Review of Abraham Lincoln vs. Zombies (2012)
Abraham Lincoln vs. Zombies (2012) is a historical horror/action film, that is produced by The Asylum, a film studio specializing in mockbusters.
Directed by Richard Schenkman (The Man from Earth (2007), The Pompatus of Love (1995)).
Written by Karl T. Hirsch (Green (1998), Clown (2005)), J. Lauren Proctor and Richard Schenkman (Flower Girl (2009), Went to Coney Island on a Mission from God… Be Back by Five (1998)).
Starring: Bill Oberst Jr., Kent Ingleheart, Jason Vail, Debra Crittended, Bernie Ask, Canon Kuipers, Chris Hlozek, Richard Schenkman and others.
Is there really any better way to learn about American history than from a movie that depicts a dead president killing zombies.
Bill Oberst Jr., who is playing Lincoln is really good. The performance would fit just as well in a serious movie. Spielberg’s Lincoln could have him playing the lead role. It wouldn’t be as acclaimed as Daniel Day-Lewis, who is loved by everyone, but he could do it.
It is almost sad that a great performance like this is wasted on a silly B-movie. But I suppose in some oscar-bait piece we wouldn’t get Abe driving his scythe into the skull of a zombie, while yelling „Emancipate this!”.
For the budget the production value is pretty good. You can tell it’s cheap, but it tries to have a style. Which is more than most The Asylum movies have going for them.
The dialogue is also some of the best I’ve heard in an Asylum movie. Sadly, some/most of the actors aren’t really able to deliver it convincingly.
Lincoln gathers a group of people to go and… well, fight zombies, I guess. In this group of people there is a black guy named Mr. Brown. Obviously. The plot is kind of confusing, I don’t know if I must have some previous knowledge of American history, but I seriously doubt that the problem lays there.
As usually Asylum uses CGI in their movies and here we get some CG blood and it is kind of sad that even in a B-movie today, we have to watch the shitty looking CG blood spurting about, since it used one of the main attractions of B-grade cinema that we got to see some realistic practical effects. I guess it’s easier to put in some cartoon violence afterwards. But judging by the really unconvincing fake facial hair on everybody, I doubt there was a great potential for any special effects artistry.
This is probably the best Asylum movie I’ve seen and not even in the so-bad-it’s-good category, more in the low-budget-we-did-what-we-could pretty competent B-flick. It would be unfair to compare it to Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter, the blockbuster this is mockbusting.
Overall, I enjoyed the movie quite a bit. Of course it’s not a good movie, but as far as The Asylum goes, this was one of the best ones they can offer.
“I feel like going to theater! You’re coming with me John ‘not Wilkes Booth’ Wilkinson!”
Tags: 2012, Action, B-movie, Horror, Movies, Reviews, The Asylum, Zombie
Review of ATM (2012)
ATM (2012) is a horror/thriller/mystery film, which mostly takes place in an ATM booth on a parking lot.
Directed by David Brooks (Gone (2009 Short)).
Written by Chris Sparling (Buried (2010), An Uzi at the Alamo (2005)).
Starring: Brian Geraghty, Josh Peck, Alice Eve, Aaron Hughes and others.
So we’re following this guy, who works as some kind of bank-cubicle-call-answer person. His really douchebaggy co-worker convinces him to come to this office christmas party. He comes to the party and offers a ride home to some chick that he really likes. But the douchy cock-blocker of a friend tags along, because he was his ride too.
The douchebag is played by Josh Peck, who was the fat kid on that shitty kids show Drake & Josh. He has lost some weight, but still speaks like he’s 15, which gets annoying pretty damn soon. The fatty MacDouche wants to eat so they stop to get some cash from an ATM. Voila! The title. I imagine that’s how this movie got made, they picked a genre, someone said ATM, someone had seen Frozen recently and we’re done. Thankfully, Josh & Drake’s acting gets better as the movie goes on.
From the ATM booth they see someone waiting for them outside. They decide to wait him out, but after the guy beats the shit out of some random guy, they become somewhat unnerved. That’s the whole concept. They’re stuck in an ATM booth, with no heat in the winter, while a killer is standing right outside.
At one point they think the guy has gone away, but you know that’s not true since it’s only halfway into the movie. The movie is pretty fast-paced, which is good, because if a movie like this drags it really drags, because we have this half-baked concept set in one location. The whole movie is basically a build-up of who the killer is and what he wants, so the ending is what either makes it or breaks it.
And, guess what, the ending breaks it. The deal with the ending is that the whole movie there’s just questions and so you’d want to have most of them answered, the movie does answer some, but even those are so incredibly implausible, that except for the reasoning behind why the killer didn’t enter the booth, it makes like no sense, unless the killer has the ability to calculate exactly how ineffective technology is.
Overall, the premise and build-up is pretty decent and I was mostly entertained throughout, but the whole conclusion and pay-off is completely idiotic. If you like some cheap thrills, give it a try, but you’re better off staying away. Not Recommended.
“Hey guys, am I the only one that thinks this is a great porno setup?”
“Yes, Emily, you’re the only one.”
Tags: 2012, Horror, Movies, Reviews, Thriller
Review of The Expendables 2 (2012)
The Expendables 2 (2012) is an ensemble action/adventure/…action film, a sequel to The Expendables.
Directed by Simon West (Con Air (1997), The Mechanic (2011)).
Written by Richard Wenk (16 Blocks (2006), Vamp (1986)), Sylvester Stallone (F.I.S.T (1978), The Expendables (2010)) and others.
Starring: Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, Terry Crews, Randy Couture, Chuck Norris, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis, Jet Li, Liam Hemsworth, Nan Yu and others.
This is a movie made specifically for me. When I was growing up, most of these guys were my idols. They were my favourite actors, not because they were good actors, but because they’re bulging muscles and sweaty, snarling faces made me believe in superheroes, people, who could machine gun entire hordes of bad guys down, while standing in plain sight and not take one bullet. And then face off with the main baddie, who was really bad and after killing him, spit out some cheesy one-liner. I looked up to them, I felt protected by them. We approached the 2000’s and soon these guys went away. I was left with action stars, that looked like male models.
I couldn’t be the only person who felt disappointed. Sure, I like good acting now, but seeing Arnie jam an enormous drill into a guy, while screaming “SCREW YOU!” was something that I missed seeing in movies. And I really wasn’t the only person. When I was a kid, I would have never imagined a movie like this possible, but two years back, Stallone answered my childhood prayers and made The Expendables. If you think I could ever have enough of this you’re insane. So did I like The Expendables 2? Of course, I did.
I mean, it is NOT a good movie. The dialogue is bad, the one-liners stupid, acting silly, plot simple, action over-the-top and so on. But, this also describes most of the action movies with these guys that I loved. This is what I wanted and this is what I got. There’s no use in describing the plot, there’s nothing really specific about it, mostly coming down to Expendables shooting people and blowing shit up.
The best parts were the call-backs and references and self-aware humor. Willis and Arnold are in the movie a lot more as well, even Chuck Norris, who has maybe the smallest part does get more than one appearance. Jet Li is in the movie only for the first action scene, though and Rourke doesn’t appear at all. My favourite was definitely Dolph Lundgren, who is more of the comic-relief character here, which is interesting, since I think I liked him the most in the first one as well, when he played an asshole. They added some younger/newer faces, like Nan Yu and Liam Hemsworth, but in all the testosterone provided by the rest of the cast they got lost and forgettable.
The action is insane, but pretty well choreographed and mostly practical effects, except for additional CG gore and the more complex effects scenes. The movie opens with an action scene that is just crazy violent and over-the-top. Stallone takes down a helicopter by “driving” a bike into it. And the movie rarely slows down after that. There’s not much to say about it, except that you should know what to expect going into it.
Overall, more funny and entertaining than the first one, if you want no holds barred, balls to the wall action with some real gory mayhem and puns, if you grew up with 80’s action hero movies, definitely recommended.
Pictured: Irony, as the one who is supposedly the most bad-ass of them all, is the only one who looks and sounds like some maintenance guy.
Tags: 2012, Action, Adventure, Movies, Reviews, Sequel, Sylvester Stallone
Review of The Amazing Spider-Man (2012)
The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) is an action/sci-fi/drama film, based on the Marvel Comics character Spider-Man, rebooting the film franchise.
Directed by Marc Webb (500 Days of Summer (2009), Lone Star (2010 TV)).
