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FANTASIA 2011: Interview With Mario DeGiglio-Bellemare
Back during the 13th edition of the San Francisco Silent Film Festival, while researching Tod Browning's The Unknown (1927), I chanced upon Mario DeGiglio-Bellemare's provocative essay " 'Even a Man Who is Pure in Heart': Filmic Horror, Popular Religion and the Spectral Underside of History" published in the June 2005 issue of Journal of Religion and Popular Culture and republished in "The Werewolf in Visual Culture" in the Journal of the Imaginary and Fantastic, Vol. 1., No. 1. I was hooked by his theological perspectives on the horror genre. Imagine my delight when Mario noted my upcoming visit to Montreal for Fantasia 2011 and suggested we finally meet after years of corresponding online.
Mario DeGiglio-Bellemare completed his Ph.D. at the University of St. Michael's College (University of Toronto), working in the area of liberationist and postcolonial hermeneutics. His research focused on religious syncretism, interreligious collaboration, the popular religious practices of marginalized peoples, and liberation theologies. He has written extensively in the area of film and religion.
DeGiglio-Bellemare is a native Montrealer and "monster kid" who teaches courses on genre cinema and monsters in the Humanities department of John Abbott College. He began to watch monster movies at the age of nine, staying up to watch Hammer films on late-night television. He has been an independent filmmaker with the Volatile Works collective for several years, working primarily in super-8 and 16mm. His films combine a love of silent cinema, "exploitation films," the horror genre, and agit-prop sensibilities. He has published articles for Golem: The Journal of Religion and Monsters, as well as for the Journal of Religion and Film and for the Journal of Religion and Popular Culture. He is also an occasional writer for the Canadian horror genre magazine Rue Morgue.
Photo of Mario DeGiglio-Bellemare courtesy of Sharon Davies.
Mario DeGiglio-Bellemare completed his Ph.D. at the University of St. Michael's College (University of Toronto), working in the area of liberationist and postcolonial hermeneutics. His research focused on religious syncretism, interreligious collaboration, the popular religious practices of marginalized peoples, and liberation theologies. He has written extensively in the area of film and religion.
DeGiglio-Bellemare is a native Montrealer and "monster kid" who teaches courses on genre cinema and monsters in the Humanities department of John Abbott College. He began to watch monster movies at the age of nine, staying up to watch Hammer films on late-night television. He has been an independent filmmaker with the Volatile Works collective for several years, working primarily in super-8 and 16mm. His films combine a love of silent cinema, "exploitation films," the horror genre, and agit-prop sensibilities. He has published articles for Golem: The Journal of Religion and Monsters, as well as for the Journal of Religion and Film and for the Journal of Religion and Popular Culture. He is also an occasional writer for the Canadian horror genre magazine Rue Morgue.
Photo of Mario DeGiglio-Bellemare courtesy of Sharon Davies.
* * *Michael Guillén: The more I experience film festivals, the more I try to find a guiding focus to appreciate what has been offered in the programming. With this year's Fantasia Film Festival, I am borrowing heavily from the current issue of Film International (issue 50; 9:2) and its thematic focus on adapting national identities, specifically a fascinating case study "Hunting High and Low: Notes on Nazi Zombies, Francophiles and National Cinema(s)" authored by Jo Sondre Moseng and Håvard Andreas Vibeto. The gist of their argument is that--in the effort to promote a national cinema to an international audience--it is genre films that are succeeding over arthouse cinema. Within your own work I'm aware of your keen sense of highbrow and lowbrow culture or--to put it another way--mainstream and marginalized culture. Do you agree with the thesis set forth by Moseng and Vibeto that genre films are the way that nationalized product is being understood and assimilated by an international market, namely the United States (let's name the monolith for what it is)? Generally, do you find this true?
Mario DeGiglio-Bellemare: Yeah, actually, and I don't think it's only true now. It's been true forever but we're only figuring that out now. If you think about how the notion of a national cinema was being developed in the '60s, let's say, out of France and Italy through the art film--the French New Wave, for example, with Godard, Truffaut and Rohmer--the art film was the way by which a national cinema would gain an identity as it was being defined at the time.
Some of the films that were not perceived as national cinema--Georges Franju's Les yeux sans visage (Eyes Without A Face, 1960), for example--were disregarded not so much because they were genre films but because they were actually dealing with aspects of French culture that were much more cutting edge than those films that were supposedly politicized. Franju is dealing with the trauma of World War II and the difficult situation of post-liberation France and its trials against traitorous Nazi collaborationists. We forget that "little" films like Eyes Without A Face had a real impact, though they were dismissed at the time. When we look back at them and see how they link up to these issues of national cinema(s), they carry a lot of weight.
Another example would be Michael Powell's Peeping Tom, another film from 1960, from England. The critics didn't know what to do with Peeping Tom because, in some ways, it represented the kitchen sink realism that was coming out of the British national cinema; but, it was doing things differently. It exposed those aspects of British culture that people didn't want to see, like pornography and violence. Critics asked, "What is Michael Powell doing?" Critics have always had problems with Michael Powell because his films are so over-the-top. His films are beautifully poetic and surreal. Anyway, Peeping Tom is another example of a film that--at the time--people were calling rubbish and insisting belonged in the sewer, as someone wrote at the time. But that's also, again, an instance of a film bringing out aspects of a culture that people didn't want to see at the time.
Guillén: You've written quite eloquently about genre's capacity to reveal national anxieties. Do you suspect, perhaps, that the unwillingness to accept such anxieties is precisely why films like Eyes Without A Face and Peeping Tom were categorized as low culture? And was that categorization a handy way of keeping these films out of the cultural discourse on national cinema(s)?
DeGiglio-Bellemare: But now these films that I'm talking about are interesting because they straddle both the low end and the high end. There are filmmakers who have done this since then. Abel Ferrara, for example, whose film The Addiction (1995) I've written about ["Vampires Reading Feuerbach: Catholic Orthodoxy and Lines of Flight in Abel Ferrara's The Addiction"] has an art house quality. Ferrara is a filmmaker who straddles both those sensibilities. The black-and-white film stock, the long takes, suggest art house and the theology informing that film is serious--The Addiction is about the nature of sin--but then the vampires themselves are from the grand guignol tradition.
What I'm working on now are the so-called "torture porn" films. I'm looking at some of them, critiquing them--I like some of them more than others--but, I'm looking at them as grand guignol history. I'm exploring the ways that the traumas of history are taken up in these films and refracted in many ways. My own recent film Main Attraction (2011) is also trying to do this. It's a little bit experimental, a little bit art house, but then it has this grand guignol sensibility that adds another dimension. Effectively, this is what genre films do. George Romero has said that the affective response to genre opens audiences up to some of the politics involved. Maybe not consciously, maybe not right away, but certainly that's going on.
Guillén: When I spoke to Colin Geddes at last year's Toronto Film Festival, he brought up the concept of "elevated genre", which precisely addresses this merge between art house and genre. I appreciate your comment that what genre might actually reveal are theological and political underpinnings and that audiences who favor genre are, in their own way, negotiating how they want to situate themselves against these larger issues. Case in point for Fantasia would be last night's screening of Xavier Gens' The Divide.
DeGiglio-Bellemare: What did you think of it?
Guillén: I appreciated it for what it was; but, admittedly, it has not been well-received critically; but, that doesn't really mean much to me because--just as we've been discussing--many of the films I've liked have never been received well. Oddly enough, some of these films seem to require a displacement in time in order to be appreciated on their own terms and for what they've actually accomplished. The Divide basically reminded me of the Twilight Zone episode The Shelter (1961) where a proverbially American neighborhood becomes uncivilized in the face of a nuclear threat. But what I found arresting in The Divide--which is undeniably brutal, rough and even unpleasant--is something Michael Biehn culled out in my conversation with him about the film. Biehn said that The Divide can easily be criticized (and dismissed) for being exactly the way it is--as I said, brutal, rough, unpleasant, uncompromising, irredeemable--but critics fail to carry through with the admittance that such horrific reactions are taking place around the world. People, under crisis, treat each other like this all around the world. Films like The Divide force audiences to consider the reality of these global atrocities humankind commits against itself and of the tendency within each of us to behave deplorably under pressure.
But let me step back a bit. You're a trained theologian?
DeGiglio-Bellemare: Trained, yes. Well, religious studies. I have my feet in both.
Guillén: But then you shifted into genre studies?
DeGiglio-Bellemare: Yeah, actually. Genre has always been my great love. I'd long written about cinema and religion, but I did my research mostly on Latin American religious social systems.
Guillén: Liberation theology?
DeGiglio-Bellemare: Yes, those things. So my dissertation was not on cinema. Even though I've written and published more on cinema than on Latin American liberation theology.
Guillén: How have your writings on genre cinema been received within theologian circles?
DeGiglio-Bellemare: Let's put it this way: when I wanted to include a more personal approach to my dissertation with cinema underlying some of my approach, my supervisory committee said absolutely not. It wasn't because they were super-conservative or reactionary; it was just because it was too out-of-the-box. I struggled with that a little bit but I finished my dissertation.
Guillén: Which was the important thing? To get it behind you?
DeGiglio-Bellemare: Exactly. But, yeah, in everything I do I'm always inbetween two different worlds.
Guillén: Perhaps because I have done a decade's worth of work in Central America, primarily Guatemala, and been made aware of that country's tumultuous history with liberation theology, I was especially pleased when reading your work of your understanding of the linkage between what is thought of as lowbrow or genre culture(s) and marginalized and politically disenfranchised culture(s). Can you speak to what drew you to that understanding?
DeGiglio-Bellemare: This was actually what I wanted to be part of my dissertation but I ended up having to pull it out and publish it on its own in the Journal of Religion and Popular Culture [" 'Even a Man Who is Pure in Heart': Filmic Horror, Popular Religion and the Spectral Underside of History", republished in the Journal of the Imaginary and Fantastic, Vol. 1. No. 1.: "The Werewolf in Visual Culture"]. Having been trained in Latin American libertation theology, my starting point has always been what some bishops have defined as this "preferential option for the poor"--I don't know if you know that term?--but, it was developed in the late '60s after Vatican II when the bishops came back from Latin America and asked, "How do we do theology from our own context that will critique the European styles of theology that are brought to Latin America and considered universal when, in fact, they're not; they're just European and colonial? How do we do theology in the Americas that is ours?" The starting point was a focus on the poor because that was their context and their historical reality; the history of colonization, especially from the perspective of religion. The notion of the option for the poor is huge in liberation theology and informs everything that I do.
I looked, then, at the ways in which ordinary people also have their own knowledge systems, whether they be popular religious practices that were often condemned by progressives as parading the church in a way that promoted passivity instead of active change (which is what the liberation theologians wanted). I tried to rewrite that history a little bit to suggest that marginalized people have their own epistemologies. They have their own way of knowing. They have their own cultures and their own logic, in a sense; their own forms of reasoning. I felt that--if we wanted to take that seriously--then we had to take their knowledge of production seriously as well.
I became interested in "low" culture in genre cinema and started reading such film scholars as Linda Williams and Carol Clover. Williams had a feminist pro-sex reading of pornography--pornography's massive, right? And generally dismissed. It's so easy.--but, Williams pulled out interesting nuggets from '70s pornography especially, which was an interesting time around sexuality, as you know. I didn't want to dismiss that. I wanted to find out what it was about "low" culture that's important here? Since the '80s, there has been a kind of movement to recognize the ways in which the definition of "low" culture places how you can be subversive and do what can't be done in the mainstream.
I would say that the first anti-Vietnam film to hit the screens in the U.S. was not Coming Home (1978) or Apocalypse Now (1979), but Bob Clark's Deathdream (aka Dead of Night, 1974). Deathdream is this low B-movie horror film that has a strong anti-Vietnam message. The Vietnam War was said in the U.S. to be the first televised war--and that may be oversaid, but nonetheless--in Deathdream we have this dead soldier in the living room of a middle class home disrupting the American Dream and bringing the trauma of the Vietnam War into the living room. This zombie film made cheaply by Bob Clark in Florida and then finished in Canada has a bi-national feel to it. Bob Clark then stayed in Canada and made Black Christmas (1974), which is a sort of proto-slasher film.
