text: Caps go 'on attack' with new coach December 12, 200712:00AM PST Previous Next Gary Kingston - Vancouver Sun Keen to see his club play attacking, offensive-minded soccer while also incorporating talented teenage players into the lineup, Vancouver Whitecaps president Bob Lenarduzzi has turned to Europe to find a head coach he believes can deliver. Teitur Thordarson, a native of Iceland who has extensive coaching experience in Norway and with the Estonian national team, has signed a two-year contract to replace the fired Bob Lilley. "Football is about results and there are a lot of different ways to get results, but my philosophy has always been to try to play attacking football, so that is something we will try to do," said Thordarson, who made his first visit to Canada a couple of weeks ago to meet with Whitecaps officials. He conceded that he doesn't know much about the United Soccer Leagues First Division. And he said the fact the season is short and players aren't together all year as they are in Europe "is a challenge" and something he'd like to see changed. Thordarson said he was intrigued by the Whitecaps' desire to move to the Major Soccer League, North America's top league, by 2011 provided the long-delayed waterfront stadium is built. The American-born Lilley, who had guided the Whitecaps to the USL title in 2006, was let go after the club endured a 12-game winless streak in 2007, scored just 27 goals in 28 games and was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. "Over time you get jaded, you become cautious and it's time to shed that," said Lenarduzzi, who added that he expects to turn over more than half the 26-man roster. "In addition to playing attacking soccer, I'm looking for our players, and it's something I've talked to Teitur [pronounced TAY-tour] about, just to show an urgency for 90 minutes ... to really demonstrate that they want to win that particular game," said Lenarduzzi. He acknowledged that domestic candidates Nick Dasovic, an ex-Whitecap, and Colin Miller were the front-runners for the job until Thordarson, who was urged to come to Canada by Evan Pellerud, head coach of the Canadian national women's team, applied. Lenarduzzi said he was swayed by Thordarson's national team experience in Estonia and the fact he coached Norwegian First Division teams with the kind of youth residency programs that the Whitecaps have instituted. Thordarson said he will have no problem working the best young players into his squad. "You have to do that, especially when you are not so big that you can basically buy what you want." "It's my belief that if you're good enough, you're good enough," said Lenarduzzi of promoting worthy teenagers to the senior squad. "Part of the problem we have in North America is the assumption that 16-, 17-, 18-year-old players are too young. That's not the case. "So what we needed was someone at the top of our pyramid who is willing to play the younger players that are performing well in the residency [program], at the same time understanding that you need that core of senior players." One of those core players is Jeff Clarke. The 30-year-old midfielder, who only met Thordarson for the first time at Tuesday's news conference, said he's disappointed Dasovic and Miller didn't get a chance, but he still likes the hire. "For a lot of us, who've been subject to a similar style over the last five years, maybe this guy can come in and provide a contrast to that, could rejuvenate a lot of us," said Clarke. As a player who got his professional start as a teenager, he also supports Lenarduzzi's desire to see good young players moved up as long as it's not just a public relations exercise or at the expense of team chemistry. Lenarduzzi also said Tuesday that the club will take advantage of Thordarson's connections, particularly in Scandinavia, to look at bringing in players from overseas. "We want to play as many Canadian, and particularly B.C.-based players as possible, but we can't afford to compromise the product in doing so," said Lenarduzzi. "While we're getting our residency program up and running, our objective is to make sure we're still winning championships at the top end." firstname.lastname@example.com © The Vancouver Sun 2007 Previous Next


text:
After being down sharply, equity futures have of course recovered to about even in the premarket on this HFT controlled POMO fueled Monday morning. The dollar is higher, bonds are higher, oil is higher, and gold is lower.
Citigroup – as messed up as that company is – managed to "earn" $2.17 billion in past quarter, thus magically beating estimates. This was accomplished in large part "as the company reduced loan-loss reserves by $1.99 billion." They say the reduced loan-loss provisions are due to "improving credit conditions." LOL, I'd like to know which improvement they are referring to, because frankly that's just an outright lie. Once again it's all in the accounting and we have no idea what their models are marking to what fantasy. The government doesn't care, they just look the other way as long as there's no crisis TODAY.
Of course the banks work hard to PLANT stories like this one on CNN:
Housing mess: You can't stay if you don't pay
NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Just because a lender screwed up your foreclosure paperwork doesn't mean that you get to stay in your house for free.
Of course, plenty of enterprising lawyers will try to tell distraught homeowners otherwise.
But the best that most delinquent borrowers can hope for is that the current flap over foreclosure documents will prompt financial institutions to grant more affordable loan modifications, experts said.
Even if the banks didn't have the paperwork required to foreclose, "that doesn't mean you'll get a free house at the end of the day," said Ira Rheingold, head of the National Association of Consumer Advocates. "There is no panacea here."
… Meanwhile, lots of lawyers are trying to capitalize on the confusion by promoting their foreclosure rescue services to troubled borrowers. But homeowners should beware of scams, Rheingold said, because if you can't make your payments, they ultimately can't help you.
Now why do you suppose a story like this would get planted in a mainstream media source? Of course it's because they want to try to scare people into keeping up their payments, they don't want a mass exodus of debt slaves. It's all just a paperwork problem according to articles like this, it's not that big of a deal, it'll all get worked out… This type of thing is exactly how the few individuals who control the production of our money use the media in an attempt to control our minds through THEIR media outlets. If you aren't a debt pusher, you are not a part of their club.
Treasury International Capital flows for August came in positive for the second month in a row at $38.9 Billion. This compares to July's net inflow of a supposed $63.3 Billion. I have to say that with our $40 billion monthly deficits and bond auctions that are sucking the life out of the planet, that there is definitely some creative accounting going on over at the Treasury department. Foreign purchases of $128.7 Billion? "Net foreign acquisition of long-term securities, taking into account adjustments, is estimated to have been $111.8 Billion." Hmmm… I'll have to dig deeper and report back on this one, but in the meantime the report is here:
August TIC Data
Industrial Production for September fell by .2% following Augusts' rise of .2%. The consensus was looking for an additional .2% rise. Here's Econohope:
Industrial production was disappointing in September, declining 0.2 percent, following a 0.2 percent gain in August. The September decrease came in notably below analysts' median projection for a 0.2 percent advance.
By major components, manufacturing dipped 0.2 percent after a 0.1 uptick in August. Assemblies of motor vehicles & parts, however, provided some lift, rebounding 0.5 percent, following a 6.3 percent drop in August. Excluding motor vehicles, manufacturing posted a 0.2 percent decline in September, following a 0.5 percent boost the prior month.
For other major industry groups, utilities output dropped 1.9 percent while mining gained 0.7 percent.
Capacity utilization edged lower to 74.7 percent from 74.8 percent in August. Analysts had expected 74.8 percent for the latest month.
The latest production numbers show manufacturing to be on the weak side. However, that may be temporary as a weaker dollar will likely boost exports. Also, the latest Empire State manufacturing survey for October was notably more positive. And durable goods orders excluding transportation picked up recently.
Falling production, falling capacity utilization. Not to worry as trashing the dollar will supposedly make it all better (as measured in dollars that are worth less). No, sorry, but killing the dollar will accomplish nothing other than to completely sink America's workers into the abyss.
Which brings us to QE2 or QE100, whatever… this is an economy destroying move. The larger the QE, the faster and harder the economy will fall. Each effort to print money will simply make living that much harder for people whose incomes cannot rise. This will torpedo corporate earnings for all companies other than the financials partaking in the fraud. Now, should they QE and use it to help eliminate the people's debts, THEN you would have something that moves the economy forward. But when is that going to happen? Never of course, the narcissists are still in control… for now, but their actions are eventually going to lead to their ouster.
The Housing Market Index is released at 10 Eastern this morning. While this release probably won't show much further deterioration from the already disastrous housing market, I am very concerned that foreclosuregate could easily cause very large future deterioration in home sales, both due to falling foreclosure sales, but also due to concern over purchasing a home with a potentially defective title. It certainly won't help.
And foreclosuregate certainly won't help the banks. Investors who have been burned by the fraud produced by the banks are already getting more aggressive in their stance and are taking legal action against the banks. Of course the banks are not going to be able to make investors whole in the end, so this absolutely has the potential to derail the flow of credit. Just take a look at bank stocks and how they performed at the end of last week. The XLF is a huge drag on the market, and the only upside momentum left is in basically three momo tech stocks. But Apple and Google do not an economy or stock market make, and a very narrow based advance can most certainly not sustain overall rising prices forever.
The dollar appears to have found support right at the 76 level I had been showing and forecasting. The Euro also appears to have begun correcting its rise, but the Yen continues to strengthen for now. This could be short lived, but what happens with the currencies will most definitely influence the markets in the short run.
On Friday the McClelland Oscillator turned negative again, when this is negative, it does set up the potential for further downside momentum. Of course these real negative forces are being fought tooth and nail by fake forces like POMOs and currency interventions. Those interventions cannot be the basis of a market for long and I fail to see an exit strategy here. That means that they attempt and attempt until they just flat out fail. This is exactly what happened/ is happening in Japan.
I was looking at the long term charts again this weekend and want to note something that I think is quite significant. Most people never look at the YEARLY charts (each candle is one year), but when you look at both the DOW and SPX you see a massive negative RSI divergence. On the DOW, for example, we are almost to the height of the left shoulder around the year 1999, and yet the RSI is far below where it was at that peak.
The same divergence can be seen on the quarterly charts as well and the SPX was also divergent on the 2007 peak and that has still not been resolved. These divergences are a huge problem for those who believe the markets are going to move significantly higher. The fact remains that the biggest credit bubble in history is collapsing. It takes long time frames to resolve them, and this one most certainly has not been resolved.
In the meantime the Monday morning ramp continues its "win" streak, grinding out phony profits for the banks who own the HFT machines, they own the exchanges, they buy their own accounting rules, and they tell you that black is white via their media outlets. Oh yeah, Osama is living in a house in Pakistan and al-Zawahiri is his neighbor – queue up the bank's military industrial complex!