Written by James Vanderbilt (Darkness Falls (2003), Zodiac (2007)), Alvin Sargent (Gambit (1966), Unfaithful (2002)), Steve Kloves (Racing with the Moon (1984), Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (2001)).
Starring: Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Denis Leary, Martin Sheen, Rhys Ifan, Sally Field, Irrfan Khan, C. Thomas Howell and others.
My first introduction to Spider-Man was through the animated series, probably when I was around six. I loved him, the series itself wasn’t as good as X-Men and not that great overall, but I loved it. Then the Sam Raimi movies came along and I sort of liked them, but that wasn’t it, I didn’t love the guy himself, I was carried by my affection for the character, but this doughy-faced, bulky, man-child bearing the name of Tobey Maguire wasn’t him. So for about 15 years I’ve been waiting for a movie to re-ignite my love for him. Turns out I was waiting for this movie.
I did somewhat enjoy the Raimi ones, especially the second one, but at the same time I found them too cheesy and, at times, making me cringe. However, I’ve never wanted The Dark Spider or something overly realistic and “gritty”, I just wanted to care about characters and not caricatures. Also for something as campy as Raimi’s Spider-Man adaptations, they were basically humorless. Watching this I genuinely smiled and laughed.
Oh, Andrew Garfield is just brilliant. He is Spider-Man, he’s got the right kind of build, athletic, but lean, agile, but physically awkward. I believe he’s actually really intelligent (mechanical Web-Shooters FTW), he’s adorably twitchy in conversations, nerdy, but not a wimp. And when he cries you don’t feel uncomfortable, but feel with him. Watching Maguire cry, I forgot if I was watching Spider-Man or The Elephant Man.
The relationship between him and Gwen Stacy is really good too, it’s sort of a teeny romance, but Marc Webb knows how to not make it too cliché and also Stacy learns early that Peter is Spider-Man and it’s nice that he has a confidant. Emma Stone being one of the cutest young actresses out there right now also helps a great deal. Other supporting actors do a great job too. Rhys Ifan is cool, Denis Leary is bad-ass and Martin Sheen really makes you care about the Uncle Ben character and his fate is really impactful.
I’m not a fan of 3D and even though it was still unnecessary, I liked it in this movie. The action scenes mostly, because the shots are incredible, it really feels like a person is doing all the crazy shit Spidey does. The swooping over the city is spectacular, I actually felt immersed in the space of the movie sometimes. The downside is that, the dramatic scenes have basically no 3D effect whatsoever, I mostly just lifted my 3D glasses and there was no layering blur or anything.
The special effects are pretty solid, there’s an awful looking, mutated CG lab-rat, but, thankfully, that’s only a few seconds. Then there’s the big thing of The Lizard. It didn’t look great, but it wasn’t bad either, it was very middle ground. I could accept it, because he did walk around in a lab coat for a bit, that was all I was asking for.
Overall, not flawless, but a great superhero movie, definitely in my top 3 Marvel movies (if not my favourite), it made me laugh, it made me teary-eyed, it made me want to run around and pretend to be Spidey, it made me 10 years old again. I thank you for that, movie. If you like superhero movies, definitely recommended.
“I’m melting!”
Tags: 2012, 3D, Action, Based on comic books, Comedy, Drama, Movies, Rated PG-13, Reviews, Sci-Fi
Review of The Avengers (2012)
The Avengers (2012) is an action/sci-fi/adventure film, which is based on Marvel Comics’ superhero team of the same name and several previous movies featuring its members.
Directed by Joss Whedon (Serenity (2005), Firefly (2002 TV)).
Written by Joss Whedon (The Cabin in the Woods (2011), Toy Story (1995)) and Zak Penn (The Incredible Hulk (2008), X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)).
Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, Samuel L. Jackson, Chris Evans, Mark Ruffalo, Tom Hiddleston, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner and others.
This is the movie, that it’s all been leading up to. Thor, Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America together in one movie? Sounds epic? Yes, it does! Does the movie live up to all the hype? Maybe? Not really? I don’t know.
I’m really lost on all of it so I’ll just run through the characters.
Black Widow – although they tried to make her do some cool stuff, she still felt like the lamest member of The Avengers, I mean, being a spy is cool and all, but she has no powers, except looking hot. In one scene Johansson attempted to speak Russian, I’ve heard worse in movies, but if her character is Russian, she should be able to speak better, that’s just a nitpick though.
Hawkeye – not much to say about him, at first he just shoots arrows while under Loki’s control and later he shoots arrows and… well, there’s not much else to his character, but Renner does well in the role.
Loki – the villain. Hiddleston really impressed me, I thought he was ok in Thor, but here he was just great, not overly serious, just a very stubborn, arrogant jerk, at first I thought it’s not the greatest villain choice, but Hiddleston made it enjoyable.
Nick Fury – Well, it’s Samuel L. Jackson, in other words, he’s a stick with two ends, you can’t go wrong, but you can’t do anything new and interesting either.
Thor – He’s kind of whatever, I’ve never cared for his character, even after his movie, the only difference was that I could accept him as a serious character.
Captain America – Chris Evans is ok, his costume helmet looks a bit stupid, but it’s not a big deal, the waking up in a world where everyone you knew is dead and everything is different is an interesting aspect of his character, but only vaguely explored.
Iron Man – he is still sort of funny, but I’m getting tired of Downey Jr.’s shtick, his fast talking asshole genius routine is getting tiresome for me.
Hulk – I was surprised, but he was totally the best part of the movie. Mark Ruffalo was good as Banner and the Hulk was awesome. He looked as good as a green CG gorilla can look and was used correctly. There’s one beautifully hilarious moment, where Hulk goes against Loki.
The story itself is basically: bad guy has MacGuffin, good guys need it, with some ulterior motives and dire consequences thrown in. Most of the entertainment comes out of Hulk smashing and personalities clashing. It is cool that the team doesn’t really get along. That is until they get something to… (clue: the title).
The 3D is shit, it’s incredibly pointless. It was ok in the last half-hour, in the climactic action scene, which was going on at daytime New York, but the first half of the movie, takes place mostly during the night or in dark places, so it sucks. If I had watched it in 2D, I’d probably enjoy it a lot more.
Overall, it’s a fun, entertaining, lighthearted movie, it walks the line between providing fan service and fun for the common movie goer, who cares if it also loses something in both departments at the same time. Recommended for everyone who enjoys some superhero action and doesn’t mind heavy CG.
“Enough is enough! I have had it with these motherfucking superheroes on this motherfucking plane! ”
Tags: 2012, Action, Adventure, Based on comic books, Captain America, chris hemsworth, Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Hulk, Iron Man, Joss Whedon, Marvel, Movies, Rated PG-13, Reviews, robert downey jr, Sci-Fi, Sequel, Thor
Review of The Hunger Games (2012)
The Hunger Games (2012) is an action/drama/sci-fi film based on the novel of the same name by Suzanne Collins.
Directed by Gary Ross (Pleasantville (1998), Seabiscuit (2003)).
Written by Gary Ross (Big (1988), Dave (1993)), Billy Ray (The Shooter (1995), State of Play (2009)) and Suzanne Collins (Clarissa Explains It All (1991 TV), The Mystery Files of Shelby Woo (1996 TV)) .
Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Stanley Tucci, Liam Hemsworth, Wes Bentley, Elizabeth Banks, Woody Harrelson, Donald Sutherland, Lenny Kravitz and others.
So here is the movie, the marketing tried to tell us is going to be the next Twilight. And that is a fucking insult. Except for its target demographic, there’s nothing these two have in common. Twilight is a characterless romance with a gimmick and The Hunger Games is a cool action drama for young people. Another comparison that is often brought up is Battle Royale and some other similar films, but the survival reality TV wasn’t a new concept even when Battle Royale was made. Why didn’t we draw the line after The Running Man or even earlier Death Race 2000, in an age of constant idea recycling, this is not a serious offense.
And now even more than ever this satire of reality television makes sense. During the contest we get all the staples of modern reality TV, forced romances, very antagonistic characters, fake obstacles created by the producers, sleazy hosts and so on.
It’s also very stylistic movie and I think this could get an Oscar nomination for production design. It is abundant with weird anime inspired/Neo-Victorian outfits for the upper class members of the society and some early 20th century common plain clothes for the working class.
Jennifer Lawrence, who I think is one of the most promising new actresses, doesn’t disappoint here and is solid as Katniss, who volunteers for the game show, after her sister is chosen and thank god, because her sister was a total wimp, she would’ve been dead in 5 minutes. Most of the other contestants are either not given enough screen time to do much (would have loved to see more of Isabelle Fuhrman) or they are just ok.
