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HOME > Chowhound > Outer Boroughs > Oct 11, 2006 01:30 PM Indian near Bayside Looking for a good Indian restaurant within a 10 - 15 minute drive from Bayside. Any suggestions? 1. Click to Upload a photo (10 MB limit) 1. There have been discussions of a place on Hillside Ave @ Little Neck Pkwy ?? Need some help with the name..... 1. Are you thinking of Tangra Masala 2 on Hillside? It's a little further east - just past Marcus Ave. 2 Replies 1. re: Scribbler Are you thinking of Heritage? Friends of mine swear by it. 1. re: pwrube Heritage is by Marcus ave, Nassau County, and had been an Italian restaurant. Good food, a little more expensive then the others but by far the nicest interior. 2. No, not TM2. It was an old diner. 7 Replies 1. re: johnk On Hillside just east of Little Neck Pkwy is Fiza Diner. O.P. should do a search as there was a recent discussion of Indian in Floral Park and there are older posts about Indian near Bayside. Fiza,Kerala and Santoor are all good. 1. re: stuartlafonda That's the one Stuart. Any imput on this place? 1. re: johnk Interesting place. It is very small with a few tables that people share. They seat about 10 people, and do a huge takeout business. Everything but the bread is strictly steam table, and then nuked. In fact the steam table takes up just about the entire interior. They usually have about 6 meat mains and an eaqual number of vegetable dishes. Food tends to be spicy, everything is dirt cheap. They do all kinds of kabobs and even do whole birds in the tandoor. It has had some favorable press and was on the Village Voice cheap 100 a few years ago. Worth a try if you are in the area. 1. re: stuartlafonda Thanks for the update. I've been meaning to get over there. Spicy is where it's at!!!! Lets Go Mets!!! 1. re: johnk I was in Fiza Diner last week. Since it was still Ramadan (and I think still is), they had removed all the tables, except for one table for 2, so that they could make room for more pre-prepared take-out. The kid behind the counter took my order. Then another employee told me to get a combination plate instead. Then the two of them talked about my order in Hindi(?)for about 2-3 minutes without my understanding a word, other than "combination", like I wasn't there. I wound up with rice, a vegetable dish, and two chicken dishes (neither of which was the one I had originally asked for). After 5 minutes in the microwave, some parts were extremely hot and some were just room temperature. This is definitely a recipe for food poisoning. I was lucky this time. Fiza Diner is also one of the dirtiest restaurants I've ever eaten in, and I've been to over 500 (I've counted) restaurants in Asia. The food tasted good though. Lots of bold spices, which I like. Plenty of cardamon and maybe too much cloves for my taste. I'll give them another chance after Ramadan is over. 2. re: johnk I had lunch from Fiza Diner today. It was good. I had okra masala, chickpea masala, goat curry, chicken curry, some seasoned rice, and a nan for $7. They also had a goat kidney curry, a kufta, keema, and another type of chicken curry. Dal as well of course. Everything was tasty and had lots of spices- sometimes whole peppercorns, cloves, etc. For some reason, I was expecting them to have haleem in the steam table selection, but it wasn't there. It's on the menu though. They have a little parking lot too. I'm definitely going back and may order from the menu next time. 3. re: stuartlafonda The only Fiza Diner I know of is in Floral Park. Are you talking about the same one? 2. i used to really like indian oasis on the service road of the LIE on the eastbound side, b/t 188th st and utopia parkway in fresh meadows. however, i believe that it's called "royal indian oasis" and they serve asian indian cuisine. if you do a search for indian oasis, you should see more discusssions on this particular restaurant. i haven't been back since it's changed, however. plus, for whatever reason, the place was always empty when i went, despite the food being very good under its former name. there's india corner on union turnpike and 178th st, also in fresh meadows near st johns. it's a bit small, but they have a very cheap and filling lunch buffet - i think take out is about $6 or so. their dinners are also good - i wouldn't say this is the best indian food, but it's very consistent and i've been going here since i was a child. otherwise, i am in jamaica estates and i usu drive out to jackson heights to jackson diner to get my fill of indian food. 3 Replies 1. re: Linda re: Indian Oasis - you seem to be saying that the cuisine was different under the old name, but that's not so. Just to clarify for anyone out there reading, it never was an "Indian" Indian restaurant. Like its successor, Royal Indian Oasis (imaginative name change, no?) it served Indian-style Chinese & Thai food. While the owners and the name may be new, the menu did not change appreciably after the changeover. Last time I visited (a few months ago), the food was still great. 1. re: Helen F interesting... during the times that i went to indian oasis (mainly around 2000-2002), i don't recall ever seeing anything besides indian food on the menu? to clarify, i never went to this restaurant once they started serving indian style chinese food. 1. re: Linda Hmmm, maybe that "never" was a bit of an overstatement. I feel like I've been eating in that spot, whatever its name, for more than just two years, but it seems that I could not have learned about it (on this board) any earlier than 2004! Surprising. Anyway, that would leave ample time for a cuisine switch since you were last there. I stand corrected.

HOME > Chowhound > Kosher > Nov 16, 2006 05:47 PM Cabot's 18 mo. sharp cheddar is back!!! Just to spread the word: Trader Joes in St. Louis has the black-waxed special block back for the "holiday season". I am in heaven, stocked up the extra fridge to carry me for a year. Now, if only Cabot made a good parmesan! The hecksher is tablet-K. 1. Click to Upload a photo (10 MB limit) 1. I am interested in GOOD KOSHER CHEESE, but live in Toronto. How do I contact this place in St. Louis? Im wondering if they will ship? 1. You can order directly from Cabot at If you're interested in the OU-certified lot of sharp cheddar, I hear that's being released next week (and I'm waiting impatiently); otherwise, I believe all of their cheeses have a Tablet-K. 1. Cabot has some very good aged product. The OU-certified run isn't aged as long as the Hunter's Seriously Sharp, but it's nice that there is now a choice for those that hold that a frum yidden must place the rennet (about a pinkie's worth in size) into the multi-thousand gallon batch of milk - all other ingredients and cookware otherwise the same as used for other production runs. Kol ha Kavod - enjoy the great cheese either way that suits you. 1. The original comment has been removed

HOME > Chowhound > Manhattan > Mar 1, 2007 12:15 PM Oysters at Home Where in NYC can I find the best oysters? Is there a market that specializes in shellfish? I'm hosting a 30th birthday dinner party for my boyfriend and oysters are his favorite. Definitely want to serve them as one of the courses. I have a friend who knows how to shuck them, but now I just need to know where to find the freshest oysters possible. Any ideas? 1. Click to Upload a photo (10 MB limit) 1. I go to Citarella quite often and they usually have a great selection of oysters, much more types than Whole Foods and Dean & Deluca. The quality is also very good, and they will shuck them for you if you want. Wild Edibles at the Grand Central Terminal also have a good selection of oysters. If you don't mind paying a little extra, you can always buy them as take-out from seafood restaurants and you don't have to do anything other than plating the oysters =) 4 Replies 1. re: kobetobiko I've been happy with the ones I've bought at Citarella - the ones at D&D always look a bit forlorn. 1. re: MMRuth Citarella always has a wide variety (including Wellfleets, which are my favorite!) Though I have not tried oysters there specifically, all of their fresh is of the utmost quality and I would never hesitate to buy oysters there...if only I knew how to shuck them! 1. re: selizara I also get mine from Citarella. Good selection and never had problems with freshness. 1. re: selizara They'll shuck them for you ... a couple dollars more a dozen. After one fiasco and two dozen wasted oysters when my husband said he "wanted to do it himself", I just have them shucked there! 2. We buy our oysters from The Lobster Place in the Chelsea Market - the west coast oysters are hit or miss, but the east coast oysters have always been fresh. 1 Reply 1. re: bigdsgoats Second the lobster place. And the prices are great. I remember them having about 5 varietis. 2. I was wondering the same thing a few minutes ago (looking for Belon oysters, in particular)and a Google search led me here: They deliver fresh live oysters and they're a NY company. They seem to have a wide selection and some interesting info about cultivation practices, but I have not tried them yet, so I cannot vouch for their quality or services. Just thought I'd share, in case you're brave enough to buy without seeing/smelling first. 1 Reply 1. re: jamonito I actually have bought Belon several times at Citarella in Greenwich Village. They were so juicy and tasty, I want to have them now! 2. On Grand Street between Bowery and Christie there is a place called Tan My My that has absolutely the freshest shellfish and fish. They usually carry Kumamotos.

HOME > Chowhound > Manhattan > Jun 12, 2008 09:00 AM Juicy Juice cherry juice in bottles Why is it so hard to find Juicy Juice cherry juice in bottles, in New York? I tried looking for it at my local supermarket, but all I see is Juicy Juice in mini-cartons that you poke a straw into to drink the juice, and every other juice but cherry. I've seen the cherry juice in large bottles only in Florida. Is there some kind of an exclusive packaging rights issue in New York? Any help you can offer on this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! 1. Click to Upload a photo (10 MB limit)

HOME > Chowhound > General South Archive > Jul 25, 2008 02:59 PM Mountain City TN We will be staying in Mountain City for one night on a drive from New York City to Arkansas. Any suggestions on dinner, local spots, etc. as we pass through the Virgina/TN border? 1. Click to Upload a photo (10 MB limit) 1. You're pretty much out of luck in Mountain City. I have property near there and never go there to eat.There's a place called Suba's that a friend of mine likes, but he goes for quantity as a measurement. There are no casual chains, just Hardee's fast food type places. You'll have to go to Elizabethton TN for Chili's, Fatz etc..I heard about a new Mexican place, but I am sceptical about it. If you don't mind a short but pretty 30 minute ride ride - go to Damascus VA. Try Damascus Eats for sandwiches or Sicily's for a creditable pizza. For better choices make the trek to Abingdon VA - a beautiful town with several good places - Wildflour, Allison's, or the Pepper Mill. 4 Replies 1. re: eimac Definitely second that...the drive is relatively short and scenery along the way makes it all worth it. 1. re: inmybackpages thanks - any suggestions for stops between Mountain City and Nashville? 1. re: matika After a long drive we stayed in town and ate at Suba. The food was pretty good - I had smoked trout cakes and my son and I shared an amazingly lighit coconut cream pie. 1. re: matika Thanks for the update- I'll give it a try. The area around Mt. City is beautiful - we don't go for the food! 2. I have to say that I've always enjoyed the meals I've had at Suba's. I don't typically eat desserts, but that is certainly something to look forward to if you do. They're gorgeous. As for the food, I think it's quite good -- my brother-in-law is a former chef, and he sings Suba's praises. I always get the smoked trout cakes, but my sister loves-loves-loves the pecan-crusted chicken. (The sweet potato fries are always our appetizer.) One of the best things about Suba's is the reception you get when you walk in the door. Folks are friendly and helpful, I've never had bad service there. Suba's is by far the best meal you'll find in Mountain City, and we're proud of what they've done with their restaurant. It's hillbilly gourmet at its best! 1. Subas is an excellent restaurant and i've never had a bad meal at this place either, and excellent friendly service. I go down (from Philadelphia) to visit my folks who live near there and we usually go to dinner there one night, or even lunch. For dinner, i love the tuna steak, cooked to order. Delicious. My husband gets the ranchero chicken or the trout, both are excellent. the best part is the desserts - they are all homemade, by the chef's wife (co-owner) and are incredible. we always split one because they are so rich and heavy but you MUST save room for dessert. I definitely wouldn't call this place hilbilly! There is a mexican place there now - but it gets mixed reviews. some like it. some say its awful and bland. i can't say myself b/c i haven't been. For lunch theres a place called Craigs Cafe - decent lunch type food, homemade soups, etc. Lastly, several friends of mine rave about Thai Food - i think the place is called Monsoon Thai Food maybe... but they say its awesome. small sitting area though. Personally though the only NICE place (and great food for sure) is subas. But be aware of their closing times - if you arrive at closing, they will NOT seat you, no exceptions it seems.

HOME > Chowhound > Ontario (inc. Toronto) > Feb 18, 2009 10:36 AM Where to find clotted cream Hello Everyone Does anyone know of any stores that sell real clotted cream? Thanks in advance! 1. Click to Upload a photo (10 MB limit) 1. I've always found it at loblaws. It is a speciality item and not stocked in all stores. 1. While many stores have some version of "clotted" cream (I saw Devon cream at a Loblaw's this morning), you won't find anything resembling "real" clotted cream in Toronto. Probably not in Canada, unless it's available directly from a farm gate source. The closest thing is probably Loblaw's double cream, which is delicious, but not even close to what I assume you are looking for. 4 Replies 1. re: embee Sad but true. I've never seen anything approaching the real deal here. It's not apparently made here, either. Wrong cows, no shelf life, tiny demand. 1. re: Kagemusha La Fromagerie on College,st. It's legit 1. re: Bobby Wham No, they don't sell it there. I just called and asked (you can call for yourself - the number I got from their website is 416 516-4278). 2. There is a shop in the eglinton town square mall at vic park and eglinton that sells products imported from the UK and ive seen it there. 1. I called Bruno's to ask if they have it ( - the location at Yonge), and they said they have "English Devon Cream", which they said is the same thing. I'm not sure I believe it's the same thing, but I'm going to try it. 5 Replies 1. re: jamie_r According to Joy of Cooking ( the real thing has to be made from unpasteurized cream. Metro at Yonge & Bayview sells small jars of heavy cream. They do not keep fresh for long. 1. re: jamie_r A lot of places sell this, or double devon, but I haven't seen the clotted cream around (the same company that makes the common double devon cream, with the blue label, also makes a clotted cream as well). 1. re: jamie_r NOT the same, jamie r. Doesn't do Bruno's cred any good to hear that claim. 2. It's 'illegal' to sell raw milk products in North America. My girlfriend's father tries to bring some clotted cream home for us every time he goes to England. It gets confiscated at Customs every time. I would find it HIGHLY unlikely you could find true clotted cream here in Toronto, unless you own your own dairy farm. 4 Replies 1. re: atomrobin It is not illegal to sell raw milk products in North America. First of all, you have to include part of Central America, where there are fresh milk products on the street. Secondly, raw milk products are sold freely in California. Finally, raw milk cheese is sold from Quebec, Vermont, and France, if it is aged 60 days. 1. re: jayt90 Even aged less than 60 days, you can legally get raw milk cheese in Quebec (since 2008, I believe). 1. re: jayt90 Yes, but it is illegal to sell raw milk in Ontario - even if you are doing it legally :-) 2. re: atomrobin Clotted cream is not raw. It is pasteurized (at least, the commercially sold stuff is). If customs are confiscating it then they are in the wrong.

HOME > Chowhound > General Topics > Mar 31, 2009 01:41 PM What is a Funny? One the menu at a righteous dive in Lynchburg, Virginia. The Texas Inn aka The T Room. I'm sure its on menus elsewhere too. Whatever the Funny is, its cheap, under $2 I think. I've always been too timid to order, wondering perhaps if its some joke item to catch non-regulars and I've never heard anyone order it while I have been there. Plus I'm too full from my Cheesy Western (all the way) and a Bowl (with) to order anything more. Does anyone know what it is? Its kind of difficult to google, since funny food, menu, recipe, whatever I tried, comes up with anecdotal stories of dining out or the like. Kind of the same problem I had while trying to find a website/menu for the stupidly named Eat Restaurant in Virginia Beach. Try looking that one up! If anyone knows what a Funny is and maybe its origin, I would love to know. ~Cheers 1. Click to Upload a photo (10 MB limit) 1. Chroma - DH was/is a huge fan of The T, but does not remember anything called the Funny. He wants to know if you had a glass of the james with your bowl (with) and cheesy western. :) 8 Replies 1. re: jujuthomas Hahahahaha, no glass of the James this time. Milk is my usual drink of choice, regular, not butter. Sad to report, the milk machine has been gone for a while now. God knows I love milk machine milk! I looked up and down the counter the other night and everyone was drinking either milk or little glass cokes. At least the little glass cokes haven't gone away. We only make it there about once a year, so I soak up as much atmosphere (and grease) as I can. 1. re: jujuthomas a "funny" is a hot dog with the fixings except the hot dog. just like a denver is a cheesy western without the hamburger. 1. re: krhodes224 Okay, I'm completely lost here. " a "funny" is a hot dog with the fixings except the hot dog" Does this mean it's a hot dog bun filled with chopped onions, relish and other hot dog toppings, but no meat? "...a denver is a cheesy western without the hamburger." What's a cheesy western? In NYC, a western is an omelette filled with chopped onions, sweet red &/or green bell peppers, and ham - sometimes on a plate, sometimes as a sandwich on toasted bread. So is a denver a western with cheese? and what does a hamburger have to do with it? I'm not being argumentative, in case you're reading it that way. I honestly don't understand... Help? 1. re: Deenso At the T (the above mentioned Texas Inn) a Cheesy Western (all the way) is a hamburger with cheese, relish, chili (?) and an egg on it. Not to be confused with a Western Omlette. :) Chromcosmic, krhodes, correct me if I got it wrong... I never ate one just listened to DH wax poetic about them! So yes. I'm guessing that a funny is a hot dog bun filled with all the stuff they'd put on a dog (all the way), but no hot dog. And a Denver would be a Cheesy Western (all the way) without the hamburger. 1. re: Deenso I was curious as well so I googled "cheesy western" and it took me to the restaurant mentioned by the OP. So, if a cheesy western is a cheeseburger with fried egg and a mustard relish sauce, then a Denver is the same thing w/o the hamburger. A western omelette is what we call a denver omelette. Actually it can go by either name. I also found out that a funny is all the hot dog fixins in a bun w/o the hot dog. Pretty odd if you ask me. 1. re: danhole Well, thanks, danhole. I'm still trying to understand/get over the whole hot-dog-less, condiment-filled bun concept. Definitely agree - pretty odd. However, I have a friend whose kids were vegetarian, but they always enjoyed going to McDonald's with their friends. They would order Big Macs or Quarter Pounders with cheese, hold the burgers. Hey, as long as you've got the fries and a shake, how bad can it be? 1. re: Deenso Sound like depression era food to me ;-) 2. re: Deenso why does the "funny" remind me of the "veggie burger" from the Wendy's oasis in Chicago's suburbs--$.18, $.28 w/cheese (burger w/o patty)? 2. What a coincidence. I don't mean to repeat myself, but I just posted this on another thread: "This reminds me of my favorite joke on Get Smart. Maxwell Smart was in a ballpark, passing a hot dog loaded 'with everything' to a customer in his row. The hot dog got caught in Smart's hand and slipped out of the bun. When the guy bit into it, it was just the bun and all the condiments. He loved it saying this was the best hot dog he ever tasted!" 4 Replies 1. re: Steve Thanks krhodes, glad to have that cleared up, sort of an Emperor's New Hot dog kind of thing, huh? And the whole Western/Denver thing, don't forget we're a state that pronounces Buena Vista with a looong "u" like view, Bue-nah Vista (vista like Microsoft pronounces it). don't expect all of us to make sense with our culinary terms. We speak our own language here and I (mostly) love it, or love to laugh at it. 1. re: chromacosmic Yep, there was a very small town named Buena Vista near where I grew up in the boonies, and the locals referred to it as Biewnie Vista - 'cause they always had. 1. re: tracylee there was a town next to the one my college was in that was buena vista (byu-nah viss-tah). It always puzzled me, in the middle of rural virginia, why a town would be named that. Oddly enough, there was an amazing mexican restaurant there with a man from oaxaca and his grandmother cooking (my boyfriend and I were the only patrons, i think), but it didn't last long... who woulda thunk it 2. re: chromacosmic I happen to live on a street named "Buena Vista" and yes, the old timers (among others) pronouce it "Byu-nah Vista"; there's also a street called "Versailles" and if you pronouce it "Vair-sigh" instead of "Ver-sails" you'll get quizzical looks from the locals. I was just reading an article about someone who grew up in Buena Vista, West Virginia, and they had a similar pronunciation. Of course, this is an English tradition -- I remember being totally dumbfounded when I found out that the [Vale of] Belvoir (which is French for Buena Vista!) in the English midlands was pronounced "Beaver"!

