text:
Beach House
Bimbo's 365; San Francisco, CA
A Love Letter to Beach House From a Person Who Can't Write Love Letters
Dear Beach House,
I suspect the reason you lay ravish praise on San Francisco is obvious: Your music, on a scenic level, is much more appropriate for a city as hilly and surreal as the City by the Bay than it would be for a city as dirty and gritty as your hometown Baltimore (not that there's anything wrong with Baltimore). You fit perfectly into the city's landscape, be it a house show in a warehouse loft in SoMa, some cafe in Lower Haight (or bar on Upper Haight), or even the swanky Italian nightclub in North Beach that you happened to be playing at tonight. You are made for this city, and we love you for that.
You have a certain amount of bravery in carrying only one act before you at such a small venue, swank as it may be. While, arguably, your approach to music is unique and has very few imitators (which is what makes you so wonderful in the first place), for you to get on stage so early does offer the question of whether your set is that strong enough to hold the crowd from an early standpoint. That said, your friend Bachelorette was solid. The Kiwi, though still unused to to large crowds, put up a good show for it, songs like "Donkey" and "Do the Circuit" being particularly rousing numbers. It was a perfect warm-up for what was to come.
Admittedly, I was a bit apprehensive about your new album, not to mention how it would turn out live. It was a change in direction, something faster, more bombastic than anyone thought. Who can blame us? With that, I'm sorry for doubting you. I see the logic in your actions now: Live, these songs make sense. Their bombast and noise resonate perfectly with the crowd. They became a way for you to go nuts when you needed to. From opener "Silver Soul" on, you were energetic, even sitting down. You made slow-moving numbers that marked your first two albums, such as Devotion's "Gila" and the self-titled's "Master of None," feel bouncy. You also tapped into the crowd's emotions very well. People were shedding a tear during initial closer "Take Care," or getting pumped and motivated with set closer "10 Mile Stereo." More importantly though, you took it all in stride. When someone requested "Zebra," which you had just played, you felt flattered. As were we.
We know you love us and the city, as we do you. Why else would you, like you said, come to the city the day before your show? So allow us a proposition: Please move here! We cost a bit more than Baltimore, but we make up for it in loveliness. We'll take care of you, offer you excellent food such as cheap-yet-incredible burritos and vegan meals, as well as various collectives you cut your own niche in. And there's no snow, too. So, please move here. Pretty please?
Growing / Eric Copeland
Coco 66; Brooklyn, NY
Growing's set at Brooklyn's Coco 66 began with floor-shaking bass pulsing through the room's sound system, and it ended with a sample of a man's voice repeating, "This is your brain on drugs." These two details mark the band's current sonic wingspan, which stretches from heavy, propulsive beats to an affinity for odd — and often indiscernible — vocal slices.
The set was part of the release show for Pumps!, Growing's first album on Vice Records and first featuring new member Sadie Laska. Like Pumps!, the band's performance was stuffed with prickly, distorted rhythms, oscillating textures, and a variety of unpredictable embellishments. In a live setting, Growing are experimental in the most honest definition of the word: they punch buttons, twist knobs, and see what happens. Sometimes it's great, like the otherworldly vortex of sound that whipped across the stage in the middle of their set. Sometimes it doesn't quite work, like when a sample spikes awkwardly through the mix or skittering guitar notes seem to sink with the music's momentum. But it's clear that Growing weren't looking to convey any exact message or emotion through their music. They were trying to create an immersive sonic atmosphere that will seep into their audience's minds: "This is your brain on Growing."
Also on the bill was Eric Copeland, member of Black Dice and, as he demonstrated with a balanced and passionate set, a terrific solo artist in his own right. Copeland's music deftly swayed between loose, head-nodding rhythms and moments of abrasive, noisy bliss, never dwelling too long or switching gears too abruptly. In fact, he delivered the more poignant and personal set of the night, tapping into his rich well of creativity and technical prowess.
Spoon / Deerhunter / The Strange Boys
House of Blues; Boston, MA
My first reaction to hearing that Deerhunter was opening for Spoon on its tour for Transference was "Ahhhhhhhh! AHHHHHHHH! Spoon AND Deerhunter!?! Tickets! Need tickets!" I instantly handed over the cash to see them in Boston – fitting considering my history of catching some other amazing double bills there, such as The New Pornographers with Belle & Sebastian and Feist with Broken Social Scene.
The venue was the new House of Blues, formerly the Avalon, in the literal shadow of Fenway Park on Lansdowne Street.
Openers The Strange Boys kicked off the evening with a post-punk-meets-rockabilly sound. Lead singer Ryan Sambol's voice was a low-energy combination of young Bob Dylan and Alec Ounsworth of Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, which is to say, it wasn't good. However, the band did provide an entertaining story about "the real Spoon," from the previous tour stop at Radio City Music Hall. Sambol explained that the group amassed a handful of parking tickets from prior New York City shows. "We thought: 'They'll never get us.'" Well, the city got 'em, towing their van and slapping them with a whopping impound fee of $900.
Spoon to the rescue. Sambol told the crowd to show the headliners some love for picking up the tab and emancipating the van for their tourmates from Austin.
When Bradford Cox and his crew emerged, the club was still well short of capacity – a fact I could not believe. When gushing about the show to friends beforehand, my refrain was "I love Spoon, but I think I'm more excited to see Deerhunter." Bradford engaged the crowd right away, cracking jokes, chatting, declaring his love for Boston and improvising a dreamy little song about the cold weather. "Cold weather … keeps us together … like we are tethered … " I wondered what side of the group we'd see – hard and driving, soft and trippy, or pop-song craftsmen. The answer was all three, which is exactly what makes Deerhunter great. Bradford and Co. were equally adept mashing out rockers like Fluorescent Grey's "Wash Off," or cooing delicate pieces like Microcastle's title track. Interspersed throughout the set were myriad effects, some turning whatever Bradford uttered into a sound best described as a soaring choir of angels on LSD, others imbuing his guitar with a life of its own as he continuously toyed with dissonant tones and ample feedback.
The highlight was unquestionably a raucous version of "Nothing Ever Happened." The dominant bass line and opening riff drew a cheer from the crowd, and the crashing chorus had Spoon fans in crowd looking at each other, thinking, "I don't know this band, but I'm getting their album as soon as I get home." Bradford pushed the song even higher in its coda, hitting gorgeous high notes in his solo with a finger-tapping technique. "Since when is Bradford Cox a guitar god?" I asked myself, with a stupefied grin on my face. With Ted Williams' turf right outside the club, just over the Green Monster in left field, Bradford's passionate performance made me think indie rock has its own Splendid Splinter to anoint.
When they wrapped up their set, the word on everyone's tongue was "more." It felt downright cruel to give us a taste then take it away, but they did have to make time for the main performance. Oh, right! Spoon is playing now! The headliner!
One thing separated Spoon from Deerhunter right away: image. About 30 minutes was spent between sets, adorning the stage with light panels and strings of bulbs hanging over amps and mike stands. When the band stepped on stage, Britt Daniel very much looked the part of a rock star – cropped leather jacket, designer pants with weird stripes on the sides, and a gorgeous, mussy mop of blond hair that either hadn't been touched since rolling out of bed, or was fussed over for a solid hour to appear so. I'd say the smart money is on the latter. But these things ceased to matter as the band started off with "Before Destruction" and "Nobody Gets Me But You," the first and last songs from their current record, Transference.
The initial songs' halting rhythms didn't allow the crowd to go nuts right away, but the groove of "Rhthm & Soul" and the near-bubblegum approach to the danceable "You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb" pulled everyone in. Afterward, there was a quick detour to Kill the Moonlight's soothing farewell track "Vittorio E," before ripping into the chorus of Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga's "Don't Make Me A Target," and making heads bob again.
Gimme Fiction leadoff, "The Beast And Dragon, Adored," was the show's apex. I consider it the band's best song. If making moving music is based upon tension and release, which I believe it is, then this blows away the rest of the group's canon. The verse is a simple, yet effective walk from perfect 4th, to diminished 5th, to perfect 5th, and back again. The diminished 5th (aka tritone or Devil in Music) provides the tension. When the major chords of the chorus finally kick in, it's a revelation. As one might expect, hearing and seeing this unfold live added even more power. The set gained in energy as it neared its close with more up-tempo dance-friendly numbers, "I Summon You," "Trouble Come Running," and fan favorite "The Underdog." "Trouble" earned the prize for loudest song of the night, and while the piano had to substitute for the horn section for "The Underdog," it remained exceedingly fun.
During the show I kept wondering about the headline spot vs. the opening spot. It seemed odd to confine a band of Deerhunter's caliber to the warm-up set. Ultimately, headlining is about money. Whoever can pack the most bodies in the building is going to get the lead spot. Examining the tale of the tape for these two bands, though, it's hard to say which is more deserving. Spoon are veterans at this point – indie stalwarts with some decent mainstream success and a catalogue of great albums cementing their legacy. Have you ever heard a bad Spoon album? You haven't, because there isn't one. You know what you're going to get with Spoon – gorgeous, polished pop songs.
Deerhunter, on the other hand, are just hitting their prime. There's an energy and an unpredictability that bands only have when they're young and still enthusiastically exploring their sound. For lack of a better word, Bradford Cox and Deerhunter are still dangerous. With them, you don't know what you're going to get, and that's what makes their performance exciting.
So, who should've had the top spot? It's a tough call – one that comes down to personal preference more than anything else. For me, it's a toss-up. They're great for their own reasons, and more than anything I'm just happy I got to see them both in one night.
Titus Andronicus
The Bootleg; Los Angeles, CA
"That's just how people dance to punk rock music," Patrick Stickles tried to explain to The Bootleg's staff. "What happened?" He asked. "We were dancing and having a good time and it was OK and then it wasn't OK. Well, it's OK by us but I can't speak for theater." Bouncers had just broken up what was a pretty mild group of slam dancers and it was beginning to look like The Bootleg was under the ownership of puritans. While Stickles' singing often invites comparisons to Conor Oberst when he's lamenting the fact that people don't speak Spanish as Desaparecidos, when speaking, he sounds cool and collected. Tension would build between slam dancers and bouncers over the next couple of songs and result in one guy getting dragged out kicking and screaming.
But Titus Andronicus wouldn't comment on it again. I was initially quite upset about the fact that someone could have been carried out of the show, and I was bummed that from that point on the bouncers were dispersed throughout in order to quell any bursts of movement. As someone not immediately affected (it's kind of hard to take notes while getting shoved around), I realized that my feelings were based on a preconception and that Titus Andronicus and those dancers had a more flexible and admirable understanding of a punk-rock show. "Who cares that I can't slam into my buddy," they said. "I am listening to the best sound quality given to a punk band that Thomas Dunlap has ever heard. While most bands can barely carry anything longer than a half-hour set, Titus Andronicus is playing awesomely for an hour and a half!"
"How is that even possible?" you might ask. "The Monitor is only an hour long." In a surprising display of outside-the-box thinking, Titus Andronicus didn't just play straight through their concept album. And they didn't have to. If you've heard the album then you know that it's a little more complicated than the "about the civil war" tagline everyone's been assigning to it, meaning that we won't have to worry about The Monitor becoming a Broadway musical, the fact that The Monitor isn't set in the Civil War period and doesn't feature a direct narrative account of any battles, not even of the USS Monitor duking it out with the CSS Virginia, allows Titus Andronicus to choose songs that complement their newest endeavor in the live setting. Those spoken introductions disappear and we get to hear songs from all the way back on their first EP.
Stickles referred to one such oldie as "a song devoid of context," but I would disagree. We knew those songs weren't new, but each song added to the set was linked somehow to a division within or a struggle between forces equally matched as those two warships. At the end of the day, Titus Andronicus are successful live for the same reason they are successful on wax: They understand that a concept is just a place from which to start and they refuse to let it determine where they'll go.
The Appleseed Cast / Dreamend
The Hi-Dive; Denver, CO
"Hi, my name is Gumshoe, and I like The Appleseed Cast because they're… good and… because they're emo."
This faux-monologue was once employed to make fun of me for my unabashed love of The Appleseed Cast ever since I picked up Mare Vitalis at 4,000 Holes Records in Spokane, WA. But I still insist: If you call A. Cast "emo," you're missing out on three of the best examples of guitar rock circa the late 90s/early 00s (not to mention their three-way split orgy with Planes Mistaken For Stars and Race Car Riot, the latter being one of the great instrumental-rock "one-hit wonders" of the scene, never releasing anything afterward).
When I saw a flyer for this show, I was shellacked by memories; high-fret guitar arpeggios filled my head and those heady days of college radio — hooray? — came back into focus. For many, the idea of The Appleseed Cast playing Low Level Owl Vols. I & II is just another one of those full-album shows. For me, for obviously personal reasons, it ranks as one of the all-time great ideas, scraping the same sky as Slint's full Spiderland run-through and GZA's Liquid Swords-in-its-entirety (though LLO I/II have never commanded the same acclaim as the aforementioned).
Ha! Did I say "personal reasons"? Fact is, the Low Level Owl records deserve — and will eventually receive — their place in history, a perfect combination of an as-yet undefined junkyard post-rock, post-Sunny Day Real Estate twin-guitar bluster (super-post-Sunny Day, I should say), ornate, spiritual rock (if they're Christian, they do a good job of not douchin' it up), and some strange hybrid of gunky, effects-driven electronic music. These dudes used tape effects, old junk/kettle drums, samples, and several other at-the-time novel means to make their masterpiece. I still remember a lot of its reviews mentioned Radiohead — an example of how clueless many were in regard to classifying the lumbering glow of such a glorious beast (and, of course, it was mid-2001, and the Kid A hangover was already upon us).
After missing Dreamend's set — damn those 16+ shows — it was time to settle in and let the music take over. The Appleseed Cast have a new drummer and have advanced in years, but they certainly understand what made the LLO albums great (truckloads of ride-cymbal-bell tapping, the aforementioned arpeggio-pie, the urgent mood, the keen buttressing of slower songs with euphoric break-outs), my only quibble with the whole presentation being that perhaps a few of the tunes received readings slightly slower than on the albums (and as any Sepultura fan knows, live yr supposed to fuckin' play fast as shit!).
But this is an inspirational double-album, to say the least, and the Cast treated it with the care befitting a much-cherished museum piece as a litany of images flashed on a makeshift movie screen behind them. As always (I'm a big-time cherry-picker), I bode my time, saving my attention for the tracks that truly make the Owls "hoooo hoooo" (good lord I'm a terrible writer): "On Reflection"'s somber spareness, the never-ending drone of "View of a Burning City," the creeping wrath of "Strings," the bass-y slow-motion break-beats of "Ring Out the Warning Bell," and, one of my top-five all-time favorite instrumental dirges, "Sunset Drama King." I'd be remiss not to mention how the butterflies in my stomach all seemingly started to cry as the homestretch of this all-important document began; when "Reaction," the tune that somehow ties it all together, blasted through I was close to tears. And I'm not one of those people that weeps at Sigur Rós shows; there's just something about "Reaction" and its Christmas-day tingle that ties my past into my present and future every time I hear it, a signpost that I visit when real-life matters seem almost too tough to tangle with.
And with that, it was over. I realize it might be boring to play the same album(s), note-for-note, night after night, but it results in an exultant experience for the concert-goer who has been listening to said album(s) for years with unrequited adoration.
Charlemagne Palestine's Carillon Bells (AV Festival Opening)
Civic Centre; Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
If the certainly eccentric New York composer Charlemagne Palestine's M.O. is to challenge Western audiences' expectations of "what is beautiful and meaningful in music," then his ribbon-cutting bells at the AV Festival certainly did the trick. Palestine performed a trilogy of bell works at various cathedrals and other-places-with-bell-towers in Northeast England as part the "energy"-themed European electronic arts, films, and media festival (the largest, or at least one of the largest), and this opening was loaded with the most potential spiritualism and symbolism.
A projected live video of his small "studio" (read: bell tower) in Newcastle upon Tyne's Civic Centre provided clear insight into his self-aware quirk. Dressed in a tripped-out, wildcat-patterned jacket, Palestine paced frenetically with nose to handkerchief before a warily audience-/performer-debasing introduction in which he spoke about the trueness of the bells as a musical form and his days playing carillon bells in New York in the 60s. His mention of not being able to see the people "down below" on the streets seemed particularly relevant in his windowless box, especially when he started stamping the keys with both fists and feet with a palpably spiritual but low-key fervor.
The slightly funny thing was that when he begun, no sound could be heard indoors (thanks to good insulation and huge concrete walls), which wasn't accidental and added to the mythos as everyone moved outside into a suitably lucid, blue dusk. Weird crystalline textures in the reasonably fragile and initially quiet bells came off pretty synathestic against the near-dark, and the metaphor of expansiveness was mirrored in the gradual build up of volume and density as Palestine played on for an hour or so. And despite the probably high level of expectation from the nature of such a performance being diffused by the abundance of nearby AV Festival art openings (and free wine), as well as the loadedness of the monolithic structure in which the quirky, humble musician sat, there was a distinct and calm grandeur to his triumphant and oblique harmonies ringing out across the city.