So what I'm trying to say is that these "low" genre films provide the space in which the critiquing of the culture can take place, long before mainstream cinema catches up. If you look at many of the films made from the '50s and '60s, they were always pushing boundaries around taboos. Of course, two big taboos are sexuality and violence. Herschell Gordon Lewis was pushing boundaries with his drive-in films, with Blood Feast (1963) and gore and so on, and Doris Wishman and Russ Meyer were also pushing boundaries around sex. All of this took place outside mainstream cinema but had an impact. If you read Linda Williams' recent book Screening Sex, which is about the representation of sex in American cinema, she beautifully outlines how these films impacted a whole new wave of films made in the '70s where audiences were finally seeing sex in mainstream films: like The Graduate (1967) and Coming Home, which I've already mentioned. Later on it would be David Lynch's Blue Velvet (1986), which shocked audiences with its stark depiction of fetishistic sexuality.
Carol Clover says the same thing about mainstream Hollywood. Mainstream Hollywood cannot survive without "low" culture. Hollywood is constantly remaking horror films. In terms of originality and creativity, Hollywood is always somehow tapping into "low" culture but not calling it that when it finally releases its films. Clover uses the example of Thelma & Louise (1991)--which is a very good example--to illustrate what she calls a rape revenge film for yuppies. It's domesticated, not as intense, but comes from the rape revenge subgenre in horror films. As I said, Hollywood is always tapping into this creativity but then dismissing it at the same time.
Guillén: That leads me to wonder how conscious are these subversive cinemas? I haven't seen Deathdream, but--taking you at your recommendation--have you read anywhere where the director acknowledged that he was making an anti-Vietnam War film?
DeGiglio-Bellemare: In the case of Deathdream, it's definitely an anti-Vietnam War film and Bob Clark intended that.
Guillén: I ask because sometimes the critique can only be retrospective and shaped by hindsight. It could never have been conscious or intended. For example, are you familiar with the work of William E. Jones? He took '70s gay porn and took out all the sex, so that all that's left to focus on are the environments and settings, which calls attention to how public common space was back then in contrast to how privatized it's become. Jones' work is a searing indictment of what's happened to common space since the '70s, which I consider a brilliant analysis of gay porn from the '70s.
DeGiglio-Bellemare: Actually everyone says that Deep Throat (1972) is the film that started the porn chic revolution, but that's actually not true. It was Wakefield Poole's Boys in the Sand the year before.
With regard to the specific question you asked me about how conscious these subversive films are, this is a question I get asked by my students a lot. I teach a course called "Genre Cinema Ideologies", which deconstructs the notion that genre films are mere entertainment and that horror films cater to adolescent taste. The course explores the way that genre films are reflecting something larger and telling audiences something about the world. The word "monster" comes from the Latin word monstrare, meaning "to show", and is cognate with the English word demonstrate, meaning "to show clearly". So monsters are not just evil creatures; they show, reveal and point to something. But what are they pointing to? Deathdream is a perfect example. It has a creature that is pointing to Vietnam and the trauma of history.
So I tell my students--who seem a bit obsessed with this question of whether a filmmaker is conscious or not--to take the example of George Romero's Night of the Living Dead (1968). When Romero is asked if he and Duane Jones, who plays the African American character Ben, were thinking of the radical aspects of the film when they made it, he always says no. In fact, when he wrote the script he originally wrote the character of Ben as a white man. What's interesting for me in Romero's admission is that it's fine that he disavows a political consciousness, but what's important is that Romero is open to letting those things flow through him and through his work and through his vision anyway. Because if he wrote the script for a white man, and then had a different perspective, a more racist perspective about the place of an African American in U.S. society, he would have rewritten the script; but he cast the Black man without rewriting that part. Ben in Night of the Living Dead is not only a Black man in the lead; but, he's a Black man who explosively takes over the household, which is a microcosm of society. He is taking over the house and reflecting very aggressive stances vis-à-vis the U.S. That's what's so shocking about the character of Ben in Night of the Living Dead: he shoots a white man point blank, and he slaps a white woman at one point....
This was unbelievable in 1968! In fact, when they were shooting the film the actor felt uncomfortable and asked Romero, "Are you sure you want me to do this?" And Romero said yes. But just because he wasn't consciously thinking it, his politics were in the right place to let that work. He was open to what was going on and let that work through his vision. Even I make films that--when I look back--I see stuff and think, "Oh yeah. I wasn't really thinking about that back then but that makes sense because somehow the context was influencing me and I was open to that and it plays itself out through my work."
Guillén: As if just the effort to show the monster reveals to the filmmaker what the monster actually is. It's not like the filmmaker always arrives with a storyboard of what the monster is. The monster reveals itself in the filmmaking.
DeGiglio-Bellemare: Exactly.
Guillén: I liked how earlier you talked about the poor having their own epistemologies and their own way of knowing things, because I found that to be true among the years I worked with the Maya. Just this morning I discovered a subsidiary website of yours that chronicles when you went to Cuba?
DeGiglio-Bellemare: Yeah, I went to Cuba one year.
Guillén: What fascinated me from that experience was the piece you wrote on San Lazaro, the syncretized form of Babalu Aye ["Cuba: Santeria, scarcity and survival"] because one of my favorite folk Catholic saints is the Mayan Maximón, who I consider a comparable syncretized icon. Can you speak to religious syncretism as a device of articulating the negotiation of these competing systems of knowledge?
DeGiglio-Bellemare: Because people don't take the knowledge systems of ordinary people seriously, one of the things that isn't understood very well is how the poor and excluded--in order to survive hostile conditions--take the tools of the colonizer and throw them back in their face. They take the language of colonizing systems and make it work for them. This is what syncretism does. For African slaves, for example, voudou is a syncretic religious system that comes from Africa and mixes with Arawak indigenous world views. The Arawak disappeared and were wiped out, and then Christianity came along, but the slaves had absolutely no problem using these different systems of knowledge for their own benefit and their own survival. The language of the colonizer takes on a whole different meaning because it's shot through their experience. This involves what I was writing in my thesis about popular religions. This process of syncretism is what is constantly being done in popular religious ceremonies.
For example, a beautiful image from Haiti is how the voudou ceremony that traditionally takes place on Saturday night tends to go overnight and sometimes really early into the morning when the sun is rising. The early church service on Sunday morning is about 7:00 or 8:00 and the voudou worshippers go straight from the voudou service to the Catholic church, without a problem! They see themselves as Catholic and see themselves as voudou and there's no contradiction there for them because these knowledge systems are fundamentally tools for them to survive the kind of world that they live in. They bring these systems of knowledge together in a beautiful way. I love these hybrids of two different cultures, one that's obviously more powerful than the other.
An anthropologist who writes on this in a way that I like is James C. Scott. He writes about "backstage resistance"; that there's a lot going on backstage among the poor and the oppressed that we don't see. What Scott means by this is that it's very dangerous for poor people to resist directly in the face of power because they get crushed. So they find different ways of resisting. Ways that are "backstage" that the powerful don't recognize. Syncretism, popular religious pageantry and practices in Latin America, are this kind of backstage resistance. They may on the surface seem like a little party or festival but these fiestas are important to indigenous people. That's a knowledge system, right? They understand the world through fiesta and the celebration of life and death, right? Behind the scenes there are ways in which people are resisting dominant discourses that are not always available to the powerful. The peasant will bow when the emperor goes by and then, after he passes, the peasant farts. The ways in which ordinary, poor people resist domination is not taken seriously because it's not always organized in the way that many people like to see social movements organized and so it's dismissed.
Guillén: I can apply what you're saying to the running debate in film culture between "high" and "low", between art house and commercial, and add that the general audience that some critics often seem to hate have effectively syncretized critical systems and taken them over. Perhaps this is why critics resent them? They sense their privilege has been usurped? That their system of knowledge has been subverted? The standing of the film critic--which at one time was firmly entrenched--is now on weak footing because the specialized position of the film critic has been supplanted by growing trends in cinephilia. The readily-available strategy of defense is for critics to belittle cinephilia or to deminimize blogging and relegate both to a "lower" endeavor; again, the tension between "high" and "low" art. This categorical strategy is a last-ditch effort to keep a certain heirarchy in place, specifically to keep upstart bloggers in their place, even though many bloggers are incredibly creative, inventive, circuitous and, perhaps at their best, even subversive in their use of the tools of the dominant culture.
DeGiglio-Bellemare: I agree. And sometimes those tools get taken up again by dominant discourses so that a subversive movement loses its edge.
Guillén: Which is happening even as we speak. Bloggers are already bemoaning shifts in the medium as social networking has taken over the popular imaginary. Let alone that the film festivals who had to (however begrudgingly) admit bloggers and online journalists into their press corps, are now using the selfsame blogging tools to create their own festival blogs, obviating the need of independent bloggers to cover same. I consider this a calculated, perhaps even conscious, effort to defuse the so-called democratization of the net, and rein it in under some kind of institutional practice and control.
Shifting to your review of Caelum Vatnsdal's They Came from Within: A History of Canadian Horror Cinema, you speak of the difficulty of creating a Canadian identity when there's an ongoing conflict between Québecois and the English-speaking Canadian film community. "Finding a common national thread within a genre that has been undeniably marginal and unambiguously marginalized in the history of Canadian cinema is no easy task," you wrote, recognizing that Canada's "national cinema suffers from an ambiguous sense of national identity." All the more so for being shoved through the funnel of genre. I didn't fully understand your statement until Fantasia, where it surfaced full force in my experience of the Cinepix tribute which was conducted unapologetically in Québecois with no translative effort whatsoever. I left because I felt deliberately excluded.
Now, granted, I will be the first to admit that I am a typical American in not being fluently multilingual and, in this instance, ignorant of French. But then no one warned me that I would need to know French to enjoy the festival. Again, I admit my own cultural presumptions, even as I recognize a cultural presumption being placed upon me. Does regional fervor trump international communication? It's the question as hydra, where each severed head sprouts multiple answers.
DeGiglio-Bellemare: You've experienced firsthand the intense debate in Canada around the sovereignty of Québec. Federalists call it Québec separation. Québec has a real film industry. Québec films make money, millions of dollars, and has its own movie stars. Québec audiences go out to see movies to see their stars. English Canada has none of that. English Canadian films never bring in money, ever. English Canada has a few auteurs like David Cronenberg, Guy Maddin and Atom Egoyan but their films never make money. Attempts at English Canadian mainstream commercial cinema always flop. The biggest money-making movie a couple of years ago was made here in Montreal and was about a murder that happens on the Québec / Ontario border, it's in half-English and half-French, and it did extremely well in Québec; but, it didn't do very well in the rest of Canada. This is the reality of our system here and it has to do with a strong sense of national identity in Québec. By contrast, Canadian identity is weak and also negative. English Canadians understand themselves as Canadians against the U.S.: "We're not like the U.S. because we are peacekeepers." It's always a definition by way of the negative. It's an interesting clash that happens and you saw this going on the other night at the Cinepix tribute. Behind the scenes you don't know what's going on but....
Guillén: I felt it.
