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By Chris Richards
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, December 29, 2009; C01
NEW YORK -- "This is the only time we get to do the Smurfs' theme song," declares Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson, drummer and bandleader of the Roots. "So let's do it!"
And with that, the most respected group in hip-hop flashes back to some distant Saturday morning, reciting those cloying la-la-la-la-la-las, as if lost in a Frosted Flake-induced trance. Strangely, this is the sound of a group at the top of its game.
Since signing on as the house band for "Late Night With Jimmy Fallon" a year ago, the Roots have morphed into an exciting new musicmaking machine -- not to mention the best reason to keep your television glowing past midnight.
With the record industry in shambles and the touring market growing more overcrowded each minute, the move to television seems particularly shrewd. But the fact that the Roots have been able to turn a Monday through Friday gig into their own creative playground seems just plain lucky.
On a recent Friday at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, the Roots are huddled into a tiny rehearsal space, finalizing the Smurfish walk-on music for the evening's big guest, actor Jude Law. (Law-law-law . . . get it?)
Just four more episodes until holiday break -- a break the Roots will spend playing concerts in California, Nevada, Oregon and a sold-out two-night stand at Washington's 9:30 club, Tuesday and Wednesday. The group has performed numerous holiday two-fers at the 9:30 over the years, but Tuesday marks the band's first Washington appearance as television personalities. It's a metamorphosis that Thompson, 38, hasn't fully accepted.
"Oh, our [live] show is tighter than a mother," he says. "But there's the occasional identity crisis thing. You walk down the block and an older person might say, 'Oh, Jimmy Fallon's band!' still not knowing the history."
* * *
The band first took shape in the late '80s when Thompson and rapper Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter crossed paths at Philadelphia High School for Creative and Performing Arts. By 1993, the group had made a name for itself, bringing live instrumentation to a genre dominated by samplers and drum machines. Eight albums later, the Roots are recognized as one of the most dynamic outfits in pop music, backing Jay-Z one day and playing with the Flaming Lips the next.
But news of the band's latest undertaking left fans and critics highly skeptical. Did the Roots really plan to waste their evenings cranking out commercial bumper music in ill-fitting tuxedos? A year later, Thompson is finally coming out of his defensive crouch.
"They can kiss my [behind]," he says. "This is the best gig ever!"
Much of that has to do with the seemingly limitless creativity the Roots bring to the table. They've reinvented the art of walk-on music, personalizing songs for each and every guest with a wink, a jab or a nod of respect. The band's encyclopedic knowledge of pop comes in handy here, as does its impressive sense of humor. Among its best audio-japes: Joan Rivers was once treated to Lady Gaga's "Poker Face," while reality-television detritus Heidi and Spencer Pratt were serenaded with Beck's "Loser."
So while Fallon still finds himself in a ratings duel with Jimmy Kimmel and Craig Ferguson, the Roots have made "Late Night" the most buzzed-about show in music circles. "We've had established artists who've wanted to ditch their own bands and play with the Roots instead," says Jonathan Cohen, Fallon's music booker. "They set the show apart from our competitors."
Before "Late Night," the Roots were recognized as one of the hardest-touring bands in any genre, clocking more than 250 dates a year. But with the demands of family beckoning, the group began exploring other options, including a summer residency in Las Vegas. Then Fallon came knocking.
Despite the host's support, the band had to hustle to win the trust of the suits at NBC. At Thompson's behest, the show's writers developed two sketches that showcased the band's talent: "Slow Jam the News," in which Fallon recounts the day's headlines over a sultry R&B groove, and "Freestylin' With the Roots," in which Fallon nabs a random audience member, asks him a few questions and then asks the Roots to compose a quick tune about him on the spot.
The success of these skits has helped the band cement a five-year contract that gives Thompson and his troupe the freedom to redefine what a late-night house band can be.
In a Rolling Stone interview in November, Thompson said his approach was to imagine what "Late Show With David Letterman" music man Paul Shaffer would do -- and then do the opposite. A month later, Shaffer was a guest on Fallon's show and called Thompson out.
"Every night you introduce them as the greatest band in late night," Shaffer said, ribbing a particularly fidgety Fallon. Did Thompson really feel compelled to do the complete opposite of Shaffer?
The drummer's on-air reply sounded nervous but truthful: "I just meant, how can I go a level deeper?"
* * *
The next day at rehearsal, the band is giving Thompson a hard time about "going deeper." Are the Smurfs really all that deep?
The eight-man band appears energetic but its members are still working on fumes of sleep. Some members still commute each day from Philadelphia, while others have relocated permanently to New York. Having built his Philadelphia "dream crib" -- including a library that houses more than 67,000 records -- Thompson spends his Manhattan weeknights crashing at hotels or couch-surfing with friends.
It looks as if he actually lives in his broom-closet-size rehearsal space. His drum kit is a makeshift desk, with a cellphone, some papers and a wad of napkins resting on the floor tom. His snare is a dining tray -- red droplets of tomato soup landing on the drum with a tiny plop while Thompson slurps down his lunch during a rehearsal break.
The man is paragon of multitasking -- a Twitter superstar with more than 1 million followers who averages only five or six hours of sleep a night. You'd think he and his band would be flirting with burnout, but Thompson insists that the demanding schedule has re-energized the group's creativity. The band keeps delaying its ninth studio album, "How I Got Over," only because it keeps rewriting it.
"The songs are just coming like crazy," Thompson says. "We've never written so much."
After finessing the Smurfs' theme, it's on to Zapp's "Computer Love" for another guest, Joshua Topolsky, editor of tech-blog Engadget. But by the time the bridge rolls around, the Roots have transformed the tune into something all their own.
"This is how a song gets made," Thompson says, flashing a gigantic smile, his drumsticks slowly bending the Zapp beat into a Roots beat. "We'll [mess] around, then we'll Rubik's Cube it."
Thompson tops off the Roots' latest creation with a stuttering drum fill.
"That marks 1,007 songs since January."
View all comments that have been posted about this article.


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LifeCenter Plus Summer Swim Lesson Registration
HUDSON, OH. (May 11, 2015)- LifeCenter Plus will be holding summer swim lesson registration on May 21, 2015 from 7am-10am, 12pm-2pm and 5pm-8pm.
LifeCenter Plus offers American Red Cross Learn-to-Swim courses which offer something for everyone! Through a progressive, six-level instructional approach, participants learn a variety of strokes, including the front crawl, back crawl, elementary backstroke, breaststroke, sidestroke and butterfly. Children are also introduced to a wide range of personal safety skills and diving techniques. Courses are fun and interactive with hands-on training!
Registration is open to all Members and Nonmembers and cannot be taken over the phone.
Not sure what level your child is or have questions about swimming lessons? Please contact Jennifer Larkin, Manager of Aquatics Programs, at 330-655-2377 ext. 156.
About LifeCenter Plus Health and Fitness Club
A premier health and fitness facility, LifeCenter Plus has served the Hudson, Stow and surrounding communities since 1978. The 103,000-square foot multipurpose facility is a full-service, four-season health and fitness club. The family friendly facility features indoor/outdoor pools, over 100 free exercise classes weekly, a yoga studio, a spinning room, racquetball courts, group training and more! For more information, call 330-655-2377 extension 113 or visit the website at www.LifeCenterPlus.com.
Contact: Jessica Koly

subset: commoncrawl


text: Sign inNot A Member? Join now! Find A Grave - Eugene Pioneer Cemetery Changes are coming to Find A Grave. See a preview now. Browse by Cemetery: Eugene Pioneer Cemetery 2 records foundFilter by fame level: All Famous NamesSomewhat FamousVery FamousAttention:You are browsing our famous burial locations. If you arelooking for a non-famous grave, please start from our home page. Henderson, Rev. James Henry Dickey 'J.H.D.' b. July 23, 1810 d. December 13, 1885US Congressman. Elected to represent Oregon in the United States House of Representatives, serving from 1865 to 1867.Founded the Columbia College in Eugene with his brother.Husband of 1) Sarah Vaughn; 2) Mary E. FisherEugene Pioneer Cemetery , Eugene, Lane County, Oregon, USAPlot: 237-5 Renninger, Louis b. August 25, 1841 d. November 17, 1908Civil War Congressional Medal of Honor recipient. Served as a Corporal in Company H, 37th Ohio Infantry, Union Army. At the Battle of Vicksburg, Mississippi on May 22, 1863, he showed Gallantry as a member of the "volunteer storming party" in the charge against the Confederate positions. He was one of six volunteers to receive the Medal of Honor for this action and was awarded on August 15, 1894. (Bio by: John "J-Cat" Griffith)Eugene Pioneer Cemetery , Eugene, Lane County, Oregon, USAPlot: Lot 370 2 records found Privacy Statement and Terms of Service


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STAGE TUBE: Backstage with Phil Coulter in THE SONGS I LOVE SO WELL at Irish Rep
Click below to go behind the scenes with Phil Coulter, who discusses his solo show The Songs I Love So Well, now playing at Irish Repertory Theatre (132 W 22nd Street) through December 30.
Irish singer/songwriter Phil Coulter celebrates his accomplished career with an intimate evening of songs and stories in THE SONGS I LOVE SO WELL. In The Songs I Love So Well, with his warm Irish brogue as well as his familiar contemporary keyboard style, Coulter presents some of his best loved, and most personal compositions and folk songs, including "The Man from God Knows Where," "Scorn Not His Simplicity," "The Water Is Wide," and "The Town I Loved So Well," about his hometown of Derry, Northern Ireland, as well as a few holiday favorites.
Singer Geraldine Branagan joins Phil Coulter as special guest.
Performances of Phil Coulter in The Songs I Love So Well run at The Irish Repertory Theatre (132 West 22nd Street) through December 30: Tuesdays at 8pm; Wednesdays at 3pm and 8pm; Thursdays at 7pm; Fridays at 8pm; Saturdays at 3pm and 8pm; and Sundays at 3pm (no performance December 25). Opening Night is Thursday, December 6 at 7pm. Tickets are $65 and $55. For reservations, call the box office at 212-727-2737 or visit www.irishrep.org.
Click Here to Watch the Video!


