-face dyke comic. I'm not a comedian; I'm a dyke comic. I always call myself that.
"When I went out onstage at that time, I wasn't even called Lea DeLaria; they called me 'that fucking dyke.' So when they would bring me out onstage, they would go, 'Please welcome to the stage that fucking dyke!' I had a shaved head and safety pins in my ears and big stomping boots. … I was a rageful, rageful lesbian. I was always in touch with my rage. I'm still in touch with my rage, and I find that's important. It's an important distinction—anger's a tiny little emotion. It's a wimpy little emotion. But rage, ooh, rage can get things done.
"That's why I keep telling people to stay in touch with their rage this election. Rage is when people go, 'I'm done; I'm not doing this anymore. I'm gonna do something about it.'"
While DeLaria has been singing, acting and doing comedy for decades, she gained a large mainstream audience for the first time in 2013 with the premiere of Orange Is the New Black. After five seasons on the show, DeLaria's Big Boo only appeared in one episode of this year's sixth season. I had to ask: Will Big Boo be back for next year's seventh and final season?
"I can't speak to future seasons," she said. "I don't know, because I was written off the show this last season, so I have no idea. I have nothing but love for Orange Is the New Black; it changed the face of the world, television and certainly my life."
This is definitely not the first time DeLaria has performed in Palm Springs; in fact, she became part of local LGBT lore when she upset organizers while performing at a benefit more than a decade ago.
"Oh, where I insulted George W. Bush, and they turned off my mic and pulled me offstage?" she responded when I asked her about the now-infamous event. "Unbelievable censorship, especially since it was a gay event. … I was never a fan of George W. Bush, but I never thought of him as evil the way I think of Trump. So that's what happened there. What happened was people with money—conservative, gay people with money—had me pulled off the stage for spouting my political opinion."
In other words … come to the McCallum prepared for a great show—as long as you're not easily offended.
Lea DeLaria will perform at 8 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 8, at the McCallum Theatre, 73000 Fred Waring Drive, in Palm Desert. Tickets are $25 to $75. For tickets or more information, call 760-340-2787, or visit www.mccallumtheatre.com.
After a fall-winter-spring blur of Too Many Shows, you're thinking to yourself, "Summer is finally here—I can take a break from TV. Praise the Lord!"
Sorry. Your god has abandoned you: Here are 32 new and returning series you're going to have to watch this summer, because peak TV knows no season.
In the unexpected return of Flaked (Season 2 premiere; Friday, June 2; Netflix), Chip (Will Arnett) heads back to Venice to rehab his ruined Local Hero status, if not his booze problem. Matters are even more dire for the gang on Fear the Walking Dead (Season 3 premiere; Sunday, June 4; AMC), as vigilante Build the Zombie Wall border patrollers won't allow them to cross back over from Mexico. It could be worse; they could be struggling comedians in 1970s Hollywood—which is the setting for I'm Dying Up Here (series debut; Sunday, June 4; Showtime).
Tim Heidecker re-ups for more ultra-violent spy action in Decker: Unclassified (Season 2 premiere; Sunday, June 4; Adult Swim), while Aussie comic Jim Jefferies takes another stab at 'Merican TV with late-night talker The Jim Jefferies Show (series debut; Tuesday, June 6; Comedy Central). Latina heroine (?) Teresa (Alice Braga) continues her quest to rule the drug trade in Queen of the South (Season 2 premiere; Thursday, June 8; USA), and the ladies of Litchfield are still doing time in Orange Is the New Black (Season 5 premiere; Friday, June 9; Netflix), hackers be damned.
The ragtag crew of ridiculously good-looking intergalactic criminals remain lost in space in Dark Matter (Season 3 premiere; Friday, June 9; Syfy), and TV's coolest demon hunter is back and gunning for souls in Wynonna Earp (Season 2 premiere; Friday, June 9; Syfy). Meanwhile, the end is near for the Clone Club in the final run of Orphan Black (Season 5 premiere; Saturday, June 10, BBC America), and even nearer for frenemies Billie and Gene in the two-weekend burn-off of Idiotsitter (Season 2 premiere; Saturday, June 10; Comedy Central).
An all-star cast chews scenery and buffs cuticles in new Florida nail-salon dramedy Claws (series debut; Sunday, June 11; TNT), and primetime goes grindhouse with Blood Drive (series debut; Wednesday, June 14, Syfy), about a cross-country death race where the cars run on—what else?—blood. The Mist (series debut; Thursday, June 22; Spike) rolls out more subtle Stephen King-y scares, and the Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling finally get their '80s-spandexed due in the Alison Brie-led docu-comedy GLOW (series debut; Friday, June 23; Netflix).
Fiddy Cent's nightclubs 'n' drugs drama Power (Season 4 premiere; Sunday, June 25; Starz) finds kingpin Ghost (Omari Hardwick) caught in the middle of a, yep, power struggle, while Jesse, Tulip and Cassidy finally hit the road looking for God in Preacher (Season 2 premiere; Sunday, June 25; AMC). Liza (Sutton Foster) deals with the fallout of her bestie Kelsey (Hilary Duff) learning her dark, old secret in Younger (Season 4 premiere; Wednesday, June 28; TV Land), and everybody's favorite ragtag trio of ridiculously good-looking interplanetary bounty hunters gear up to fight the good-ish fight in Killjoys (Season 3 premiere; Friday, June 30; Syfy).
John Singleton's Snowfall (series debut; Wednesday, July 5; FX) dramatizes the crack-cocaine epidemic of '80s Los Angeles, while modernized period piece Will (series debut; Monday, July 10; TNT) juices the legend of a young William Shakespeare as he arrives in the, wait for it, "punk-rock theatre scene of 16th century London." Back in the present, a pair of college eggheads break it to the White House that an asteroid is six months away from mercifully colliding with Earth in Salvation (series debut; Wednesday, July 12; CBS).
Game of Thrones … yeah, nothing more needs to be said here (Season 7 premiere; Sunday, July 16; HBO). In the final stretch of The Strain (Season 4 premiere; Sunday, July 16; FX), nuclear winter is in full effect; the Strigoi vampires have seized the planet; and our heroes are down for the count—but are they, really? Meanwhile, Ballers (Season 3 premiere; Sunday, July 23; HBO) and Insecure (Season 2 premiere; Sunday, July 23; HBO) are paired up for the most incongruent HBO hour ever, while Midnight, Texas (series debut; Monday, July 24; NBC) takes Charlaine Harris' supernatural novels for a TV spin.