subset: commoncrawl


text:
How much research did author Laura Moriarty do for her book The Chaperone? Did she even wear a corset to precisely capture the binding details? Find out in this discussion with fellow author Curtis Sittenfeld.
Curtis Sittenfeld is the author of the bestselling novels American Wife, Prep, and The Man of My Dreams, which have been translated into twentyfive languages. Here she talks with novelist Laura Moriarty about her experiences writing The Chaperone.
Curtis Sittenfeld: You tell the story of two characters whose trajectories overlapLouise Brooks before she becomes famous, and quietly complicated housewife Cora Carlisle, who serves as 15yearold Louise's chaperone in New York in the fateful summer of 1922. Did you always know they belonged in a book together, or did you decide to write about one of them first?
Laura Moriarty: I always found Louise Brooks interesting. She was an icon of the silentfilm era, and I knew she'd grown up in Kansas, and that she was smart and rebellious and sharptongued. But it wasn't until I learned that she'd first gone to New York as a teenager with a 36yearold chaperone that I saw a story I wanted to write. I'm drawn to intergenerational tension, and it must have been strong in the 1920s: I wondered how Louise's generation of flappers appeared to the women who came of age at the beginning of the centurywearing corsets, long skirts, and high collars. This older generation of women had campaigned for suffrage and prohibition of alcohol; they must have been bewildered by the very different values and sensibilities of their daughters. I liked the idea of a chaperone, someone thrown into this dynamic all at once.
Curtis Sittenfeld: Were you a fan of Louise Brooks specifically, or of movies from the 1920s and 1930s generally, or were you exploring an art form unfamiliar to you when you started writing this novel?
Laura Moriarty: I wasn't that familiar with silent films. I didn't know, for example, how hugely popular silent films were in the 1920s, how people would go to the movies several times a week. While I was writing the book, I went to see Louise Brooks's most famous film, Pandora's Box, at the Tivoli in Kansas City, and it was a lovely experience. You can watch old silent films on DVD or even on YouTube, but it was a different feeling watching her up on the big screen, seeing the film the way people saw it all those years ago.
Curtis Sittenfeld: You've clearly done a lot of research. What form did your research take? Were there discoveries you madeabout Brooks, or the early twentieth century, or Wichitathat particularly captured your imagination? Was there any incredibly juicy details you came across that just didn't belong in the book?
Laura Moriarty: One of the first things I did, and maybe the most important, was drive down to Wichita and walk around Union Station, where Louise and her chaperone disembarked for New York in 1922. It's boarded up now, but just seeing the physical place helped me see the story and the journey as real. I read Louise's autobiography and Barry Paris's biography of her. I read oral histories of Manhattan in the '20s, and I read travel guides from that era as well. I spent a lot of time learning about 1920s fashion, not just what flappers were wearing, but what most women were wearing, what men were wearing. Overall I learned a lot of details about 1920s clothes, cars, kitchen appliances, and food. I had a character eating peanut butter in one scene until I learned that peanut butter wasn't commercially packaged and sold until 1924. But the biggest challenge was probably getting into the psychology of someone living in that erato know her values, and how she saw the world.
Here's an interesting bit about Louise that didn't get in the book: After she became famous, she and some friends were dining in a restaurant in Europe; she was bored, and she spotted a man she'd been friendly with, and she asked the waiter to summon him. The man didn't come over right away because he was with a woman, and he didn't want to be rude. When he finally did go over to Louise's table, apologizing and explaining his delay, she picked up a bouquet of roses and sliced him across the face with it, the thorns actually cutting his skin so his face was dripping blood. This story, to me, says a lot about the dark side of Louise's personality. Yes, she was beautiful and intelligent, and she could be very funny, but obviously there was a deep insecurity there, a real destructive rage and immaturity. I couldn't work that scene into the book, but I knew what it told me about Louise, and I thought about it when I was writing her scenes with Cora.
Curtis Sittenfeld: One of your characters was part of the Orphan Train, which placed children with midwestern families (who also happened to be strangers!). Is her experience based on that of anyone real, or is it more of an amalgamation?
Laura Moriarty: The thing that got me about the Orphan Trains was that the experiences were so varied. Some of the kids went from neglect and hunger in New York to loving farm families who couldn't wait to fatten them up, who gave them medical care, an education, affection. And some of the kids became the victims of terrible cruelty, and more hunger, and more neglectit all depended on who adopted them off of the train. Because the experiences of the children were so varied, I wouldn't say this character's experience is an amalgamation, though she isn't based on any one real person either. Her story is just what could have happened to a child, and what probably did happen to many of them.
Curtis Sittenfeld: Like Cora, you yourself live in Kansas, and you've set earlier fiction there. What do you like about writing and living in a place that's not considered a literary hotbed? (Admittedly, I ask this as someone who lives in nearby Missouri!)
Laura Moriarty: I love my town, Lawrence, Kansas, so I'm glad I get to live here. I've never felt that wanting to write required me to live in New York. There are so many great authors living there, of course, but I can get their books here, or I can read their stories online or in journals. And there's a great community of writers right here in my town. I teach creative writing at the University of Kansas, and I have creative colleagues and thoughtful graduate students, and I have a writing group I meet with almost every week. I suppose it's a little humbling to write from Kansas. I know I'm not at the literary center of the universe. But that might not be a bad thing.
Curtis Sittenfeld: I want to ask you a variation of a question I've been asked. I wrote a novel, American Wife, that borrowed from the life of a real personLaura Bushbut I changed her name. You've written about a real personLouise Brooksand used her real name, but she's no longer living. Do you feel any moral qualms about portraying a real person saying and doing things that you've made up?
Laura Moriarty: I was so excited about this book when I started it that I didn't have a lot of moral qualms. But the more I read about Louise and the more I wrote about her, the more I started to really care for her, and I did worry about getting her right, portraying her in a way that was accurate. I tried to keep my depiction true to what I learned from her autobiography and biographies about her. It's impossible to know what she'd think of my portrayal, but I hope she would approve. In any case, I don't think Louise Brooks ever lost too much sleep over what other people thought of her.
Curtis Sittenfeld: Your descriptions of Cora wearing a corset are incredibly convincing. Did youfor the sake of research, of courseever try one on yourself?
Laura Moriarty: I don't think I've ever tried on a corset, though a certain bridesmaid's dress did require a torturous bustier that will stay forever burned in my sensory memory.
Laura Moriarty, Author of The Chaperone, on Historical Fiction
I don't feel much nostalgia for the past - I'm a big fan of voting rights, permanent-press clothes, and antibiotics - but I've always loved reading historical fiction. I like the way it makes me think about previous generations, and how their lives and worries were very different from mine. I also like the way historical fiction reminds me to think of my own era as simply another moment in time, one that will seem antiquated too someday. Not only did you have to create a whole world and a cast of characters, but you also had to capture the essence of a time you've never experienced.
And then, a little over two years ago, I fell in love with the idea for a novel that had to take place, most emphatically, in 1922. I'd already written three novels, but they were all set in places I'd lived, in times I'd experienced. My work drew on scenes I'd witnessed, in settings that I knew and understood. But this was different. This novel had to take place in 1922 because that was the year a bobbed-haired Louise Brooks, soon to become a silent-film star and an icon of her generation, left her hometown of Wichita for New York accompanied by a chaperone. Not much is known about the real chaperone except that she was a thirty-six-year-old housewife of good standing, but I imagined her as my heroine, a complicated woman who would have her own reasons for going to New York. I could imagine her character, and how impossible it would be for her to keep someone like Louise Brooks from impropriety. And I could imagine how the summer might change the chaperone's life in ways she never anticipated.
But I couldn't just imagine 1922. Or Louise Brooks. Because both really existed. And I had to get the details right.
Fortunately, I find the 1920s fascinating. It was a decade of rapid change for women, for technology, and social mores. Hemlines were rising, then falling again. Alcohol was both illegal and widely available. I plunged into reading. Documentaries, old photographs, and field trips were helpful, too. I read a 1922 edition of Emily Post's Etiquette in Society, in Business, in Politics and at Home. I got my hands on an old tour guide to New York City, complete with subway maps and hotel and restaurant recommendations. I found a B. Altman catalogue for the summer of 1922 - it was full of fawning descriptions of mushroom hats and straw turbans, bathing suits made of wool jersey, whalebone corsets, boudoir caps, and middy suits for children. I went to a train museum. I read Louise's autobiography and biographies about her. I drove into Kansas City to watch her finest film, Pandora's Box, up on the big screen at the old Tivoli Theater, and I studied her expressions, the way she moved. I read archived 1922 articles from Ladies' Home Journal and The New York Times, and I spent a winter afternoon talking with a friend's mother, now in her eighties, who'd grown up in Wichita. The more I learned, the more I realized how much more I had to learn - but I began see and feel and hear and smell Louise and Cora's world as vividly as if I'd lived in it myself.
And really, I knew the biggest challenge of writing this novel wouldn't be getting the details right; it would be getting into the psychology of a woman born in 1886 - to truly understand how she would perceive the world. I didn't want Cora to be a heroine with modern-day sensibilities trapped in 1922. I wanted her to be a woman of her time, struggling with what she thinks she knows, what she's been taught, and what she comes to see for herself. At the same time, I didn't want to think of her as so very different from me. Human emotions - longing, annoyance, jealousy, giddiness, disappointment, hope - are timeless, and stories about the past need not always feel historical.
Before I actually started writing, I drove down to Wichita. Wichita's elegant Union Station, where Louise and her chaperone boarded the train for New York, was still there. It was boarded up, the doors padlocked, but I walked around it once, then twice, and I swear I could almost see them on the platform, standing together in the hot July sun, waiting for the train. The taller woman wore a pretty hat and long skirt; the girl was bareheaded, her dark hair bobbed. A train whistle blew in the distance. I could imagine the humidity, the squeeze of a corset, the guarded silence between them. I imagined until they were real, until I could feel their excitement, all three of us certain a great adventure lay in store.
A Conversation with Laura Moriarty author of The Rest of Her Life
Q: What inspired you to write
The Rest of
Her Life?
A:. The novel opens with the narrator learning that her bright and accomplished eighteen-year-old daughter has accidentally run over and killed a pedestrian. Whenever I read about accidents like this, I of course have sympathy for the victim and the victim's family; but I also feel terrible - and maybe even more sympathy - for the driver. Here I'm referring to drivers who aren't drunk or drag racing or doing anything overtly irresponsible - I'm thinking about the driver who doesn't see the cyclist when turning right, or the driver who is so distracted by the crying child in the back seat that she just doesn't see the stop sign, etc. That's the crazy thing about cars - they are so much a part of our lives, and I think we forget the damage we can do in them: a small, unthreatening, and basically decent person can get behind the wheel and, in just a moment of distraction, do irreparable damage to another human being. As a novelist, I wanted to look at how a sensitive, idealistic person might deal with the knowledge that she has done so much harm without meaning to.
Q: Both of your novels -The Center of Everything and The Rest of Her Life - are set in Kansas, where you live. Why?
A: I moved around a lot as a kid - my dad was a marine. I came to Kansas for college, and I just fell in love with it. I know it sounds crazy - I've lived in some places known for their beauty - Montana, Utah, Florida, and Maine. I spent a year in Malta. But there is something about the landscape of Kansas - how green and lush it looks in warm weather, how huge the sky appears, how violent the storms are; it all just really appeals to me. I do hate cold weather, so sometimes I think about packing it all up and heading back to Florida. But a wise and irate friend just told me, 'You're not moving to Florida. Don't be ridiculous. You live where people love you. What? You think I'm here for the weather?' I guess that's it. I live in Kansas, and I probably love Kansas, because so many of the people I love live here, and because I have finally lived in one place long enough to not feel like a stranger. I may whine all winter, but this is home.
