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You know I like the show Constantine, right? You know I have to rant about the unfairness that is NBC cancelling the show and releasing all of its cast and crew from their contracts, right? Right. Just so we're under no illusions as to what this post will be about.
Let's start at the beginning. Imagine you have the rights to make a show based on a comic book. Now imagine that this comic cook has a long-standing, loyal fanbase. Imagine those fans have access to a TV and a cable\broadband connection, and in all likelihood subscribe to some kind of entertainment package to watch whatever they want on said TV. How much of a stretch would it be to imagine that these fans might want to give your new show a go, and if they approved, would talk about it non-stop on social media and to their real life friends?
So you make the show. You do a bit of market research and find that there aren't that many shows on telly these days that would fall into the same category. One of the copyright owners, WB, turns out to have a show somewhat similar in appearance but completely different in actuality, on one of its subsidiary channels, the CW. You have a think and decide that, because of the time and effort everyone's put into bringing the show to life - not least of the all the excellent cast including, some would say, the real life embodiment of the main character himself - you'll bury it in the 'graveyard' spot (so named because shows get put in that time slot to die).
The first episode gets mixed reviews; you feel disappointed. So disappointed, in fact, that you order the season to be cut from 23 episodes to just 13. After all, you have to mitigate your losses, right? So the viewers and fans are upset. Who cares? What matters is that you've just ensured you lose less money that you've projected. Now you sit back and watch the ratings, week by week. But you don't advertise the show, you don't go out of your way to boost these ratings in any way. It's almost like you don't want to do the job you're paid to do, and certainly looks exactly like you want the show to fail.
But the fans. Ah, those irksome fans. They get together on Twitter, on tumblr, on Facebook. They conspire to get the name of the show, and the fact that everyone needs to 'save' the show, trending. And it doesn't stop there - cast and crew join in, because hey, why not - it's only their jobs, their livelihoods, after all. Ratings increase episode by episode. Not dramatically, but enough to convince everyone that it's worth more than it's getting. So you change the time slot, bring it forward an hour, without advertising it. That'll confuse the viewers, right? I mean, once they tune in and find out they've missed it, they'll just forget all about it, surely.
You've forgotten streaming, my friend, and the revenue you get from it. Now you have to factor that into how successful it's becoming, not to mention all those secondary ratings from people who hear about it through someone doing a tweet-along and then get snared as viewers too. Damn those social media platforms.
Then you find that someone in Marketing has done for that show what they do for all your other shows; they've gone and made some merchandise. Granted, it's only two shirts, and granted, they're only for men, but look at how many they've gone and sold! Idiots. Now you have to stop any more merchandise being produced lest you generate income from that, too. Who wants the merchandise to become popular so that you end up not only making money from it, but advertising the show as well? It'll have to be stopped otherwise you'll never get this show cancelled.
Did I say cancelled? I meant buried.
Now then, knowing that the (shortened) season is coming to a close, you keep a steady eye on the ratings. Once they've out-performed several other shows across rival networks, then you can announce that they just weren't high enough, and give everyone a good reason to cancel the show. But to forestall any fan fury, you just say that the show has been put on the back-burner, that you can bring it back at any time - say, if the new Autumn shows don't attract high enough ratings before the Christmas break. That will keep the fans happy, right?
Sigh. Obviously not. The fans keep writing in - taking the time to use actual pens and real paper - and they're emailing, and calling network executives, and they're sending in weird things like the nine of diamonds playing cards and red ties. It's all very weird. Basically they don't seem happy about the show being caught in limbo. But who cares - you can cancel it next week anyway.
And you do. It gets canned. Cast and crew are freed from their contracts. They go their separate ways, like good little soldiers. The network is happy - they've got rid of it at last. Now they can concentrate on the shows that will make them money. Because making money out of your shows is how you survive as a network.
But make sure there's no merchandise to sell, lads. Can't have us making money out of a show we've already cancelled. Wait - who sold it to Amazon Prime and iTunes? Idiots - now people can spend money on it to buy the series. Now even more money will come in. Oh but wait a minute - make sure you don't, whatever you do, produce or sell a DVD or - gasp! - a blu ray with extras on it. Got that stopped? Phew! Good work, troops. We very nearly ended up receiving more revenue from this show through very little expenditure.
Done imagining all that? Wow - you have a very vivid imagination, and one to be proud of, not to mention good concentration.
Unfortunately, you don't have to imagine, because that's exactly what happened (well, mostly). And here's why I'm angry:
At any time, NBC, you could have realised that you'd made a commitment and thought about actually backing that up with advertising, with an effort to promote the show and get some good beginner's ratings. At any time you could have decided that you no longer wanted the show and cut yourself free - by selling it to another network or one of your subsidiaries. The CW wouldn't have been a perfect fit but it would have been a start. AMC would have been perfect, seeing as they're currently still enjoying a ratings hit with The Walking Dead. HBO would have turned the show into more of its comic book origins and less about toning it down for the audience - great. Netflix would have grabbed that ball and run with it so fast you'd regret letting it go. But hey, you failed to back your own show and you failed to sell it as a going concern. But see, it wasn't just your loss - it was the fans', too.
I shall add the back story of this show to the shelf with the others - Farscape, Firefly, 17th Precinct, the Dresden Files. Perhaps it's just me - perhaps I have a unerring ability to pick out shows destined to lose, and then invest in them emotionally until they are actually pronounced dead and buried. Perhaps I should watch all the other shit that keep the networks afloat. Then again, maybe I should just ignore NBC and their banal, bland offerings of entertainment and stick to the things I like. Yeah, think I'll do that.
The funny thing is, that show I mentioned on the CW? Yeah. Supernatural was in danger of being cancelled so many times over the years, and yet it's now prepping for its eleventh season. The amount of merchandise and fan support is astronomical. Guess where all that money is going? Yes, NBC - not you.
That's it; I'm done. I'm not even close to over NBC deliberately trying to make no money out of its own show. I'm not nearly over the way they've left the end of the season hanging and now we'll never find out what happens next. I'm not even remotely thinking about forgiving them for letting this show go.
This is one you can't just let go. It's not the time.
Constantine: A Feast of Friends
Yes, here we are again. Bumps in the road come and go, but favourite (and obsessive) shows are forever. I've done the first three episodes of Constantine, but I've fallen behind in so many things. John Constantine will not be one of them. Onwards and upwards, my friends - it's time for three themes:
Here be SPOILERS for Constantine series 1 episode 4!
Hellblazer fans will already recognise the storyline from, funnily enough, Hellblazer #001. And John 'teaching' Zed how to let go and use her psychic abilities to travel a network - like John floats the synchronicity highway? We get a mention of Newcastle early on, and the showrunners don't gloss over the fact that Gary is still a skeevy drug addict. (Excellent casting, by the way - JonJo O'Neill is the perfect hapless shifter who just wants to do good - and if that's by way of another fix, then all the better.) John comes over as a bit of a hardass on poor Gary - he's judgemental of his addict ways, he refuses his help at every turn, he tells him to his face that he's the last person he'd ever want to help him with anything. If this were the comic, it'd be because he either (1) knew he couldn't trust Gary, or (2) wanted him as far aways as possible in a bid to keep him out of danger. From Matt Ryan's face and body language, I'm going to go with option 1 here. It works.
Gary gives us the story of Newcastle, and inadvertently shows how everyone - the 'crew' they ran with back then - thought John was the dog's bollocks and no-one could resist 'a bit of black magic with the John Constantine'.
I like how the whole story has come out of bad luck - Gary just happens to be on the chore for a fix, so that he comes across the boy containing the demon in the first place. It's typical Hellblazer for some poor soul to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
John's speech about Gary and himself as younger men - people who use, people who run away, people who lose their way after shit hits the fan. This sets Gary up as both the story's everyman who couldn't take the big time (which is fair enough, considering what that actually was back in Newcastle) and also the waster character who just wants to be redeemed by coming through for once in his life.