Would you believe … Sharknado 5 (movie premiere; Sunday, Aug. 6; Syfy)? Marvel's The Defenders (series debut; Friday, Aug. 18; Netflix) finally brings together Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist for a dysfunctional superhero team-up, while the 21st go-round of South Park (season 21 premiere; Wednesday, Aug. 23; Comedy Central) attempts to find the funny in Trump's America—if he's still in office at that point. Fortunately, Abbi and Ilana drop the long-long-long-awaited comeback of Broad City (Season 4 premiere; Wednesday, Aug. 23; Comedy Central), and the new take on The Tick (series debut; Friday, Aug. 25; Amazon Prime) may reunify the country, after all. Spoon!
True TV: 'Aquarius' Is Back on Charles Manson's Trail; 'American Gothic' Is More Dim Than DarkJune 15 2016
Aquarius (Thursday, June 16, NBC), season premiere: When last we (meaning me; I've yet to meet anybody who watched Season 1) left Aquarius, it was spring of 1968; Det. Hodiak (David Duchovny) and the Los Angeles Police Department were possibly going under an internal affairs investigation; and milquetoast messiah Charles Manson (Gethin Anthony) was finally starting to show some psycho-spunk. (Remember, it took Axl Rose a couple of albums to get there, too.) In keeping with history, the two-hour Season 2 premiere of Aquarius sees the Manson Family moving in with Beach Boys drummer Dennis Wilson (Andy Favreau), as Hodiak becomes caught up in another missing-girls case while still making time to snark at hippies; and beat cop Tully (Claire Holt) gets in over her head in a dangerous case again because, you know, even the late '60s still sucked for women. Aquarius may never achieve its five-season plan, but it has more swagger and grit than most current cop dramas, and features as much sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll as, well, FX's Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll. (Seriously, the '60s music rights and oregano budgets must be staggering.)
Orange Is the New Black (Friday, June 17, Netflix), season premiere: Netflix has put so many "No Spoilers!" review restrictions on Season 4 of Orange Is the New Black that there's not much left to say besides: There's a busload of new characters (literally); Piper (Taylor Schilling) has less screen time than ever; Alex (Laura Prepon) has more troubles than ever; there's darkness; there's light; there's more darkness; and creator/writer Jenji Kohan is still maintaining an impressive level of dramatic quality. (Then again, her previous series, Weeds, began to run off the rails around Season 4, so … .) Besides, you'll have binged all 13 episodes by the time you get around to reading this, anyway.
The Jim Gaffigan Show (Sunday, June 19, TV Land), season premiere: TV Land has rebranded, dumping Baby Boomers in favor of Gen-Xers (can't keep catering to a demo that's almost extinct—unless you're a newspaper … uh …). Laugh tracks and cheap sets are being replaced with single-camera film and a scrappier attitude, and The Jim Gaffigan Show is the flagship for the new TV Land. If you've seen Gaffigan's standup, you know this sitcom: tubby white guy, wife and kids, junk food. Despite a few critical nags about the series being a pale—nope, not going for the easy pasty-Jim joke here—imitation of Louie and Curb Your Enthusiasm, TJGS rose above its anticipated blandness with sharp writing and a sharper supporting. Fun fact (unless you're an NBC Universal exec): Like Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt and Lip Sync Battle, The Jim Gaffigan Show was rejected by NBC (which stands for Now Bereft of Comedy).
American Gothic (Wednesday, June 22, CBS), series debut: Compared to the long-lost 1995 also-CBS American Gothic drama about a supernaturally evil small-town sheriff menacing the locals—YouTube it; Gary Cole was almost as menacing in it as he is now on Veep—the new American Gothic (posh Boston family has a secret serial killer among them) seems like a snooze. It is—with a recycled title, no less. Not only does this iteration add to the glut of shows with "American" in the title (which all suck, with the lone exception of American Dad); it also wastes actors like Virginia Madsen, Antony Starr (Banshee) and Justin Chatwin (Shameless) on what CBS is now calling "A 13-Part Murder Mystery" (which really means, "We're sure as hell not getting any more seasons out of this"). Now, American Gothic as a reality-challenge show about goths competing American Ninja-style … there's a winner!
Murder in the First (Sunday, June 26, TNT), season premiere: Cop-show vet Steven Bochco is still hanging in there with Murder in the First, a reduced redux of his 1995 network series Murder One (a single case investigated over a season—and on cable, that means 10 episodes instead of 22). Season 3 involves the homicide of that most precious of 'Merican celebrities: a pro football player (nooo!), with San Francisco detectives English (Taye Diggs) and Mulligan (Kathleen Robertson) just as gorgeous and troubled as ever. And it's all … whatever. If the new Animal Kingdom doesn't break the network's meh streak (and it probably won't), TNT is serious danger of becoming USA. No one wants that. (The premiere was scheduled for June 19, but was pushed back a week.)
True TV: 'Orange Is the New Black' Is (Still) Trying to Break Your Heart—and So Is 'Proof'June 10 2015
Orange Is the New Black (Friday, June 12, Netflix), season premiere: Aside from the return of a beaten-down and bruised-up Alex (Laura Prepon), things are almost too bright and happy at Litchfield Penitentiary in Orange Is the New Black's Season 3 opener. The episode, however, ends on a heartrending downer that drives home the facts that 1) this show is still set in a prison and, 2) unlike narrow award-show categories, creator/writer Jenji Kohan will pivot from "comedy" to "drama" however she damned well pleases. Kohan also introduces even more character flashbacks and new faces without spinning into Game of Thrones overload, and spends just enough quality time with the woman she initially fooled us into thinking was the "star" of the show, Piper (Taylor Schilling). That "Best Season Yet" buzz may turn out to be more than just Netflix hype.