HOME > Chowhound > Los Angeles Area > Jan 6, 2010 04:15 PM The Tar Pit: Has Anyone Eaten There? 1. Click to Upload a photo (10 MB limit) 1. I drive by there at least once a day and the menu board is empty and there are valet signs but they're not out. They don't seem to be open yet but I'd imagine close. Maybe the buzz is from critics only nights or something? 3 Replies 1. re: PinotPlease they have been open and running since before christmas. i have been but only for drinks so not able to answer the op's posting. 1. re: PinotPlease They've been open for a full 3 weeks now. 1. re: wutzizname My bad, sorry about that. Maybe they're not open for lunch, hence the not-so-open-looking vibe. Glad to hear it's good, Mark Peel's a great culinary contributor to this 'hood! 2. The menu is interesting, lots of reinterpreted classics, and the design is swank--reminiscent of an old time supper club. We enjoyed the crab cakes, clams casino and the fried oysters with drinks; nothing revelatory but all quite tasty. The cocktails (mostly $12) were different than the norm and good and the bar menu reasonably priced. You can also order the full menu at the bar and I am tempted to come back to try the steak & kidney pie with yorkshire pudding, the coq au vin blanc and the lobster bisque. 1. I ate there New Years Eve and all the food was quite excellent, but the unique and amazing cocktails still stole the spotlight. Between my friends and I we tried 9 or 10 different ones. They were all varying degrees of great, but our favorites seemed to be the ones listed under the heading "Tributes." For dinner we had the Crab Cakes, the White Bean & Pecorino Salad, the Shrimp Louie, and the Wild Boar Meatballs, which were all very good. But it was the Lobster & Scallop Newberg that blew me away. The flavor and richness of the sauce combined with the substantial portions of perfectly cooked sea scallops and lobster made for one of the best dishes I've had in a very long time. Looking forward to going back for it again soon. N.B. By the time we were ready for it, they had run out of Bananas Foster, but that seemed to be the dessert everyone was raving about. 1. We ate at the bar over the weekend and were really disappointed with the food and service. We had the following -- Saffron-Scented Shrimp Cocktail - Seville Orange Remoulade Calamari - Lemon Wheels, Shallot Rings, Fried Parsley Rouille Duck Slider - Crisp Duck Confit, Buttered Soft Roll, Cointreau Sauce Lobster Bisque - Scented with Cognac Nothing was horrible, but everything we tried was tasteless and bland. The cocktail shrimp were fresh but the accompanying sauce was basically mayonnaise. The calamari batter needed salt and again the sauce was overwhelmingly mayonnaise. The duck slider meat was tender but could have been mistaken for a pulled pork sandwich any day and desperately needed some seasoning. Finally the lobster bisque tasted so overwhelmingly of cognac we could not finish it. It took our food over an hour to come out and it seemed overall that they were severely understaffed. There was a single bartender working the entire bar, so we often had to flag the barback/busboy for things (to check on our order, to bring a spoon for the bisque). The host was rather unwelcoming and kept disappearing from his post. Since we were seated on the bar corner right by the front door, we observed a ton of people waiting confusedly for someone to show up and some people leaving when one didn't. Of the cocktails, we tried the Gin Gin Mule, Lemon-Thyme Daiquiri, and something off the menu called Little something-i-can't-remember. The Gin Gin Mule was very good - the flavors well-balanced and the hint of ginger spicy and not overwhelming. The other drinks were nice to watch being made but not remarkable. All cocktails are $12 each so these add up quickly. We'll probably only be back again for drinks in future. 1 Reply 1. re: TracyS Bummer. My experience on NYE was almost the opposite. Loved the food. And under the circumstances (it being New Years Eve and only open a week and a half) I thought service was pretty impressive, including the hiccups. Specifically... Though we had a reservation for bar seats, we had to wait about 5 minutes to get seated. But the hostess and manager were very attentive to the delay and very appropriately apologetic for what was really just a minor wait. Also...when we realized that one of our entrees seemed to be lagging a good while behind the others, we mentioned it to the bartender who immediately looked into it and then sent over a complimentary cold dish while we waited for the kitchen to prepare the errant hot one. Again, given the circumstances and otherwise stellar service, I thought they handled everything with the utmost class. Of course, it was NYE and I know Mark Peel was in the kitchen because he came out in his apron with a cocktail as the midnight hour approached. Based on your experience though, Tracy, maybe they've already moved on to the second team. But I hope and trust that Mark will bring things back up to the level we saw on New Year's. It was a really great night and meal, minor hiccups and all. 2. I went last Thurday for drinks and food. Sat at the bar and ordered from the bar and dinner menu. I really enjoyed it. Liked the food, drinks and the ambiance. Classy and sophisticated crowd. It got crowded when I left at 9ish. 1) duck confit sliders The duck was excellent, with a mixture of thin tender slices and crispy skin. The duck juices dripped all over the salad and was scrumptious. The slider bun was buttery 2) fried oysters, with preserved lemon remoulade and crisp ginger Delicious, perfectly fried oysters. I really enjoyed this dish: sometimes fried oysters can be dry but these were plump 3) pork cheek and ear with orecchiette pasta, salsa verde, braised beet greens and dandelion greens, served in a cast iron skillet This was from the dinner menu. The pork cheek was tender and the ears were sliced thin and chewy. The pasta dish was a bit soupy and thus was on the lighter side, however I thought it needed a bit more salt. 2 Replies 1. re: stuffycheaks Stuffycheaks, I was there on the same night and also thought the duck sliders were excellent. They had a divine taste of butter and sugar that I am still craving. I also had the orecchiette which was nice, but not interesting or satisfying enough to order again. Additionally we ordered the following: -leek salad: nice, refreshing but a little boring -steak and kidney pie: fabulously rich and complex, would definitely get again -bananas foster: absolutely amazing; homemade marshmallow whip lightly toasted with this fabulous buttery caramel sauce; only complaints were that the ice cream was a bit grainy with ice and overall the dessert was a bit too sweet but really, those complaints are so minor because overall it was delicious We had a couple of cocktails as well which were all great, though it would be nice if the menu would expand to add some more whiskey based drinks as almost all of the drinks are gin based. As others have mentioned service was slow probably because they only had a single bartender mixing drinks for the entire place, which is absurd. However everyone from the hosts to the waiter and busboys were all very friendly and helpful. Lastly the décor is just gorgeous old Hollywood. Very romantic. Overall I would go back for drinks and maybe a few small bites, but not necessarily for dinner as I expected a little more from Mark Peel (yes it was good, but I want awesome). 1. re: stuffycheaks I was there a few weeks ago with some friends for dinner. We had a reservation at 9 and we were seated at 9:05 so that is not bad. The place was PACKED! Cocktails seemed like the best thing the entire night, EXCEPT the bartender had to look up my friends drink request in a book. It is a bog bar given the size of the resturant and there were only 2 bartenders, so drinks took a while to get. what we ate: duck sliders - great. i mean PERFECT great. steak tartare - below average tuna tartare - not good at all shrimp cocktail - avg. cobb salad - good green salad with green goddess dressing - avg roasted chicken - good cheese/meat plate - avg. They kept bring our table duplicate orders of thing that we did and did not order. Which was frustrating only when we went to order other things and told that they were out of them. Out of something only because you brought four orders of it to table 3. Not in any hurry to return. The menu will not stand up in the long run. Maybe a cocktail or two.

Tuesday, October 30, 2012 Making Monsters #28: The Thing The subject of makeup effects in The Thing is probably enough to fill a book. The 1982 remake of the Christian Nyby film and, especially, the John W. Campbell novella "Who Goes There?" that was the basis for both films was lambasted by critics when it was released and died a quick death at the box office. It was the summer of E.T. and, as John Carpenter has noted more than once, Spielberg's film had an alien that made the world cry, and his was the alien that made people throw up. Three decades later, The Thing is generally regarded as a masterpiece of suspense, one of the best sci-fi movies of all time and a landmark in special makeup effects. Carpenter elected to return to Campbell's concept of the alien as a shape-shifter and encouraged makeup effects artist Rob Bottin to run with it. Bottin, then 22 (boy, do I feel lazy), and his team of artists and technicians used every trick in the book - prosthetics, hydraulics, pneumatics, radio controls, reverse photography and buckets of K-Y Jelly - to bring to life a creature that imitates its prey on a molecular level before killing them and, in each of its incarnations, takes on the grotesquely distorted characteristics of its current host and every previous one. Bottin's creature designs are expressionistic and highly imaginative, with each seemingly topping the previous one, and they're an enormous compliment to the themes of distrust and paranoia that Carpenter carefully weaves through the film. The showstopping sequence, for me, occurs about halfway through the film, when Norris (Charles Hallahan) collapses of an apparent heart attack and Copper (Richard Dysart) attempts to revive him. As our attention drifts to the action on the other side of the room in one of the film's several excellent moments of misdirection, Copper's hands suddenly burst through Norris' torso, revealing two rows of very big teeth that close in on Copper's hands like a bear trap. All hell breaks loose, culminating in Norris' head stretching off of his body, sprouting spider-like legs and provoking one of the best lines in this or any movie. To sell the effect, a double amputee was cast to stand in for Dysart, and Norris' torso was built to close with enough force that it would sever the prosthetic arms. It's amazing to consider that moment and everything that happens next - the second form of The Thing that explodes from the hole in Norris' body, the transformation of Norris' head - was all accomplished in-camera and sold through the meticulous, detailed work of Bottin and his team, as well as cinematographer Dean Cundey's brilliant cinematography (which shows us everything but the seams of the effect) and the disturbing, otherworldly sound design. While it's true that suggestion is the most powerful tool a horror director has, if you can show everything as effectively as Carpenter did in The Thing, than go for it. No comments:

4501:6-2-02 Requirements for use of the McGruff house symbol. (A) The McGruff house symbol shall be displayed in accordance with the "NMHN" guidelines and is to be the exclusive symbol in all McGruff house programs in Ohio. (B) The McGruff house symbol shall not be provided to any participant unless all requirements of the application process have been met and the participant has been approved. (C) The McGruff house symbol shall be returned immediately to the sponsoring agency if the approved participant moves to another residence or fails to abide by the rules adopted by the office of criminal justice services and the sponsoring agency. Replaces: part of rule 3301-9-01 Promulgated Under: 119.03 Statutory Authority: R.C. 5502.62 Rule Amplifies: R.C. 5502.62

CONNECT Courses are self-paced and self-guided and designed for professionals who work with or support young children and their families in a variety of learning environments and inclusive settings. Each course (except for the FREE Foundations of Inclusion) is priced at $30 / participant. Available Courses 1. Foundations of Inclusion (FREE) 2. Adaptations that Work (5 clock hours / .5 CEUs) 3. All, Some, and A Few: Tiered Instruction (4 clock hours / .4 CEUs) 4. Better Together: Powerful Family Partnerships (2.5 clock hours / .25 CEUs) 5. Communication for Professional Collaboration (2.5 clock hours / .25 CEUs) 6. Smooth Moves: Program Transitions (5 clock hours / .5 CEUs) 7. Storybook Conversations (4 clock hours / .4 CEUs) 8. Weaving Inclusion into Everyday Activities (5 clock hours / .5 CEUs) CONNECT Modules are FREE practice-focused instructional resources for faculty and other professional development providers. CONNECT modules are designed using a 5-Step Learning Cycle TM, an approach for making evidence-based decisions about practice dilemmas, based on the integration of multiple sources of evidence.   Read Factsheet [pdf] Available Modules (in English and Spanish) 1. Embedded Interventions 2. Transition 3. Communication for Collaboration 4. Family-Professional Partnerships 5. Assistive Technology Interventions 6. Dialogic Reading Practices 7. Tiered Instruction

Take the 2-minute tour × Today I made a batch of sugar cookies using my new snowflake-shaped cookie cutters; when I pulled them out, they had puffed so much they became flower-shaped instead. What should I look for in a recipe to use cookie cutters on versus one that would be better for drop cookies or a sliced log? Specifically, I suppose I don't want them to rise much after cutting - do I want less leavening? Smaller flour to butter ratio? How much? share|improve this question 1 Answer 1 up vote 6 down vote accepted A couple of things will lead to less spreading: Shortening instead of butter - butter contains up to 20% water. When it reaches 212F/100C, it turns to steam, expands, and causes things to rise/puff. Also, shortening, as a more processed/refined fat, has a more even melting point, which would cause it to spread less. If you want the flavor of butter, consider butter-flavored shortening. If you must use butter, use clarified butter instead, as it has most of the moisture removed. Refrigerate the dough -- the fat will melt later, causing less spreading by the time the starches and proteins set. Egg whites -- stiffens a dough. White vs. brown sugar - brown sugar contains more moisture than refined white sugar. share|improve this answer I did refrigerate the dough, though it warmed up some as I rolled it out and cut the shapes, so I probably could have stuck the cut shapes back in for a bit. They used white sugar, but we did use butter rather than shortening. I could make that change and probably toss an extra white into the recipe I have rather than look up a new one... Thanks! –  Yamikuronue Nov 30 '11 at 14:01 Here's a trick -- put a parchment-lined sheet pan in the refrigerator while you're rolling the dough. When you're done rolling and cutting, transfer to the sheet pan, and put back in the refrigerator for 15 minutes or more. When ready to bake, transfer the parchment with cookies on it to a room-temperature sheet pan, and bake as normal. Keep in mind, if you do add the additional egg white, it will make the resulting cookie a little tougher. –  Aaron Traas Nov 30 '11 at 15:26 Made christmas cookies over the past weekend; I had dough that had been refrigerated overnight prior to rolling, then popped trays of cut cookies into the fridge and (later, in desperation) into the freezer. Still lost all shape. These were butter cookies, so unfortunately shortening didn't seem appropriate. The picture had nice complex oak leaf designs, whereas even simple stars turned into circles in my kitchen :( –  Yamikuronue Dec 12 '11 at 15:57 @Yamikuronue, many butter cookie recipes use a mix of butter and shortening (often butter-flavored shortening). Another thing you can do to prevent spreading is use higher-fat European-style butter. American butter is typically about 20% water. Alternatively, you can use a mix of clarified butter and shortening. If you're concerned about the lack of butter flavor in the cookie, you can brown the butter a little; it'll develop more flavor. –  Aaron Traas Jan 3 '12 at 15:57 Your Answer

Take the 2-minute tour × I buy and freeze whole almonds when they go on sale. I use them whole, chop them coarsely for things like bread and chop fine or food process them for things like pastries. When I chop them by hand there are some large and small pieces. I assumed this was because of poor knife work so I practiced. Since the nuts are so hard it is almost impossible for me to get uniform sizes. When I chop them in the food processor the pieces are uniform but too small for many applications. What is the best way to take apart almonds so I can get uniform pieces? Slivered or sliced almonds would be the best if that is possible without industrial equipment. share|improve this question For coarse chopping, have you tried using the slicer insert of your food processor? I.e. not the blade at the bottom which keeps chopping the contents over and over again, but the mandolin-like blade that you put at the top, so food only hits it once or twice, then falls through into the bowl. –  Marti Nov 16 '10 at 16:03 4 Answers 4 up vote 6 down vote accepted I think on some level you'll just get what you get with something hard like an almond. A really really sharp knife with a thin blade can help, but you can only do so much. My hand-cut ones are always a bit on the raggedy side. When using a food processor, try smaller batches to leave bigger or more consistent pieces. You don't have to pulse as long to get everything broken up, so you get less that's ground to nothing. Do a small batch for a short chop, dump 'em out, do another. As to how to do slivered or sliced almonds, I always figured that they started with blanched almonds (which are less crisp in my experience) or maybe even raw ones and then roasted them after cutting to crisp them up. You might experiment with blanched or unroasted almonds and see if you get a better result with a knife. share|improve this answer That's an interesting idea. I will try blanching->slicing->toasting. –  Sobachatina Nov 16 '10 at 15:29 All the slivered almonds I've ever seen have certainly been blanched. –  Marti Nov 16 '10 at 16:04 Warm the almonds up in the nukulator (Microwave oven) first until hot to the touch, but not starting to cook. Then they will slice better in the processor instead of breaking up –  TFD Nov 18 '10 at 7:27 Blanching the almonds worked perfectly. @TFD- warming them in the microwave also worked very well and was fast. I was able to slice them almost like slivered almonds. Thanks for the tip! –  Sobachatina Nov 28 '10 at 21:32 Slivered almonds are almonds that have been sliced very thinly into little sticks. They differ from sliced almonds, which are almonds sliced across their diameter giving you much bigger pieces. If you can't keep the shape distinction clear in your head, think of getting a sliver in your finger and what that is shaped like. To make sliced or slivered almonds, commercial producers have special machines that will process about 4,000 pounds of almonds an hour. The machine heats the almonds to about 160F to make them pliable, so that they won't shatter when being cut Sliced and slivered almonds are just about impossible to make at home. The food processor won't slice them, it will chop them and then grind them. It's really not something you can do by hand, either; they will split like crazy on you and you may lose a finger in the process. If they weren't so readily available in packets at the stores, no recipes would be calling for them. alt text share|improve this answer That's kind of what I was afraid of. I will post back results when I try out the blanching and slicing method above. –  Sobachatina Nov 16 '10 at 17:07 @Sobachatina Good luck! It'd be great if works! –  belisarius Nov 16 '10 at 17:19 @Sobachatina: Hopefully you'll be able to at least get them to the size you want, even if they're not as pretty and regular as the magically produced ones from the store. –  Jefromi Nov 16 '10 at 20:36 Whenever I want chopped almonds, I always use the food processor. If I want small pieces, I set the speed of the blade high and if I want larger pieces, I just set lower speed. Of course I will still get some tiny bits, but most almonds, even after longish processing, are cut into 2-4 pieces. share|improve this answer If you're looking for smallish pieces, you can get a nut grinder -- they'll give you fairly uniform pieces without too much effort. But they can't do large pieces. Some examples can be found here, here, and here. share|improve this answer maybe more expensive ones will do almonds, but my cheap hand crank nut grinder only does softer, higher fat content nuts like pecans and walnuts. It looks a lot like your last two linked. –  justkt Nov 18 '10 at 15:39 Your Answer

package Apache::HeavyCGI::IfModified; use strict; use base 'Class::Singleton'; use vars qw($VERSION); $VERSION = sprintf "%d.%03d", q$Revision: 1.1 $ =~ /(\d+)\.(\d+)/; use HTTP::Date (); sub header { my Apache::HeavyCGI::IfModified $self = shift; my Apache::HeavyCGI $mgr = shift; my $now = $mgr->time; my $r = $mgr->{R}; my $last_modified = $mgr->last_modified; $r->header_out('Date', HTTP::Date::time2str($now)); if (my $ifmodisi = $r->header_in('If-Modified-Since')) { # warn "Got ifmodisi[$ifmodisi]"; $ifmodisi =~ s/\;.*//; my $ret; if ($last_modified->http eq $ifmodisi) { $ret = 304; } else { my $ifmodisi_unix = HTTP::Date::str2time($ifmodisi); if (defined $ifmodisi_unix && $ifmodisi_unix < $now && $ifmodisi_unix >= $last_modified->unix ) { $ret = 304; } } return $mgr->{DONE} = $ret if $ret; } } 1; =head1 NAME Apache::HeavyCGI::IfModified - Within Apache::HeavyCGI return 304 =head1 SYNOPSIS require Apache::HeavyCGI::IfModified; push @{$mgr->{HANDLER}}, "Apache::HeavyCGI::IfModified"; # $mgr is an Apache::HeavyCGI object =head1 DESCRIPTION If-modified-since is tricky. We have pages with very differing last modification. Some are modified NOW, some are old, most are MADE now but would have been just the same many hours ago. Because it's the recipe that is used for the composition of a page, it may well be that a page that has never been generated before, nonetheless has a Last-Modified date in the past. The Last-Modified header acts as a weak validator for cache activities, and the older a document appears to be, the longer the cache will store it for us by default. When the cache revisits us after it has got a valid Last-Modified header, it will use an If-Modified-Since header and if we carefully determine our own Last-Modified time, we can spare a lot of processing by returning a Not Modified response instead of working. IfModified should be one of the last handlers in any Apache::HeavyCGI environment, at least it must be processed after all the handlers that might set the LAST_MODIFIED date. =cut

Dan Walsh's Blog Got SELinux? Previous Entry Share Next Entry Follow up to #7 Does an SELinux Audit Log message always mean something was blocked? In my previous blog 10 things you probably did not know about SELinux.. #7 I stated that one of the times you can get a syscall to succeed even though AVC's were generated was: 3. An AVC was generated but the syscall still succeeded by going down a different code path within the kernel. This is not that common. Eric Paris pointed out to me in an email and example of this: (People have a) " fundemental misconception is the belief that there is a 1-1 mapping between a syscall and an selinux permissions check. SELinux is NOT a syscall filter. We check the security state between objects (aka between a task and a file, or a task and a socket, or a task and task) and the result of that check may or may not cause the intended purpose of the request syscall which triggered this check to fail. A great example of a syscall which is likely to generate AVCs but still give success=yes is execve(). On execve SELinux will check the permissions between the new task and any file descriptors passed from the parent to the child. Notice the check is not about the syscall, execve(), but between the new task and the file descriptors. If the new task is not allowed to access one of the passed file descriptors we will generate an AVC, and will close the fd and open /dev/null in it's place. This is an example of an alternate code path. The syscall is still going to succeed since we will have resolved the security violation that caused the AVC. It's not common, but other such places exist in the kernel, place where we are able to resolve the security issue by doing some other operation and thus the syscall does not need to fail." Log in

Take the 2-minute tour × As title, does it? All I found is a list of predefined DateFormat that I can choose from, like this As I remember in MySQL (and PostgeSQL too?) you can defines your Date Format: i.e DATE_FORMAT(now(),'&m_%Y') --for 02_2012 etc. Does SQL Server have the same thing? I see people have to write a function to do such thing, does it have a built-in one? I just found DatePart function, I can take Month as number, but always 1 digits even I use datePart(MM, getdate()) share|improve this question Possible duplicate of stackoverflow.com/questions/8202257/… –  GSerg Feb 2 '12 at 0:20 Typically, formatting should be handled by the client, not the database. That being said, if you must format the database output, Martin Smith has already provided options. –  JSR Feb 2 '12 at 20:25 2 Answers 2 up vote 12 down vote accepted Not yet. You need to use CONVERT with a style parameter or hack something together with DATEPART or DATENAME. SQL Server 2012 will have the FORMAT function though that accepts a .NET Framework format string FORMAT ( value, format [, culture ] ) Example Usage SELECT FORMAT(getdate(), 'dd/MM/yyyy', 'en-US' ) You could always use CLR integration and create your own UDF that does the same thing for 2005 or 2008. share|improve this answer Ahhh, 2012! Oh well, I guess I will write a UDF like you said. Thanks –  King Chan Feb 1 '12 at 21:14 That will be awesome. –  Gordon Bell Feb 10 '12 at 16:02 If your goal is simply formatted output and it doesn't need to remain in the datetime datatype, using CONVERT with a format code is an excellent tool. A list of formats and their respective codes can be found here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms187928.aspx share|improve this answer Your Answer

Ravens Rookie-Megatron Beef Is A Bit Of An Exaggeration It's on now. Matt Elam, a rookie safety for the Ravens, was asked about covering Lions receiver Calvin Johnson in Monday's game and ended up talking shit about Megatron. Did he really? Here's the quote that apparently started this bulletin-board, trash-talking subplot for the Ravens-Lions game, in an article by David Ginsburg of the Associated Press: Johnson is only 28, which doesn't normally qualify as "old." Elam's a 22-year-old rookie, though. Maybe we could let it slide; most people are old to him. His coach John Harbaugh used that defense when asked about it. It's too juicy of a quote, though! These guys will be playing directly against each other on some plays during the game. Stir that shit. When someone told Johnson about it, he gave sound bites about Elam that writers ran with: Old-man strength, Elam. Your shit's about to be ruined. Come Monday night, Megatron's dropping a 400-yard game specifically on you, calling your mom, and letting her know how disappointed she should be in her son. Damn. Was Elam really being as disrespectful as portrayed, though? Read the lede of that first article, before Elam called Megatron an old fart: That almost sounds like praise. Weird. It's not like Megatron needed motivation to school Baltimore's secondary, and we already had a rare compelling matchup with two teams striving to improve their playoff hopes, but of course the rookie-talks-shit angle gets pumped. Sure, Elam called Johnson "old," but that wasn't the only adjective he used. It was the only adjective that stuck, though. Photo: Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

The Bills Grabbed A Lot More Than A Victory Yesterday Against The Patriots Your morning roundup for Sept. 26, the day we heard Stephen King read a sequel to The Shining. H/T to Braden for the photo. Got any stories or photos for us? Tip your editors. What we watched: Not much. The Giants and Eagles knocked one another around. The Bills beat the Patriots for the first time in forever. The Vikings choked away a 20-point halftime lead and now the Lions are 3-0. The Saints and Texans kept scoring. The Jets fumbled away the second half against the Raiders. The Bucs beat the Falcons even though Josh Freeman was terrible. The Steelers nearly lost to Jeff Spicoli. And the Yankees and Rex Sox might still be playing. All in all, a pretty boring day, no? So, how how was the Battle for I-95? "The game pitted Team Philly against Team Melo in something billed as The Chosen League. Really it was a low-rent carnival disguised as basketball — loud music, loud fans, loud dunks, but not much in the way of actual competition. It was like an NBA All-Star game, only with fewer All-Stars and even less defense." [CSNPhilly] Clayton Kershaw, pitching's likely triple-crown winner: "Already the NL leader in ERA and strikeouts, Kershaw virtually clinched the pitching Triple Crown today. He ends the year with a 2.28 ERA and 248 strikeouts. Roy Halladay also started today and pitched six scoreless innings, lowering his ERA from 2.41 to 2.35. Cliff Lee, who has a 2.38 ERA going into his start against the Braves on Monday, would have to pitch at least 10 2/3 scoreless innings or strike out at least 17 batters to deny Kershaw titles in either category. While a 17-strikeout game for Lee wouldn't be an impossible under normal circumstances, there's no way he's getting there while on a pitch count in his final start before the NLDS." [Hardball Talk] Your Roller Skating Racing Interlude: Philly shows its appreciation for the Giants in the most Philly way possible: "Wow. We just had a 7 maybe 8 year old. Throw a beer at the bus. #greatparents. Not" [@JustinTuckNYG91] Emeritus agrees: "Message: We love you, No. 5. We appreciate everything you've done. Now please come back to us. Come back for more home games in 2011. It could be for a one-game playoff Thursday against the Braves, or, better yet, for an NLDS series against the Philadelphia Phillies. Come back and stay through 2012 and beyond." [St. Louis Post-Dispatch] There are still a few Mariners fans out there somewhere: "The percent declines in attendance are based on a comparison of 2001 numbers with 2010 numbers. In other words, the analysis compares attendance for the best team in Mariners history with attendance for the third-worst in team history in terms of losses. Attendance dropped 40.54 percent from 2001 to 2010. But is there any doubt why? The 2001 team won a major-league record 116 games in a still-new Safeco Field. In 2010, the Mariners lost 101 games for the second time in three seasons." [Seattle Post-Intelligencer] Send stories, photos, and anything else you might have to

Serious Bodily Injury Law & Legal Definition ''Serious bodily injury'' is something more serious than mere physical injury. Serious bodily injury refers to bodily injury which involves substantial risk of death, protracted and obvious disfigurement, or protracted loss or impairment of the function of a bodily member or organ or mental faculty. Serious bodily injury is more than a minor or superficial injury.