DeGiglio-Bellemare: So you have Cinepix, which is a Montreal Québec-born Roger Corman style production house. I love them. I was really so moved. And I love Shivers (1975), which was shown after. It's a brilliant underrated film. Everyone talks about Cronenberg and his later films but his best films are Shivers, Rabid (1977) and The Brood (1979).Fantasia has its more anglophone side and they're always trying to balance that with the festival's more francophone side. Cinepix produced Valérie (1969), which I consider the most important film in Québec history. That film changed everything. It was also important to acknowledge that film; but, politically, there were people thinking, "Well, we're going to do this in French because this is our culture and this is who we are." When people go to Cannes, they speak French, right? Though there's more translation there, more resources to do that. So you had then some people who were more on the anglophone side, and then you had the local, much more politicized people speaking French. Montreal is a bilingual city. We are used to this!
Guillén: All that being said, as an introductory tribute it went on far too long and should have been offered as a separate panel for those more equipped to handle its Québecois pride, perhaps even with translative services to assist the American-impaired.
DeGiglio-Bellemare: I agree. You're absolutely right. Especially if they come from other places, people need to be told what to expect, especially if a program is going to be predominantly in French.
Guillén: I was also really looking forward to the program on the Hammer Films mythology and was disappointed when I discovered it was being conducted wholly in French. Will you be attending that?
DeGiglio-Bellemare: Probably, yeah. I love Hammer films. I actually just taught a course at the Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies, which was a part of Blue Sunshine.
Guillén: The Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies?
DeGiglio-Bellemare: Are you familiar with H.P. Lovecraft?
Guillén: Of course! I knew the name rang a bell. Just this morning I watched a screener of Sean Branney's The Whisperer in Darkness (2011), whose narrative takes place at the Miskatonic Institute.
DeGiglio-Bellemare: Is it good?
Guillén: For a Lovecraft adaptation, it's not bad. As you know, most Lovecraft adaptations have a purposeful datedness, which signifies Lovecraft. Without that temporal signifier, it's not really a Lovecraft narrative, it's just a contemporary riff on Lovecraft. But The Whisperer in Darkness holds the Lovecraft mythos close to its chest and skillfully emulates the feel of a '30s / '40s Universal horror film, especially in its opening credits. I wasn't sure at first if I was watching a revival screening of an older Lovecraft adaptation and I liked that feeling of momentary dissonance.
DeGiglio-Bellemare: I was excited to see it and now I'm even more excited to see it.
Guillén: I think you'll find it a solid adaptation.
DeGiglio-Bellemare: Anyway, Miskatonic Institute is in reference to Lovecraft and I did a course on the monsters in Hammer films and their social and political context in the late '50s when Hammer Studios exploded on the scene with The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) and The Horror of Dracula (1958). So, yeah, I'm a big-time fan of Hammer Studios.
Guillén: Well, shoot, I would have loved taking that course or reading your take on those films. How are we going to gain more access to your written work?
DeGiglio-Bellemare: I have to publish more. Because I've been teaching so much the last couple of years, I haven't been writing as much.
Guillén: Do you write for Rue Morgue?
DeGiglio-Bellemare: Yes. But, not a lot. My writing can be a little academic. I tend to write the classic cut at the end of the magazine.
Guillén: But isn't that the challenge for writers like you and me? I like to think of it as a portfolio of audiences and the necessity of writing to each. I've spoken to Chris Fujiwara about this....
DeGiglio-Bellemare: I love his book Jacques Tourneur: The Cinema of Nightfall!
Guillén: Who doesn't? Chris and I agree that there is a middle ground of film criticism that hasn't been explored enough, somewhere between the academic and the populist, which is where I find my challenge as a writer because I prefer to approach film by way of conversation and, as a non-academic, always appreciate the chance to talk to academics. From the moment I discovered your writing, I've been wanting to talk to you because I felt you do exactly what I believe in: you take complex political and theological theory and apply it to what the average joe is experiencing by way of film.
Case in point: as someone who has worked at coordinating Christian practice with popular culture, do you consider genre films critical of Christianity and, thereby, threatening to Christianity?
DeGiglio-Bellemare: Ah. This is something that a lot of people in the horror scene don't understand about me. They hear that I have these degrees in religious studies and theology and they figure, "We can't talk to him." People don't understand that within the tradition, to be critical of the institution is part of being faithful. If you look at the first Jesus community, they were very critical of institutions of the time, Jesus' own beloved traditions, the Jewish institutions, of which he was very critical. This is a model for people of faith. Being critical is part of what it means to be religious. You have to constantly be a prophet in the face of power. Who are prophets? Prophets are not only people who predict the future. They're the people who speak truth to power. They're the ones who critique the power. Jesus was a prophet in the Jewish lineage of prophets.
Guillén: Which leads me back to the guiding theme I presented at the beginning of our conversation: the role of genre films in adapting national identities. If we're to say that "power" as you're indicating here is the commercialization of cinema, then genre films harbor a prophetic potential to speak back to that power, and to subvert that power precisely through commercial success. Art house films that once helped define a national cinema are failing at the box office and making room for lucrative genre films to represent their countries past national boundaries to the international community.
DeGiglio-Bellemare: I make a point of looking for small films that prophetically challenge dominant discourses.
Guillén: So my final question: what is it in the horrific that borders on the sublime? I stage it as an answer to Job, in its true Jungian sense. How does a nice, gentle, nonviolent man like myself find such catharsis in horror, violence and darkness? How is it that I intuit beauty there? Can you speak to the beautiful and the sublime inherent in darkness?
DeGiglio-Bellemare: In terms of Job?
Guillén: More from a general theological perspective.
DeGiglio-Bellemare: Well, the first thing that comes to my mind is non-theological. The first thing that comes to mind is what Noël Carroll calls "the paradox of the monsters." His is a cognitivist perspective. There is a contradiction of disgust and attraction at the same time. When I watch Shivers, I'm disgusted by what's going on with these parasites and--though I would never want one in my body--there is something liberating about the thought of one in my body. At the beginning of Shivers, consumer society has pacified people; but, when that disgusting parasite enters people's bodies, they come alive. Cronenberg asserts that Shivers has a happy ending. That's why Robin Wood and others still don't get this movie. Somehow, in that disgust there is something sublime and liberating going on and that attracts people. They don't generally recognize it. They aren't conscious of it. They can't even necessarily make sense of it. But they're able to affectively feel it and it's a powerful place of feeling. When horror films create such feeling properly, then they're reaching into a sensibility of the genre that goes back to gothic literature. So that would be one of my answers: the paradox of the monsters.
In terms of Job, what people don't understand about the Bible is that the critique of religion is embedded in the Biblical narrative. It predates the atheist critique. What's interesting about Job's story is that God loves monsters. [Laughs.] He sends monsters down to earth to be part of the insanity and whirlwind that Job experiences. Job is saying "Fuck you" to God. He says, "Why is it that I've done everything that's supposed to be righteous and now all this is going on? My life is completely in shambles." God also loves the protest against God. The chaos of that protest is the sending down of the monsters. People always see the Biblical trajectory--and this is common in religious studies--as about creation. God creates. God is always creating and fighting against demons that come to interrupt the process of creation. Not in Job.
Guillén: No. He's complicit in Job's suffering.
DeGiglio-Bellemare: Yup. The Book of Job is a terrific and brilliant piece of literature.
Guillén: It's definitely one of my favorite pieces of literature. I've read it again and again, especially when I'm troubled. Returning to Xavier Gens' The Divide, the film is bracketed by a visual rhyme of two moments of witness. The character of Eva, played by Lauren German, first witnesses the nuclear destruction of Manhattan and, at film's end, its complete aftermath. She escapes into nothingness. Despite whatever can be said about the depraved behavior that comes into evidence between these two moments, the beauty of her witness is, to my mind, irrefutable. I am perhaps in a loud minority when I claim that Xavier Gens' films are beautiful as well as dark. His aesthetic refuses the happy ending, which has nothing to do with life. The indifferent cruelty of nature is intrinsic to human nature, though we use the thin veneer of civilization to ward off that truth.
DeGiglio-Bellemare: I recently read a book by Matt Hills called The Pleasures of Horror. He writes that horror is always being talked about as a dilemma. "How can people find this crap pleasurable?" People have been grappling with that question forever. The Pleasures of Horror is a long book and Hills makes several arguments but one of the things he mentions is that we never stop to think about the displeasures of horror. He gives as an example when people first saw The Last House on the Left (1972), Wes Craven's first film. It's a difficult movie to like, let alone sit through. It's a movie that's enraged with authority and is really speaking to the suffering in Vietnam. So maybe we should change the question around pleasures and ask, "What about displeasure?" Are there ways in which we might not be enjoying a film in the ways that you're describing, but there's something going on in that film that's affecting you? You may never want to see that movie again, but you walk out of the cinema changed.
Guillén: I certainly felt that after watching Srđan Spasojević's A Serbian Film (2010). Though, admittedly, I went back to see it a second time. Now, it was bad enough that I watched it once, and many of my friends criticized me for that; but, then when I went back to see it again, I had people calling me sick and twisted to my face. But that wasn't what I was experiencing. What I was experiencing was a visceral denial of the film. I felt myself backing off from the film. I felt my body physically negating what I was seeing on the screen. In short, I felt revulsion. But at the same time I felt compelled to overcome my repulsion. I didn't want to evade my own displeasure.
DeGiglio-Bellemare: That's a process that Adam Lowenstein has written about in his book Shocking Representation. Part of the process is trying to sort out: "Why are you watching this? What is this saying?" There is a part of that process that is introspective. Noël Carroll will love me for this, but there's something pleasurable in knowing what is going on that makes you want to know more about yourself. Not only about what's happening on the screen, but about yourself watching it. There's a kind of self-discovery going on.
Cross-published on The Evening Class.
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Top small business phone equipment provider TelcoDepot.com has launched the critically-acclaimed TalkSwitch VSX VoIP phone system on its web phone shops. The TalkSwitch VSX is the latest market-leading small business VoIP solution.
Bay Shore, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 09/24/2012 -- TelcoDepot.com now stocks the latest TalkSwitch VSX phone system offering for business customers. TelcoDepot.com is a provider of business phone system equipment and services covering VoIP phones, VoIP service, hosted PBX service, PBX phone system equipment, telephone system accessories (such as phone headset units and more) and VoIP phone system support. Shop for leading business phones and equipment from brands like Aastra, Allworx, Grandstream, NEC phone system products, TalkSwitch, Xblue and Yealink at affordable prices with great support options.
The new VSX phone system for small businesses combines simplicity of design with superior performance and features three core units including the 84vsx, 48vsx and 24vsx. A unit will typically include voicemail broadcast feature, 16 remote extensions, external IP extensions, quality HD voice output and 20 auto attendants.
TelcoDepot.com now provides businesses with the latest TalkSwitch VSX VoIP phone offering including:
TalkSwitch 48vsx phone system (TalkSwitch 48vsx switch for 4 CO lines, 8 analog, 24 extensions - expandable up to 32), TalkSwitch 24vsx phone system (TalkSwitch 24vsx switch - can handle 2 CO lines, 4 analog/IP ports,16 extensions - expandable up to 24), TalkSwitch extension expansion license (the extension expansion license adds extra capacity for 8 IP extensions to a TalkSwitch 24vsx or 48vsx unit), TalkSwitch VoIP trunking license (the VoIP trunking license adds 8 VoIP trunks to a TalkSwitch VSX unit. VoIP trunks allow connections with VoIP service providers or connecting multiple locations) and the TalkSwitch 84vsx phone system (TalkSwitch 84vsx switch can handle 8 CO lines, 4 analog, 32 extensions).
"With the new TalkSwitch VSX offering, businesses have access to simpler, more streamlined solutions that are more powerful and scalable, allowing for high performance delivery and growth on the short term," says Yaron Ram, a TelcoDepot.com Principal.
For any inquiries, or for more information about the TalkSwitch VSX VoIP Phone System, please contact TelcoDepot.com Customer Service on 1-800-390-1200 or send an email to email@example.com
About Telco Depot
Telco Depot is a leading supplier of quality business telephone systems, business VoIP service, VoIP phones, phone headset equipment, video surveillance systems, voice & data cabling solutions, conference phone solutions and Microsoft Response Point Systems. The company's top priority is to help its clients make informed decisions based on their specific small business phone system needs by providing experience and expertise and guiding them in selecting the best phone systems for their businesses. Telco Depot ensures that their phone systems are fully scalable, affordable priced, and provide the highest value for their clients.

