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Member Since:
February 25th, 2011
About Donnie Smith
As a native and current resident of South Carolina's 'Lowcountry,' when I'm not at home I'm roaming around the mountains of western North Carolina.
Although I have no formal photography training I do have a good eye for beauty and a desire to share it. We all have gifts - for some people it is singing, writing, teaching, or athleticism. At an early age, I was told to find my gifts and use them for God's glory and have found it in photography. I have always enjoyed nature, landscapes, and capturing the moment. Photography provides me an outlet to experience nature and God's handiwork and reveal that beauty in photos to His children.
If I had to choose the strongest influence in my continual journey in photography, I would have to say that Ansel Adams left the strongest impression. Adams, arguably, was the greatest photographer in the world and I stand in awe of his work. In comparison to his work I proudly wear the title of novice photographer. Check him out, get inspired!
My portfolio contains a variety of photography which is available as prints, digital downloads, note cards and other products. Most of which would certainly compliment any d�cor and available for purchase as fine prints. Stock photography is available for publication rights.
Subjects generally include nature, landscapes, waterfalls, and wildlife but have expanded my work to capture other aspects of the craft to include personal portraits, weddings, family gatherings and wildlife.
Finally, this site humbly acknowledges the craft of photography, it is a hobby, a passion and I encourage everyone to enjoy this wonderful thing we call ''Photography.''
Don't take my word for it, grab a camera - any kind from a pinhole to a digital - look at the world and allow the world to see you - something painfully wonderful and profoundly amazing is about to happen.
Awards, Recognition & Publications
2008 S.C. AWWA Journal Magazine
'Most beautiful watershed in South Carolina'
2013 North Charleston Arts Festival
Runner Up
2010 Smoky Mountain Living
' Celebrating 75 Years of the Blue Ridge Parkway'
2012 North Charleston Arts Festival
Featured Photographer
2009 Smoky Mountain Living
2010 Charleston Water System Calendar
2011 April-May Smoky Mountain Living
2011 H2O History of Water-Charleston Water System
2012 Berkeley County Chamber of Commerce Welcome Guide
Featured Photographer
Mountain Travel Guide
Featured Photographer
Charleston Post & Courier
Charleston Water Keeper
Beverly Hills, CA (United States)
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Finding that in the face of these claims, "her only alternative to litigating ... was to capitulate to a settlement for a violation she insists she did not commit" and that "[s]uch capitulation would not advance the aims of the Copyright Act," the Court awarded Ms. Foster her attorneys fees and costs.
Will this stop the RIAA? Not a chance. But for every person that fights back, that is one more voice saying that the company has gone too far in their lawsuit campaigns.

subset: commoncrawl


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The organ has been called "the monster which never breathes," but perhaps its breaths are simply very long and deep. In Charlemagne Palestine's perambulations through the organ's sonic landscape, this is certainly the case—the breath is some 70 minutes long.
Schlingen-Blängen was first realized in Holland in 1979, although it had several precursors. Composer-performer Palestine had become well known in avant-garde circles in New York and Europe and was often seen and heard at major festivals. Usually, the instrument of his long, environmental, quasi-sacred musical inventions was the Imperiale Grand Bösendorfer piano. The alchemical magic of dancing harmonics which he managed to coax out of this magnificent instrument through sheer physical will (indeed the physicality of a Palestine performance was memorable—a battle of wills with the piano itself) transformed both physical space and imaginary space inside the listeners' heads. Those who have experienced a Charlemagne Palestine Bösendorfer performance such as Strumming Music, or Lower Depths or Timbral Assault usually have found the relentless coaxing of sound from the piano to be a physical ballet as well as a spiritual-musico exercise.