A (Modest) Swordfish Proposal Oftentimes, while watching, say, some playoff baseball broadcast featuring the sadly non-self-parody that is Tim McCarver, or listening to Troy Aikman's often insightful but linguistically nightmarish analysis of a football game, it occurs to me (incredulously) that: These people get paid to talk for a living. Figure 1: McCarver (R) with Broadcast Partner and Serial Enabler Joe Buck. "Pitching is such a vital part of the game, as far as winning is concerned." --Tim McCarver, 2006 Now, I'm a reasonable guy. I don't expect every ex-jock that goes into color commentary to have the rhetorical skills of Churchill, or even William F. Buckley, Jr. Figure 2: Not William F. Buckley, Jr. But is it too much to ask that people who (again) are paid to talk for a living have some modicum of facility stringing together words that form comprehensible sentences? On an unrelated note, I was reading a concert review the other day. Felix Mendelssohn didn't leave the world a lot to discover this 200th birthday year, at least in terms of hard notes. He what what what? I don't know what that sentence means. "...hard notes?" His music is...easy? Too easy? Man. "...a lot to discover..." He didn't write much music? Yeah, I guess. I mean, only about 300 works survive today. Fuck you, Webern! "...in terms of hard notes." I have no clue what's being suggested here. Fastidious in his composing habits, refined in the extreme, he created a series of masterworks or close to it whose single-dimension emotionalism assures that new meaning probably won't be uncovered - particularly when the music is confined to a concert's first half and not expected to leave audiences sated. What the hell? How many sentences died to make that "paragraph"? Fastidious in his composing habits, refined in the extreme, he.. Just a little background, I guess? Okay... ...he created a series of masterworks or close to it... I don't know what that means. I don't know if that means anything. For what is the pronoun "it" standing in? "Masterworks"? No, "it" would have to be plural. "A series of masterworks..."? I...I guess so? I mean, that doesn't really make much sense. I've been thinking. It seems like there should be a position filled by an ancillary person who oversees and re-reads articles for content. You know, it's easy to get too close to your prose to see what you wrote sometimes; perhaps a person whose job is to "edit" (if you will) your work so that it's clean and fit for publication. I'm going to name this imaginary person--the one who does the "editing" (to coin a word)--the "swordfish." ...he created a series of masterworks or close to it whose single-dimension emotionalism... Um. Aren't nouns usually modified by adjectives? Maybe we should ask a swordfish. Even if the implication is that Mendelssohn--even in his "close to it" masterworks [sic]--is emotionally flat, wouldn't it be better to use "single-dimensional"? Yes. Yes, it would. But hey: I'm not the swordfish, here. ...masterworks or close to it whose single-dimension emotionalism assures that new meaning probably won't be uncovered... The research of musicologists into the cultural context of music is stupid; once it's determined that music is "single-dimension emotional...", new meaning is assured to probably not be uncovered. It's wonderful, too, how the determinism of "assured" is totally hedged and qualified by "probably." This inconsistency both a) sets up the reader for the big payoff [sic] coming up, and b) should have probably been corrected by a swordfish. "...new meaning probably won't be uncovered - particularly when the music is confined to a concert's first half and not expected to leave audiences sated." Because nobody ever found anything new about a work programmed in the first half of a concert. I mean, how fucking gauche would that be? Figure 3: Le main gauche Yet in an unusual role reversal, the Emerson String Quartet ended its Kimmel Center concert Monday with Mendelssohn's String Quartet Op. 80, written when some scholars say the composer was in creative decline. How is that a "role reversal"? Is it statistically evident that Mendelssohn is so seldom programmed at the end of a concert that it constitutes an anomaly? In a performance that bested the Emerson's 2005 recording of the piece, such received wisdom was defied so handily as to leave a burning question about what was different. The performance was so good...that it might have some meaning?! Often, 21st century Americans seem cramped by Mendelssohn's tidy, Biedermeier world. Figure 4: A Tidy Biedermeier World (or: The Fictional, Nostalgic, Lost America That Never Existed but Is Somehow Being Thwarted by Barack Obama) Figure 5: The Cramps (somewhat circuitously Biedermeier-induced) This quartet, however, was written following the death of the composer's sister, Fanny. Thus, even the most typical Mendelssohnisms can be credibly charged with greater-than-usual meaning. Ah. I think I understand now. Mendelssohn's music, although "single-dimensional emotional" [sic] and despite being "masterworks or close to it" [wtf] actually can have some (heretofore undiscovered) meaning if we do the tiniest, most obvious bit of musicological research? Projecting that can often be a matter of surface inflection, though on Monday the Emersons created a sound better blended than usual - unusually warm under the surface but pulsating with something hotter underneath. Warm, hotter. Surface...surface. Ususal--unusually? Okay, I give up. Talk to the swordfish. Figure 6: Modern Copy Editor (presumed extinct) Generalizations are...Wait! Hey! Stop! Fine. Good. And all that. Ready? Here it is: One question, though. What happens when...? Figure 2. Obviously not colored by a cat Canonics are the Sudoku puzzles of performance I just love when critics are kind enough to explain the mechanics of how music is written. Just such an example can be found here, in an review by Harriet Howard Heithaus (love the alliterative quality of this name) of the Naples Daily News. The concert Sunday was to introduce the reconfigured and redesigned Daniels Pavilion at the Philharmonic Center for the Arts. But music and the musicians kept stealing the show. I hate when they do that. First it was Glenn Basham, Naples Philharmonic Orchestra concertmaster, and Eric Berg, its associate principal second violinist, playing a Telemann canonic sonata movement from each side of the hall’s midpoint. Good information. A canonic movement, with the musicians opportunely placed at opposite sides of the hall. Wait. Is that what you wrote? Playing a Telemann canonic sonata movement from each side of the hall's midpoint. Do midpoints have sides? figure escher: Which way again to the midpoint? Then Principal Flute Suzanne Kirton musically somersaulted in, answering Basham measure for measure in a second Telemann canonic sonata. Musical somersault? Also, what are these canonic sonatas? Canonics are the Sudoku puzzles of performance. Well, I'm pretty sure that totally clears things up.   But perhaps you should elaborate, you know, just for clarity's sake. These tightly assembled pieces require a second musician to start one to two measures after the first, but playing the exact same score. Each performer must be extremely confident in his or her music because the two never meet until the last notes. Their timing also has to be in perfect sync to keep that carefully constructed musical chase from turning discordant. Kirton, Basham and Berg were great ambassadors for the device, forging tight sequences without ever sacrificing the melodies they were playing. What piece of Baroque music doesn't need to "be in perfect sync to keep...from turning discordant"? And, "ambassadors for the device"? Are canonics suffering from bad press? figure bad decisions: Canonics should probably just lay off the sauce...at least until they score that next big symphony. She sure does make this sound like brain surgery. And my favorite part of this lengthy explanation is that at no point does Ms. Heithaus ever use the root form of the word -- you know, 'canon'. Seriously, Someone Got Paid for This We’ve seen some doozey lead-ins in our time, ranging from outlandish to outlandisher. In general, they’re uninformative, putrid, zing-slinging shit bombs, like, “Oh my gosh! This concert was the most bestest, transcendentest, awesomest musical ejaculation ever heard, ever! The audience almost died it was so much more gooder than the goodest performance in the history of the universe.” But this one is a little different. It’s a little more subtle. It was something of a family affair at Friday night’s concert by the Kansas City Symphony at the Lyric Theatre. Alright. A family affair. Seems reasonable, if a little lackluster. A family affair. That's the thread to be expounded upon. Great. There's one question left to ask, then: How will the opening line play out this time? Well, my friends, as the Chinese proverb says, the journey is the reward...er...or something. So, sit back and take it all in, in fill-in-the-blank form. Concertmistress _______ took center stage as soloist in an exciting performance of _______. _______ employed a sumptuous tone in the work’s famous opening theme. As the movement progressed, _______ also displayed impressive musicality and driving energy. Music Director _______ conducted a well balanced [sic] performance, keeping the orchestra’s dynamic levels soft enough to let the solo lines dominate. In addition, _______ stretched the phrases beautifully in the movement’s slower central section. In the second movement, _______ utilized a marvelous blend of lyrical line and rich tonal color. The exciting finale brought the audience to its feet. So far, this vapid assessment—which, by the way, is precisely for what the author received payment—makes one wonder whether or not he actually attended this performance. It has all the characteristics of a prefabricated review: 1. All the descriptors could equally apply to nearly any performer or performance (“exciting performance”, “sumptuous tone”, “impressive musicality”, “well-balanced performance”, etc., etc.). 2. All the music’s formal markers are generic (“soloist”, “famous opening theme”, “movement”, “phrases”, “finale”). Can you describe another piece using these terms? I can. 3. The lead-in thread is entirely absent, suggesting that it was added on later, as an afterthought. Of course, I’m not suggesting this indeed is what happened. But, for fuck’s sake, a quadriplegic monkey could pound out better assessments. The _______ Symphony Chorus, directed by _______, joined the orchestra and four vocal soloists for _______’s thrilling and dramatic ______. From the outset the chorus sounded strong and impressive, and balance with the orchestra was quite good, with the exception of the organ, which stuck out like a sore thumb. The vocal quartet was better on the inner parts, mezzo-soprano and tenor rather than soprano and baritone. From the opening _______, soprano _______ sounded harsh, especially at the top of her range. Baritone _______ sang with beauty and resonance in his upper and middle range, but didn’t have the chops for the ungodly lowest notes in the _______. Mezzo-soprano _______ was magnificent in the _______ and tenor _______ sang with lyrical beauty throughout the work. While the performance was quite good overall, the violins never seemed to be together on the ornamental phrases at the beginning of the _______. The chorus suffered a few cases of a single tenor entering early and a few fuzzy-toned soprano entrances. Slightly better, but still, the observations could’ve been made by a dead parrot or a shrubbery. But enough of that, let's return to the lead-in. Remember that the concert was “something of a family affair”? What could that have meant? How did it play out? Even the opening work, Bach’s “Brandenburg Concerto No. 3,”conveyed a familial air: Even? I didn’t smell a whiff of familial air in the above text. Did you? ...Bach’s “Brandenburg Concerto No. 3,”conveyed [sic] a familial air: [Michael] Stern conducted an intimate group of 10 strings and harpsichord. Small, intimate group = family lead-in Wow. That’s fucking weak. In fact, this whole review is fucking weak. First, we get a promising lead-in; second, we get nondescript, prefabricated statements about several pieces and performers (really, who cares what or who they were?); then, the lead-in returns to reveal a wafer-thin connection. In all, poor form, poor prose, poor critique, poor observations, poor everything. Calling this mediocre would be an overstatement. Instead, I’ll offer this: embarrassingly lazy. Figure 1. Sketch artist’s rendering of this review A final hackneyed description: Although the opening movement suffered from a handful of intonation slips in the violins, the performance was nicely shaped and musically satisfying. Now, I am as forgiving of typos as the next guy -- I guess it's just my liberal leanings. Plus, spelling words correctly (or even spelling them out at all) is apparently quite last century. With all the problems newspapers are currently facing, who has time to get bothered over a their/there incident. Fear No Music opens season provocatively Nancy Ives, great-granddaughter of a cousin of the composer,... ...also his father's brother's nephew's cousin's former roommate... ...then performed Elliot Carter's... Um, Mr. McQuillen -- I believe that Mr. Carter spells his first name with two "t"s. It's okay...a common mistake I'm sure. Really, that extra "t" is silent anyways. Let's not let that ruin a perfectly good review. Just don't let it happen again. Okay? ...short homage to Charles for solo cello, "Figment No. 2: Remembering Mr. Ives." The famously abstruse Carter generally makes Ives sound as experimental as Stephen Foster by comparison, and the "Figment" was no exception, with bits of "Hallowe'en" and Ives' "Concord Sonata" deconstructed, their fragments heading in uncertain directions. But as the title suggests, Carter's piece was imaginative, as sparkling in its cerebral way as the Ives. "The famously abstruse Carter generally makes Ives sound as experimental as Stephen Foster by comparison." Ugh. See, my problem is that the only thing this person judges as "experimental" is a piece's relative atonality, and that's just stupid. Carter does indeed write atonal, very complex music, BUT, that doesn't make his music experimental. And while Ives wrote plenty of music that was quite tonal, borrowing from popular music and commonplace classical forms of the 19th century, his music was rarely not experimental. It has everything to do with knowing what the words atonal, experimental and avant-garde actually mean with regards to the classical music tradition. Moving on... Things turned toward the wild side in the final works. Voglar and Griffin ripped through Stephen Hartke's "Oh Them Rats is Mean in My Kitchen,"... Now, time for Detrital editorial advocacy, because this is just an awesome piece. Absolutely kick-ass. You can listen to it here. I insist. ...a crackling, note-bending tribute to early blues inspired by Blind Lemon Jefferson's "Maltese Cat Blues," and the quartet closed with Michael Dougherty's "Paul Robeson Told Me," in which the quartet accompanies... Wait, a minute. Back that up for second. Michael Who-erty? Mr. McQuillen, I mean, come on. Misspelling two composer's names is really pretty unacceptable. Seriously. ...Because "Baroque" Sounds Like "Broke," Get It? GET IT? I swear to Cthulhu there must be a way to write catchy or clever titles for articles without using the stupidest, most obvious jokes possible. Somewhere there is a nascent academic field waiting to be born. You see, up in Battle Creek, Michigan, a local man (or, at least, grandson of a local woman) was on a space shuttle mission to help repair the Hubble Telescope. Great! I am in favor of such endeavors. I'm not even opposed to programming a symphony concert around [loosely!] space-themed music to celebrate the occasion--on the condition that it's not full of stupid. I am, however, opposed to tongue-scrapingly idiotic titles. For instance: Symphony season blasts off with cosmic concert [Lori Holcomb, Battle Creek Enquirer, October 22, 2009] (Hey, did you hear the one about why Bach didn't have any money?) Also, although clearly classical audiences are changing and need to get bigger, is "theme night at the symphony" really the cleverest idea available? That's like "casual Friday" or "dress-like-a-hobo day" in it's conceptual and innovative brilliance. Figure 1: Jeans...and buttons! At work!? Hilarious. Paradigms...breaking down... So often, oh, so often I've bemoaned that symphony concerts aren't frequently enough organized with as much conceptual aplomb as a frat party. In celebration of the space industry and the 40th anniversary of the moon landing, the Battle Creek Symphony Orchestra will feature photos taken by the Hubble Telescope and cosmos-inspired music at its season opener Saturday. See? That seems fair enough. Surely they're not going with Holst, though. That'd be way too obvious. I mean... Titled "Planet Thunder," the concert will feature popular works such as Holst's "The Planets," Well, I mean...I guess you kind of have to. Sigh, fair enough. What else? Strauss' theme from the movie "2001: A Space Odyssey"... What. There are so many things wrong with that. It's hard to know where to begin. Figure 2: Battle Creek Cultural Ambassador and Assistant Director for Clever Programming for the Battle Creek Symphony Orchestra Later in the article, previewing [portending?] things to come: For lovers of classical music, "Fallen Heroes" on March 27 will pay tribute to those who have died in battle. For everyone else, it'll just be a bunch of notes and shit. To wit: From extraterrestrial images to fiery Celtic concertos, [music director Anne] Harrigan said the 2009-2010 season is designed to attract new audience members while hopefully pleasing loyal attendees. Yeah. A careful reading of that sentence reveals that the goal is "to attract new audience members" while "hopefully" keeping the old ones, yes? Figure 3: Fail Salad Merdle and Haggard Do Science Merdle: Hey honey! I heard the Cleveland Orchestra won't be wearing tuxedos, but solid-colored shirts instead. No ties! Haggard: Ooh! That makes them more appealing. Maybe we should go. Then, there’s this: It’s hard to pinpoint what about the Cleveland Orchestra’s concert Friday caused it to sell out, given that almost everything about it was different. I suppose I should have italicized “almost everything,” but why italicize when you can give a picture in its place? Figure 1. Product placement (free of charge) For one experiment, there were a lot of variables. Which means: there was another experiment without any variables. In other words, there was a control, i.e., a solid base of knowledge with which to compare and contrast the effect of the variables. Though, you’d want to limit them to, oh I don’t know, one variable, in order to isolate the results. But, hey, that’s good science and we don’t want that in our music, do we? Anyway, let’s follow this hypothetical experiment. Variable 1: Was it the earlier start? Nope. You disproved that one, remember? Many [...] lingered, purchasing drinks and mingling at club-like tables and lounges around the dimly-lit foyer. Sounds like they had plenty of time on their hands. That couldn’t be it. Variable 2: The informal dress of the players? Hmmm. See above Merdle and Haggard sarcasm. Variable 3: [Was] it the prospect of a post-concert reception and appearance by world percussion ensemble Beat the Donkey? Figure 2. Hard to imagine a better reason to go to the symphony than Beat the Donkey But, as our author later showed, this was indeed a legitimate possibility. At first, the post-concert party looked ready to backfire. Most of Severance Hall came flooding into the Grand Foyer, forcing patrons to jockey for limited space. I’ll definitely keep that one in mind when trying to decipher our experimental data. I should have italicized “experimental.” Figure 3. Suggesting where this is all going Variable 4: The short [...] program? People clamoring for the donkey beaters, drinking themselves into stupors, uncomfortably standing in a dimly-lit foyer... Yeah. A short program could attract patrons. Though, their priorities don’t seem to be in line with the act of attending an orchestra concert—listening to music. How ‘bout that, then? What about the music? The control group: The [...] all-Beethoven program? So, to ask the question again: what packed the house that evening? Oh yeah, the one thing that symphonies resort to when they need to pack a house. Haggard: I also heard they were going to play nothing but Beethoven. Merdle: I heard that too. Last week, in fact. And the week before that. And the week before that. Haggard: These things sound like a broken Glass record. Where have all the editors gone? "That's like asking the square root of a million. No one will ever know."* But more to the point...Elaine Schmidt of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel needs a thesaurus. MSO plus Beethoven equals grandeur "How many pounds in a gallon?" Two of the three "Bs" of classical music, Beethoven and Brahms, dominated Friday evening's Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra program. Felix Blumenfeld being the third "B", of course. figure felix: Facial hair of the week? Music director Edo de Waart and the players of the MSO used Beethoven's Symphony No. 7 to fill the program's second half with grandeur and gravitas. ...and glory, grandiosity, gravity and greatness... First performed in 1813, the piece was hailed as "joyous" and "celebratory" by some writers of the day and said to depict a revolution or the plot of a Goethe novel. I would have said it was resplendent, or perhaps, effervescent. Maybe even a bit mirthful? Nearly two centuries later, the piece remains a pillar of the orchestral repertoire, deriving its compelling forward motion in great part from Beethoven's brilliant use of rhythm. It is nice, that forward motion stuff. De Waart and the MSO gave the piece a vivid reading that used the piece's insistent rhythms to long, gradual crescendos to musical heights and to give poignant depth to its solemn second movement. [italics mine] Vivid reading. Check. Sounds exciting. Preparing to fast forward... ...(and never mind the awful construction of the sentence above, which seems to read, "the vivid reading used the rhythm to long crescendos")...all the editors are dead and such... De Waart and the orchestra took their own turns in the spotlight during the Brahms. They gave a well-crafted reading of its lush orchestral writing, some of which was intended for the fifth symphony, which Brahms never completed. A well-crafted reading? O-kay. and...what else did the orchestra read...? The evening opened with a precise, colorful reading... ...of "Wu xing (The Five Elements)," a piece by Qigang Chen that is constructed of five brief movements: Shui (Water), Mu (Wood), Huo (Fire), Tu (Earth) and Jin (Metal). I shouldn't have to point this out, but orchestras don't just read music. They can also play, perform, and present music. They can display, exhibit, and produce...or put on, render, represent, or realize said musical composition. One might also say that the orchestra may offer a piece, or execute the musical score. They mount, engineer, and even direct the show. They emote the music, do justice to the score, or bring about, bring off or carry through a performance. They might stage an event, or pull off a production, or simply take care of business. And when one plays music, they also conceive, cultivate and propagate. And that performance may engender, effectuate, beget and blossom, not to mention beguile, regale and captivate the audience. And may I suggest that you continue to search for, hunt, scan, discover, track down, and seek out new words until your thesaurus is effete, barren, infertile and right out of synonyms. * For you aspiring mathemagicians out there, I'd like to point out that there are actually two answers to this question. Both 1000 and -1000 when squared will equal a million. A friday quickie -- cutting out of work early Part of the job of every music critic is advocate on behalf of his art. Some are more shameless than others, while some use their column to take swipes at the local music organizations. It's all good. But sometimes it can be difficult to distinguish the review from a press release. And then there are strange and overly enthusiastic reviews like this one, written by Richard Scheinin of the San Jose Mercury News. Virtuoso Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Flórez and German soprano Diana Damrau wowed audience at S.F. Opera I'm not sure that'd quite fit on the marquee. So many people think opera is, you know,... I know? ...ultra-challenging, elitist, weirdly out of the mainstream, anything but popular entertainment. Oh, I do know. This is the setup, that you can then knock down with your stellar pitch. So what opera being performed is not weirdly out of the mainstream and sure to strike a chord with the hip, popular types? A new opera by Philip Glass? Or some lamentable opera, rock crossover by the Moody Blues, or Roy Orbison? Is Transformers an opera yet? These people now have an assignment: March to War Memorial Opera House, where San Francisco Opera's "La Fille du Régiment" ("The Daughter of the Regiment") by Donizetti... Donizetti?!? Doni-fucking-zetti! Donizetti is to today's popular entertainment what the surrey is to modern transportation. ..."La Fille du Régiment" ("The Daughter of the Regiment") by Donizetti is unleashing a blast of smart farce that's flat-out fun and resplendent with singing guaranteed to leave folks scratching their heads in tingly amazement. figure shampoo: Guaranteed to not leave folks scratching their heads in tingly amazement. Among the thousands who attended Tuesday's opening were many who anticipated one event: What could it be? Axl Rose sings in the lead role, after bringing democracy to China? a feat of virtuoso derring-do by 36-year-old Peruvian tenor Juan Diego Flórez. "a feat of virtuoso derring-do"?! I'm very excited now. Don't keep me in suspense. Does he eat dynamite and drink nitroglycerin? figure daffy: Greatest showman ever. In the role of Tonio, the Tyrolean hayseed lover, he has wowed audiences around the world in "La Fille," even generating front-page headlines in the New York Times last year, by singing a famous aria titled "Ah, mes amis," in which he is required to pop nine high C's — something Pavarotti used to do and which most tenors simply can't pull off. Sing nine high C's? Well, that's cool too. I guess. But I'm still not convinced I want to march to this concert yet. I don't know much about opera and don't understand your "high C" reference. Can you give an analogy a hip, popular, non-elitist, simpleton like me could relate to? Flórez pulled it off, this act of macho virtuosity. He didn't do a solo encore, nailing all nine a second time, as he did in New York. Still, it was plenty good — like watching baseball's Prince Fielder, launching one blast after another in the home-run derby contest at the All-Star Game. Oh, come on. He can't really be doing that! Like hitting homeruns! Why, that's the best part of baseball! I can relate to that. Wow! Sounds exciting. Maybe I'll go see the Blue Angels afterward. figure planes: "Air show? Buzz-cut Alabamians spewing colored smoke from their whiz jets to the strains of "Rock You Like A Hurricane?" What kind of countrified rube is still impressed by that?" Count me in! Thanks, Richie. Actually it sounds like it was a great show...other than it's a Donizetti opera. But do read the rest of what is a pretty fun review. I kid Richard Scheinin. Scherzo...which means joke Mark Kanny, of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, offered up this short review of the Orion String Quartet. Orion quartet shines in chamber opener Vitality sang... Curious personification... Vitality sang with many accents... I'm not sure that's really a compliment, since we typically associate singing with lyricism and not so much with "many accents"...but, whatever... Vitality sang with many accents Monday night when the Orion String Quartet opened the season of the Pittsburgh Chamber Music Society at Carnegie Music Hall in Oakland. Puzzling personification aside, good opening sentence. There's a who, what, where, when, all packed into a short, concise sentence. I hope you'll expound on that vitality comment, though. In addition to classical and romantic repertoire, the program featured the world premiere of "A Tribute for Two" by Pittsburgh native Eugene Phillips, which proved to be a rewarding composition. Nice little aside -- because, at first, I was quite worried about being taxed when you first mentioned a world premiere. Graph 1: We just don't tax vices like we use to. The premiere had a sweet charm because the violinists of the quartet, Daniel and Todd Phillips, are the sons of the 90-year-old composer. That is sweet. I'm kind of surprised we didn't get some hackneyed "family affair" cliché crammed into the headline for this review. Oh well... An exquisite performance of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's String Quartet in G major, K. 387, opened the concert with great allure. Good thing the performance was alluring...I was just about to get up and leave, but I was allured--enticed even--to stay. Plus, isn't adding "great allure" a bit redundant? The exquisite performance was alluring? Seems rather obvious, no? Yes, exquisite and allure mean different things, but why compliment the performance twice...once at the start of the sentence and once again at the end. I just don't like that construction. Don't worry about it, though, I'm sure it's just me. But...we had started so well. Short and concise. Good information, and now this unfortunate wordiness... The quartet, led by Todd Phillips, gave a performance of Mozartean refinement and songfulness. Wait...the Mozart was Mozartean? figure insekt: The nightmarish narrative in the Metamorphosis sure is Kafkaesque. Also...songfulness? I know that dictionary.com says it's a word, but admit it...that sounds made up. Soft passages were genuinely soft, and while there was ample dynamic range, the music never shouted. Ah...there you go. Back to your concise, unadorned critique. Well said. Phillips' "A Tribute for Two," written eight decades after his first composition, was a three-movement response to the passing of two friends. The first movement was shrewdly drawn, full of muscularity in an uneasy context. Now, I haven't heard the piece, but what is "an uneasy context"? Did you have to listen to the piece while discussing the "birds and the bees" with a curious 6 year old, or did you perhaps accidentally run over the composer's cat? Or perhaps it was like eating at Taco Bell? The heart of the piece is the slow movement, which didn't dawdle at the "Andante con moto" tempo. "Didn't dawdle"? I actually think that's what the "con moto" means. Nor did it wallow in grief. Once again, I direct you to the meaning of "con moto"...and actually, I think you misunderstand "andante" as well. It was a beautiful evocation of two personalities, with inspired music for transitions. Whoa...I do love a good tempo analysis, but this seems like the meat and potatoes of the piece. What does it mean "two personalities"? How were they evoked? What were the emotions of each? Did they seem representative of the deceased? And "inspired music for transitions"? Transitions between the two personalities? ...such a short sentence and so many questions. The finale, called Scherzo, which means joke, was lively, witty and brief. Okay, it shouldn't bother me, but..."called Scherzo". It just seems so 5th grade book report. Might I suggest: entitled, or titled, named, designated...hell, even christened, dubbed, or consecrated would have been more interesting. Also, more to the point, while scherzo does originate from an Italian word meaning "joke", you should know that in this context the word scherzo has more connotations as a formal movement than as an evocative title. It's a lively movement (traditionally speaking) that was used to replace the obligatory, and often boring minuet movement. It's more of a perfunctory title....m'kay? Phillips' new piece was so interesting, I wished it were longer. Bassist Timothy Cobb, who was a fully integrated member of the ensemble in the Phillips,... And here I was, like an idiot, thinking the Phillips was a string quartet. Thanks for leaving me hanging, Mr. Kanny. ....[Cobb] also joined the quartet after intermission for Antonin Dvorak's String Quintet in G, Op. 77. It was performed in five movements, with the "Intermezzo: Notturno" that is often omitted and also is played separately sometimes. lol! (as the kiddies would say). Nice sentence construction. /sarcasm Daniel Phillips took the first chair for the Dvorak. He is a player of exceptional depth... I guess unlike his brother...? ...who led a performance fully in touch with Dvorak's emotional world. The "Notturno" was so beautiful, one wondered how it could ever be omitted, while the "Poco Andante" fourth movement was heavenly. hmmm...interesting idea juxtaposing the beauty of the omitted movement with one performed... Nor did the performance slight the physical exuberance of Dvorak's personality. The end. figure 3: Kind of short on examples today, but I found this photo while searching Kafka. It is very fun to look at. Randomly Placed Qualifiers (Monday Quickie) Hyperbole is, I guess, to be expected. After all, it is a classical rhetorical device, and pretty easy to pull off without fucking anything up. Qualifying hyperbole weakens the effect of exaggeration, which is pretty much all it has going for it anyway. Doing so at random is just confusing. (Susan Pena, Reading Eagle, Concert Review: Philip Glass &c) Philip Glass, the world's best known...living composer of classical music... Really? I mean: possibly, sure, I guess. Maybe. But, hey. Hyperbole, am I right, folks? Philip Glass, the world's best known and possibly most prolific living composer of classical music... "Possibly" the most prolific, but the unqualified best-known [sic, or anti-sic(?)] composer? Also, and not for nothing: it seems like "most prolific" is actually, you know, researchable and verifiable. Unlike "best known" [sic]. Doo dee doo dee do. Figure 1: Philip Glass Cutty Sark advertisment, Newsweek, 1982 Composer of the Day! Today's Composer of the Day! is the enigmatic Giacinto Scelsi! (1905-1988) Scelsi (pronounced SHELLsi) is a self-taught composer and significant figure in Italian music of the 20th century. His music is sadly almost never programmed in the United States, apart from Michael Tilson Thomas who has performed many of his orchestral works with San Francisco Symphony. Once a disciple of Schoenberg (being one of the first Italian dodecaphonists) he is probably most famous for his slow-moving soundscapes and music based around a single pitch, such as his work Quattro Pezzi su una nota sola (Four Pieces on a single note). [Listen to this work here.] The details of Scelsi's life are not fully known, although in recent years many of the gaps have begun to be filled in (see a photo of a young Scelsi here). He was forced out of Italy in the late 1930s by Mussolini for his performances of Jewish music, from which he would not be able to return until sometime after World War II. It is also around this time that it is thought that Scelsi suffered an extended nervous breakdown, of which he said, "I forgot everything I ever knew about music." Scelsi has always been a bit of a mystery because of the unique sound worlds his music evokes. I think one can hear the influence of the early orchestral pieces of Ligeti and the work of Parisian composers like Tristan Murail and Claude Vivier whose music seem to occupy similar spaces. However, Scelsi's music still sounds quite original, and he composed many wonderful and beautiful works which are more than worth your time. Read a few interesting anecdotes about Scelsi in an interview with Alvin Curran. Also read this thoughtful article by Alex Ross, originally printed in The New Yorker. Wednesday Wink-Winkery (read: another gushy post about how cool Kosman is) I’ll bet Joshua Kosman is just tickled by Michael Tilson Thomas’ deliciously alliterative name, because every time the opportunity arises his prose becomes chock full of wily word play. Leave it to Michael Tilson Thomas to inject a few welcome shadows into the bubbly breathlessness of the San Francisco Symphony's opening gala. ...subversive stealth... ...ribbons and bonbons... And, heck, why not pour it on, since Lang Lang is in the house? ...giddy triviality... And this one, which may or may not have been intentional... ... fondness for garish display largely under control, producing an athletic yet sensitive account of the concerto... Data Table 1. Well done, sir. Well done. Sheesh! Have we at the Detritus changed our tune of late? Of course not. But we like to give props, now and then. So don't worry, in short order we will be back to unapologetically subjecting you to the usual tripe of everyday music critiquery! Thank Aequitas for Joshua Kosman... S.F. Symphony's placid Mahler The arcane and alluring music of Giacinto Scelsi... I'm guessing the title isn't yours... I like your suggestion that he's probably a bit crazy. But wait, there's more! The result is a sort of caveman version... or you could call it a caveman... How topical. Just the analogy I was looking for. Densj, your opinion is stupid and wrong. Remember: Support Your Thesis with Evidence At least that’s what my sixth-grade English teacher told me. Piano music written by Frederick Chopin and Claude Debussy is more alike than some people may think, and Stephen Manes’ program Tuesday night did a lot to prove that. And since I am taking several minutes out of my busy, music-hating life to write about this, you already know—being smart Detritusites—that our author will merely prove that there was a concert and it featured Chopin and Debussy, and that, by the end, we will be miles from where we started. But it began so well. I had such high hopes. The works heard seemed tailor-made to highlight the similarities between the two composers. The obvious question (and logical continuation), then, is how? Manes constructed seamless little suites from the first four of Chopin’s opus 28 Preludes, two excerpts from Debussy’s First Book of Preludes (“La Cathedral engloutie” and “Ce qu’a vu le vent d’Ouest”) and, in the second half of the concert, Debussy’s three “Estampes.” Oh, right. The similarities highlighted the tailor-made suite-like constructions that the composers... Wait. What? The blending of both composers’ preludes was especially interesting in how they meshed together, perfectly logical in hindsight if not foresight. This is an example of what counterpoint students refer to as oblique motion. It would appear, however, that Manes has more of a kinship with the constantly shifting soundscape provided by Debussy. In other news: the lead in was merely an object to be inverted, played backwards, then fragmented, never to return in its original form. But still, it would be nice to have some specifics to back up what you say, even if it has nothing to do with the original thread. While his Chopin interpretations in the first half were more than acceptable, they seemed to be harder-edged, an approach that lessened the vulnerabilities of the Preludes although the playing in Chopin’s “Berceuse” and “Barcarolle” later in the set were fine enough. Well, folks, that explains it—a harder-edged approach proves that the pianist has more of a kinship with Debussy’s shifting soundscapes. And without any sarcasm, that’s as specific as it gets. It even degenerates to this: Manes’ take on “Clair de Lune” was magical [...] Any evidence to support your claim? Yeah. No. But then again, magic is magical. So... I'm lost. As the final notes of “L’isle joyeuse” rolled out into the hall, the audience erupted into a well deserved standing ovation. Oh no! Now a poor little hyphen seems to have been lost. Has anyone seen it? And finally, a joke: Manes then took two encores... I'll bite. Where did he take them? ...playing a pair of Chopin scores, an F minor mazurka and the “Revolutionary Etude” (op. 10, no. 12). That was a lousy punchline. But at least there was an opus number. Hooray! The author took a fact.

