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Serving delicious pub grub and pizzas that are sure to hit the spot, A Touch Of Karoo Madness exudes a cheerfully light ambience in an Old World setting. The restaurant is family friendly and at the prices, you can take a big one. A comfy setting, warm Karoo hospitality and food that is moreish and hearty all contribute to this eating experience that simply must be tried.
Anya's Mum is tucked away on a narrow street in Hermanus. If not for the brightly coloured building one might not notice it, but once inside you are enveloped by the homely coffee shop style and aroma of freshly baked and prepared foods.
This mother and daughter team have been running for a few years and just seem to add that family feel to their establishment. One of the things they agree on is that they are serious about coffee.
Pop in for a home-made breakfast – hot, hot, hot and extremely fresh – and your daily dose of caffeine. Cut into a fresh quiche for lunch! The menu changes daily and is filled with the spontaneous creations of this duo. They offer occasional dinners and specials are regularly offered, such as pizza night or set menu dishes.
The back garden is a great place to hide from the outside world on a hot day. Truly a lovely setting and atmosphere!
Trading hours are from 9 am to 5 pm, Monday to Friday and from 9 am to 2 pm on Saturdays. The establishment only accepts cash payments.
Aqua Pazza is found in the neighbourhood of Guéliz in Marrakech. The restaurant is designed in straight lines with a simple and modern décor. The white of the interior enhances the magnificent view its customers experience while dining. Guests can choose to be seated on the terrace to soak up some of the Moroccan sun. The interior has air-conditioning. Aqua Pazza serves Mediterranean cuisine of the highest taste and standard.
Avnil Brewery and Pub is a quaint little pub and brewery situated in the beautiful Dullstroom. A selection of hand-crafted beers are available, brewed by the owner himself. Hearty pub meals can be enjoyed. Trout and scrambled eggs, a trout quiche and a German sausage platter are but some of the examples. At Avnil Brewery and Pub beer lovers are certainly in for a treat.
This small family run coffee chop and deli offers value for money food and a large variety on the menu. Internet access and amazing coffee ensures that this is a hot spot for regulars and tourists alike. Enjoy a filling all-day breakfast, great lunches (even packed school lunches for the kids), and convenient take-aways. Local ingredients, family recipes and farm-style friendliness awaits.
This fun artsy coffee house is situated in Paarl and serves light snacky meals and delectable aromatic coffee straight from Ethiopia. Being a florist, a gift shop and a quirky bistro and restaurant in one lends it a unique vibe so akin to this part of the world.
Bistro Thai is has a modern yet traditional interior with seating ranging from stylish tables to comfortable couches. The restaurant seats 60 including the terrace for those beautiful days. The chef prepares traditional Thai cuisine as well as the all-favourite sushi. We have been told that the lunchtime buffet is not to be missed. Wi-Fi is available for those business lunches.
Known as one of Knysna's top restaurants blended with old world charm and housed in a quaint 1848 year old manor house, Boogies Restaurant charms the palate and senses with original and unique dishes much suited to the characteristics of this old manor house.
Charming and unique, patrons can dine on daily specials or experience cuisine from the menu taking in the fresh breeze on the veranda under the shady oak tree. If intimate dining suits the taste - cosy up to the crackling fireplace warmed by original yellowwood and Oregon pine floors for a wintery warm experience.
Located inside the trendy village boutique, this coffee shops exudes a warm, welcoming ambiance pampered by sublime chocolate brownies and interesting menu.
Delight in light and healthy meals, teas and aromatic coffees or wind down with a glass of fine wine accompanied by freshly prepared food in a home from home setting.
Browse the fashionable range of casual wear, local art and gifts for an added bit of retail therapy at Café Du Soleil in Ballito.
This beautiful restaurant is located at the back of the food court in Canal Walk Shopping Centre, right on the water's edge.
The restaurant serves up tasty, traditional Thai cuisine and the décor reflects the Eastern flavours. Try your hand at the fresh Namibian oysters, or the Meang Khum (spincah cones) for starters. Curry lovers will love the selection - Thai green-, Thai red-, Thai pineapple-, Thai jungle- and even litchi duck curry can be found on the menu. A variety of meats are used and you can have your choice of beef, chicken, duck and prawns. There are also a variety of vegetarian options to enjoy.
If it is authentic Thai you are craving, this is the place to go. A beautiful setting, tasty meals and extremely good prices make Chai Yo one to try.