So the idea of creating a new sound world through the resources of an old tracker Baroque organ seemed quite a different tack to take. The physicality of the performance would be less present, more implied in the overwhelming acoustics of the space than in the movements of the keyboard performer. In Schlingen-Blängen the arms and torso of Palestine take a break and we experience sounds set into motion by the initial choosing of a chord and its timbres (the setting of the registers or stops); the melodic changes that occur are subtle and few. The resultant torrent of sound, which begins as a trickle, might delude the listener into a visual hallucination of the ever-active composer somehow hammering away at keys and pedals, but such is not the case. This very unpalpable acoustic experience seems unusual for this composer.
Yet Palestine had worked with disembodied organ sonority before, in fact well before he "discovered" the Bösendorfer.
In the late sixties through the early seventies, his main experiments in sound were carried out in the electronic music studio—in New York at the old Bleecker Street NYU School of the Arts co-operative studio, and later at the newly founded California Institute of the Arts near Los Angeles where Palestine studied and taught for a couple of years. Access to pure sine wave oscillators and voltage-controlled formant filters (remember, this was the era of analogue synthesizers and classical tape studios) allowed him to set up minutely tuned drones in a space where people could come and go as they wished—a kind of perpetual performance. The space had a holy, worshipful aura, and this was always important to Palestine whose seeking of the magic of tonal alchemy was tied to his search for the "sacred." Naturally, over a period of time, the tuning of the oscillators would drift ever so slightly, creating new beating tones and strange difference tones, and he would occasionally shift the frequency of the filters to emphasize or de-emphasize certain areas of the harmonic spectrum. If one lingered in these harmonic spaces for a while, the initially imperceptible changes became not only noticeable, but very grand. It was like putting pure sound under a microscope.
But there was an organ analogue to all this electronic experimentation. In 1970 and '71 Palestine was allowed to utilize the sanctuary of a very liberal downtown Los Angeles Unitarian Church with a nice old French organ three nights a week, and he began a series of events called "Meditative Sound Environments" (this might sound today like a rather banal "New Age" vademecum, but in 1970 it was a fresh idea) which consisted of his putting into motion a chord by inserting cardboard wedges between the organ keys; he would then simply let the sounds find their own relationships—both consonant and dissonant—in the night air of the sanctuary, occasionally adjusting the stops to make subtle timbral adjustments.
To my ears—and I was present at a number of these—the musical environment in the organ events was enriching to a degree not possible in the sine wave drone environments.1 The rough edges of the impure sound waves emanating from the metal organ pipes added richness that made the experience somehow more "musical" than the rarefied atmosphere of the filtered electronic environments.
In fact, Palestine had made similar experiments with organ sonority a few years earlier in New York, at a Unitarian-Universalist Church on the Upper West Side. This was during the same period when he was the carillonneur at St. Thomas Church on Fifth Avenue, and regaled New York every evening at five o'clock with massive assaults on the giant bells (of course, his astonishing improvisations on the carillon were always preceded by a sedate hymn or two.)
But upon his return to New York in 1972, oscillators, organs, and even bells, took a back seat to his growing repertory on the Bösendorfer. A series of long evening-length concerts in his own loft and eventually at festivals and alternative performance venues associated him in his public's ear exclusively with that remarkable piano. He also began to develop extraordinary "performance art" works, which involved a lot of vocal virtuosity as well as a choreography never seen before. His forays into the visual arts, with his installations and sculptures created around hundreds of stuffed animals, began to claim more of his attention in the eighties, and his musical events became a part of memory.
In 1979 one of his supporters in Holland, the festival producer Leendert van Lagestein, heard Palestine casually mention something about these early organ pieces, and suggested that he might like to replicate one of them at a church in Friesland. Van Lagestein ran a festival in Groningen; the best church organ he could find was in a small village called Farmsum Delftzijl, some distance away from Groningen, hard by the North Sea. The audience had to be bused in as the chances of finding an audience in such a remote area was slim.
The results were magical, pure vintage Charlemagne Palestine; and it is amazing that it took so long for the piece to be recorded. This happened almost ten years later, in 1988, when Palestine and van Lagestein returned to Farmsum with digital recording equipment and made several takes. The story of the fate of the recording after that is oddly similar to that of other recording that have been made of Palestine's music, but, along with those, the music has finally been released—literally—after many years of bondage. There is now a small discography of his music from the period of the seventies and early eighties.