Increased CYP2J3 Expression Reduces Insulin Resistance in Fructose-Treated Rats and db/db Mice Click on image to view larger version. FIG. 6. FIG. 6. Effects of CYP2J3 gene delivery on urinary cAMP and cGMP levels. A: Levels of urinary cAMP were increased in rats 2 weeks after injection with CYP2J3+ compared with levels observed after injection with the empty pcDNA3.1 vector. B: Urinary cGMP levels were increased in rats injected with CYP2J3+ compared with those injected with the empty pcDNA vector. *P < 0.05 versus pcDNA-treated and normal water–treated rats; #P < 0.05 versus pcDNA-treated and fructose-treated rats; n = 8 per group. This Article 1. Diabetes vol. 59 no. 4 997-1005

| Share Pronunciation: (pil'ur), [key] 2. a natural formation resembling such a construction: a pillar of rock; a pillar of smoke. 3. any upright, supporting part; post: the pillar of a table. 4. a person who is a chief supporter of a society, state, institution, etc.: a pillar of the community. 7. Naut.mast1 (def. 2). 8. from pillar to post, a. aimlessly from place to place. b. uneasily from one bad situation or predicament to another. to provide or support with pillars. See also: Related Content

Injun Joe 1,498pages on this wiki Injun Joe is the main antagonist in the 1995 live-action film Tom and Huck, which is based on Mark Twain's "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer". He is a cold-hearted, remorseless half Native American, half white man who kills Dr. Robinson during a grave robbery in order to gain a treasure map to Murrell's treasure. The town of Hannibal considers him a hero after he blames the murder on Muff Potter. He threatens to kill Tom Sawyer if he reveals his guilt. But eventually, Tom reveals Injun Joe's murder on Muff's behalf, and he flees as the town citizens turn on him. In revenge, he tries to kill Tom, and chases him through a cave until Huck Finn arrives to save his friend, and faces Injun Joe in a duel, but he knocks Huck down. But he then falls to his death in a chasm of the cave. Injun Joe is portrayed by Native Canadian actor, Eric Schweig. Film RoleEdit Injun Joe first appears in the opening of the film as he makes his way across the town of Hannibal on the stereotypical dark and stormy night. He arrives at the town hospital, where he accepts a job from Doctor Robinson, who at first says it pays two dollars. However, he changes his mind when Injun Joe threateningly unsheathes his knife and puts it at his throat, asking for three dollars - unless the doctor thinks he deserves more (meaning a blade in his throat). After that, Injun Joe then turns and steps out into the night. Later on the next night, Injun Joe is with Doctor Robinson and the town drunk, Muff Potter, on a grave robbery. After they uncover the coffin and corpse of One-Eyed Murrell, a chest rolls out. Doctor Robinson grabs the small box, and orders Muff and Joe to put the coffin back and cover up the tracks as he walks off. Injun Joe, however, tries to pry the box away from Robinson, and punches him in the face, until he falls to the ground while Joe grabs the box. He opens it, and discovers the map to Murrell's lost treasure. After Muff helps Robinson up, he looks at the map, and shouts in amazement, "By glory, we're rich!" Just then, the greedy Robinson grabs a tombstone and tries to pummel it into Injun Joe as he screams in avarice, "It's mine!" But he misses, and hits Muff Potter instead, knocking him unconscious. Incensed by the assault, Injun Joe punches Robinson three times, until he falls back to the ground against the fence. Injun Joe unsheathes his knife, and threatens to stab the sniveling doctor. But he puts his knife away, turns to Muff, and takes his knife. There he returns to Doctor Robinson, and stabs him three times, until he is dead. Unbeknownst to the three men, Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn, who were trying to remove warts by taking a dead cat to the graveyard at night, saw everything. But as they leave, Injun Joe hears them, and pursues them, but they disappear into the mist. Joe then finds a green marble in the grass, and believes it belongs to the kids. Luckily for Tom and Huck, they were not seen entirely, keeping them safe... at least for now. As part of Joe's plan, Muff is framed for Robinson's murder. He tries to ask Injun Joe to vouch for him, only for Injun Joe to lie about what really happened, saying that while he was passing last night through the graveyard, he saw Muff and Robinson digging up Murrell's grave, and that he saw Muff stab the doctor. Muff, remembering last night's event, tries to tell the truth, but Joe dismisses it as "drunk-talk", and there is no Murrell's Lost Treasure or the map to it. Tom and Huck, despite an oath they signed to never tell what they witnessed the other night, go on a search for Injun Joe's map - the only evidence for Muff's innocence. The only problem in retrieving the map that it is in Joe's pocket. The duo find him at the tavern with his partner, Emmett, through a window. As the villains talk, Joe shows to Emmett Tom's marble, saying that a boy dropped it, and that he will kill him for witnessing the murder. At the same time, as Tom discovers Joe has taken his marble and might come after him, he and Huck accidentally cause the box they are standing on to topple. After they tumble, a plank of wood falls straight through the window, almost blowing the duo's cover. Injun Joe and Emmett, who were nearly hit by the board, quickly rush out to find the person they think did it. But there is no one. Emmett says that it was probably a drunk that smashed the window. Joe jokingly replies that it wasn't Muff Potter. Emmett laughs at the joke, and says that "the only stumbling he's gonna be doin' is at the end of a rope". Injun Joe walks off to the harbor, and takes a canoe to the other side of the river. Tom and Huck follow him in Muff's canoe. The next morning, Tom and Huck make another attempt to steal the map, by covering themselves in mud, so they will not be seen. They find Injun Joe drunk asleep, and this gives the boys their chance to steal the map without being noticed. But once again, Tom blows his cover by sneezing just as he is a few centimeters close to the map. Injun Joe wakes up, and looks around to find the person who woke him up, while Tom and Huck make themselves scarce. Joe unsheathes his knife, and searches around until he curses about wild boars waking him. As he walks away, he suddenly turns around and throws his knife at a tree in anger, then walks off into the forest. Tom and Huck go to an old house, and quickly hide in there when they hear Injun Joe and Emmett arrive, searching for the first of Murrell's treasure. Emmett at first thinks the house is haunted, but Joe doesn't believe in superstitions, saying, "Yeah, by rats, maybe". When he reads the map, it says that the treasure is next to the fireplace. The two crooks dig for the treasure, while Tom and Huck, who are in the house attic, use a fishing line to grab the map. But when Emmett asks if the fireplace is the spot where the treasure is buried, Injun Joe walks over to the map, and remind Emmett that they are in the right spot. In the process, as Tom and Huck try to reel up the fishing line, its hook catches his hat. Emmett hits something, and turns to Joe to tell him, but suddenly stares in fear when he sees Joe's hat floating above his hat. Thinking that the house is haunted, Emmett begins screaming. Joe looks up to see his hat floating, but Tom and Huck reel the hat back down, and unhook it. Joe looks up to see what's up in the second story, then looks back to the screaming Emmett, and slaps him back to senses, saying there were no ghosts, but cobwebs. The two villains pull up a treasure chest, and open it to see gold coins. Emmett is overly excited, but Injun Joe tells him to keep the treasure at Number Two under the cross at the McDougal's Cave, while Joe makes sure that Muff takes the blame for Robinson's murder at the trial. Acquiring all the treasure, Injun Joe burns the map, leaving no evidence to claim Muff innocent. Injun Joe goes on his mission to find the witness of the murder. He asks one of Tom's friends who owned the marble. The boy tries to remember the former owners of the marble, until Joe, who loses his patience, grabs him by the collar and demands him to tell him who had the marble last. The boy says Tom Sawyer had it last, but doesn't matter since he is dead - the town thinks Tom died in a storm. Injun Joe, in sadistic relief, says that he is sad to hear it, when he is just glad that his one threat is eradicated. But when Tom is revealed to be alive, Injun Joe decides to find him. Injun Joe runs into Tom Sawyer at Huck's home, picks him up and throws him into the ground. Then, as Tom backs away, Injun Joe corners him at the tree with a picture on it, and gives him back his marble. Tom, knowing of what he will do to him, tries to say that marble isn't his, but Injun Joe tells him not to lie. Then Tom says it is his, but he lost it three months ago. Injun Joe hurls a knife at Tom, but it only hits the tree next to him. Joe tells him to fetch him back the knife. After hesitating, Tom does, and gives it back to the villain. But Injun Joe then goads Tom into stabbing him, and opens his shirt so Tom might have his chance. Tom hesitates, but when he finally begins, Injun Joe moves out of the way, and grabs Tom, threatening him that if he tells anyone that it was Injun Joe who killed Dr. Robinson, he will kill him. He then vanishes. At the trial of Muff Potter, Injun Joe says in his testimony that he was at the cemetery, and that he liked to sit and look up at the stars. Then, he saw Muff, drunk in a rage, lifting his knife, and stabbed Dr. Robinson four times, until he was dead. All seem to agree on Joe's behalf. But then Tom is called to the stand for Muff's defense. Tom is asked who really killed Robinson, but he hesitates when Injun Joe contemptuously stares at him, reminding him that he will kill him if he reveals Muff's innocence while unsheathing his knife. It is only when Mr. Dobbins says that Tom Sawyer wouldn't know the truth if it kicked him in the teeth, and that he is an outright liar that Tom can't take it anymore. In anger, he reveals Joe's crime, deciding that his friendship with Muff is more important than his oath with Huck. With Muff found innocent of all charges and the town turning on Injun Joe, the villain hurls his knife at Tom, but the boy defends himself by using the Holy Bible as a shield. Injun Joe flees through the window, and returns to the tavern in anger, where he finds Emmett packing shovels and picks. He realizes Emmett is going to Number Two under the cross to get the treasure for himself. Emmett claims that he wouldn't cheat Joe, while trying to reach for a weapon. Injun Joe agrees and replies that the only reason is that Emmett's smart enough to know that if he ever did, Joe would kill him. And as Emmett reaches for his gun, Joe does so by tossing his knife into Emmett's back, killing him. During a festival the next day, a group of the children, including Tom and his love interest Becky Thatcher, enter McDougal's Cave. But the two become lost. They stumble upon Injun Joe, who decides to hold up his end of the promise by killing Tom, and who had been looking for Tom within the cave. He traps them, but Tom and Becky manage to escape. After he helps Becky escape, Tom finds the treasure at Number Two under the cross. Just then, a sand-faced Injun Joe finds Tom, and again tries to kill him. He says he has it all - the treasure and Tom. Before he attempts to kill the boy, Tom hits Injun Joe in the leg with a sword. But Joe, recovering from the slash, punches Tom off, sending his cutlass toppling into a deep chasm. Without a weapon or any defense, Tom is almost stabbed to death, but Huck returns to help save Tom. He kicks Injun Joe, and he nearly slides off into the chasm, with his hat descending down instead. Injun Joe looks at Huck carefully, and recognizes him as "Pap Finn's boy", saying he was the best knife fighter on the Mississippi, then asks if he taught him. Huck says that he did. Laughing sadistically, Joe challenges Huck to a duel, which Huck badly loses. Injun Joe prepares to kill Huck, when Tom threatens to toss the treasure chest into the chasm. Not wanting to lose his treasure, Joe tries to pry it out of Tom's hands. He suddenly leans backwards over the chasm, with the chest in his arm while grabbing on to Tom's left sleeve and Huck grabbing onto the other. Suddenly, the sleeve Injun Joe grabs onto rips, and the evil man, screaming, falls into the enormous chasm to his death. Injun Joe is cold-hearted, cruel, remorseless, ruthless, and very dangerous. Like the stereotypical Native American half-breeds, he is deeply antagonistic towards the town citizens. But he is also greedy, willing to kill people for money and/or treasure. He showed his greed in killing Doctor Robinson, who was trying to take the map to Murrell's Lost Treasure. But like all villains, this greed leads to his downfall. When he saw Tom threaten to toss the treasure chest into the cave's chasm, Injun Joe tried to get it back, only to fall to his doom in the end. Injun Joe is dressed in a ragged shirt with a soot dark blue jacket covering it. On his head is a wide-brimmed dark brown hat. Around Wikia's network Random Wiki