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My Bio
Benny started his career in about 1989 in a company called 'Ashton Tate' which went out of business through a merger with Borland Int. Corporation. Through several steps over the years he entered SAP through a startup that was built by SAP AG to market a Java server. This is the base of all Java business that exists in NetWeaver up to today.
Handy Hint
Here you can enter links to your articles, your blog, your SDN blog if you are already an expert blogger, your favorite forums here, homepages, etc.
Link List
- <link>
- <next item>
My Team
- <Link to Profile>


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Well, this can't be good for Jay or his trusted music confidante Young Guru. While the super engineer/producer/DJ was in Washington, D.C. recently, thieves ransacked the vehicle he was driving and lifted his computer in the process.
My bag just got stolen from the car in DC, this is the worst!!!!! Broken glass is nothing just give me my computer!!!!
— Young Guru (@Young_Guru) April 21, 2013
Last year, the engineer told Complex that he's the guy Jay-Z trusts the most with his unreleased music. As Guru phrased it, "If it leaks, it's on me." Let's pray he didn't have any of Hov's gems located on that computer. If it does, we could be talking Ryan Leslie numbers placed on its safe return.
Spotted: Complex


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Bisard trial turns toward sentencing phase
Now convicted on nine charges related to a 2010 fatal crash, suspended IMPD Officer David Bisard now awaits sentencing later this month.
Bisard's last words as he headed for a sheriff's van for jail, "It's not true."
That is no revelation to Bisard's lawyers.
"Our client is devastated. As you can imagine, his family is as well. He has always maintained his innocence that's why we tried this case," said his lawyer, John Koutzman.
The jury convicted Bisard on all counts even without hearing about his second DUI arrest last spring, when he crashed his truck. But that could work against him at sentencing.
"I think the 2013 arrest will factor in, but I think only slightly," said Deputy Prosecutor Diane Robinson. "He still has yet to be convicted on that charge. But I think the circumstances of that are fairly well-known and will come into play."
At the scene of the August 2010 fatal crash for which Bisard was convicted, the star expert witnesses said his calls on the police radio show he was sober and in command.
But Tuesday, minutes after asking to hear three of those calls again, the jury found him guilty of DUI and everything else.
"All we ask for what is justice and I feel today we got it, with everything that has happened, it still came through as a guilty verdict," said victim Mary Mills.
Mills and Kurt Weekly were hurt when Bisard's patrol car slammed into their motorcycles. Eric Wells was killed.
"Justice has been served. Our son is gone forever, but David Bisard we can only hope will receive the help that he needs," said Wells' father, Aaron.
In voting guilty, the jury said "yes" to science - blood samples that showed Bisard was intoxicated two times the legal limit - and said no to 29 witnesses including cops who claimed he looked sober.
Suggested Links
As he left the courthouse, Bisard's message to the victims, "I'm sorry."
Bisard will be sentenced November 26 at 10:30 a.m. He is facing at least six years in prison.


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After a down year in New Jersey, the Class of 2011 in the Garden State once again looks loaded. RU is hoping to take advantage of this quickly by holding its first Junior Day of the season this Sa...
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Porto, PT
B(A)ª Balthazar Aroso arquitectos, Lda it's an architecture studio created in 2003, with the main premise of developing projects under thought and experimental formulation.
We believe the architecture practice must be open to other fields of knowledge in order to respond the indeterminacies which characterize today's world and, by doing so, meet the needs of human beings, contributing to a more ethical society.
As architects, how can we do that?
We think that is the convergence with other fields of knowledge that enables us to new points of view on specific issues, thus allowing us to formulate new attitudes. That is, if the scientific development is at the origin of the contemporary world configuration, it is then in the scientific field that we must seek the answers to their indeterminacies and that is where we find the solutions to improve the human and social experiences, essential foundation of architecture.
Rua do Monte dos Burgos
482 . escritório O
Porto, PT , 4250-311
+351 228 328 979
+351 228 305 429


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Various recent photo shoots and pictures of Risa Yoshiki 吉木りさ which we haven't shared with you before; get in the post and take a look, everyone! ^-^ Enjoy!
Download the full set below!
Download Mirror 1 (Free Pictures of Asian Models)
(57.11 MB, 99 pictures)
(This post contains only a selection of the set, the full set is in this zip file, in their original size.) Click Skip Ad at the top right to get to the download.
Risa Yoshiki's Red Flava links: Articles Profile
Tags: bikini, Gravure idol, Japan, lingerie, model, Risa Yoshiki, sexy


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NVIDIA has today teased a new project, something exclusively for gamers. Details are in short supply for July 22nd's big release, but what we do know is that you have to game to get your hands on it first. This is where Ultimate Quest comes in.
A Tweet-based text adventure written by Interactive Fiction author Emily Short, Ultimate Quest takes you on a 'journey to the far side of possible' in which players will search to uncover items in each chapter.
Geared towards challenging the most skilled gamers, one chapter is to be revealed each day with each containing unique illustrations with ambitious puzzles to solve. Players control actions by 'tweeting' a fixed number of verbs through the interface, although nothing is shared with your public feed unless you command so.
To participate, head over to bit.ly/1nUCtNG and log in with your Twitter account. Unlock the secrets of each day's puzzle, and you'll be on your way to getting a first taste of NVIDIA's latest.


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This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.
percivalpale's review published on Letterboxd :
This review may contain spoilers.
On finishing this film, I was presented with a question: Was Harry Lime really evil? The next question that popped into my head is, "What is Evil?"
Evil, it seems, is just Harry Lime's way of living in the world. And while it might be unwholesome and immoral, Harry Lime is just taking advantage of what is in front of him. In this film's most famous speech, we are told that Italy under strife accomplished more than Switzerland under peace. Maybe that's true, but not because one is more evil than the other. It's because one side took more risks.
The Third Man gives us a protagonist by the name of Holly Martins. He's a bumbling western writer with no money who means well. Meanwhile, we are presented half-way through with Harry Lime, a witty scoundrel of a hustler who double-crosses and seemingly gets away with it. Both men, however, are opportunists. Holly took Harry's job offer in Vienna as fast as he could. Would he not rush to the same opportunities provided by the Penicillin ring?
The Third Man does a great job of questioning morality with these themes, and everything surrounding those themes backs that up. From the diagonal camera angles, to the long shadows that seem to swallow entire buildings in Vienna. Some might venture to call this Noir, but Holly is no hardboiled detective, and Anna is no femme fatale. The score does not reflect noir conventions either. Instead of some jazzy trumpet in the background, there is this strange... zither, which to me sounded almost tropical. I can understand the praise for the music itself, but for me it did not help the film. However, all the other unconventional elements in this film do it good, and help it stand out in a world of dark shady thrillers set in european cities.


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Regional Navigation
Maryland 151
Maryland 151 travels 10.80 miles between Sparrows Point in southeast Baltimore County to Clifton Park in east Baltimore. The state highway varies between Erdman Avenue in Baltimore City and North Point Boulevard through Eastpoint and Edgemere. The state highway carries U.S. 40 Truck west from the Pulaski Highway (U.S. 40) interchange to Belair Road (U.S. 1).
|Maryland 151 north
|Maryland 151 South
|The Pulaski Highway continues east to meet Moravia Road before departing the city of Baltimore. Interstate 895 (Harbor Tunnel Thruway) continues south to Lombard Street before entering the Patapsco River tunnel. Photo taken 12/28/07.
|Maryland 151 scenes
Photo Credits:
2004-10-13, 2007-12-28 by AARoads
Connect with:
Interstate 95
Interstate 695 - Baltimore Beltway
Interstate 895
U.S. Highway 1
U.S. Highway 40
Page Updated 03-23-2011.