subset: commoncrawl


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Inside this book, guys are discovering the most thrilling ways to arouse the clitoris just the way their lovers desire proudly freeing the most exquisite orgasms these fortunate women have EVER experienced.
This mystery is now solved thanks to Pleasure Coach and bestselling author Dr. Sadie, whose playfully written, tastefully illustrated masterclass in clitoral touch is confidently inspiring guys of all ages to:
- Find the clitoris (even when it's hiding), and know when to touch and when NOT to touch!
- Instantly activate thousands of clitoral pleasure receptors with a magic elixir every guy's got an unlimited supply of!
- Shift fingertip technique by mere fractions of an inch, a delicious move that can bring on unexpectedly divine orgasms.
- Entice her vaginal lips into an ally of arousal awakening and stimulating the clitoris without even touching it.
- Fine-tune clitoral touching away from what most women describe as "feels like sandpaper" into a breathless "feels like Nirvana!"
- Arouse her with an erotic fingertip method that's so over-the-top exciting, her clitoris will actually CHASE that fingertip for the frenzied stimulation she craves.
- Touch with confidence when she's right on that delirious edge so you don't scare her orgasm away but trigger it for the most pulsating pleasure she can ever feel!
You won't find such a fun, inspiring, quick-read guide to clitoral love anywhere else. It's guaranteed to do more than spark passion it'll help ignite intimacy, communication and love. And its 23 full-color illustrations of touch techniques and lovemaking positions lets you fully visualize all the fun to come.
Ships Everywhere.
Even if you've known most of this stuff before. There usually are a couple of things you can pickup from a newer book. I've been into cunnilingus a long time but haven't gotten to practice it for the last 20 years. With the heart attack, fingers and tongue are what will get used. Can't pump like I used to.Anonymous - November 9 2015
glad i took some time out to read this book and learn about cunninlingus action... the girls love to have their pussies and clits massages, especially now when i know how to perform it the way girls like it.Anonymous - January 24 2015
I think this book is great, gave it to my husband to read. He loves oral sex and play with my pussy and clit is one of his most favorite things to do as foreplay. But he doesn't quite know what he's doing, so sometimes it gets more annoying than pleasurable. But thanks to this very informative book, he knows exactly what to do and how to arouse me - he can even rub my clit into having an orgasm using either his tongue and fingers,,, he's never been able to do that before.Anonymous - October 28 2014


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Loyalty credits
Loyalty credits accumulated during 07/01/20 - 09/30/20 are eligible for cash back on purchases made during 10/01/20 - 10/31/20; these credits must be used by 10/31/20 or they will expire. Credits earned on purchases during 10/01/20 - 10/31/20 will not be available for use until the next loyalty redemption period. Only web account holders who live in the USA and do not have special pricing or other contractual agreements with us are eligible for Tundra's Loyalty Program. Learn more at www.etundra.com/loyalty-program/
Channeling your water to the proper places can mean the difference between a well-oiled establishment and a disaster waiting to happen. That's why vacuum breakers and backflow preventers are an important piece of any restaurants puzzle. Essentially, these little babies keep your sewage water from backing up into the drinking water every time someone flushes. It sounds like a no-brainer, but without a working vacuum breaker or backflow preventer, your customers could be drinking...well...you get the picture. Keep the dirty water away from your drinking water and avoid the unspeakable, by having a few little pieces in their place.
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I'll be sharing the stories of Marjorie, Jamie and Susan in three separate posts. But first I'd like to share a little bit about my poetry project 'Everyday American Women,' and how it came about.
I was inspired to write about sex trafficking survivors after interviewing women for articles, and after researching "The Ugly Truth" campaign, which is run by the San Diego District Attorney's Office to spread awareness of sex trafficking in San Diego. I found the women I've spoken with for this project by contacting anti-trafficking resources, such as Generate Hope and Survivors for Solutions, and the people there helped set me up with interviews.
Through my interviews I've learned that anyone can be a victim of sex trafficking, regardless of age, race, or social status, which is what I hope everyone who reads this takes away.
I write this collection as a tribute to the women who have survived sexual exploitation. To the women who are still trapped, but want to escape. To the children we see every day, but never suspect are being abused. And to the people everywhere who want to do something to stop it.
At the heart of the sex industry is a lesson on class division: those who can afford to pay for sexual encounters, and those who feel they cannot afford to turn down the money.
To the people who think being in the sex industry should be a right, I ask who really benefits? The men, women and children who are often taught at an early age that their bodies are merely a means of income to get what they want, or the abusers, "Johns," and pimps who taught them that? It saddens me that much of the U.S. legislation to support the rights of "sex workers" is really a disguise that enables Johns to buy and pimps to sell. Just ask any of the survivors protesting organizations like Amnesty International, an organization that fights to support "sex workers." Sex trafficking survivors are forced to vote on the issue alongside their previous pimps and Johns, all the while the pamphlets they created to voice their side are silently collected and tossed in the trash.
When the victims are constantly silenced, and only those with money allowed to speak, how can things change?
Thankfully in California there are new laws being pushed to prosecute sex buyers, but not the prostitutes, since law enforcement has realized many of the prostitutes only choose that profession after years of sexual exploitation. However, many other states are still prosecuting prostitutes and letting the Johns go with a slap on the wrist. If we really want to make change, we need to understand where these women are coming from, and help them feel loved again.
For those who want to escape, there is a way. Each woman I spoke with shared the miracle of her life freely, as you will soon read. My hope is that you will learn something that can lead you or someone you know out of his or her net of despair. At the least, I hope to change our judgements and misconceptions about prostitution, pornography, strippers and escorts. What we see is not even half the story, and there is a whole lot of hurt and abuse hidden behind the scenes.
I would like to say a very special thank you to Marjorie, Jamie and Susan for their willingness to open up to me and this project. A final word of thanks to Professor Claire Colquitt and my peers in San Diego State's English Honors thesis class of 2017 for their encouragement, critiques, and suggestions.