KEVIN TATE: Many states away, hunters still walk common ground We stepped out of the truck into an ocean of stars on a morning that promised a transition from hot to cold. The Milky Way painted a swath across the sky, enough light traveling across the void to distinguish rock from rut, grass from vine. Shooting light was nearly an hour away and we thought the elk would be working up the valley and across a high meadow headed for the trees where they’d spend most of their day. That’s where we intended to catch them. Our boots had barely hit the ground before we heard the first bugles. They were everywhere, close by, and we were in the middle. The group of us, three from Mississippi and three from Kentucky, stood frozen in our tracks. The closest bugle was less than a hundred yards away and getting closer. We were pinned down in the road, us and our truck hidden from view by a high dozer berm on our uphill side. We were in the middle of a reclaimed coal mine, miles from anything that looked like civilization, and there was nowhere any of us would have rather been. Whatever part of the country we call home, the excitement and traditions we share as hunters unite us in a common language in a way nothing else can. The frustrations and pitfalls of hunting often defy words to describe them, but we all know them. Likewise the greatest joys and excitements of hunting exceed anything most readers would believe, but we all love them. Standing on a Kentucky hillside trying not to breathe too loudly, checking the wind and urging the world to turn a little faster while thinking about how long forever might be, the special magic of the outdoors was the same for each of us, just as it is for all of us. The proximity to nature and time hunting creates is its own reward, although there is still such a thing as too close.

Sun Java System Calendar Server 6 2005Q4 Administration Guide GSE Queue Timeout Value The following ics.conf file parameter specifies the time in seconds to wait before Calendar Server scans the Group Scheduling Engine (GSE) queue for incoming jobs: If there are more jobs in the queue than the maximum threads allocated, the last thread always scans the queue again. Therefore, this setting only takes effect when the number of jobs is below the maximum threads allocated. The default is "3". Increasing this number reduces the frequency the server scans the queue and can improve overall performance. However, if the queue is getting too large because of an increased volume of events, the time can be decreased to allow the queue to be processed faster. This may serve to slow down overall performance, but events will be updated sooner.

Sun Java Communications Suite 2005Q4 Evaluation Guide ProcedureTo Manage Individual and Multiple Buddy Chat Sessions Use this procedure to end one chat session while keeping other chat sessions active. 1. In Duncan's chat window, click the tab for Robert. 2. Click the File link and select Leave. 3. Approve any verifications. This does not affect your chat session with Kathy. 4. Chat more with Kathy. 5. Continue with the next task.

This image is a screen capture that shows the Rule Parameters. There are two fields for Generate alert after. The first field has 2 and Minutes is selected in the second field. The Rule Parameters table has four columns: Severity, Monitored Attribute, Operator, and Value. Warning is in the Severity field and*.reachable is in the Monitored Attributes field. An Equals symbol (=) is in the Operator field and False is in the Value field.

web statistics Dual WAN Router It is important to understand what a WAN router is and what it can do for you, especially in these early days of wireless networks. Yes, we have to accept that wireless technology is still in its early days and there is still a long way to go. Just think about how often networks are down or slow and you will see my point. A dual WAN router helps in eliminating these problems. Simply speaking, a dual WAN router will connect a computer to two different networks and will, usually, work with the faster connection at any time. To understand that, consider that you have two different network connections for your laptop, say A and B. You cannot exclusively rely on either of them. So, you use a dual WAN router. The dual WAN router allows your computer to access the network through A as well as B. Now if A is down, the dual WAN router will route the network through B and the computer will still be connected. Similarly, if one of these connections is slower than the other, the router will try to connect to the other network which is faster at that time. So, not only does the computer always get connectivity, it also always gets good connectivity. In days before dual WAN routers were invented, people could still have two port connections. But, if one of the connections was down, they needed to manually switch the connections. Also, there was no way of determining which connection was faster at a particular time. From that point of view, the dual WAN router does an important service. It has made the switching-over process automatic so that the user does not even realize that one of the connections is down. Since the computer is always connected to the network, there is no connectivity problem for the user.  Some people think that a dual WAN router could be actually used to bundle up both the port connections so that an aggregate higher bandwidth can be obtained. However, this is an erroneous notion. The router does not add up the bandwidths available, because it is not an aggregator.  dual wan routers  dual wan router  dual wan firewall router  dual wan router  dual wan  dual wan routers It is a router and so it only routes the network to the best connection available. This can be seen with any downloading software when a download is in process. When running single TCP streams, it is clearly apparent that only one wireless area network is being used at a time, showing that the router does not add up bandwidths to give an increased speed.   Dual WAN routers are great additions to the family of devices that continues to make life much easier for us. With wireless networking still in its fledgling state, it is nice to have a device like the dual WAN router will can ensure that you will always stay connected, because it is very unlikely that the two networks you are using will be down at the same time.  dual wan port router  dual wan wireless router  wan router

Thursday, February 10, 2005 Cardiac arrest in a 14 year old after being Taser-ed AP reported (via Kansas City Star) yesterday that Little Rock, Arkansas police burst into a toddler's birthday just as the cake was about to be cut. The target of the raid was the two year old birthday girl's 21 year old aunt who was hosting the party and also dealing drugs over the phone. "The first thing I saw was the birthday table and cake, so I yelled for everyone to put away their guns," Shannon Hills Police Chief Richard Friend said. "You could see they had a nightmare-come-true. Everyone just froze and looked at me. The parents started crying and then the kids started crying." It's a good thing they had guns instead of tasers since there was probably little inclination to shoot toddlers (we hope). But a taser? Who knows. In Chicago a 14 year old got the 50,000 volt taser treatment and promptly went into cardiac arrest (AP via USA Today). The boy was reported regaining consciousness but not yet able to talk. Admittedly this was not a pint-sized 14 year old. He was reported to be 6' 2" and over 200 pounds. The taser was used when he allegedly attacked three employees of his group home. When he lunged at an officer, the device, which shoots a dart connected to a wire, discharged 50,000 volts into his body to disable him. Given the circumstances, the use of the taser was probably predictable. But the serious consequences, which Taser International steadfastly denies is related to their device, are now being reported with sufficient frequency that the status of tasers as an acceptable way to subdue subjects must now be questioned. Amnesty International, among others, is doing just that: (Washington, DC)—Amnesty International USA (AIUSA) is calling for US law enforcement to stop using TASERs on children, the elderly, and persons with disabilities unless those individuals pose an immediate threat to themselves, the life of an officer or a member of the public. AIUSA renews its call following the shooting on Monday of a 14-year-old Chicago boy, who was unconscious for two days after being shot with a TASER and then going into cardiac arrest. There have been other recent new reports regarding children, seniors, and person with disabilities being shot with TASER guns. "The gun's manufacturer tested TASERs on a few dogs and pigs and has extrapolated from that limited research that the product is safe to use on children, seniors, and people with disabilities," said Dr. William F. Schulz, Executive Director, AIUSA. "Before those claims can be taken seriously, parents should know the potential effects of being shot with a TASER – that it might affect their child's development. The families of people dealing with mental illness or neurological disorders have a right to know how a 50,000 volt shock will affect a loved one with Alzheimer's or Multiple Sclerosis." Dr. Schulz went on to say, "TASER abuse in the US has risen to a level that now demands the immediate attention of lawmakers. Instead of being an alternative to lethal force, police departments are clearly using TASERs in situations where they would have never used guns, batons, pepper spray, or any other type of force. These guns were not designed to be used cavalierly on nonviolent, vulnerable populations." In November 2004, Amnesty International released a report, Excessive and Lethal Force?: Deaths and Ill-treatment Involving Police Use of TASERs, that documents 74 TASER-related deaths in the US and Canada and finds that the widespread use of TASERs has dangerously expanded the boundaries of "acceptable" levels of force. For more information, please visit: A copy of Amnesty International's report on TASERs here.

Differential Equations and Computational Simulations III Electron. J. Diff. Eqns., Conf. 01, 1997, pp. 119, 127. A global solution curve for a class of semilinear equations Philip Korman We use bifurcation theory to give a simple proof of existence and uniqueness of a positive solution for the problem $$\Delta u - \lambda u+u^p = 0$$ for $|x|$ less than 1, u = 0 on |x| = 1, where $x \in {\Bbb R}^n$, for any positive integer n, and real 1 less than p less than (n+2)/(n-2), $\lambda \geq 0$. Moreover, we show that all solutions lie on a unique smooth curve of solutions, and all solutions are non-singular. In the process we prove the following assertion, which appears to be of independent interest: the Morse index of the positive solution of $$ \Delta u +u^p = 0$$ for $|x|$ less than 1, u = 0 on |x| = 1 is one, for any 1 less than p less than (n+2)/(n-2). Published November 12, 1998. Mathematics Subject Classifications: 35J60. Key words and phrases: Uniqueness of positive solution, Morse index. Philip Korman Institute for Dynamics and Department of Mathematical Sciences University of Cincinnati Cincinnati Ohio 45221-0025 USA E-mail address: kormanp@math.uc.edu

Wednesday, March 09, 2011 Urbanophile not feeling the love for Germantown In a February post generally high on Nashville, urban analyst Aaron M. Renn seemed less than impressed with Historic Germantown: I do not entirely disagree with Renn on the point that the Germantown area (including Salemtown) is becoming overbuilt with condos. Attached townhouses and family un-friendly "multi-family" homes seem to predominate with little continuity to the history of the place. It seems that the emphasis tends to be on short-term gain without reference to long-term well-being that comes with diversity. Growth here could be smarter, more sustainable and evenly balanced. Nevertheless, Urbanophile's ambivalence about Historic Germantown seems to contradict his explanations for why Nashville itself is so full of promise. On the one hand, he asserts that what sets Nashville's potential apart from the Midwest is that we are so pro-growth, that we lack the Midwest's NIMBY, and that any kind of development sails through the approval process in our city. On the other hand, he claims that we proudly embrace our heritage. I would suggest that being unabashedly pro-growth is what makes for the problems that Renn sees the history-erasing trends in the Germantown area in the first place. And if we really did embrace our heritage, wouldn't we be doing more to protect or enhance neighborhood character rather than being so tear-down-and-wipe-clean in order to make room for more growth? In the final analysis I am not sure it is fair for Renn to criticize Germantown for the very reasons he sees Nashville as more promising than places in the Midwest. 1. I agree with Renn on a certain and perhaps real level. To begin with, the name Germantown is a bit of a misnomer as far as I beleive. For one, I grew up in St. Louis (tho I've lived in Nashville since 1981. Also, my mother was born and raised in Keil, Germany and I have been to Germany and speak a bit of the language). St. Louis has some 'German' in it. Like the butcher shop my mom took me to as a kid. The owner spoke German. He was from Germany. Of course there is the beer. St. Louis has Italian neighborhoods too. They still stretch for blocks and have their own churches. Ever been to The Hill for Italian food? You still hear Italian being spoken Nuff said. Nashville's Germantown may have had some Germans at one point. The Werthan bag plant, was/is owned by a prominent Jewish family. Mr. Werthan started the company in the 1800s. Good chance he was from Germany. He started the company by recycling. I have met Werthan descendants and they are great folk. BTW, the movie Driving Ms. Daisy was written by a woman who went to college with a Nashville Werthan. She used their name because the flick was based in the South. And maybe because the story was somehow based on the Werthan family. That all said: Germantown is a geographic reference. I love that we celebrate whatever thread of ethnic history that is there. It's working. Mad Platter started it all. And the log dance by the bald headed guy from the Gerst Haus who danced there ten years ago during the Germantown Octoberfest. I like what is happening there. Yeah, condos and all. Cityhouse restaurant too. No mayor made it happen. It all happened organically. It may not be 'German,' but it's like 12 South or East Nashville. Trust the people who make it happen. 2. The guy who danced was named Mongo. At the original Gerst Haus, he would dress in lederhosen and entertain the diners with his 'log dance' before getting the entire room to join him in the chicken dance.

Durham e-Theses You are in: Dry degradation processes at solid surfaces Ohesiek, Susanne Maria (1998) Dry degradation processes at solid surfaces. Doctoral thesis, Durham University. Polymer surfaces were modified by exposure to a silent discharge plasma, by exposure to UV radiation and by chemical functionalisation. Additionally, the silent discharge treatment of alkali halide disks was investigated. Employing XPS and IR, the silent discharge treatment of poly (phenylmethylsilane) and poly (cyclohexylmethylsilane) thin films was found to result in the formation of a carbonaceous SiO(_x) layer. Oxidation occurred faster and to a larger degree in the case of the aromatic polysilane. A XPS study of the UV irradiation of poly (phenyhnethylsilane) thin films in the presence of CCI(_4) vapour revealed the formation of a chlorinated silicon species. The analysis of aged samples showed that this initially formed product was unstable in moist air. The silent discharge treatment of alkali halide disks (KCI, KBr, KI) was studied in ambient air, as well as in dried and humidified gases (artificial air. He, N(_2), O(_2)). IR and XPS were used as analytical methods, hi most cases nitrate and halogenate were formed upon treatment in air. Depending on the reaction conditions treated KI disks sometimes showed the presence of nitrite as an additional or as the main product. In oxygen atmospheres halogenate was formed as the exclusive product. Treatments in the remaining atmospheres did not lead to product formation. The presence of water vapour in the feed gas increased the amount of product. Changes in the IR spectra of the nitrate species upon storage in a desiccator and after exposure to heat were found and monitored. Pentafluoropropionic anhydride was tested for its suitability as a vapour phase labelling reagent for hydroxyl groups on polymer surfaces. Derivatised films were analysed by XPS and IR. Using Polyvinyl alcohol as a model polymer the reaction proceeded fast and quantitative. Moreover, the cross-reaction with a number of polymers containing functionalities other than hydroxyl was studied. The reaction with nylon 6,6 was investigated m detail. The vacuum photodegradation of polyethersulfone upon irradiation with the full and a selected part of a Hg (Xe) lamp spectrum was studied. The volatile products were identified with in-situ quadrupole mass spectrometry. Monitoring the intensities of some products in subsequent irradiation phases provided evidence for a crosslinking process. In samples irradiated with the complete lamp spectrum crosslinkmg occurred faster. Additionally, the XP spectra of the corresponding samples revealed a stronger modification which became most obvious in the presence of a reduced sulfur species. Item Type:Thesis (Doctoral) Award:Doctor of Philosophy Thesis Date:1998 Copyright:Copyright of this thesis is held by the author Deposited On:13 Sep 2012 15:55 Social bookmarking: del.icio.usConnoteaBibSonomyCiteULikeFacebookTwitter

Take the 2-minute tour × My gym has a safety squat bar, like this one: enter image description here So far, I've been sticking with the normal bar, but was wondering if there are reasons to should switch over. I'm not currently experiencing any pain (other than occasional soreness), but someone suggested it to me the other day. share|improve this question 2 Answers 2 In the squat, the position of the bar on your back dictates the angle of your back. If you squat high bar, the back is more vertical and if you squat low bar the back is more angled. The idea being that the weight of the bar should be over mid-sole of your foot for proper balance and to keep the bar moving in a vertical path. The "safety squat bar" lowers the center of gravity similar to what you get with a low bar squat; however, the bar is sitting on the traps (high bar) which keeps the load on the spinal column more vertical. A lower center of gravity will help you put more weight on the bar, and a more vertical spine is a happier spine. Having squatted both high bar and low bar, I can definitely attest to the fact that you can lift more low bar. You do have to be aware of your knee position and the bar position when you are in the hole, because it is easier to cause the bar to come forward which will force your body into a "good morning" exercise. That's a lot of stress on the back for a simple mistake. I recently switched to high bar (within the past couple weeks) primarily because it has more carryover to the Olympic lifts. It's harder to get back up, but my back remains in a more upright position and I can hit parallel a little easier. My personal recommendation is to stick with a proper bar. It's actually more comfortable than the "safety" bar, particularly with higher weights. Even with the padding, the way the safety bar cuts into your traps on either side of your neck makes them unhappy. Having the load go in the same direction as your traps allows you to handle more weight and is more comfortable. share|improve this answer Usually, the purpose of the safety squat bar is just to vary the position of the squat a little bit. Variety increases the speed of improvement. I certainly don't think the padding on the bar makes it more comfortable than a normal bar. The padding is just necessary because of the shape of the bar, and where it shifts the weight. In fact, I personally find the safety squat bar to be far more uncomfortable to use than a standard bar. share|improve this answer Your Answer

My Basket () All questions I have a question about step 2 on the recipe "Spiced Maple Pecan Pie with Star Anise" from merrill. It says: so do you bring the dough back to room temp or roll it out cold? asked by Amy Jaquez almost 4 years ago 3 answers 1641 views Natalie is a recipe tester for Food52. added almost 4 years ago You want the dough to stay cold while you're rolling it out so it doesn't get limp and tear in places. If it starts to come down to room temp to fast, but it back in the fridge or freezer for a few minutes. added almost 4 years ago This is a great set of clips on pie crust...I am ding Alton Brown's now. AntoniaJames is a trusted source on Bread/Baking. added almost 4 years ago Roll it cold, but smack it a few times with your rolling pin before you start rolling. Not exactly sure why that helps, but it does make the crust roll more easily. ;o)

Go Down Topic: Paranormal Activity w/ Resonant Circuitry and Electromagnetic Radiation (Read 4548 times) previous topic - next topic Hi, I'm not one to believe in paranormal activity but here's my story and I'm wondering if any of you can give me plausible scientific explainations for the things I've been observing. So, basically, I'm dealing with this circuit that's tuned to resonance w/ a Tesla coil running around 400v and doing NDT research/prototype building with Arduino (which is why I'm here - by the way, my goal is to sabotage the high-priced ultrasonic NDT community by releasing an open source software/open source 3D print device). Anyway, I'm generating a noticeable amount of electromagnetic radiation (granted, I'm noticing it on a 5GS/s oscilloscope). The radiation is appearing around 1Ghz (so it's on the lower end of the "microwave spectrum". Anyway, on to where it gets weird. I unplugged a computer/monitor for 3 hours and then plugged it in and when I turned it on, windows didn't have to load - everything was just there. Also, it seems like a lot of devices (like ethernet connections and even the Arduino) seem to change their behavior. For instance, my stepper motor's resonant frequency jumps around a lot when on the same ground as the circuit. Also, it may just be because I just was reading about paranormal electromagnetic activity but whenever I'm tired, the frequencies of these events seem to increase. And, it might be important to note that in this lab, there's definitely been a lot of experimentation in the past with x-rays, high voltage, and whatnot... maybe even gamma but I don't know that for sure. So, someone please talk some sense into me and give me some reasonable explanations. Karma for anyone who uses the word quantum chaos in their explanation. Go Up

iTunes and DNS-323 Setup Help Discussion in 'Apple TV and Home Theater' started by toro1966, Jan 23, 2011. 1. macrumors newbie Dec 12, 2010 Hey guys, just bought a DNS-323 NAS with 2/2TB drives. I will be setting it up today. The primary reason I bought it is because I have four computers in the house between the wife and kids and I want a centralized iTunes library so that everyone has access to the same library. Right now each iTunes library on each computer is different. I have about 3 TB worth of movies/tvshows/and music! So my question is - how do I do this? I have read the relevant threads, and a few do go over my head. It seems to me the easiest way to do this would be to point itunes in advanced preferences to the NAS. I DO want my files on the NAS. What is the best way to do this. Will itunes copy them automatically or do I have to move the existing iTunes folder with music to the NAS myself. Also - I believe I want the library database (.xml) on the NAS as well - correct? This will ensure that each of the other computers uses the same library and they are all current - correct? Thanks in advance for the help. Share This Page