Zed: she wants to see the good in people, she wants Gary to turn over a new leaf and impress John, I think so Zed can show she's right and John is wrong about people being unable to change. It's an interesting thought from both sides - even though she appears to be hiding out with John and Chas from her 'real life', she still thinks the best of people until proven wrong. John is used to the shittier side of people's natures though - he's fully prepared for everyone to be bastard-coated bastards with bastard filling (something I have to agree with).
And Nommo is the mysterious shaman dude with all the answers. (I like this character, and the actor, Charles Parnell. It'd be nice if he were to come back at some point.)
We have Manny and his sudden appearances, to first of all check that John is still on the path to tracking down the series arc the Rising Darkness, while simultaneously giving us some insight into Zed's abilities and where they may or may not stem from. Sowing the seeds for much later on, as it turns out.
Gary: being the addict is obvious. But he's also using people to find some way to atone for running away and hiding at Newcastle. John, the manipulator of people, using small victories to make himself feel some tiny amount of satisfaction that he's managed to erase a little of the red in his ledger. Zed, the psychic, using her abilities to help, but also perhaps using Gary's presence to get some answers about John's past. Mnemoth the hunger demon is the only straightforward one here, who isn't using someone or something else for ulterior motives. You could argue that it's the only pure character here. Even Nommo uses psychotropics to get his answers, and in doing that perhaps cements John's trust in him and what he can do. I'm sure Nommo would have no qualms about leaning on John for a favour in the future based on this episode.
When we do get to the last act and we see what John's got up his sleeve, Gary is not angry. In fact he seems appreciative; is he awed by John's offer of a point to using Gary's life (and death) for good, or is he just glad of a way out, a way to be off the hook for Newcastle, in a way that makes him a hero?
The third time Manny appears he comes to sit with John over the agonising death that Gary is going through piece by piece. Does he want to help John, or does he want to be there at the end for poor Gary, to maybe take his soul when it's freed? Perhaps he's just using this opportunity to see what John is capable of, for future adventures? It certainly is ambiguous, and anyone who grew up on Farscape will see the potential for mass mood whiplash around the corner.
Obligatory quotes
Zed: People can change, you know.
John: Bollocks. We are who we are. Eventually.
John: You know what I always say, Gaz. Everyone has the capacity to change.
Gary: I've never heard you say that before.
John: Exactly.
Zed: Gary loved you and you betrayed him!
John: You think I wanted this? I told you: people around me die. If you can't handle it, then go.
It was a full episode, and it was a well-planned one. This was not a procedural drama in the sense that it did not seek to solve the problem of the demon Mnemoth, but rather open up the can of worms that was Gary's life and John's part in it all. Gary was a very welcome addition to the mill house, and JonJo O'Neill was very well used. We got a range of pissed-off expression from John, and the oh fuck no face that is starting to become a warning that he's about to lose patience with the turd-burp part of his universe. He also unleashes a few new epithets (and I am enjoying the Englishness of his swearing. It's so nice to hear it being used in US telly) without being a stereotype. I liked Zed's two cents, questioning John where other people may not have felt educated enough on the context, or perhaps intimidated by all the shit he pulls with magic (like randomly having the original Taba'at Shlomo at his disposal to carve the seal of Solomon into a handy glass bottle). When she feels she has to step in she's not afraid to do so, and I like that about her. She also has to deal with Gary's come-downs first-hand, and she copes pretty well for someone who's never 'dabbled' with drugs. She continues to challenge and question, and that's forcing John to evaluate things more clearly. I like it.
So, marks out of ten? I'd give this one an eight - for not shying away from doing what it had to in the end. I wish it could have gone a little further, but this is NBC not HBO (or AMC). Pity. Still, we have plenty more episodes to go. I may even do another one tonight.
Peach and lube, everyone! Peach and lube.
General shite
So this is going to mostly be about me trying to put things down on virtual paper sheerly to straighten them out in my head. You know when you can't understand what's happening, but when you have to explain it to someone else it becomes clear to you? It's one of those times.
Where do I start? Hong Kong. I do think about what life would be like every morning if I'd never left; if I hadn't been told my work visa would never be stamped again and given seventy-two hours to leave; if I'd continued with the same job(s); if I were still living in the bright centre of the universe. It hurts, most days. Because I have friends who have left, and they've experienced the same thing I did when I came back to England; there is no life outside of cities, here. And I live close to the New Forest. It's kind of like Bumblefuck Nowhere, UK style. It took me nearly a year to get a car (and the stimulus for that was me having to get 200 miles up the country for a writers' conference, and public transport being fucking shocking) and longer than that to move out of my little sister's spare room into an actual flat. There's an entertainment complex just 10 minutes' walk from where I now live. Which is nice. Restaurants, bars, even a 10-screen cinema. There's a gym and a pool and a 6 day supermarket. It's all good. But I don't use it. The cinema is a go-zone on Tuesdays because they do cheaper tickets, studios allowing. At other times it is just amazingly expensive. My job is pretty cushty, but it's not the best paid in the world. I'm lucky to even have one, and one that pays for my rent, my car, and a little extra on the side (it keeps me in vodka, for example). But there's no atmosphere. Unless you want gentle Sunday afternoon drives in brilliant sunshine to places you can picnic and then go home again, there's not an awful lot to brighten your week. It's boring. It's monotonous. And I've never been good with monotonous. Three of my friends have gone back to Hong Kong. I think, more and more, that I would if I could.
I have a friend, living still in Hong Kong, who has a bit of Jerry MacGuire syndrome; she cannot be alone. Not in a needy, scared way, but in exactly the same way as I find this country boring: she needs constant stimulation, fun with people you know, a break from the routine - this is why she needs company, and as more time passes, I find I need it too. But if I did get that, if I did manage to get a quick trip down the pub for an alcohol-free beer three nights a week, I'd then be upset that I don't get time for my own obsessions.
I have one, and that's writing.
Ah yes, here we go. How much writing have I done since I returned to England? Well, not an awful lot. And the stuff I have produced has all been fanfic - not one word of original stuff. And I know why. Everything I write now is Changed Me; suddenly there are boundaries, suddenly there's a need for more realism and less imagination, suddenly my writing is turning into what I hate most about me - boring, life-by-numbers. The narrative is dampened, simplified, reduced to the mundane. The plots are starting to all sound familiar, the twists predictable to the point where they're not twists, and the dialogue is all same-same. I can see it, right there on the MacBook screen in front of me, and it hurts.
I used to look back at my earlier writing and cringe, because it was weak, it was flawed, and some of it was downright awful. But that was stuff I'd written seven, eight years ago. When I look back at stuff I've written just three years ago, I cringe. But now it's because that was a time when my brain was obviously enjoying its freedom from the boring and mundane, and producing fresh, exciting stories with funny, genuinely good narrative. Every time I look at a Scrivener screen now, the blank white is awash with knowing that whatever I'm about to write will never be as good as the novel I completed (that I still can't get published), the seven sci-fi novels I wrote pretty much for my own amusement, or the fanfic about the knife. The empty page is already too crowded before I start. It's full of failure and trying too hard, of all the signs of a writer having lost 'it' - the 'it' that made them good. The magic has gone. And I don't think it's ever coming back. I've never had a more pressing need to be able to block out the world and get into my own writing headspace - and I've never been less able to do it. It's just not there any more. Daydreams don't bring me plot ideas. Waking up with a small hangover no longer makes me realise what's missing from the scene I've recently written. (Partly because I haven't written a scene, and partly because I don't think the hangover section of my brain cares any more.)
My friends did return to Hong Kong, and I'm happy for them. It's where they should be. I just don't know where I should be, but something tells me it's not here. I grew up in a small towny kind of place. I'd never lived in a UK city. I moved to Hong Kong and the city life grew on me. When I came back to the UK, I lost all of that cityness, and 90% of my friends, in one fell swoop. I do have family here, which obviously made it easier, and my very, very close friend from way back. But I miss the randomness, the absurd fun, the 'whacky' adventures I've had overseas. They just don't have the capacity to happen over here.