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Home > Back to Search Results > Passover & the Jews... Early San Diego prints...
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Passover & the Jews... Early San Diego prints...
Item # 636456
March 23, 1889
FRANK LESLIE'S ILLUSTRATED, New York, March 23, 1889 A fullpg. has 5 prints of: "Lower California. The New Gold Discoveries in Santa Clara Valley--Scenes & Incidents of the Rush to the Mines." Another pg. has an article: "Unleavened Bread For The Passover" plus two related illustrations on the making of it for the Jewish feast. Yet another page is entirely taken up with 5 prints captioned: "Southern California--In and About San Diego, 'The City of Perpetual Summer' " showing both prominent buildings in the city (some still exist in the current 'Gaslamp Quarter') plus a nice view of the bay & harbor (see).
Sixteen pages, very nice condition.
Category: Post-Civil War
Available Now


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Odd Arne Westad
Road to Pearl Harbor
China's War with Japan, 1937–1945: The Struggle for Survival
By Rana Mitter
Allen Lane/The Penguin Press 458pp £25 order from our bookshop
States are forged by war and modern China is no exception. Between 1894 and 1953 the country had less than a decade of peace, and war laid waste to significant parts of the country. But out of these sixty years of strife came a state so cohesive and powerful that it has been able to shift its economy from capitalism to socialism and back again without losing power. The state also learned how to terrorise its own population and get away with it. This is what wars teach states, except in cases when a well-educated and politicised citizenry demands that other lessons be learned.


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Fiscal Policies in Open Cities with Firms and Households
With the renewed interest in cities as economic centers comes a need to understand how local public services and local taxes are likely to affect city economic performance. This paper provides an equilibrium model of an open city economy with mobile firms and resident workers. Given household preferences and firm technologies and an exogenous configuration of city tax rates and national grants and fiscal mandates, the model calculates equilibrium values for firm production and input use, household consumption and housing choices, city wages, rents, and population, and finally, local tax bases, revenues, and public goods provision. The model is calibrated to the Philadelphia economy for FY 1998; model predictions are compared to recent econometric estimates of the effects of city fiscal policy on the Philadelphia private economy. We then explore two important questions for the city's fiscal future: What are the economic and fiscal consequences of raising city tax rates? Can the city shoulder a rising burden of local welfare payments and remain a viable economic center in the long-run? We find the city to be near the top of its total revenue hill and incapable of bearing significant increases in local responsibility for welfare transfers.
Published Versions
Haughwout, Andrew and Robert P. Inman. "Fiscal Policies In Open Cities With Firms And Households," Regional Science and Urban Economics, 2001, v31(2-3,Apr), 147-180. citation courtesy of


text: With eyes fixed squarely on the Lord, Francis Xavier left the companionship of the early founders of the Society of Jesus in Europe to go on mission, preaching the Gospel and bringing new life through the sacraments. Because of his zeal for the salvation of souls many came to know Jesus and thus were saved. Let us pray for missionaries and the work of evangelization through Saint Francis Xavier's intercession.


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We have arrived in Guilin and are staying at the Dozycat Hostel, this is a bargain place to stay even with ensuite at £12 per night. I have stayed in many a worse place in Europe that cost a whole lot more (Hotel Medusa in Tirrennia springs to mind!).
It has all the facilities you need, shower, laundry, kitchen, Internet etc etc. So if you are ever out this way and are looking for some budget accommodation check out the Dozycat Hostel!


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Where is it located?
IVANE MENTAL HEALTH is integrated into the HOSPITAL VITHAS VALENCIA AL MAR, located in the city of Valencia 500 meters from Malvarrosa beach.
The old Hospital of San Juan de Dios combines history and modernism, with an open layout with a central body and two lateral wings, decorated with semicircular arches, brick balustrades and a neo-Mudejar court.
The hospital is made up of ample spaces, rooms, gardens and terraces that take advantage of the luminosity of the sun and the climate of the Mediterranean Sea, providing a relaxed and intimate environment during the stay, with the aim of facilitating maximum comfort and well-being during the process of Recovery.
HOSPITAL VITHAS VALENCIA AL MAR is comprised of health professionals in a health care setting with the guarantee of VITHAS, a leading hospital group with long experience in the private health sector at a national level.
What does IVANE MENTAL HEALTH offer?
The MENTAL HEALTH UNIT AND PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL has 28 places for admission for short term and medium term stays for patients who need it and so require it. Caring for every detail is part of our daily activity. The MENTAL HEALTH UNIT AND PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL has:
- Spacious individual Suites with private bathroom, study table, armchair-bed for relatives.
- Therapeutic activity 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Close medical supervision, psychiatric and specialised health personnel.
- Catering supervised by dietitian.
- Patient referral service to other Medical Units and extensive coordination for the performance of complementary tests.
- Large group therapy rooms. Individual therapy rooms.
- Psychomotricity room. Large terraces and outdoor patios for occupational therapy, sports therapy and relaxation.
- Cafeteria and gardens integrated within the hospital environment. Malvarrosa beach in walking distance.
What else does IVANE MENTAL HEALTH offer?
The MENTAL HEALTH UNIT AND PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL of IVANE SALUD MENTAL has specialised assistance at an outpatient level with the aim of offering a comprehensive and multidisciplinary comprehensive service that covers the specific needs of patients and their families. In addition, IVANE MENTAL HEALTH offers more:


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Sites offers a robust set of easy-to-use tools, including WCNR-related themes and a WCNR URL. The service also provides user and group management using the CSU eID authentication system.
What can you build on Sites@WCNR?
Class websites; e-portfolios; individual or group blogs; audio, video and multimedia curation sites; project or group websites.
Who shouldn't use Sites@WCNR?
Those who want additional customization (such as a specific URL, adherence to specific branding requirements, or more customized graphic design or functionality) should contact WCNR IT staff. Custom approaches to WordPress (including graphic design, other themes and plug-ins and custom URLs) can be accommodated through other campus and external service offerings, which may require payment for development, design, hosting or other project costs.
Students who are considering using WordPress for online portfolios and sites that they would like to access beyond graduation, should consider developing a site in wordpress.com as their CSU eID access to Sites@WCNR will expire soon after graduation. Students nearing graduation may also consider exporting their site from Sites@WCNR and importing into wordpress.com or other WordPress service provider.


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Touted as one of the most beautiful places on earth, a landlocked nation sandwiched between rising superpowers, Nepal is bordered by China in the north and India in the south, east, and west. A multiethnic nation with a population of 26.4 million, Nepal is also home to eight of the world's ten tallest mountains, including Mount Everest, the highest point… Read more →
Category: Travel Asia
The One-Page Super-Guide to Laos for new visitors & expats
Laos is a fascinating country, sometimes forgotten by not being graced with a stunning coastline like it's neighbors, regardless, it's a trekkers dream and one of South East Asia's fastest growing economies. The country is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southwest, and Thailand to the west and southwest. View the… Read more →
The One Page Essential Super-Guide to Siem Reap Cambodia
Being home to the amazing UNESCO-listed ancient ruins that are Angkor Wat, Siem Reap is one of Cambodia's key destinations for travelers. It's also a vibrant city and one, due to the massive volumes of international tourists, and the ones who fell in love and stayed, emerging as a very cosmopolitan city it's own unique Khmer way. View the… Read more →
Vietnam – The One-Page Super-Guide for Visitors and Long Term Residents
Located in Southeast Asia, Vietnam is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the north-west, Cambodia to the south-west, the Gulf of Thailand to the south and the South China Sea to the East. It is well known for its bustling big cities being the capital Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, along with its beaches, rivers, French colonial… Read more →
Quitting your Job and Living Abroad in Asia
It's a dream for many, but did you actually know just how realistic it is? It's probably more possible than you think, take a look at our recent primer to living in Cambodia for example. Here's another example, there's a recent article by Laura Begley Bloom over at Forbes that features 8 destinations in the world where you can live… Read more →
The Essential One Page Cambodia Starter Guide [for Visitors and Future Residents]
Cambodia is fast becoming a hot destination not only for holiday-makers but also for long-stay expats. Long stayers can be broken into several categories including the ones unable to afford a reasonable life in their home country, the retiree with limited funds, the sexpat, the digital nomad, the volunteer, English teachers and the business savvy seeking to invest in a… Read more →
Asia's Most Unique and Most Luxurious Hotels 2017
Asia is a truly amazing place and hides some truly jaw-droppingly beautiful holiday retreats that can only be described as other-worldly. Secrets no more, as here are the most amazing, most unique and most luxurious hotels in Asia. Prepare to enter lalaland and drift off into another word as you peruse these stunning escapes. Jump to: India – Maldives –… Read more →
Swimming with Jellies in Palau
If someone dared you to jump into a lake full of jellyfish, would you do it? The obvious answer would be NO but for this lake, many will make an exception. This is widely known as the Jellyfish lake found in Palau Island (an island located in the Western Pacific Ocean). It's completely isolated from the ocean so the species… Read more →
This is for You, Untraveller!
"Travelling is rebellion in its purest form", says a Pinterest-worthy quote. Couldn't you agree more? Although, there will always be someone who can honestly admit that he or she loves the daily grind, wouldn't it be nice to just get away from all these boring routines? Take yourself far, far away or not too far at all. We do not… Read more →
Asia's Top 7 Destinations for Australians
Asia is a continent known for its outstanding hospitality and infamous tourist attractions, read on to discover the top destinations in Asia, for Australian holiday makers. Bali, Indonesia One of the most popular tourist destinations, throughout all of Asia, a holiday to Bali offers Australians affordable airfares, inexpensive accommodation, cheap shopping and friendly, local hospitality. Whether you are planning a… Read more →