Dark Matter (Friday, June 12, Syfy), series debut: The writers and producers behind long-running sci-fi-lite hits Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis essentially killed the franchise with 2009's Stargate Universe, the bleak tale of a space-exploration team lost in uncharted cosmos. Dark Matter finds another crew adrift in space—but they have no idea who they are, how they got there, or why random scumdogs of the universe are out to kill them. As you'd expect, the amnesiac models soon learn they each have requisite A-Team abilities (fighter, hacker, thinker, more fighters, etc.), assign nicknames (like "Boss Lady," "Kid" and, best of all, "Slashy McStabberson"), and at least pretend to trust one another to survive. It's nothing new, but at least Dark Matter serves up slick action-distraction, and it's actual sci-fi in space—how often do you get that from Syfy?
Clipped (Tuesday, June 16, TBS), series debut: If the notoriously nostalgic TV Land can drop laugh tracks (see the just-wrapped, fantastic Younger; the upcoming, promising Jim Gaffigan Show; and Impastor), why the hell can't TBS kill the canned sitcom yuks already? Clipped, about a group of former clashing-clique high-school classmates who all end up working on the same Bah-ston barbershop, is from KoMut, the TV production company that's been cranking out failed variations or this crapcom since the '90s (with one hit exception: Will and Grace). Like every other "comedy" KoMut has somehow sold into instant cancellation, Clipped wastes genuinely funny actors (like Ashley Tisdale, and a bored George Wendt on autopilot) on the same tired setups and stale jokes they'll probably use in their next network pitch. I should have gone into TV production instead of TV watching …
Proof (Tuesday, June 16, TNT), series debut: Shows like Rizzoli and Isles and Major Crimes still pay the bills, but TNT tried to shake up its mom-cops image last summer with new dude-centric testosterone-fests like The Last Ship and Legends, with varying results. Proof is something else entirely, like Grey's Anatomy meets Ghost Whisperer. (Ghost's Anatomy, a better title than Proof.) Jennifer Beals plays a brilliant surgeon whose life is a steaming bag of suck (bitter ex-husband, estranged daughter, dead teen son—guess the plot point), until she's hired by a cancer-stricken tech billionaire (Matthew Modine) to prove—or disprove—life after death. Will her hard-science ways conflict with supernatural hooey? Will there be tears? Can Modine rock a turtleneck? Yes, hell yes, and was there any doubt? Beals and Modine are good enough here to keep Proof from devolving into a manipulative weeper—but just barely. Proceed with caution, and a box of tissues.
Tyrant (Tuesday, June 16, FX), season premiere: It's a political drama! It's a family drama! It's back for a second season? Tyrant, set in the fictional Middle Eastern country of Abbudin, may not seem like an on-brand fit for FX (devoid of pulp theatrics or any trace of humor, it'd make a better companion piece for Homeland on Showtime), but it deserves a second chance to clean up after a messy debut season. Then, expatriat Barry (Adam Rayner) went from advising his power-mad dictator brother, Jamal (Ashraf Barhom), to attempting to overthrow him. Now, Barry awaits execution, much to the distress of his American wife (Jennifer Finnigan) and Jamal's wife (Moran Atias), Barry's long-ago ex. Even more concerning than the possibility that he may order his brother's death is the lack of Jamal's fearsome Season 1 power beard—shaved, he bears an unfortunate resemblance to Arrested Development's Buster Bluth.
Hannibal (NBC; Thursday, June 4, season premiere): Hannibal (Mads Mikkelsen) and Bedelia (Gillian Anderson) are hiding out in Europe—but can the doctor keep his "tastes" under the radar? What a bore that show would be.
Sense8 (Netflix; Friday, June 5, series debut): The Wachowski Brothers bring their Matrix-y weirdness to TV in the tale of eight people around the world who can tap into each other's existences. Coincidentally, they're all ridiculously good-looking.
Orange Is the New Black (Netflix; Friday, June 12, season premiere): The gang's all back—and so is Alex (Laura Prepon), as well as new inmate Stella (Ruby Rose). Larry (Jason Biggs), not so much. Please contain your indifference.
Dark Matter (Syfy; Friday, June 12, series debut): The crew of an adrift spaceship wakes up with no memories, and to outside threats galore. Based on the graphic novel (woo!) and produced by the Stargate SG-1 team (uh-oh).
Proof (TNT; Tuesday, June 16, series debut): A brilliant-but-troubled surgeon (Jennifer Beals) is hired by a dying tech billionaire (Matthew Modine) to find proof—get it?—that death is not the end. TNT, maybe, but not death.
The Astronaut Wives Club (ABC; Thursday, June 18, series debut; pic above): Imagine Mad Men, but focused on the spouses of NASA heroes of the late '60s. That would be a better show than this reheated network leftover—but the fashion is sooo cute!
Complications (USA; Thursday, June 18, series debut): A suburban doctor (Jason O'Mara) becomes embroiled in a gang war after saving the life of a kingpin's son at a drive-by. From the creators of Burn Notice, so expect plenty of yelling and gunplay.
Killjoys (Syfy; Friday, June 19, series debut): A trio of sexy bounty hunters (Aaron Ashmore, Hannah John-Kamen and Luke Macfarlane) work the interplanetary warzone. It's Firefly meets Guardians of the Galaxy meets a Canadian budget.
True Detective (HBO; Sunday, June 21, season premiere): Colin Farrell, Vince Vaughn, Rachel McAdams and Taylor Kitsch navigate murder and mustaches in the badlands of California. Hold your "Season 1 was better" critiques until at least after the opening credits.
Ballers (HBO; Sunday, June 21, series debut): A sports dramedy (!) about retired and rookie football players just trying to get by in Miami, starring Dwayne Johnson, Omar Miller and Rob Corddry, and produced by Mark Wahlberg and Peter Berg. Hut!
The Brink (HBO; Sunday, June 21, series debut): Bureaucrats (including Jack Black and Tim Robbins), military hawks (Geoff Pierson) and fighter pilots (Pablo Schreiber) scramble to avert World War III. It's like Veep with higher stakes and (slightly) less profanity.
Mr. Robot (USA; Wednesday, June 24, series debut): Vigilante hacker by night/corporate IT drone by day Elliot (Rami Malek) is recruited by the mysterious "Mr. Robot" (Christian Slater) to e-destroy the company he works for. Never give up on TV, Slater.
Humans (AMC; Sunday, June 28, series debut): In the "parallel present" of suburban London, the must-have accessory is a "Synth," a human-like servant/friend. But what happens when the Synths develop emotions? And, since they're British, how do you tell?