I'm still confused with what I'm supposed to be doing in life. I mean, people get hobbies but is it just to fill up your days? It is supposed to be giving yourself something to do during that time you're not at work or sleeping? In that case, does it matter what it is? People say 'get a hobby, go out and see the sun or something'. But time will move along anyway, the day will still end and I'll still get to bed so I can go to work the next day - so what does it matter how I fill that evening time? It all goes the same way, right?
Part of me is aware that I'm on the brink of an episode where I cannot mentally or physically get out of bed. Part of me is aware that I should be getting up and going to my archery club, or just standing outside in the sun (because feeling sunshine on my skin makes me feel better for no reason whatsoever). But the rest of me is saying 'why conform? Why do what you're supposed to? Why both going to archery or going outside when you'll just have to come back - what does it change? What difference does it make to anyone, anywhere?' I do want to go to archery, but I also think it's too planned and I can't make myself go through with it. And yet I miss doing archery. It's there, ready and waiting for me, but I can't make myself plan the day to work by taking my archery stuff, so I can go and do it straight from work, because all day I've got this plan that suddenly I'm a slave to, and I hate that feeling.
Pretty fucked up, right? Right. Thought so.
And behind it all, there's that nagging feeling that you haven't written anything, that you won't write anything, and it's all over. Oh, you'll get some scenes on paper, but you'll proofread each part and find it's just not grabbing you, it's boring, it's normal - and you'll never finished it. Once upon a time, I had one single solitary story that was started and then archived as never finished. How many do I have now? Five, at last count. You get to guess why.
That's about it, I think. Talking it through hasn't actually made it any clearer - other than convincing myself of the inevitable. Maybe that's why I've been downgraded from 'gets letters from agents rejecting her book' to 'agents can't even be bothered to reject you'. I was going to continue sending out my book to agents on my list, but really, when it's so bad they can't be arsed to respond to you at all, then why bother? Each time is a three month wait for a response that will never come, so you rewrite parts of the book and you rejig ideas and you agonise over a perfect cover letter and you send it all out again - to wait three months and hear nothing, all over again. Why do I waste my time? Someone please tell me, because I'm losing the will to do much at all these days, much less send out letters that will never be answered.
And then there's the whole 'dating' thing - people will tell you you're just stuck in a rut and you need to date someone. Why? To what end? I have friends to take up all my time - what else do I need? If the whole point of a date is sheerly to interview someone to see if they are a good fit with you, and you can be friends, then why don't I just keep my friends and not bother? And how can someone be a good fit with me, if I'm not a good fit with me? The dating rant I could go on would be massive - so I'm not doing it right now. It will get its own blog entry, in time.
But not today. Today I'm done.
Constantine: The Devil's Vinyl
I told you I was doing the entire series, didn't I? I know it's not Monday yet but I'm just not prepared to wait that long. So here we go - another Constantine review, organised under three headings. Hold my tea, it's time for:
Here be SPOILERS for Constantine series 1 episode 3!
Where do we start with this one? Why not Jasmine, the woman who made the contract in the first place, with the ambulance chaser in the hospital. Did she deserve to have her contract end and her soul sent to Hell? Yes. Oh don't look at me like that - she knew what she was doing and she signed it anyway. I'm not judging her for it, I'm just saying, she understood completely what she was getting into. The fact that it was for the whole 'I'll gladly sell my soul if it gets rid of my husband's cancer' thing is unfair, but so's life. The fact that she wasn't the one trying to get out of the contract was interesting - and a nice twist to bring in a favourite 'villain' of the comics - but that's for later.
She segues us into Bernie - and mate, when someone tells you not to listen to a record, YOU DON'T LISTEN TO A RECORD, so yeah, he deserved what he got. Yes, if he hadn't done it we wouldn't have had a climax to the episode teaser and John wouldn't have had anyone to question later. But still, Bernie - judging you.
How about Zed? Does she deserve to be trusted yet? She helped John gain access to the morgue (like he wouldn't have picked someone's pocket himself five minutes after she'd done it), she found Moonrise Records in about three seconds on Google where John was seriously considering going to a library. She smacked a dude over the head before he could knife John. She knows and uses American SIgn Language to get the actual story of what happened at the crime scene. Everything she does seem to come from a position of wanting to help - but why? Is she really that compassionate or is she trying to atone for something? John doesn't seem to be totally on board with her yet; she invites herself along on the case and his reply is a dour "Knock yourself out, MacDuff". Does this mean he's expecting Zed to find out what he's really about and harm him?
Matt Ryan deserves an Emmy. I'm just going to say it now and get it out of the way. There, I feel better already.
Mucus Membrane. Yeah, that's right - I wasn't always an upstanding warlock. Bernie here produced our first and only record. He tried his best, but… to tell you the truth we were just a bunch of wankers trying to get laid." We get one of John's mates, dead, and him a little unsettled by it - but this is 'first friend dead'. How many more will we see over the series? Well I've seen it, so I already know, but basically the death toll is more Hellblazer and less Star Trek.
The singer set down in acetate for future generations to be haunted by was called Willie Cole. How close this was to the legend of Robert Johnson, the real-life blue singer who may or may not have 'sold his soul' to the devil, we will never know. Those of you who've watched the Supernatural episode Crossroad Blues will be familiar with the rumoured tale of Robert Johnson; he was a pretty good harmonica player but a terrible blue guitar player. He was alleged to have gone to a crossroads and sought the help of the devil, who promised him ten years of expert guitarmanship before he would return and claim his soul as payment. Of course, it's entirely possible that Johnson actually died of syphilis, or of being caught by a jealous husband. But then the Faustian myth is much more exciting, innit? This episode draws on this and makes you think you know what's behind it all - until it shows you that it's not.
Yes, I'm going to shoe-horn a few in here. Quick-fire comebacks that characters slip under the radar they may be, but one of the reasons I like this show is the way they're not waving their arms and being as cool-as-shit as possible about everything. We don't get slow-mo moments, we don't get Hollywood glossy action scenes, but we do get Johnesque lip and backchat:
Chas: "Let's say hi to his Satanic Majesty." [They get inside and John is naked, covered only in blood, learning a new spell.]
"You're going to have to respect my boundaries. I don't do zip-ties without a safe-word."
[As John is tied down and left to die - and then it starts to rain:] "Yeah, great. Why not."
When Manny the angel appears to speak to John, but of course, not get 'involved' and actually help him:] "Cut me loose and I'll show you - you celestial wank." " Next time I see him I'm going to punch him."
[Zed orders them to go do the next act; Chas says they should follow her. John isn't so sure:] "Alright but we don't have to just jump when she says." Beat. "Ok that's long enough; let's go."
And there we have it, folks. Thanks for reading, and if you've taken part in any of the Save Constantine activities at all recently or repeatedly, then I thank you from the heart of my bottom. We need a season 2, and I'm not stopping with the voting and petitioning and e-mailing until we get one, on any network.
Peach and lube, everyone. Peach and frelling lube.
Constantine: The Darkness Beneath
Yes, it's Monday night again (amazing how fast it comes around) - so you know what's coming next. Yes, it's another Constantine rewatch and review! Tonight it's episode 2: The Darkness Beneath. So hey-ho, let's go with a three-word, three-theme review.
Here be SPOILERS for Constantine series 1 episode 2!
Ah, where do we start? How about the opening, with pretty much the Big Bad taking control right at the outset to kill a bloke who obviously bullies his wife. Her fear of him is palpable, and we're made to feel sorry for her. Later on we find out exactly how much she didn't miss him when he was gone, and the change in her behaviour, and appearance, are subtle but excellent background touches.
More misdirection comes along when, at the house after what I assume is a town gathering out of shared misery, the missus makes a move on John just when he's trying to pick up clues from the scene of the crime. He tries to let her down gently and escape but it all kicks off - she's a vindictive one, that woman. And I'm already worried; John's not good at fights. He gets in a few good shots but he's floored pretty easily by the local mine owners. He gets right back in the bloke's face though, like a Jack Russell that knows his unpredictability makes bigger dogs nervous. And right there was something that should have made me realise - the missus said it, right to John's face, and he missed it as well; the key to the whole thing. But hey, no-one's perfect, and it's hard to be on the ball when you're pretending to be one thing and you're really not interested in the other.