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C-Grid III 90119 series female crimp terminals for use in C-Grid III 90156, 90123, 90142, 90143 and 90160 series crimp housings. These C-Grid III crimp receptacles terminals have a box design and a uniform locking system that enables them to be used inside different housing styles. The contacts are made from phosphor bronze with a choice of gold or tin plating and suitable for use with wire size ranges of 24-22 AWG or 28-26 AWG.
For suitable crimp tools see stock number 781-2728 for 24-22 AWG terminals and 781-2737 for 28-26 AWG terminals. An extraction tool (stock number 360-6897) and an insertion tool (stock number 360-6881) are also available.
Current Rating: 3A max
Working Voltage: 350 Vac/dc max
Contact Plating: Selective Gold over Nickel or Tin over Nickel
Insulation Material Headers: 15% Glass-filled Polyester (PBT)
Housing: Polyphenylene Oxide
Header Pin Size: 0.64 square mm
Recommended PCB Hole Diameter: 1mm
Consumer Electronics
Commercial Vehicles
|Tool Type
|Extraction Tool
|Series Number


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It is bizarre that the government was so hasty in its invocation of Article 50, but is now scrambling for extra time in transition due to the scale of the task ahead.
The government is arbitrarily pushing for us to leave the EU on 29 March 2019, at which point it follows that the UK will no longer have a veto over new EU legislation.
This is just a taste of what is to come once we're outside the EU, an organisation that determines much of our wealth and commerce as a country, but without any say on the rules.
There is no value to the transition phase if all the Conservatives are doing is kicking the can down the road.
That makes it a bridge to nowhere.


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Used 2017 BMW3 Series 330i xDrive Sedan Car
- Stock: 17968
- Odometer
- 34,617 miles
- Fuel Economy
- 23.0/33.0 mpg City/Hwy
- Exterior Color
- Jet Black
- Interior Color
- Black w/Red Highlight
- Body/Seating
- Car/5 seats
- Transmission
- 8 speed automatic
- Drivetrain
- all-wheel drive
- Engine
Highlighted Features
- Navigation system
- Automatic temperature control
- Emergency communication system
- Power moonroof
- Wireless phone connectivity
- Parking sensors
- Exterior parking camera rear
- Front dual zone A/C
Detailed Specifications
- 1-touch down
- 1-touch up
- Air conditioning
- Auto-dimming rearview mirror
- Automatic temperature control
- Driver door bin
- Driver vanity mirror
- Emergency communication system: BMW Assist eCall
- Front beverage holders
- Front dual zone A/C
- Garage door transmitter
- Illuminated entry
- Memory seat
- Navigation system
- Passenger door bin
- Passenger vanity mirror
- Power moonroof
- Power windows
- Rear air conditioning
- Rear beverage holders
- Rear door bins
- Remote keyless entry
- Residual heat recirculation
- Speed control
- Telescoping steering wheel
- Tilt steering wheel
- Alloy wheels
- Four wheel independent suspension
- Front anti-roll bar
- Power steering
- Rear anti-roll bar
- Speed-sensing steering
- 1st row LCD monitors: 1
- CD player
- CD-MP3 decoder
- DVD-Audio
- Diversity antenna
- Internal memory capacity (GB): 20 GB
- Primary LCD size: 8.8"
- Radio data system
- Smart device integration: ConnectedDrive
- Steering wheel mounted audio controls
- Wireless phone connectivity: Bluetooth
- Front center armrest
- Front seats: bucket
- Genuine wood console insert
- Genuine wood dashboard insert
- Genuine wood door panel insert
- Heated front seats
- Leather shift knob
- Leather steering wheel
- Max seating capacity: 5
- Power driver seat
- Power passenger seat
- Rear seat center armrest
- Rear seats: bench
- Rear seats Folding position: fold forward seatback
- Split folding rear seat
- Sport steering wheel
- Compressor: intercooled turbo
- Cylinder configuration: I-4
- Drive type: all-wheel drive
- Engine liters: 2.0
- Engine location: front
- Fuel economy city: 23mpg
- Fuel economy combined: 26mpg
- Fuel economy highway: 33mpg
- Fuel tank capacity: 15.8gal.
- Horsepower: 248hp @ 5,200RPM
- Manual-shift auto: STEPTRONIC
- Mode select transmission
- Number of valves: 16
- Recommended fuel: Premium Unleaded
- Torque: 258 lb.-ft. @ 1,450RPM
- Transmission: 8 speed automatic
- Variable intake manifold
- Variable valve control
- Auto-dimming door mirrors
- Bumpers: body-color
- Door mirrors: body-color
- Heated door mirrors
- Power door mirrors
- Rear cargo: trunk
- Turn signal indicator mirrors
- Compression ratio: 11.00 to 1
- Curb weight: 1,631kg (3,595lbs)
- Engine bore x stroke: 82.0mm x 94.6mm (3.23" x 3.72")
- Engine displacement: 2.0 L
- Engine horsepower: 248hp @ 5,200RPM
- Engine torque: 258 lb.-ft. @ 1,450RPM
- Exterior body width: 1,811mm (71.3")
- Exterior height: 1,435mm (56.5")
- Exterior length: 4,636mm (182.5")
- Front headroom: 1,024mm (40.3")
- Front legroom: 1,067mm (42.0")
- Front shoulder room: 1,400mm (55.1")
- GVWR: 2,080kg (4,585lbs)
- Interior cargo volume: 368 L (13 cu.ft.)
- Interior maximum cargo volume: 368 L (13 cu.ft.)
- Payload: 408kg (900lbs)
- Rear headroom: 958mm (37.7")
- Rear legroom: 892mm (35.1")
- Rear shoulder room: 1,400mm (55.1")
- Turning radius: 5.9m (19.2')
- Wheelbase: 2,809mm (110.6")
- Delay-off headlights
- Display: analog
- Exterior parking camera rear
- Front fog lights
- Front reading lights
- Fully automatic headlights
- Low tire pressure warning
- Outside temperature display
- Parking sensors: front and rear
- Rain sensing wipers
- Rear reading lights
- Rear window defroster
- Speed sensitive wipers
- Tachometer
- Trip computer
- Variably intermittent wipers
- 4 wheel disc brakes
- ABS brakes
- Adjustable head restraints: driver and passenger w/tilt
- Anti-whiplash front head restraints
- Brake assist
- Dual front impact airbags
- Dual front side impact airbags
- Electronic stability
- Ignition disable
- Knee airbag
- Occupant sensing airbag
- Overhead airbag
- Panic alarm
- Perimeter/approach lights
- Security system
- Tracker system
- Traction control
Dealer Notes
All Wheel Drive, Leather Seats, Heated Rear Seat, Premium Sound System, Satellite Radio. BMW 330i xDrive with Jet Black exterior and Black w/Red Highlight interior features a 4 Cylinder Engine with 248 HP at 5200 RPM*.
NAVIGATION SYSTEM BMW Online & BMW Apps, Instrument Cluster w/Extended Contents, Advanced Real-Time Traffic Information, Remote Services, BMW Connected App Compatibility, MOONROOF, DRIVER ASSISTANCE PACKAGE Rear View Camera, Park Distance Control, HEATED FRONT SEATS. Fully Serviced Here, Non-Smoker Vehicle, Low-Interest Financing Available
"Balances sharp handling with a ride quality that won't beat you up; engine choices that offer power, smoothness and fuel efficiency; upscale, spacious interior with logical and easy-to-use controls." -Edmunds.com.
This 330i xDrive is priced $6,300 below NADA Retail.
A family owned business since 2003, Prestige understands that there are good people out there that have had some bad luck along the way. That is why we offer a full credit re-establishment program through our renowned "Buy Here, Pay Here" program. So if you want to experience "A Better Way to Buy a Car", please visit us at one of our three locations or call Internet Sales direct at 855-437-8615.
Pricing analysis performed on 9/26/2020. Horsepower calculations based on trim engine configuration. Fuel economy calculations based on original manufacturer data for trim engine configuration. Please confirm the accuracy of the included equipment by calling us prior to purchase.
KBB.com Consumer Reviews
- 5.0
40+ years of driving. First BMW. Love it.
By Old School on Sunday, November 10, 2019Having personally driven many cars from early 70s muscle cars, Mustang 5.0 Liters, Mini's, Camrys, Honda's, and Acuras, my wife and I decided that a BMW was a good car for traveling in our later years. We had primarily driven coupes with standard transmissions but relented to a sedan with automatic to be a comfortable yet performance oriented long distance car. We did not want some "old person" slush bucket and the 328i fit that bill. We bought the car off lease and it has performed well with no issues in the two years we've owned it. It is not a daily driver and we're hoping that will contribute to its longevity. We are both conservative highway drivers but appreciate the additional power the 240 HP engine offers when needed. Gas mileage is good. It's comfortable, particularly with the sport seats. The Idrive, Bluetooth, and presets took some learning but we're on board with that now. We purposely did not purchase all wheel drive and other amenities to keep this car as simple as possible. It's been a fun experience so far.
- 5.0
Great car
By Big r on Monday, April 20, 2020Great car
- 4.0
Go for it!
By Scott on Saturday, October 12, 2019Having had too many cars to mention, many of them German, this car excels in performance, handling, electronics, and prestige. Lacks in interior quality and a little over priced? But would I buy it again? Definitely yes, depending on what your needs are.
General. Although we try to present information that is complete and accurate on this site, the possibility for data error exists. Therefore, absolute accuracy cannot be guaranteed. We will make every attempt to correct such discrepancies promptly upon notification of such errors, but pricing and listing errors are considered invalid and may or may not be honored at the sole discretion of Prestige Auto Mart, INC and its participating locations. Prices, availability, and vehicle information are subject to change at any time without notice. Please verify the accuracy of all information with the dealer prior to purchase.
Price. Dealer's price and estimated payments do not include documentation fee, taxes, title, registration, emissions testing charges, or other fees required by law or lending organizations. Must take same day delivery for online listed pricing. See dealer for more information.
MPG. Mileage is based upon EPA mileage estimates. Use for comparison only. Your actual mileage will depend on how you drive and maintain your vehicle, driving conditions, and other factors.
Spare Keys. All vehicles are guaranteed to come with 1 key. Occasionally, a spare key is available and provided upon registration of the vehicle. If a spare key is not available, we will be glad to have one prepared for you at our low internal cost. Please see your sales consultant for more information.
Open Recalls. Prestige Auto Mart will make every attempt to notify you of any open recalls at the time of purchase. However, you, the buyer, should also contact the vehicle manufacturer to verify that there are no other outstanding recalls on your purchased vehicle.
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January 10, 2019
SEE Central at IITK
About SEE
The Social Entrepreneurs & Enterprises Platform is a network of passionate individuals and institutions (alumni of PAN IIT & IIMA) combining their skills and resources in support of key activities to promote social innovation in India.
Our united effort provides leadership to advance social innovation, with the ultimate goals to create a measurable social impact.
SEE Vision
To create awareness among all Alumni and non-Alumni about Social Sector, needs and opportunities and to leverage the power of our Alumni network to support those entering the sector or on their journey, through, expertise, mentoring, funding, government and corporate connects.
SEE Objectives
- Create awareness in SEE space
- Fund SEs (create corpus)
- Share feasibility and impact data
- Build the stakeholders connect as part of SEE ecosystem
- Build network of CSR, Angel Investors, VCs, Mentors, Govt Representatives, SEs
- Provide a platform for budding entrepreneurs
- Provisions of services such as marketing, growth, IT, accounting, govt linkages, project planning
- Work on to Support the SE with the following
- Connect with relevant SE or stakeholders
- Mentorship from the willing mentors
- Connect with Relevant fund agency
- Connect with possible business partners
- Support align the active fund and fund raise
Press Conference
Video Gallery
SEE Part 1
SEE Part 2
SEE Part 3
SEE Part 4
SEE Part 5
SEE Part 6
SEE Part 7
SEE Part 8