Q: What other aspects of the novel, if any, are taken from personal experiences?
A: I try not to put too much of my own experiences into my work, though they probably seep in without me even realizing it. I know you're supposed to 'write what you know,' and to an extent, I do. I use little details from my own experiences - or maybe they aren't my experiences, but a friend's, or a former client from my social work days. It's interesting, because when I read a book I like, my first question for the author would be 'Is this true? Is this you?' So I completely understand the impulse to ask that question of an author. But as a writer, I'm often frustrated by the assumption that I'm writing about myself, if only because I find myself not writing about certain subjects or feelings or circumstances because I don't want people to connect them with me as a person. And that's too bad. I don't write as therapy. I write for the joy of creating, and for the experience of connecting with a reader. I write to get out of my head, not into it.
Q: You've made some interesting comments about being labeled a "chick lit" writer, and about the term in general. How do you define chick-lit, and where do you feel your books lie as far as genre is concerned?
A: I don't know that I've ever been explicitly referred to as a "chick-lit" writer. I think because it's a relatively new term, people are still working out the definition, but I worry that the subtle but persistent marginalization of women writers has entered the process. I see 'chick-lit' as a term for escapist and entertaining books that are by and about women. When I think of 'chick-lit,' I think of books with high-heeled shoes, or purses, or lips on the cover. Some of them are fun to read, some of them are thought-provoking, and some of them are well written. Many of them are formulaic with vapid and materialistic protagonists, but you could say that of a lot of genres. The problem, for me, is that it's a slippery slope - for certain people, 'chick-lit' refers to any book that has a predominantly female cast. People can read what they want, and they usually do, but when I write, I'm thinking about not only my characters and their world, but also the world we all actually live in and the competing philosophies and points of view it inspires. I certainly don't think it's wrong to want to read something light every now and then - people need escape and entertainment. But my characters are not stressing out about how to land a husband, and they're not going on shopping trips for five hundred dollar shoes. My characters, like most women - like most people- in the real world, deal with things like poverty and hard choices and regret and hope and how difficult it can be to love someone in the active sense of the word. I hope what I write is literary fiction - it's usually categorized that way. But in bookstores and in the media, my work is sometimes labeled 'women's fiction.' This isn't necessarily a bad thing - I am a woman, and my protagonists are women, and most of my readers are women. But you don't see 'The Kite Runner' categorized as Men's Fiction, though all of the major characters are male. 'A Prayer for Owen Meany' isn't Men's Fiction. I don't even think most book stores have a section for 'Men's Fiction,' unless it refers to gay literature. As I understand it, 'Men's Fiction' is just called 'Fiction.' That's sort of the unspoken rule: literature - Moby Dick, The Lord of the Flies - can be almost entirely populated by male characters, but if a book has mostly female characters, it becomes 'women's fiction;' which for some people, unfortunately, is synonymous with 'chick-lit.' The implication is that stories about women's lives are 'lite' and frivolous simply because they are about women.
I know this double standard isn't just a huge marketing conspiracy. The truth is women readers will buy and read books by and about men. (I'm guessing that more than half of the readers of 'The Kite Runner' and 'Owen Meany' were female.) I know there are some men who read fiction by women, and I know there are a few highly respected female writers - Zadie Smith, Joyce Carol Oates, and Virginia Woolf - who have a significant male readership. But I would argue that even at that level of writing (genius), there are a lot more women reading about fictional male characters than vice-versa. Maybe this is just human nature, the way it is. And so sales categories reflect that.
But I don't write chick-lit. I write books about women. Our lives are as serious and as full of wonder and grief as men's, and a female protagonist does not equal a beach read. I wish sales reports would show that more male readers were as curious about our lives and stories as I have always been about theirs. I can't imagine not having read The Lord of the Flies, or Moby Dick, or Heart of Darkness, or This Boy's Life, or A Separate Peace, or Malcom X, or The Fortress of Solitude, or the hundreds of other amazing books I've loved that are by and about men. But if the marketers are correct, and most men don't want to read about women, I can't make them. It's okay. Women buy more books anyway.
Q: Did you have a particular message in mind when you wrote The Rest of her Life?
A: When I was developing the characters, it occurred to me that the idea that you could cause so much harm by just being distracted was a good metaphor for (accidentally) bad parenting. I've heard parenting instructors warn people 'no one gets out of bed in the morning and says, 'I'm going to really screw up my kid today.' Similarly, no one gets in a car and thinks, 'I'm going to get on my cell phone and roll through a stop sign and kill someone.' But we do these things. We get distracted. We're full of good intentions, but we don't see what's right in front of us. So after you make the mistake, you can promise to be more attentive, more careful. But you also have to consider the harm you've already done.
Q: How do you come up with plot-lines? Do you develop a main character first and find that a story naturally follows?
A: With The Center of Everything, I came up with the narrator, Evelyn, first. That is such a voice driven novel, and I was somewhat content to just sort of follow her voice and see where it led. I say 'somewhat' because when I was writing it, people would ask 'what's your novel about?' and I would have to say 'it's about a girl growing up in Kansas.' Their eyes would sort of glaze over with pity, and I would get worried. All those how-to books on writing have these rules - the protagonist has to want something, the conflict has to be established by the third page, etc, and I didn't have any of that. But I think following Evelyn's voice and her character was the right way to write that particular book. In contrast, I considered the plot for The Rest of Her Life before I developed any of the characters. That's also supposed to be a big no-no - in graduate creative writing programs, you hear a lot about how you're supposed to come up with characters first unless you're just writing a mindless pot-boiler. But for this book (The Rest of Her Life) I really wanted to investigate a particular situation, and I do feel as if the characters I finally decided on are dynamic and round characters. I think the characters and their inner conflicts echo some of the themes that the plot brings up.
Q: Are there certain conditions that help you focus on writing? Any advice on how to overcome writer's block?
A: I would not presume to give anyone advice on writer's block, because I myself am tormented by it. Actually, it's not so much block - I always come up with ideas - I just have trouble to committing to one. I get worried I'm on the wrong track, and I want to start over with a different idea, etc. Sometimes this is productive, but if I let myself do this too much, I would never complete anything out of fear of failure. It's okay to back out of a bad idea, but sometimes you just have to push yourself to see something through. I should write that on my arm every morning.
Q: The Rest of Her Life tells the story of Leigh, a mother, and Kara, her teenaged daughter, whose already troubled relationship is tested in the extreme in the aftermath of tragedy. How do you write characters like Leigh and Kara who are going through such an immensely difficult experience?
A: I try to imagine it. While I'm writing - and I mean while I'm actually composing a sentence or a piece of dialogue - I really try to think what the characters would be feeling. Sometimes I can connect the feeling to something hard I've gone through in my own life. But sometimes I just have to imagine and guess. There is a scene in 'The Rest of Her Life' where the narrator is trying to imagine how the daughter must feel about having killed someone. She can only think of the time when she accidentally hurt a child in a much less permanent way and try to amplify the guilt and shame she felt exponentially. I spend a lot of time thinking 'how would this make me feel?' and, more importantly, 'how would this make this character feel?'
Q: What attracts you to writing fiction? Do you ever consider branching into poetry, non-fiction, or any other type of writing?
A: One of the things I like about writing is the escape it offers - just as reading a novel allows someone to enter into another world, writing a novel can serve as an escape. It's funny - I love reading memoirs, but I don't think I would ever write one. I have a hard enough time justifying myself to myself. I'd hate to try to do it for critics. So I admire people who write thoughtful non-fiction, exposing themselves so that others might experience another time and place and perspective. But for writing, I'll stick with fiction. I like the idea of really imagining another world, another personality, and getting a break from my own head. I also love the puzzle of trying to figure out the best way to tell a story - which point of view, which part to start out with, what parts to leave out, etc. I won't name names, but I will say I have a person in my life who tells stories without ever seeming to consider any of these things, and it has always driven me absolutely crazy.
Q: Is your Kansas community as small as the one in The Rest of Her Life? Do you find that closely-knit towns tend to band together after a momentous event, however tragic, or, do you think Leigh is right in suspecting the entire town is whispering about her and her family behind her back?
A: My town, Lawrence, has about eighty thousand people; it's much larger than the town in The Rest of Her Life. However - and I think people from larger cities will relate to this - I've noticed I have a smaller radius with the city limits where I shop and live and recognize people, and sometimes that feels like a very small town. I know that when I don't want to bump into someone at the grocery store, I will. So if I really, really, really don't want to bump into that someone, I will go to a grocery store on the other end of town. (Here I understand I'm admitting to how neurotic I can be. I can only assure people this doesn't happen often.) But the narrator of The Rest of Her Life doesn't have the option of driving across town. There is no across town, and there is only one store. She has to face people. I think that is a major difference between small towns and larger communities, and so the small town setting can make for better drama. I also think this gives small towns a different character as a whole. If you know you are going to bump into someone over and over again, you are going to be more invested in - and possibly more cornered by - your relationship with that person. That's going to affect the way everyone interacts with everyone else.
But I don't know if 'closely-knit' is always such a good thing. Small towns can be small minded and claustrophobic. But just like larger towns, they can be full of caring and support. Before the accident, the narrator of The Rest of Her Life enjoyed living in a small town, knowing things about her neighbors - not in a mean-spirited way - I would call her a kind-hearted voyeur. But she doesn't like it when, after her daughter's accident, she realizes other people are talking about her. She finds it hard to believe (and maybe hard to accept) that other people are looking at her own messy life with the same compassion she had when looking at theirs. Her daughter's accident forces her to see herself as part of the community, not just someone standing on the sidelines.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I hope I'm working on my next novel! I write every day, but when I start on a project, I spend a lot of time worrying I'm on the wrong track - the wrong idea, the wrong point of view, the wrong opening, the wrong tone. I know that at some point, I just have to pick something and commit to it. I can make myself crazy trying to figure out whether I'm making the best choices. I know that there are many ways to tell a story, many choices that would be the right one. Charles Bukowski asked, "How can you say you love one person when there are ten thousand people in the world you would love more if you ever met them? But you'll never meet them." It's cynical, but it's also funny and true, and a lot like writing. At some point, you have to quit obsessing over the finding the 'right' character or point of view or opening, and just try to love the one you're with.
Unless otherwise stated, this interview was conducted at the time the book was first published, and is reproduced with permission of the publisher. This interview may not be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the copyright holder.
Discover books that entertain, engage & enlighten. One-year membership: $29
Return to Gilead with Jack, the instant New York Times bestseller
Enter to win Marilynne Robinson's latest novel in her classic series.
Solve this clue:
and be entered to win..
Visitors can view some of BookBrowse for free. Full access is for members only.
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.