The adult characters, however, are very fun to watch. Woody Harrelson, is a winner of the games, who now is a drunk mentor for the District 12 contestants and he’s just amazingly entertaining. Also here he looks like an older Josh Holloway. Elizabeth Banks I didn’t even recognize under a heavy layer of make-up that looks like taken straight off of Helena Bonham Carter in Alice In Wonderland. She also acts appropriately over-the-top. As does Stanley Tucci being the overacting host with blue hair, who really knows how to milk the contestants for the right emotions, both from them and audience. Seems like the director told all the adult main actors to turn their eccentricity up to eleven. Lenny Kravitz went the other way though and just put on some golden eye-liner. Donald Sutherland does what he does best, plays a cold bastard.
The main negative point was the way it was shot. At the start of the movie we get some very shaky handheld shots of static things and I didn’t suspect that it was getting me ready for some of the later way more extreme shaking. In order to get the PG-13 rating they decided to keep some of the violence in, but make it totally incoherent. Seriously, after a couple of minutes of seeing stuff that looked like it was shot handheld by Michael J. Fox trying to stand while wearing roller skates, where the wheels are replaced by rotating vibrators, I thought it’s going to be the first time I’ll get motion sickness from a movie.
Overall, a good movie, I liked it and could recommend basically to anyone.
Pictured: Jennifer Lawrence interviewed by Meryl Streep on the set of The Iron Lady.
Tags: 2012, Action, Adventure, Based on literature, Drama, Movies, Rated PG-13, Reviews, Romance, Sci-Fi, Set in future, stanley tucci, Survival
Review of Project X (2012)
Project X (2012) is a comedy/something/nothing film, which is filmed in the popular “found footage” style.
Directed by Nima Nourizadeh, who prior to this has worked as a music video director.
Written by Matt Drake (Tully (2000)) and Michael Bacall (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World (2010), 21 Jump Street (2012)).
Starring: Thomas Mann, Oliver Cooper, Jonathan Daniel Brown, Kirby Bliss Blanton, Brady Hender, Nick Nervies and others.
I really don’t know what to say about this movie, I had fun, but on the other hand it’s not a good movie. And I don’t mean it in a so-bad-it’s-good way.
First of all the technical aspect. It was only a matter of time before they would start making found footage movies in other genres. But the problem here is that it is a total gimmick. The camera man is intentionally a non-interactive character. The whole point of handing the camera to a character is that we are presented a subjective view of the events, but here since the character doesn’t show any attitude and the other characters treat him as just a camera, it becomes pointless to use this trick. There are points where other characters use Flip cameras or other handheld cameras and they actually serve a purpose and I really don’t see why that couldn’t just be inserted into a traditionally filmed movie. I didn’t for a second feel the illusion of this being an actual „found footage”. I’d call it MTV’s found footage, where you get crystal clear sound in the midst of a thousand people party and music cuts off immediately after something sudden happens and has various party-dance montages (not surprising given the director).
It is marketed as „Superbad on crack”, which is true in the sense that the three main characters are the same ones from Superbad, they also want to get chicks and all, but here they lose sight of any sense of morality or responsibility.
After it all the main characters remark, that it was the most epic party ever and they think it was worth it. No, it wasn’t. Although the consequences of this party are just thrown in there, like an afterthought. At the end of the movie the main character has destroyed his future and bankrupted his parents in one night. What does he get out of this? He gets the girl. He gets the girl, who has been his friend since childhood and he could’ve gotten her at any point anyway. I have no sympathy for him.
I just don’t like people who are so afraid to be different, that they would do anything to fit in. Ok, maybe I don’t understand it, because I have never been the kid others make fun of, I have never tried to pretend to be someone I’m not to fit in and so on, but trust me, being an interesting person gets you better friends than a huge party.
I felt sorry for the guys parents, but then again the father was a total douchebag. At the beginning of the movie he calls his son a loser and in the end is a bit proud of him. Well, if you think that your son becoming a successful, normal person is worth less than him throwing a huge party, banging chicks and whatever, then fuck you, you deserve it all.
I don’t want to go in all the details of what is wrong with this movie, but just know that this was really an epic party, with some hilarious moments of a midget punching balls and various finger-banging techniques explained, so if you just switch you’re brain off for the duration of it, you might enjoy it.
Overall, I had fun watching it, it’s a spectacle alright, but although I laughed at most of the jokes, I also felt depressed because it might be one of the most juvenile movies I’ve ever seen. If you like sex-comedies, recommended, if not, don’t bother. Project X is like some really hardcore porn, you watch it and think “oh, yeah, that’s awesome!”, but if it really came (no pun intended) to it, you’d be like “nah, I’ll pass”.
"I seem to have wondered into the wrong movie. Could've sworn it said "Project X" on the door."
Tags: 2012, Adventure, Comedy, Found footage, Movies, Rated R, Reviews


Home News Elections Durham Endorsements Spring 2006
Durham Endorsements Spring 2006
Election Day is May 2
Photo by Derek Anderson
Sandy Ogburn is our choice for House District 29
Dolores Paylor is our choice for District 1 on the Durham School Board
House District 29: Democratic Primary
The only contested legislative race in Durham is the House District 29 Democratic Primary. The seat is open because state Rep. Paul Miller opted not to run for his fourth term in office. His retirement comes as a welcome move to some who decried his poor attendance and absentee voting record. A more committed representative could strengthen the Durham delegation to the legislature and help seek the state funds so necessary to support education, healthcare and a new district court judge, as well as advocate for reform in mental healthcare, campaign financing and the tax code.
A crowded field of five candidates is running for the seat: Sandy Ogburn, a former Durham city councilwoman; Larry D. Hall, a lawyer and former chair of the N.C. Black Leadership Caucus; Mary D. Jacobs, a former city councilwoman and county commissioner; Angela V. Langley, a former city councilwoman; and T. Brock Winslow, chair of the Board of Trustees at N.C. School of Science and Mathematics. Barring a mass write-in, resignation or other fluke of the electoral process, the winner of this Democratic primary in this strongly Democratic district will go on to hold the House seat, provided he or she wins at least 40 percent of the vote. A smaller margin of victory would ensure a May 30 runoff between the top two candidates.
We endorse Sandy Ogburn, whose experience on the Durham City Council demonstrates her effectiveness at implementing progressive policy. A Philadelphia native who moved to Durham 32 years ago, Ogburn, 60, got involved in politics working with the Morehead Hill neighborhood association. Neighborhood advocacy eventually led to an interest in city politics. When she was elected to city council in 1987, she soon became a strong proponent of smarter zoning laws and transportation planning. Her leadership on the Durham-Chapel Hill-Carrboro Metropolitan Planning Organization, the regional organization responsible for transportation planning in the western part of the Triangle, helped secure state funds for local transportation projects.
In the House, Ogburn promises to push for a sales tax referendum to fund the TTA's regional rail project. She also advocates fully and permanently funding the State Energy Office to encourage alternative energy use, and raising teacher salaries.
Larry D. Hall is a 50-year-old lawyer who is active in the Durham Committee on the Affairs of Black People and the N.C. Black Leadership Caucus. Through the caucus, he pushed for increased minority contracting, abolition of the death penalty, equality in education funding, universal healthcare, and a ban on payday lending. In office, he promises to establish a standard of transparency to maintain integrity and accountability. He wants to look for alternate funding for TTA's rail plan and increase funding to the N.C. Housing Trust Fund to promote more home ownership opportunities. Hall has progressive ideas, but lacks the record of elected service that could be used to evaluate his effectiveness.
Mary D. Jacobs worked for Durham County for 29 years before she retired and ran for the city council in 1997. In that race, she won more votes than any other candidate. In her time on the council, she pushed for a living wage for the employees of city contractors, but also was one of the council's most pro-development members. When she ran for county commissioner in 2002, she again won more votes than any other candidate, but failed to distinguish herself as a progressive force. She served one term and did not seek reelection.
T. Brock Winslow worked on Gov. Jim Hunt's reelection campaign and served as the executive director of the state Democratic Party from 1993 to 1996. He believes that the friends he made in those positions would be useful allies if he makes it to the House. He supports the funding of more district court judges and assistant district attorneys to make Durham's courtrooms more efficient.
Angela V. Langley was elected to the city council in 1996 and served one term.