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Planning an Irish Wedding from abroad:
It can seem like a very daunting task to undertake planning a wedding from a different country, sometimes even a different time zone, but it absolutelycanbe done!
It's all about trust… If you can rely on your Wedding Suppliers to do what they have promised over email/ phone, then everything should fall into place on the day. So how do you know whom to trust?
1. Trust Experience:
Testimonials from previous clients are an invaluable source of research.


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The Marcia Ball Band Coming to Wimberley Glassworks!
Join us on June 3rd for an electric evening of live music, cold beer and Grammy nominated Blues pianist Marcia Ball!
"Rollicking roadhouse rave-ups and soulful Gulf Coast R&B"
--USA Today
Marcia Ball's brand of blues lifts the spirit -- old-school R&B mixed with Cajun, zydeco, boogie-woogie, swamp pop and just about every other stripe of music from Southeast Texas' Golden Triangle across the state line toward New Orleans and Baton Rouge. She's as perfect an artist as could be.
--Houston Chronicle
The title track of Marcia Ball's latest album, The Tattooed Lady And The Alligator Man, is an irresistible tale of true love at the traveling carnival. It's a story that nobody but Ball could spin, filled with vivid details, universal truths, and a rambunctious sense of fun and desire. With raucous horns punctuating Ball's legendary piano playing and emotional, melodic vocals, the song kicks off a CD of eleven dazzling originals and one stirring cover. The release mixes Ball's Gulf Coast blues, New Orleans R&B, swampy Louisiana ballads, and jumping, Tex-Mex flavored zydeco into a one-of-a-kind musical gumbo, a sound she has been perfecting over the course of her legendary career. Her love of the road has led to years of countless performances at festivals, concert halls and clubs all over the world.
The Texas-born, Louisiana-raised musical storyteller's groove-laden New Orleans boogie, deeply soulful ballads and rollicking blues have won her an enormous, loyal and still-growing fan base. She's received a total ten Blues Music Awards (and a whopping 44 nominations), seven Living Blues Awards, and five Grammy Award nominations. She has been inducted into both the Gulf Coast Music Hall Of Fame and the Louisiana Music Hall Of Fame.


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From police tape around the wedding cake to the softly sparkling lights and Nicola's stunning vintage lace wedding dress, I adore every detail of this gorgeous Vaulty Manor wedding. If you're considering or planning a Christmas wedding then you'll find some gorgeous ideas here with Nicola and Tim's wedding report and the beautiful images from Tracy Morter Photography to inspire you.
I love a Christmas wedding – somehow all the love and friendship along with twinkly lights and little red accessories and details turn the coldest time of the year into a warm and welcoming occasion. My parents chose December for their wedding, and I can definitely see why it's such a popular time of year to get hitched.
Anyway – I know you'll enjoy today's real wedding on the blog so grab a cuppa and scroll down to see all the images. Thanks to Nicola and Tim for sharing, and to the very lovely Tracy Morter Photography for submitting another gorgeous wedding to the blog!
Oh! And I warn you, if you click through to read the text from Tim and Nicola's wedding reading, you will cry. I did! Claire xxx
Nothing good gets away! Nicola and Tim's Essex wedding blog
Wedding venue:
Vaulty Manor, Essex www.vaultymanor.co.uk
Wedding photographer:
Tracy Morter www.tracymorter.com
How would you describe your wedding style?
Cosy Christmas
A little about the wedding ceremony:
The ceremony was held at Vaulty Manor; I walked down the aisle to a song called 'Marry Me' by Train and we had one reading by the bride's brother, David. Tim and I chose to have additional vows added to the ceremony to recite to each other, however, we had completely forgotten about it until the registrar had announced it!!
Which readings did you choose?
A read of a letter called 'Nothing Good Gets Away' http://www.lettersofnote.com/2012/01/nothing-good-gets-away.html
Tell us a little about your wedding venue styling and details:
We tried to create a nice cosy feeling in our venue, and tried to make it feel as Christmassy as possible by adding subtle little details around the venue. We served mulled wine to our guests for the reception drinks and added mince pies to the table to go with the after dinner coffee.
We added holly leaves (picked from the bride's grandparents garden) to the cake and the guest book table, hooked candy canes over the guests' wine glasses and included Christmas crackers to the tables as well as the favour boxes. The favour boxes were presented like little Christmas presents and included a chocolate reindeer and a Cancer Research pin badge.
Our florist decorated an 8ft Christmas tree for us on the morning and we chose candelabras for our centrepieces to add a nice candle glow over dinner.
To add a little fun to the evening, we bought a bunch of novelty Christmas hats for the guests to wear while having their pictures taken for our guest book. Definitely a fun idea after a couple of drinks
My favourite 'finishing touch' was our cake topper, made by Artlocke Designs. The cake topper was made to look exactly like us on the day and also includes little details that meant something to us. We had our cat included on the design and had police tape wrapped around us as the groom is a detective. It was, by far, one of my favourite items!
Invitations and reception stationery:
All stationery was made and printed by Wedding Invitation Boutique. We chose the 'Santa Baby' range to fit in with our Christmas theme. http://www.weddinginvitationboutique.co.uk/
Wedding music and entertainment:
During the reception drinks and dinner, we made a playlist of jazz and Christmas music to play. We played songs by Diana Krall, Harry Connick Jr, Ella Fitzgerald and similar artists. For the evening party, we hired a soul singer called Irie J. http://www.iriej.com/
What did you wear?
My dress was a Mori Lee design and was a vintage looking dress with a lace design. To make the dress unique, I picked a detailed beaded belt to add around the waist. My shoes were Jimmy Choo and I finished my look with delicate pearl jewellery and pearl hair pins.
The groom wore a suit from Moss Bros, in the Sandford style.
Memorable wedding day moments:
- The father of the bride, Groom and best man speeches. All very, very funny!
- Our first dance, Let's Stay Together by Al Green, sung by Irie J.
Wedding day advice:
Make sure you take a moment to sit back and take in what's going on around you. The day goes by so fast that it's easy to miss the little things.
Recommended wedding suppliers:
Singer: Irie J http://www.iriej.com/
Stationery: Wedding Invitation Boutique http://www.weddinginvitationboutique.co.uk/
Photographer: Tracy Morter http://www.tracymorter.com/
Florist: TJ Designs http://www.tjdesignerstudio.co.uk/
Light Curtain: Starlight Dance floors: http://www.starlightdancefloors.co.uk/
Bride and Bridesmaid Dresses: Bridal Boutique, Southend http://www.bridal-boutique.co.uk/
Cake Topper: Artlocke Designs http://www.artlockedesigns.co.uk/
Artlocke designsTracy Morter PhotographyVaulty Manorwedding blog


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Alexis Arquette Claims Will Smith + Jada Pinkett Smith Are Gay
Over the past few years, couple Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith have dealt with a number of rumors surrounding their marriage. They were most recently the target of divorce rumors (which, at the time, was unsurprising considering the vast number of famous breakups that took place in 2015), though they've since cleared up that they're very much together.
Actress Alexis Arquette, however, has hit out against the couple with a new claim: That they're both gay.
The actress posted a message to Facebook just days after Jada announced her plans to boycott this year's Academy Awards for their continued lack of diversity. Arquette's post read, in part (via The Daily Mail), "When Jada comes out as gay and her beard husband admits his first marriage ended when she walked in to him…servicing his Sugar Daddy Benny Medina…then I will listen to them."
Her message continued, "Will threw a fit on the set of [Six Degrees of Separation] when he was required by the scene to kiss Anthony Rapp. He persuaded the director to shoot the back of his head in frame. Blocking the non existent lip lock entirely. F---k him. Gays have enemies. They lurk in gilded closets. Outing is healthy. You are either with or against us. You decide. Today."
Arquette clarified in the comments that she was referring to Smith's first wife, Sheree Zampino. The couple were married in 1992 and had one child together before divorcing in 1995.
Arquette isn't the first person this week to come for Will and Jada. Janet Hubert, the Fresh Prince of Bel Air's original Aunt Viv, posted a video online that called Jada out for her Oscars boycott.
She said, "Girlfriend, there's a lot of s— going on in the world that you all don't seem to recognize. People are dying, our boys are being shot left and right, people are hungry…[the Oscars] just ain't that deep."