Enjoy mouthwatering breakfasts made with the freshest ingredients and pair it with a cup of smouldering aromatic coffee. Lunch is also a treat with dishes like smoked salmon and spinach roulade, Thai green curry phyllo parcels and roasted vegetable frittata. An unusual dish is the Vietnamese rice noodle salad, so be sure to try something new. The restaurant is open for dinner on certain Friday evenings and the menu changes on a weekly basis to ensure that only the freshest quality produce is used.
Located along George Storrar Drive, tucked away in a cosy and small interior, Collectables at Zafferano brims with unspoilt delights and a tantalising selection of dishes.
From gourmet sandwiches, breakfast specialities, high teas to traditional Italian favourites, every mouthful at Collectables will leave you wanting more.
Nestled within the Noble Hill Wine Estate, amidst working vineyards and the majestic Simonsberg Mountain, Cosecha harvests Latin delight using fresh local ingredients.
Dishes embrace a mix of contemporary and traditional Latin flavours and proffers daily specials enjoyed with fine wine and idyllic scenery.
Discover seasonal flavours and farm fresh flavours at Cosecha Restaurant in Paarl.
This amazing delicatessen and bakery offers light snacky meals and sinfully delicious sweet treats. Bite into creatively decorated desserts, of which there are many, and pair it with an aromatic coffee or flavoured tea. Fresh juices are also available.
EAT restaurant is located in the tranquil Hemel – en- Aarde Valley of Hermanus. Living up to its name, this eatery encourages, if not demands that patrons do just that: EAT.
Guests can choose to be seated indoors or enjoy sit back and soak in the spectacular views from the restaurant's courtyard. Either way the atmosphere of the restaurant has upmarket and relaxed.
EAT's contemporary menu has a variety of items to suit every appetite. Try the Sweetcorn fritters as comfort food. While those with a more demanding palate will appreciate the Pear, Blue Cheese and Caramelised Cashew Nuts as an appetizer. End with a delectable dessert of Deep Fried Ice-cream with caramelised berries. The mains on offer caters for the not so hungry in the form of snack baskets, while the carnivores will certainly tuck into the Rib Eye or Rump steak selection without being asked twice.
The restaurant offers some great entertainment in the summer months.
EAT offers a relaxed setting that is wheelchair friendly.


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I am trying to handle users that don't want to login with facebook after they have already started the process.
Current process:
- Open new browser tab
- Go to URL (mysite.com)
- Click login (launches shadow box)
- Click facebook login button in shadow box (brings user to facebook login page)
- Click the back button (returns user to new tab page, not mysite.com as expected)
It seems redirecting to the facebook login page removes mysite.com from the users history. How can I make sure users are able to return to mysite.com if they choose to hit the back button to not login with facebook?
I am using the facebook server side login procedure. And redirecting to obtain "code" from facebook.
this is the function that redirects to the facebook login
private void getCode(ServletResponse resp, String app_id, String my_url)
throws UnsupportedEncodingException, IOException {
String dialog_url = "http://www.facebook.com/dialog/oauth?client_id=" +
app_id + "&scope=email,offline_access&redirect_uri=" + URLEncoder.encode(my_url, "UTF-8");
((HttpServletResponse) resp).sendRedirect(dialog_url);

subset: commoncrawl


text: The City of Pittsfield is the cultural, commercial, legal, and medical center of the Berkshires – a region renowned for its wonderful people, outstanding standard of living, beautiful landscapes, and the finest in cultural and recreational attractions. This is a great community, built with hard work, commitment, sacrifice, and shared values. It is a privilege to serve as your mayor.


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Is your pet shedding excessively? The likely culprit is poor skin health. Are you feeding a grocery store pet food? Is your pet experiencing a reaction from environmental allergens like pollen or dust? Is the air in your home dry? Is your adult dog showing signs of aging? Each of these factors plays a role in skin health, and if you've had your pet examined by a veterinarian to rule out hormonal or thyroid problems, these are some excellent ways to improve skin conditions:
Healthier Skin: Build it from the inside out
Inside: Feeding a quality pet food produces results. Our Signature Series pet food formulas, deliver essential vitamins, nutrients, and fatty acids in proper proportions to promote the healthiest skin possible from a commercial diet. Supplements may help, too. Vitacoat® Plus or Vitacaps® provide a host of skin-benefiting vitamins, plus Omega-3 and -6 fatty acids, which are thought to help the skin retain moisture and ease the effects of histamine released in response to allergies.