Anyway, I love how John announces to the pub - in the middle of a wake - that it could be actual dragons killing people. No shame, not when it comes to getting people to tell him what is actually going on in the tiny Welsh mining town (and that was a nice touch, it being 'Welsh'). He gets a whiff of an idea and off he trots to check out the mine and see if this 'knocking' that people are hearing is what he thinks it is. Here we get Hellblazer!John - he knocks on the mine wall, and it knocks back really bloody loudly. He shits himself and runs - who wouldn't? Well most protagonists in modern shows. But not John. He knows which way the wind blows, and he makes sure he's ahead of it. It seems he's found the monster - or has he?
More misdirection: Ellis McGhee the ex-priest has a son who died - it's him, right? It's got to be! John is having as much trouble as Gregory House, M.D., guessing at clues in the air and putting the wrong theory together to explain them all. John guides Zed into and out of a vision, which leads them to the fallen father, and it looks like they have his number. Until it turns out, between Zed and Ellis, that John has the case upside down.
She literally bumps into the mystery man from her visions, poor Con Job, and ably picks his pocket. She gets his driver's licence (a suitably old UK one, which was a nice touch) and apparently info on where he's staying in town. When John gets back to his Honeymoon Suite, he finds his pock-pocket has beaten him there, emptied his wallet of his ninety quid, and been through his rubbish bins to find his boarding passes from Atlanta to Pennsylvania. As an aside - it's never made clear just how she managed to find where he was staying. Starting with all the buildings around where they smacked into each other, and eliminating each boarding house or hotel one by one, would have taken days. Perhaps she saw a vision - something the show hasn't revealed she's a victim of just yet.
The exchange between the poor half-drunken priest at the bar and Zed was very illuminating - and certainly very welcome:
Zed: "Have you seen an Englishman? Wears a trenchcoat?"
Man: "[He] stick you with the bar tab too? My advice: don't waste yourself on that one."
Zed: "I don't have a choice."
Man: "My son had that effect. When he was alive. Left behind clutches of weepy girls who swore he was the only one to give their life meaning."
Zed: "It's not like that." Pause. "It's like that but not the way you think. I mean it's just that he means something to me. I don't know what."
At last - a character that wasn't going to do the Stephen Moffat simpering girl thing and just fall at the feet of the male lead. About fucking time.
Catching two youngsters shagging in the boarded up church apparently makes John disappointed in human nature - him, the bloke who shagged a succubus in a graveyard, and a cosmetically-reconstructed virgin on holy ground. I don't think he has any legs to stand on here. But he does pull off a little magic and see that there is something rotten in Denmark. He doesn't seem at all phased about the church being a holy place. Hmm.
It's obvious that Zed has faith in something bigger than herself - and that may or may not be the 'destiny' that threw John in her lap that day in Heddwich. She has a fierce need of something to believe it, it seems. If John turns out to be worthy, then big things could be put into motion here. It's exciting to watch; literally anything is possible if you put John on a case with Chas on his one side and a clairsentient on the other.
John then drives - drives - to the Big Bad's house and this is starting to look like one of those unfortunate Hellblazer corners that he gets himself into. John knows the villain only managed to use so much magic to use the dead for their own means because the season arc helped them. Nice bit of intersection there. But the Big Bad has forgotten who they're dealing with - John Constantine doesn't play if he can't win. He gets one over on the Big Bad, and it's all over. Well, until he has to get back to his boarding house and shower the crappy little town off him so he can leave. Who's waiting for him? Zed, of course. She kinda lied about leaving town without him. Who wouldn't? She has big things on her mind, concerning all kinds of reasons to believe in what he does. He just assumes she's there for a quick shag - and that's John all over, isn't it? But oh no no, he's not her type and she's there for more important reasons:
Zed: "You see, John… I've been waiting for you, and you found me. I don't know what I've been waiting for and you don't know what you've found. The question is, are we going to help each other or not?"
I like her already - almost as much as I like John, and that's saying something. She's quietly forceful, not passive aggressive or a 'bitch', but someone used to doing things by herself and getting shit done because of it. Now she's found the man in her pictures - and her visions - she's going to have to adapt. And force John to, as well. Which will be the fun part.
We finish on a nice wrap-up - the miners are safe, even if they're all jobless and hopeless now that the mine is shut for good; ex-priest Ellis is back in his church, and Zed is keeping a watchful eye over a totally knackered John. Or is she? As John puts it to ease us out of the episode:
John: [voice-over] "I suppose it could be liberating to take a leap of faith, to shrug off the burden of proof for the promise of hope. It takes trust to turn darkness to light, and those who trust risk putting their faith in the wrong hands - for there are those who pray for you, and there are those who prey on you, and no matter how careful you are, sometimes you just can't tell the difference."
It sounds like Matt Ryan enjoyed recording that voice-over, and it definitely looked like John and Zed had the right kind of Team Desperate chemistry. There was a moment when I'm sure they both thought they were going to get a shag in, but the moment was stolen and it never came back. Which I think is a good thing - you should never find out if God has a sock drawer. Angelica Celaya was amazing in this - this is the challenge that John needs, this is the draw of the series, this is the interesting wrinkle in Manny's plan to get John to stop the 'rising darkness'. Zed and her one-woman clairsentient\psychic intervention is about to shake things up for everyone. And I couldn't be more glad. If the pilot episode was wobbly, then this episode has caused it to find its feet. The emergence of Zed, and all that this means for John and even Chas, can only improve on what is a solid start to a series.
Final vote? Nine out of ten. It may have been reshuffled to get shown second and not third, but I think it worked. If this is what we've got to look forward to (and I know we have), then bring it on. Can I just watch the next episode now instead of next week? No? I have to wait? Oh alright then. If I could sod work off and watch the entire series over night, I would. Unfortunately, I have shit to do before I can sleep and then go back to work.
Which brings this to a close. Thanks for reading, and if you've taken part in any of the Save Constantine activities at all recently or repeatedly, then I thank you from the heart of my bottom. We need a season 2, and I'm not stopping with the voting and petitioning and e-mailing until we get one, on any network.
Peach and lube, everyone. Peach and frelling lube.


text:
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Joshua Barron is coming home. His body is being flown to the Spokane Airport, and from there, he will be carried in a procession to Heritage Funeral Home ... were all stationed at from Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.>> (KHQ)
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subset: commoncrawl


text:
From Publishers Weekly
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
- David B. Mattern, Univ. of Virginia, Charlottesville
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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This book has little in the way of the historical facts and timeline of the American Revolution.
Instead, the book concentrates on the great shift from a monarchical... Read more
Very interesting new insights about the changes in politics and society during the period before, during and after the Revolutionary War -- say from around 1750 to 1820. Read morePublished 24 days ago by Joel Bergsman
Gordon Wood is one of the best writers of our Revolutionary period. You really can't fully grasp the founding of our country without reading his books.Published 1 month ago by jane v
This book was the Pulitzer Prize winner for Gordon Wood who is now a Professor Emeritus at Brown University. Read morePublished 2 months ago by gloine36
The book is schizoid, and the question is why. American society after the Revolution is documented in it as clearly bigoted, sexist, racist, sectarian, anti-intellectual and... Read morePublished 2 months ago by Adam Fforde
This is a classic in the field, and I enjoyed it for the new light it shed on the social upheaval that accompanied the time period of the Revolution. Read morePublished 4 months ago by Ginny Rose
This is one of those history books that is a must-read for anyone interested in American history or even in current public policy debates, i.e. Read morePublished 4 months ago by Robert J. Crawford
I own two copies of this book. One that I read and marked up, and one signed by Wood that remains on my shelf. Read morePublished 5 months ago by Jason J. Simmers


text:
If it's not considered to always be desireable, perhaps an option
could be added (by users through user/options) to control whether
the byte order mark gets inserted at the beginning of a Gedcom
This also serves to identify the data as being in the UTF-8 encoding
to programs that are importing the data, if the exported data is in
UTF-8. In that case the byte order mark is $ef$bb$bf (not
sensitive to byte order). Keeping it optional would be good, since
some programs make still look for the "0 " as the first characters
of a Gedcom file. In which case, those programs should allow
specification of imported data as being in the UTF-8 encoding.