Oddly enough, little of substance has been written about Palestine's music, although quite a number of articles about his performance and video art as well as his sculptural creations—often based on arrays of stuffed animals, which he considers to be spiritual, have appeared in visual art-centered publications. This is not surprising, as his audience were mainly denizens of the art world, and his early supporters were more likely to be patrons of art than music—for example, his first recording was a private issue put out by the Sonnabend Gallery in New York.
A work like Schlingen-Blängen is hard to describe because so little happens in it, yet at the same time an immensity of activity is going on and there is so much of it that it boggles the mind; better not to try. But on the subject of the static in music, let me say that Palestine's work has best exemplified in the past twenty-five years the idea that standing still often achieves great movement. Once, many years ago, he and I were listening to a beautiful, sensuous orchestral work of Debussy, and after a particularly ravishing passage he said to me, "If only it would stand still and stay that way for a long time." In a way, that is what he has been trying to do, turn music into a physical entity that can be experienced like a painting, as something to be contemplated at one's pleasure and will. Thus, even though there are dynamics and curves and formal shapes to his music, the overall impression is one of static movement; the paradox is no more explicable than the dichotomies of yin and yang, of sacred and profane. Several art writers have mentioned the word shaman in talking of Palestine as a person—and the person and artist are very much the same—and, even though it's perhaps an over worked idea these days, there is something of the magician in him, and when his music works, it is magic indeed. When it doesn't work, there is the trickster, the imposter, the impish devil at play—we feel taken in. But that side of him only verifies the other side, for there is a genuine disarming sincerity to the wholeness of his integrated artistic vision and, if in seeking to uncover the sacred, he sometimes misses the mark, it is all the more precious when he hits it.
—Ingram Marshall
Ingram Marshall is a composer and sometime writer on music. Although currently living in Connecticut, he was for many years active on the West Coast. Recent recordings are on Nonesuch, New Albion, and New World Records.
For those wondering about the meaning of the word Schlingen-Blängen, I would simply say that for a number of years Charlemagne has created a kind of shamanistic make-believe language; many of his paintings have strange expressions written on them as text. We would have to accept these as a kind of mock hieratic tongue.
return to text (1) I wrote a review of these events for the L. A. Free Press. Here is a particularly gushing description:
"Once a beautiful sonority, a wellspring of music, is achieved, it is left alone to its own devices, allowed to spread, to grow, to lavish its fecundity on the ears of the listener who begins now to FEEL the music, and realizes the act of hearing is basically feeling. We feel sound, not hear it. We know this when a sound might hurt our ears, but it is also apparent when sounds feel good, when they caress."
reprinted with permission


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YIELD: Serves 10
IngredientsFor pork
- 1 8-pound crown roast of pork (12 ribs)
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon crumbled dried sage
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- Apple and Pork Stuffing
- 1 1/2 cups canned beef broth
- 1 cup apple cider
- 4 teaspoons cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons applejack brandy or brandy
Make pork:
Position pork atop 9- to 10-inch-diameter tart pan bottom. Transfer to large rimmed baking sheet. Brush pork with oil. Combine salt, sugar, thyme, sage and pepper in small bowl. Rub spice mixture over pork. Cover with plastic and refrigerate overnight.
Position rack in bottom third of oven and preheat to 450°F. Fill pork cavity with enough stuffing to mound in center. Cover tips of pork bones with foil. Roast pork 20 minutes. Reduce temperature to 325°F. Continue roasting until thermometer inserted into center of pork meat registers 150°F, about 1 hour 50 minutes. Remove foil from bones. Continue roasting until thermometer inserted into center of pork and stuffing registers 155°F, about 15 minutes longer. Carefully transfer roast atop tart pan bottom to platter.