text: The Sixth Sense is a 1999 American supernatural thriller film written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan. The film tells the story of Cole Sear (Haley Joel Osment), a troubled, isolated boy who is able to see and talk to spirits, and an equally troubled child psychologist who tries to help him. The film established Shyamalan as a writer and director, and introduced the cinema public to his traits, most notably his affinity for surprise endings. ... more on Wikipedia


text:
I just installed Debian Stretch (Kernel 4.12.0-0.bpo.1-amd64) on my old Thinkpad T60 with an OCZ Octane SSD. Unfortunately after reboot, if started to behave strange: The system froze on nine out of ten tries to boot it. When it booted successfully, the SSD went to Read-Only after heavy load.
After I added
- Code: Select all
to the kernel command-line it worked.
I can't recall where I found this hint, so I thought posting it here would be good in case there are others out there with that problem.


text:
New Orleans police investigate robberies in CBD
2 businesses robbed minutes apart
Investigators are looking for clues Friday after two robberies in the Central Business District.
Authorities with the New Orleans Police Department said a man robbed a woman of her purse near the intersection of Carondelet and Union streets on Wednesday about 11:20 p.m.
Investigators said a man approached the woman to take her purse, and a weapon was produced when the woman resisted. The woman said she handed over the purse and the gunman jumped into a waiting dark-colored minivan and fled.
Minutes later, a second victim and a friend were standing in the 300 block of Magazine Street when authorities said a man approached from behind and said, "This is a holdup."
Officials said the victim swung at the assailant with his right arm, and the assailant grabbed the victim and released him. The assailant fled in a dark-colored vehicle.
Investigators said the assailant in both cases had similar descriptions -- a black man, about 5 feet 11 inches to 6 feet tall, wearing dark-colored clothing.
Anyone with information about the case is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 822-1111 or 877-903-STOP.


text: interestedpen Posted July 29, 2013 (edited) I recently built this MOC of Winterfell courtyard from the Game of Thrones TV series. It's part of a CUUSOO idea for Modular Castle sets, which features well known castles, both fictional and non-fictional. This is the first proper moc I've built. The model comes in easy-to-assemble sections, which can also be moved around. The first section I built was the ravenry. The walls are removable, and the plan is to fit hinges on to the roof later on for full accessability. The ravnery also has cages to store the messenger birds. Please support on cuusoo here: http://lego.cuusoo.c...deas/view/36041 :classic: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Ned Stark entering the castle: The castle entrance: Full view: Here are some images of the actual thing: Thanks for looking! Please leave some feedback and constructive criticism in the comments! Also, please support the project at: http://lego.cuusoo.c...deas/view/36041 Edited August 1, 2013 by interestedpen Share this post Link to post Share on other sites


text:
The Indianapolis 500 has an actual yard of bricks, and the annual winner does chug from a cold bottle of milk. Today's Nice Price or Crack Pipe Mustang is also part of the Indy tradition, but will its price garner it a DNF?
BMW has yet to field a car at Indy, but if you wanted to drive to the track, 66% of you felt yesterday's tidy 1989 325i might be an excellent companion, despite the stigma of its salvage title. The lithe and athletic 3-series has at times been a target for special editions of Ford's evergreen Mustang, including the mid-eighties SVO. However before then, the Mustang offered a unique model the purpose for which was wholly American.
When the 68th running of the Indy 500 took place, Memorial Day weekend in 1979, Jackie Stewart drove one of three identical Mustang pace cars that year to set the field, and show the crowd just how wee a Scotsman could be. To commemorate the Mustang's first Indy pace car duty since its inception year of 1964, Ford built 10,478 Indy pace Mustangs for the buying public. The car that Jackie drove was prepped by Roush Performance, and featured a built 302 putting out 280 Indy-lapping horsepower. The commemorative street editions were made available with either a 140-bhp 5.0 and automatic, or, as is the case with today's exceptionally well preserved example, with a 132-bhp turbocharged edition of the Lima four, and a 4-speed stick.
The Fox platform Mustang debuted in '79, and proved to be the longest lived of all Ford's ponies to date. Like its lamented predecessor, the Fox-stang was available in either boxy coupe or gaping hatchback body styles, however the Indy Pacer option was only offered on the latter. Checking that box on the order form got you special graphics - which, for introverts, could be deleted - as well as plastic fantastic body kit, GT handling package, and interior bits. Sans the garish decals, the overall package would provide the template for performance Mustangs for years to come.
This dealer-proffered 3,852 mile example appears in the pics to be factory fresh, even down to its potentially seizure-inducing seat pattern on the Recaro front, and bench back seats. The rest of the interior is as plastic-y as possible - a foible of all this generation's 'Stangs - but none the less even includes the vinyl bag for the pop-out sunroof. The stock faux woodgrain on the 6-dial dash has been replaced with a somewhat odd black-hued engine turned pattern, but that, along with the three-spoke wheel, period-correct AM/FM cassette deck and LED-rich maintenance readout are all in near perfect condition.
On the outside, in addition to the loud and proud Indy graphics, the pace car replica gains the square-jawed Marchal-packing front airdam and dimpled hatch spoiler that became common GT attire a few years later. The hood gains a ramp so massive Shawn White would eye it for some major grindage. Wheels are three-spoke metric TRX affairs which means no BFGs for you. Making up for that? Louvers!
Ford has, over the years, gone through panics regarding the balance of performance and economy, vacillating between stonking V8s and nervous turbo fours as means to an end of powering their performance ponies. The lighter 2.3 turbo, backed by Ford's plain jane 4-speed provided the better overall option over the V8-slusher in the Indy pace car and this one appears completely bonkers stock. That of course means it's a draw-through carbureted engine and the turbo lacks life-extending water-cooling for its bearings. Extended warranty much? Still, its 5-PSI of boost is relatively modest, and as long as the car's seals and hoses aren't drier than Tutankhamun's bunghole, then with proper treatment both engine and turbo should function for years to come.
When Ford released the original Mustang back in April 1964, people slept in the cars in dealerships so as not to lose the purchase. When the first Fox-'Stangs hit the market in '79 sales went through the roof, the company pushing out over 150,000 more ponies than in the year previous. The '79 through '93 Mustangs have proven over the years to be cheap, durable fun, seemingly able to fill nearly any role asked of them.
This '79 Indy Pace Car edition represents perhaps not the platform's most interesting iteration, but it's still unique and is in rare shape for a car of its age. Will nearly any car today out perform it? Well yeah, but that's not the point. Its raison d'être is to harken back to an age when cars were crap and Ford tried to de-crapify theirs as best they could. This Indy Mustang is a part of not only that Memorial Day classic, but of the Blue Oval's history, and represents a first step in returning the Mustang to its former pony car glories. And that's got to be worth something.
The seller of this 'Stang hopes someone will think it's worth a Lincoln shy of fourteen grand. Finding a Mustang from this era that's unmolested and with such few miles may make that price palatable, but then again, that's what we're here to find out. What do you think, does $13,995 set the pace for this special 'Stang? Or, is that a price that puts this Mustang a lap down?
You decide!
eBay or go here if the ad disappears.
H/T to the very excited Greg Smith for the hookup!
Help me out with NPOCP. Click here to send a me a tip, and remember to include your commenter handle.