This option would have to be sensitive to the GedcomCodeset
If UTF-16 or UTF-32 where an option, then the byte order mark
should probably be handled as a character so that a system's byte
order would apply to it as well.
Logged In: YES
Relevant code:
src/liflines/export.c: archive_in_file()
I'm not sure how to tell if we're writing UTF-8, but it
probably can be figured out from archive_in_file's local
variable xlat_gedout and possibly the global uu8.
Logged In: YES
Originator: NO
The load code is checking for BOM now, in import.c, do_import, with function call check_file_for_unicode.
I don't think the export code is writing a BOM however, so that is still outstanding.
Logged In: YES
Originator: NO
I just recently filed a bug for this same issue, so that bug just is a dup of this.
BUG [ 1700489 ] export not writing UTF-8 BOM
But I'll just leave them both open until fixed, which I hope to do soon.
Logged In: YES
Originator: NO
BOMs in edit files are currently written on win32 and nowhere else. (They're only written if the editor codeset is UTF-8, of course.)
This is controlled by existing function should_write_bom (I just renamed it to that to clarify its purpose), in
I'll leave the logic like that for now; that function could always be extended to read a user option, if it desirable to change that default behavior.
I'll use that same function to control writing BOMs to GEDCOM exports.
Logged In: YES
Originator: NO
Fixed cvs to write BOM to GEDCOM where appropriate.
Logged In: YES
Originator: NO
I've revised the cvs to believe first the input GEDCOM BOM, and if there isn't one, then the input GEDCOM CHAR declaration, and if there isn't that either, to fallback to the option variable GedcomCodeset.
Therefore I believe this is reasonably implemented (with the caveat that only UTF-8 BOMs are handled).
SourceForge Robot
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This Tracker item was closed automatically by the system. It was
previously set to a Pending status, and the original submitter
did not respond within 14 days (the time period specified by
the administrator of this Tracker).
SourceForge Robot


text:
Kek Lok Si Temple hotels
Kek Lok Si Temple
The ornate pagoda atop Kek Lok Si Temple is one of the central features of the island of Penang, Malaysia. This temple, whose name means "Temple of Supreme Bliss", represents the harmony found between the Mahayana and Chinese Buddhism that are both prevalent in Malaysia. Kek Lok Si Temple was constructed in the late 19th century and subsequent renovations and additions have made it the largest Buddhist temple in Southeast Asia. The temple is the hub of Chinese Buddhism in Penang and generous donations from this community have allowed the interior to be even more ornately decorated.
- Climb the steep staircase as you approach Kek Lok Si Temple to find a bevy of interesting souvenir stands, as well as the Liberation Pond, where you can release a turtle to make merit.
- Take the lift to the upper platform atop the hill where you can check out the massive statue of Kuan Yin, Goddess of Mercy and get amazing views of Penang below.
- Enter the main prayer hall where you will find brightly painted, intricate woodwork as well as statues of Buddha and various bodhisattvas revered by Penang Buddhists.
Kek Lok Si Temple is situated in the Air Itam region of Penang, not far from the city centre. The easiest and cheapest way to get there is by the Rapid Penang Bus System that has several routes that will take you directly to the base of the temple. There is a lot to explore on the grounds of Kek Lok Si Temple, so walking will give you the best chance to absorb the atmosphere as well as the spectacular views. You can also hire motorized rickshaws or taxis from the city centre.
Recommended hotels
1 Sunway Hotel Georgetown
33, New Lane (off Macalister Road) Map
Sunway Hotel Georgetown is an elegantly appointed accommodation that offers convenient access to cultural and corporate sites of Penang. While on a Penang holiday, tourists should not miss a chance... More
Family Trip
2 G Hotel Gurney, Penang
168A, Persiaran Gurney Map
Exclusive! Book Now & Save 20%
G Hotel Gurney, Penang is a stylish haven overlooking the great Malacca Strait featuring contemporary accommodations outfitted with fashionable designer furniture. Tourists learn more about the... More
Average stay.
3 Evergreen Laurel Hotel Penang
53, Persiaran Gurney Map
Exclusive! Book Now & Save 25%
Evergreen Laurel Hotel Penang is the right choice for those who are looking for quality accommodation and service in Malaysia. Penang Botanic Gardens, Kek Lok Si Temple and Penang Hill are some of... More
Short stay
4 The Northam All Suite Penang
55 Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah Map
Offering top-notch facilities and plush spaces strategically located in the heart of Penang commercial and leisure district, The Northam All Suite Penang creates an ideal base for travellers... More
Bad Experience
5 Hotel NEO+ Penang
68 Jalan Gurdwara, 10300, Penang Map
Includes Breakfast
The new Hotel Neo+ Penang located in the heart of Penang is a modern and 100 % smoke free hotel specially designed to meet the needs of discerning guests. With the hotels unique design of Eastern... More
Just two
6 G Hotel Kelawai
2, Persiaran Maktab Map
Exclusive! Book Now & Save 20%
G Hotel Kelawai, is where iconic design and cutting edge lifestyle set the stage for exclusive and extraordinary experiences. With 208 Rooms, the hotel is uniquely inspired by innovative design to... More
Awesome family trip
7 GLOW Penang
101 Macalister Road Map
Last Minute Deal! Book & Save 25%
GLOW Penang welcomes travellers with comfortable spaces set centrally in the vibrant and heritage-rich Penang capital, close to must-visit local attractions and public transportation. While in... More
Relaxed family holidays
8 Hotel Royal Penang
No 3 Jalan Larut Map
Book Now & Save 19%
Hotel Royal Penang offers upscale accommodations located near the financial district, suitable for corporate and leisure travellers visiting this side of Malaysia. Tourists at this Penang hotel can... More
Less than basic stay
9 Hotel Sentral Georgetown
No 12, Lorong Kinta Map
Book Now & Save 20%
Strategically positioned in Georgetown, Hotel Sentral Georgetown offers comfortably furnished accommodations making an ideal base for vacationers exploring the Penang capital. This cosy hotel... More
Short Getaway
10 Tune Hotels Downtown Penang
100 BURMAH ROAD Map
Tune Hotels Downtown Penang enjoys a convenient location in the shopping and entertainment district of George Town. This well-placed hotel offers comfortable accommodation and friendly service. The... More
good location
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- Penang Hill hotels
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- Pulau Tikus Wet Market hotels
- Titi Kerawang Waterfall hotels
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- Hindu Temple hotels
- Prangin Mall Komtar hotels
- Penang Chinatown hotels
- Khoo Kongsi hotels


text:
The Italian Mojito
Arturo Sighinolfi is the Director of Mixology and Spirits Education for Southern Wine and Spirits of Florida. From 1996 to 2003 he tended bar at the Hotel Astor in South Beach, during which time he was selected as Miami New Times Best Bartender of 1998. Part of Arturo's job is to create new cocktails for the Florida market. This latest concoction, the Mojito Italiano, highlights a delicious Campari twist on the classic, and makes a lot of sense for a city with no shortage of Cubans or Italian restaurants.
If you don't feel like making mojitos at home, Racks Italian Bistro & Market in Sunny Isles is currently shaking these up, and Campari will be doing likewise when it hosts a bunch of events at Art Basel this week.
Mojito Italiano
1/2 ounce Campari
1 1/2 ounces Flor de Cana Rum
3/4 ounce Fresh Lemon Juice
3/4 ounce Simple Syrup
1 ounce Prosecco
3 Mint Sprigs
Muddle mint, syrup and lemon juice. Add Campari and rum, shake and pour.