Make gravy:
Add 1 cup broth to baking sheet and scrape up browned bits from bottom of baking sheet. Pour juices into 2-cup glass measuring cup; freeze 15 minutes. Spoon fat off top of pan juices. Transfer pan juices to medium saucepan. Add remaining 1/2 cup beef broth and apple cider. Bring to boil. Dissolve cornstarch into applejack in small bowl; whisk into broth mixture. Boil until gravy thickens slightly, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer gravy to sauceboat.
Carve roast between bones to separate chops. Serve with stuffing and gravy.
my notes
Nutritional Info
- Calories1,336,289
- Carbohydrates4 g (1%)
- Fat84,901 g (130,617%)
- Protein133,219 g (266,439%)
- Saturated Fat29,424 g (147,122%)
- Sodium337,802 mg (14,075%)
- Polyunsaturated Fat9,044 g
- Fiber0 g (1%)
- Monounsaturated Fat37,862 g
- Cholesterol425,167 mg (141,722%)


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The god Poseidon was the brother of Zeus and Hades, and was known throughout the ancient Greek world as the Lord of the Sea. At the time of the fall of their father Cronus, the three gods drew lots from a helmet to see how they would divide rulership over the universe. While the earth and Mount Olympus were considered common ground to all, Zeus was given surpreme reign over the sky, Hades the underworld and Poseidon dominion over the deep waters of the sea. He built for himself a beautiful underwater palace, which included vast stables for keeping his team of prized chariot horses. No other steeds could compare to their beauty, for they were white in color and sported both brazen hooves and flowing manes of gold. Because he was also the god of earthquakes, Poseidon was given the nick name of "The Earth-shaker". He was commonly shown carrying a three speared trident which he used to shatter and shake anything he desired.
The god had in his possession a golden chariot, which when driven across raging waters would cause waves to become still and all storms to cease. Sea creatures of every type would rise out of the brine and follow behind its rolling wheels, laughing and dancing upon the froth.
Poseidon was second only to Zeus in power and was usually known to be of a cranky and quarrelsome nature. The sea god often found himself in the center of many disagreements concerning his title as the patron deity of various regions throughout the ancient world. He disputed the validity of Corinth's patronage with Helios the Titan ruler of the sun.
Because the situation required an arbitrator, Briareus, one of the Hundred-handed, was called away from Tartarus to decide the contest. After hearing both sides Briareus declared that Helios be granted the Acropolis of Corinth and Poseidon the Isthmus.
Poseidon also fought long and hard with Hera for the reign of Argos. This time the matter was brought before the river gods Inachus, Cephissus and Asterion for judgement. When the three decided to bestow the city to the goddess, Poseidon flew into a fit of rage and dried up all three of their streams, preventing them from flowing during the summer months.
He then turned his wrath upon the city of Argos itself, causing it to be engulfed in a great deluge of water. In another instance Poseidon challenged Athena for rulership over Troezen, but this time Zeus stepped in and insisted that the city be shared equally by both parties. This arrangement did not sit well with god. Poseidon also challenged Zeus for rulership over Aegina and Dionysus for Naxos, but was unsuccessful at both attempts.
Poseidon's most famous dispute over land was the one he waged against Athena for sovereignty over Attica. As both gods thought themselves best suited to rule, it was decided that the deity who could offer the most beneficial gift would be declared the patron god of the region. Poseidon began the contest by pounding the ground with his mighty trident. This caused a spring of seawater to flow freely across the Athenian Acropolis. Athena thought for a moment before causing an olive tree to sprout close by the newly formed stream. A vote was taken among the other Olympians with the exception of Zeus. Desperately trying to avoid trouble, the chief god refused to voice his opinion. It was decided that Athena offered the most useful gift, and so the city was given to the goddess. Once again Poseidon punished the unfortunate residents by flooding the plain of Attica. In order to keep the peace, the Athenians continued to honor both Athena and Poseidon on the Acropolis, where both their gifts can still be seen to this very day.