Mountain Lion on Older Macbook Discussion in 'OS X Mountain Lion (10.8)' started by DockMac, Nov 30, 2012. 1. macrumors regular Dec 22, 2008 I am looking for anecdotal evidence (or even scientific) of the performance of older Macbooks under Mountain Lion. I am debating whether or not to install it on a late 2008 aluminum MacBook w/ 2GB RAM, which Apple suggests is the minimum system requirements. I currently have 10.7 installed on it, and it runs sluggish. If 10.8 performs better, albeit slightly, it might be worth the install. If it is worse, I will probably stick to 10.7. I thought about downgrading to 10.6, but there are some features only accessible in 10.7 that deem keeping it, although it's slow performance, necessary. 2. macrumors 65816 Feb 4, 2006 You need more ram - 2GB and Lion is painful..... Upgrade to 4GB preferably 8GB and see what happens - and then buy Mountain Lion !! 3. thread starter macrumors regular Dec 22, 2008 Share This Page

The Other Nuclear Survivors Bikini Atoll explosionThe 56th anniversary of the first U.S. hydrogen bomb test was on March 1. Code-named Bravo, the test took place at Bikini Atoll, a ring of tiny coral islands in the central Pacific. Commemorations in affected communities in Japan, Hawai’i, and Pacific Island nations featured testimonies from those living with the long-term effects of radiation sickness, many forms of cancer, and extreme social and cultural dislocation caused by nuclear experimentation. Alongside these testimonies on Nuclear Survivors Remembrance Day were continued calls for just compensation for loss of life, land, and livelihood, as well as for eradication of nuclear weapons worldwide. The experience of the Marshall Islanders serves as a chilling reminder of the deadly legacy of nuclear weapons that has already affected survivors for nearly 60 years. Recognizing the ongoing severe dangers of nuclear proliferation, in April 2009 President Obama announced that the administration will work for strategic nuclear arms reduction between the United States and Russia, to strengthen the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), and toward a comprehensive test ban treaty. But Obama should also help the Marshall Islanders more directly. A Thousand Hiroshimas The triumphantly named Bravo detonation was a thousand times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima at the end of World War II. According to the New Zealand-based Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, the explosion “gouged out a crater more than 200 feet deep and a mile across, melting huge quantities of coral, which were sucked up into the atmosphere together with vast volumes of seawater.” Particles of radioactive fallout landed on the downwind island of Rongelap (125 miles away) to a depth of one-and-a-half inches in some places, and radioactive mist appeared on Utirik (300 miles away). The U.S. navy did not send ships to evacuate the people of Rongelap and Utirik until three days after the explosion. The U.S. government chose Bikini because the location was far from major air or shipping lanes, In February 1946 Commodore Ben H. Wyatt, then the U.S. military governor of the Marshall Islands, traveled to Bikini to ask the people if they would leave their atoll temporarily so that the United States could test atomic bombs for “the good of mankind and to end all world wars.” The islanders agreed to this lofty-sounding goal. Fifty-six years later, they still cannot return to their island due to the continuing effects of radioactive contamination on the land, water, vegetation, fish, and shellfish. Bikini Atoll remains uninhabitable to this day. Indeed, the radioactive legacy of 67 nuclear tests conducted by the United States in the Marshall Islands between June 1946 and August 1958 continues to wreak havoc on the health of Marshallese people and others in Micronesia affected by the fallout. In the years following the explosions many women miscarried. Others gave birth to stillborn babies or to “jellyfish” babies without heads, limbs or skeletons. Since then, survivors and their descendants have developed many forms of cancer. They have been shuttled from one overcrowded, makeshift home to another, without adequate support or livelihood. Some 3,000 Marshallese live in Hawai’i, where they seek medical treatment for cancer and other health issues associated with nuclear testing and displacement from their homeland. Survivors are active in ERUB (the acronym for Enewetak, Rongelap, Utirik and Bikini Atolls, islands impacted by the U.S. nuclear testing program). In the Marshallese language, erub means broken or shattered. Organizers say that it “symbolizes the breaking up of our once close-knit communities which were displaced due to the nuclear testing program.” Obama’s Nuclear Policy In a recent speech at the National Defense University, Vice President Joe Biden renewed the Obama administration’s stated commitment to the reduction and eventual elimination of nuclear weapons, noting that, in the meantime, the administration has increased funding to maintain the U.S. nuclear stockpile and modernize its nuclear infrastructure. Biden acknowledged: “As both the only nation to have used nuclear weapons, and as a strong proponent of nonproliferation, the United States has long embodied a stark but inevitable contradiction.” He noted that the United States has “long relied on nuclear weapons to deter potential adversaries,” but argued that “as our technology improves, we are developing non-nuclear ways to accomplish that same objective” including an adaptive missile defense shield and conventional warheads with worldwide reach. The administration’s approach is to support a series of agreements for strategic nuclear arms reduction between the United States and Russia, a comprehensive test ban treaty, and a non-proliferation treaty. These are important developments, but Barry Blechman, co-editor of Elements of a Nuclear Disarmament Treaty, calls such stepspiecemeal agreements,” and urges a much more comprehensive approach. “Those possessing the largest arsenals — the United States and Russia — would make deep cuts first.” Nations with smaller arsenals “would join at specified dates and levels.” He claims that “international precedents already exist for virtually every procedure necessary to eliminate nuclear weapons safely, verifiably and without risk to any nation’s security.'” The NPT Review Conference in New York this May will be a crucial test of the international community’s will and ability to unite toward this goal. Obama will be there, together with government officials and members of nongovernmental organizations from many nations. Among the crowds, atomic-bomb survivors from Hiroshima and Nagasaki will attest to their own ghastly experience of nuclear weapons, together with people from the Marshall Islands, including former senator of the Marshall Islands Abacca Anjain-Maddison. She argues that the islanders’ experiences of the terrible long-term damage from Cold War nuclear experiments give them a unique and authoritative voice in this discussion. Obama should use all the power of his office to support Anjain-Maddison’s call for a world free of nuclear arms. He should rally nuclear and non-nuclear governments to strengthen the NPT, make major cuts in the U.S. nuclear arsenal, and pressure other nuclear powers to make cuts in their stockpiles. He should hold out the vision that a world free of nuclear weapons is possible and commit the United States to making this a reality. In addition, he should support the Republic of the Marshall Islands Changed Circumstances Petition submitted to Congress, seeking adequate compensation beyond what has already been paid, for personal injuries, property damages, medical care programs, and radiological monitoring related to the nuclear testing program conducted in the Marshall Islands. When it comes time to commemorate the next Nuclear Survivors Remembrance Day, let’s hope that the United States is much further down the road toward nuclear disarmament than it is today. Gwyn Kirk is a founder member of Women for Genuine Security and a contributor to Foreign Policy In Focus.

FBI: Border Patrol Agent Shooting Result Of Friendly Fire Last week two Border Patrol agents were shot. One of them resulted in a fatality. The FBI is now saying that the shooting, which took place, near the Arizona-Mexico border, was more than likely the result of friendly fire. However an investigation is still ongoing. In a statement on Friday by FBI Special Agent in Charge James L. Turgal Jr.: Though he did not elaborate on the conclusions being drawn he did state that the FBI is using "all necessary investigative, forensic and analytical resources" in its investigation. The Associated Press reports, The Arizona Republic reports, George McCubbin, president of the National Border Patrol Council, told The Republic that the three agents approached the sensor from two different directions. Ivie approached from the north, and the other two agents came in from the south, said McCubbin, citing information he received from the Border Patrol. "Coming in from different angles, that is more than likely how it ended up happening," McCubbin said. "The area was dark, it was thick brush, they may not have seen each other," he added later. McCubbin said he did not know which agent fired a weapon first, but he was told all three agents fired. He said it remains unclear whether the three agents actually encountered anyone at the scene. Some have questioned whether the agents were somehow set up. "I know that they had a couple of (suspects) in custody in Mexico, but other than being in the (border) area they have not proven or disproven that they had anything to do with this incident," McCubbin said. Lydia Antonio, a spokeswoman for the Mexican Embassy in Washington, D.C., said in a statement that "two persons presumably involved in cross-border trafficking could have triggered the shooting." Kent Lundgren, chairman of the National Association of Former Border Patrol Officers, said regarding the nature of the shooting, "I know of absolutely none in the past, and my past goes back to 1968. I'm not saying it never happened. I'm just saying I've never heard of it." McCubbin echos that in his own statment. "I have been in the Border Patrol since 1985 and I just don't recall ever any agent that was shot by another agent. I can't think of one," said McCubbin. Print pagePDF pageEmail page

Summing Up An Entire Day In One Photo Peter Langehahn is a photographer from Germany who approaches most of his images a bit differently than most of us. Instead of photographing a single moment, Peter captures the "collective scene" of an entire event. Standing at just one vanishing point, Peter takes panoramic images throughout each event and combines them in a unique composite image that features the best moments throughout the day. Sometimes these images total over 3000 captures and the edits can take up to 60 - 90 days. I must say I've never seen anything like this but it's definitely a way of branding your own photography into something no one will forget. I'm sure someone out there has done something like this before; what are your thoughts on this technique? Posted In:  Log in or register to post comments Joop van Roy's picture Simply awesome! Very well executed by the looks of it. a little over a thousand euros seems cheap for the amount of work put in though. Lee Morris's picture very cool concept about attention to detail Martin Beebee's picture Started out thinking "gimmick," but ended up thinking "pretty cool." I especially like the soccer/football foul image -- more of a theme than just a smorgasbord. If it takes him that long to edit he is either has a poor workflow or is taking his time.   Lee Morris's picture That's true, I agree this is hard but it seems like a few days in front of a computer should do it  Exactly, It isn't easy but it's not very difficult. The camera is in a fixed position so it's not really a composite simply some basic masks would do it in a day at most. Patrick Hall's picture in the video he is clearly panning, so I'm not sure it's as easy as just masking people in.  I'm sure he has to resize and layer exactly on some of the rotated images.   Photoshops inbuilt settings will merge them while you watch TV in another room quiet nicely. It shows him panning in the video, but i really don't think he pans for the final image. The reason I say this is because: 1.He really doesn't need to pan, just as long he could get the whole field(arena) in one shot. 2.He is using a fisheye, which would mean that if he panned and stitched together than there would be double arcs(line distortion would be doubled and would create a W effect on the bottom horizontal lines. 3.panning would make his post work flow alot harder, it would be much much easier to shoot from a fixed position and than layer and mask in photoshop. The only reason he would have to pan is to catch the important person in the middle of each frame(as to not distort the person because of the fisheye, the middle of a fisheye is not distorted very much but the top, bottom, right, and left sides of the frame are heavily distorted. But even if he was panning, it still wouldn't be too hard to put all the images together. All he would have to do is take an establishing shot(a shot showing the whole field and with the least people) and then take first frame with an important person in it, put it under the establishing layer, drop the opacity of the establishing layer to about 20%, so that you can see through the establishing layer onto the first important person layer and than mask the important person into the establishing layer. because the panning was done from the same fixed distance, the subject(players) really wont be to different in size. and even if they were different sizes you could just layer the wrong size image ontop of the right size image, drop the opacity of the wrong size layer(layer 2) so you can see through to the right size layer and than re-size the wrong size layer until the subject of the wrong layer matches the size of the right layer and then just mask. The whole idea is really just an elaborate multiplicity, really not very hard, and not nearly as time consuming as they say in the video. Not to discredit the photographer, these photos are awesome and are very well done. however I am only 17, photographing for just a couple of years and I could pull this off pretty easily. If he doesn't need to pan, and just uses a fisheye, he must have one hell of a camera!!!   The motocross one he states can be printed at up to 4 meters by 2 meters without loss of detail.   Now I'm going to assume 240dpi on this, but if he's still at 300 dpi then this will be higher...   That means the resolution of the shot is just over 737MP. Now, any modern version of photoshop will be able to align all the images for you, but with that many, it's going to take time.   depending on your computer speed it might take anywhere up to a few days of processing for the hundreds of shots included.   I'd guess the hardest, most time consuming thing will be choosing which shots to use.   You'll have bursts of so many different events, choosing which events to unclude in the final shot will be hard, then choosing the frame to use...   It will all take time. The actual "work" part of it is probably fairly easy, but I'd imagine that every single little tweak you make to the image would use so many computer resources than a simple levels adjustment could take a few hours for the computer to catch up. I love taking these types of photos with my friends on BMX photoshoots. I believe he makes a high-res base layer made via a matrix (maybe 10 high x 15 wide shots) of photos before the action starts, this layer is assembled in post in PS. When the activity starts he continually follows the action and shoots when needed, these shots are then masked removing their original backgrounds and layered above the matrix base layer.   Gregory's picture I already use this concept with motorcycle race, but only to show evolution of one bike accross a turn. Don't even think about applications like this. It's a titan work, I love it ! Thomas Hayden's picture Peter is a skilled gigapixel photographer who has broken out with a technique that a few of us are using.  He is shooting with a pano head, which precisely fixes the position of the camera where he needs it at regular intervals so he can create a stitch of the arena in terms of rows and columns.  This is the same technique being employed on U2's 360 Tour and at many sports and entertainment events across the world now with Facebook-integrated tagging. Once he knows he has the structure captured, he can go back through the settings through of the field of play and shoot the action shots.  I imagine he is just constantly shooting most of the event.  I've produced a few of these mashups of space and time, most noteably this one with The Old 97's and the Sarah Jaffe Band at the Doug Fir in Portland, OR - - Sarah Jaffe is watching her own sound check and most of the people in the image appear twice. Peter's work has definitely inspired me to do more. @GigaView on twitter

Polar explorers complete first unassisted traverse of Antarctica Late last week, American Ryan Waters and Norwegian Cecilie Skog became the first team to make an unsupported/unassisted traverse of the Antarctic continent, covering more than 840 miles beginning at Berkner Island and ending at the Ross Ice Shelf, with a stop at the South Pole along the way. The pair set off on their journey back on November 13 of last year and reached their final destination 70 days later on January 21. Over the course of those many days out on the ice, they frequently had to deal with high winds, whiteout conditions, and bitter cold, sometimes dropping as low as -40º F. As if dealing with the weather wasn’t challenging enough, they also had to endure the altitude (Antarctica is the highest continent on Earth) and massive sastrugi, hard waves of drifting snow that form on top of the ice. Ryan and Cecilie made the journey on skies, while dragging all of their supplies and gear behind them in specially designed sleds. In order for this expedition to be classified as “unsupported” they had to make the journey without ever receiving a supply drop along the way, and to earn the distinction as “unassisted”, they had to finish the trip completely under their own power. Previous traverses of Antarctic were done through the use of dog sled teams or by using massive kites to pull the explorers across the snow. The duo spent about a day and a half at their final destination along the Ross Ice Shelf before being picked up by a specially designed aircraft. They’ve now returned to Punta Arenas, Chile where they are enjoying fine food and warm beds for the first time in two months.%Gallery-79934%

Slashdot is powered by your submissions, so send in your scoop Forgot your password? Mechwarrior Online Developer Redefines Community Warfare 189 Mechwarrior Online Developer Redefines Community Warfare Comments Filter: • Re:Maybe (Score:3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 31, 2013 @04:54PM (#44726231) Why shouldn't they be whiny? The online gaming hivemind decreed a long time ago that anything "pay to win" was something that they generally don't want. This was and still is the line for many people where monetizing a product stops being about making a reasonable profit and starts being about wringing consumers for every last penny. There is no reason, in this day and age, that developers need to be making massive game destroying mistakes like this. There are many business models out there that skirt the "pay to win" boundary without crossing it that they could have copied (see LoL, Eve, PS2, etc). It's just incompetence on the part of the developers. • Re:Maybe (Score:5, Insightful) by fuzzyfuzzyfungus (1223518) on Saturday August 31, 2013 @05:11PM (#44726325) Journal The fan base shouldn't be so whiny and picky. That goes for any fan base or gaming community. If you want a less whiny and picky fanbase don't, Just Don't base your game's appeal on a continuously-developed-since-1984 tabletop-wargamer-nerd cult hit. Especially not one with several successful-but-now-dated PC game interpretations already built by other developers. If you have made that mistake, don't double down on the stupid by systematically alienating players and pushing the game toward the direction of being a generic action/arcade title (because that's not a crowded genre where better-funded franchises will crush you like a bug or anything...) If you want to play the "This is my goddam gameworld, you don't have to like it, the door is that way!" strategy it's idiotic to base the game on a well-established franchise universe: it severely limits your creative options and ensures that you'll have a pack of fanboys with reference materials rules-lawyering you on every point. It's not as though there isn't a market for 3rd-person robot-blaster games, it just isn't called Battletech. If you want a prefab fanatical player base, (which you can get by adopting an established franchise universe), be prepared to keep in mind that, so far as the gamers are concerned, it's your job to turn the universe they care about into a game that does it justice. You are just the means. If you can do that, you get the advantage of having the buzz done for you to some extent; but if you try to push against them, they'll quickly take the stance that you aren't doing your job. • by Anonymous Coward on Saturday August 31, 2013 @05:34PM (#44726471) You people really can't believe that people sometimes have different opinions can you? Maybe if the account was made yesterday you'd have a point. But maybe it's entirely possible some people just aren't as mad as you are about this. Related Links Top of the: day, week, month. Fear is the greatest salesman. -- Robert Klein

Take the 2-minute tour × For some reason I cannot take off my blessed +1 ring mail I started the game with. It just says "You can't take that off". I found a better piece of armor that provides a better AC and is much lighter and I would very much like to equip it. What's causing this? share|improve this question 1 Answer 1 up vote 11 down vote accepted You may be wearing something over top of that armor that would prevent it from being removed, such as a cloak. share|improve this answer Wearing any cloak, regardless of BUC status, prevents you from removing body armor. You must remove the cloak first. –  sjohnston Feb 7 '11 at 21:02 Using Shift-A, you can remove armor out from underneath cloaks without taking off the cloak first. I can't remember whether this is classified as a bug or not, though. –  MikeyB Feb 7 '11 at 21:06 @MikeyB: Oh wow. I never even thought of that. The dev team really does think of everything. Thanks! –  I take Drukqs Feb 7 '11 at 21:06 @MikeyB How does this factor in with cursed cloaks? –  user56 Feb 7 '11 at 21:31 If you have a cursed item over a non-cursed item I believe you have to deal with the curse before you can remove the items under it. (at least as I recall from playing Nethack over the years) –  Shannon John Clark Feb 7 '11 at 23:38 Your Answer

Take the 2-minute tour × I mean, I have destroyed 2 enemy towers on my lane. I'm playing Mid-Malzahar, and I get those objectives really fast (sometimes my team mates haven't destroyed any towers yet!). Yes, I know about the danger about pushing the lane and so, but the fact is that I'm very good in killing the towers. In the end, I don't know what I do to follow up. Its really dangerous trying beat the 3rd tower alone. I think about helping another lanes, but I'm worried that my lane will go unprotected. And an AP hero as Malzahar isn't sooo good as jungler. What the best can I do when I won my lane so early? share|improve this question 3 Answers 3 up vote 13 down vote accepted There are several problems with answering that: You say you don't like helping your teammates because your tower is unprotected. That means you don't think enough about lane dynamics yet. As AP mid, the way you play is basically you push the lane to the enemy tower and go do other stuff (gank other lanes, take a jungle camp, take blue, etc.). You can do that freely because the lane is pushed, the opponent can't destroy your tower since he has to push the lane back first which takes about 30 seconds to a minute until the minions are at your tower, depending on how strong you pushed the lane and how strong the opponents champion can push. That is enough time to go to another lane and help them. If you destroyed the first tower, you can push the lane even further back, giving you even more time to gank other lanes. Generally speaking, once you destroyed the tower or gained the ability to insta-clear a minion wave, you should spend as little time as possible in your lane and as much time as possible ganking other lanes and then be there just in time to catch the big counterwave coming in range of your tower. In the meantime take your and sometimes even his wraith camp for some bonus farm while you go to top or bottom lane. Another way to approach this situation with more defensive mids is to freeze the lane, that means let the lane come to you and tank it far enough away from your tower that it doesn't shoot but close enough that the enemy mid can't farm your minions. Then farm very, very slowly which denies the opponent his farm since he can't reach your minions safely and since he has no tower to back him up, it makes him extremely vulnerable to ganks which can snowball your advantage even further. However, defensive mids will rarely get into this situation in the first place. However, the situation most likely means that the opposing team is just bad, so you could do whatever and still win. It should never occur in a match of equally strong teams of decent skill. share|improve this answer Great answer, with the exception of "You say you don't like helping your teammates because your tower is unprotected" I don't say it. ;) –  Click Ok Oct 25 '12 at 21:15 Actually, you kinda did. "I think about helping another lanes, but I'm worried that my lane will go unprotected." –  Crowbeak Oct 26 '12 at 22:46 Your lane also has minions in it - you should clear the enemy wave before your side reaches it, then the minions will keep enemy champions/minions busy while you roam. You should be roaming after you kill the first tower itself, if not before that. When you push the lane and B for buying items, sometimes you can take a detour and head bot to help with a quick gank or forcing enemy ADC or support to recall, then head to mid from there. Also, when you have both towers down - that means you get easier access to enemy jungle, so it should be easier to coordinate with your jungler to steal red & blue buffs. If you can, give red buff to allies but if not - better that you grab it and deny the opponents. Keep an eye on the other lanes too; if fights break out - you may not be able to help them in time, but if an enemy is low hp and retreating back ... you having pushed ahead could try to intercept them thru jungle for a kill. share|improve this answer If you want to push past the first tower, buy wards to help make things safe. Defintely do not push the third tower without vision. You can also start roaming. Go help push another lane. It helps to push your own lane up before you do this, of course. Also, start trying to deny in the enemy jungle. Take creep camps, steal buffs, etc. If you take two towers, it's probably time for your team to group up and start really putting pressure on the enemy team. That's a big map control advantage. Ward their jungle and use it! share|improve this answer Your Answer

Hustler Letterpress Poster Your grind, designed Charlatan, Martyr, Hustler Letterpress Poster by Joey Roth James Brown accurately described hustle with his 1970s funk hit, “Get Up”. It was music, but it was also gospel for Brown, who holds the record for having the most charted Billboard Hot 100 singles, yet never reached number one. You’re probably wondering what that has to do with letterpress poster art. Well, we think...