text:
The Washington Nationals agreed Thursday to a trade that sent outfielder Josh Willingham to the Oakland A's in exchange for right-handed relief pitcher Henry Rodriguez and outfielder Corey Brown.
Rodriguez, who signed with the A's as an amateur free agent out of Venezuela, has one of the more explosive arms in baseball. In 2010, on average, his fastball was clocked at 98 mph and was clocked as high as 103 mph at times last year.
Rodriguez made his major league debut in September of 2009 and pitched in only three innings. However last year, in 2010, the flame-throwing right-hander appeared in 29 games. In 27.2 innings pitched, all in relief, Rodriguez posted a 4.55 ERA while allowing 25 hits and striking out 33.
The 23-year old righty does have closing experience, and with no distinguished or established closer on the Nationals roster going into 2011, Rodriguez could turn some heads with an overpowering fastball in Spring Training, and could even look to fill the closer role.
Pitching for AAA in 2010 he saved 11 games and is currently pitching in the Venezuelan Winter League where he has 5 saves in 17 appearances over 20 1/3 innings pitched.
Brown, the 25-year old outfielder, was the 59th pick in 2007. After dominating at AA Midland, he was promoted to AAA Sacramento and did not have the same success. Brown hit .320 in AA while a meager .193 at AAA.
Brown has decent power with could ability to hit the ball to the gaps, and above average speed. Combined in AA and AAA, Brown hit 15 home runs with 11 triples and 22 stolen bases. However, he struck out 129 times in 534 plate appearances.
Brown will likely start in AAA because of his lack of success after being promoted, however, could be called up during the year if he gets his stroke and the Nationals are lacking outfield production.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Petition signatures needed cut in half
WTOP's Mark Segraves reports.
AP Political Writer
RICHMOND, Va. - The Virginia Senate has approved a bill that would cut in half the number of signatures presidential candidates in Virginia would have to submit to qualify for the state's primary ballot.
The 23-17 vote on Sen. Dick Black's bill Monday sends the bill to the House of Delegates.
It reduces the number of signatures presidential primary candidates must present from 10,000 to 5,000. It also cuts the minimum required from each of its 11 congressional districts from 400 to 200.
The bill is a response to the failure of several Republican candidates to qualify for last year's GOP primary, including Texas Gov. Rick Perry, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum.
A federal court rejected a lawsuit they filed to try to get on the ballot.
(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)