Outside: Apply topical moisturizers, antioxidant vitamins, and fatty acids. Catch loose hair before it lands on floors and furniture with an easy-to-use Grooming Love Glove.
Paying attention to your pet's skin may pay off in reduced shedding - and a cleaner home. Until your pet's shedding problem is solved, arm yourself with methods of keeping it invisible around your home.
See Part II for practical housekeeping pointers when shedding is a problem.


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I am at the very very early stages of planning my Car-PC. I am a ham radio operator, and intend to integrate my radios into the system. With this, there are times when I would like to use them away from the car, and would like to control the car's engine (for use as a generator) via ODB-II. I would also like to include some security so that without my previously entering a code, it kills the engine if a password isn't entered in a certain amount of time, or before the car is put in gear...
Does anyone know if this control via the OBD-II is possible? Anyone know of any projects that implement some of what I have suggested that I could research?
OBDLink MX: world's smallest, fastest, most advanced OBD/Bluetooth adapter with SW and MS CAN support. Read the review to learn more.
Need to look up a diagnostic trouble code? Try the most up-to-date, free DTCsearch.com!
You cannot send me a private message using this forum. Use my email instead: vitaliy[@]scantool.net.
openMobile - An open source C# Front End (why choose openMobile?)
- Always Recruiting Developers -
Like what you see? Donations are always welcome
Sorry, I realized I should have put details about my car in last night right after I hit the submit button.
I have a 2005 Dodge Stratus sedan with a V6 engine, and an aftermarket remote starter. I know, I could always interface into a starter remote to start the car, but it would be nice to do it via the OBD-II connection. I intend to have the OBD-II in use for other information and diagnostics, especially since my car is already over 100K mi
Interfacing with the remote start is going to be the only method that you will find success. The Status (if equipped with an immobilizer) uses a security algorithm that is not trivial to crack. The immobilizer does, however go over the vehicle's data wires, but, again, you would need to crack the algorithm and secret key.
You would also need to simulate a key turn as this vehicle does not support sending a message to crank the engine. This key turn is an analog mux output that has 0-12v range. You would need to connect this to some sort of analog output on a micro-controller board (arduino might work). You can find the key state values by tapping into the key mux wire at the key ring. You could alternatively use a resister latter output if you don't want to use an analog device. I'm not quite sure what the resister values should be.
As you can see this is not an easy task. Depending on what type of remote starter you have you may be able to simply trigger the remote start to crank and put out a 12V output on a Brake wire to cancel the remote start.


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Naitik with his sisters Rashmi and Nandini
Naitik with his sisters Rashmi and Nandini
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Add suggestions for additions/changes to this wiki here.
- IDC 6-pin/10-pin connectors like those used on JTAG/SPI cables?
- Sharp PC-900V Optocouopler - for MIDI connections
- Also, I found these wonderful tact switches! ALPS SKRGAQD010 They are perfect for breadboarding - you don't need to straighten the pins to force them in the breadboard.
— Dan Wobser 2012/06/06 13:13
Just received some APEM 25136NAH slide switches from Digikey (part 679-1887-ND ) and they're very, very nice. 0.1" pin spacing, but rated for 4A! A bit pricey at $4 each, but the action is smooth. — Paul J. Ste. Marie 2011/05/25 10:54
A good general purpose N-channel enhancement mode MOSFET in the 200-800 mA range to go with the P-channel one. Generally something that can be switched on by logic and drive IR LEDs and the like.
The adafruit parts library has the FQN1N50C (Digikey ), with an Vdss max of 500v, Idm of 380mA, but a Vgs(th) max of 4v.
Poking around at Digikey, I found the ZVN4206AV (Digikey ), with an Vdss max of 60v, Idm of 600mA, and a Vgs(th) max of 3v. — Paul J. Ste. Marie 2011/05/13 12:17
- I would like to see information about trim resistors/potentiometers.
- I'd like to see an extra column for the various electronic components with sources for Eagle Libraries that have the part/footprint for that component.
- Thats the plan…we have to get more info in first :) — ladyada 2010/01/31 12:05
Switches and matching caps, which make projects look so much more done than normal tactile switches…:) Also maybe "key" switches which are taller and have a more polished look to them
TC4428 mosfet driver, for boosting current or inverting polarity to mosfets,etc directly from a microcontroller.
Optoisolators, for the ultimate in protection for a microcontroller output (classics for MIDI inputs: PC900/6N137).