When not on Mount Olympus, Poseidon could be found residing in his underwater palace at Aegae, located on the northern coast of the Peloponnesus. There he lived with his beautiful wife Amphitrite, one of the many daughters of Oceanus. It took Amphitrite quite a bit of time to warm up to Poseidon. She tried to escape his advances by fleeing to the Atlas Mountains, but the sea god would not give up. He resorted to sending a messenger named Delphinius to try and convince the indifferent maiden to be his bride.
Delphinius proved to be very persuasive, and shortly after his visit Amphitrite consented to marry the amorous sea god. To show his appreciation, Poseidon placed Delphinius among the stars as a constellation called the Dolphin. Amphitrite went on to bear Poseidon three children; a son, Triton, and two daughters whom they named Rhode and Benthesicyme.
Unfortunately for the new queen, Poseidon had inherited the same roving eye as his brother Zeus. This brought a great deal of pain to Amphitrite, for like Hera, she was destined to forever stand in the shadows of her husband's countless love affairs.
Poseidon ruled over both the fresh and salt waters of the earth. He was also known as the god of horses and it is said that he created the first one by hitting the side of a rock with his trident. As Demeter wandered through Arcadia in search for her lost daughter Persephone, Poseidon found her desirable and trailed the sorrowful goddess in a lustful pursuit. In order to escape his grasp, Demeter frantically turned herself into a mare, but Poseidon slyly transformed himself into a stallion and mounted her. This union brought about the birth of the nymph Despoena and the wild steed Arion. From that time on Demeter was worshipped in parts of Arcadia with the head of a horse and in the company of a consort known as Horse Poseidon.
Poseidon desecrated the temple of Athena by seducing the young and beautiful Medusa within the sacred chambers. The goddess found this behavior so deplorable that she punished the maiden by changing her into a hideous monster. Just one look into her abhorrent face would instantly turn any observer into stone.
According to one version of the story, when Perseus later beheaded Medusa, out flew the offspring of her union with Poseidon; the giant Chrysaor and the winged horse Pegasus. This beautiful creature was later captured and tamed by a young man called Bellerophon. He was the son of Poseidon and Eurynome, the wife of King Glaucus of Corinth.
Another tale connecting Poseidon to the horse brings us to the wedding of Peleus and Thetis. It was he that gave Peleus as a wedding gift Xanthus and Balius, two immortal stallions that were later inherited by his son Achilles. Poseidon, like many others in the stories of the Greeks is also frequently linked to the bull and to bull worship.
The one charasteristic that most sea deities have in common is the ability to change their shape at will. Poseidon was no different, most often utilizing this talent during his numerous seductions; appearing to Medusa as a bird, Theophane as a ram and Canache as a bull. He also bestowed the gift of shape shifting upon a few mortals, one being his lover Mestra. It seems that Mestar was the daughter of an evil man named Erysichthon, who had repeatedly slighted the Olympian gods. One day while walking in a grove sacred to Demeter, Erysichthon decided to cut down a large oak tree. He brazenly swung his axe, all the while ignoring the groans of the dying dryad who lived inside. Horrified, the other wood nymphs prayed to the goddess to punish the murderer and avenge the blood of their sister.
Demeter heard their prayers and cursed Erysichthon with an insatiable hungar that could never be satisfied. When he finished off all of the household's food, he sold his daughter Mestra in order to have money to buy more.
Because Poseidon had given Mestra the gift of shape shifting, she was able to avoid being enslaved by any of the interested buyers. Though she worked very hard at scavenging food for her insolent father, Erysichthon could not escape the wrath of Demeter. The impertinent man soon brought about his own demise by gnawing on his flesh until he finally died.
One of Poseidon's many children was a son born to him by Gaia, the Earth Mother. Antaeus was giant in stature and known for his profound strength which he sustained by coming in contact with his mother the earth. It was customary for strangers, upon their arrival at the home of Antaeus to participate in wrestling matches with their host. This always proved to be a futile battle for the challengers, for if and when the giant was thrown to the ground his strength was immediately renewed as soon as he touched the earth. This allowed him to return to the match twice as strong as before and therefore be the victor of every game. To celebrate his success, Antaeus shamelessly used the skulls of his opponents to line the roof of his father's house. The giant finally met his death during a battle with the wandering hero Heracles. Realizing that Antaeus grew stronger each time he was thrown, the clever Heracles lifted him high above the ground, all the while squeezing the behemoth's body until he was left lifeless and broken.