text:
A Special Supplement: The Trial of Bobby Seale
To complicate matters further, the crime which the conspirators are alleged to have committed is hardly as specific as, for example, arson. The statute under which they are being tried, an amendment to the Civil Rights Act of 1968—the so-called Rap Brown Amendment—makes it a crime to cross state lines with the intent to incite to riot. Inciting to riot, under this law, is defined as an act by an individual in a group of three or more which threatens the safety or property of a fourth person. The penalty for such intentions, whether they are carried out or not—so long as a jury perceives them to have existed—is five years in jail. Since the Chicago defendants are indicted not only for having conspired to have such intentions but for actually having them as individuals, each of them faces a prison term of ten years.
As an alleged co-conspirator, Seale is charged in the federal indictment with having come from San Francisco to Chicago with the intention of planning a march on the International Amphitheatre, a sleep-in in Lincoln Park, an attack on the Loop in which, according to the indictment, "large numbers of persons would break windows, set off false alarms, set small fires, disable automobiles," and so on. Together with the other alleged conspirators, he is also charged with a plan to invade the Conrad Hilton Hotel and hold and forcibly occupy all or part of it. The fact that Seale did no more than give two speeches in Chicago, of which only a few lines from the second were admitted in evidence, while in the first speech he urged his listeners not to march on the Amphitheatre because it made no sense for them to do so, is of no account.
Nor is it of account that no march on the Amphitheatre did in fact take place, that no fires were set in the Loop, nor were windows smashed, except in one case by the police, or cars disabled, nor was the Hilton invaded, much less forcibly occupied. The application of conspiracy law to the 1968 anti-riot statute makes it a crime for Seale simply to have revealed, by his single statement concerning "pork" and another urging his listeners to defend themselves with guns against illegal attacks by the police, that he shared a common purpose or "intent"—implying an agreement—with the other defendants, whose own alleged crimes and "overt acts" as they are described in the indictment are no less metaphysically conceived than Seale's own.
Seale, the Chairman of the Black Panther Party, is however in considerably more trouble than his fellow defendants, for under the New Haven murder charge he faces the death penalty. His defiant behavior in Judge Hoffman's court, which led to his being cited for contempt on November 5, may be understood partly in the light of this fact. But it also became apparent, as his outbursts continued, that he was forcing the Judge either to grant him his rights or to appear in a humiliating moral light.
It would be wrong, therefore, to regard Seale's actions as simply those of a desperate man whose difficulties in New Haven put him beyond any punishment Judge Hoffman might inflict. Seale had argued from the day the jury first entered the court on September 26 that he had been unfairly denied the counsel of his choice and was thereafter illegally denied his right to defend himself. The basis of his first charge was that Judge Hoffman had, unreasonably in Seale's opinion, refused to postpone the trial so that Charles Garry, Seale's San Francisco lawyer, who had successfully defended a number of Black Panthers in California, could attend the trial after his recovery from a major operation which was scheduled for September 15. The basis for Seale's second charge was that the judge, having refused the postponement, then refused to permit Seale to defend himself in Garry's absence. These charges were the substance of Seale's several outbursts in the following weeks, which Judge Hoffman was to recite with such eloquence on the afternoon of November 5, and for which he was to charge Seale with sixteen separate counts of contempt and sentence him to jail for four years, an unprecedented punishment for contempt of court.
In late August lawyers for the defense petitioned Judge Hoffman to postpone the trial so that Garry could attend it upon his recovery. On September 9, Garry himself came to Chicago to make the same plea. On both occasions the Judge, perhaps sensing a dilatory tactic, refused. On September 12 Seale was taken from his cell in a San Francisco jail where he was awaiting extradition to Connecticut, placed in a car by federal marshals, chained to two other prisoners, and driven by a circuitous route to Chicago where he was deposited in the Cook County Jail on the eighteenth.
During this period he was out of touch with the defense lawyers who were not only fearful for his safety but eager to consult with him on the preparation of their case. It was in order to see Seale in Cook County Jail that William Kunstler, one of the defense attorneys, filed an appearance on behalf of Seale, that is, agreed formally to serve as his attorney. It is partly on the basis of Kunstler's having filed this appearance that Judge Hoffman denied Seale the right of self defense.
The right of self defense is guaranteed under the Constitution as well as by statute and has often been exercised, especially by defendants who feel that they are on trial for their political views and who want not only to defend themselves but to use the court, insofar as rules of procedure allow, as a political forum. Judges are required to grant this right provided it is requested early enough in the trial so as not to interfere with an orderly proceeding. Thus, in two Smith Act cases, Eugene Dennis and Elizabeth Gurley Flynn defended themselves, and earlier this year so did ten of fourteen defendants on trial in Milwaukee for destroying draft records.*
On September 26, the jury having been chosen and the trial about to begin, Seale submitted to the Court a motion in his own hand asking that the trial be postponed to permit Garry to attend, but in the event that the Judge denied this motion, he wanted it known that he had "fired" his lawyer of record—William Kunstler—and would defend himself. The Judge ignored this motion. Later on the same day, however, after the lawyers for the government and those for the defense had completed their opening statements to the jury and the Judge had asked whether there were any other statements by lawyers before the first witness was called, Seale got to his feet and walked to the lectern which stood before Judge Hoffman's bench. "Just a minute, sir," the Judge asked, "who is your lawyer?"
"Charles R. Garry," Seale replied. The Judge then asked Kunstler whether he represented Seale and Kunstler replied, "No, your Honor, as far as Mr. Seale has indicated, that because of the absence of Charles R. Garry…"whereupon the Judge interrupted to ask Kunstler whether he had filed an appearance for Seale. Kunstler said that he had and the Judge then said that he would let Kunstler make an opening statement on Seale's behalf. Kunstler refused, saying that he "could not compromise Mr. Seale's position…that he was not his full counsel here," at which point the Judge cut him short and called in the jury.
September 26, the day on which this exchange occurred, was a Friday. On September 30, the following Tuesday, Kunstler moved formally to withdraw his appearance for Seale but the Judge denied the motion, presumably because the trial was now in its second full day and the interest of an orderly proceeding outweighed Seale's constitutional right to self defense. Seale, nevertheless, continued to insist that he had "fired" Kunstler and in Garry's absence would defend himself.
The Judge repeatedly denied Seale this opportunity and reminded him that Kunstler, "a very able criminal lawyer from New York," had filed a written as well as an oral appearance for him. The oral appearance to which the Judge referred was a statement made by Kunstler on September 24 that he and Leonard Weinglass, his colleague, would each represent four defendants, thus each lawyer would have a chance to cross-examine government witnesses separately.
It was not only Seale who wanted Garry's services. So did the other seven defendants. By the end of September it had become apparent to many observers in the Court that the Judge, in his haste to get on with the trial, might, by having refused the postponement, have denied all the defendants their constitutional right to counsel of their choice. In a private conversation at this time, Thomas Foran, the prosecutor, dismissed the possibility that the other seven defendants had grounds under the Sixth Amendment to an argument on appeal, but he admitted that he wasn't so sure that Seale's rights had not been violated. Accordingly Foran reminded the Judge that not only were the defendants represented by Kunstler and Weinglass as well as by two local lawyers, but that four other lawyers had filed appearances for the defendants but had never shown up. Foran wanted the record to show that all the defendants, including Seale, were adequately represented and that if an error had been made it was the fault of these four absent lawyers.
Kunstler replied that these four lawyers had never intended to participate in the trial but had agreed only to prepare pre-trial motions. Their work in this respect having been completed, their services were no longer needed. Judge Hoffman, however, responded to the government's tactic by issuing bench warrants for the arrest of the four lawyers, one of whom, a professor of law at UCLA, was awakened by a federal marshal, put on a plane to Chicago, and found himself the next morning, having been photographed and fingerprinted in Cook County Jail, in the lockup one floor above Judge Hoffman's courtroom. That morning, as the four lawyers were facing jail sentences for their failure to honor their appearances, Judge Hoffman told Kunstler that the keys to the County Jail were in the pockets of the defense, by which Kunstler assumed the Judge to mean that "if the defendants waived their right to counsel…with respect to Garry, then the jailhouse would open for these [four] attorneys." The defendants, who later described Judge Hoffman's tactic as "blackmail," refused to relinquish their claim to Garry's services and the Judge, two of whose warrants had been found invalid by the United States District Court in San Francisco and whose own court was now being picketed by angry lawyers from all over the country, was forced to back down.
See "The Ultra-Resistance" by Francine Gray, NYR, September 25, 1969.↩
See "The Ultra-Resistance" by Francine Gray, NYR, September 25, 1969.↩


text:
Just the Right Size
The continuing mild weather is allowing the construction of the building to unfold at breakneck speed. The roof on the bar building is complete and being waterproofed, allowing the electricians to begin the process of scoping and laying out the wiring for that part of the structure. At the same time, the carpenters are moving the framing to the performance hall side of the building to complete the art studio and the body practice room on the second floor, as well as the back wall of the performance space. We can now see the breathtaking height of both the gallery and the great hall.
We've selected the colors for the cedar siding of the facade. It will be a semi-transparent dark brown hue that will pick up the warm tones in the stonework below. We've also finished the design of the balcony and stairway panels with the grass motif. The carving of the dragon on a large bluestone slab that was originally made for this building many years back has been brought back to life and is on-site (see photo at end of this post).
The abbot of the Monastery lost friendly wager (involving no money, but a bit of pride) with the head contractor on the Super Bowl. Hank displayed an admirable degree of restraint and dignity by not wearing any New York Giants apparel to the work site on Monday.


text:
Cash flowing 'Fast & Furious' in Colorado town
The crew filming "Fast & Furious 7" is bringing welcome cash to the small Colorado town of Salida.
As many as 300 crew members are filling up motels, restaurants and bars in the offseason between summer travel and winter skiing.
The Denver Post reported Friday the production will be in Salida for about three weeks. Previously the crew spent time in the Colorado Springs area while shooting on Pikes Peak.
The production team has rented the base area at the Monarch ski area near Salida. U.S. 50 occasionally closes for filming of exploding RVs and souped-up muscle cars roaring up and down Monarch Pass.
The producers have estimated they would spend about $13 million in Colorado. The state gave the company incentives worth about $700,000.
Our Water
There's no better source for news on Southern Colorado water issues than The Pueblo Chieftain.
Steel City
Cold Cases
Explore our database of unsolved homicides and missing persons cases.
Pot Topic
Now that recreational marijuana is legal in Colorado, many questions remain.
Gun control
Keep up with developments following Colorado's historic recall election of two state lawmakers who supported gun control.