Zoo (CBS; Tuesday, June 30, series debut): Animals are rising up against humans all over the planet, and only a "renegade biologist" (James Wolk) can stop the pandemic. People of Earth: If your lives are in the hands of a "renegade biologist," you're boned.
The Strain (FX; Sunday, July 12, season premiere): New York City is being overrun with not-pretty vampires, and it's up to Eph (Corey Stoll) and Nora (Mia Maestro) to create a cure for the epidemic … if they can keep it in their pants. NYC, you're also boned.
Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll (FX; Thursday, July 16, series debut, pic below): A failed '90s rock band (featuring Denis Leary and John Corbett) gets a second shot at fame with a hot young singer (Elizabeth Gillies). This will be the second-wiggiest FX series after The Americans.
Bojack Horseman (Netflix; Friday, July 17, season premiere): Everybody's favorite Hollywood horse has-been (voiced by Will Arnett) is back! And so is Todd (Aaron Paul)!
Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! (Syfy; Wednesday, July 22, movie): The chompstorm hits Washington, D.C.! Ian Ziering and Tara Reid are back! Mark Cuban is the president! Ann Coulter is the VP! Like you needed any more reasons to root for the sharks.
Wet Hot American Summer (Netflix; Friday, July 31, series debut): An eight-episode prequel to the beloved 2001 cinematic classic, all about the first day of summer at Camp Firewood—with all of the cast members anyone cares about! Bring on the short-shorts!
Fear the Walking Dead (AMC; TBA, series debut): A six-episode flashback to the beginning of the zombie apocalypse, set in Los Angeles. No "renegade biologists" involved.
True TV: The Best of 2014 (Part One)December 24 2014
True Detective (HBO): Creator/writer Nic Pizzolatto probably screwed himself by launching this mesmerizing crime anthology with stars Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson at the top of their respective games. Good luck following up these eight near-perfect episodes.
Banshee (Cinemax): This left-field, visceral mashup of Justified, Twin Peaks and Fight Club went pulp-gonzo harder in Season 2, expanding the world of Banshee, Penn., just enough to introduce even more Amish mobster/Ukrainian thug mayhem. It's that weird, and that cool.
Shameless (Showtime): Things somehow got worse as they got better for the Gallagher clan in Season 4, with William H. Macy and Emmy Rossum delivering alternately heartbreaking and hilarious performances. This is America's family.
Justified (FX): Star Timothy Olyphant put his boot down and rescued Justified from becoming entirely the show of Boyd (Walton Goggins) in its fifth and penultimate season, and brought some new colorful characters along for the ride.
Broad City (Comedy Central): Few comedies arrive as fully-realized as Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer's Broad City (though it did have a head-start as a Web series); their broke Brooklynites are the female flipside of Workaholics, only smarter, funnier and occasionally grosser.
Helix (Syfy): This Arctic Andromeda Strain/Walking Dead hybrid from Ronald D. Moore (Battlestar Galactica) crept up with no big splash, but it did earn a second season for 2015—catch up on Netflix now.
The Americans (FX): Keri Russell and Matthew Rhys continued to out-spy Homeland while still stuck in Cold War 1981, facing down more danger (and wigs) than Carrie and Brody could ever imagine.
Archer (FX): Meanwhile, Archer (code-named Archer Vice) blew up its spy premise and dove face-first into cocaine and country music. Literally.
House of Cards (Netflix): Vice president Frank Underwood (Kevin Spacey) delivered a shocking twist in the first episode of Season 2, and the train didn't stop a-rollin' from there. As with actual D.C. politics, it's best not to think too hard about the machinations en route to the presidency
Fargo (FX): Lorne (Billy Bob Thornton), Lester (Martin Freeman) and Deputy Molly (Allison Tolman) shut down the "You can't touch that movie" doubters from frame one with this dark, funny adaptation that faltered fewer times than True Detective. Oh, you bet'cha.
From Dusk Till Dawn (El Rey): Another film-to-TV transition that defied the haters, From Dusk Till Dawn expanded the 1996 cult classic into an even crazier, racier 10-episode ride where the definition of "the good guys" is subjective.
Game of Thrones (HBO): Like anyone's going to make a list without Game of Thrones. Get real.
Silicon Valley (HBO): Mike Judge finally, if not intentionally, created the sequel to Office Space with Silicon Valley, a hysterically profane (and tech-jargoned, at least at first) saga about programmers in waaay over their heads. If only Halt and Catch Fire had been half this much fun.
Veep (HBO): Speaking of profane: VP Selina Meyer (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) and her team continued to fail upward in Season 3, from WTF? to the brink of POTUS. Pray for your country.
Bates Motel (A&E): Murder, drugs, love triangles, commercial zoning disputes—Bates Motel has it all! Norman (Freddie Highmore) became as intriguing as mother Norma (Vera Farmiga) in Season 2, no small feat, as did some of the supporting players. Why wait for Showtime's Twin Peaks revival? It's already here.
Mad Men (AMC): Splitting the final season in half was a lousy idea (the Mad Men buzz is pretty much nil at this point), but those first seven episodes provided a course-correcting jolt that should make for a hell of a 2015 finale, whenever that happens (hopefully, not in the '70s).
Orphan Black (BBC America): See Game of Thrones.
Last Week Tonight With John Oliver (HBO): Sure, it's a Daily Show knock-off with F-bombs—but those rants! Corporations, media, condiments—suck it! Everything the overblown Newsroom attempted over three seasons, Oliver nailed in 30 minutes.
Legit (FXX): Poor Jim Jefferies. His Louie-like Legit finally got good by the end of its first season, then FX exiled it to the untested FXX for Season 2: no promotion, no viewers, just yelling into a vast, empty room. See what you missed on Netflix (along with Jeffries' stand-up specials).
Playing House (USA): Jessica St. Clair and Lennon Parham as almost-uncomfortably close BFFs failed on network TV, but found a niche on cable with Playing House, which could be the first series ever to make pregnancy play funny and inclusive.
Parks and Recreation (NBC): While as excellent as ever, Season 6 probably should have been the last (maybe even halfway through), but at least we'll get a proper sendoff for NBC's last great Must-See comedy in 2015.
Rick and Morty (Adult Swim): Few "get" Community, but Dan Harmon's other TV project, the animated, and simultaneously brainy and crude Rick and Morty—imagine Back to the Future with more universes, booze and malicious aliens—clicked immediately on Adult Swim.