Heracles was also responsible for the death of Busiris, the brother of Antaeus. It was during the time when Busiris reigned as the King of Egypt that the land was struck with a serious drought and famine. In order to put an end to the suffering, Busiris sought the advice a Cyprian seer named Phrasius.
Busiris was told that the land would be saved only if he were to sacrifice a stranger every year in Zeus' honor. The king did not lose any time, for he immediately had the augar swept away and placed upon the altar of the Olympian god.
This practice continued until Heracles arrived and willingly allowed the priests to prepare him as the next sacrificial victim. Just as Busiris raised his axe high above the head of the shackled hero, Heracles broke through his bonds and slew the King, his son and all the attending priests, putting an end to the terror caused by two sons of Poseidon.
Though Poseidon was the father of several of the Argonauts, he did nothing to aid them in their quest for the Golden Fleece. A more obscure tall tells us that the sea god was also the father of the blind seer Phineus. It was said that Poseidon took away Phineus' sight for showing Phrixus the way to Colchis.
When Jason's search for the fleece led him to the land of Thynia, he found Phineus at the mercy of the wretched bird women known as the Harpies. Each day when the sightless old man tried to eat his dinner, his tormenters would arrive and snatch away his food before he could taste even a bite.
The Argonauts drove away the harpies and to express his gratitude Phineus gave the sailors advice as how to pass safely through the Symplegades, which were clashing rocks that shielded the entrance of the Bosporus.
The most famous mortal son of Poseidon was Theseus. Aethra, the mother of Theseus was said to have slept with both Poseidon and Aegeus, the King of Athens on the same night. This made it impossible for the boy to know for sure who his father really was. Though Theseus made claim to the throne of Athens through Aegeus, he was also known to refer to the sea god as his father as well.
One instance when the young Theseus was in Crete under the hand of King Minos, the scornful ruler threw a ring into the sea contending that if Theseus were really the son of Poseidon he have no problem retrieving the band from the water.
As the lad dove under to search through the roaring waves, Poseidon saw to it that not only did he rise to the surface with the ring in his hand but also with a jeweled crown from the palace of Amphitrite.
During the Trojan War, Poseidon strongly supported the Greek armies, as he harbored a relentless grudge against both Troy and King Priam's father Laomedon.
It seems that the Olympians had grown tired of Zeus and his prideful nature, and all except for Hestia rallied up and attempted to mutiny against the great god. The venture failed, and for their involvement in the escapade both Apollo and Poseidon were sent away for a year to act as bond servants to King Laomedon of Troy. The two were commissioned to build the powerful walls that would encase the land and turn the city into a fortress. But when the time came for the pair to be paid for their labors Laomedon refused to hand over their wages. To add further insult, he threatened have them both sold into slavery. The two gods punished Laomedon by sending both a plague and a huge sea monster to ravage the townspeople. Though Poseidon was loyal to the Greeks during their war against Troy, the god did punish them for the abominable actions of Locrian Ajax.
In the midst of all the chaos, Cassandra, the daughter of Priam took refuge in the temple of Athena. The Lesser Ajax entered the shrine of the goddess and forcibly removed and raped the Trojan princess. In the struggle the statue of Athena was knocked over and some say from that day forward the eyes have looked to the heavens with horror. Odysseus wanted to have the Lesser Ajax stoned, but becasue he had picked up the fallen image of the goddess, his Greek comrades were afraid to place their hands upon him. Athena sought out the help of both Zeus and Poseidon, and for her asking the sea god destroyed the Greek fleet off the coast of Cape Caphareus. Some say that Athena struck Ajax dead with one of Zeus' thunderbolts.