text:
Johns Hopkins Health Alert
One Flare-Up May Lead to Another
If you have a flare-up of COPD, there's a chance you'll have another one within two months, a new study suggests. The study was published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine (Volume 179, page 369).
Researchers looked at daily symptom diaries that were kept for at least one year by 297 COPD patients. They found that 27% of initial COPD flare-ups (as opposed to a relapse due to failed treatment of an exacerbation) were followed by a second event within eight weeks. These recurrent flare-ups occurred despite full recovery from the preceding event.
The researchers also found that exacerbations were more common in the winter than in the summer and that "isolated" flare-ups (an exacerbation that was neither preceded within eight weeks nor followed within eight weeks by another exacerbation) tended to be about 25% more severe than the first of a series of flare-ups.
COPD exacerbations can lead to hospitalization, serious complications, and lung function decline. Many patients never fully recover the lung function lost during a flare-up. The eight weeks after a COPD flare-up appears to be a crucial time for monitoring and follow-up to prevent or minimize further events. If you experience a COPD flare-up, stay in close contact with your doctor over the next two months, and quickly report any signs of a new exacerbation to your doctor.
Posted in Lung Disorders on September 30, 2010
Reviewed January 2011
Medical Disclaimer: This information is not intended to substitute for the advice of a physician. Click here for additional information: Johns Hopkins Health Alerts Disclaimer
Notify Me
Would you like us to inform you when we post new Lung Disorders Health Alerts?
Health Alerts registered users may post comments and share experiences here at their own discretion. We regret that questions on individual health concerns to the Johns Hopkins editors cannot be answered in this space.
The views expressed here do not constitute medical advice, and do not represent the position of Johns Hopkins Medicine or Remedy Health Media, LLC, which has no responsibility for any comments posted on this site.
Post a Comment
Already a subscriber?
New to Johns Hopkins Health Alerts?


text:
Browser does not support script.
Skip to main content
We are Macmillan. Cancer Support
Find out how we produce our information|
Serves 4. Preparation: 5 minutes. Cooking: 30 minutes.
Energy 393kcal; Protein 14g; Total fat 20g (of which saturates 46g); Carbohydrate 30g; Fibre 10g.
Thanks to Waitrose for contributing this recipe.
Content last reviewed: 1 July 2012
Next planned review: 2014
For answers, support or just a chat, call the Macmillan Support Line free (Monday to Friday, 9am-8pm).
If you have any questions about cancer, need support or just want someone to talk to, ask Macmillan.
Fancy a sweet treat or need recipe ideas to make your coffee morning a success? See what our celebrity supporters and bloggers have in store.
If you have any questions about Macmillan we would love to hear from you| .
You can also follow us| on Facebook, Twitter, Flickr or YouTube.
© Macmillan Cancer Support 2014
what are these?|


text:
Is there any way to use the Mac App Store without the administrator password? IE change it to install the app at ~/Applications instead of /Applications?
Take the 2-minute tour ×
Ask Different is a question and answer site for power users of Apple hardware and software. It's 100% free, no registration required.
According to one poster in an Apple discussion forum, this may be possible in Lion:
Unfortunately, this approach won't work in Snow Leopard or earlier versions of OS X. There also doesn't seem to be an option to install apps in a directory other than


text:
Let our Porsche Distributor Rotor parts staff help you decide what Porsche Distributor Rotor parts you should buy. We make deciding where to get your Porsche Distributor Rotor parts easy. Even the biggest car buffs love our Porsche Distributor Rotor parts selection. Our professional sales staff is ready to take your order. Be confident in knowing we offer a hassle free return policy. Never worry about when our web store is open. It always is. Our web presence means you can save a load of money on Porsche Distributor Rotor parts. We cannot afford to shop out anything less than the best because we guarantee 100% satisfaction.
Robert V. - Briarcliff Manor, NY: Wow, that was quick. Thank you for the excellent service. I just wanted to say that I am extremely satisfied with the service that your company provides. I recommend Autohaus AZ to all my friends that own VW's. Have a nice day!!
Joe D. - Waxhaw, NC: Thanks for your help. You saved me at least $200.00. For an owner of an older car (1995 318i bmw) it was fantastic to get a problem fixed
without having to question if it was worth it. The item was a blower motor - at the dealer cost...


text:
This page contains Car Town Hints for Facebook called "Daily jobs for Trucks" and has been posted or updated on Nov 18, 2012 by 1scooter111. Let us know what you think of this Hint by thumbs voting.
- Developer: Not Set
- Publisher: Not Set
- Genre: Not Set
- Release Date: Not Set
- ESRB: Not Set
Daily jobs for Trucks
For those who have buddies that play "car town" plus they find ether a milk truck, taco truck, frozen treats truck, or perhaps a flower truck.. take and use them and it'll maintain your vehicle storage, then take them out and perform the the daily job just carry on doing the daily job.
More Hints
Back to all Cheats
Stuck on this game? Set a specific, clearly defined question and let others answer your question or view answers to previously asked questions. If you think you are an Car Town expert then please try to help others with their questions.
Latest Questions
How to get tokens?
From: bubba
Blue points in cartown
From: andeng
Rio de jenario help...
From: Cartown Newbie
Getting credits how
From: scottie
Ask a Question
Videos You May Like...
Bubble Safari - Gameplay Review Trailer
- Sep 15, 2014, Views: 122
Pudding Pop - Gameplay Trailer
- Aug 27, 2014, Views: 193
Kitchen Scramble - Official Trailer
- Aug 22, 2014, Views: 281
View All Latest Videos
Diamond Digger Saga - Gameplay
- Aug 10, 2014, Views: 271
Game Related Options
Latest Videos
- The Retro Runner - Gameplay Video, (iPhone-iPod)
- Night At The Museum: Hidden Treasures - Gameplay Video, (iPhone-iPod)
- Fanuts - Gameplay Video, (iPhone-iPod)
- Peasoupers - Gameplay Video, (iPhone-iPod)
- Brave Trials - Gameplay Video, (iPhone-iPod)
- Panmorphia - Gameplay Video, (iPhone-iPod)
- Vimala Defense Warlords - Gameplay Video, (iPhone-iPod)
- Think Like Churchill - Gameplay Video, (iPhone-iPod)
New Added Games
Popular Videos
- Kim Kardashian: Hollywood - Gameplay, (iPhone-iPod)
- Episode: Choose Your Story - Gameplay, (iPhone-iPod)
- How To Train Your Dragon 2 - Ready To Fly Trailer, (Wii)
- The Settlers - Kingdoms Of Anteria - Announcement Trailer, (PC)
- Entwined - Quick Look Trailer, (PS3)
- Blue Estate - Official Launch Trailer, (PS4)
- Goat Commando 3D Simulator - Gameplay, (iPhone-iPod)
- Munin - Official Launch Trailer, (iPad)


text:
Victoria's Secret • Metallic Eyes • Eye Shadow
(1 reviews)
|Average Rating.
|Would buy this product again.
*TOP REVIEWER* Mollieismehehe on 2/11/2013 1:40:00 PM more reviews by Mollieismehehe
Age: 18 & Under Skin: Combination, Fair, Cool Hair: Brown, Wavy, Medium Eyes: Brown
This palette consists of 6 shimmery eye shadow shades and 2 gel liners. The gel liners dried out long ago so I never really got a chance to use those. The six shades are all very shimmery, as Victoria's Secret makeup always tends to be. There are instructions on the inside of the palette for creating a "Metallic Eye" look. They do create a pretty smokey eye but the pigmentation is light. I like this palette but do not love it. I will use it but not repurchase.
Top Rated Eye Shadow
- 34 reviews
Urban Decay Toasted135 reviews
Sally Girl Glow Green Eye Shadow30 reviews
MAC Matte - Saddle92 reviews
MAC Matte2 - Brown Script47 reviews


text:
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) -- The Pizza Kitchen offers fans of its pie a chance to "get social" by interacting with them on Facebook and Twitter. But what they shared about their marketing company could cost them a lot of dough.
According to a Knox County Circuit Court filing, owner Travis Redmon posted last month, ""Don't EVER use Lowandtritt marketing firm." The lawsuit says Redmon posted, "Crooks - stolen email list and have tried to pressure me by threat of lawsuit to sign a license agreement to use their marketing materials."
The next day the comments continued on Twitter. "Lowentritt marketing firm has done it again." "Can you believe that they have not only stolen my email list but have no hacked Pizza Kitchen's facebook page taking it offline?"
Low and Tritt filed the lawsuit Sept. 1, charging the Pizza Kitchen with libel.
"The claim is that the posting on the Twitter page that was not accurate about the marketing company," says Pamela Reeves. Reeves is partner of Reeves, Herbert & Murrian P.A., the office representing Low and Tritt in the case.
"It opens up lots of opportunities for defamation," she says. Defamation - where a false comment damages the reputation of an individual or business - depends on the comment being untrue.
"If the statements that are made are accurate statements, you're not defamed. It's simply making an observation that's true," says Reeves. "Obviously our clients feel that that's not the situation here."
Twitter and Facebook have become a great way to sound off online. But it's a reminder that you have an audience.
"Remember you always have the possibility of causing someone serious harm when you make those statements on the web," says Reeves. "Unless you know you're fully protecting yourself, you should be careful what you say."
Volunteer TV contacted Low and Tritt and The Pizza Kitchen. Both companies refused to comment on the pending litigation. The defense has until Oct. 1 to respond to the suit.
To comment, the following rules must be followed:
Comments may be monitored for inappropriate content, but the station is under no legal obligation to do so.
If you believe a comment violates the above rules, please use the Flagging Tool to alert a Moderator.
Flagging does not guarantee removal.
Multiple violations may result in account suspension.
Decisions to suspend or unsuspend accounts are made by Station Moderators.
Links require admin approval before posting.
Questions may be sent to firstname.lastname@example.com. Please provide detailed information.