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Two Tshwane metro police officers have been arrested for allegedly robbing a Durban man of more than R500 000 at gunpoint on Tuesday evening.
Fahim Essack opened a docket with the police claiming the officers stole half the cash he had in his car when they arrested him for allegedly speeding.
Essack was travelling from the Beit Bridge border post back to Durban with close to R1 million in the boot of his car. He said customers buying from his rice business paid him in cash.
Just before 10pm on Tuesday, he was pulled over on the N1 by two Tshwane metro police officers, in uniform but in an unmarked vehicle.
He admitted he had been speeding and the officers claimed he was doing 169km/h. They searched his vehicle and discovered the cash in the boot.
"When (the officer) saw there was money, he called his partner and they said they needed to get the other units involved – the money laundering units," Essack said.
One officer travelled with Essack to the police station, while the other drove the police car.
After a while, the officer in the police car pulled over and said he had been told by his commanding officer to count the money.
While he counted, Essack said he saw the officer hiding cash behind the seat of the car.
When he confronted him, the officer said they were going to take half the money.
"I told him not to be ridiculous, that it was not my money and that I was just working for the company. He tried to negotiate with me but I told him there was no way," he said.
That's when Essack claims one of the officers cocked his gun and threatened him.
"Under those circumstances, I had no option. I had to get into my car and drive off," he said.
The junior officers were arrested late yesterday afternoon at the Tshwane metro police headquarters in WF Nkomo Street (formerly Church) when the police had completed their preliminary investigation.
The sergeants were called in and confronted.
Metro police spokesman Senior Superintendent Isaac Mahamba confirmed the officers, aged 28 and 30, had been arrested. They had been working for the city's law enforcement department for almost seven years.
They would soon receive letters of intention to suspend and have the opportunity to explain why they should not be suspended.
Both officers are due to appear in the Pretoria North Magistrate's Court on Monday and face charges of corruption and armed robbery. They will be held at the Hammanskraal police station over the weekend.
Mahamba said they had yet to find out where the officers had hidden the cash.
- Pretoria News


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This is not the Dick Lugar the Journal & Courier's Dave Bangert thought he knew, but it's the Dick Lugar we're all seeing on full display ever since Richard Mourdock emerged as a primary challenger (and most particularly in recent weeks as Lugar's once-commanding lead in polling has evaporated into a five-point deficit).
Dick Lugar is a desperate man who appears willing to say anything, and do anything, to get reelected.
And it all still feels so unLugar-like.
Anyone who finds this "unLugar-like" doesn't know much about Dick Lugar. This sort of nastiness was the hallmark of some of Lugar's earlier campaigns (see, for example, his losing campaign for Senate against Birch Bayh in 1974).
That we have not seen this behavior from him or his staff in recent times is a reflection of Lugar's lack of serious opposition, not a reflection of some supposed statesmanship or gentlemanliness on Lugar's part.
Lugar has managed in a few short weeks to eviscerate his own public image. His campaign's press releases bizarrely refer to him reverently as "respected" or "beloved" or (my personal favorite) "the Boy Scout of Boy Scouts" even as they vomit forth the nastiest barrage of political attacks and smears Indiana has seen in a generation, most of which have been debunked by Factcheck.org. And I say that as someone that lived up close through four matchups between Baron Hill and Mike Sodrel in the Bloody Ninth.
The wide gulf between what people used to think of Dick Lugar and the behavior they are seeing from him now is taking its toll. Just look at the polling. Lugar's lead is gone, through a combination of arrogance about his residency status and the self-immolation of his own public image and political brand.
He has done all of this to himself. Lugar has managed in a short time to transform his image in the public mind from that of a gentlemanly statesman to someone who exudes the worst stereotypes people see in career politicians.
He has cried wolf so many times with so many cheap shots at his opponent that the latest one (accusing Mourdock of being supportive of the Fairness Doctrine on a questionnaire from two decades ago), promised breathlessly in Lugar press releases as some sort of knockout punch turned out to be little more than a minor spitball in reality. Even the reporters that showed up to cover it were dismissive.
A friend of mine observed, "It's just stupid. They promised a hydrogen bomb and delivered a gerbil fart."
National Review's Brian Bolduc did a story earlier this week on Lugar's descent:
In person, Senator Dick Lugar (R., Ind.) is a model of probity. "His personal style is very moderate and very pleasant," says Jeff Bergner, a former staffer. "He tries whenever he can to get someone to come around to his side by persuasion rather than by yelling."
In a primary, however, he's no-holds-barred — even juvenile.
State treasurer Richard Mourdock has trained his fire on Lugar's voting record: his support for President Obama's Supreme Court appointees, his sponsorship of the DREAM Act, and his backing of the ethanol mandate, to name a few examples.
Lugar's campaign is meeting fire with fire. But Mourdock lacks a voting record, so Lugar has focused on character, maligning Mourdock's by insinuating he's untrustworthy.
The latest onslaught is against Mourdock's campaign manager, Jim Holden. On March 14, Holden emailed Mourdock's campaign staff to notify them that he had acquired log-in information for Salesforce, a voter database the state GOP uses. "Can one of you guys log in immediately and start pillaging email addresses like a Viking raider attacking a [monastery] full of unarmed monks?" Holden wrote.
An impolitic e-mail, yes, but not dastardly. Holden did copy on the e-mail an outside vendor working as a consultant for the campaign; as a result, the state GOP, concerned about maintaining security, blocked the Mourdock campaign's access to the voter database. (The party has a rule against using the list for commercial purposes.) The Lugar campaign, however, has blown this story out of proportion. In a press release, it claimed the Mourdock campaign was "under investigation" and the subject of an "Indiana Republican-party probe." Former state-party chairman Jim Kittle, a Lugar supporter, called the controversy a "security breach."
But Jamey Noel, a member of the Indiana Republican state committee, says there was no probe that he knows of: "I was kind of surprised when I heard that, unless it was something that came up privately in a subcommittee meeting. It was never mentioned in the open meeting." Crucially, the matter was referred to the party's technology committee, not the disciplinary rules committee. The party wasn't punishing Mourdock for a security breach; it was simply trying to ensure the voter database didn't fall into the wrong hands.
But the Lugar campaign has made this line of attack on multiple fronts. After the free-market advocate the Club for Growth began airing aids on behalf of Mourdock, Lugar sent a letter to the Mourdock campaign asking that it push the Club for Growth to disclose its donors' names. "I am sure you would agree with me that Hoosiers deserve to and should know from whom The Club for Growth's money is being contributed so that we all can be assured and confident the anti-circumvention provisions, which bar attempts to launder such banned direct contributions through another entity indirectly, are followed," Lugar wrote.
But the Club for Growth already does disclose its donors, as required by law. The American Action Network, meanwhile, a 501(c)(4) organization that is running ads to promote Lugar, does not disclose its donors, and Lugar's campaign hasn't so much as raised a peep. Asked about the discrepancy, Lugar spokesman Andy Fisher says: "The Club for Growth counter misses the point altogether. There is a very serious issue of public trust regarding the $7 billion Treasurer Mourdock invests on behalf of Hoosiers. And Hoosiers have very serious questions about that."
Finally, the Lugar campaign has played fast and loose with the facts. "Both Lugar's campaign and the American Action Network are airing misleading attack ads against Indiana Treasurer Richard Mourdock," FactCheck.org writes. "The ads strain the facts to make Mourdock look like a tax cheat who makes bad investments and does not show up for work."
Consider the Lugar attack ad "Trust." "For years," the ad says, "Richard Mourdock received $45,000 in illegal second-homestead tax deductions." That's true: Mourdock received a homestead tax deduction for both his home in Evansville and his condo in Indianapolis, although state law grants each resident only one deduction on his primary residence. According to the county auditor's office, however, the previous owner of the condo applied for the deduction, not Mourdock. Furthermore, Mourdock notified the office that he was wrongly receiving the deduction in 2007. Because of a filing error by the auditor's office, he received the credit for the next three years. But when he again discovered the error in June 2011, Mourdock notified the auditor's office once more, and the office admitted its error.
In addition, an American Action Network ad, "Problems," claims that Mourdock's "big bet on junk bonds" drained millions from state pension funds. FactCheck.org notes: "It's true that three state funds that purchased Chrysler debt in 2008 lost money when that company went through bankruptcy in 2009. But Mourdock didn't oversee the investments of the Indiana Teacher's Retirement Fund, which is the only one that actually lost 'millions'" What's more, junk bonds make up 3.3 percent of the state's portfolio. And since Mourdock took office in 2007, "he has earned over $1.3 billion in investment income on the state's cash," the Mourdock campaign says.
Finally, Lugar's campaign has alleged that Mourdock missed more than two-thirds of the state Board of Finance meetings. That's technically true, but 99 percent of the time, Mourdock has either attended or a senior staffer has represented him at the meeting, his campaign says.
Thus far, Lugar's charges against Mourdock are making up in volume what they lack in strength. The desperate nature of the attacks — and their profusion — indicates that this primary race will be close.
We've got eleven days to go, and Lugar still has new depths to plumb.