Durham School Board
For years, the Durham school board has been a contentious political theater that sometimes provided more drama than substantive policy debate. Most of the tension revolves around race, with board members often voting 4-3 along racial lines. Some trace the tension back to the way voting districts were drawn after the city and county school systems merged in 1993. But more recently the flashpoint has been Durham schools Superintendent Ann Denlinger. The school board hired her in a 4-3 vote split along racial lines. In Denlinger's tenure, she led Durham's students to earn higher test scores. But as the public face of the school system, she struggled to win the support of many parents, teachers, administrators and board members, black folks especially.
Let's hope that the appointment of Carl Harris to replace Denlinger, who steps down this year, will be a move in the right direction. With unanimous support from the board, Harris, an African American, could usher the board in a new, more cooperative direction. The three contested school board elections could also herald the coming of more civil board relations (Stephen A. Martin is running unopposed in District 4). The elections on May 2 will determine the board.
Everyone will be watching this race in a majority black district. Incumbent Jacqueline D. Wagstaff has long been a divisive force on the board. Her actions in the meetings often lack decorum, professionalism and respect. She represents an important part of the Durham community--the disaffected, mostly poor, mostly black voters who feel that the school system is failing them. Anyone who sees the tragic correlation between sub-par education and crime, imprisonment and unproductive lives can begin to understand their outrage. But Wagstaff has failed to channel that outrage into productive policy-making for the citizens that need her most. That may be one reason why, when she ran for mayor last year, she received only 545 votes.
Dolores Davis Paylor, 48, works as a team leader on the State Board of Education's assistance teams, which work to turn around failing schools. That kind of experience will only be helpful with implementing Judge Howard Manning's recommendations from his Leandro case ruling, which required that the state ensure a sound basic education for every North Carolina child. Paylor has been a principal in the Chapel-Hill Carrboro, Wake and Durham school systems. She's African American, and while she lacks Wagstaff's stature in the black community, she stands a better chance of fighting for their needs.
Omega Curtis Parker was a librarian for almost 40 years before she retired, and she still works as a substitute teacher in Durham's schools. She's a reasonable candidate with a good reputation and probably wouldn't contribute to the board's contentiousness in the way that Wagstaff does, but Parker lacks Paylor's expertise.
Incumbent Regina George-Bowden has represented this majority black district for eight years. But she has not been effective. The Rev. Fredrick A. Davis, 50, a respected black preacher and activist, would be a good alternative. His priorities are vocational education, equity in student disciplinary action and seeking greater diversity in student and staff populations.
D.J. Waldow, 30, a young, relative newcomer to Durham, works as a software salesman, but taught social studies before moving to town. He shows enthusiasm but lacks the strong community ties and depth of experience and knowledge needed to make a real impact on the board.
School board chairwoman Gail Heath's decision not to run for reelection in this majority white district has opened up the position to two highly qualified candidates. Kirsten Kainz, who is 38 and white, has a Ph.D. in education from UNC. She directs research on school improvement and is an articulate school reformer. Phillip W. Graham, who is 40 and black, also has a UNC doctoral degree in public health. His current research focuses on adolescent behavior with special emphasis on violence and substance abuse prevention and evaluation. Both candidates would bring great expertise to the school board. And both understand the problems that have beset the board and the need to move in a more productive and cooperative direction. It's a difficult decision, but we endorse Phillip W. Graham. As a black candidate running in a majority white district for a seat that has traditionally been held by a white board member, his election could flip the racial balance on the board. We don't believe that race should be the determining factor in an election, but a black majority working closely with new Superintendent Carl Harris could go a long way toward easing relations on the board. A majority black board representing the majority black school system could help gain parents' trust.
Editor's Note: Independent Weekly president and board chair Steve Schewel is not generally involved in making the newspaper's endorsements. In the case of the Durham school board, he and the Independent's editorial staff particularly agreed that he would distance himself from the endorsement process due to his membership on the school board. Schewel was involved in recruiting Kirsten Kainz to run for the vacant District 3 seat on the board and remains her strong supporter. He did not participate in making these school board endorsements.
The terrible allegations against Duke University's lacrosse team have thrown the district attorney's race into the national spotlight, but when Durham voters go to the polls on May 2 for the Democratic primary, they can vote based on years of local prosecutorial experience, not just the recent handling of one case. Incumbent Mike Nifong faces two challengers: former assistant district attorney Freda Black and defense lawyer Keith A. Bishop. No Republicans filed for the race. Any candidate who takes 40 percent of the vote would become Durham's next district attorney. We endorse Nifong.
Nifong, 55, has spent his entire professional career in the Durham D.A.'s office. He took over as district attorney last year when Jim Hardin was appointed to a Superior Court judgeship. Over the years, he has approached his job in a hardworking and professional manner. Colleagues and legal opponents alike laud his sense of fairness and justice. His colleagues also assert that he manages a supportive work environment where attorneys against the death penalty aren't forced to try capital murder cases.
Freda Black was an assistant district attorney in Durham for 14 years. Her role in the prosecution and conviction of novelist Michael Peterson catapulted her into celebrity status. But she has been accused of unethical behavior: her boyfriend escaped punishment for domestic violence in 2004, and more recently she has had to answer allegations that Jerry Clayton, Black's current boss and a backer of her campaign, tried to intimidate attorneys in the DA's office.
In the race for Durham County Sheriff, we endorse incumbent Worth L. Hill over challengers Joe W. Bowser and Tony Butler. Hill, 70, is seeking his fourth term in office. Under Hill, the department has managed an increasing jail population, implemented community policing programs, and sought out grants that have eased the financial burden of the county. Bowser, 50, who has no law enforcement experience, served on the board of county commissioners for two terms and is the former president of the Durham NAACP. Butler works with disabled students at John Umstead Hospital in Butner. He worked for 11 years as a state trooper and two as a Guilford County Deputy.
District Court Judge, District 14
Seven judges are vying for two contested seats in the nonpartisan District Court judgeship elections. In one race, Judge Richard Chaney's impending retirement opens his seat to four candidates: family law attorney Nancy E. Gordon, 51; Assistant Public Defender Shannon Tucker, 40; Anita L. Smith, general practice attorney; and Brian C. Wilks, 34, attorney in the N.C. Department of Justice. Gordon and Wilks are both strong candidates, but Nancy E. Gordon, whose family law expertise is highly regarded across the state, wins our endorsement. Her mastery of the complexities of family law make up for her relative lack of criminal experience.
In the second race, incumbent Judge Ann McKown, 56, faces Tracy Hicks Barley, 44, and Robert (Naughty) Nauseef, 40. McKown is a hard worker on the bench and takes pride in her decisions. And her work outside the courtroom is exemplary; she started a school-based intervention program called Truancy Court and other programs that help battered women and rape victims. But there's a strong sentiment among many courthouse insiders that her slow decision-making impedes progress in the courts--and that she should be replaced. The fact that her colleagues on the bench rule more quickly shows that speedy decisions are possible. Tracy Hicks Barley, a 44-year-old private practice attorney, would make a fine addition to the bench. Her commitment to juvenile justice will add insight to Durham's gang problems. And her experience is well-rounded enough for her to be comfortable in any district court. Nauseef is a defense attorney at the Clayton, Myrick, McClanahan & Coulter Law Firm.