Louie (FX): Louis C.K. made us wait two years for a new season, then delivered 14 arty-if-not-always-funny installments of Louie, which were rightfully hailed as "brave," "experimental" and "mostly free of black T-shirts."
Maron (IFC): Marc Maron didn't stray too far from the formula of his debut season in his second go-round—regarding how difficult it is to be Marc Maron, specifically, and a middle-aged white dude with a podcast in general. Still brilliant.
Orange Is the New Black (Netflix): Season 2 leaned more dramatic than comedic, and pulled killer performances from everyone in (and out) of Litchfield Penitentiary. Creator Jenji Kohan is well on her way to achieving the heretofore-thought impossible: Topping her previous series, Weeds.
The Leftovers (HBO): Life sucks when you're not Raptured, and The Leftovers was the ultimate summer-bummer wallow, not to mention the vehicle that finally made Justin Theroux matter.
Rectify (Sundance): And while we're on the topic of dramas filmed in Depress-o-Vision … damn.
Longmire (A&E): In its third season, Longmire fully broke away from its Justified Out West trappings and became a gripping, dusty crime drama in its own right. A&E rewarded this creative triumph—and high ratings—with a cancellation notice in order to make way for more Duck Dynasty. Fortunately, Netflix came to the rescue, and Season 4 will be streaming by late 2015. I'm beginning to understand you cable-cutters …
Coming next week: Part 2—even more shows!
Orange Is the New Black (Friday, June 6, Netflix), season premiere: How badly did Piper (Taylor Schilling) beat down Pennsatucky (Taryn Manning) at the end of Season 1? The bigger, more unexpected question is: Were the two alone at the scene? Orange Is the New Black grew stealthily and deliberately from a pretty-white-girl-goes-to-prison comedy into a racially diverse drama with real tension and consequences during its initial 13 episodes (while still retaining some laughs—this isn't the female Oz yet); showrunner Jenji Kohan sends Season 2 down a darker path from the outset. (While the first episode is mostly Piper-centric, she's not the same woman who entered Litchfield Penitentiary last year.) But, it's not all a downer—two words: cunnilingus contest. Happy binging!
Power (Saturday, June 7, Starz), series debut: Ghost (Omari Hardwick) is a successful-if-unfortunately nicknamed New York City nightclub owner by night, but an even-more-successful drug dealer by … later night? The logistics don't matter—can he turn his club into more than just a money-laundering front and go straight? Will the far-less-handsome drug-players of the city let him out of the game? Did no one bring up Boardwalk Empire in the Power pitch meetings? Can producer/recurring "actor" 50 Cent hear how hilariously unthreatening his own lispy voice is? No one at Starz bothered to answer, because Power is slicker, flashier and easier to digest than their last Boardwalk knockoff, Magic City. In other words, it's good enough for Saturday night.
Finding Bigfoot (Sunday, June 8, Animal Planet), season premiere: The first episode of Season 5 (!) of Finding Bigfoot will be the 48th (!!) produced in three years. You know what they haven't produced? BIGFOOT!
Murder in the First (Monday, June 9, TNT), series premiere: Since TNT seems dead-set on becoming '90s NBC with wall-to-wall cop/legal dramas broken up by the occasional sci-fi show, it makes sense that genre veteran Steven Bochco would end up here with a tweaked take on his 1995 series Murder One: a single homicide case spanning an entire season. This time, however, he only has to deliver 10 episodes (as opposed to 22), and the cast (led by Taye Diggs and Kathleen Robertson as gorgeous-but-troubled San Francisco detectives) is more manageably sized as well. The case, in which a dickhead Silicon Valley tech CEO (TV and film's new go-to villain) is connected to a pair of seemingly unrelated murders, is only slightly more twisty than a Rizzoli and Isles assignment, but Murder on the First is still grittier than anything else on TNT at the moment—except for the occasional Castle rerun. Or is it Bones? They're different shows, right?
Big Smo (Wednesday, June 11, A&E), series debut: After the premiere of the sixth and likely final season of Duck Dynasty—it was fun, and then rabidly homophobic, while it lasted, but we've hit that Jersey Shore/Honey Boo Boo wall of indifference, boys—A&E debuts its next great white reality hope, Big Smo. For those unfamiliar with the pop phenomenon of "country rap" (a mashup of country, Southern rock and hip-hop with an explicable number of rhymes for "tailgate of my pickup truck"), Big Smo is a morbidly obese Tennessee hick-hopper whose star is rising as quickly as his cholesterol. His debut album is called Kuntry Livin'; his music is corporately contrived cheese calculated to suck bucks out of blue-collar Wranglers; and he projects the raw intellect of a stunned heifer. Shoehorn all this raw, oozing potential into a cookie-cutter, over-scripted redneck-family reality show and you have … probably a huge hit. Note that I didn't say fat hit.
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit
An operative (Chris Pine) in the CIA's Financial Intelligence Unit (sure, it's a thing) uncovers a Russian plot to collapse the U.S. economy and flips into action-spy mode to save the day. Shouldn't this be called Shadow Accountant? (Paramount)
A U.S. Air Marshal (Liam Neeson) receives a mysterious text demanding $150 million, or a passenger will be killed every 20 minutes, so he flips into action-marshal mode to save the day. Shouldn't this be called Dead Air? (Universal)
Ray Donovan: Season 1
"Fixer" to the Hollywood rich and famous Ray Donovan (Liev Schreiber) knows how to handle any problem—except his own father (Jon Voight), a career criminal just released from prison. Can this wacky family get it together? Ha! (Showtime)
The Secret Lives of Dorks
When a high-school nerd falls in stalker-lust with a head cheerleader, she sets him up with an equally awkward nerd girl and coaches him on "romance." ("Always tell a hot girl she's smart; always tell a smart girl she's hot.") Uh, brilliant! (Gaiam)
True Detective: Season 1
Two ex-Louisiana detectives (Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson) are interrogated about a serial-killer case they "solved" in the '90s; flashbacks and intense hair/acting ensue. Yes, it is as amazing as the hype says. (HBO)
More New DVD Releases (June 10)
Adult World, Alan Partridge, Bigfoot vs. D.B. Cooper, Cosmos: Season 1, Devil's Knot, Klondike, Midrange, Murder 101, Resurrection: Season 1, Rizzoli and Isles: Season 4.