I'd like to suggest the 65©02, just because it was a big game changer, and because i LOVED programming it in machine language (4C:JMP - Absolute Jump - yay!)
MAX232/233 for serial RS-232 comms. Also FT232RL
MAX7219 for single colour LED matricies
74*14 under either logic or timers: a single schmitt inverter and an RC network make a cheap and easy oscillator (page 5). Charge the cap with a transistor and use a diode to dump the cap to the inverter's output, and you get a wide-range VCO. Wire all six inverters in a ring with caps between Y3-A4/Y6-A1, drop resistors to ground at A4/A1, and tap Y2/Y5 for a complementary, non-overlapping clock. Any of those three applications should have a total parts cost of less than a quarter.
7660-compatible DC/DC converters: LTC1044 and LTC1054 (switching frequency outside of the audio range, the second one more robust to high input voltages)
4051 Multiplexer (eg for scanning a lot of pots…)
PCB pots (eg P3K1103-ND on digikey, alps)
Your transistor section doesnt have any mosfets. What through hole mosfets are good for prototyping?
- 2N7000 is a very common N-Channel TO-92. DATASHEET -Brett W. 3-6-2010
- IRFZ44 for more power N-Channel TO-220. DATASHEET -Brett W. 3-6-2010
- Also search for the P-Channel compliments to these, and research logic-level MOSFETs. -Brett W. 3-6-2010
A list of the board houses (PCB MFGs) that you and others use. -Brett W. 3-6-2010 http://www.ladyada.net/library/pcb/
A second vote for reliable linear pots, rotary pots and quadrature rotary encoders for use on front panel UIs, with caps and knobs that fit! Sorting these out has always been an expensive hit-and-miss task of buying and trying.
Page http://www.ladyada.net/wiki/partselector/header - I suggest adding these links to 4UCON Ref (Only Digikey Ref for the moment)
I was a bit confused when the "crystals and clocks" section didn't have any clocks, only to find them later under "integrated circuits". Seems to make more sense to call that section "crystals and resonators" or just "crystals". — Kevin Granade 2010/09/24 12:05
- Logic-level MOSFETS, especially power MOSFETS
- Multi-turn linear pots
How about solder paste, flux etc. ?
I was looking for something like a breadboard, but a PCB board. I wanted to take my project from breadboard to PCB. I found one from BUSBOARD Prototype Systems, the SB400.
I would like to see suggestions for relays or other devices for controlling household AC devices with something like an Arduino. (e.g. a "Clapper") - hghowe 03/26/2011
- Check out the power switch Tail, it does about like what you want, it lets you use a small current from something like the ardunio, with a Relay and that stuff inside, tucked away saftley ( here: Power Switch Tail at Adafruit Store
I would like to see some suggestions for buck/boost converters that could handle in the 8-16A range (5-24V range maybe?) and some diodes that could handle the same. It would also be nice to have some optoisolator suggestions.


text:
Sandy Annabi
- Filed Under
A federal judge has upheld the guilty verdicts in the corruption case against former Yonkers Councilwoman Sandy Annabi and her cousin and political mentor, Zehy Jereis.
The two were convicted earlier this year of conspiracy and extortion for tens of thousands of dollars Jereis paid the Democratic councilwoman so that he could control her vote on the council - and she came through with critical vote switches in 2006 to support a pair of projects, the $842 million Ridge Hill development and the so-called Longfellow School plan.
The defense sought an acquittal or at least a new trial on several ...


text:
- Filed Under
During Wednesday's quarterly status hearing, Chief Judge Frances Tydingco-Gatewood expressed her frustration for the multiple delays over the years preventing the environmental closure of the Ordot dump and, in turn, the completion of the consent decree.
Gershman, Brickner & Bratton Inc. was appointed by the District Court of Guam in 2008 to close the dump and open the Layon landfill after the government of Guam missed court-ordered deadlines to complete the projects.
In September 2011, the Layon landfill was opened to the public, but the $49 million contract to close the Ordot dump was ...


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|Transcriptional activities of retinoic acid receptors.