Issue: 2006-04-19 elections Our Endorsements


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Scriabin: Complete Preludes
Dmitri Alexeev (piano)
In this third instalment in his survey of Scriabin’s complete piano works, Alexeev’s temperamental affinity once again comes paired with sovereign command of colours and intonations (in the Russian... — Gramophone Magazine, March 2019 More…
Release Date: 7th Dec 2018
Catalogue No: 95651BR
Label: Brilliant Classics
Hi-Res FLAC(lossless, 44.1 kHz, 24 bit) $18.50
Scriabin: 2 Pieces for the left hand, Op. 9
No. 2. Prelude
No. 1. Prelude in C-Sharp Minor
Scriabin: Preludes (24), Op. 11
No. 1 in C Major
No. 2 in A Minor
No. 3 in G Major
Show 21 remaining tracks for Scriabin: Preludes (24), Op. 11
No. 6 in B Minor
No. 7 in A Major
No. 8 in F-Sharp Minor
No. 10 in C-Sharp Minor
No. 11 in B Major
No. 12 in G-Sharp Minor
No. 13 in G-Flat Major
No. 14 in E-Flat Minor
No. 15 in D-Flat Major
No. 16 in B-Flat Minor
No. 17 in A-Flat Major
No. 18 in F Minor
No. 19 in E-Flat Major
No. 20 in C Minor
No. 23 in F Major
No. 24 in D Minor
Hide 21 tracks for Scriabin: Preludes (24), Op. 11
Scriabin: Preludes (6), Op. 13
No. 1 in C Major: Maestoso
No. 2 in A Minor: Allegro
No. 3 in G Major: Andante
No. 4 in E Minor: Allegro
No. 5 in D Major: Allegro
No. 6 in B Minor: Presto
No. 5 in C-Sharp Minor
No. 1 in B Major
No. 2 in G-Sharp Minor
No. 3 in G-Flat Major
No. 4 in E-Flat Minor
No. 5 in F-Sharp Minorr
No. 3 in D-Flat Major
Show 4 remaining tracks for Scriabin: Preludes (7), Op. 17
No. 4 in B-Flat Major
No. 7 in G Minor
Hide 4 tracks for Scriabin: Preludes (7), Op. 17
No. 1 in D-Flat Major: Andante
No. 2 in F-Sharp Minor: Con stravaganza
No. 3 in E-Flat Major: Presto
No. 4 in A-Flat Major: Lento
Show 12 remaining works on this recording
No. 2 in F-Sharp Major: Vagamente
No. 4 in A-Flat Major: Ardito, bellicoso
No. 1 in B-Flat Minor: Mesto
No. 2 in F-Sharp Major: Maestoso, fiero
No. 3 in B Major: Andante
No. 4 in G Minor: Irato impetuoso
No. 1 in F-Sharp Major: Allegro
No. 2 in D Major: Elevato
No. 3 in G Major: Languido
No. 4 in A-Flat Major
Excerpt, Scriabin: 3 Pieces Op. 45
No. 3. Prelude in E-Flat Major
No. 1 in F-Sharp Major: Impetuoso fiero
No. 2 in C Major: Poetico con delizio
No. 3 in D-Flat Major: Capricciosamente affannato
No. 4 in C Major: Festivamente
Scriabin: 3 Pieces for Piano, Op. 49
3 Pieces, Op. 49: 3 Pieces, Op. 49: No. 2. Prelude in F Major
Excerpt, Scriabin: Four Pieces, Op. 51
No. 2. Prelude in A Minor
Scriabin: Quatre Morceaux Op. 56
No. 1. Andante
No. 2. Presto
No. 1. Douloureux dechirant
No. 2. Tres lent, contemplatif
No. 3. Allegro drammatico
No. 4. Lent, vague, indecis
No. 5. Fier belliqueux
Hide 12 works on this recording
The Complete Preludes constitutes another captivating milestone in Dmitri Alexeev’s ongoing project to record Scriabin’s entire oeuvre for the piano on Brilliant Classics, a cycle that already includes the complete Piano Sonatas (2-CD 94388) and Complete Études (94439).
The 90 preludes composed by Alexander Scriabin (1872–1915) span the entirety of the three periods into which his musical career is usually divided. His fastidious habit of indicating the date and location of compositions allows us to trace groups of roughly contemporary pieces. Consequently, it can be seen that around half of the preludes fall into the ‘first period’ (1888–1900), in which the composer’s music was heavily influenced by Frédéric Chopin’s work.
Scriabin’s music evolved over the course of his life, and in 1900, he completed the 2 Preludes Op.27. These compositions exorcised the spirit of Chopin which had hovered over their predecessors, therefore marking the end of the so-called ‘first period’. Whilst more harmonically adventurous, his ‘middle period’ works still mostly adhere to traditional functional tonality.
In the third period (1910–14) Scriabin composed his final works, the Preludes Op.74. Stable tonality and key signature disappear completely. However, Scriabin’s interest in symmetrical patterning is highly evident. They raise the tantalising question of where Scriabin might have taken 20th-century music had he not tragically died the following year.
Russian pianist Dmitri Alexeev is one of the world’s most highly regarded artists. His critically acclaimed recitals on the world’s leading concert stages and concerto appearances with the most prestigious orchestras have secured his position as one of ‘the most remarkable pianists of the day’ (Daily Telegraph).
Recorded July 2017, London
Contains liner notes on the composer and works and the musician’s biography
In this third instalment in his survey of Scriabin’s complete piano works, Alexeev’s temperamental affinity once again comes paired with sovereign command of colours and intonations (in the Russian sense of musical eloquence). Giving the music its due quota of caprice and volatility, he never deviates into aggression or superficiality, conveying instead an overall impression of humane dignity and a powerful sense of journey.
“Dmitri Alexeev’s Scriabin cycle goes from strength to strength. I was impressed by his set of Études and now I have been completely blown away by this new set of the preludes. Alexeev seems the complete Scriabin pianist: he not only has the superb technique which is a necessity in these often very demanding pieces, he also knows how to shape them, how to clarify the complex textures with subtle voicing of the complex harmonies. His pedalling is fastidious, and he resists the temptation to drown the pieces in a wash of sound.
Scriabin, Alexander Nikolayevich (1872-1915)
Scriabin: Nocturne in D flat major Op. 9 No. 2
Scriabin: Prelude, Op. 9 No. 1 in C sharp minor for the left hand
Scriabin: 3 Pieces Op. 45
Scriabin: Four Pieces, Op. 51
Alexeev, Dmitri


Sam Smith Got A Huge Surprise On Carpool Karaoke
By Ryan Aliapoulios
If you’ve watched any late night television at all recently, you’re likely already familiar with James Corden and Carpool Karaoke.
For those who don’t know, Corden is the host of the popular The Late Late Show. Unlike other late night talk shows, Corden differentiates himself by having a more casual, chatty environment where the guests sit next to each other and are sometimes even asked to do spontaneous performances in front of a live audience. Still, what Corden deserves the most credit for is for building his show up via the internet.
And that’s because of all his various segments and set pieces, Carpool Karaoke has proved enormously successful.
In each of these pieces, Corden films in his car as he drives through Los Angeles with a celebrity of the show’s choosing.
Over the years, Corden has had guests on the show including Jennifer Hudson, Jennifer Lopez, Celine Dion, Adele and Stevie Wonder in his passenger seat.
Still, in all of those performances, he’s never had English singer-songwriter and neo-soul performer Sam Smith—until now! As the clip begins, Smith and Corden exchange a hug and a few simple greetings with one another.
Before long, it’s time to start singing Smith’s hits.
Up first is Smith’s huge hit song, “Too Good At Goodbyes.”
As fans of Smith’s know, his voice is incredible—and this is no different. While Smith is definitely the star of the show, Corden does a great job of keeping up with him! After the first song is over, they chat for a little longer before they start into another song. The second one up is “Lay Me Down,” the lead single from Smith’s debut album.
Once again, Smith’s voice soars with ease and proves why he’s become so successful.
Although Smith is once again taking the lead here, Corden does an awesome vocalization with him throughout as well!
After they sing together, Smith tells Corden that he’s actually one of the first people to ever bring his music to a wider platform of people. When Smith’s first single was coming out, he was still working at a bar when Corden shared it on Twitter with a bunch of his followers—and shortly thereafter, the song blew up!
Corden is taken by surprise and says he didn’t even know that, but that he knew he’d be listening to Smith for the rest of his life the first time he heard his voice.
At this, Smith starts to tear up a little bit.
After a few more songs and a little bit more chatter, the conversation turns to pop group Fifth Harmony.
Just upon hearing their name, Smith is nearly beside himself. He explains that he loves “Work From Home” nearly every day and never gets tired of it. Smith then says that he would love it if Fifth Harmony could perform at his wedding one day—meanwhile, Corden is cracking up in the driver’s seat. Eventually, Corden suggests that they should sing along to “Work From Home” just for fun.
Still, after a moment Corden stops the song and pulls the car over.
After a minute, he makes a phone call and says the “Work From Home” performance could be even better.
Only a second later, Corden has Fifth Harmony in the backseat of the car! Needless to say, Smith had no idea it was going to happen.
With everyone assembled, they start the song again—and the harmonizing gets out of control! Of all of these performances, we don’t know if we’ve ever seen the performers have as much fun as they do at the end of this one. Regardless, the entire segment is worth watching and Smith is a great guest.
Congratulations to Corden for pulling off the big surprise! Check out the full video below:
Sources: Wikipedia, YouTube/The Late Late Show with James Corden
Ryan Aliapoulios
Ryan Aliapoulios is a contributing writer at Shareably based out of Los Angeles. Find him on Twitter @rollyops.