text:
The Puerto Rico
Water Resources and Environmental
Research Institute (PRWRERI) is one of 54 water research
centers established throughout the United States and
its territories by Act of Congress in 1964 and
operating under Section 104 of the Water Research and
Development Act of 1984 (P.L. 98-242).
Exploring, Encouraging, Educating and
Finding Solutions, Since 1964.
The general
objectives of the Puerto
Rico Water Resources and Environmental Research Institute
are (1) to conduct research aimed at resolving local
and national water resources problems, (2) to train
scientists and engineers through hands-on participation
in research, and (3) to facilitate the incorporation
of research results in the knowledge base of water resources
professionals in Puerto Rico and the U.S. as a whole.
To accomplish
these objectives, the Institute
identifies Puerto Rico's most important water resources
research needs, funds the most relevant and meritorious
research projects proposed by faculty from island
encourages and supports the participation of
pokies online
in funded projects, and disseminates research results
to scientists, engineers, and the general public.
You are visitor number


text:
Is holiday shopping bringing you down? Are you sifting through countless gift ideas trying to find something unique for the person who has everything?
Well, there's a good chance they don't have the stuff on this list!
But buyers beware — there's a fine line between stupid and cool, and this group of products teeters on that edge.
So after scouring the Web to find the most, umm...unique gifts out there, we want you to weigh in and decide.
From tools to keep your golf game afloat, to a way to ensure you never have to buy another pair of underwear, the choice is yours: Are these gifts stupid, or cool?
Men's Underwear Repair Kit, $9.95 on Stupid.com
It's often said that men buy fewer pairs of underwear during a recession. If you're sick of looking at unattractive rips or tears in your husband's undies, consider theMen's Underwear Repair Kit — a way to get your "unsightly undershorts back into presentable shape," according to Stupid.com.
The kit comes with a needle and thread, iron-on patches to cover holes, safety pins, an elastic waistband and duct tape.
And since most men are more accustomed to repairing cars than undergarments, it comes with a 32-page Instruction Man-u-al — Get it?
Also included in the kit is underwear white-out: Gross.
If it gets to that point, I'd suggest heading to Wal-Mart , where you can pick up a five-pack of Hanes briefs for a comparable $10 — and save yourself the trouble of a divorce.
Nakation in a Box, $74 from the American Association for Nude Recreation
If underwear isn't really your thing, do we have the gift for you! Leave your dirty drawers at home and take a Nakation — a naked vacation — with the help of the American Association for Nude Recreation's Nakation in a Box.
For $74, naked travelers will receive a kit that includes the AANR's North American Guide to Nude Recreation — complete with tips for all you first timers out there — an "I'm on Nakation" towel, temporary tattoos (classy) and sunscreen (ouch!)
$74? That seems pretty steep for a kit that doesn't come with any clothes! But, according to the AANR Web site, it's a small price to pay for "the passport to your best vacation ever."
Nothing says it better than the group's slogan: "Put a little naked in your next vacation — you're going to love it!"
Golf Ball Life Vest, $7.49 on Stupid.com
The next time your shiny, new golf ball is headed for a water hazard, dress it up in the Golf Ball Life Vest, designed to keep your ball afloat when it doesn't quite make it to the green.
Though Stupid.com admits it isn't sure how the neon orange flotation device fits in with the strict and never-evolving rules of golf, it even comes with a real golf ball!
The only drawback: You have to put the jacket on the ball before you swing. If you're that sure you're about to send your brand-new Titleist into the fish-filled abyss, maybe it's time to reconsider your club choice.
Oh, and make sure to keep an eye out for alligators.
Designer Mousetraps, from $3 to $13.50 on mousesnaps.com
For those of you sick of looking at unattractive mousetraps in your rat-infested city apartments, there's Mousesnaps — hand-painted mousetraps designed to take some of the ugliness out of catching those wily rodents.
They started in 2008 as a hobby for an aspiring artist who was sick of looking at unsightly traps in her New York apartment. When visitors came over and saw the devices, they offered to buy them right off the floor.
So in May 2009, creator Nova Halliwell and her business partner, Mimi Davis, decided to launch the idea as an official business.
You can order holiday-themed traps, playing card traps and floral-patterned devices. No mice? Remember, they can also be used as Christmas ornaments!
"I realize that we're not exactly selling our product by the truckloads yet, but we've grown substantially in 11 months and we're committed to the idea and the company," Halliwell said.
The Racktrap, $19.95 for a set of four on theracktrap.com
Speaking of traps, here's a solution for women who are sick of forgetting their clutch purses at the bar, or who hate bringing a large bag on a quick trip to the grocery store.
The Racktrap is a pocket designed for women to insert into their bra and stuff with cash, credit cards, driver's licenses — anything that fits. Just stuff it, slide it in and align it with the edge of your bra. (Click here to see an instructional video)
How convenient!
You can buy the Racktrap in Special Edition Gold for $7.95, or purchase a Fashion Fourpack, complete with White Lace, Nude Lace, Black Lace and a sweat-proof Sports Version. (Just try not to do any crazy upside-down aerobics.)
And guys — not to sway the voting too much — but how great would it be to see your date reach into her bra to grab some cash to buy you a drink?
Electronic Rock Guitar Shirt, $29.99 on ThinkGeek.com
If you're suffering separation anxiety every time you step away from your plastic Guitar Hero guitar, now you can take it on the road — kind of.
The guys at ThinkGeek created a T-shirt with a built in guitar, accompanied by two magnetic picks, a miniature amplifier and a volume knob. Just pop in four AAA-batteries, turn up the volume and start strumming.
The sounds were recorded from an actual electric guitar, and it's easy to play because each button corresponds to a major chord.
And for those of you who get really good, ThinkGeek is joining up with Neversoft, the developer of Guitar Hero, to find the baddest T-Shirt guitar rocker around. You can upload a video of yourself rocking out on the shirt to YouTube until January 15 to enter the contest.
First-, second- and third-place winners will receive gift certificates to ThinkGeek, and the winning video will be featured on the site's home page.
Rock on!
Dress for Dinner Necktie Napkins, $6.49 on Stupid.com
If you're too classy for a musical shirt, accessorize your nicest suit with the Dress For Dinner Necktie Napkin, a "high-quality paper napkin" with four different necktie designs, according to Stupid.com.
Each package comes with 20 napkins, which range from blue polka dots to classic black. That way, you can match nearly any outfit!
Or, as the Web site recommends, you can wear whichever option most closely resembles the food you're eating, to minimize the appearance of spills.
In the mood for spaghetti? Grab the red-striped tie! Have a craving for dark chocolate cake? Go for the more formal black option.
After all, you're probably not going to want to take this fashion statement off after you're finished with your filet!
Dog DNA Testing Kit, On Sale for $99.95 on dog-dna.com
In an era when mixed-breed dogs have evolved from "mutts" into posh "hybrids" with adorable names (think Puggle, Cockapoo or Labradoodle,) knowing your dog's heritage is more important than ever.
So what better gift to buy your favorite dog lover than the Dog DNA Testing Kit, which can identify more than 100 potential breeds?
You'll receive a nylon cheek swab brush to collect a sample from Fido's mouth (thankfully, no blood samples are necessary,) a tube to submit the specimen and a list of frequently asked questions about the pain-free process.
Once you submit the sample, wait four to six weeks, and you'll receive an official certificate that includes your dog's genetic makeup, as well as a picture!
Don't worry — we won't tell him he's adopted.
Knife and Fork Lift, $24.95 a set on KnifeandForkLift.com
Is someone you know having trouble losing weight? Do they mindlessly shovel food into their mouths without thinking about the repercussions?
With the Knife and Fork Lift, that's no longer a problem!
These industrial-sized utensils are attached to 1.5-pound weights, to remind people to watch what they eat.
"By lifting these heavy utensils, even a dumbbell gets the message that what you eat puts weight on," according to the product's Web site.
And for those of you who were planning on switching to foods that only require a spoon, the joke's on you — the company also manufactures the fork's curvy counterpart.
They've also considered adding chopsticks to the lineup — What a workout!
Swine Flu Plush Microbe, $7.99 on ThinkGeek.com
While most people are trying to avoid the Swine Flu this winter, why not give it to someone!
A new addition to ThinkGeek's plush microbe line, which includes stuffed versions of the kissing disease, chicken pox and malaria, the company enlarges the H1N1 specimen1,000,000 times, transforming it into an "infectuously cute" cuddly plush toy, according to the Web site.
An informational card, as well as a picture, also accompanies each microbe, making the product both educational and fun.
H1N1 is the perfect addition for every toy lover's collection. And while you're at it, why don't you pick up a flesh-eating disease or mange — How cute!
Xtensor Gamer Hand Exerciser, $39.99 on ThinkGeek.com
Just one more level to go! You've almost saved Princess Peach from Bower's Castle when, Ouch! Hand cramp!
For all you serious gamers who are plagued by carpal tunnel after six straight hours of storming the castle, ThinkGeek has the solution.
The Xtensor Gamer Hand Exerciser is designed to stimulate the muscles and tendons in your hands, wrists and elbows after spending long hours bent over the controller.
According to the Web site, "Repetitive gripping and squeezing of your game-controller or mouse forces extended isometric contractions of the flexor muscles of the hands and fingers, producing an unnatural imbalance over time." (Well obviously — Everybody knows that.)
But by sliding the Xtensor over your hand and flexing every so often, you can increase your reaction time and reduce cramping, according to ThinkGeek.
The device even won the 2007 Medical Design Excellence Award.
With that kind of credibility, you'll definitely save the princess! Oh darn — flying fireball.
Shower Shock Caffeinated Soap, $6.99 for one bar on ThinkGeek.com
Tired of spending $5 on a latte? Can't wait until you're out of the shower to enjoy a hot cup of coffee?
Enter the Shower Shock Caffeinated Soap, a bar of peppermint-scented cleanliness infused with 200 milligrams of caffeine that are released each time you bathe.
Because caffeine can be absorbed through the skin, this novelty item will give your day the immediate kick it needs, without requiring you to bring your coffee cup into the tub.
And with each 4-ounce bar of soap good for 12 showers, it's a much cheaper way to feed your caffeine addiction than waiting in line at Starbucks every morning.
There's also a more feminine option for women, the Shower Shock Body Wash, for only $12.99.
Finally, a way to feel and smell refreshed — And without the drag of coffee breath!
Blacksocks Subscription, $89 a year on Blacksocks.com
How many times have you gone to grab your favorite pair of socks from the dryer, only to discover a lone, orphaned stocking?
Now, you can order a sockscription through Blacksocks, a company that mails you three pairs of socks every four months to ensure your supply never runs thin.
According to the Web site, the idea was born when co-founder Samy Liechti, who worked at an advertising firm, went on a business dinner with Japanese executives.
After eating, the group headed to a Japanese tea house, where it's customary to remove your shoes. Once Liechti shedded his shoes and looked down at his sock-covered feet, he noticed he was wearing mismatching socks, and his right big toe was protruding out of the fabric.
Since that embarrassing day, Blacksocks has sold more than 1 million pairs of socks in 74 countries.
The socks are made in Northern Italy, with the "highest quality yarns with long fibers that pill less and are more durable," according to the company.
Sockscribers can choose from calf, knee and cashmere silk socks. The company also manufactures T-shirts via subscription.
"You don't ever have to waste another minute shopping for socks. Your sock drawer will replenish itself," Liechti said.
Questions? Comments? Email us at firstname.lastname@example.com