text:
Facebook Pages Now Allow Admins to Choose Which Voice They Use
Facebook has a new feature called "Voice" that allows Page admins the ability to more easily choose who they post as (Page or Profile).
When you visit your Page, a message automatically appears at the top that says: "You are posting, commenting, and liking as [Your Page Name] — Change to [You]". The default setting is to post as a Page, unless you choose to post, comment and like as a Profile.
This is replacing the setting within the "Your Settings" admin tab that allowed admins to do the same.
Categories: Newbies
Tags: voice
Comment form currently closed..


text:
Estee Lauder • Idealist Even Skintone Illuminator • Treatments (Face)
(127 reviews)
|Average Rating.
|Would buy this product again.
Zoorkitty on 2/6/2013 6:14:00 AM more reviews by Zoorkitty
Age: 36-43 Skin: Normal, Medium Brown Hair: Brown Eyes: Brown
Things I have learnt. Makeup is about perception. If you think it works it works..if not it doesnt. Also dark circles, uneven skin tone etc etc...usually clears up when your insides are clean (if not genetic) and lifestyle.
HOWEVER makeup does lift - our faces and our spirits.
anyway back to the review. Glad to say I bought a small sample size same price as a packet of biscuits. In HK they dont give you anything free, rather "sell" the samples. No biggie.
I like the "illumination" .I can see where the shimmer ? sparkles ? shiny bits ? hits the light and bounces off my face. Gold-y colour for my NC42-43 skin tone.
Not sure about "even-ing" out the skin tone. I cant make out unless I take my mirror out in the park under normal daylight.
I cant. I live in a concrete jungle ! I have a darker forehead and chin-lip area...and...no difference...I think !
I cant tell if my tone has been evened out. What is supposed to happen ?
I try my baclony. And under every different light (even day-natural light) and a magnified mirror my face looks different depending on clouds and angles !
Would I buy it again, probably not because I prefer the subtler -dwewy finish of Benefit Girls Meets Pearl. Iridescent rather than gold.
2 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Kaffeesansmilch on 2/4/2013 9:08:00 AM more reviews by Kaffeesansmilch
Age: 30-35 Skin: Dry, Fair, Warm Hair: Brunette, Wavy, Medium Eyes: Green
I've been using this product for a year now and I have to say, I can't live without it! My skin is dry/dehydrated, and the older I get, the more acne prone it gets. When I use this product daily, I get almost no pimples (still 1 or 2 around my time of the month), and the pimples that I do get are much smaller, and go away quickly. When I don't use the product, I consistently have pimples.
I bought some of the Idealist pore minimizing serum when I ran out of my first bottle of the even skintone illuminator, and it didn't work for my skin at all. My cheeks felt perpetually tight/dry, and it didn't keep the breakouts at bay nearly as well. As soon as I went back to the even skin tone illuminator, I had my pretty skin back.
This product is an absolute must for me! I love how smooth it makes my skin feel (I know it's the cones), love the results and consider it a staple in my routine! I have already repurchased and will continue to do so!
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
katy42 on 2/3/2013 5:06:00 PM more reviews by katy42
Age: 44-55 Skin: Combination, Tan, Warm Hair: Black, Wavy, Medium Eyes: Brown
This really didn't do anything for me. I got a 15ml sample of the Even Skintone Illuminator in a gift set and used it for four weeks continuously although I didn't think I really needed it - I have been using Advance Night Repair at night and Idealist Pore Minimizer by day for about 20 months and the two together have improved the clarity and tone of my skin - but it was a generously sized sample and being an EL fan I thought it would make some improvement to my skin.
My skin didn't feel as smooth as it did with the original Idealist (or using no serum at all), and my pores started to look larger. The gold shimmer is pointless and although it's largely invisible I found it really annoying when I did catch sight of it.
I did read somewhere that these EL products are described as repair serums but they don't work to improve the skin in the long term - the benefits only last for as long as you're using the product. (Not true of the ANR though, which is just fantastic!)
I've stopped using the Illuminator now and have gone back to the original Idealist, with which I noticed a difference after a couple of days. Reading other reviews it seems that one or other of these products works for most people, not both, and that's certainly true for me.
I have two of these 15ml sample bottles and am reluctant to throw them away so may try them when my skin is less dry in the summer, or layer it with one of the other EL serums. I'm glad I didn't spend money on this. I'd recommend anyone to get a sample from an EL counter before buying, as it's quite expensive to purchase.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
loverofgrace on 1/29/2013 6:57:00 PM more reviews by loverofgrace
Age: 18 & Under Skin: Sensitive, Fair-Medium, Warm Hair: Other, Straight, Fine Eyes: Brown
First off, the packaging is an A+ in my book since it has a pump you can control and it's gold which is always pretty.
Pros: smells nice, illuminates skin when putting it on before moisturizer and after.
Cons: when I use cream or gel moisturizers after putting the skin tone illuminator on, it forms like some weird eraser poop like consistency on my face and starts coming off. I've encountered this with some other Estee Lauder products.
When I put my foundation or even a light BB Cream, the subtle shine it gives disappears under the foundation or BB Cream.
It doesn't really improve the skintone.
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
JenniAdventure on 1/19/2013 3:36:00 PM more reviews by JenniAdventure
Age: 25-29 Skin: Acne-prone, Fair, Warm Hair: Red, Wavy, Fine Eyes: Blue
A friend gave me a bunch of samples of the Even Skintone Illuminator to help me with my uneven skin tone and dark red acne scars on my chin. I've been using it for about 2 weeks in the morning before I put on my makeup.
I normally have pretty dry skin, especially around my nose, cheeks and chin. Since using the serum I haven't had any dryness issues...I've actually been dealing with oiliness towards the end of the day. I don't know if this is just what "normal" skin is like but I'm not sure if I like it just yet. This could also be due to the foundation that I use, though. (MAC Studio Sculpt)
It does have "shimmer" but it's not cheap looking shimmer. It gives my skin a nice dewy look that I really like. Also, I do like that it has smoothed out the appearance of my skin after only 2 weeks of use.
I know I haven't really used it long enough yet to notice any changes with my acne scars, which is the main reason why I'm using it. Although I have been dealing with oily appearance by the end of the day, I'll keep using it to see if it helps with the scarring.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Marivale on 1/3/2013 6:32:00 PM more reviews by Marivale
Age: 36-43 Skin: Combination Hair: Other Eyes: Brown
Este serum deja la piel muy suave porque esta lleno de siliconas.
Aparte de eso: colaboró muy poco a unificar el tono de mi piel (que es lo que promete). Me salió bastante dinero (USD 120 x 30 ml) y resultó mucho menos efectivo que la constancia de usar retinol+vita C en Invierno. Ilumina el rostro, pero tiene mas bien un efecto cosmético que de tratamiento, no vi resultados con su uso continuado.
No lo volvería a comprar.
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Ispania on 12/8/2012 2:03:00 AM more reviews by Ispania
Age: 30-35 Skin: Combination, Fair-Medium Hair: Brown, Wavy, Medium Eyes: Brown
I bought a kit with day moisterizer and Idealist was in the kit. It is a small bottle . 5 oz, but I Ve been using it over a month. II use it as a primer, because I don't know how else I could use it. The bottle is over- I haven't noticed any results. May be the bottle is too small, but I didn't notice smooth feeling too. The texture seems pleasant , but when I smooth onto my face it doesn't feel good. It has some shimmer in it, which seems to illuminate the skin, but it also seems to fade away too quickly. Happy I didn't buy a full size, would be waste of money.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
hunnybunnyipm on 11/30/2012 2:56:00 PM more reviews by hunnybunnyipm
Age: 30-35 Skin: Combination, Fair Hair: Brunette Eyes: Hazel
So, my friend was raving about this and she doesn't rave, so I bought some. A bottle later I was irritated and felt like I'd been duped. And then... I realized I hadn't been. I hate to say it, but I really like this stuff. I have very red, ruddy skin. My Clairisonic + Vitamin E Oil at night (which I sometimes swap out for other products) has helped my skin come a long way, but using this really has smoothed out the rough edges. It has just a touch of tint to help even things out, and when I stopped using it I did notice a difference. So as much as I hate to say it, because it's expensive and it gets some build up on the nose, I'll keep on buying it because I don't have bright red clown face.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
kateric on 11/28/2012 1:07:00 PM more reviews by kateric
Age: 36-43 Skin: Normal, Fair-Medium Hair: Brunette Eyes: Hazel
This product did nothing to help my skin discoloration. I love Estee Lauder's Advanced Night Repair but this was very disappointing. It also has kind of a "plastic" or silicone-type feeling which I didn't like.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
*TOP REVIEWER* aessop on 11/20/2012 8:47:00 AM more reviews by aessop
Age: 30-35 Skin: Sensitive, Tan, Warm Hair: Black, Curly, Medium Eyes: Brown
Utter rubbish. The texture is silky and gorgeous and initially made my skin look matte and more even. After two weeks, I developed milia all over my face. The big wakeup call happened when I started developing cystic zits on my cheeks. It was so awful that one of them left a deep pitted scar on my right cheek which still looks pretty ugly to me. I'll never, ever buy this again. I don't care how much you pay me. In my opinion, this can never beat Estee Lauder Synchronised Advanced Night Repair Complex Serum which is their best treatment.
2 out of 3 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No
Top Rated Treatments (Face)
- 213 reviews
No Brand (DIY or homemade) Ice Cubes36 reviews
DHC Renewing AHA Cream33 reviews
Calamine Lotion55 reviews
Kosmea Rosehip Oil41 reviews