Top with Prosecco and garnish with mint sprig.
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Intermezzo Lounge prior to Kristin ChenowethThu., Jan. 14, 7:00pm
- Tickets
- Miami's Best Eats and Drinks This Weekend: The Continental Opens, Miami Spice Begins
- MC Kitchen's Dena Marino, Mignonette's Lisa Chadwick Win at Iron Fork


text:
Play Video
300 IDIOT teenagers stormed a Florida Wal-Mart in Jacksonville
Posted by Elawshea on Jul. 18, 2012
Good morning Mr. Phelps. Relive the first four movies in the mega-action fr...
Blondes suck at math, pugs rock at climbing, and sharks rock at EVERYTHING!
Every other Monday, our team of blacksmiths and craftsman will be building ...
Posted by Elawshea on Jul. 18, 2012


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text:
After providing one of the best songs of the Summer, "Lean On", Major Lazer and MØ team-up once more for an →
Former lead singer of Crystal Castles, Alice Glass has finally shared her first solo work called, "Stillbirth". The new song, co-written →
The Drums – a.k.a. Jonny Pierce and Jacob Graham – released their third full-length record Encyclopedia last year, and →
On the eve of the release of their forthcoming "Emergency" EP (Out July 17) chart-topping Swedish babes Icona Pop unveil the nostalgic →
The gorgeous Nomi Ruiz and Jessica 6 finally return with a brand new song (sort of) called "Down Low"! The throbbing, deep-house track, which sounds like an erotic tale straight out of the pages of Fifty Shades Of Grey — "aren't you gonna watch my mouth, as I go down on you, aren't you gonna hold my hair up, so I can stare →
After teasing bits of her third full-length album for months now, Lana Del Rey has finally unveil the tittle track from her upcoming album called "Honeymoon". The dreamy, almost 6min-long ballad arrives with an accompanied 70's style lyric video where we briefly see the diva lying on bed of grass near a busy California (?) highway. Lana Del Rey's Honeymoon →
One of our favorite bands, Canadian electro-pop trio Dragonette released a fantastic new single called, "Let The Night Fall" and somehow we missed it. Released on June 16th, the new single is a nostalgic synthpop summer jam with a huge euphoric chorus that'll make you wish the summer never ends! Although "Let The Night Fall" is the band's first original production →
Taken from her highly anticipated debut album I Cry When I Laugh (artwork above), listen to UK songstress Jess Glynne's brand new single, 'Don't Be So Hard On Yourself'! A great, empowering dance track! So good! The single arrives August 14, while I Cry When I Laugh follows a week after on August 21. Check it out! Jess →
After Alice Glass announced her departure from Crystal Castles back in October of 2014; we all thought the electro-goth band was dead and done. But surprisingly, remaining founding member Ethan Kath returned early this year with a brand new song called 'Frail' featuring an "unnamed" singer on the track. Today, the band follows 'Frail' with another →
After teasing the upcoming visuals for "BBHMM" a few days ago on Instagram with a picture that read "Viewer Discretion Advised…Language, Nudity, Violence" BadgalRiRI has finally unleashed the cinematic video for the track—and she wasn't kidding about the nudity and violence. In the video, Rihanna kidnaps and tortures the girlfriend of her business associate aka "The Accountant" aka →
A few years after the release of her masterful 2012 Master of My Make-Believe musical-chameleon Santigold returns with a soaring, brand new single called "Radio". The tune is lifted from the upcoming teen flick Paper Towns scheduled to be release on July 24. The movie's soundtrack will also features selections by Twin Shadow, Vance Joy, Son Lux, and more. Pre-order the soundtrack now →
Following the recent premier of the video for her electro-soulful EP titled-track, KARATE, the gorgeous Anne-Marie shares another stellar tune from her upcoming EP called, "Gemini". The seductive R&B jam, which sounds like a Timbaland\Aaliyah production, once again showcases the UK singer's phenomenal range and sultry vocal abilities. Simply outstanding! Listen! The KARATE – EP arrives July 10 via →
LA-based songwriter turned indie-pop darling Phoebe Ryan released her debut EP "MINE" (artwork above) last week via Columbia Records. The five-track EP includes the stunning lead single 'Mine" as well as the starry, vocally alluring new track 'Homie,' for which Phoebe shared the official video a few days ago. The video shows the green-haired babe singing the song karaoke style in a dimly lit dive →
Electro-clash queen PEACHES returns with a brand new single called "Light in Places". The track, a hypnotic, electro-charged jam, is her first release in six years! Her last album, I Feel Cream was released in 2009. "Light in Places" is taken from upcoming brand new album Rub (album artwork above) arriving Sept 25, 2015! Yay! Rub will feature collaborations with →
"Good For You" the sexy new jam by Selena Gomez featuring A$AP Rocky is pretty darn good. Although →
It only took us a few minutes into Por Vida (For Life) the brand new EP from Colombian-born, LA-Based singer-songwriter Kali Uchis →


text:
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StyleWatch SpecialJaime King: Why I Wore It
The Hart of Dixie actress tells PeopleStyleWatch.com the stories behind some of her most memorable red carpet looks and shares her top styling tips
Credit: Matt Baron/BEImages
Updated: Thursday Mar 21, 2013 | 06:00 AM EDT By: Andrea Lavinthal
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text:
The plan was to pick up Becky at her place and go to a beach party. When we arrived, she was in her bedroom. Her parents were not home and we decided to wake her up by knocking on her bedroom window. She opened the window topless with a thong that showcased her big juicy ass. She told us to hold on while she got dressed. We could not wait and jumped into her bedroom through the window. Brannon playfully slammed her on her bed and soon after, she had her sweet pussy sitting on his face. We never left for the beach party, but Becky got her pussy pounded instead. She got man milk all over her delectable ass.
"All Naughty Pt Two"
Teagan Summers
"Lovely Lara"
Lara Brookes
"All About It"
Jennifer White
"Sex Instructors"
Amy Quinn
"Ripe And Ready"
Catalina Taylor
"Hard Rumors"
Dani Jensen
"Incredible Trio"
Madison Ivy
"Fresh Face"
Stacie Jaxxx
"Young Rebel"
Anastasia Morna
"Pussy Delight"
Veronica Rodriguez


text:
Meat Loaf Endorses Mitt Romney To Win Cold War
Campaigning for Mitt Romney in Ohio, the '80s power ballad star explains his foreign policy views.
DEFIANCE, OH — Eighties-era rock legend Meat Loaf surprised the crowd of 10,000 voters gathered for a Mitt Romney rally here Thursday night when he took the stage to play a couple songs, endorse the Republican nominee — and offer his views on Russia's geopolitical threat.
"I think that in 2012, this is the most important election in the history of the United States," said Meat Loaf, singer of the hit power ballad, I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That). "Because there has storm clouds come over the United States. There is thunder storms over Europe. There are hail storms, and I mean major hail storms, in the Middle East. There are storms brewing through China, through Asia, through everywhere."
He went on, "And there's only one man that on the other night when Pres. Barack Obama, God bless him, said to Mitt Romney, 'The Cold War is over.' I have never heard such a thing in my life. The man needs to understand Putin and Russia."
Romney has stressed the need for tougher diplomacy with Russia throughout the campaign, an emphasis President Obama mocked in Monday's foreign policy debate.
Still, Meat Loaf said Romney's rhetoric has inspired him, and even led him to call three friends in California and try to talk them into voting for his guy.
"I got two of them to switch to Romney, so two out of three ain't bad!" intoned Meat Loaf, wearing black sequen sleeves and a red-and-black cape.
After the rally, Meat Loaf joined Romney on stage along with country singers Randy Owen and John Rich, and the four men led the crowd in a rendition of America, the Beautiful.
- Illegal immigrants living in Britain will face abrupt eviction from rental properties under new laws designed to reduce the UK's appeal as a migrant destination.