Take the 2-minute tour × When I studied German in the early 90s, we were taught that an unmarried woman is a Fräulein, but I recently learned that Fräulein is offensive. We aren't all ugly Americans, and I don't want to fall in that category even accidentally! What are other words or phrases that seem to have straightforward, innocent meanings but that may be off-putting to native German speakers? share|improve this question How would you envision a situation where you mistakenly use "Fräulein"? If a young woman says to you "Ich heiße Anna Huber.", would you just guess that she is not married? –  Phira Jun 4 '11 at 14:44 @thei: Maybe a relevant question is, is there a German equivalent of "Ms?" Some Americans would be offended as being addressed as "Miss." –  Tom Au Jun 14 '11 at 19:35 @Tom In any situation where Ms. is applicable, you should use "Frau". –  Phira Jun 14 '11 at 19:38 1 Answer 1 Basically, if you are an obvious foreigner, most women will assume that you call them Fräulein because you are using the conventions of your own country and not take offense. This might change if you insist on it after correction. The same thing applies to many other faux-pas in social etiquette as long as they are honest mistakes. It is not the same thing as calling someone the German version of a**hole since I won't believe you that this is polite in the US. It is a bit hard to answer your question because it is actually an English question as well: What polite English phrases are impolite/unused/misunderstood in German? Something that you should look out for is that Americans can actually be "too friendly" for German speakers, as in superficially friendly and not meaning it. Your "polite" may be someone else's "hypocritical" and someone else's "honesty" can be "rudeness" for you. (But take this with a grain of salt because my knowledge of US norms is spotty.) E.g. I will certainly not tell you that you are welcome to visit me if you come to my city if I don't mean it. This is a great problem because people will perceive it as your character (and vice versa) and so they will not explain it to you. I remember that language schools like Berlitz actually have courses on cultural interaction (so that US people can negotiate with Chinese, say). share|improve this answer Differences in polite behaviour are nicely discussed here. –  Carsten S Aug 7 '13 at 14:46 Your Answer

Take the 2-minute tour × I would like to delete multiple polygons at once: How to delete multiple selected polygons at once? Why can't I right click -> toggle editing Quantum GIS [ it is grayed out] ? My layer is polygon shapefile. It is the only layer open in QGIS share|improve this question closed as too localized by underdark Jun 8 '12 at 20:19 Please add some more info, like what version of QGIS you are using, and on what platform. Usually, when you can't edit a shapefile, it is because the file itself is either locked or you do not have permission to write to the file. Can you share the shapefile, so others can test it? –  dakcarto May 5 '12 at 1:52 did your shapefile have a .dbf? If it hadn't QGIS (or better put OGR) considers it readonly and you can't edit it. –  jef Jun 8 '12 at 20:00 Pro tip: Save your layer as a shape file, Then reload it into a new project. Boom, editable. –  In code veritas Sep 23 '14 at 20:25 1 Answer 1 The answer is that it was in a project and not every shapefile in the project had the same projection. share|improve this answer This answer contradicts the question: "My layer is polygon shapefile. It is the only layer open in QGIS" –  underdark May 30 '12 at 19:18 @underdark If I remember correctly, I deleted one of the layers which was projected in a different coordinate system and then I only had one layer remaining. I think the project settings somehow conflicted with the shapefile projection. –  patrick May 30 '12 at 19:33 In my experience, layer CRS settings don't influence editing possibilities. If you cannot reproduce the problem anymore, it is probably better to close the question. –  underdark May 30 '12 at 20:29 @underdark I don't have admin permissions to close the question. feel free. –  patrick Jun 8 '12 at 20:09 This is really a comment, not an answer to the question. Please use "add comment" to leave feedback for the author. –  iant Aug 15 '12 at 10:45

Take the 2-minute tour × I've gotten some incredibly valuable help here on this already, much Thanks. Entering these lines of Python one at a time works like a charm.... Just need one more seemingly simply issue solved... How do we place multiple lines of Python code into ArcGIS's Field Calculator without producing Error 000539 or syntax error? I've tried several different syntaxes with colons and various spacings / returns .... screen shot: enter image description here multiple lines of Python code here: '1201-LT 210A' if !sc2! in (12013,11999,11998,12016,12015,12004,12012,12011,12001,12002,11997,12017,12009,12003) else !March_Proj! '1201-LT 210B' if !sc2! in (12074,12076,12078,12072) else !March_Proj! '1201-BO' if !sc2! in (20052,20053,20044,20045,20039,20050,20051,24157,24158,22927,24783,24785,24784,24782,24035,22924,23923,24154,22528,21912,23164) else !March_Proj! '1202-LT 21F' if !sc2! in (1067,1066,1078,1060,1052,1075,1068,1051,1079,1062,1070,,1071) else !March_Proj! share|improve this question 2 Answers 2 up vote 3 down vote accepted I don't have ArcGIS 10 (yet), but from I read, you need to define a function: def classify(value, default_value): if value in [14175,14161,14180,13459,13460,14652,14648,14647,14644]: return '1101A-BB 300B' elif value in [20077,20102,20106,20107,20165,20169,20170,20250,20263,20323,20327,20328,20462,20463,21871,24184,21167,21247,21248]: return '1101A-BO' elif value in [16708,16668,16669,16670,16698,16683,16700,16699,16709,16743,16742,16740,16739,16738,16706,16711,16701,16705,16713,16714,16693,16746]: return '1101A-LT_314' elif value in [21829]: return '1205-DFM DFDS362' # etc... return default_value Then at the bottom (the next box), you would call the function: classify(!sc2!, !March_Proj!) share|improve this answer Thanks Mike, i just tried (twice) entering that code and arcmap goes into a some sort of a loop and has to be killed in task manager.... i tested it by simply deleting the # etc... and the ensuing empty line. and leaving everything else alone... is !March_Proj! highlighted in blue for any particular reason? –  sirgeo Mar 13 '11 at 22:39 Ah, I had two syntax errors: I forgot the ":" at the end of two statements. They are fixed in the above, so you can test it out again. The # etc... is a harmless comment, and I'm not sure why gis.se's syntax highlighter is marking !March_Proj! with blue text, but it shouldn't make any difference in the end. –  Mike T Mar 13 '11 at 23:02 Mike, when i input the code you have listed above it works perfectly... somewhere when i populated the rest of it there's a glitch (beyond the 8 or so syntax errors i corrected from my imperfect copy / paste methods)... the error screen shot i keep getting here: link the entire code here: link i am putting it all in pre-logic minus the end piece classify(!sc2!, !March_Proj!) which goes in the bottom. –  sirgeo Mar 14 '11 at 0:02 You had a special case where you were comparing one item: value in (21829) is incorrect, but value in (21829,) is correct. The reason is that you are creating "tuples" on the right-hand side, and tuples can have a tricky syntax. A list could also work, which looks like [21829]. I've added this case example to the above code. You can debug the function directly in PythonWin to find what line-number the error happens on. –  Mike T Mar 14 '11 at 0:26 Actually, I changed the example to use lists (rather than tuples), since the tuple exception is a silly distraction. Python lists are normally a lot more useful anyways. –  Mike T Mar 14 '11 at 0:33 Can you post the whole code you are using since it seems to fail on the first field in your table that contains a null value and seems to partially calculate values for the destination field that have values in the first field. share|improve this answer Thanks for the response Dan. All of the code is here: link If i enter the lines one by one and hit ok in Field Calculator they work fine.... just would like to do them all at once since i will being hundreds more. –  sirgeo Mar 13 '11 at 21:59 Your Answer

Official Playboy iPhone App Doesn't Include Interesting Articles Would you pay $1.99 a month for an app that gets you party jokes "to make you the center of attention", excerpts from interviews, and no "fully nude content" whatsoever? That's what Playboy expects you to do. That's exactly what the official Playboy iPhone app does. It also includes "exclusive content", like a non-nude Playmate video and free wallpapers—not exactly free, since you are paying for the app—but that's about it. Still not interested? Maybe this bit from their iTunes description page will convince you: If you want to be dialed into what's new from the world's top entertainment and lifestyle magazine for men (and what man wouldn't?) Playboy is the app you need! I quoted that word by word. And as if that wasn't lame enough, here's another gem: This is a subscription app. Any assclown who actually gets this would have to pay $1.99 a month to get new content in. Is this how the publishing industry expects to save itself? Are there any idiots that would subscribe to this thing? [iTunes Store via Krapps]

Break This Lamp To Make It Glow Yellow, Just Like You Do With An Egg You have to break open an egg to get to the edible goodness—so it makes sense you'd have to take a hammer to an $800 lamp to make it work. Wait, what am I saying? It may look very cool in its "I'm making a statement" type of way, but to spend $800 on a lamp you need to break open in order to make it work is absurd. Only at the MoMA store, obviously. [MoMA via Technabob]

Win a MacBook Pro...Painted in Microsoft Office for Mac Colors How to get people using Office for Mac, after admitting only four people "love it"? I know! Paint a MacBook with Office for Mac colors, load it with a copy of Office 2008, and give it away on Twitter! You have to either be following @officeformac on Twitter, or retweet @officeformac, including the hashtag #officeformac. Only two MacBook Pros (2.53Ghz 15" models) will be given away, which considering it's Microsoft, isn't nearly as generous as some absurdly-named website no-one had ever heard of, giving away 10 of the laptops last year. It's only open to the US and Canada, and ends in two days time, at 11:59pm PST. Really, you'd be doing them a favor entering—perhaps they could claim to have six people who "love Office for Mac." [TUAW]

Wiki-Leaks and plausible lies - Where have all the critical thinkers gone? I am not saying that there is no value in certain aspects of the documents themselves to the extent that they provide a chance to disseminate government corruption and mendacity to a wide audience, but titillating details such as Gadaffi’s buxom ‘nurse’ is nothing new and, much more importantly, such details are by no means the main focus of the documents themselves. Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran… The Wiki-leaks documents need to be considered in a broader context. By all means, alternative news sites should continue to expose American, British and any another government inequity that the documents reveal. But where is the criticism of the rest of the documents that confirm the standard Israeli/American narrative – that Iran poses ‘an existentialist threat’ to Israel and to ‘moderate’ Arab states? The problem is that, when the dust has settled (as it soon will) over all-too-familiar US government attempts to spy on UN officials and the pusillanimity of the British government assuring the Americans that their Iraq invasion inquiry would have a pro-US bias, we will be left with some core details which, far from being refuted or covered up, are being accepted as fact. Details such as: Iran is the greatest threat to peace in the Middle East. This is a blatant lie as every alternative, anti-war analyst who has studied the facts has declared vociferously for years now. And suddenly, with a widely publicized leak, the mainstream media wants to try and shove it down our throats again? Because it is a “leak” and Assange is being “hunted down” like Osama bin Under-the-bed? What kind of truth has ever gotten this kind of press in all the years since the Fascist take-over by the unelected G.W. Bush? Iran received missile technology from North Korea that may enable it to attack Europe in a few years. That’s pure propaganda, and every one of you alt news analysts and commentators know that. Iran is making its own missiles and, in any case, Iran is entitled to defend itself. You’ve all been saying that for years, based on hard data and researched facts. All of a sudden, a leak appears and the mainstream media wants to convince us otherwise? And you compare it to Watergate? Did you read Fletcher Prouty’s expose on Watergate, how many of the documents were created and planted to be leaked because they served the agenda of the PTB? Middle Eastern leaders want the US and Israel to attack Iran. How can this not been seen as further US and Israeli propaganda? And what Middle Eastern country in its right mind would want that considering that the entire area will be unfit for human habitation for years afterward? Tehran used Red Cross ambulances to smuggle arms to Hizb’allah during its war against Israel in 2006 . Even if true, Iran is entitled to help the Lebanese defend themselves against Israeli aggression just like UK helped the U.S. attack Iraq and Afghanistan. Haven’t all of you people been saying this for years now? Iran harbors ‘al Qaeda’. Why would this be seen as anything other than more of the tired old US ‘al-qaeda’ imaginings designed to scare the masses, at home and abroad? Iran could produce an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the United States by 2015. And Saddam could ‘hit the UK in 45 minutes’, remember? Pakistan continues to support the ‘Mumbai terror attack group’. Why no details of David Headley, the CIA agent who planned the Mumbai attacks and who, according to the CIA, ‘went rogue’? Again, yeah, right! And let’s not forget previous Wiki-leaks ‘dumps’ of data, which included nuggets of US and Israeli government nonsense like Iraq really did have WMDs! And there you were thinking that the WMD business was a total lie! Well, guess again, thanks to some of the Wiki-leaks documents, we now know that the US was totally justified in invading Iraq and killing 1.5 million innocent civilians. And if that isn’t enough for ya, then just remember…9/11! Bin Laden (who is alive and well according to previous Wiki-leaks documents) killed about 3,000 Americans that day, which leaves the US and Iraq just about even (500 Iraqi lives being equal to one American life). And don’t go spouting any spurious conspiracy theories, because Mr Assange is annoyed that such ‘false conspiracies” [like 9/11] distract so many people (like you). As Phyillis Bennis wrote recently on the Huffington Post: “If you watched only Fox News or some of the outraged-but-gleeful mainstream pundits, you would believe that the documents prove the dangers of Iran’s nuclear program and world-wide support for a military attack on Iran. If you read only the Israeli press, you would think the documents provide irrefutable proof that “the entire world is panicked over the Iranian nuclear program.” Phyillis is correct, but here’s the problem: a vast number of people do watch only Fox News or one of its affiliates, and what gets said in the Israeli press is very often received with a sympathetic ear across the US media. Yes, the US government is full of two-faced creeps who spy on friend and foe alike, and if the Wiki-leaks documents help to imprint that on the global awareness, then so much the better. But what will it change in the long run? And more importantly, at what price will come the wholesale acceptance of these documents? If, by simply referring to the precise details and the dominant discourse of the documents, I conclude that some aspects serve the goals of peace and public truth but many others serve the goals of the war-mongers in Tel Aviv and Washington, does that mean I hate Whistle-blowers and want to protect the US government? This whole thing is like the well-known ploy of the psychopath to engage the sympathy of their victim by admitting to flaws and failings – even a few seemingly painful admissions – putting the target to sleep thinking they now have the whole confession, all the while they are being set up for a really big con. Our world is run by people who lie for a living, so let’s examine the situation microcosmically and then all you have to do is extract the principle and apply it on a larger scale. Anna Salter writes: As if reading my thoughts, he breaks off: “You don’t get this, Anna, do you?” he says. “You think that when I’m asked, “Did I do it? that’s when I lie. But I’ve been lying every day for the last twenty-five years.” It is ‘likeability’ and charm that he wields as weapons. The double life is a powerful tactic. There is the pattern of socially responsible behavior in public that causes people to drop their guard, and to turn a deaf ear to disclosures. The ability to charm, to be likable, to radiate sincerity and truthfulness, is crucial to the successful liar – and they practice assiduously. “Niceness is a decision,” writes Gavin De Becker in The Gift of Fear. It is a “strategy of social interaction; it is not a character trait.” Assange on Netanyahu In a recent Time Magazine interview, Julian Assange stated that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “is not a naive man” but rather a “sophisticated politician”. That’s Assange’s assessment of a man who is clearly a psychopath. In the same interview Assange said: Apart from the fact that he appears to be praising a pathological war criminal, Assange displays an amazing level of naivete. Netanyahu’s comment about Middle Eastern leaders making their private opinions public was in reference to the leaked allegation that the Saudi, Jordanian and Emirati governments were privately in favor of “cutting the head of the Iranian snake”, something that Netanyahu has been cheer-leading for several years. Despite this, Assange believes that this will lead to “some kind of increase in the peace process in relation to Iran”. Say what?! “One has to look at which countries are pleased with these,” Celik was quoted as saying. “Israel is very pleased. Israel has been making statements for days, even before the release of these documents.” “Documents were released and they immediately said, ‘Israel will not suffer from this.’ How did they know that?” Celik asked. He doesn’t even realize that probably many of these documents were created FOR leaking! Again, the reader is referred to Fletcher Prouty’s book The Secret Team. Critical Vs ‘Black and White’ Thinking The Wiki-leaks documents that provide evidence for what is already understood should be accepted, the documents that echo what we already know to be US and Israeli propaganda should be understood as just that – US and Israeli propaganda. Is that so hard? Why are many alternative news writers who railed against similar lies and disinformation when it came from US and Israeli ‘Intel reports’ now accepting, or ignoring, the same propaganda simply because it comes via Wiki-leaks? Do the Wiki-leaks documents have to be all good or are all bad? Is such black and white thinking ever a good way to discern truth from lies in a world where almost everything has some element of spin? Are we so desperate for a truth-telling hero – like the practiced liar described by Anna Salter above – that we have lost our ability to critically think? What happened to our ability to understand and identify the nuances and subtitles of big government propaganda? The solution to this problem would be the appearance on the scene of an organization that goes one better than the anti-war, alternative media and produces ‘smoking gun’, officially documented evidence of government lies and deception. Such evidence would, after all, come from the horse’s mouth, a veritable admission of guilt from the wrong-doers themselves rather than accusations from third-party alternative news web sites. Re-read Anna Salter’s description of the pedophile she was interviewing above to get a real picture of the pathology at work here. The deception, of course, lies not in the release of official documents, but in the use of those documents, which in themselves do not constitute high crimes, as a cover to promote the same big government lies. I submit that, based on the clear evidence, Wiki-leaks is just such an organization and is designed to fulfill just such a role: the dissemination of Plausible Lies. Articles by: Joe Quinn For media inquiries: [email protected]

Thursday, October 8, 2009 Hotess Heroes Presents: The Flash versus Old Dudes The Flash in "Marathon Madman" The Flash is the Fastest Man Alive, according to the teensy little words which appear underneath his name, and yet his Hostess Snack Pockets ads keep putting him up against old dudes. Very old dudes. Oh, and also that hot bitch Stony-Eyed Medusa, who admittedly had white streaks in her hair but so do the Bride of Frankenstein and Stacey London, so it doesn't necessarily mean that she's incredibly old or anything, even if Stacey London in particular totally is. But anyway, mostly old dudes, such as in this adventure where Barry Allen evidently allows himself to be bullied into partaking in a Central City marathon which - I'm sure he must suspect, as do we all - that it's just another machination on behalf of his police captain to subject Barry Allen to relentless but undue humiliation. Some reward for the hero, huh folks? Really makes you think... Anyway, The Flash ends up encountering Dr.Sorcery, which is admittedly not a discipline in which I thought someone could earn their doctorate. I half-suspect that the fellow's real power is the awesome might of the non-sequitor; he could as easily be "Captain Grocery" or "The Living (sound of a car horn, a man shows you a picture of a basket)". Naturally, as is always the way, the Flash up-ends Doctor Sorcery's evil plan (he was turning a bridge to butter using his reality-altering magic stone) by way of a mountain of Hostess Cup Cakes. The weird thing about it, though, is that the Flash seems to contrive a ploy to convince Dr.Sorcery to repair the bridge by promising the villainous old fart that there were a ton of Hostess Cup Cakes awaiting the runners on the other side of the bridge, and the Doctor could have some. And that sounds like a really bald-faced lie, but no there totally were a bunch of Hostess Cup Cakes waiting for the runners at the finish line. This is how the marathon was run, with cup cakes as an incentive for the participants. Central City's a weird place. The Flash Meets The Bureauc-Rat I'm not a hundred percent sure, but I think this comic is actually a transcription of a teabaggers' nightly dream (Except it leaves out the part where the Bureac-Rat is part of a Nazi Socialist agenda on behalf of the Zionist Bilderberg Group and the Flash's lightning bolt insignia is replaced with a bumper sticker that reads "I Am John Galt" on an American flag and he's got an open-carry license and a half-naked Sarah Palin feeds the Hostess Fruit Pies to the dreamer after the fight is won). You have to admire the Bureauc-Rat, he seems pretty aware of the level of his evil; he's not the scion of darkness, he's just a fuckin' rat. "Oh, I've stymied traffic on the crosstown overpass, teehee, I'm such a rat ... a BUREAUC-rat, that is!" I'm sort of fascinated by the red tape gun, because it basically looks like one of those old-school hand-operated labellers you used to see in the Walgreens stationery supply section, you know? The one with the dial on the top to spell out the content, and you had to roll the damn thing around for each letter and pull the trigger until you lost sensation in your hand and then do it again for all the remaining letters just so you could end up with a little plastic adhesive strip that you could stick on a classmate's backpack when he wasn't looking, thereby informing everyone that "KIETH IS A HOMO". Remember those? Yeah. Anyway, they only had about thirty-six inches of tape in each loop, so I'm totally baffled as to how this guy is getting the entire city bogged down. You think he has to stop between each hydrant or umbrella stand, refill, and then cover a quarter of a percent of a bank building's front facade before running out again? I bet he does. The Flash "A Flash In The Dam" You know how in comics whenever someone makes a really bad joke or pun, everyone else rolls their eyes and goes "*groan*"? Like, a little word balloon which actually reads "grown" with some little squiggly symbols on either side? I basically kind of did that after reading the title to this one. The Flash faces off against The Destroyer, who looks like a really old Gallagher and dresses like either a hippie Darth Vader or an Obi-Wan Kenobi who's into casual BDSM. Out of all of his elderly antagonists, The Destroyer is the Flash's most elderliest; his motivation is pretty much that he';s cranky and miserable and envious of the youth, joy and enthusiasm of others, and thus he wants to hurt and destroy everyone in order to make them feel as bad about themselves as he feels about himself. In a way, isn't the Destroyer a little like all of us? Isn't he more than just a little ... a little like me? *sobs* Honestly though, this villain's motivation is almost literally "YOU KIDS GET OFF MY LAWN!" Flash wisely defuses the situation by taking him to a buffet restaurant, because that calms the fuck out of old people. After that it's game shows until 4:30 and then a nap. Nighty-night! Naked Bunny with a Whip said... "Sorcery" is his name. Chaz Sorcery, Ph.D. in Western Literature. They Call Me Calamity said... I think you're thinking of Colonel Comparative Literature. BillyWitchDoctor said... Dunno why they didn't go with the actual character, Dr. Alchemy. He had a kickass costume; he just put on a green hood over whatever he was wearing. GenghisSpam said... Hostess should totally sue JK Rowlings for some of her billions by ripping-off this ad to title her first Harry Potter book. Maybe that's why they had to retitle to 'Sorcerer's Stone' for the US release. Popular Posts