R&B singer
Celebrity DJ Set
Copyright © Slice PR
Craig emerged in late 1999 and early 2000 on the UK soul and R&B scene. His first success was as the smooth, soulful voice on Artful Dodger's 'Re-rewind When The Crowd Say Bo Selecta' that reached number 2 in the UK Top 40 and spent a total of 13 weeks on the chart.
At the age of 14, David was MCing on a local pirate radio station as well as at nearby clubs before moving into DJing, playing mainly garage. It was while involved in this scene that he met Mark Hill of Artful Dodger, also from Southampton. David's career was boosted when he won a national songwriting competition. The prize was to co-compose the b-side of 'Wonderful Tonight', a UK number 3 hit in 1997 for R&B stars Damage.
Given only the music, he put the finishing touches to 'I'm Ready'. Now travelling to London at the weekends to record in the studio, his first track was a cover of the R&B-tinged US number 1 'Human' by the Human League. It was his collaboration with Mark Hill 'What Ya Gonna Do' that gave David his first club hit and the track that eventually became 'Re-rewind'. Released on the Public Demand label, it became an underground hit and this led to appearances around the country.
Rising interest in the vocalist led to a deal with the Telstar/Capital Radio joint venture, Wildstar Records in August 1999. His first single for them, the infectious 'Fill Me In' received substantial national radio airplay and rose to the UK's number 1 spot in April 2000. David repeated the feat in August with '7 Days', and completed a memorable year by winning three MOBO awards two months later.
He was named best UK newcomer and best R&B act, and 'Fill Me In' was voted best UK single. During the following twelve months he began to make an impact across the Atlantic, culminating in '7 Days' breaking into the US Top 10 in February 2002.
To book Craig David, please submit an online enquiry, send us an email or speak with one of our friendly booking agents on +44 (0)1372 361 004.
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90s Musician
Alan Hudson
Beverley Knight MBE


Sporting Scene
Dealing With Olympic Failure
By Reeves Wiedeman
Reeves Wiedeman on dealing with Olympic failure, and on athletes and protest. Photograph by Issouf Sanogo/AFP/Getty.
The London Olympics will feature ten thousand five hundred athletes, give or take a few rhythmic gymnasts, but it’s possible that none are more compelling than American air-rifle shooter Matt Emmons. At the 2004 Games, Emmons competed in the three-position event, in which participants shoot from their stomachs, knees, and feet at a target fifty metres away. Going into his final shot, Emmons was in first place and needed only a mediocre score for gold. Instead, he shot at the wrong target, one lane over, and got no score at all. He finished eighth. Four years later, in Beijing, Emmons again had a large lead on the final shot: he needed a score of 6.7 in a sport where anything below 8.0 is amateurish. Each time Emmons shoots, he aims above the target, lets his sight fall into the bull’s-eye, then pulls the trigger. This time, his finger slipped and he fired early, scoring a 4.4. Emmons called the shot a “freak of nature.” He finished fourth.
Running down the list of twenty-six sports in London, none requires less athleticism, as we typically define it, than the shooting events. (Archery demands at least one muscular arm.) Yet there is no sport that requires more mental precision. Rifle shooters are trained to fire between heartbeats. Medals are won by millimetres. It’s a sport whose top competitors are expected to be so accurate that we have a hard time believing that they could actually miss. In the first Olympiad, in 1896, the American Sumner Paine used a Colt revolver to win one gold and one silver in the pistol competition. Five years later, arriving home to find his wife in a state of undress with his daughter’s music teacher, Paine pulled out his gun and fired four shots at the fleeing teacher. None hit their mark. Paine was arrested for assault but quickly released. Had he wanted to, the police figured, Paine could have nicked off the man’s fingernails one by one then put a bullet through his heart. He had shown restraint.
In the intervening century, competitive gun technology has only gotten more sophisticated. (This year’s modern pentathlon, which combines running, horseback riding, swimming, fencing, and shooting, will feature laser guns rather than air guns.) As such, the expectations for an élite athletes’ precision have only increased. “I did my pre-shot routine and I remember—as I’m looking through my sights, settling from twelve o’clock down into the bull’s-eye—I got this calm feeling. ‘We got this, we trained for this,’ ” Emmons told the BBC, trying to explain his lapse. “And as I’m doing this, I put my finger on my trigger. And I twitched. Just a little.” (A representative from U.S.A. Shooting declined an interview request from The New Yorker on Emmons’s behalf, saying he was in full prep mode for the Olympics.)
Missing by “just a little” is all it takes. What is it like to give in to nerves at a crucial moment? Is there any way to prevent it? “I’ve seen him called Wrong-Way Emmons or Cross-Fire Matt,” says Bill Cole, a sports psychologist who has worked with a number of Olympic athletes. “Every time he gives a press conference the media bring it up again, and at some level he relives the agony. Top that off with the fear of leaving a legacy as ‘The guy who failed three times when he had the medal within an inch of his hand,’ and you have some real pressure to contend with.” Cole says that after his experiences at the Olympics, Emmons might suffer from what he calls “failure syndrome,” a sort of post-traumatic stress disorder for athletes. He suggests three possible solutions:
Define failure on your own terms. Did you fail or was it a “learning situation”?
Extract all the wisdom from the situation and then never bring it up again.
Turn lemons into lemonade. Find something humorous about it and refer to the situation that way.
Sumner Paine had a more specific strategy. During competition, when the tension got tightest, he took hits from a flask of whiskey.
Emmons’s Olympic record isn’t defined entirely by failure. He’s won medals in two other events, and there was even an benefit to his blunders: he met his wife, a fellow-shooter, when she came over to console him at a bar after his 2004 flub. He is back in London, and will be competing in the three-position event. If he's fortunate enough to reach the final shot in gold-medal position yet again, how will he react? He is widely regarded as the best shooter in the world, yet twice in a moment of great pressure his skill and form have abandoned him. “I’ve been asked a ton of times about those situations,” Emmons said. “And it hurt a lot at the time—something you work so hard for, and then it doesn’t pan out. And then people are asking me, ‘Well, why didn’t it work out?’ Well, it’s kind of a tough thing.” Emmons has spent time with a sports psychologist, but there doesn’t seem to be much of a concrete solution in that response. Anyone have a flask?
Emmons and his wife, Katerina, at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. Photograph by Issouf Sanogo/AFP/Getty.
Reeves Wiedeman is a writer living in New York.


The Still Point
Sackville, Amy
At the turn of the twentieth century, Arctic explorer Edward Mackley sets out to reach the North Pole and vanishes into the icy landscape without a trace. He leaves behind a young wife, Emily, who awaits his return for decades, her dreams and devotion gradually freezing into rigid widowhood.
A hundred years later, on a sweltering mid-summer's day, Edward's great-grand-niece Julia moves through the old family house, attempting to impose some order on the clutter of inherited belongings and memories from that ill-fated expedition, and taking care to ignore the deepening cracks within her own marriage. But as afternoon turns into evening, Julia makes a discovery that splinters her long-held image of Edward and Emily's romance.
The Still Point slaloms through past, present, and future, with dreams revealing a universal simultaneity to the choices we must all make in the faces of love and passion. Long-listed for the Orange Prize, The Still Point is a powerful literary debut, masterfully told in the language of the heart.
Publisher: Berkeley, CA : Counterpoint, c2010.
Branch Call Number: FIC SACKVIL
Characteristics: 307 p. : map ; 24 cm.
Read more reviews of The Still Point at iDreamBooks.com
Told over one day, this story is of both the heroine's ancestors a century ago and of her marriage today. Julie's great-great uncle was an Arctic explorer and she is archiving his letters, diaries and possessions in his house, in which she and her husband now live. The novel is restrained and dreamlike. Sackville has been compared with a young Rachel Cusk and a young Virginia Wolff. I liked this book.
Explorers — Fiction.
Explorers' Spouses — Fiction.
Married People — Fiction.
Family Secrets — Fiction.


This 40,000-Year-Old Cave Painting Of A Cow Is The World’s Oldest Animal Drawing
By Caroline Redmond
Updated December 6, 2018
Some experts believe that the animal painting and others found in the cave are some of the earliest examples of the formation of human culture itself.
Luc-Henri FageThe trio of cows in a piece of cave art dating back at least 40,000 years.
A team of researchers in Indonesia has come across record-breaking ancient artwork that is revealing new things about one of humanity’s oldest cultures.
Archaeologists found the earliest known painting of an animal in the remote mountains of the Indonesian province of East Kalimantan on the island of Borneo. The bovine painting covers a wall inside a cave named Lubang Jeriji Saléh.