text:
Give your scalp the love and care it deserves when you score a FREE Scalp Massager with any 3-pack subscription.
GRO Hair Serum (3 Pack)
GRO+ Advanced Hair Serum (3 Pack)
Lovestruck Biotin Gummies - 3 Month Supply
GRO Hair Foam 3 Pack
Gro+ Advanced Gummies - 3 Month Supply
Hit Enter to search or Esc to close
Subscribe and get exclusive offers!
No SPAM! We do not share your email to any 3rd party companies!
Your cart is currently empty.
Shipping & taxes calculated at checkout
VEGAMOUR products can be purchased at discounted rates with auto-delivery through our subscription program. Products will be shipped out based on the frequency displayed on the product page.
You may modify, or reschedule a subscription delivery at any time through our online portal. To cancel your subscription at any time, contact Customer Experience at 213-325-5112, otherwise you will be billed on schedule. By completing a subscription order, you agree to the Terms Of Use and authorize the charges to your card for each shipment as described above. State sales tax may apply.
The VEGAMOUR Plan is our auto-replenish program that delivers products that you choose to your door monthly at a discounted price up to 25% off!
After your first VEGAMOUR Plan shipment, your subsequent plan products will be shipped based on the frequency outlined in your plan selected. Unless you contact Customer Experience @ 213-325-5112 to cancel, modify or re-schedule your order, your order will be shipped and your credit card will be charged as scheduled.
By submitting your order, you agree to the Terms Of Use and authorize the charges to your card for each shipment as described above. State sales tax may apply. There is no commitment and no minimum to buy. Please note exact shipment times may vary. To customize future shipments and charges, contact Customer Experience at 213-325-5112.
Your first VEGAMOUR Plan shipment includes a 60-day money-back guarantee of the purchase price less shipping and processing. All future shipments are not elegible for returns or refunds. You can however, manage any future orders by calling Customer Experience at 213-325-5112.


text:
205/60R17 tire pressure chart with maximum tire load capacity at specified tire inflation levels for 205/60R17 tires. Chart below will help you find corresponding tire inflation and load capacity levels to ensure proper application for your vehicle. Learn how to apply tire load inflation tables when replacing 205/60R17 tires.
|Tire Size
|Load Index
|Load Range
|26 psi
|27 psi
|28 psi
|29 psi
|30 psi
|31 psi
|32 psi
|33 psi
|34 psi
|35 psi
|36 psi
|37 psi
|38 psi
|39 psi
|40 psi
|41 psi
|42 psi
Metric Tire Load Inflation Table


text:
|AIM Games
|Welcome to the AIM Forums, the first Forum to ever be dedicated to Need For Madness!
To post a message/topic on the forums, you must REGISTER.
To REGISTER, click on the Button at the bottom of this message, or else at the top of the page. Without a user on these forums, you can only view some forums available to the public.
Have Fun and Feel free to ask/post anything here NFM related, or else just to chat. We have a chat-room at the bottom of this page, for only registered users to chat on though.
|AIM Games
|Would you like to react to this message? Create an account in a few clicks or log in to continue.


text:
In January my wife and I adopted a baby boy born at Research Medical Center. Being from the Northland we had our reservations about Research, the drive, and being unfamiliar with the hospital in general. Leaving Research Medical Center we could not have been more proud that our son was born there. When speaking of the entire ordeal, we tell everyone how the amazing staff and that the facilities were second to none.
Our journey with Research Medical Center began with a phone call from Karen. My wife and I had gone through infertility at two different facilities dealing with many doctors and nurses. Karen set the bar extremely high in our opinion, After briefly speaking with her on the phone, we immediately felt she was someone we could trust. Where most nurses seemed to be numb to the emotional aspect of infertility – Karen went above and beyond. Anytime we talk of our adoption, Karen and our relationship is one of the first aspects we mention. We would not change our adoption for anything in the world; if we could have changed our infertility treatments however, we would unequivocally have chosen the clinic at Research Medical Center and worked with Karen.
After our discussions with Karen, we met with Dr. Levine, whom the birth mother mentioned many times she loved. Somewhat shocked by her high praise of her doctor we could not have known how amazing she really was. Our first meeting impressed us beyond belief; we felt the doctor was amazing and that we won the adoption lottery. When Dr. Levine spoke to the birth mother or us as adoptive parents she spoke to us as equals, not down to us. When she spoke, we truly felt that it was more than a job and she cared deeply about everyone involved. She had a confidence that put us at ease. After one quick meeting we could not have been more impressed, and then she came in on her day off for the delivery. We could probably type pages of each experience with the doctor and how great every time was, but, simply put, there is not a better doctor in the world and we truly feel that Dr. Levine was a gift.
Aside from Karen and Dr. Levine we had contact with many other people at Research Medical Center, all of whom were great. Abby the counselor was amazing. We felt she was a great resource available to us. I feel deeply bad about not being able to remember our first natal nurse, but she was from the NICU. I believe her name was Becca, and she was absolutely fantastic. Dr. Philgreen, the pediatrician, was another one who stood out. His knowledge, calmness and overall demeanor was impressive at the least.
Research Medical Center was a blessing in our life. Those involved are an integral part in our family story, a story filled with nothing but happy endings. Thank you to all the staff from the bottom of our hearts.


text:
I do not understand why I should hit a ball and then go follow it. But that is golf. My brother in-law is into it. He wanted to teach my nephew at an early age so he brought all his clubs here in the States when they last visited Manila.
So if I should go learn it, together with my brother, we should check out Ping Golf for equipment, accessories, and apparel. That means shopping!


text:
November 28, 2013
RENTON, Wash. (AP) — Seahawks cornerback Walter Thurmond has been suspended by the NFL for the team's next four games for violating the league's substance abuse policy.
Thurmond will be eligible to return to the active roster on Monday, Dec. 23 before the final game of the regular season.
A member of one of the NFL's best secondaries, Thurmond has one interception and one sack thus far. His pick came in the team's last game, against Minnesota, and he returned it 29 yards for a touchdown.