Maron (Thursday, May 8, IFC), season premiere: IFC no longer stands for Independent Film Channel; it's just IFC—not Insanely Funny Comedy, not I'm Feeling Crampy, just IFC. After a handful of false starts (remember Food Party? Z Rock?), Portlandia and Comedy Bang! Bang! (the latter of which premieres for Season 3 on Thursday, May 8) established IFC as a viable original-comedy destination, but it was 2013's debut season of Maron that lent the channel some real weight. Despite outside appearances, Maron isn't exactly Louie, just as Louie isn't Curb Your Enthusiasm; the fictionalized "Marc Maron" rings truer—and often funnier—than "Louis C.K." or "Larry David." In the Season 2 premiere, Marc has an uncomfortable time on Talking Dead with geek-media "enemies" Chris Hardwick and Michael Ian Black. Making the world of Twitter, podcasts and nerd-analysis shows play like high drama—that's comedy.
Rosemary's Baby (Sunday, May 11, NBC), miniseries debut: What's a movie star like Zoe Saldana doing here? She's acting what little ass she has off here, trying to save a needless remake of Roman Polanski's 1968 quasi-classic film about The Lil' Antichrist. Reset from New York to Paris—because, free vacation?—this version finds young-couple Rosemary (Saldana) and Guy (Patrick J. Adams, Suits) moving into a swank but "haunted" apartment and promptly getting pregnant—but did Guy make a pact with "devilish" neighbor Roman (Jason Isaacs, various Harry Potters) to trade his unborn baby for a writing career? And why a writer? Why not "Google CEO" or "Clippers owner"? Saldana's impressive array of bad wigs, shape-shifting preggo-bellies and off-putting cryfaces aside, Rosemary's Baby is a hysterical mess. So why isn't it on Lifetime? The miniseries concludes Monday, May 12.
Penny Dreadful (Sunday, May 11, Showtime), series debut: The Only TV Column That Matters™ doesn't believe that premium-cable levels of language, violence and nudity help every series … but they sure don't hurt. Nor does star power: Penny Dreadful leads Eva Green (as medium Vanessa Ives), Josh Hartnett (American adventurer Ethan Chandler), Timothy Dalton (the mysterious Malcolm), Billie Piper (the mysterious-er Brona Croft), Reeve Carney (Dorian Gray) and Harry Treadaway (Dr. Victor Frankenstein) form an instantly engaging cast in this Victorian London horror series that strings together classic literary monster tales into a slick, steampunk (and, as per Showtime, adult) X-Files. If Penny Dreadful can maintain the quality and dark intensity of the pilot episode, this should be an American Horror Story-sized hit; if not, it'll end up like NBC's already-forgotten Dracula.
24: Live Another Day (Mondays, Fox), new season: Other than trimming the length from two dozen episodes to 12 (it's not a season, it's an Event!) and setting aside any pretense of being a serious drama (this has won Emmys—Emmys!), 24: Live Another Day is yell-y, explode-y business as usual for Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland, holding up better than expected) and keyboard-clacking sidekick Chloe (Mary Lynn Rajskub in Girl With the Dragon Tattoo drag). The "plot" this time around: Jack re-emerges to save the president (William Devane) from terrorists in London. Why can't the CIA handle it? There's no time to explain! Send the coordinates! With this new shorter, faster and— foremost—cheaper format, expect Fox to bring back 24 every year until Kiefer looks like dad Donald in a flak jacket.
Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Tuesday, May 13, ABC), season finale: It only took 20 or so episodes to start getting good—even though it's become pretty obvious that a Bill Paxton-led Marvel's Agents of Hydra would be a much more fun series. Anyway, here's to a smoother Season 2 this fall … right, ABC?
Eastbound and Down: Season 4
Retired pitcher Kenny Powers (Danny McBride) breaks into the world of sports-talk TV, becomes a superstar asshole all over again and makes a new enemy (Ken Marino). Is it too late for the world to finally recognize the genius of KFP? Yes. (HBO)
A lonely guy (Joaquin Phoenix) falls in love with "Samantha" (Scarlett Johansson), an intuitive computer operating system. If you thought iTunes' terms and conditions were complicated, wait until you see her pre-nup. Ba-dum-bump! (Warner Bros.)
Orange Is the New Black: Season 1
From Weeds creator Jenji Kohan: An engaged New Yorker (Taylor Schilling) turns herself in for a past crime and ends up in a women's prison—and then all of a sudden, it's not just about some blonde white girl anymore. Very sneaky, Jenji. (Lionsgate)
That Awkward Moment
Zac Efron, Miles Teller and other pretty 20-somethings star in Dating Is So Hard for Pretty 20-Somethings Movie No. 584—except this time, it's from the guys' point of view, so there are more dick jokes than shopping montages. Yay? (Sony)
More New DVD Releases (May 13)
Afterlife: Series One, Camp Harlow, Crook, Deadly Code, Easy Money: Life Deluxe, Generation Iron, Genius on Hold, I Frankenstein, Kendra on Top: Season 2, Longmire: Season 2, Magic City: The Complete Series, Poseidon Rex, Special ID.
Editor's note: This is the debut of a new column, Bill Frost's "True TV," aka The Only TV Column That Matters™. Most weeks, he'll offer his opinions on what shows you should not miss during the upcoming week—and which shows you should skip in favor of a book. (However, this week, he's doing a summer-roundup thing. Hey, it's almost August. It's slow.)
He'll also offer a weekly roundup of newly released DVDs, to complement Bob Grimm's regular DVD/home-video reviews. So … here we go. Enjoy!
The 10 summer shows you should be keeping/catching up on:
Under the Dome
Mondays (CBS): One of the best Stephen King adaptations to date—and they even worked in a reference to The Simpsons Movie. Under the Dome has shown a few signs of padding the story to fill 13 episodes (teen romance—phttt, who needs it?), but the tension ratchets up just enough every week to keep the hooks in. (Almost) all is forgiven, Rachelle Lefevre.
Orange Is the New Black
Streaming (Netflix): Like Netflix's previous Big Event, Arrested Development, prison dramedy Orange Is the New Black gets better with each episode, rolling out surprising back-stories for the characters surrounding "yuppie white girl" inmate Piper (a fantastic Taylor Schilling). Anyone who thought showrunner Jenji Kohan was a one-trick Weeds pony can suck it. (For an opposing view, check out Bob Grimm's review of the show.)