Another version is that Poseidon allowed him to escape death by swimming to safety on a huge rock called Gyrae. Once atop the giant stone, Ajax boasted that he had saved himself through his own skills and owed thanks to no god. Hearing this, Poseidon split the rock in two with a thunderbolt and the arrogant young Ajax drowned in the sea.
The worship of Poseidon extended across the Greek lands and eventually made its way into Rome under the guise of King Neptune. He was equated with many islands including Crete, Chios, Delos and Cos, as well as numerous seaports and the Isthmus of Corinth.
His cult was alive in Delphi and throughout northern Boeotia, and he was also celebrated in Attica before Athens became recognized as such an important sea power.
Medea's Lair Of Greek Mythology © 1999-2015.


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Hitting the Books
Posted by: Tim Sullivan on Jun 15, 2007 in Summer Learning, Kids Reading
I can't recall a single book I read, but I remember having fun with the other kids and thinking the teenage volunteers were way cool. Looking back now, I realize it was during those afternoons that the library transformed from a grown-up place where I got shushed to a place I still love to go.
If your child is a reluctant reader, too, she may be more motivated to dive into a book if she's around other people who are doing it. In addition to the great summer reading programs offered by public libraries and bookstores, kids' book clubs are sprouting up all over.
If you can't find a kids' book club in your area, consider forming one or joining an online club. Children read "real" books, then go online to talk about the stories. Here are just a few of the online book clubs I found with special activities for kids:
Al's Book Club for Kids
After reading the selected book, children can watch Al Roker chat with book club members on the Today show or play video of the discussion on the website. They can also submit questions to authors and listen to audio excerpts.
Parents help kids choose an adult reading mentor, such as a relative or family friend. Children correspond with their mentors about selected books, developing friendships and writing skills.


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Celebrate the destruction of Earth with '80s scifi horror rager LIFEFORCE in 70mm!!!
A galaxy-shattering 70MM cacophony of extinction, nudity, chaos, interstellar travel and blind, rabid misanthropy!
We're all aware that December is the time of warmth and giving and all that crap. But THIS year, we're also going to be snuggled up with our loved ones in preparation for the imminent apocalypse scheduled for December 21st.
And there's no better way to applaud the annihilation of our species than with a blazing 70MM screening of the overwhelmingly insane '80s scifi/horror space vampire epic LIFEFORCE!!! It's a galaxy-shattering cacophony of extinction, nudity, chaos, interstellar travel and blind, rabid misanthropy! Here's the deal:
Sure, Naked Space Vampire movies are a dime a dozen, but this big-budget 70mm career-wrecker from the TEXAS CHAINSAW director tears through all competition and stands tall as the ultimate example of the form.
An astronaut crew investigating Halley's Comet run across a pile of batmonster corpses and three apparent humans encased in giant glass shards. When the Crystal Nudie Trio are brought back to our planet, their diabolical nature is revealed in a world-shattering bloodsucking shitstorm. These creatures devour life straight through your face, level entire cities in seconds and spread like Country Crock.
LIFEFORCE's script possesses a manic ferocity matched only by the eye-bulging, vein-throbbing lead performance from perpetual screen maniac Steve Railsback, whose unhealthy dating relationship with Interstellar Evil Incarnate sends our feeble species down the road to absolute annihilation.
So do what you like, but skip this show and you'll be missing a telepathically possessed Patrick Stewart declare himself "the perfect woman" before kissing a fella right smack dab on the lips.
Playing at The Ritz on 12/8 n' 12/12!


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Monday, September 10, 2012
© Copyright 2015 Gwinnett Daily Post
LAWRENCEVILLE -- The reform of the so-called "birthday tax" will mean extra expenses at the tax commissioner's office.
During a budget discussion in Gwinnett Monday, Tax Commissioner Richard Steele asked for a boost to expenses to deal with the new law, which becomes effective in March.
With some extra workers and equipment needed to deal with questions and concerns from people, Steele said the biggest expense will likely come from credit card fees, to the tune of half a million dollars.