The artwork, depicting a trio of cows, dates back 40,000 years, making it the oldest known figurative painting — one in which real-life objects are shown rather than primitive abstract shapes.
“It’s clearly like someone decided to depict what they saw, like an animal or like another human,” Maxime Aubert, an archaeologist and author of the study published in Nature, told NPR. “And they made that, they did that on purpose.”
Pindi SetiawanThe mountains of East Kalimantan, Indonesia, on the island of Borneo where the caves are located.
Dr. Aubert and his team tested the calcium carbonate deposits surrounding the image using dating techniques which allowed them to discover the painting’s age.
The artwork depicts three cows total, with the largest of them spanning more than seven feet wide, according to National Geographic. In the painting, one of the cows appears to have a spear piercing its flank and they are a part of a series of similar paintings found in the cave that were made using a red-orange, iron-oxide pigment.
This piece of cow artwork might be the oldest figurative painting that the researchers found but it is far from the only painting on the cave walls. The system of caves nestled inside the rugged mountains is a treasure trove of ancient artwork, according to the BBC.
Kinez RizaMulberry-colored painted handprint outlines that cover a portion of the cave walls in Borneo.
The team also found a series of paintings in the second phase of the cave’s artworks, which dates back to somewhere between 16,000 and 21,000 years ago. These paintings were made using a purple-colored paint and show what the researchers believe are depictions of humans.
These artistic depictions of animals, handprints, and humans join a growing list of examples of artwork that show a shift in how early humans saw their surroundings and how they expressed it through their art.
“It looks like there was a transition from depicting the animal world to [depicting] the human world. And it’s interesting because I think we have the same thing in Europe,” Dr. Aubert told the BBC.
Pindi Setiawan/NaturePaintings of human figures in Borneo that could be around 20,000 years old.
The switch from ancient artwork being abstract to being figurative is hugely important in the history of human culture. According to National Geographic, these cave paintings could represent some of the first examples of what we can call human culture.
As April Nowell, a Paleolithic archaeologist at the University of Victoria, told National Geographic, “I think for a lot of us, that’s a true expression of human-ness in the broadest sense of that word.”
The cow cave art is a remarkable find and when you think about what the painting represents in regards to human culture as we know it, the discovery only becomes more groundbreaking.
Next, see perhaps the world’s oldest smiley face, found on an ancient Turkish jug. Then, behold Gobekli Tepe, the oldest known temple on Earth.
Caroline Redmond
Caroline is a writer and Florida-transplant currently living in New York City.
Oklahoma Zookeeper And Gubernatorial Candidate Accused Of Killing 5 Tigers And Selling Their Cubs
11 Of History's Most Famous Suicides, From Artists To Politicians


Baldwin interim coach as McElwain goes to Florida
FILE - In this Sept. 27, 2014, file photo, Colorado State head coach Jim McElwain talks in his headset during the first quarter of an NCAA college football game against Boston College in Boston. A person familiar with the search says Florida has hired McE
Stephan Savoia, File
There were the 10 wins and an appearance in the Top 25. Oh, and that $7 million, too.
Hard to say Colorado State lost even though the coach who orchestrated the dramatic turnaround is bailing on the Rams after three years to take over at Florida.
Jim McElwain may have used the Rams as a stepping stone to a more high-profile coaching gig with the Gators, but he left the team in great shape - and with a financial windfall.
As part of the buyout agreement, the Rams will receive $7 million, including $5 million in cash and $2 million to play a football game in Gainesville, Florida, down the road. His buyout clause was for $7.5 million.
Offensive coordinator Dave Baldwin will step in as interim coach for the team's upcoming bowl game as the school begins a national search.
''CSU athletics has benefited from the three-year association with Jim McElwain,'' President Tony Frank said in a statement.
An emotional McElwain met with his team one final time Thursday in the auditorium where he's gone over many a game plan. There was a roar from inside the room.
In his time in Fort Collins, Colorado, McElwain restored the luster to a program that had gone 3-9 in three straight seasons before his arrival. The Rams won 10 regular-season games this season for just the fourth time in school history.
''As a university we have to be happy for him. He came in and he helped us out,'' said tailback Dee Hart, a graduate transfer from Alabama who arrived on campus over the summer because of his relationship with McElwain. ''He put us back to where Colorado State wanted to be at.''
And now it's back to the business of football. There's an undetermined bowl game to prepare for under Baldwin, who called the plays for a high-powered offense that averaged 36 points a game this season behind senior quarterback and Heisman Trophy candidate Garrett Grayson.
Baldwin may receive strong consideration for the position should the Rams prefer continuity. He came on board with McElwain and has head coaching experience, with San Jose State from 1997-2000.
There are plenty of big-name candidates out there, too, like recently fired Michigan coach Brady Hoke, who knows the Mountain West given his past ties with San Diego State.
Here's an intriguing possibility: Once again courting an Alabama offensive coordinator. This time, Lane Kiffin, the former USC coach who has roots with the Rams after serving as the team's offensive line assistant coach in 1999.
Hiring an Alabama coach certainly worked out well the first time, when McElwain was lured to Fort Collins from Tuscaloosa, Alabama. He served as offensive coordinator for Nick Saban and helped the Tide capture two national titles.
When he was hired, McElwain was billed as an offensive mastermind who could lift the Rams from their doldrums, even if it was his first head coaching position. The team went 4-8 in his first season and then 8-6 in 2013, which included a win over Washington State in the New Mexico Bowl.
This season, the Rams (10-2) flourished as Grayson took another step in his development under McElwain.
Grayson had quite a few explosive weapons, like Hart and sophomore receiver Rashard Higgins, who leads the nation in yards receiving (1,640) and TDs (17).
''The sky is the limit (for the offense),'' Grayson recently said. ''We are a very talented group.''
McElwain turned the town into big football backers again, with the parking lot at Hughes Stadium usually filled on Saturdays, much like it was when Sonny Lubick was in charge.
The success also helped push forward the agenda for a new stadium, with Frank even recommending last week that the school build a new sports stadium on campus instead of renovating the existing football arena.
Former Colorado State tailback Kapri Bibbs was sorry to see McElwain go.
''I think Colorado State probably just lost one of the great coaches to coach this game,'' said Bibbs, who's now with the Denver Broncos. ''This new coach, if he can try to implement what Coach Mac had in place, I think they'll have another successful season.''
Colorado State put a positive spin on losing a coach who has turned around a downtrodden program, saying in a release that it was receiving the largest-ever buyout. The school said the amount it recouped had eclipsed the $4.3 million that Texas paid to Louisville to hire away coach Charlie Strong.
There's no timetable to find McElwain's replacement. But there's plenty of interest.
''I would say I have been contacted by 40 to 50 candidates. Impressive ones. It is staggering,'' interim athletic director John Morris said.
AP Pro Football Writer Arnie Stapleton and AP freelance writer Dale Bublitz contributed.
lane kiffin
garrett grayson
dee hart
kapri bibbs


Scott Lankton was born in Midland, Michigan in 1956. He attended Ohio State and received his B.F.A. from Western Michigan University in 1978. He opened his own studio in 1979. In 1985 he went to Aachen, Germany and received his Diploma at The International Teaching Center for Metal Design where he apprenticed under his late Master, Manfred Bredohl.
Today he works as a studio artist mostly doing architectural commissions in steel and bronze such as stair railings, gates, furniture, kitchen racks, swords, and sculpture. Recent projects include 180 feet of dogwood motif railing in steel and bronze, forging handguns into artwork, and a large hanging sculpture for a cancer center.
In 1989 the British Museum commissioned him to replicate the complex pattern welded sword from the famous Sutton Hoo Ship Burial (dated near 600 A.D.) This sword is now permanently displayed in London alongside the original. His writings on this helped others to explore creating complex composite blades. See elsewhere on this site for details.
He has taught at the Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina, Peter’s Valley Craft Center in New Jersey, Appalachian Center for Crafts, Smithville, TN, and Tillers International, Kalamazoo, MI. He has lead many workshops and demonstrated and lectured at national and international conferences such as ABANA, Ferro 2000, and Ferro 2005 in Germany and in Stia, Italy.
He was President, Vice President, and Financial Chair of ABANA, the Artist Blacksmith Association of North America. He served on their Board of Directors for nine years.