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HONG KONG, October 8, 2001 ? Qwest Communications International Inc. (NYSE: Q), the broadband communications company, today announced the launch of Qwest AsiaLink? services across Asia Pacific.
Qwest AsiaLink enables Qwest to provide businesses in the region with leading-edge multimedia, data and voice communications services. Initial service offerings in Asia Pacific will include asynchronous transfer mode (ATM), international private line (IPL) and dedicated Internet access (DIA) services. These services will provide multinational and regional businesses with direct connections to Qwest?s global broadband network. Qwest?s network-based Internet protocol virtual private network (IPVPN) services will be available to Asia Pacific customers during the first half of 2002 to offer companies IP connections over a secure line.
?In today?s economic climate, businesses are seeking global networking applications with increased reliability, diversity and cyber security,? said Ross Lau, president and chief executive of Qwest Asia. ?Asia is a key growth market where these requirements are in demand. Our introduction of Qwest AsiaLink is most timely as it allows us to capitalize on immediate opportunities.
?We are delighted that, during our first year of operation in Asia, Qwest has made significant progress in the deployment of broadband connectivity and capacity in the region. We now possess the capability to deliver our unique blend of communications solutions to businesses in the region. The launch of Qwest AsiaLink further secures our position as a global provider of end-to-end communications solutions.?
As part of its network expansion plan, Qwest will initially offer services across Asia with network points of presence (PoPs) in Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore - Qwest PoPs in these three locations will be fully operational by the end of fourth quarter 2001. Qwest expects to further expand its service offerings throughout the Greater China region and Korea during 2002.
The timing of Qwest?s expansion into the region is validated by a recent study conducted by The Yankee Group. ?Our research indicates that international corporate data traffic in Asia will grow by as much as 30 percent over the next year, while corporate IP traffic will grow by 40 percent or more,? said Christopher Slaughter, director of Asia Pacific research for The Yankee Group.
Qwest AsiaLink will be customized for businesses with assurance of competitive value, flexible billing options, industry-leading service level agreements, 24/7 customer care and premium access to one of the world?s largest and most secure and scalable global IP networks.
About Qwest
Qwest Communications International Inc. (NYSE: Q) is a leader in reliable, scalable and secure broadband data, voice and image communications for businesses and consumers. The Qwest Macro Capacity® Fiber Network, designed with the newest optical networking equipment for speed and efficiency, spans more than 113,000 miles globally. For more information, please visit the Qwest Web site at www.qwest.com.
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I decided to play G Mix over E minor progression and I loved the results !
Why was that ?
I sounded kinda 'spooky'....horror film stuff !
Love to know the theory behing that.
I decided to play G Mix over E minor progression and I loved the results !
Why was that ?
I sounded kinda 'spooky'....horror film stuff !
Love to know the theory behing that.
arrrghhh !
Just worked it out...i think !
I was experiencing E Phygian !
G Mix = E Phyg ?
Uh-huh, G Mixolydian has the same notes as E-Phrygian, both are modes of C Maj.
If G mix has the same notes as E phyrg.......
So if I play G mix over a Eminor progression this is the same as playing E phyg over an E minor progression ?
Or am I getting lost Eric ?
Well, basically you could say that... it´s the same notes after all. Playing in a certain mode required treating that mode like the major scale though... you gotta play out certain notes to emphasize the sound of the mode.
Also, the chords in the background are important too... if you have some progression like Em-G-F-Em, it will imply a phrygian sound, even if you think "G Mixolydian"
If you play Ephryg. or G Mixo. over an actual E Minor progression, such as Em-D-C-Em ( playing out the minor and major chords instead of playing powerchords ), it might work, but you also might get some weird sounds, since the Dmaj contains an F#, while E Phryg. and G Mixol. do not.
Many people think that using modes simply means to play a major scale from a certain degree to its octave ( such as playing from the thrid note to the octave of that note = Phrygian ), and nothign else.
But it´s also important to pay attention to the chords and progressions in the back.
Try i.e. playing a progression like Em-G-F-Em over a static G-bassnote, while playing over that in G mixolydian. This might result in a rather mixolydian sound
Hoep this helps
Thanks Eric...that has helped alot !
I think I need to write myself some 'modal progressions'
Can you point me in the right direction for some help on this ?
I have always tended to try and fit a certain mode over a static bass note or a simple powerchord progression....this only seems to work to a certain degree.
As a play in metal band I tend not to use the major modes too much......but if I write a series of progressions its going to help me no end.
Check out the ptb I attached to this post... I have posted it before at the forums.
It contains a simple triad ( which I consider important: triads instead of "just" powerchords ) progression, taken from the key of Cmajor... G-F-C
The first 4 bars have a static C bassnote, try playing C major here.
Then, that part is repeated, with a F bassnote. Which gives it a "Lydian" sound, so try F Lydian ( F-G-A-B-C-D-E-F )
The next 4 bars are again those triads, played over a G bassnote... G mixolydian sound.
And ebventually, A bassnote... A minor
I´d recommend not to see this as "one" piece of music. Take only bars 5-8, and have the program plkay those bars back over and over. Try to play over that in F Lydian for a while. Take your time with it.
What I mean is, don´t listen to those 16 bars as "one piece of music". Approach each section by itself.
This by no means is rocket-science or anything, it´s a very basic progression and simply changing the bassnote is not anthing like sophisticated songwriting.
But I think it might help you to go into the right direction. Experiment with this. Try to come up with your own progressions. Try changing the bass notes, don´t just play the root of each chord or anything.
Hope this helps


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Namdrol wrote:heart wrote:Just find me a quote from Nagarjuna then saying that emptiness if dependent origination or else we are finished with this discussion.
That which is dependent origination
is explained to be emptiness.
-- Mulamadhyamakakarikas.
Ok I don't know anything like you guys do. But again, this says DO is empty. It doesn't say that all of emptiness is DO? Does it?
Could we say for example that the nature of mind is empty, but not dependently originated?


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A semi-dry wine that pairs well with smoked fish and BBQ. Made from freshly pressed Honey-Crisp apples and aged in Stainless Steel tanks for a clean, crisp, refreshing finish.


text: Well this Loop is awesome, I love following you all and running thinking of what others are going through. I got myself a 10k PR today, so refusing to lay off and take it easy for a week is paying off bigtime. here is my latest PR. I actually was smiling through most of the run and i remembered how much i love running, its therapy for me!


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Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition announced for PS4
DrinkBox Studios' Metroidvania, brawling platformer, Guacamelee! is coming to PlayStation 4. Rebranded as the Super Turbo Championship Edition, the PS4 version features new powers, like INTENSO. Once you fill your combo meter, you can unleash INTENSO for a brief boost to the damage and speed of your attacks, as well as your movement.
In addition to the new power, DrinkBox has polished the combat and added some upgrades, while expanding Juan's story with two new, "huge" levels and a three-headed, one-man Mariachi-band boss. There's also a new class of Elite enemies.
Because this version has a lot of content not seen in the original game, it won't support cross-saves. DrinkBox also confirmed there are no plans to bring the Super Turbo Championship Edition to PS3 or Vita at this point.
"We're putting a lot of effort into getting the game on consoles we've never shipped on before," explained DrinkBox's Graham Smith. "We're a small studio and it takes a lot of work to bring the game to a new platform. We chose to focus on bringing it to new consoles because, while there is a lot of new content in STCE, PS3 owners still have the original Guac."
Guacamelee! Super Turbo Championship Edition will be released for PS4 later this year.
[PS Blog]


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WASHINGTON (Sep. 11)
Ambassador Philip M. Klutznick former international president of B'nai B'rith, was confirmed by the Senate today as a member of the United States delegation to the United Nations. He had previously been reappointed by President Kennedy to the delegation which, again, is headed by Adlai E. Stevenson.
The Senate also approved the President's re-appointment of Mr. Stevenson as well as of Mr. Stevenson's two top deputies on the delegation, Francis T. P. Plimpton and Charles W. Yost. Mr. Plimpton has represented the delegation, most of the time, in the last 18 months, at UN debates concerning Arab refugees and similar matters of major interest to Israel.