Ray Donovan
Sundays (Showtime): In contrast to his hilarious, almost-unrecognizable cameo in Larry David's upcoming HBO movie Clear History, Ray Donovan is Liev Schreiber's defining Intense Mofo role. Hollywood "fixer" Ray has more issues than Variety, and his family (including an equally intense Jon Voight) is a nightmare—which, of course, makes for great TV.
Thursdays (FX): If you gave up on Wilfred during last year's weird 'n' dark Season 2, don't bother coming back—it's still weird 'n' dark. Ryan (Elijah Wood) is more convinced than ever that he's crazy, and it's less clear than ever whether his talking-dog frenemy Wilfred (Jason Gann) is there to pull him back from, or push him over, the edge. Hence, funny!
The Bridge
Wednesdays (FX): After a rote pilot episode with a The Killing aftertaste, Tex-Mex-border crime drama The Bridge slipped into a groove and started earning its FX keep. Stars Diane Kruger and Demian Bichir bring new twists to their odd-couple cop dynamic every week, and Annabeth Gish's side-plot is finally making tense sense. Always trust in FX.
The Newsroom
Sundays (HBO): It took a season and change, but The Only TV Column That Matters™ is now convinced that Olivia Munn is worthy of her news-geek-dream-girl role of financial reporter Sloan Sabbith. If only the rest of The Newsroom women owned it like she does. On all other fronts, Aaron Sorkin's liberal-media porn dramedy is sharper than ever.
Magic City
Fridays (Starz): Yeah, I get it—you're never going to subscribe to Starz, so quit going on about shows like Spartacus, Boss and Magic City, right? Whatever. Like the first two, Magic City isn't quite on par with the HBO and Showtime series it aspires to be, but as a period (1950s Miami) potboiler, it's as gorgeous and addictive as anything on cable.
Wednesdays (NBC): One of the few shows in NBC's throw-it-at-the-wall-and-see-what-sticks Summer of Filler campaign that actually works, Camp is a funny and sweet diversion that not only makes Rachel Griffiths (Six Feet Under) likable; it also also pulls off a decent Glee/Parenthood tone-meld with only a few glitches. (Teen romance—phttt, who needs it?)
Mondays (NBC): NBC could have done better—hell, the network could have done any—rollout work on keeping Siberia's secret (it's a fake reality-survival show … clarification: more fake than usual), but it's still stoopid fun watching to see who's going to die next. (Bear Grylls, take note.) The biggest mystery: What was Carolina (Joyce Giraud) thinking wearing six feet of hair into the wilderness?
Nikki and Sara Live
Tuesdays (MTV): Sometimes MTV gets it right: Not only did they give comics/podcasters Nikki Glaser and Sara Schaefer their own show last year; they also picked it up for a second season—now shut up about the music videos already. Nikki and Sara Live is essentially a junior Daily Show for those who don't want to look at old, gray hosts. (Sorry, Jon Stewart—come back soon.)
Amelia's 25th
On her 25th birthday, Amelia (Electra Avellan) realizes that she's now too old to become a famous actress: "In Hollywood, 25 is the new dead." Also starring Danny Trejo, Jennifer Tilly, Margaret Cho and other spry youngsters. (Breaking Glass)
The Best of Fridays
The cult 1980-1982 late-night sketch series, finally on DVD! Well, some of it. It features players Michael Richards and Larry David (with hair!); performances by Devo, The Clash and Kiss; and a fight with Andy Kaufman. (Shout! Factory)
Community: The Complete Fourth Season
The season without showrunner Dan Harmon—hey, it's not that bad. There's the sci-fi convention thing, the Halloween thing, the Thanksgiving thing, the Christmas thing, the puppet thing, the graduation thing … OK, it was pretty bad. (Sony)
When a memory-wiped drone repairman (Tom Cruise) on Future Eff'dup Earth rescues a mysterious-but-familiar woman (Olga Kurylenko) from a downed spacecraft … not much happens, but it looks really cool. That's enough, right? (Universal)
Strike Back: Season 2
Cinemax's live-action Team America returns for a second season with a new boss (Rhona Mitra), new bad guys (terrorists with nuclear triggers) and ridiculous new levels of violence, nudity, yelling and explosions. So, awesome TV. (HBO)
More New DVD Releases (Aug. 6)
The Borgias: The Third Season, Duck Dynasty: Season 3, Jim Norton: Please Be Offended, Magic Magic, Mud, My Little Pony: Equestria Girls, On the Road, The Place Beyond the Pines, The Sapphires, Smash: Season 2, To the Wonder, West of Memphis, Zombie Massacre.
I suspect that a lot of the critics who are raving about Orange Is the New Black, Netflix's new original series, failed to watch past the first few episodes.
This drama about women behind bars starts off gangbusters, with touches of brilliance and great humor. But by the time I was watching the 13th episode, I was a few hours past over it. This one loses steam fast and becomes quite a letdown.
The show degenerates from an introspective look at a woman's stint in prison to a parade of clichés. At first, the story of Piper Chapman (Taylor Schilling)—who goes up the river for a felony she committed 10 years before—is nothing short of awesome. The show also boasts the best performance from Jason Biggs in a long time, as her beleaguered boyfriend. (There's even a great American Pie joke.)
However, as Piper settles in to prison life, we get everybody we've come to expect in a normal prison drama: crazy guards, the tough Russian woman in charge of the kitchen, and an ex-lover (Laura Prepon) who happens to be incarcerated with Piper. God forbid, there's a Christmas-pageant episode.
It's too bad. For a while there, I thought I was watching the next best thing on TV since, well, Netflix gave us a new season of Arrested Development. Then the show downgraded into comical sex scenes and, worst of all, too much time devoted to a religious fanatic meth-head character played by Taryn Manning.
The show, which ends with quite a cliffhanger, has already been renewed for another season. I hope they can recapture some of the magic displayed in the first couple of episodes. Schilling's performance endures, even when the scripts do not.


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Good Morning folks,
Special thanks to those of you who helped out with the Middle School group last night, everything went really well!
We've got a bunch of stuff coming up this week, so here goes.