MedLine Citation:
|PMID: 15727806 Owner: NLM Status: MEDLINE
|Vitamin A derivatives plays a crucial role in embryonic development, as demonstrated by the teratogenic effect of either an excess or a deficiency in vitamin A. Retinoid effects extend however beyond embryonic development, and tissue homeostasis, lipid metabolism, cellular differentiation and proliferation are in part controlled through the retinoid signaling pathway. Retinoids are also therapeutically effective in the treatment of skin diseases (acne, psoriasis and photoaging) and of some cancers. Most of these effects are the consequences of retinoic acid receptors activation, which triggers transcriptional events leading either to transcriptional activation or repression of retinoid-controlled genes. Synthetic molecules are able to mimic part of the biological effects of the natural retinoic acid receptors, all-trans retinoic acid. Therefore, retinoic acid receptors are considered as highly valuable therapeutic targets and limiting unwanted secondary effects due to retinoid treatment requires a molecular knowledge of retinoic acid receptors biology. In this review, we will examine experimental evidence which provide a molecular basis for the pleiotropic effects of retinoids, and emphasize the crucial roles of coregulators of retinoic acid receptors, providing a conceptual framework to identify novel therapeutic targets.
|Philippe Lefebvre; Perrine J Martin; Sébastien Flajollet; Stéphane Dedieu; Xavier Billaut; Bruno Lefebvre
Related Documents :
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8574216 - Retinoic acid induces changes in xenopus embryo glycolipid pattern.
25301946 - S-palmitoylation and s-oleoylation of rabbit and pig sarcolipin.
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Publication Detail:
|Type: Journal Article; Review
Journal Detail:
|Title: Vitamins and hormones Volume: 70 ISSN: 0083-6729 ISO Abbreviation: Vitam. Horm. Publication Date: 2005
Date Detail:
|Created Date: 2005-02-24 Completed Date: 2005-06-21 Revised Date: 2008-11-21
Medline Journal Info:
|Nlm Unique ID: 0413601 Medline TA: Vitam Horm Country: United States
Other Details:
|Languages: eng Pagination: 199-264 Citation Subset: IM
|INSERM U459 and Ligue Nationale Contre le Cancer, Faculté de Médecine de Lille, 59045 Lille cedex, France.
Export Citation:
|APA/MLA Format Download EndNote Download BibTex
|MeSH Terms
Congenital Abnormalities
Gene Expression Regulation
Receptors, Retinoic Acid / chemistry, physiology*
Retinoids / pharmacology, physiology
Retinol-Binding Proteins / physiology
Transcription Factor AP-1
Transcription, Genetic*
Transcriptional Activation
Vitamin A Deficiency
Reg. No./Substance:
|0/Receptors, Retinoic Acid; 0/Retinoids; 0/Retinol-Binding Proteins; 0/Transcription Factor AP-1
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
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text:
please help as i was driving my focus 1.8lx 1998 model i stopped at traffic lights and as i tried to pull away i had and now have a vibration slight to medium through my clutch peddle at biting point ... could this be the clutch on way out or could it be a worn thrust bearing ... ?? i do not have this problem from 2nd to 5th ...please advise ... many thanks in advance ...
help needed
Started by suzanne, May 30 2008 08:31 PM
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Posted 30 May 2008 - 08:31 PM
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Posted 31 May 2008 - 10:36 PM
only way you can tell if the clutch is slipping is to stick the car in 2nd gear, pull the hand brake up and try and gently pull away.. if the car does not stall then the clutch is on its way out.
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text:
Government putting us all at risk says firefighters' leader
At a demonstration in central London today against fire service cuts and changes in firefighters' pension arrangements which will force firefighters to work until they are 60 instead of 55, Fire Brigades Union General Secretary Matt Wrack said the government was putting everyone's safety at risk.
"The government is putting us all at risk, first by slashing the fire service, and second by forcing firefighters to work beyond the age at which they can physically do the job," Mr Wrack told the demonstrators.
16th October 2013


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A resident speaks to the Merrill School Board in 2012. Three board members will be elected April 2.
- Filed Under
Structural problems facing the Merrill Area Public Schools are the same this year as they have been for some time: Economic stagnation and high unemployment in Lincoln County are leading many to leave the region, which leads to declining enrollment in schools - which, in turn, leads to declining state funding.
That challenge is not new, but it is serious. Merrill needs School Board members who can work constructively to meet those challenges and to find innovative approaches that help the district move forward. But the School Board continues to be sharply divided into voting blocs and driven, too often, by animosities and personal squabbles.
Voters will elect three School Board members from a slate of six candidates. After interviewing all six, our choices are Norbert Ashbeck, Chuck Bolder and Jeff Verdoorn.