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UFC 161 will not be a disappointment says UFC's Tom Wright
More than 800 miles separate the Canadian cities of Winnipeg and Calgary. Regardless, UFC's director of operations for Canada, Tom Wright, assured the press Tuesday afternoon UFC 161 in Winnipeg would be far and away from last summer's Calgary card — a card UFC boss Dana White famously said, "sucked." Like it's Calgary counterpart, Winnipeg's UFC 161, scheduled for June 15, has been beset by injuries, including injuries to Renan Barao and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, that forced the cancellation of two headline bouts.
"Injuries are part of any sport and they're certainly part of this sport," Wright said. "But when you take a look at this you'll see the 161 card has two Ultimate Fighter champions, you've got two former Strikeforce champions, you've got a former light heavyweight champion in Rashad [Evans] and a former Pride champion. . . Winnipeg, Manitoba is not going to be disappointed."
Other quick hits from the call:
· Evans will be returning to the Octagon for the first time since his listless unanimous decision loss to Nogueira last February at UFC 156. Earlier this year, the 33-year-old Evans talked about worries of being cut by the UFC with another bad outing. But now, it seems, Evans is only looking forward. "You definitely want to get the monkey off your back when you stink up the joint," Evans said. "I'm going to go out there and put on a show but not only to shut all the naysayers up but for myself. I felt like I let myself down more than anything and I can live with disappointing anyone else but I can't live with disappointing myself."
· Evans's opponent in the main event, Dan Henderson, is also seeking redemption. Henderson dropped a split decision to Brazilian Lyoto Machida at UFC 157 last February. It's a loss that obviously still irks Henderson. "I know I didn't perform to my best and I could have done some things differently, but it's hard to fight a guy that doesn't really want to fight you." But Machida, Henderson admits, isn't the only fight from the past that irritates him. He said he still has "unfinished business" with Jon Jones. Henderson and Jones were scheduled to fight last September before a knee injury forced Henderson to withdraw. UFC matchmakers then leapfrogged Henderson and paired Jones with Chael Sonnen.
· After dropping Cheick Kongo at UFC 159 last April with his trademark knockout punch, fifth-ranked heavyweight Roy Nelson jumped atop the Octagon and rubbed his hands around his ample belly in celebration. When asked about his "everyman" physique, Nelson didn't mince words. "People who tend to be in our sport tend to abuse PEDs or performance-enhancing drugs, so that's the reason why I probably don't look like the typical UFC fighter," he said. Nelson accepted a bout with Stipe Miocic on short notice after he said Daniel Cormier declined to fight him.
-- Melissa Segura


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About This Game
- Summary
- Specifications
- Game Editions
City Transformer Online is an MMORPG set upon a distant planet where bloody war once raged, and is now erupting again. On Amicron, confrontation is escalating more and more between the Alliance, the Army of Clones, and Samas cyborgs for ownership of the mysterious Spark.
By selecting one of the six classes of characters gifted with more than 80 abilities, a player tasked to fight enemies and defend Artifacts that keep a multitude of secrets. The events unfold in 21 regions of the planet, where various trials and dangers await the heroes. But, the main attraction is an incredible opportunity to visit the Moon, and travel to the past and the future. By knowing one of Spark's secrets, a player can control transformers - unique machines that enhance a player's fighting abilities. The game has more than 50 kinds of transformers. Two players can use them as a means of transportation simultaneously. For those who want to earn gaming money, there are 11 professions that allow them to gain resources and make different items, equipment, potions, fine cuisine dishes, and even their own transformers. Players can also sell them at a commodity exchange or auction.
While traveling around the planet and finding like-minded people, players can unite in guilds, carry out assignments together, and create their own strong clan that will be able to control several territories. These territories will be the ones for which large-scale battles will unfold between the clans, since the winner gets control over resources, instances, and financial flows.
- Supported Functions
- Online
City Transformer OnlinePublisher: Destiny DevelopmentRelease Date: TBAMSRP: 0 USD
City Transformer OnlineRelease Date: 2012
Help us solve the toughest (or most puzzling) game puzzles and challenges.
Our attempt to answer issues which most commonly occur on IGN's wikis.