text:
Podcast 96: Traxx - Entrance to the Alter
- Words: Shawn Reynaldo
Chicago is home to a lot of house music history, and veteran DJ/producer Traxx has long been in the middle of it all. As he prepares to unveil his debut full-length, Faith, the man born Melvin Oliphant was also kind enough to pass along Entrance to the Alter, an exclusive mix for XLR8R. A vinyl loyalist (as the mix's various crackles can attest), Traxx weaves through a variety of jackin' beats, including a number of unreleased tunes and a couple of sneak peeks from his forthcoming album. Next week the Nation Records founder will be staging a bash in his hometown, celebrating both his birthday and Fatih with a special label showcase at Chicago's Smart Bar. The event details are as follows:
Friday, July 31
Traxx Birthday Party and Special Vinyl LP Release Party
Nation Records Showcase II
Traxx (Live & DJ)
James T. Cotton (DJ)
Saturn V (Live)
Nancy Fortune (Live)
D'Marc (Live)
Josh Werner (DJ)
21+ / Doors: 10pm / Show: 10pm
Tickets: $10 before midnight / $12 after midnight
Those of you who won't be in the Chicago area next week will just have to satisfy themselves with Entrance to the Alter.
01 Traxx - "Train (intro)"
02 Romanthony - "House of the Hymn" - (Black Male)
03 Marcus Mixx - "Do U Love Me?" - (Missing Dog)
04 Theo Parrish - Unreleased
05 Orgue Electronique - "Rootbound" - (Crème Organization)
06 Saturn V - "Locomotion" - (Nation)
07 Traxx - Violet Epoch - (Nation)
08 Colonel Abrams - "Sweet Love" - (Smack)
09 X2 - "Modern" (Unreleased) - (Nation CDR)
10 New World Aquarium - Unreleased
11 Throbbing Gristle - "Hot on The Heels of Love (Ratcliff Remix)" - (Mute)
12 2 AM/FM - "Sensational Rythym" - (Spectral Sound)
13 Traxx - "Introspective" - (Nation)
14 comments Traxx - Entrance to the Alter
passerby (not verified) Wrote
Fri, 07/24/2009 - 09:26
ahh this is fucking sweet! traxx is a master.
ghostsontape (not verified) Wrote
Fri, 07/24/2009 - 20:09
one of the best mixes i've heard in a while. traxx is the shit!
Booming B. (not verified) Wrote
Sat, 07/25/2009 - 08:37
I love this mix. Heard it twice today. Respect!
jakmaniak (not verified) Wrote
Tue, 07/28/2009 - 06:31
so can Traxx actually mix now? i know 5 years ago he was busted for playing a mix CD while feigning to mix with vinyl.
openconcept (not verified) Wrote
Tue, 07/28/2009 - 06:42
jakmaniak, get it straight! Playing from a mix CD?!? That's some BUUULLL Shit for sure!!
I've had the honour of watching this man spin several times -- more than once in or around the DJ booth -- and there's no WAY in the world that he's playing a mix CD!
Yes, he uses CD's with unreleased material and all kinds of stuff, but a mix CD?! N F-ing way!!
This man is among the best ever, IMHO.
Dylan J
Mark Campbell aka DJMC2 (not verified) Wrote
Tue, 07/28/2009 - 13:06
Back in Chicago circa 92-93 Mel aka Traxx crashed on our couch for about 6 mos or so (give or take) and all he would do most of the day was mix, mix and mix. Justin Long was kinda his shadow back then and those two would tear it up in our dining room all the time. Mel and I had a bit of a tiff one day and we kinda drifted apart as friends, just in case you think I'm giving a shout out to a pal. He absolutely throws down and is all about the music, shit everybody has bad nights maybe that cd thing was one of them? Dont know, cuz I was not there. He is the real deal as far as I'm concerned and despite our differences from way back then, that mix took me waaaayyyy back....believe!
jo (not verified) Wrote
Wed, 07/29/2009 - 13:18
trax was the king of the loveparade gigolo sunday after party at the wmf club 2001 or so.
whatta blaaaaaast
Manuel@ (not verified) Wrote
Fri, 07/31/2009 - 09:35
Very good house music, from Italy
Dutch Resistance (not verified) Wrote
Thu, 08/06/2009 - 23:23
This man rules, damn hard!
Anonymous (not verified) Wrote
Thu, 08/13/2009 - 13:04
hey the guy may be a douchebag, i think everyone says that, ubt he is defintely NOT mixing using pre-mixed CDs
jimmy b (not verified) Wrote
Mon, 08/17/2009 - 11:37
feeling this.... deep in the vibe
Nation (not verified) Wrote
Mon, 09/07/2009 - 01:30
If I'm a douchbag like people say I am then why are u talkin on my thread here?
(I totally dislike people like u who can't front on me directly) makes u look WEAK!
I don't know what you're talkin about...
I'm a vinylist pure and simple.
I only use CDs when I want to play something that's not available on wax...back in the day it used to be a reel to reel or a 4 track device.
Now it's about cd but I will NEVER play just cds.
Words by the unpredictable artist of sound..
Gerald (not verified) Wrote
Wed, 10/07/2009 - 02:49
Hey I cant download the mp3 of this set, anyone have an alternative link? Cheers.
ufo! (not verified) Wrote
Thu, 10/15/2009 - 15:39
ill tell all yall this much..when i moved to INDIANA for a bit back in 96 i saw traxx play one night and i wasent the same dj after that!! pummpin EQs, samCKin red,Ripin rewinds, blowin out the sound system. YO!.that was it! i applied that to jungle muisc and boom the rest is history !!...traxx works hard and kills it all the time! NUFF said..Respect MEL!!..you inspired!..
XLR8R Downloads Player


text:
Not a member? Click here to join.
Only 120 miles from the DFW airport. Property offers over 2000 feet of road frontage, 3 seasonal creeks, a 2-acre food plot, and an all-weather road. Great hunting! $1800/acre, call ...
Whitetail, Blackbuck Antelope and Axis. Trophy and Management hunts. High fence. Reasonable rates. Individual and family hunts are our specialty. Allenranchhunting.com.
To place a Classified Ad, contact Debbie Keene at firstname.lastname@example.com or call 800.800.3207 for rates and information. Ads can contain up to 50 words plus one photo.
Please note: TTHA Members receive one (1) FREE Classified Ad per calendar year! If you are not a member, JOIN NOW!
Get the latest TTHA News and Information
About Us Contact Us Become a Member Resources
Our Magazine TROPHY HUNTERS TV® Hunters Extravaganza® eNewsletter
The Market Place TTHA Pro Staff Gear & Merchandise Contests
Follow Us On
Copyright 2010 Texas Trophy Hunters Association™ | Built by Gray Web Technology + Design | Background Photos: Marty Berry


text:
Jason Garfield
Jason Garfield (born August 9, 1974) is a juggler and entertainer from Norfolk, Connecticut. He is the founder and president of the World Juggling Federation (WJF). Garfield espouses the concept of "artistic juggling," promoting the idea that juggling should also be regarded as a form of sport. He disagrees strongly with the belief that juggling is something only performed by clowns and other circus acts. Garfield's stage performances can often be seen as a mixture of stand-up comedy and demanding juggling routines. He has said "I hate most jugglers.", and is openly critical of jugglers he sees as relying on unchallenging routines to entertain, occasionally performing parodies of specific acts, the most famous of which has come to be known as the Chris Bliss Diss, a parody of a performance by Chris Bliss. Jason is regarded as one of the most controversial members of the juggling community, and something of a "goon." Garfield was ridiculed on ESPN Classic's show Cheap Seats where he was depicted as a psychotic egomaniac who talked to the props he used while performing and proceeded to blame them for mistakes made during the act, all the while being heckled by the audience, who  ( Wikipedia article )
Personal facts
- Date of birth
- 1974-08-09
- Place of birth
- Connecticut