? Verdoorn was an invaluable public servant for the district when he served as School Board president from 2009-11. His rational, level-headed style of making decisions would be a valuable addition to the board in 2013. His business experience as an executive with Wausau Paper would be a plus. And Verdoorn, incidentally, was one of the only candidates during our interview who went out of his way to offer an upbeat assessment of Merrill schools and the educational opportunities the community offers. His leadership experience, his thoughtful approach and his obvious passion for public service make him a clear choice in this race.
? Chuck Bolder, who has served on the board for six years, has a strong record of working to involve the public in important decisions and of trying to balance competing pressures as a board member. He's been open and communicative, and has a record of offering constructive solutions to problems Merrill faces. Bolder has earned re-election.
? "Nubs" Ashbeck, radiology director for Ministry Good Samaritan Health Center, brings long professional experience as well as experience working with colleagues when not everyone agrees. His goals of keeping the district on top of developing technology and improving teachers' morale would serve the district well.
We were troubled by board president Lin Kautza's decision to send an email from a public address endorsing candidates in the race. That appears to violate state law. In some ways worse, though, was Kautza's refusal to address the matter. She read a brief statement at a School Board meeting and declined to answer any questions. Her statement - "If I have offended anyone in regard to this circumstance, I apologize for that" - falls well short of an actual, substantive apology. Sending the email was a mistake, but her treatment of the issue is truly disappointing.
John Shull, an attorney who works in Wausau, wants the board to be united and a booster for local schools. That sounds right to us. But Shull's eagerness to assign blame to specific board members - albeit without mentioning names - did not impress us as the right way for this board to end its divisions.
Linda Yingling has young children in the district and shows a desire to be involved in community decision-making. We hope she will continue to be involved; however, in this race, she did not articulate a compelling vision for the district.
The job of a Merrill School Board member is not an easy one, and all of the candidates deserve our thanks for their willingness to serve. We endorse Ashbeck, Bolder and Verdoorn.


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Cheap and Easy Crafts
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Guide to Infusions
By: Maria Nerius, FaveCrafts.com Resident Craft Expert
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To infuse botanicals is to make a concentrated solution of the herb, flower or fruit that can be added to natural cosmetics, toiletries, and soap. Follow this guide to infusions from Maria Nerius.
Method One
- Chop, cut or powder 1 cup of the botanical.
- Bring to a boil 2 cups of mineral or spring water.
- Place botanicals in a container that has an airtight lid.
- Pour in boiling water and seal the container.
- Allow this combination to set for 8-12 hours then strain to remove all botanical matter.
- If you want a stronger solution repeat the process by boiling the infused water and add it to a new batch of botanicals.
- Refrigerate if you do not use immediately. Shelf life is 24 hours.
Method Two
- In the morning, chop, cut or powder 1-2 cups of the botanical.
- Place botanicals in a glass container with 2-4 cups of mineral or spring water. Seal the container
- Place container outside in full sun or in a window that will get full sun most of the day.
- Strain the mixture at the end of the day keeping only the liquid.
- If you want a stronger solution repeat the process the next morning adding new botanicals to the water.
- Refrigerate if you do not use immediately.
If you are using the bark or roots of a flower or plant it is called a decoction rather than an infusion.
- Cut, crush or powder the bark, roots or seeds to measure 1 cup.
- Soak in 3 cups of cold mineral or spring water for 15-30 minutes.
- Pour in to a saucepan and bring the water to a boil.
- Reduce heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes.
- Cover the pan with a tight lid and simmer 10-15 more minutes.
- Strain the solution to remove all the botanical matter, keep the liquid.
- Refrigerate if you do not use immediately. Shelf life is 24 hours.
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Improving education in our backyard and beyond
January 21, 2014
By Administrator
By Andy Hill and Steve Litzow
As state senators representing Sammamish, in addition to much of King County's Eastside, we were sent to Olympia to address our community's priorities: education, transportation, public safety and responsible budgeting.
As members of the community who have spent time in the classroom and converse with our friends and neighbors, parents and teachers, small-business owners and large employers, we share the number-one priority to educate all children for the future good of our state.
While our area features some of the best public-school districts in Washington, the schools, districts and state should continually look for ways to improve and embrace innovation.
Furthermore, we appreciate the discussions we have with area residents who, like us, are not only concerned about education in our own backyard, but with providing a 21st-century education to all students throughout the entire state of Washington. Children who receive a quality education grow up more capable of fully participating in democracy and competing for good jobs.
As leaders of the Senate's budget and education committees we're committed to a system that works for all children.