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Martin Marietta Materials, Inc. (NYSE:MLM) today announced its results for the third quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2013. Ward Nye, President and CEO of Martin Marietta Materials, stated: "We are pleased to report a double-digit increase in both revenues and earnings in the third quarter of 2013. Our performance was driven largely by the ongoing recovery in private-sector construction activity, as well as solid execution of our long-term strategic plans and diligent management of our cost structure. I am especially proud of the fact that our Company achieved these strong results despite the continued public-sector construction headwinds. The combination of a 12% increase in consolidated net sales over the prior-year quarter and our ongoing focus on controlling costs resulted in a 13% increase in earnings per diluted share. These results reflect new third-quarter records for both net sales and earnings from operations in the Specialty Products business, as well as volume and pricing growth in the aggregates product line." The Aggregates business experienced volume and pricing increases from all reportable segments and pricing growth in all product lines. An 8.1% increase in aggregates product line shipments led to increased operating leverage, as illustrated by a 220-basis-point improvement in the Aggregates business' operating margin (excluding freight and delivery revenues). The Specialty Products business benefitted from strong dolomitic lime sales, including the capacity expansion from the recently completed kiln in Ohio, which led to a 13% increase in the segment's net sales. "We are encouraged by significant improvements in our markets and believe, as do most third-party forecasters, that significant upside potential remains in both the residential and nonresidential construction segments. Additionally, our Aggregates business will benefit from the current boom in shale gas production, as well as planned follow-on development. We are confident that these trends bode especially well for our business," Nye said.
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When writing the screenplay for the cinematic adaptation of Ender's Game by novelist Orson Scott Card, filmmaker Gavin Hood (Tsotsi) discovered creative inspiration from his own life. "For me it wasn't so much a particular scene but a particular feeling that it generated in me," recalls Hood. "I was drafted when I was 17 in the South African military in 1981, during the bad old days, and taken a thousand miles away from my home, and dropped into a basic training place where I was yelled and screamed at. I was set in an environment that was very different from my experience in growing up where aspects of my personality, particularly the more aggressive side of one's male personality, were being praised in ways that would have been unthinkable by your mother."
"I read the book only five years ago," states Hood. "It was sent to me by my agent and I said, 'Wow. This is a sci-fi movie and it's about this kid. Why am I relating to these strong internal conflicts that happen inside this character?' I was reading a book aimed at young people that didn't in anyway talk down to them but recognized the complexity of our feelings and emotions, in particular our capacity for great compassion and also our equal capacity for incredible aggression. The idea that most appealed to me about the book was here is a protagonist who is not a good kid taking on a bad guy, beating the bad guy, setting the world right and riding off into the sunset. This is more complicated. This is a story about a kid who is essentially is in a battle with himself to define his own morality and to choose his own life path. Ender Wiggin is not a perfect kid; he is highly intelligent but is capable of both terrible violence and great compassion. Ender is trying to figure out where he will settle as an adult."
"One of the ideas in Ender's Game is to try to get the best out of the people you work with because someone will be way smarter than you and putting the best ideas from all of these people who are experts in all of these different fields will hopefully result in a better product than you can come up by yourself," notes Gavin Hood who recruited Oscar-nominee Matthew Butler (Transformers: Dark of the Moon) to be his visual effects supervisor. "I understandably went to Matthew early on and said, 'I'm a screenwriter not an engineer. You're a Masters Degree in Aeronautical Engineering and a MIT graduate. 'Can you take a look at it and talk about anything that comes off to you as being scientifically inaccurate?' Matthew started to do previs and I worked with my editor editing the animated sequences. Matthew was a stickler for getting the zero-G right and working out the mathematics for what velocity they'd be moving at and how they'd turn. Having your team involved from an early stage means when you're on-set shooting where time is precious and money is being spent at rapid rate with such a big crew you can focus on collecting exactly what you need."
"I learned about Ender's Game [2013] through the script and in my mind that is the movie," states Digital Domain Visual Effects Supervisor Matthew Butler who became quick friends with filmmaker Gavin Hood over the course of producing the cinematic adaptation. "Luckily Gavin was already on board with his Art Department team which was Ben Procter and Sean Haworth [The Thing] who shared the responsibility of production designers on this movie; they and their team were creating artwork quite prolifically so those were visual tools to accompany our use of words. Because Digital Domain is a producer of this movie we had the team resident here in Venice, California before making the move to New Orleans. We employed two or three storyboard artists here which we then took with us to New Orleans." The principle photography involved a less than convenient process. "In the perfect world you have art direction and pictures, make storyboards, do previs, and then go out and shoot it. We didn't quite reach that utopic level. We were shooting before we had finished previs and started certain storyboards. To a certain extent we paid a price for that but that's the reality of moviemaking."
"Prior to this joint production methodology Digital Domain would be more predominantly a service company providing visual effects," observes Matthew Butler. "There are obvious disadvantages to that where you can only charge what you can for that service and don't get a piece of the gate but you also have some benefits. You get a certain protection from a system that has been in place for many years. You would assess the level of work the best you can in the beginning and from that break it down, create a budget schedule, and follow it through with the producers involved. The point where things get simpler or more complex is when you put your hand in the air and go, 'Hang on a second. We hadn't planned on that.' People, who worry about money more than I, get together and scramble to change orders that are in place to commensurate with the level of complexity. Things grow providing that we have enough people and time available. You charge more money and get it done. With the new situation we were part producers and held hands around the table in the beginning and said, 'We're going to making this movie for this much money and time. These are our assets, and this is a closed system.' That's all well and good as long as everyone plays ball. What tends to happen is you slip back into what you're used to with shooting. When you're on-set you have the assistant director whose priority responsibility is making their day not whether or not things are being changed and my budget is getting affected. We needed to let things change because this is an artistic environment but always see there are ramifications to that and how we faced them was tricky; having said that we achieved it."
"What happened for various production reasons our starting date got accelerated by two months," explains Gavin Hood. "We had really previs the Battle Room Sequences down to the minute detail and that part of the shoot was incredibly smooth as a result. The Simulation Battles we hadn't completed all of our previs when we had to shoot. There were issues of actor availability and we had to go. That was harder but we achieved the result. I knew what I needed in my head but it was more exhausting because I was waving around going, 'Over here is giant battle ship that you can't see but imagine it goes boom over here.' It was more stressful because we had less references than the sections we had previs more carefully in the Battle Room Sequences." A lesson well learned. "Matthew and I dug our heels in any time we were up against this and said, 'Guys we will pay for it if we don't get this portion of the prep done in detail.'"
"I also brought early on Garrett Warren [Lincoln], the stunt coordinator, and he brought the Cirque du soleil performers," remarks Gavin Hood. "I put Matthew with Garrett so they knew what each other could do. When do we transition from what Garrett can do physically and what Matthew has to takeover and do it in pure CG? We broke the sequences down too. 'This all we need to shoot of this performance.' We needed to get that perfect. We would hand that off to Matthew. On-set while we were shooting Matthew, Garrett, and I were like this little triangle. Obviously, I was helped out by my fantastic cinematographer but he is helping us to execute what we need to put the pieces together during post-production. It was a great experience to have these people from different disciplines."
"One of our big challenges on this film was emulating zero gravity," states Matthew Butler. "We started with putting actors as close as possible in a world that looked as close as possible to being zero gravity." The practical use of harnesses and wires looked good on-set. "Sometimes it's not until you isolate the content into the final shot where you go, 'I see it [acting like a] pendulum or moving up and down.'" The problem needed to be address to ensure believability. "It's a defence mechanism that we recognize motion accurately without going to school." A digital solution was needed. "When you put a harness on someone the pivot point where he moves his limbs around is fixed to it. We can come up with tools that can compute and move the image to where it should be but it requires a complicate re-projection and computer generation content to achieve it; that's what we did." The visual effects supervisor recruited a unique contact for assistance. "Greg Chamitoff was my roommate at MIT when we were studying aerodynamics; he went on to become an astronaut. Greg is a lovely guy who flew out several times and educated the kids; it was important that he could let them know how they should behave and have to act in order to emulate zero gravity. Greg talked with our stunt and animation crews; we got a lot of value out of that and it was cool that he was an astronaut too."
"What is great for an actor is when you walk onto a physical set because you don't have to imagine but you can sit down in a chair, look out and touch the walls," states Gavin Hood. "Really great production design helps an actor feel the space but when actors of any kind, never mind the young ones, walk into an entirely green screen environment it is tricky because everyone's imagination is slightly different. The previs helps to illustrate what that environment looks like." Both green and blue screen was used. "We did a full surround green screen for Ender and his commanders in the simulation cave though the piece that is set built is tiny," remarks Matthew Butler. "Once the lights go out and the Simulation Cave is on you don't want anything else so it made sense to have a full surround green screen. We did the same with the zero gravity Battle Room. We did as much stunt performance and that made sense to shoot that in green screen in general. There are times when there is zero value in having green screen there and we went with black or rotoscoping. You do your best guess as to the procedure going in but that only works if you can execute what is planned. Obviously, on the day it's free-form jazz and you have to shoot from the hip."
"In terms of the Battle Room and Simulation Cave this was an opportunity where the film can hopefully go a step further than the book," states Gavin Hood. "In the book you have the Battle Room in a black box. I hope fans forgive me for taking the liberty of putting it into a huge glass sphere. I broke that rule because I felt, 'Why am I going out into space for to be in a black box?' The truth is in space I can see much further. I can see Earth and the Moon. By placing it in this glass sphere I felt like I was achieving the best of both worlds. The sphere allows it to be quite cinematic and to have some fun with light, imagery, and mood. Then the simulation cave Ender plays the game on a computer and I was worried that this would be quite static. I was at the planetarium with my kids and saw this huge projector. Out comes all of these stars at 360 degrees and combining that with an orchestrate conductor at a Disney concert I thought, 'Wow! That conductor is picking up a sweat and he's not even moving but he's giving off all of this energy.' If I put Ender in the middle of a simulation room and create a video game all around him that's projected in virtual reality he can move his arms like a conductor."
"Someone comes to you and says, 'We want it like no one has seen before.' It's one of those classic lines," chuckles Matthew Butler when discussing a futuristic technology which regularly gets the cinematic treatment. "The hologram had to serve a couple of purposes. One is that it has to look cool. The other thing is that it has to give the audience the belief that Ender is fully immersed in a believable photorealistic environment that he is really not in." Butler observes, "I don't know if anyone can really become fresh because we're all thinking the same thing." Despite the creative impediment a novel approach was implemented during the space battle scenes. "Ender changes his point of view of what we're looking at and we tether that together with three dimensional graphics in a way I haven't seen before." Computer graphics on televisions and tablets had to be designed. "We made a big effort to make sure we were modern but not gratuitous. There had to be an appropriate need for them."
"The idea is that the Formic planet is in our nearest solar system about five light years away and therefore we have shipped our battle forces over to them a long time ago," remarks Matthew Butler. "In the meantime we're training our young lad because even at light speed it takes many years to get there. These vehicles which are on their way to cause harm are pristine at this point; they are vacuum-packed, Saran wrapped out of the bag. We have four scenes where the first scene is Mazer Rackham (Ben Kingsley] showing Ender the playing field. Here is the Formic planet and your arsenal. At this point nothing is damaged. There is a deliberate juxtaposition of animation made between the Formics and the I.F.. The I.F. military is regimented and computer controlled so is geometric in dynamics and animation. We made a huge effort to show that distinct difference between them and that juxtaposition. Of course, gloves come off at one point and its all fair game but you get the geometric pattern in the formation." Modifications were made to the concept art for the spaceships and vehicles. "There is a lot of design that happens here regardless the amount of artwork that comes in which we were grateful for and was lovely. But then you have to do it for real in three dimensions. Because of the need for so many different vehicles we had to design ones that could be modulated from other things. Then you have to cut them all up and explode in a dramatic and dynamic fashion."
"I delivered 941 shots," remarks Matthew Butler. "We did about 700 at Digital Domain. It was based on schedule and availability. Because we were producers of this movie we were able to do this at cost without having mark-up so then Digital Domain becomes the most efficient company to work in general because they can afford to do it without their mark-up. Other companies can do things cheaper because they have lower overhead." Other visual effects companies involved with Ender's Game were Vectorsoul & Post 23, Method Studios, The Embassy, and Comen VFX while motion graphics were handled by G Creative Productions and Goldtooth Creative Agency. "For the Mind Game, I met with a lovely company called Vectorsoul. We worked with them on some assets because they hadn't done a feature film before. We had the tools they didn't have and so did a hybrid with them. We worked with companies in Vancouver because of tax benefits. Everything was in the mix to make that decision."
"I'm a big fan of the Mind Game," states Matthew Butler. "If you get into it it's quite psychologically disturbing – the manipulation of children to fight wars. It's set in a way as being an r and r for the kids. 'I've done my homework lets enter the Mind Game.' But there is a sinister addition to it where we find out it's a tool that is developed by the psychoanalyst to study the behaviour of these children. We also find out that there is also a communication going on between the Queen and Ender. When I went to see the movie I want more of the Mind Game. It makes me feel comfortable. It's also a departure from the photorealism. I've been doing photorealism since I started here and I do think it's the pinnacle of what we do but it is nice to delve into something else, into art and be creative and not to be bound by physical and optical reality. It was a fun project to work on in the design and execution, and working with the company Vectorsoul which did a great job. There is a lot of storytelling there and parallels that have to be adhered to. We couldn't go just trippy. I found it to be refreshing and visually fun."
"One of the problems with this movie is that we had so many different environments to create," reveals Matthew Butler. "It's great if you can do a one trick pony. If you have a movie where you have to make a floating iceberg and it appears in every shot that would be wonderful but here we have full one hundred per cent synthetic Formic dog fights and Earth in the daylight, and then you have the space station all that goes on there, and then you have the mind game which is completely different from everything else, the simulation cave, the cathedral, and the Queen." The leader of the Formics was an animation challenge. "Creating a creature that hardly moves, is supposed to emote this compassion but yet be a badass, be frail but threatening and you don't have eyes or hands or lips. I am thankful to my animation director. I can explain what we wanted to achieve but I don't know how to pull it off. It's amazing what these talented people did."
Over 300,000 ships appear simultaneously requiring Digital Domain to process more than 27 billion polygons in order to complete the shot of the Final Battle. "When the lights dim in the office and the coffee machine won't work any more you know that someone is rendering something powerful," notes Matthew Butler. "Associate VFX Supervisor/DFX Supervisor David Hodgins [I, Robot] is the brains behind the digital side of us here and had to deal with all of that. Just getting stuff to render is a huge challenge. Long gone are the days where you would render out an image and that's what goes in the movie. You render out final pieces and this thing is in control of that and it's dependent to this. 'When Dave smiled it meant that something rendered the night before. We broke machines everywhere all the time. It was the biggest technical achievement we have had at this company. It involved a huge team of people including technical directors who were responsible for making sure that the pipeline was such that when somebody rendered it would actually go through. They go in there and optimize shaders. They speak code that you and I wouldn't know. You grab some software off the shelf and turn the bells and whistles on I guarantee it wouldn't even render a teacup. A lot of people were focused on that task of, 'We have to get it done.'"
"The thing I am most proud of is that the Formic planet gets destroyed in the end and Ender is not aware that it wasn't a simulation," remarks Matthew Butler. "We go back and study the planet in two forms. We see it in an earlier scene where Mazer Rackham is saying, 'Here's their planet and the population density is rising. Look at the amassing of the military.' You see it in an epic shot. You go, "Look at that! We're in trouble.' In the end of the Final Battle you get to see the burning apocalypse. It was done by a team of people. FX Animation Artist Thomas Reppen [Maleficent] did the majority of it and is one of those horribly talent people who you can say, 'You need to achieve this.' I don't know even how he did half of it. It is outstanding in terms of volumetric effects of burning a planet. 'Here's your task. Go blow-up a planet and make it look cool.' That's not easy to do. I'm proud of him and his team's work on a handful of shots there." The writer-director responsible for Ender's Game is proud of the end result. "I want to give a huge amount of thanks to Matthew Butler," states Gavin Hood. "And don't forget Ben Procter and Sean Haworth, the two production designers because they were designing those environments in order for Matthew to calculate how he was going to render them. Between the production designers, visual effects supervisor, and stunt coordinator it was a real ballet; they're all brilliant people."
Sew Good: Christine Bieselin Clark talks about Ender's Game