text:
[Human Rights] HRC/UPR Working Group/10th session, Review of Austria, H.E. Mr Michael Spindelegger Foreign Minister of Austria
UN Human Rights Council
Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review
10th Session
Review of Austria
Opening Statement by
H.E. Mr. Michael Spindelegger,
Minister of European and International Affairs
Mr. President,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am grateful for this opportunity to engage with the world's central human rights body in this unique peer review and I thank you for your kind welcoming. At the outset, let me reaffirm with full conviction what I have said on other occasions: The support of human rights is a core concern to the Austrian Government.
Austria has a long-standing record of active engagement not only to ensure the protection of human rights at the national level, but also to advance the international system for the promotion and protection of human rights at the UN and at regional organisations such as the Council of Europe, the OSCE and the European Union.
Austria's international human rights engagement has always been guided by a spirit of cooperation and dialogue. Dialogue and partnerships are crucial for turning the promises of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights into reality for all people around the globe. Austria has consistently worked with all actors towards this goal.
As non-permanent member of the UN Security Council in 2009 and 2010, Austria continuously and actively advocated the advancement of human rights, the adherence to the rule of law, the protection of civilians in armed conflict and the promotion of the contribution of women as a measure to preserve peace and security.
Mr. President,
Austria's international engagement on human rights is based on a firm commitment to ensure full respect of human rights domestically. Austria has acceded to all major international human rights treaties and has extended a standing invitation to all Special Procedures' Mandate holders and regularly presents her periodic reports before the various treaty bodies.
Preparing our National Report has given us an opportunity to assess the situation of human rights. It was prepared by the Human Rights Coordinators of all federal Ministries and of the Governments of the federal regions. It involved an intensive dialogue with civil society – including workshops with all major NGOs. It became clear to us that it must be our goal to work for constant improvements and clearly to avoid complacency. The compilation of the reports of treaty bodies and special procedures as well as the Summary of stakeholder's submissions were a valuable tool in this process, I would like to thank the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights for their preparation.
As I have said before, the full realization of human rights is by definition an ongoing challenge and process. Civil society with its high expectations has an important function. Their criticism is crucial in pushing governments forward. I am convinced that our close and transparent engagement with civil society across Austria has lent additional credibility to the report I am presenting to you today. We learnt a lot in this preparation. But we will not stop there and will try to make things better, where necessary. It is the Austrian Government's intention to continue this fruitful dialogue with civil society in the follow-up to this review. In fact, a follow-up meeting with NGO representatives concerning the UPR process is already scheduled to take place in February in Vienna.
Allow me to take this occasion to extend a warm welcome to the representatives of Austrian NGOs, who made the huge effort to travel to Geneva, and also of international human rights NGOs who are present in this room. Their role and contribution is indeed crucial, for all of us.
Mr. President,
Austria is currently a candidate for membership of the UN Human Rights Council for the period beginning in June 2011. On the basis of the voluntary pledges and commitments made by Austria in the context of this candidacy, it was possible to achieve notable progress in their implementation. In this regard, I would like to highlight in particular that the Austrian Parliament adopted just a few days ago the incorporation of children's rights into Austria's constitution.
Considerable progress could also be made with regard to the ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and in this context the creation of a national prevention mechanism, which will be incorporated into the Austrian Ombudsman Board. This will expand the already existing Human Rights Advisory Board. I would like to seize this opportunity to underline my particular satisfaction welcoming Mrs. Teresia Stoisits, Member of the Austrian Ombudsman Board, as member of this delegation here in this room. In addition, Austria will soon deposit the ratification document for the Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of children against sexual exploitation and sexual abuse.
Equally on the way is the introduction of separate definitions of torture in the Austrian Penal Code. We also started the ratification process of the Convention on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearances, and accordingly the inclusion of enforced disappearances as a criminal offense in the Austrian Penal Code. Finally the Austrian Parliament will discuss this spring the approval of the ratification of the UNESCO Convention against Discrimination in Education.
Mr. President,
I would not like to conclude these introductory remarks without taking the opportunity to thank the delegations of the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Slovenia, Norway and Namibia who have sent a number of written questions in advance. Some of the questions I have already referred to as they coincide with our pledges and commitments. In addition, I would like to inform you as follows:
Racism, xenophobia and intolerance on grounds of ethnic origin, gender, age, sexual orientation or religion – to name but one of the major human rights challenges that we face in our globalised world – concern all of us and need a comprehensive approach. Austria is aware of its specific historical responsibility and is committed to the fight against xenophobia, anti-Semitism, discrimination against Muslims and all other forms of racism and intolerance. The State Report refers to the Austrian government's efforts to overcome certain gaps between the well-established anti-discrimination legislation and its implementation.
While we have achieved some progress in this field, as found by the European Commission on Racism and Intolerance last year, we are fully aware that we have to do more. We cannot overlook the fact that societal tensions, prejudices against migrants and asylum-seeker are on the rise. In our current government programme, we have committed ourselves to a series of measures to enhance the protection against racism and discrimination, including a commitment to the implementation of the EU Framework Decision against Racism and Xenophobia as well as the recommendations of the UN-Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination. The experts' recommendations are an important basis for our next steps.
More concretely, in response to the questions by the Netherlands, Finland, Sweden and the Czech Republic concerning racism, xenophobia and intolerance, Austria applies a two-fold approach in combating this human rights challenge – a high standard of protection against racism and the effective prevention of racism. We have tightened up our anti-discrimination laws in recent years. The Equal Treatment Commission, the Ombud for Equal Treatment and the relevant bodies in the provinces provide for protection against discrimination in employment and access to goods and services. Our tools to pursue and prosecute hate crimes and racial discrimination are comprehensive and effectively applied. We strive towards prompt and thorough investigations to ensure an effective implementation of our laws combating racial discrimination and hate crimes. Sanctions for all forms of discrimination have continuously been extended and are being applied consistently by Austrian courts. This includes also compensation for material and immaterial damage. These efforts have contributed to an ever increasing awareness and public sensitivity about discrimination issues.
As regards the questions by several delegations on independent investigations of alleged abuses by law-enforcement officials, I would like to emphasise that Austria has a strict "zero tolerance" policy towards all forms of discrimination and ill-treatment. An independent body, the Federal Anti-Corruption Bureau, was established in January 2010 to examine alleged ill-treatment by law enforcement officials. Criminal police and public prosecutor are obliged to investigate any suspicion of ill-treatment by law.
On the preventive side, we are working towards reinforcing a tolerant and open social climate which remains the best method to combat racism at its roots. We are fully aware, we have to do our homework, particulary by following an inclusive approrach and by integrating all people living in Austria. The National Action Plan on Integration, adopted in January 2010, is another tool to support this policy. Based on comprehensive social studies, we have identified different areas of action and concrete measures. The areas include language, education, employment, rule of law, social services and health, intercultural dialogue, leisure and sports, housing and the regional dimension. An expert commission including civil society organisations was set up within the competent ministry and will closely follow up on the implementation of the Action Plan.
To ensure the protection of migrants' human rights, Austrian immigration legislation provides them with the possibility to use the full spectrum of legal instruments and appeal procedures – including appeals to the Constitutional and Administrative Courts and access to effective remedy. Austria has also enhanced human rights training for justice and law enforcement sector.
In response to the questions of Slovenia concerning the Slovenian minority in Austria I would like to reiterate our commitment to further advance the protection and promotion of the rights of the Slovenian and the other five autochthonous national minorities in Austria. The educational, socio-economic and legal situation of minorities in Austria is presently reviewed by different expert groups with all relevant stakeholders. Our aim is to amend and adapt the National Minority Act. We hope to finish by next year. The ongoing reform envisages to reinforce the Advisory Councils. Concerning the bilingual topographical signs in Carinthia, I would like to underline the Government's commitment to fully implement Austria's obligations under the State Treaty of 1955. Constructive negotiations are being held between all parties involved. We are optimistic that by next year we will find a sustainable solution soon.
Gender equality, including in the labour market, is another major issue which we are addressing in our State Report – and was also the subject of a question of the United Kingdom. Despite existing legislation we have still not been able to fully close the income gap between men and women. We believe that the gap is mainly due to structural inequalities such as segregation in work sectors and have therefore taken measures to end these inequalities. After a National Action Plan was presented in June 2010, the Law on Equal Treatment is currently being revised in Parliament to ensure greater transparency with regard to incomes in the private sector. In addition, 50% of the national budget for labour market policy is being spent on specific programmes to improve women's chances on the labour market amongst others through capacity building and training.
As to the Swiss and UK questions about domestic violence, victims of domestic violence receive free legal and psychosocial support to guarantee their rights in criminal procedures. Domestic violence cases are covered by prosecutors with special training. Victims can also rely on a well-established system of crisis intervention centres in all provinces, 21 state-financed women's shelters with 750 places and a 24-hour hotline. The revised Violence Protection Law of 2009 has furthermore introduced new and stricter sanctions for continuous violence. Migrant women, who have come to Austria on the basis of family reunification, are in a particularly vulnerable position in case of domestic violence. Austrian legislation therefore provides for the possibility of granting them a separate residence permit to protect them from further violence.
Mr. President,
I will provide answers on additional issues raised in the written questions in the following rounds of reply. I am looking forward to additional questions by all delegations and to the recommendations, of which we certainly hope to accept as many as possible. We are here to listen, to learn and to inform.
I thank you and look forward to our discussion.