When we first had the opportunity to craft the state budget in 2013, we provided an additional $1 billion for basic education, kept tuition from rising at state colleges and universities for the first time since 1986, and did both without general tax increases.
It was a great first step toward meeting our goals and demonstrated substantive change in how Olympia sets and fulfills its priorities.
With 2014 comes another opportunity to plan for necessary education-funding increases while researching and moving forward with systemic reforms that will make a difference.
During the coming months of the short 60-day session that began Jan. 13, we are committed to continue working with our colleagues in the Senate, House of Representatives and governor's office in a bipartisan manner to find solutions and get results.
The effects of improved educational outcomes are good for Sammamish and good for Washington.
?Sen. Andy Hill, of Redmond, represents the northern half of Sammamish and is chairman of the Senate budget-writing committee. Sen. Steve Litzow, of Mercer Island, represents the southern half of Sammamish and is chairman of the Senate's education committee.
One Response to "Improving education in our backyard and beyond"
Bill Peterson on
January 23rd, 2014 6:31 pm
Study after study shows the single most important factor determining the quality of the education a child receives is the quality of her teacher – and NOT class size. While it's more comfortable for Washington students to be in a class of 24 rather 31, it is not an effective way to use taxpayer dollars to improve education. I certainly hope Andy Hill will be working with the other state Senators to figure out a quick way to rid our schools of ineffective teachers. And yes, there are plenty of ineffective teachers and school leaders but current union rules supported by state law prevents true education reform!!!
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The colour of tea (edition 2011)
by Hannah Tunnicliffe
Work details
The Color of Tea: A Novel by Hannah Tunnicliffe
Top Five Books of 2013 (249)
feasting on fiction (15)
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I really enjoyed this book. It was just so enjoyable and made me want to drink tea and eat macarons. I have tried to find macarons in a bakery since I finished the book but I think I will have to try to make them myself.
I loved the story of how Grace saved herself and her marriage by starting her tea and macaron shop. The friendships gained and the the strength she developed was inspiring.
The book had its ups and downs for me, but overall I found it to be an enjoyable read. The book started off slow for me, although I did like the look at Macau, and the author's examination of the culture. I would have loved to see this in more detail, but the important part of the story was how Grace tries to find herself in the community - which was incredibly well down. I think the author, for the most part wrote that aspect of Grace incredibly well. For the most part I found it to be natural and realistic as she slowly builds her cafe and works with the members from the community, despite language and culture barriers and forms friendships with them. My favourite parts of the book was usually when she was in the cafe trying to connect to those around her. I felt there were a few times that it was a little far-fetched on how it all played out but, for the most part, I think it was well done. I also really enjoyed the recurring themes if identity and friendship throughout the book.
The characterization was my biggest issue with the book. I found them hard to connect to, especially Grace. I found her development (and many of the other characters) to be a little forced at times. The story was very strong, but I think the characters in it needed more shaping, to bring the stories strength out more. I also didn't like Grace's personal turmoil with her mother - it does help shape Grace and who her character was, but I began to get bored with it and felt it was repetitive.
I did enjoy the ending, some may find it a little too picture perfect, but for the most part, I think it added to the themes of friendships and identity throughout the book and the strength of those friendships no matter where a person lives. It wasn't the perfect book for me, but it was a nice, light and enjoyable read.
Also on my book review blog Jules' Book Reviews - The Color of Tea
Macau is a former Portuguese colony and is now a special administrative region of China and a hub of gambling and more. The Color of Tea by Hannah Tunnicliffe is a woman's journey into a strange land and the time of her life as she trails behind her husband, and their dreams of a new life change drastically.
Grace Miller is a woman who has lost her dream and builds another with tea and French pastries. With the help of Leon, a French chef, Grace learns to make macarons and she opens a cafe, breathing new life into her days. Although she doesn't know Portuguese, Cantonese, or Mandarin, she finds the strength to become a businesswoman with little help from her husband, Pete. She finds a new strength in her situation as she creates new kinds of macarons, serves coffee and tea, and provides a community with a little hope and connection.