- President Barack Obama will unveil on Monday a plan that is considered to be "the strongest action ever taken" in the U.S. to combat climate change.
- Cilla Black, the legendary English singer and TV star, has died at her home in Spain, according to local police. She was 72 years old.


text:
Die Top 10 In Action Sports
01Atemberaubende Bilder von Urban Climbing am Limit
02Kelly Slater vs. Pumping J-Bay nach der Hai-Attacke auf Mick Fanning
03Das Lexus Hoverboard ist endlich bereit für den Skatepark!
04Vom Windsurf-Wunderkind zur Legende seines Sports: Robby Naish
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Waking the Basilica
The Basilica Cistern in Istanbul, Turkey. Built in 542 AD, it hosted Frederic Von Osten and Dominik Gührs, two of the best wakeboard athletes in the world. They rode their wakeboards between historical columns for a very special project. Renowned for its historical wealth, Istanbul also added wakeboarding underground to its never-ending list of urban legends. The 1500-year-old Basilica Cistern hosted the special project of Red Bull athletes Frederic Von Osten and Dominik Gührs. Having won many victories around the world, the two athletes are now striving to break new ground by riding their wakeboards at special locations all around the world. After stating that as the intersection point of diverse cultures, Istanbul is the best possible location for this special project, Von Osten said the following about the project: "This is my first time in Istanbul. It's a beautiful and very big city. It's full of history. It was really impressive to encounter one of the most extraordinary locations suitable for wakeboarding in this historical city. I've been good friends with Dominik for a long time, and we attended many competitions together. This time, it was great to ride without the pressure of competition in a fascinating historical location. Let me put it this way: I've never had such a breath-taking experience before. While people walked and street cars passed above us, we were riding wakeboard underground."


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"Rip Crew" Uses Fake Cop Car to Attempt to Steal Weed
Pinal County sheriff's deputies say a "rip crew" used a car made to look like a police cruiser to make a traffic stop on another vehicle, in which there just happened to be about 320 pounds of weed.
According to the Pinal County Sheriff's Office, a deputy patrolling Interstate 8 on Saturday night noticed a disabled white Ford Crown Victoria on the side of the road near the Vekol Valley -- a favorite smuggling route for drug and human smugglers.
Upon further inspection of the Crown Victoria, the deputy noticed it had been outfitted with red and blue strobe lights, orange and white strobe lights, a siren, spotlight, and front push bar.
About 20 feet in front of the faux-cop car, the deputy found a Ford Taurus that had apparently crashed into a barbed wire fence. Inside the Taurus, cops found the majority of the 319 pounds of marijuana seized.
Some of the weed, police say, had already been moved from the Taurus to the Crown Victoria.
Here's how the Pinal County Sheriff's Office thinks it went down:
It is believed that based upon the positioning of the vehicles, the fact the rear windows of the Crown Victoria were rolled down, the trunk open with a bail of marijuana in it, a black ski mask and black hoodie sweater found next to the driver's seat, that this was an attempted rip of the marijuana in the Ford Taurus by a "rip crew".
It appears the Crown Victoria had attempted to conduct a traffic stop on the Taurus, which veered off of the road, hit the fence, and then the occupants fled.
The weed and vehicles were seized by police, but no suspects were arrested. In total, police say, the weed had an estimated street value of about $159,500.
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1/9/2014 (1 year ago)
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)
Many golfers still remember the scene at the final hole of the 1995 Masters Golf Tournament-Ben Crenshaw weeping for joy, bent over, head in hands, while his caddy Carl Jackson comforts him. In that image, many of us noticed something almost lost, nearly extinct, in American manners-the gratitude of a pious man who loves his game. Among professional sports, golf is the last outpost for such a sensibility.
Deal W. Hudson is president of the Morley Institute of Church and Culture, Senior Editor at Catholic Online, and former publisher and editor of Crisis Magazine.This column and subsequent contributions are an excerpt from a forthcoming book. Dr. Hudson's new radio show, Church and Culture, will begin broadcasting in February on the Ave Maria Radio Network.
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)
1/9/2014 (1 year ago)
Published in U.S.
Keywords: Golf, Ben Crenshaw, Augusta National, athletes, integrity, ethics, honor, masculinity, friendship, Masters, happiness, virtue, beatitude, moral life, passion, beauty, culture, existential, search, Deal W Hudson
WASHINGTON,DC (Catholic Online) - Many golfers still remember the scene at the final hole of the 1995 Masters Golf Tournament-Ben Crenshaw weeping for joy, bent over, head in hands, while his caddy Carl Jackson comforts him.
In that image, many of us noticed something almost lost, nearly extinct, in American manners-the gratitude of a pious man who loves his game. Among professional sports, golf is the last outpost for such a sensibility. Tennis had it, but lost it after condoning a generation of rude and spoiled behavior. Hockey players, who nowadays are so busy getting stitched up, probably never had it. Baseball players surely felt nostalgic when they watched Crenshaw win.Football and basketball players lost it years ago, drowned by their PR, along with the rock music that noisily deafens the fans at their sporting events.
In that moment on the 18th green at Augusta National, we saw a man overcome by the joy of winning, a man paying honor to his sport, not a man consumed by his paycheck or his celebrity stature. Crenshaw didn't walk off the green to record a TV spot for Disneyworld or Nike shoes. Instead he talked about his golfing mentor Harvey Penick, of Little Red Book fame. Just a few days before the tournament, Crenshaw had served as a pallbearer at his funeral. As he received the green jacket, the new Master's champion credited Penick with helping him somehow throughout the final round-how rare a thing such piety has become!
Those who know Crenshaw, his love for the game, and its tradition knew he was overwhelmed by his awareness of winning his second Masters and taking his place in the history of golf. Manners like his require piety, reverence for the past, for tradition, for the accomplishments of one's elders, for those who have made the institutions that nourish us today.
As the writer Marion Montgomery put it, "Manners allow the soul to catch its breath." Manners take over where self-conscious reflection and deliberation leave off. Golfers tee off in an order paying homage to the lowest scorer on the previous hole-this is rarely discussed, it simply happens. Perhaps this is why golf is so refreshing, it has not taken on the confusion of contemporary life, particularly its deep skepticism regarding privilege and honor.
An older friend of mine recently said, "Golf is the last sport where a young man can learn to be a gentleman." Remaining quiet and motionless while another player hits, tending to the pin for a partner's putt, praising good shots, offering consolation for bad ones, lending good cheer at a round's conclusion regardless of scores, all are civilizing habits. They are hardly in evidence on our nation's streets.
Golf remains the only major sport to resist the thug element infiltrating our public life. One reason is that you simply cannot play decent golf with bad manners-it gets in the way of the game. Temper may help you make the downfield block, but it won't help you sink a short putt. Initially, playing golf is about learning the proper swing; ultimately, it is about learning self-command.
People wonder why public civility is on the wane, why so little respect is shown toward tradition, the greatness of the past. Some of us have accepted this as the price of becoming cynical, of exposing much of past glory as counterfeit, as camouflage for greedy self-interest and class injustice. No longer believing in the accomplishments of the adult world, we now venerate the scowl of adolescent rebellion. Why should our nation's youth try to grow up and overcome an attitude that the adult world, in large part, has chosen to emulate?
Just like in golf, bad manners get in the way of living well. To grow, to mature, requires great effort and much help-we are helped by God's grace and the efforts of good men and women who have come before us. The essence of rudeness is not listening, in not knowing when to be quiet and profit from those who know better. Ben Crenshaw's bowed head, Carl Jackson's fatherly consolation, the acknowledgement that help comes from beyond the grave-here are clear signs that manners are not dead, that they can flourish once again.