1. Shycon Registrations
If anyone wants to go to Senior High Youth Day, and hasn't signed up yet, PLEASE get your forms in by this Sunday. You can bring them to youth group if you like. If you need another form, they're available at http://ym.ourladyofvictory.com on the left hand side under "forms" They are DUE sunday October 2nd! The event is Sunday October 23rd.
2. Life-Chain
I think some of you may not have been aware of this event. On this Sunday, Oct 2nd, it's Respect Life Sunday. So every year on this day, we get together to take a stand against abortion. One of the ways we do that is the "Life-Chain" event. "Life chain is a peaceful expression of our respect and reverence for life." Basically, we'll meet at the former Abortion Clinic, 900 West College Ave at 1:45. and we'll be given signs to hold on the street from 2:00pm to 3:00pm. All of the signs are white with various messages on them, but none of them have graphic pictures. This is an event that both you and your whole families are encouraged to attend. As far as getting there, parking is limited, so you may want to park at the Church and walk across Coral Street up to the site of the former Clinic. Hope to see you there!
3. This week at FORT.
Since it's respect life Sunday, and we already watched "Juno" last year, and we had thought about doing one of the Star Trek Episode discussions, we'll try a pro-life one this week. (there's actually some pretty good ones) Hopefully this'll give you guys some ideas of other TV episodes we could use for topic nights. I'm always open to suggestions, but just remember, it has to be available on either Netflix or Hulu, or something you have on DVD in order to work downstairs. So, we'll try it this week and see how it goes! I do understand if some of you guys have to miss on account of Bilbo's Birthday...
See you Saturday!!!
-Fr. Matt
Home > Steubenville Conference 2014!!! > Old Stuff >


text:
Dating apps and websites: 60% of people think they can find true love online
NEW YORK, Feb. 9, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — Online dating websites and apps have vastly developed and have expanded the pool of potential partners. Knowing that, ReportLinker conducted a survey to answer three questions:
Are men and women looking for the same thing when using these services? Love, friendship or a casual hookup?
What are the most important criteria when looking for love online?
What are the main drawbacks?
The comedian Aziz Ansari wrote in Time. "The biggest changes have been brought by the $2.4 billion online-dating industry, which has exploded in the past few years with the arrival of dozens of mobile apps. Throw in the fact that people now get married later in life than ever before, turning their early 20s into a relentless hunt for more romantic options."
Key findings show that:
● 70% of Millennials say they use Tinder
● And the most popular services among all single adults are Tinder, Match.com, Plenty of Fish and OkCupid.
Among all users:
● 60% say finding true love is the primary motivation
● followed by meeting new friends (41%)
● and hookups (34%)
When meeting someone online:
● Age is the most important criteria (25%)
● Followed by the level of education (15%)
● The professional situation (15%)
● And the physical appearance (15%)
In terms of perception:
● More than half of single adults say they view the services negatively (54%)
● Women especially are more likely to be skeptical about using dating apps (63%)
● And the main drawbacks include the lack of seriousness (30%) and the easiness to misrepresent who you really are (21%)
To see all the survey results click here.
Please let me know if you would like to receive infographics on the topic.
Intissar Guettou
About Reportlinker Insight:
Reportlinker Insight combines analysis and exclusive investigations. We cover innovations, social and economics megatrends to understand the world of tomorrow. For more information, please visit http://www.reportlinker.com/insight/.
SOURCE Reportlinker


text:
I should have known this was a ripoff when I made my purchase. No security on this site. My xbox that I got was beyond used. The controller was dirty and worn. It keeps freezing on me, and they have yet to call me back.
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Today I gave my final lecture of Greek and Roman Mythology, 'Myth Today'. I spent a lot of it talking about the use of classical mythology in popular culture — Wonder Woman, Star Trek, Eric Shanowar's Age of Bronze, the work of Neil Gaiman — and how harnessing a mythological framework enables one to tell a story with wide consequences that broaden the audience's vision and challenge their assumptions, much as science fiction and fantasy do.
Indeed, this is one of the reasons we keep going back to classical mythology, whether it's the retelling and reshaping them for our own era (Hercules: The Legendary Journeys or Assassin's Creed: Odyssey) or drawing inspiration from them (possibly Battlestar Galactica, T S Eliot, The Wasteland).
Towards the end of the lecture, I moved into different territory about why the classical myths continue to draw us in — myths are bigger than true, to quote my friend Emily. To quote Northrop Frye (whom I badly paraphrased in class):
my general critical position … revolves around the identity of myth, along with those of folk tale, legend, and related genres, continue to form the structures of literature.
every human society possesses a mythology which is inherited, transmitted, and diversified by literature. –Words with Power, xii, xiii
Classical mythology, to an anglophone who grew up reading literature and watching TV and film and reading comic books that are part of an artistic heritage that constantly negotiates that past, is, along with the Bible, the basic grammar of story in the West.
Frye, of course, is pushing us farther than this, pushing us up into the transcendent.
This is certainly where Joseph Campbell wants us to go with The Hero with a Thousand Faces and The Power of Myth. Certain classical myths, as noted by C S Lewis in An Experiment in Criticism, hold a power beyond the poetry that clothes them — stories like Orpheus and Eurydice. These stories are the kind that people like Campbell see recurring throughout world cultures…
According to Frye, then, all literature is mythological — so all language is, perhaps, mystical? Owen Barfield (so I'm told) lays out the argument in Poetic Diction that in the poetic mode words come laden with meaning, more than just the simple diction of that given moment but all of their meanings. This is polysemy. The polysemous nature of poetic language drives us to symbol, turning words — mere utterations of vocal noise or squiggles on a page — into windows into other worlds. (Thus Coleridge, whom both Frye and Barfield read.)
And so in poetry, and in mythology, we find ourselves drawn further up and further in to something different and bigger than a simple materialistic world where A always = A, but can also = alpha or even be transmuted into something completely different.
Is this, therefore, a means by which the very act of storytelling, or the labour of versification, is itself a means of communicating with the numinous?
The numinous is where I find myself at the end of my myth course. What did the Greeks and Romans get out of their common stock of stories, from Homer through Ovid to Nonnus of Panopolis and Fulgentius the Mythographer? What is it that is intrinsic to these stories that drives us to them again and again, compelling us to read them? Is it because they give us a brush with Something Bigger?
I had two minutes, so these were things that were left unsaid. But I do still want to push these boundaries.