The new law will do away with annual taxes for motor vehicles, but it will instead require a larger initial tax. For example, Steele said, if a person buys a car from a neighbor for $5,000, he now pays $18 for a title fee and $20 for a tag fee. When the new law is fully affective, the transfer of the title will require a $325 title tax.
The law has a transition period, where people can choose to maintain the lower annual fee instead of the higher one-time fee. Steele said he expects transactions to take five to 10 minutes longer each, as staffers help people calculate which option is better for them.
Steele has asked to add eight contract employees in tag offices to help with the increase, and two more in a call center.
"We feel like the first year is going to be the worst," he said of the transition, when he is asking for employees to be contracted, not added to the county payroll. "It's not a long-term commitment to keep these people on."
Steele has also asked for some extra money for educational materials to make people aware of the new law, and he expects a need for $170,000 in postage in 2013, since new tags will have to be issued to all car owners.
More like this story
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- OUR VIEW: Residents need to prepare themselves for vehicle title tax ( February 28, 2013 )
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kevin 3 years ago
did this all these years without another tax. Now we need a tax? Looks like Steele needs to find another job.
pcjohn 3 years ago
Not his fault. The GA legislature passed this law this year. Steele just collects the state fee. If you want to get rid of someone get rid of Deal - he promoted and signed the Bill into law.
CD 3 years ago
Get rid of "Watermelon Wine" fair Deal AND Mother Nash needs to tell Steele to get the job done or get out.
CD 3 years ago
I meant to post the picture as well.
roaads1 3 years ago
Come on!!! This is another dog & pony show. Get rid of the birthday tax and replace it with this. So taxing us on a different day and calling it another name is how we got rid of the ad birthday tax. Really?
TOWG 3 years ago
It would have been nice to see a list of our house representatives and how they voted on this new tax. Payback can be tough.
R 3 years ago
Noticing a trend here alright, every division needs more staff and more resources ...
Tags will be fun, most have no clue about what's about to hit.
I just can't wait to hear the uproar when the other new GA sales taxes kick in.
At least we killed TSPLOST.
R 3 years ago
You gotta LOVE it though; we have to PAY more to COLLECT more from ourselves...
Would it be better to just reverse this process back to square one?
I'm sure glad they are out to SAVE us money; can you imagine what it will look like when they STOP?
wrighton 3 years ago
The last thing this country or county needs is ANOTHER new TAX. State Leg. makes new law to increase revenue and does not give appropriate resources. I hope this is not a money up front deal and down the road they find they cannot maintain and need a bail out. The Tax Commissioner claims it's not a long term commitment. Have we ever seen a government agency offer to give back money? The County needs to tell them we don't have the money and can't provide the service unless they come up with money. Reminiscent of the trash plan.
CD 3 years ago
The new car dealership lobby must have really rolled out the welcome wagon for our fine lawmakers. With typical cynicism, they call it merely a repeal of the birthday tax.
Yep. "Watermelon Wine" Deal and the boys are just looking out for the citizens.
Sadly enough, most of the public does not understand the degree to which they have been hosed.
Don_Coyote 3 years ago
Actually the used car dealerships have pushed for this for years as they feel it is unfair competition for a citizen to agree on a price with another citizen and sell their own car. The "cap" on lobbyists' legal "gifts" should be zero, not $100.
Georgians should also be demanding ethics legislation that would bring more scrutiny on the
bribes contributions made to politicians as well. Why does Sen. Balfour require a million dollar campaign fund to run for an office that theoretically pays $17k?
kevin 3 years ago
Hasn't Steele heard about the internet? Why must he add people when all he needs to think about is how to get an app on line for citizens to check the comparable costs themselves. We do NOT need to hire contractors but get the current employees kept busy 8 hrs a day. When I walk into a station, most employees are standing there looking or talking with each other. If the Ga Dept of Revenue already has the software working to do this comparison, I see no reason why this Dept can't use it or get a copy. This is laziness on Steele's part and nothing else. HE has no "modern" ideas about how to run this office. Out you go!


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