text:
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
First Page Critique: Love Always, Lola
14 comments:
I'm with you on disliking the use of dialogue as the opening line, Kris. It's interesting that the two examples of successful dialogue openings were from children's books. I think of dialogue openings as being more appropriate for younger, less sophisticated readers. When I was writing Nancy Drews under contract, we were required to open every story with dialogue from, or directed at, Nancy. (A la, "Bess, you silly goose, you do NOT look fat in that dress!") I know many writers and readers are okay with dialogue as an opener, but it always strikes me as a somewhat unsophisticated way to get into a story.ReplyDelete
I need more info on the MC. Like her voice but is this the start of a YA novel? The way she mentions her mom's church group, I'm assuming she is a pregnant teen. Which is fine, I enjoy reading YA but I still need more info in order to like/sympathize with this particular teen.ReplyDelete
If the author were to explain why the MC felt she had to hate kids (I'm assuming because she's giving this one up for adoption and is afraid of loving it), then the first line would be okay, but she'd have to explain pretty quick.
I think the author does a good job of setting up what is to come as far as the MC getting a job at a summer camp where she will be surrounded by children. Interesting, and could be a heart-breaking or heart-warming story. I'd keep reading to find out.
I liked this page, and can see a confident voice at work, which is the hardest thing to teach.ReplyDelete
FWIW, I like dialogue openings. I prefer it to characters alone, thinking. Dialogue guarantees you're in an actual scene, and it's often a weakness with manuscripts that there's not anything really happening on the first page. See The Last Coyote (Michael Connelly) as an example of a dialogue opening.
I like the first two lines, too. I'm thinking, why does this narrator HAVE to hate kids? A little mystery in the opening is a good thing, in my view. Things said that need to be explained, only later...
I do think there's a missed stylistic opportunity here. I'd do it this way:
I hate kids. I have to.
"Lola? Did you hear my last question?" The voice over the phone asks.
"Um, yes. I like kids. They're great." I look down at the red and white checkered quilt on my twin-sized bed, rubbing my swollen belly to get rid of the itch.
By shifting her line up, it contrasts sharply with the thought she just had, and emphasizes the contrast.
Also notice I cut two words. "Disembodied" really threw me. I thought I was reading SF. A voice on a phone is not disembodied. The speaker still has a body.
I also cut "Enough." Why? Simply because of the sound. Sometimes that the only reason.
I blink, feeling for all the world like I'm about to lose my lasagna on the wood floor of my bedroom.
I like "lose my lasagna." It's specific and has attitude. I like the specificity of the details (stick hips, jiu jitsu master).
And I loved the choice to use an action (tracing a circle on her stomach) instead of saying something. It's a specific detail that characterizes, and so often writers don't take that opportunity in dialogue. They are either verbal or put in an action that's innocuous.
There are tweaks I'd make. For example:
"Fantastic." Mr. Compton seems satisfied with my answers.
I'd cut the whole second line. We know he's satisfied because he says "Fantastic."
But overall, I think the author's off to a good start.Replies
Good tweak on the opening line James to fix its oddness. I, too, liked the voice...and as you said, it's almost unteachable. So yes, there is promise here.Delete
I'm with JSB. I really liked this submission. I felt it had tension from the start. "I hate kids" has a certain tension to it because that's not a thing we say in proper society. "I have to" intrigues me even more (but I'll want some sort of answer quickly--second page?).ReplyDelete
The dissonance created by that first line and her pregnancy AND the job she's applying for created a lot of tension for me because all sorts of questions popped up in my mind. (Why does she hate kids? Why is she pregnant if she hates kids? Why does she want to work at a camp for kids? Does her mentor have a clue about how Lola feels?)
I do agree that I'd like a little more grounding in the scene. I zipped over the first reference to Zoe and got confused when she was mentioned the second time.
And I liked the word "disembodied." It gave me the sense that Lola had zoned out so that the voice on the phone was only at the edges of her perception. But now that I read back, I see that probably wasn't the feeling the author was going for.
I'd keep reading. Too many intriguing questions for me not to.
First off, my perspective is only as a hard-core fiction reader, not a fiction expert.ReplyDelete
I understand the reasons for not beginning with dialogue, but if it's done well, I don't have a problem with it, and didn't necessarily have a problem with it here.
This writer does have a good voice, and I found the writing itself to be pretty solid. I agree there are a few words here and there that could be tweaked, but overall it's well written (IMHO).
I too got confused, trying to keep Zoe and the voice on the phone straight. The author doesn't give a name to the voice on the phone, so when Zoe appears, and the MC has two different conversations going on, I had to re-read the beginning to figure out who everyone was. At one point I even thought there was another person in scene. These should be easy things to fix, though.
Thanks for sharing, and good luck!
I thought this flowed well and I didn't have any confusion over the different conversations. We know right away who the protagonist is. We know there is tension because who wouldn't be tense during an interview while someone else is listening in? We also have this mystery of why she hates kids but it trying to land a summer camp job.ReplyDelete
Nice job keeping me interested and I don't particularly enjoy YA. :)
The one part I didn't really like (style wise) was the dialogue, thought, dialogue all in one paragraph.
I, too, had to reread the opening to figure out who Zoe was in relation to the MC and the voice. Other than that, I like the first line and the voice overall, but prefer JSB's tweak. Makes it snappier. I'd keep reading right up to my one problem with it...ReplyDelete
My quibble is, yes, there are sometimes strikes in some teachings of Jiu Jitsu, but they're rare. Jitz is primarily known the world over as a grappling/joint manipulation martial art, and anyone who's studied any form of martial arts will associate it with grappling first, which makes your image confusing (unless you mean the baby is curled around one of Lola's ribs and is twisting it). Sparring in jitz is even called "doing rolls" or "rolling" because the bulk of the fighting is hold technique, and is practiced on the ground in various stages of the "guard."
If you don't want to go with tried-and-true Karate or Tae Kwon Do or Kung Fu as your image, you could use something a little more exotic like Capoeira (Brazillian dancing martial art style), or maybe Wing Chun (a style of Kung Fu, but more specific), or Muay Thai (Thailand kickboxing with knee and elbow strikes, and my favorite).
I just don't want something little like that to hurt your credibility with your audience (like someone putting the safety on a Glock, or popping the magazine out of a revolver).Replies
That's a really good point Jake. My grandfather was a Jiu Jitsu instructor in the Marines in the 1940s. In his late sixties he could still toss my then 19 year old Marine self across the room with a flick then get me in a lock that took my breath away.Delete
- tom combsOctober 1, 2013 at 4:00 PM
interesting characterReplyDelete
captured my interest
a distinct voice(edgy but somehow engaging)
I saw lots of conflict in this short section (internal and external)
Good stuff imo!
would keep reading
I enjoyed this submission quite a bit. I have no trouble with dialogue openings. (Side note: the comments discussion sent me on a quick rummage through my bookshelves. I was interested to find that not many books I have begin with dialogue. However, the most recent 5 Joseph Wambaugh "Hollywood" volumes all begin with dialogue and so does Patricia Highsmith's "The Tremor of Forgery." So, it can be done.)ReplyDelete
Also, this really *isn't* a dialogue opening that matters. I had to read it twice to figure out that the "I hate kids. I have to" thought of the MC is a short version of what will be the longer interior asides that are given once we get into the conversation with Mr. Compton. She's (apparently) been asked if she likes kids and the first line of the page gives us her real thoughts as opposed to the rehearsed interview answer she gives three paragraphs later - after the "disembodied voice" has spoken again and Zoe has waved her hands.
And that, somehow is one of the problems here, it seems to me. The scene-setting isn't quite smooth enough. The details about Zoe and the disembodied voice and the red and white checkered quilt seem to interrupt and drag out the narrative instead of making a vivid setting and strengthening the reader's understanding of the story.
BTW, I loved the paragraph that contrasted what she said to Mr. Compton and what she thought (the one that begins, "Well, I feel like I have a great connection with kids...") But, I'm not sure it was formatted optimally.
I think someone else suggested using italics for her thoughts, which might work. Or, possibly, just more paragraphs: break out the non-apostrophied thoughts from her spoken dialogue. I thought the contrast between the two was really excellent and demonstrated the MC's frame of mind - but it was a sort of a clump of text and I think some good lines, e.g., "I'd love to run away from who I am right now," could easily get skimmed over and lose their impact.
I agree with JSB that the voice sounds confidant - the general writing style kept me interested and amused.
I think, in general, this could be tightened so that we get deeper into the MC's dilemma(s). It's a fun, interesting conversation, but it could be shortened and still be just as fun, plus get us further along in the story. Unless it's a comedy sketch, job interviews only hold so much interest.
BTW, I was not under the impression that this was YA. The voice doesn't really sound YA to me. I suppose a Crisis Pregnancy Home implies teenager, but I wouldn't think it would have to be someone underage. I was just thinking this told us that she doesn't have other economic support. She does sound young, what with her short work history, but something about the authorial voice didn't sound especially young to me.
In the real world, my decision to read more or not would be determined on what kind of story this is, that is, whether it's centered around this young woman's pregnancy and getting her bearings in the world or something else. From this excerpt, I can't really tell. But, I did like the writing and would give the writer another few pages to see where the story's going.Replies
should have said, "this isn't really a dialogue opening AND that matters."Delete
Personally I like starting with dialogue. It feels like I've just walked into a conversation. If it's interesting enough I may continue eavesdropping. Here I might stick around and try to find out what up with this somewhat desperate sounding pregnant girl trying to get work with kids right after having a baby she seems unsure of loving.ReplyDelete
Am late getting back to you all today because I am in San Francisco and was out "on vacation" for a couple hours today. But I wanted to say that I think this is great that I seem to be in a minority here. This is what is so great and helpful about TKZ critique process -- it works like a really effective critique group in that tackle some good writing issues but we also diverge on our opinions. This is what I know I value here...the good give and take. So thank you dear writer and creator of Lola for a provocative entry! And thank you to all our commentors. I really enjoy being part of this.ReplyDelete


text:
Search Result
Search Tags: sarah weimar
Self-censoring online now part of job-hunting process
Privacy experts warn nothing is private online. So, many people - including young job-seekers - are trying to clean-up their Internet personas.
Tags: George Mason University, Facebook, Sarah Weimar, Neal Augenstein
5 tips for better smartphone photos
Maximizing the features built into a smartphone's camera while minimizing its limitations is the key to taking better photos. Photographer Cederic Terrell offers five easy tips to take better pix.
Tags: Cedric Terrell, smartphone, photographer, Sarah Weimar
Phony book covers disguise video games
The piles of computer games he'd coveted has teenager were becoming a liability as an adult - so one gamer came up with a creative way to conceal his passion.
Tags: video games, custom covers, Super Mario, Etsy, Neal Augenstein, Sarah WeimarListen
Groundbreaking Apple iPod Classic fades toward obscurity
With the immediate future of iPhone clear, the future of a groundbreaking Apple mobile device is less clear. The iPod Classic is apparently entering the twilight of its life.
Tags: iPod, ipod classic, apple, Neal Augenstein, Sarah Weimar, iphone, iPad
Hi: 52 °F | Lo: 30 °F


text:
Sleepy Hollow Round Table: "Blood Moon"by Carissa Pavlica at Comments
Welcome to the first-ever Sleepy Hollow Round Table! We're starting the discussion with the second episode, "Blood Moon," and joining us...Continue Reading
Welcome to the first-ever Sleepy Hollow Round Table! We're starting the discussion with the second episode, "Blood Moon," and joining us...Continue Reading
It was a mostly strong night for CBS on Thursday, with a double dose of The Big Bang Theory delivering huge numbers and The Crazy Ones...Continue Reading
In what has become an annual tradition, the good folks of Hawaii Five-0 took to the beaches of Waikiki to give reporters an early peek at...Continue Reading
As you saw in the Notebook earlier this week, The Good Wife is starting its new season this Sunday with Alicia and Cary dealing with...Continue Reading
Charles Michael Davis really is a very nice guy. Just check out the actor's exclusive interview with TV Fanatic on the set of The...Continue Reading
When we last talked with Marisa Ramirez, she was just starting an arc as Donnie Wahlberg's new partner on the CBS hit crime drama, Blue...Continue Reading
Are you ready to read the next chapter? Fox has released the first teaser for The Following Season 2 - and it may be brief, and it may...Continue Reading
After a somewhat dissatisfying season 7 premiere, The Big Bang Theory followed it up with one of the funniest scenes in the show's...
After news of Cory Monteith's sudden passing broke this summer, the question arose whether Glee would be the same. Could the show carry...
Welcome back, Grey's Anatomy fans! Just like every summer, I've been counting down the days for the most wonderful time of the year and...