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Israel's Maariv Newspaper Changes Hands, Its Future Remains Uncertain
As the Israeli press struggles for survival, it may be the Diaspora that rides in to the rescue as more foreign and foreign-born Jewish tycoons acquire media holdings.
The merger between Maariv and Makor Rishon is yet to be finalized, though the owners of the two newspapers, Nochi Dankner and Shlomo Ben-Zvi, shook hands last week on the deal to sell the Maariv titles, its website, distribution network and subscriber base for NIS 85m to Ben-Zvi's Hirsch Media. Even if it does go ahead, it is very unclear how much of the old Maariv will remain following the acquisition, how many of its journalists will remain with the paper (Ben-Zvi has committed to employing 300-400 of Maariv's two thousand present employees) and whether the intention is simply to subsume the 65 year-old newspaper into Makor Rishon's operations. Maariv's prospects are murky at best, but what has materialized is the virtual control of the Israeli right-of-center media in the hands of two English-speaking businessmen. (The other American investor in Israeli media is World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder, who owns 25 percent of Channel Ten, and may enlarge his holdings to save that embattled channel.)
While Israel Hayom, the Netanyahu-supporting daily paper, was founded and owned by American casino tycoon and Republican mega-donor Sheldon Adelson, who over the last five years has bankrolled the free daily newspaper making it the widest-read newspaper in Israel, Ben-Zvi is a proprietor of an entirely different order. For a start, unlike Adelson, he has lived here for over three decades, since the age of fourteen, and most of his education was in Israeli yeshivas and the Hebrew University. (Full disclosure – this writer worked at Makor Rishon for a couple of years.)
The finances of Hirsch Media are unclear, but it is widely assumed that the funding for a decade of media acquisitions has come from Ben-Zvi's family's real estate holdings and investments in technology companies and from his father-in-law, Conrad Morris, a prominent British industrialist and leading donor to right-wing groups in Israel. Ben-Zvi's first media holding was the Tchelet Channel, a cable television outlet founded in 2003, focusing on Jewish cultural content that broadcasted for three years. He purchased struggling religious papers, including the National Religious Party's Hatzofe and settlers' monthly Nekuda, both of which he merged into another of his acquisitions, the right-wing weekly Makor Rishon, which in 2007 became a daily.
Makor Rishon under Ben-Zvi has undergone a number of transformations, but over the last few years has achieved a certain degree of stability as a slim weekday edition and a relatively thick Friday offering with a number of well-written supplements. Its politics have also fluctuated somewhat, having gone through periods of closely supporting Netanyahu, veering right-ward toward the more radical "Jewish-Leadership" faction within Likud and the far-right settler circles and more recently seeming most at home in the bourgeois religious community. "These shifts may seem like mere nuances to secular left-wing outsiders," says one veteran writer at Makor Rishon," but in a newspaper serving a tight-knit community, they make a major difference."
Like many Anglo-religious olim, Ben-Zvi who doubled as both owner and editor-in-chief of Makor Rishon for the last three years, has reflected multiple strands of Jewish and Israeli identity. He lives on the settlement of Efrat, more an affluent suburb of Jerusalem than a hilltop outpost, and while supporting resolutely right-wing positions, including the publication of a weekly column encouraging Jewish pilgrimage to the Temple Mount (of which Ben-Zvi is an enthusiast), the paper has been critical of violent "price tag" attacks on Palestinians. After one such attack, Ben-Zvi's own house was vandalized. And while the paper is very careful not to tread on religious sensibilities, it covers mainstream culture and entertainment and has no problem printing photographs of women.
Unlike Israel Hayom, Makor Rishon's columnists are divided between supporters of Benjamin Netanyahu's policies and those who criticize them from the right. Ben-Zvi was once active within Likud but has since distanced himself from party politics. An earlier attempt by Ben-Zvi to launch a free daily newspaper, together with Adelson, ended acrimoniously and is still the subject of a protracted lawsuit, has also contributed to the cooling of relations between Makor Rishon and the prime minister.
Makor Rishon covers Jewish Diaspora affairs in relative depth, as could be expected in a newspaper whose owner has family-ties abroad (his brother-in-law, Daniel Taub is Israel's ambassador in London) but the paper has yet to launch its planned website and talk of an English edition has so far failed to materialize.
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Here's your daily dose of What's Buzzing around Hollywood!
"Dancing With The Stars" Double Elimination And Who Got Sent Home – People
Former Dallas Stars hockey player Sean Avery and swimmer Diana Nyad were sent home last night in surprise double elimination. Billie Dee Williams was declared safe, most likely thanks to loyal Star Wars fan votes.
TV Judge Joe Brown Arrested After Courtroom Meltdown – TMZ
Judge Joe Brown was on the receiving end of a contempt in court charge yesterday. He was representing a client in a child support case and was turned away by court staff as there was no record of the case on the books. That's when Judge Joe Brown went off the rails. He was arrested after being told to pipe down several times.
LeAnn Rimes Cancelled Oklahoma Encore After Jaw Pops — E! Online
North Texas native LeAnn Rimes had to cancel the encore to her concert performance at Choctaw Casino in Durant, OK after her jaw popped out of place. The singer tweeted an apology to fans, citing TMJ as the cause of the issue.
Oklahoma!!!! I love you so much! I'm sorry for no encore. I had my jaw pop out of place & I can't hear out of my left ear. #tmjsucks
— LeAnn Rimes Cibrian (@leannrimes) March 23, 2014
Actor James Rebhorn Wrote His Own Obituary – Hollywood Reporter
Homeland star James Rebhorn, who passed away from skin cancer last week, apparently wrote his own obituary. He was prompted to do so after playing an Alzheimer's patient in a production last year who did the same thing. The final line of his obit read: 'Jim was fortunate enough to earn his living doing what he loved. He was a professional actor…Without his exceptional teachers and the representation of the best agents in the business, he wouldn't have had much of a career. He was a lucky man in every way.'
Stacey Keibler Pregnant – Huff Post
From the "Well, that was fast" files, Stacy Keibler is pregnant with her first child. The woman who was not that long ago dating George Clooney got married to a businessman March 8th & announced yesterday that they're expecting a baby this Summer." Take THAT Mr. Clooney.
Bobby-Kristina Hints At Following In Mom's Footsteps – Radar Online
Whitney Houston's daughter Bobby-Kristina wants to launch a singing career and is already catching flack for comparing herself to her Mom. Mariah Carey & Randy Jackson are reportedly going to help her get started but Bobby stirred up the Twitter-verse when she tweeted: Think about it.. She had 1babygirl, lungs and a GORGEOUS unforgettable voice .. Who do you think ONLY has HER vocal chords.. ? It'll be interesting to hear what she sounds like.
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson Tweets First Look At Hercules – Huff Post
Dwayne Johnson or The Rock has been tweeting photos from his upcoming Hercules movie and the world is better for it. Sources say that he's up at 3am to hit the treadmill & then does hours of weight before filming all day. If you're not following him on twitter he's at TheRock and you need to see these pictures. He's always been big but good grief! Hercules is going to open nationwide on July 25th. Check out his picture below!
EXCLUSIVE first look..#HERCULES The world's first superhero. #TilDeathOrVictory pic.twitter.com/NXZp8JfWo5
— Dwayne Johnson (@TheRock) March 24, 2014