HP OpenVMS Systems C Programming Language Content starts here HP C User's Guide for OpenVMS Systems Previous Contents Index 5.4.1 #pragma assert Directive The #pragma assert directive lets you specify assertions that the compiler can make about a program to generate more efficient code. The pragma can also be used to verify that certain compile-time conditions are met; this is useful in detecting conditions that could cause run-time faults. The #pragma assert directive is never needed to make a program execute correctly, however if a #pragma assert is specified, the assertions must be valid or the program might behave incorrectly. The #pragma assert directive has the following formats: #pragma assert func_attrs(identifier-list)function-assertions #pragma assert global_status_variable(variable-list) #pragma assert non_zero(constant-expression) string-literal #pragma assert func_attrs Use this form of the pragma to make assertions about a function's attributes. The identifier-list is a list of function identifiers about which the compiler can make assumptions. If more than one identifier is specified, separate them by commas. The function-assertions specify the assertions to the compiler about the functions. Specify one or more of the following, separating multiple assertions with white space: format (style, format-index, first-to-check-index) noreturn asserts to the compiler that any call to the routine will never return. nocalls_back asserts to the compiler that no routine in the source module will be called before control is returned from this function. nostate asserts to the compiler that the value returned by the function and any side-effects the function might have are determined only by the function's arguments. If a function is marked as having both noeffects and nostate, the compiler can eliminate redundant calls to the function. noeffects asserts to the compiler that any call to this function will have no effect except to set the return value of the function. If the compiler determines that the return value from a function call is never used, it can remove the call. file_scope_vars (option) asserts to the compiler how a function will access variables declared at file scope (with either internal or external linkage). The option is one of the following: none - The function will not read nor write to any file-scope variables except those whose type is volatile or those listed in a #pragma assert global_status_variable . noreads - The function will not read any file-scope variables except those whose type is volatile or those listed in a #pragma assert global_status_variable . nowrites - The function will not write to any file-scope variables except those whose type is volatile or those listed in a #pragma assert global_status_variable . format (style, format-index, first-to-check-index) asserts to the compiler that this function takes printf - or scanf -style arguments to be type-checked against a format string. Specify the parameters as follows: style - printf or scanf . This determines how the format string is interpreted. format-index - {1|2|3|...} This specifies which argument is the format-string argument (starting from 1). first-to-check-index - {0|1|2|...} This is the number of the first argument to check against the format string. For functions where the arguments are not available to be checked (such as vprintf ), specify the third parameter as 0. In this case, the compiler only checks the format string for consistency. The following declaration causes the compiler to check the arguments in calls to your_printf for consistency with the printf -style format-string argument your_format : extern int your_printf (void *your_object, const char *your_format, ...); #pragma assert func_attrs(your_printf) format (printf, 2, 3) The format string ( your_format ) is the second argument of the function your_printf , and the arguments to check start with the third argument, so the correct parameter values for format-index and first-to-check-index are 2 and 3, respectively. The format attribute of #pragma assert func_attrs allows you to identify your own functions that take format strings as arguments, so that the compiler can check the calls to these functions for errors. The compiler checks formats for the library functions printf , fprintf , sprintf , snprintf , scanf , fscanf , and sscanf whenever these functions are enabled as intrinsics (the default). You can use the format attribute to assert that the compiler should check the formats of these functions when they are not enabled as intrinsics. #pragma assert global_status_variable Use this form of the pragma to specify variables that are to be considered global status variables, which are exempt from any assertions given to functions by #pragma assert func_attrs file_scope_vars directives. The variable-list is a list of variables. Usage Notes The following notes apply to the #pragma assert func_attrs and #pragma assert global_status_variable forms of the #pragma assert directive: • The #pragma assert directive is not subject to macro replacement. • The variables in the variable-list and the identifiers in the identifier-list must have declarations that are visible at the point of the #pragma assert directive. • The #pragma assert directive must appear at file scope. • A function can appear on more than one #pragma assert func_attrs directive as long as each directive specifies a different assertion about the function. For example, the following is valid: #pragma assert func_attrs(a) nocalls_back #pragma assert func_attrs(a) file_scope_vars(noreads) But the following is not valid: #pragma assert func_attrs(a) file_scope_vars(noreads) #pragma assert func_attrs(a) file_scope_vars(nowrites) #pragma assert non_zero This form of the #pragma assert directive is supported on both VAX and Alpha platforms. When the compiler encounters this directive, it evaluates the constant-expression. If the expression is zero, the compiler generates a message that contains both the specified string-literal and the compile-time constant-expression. For example: #pragma assert non_zero(sizeof(a) == 12) "a is the wrong size" In this example, if the compiler determines that sizeof a is not 12, the following diagnostic message is output: CC-W-ASSERTFAIL, The assertion "(sizeof(a) == 12)" was not true. a is the wrong size. Unlike the #pragma assert options func_attrs and global_status_variable , #pragma assert non_zero can appear either inside or outside a function body. When used inside a function body, the pragma can appear wherever a statement can appear, but the pragma is not treated as a statement. When used outside a function body, the pragma can appear anywhere a declaration can appear, but the pragma is not treated as a declaration. Because macro replacement is not performed on #pragma assert , you might need to use the #pragma assert_m directive to obtain the results you want. Consider the following program that verifies both the size of a struct and the offset of one of its elements: #include <stddef.h> typedef struct { int a; int b; } s; #pragma assert non_zero(sizeof(s) == 8) "sizeof assert failed" #pragma assert_m non_zero(offsetof(s,b) == 4) "offsetof assert failed" Because offsetof is a macro, the second pragma must be #pragma assert_m so that offsetof will expand correctly. 5.4.2 #pragma builtins Directive The #pragma builtins directive enables the HP C built-in functions that directly access processor instructions. This directive is provided for VAX C compatibility. The #pragma builtins directive has the following format: #pragma builtins HP C implements #pragma builtins by including the <builtins.h> header file, and is equivalent to #include <builtins.h> on OpenVMS systems. This header file contains prototype declarations for the built-in functions that allow them to be used properly. By contrast, VAX C implemented this pragma with special-case code within the compiler, which also supported a #pragma nobuiltins preprocessor directive to turn off the special processing. Because declarations cannot be "undeclared", HP C does not support #pragma nobuiltins . Furthermore, the names of all the built-in functions use a naming convention defined by the C standard to be in a namespace reserved to the C language implementation. (For more details, see the following Note.) VAX C implemented both #pragma builtins and #pragma nobuiltins . Under #pragma builtins , the names of the built-in functions were given special treatment. Under #pragma nobuiltins , the names of the built-in functions were given no special treatment; as such, a user program was free to declare its own functions or variables with the same names as the builtins and have them behave as if they had ordinary names. The HP C implementation relies on the standard C reserved namespace, which states that any name matching the pattern described above is reserved for the exclusive use of the C implementation (that is, the compiler and RTL), and if a user program tries to declare or define such a name for its own purposes, the behavior is undefined. So in HP C, the #pragma builtins directive includes a set of declarations that makes the built-in functions operate as documented. But in the absence of the #pragma builtins directive, you cannot declare your own functions with these names. Code that tries to do anything with these names other than use them as documented, and in the presence of #pragma builtins , will likely encounter unexpected problems. 5.4.3 #pragma dictionary Directive The #pragma dictionary directive allows you to extract CDD/Repository data definitions and include these definitions in your program. The standard-conforming #pragma dictionary directive is equivalent to the VAX C compatible #dictionary directive ( Section 5.1), but is supported in all compiler modes. (The #dictionary directive is retained for compatibility and is supported only when compiling with the /STANDARD=VAXC qualifier.) The #pragma dictionary directive has the following format: #pragma dictionary CDD_path [null_terminate] [name (structure_name)] [text1_to_array | text1_to_char] The CDD_path is a character string that gives the path name of a CDD/Repository record, or a macro that expands to the path name of the record. The optional null_terminate keyword can be used to specify that all string data types should be null-terminated. The optional name() can be used to supply an alternate tag name or declarator(struct_name) for the outer level of a CDD/Repository structure. The optional text1_to_char keyword forces the CDD/Repository type "text" to be translated to char , rather than "array of char " if the size is 1. This is the default when null_terminate is not specified. The optional text1_to_array keyword forces the CDD/Repository type "text" to be translated to type "array of char " even when the size is 1. This is the default when null_terminate is specified. Here's a sample #pragma dictionary directive: #pragma dictionary "CDD$TOP.personnel.service.salary_record" This path name describes all subdirectories, beginning with the root directory (CDD$TOP), that lead to the salary_record data definition. You can use the logical name CDD$DEFAULT to define a default path name for a dictionary directory. This logical name can specify part of the path name for the dictionary object. For example, you can define CDD$DEFAULT as follows: When this definition is in effect, the #pragma dictionary directive can contain the following: #pragma dictionary "service.salary_record" Descriptions of data definitions are entered into the dictionary in a special-purpose language called CDO (Common Dictionary Operator), which replaces the older interface called CDDL (Common Data Dictionary Language). CDD definitions written in CDDL are included in a dictionary with the CDDL command. For example, you can write the following definition for a structure containing someone's first and last name: define record cdd$top.doc.cname_record. cname structure. first datatype is text size is 20 characters. last datatype is text size is 20 characters. end cname structure. end cname_record record. If a source file named CNAME.DDL needs to use this definition, you can include the definition in the CDD subdirectory named doc by entering the following command: $ CDDL cname After executing this command, a HP C program can reference this definition with the #pragma dictionary directive. If the #pragma dictionary directive is not embedded in a HP C structure declaration, then the resulting structure is declared with a tag name corresponding to the name of the CDD/Repository record. Consider the following example: #pragma dictionary "cdd$top.doc.cname_record" This HP C preprocessor statement results in the following declarations: struct cname char first [20]; char last [20]; You can also embed the #pragma dictionary directive in another HP C structure declaration as follows: int id; #pragma dictionary "cname_record" } customer; These lines of code result in the following declaration, which uses cname as an identifier for the embedded structure: int id; char first [20]; char last [20]; } cname; } customer; If you specify /LIST and either /SHOW=DICTIONARY or /SHOW=ALL in the compilation command line, then the translation of the CDD/Repository record description into HP C is included in the listing file and marked with the letter D in the margin. For information on HP C support for CDD/Repository data types. see Section C.4.3. 5.4.4 #pragma environment Directive The #pragma environment directive offers a global way to set, save, or restore the states of context pragmas. This directive protects include files from contexts set by encompassing programs, and protects encompassing programs from contexts that could be set in header files that they include. The #pragma environment directive affects the following context pragmas: #pragma extern_model #pragma extern_prefix #pragma member_alignment #pragma message #pragma names #pragma pointer_size #pragma required_pointer_size This pragma has the following syntax: #pragma environment command_line #pragma environment header_defaults #pragma environment restore #pragma environment save The command_line keyword sets the states of all the context pragmas as specified on the command line (by default or by explicit use of the /[NO]MEMBER_ALIGNMENT, /[NO]WARNINGS, /EXTERN_MODEL, and /POINTER_SIZE qualifiers). You can use #pragma environment command_line within header files to protect them from any context pragmas that take effect before the header file is included. The header_defaults keyword sets the states of all the context pragmas to their default values. This is almost equivalent to the situation in which a program with no command-line options and no pragmas is compiled, except that this pragma sets the pragma message state to #pragma nostandard , as is appropriate for header files. The save keyword saves the current state of every pragma that has an associated context. The restore keyword restores the current state of every pragma that has an associated context. Without requiring further changes to the source code, you can use #pragma environment to protect header files from things like language extensions and enhancements that might introduce additional contexts. A header file can selectively inherit the state of a pragma from the including file and then use additional pragmas as needed to set the compilation to non-default states. For example: #ifdef __pragma_environment #pragma __environment save (1) #pragma __environment header_defaults (2) #pragma member_alignment restore (3) #pragma member_alignment save (4) . /* contents of header file */ #ifdef __pragma_environment #pragma __environment restore In this example: 1. Saves the state of all context pragmas 2. Sets the default compilation environment 3. Pops the member alignment context from the #pragma member_alignment stack that was pushed by #pragma __environment save [restoring the member alignment context to its pre-existing state] 4. Pushes the member alignment context back onto the stack so that the #pragma __environment restore can pop the entry off. Thus, the header file is protected from all pragmas, except for the member alignment context that the header file was meant to inherit. 5.4.5 #pragma extern_model Directive The #pragma extern_model directive controls how the compiler interprets objects that have external linkage. With this pragma, you can choose one of the following global symbol models to be used for external objects: • Common block model All declarations are definitions, and the linker combines all definitions with the same name into one definition. This is the model traditionally used for extern data by VAX C on OpenVMS VAX systems. • Relaxed ref/def model Some declarations are references and some are definitions. Multiple uninitialized definitions for the same object are allowed and resolved into one by the linker. However, a reference requires that at least one definition exists. This model is used by C compilers on UNIX systems. • Strict ref/def model Some declarations are references and some are definitions. There must be exactly one definition in the program for any symbol referenced. This model is the only one guaranteed to be acceptable to all standard C implementations. It is also the one used by VAX C for globaldef and globalref data. The relaxed ref/def model is the default model on HP C. • Globalvalue model This is like the strict ref/def model, except that these global objects have no storage; they are, instead, link-time constant values. This model is used by VAX C globalvalue symbols. After a global symbol model is selected with the extern_model pragma, all subsequent declarations of objects having external storage class are treated according to the specified model until another extern_model pragma is specified. For example, consider the following pragma: #pragma extern_model strict_refdef After this pragma is specified, the following file-level declarations are treated as declaring global symbols according to the strict ref/def model: int x = 0; extern int y; Regardless of the external model, the compiler uses standard C rules to determine if a declaration is a definition or a reference, although that distinction is not used in the common block model. An external definition is a file-level declaration that has no storage-class keyword, or that contains the extern storage-class keyword, and is also initialized. A reference is a declaration that uses the extern storage-class keyword and is not initialized. In the previous example, the declaration of x is a global definition and the declaration of y is a global reference. The extern_model pragma does not affect the processing of declarations that contain the VAX C keywords globaldef , globalref , or globalvalue . HP C also supports the command-line qualifiers /EXTERN_MODEL and /SHARE_GLOBALS to set the external model when the program starts to compile. Pragmas in the program being compiled supersede the command-line qualifier. A stack of the compiler's external model state is kept so that #pragma extern_model can be used transparently in header files and in small regions of program text. See Sections and for more information. The compiler issues an error message if the same object has two different external models specified in the same compilation unit, as in the following example: #pragma extern_model common_block int i = 0; #pragma extern_model strict_refdef extern int i; • The global symbols and psect names generated under the control of this pragma obey the case-folding rules of the /NAME qualifier. This behavior is consistent with VAX C. • While #pragma extern_model can be used to allocate several variables in the same psect, the placement of variables relative to each other within that psect cannot be controlled: the compiler does not necessarily allocate distinct variables to memory locations according to the order of appearance in the source code. Furthermore, the order of allocation can change as a result of seemingly unrelated changes to the source code, command-line options, or from one version of the compiler to the next; it is essentially unpredictable. The only way to control the placement of variables relative to each other is to make them members of the same struct type or, on OpenVMS Alpha systems, by using the noreorder attribute on a named #pragma extern_model strict_refdef . Previous Next Contents Index

19 October 2008 Do NOT test the Lord 29th Sunday OT: Isa 45.1-4-6; 1 Thes 1.1-5; Matt 22.15-21 Fr. Philip Neri Powell, OP Convento SS. Domenico e Sisto, Roma The Pharisees show Jesus a Roman coin and ask whether or not they should pay Caesar’s taxes. Matthew tells us that “knowing their malice, Jesus said, ‘Why are you testing me, you hypocrites?... ‘Whose image is this and whose inscription?’ They replied, ‘Caesar's.’ At that he said to them, ‘Then repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.’" Much has been made of this infamous distinction between what is God’s and what is Caesar’s. And even more could be made of it during this tense political season. I have preached before that ultimately the distinction is meaningless because everything belongs to God, including Caesar himself. I will not belabor the point. Rather, this morning the more interesting moment in this story is the moment Jesus calls the Pharisees out for questioning him, or more precisely, for “testing” him. According to Jesus, the Pharisees test him out of a malicious hypocrisy; that is, a hateful insincerity, a spiteful duplicity. Their apparently sincere question about paying taxes is really a contrived event to catch him up, a staged incident, choreographed and scripted to force Jesus into either treason against Rome or blasphemy against God. Jesus skillfully dodges the trap with an ultimately meaningless answer, but Jesus teaches his lesson nonetheless: “I am not who you want me to be, Pharisees.” Obviously, like most politicians probing an opponents weaknesses, the Pharisees are trying to trip Jesus up by asking him the “are you still beating your wife?” sort of question. No answer is good, any answer will be vacuous in the end. The point of the exchange is not to find the truth but to expose a hated enemy as worthy of one’s hate. Jesus calls this attempt malicious and hypocritical. Malicious because their intent is evil and hypocritical because they know that they are not asking a real question but setting a trap. Their insincerity is poisonous. But only to themselves. Who do they need him to be? Or perhaps the best question: who do they hope he turns out to be? Given their institutional investments and political commitments, no doubt the Pharisees hope he turns out to be little more than a madman from Nazareth. And no other is the LORD! Not the state, not a political party, not an institution, not a person or an idea or a theory. Nothing made can save us. Nothing passing can give us eternal life. If it can die, it cannot give Life. If it can change, it cannot impart perfection. If it can fail, it cannot gift us with goodness. That we want a man, a party, a system, or an idea to save us, to give us life, to grant us goodness is a sin as old as Eve’s yes to the serpent’s gift. Like the maliciously hypocritical Pharisees, don’t we often find ourselves testing Jesus to see who he will be for us today? Just poking him a bit to see if he will budge on a favorite issue or yield a bit on a favorite sin? Recently, I watched a youtube video of a Catholic rally for Prop 8 in CA. A woman approached the young men and screamed at them: “Jesus preached tolerance!” Since Prop 8 is designed to define marriage as a union between one man and one woman, we can assume that the woman—shown in the video harassing the men—believes that the first-century Jewish rabbi, Jesus, would “tolerate” a marriage among a man, another man, and the first man’s sister. You are either tolerant or you’re not. Tolerance tolerates no intolerance. Let’s conclude here with this: Jesus fails the Pharisee’s test. Turns out that he is not who they hope he is. He is not the traitor, the blasphemer, the arch-heretic they had hoped for. Neither is he the hippie-dippy feminist peacenik, nor the fiery-eyed God of Righteous Vengeance Come to Smite Our Enemies, nor the sagacious prophet with a stoical temper. He is the Judge, the Lamb, the Prince, the Child, the King, the Seed, the Vine, the Word, the Spirit. He is the LORD. And there is no other and no other is the LORD. 1. Anonymous12:07 AM How is one to convey a sense of being indignant without losing dignity? "Hippy Dippy" this and showing pitch-fork crowds ranting about that isn't going to gather the sheep into the fold. I'm Catholic and I've known some amazing people who let folks glimpse the Truth without bludgeoning them. You excoriate people despite the fact that you DO have a public forum. They're not in your living room. You have a forum on the WORLD WIDE WEB. I'll check back in a month or so and see what's happening. I'll not look at the "kick you in the ass, see ya' later" post you give other people. It's disappointing. You seem surly and it's not what one looks for in terms of an example. Priests' behavior IS supposed to be emblematic, right? And, oh never mind all that pedophilia. The Church has a steady hand on the unequivocally correct thing to do at all times. Sometimes we all fail. They failed in large ways. But, large or small, it seems a shame to brag about it. I thought, as Catholics, we're called to be more patient, more humble. I remember being told that my part had "to be the bigger half." That meant "don't fire off at people and wait and see...they might begin to see a little light where they thought it was dark. To swagger with grouchiness doesn't seem to illumine the way. Maybe I'm missing the point. I must be. But you've kicked a few out of the flock, haven't you? You may not miss them but God might. If you kick my rear, too, I'm big enough that it won't matter. Some younger people could be damaged. There's the sense you're ALWAYS SCREAMING... Doug Wilkins 2. Doug, in my long experience with email/combox arguments, tone is almost always supplied by the reader. I'm not shouting. The question is: why are you choosing to "hear" me shouting? I always love it when people leave comments on my site telling me how awful I am, how uncharitable, how unreasonable and do so in the most uncharitable and unreasonable ways imaginable. Pedophilia? Uh? Yes, priests are supposed to be examples. But why must I be the example you need? Maybe my job is to be an example someone else needs. What you (and many others) want from me (apparently) is for me to be a quiet, gentle doormat who just tells everyone that God is love and everything is just OK as it is and there are no worries, etc. Blah. I didn't become a priest or a Dominican to be Hallmark/Oprah social worker. What you guys don't like is a priest who fights back. You're used milquetoast clerics who fold under a little criticism and promise to do better if only given the chance. Not me, sorry. I'm as deeply flawed, impure, and broken as the next guy and no one is going to stick me with playing Holy and Good in public so they can take potshots at the Church and feel all self-righteous about it. I haven't kicked anyone out of the flock. Not my job. What I have done is told the truth: your membership in the Church has absolutely nothing to do with me. Nothing. If you think the RCC teaches and preaches the gospel faith of Jesus Christ, then you are morally obligated to join-- despite me (if you have to). What my crankiness has to do with membership in the church is beyond me. How many people joined Jesus' crowd on the day he whipped the moneychangers out of the temple? How many walked away during the bread of life discourse? His own disciples ran off when he was arrested. So, what's the real issue here? 3. Anonymous1:20 AM your soul. if you can yell about activists, it's fair game for people to yell about priests... by and large they're a fairly sorry lot. my own experience has been horrendous. are you saying you're CHRIST? and people are fleeing from your sterling example? nah, just fry it like a funnel cake! bob baumann 4. Bob, I'm Christ? Yup. So are you. So is every baptized person. We aren't Christ perfectly, but imperfectly; this is why we need to Church--to collect all the imperfect Christs to make us more perfect as one Christ. You see...I think people like to rail against bad priests and nuns b/c it gives them a great excuse not to go to Church, not to obey the rules, frees them up to pursue their fav sins. Why not? "Fr. Philip is such an asshole! All priests are horrible child molesters! I'll never go to Church again!" What do bad priests have to do with going to Church? Your parish isn't WalMart or McDonald's. Your parish isn't selling a commodity and the priest ain't a salesman. You will find horrible people in temples, mosques, coven circles, atheist meeting halls, dancing around trees in the woods. What's your point? You either believe the Catholic faith is true or you don't. If you do, then no one--no priest, bishop, nun, or pope--NO one should be able to drive you away from the Truth. If you don't believe that the Catholic faith is true, then I wonder you're whining about. Fr. Philip, OP 5. Thanks Fr. Phillip. I really appreciated this one: we are so unwilling to let God be God; we use any excuse to try to refashion Him in the World's likeness so we aren't uncomfortable or ill-at-ease or feeling sinful (God forbid we should actually admit we are sinful). Keep them coming! 6. This comment has been removed by the author. 7. This comment has been removed by the author.