According to Lankton, “the spontaneity of forging hot steel continues to delight me as does the strength and integrity of this medium. I am fascinated by the duality of beauty and danger that that life combines and I hope that through my work, the lives of others will be made a bit more beautiful.”


News, Physical Security
Artificial Intelligence in Security Discussed at SIA GovSummit Panel
The SIA GovSummit panel discussed the potential and implications of artificial intelligence in security solutions in both the private and public sectors.
July 19, 2018 Zach Winn Leave a Comment
A panel discussion on the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in the security industry focused on current and future applications of the technology at the Security Industry Association (SIA) GovSummit, held here June 26-27.
Panelists agreed that current AI technologies have the potential to vastly improve the efficiency and effectiveness of current security operations.
“Previously standalone technologies are coming together in ways we have never seen before,” Todd Veazie of Kiernan Group Holdings said in his opening remarks. “These machines now see as we see and hear how we hear, allowing cameras and microphones to automate many tasks. These systems’ recognition abilities allow for new inferences about the nature of the environment and the choices we make to operate in it.”
Even amid that optimism, members of the panel wanted to cut through the hype surrounding AI technologies. Adam Ayotte-Savino, senior manager of organizational effectiveness at ASIS Int’l, described the solutions being used today as “data-centric systems that are able to process large amounts of information to detect patterns and irregularities.”
The straightforward definition proved to be a useful anchor as the panelists discussed the dizzying capabilities such systems can offer end users.
AI Opportunities in Security
David Sousa of the Federal Protective Service, which operates under the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), explained AI’s immediate role in the security industry by describing a situation familiar to anyone who’s been in an emergency operations center.
With AI and machine learning, Sousa explained software can be combined with integrated audio and video analytics systems to make monitoring operations vastly more efficient.“[Organizations] have dozens of systems, each with multiple sensors,” Sousa said. “A security manager is tasked with interpreting all of that data flowing in. Right now that’s one unlucky guy.”
“These systems provide data, but if we think of them as merely inputs to a technology that can make sense of all that information, we can get much more actionable data,” Sousa said. “That means we can have monitors that only get alerts when several different sensors have decided an event needs to be looked at.”
Sousa believes the sensing technology and computing power is already advanced enough to make AI useful.
“We have sensors that can tell me who in this room has a fever or who is acting suspiciously,” he said. “That’s where we start to look at AI and machine learning to provide better information.”
The panelists also dispelled fears of mass job displacement, telling the audience that AI will augment security officers more than it will replace them.
Limits to AI’s Advance into the Security Industry
Members of the panel also listed several features that officials need to incorporate into their security infrastructure in order to get the full value of AI on their campuses.
They listed systems integration, user education and data collection as requirements for AI technologies to bring their full value to security operations.
“We need to implement these technologies so that they focus on where we need them to focus,” Sousa said. “[Organizations] also need to connect their disparate systems in order for AI to maximize efficiencies.”
Additional considerations include risks such as privacy concerns around data collection, deploying systems that aren’t ready and hacking AI-based systems.
“[With autonomous vehicles], we’ve seen someone put stickers on street signs that convince the self-driving cars to blow right through any stop sign,” Ayotte-Savino noted. “A sticker can actually hack some of these systems.”
To navigate these risks, Sousa speculated that some common standards or government regulations may be adopted in the near future.
“It’s a little bit of an unknown from my standpoint, but as these technologies advance, there’s going to need to be some semblance of control over them,” he said.
Overall, the panel encouraged organizations to consider the risks involved with these systems long before they implement them.
“You’ll always need a degree of human interaction, and that comes back to education,” Ayotte-Savino said. “But if you don’t understand and think about the limitations of AI in security, you’re in trouble.”
The Road Forward for AI in Security
Many systems, particularly in the video surveillance realm, already offer some form of machine learning on their devices or through cloud services.
Christian Morin, vice president of Cloud services at Genetec who spoke on a separate panel, noted earlier in the day that Cloud services have exploded onto the scene in the security industry recently and are maturing rapidly.
But Sousa says most of the AI technology incorporated into systems today are watered-down versions of what’s to come.
“We’re already seeing some basic AI, but most of these systems are very rules-based, they give you yes or no answers,” Sousa explained. “Now we’re starting to look at the normal environment and determining who’s exhibiting any abnormal behavior; that’s not rules-based, that’s learned.”
Security officials can’t simply buy an AI system and step back. First, they need to invest in the sensors, personnel training and integration to make the technology work.
But, based on the panelists’ predictions, that effort will be worth it in the near future.
This article first appeared on TD sister publication campussafetymagazine.com.
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Christie Administration Announces $26.3 Million in Federal Aid for Post-Sandy
Buyouts of 89 Residential Properties in Woodbridge
FEMA Allocation for New Jersey Buyouts Now Totals $100 Million
(14/P9) TRENTON – The Christie Administration today announced the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has awarded the state $26.3 million in federal Hazard Mitigation Grant Program funding for the voluntary acquisition of 89 homes in flood-prone sections of Woodbridge. This action is part of the Administration’s plan to buy out homes from willing sellers impacted by Superstorm Sandy to preserve the land as open space and protect against future flooding.
With this next round of funding, FEMA has now approved $100 million for the purchase of 361 homes in Sayreville, South River and Woodbridge in Middlesex County. These communities sustained extensive flooding from the Raritan River, South River and Woodbridge River, as well as storm surge from the Raritan Bay, during Sandy.
“We continue to make excellent progress toward our goal of moving willing sellers in flood-prone areas out of harm’s way,” said Governor Christie. “In cooperation with the federal government, my Administration is working hard to expedite this process and to help these victims of the storm get on with their lives.’’
So far, the Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) Blue Acres Program has made 272 buyout offers in Sayreville and South River, and has closed on 27 Sayreville homes, including four in the past week, with several dozens more nearing settlement. The acquisition process in Woodbridge is in the early stages.
Of the 272 buyout offers made in Sayreville and South River, 155 have been accepted by residents in both towns. The Blue Acres team is working to finalize closings on those 155 properties.
“We remain committed to helping guide these Sandy impacted families through this process, knowing the impact it has on their lives,’’ said DEP Commissioner Bob Martin. “Our DEP team of case managers is working closely with the impacted families and with FEMA to ensure that willing sellers have their applications processed quickly and smoothly, with minimal red tape.’’
The Christie Administration has committed more than $300 million to the buyout program that is targeting 1,000 properties in tidal areas affected by Sandy and another 300 properties in the Passaic River Basin that have repeatedly flooded. The Blue Acres program also is working on potential buyouts in East Brunswick, Linden, Manville, Old Bridge, Neptune, Newark, Union Beach, and another section of Woodbridge, and has engaged in dialogue with residents and officials in many other communities.
Once acquisitions are completed, the homes will be razed and the land will be permanently maintained by the municipalities as open space, accessible to the public for recreation and conservation purposes, and able to absorb flood waters and reduce the need for future disaster assistance by police, fire, emergency crews and other first responders.
In a separate buyout effort, the state’s Blue Acres Program and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resource Conservation Service are partnering to buy and preserve as open space the Bay Point section of Cumberland County’s Lawrence Township, including 33 homes. That land will be converted to open space that will provide wildlife habitat and buffers against flooding.
FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program will provide 100 percent of the funding for buyouts in Sayreville and South River, plus this first round of Woodbridge buyouts. Additional federal funding to acquire other properties impacted by Superstorm Sandy, including the next round of homes in Woodbridge, will be provided through the $1.46 billion second round of federal Community Disaster Block Grant (CDBG) Disaster Recovery funds allocated to New Jersey by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
An independent licensed appraiser hired by the state conducts property appraisals. The appraisals are predominantly based on the value of the property before Sandy. These appraisals are the basis for the amount offered for each property.
The DEP has created a special team in its Blue Acres Program to work closely with sellers and process their applications as quickly as possible. The team is reaching out to individual homeowners personally and guiding them through the process.
Launched in 1995 the initial Blue Acres Program targeted purchases of lands in floodways in the Delaware, Passaic and Raritan river basins, but was later expanded to include all state waters. Eligible properties are those that have been storm damaged, that are prone to incurring storm damage, or that may buffer or protect other lands from such damage.
Homeowners interested in selling their homes through this process may contact the DEP’s Blue Acres Program at 609-984-0500.
For more information on the Blue Acres Program, visit: http://www.state.nj.us/dep/greenacres/blue_flood_ac.html
For information on Sandy Recovery, visit: http://www.state.nj.us/dep/special/hurricane-sandy/
Last Updated: February 6, 2014