text:
Locally initiated boycotts of segregated buses, especially the Montgomery bus boycott of 1955-1956, were designed to unite and mobilize black communities on a commonly-shared concern. Protestors refused to ride on the buses, opting instead to walk or carpool. The nearly one year-long boycott ended bus segregation in Montgomery and triggered other bus boycotts such as the highly successful Tallahassee, Florida boycott of 1956-1957.
Student-organized sit-ins like the February 1960 protest at Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, offered young men and women with no special skills or resources an opportunity to display their discontent and raise white awareness. Protestors were encouraged to dress up, sit quietly, and occupy every other stool so potential white sympathizers could join in. The success of the Greensboro sit-in led to a rash of student campaigns all across the South. By the end of 1960 the sit-ins had spread to every southern and border state and even to Nevada, Illinois, and Ohio. Demonstrators focused not only on lunch counters but on parks, beaches, libraries, theaters, museums, and other public places. When they were arrested, student demonstrators made "jail-no-bail" pledges to call attention to their cause and to reverse the cost of protest (putting the financial burden of jail space and food on the "jailors").
While some groups and individuals within the civil rights movement advocated Black Power, black separatism, or even armed resistance, the majority of participants remained committed to the principles of nonviolence -- a deliberate decision by an oppressed minority to abstain from violence for political gain. The commitment to nonviolence gave the civil rights movement great moral authority. Using nonviolent strategies, civil rights activists took advantage of emerging national network-news reporting, especially television, to capture national attention and the attention of Congress and the White House. In 1955, journalists covered the Mississippi trial of two men accused of murdering 14-year-old Emmett Till from Chicago. The cover of Jet magazine featured a photo of the boy's mutilated face. A few years later, Americans watched the live footage of violent unrest at Little Rock High School as whites rioted to prevent nine black students from entering the school. Radio, television, and print journalism exhaustively covered such 1960s events as police dogs attacking children in Birmingham, former sharecropper Fannie Lou Hammer describing her jail beatings to delegates at the 1964 Democratic National Convention, and a mounted posse charging "Bloody Sunday" demonstrators in Selma, Alabama.


text:
The PADI Difference
PADI Divers carry the most respected and sought after scuba diving credentials in the world. No matter where you choose to dive, your PADI certification card will be recognized and accepted. In fact, on most scuba diving adventures, you'll be surrounded by other PADI Divers who made the same certification choice you did – to train with the world's largest and most respected scuba diving training organization.
How is PADI Different?
Education - The PADI System of diver education is the most instructionally solid system in diving. PADI courses are designed to make learning enjoyable and worthwhile. Under the guidance of your professional PADI Instructor, you gain confidence while mastering important safety concepts and skills. PADI Instructors are trained and held to diving's highest standards, backed up by a solid, proactive quality management system.
Performance-Based Learning – You progress at your own pace as you demonstrate mastery of specific performance requirements essential to becoming a scuba diver. You must earn your PADI certification, but you do so in an encouraging and well-supported learning environment.
Educational Materials – Credentialed instructional designers use state-of-the-art technology and learning theories to create PADI materials with you, the student diver, in mind. Independent study materials, available in a variety of media – online programs, tablet-based apps, manuals, workbooks, multimedia discs, etc. – allow you to learn in a way that works for you. Instructional support materials allow your PADI Instructor to further explain important concepts and verify understanding.
Educational Standards – All PADI programs, from entry-level through scuba instructor training, fall under strict educational standards monitored for worldwide consistency and quality. PADI takes a proactive approach to quality management and randomly surveys PADI Divers to confirm their courses meet PADI's high standards as well as the divers' expectations. No other diver training organization works to maintain this level of professional reliability and integrity.
Continuing Diver Education – The fun and enjoyment of being a confident scuba diver is fueled by continuing to improve your scuba skills. Each PADI course builds on the previous one, teaching you skills and techniques when you're ready to learn them. PADI specialty courses let you explore specific dive interests. Professional-level courses let you live the scuba diving lifestyle by becoming a divemaster or scuba instructor.
College Credit and Vocational Training – The unsurpassed quality of PADI materials, and the educational validity of PADI courses, have been independently acknowledged by international educational and vocational training authorities. You may be able to earn college credit for certain PADI courses, or receive vocational training recognition toward national certificates.
International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Standards Compliant – PADI courses are certified as compliant with ISO standards for Recreational Diving Services by an independent auditor, the European Underwater Federation and the Austrian Standards Institute. The ISO standards (see chart below) relate to five levels of diver, two levels of instructor and a service provider or dive center. Each of these standards equate to a PADI certification or member level, which means that, in effect, divers or members holding one of these qualifications can also be said to have met the requirements of the relevant ISO standard – as though they had gained two credentials at once.
Professional Quality and Support
Just as scuba divers must earn PADI certifications, PADI Instructors must complete a development program that sets the industry standard for scuba instructor training. Each new PADI Instructor demonstrates a thorough knowledge of the PADI System and the ability to conduct PADI programs by meeting specific criteria. Before earning the PADI Instructor rating, all candidates are evaluated by a select group of PADI-employed Instructor Examiners. This ensures that the evaluation process is objective, fair and consistent worldwide. This is another way that PADI training stands above others in the dive industry.
To help PADI Members grow both personally and professionally, PADI Offices conduct annual seminars that cover various educational, marketing and risk management topics. PADI Members can also attend business development programs and seminars that look at current trends in diving. Retailers and resort operators have access to a variety of business services through the PADI Retail and Resort Associations. Interested in opening a PADI dive shop?
Diving Community
As a PADI Diver, you become part of the larger PADI community. PADI Diving Society®– You can join the PADI Diving Society, an organization made up of dive enthusiasts of all ages and experience levels. The PADI Diving Society keeps members informed on the latest developments in dive news, technology and training, and offers members savings and incentives on all of the things you need to stay active and involved in diving – including dive travel, equipment and training.
Environmental Responsibility
As a PADI Diver, you join millions of others to form a growing force that can and does make a difference in the effort to preserve the underwater world. PADI courses encompass environmental awareness and protection philosophies that emphasize the importance of protecting fragile aquatic ecosystems. The worldwide PADI organization is committed to preserving the aquatic environment for future generations. Diving won't survive without beautiful places to visit, and PADI Divers are encouraged to take action with Project AWARE® and make every dive count for a clean, healthy ocean planet.


text:
The following examples are coded using the syntax used by the standard
/atg/dynamo/security/UserAuthority component.
The following ACL grants everyone with an ACC account the ability to read:
Note that you should always end ACL strings with a semi-colon, as shown, even when the string is the last one in a list. Do not start ACLs with a semi-colon. Following this convention is important because it ensures that ACLs are interpreted correctly after XML-combine operations.
The following ACL grants the ACC
admin account the ability to read and write, but every other ACC user only the ability to read:
The following ACL grants the ACC Administrators group the ability to read, write and delete, but denies the ability to write and delete to ACC user
Fnord even if he is a member of the Administrators group:


text:
Doctoral Degree
What goes into a Ph.D. degree?
Ph.D. study is quite different from Master's level study. It generally requires 4-6 years of work beyond the B.A. The first 2 years of a Ph.D. generally involve required coursework and a Master's thesis or examination at the end of the second year. After that, your work revolves around working with faculty on research, writing original papers for an examination, developing your Doctoral thesis ideas, and conducting original research for the degree. You also usually teach or do research (if you're at a state-funded or large private institution). Much of the work after the second year is individual and requires you to work independently around your own interests. Students who can't work independently find Doctoral work difficult.
In general, the Ph.D. revolves around research and teaching. If you don't like to do research, you will probably not like Doctoral study. On the other hand, some people who do not love research feel that developing research skills in a Doctoral program is the best way to guarantee a career of college-level teaching.
What is the difference between a Ph.D. and Psy.D. degree?
A Ph.D. and a Psy.D. are both Doctoral degrees. This means they are educational degrees beyond the Master's level, involve original research, and require at least 4 years of study, with many students taking 6-7 years to complete their Doctorate.
The Psy.D. is a relatively new degree given to Doctoral students in clinical psychology. It is less research-oriented and more clinical, more practice-minded, than the traditional Ph.D. Professional schools which offer the Psy.D. place greater emphasis on training students for professional practice, whereas traditional programs which offer the Ph.D. place a greater emphasis on developing the psychologist as both a researcher and a practitioner.
The original Ph.D. clinical psychologists were trained under the scholar-practitioner model which stressed both rigorous original research and high-quality clinical work. In practice, most clinicians are oriented either toward research or toward practical clinical work, and most do not do both. APA recognized this and began the new Doctoral training program in clinical psychology, the Psy.D.
Many of the private professional schools in psychology offer the Psy.D. degree, while the state universities continue to offer the traditional Ph.D. Clinical psychology Ph.D. programs at state universities are among the most competitive to attend; entering classes may be from 4 to 8 students. Psy.D. programs at private institutions accept more students--perhaps 30 to 60 a year--and thus are easier to get into. State university programs are much less expensive to attend, and often offer research and teaching assistantships as part of a financial aid package. Private insitutions are much more expensive and offer less in the way of financial awards.
The Psy.D. is accepted by state licensing boards and can be a good choice for those who want to go into applied work or private practice. It is not a good choice for those who would like to do research or teach at the college or university level. For these positions, a Ph.D. is a more competitive degree.
What kinds of salaries do psychologists make?
See APA's 2003 survey on doctoral positions and salaries, ranging from faculty to researchers to administrators. View the salaries by region and position chart.
What graduate programs offer doctoral training in psychology?
See the following sites for organized information on doctoral programs in psychology across the US. For grad programs in Psychology and all related fields, see www.gradschools.com/psychologysearch or www.petersons.com/GradChannel/. For a listing of Psychology graduate programs and admission requirements, see www.sonoma.edu. For a listing of clinical and counseling programs and related career information, see www.allpsychologyschools.com.
How do I find out about Ph.D. programs?
Because Ph.D. programs are different than Master's, you need to spend more time researching them. This is a multi-step process, and ultimately depends on your "fit" with a sponsor in the Department of the school of your choice. You must first identify your field of interest. Read some psychology journals and find some people whose work you like. Find out where they teach, and whether they have Ph.D. programs. If so, write, call, or net-surf their Department and request information. Remember that Doctoral level programs are available in Psychology Departments, Counseling Departments, Education Departments, Schools of Social Work or Social Welfare, and programs in Human Development.
When you apply to a research-oriented Ph.D. program, it's essential that you've targeted someone with whom you want to work. If you do not, there's little reason for the Psych Department to be interested in your application. It will probably get overlooked. This is especially true for state-funded and large private universities, where research and training researchers is the name of the game. Small private-school Ph.D. programs are not quite so selective as this. Usually an interest in an area of psychology will be adequate. Be sure to have a defined area of interest and have coursework, internships, and perhaps research projects, that develop it.
Clinical Ph.D. and Psy.D. programs are also different. Although you must identify your field of interest and your goals in training, you don't always need to specify individuals you want to work with. (Although it can never hurt to do so.)
See the sites above for information on the doctoral programs available, and visit the school and program websites. You may also conduct an internet search on your particular interest area in psychology, along with the search words "doctoral" or "Ph.D." or "Psy.D." Your search will yield particular programs available in your field. Note the prerequisites of the programs you're interested in, and make sure you take the classes necessary to apply.
The APA publishes Graduate Study in Psychology, which lists over 550 graduate psychology programs throughout the United States and Canada. The book includes information on programs and degrees offered, admission requirements, degree requirements, financial aid, tuition, deadlines, and internships. A list of APA-accredited Doctoral programs in clinical, counseling, and school psychology is published yearly in the American Psychologist. Call the APA Office at 202-336-5979 for more information, or check their Web site, www.apa.org.
Can I get financial support for Doctoral work?
Most large research-oriented universities offer financial packages to students in their program. This consists of fellowships, tuition waivers, and employment as a Research Assistant or Teaching Assistant for up to 20 hours per week. The stronger the research orientation, the more money is available. See the latest issue of The Insiders Guide to Doctoral Programs in APA Accredited Doctoral Programs by Mayne, Norcross & Sayette for details. Strong research programs provide financial support for almost all of their students. They provide a "full ride" (assistantship + tuition waiver) to a high percentage of their students. Practice-oriented programs provide significantly less aid. Psy.D. programs provide very little aid. They are primarily small private programs and finance themselves through the students' tuition.
The CSUC (California State Universities and Colleges) system has a forgivable loan program for women, ethnic minorities and the disabled in fields where they are underrepresented in the CSUC faculty. You must be accepted by an accredited Doctoral program to get one. Women are not underrepresented in Psychology, so a Doctoral program in Psychology would only work for ethnic minorities and the disabled. Under this program, you can borrow up to $10,000 per year up to a limit of $30,000. If you go to work for the CSUC (any campus) after completing your doctorate, the loan will be forgiven by 20% for each year of service. The loan may be in addition to any other scholarships, fellowships, grants, loans or employment. Check the Scholarship Office for other forms of aid.