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Update on Tuesday snowfall potential
From James Spann:Here are the highlights of what to expect tomorrow
ALL of Alabama will be very cold. The northern quarter of the state, north of U.S. 278, won't get out of the 20s. The high for Birmingham, Tuscaloosa, Anniston, and Gadsden will be only in the low to mid 30s.
Snow will begin Tuesday morning over North Alabama, but it will be light. There is a good chance you will see snow in Birmingham, Tuscaloosa, Anniston, and Gadsden, but it should be light, and significant accumulation is not expected. No major travel issues are expected in these areas despite the snow.
The chance of accumulating snow begins generally along and south of a line from Livingston to Eutaw to Greensboro to Centreville to Alabaster to Talladega to Ranburne. Some light accumulation is possible (1 inch of less) in the counties under a Winter Weather Advisory. These counties are Sumter, Greene, Hale, Bibb, Shelby, Talladega, Clay, Randolph, Perry, Chilton, and Coosa. Some minor travel issues are possible, if you live or travel in these counties, we don't expect widespread road problems, but icy spots are very possible.
The major snow/ice threat is along and south of U.S. 80, or south of a line from Demopolis to Selma to Montgomery to Opelika. Some communities over South Alabama could see 2 to 4 inches of snow. The heavier snow will come across South Alabama from around 12:00 noon Tuesday through 10:00 p.m.
Near the coast, the precipitation will begin in places like Mobile, Gulf Shores, and Pensacola as rain and sleet. This will change to freezing rain Tuesday evening, and snow Tuesday night. Mobile and Pensacola could see around one inch of snow, but freezing rain and ice is the bigger threat for these coastal cities.
Travel will be greatly impacted across the southern half of Alabama. Bridges and overpasses will be icy and dangerous, and some black top roads will become slick as well where heavier snow falls. The I-10 Bayway between Mobile and Spanish Fort will become very icy Tuesday night.


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Saman Mohammadi
Nov 22, 2012
"The lie is omnipresent, and it affects almost every political argument we attempt to analyze. But a great many people continue to believe the lie, and to believe what politicians saytheir goals are, as opposed to what their actions consistently reveal." – Arthur Silber, "The Infinite Human Capacity to Deny the Obvious."
"For the great enemy of truth is very often not the lie–deliberate, contrived and dishonest–but the myth–persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic. Too often we hold fast to the cliches of our forebears. We subject all facts to a prefabricated set of interpretations. We enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought." – John F. Kennedy, Yale University Commencement Address, June 11, 1962.
The media coverage of Israel's latest aggression against Gaza has two aims: 1) shield reality from the American people and the Western world, and 2) preserve the dream world that the populations of Israel, the United States, and other Western countries all live in.
These two aims are being achieved by propaganda outlets like the BBC, CNN, The Washington Post, and The New York Times. The paid propagandists in these organizations have probably mastered the five-step guide to preserving the dream world that I list below.
Memorize the five steps and don't allow the propagandists to provide political and moral cover for the crimes against humanity that are being committed in occupied Gaza by the Israeli government in collaboration with the U.S. government.
1. Twist Facts To Fit Your Myth-Based Narrative.
Israel officially broke the truce with Hamas when it killed a 13 year old boy who was playing football with his friends. It then assassinated a leader of Hamas who was willing and motivated to make a long-term peace deal with Israel according to Israeli negotiator Gershon Baskin.
Many pro-Israel propagandists in the delusional establishment media have skimmed over these facts. They decided instead to blame Hamas for the escalation in the violence.
It does not matter what you or I think about Hamas's politics and fundamentalist religious agenda. I don't like them for obvious reasons. But facts are facts. Twisting facts to fit a narrative that we like is dishonest and wrong.
2. Accuse The Evil Enemy As The Cause For All The Problems In Your Innocent Kingdom.
The best thing about the mythic "Al-Qaeda" is that it serves as a successful scapegoat in almost any situation. 9/11? Point to Al-Qaeda. Benghazi? Point to Al-Qaeda. Economic problems? Point to Al-Qaeda and Bin Laden's pledge to bankrupt the United States.
The same technique works in Israel's confrontation with Hamas. Israel has made Hamas a very convenient scapegoat. Why can't Israel make peace with the Palestinians? Point to Hamas. Why not make reasonable compromises? Point to Hamas and say the irrational and evil enemy doesn't want to negotiate because it doesn't recognize your existence. Of course this isn't true.
But the truth is irrelevant to hardcore Zionists. In the delusional Zionist mind, they are the pure, righteous, and noble souls, and the other side is led by savage terrorists who refuse to recognize the laws of civilization.
3. Wage A War on Collective Memory: Hide Historical Facts, Highlight Official Dogmas.
"The propagandists of totalitarian regimes of terror are constantly engaged in a war on collective memory. Their target is the collective psyche of the society. And they use all kinds of psychological, military, and scientific techniques to realize their goal of creating a dispirited, unconscious, ignorant, fearful, and psychologically traumatized population." – From,"10 Reasons Why Reality Is A Collective Dream."
For American and Israeli right-wing militarists, Hamas and Al-Qaeda dropped from the heavens. They are the perfect enemies. True godsends. The truth is more devilish, though. The diabolical bullies in the CIA and Mossad launched both Al-Qaeda and Hamas. They were created to be the evil external enemies that strike with terror and penetrate the precious bubbles that most brainwashed Americans and Israelis live in.
However, there is one teeny, tiny problem with this grand narrative: it isn't true. Evil is hiding within the U.S. and Israeli governments, not in the foggy wilderness beyond the gates of the Righteous State. Islamic terrorism is the great brainchild of the CIA, MI6, and Mossad. But they don't bother to inform the international public that Israel's security and intelligence agencies helped launch Hamas as a counter-force to the PLO in the 1970s, or that the CIA and Mossad orchestrated the 9/11 events.
4. Smear And Mock The Dissenters.
"The worst thing to call somebody is crazy. It's dismissive. "I don't understand this person. So they're crazy." That's bullshit. These people are not crazy. They strong people. Maybe their environment is a little sick." – Dave Chappelle.
There are dissenters under every totalitarian system of thought. A ruling ideology cannot persuade everyone to accept the official explanations for crimes against humanity. Under extreme political systems they are executed outright by the enforcers of the official state ideology. But such dissenters can be managed and regulated to the fringe of public life in a less violent way.
The U.S. and Israeli totalitarian governments have had no need as of yet to act in a barbaric and crude manner to ordinary dissenters. They have learned to deal with dissenters and the crisis of legitimacy for the system that their existence represents in a more civilized way: ridicule.
Labeling dissenters as "conspiracy theorists," and "crazy" is the most effective and peaceful way of getting rid of the "dissenter" problem in a totalitarian society. Calling someone crazy is the best way to delegitimize what he is saying. 9/11 truth-tellers have been called crazy from day one for exactly this reason.
But although the mind control technique of ridicule is systematically used by the establishment, guarding the myth-like nature of a totalitarian society is no joking manner.
5. Pretend You Are A Rational, Objective, Professional, And Disinterested Observer of Events.
This is key for any pro-government propagandist in the Western media who sees himself/herself as a "professional journalist." It is important to present an image of yourself that viewers can respect and admire.
When covering the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, blame both sides for the escalation in the generational conflict and then explain why this is the objective analysis of the tragedy while all other viewpoints are biased.
Journalists play a big role in the construction and preservation of an official consensus of reality. The media's role in pushing the Big Lie on September 11, 2001, was heroic and extraordinary from the standpoint of the totalitarian overlords in Washington and Jerusalem.
Were they rational, objective, professional, and disinterested on that day? Hell no. And they weren't in the aftermath of Israel's latest aggression against Gaza.
Saman Mohammadi is the writer and editor at The Excavator
This article was posted: Thursday, November 22, 2012 at 5:16 am


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Women, children hurt in stampede in queue for fish medicine - Tv5
Tue, Jun 09, 2015, 11:13 AM
Several women and children were hurt in stampede as people overcrowded the queue line seeking fish medicine at Exhibition Grounds at Nampally in Hyderabad. Huge crowds thronged the place as the famous Bathini brothers began administering the fish medicine since Monday midnight. The State government had made elaborate arrangements for the convenience of the people. The medicine would be given until tonight, the organisers said.