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Hall County Civil Service Board
Who is on the board?
- Ed Barfield
- Robbie Robison
- Heather Glenn
- Larry Farmer
- Deborah Mack
- Alan Wayne
- Jerry Nix
How are they appointed?
- Four members are selected by the majority vote of the Hall County Board of Commissioners.
- One member is selected by the majority vote of elected county officials including the clerk of Superior Court, tax commissioner, sheriff, judge of Juvenile Court and judge of Probate Court.
- One member is selected by a majority of full-time public safety employees of Hall County.
- One member is selected by a majority vote of full-time general services employees of Hall County.
Hall County Government Employee Handbook
The Hall County Board of Commissioners asserted earlier this week that politics and emotion have clouded the decisions of the seven-person Hall County Civil Service Board.
In making a request that would disband the board in favor of a single administrative law officer, Chairman Richard Mecum told the local legislative delegation on Thursday that he wanted to get rid of partisanship, politics and friendships and get to "the facts of the law."
"We want the facts of the case and not personalities," he added.
According to the county handbook, the Civil Service Board first acts as an employee appeals board, and second, as an advisory board to the county commission and management regarding personnel policies and procedures.
The board was created in 1968 by constitutional amendment, and its members serve four-year terms. Legislation is required to amend the Civil Service Act of Hall County at the state level.
Four of the members are appointed by the commission, two are chosen by a majority of government employees and one by other elected officials in the county, including the sheriff, judges, clerk of Superior Court and tax commissioner. The board doesn't meet at set times, but rather, whenever the need arises.
Deborah Mack, a former Hall County commissioner, was appointed to the board by the commission and has served for one year.
She said she didn't know the rationale behind the commissioners' desire to replace the board, but she had no issue with the proposal, either.
"If that's the way that it needs to go, then there's no problem with ... running it that way," she said.
She said the board gets in-depth training, and much of what members do is listen just as a jury would. The board often hears termination hearings and an attorney is always present.
"Both sides have legal representation to answer different questions, and if we're not going in the right direction, to steer us in the right direction," Mack said.
The board recently voted to overturn the terminations of two Hall County Sheriff's Office employees, deputies Jack Dodd and Larry Henslee, who were fired in July after an inmate escaped from their custody. The sheriff's office is appealing that Nov. 18 decision.
Mecum said that hearing had nothing to do with Thursday's resolution.
Rep. Lee Hawkins, R-Gainesville, asked if moving to an administrative law officer would cost more.
"I'm not questioning the motive, just concerned with the money," he said.
County Attorney Bill Blalock noted that the lawyer who represents the board in hearings is paid, and Commissioner Craig Lutz said he felt any cost incurred by the switch would be worth it.
"You see the examples we've had recently of terminations that have been overturned by the Civil Service Board," Lutz said. "They're putting people who made very poor decisions on behalf of the taxpayers back on the taxpayer payroll in a situation where they're working with other people. I think whatever you spend ... is going to be well worth it."
The handbook expressly forbids partiality and politics.
"The Civil Service Board members are to be interested in the fair treatment of employees with proper recovering and concern for the efficient and effective operations of government services provided to the citizens of Hall County," the policy reads. "It is imperative that board members exhibit mature reasoning, prudent stewardship of public funds, evidence of good judgment and nonpartial and nonpolitical performance of these duties."
Mecum also said board members had "intimidated" others into voting differently during a hearing.
Commissioner Scott Gibbs cited a case where he felt the board let emotion get in the way of applying the law.
"We had a hearing last year ... when the guy was sexting his girlfriend on a county cell phone on county time with pornographic pictures," Gibbs said. "He appealed it, took it to the Civil Service Board, tied attorneys up for two days, and one of the members was concerned about getting rid of him because she was worried about his retirement down the road.
"We have rules and regulations and that's what we want enforced," he added.


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As industry leaders and providers of premium products such as wines, spirits, coffees, teas, and cuisine, the emphasis under the Findlater brand has always been on quality and a name that you can trust.
As a heritage brand, the company has been in operation since the early 1800's, catering for a large variety of clients, always delivering an exceptional service to the market place. It is with this rich history and provenance in mind that Greenhouse set about rebranding what was originally the Findlater Wine & Spirit Group. A change of name was required in order to incorporate the company's expanding repertoire into coffee, tea and cuisine. Greenhouse's solution was to rename the company Findlater & Co. which makes reference to the origin of the company but also represents the different divisions within the company.


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The economic recession has had an overwhelming impact on many industries that vie for the consumer dollar, among them the lodging segment of the hospitality industry. With corporate travel cut to a minimum and consumers cutting their discretionary spending on travel, the occupancy levels, as well as average daily rates, decreased dramatically during the recession. Recently, however, occupancy rates have increased, which is driving the growth in revenue per available room. According to Colliers PKF Hospitality Research, "There was a strong surge in lodging demand during the first half of 2010. The sharp rise in demand during the first half of 2010 is partially attributable to the low level of room rates."
Hotels have benefited from offering various types of monetary incentives to customers, and no doubt they will continue to do so. The most popular and effective tactics that lodging revenue management professionals use to stimulate room occupancy are value-added packages and lower rates. In addition, consumers participating in leisure travel are redeeming loyalty reward program points. The accounting, which can be confusing, differs according to the type of incentive used.
The accounting guidance pertaining to sales incentives is discussed in the Financial Accounting Standards Board's Accounting Standards Codification (ASC) Topic No. 605-50 (Revenue Recognition/Customer Payments and Incentives). While much of the discussion presented in this guidance refers to software, manufacturing, and retailer discounts and rebates, it also applies to some of the more common incentives used by the lodging industry to induce sales, including:
Coupons and rebates
Discounts on future purchases
Volume discounts resulting in cash rebates
A free night's stay with the purchase of a certain number of overnight stays
Although the accounting standards do not specifically address these sales incentives in the hospitality industry, using discount coupons is recognized as a reduction of revenue at the time of the sales transaction. The general rule for accounting for coupons and discounts indicates that sales incentives that are offered voluntarily, without charge by a company, may be used by a customer as a result of a single transaction, and will not result in a loss on the sale are recognized at the later of:
The date at which the related revenue is recorded by the vendor, or
The date at which the sales incentive is offered.
Lodging incentives are recognized at the time the services are provided, which means the accounting related to those incentives—value-added packages and lower rates—is generally less complex than that related to the incentives used frequently in restaurants. Hotels may bundle packages for lodging, spa treatments, and food and beverages for one fixed price. The revenue is separated into the various components, and the revenue earned is allocated to the various departments.
In addition, if a hotel is offering a promotional discount in which the guest will receive the fourth night at no charge (after three paid nights), hotels record the revenue for the three paid nights at the negotiated room rate and the fourth night, in this example, at the free amount. Under ASC 605 of the accounting literature, you should recognize the discounted night in the example proportionately throughout the guest's stay (recognize lower revenue in the first three nights), however, in practice it is not recorded in this manner because of its relative insignificance in any particular monthly reporting period. Also, all of the major hotel property management systems are reporting net revenue consistent with the more practical method of recording zero revenue for the fourth night.
Promotional coupons that offer a designated value for a new restaurant or spa treatment at the hotel upon the next visit are also popular. The accounting treatment for recording these types of incentives is similar to the treatment of incentives commonly used in restaurant operations. Since these promotional coupons are offered voluntarily and without charge, the revenue is reduced by the discount amount at the time the coupon is presented. This treatment assumes that the promotional coupon is not redeemable for cash value, nor will a loss result from the sale.
Companies that issue discounts or coupons that have a cash value or allow a reimbursement are subject to different accounting treatment. Incentives used by franchisors may require that a franchisor or vendor that is providing a form of cash reimbursement to the retailer recognize a liability for the estimate of the dollar amount of discount coupons expected to be used.
When accounting for sales incentives and discounts in the lodging industry, discounts such as "Get the fourth night free after three paid nights" as well as discount coupons on rooms, food, and beverages are recorded as reductions of revenue when redeemed, assuming the sale does not result in a loss. However, incentive programs that have a cash value or allow a reimbursement require the vendor to recognize a liability for the estimate of the dollar amount of discount coupons expected to be redeemed.
Bob Berti is a partner with Crowe Horwath LLP in the Chicago office. He can be reached at 630.574.1620 or email@example.com.


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The Iomega StorCenter ix12-300r Network Storage array provides up to 24 TB of networked storage in a 2U form factor and is said to "easily" support up to 250 users for production file and block data storage, backup to disk, Hyper-V and VMware virtualization and Exchange Server 2010 storage.
The NAS runs EMC's LifeLine OS and supports multiple JBOD and RAID 0, 1, 5, 6, and 10 volumes with online RAID level migration and volume expansion. The ix12 also supports storage pools, which enable the drives inside the array to be grouped together by similar size and data protection mechanism.
The hardware platform is based on a 3 GHz Intel Core2 Duo E8400 CPU with 2 GB of DDR2 RAM. Four Gigabit Ethernet ports support aggregation, failover and load balancing as well as VLANs. Three USB 2.0 ports support storage expansion and UPS shutdown synchronization.
Software features include Active Directory, DFS, WebDAV and iSCSI support, recording from Panasonic and Axis network cameras. Backup is supported for Apple Time Machine and to / from rsync and CIFS shares.
The ix12-300r Network Storage array is available this month from CDW at an MSRP of $4,999.99 for the 4TB and $5,999 for the 8 TB configurations.
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