text:
Frenchman Butte RM 501, Saskatchewan, S0M, Canada
Imhoff Studio and Farm ResidenceImhoff Studio and Farm Site
1920/01/01 to 1920/12/31
The Imhoff Studio and Farm Site is a Provincial Heritage Property located eight kilometres south of St. Walburg in the RM of Frenchman Butte. The property consists of a 3.2 hectare parcel of land that features an artist's studio, farmhouse, barn, and other ancillary buildings.
The heritage value of the Imhoff Studio and Farm Site lies in its association with the life and work of Berthold Imhoff, an internationally renowned artist who settled in Saskatchewan in 1914. Born in Germany where he studied painting at various academies, Imhoff immigrated to Reading, Pennsylvania in 1892 where he set up an art studio. Specializing in frescoes, murals, and biblical scenes, Imhoff established himself as a decorator of churches, opera houses, theatres, banks, movie houses, and large residences. In 1914, he relocated to northwestern Saskatchewan, where he lived and painted until his death in 1939. It was at this studio that Imhoff produced much of his artwork, including still lifes, portraits of early First Nations chiefs, European leaders and royalty, and American presidents. Well-known for his religious artwork, which he painted for little or no pay, Imhoff's work appears in over 90 churches and cathedrals throughout Canada and the United States. His dedication to the church was recognized by Pope Pius XI, who honoured Imhoff with the Knighthood of the Order of St. Gregory the Great in 1937. Upon his death in 1939, Berthold Imhoff left over 250 paintings in his studio, some of which remain there today while others are on display in a gallery in nearby Lloydminster.
Symbolizing the province's artistic and cultural development, the Imhoff Studio and Farm Site is also valued for its status as a rare surviving example of a purpose-built artist's studio in Saskatchewan. Constructed in two stages, the first section, built in 1920, was a basic rectangular-shaped building with Bavarian overtones, evidenced in the decorative roofline and exterior frescoes and murals. A large, 1925 addition became the artist's main working area. Featuring a high ceiling with large windows on the north wall, the space provided the indirect, natural lighting preferred by artists. A unique feature of the studio is the track that runs the length of the room, upon which the artist hung the large canvases that he was painting. The studio, with the farmhouse and barn, form three sides of a square, with the studio situated such that it is the first building that visitors see. Two decorative archways complement the artist's landscaped setting; one, with the inscription "Imhoff's Ville", forms a gateway to the farmstead and frames the view of the artist's studio. The second archway sits next to the studio and features some of Imhoff's murals. This rural setting, including the layout of the farmstead, its contributing buildings, and landscaped space, speaks to Imhoff's life as an artist and his connection to rural living.
Province of Saskatchewan, Notice of Intention to Designate as Provincial Heritage Property under The Heritage Property Act, July 26, 2004.
Province of Saskatchewan, Order to Designate as Provincial Heritage Property under The Heritage Property Act, November 30, 2004.
The heritage value of the Imhoff Studio and Farm Site resides in the following character-defining elements:
-those elements that speak to Imhoff's life and work as an artist, including the remaining interior and exterior murals and frescoes, ceilings, decorative archways with murals, stencil work, decorative interior paintings, furnishings, and artwork;
-those elements that reflect the site's use as an artist's studio, such as the original cabinets that hold the artist's materials used for painting, stencilling, and leafing;
-those elements that illustrate the purpose-built nature of the structure, including the high ceilings, large windows, and track system for moving large canvasses;
-those elements that speak to the layout of the farmstead, including its rural setting and the specific siting of buildings.
Government of Saskatchewan
Heritage Property Act, s. 39(1)
Provincial Heritage Property
1925/01/01 to 1925/12/31
Heritage Conservation Branch,
Ministry of Parks, Culture and Sport,
3211 Albert Street,
Regina, Saskatchewan S4S 5W6
Main Street and Second Avenue, St. Walburg, Saskatchewan
The Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church is a Municipal Heritage Property located at the…
Railway Avenue, St. Walburg, Saskatchewan
The C.N. Station at Railway Avenue is a Municipal Heritage Property comprising a single lot on…
Frenchman Butte, Saskatchewan
Frenchman Butte National Historic Site of Canada is a 7.2-hectare (18-acre) site located along…
Administered by Parks Canada


text:
Order by December 10th to receive your order in time for Christmas.
A layered necklace with black beads and a variety of sizes and textures.
Length: 72cm (shortest layer)
Download and Print this guide for a scaled representation of our ring sizes. The inside edge of your favourite ring should line up with the outside edge of the circle.
Download and print
{{ option }}: {{ item.options[option] }}
To: {{ item.properties._receiving_name }}
Message: {{ item.properties && item.properties._greeting ? item.properties._greeting.slice(0, 50) : '' }}...
Size: {{ option }}
Amount: {{ option }}
You may also like


text: Hello Pros out there! I'm looking for a little direction with what to use here. I couldn't find what I was looking for so I'm asking...the homeowner wants me to see if I can remove these stains from his stamped concrete, he has done some, but has gone at them with a zero degree nozzle (it worked but has taken off the top right off the concrete). He told me it was a sealer called Black Bull, that he got from either Home Depot or Lowe's. Any suggestions to what I could use to remove these stains?


text:
Last week, Incredible Hulk director Louis Leterrier mentioned he was on the shortlist for The Avengers. This week, it's been rumored Leterrier is considering another hot comic property: the film adaptation of Brian K Vaughan's Y: The Last Man.
Just last week Leterrier - whose remake of Clash of The Titans hits theaters this weekend - mentioned that he was in the running for the Avengers feature film. Last weekend, Latino Review claimed that Leterrier is instead considering a film version of BKV's DC/Vertigo series Y: The Last Man. According to Latino Review's source "Pinche Taco":
Well good news. El Taco can dice EXCLUSIVO that director Louis Leterrier is circling Y THE LAST MAN. Sure, Clash of the Titans looks craptastic and The Incredible Hulk wasn't incredible but someone is trying to direct the movie which hopefully will give power to Team Brenner to find a good director.
Now some reports last week mentioned Louis for Marvel's THE AVENGERS but if you read exactamente you would see that it was LOUIS who was pimping himself. See, there's no one really in charge of Marvel at the moment as they merge with Disney. Everyone knows that Kevin Feige walks funny because he has Avi Arad's hand up his ass puppeting him and that Avi has been lobbying Disney to give him back control of Marvel- which they don't want, being sane and all. So no one is making future decisions for the time being. So don't count on La Francais directore para Los Avengers!
The last director tied to the Y project was D.J. Caruso, who wanted to turn the adventures of Yorick Brown into a trilogy. For his part, Vaughan had written an earlier draft of the film but is presently concentrating on his script for The Vault, another post-apocalyptic thriller about a master burglar breaking into the Svalbard Global Seed Vault to save humanity. While it would be great to see Vaughan return to his comic roots, BKV's newfangled apocalypse heist caper sounds promising.
[via Latino Review and Quiet Earth]