1. There is no substitute for good manners in culture.
2. We should expect gratitude and piety from our professional athletes, regardless of their sport.
3. A profound regard for those who have come before us and God's grace help us to grow and mature.
© Deal W. Hudson, Ph.D
Deal W. Hudson is president of the Morley Institute of Church and Culture, Senior Editor at Catholic Online, and former publisher and editor of Crisis Magazine.This column and subsequent contributions are an excerpt from a forthcoming book. Dr. Hudson's new radio show, Church and Culture, will begin broadcasting in February on the Ave Maria Radio Network.
The Rosary
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Genesis Lesson 8 Chap 11:1-9 the Tower of Babel 12/14/11 - Sermon Videos
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Embed wtlpc 1311 views 2011-12-22T21:34:15 Nimrod became a leader in apostasy, developer of a great religious system later to become known as the Babylonian religious system or the "mystery Babylon".
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This property allows you to book online with a credit card. After submitting a reservation request, the owner or manager has 24 hours to accept, at which time your card will be charged and you will receive an email confirmation
Recent Mill Valley reviews
"My husband and I brought our girls to Mill Valley for hike and go to Stinson Beach...we picked this home from all the wonderful reviews and they were spot on!! We give it a big 10! The owners were great and the place couldn't have been more comfortable and quiet to rest in!! The location was perfect to stretch our legs and walk to town! We highly recommend this adorable cottage!"Guest: Michelle W. Date of Stay: June 2015 Review Submitted: June 24, 2015View listing
"My wife and I were very impressed with this lovely rental in Mill Valley. The owners are very gracious hosts and quite friendly. I can attest to the deer sightings, pictured, which really took me by surprised on our first evening there. The description of the place is quite accurate. Inside the property is very, very clean, comfortable and well maintained as the kitchen has all the necessary items to have meals there. The views from the property are fantastic. We could have not asked for a better place to stay for our vacation."Guest: Phil T. Date of Stay: June 2015 Review Submitted: June 30, 2015View listing
"This suite was exactly as advertised. The beds were comfy and the bathroom first class. Close to 101 with quick access to all attractions and points of interest. Monica was very friendly and accommodating. Would not hesitate to stay here again."Guest: Anonymous Date of Stay: September 2014 Review Submitted: September 29, 2014View listing
"We stayed here as a home base while visiting family and friends. We loved the back studio and used it as an office and getaway! Backyard area has comfortable furniture and nice umbrellas for shade -- lots of sun in the afternoon! We walked to Whole Foods for groceries and coffee almost every day. Kitchen is updated and super clean. Nice to be in an area with no parking problems. Loved the stay and plan to be back. Thanks for the hospitality."Guest: Steve Date of Stay: October 2014 Review Submitted: January 3, 2015View listing
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DEFINITION of 'Activity-Based Management - ABM'
A procedure that originated in the 1980s for analyzing the processes of a business to identify strengths and weaknesses. Specifically, activity-based management seeks out areas where a business is losing money so that those activities can be eliminated or improved to increase profitability. ABM analyzes the costs of employees, equipment, facilities, distribution, overhead and other factors in a business to determine and allocate activity costs.
INVESTOPEDIA EXPLAINS 'Activity-Based Management - ABM'
Activity-based management can be applied to different types of companies, including manufacturers, service providers, non-profits, schools and government agencies, and ABM can provide cost information about any area of operations in a business. In addition to improving profitability, the results of an ABM analysis can help a company produce more accurate budgets and financial forecasts.
Purchasing SystemA method used by businesses to buy products and/or services. ...
Activity CapacityThe degree to which a particular action is expected to perform. ...
Activity Cost DriverA factor that influences or contributes to the expense of certain ...
Activity CenterA pool of activity costs associated with particular processes ...
AccountingThe systematic and comprehensive recording of financial transactions ...
Activity-Based Budgeting - ABBA method of budgeting in which the activities that incur costs ...
What are some examples of general and administrative expenses?In accounting, general and administrative expenses represent the necessary costs to maintain a company's daily operations ... Read Full Answer >>
How do dividend distributions affect additional paid in capital?Whether a dividend distribution has any effect on additional paid-in capital depends solely on what type of dividend is issued: ... Read Full Answer >>
Why can additional paid in capital never have a negative balance?The additional paid-in capital figure on a company's balance sheet can never be negative because companies do not pay investors ... Read Full Answer >>
When does the fixed charge coverage ratio suggest that a company should stop borrowing ...Since the fixed charge coverage ratio indicates the number of times a company is capable of making its fixed charge payments ... Read Full Answer >>
How does additional paid in capital affect retained earnings?Both additional paid-in capital and retained earnings are entries under the shareholders' equity section of a company's balance ... Read Full Answer >>
How can I find net margin by looking a company's financial statements?In finance and accounting, financial statements represent the fundamental means of analyzing a company's financial position, ... Read Full Answer >>
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WASHINGTON Apple Inc (AAPL.O) does not use patented technology owned by Google (GOOG.O) unit Motorola Mobility in making its iPhones, an appeals court said on Friday.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit upheld a decision by the International Trade Commission in April that Apple did not violate a Google patent to make the popular iPhone.
The smartphone industry has seen dozens of lawsuits on several continents as Apple vies for market share with companies that make smartphones using Google's Android software.
"We're disappointed in this decision and are evaluating our options," Google unit Motorola said in a statement. Apple had no comment on the decision.
Motorola Mobility accused Apple in 2010 of infringing on six of its patents covering technology such as reducing signal noise and programming the device's touch screen so a user's head does not accidentally activate it while talking on the phone. The ITC ruled in April 2013 that Apple did not violate any of the six. The appeals court addressed just one of the six patents.
Google acquired the patents in the case - and the lawsuit - when it purchased Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion in 2012, partly for its library of telecommunications patents.
Google's Android software, which the company lets handset makers use for free, has become the world's No. 1 smartphone operating system, ahead of the iOS software used on Apple iPhones.
The ITC, a U.S. trade panel that investigates patent infringement involving imported goods, is a popular venue for patent lawsuits because it can bar the importation of infringing products and because it issues decisions relatively quickly.
The case at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit is Motorola Mobility LLC v. International Trade Commission and Apple, Inc. The case is No. 2012-1666.
(Reporting by Diane Bartz; Editing by Doina Chiacu and Sandra Maler)
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Home > News > World
Monday April 28, 2014 MYT 6:15:03 PM
Monday April 28, 2014 MYT 6:16:13 PM
by michael gold
TAIPEI (Reuters) - Police in Taiwan fired water cannons on Monday to disperse hundreds of anti-nuclear protesters refusing to give up their campaign despite a government pledge to halt work on the island's fourth nuclear power plant.
The protesters had been occupying a main Taipei boulevard since Sunday, demanding the government scrap plans to begin operation of Taiwan's nearly completed fourth reactor.
"Anti-nuclear public opinion is very high," said 26-year-old protester Huang Ting-chiao. "The government should respond to the public's desires as soon as possible."
Taiwan sits on the so-called ring of fire region of seismic activity around the Pacific Ocean and many of the island's residents are alarmed at the prospect of an earthquake triggering a disaster like the one at Fukushima in Japan that followed an earthquake and tsunami in 2011.
Tens of thousands of people had gathered on Sunday before the government announced it would halt construction pending a public vote.
Despite that, hundreds of protesters remained out overnight and police used water canons to clear them in the morning.
"Many people had hoped for a complete abandonment of the fourth nuclear plant," the government said in a statement issued later on Monday.
"Under this scenario, rising electricity prices are unavoidable."
Media reported several people were injured but police denied that.
On Friday, Taiwan's president Ma Ying-jeou refused opposition demands for an immediate referendum on the future of the plant, but reiterated that the government would hold such a vote before the facility starts operations.
Taiwan's three operating nuclear power stations would have to remain in operation for longer if the fourth one does not start generating power as planned, the Economics Ministry has said.
Taiwan's first nuclear plant is set to be decommissioned from 2018-19, while the second is set to close between 2021 and 2023.
Some 40 percent of the island's electricity is generated by coal, 30 percent by natural gas and 18.4 percent by nuclear power, according to the Economics Ministry.
(Additional reporting by Damon Lin; Editing by Robert Birsel)
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