Read the full review: http://savvyverseandwit.com/2012/08/the-color-of-tea-by-hannah-tunnicliffe.html
Sweet fluffy tale where everything starts out all angsty, but concludes with everyone getting what they want in the end. I felt as though Grace acted out of character at some points, reacting to certain situations a little bit out of context. This seems to be another entry in recent "OMG I can't have kids my life is over" novels aimed at 30-somethings. Sure made me want to try some macaroons. :)
Set in Macau, a former Portuguese colony in China where casinos are legal and a large ex-pat community lives, The Color of Tea by Hannah Tunnicliffe is a story of a woman learning to accept the hand she's dealt and to find happiness within herself. Grace Miller is what's called a trailing spouse. She's followed her husband Pete, who is building a new casino, to Macau. Uncertain what to do with her life in China but unwilling to wait tables as she's done on their previous moves, she gets a phone call from her doctor in London confirming that she's in premature menopause and will be unable to have children, news that sends her into a tailspin and alienates her from Pete, unable to discuss the death of her dream of a family with him. Their marriage frays and unravels as she drifts unseeing and undirected through her days.
A chance happening upon a store space for rent, a space with ovens, ignites a spark in Grace that has been missing for so long and she decides to open a French café specializing in coffee, tea, and macarons. With the help of Leon, the chef husband of another ex-pat and the man Grace has been fantasizing about, Grace learns to make the delicate and delicious macarons she intends to serve at her café. Still estranged from Pete, living separate lives while inhabiting the same apartment, Grace plunges into Lillian's, determined to make a success of the café she's named for her mother and which she's paid for with the money carefully saved to pursue fertility treatments that will never happen now. Through the café, she will meet other strong women, Rilla, Marjory, Gigi, and Yok Lan, women from various cultures and of different generations who work with and for her, become friends, and grow into family. And through these different women, all facing their own challenges, Grace's heart will unfreeze and she will learn to care again, finding meaning and happiness in her relationships and finally her marriage.
Narrated in the first person by Grace, the reader is allowed to see what drives her, why she makes the mistakes she does, and just how hurt and devastated she is by having to change her plans for a family. Her visceral grief for the loss of her dream of children is palpable, her displaced attraction to Leon and the life he represents, a life she is striving towards, is understandable if ill-advised, her inability to connect with Pete over their shared despair is heartbreakingly evident, and her struggle to first connect with and then open her heart and trust her friends and employees is authentic, coming as it does in fits and starts. Including letters Grace has written to her mother and never sent opens her character up even more to the reader as do the flashbacks to her childhood and her dawning understanding of the mercurial and unique woman who was her Mama. Aside from the chapter headings of exotic and delicious sounding macaron flavors Grace serves in her café, this is not foodie fiction as much as it is fiction about relationship and family. The ending of the book was a bit disappointing as it was clearly evident from about the midpoint of the story but it will suit readers who look for a happy ending. Over all a comforting and quick read, this novel is perfect for readers who want gentle women's fiction with a touch of the exotic, especially if they can accompany the reading with a cup of tea and a macaron themselves.
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Classical CD Reviews
"Two Souls" = KHACHATURIAN: Violin Concerto in D Minor; BARBER: Violin Concerto in A Minor; Adagio for Strings – Mikhail Simonyan, v./ London Sym. Orch./ Kristjan Jarvi – DGG
Published on April 4, 2013
"Two Souls" = KHACHATURIAN: Violin Concerto in D Minor; BARBER: Violin Concerto in A Minor, Op. 14; Adagio for Strings, Op. 11 – Mikhail Simonyan, v./ London Sym. Orch./ Kristjan Jarvi – DGG B0016170-02, 70:33 [Distr. by Universal] ****:
Two souls reside, alas, within my breast,
And each one from the other would be parted.
The one holds fast, in sturdy lust for love,
With clutching organs clinging to the world;
The other strongly rises from the gloom
To lofty fields of ancient heritage.
—Goethe, Faust I, Scene 2, lines 1112-1117.
Armenian violin virtuoso Mikhail Simonyan has recorded (30 May – 1 June 2011) the Khachaturian and Barber concertos to express his dual nature that he shares with conductor Kristjan Jarvi, the latter raised as a protégé of "Uncle Aram," the composer Khachaturian, who had befriended father Neeme Jarvi. But since Simonyan studied with Victor Danchenko – a famed David Oistrakh pupil – at the Curtis Institute, his own Russian heritage has the direct benefit of the Oistrakh tradition as well as the American temperament. Simonyan toured the United States early, age thirteen, as soloist with the American Russian Young Artists Orchestra, so his "divided" personality runs deep with currents of both worlds.
In order to "authenticate" his version of the 1940 Khachaturian Concerto, Simonyan commissioned Artur Avanesov to write a new cadenza, one "with a strong feeling of Armenian church music. . . .our deep, ancient and unique church-music tradition. This element brings a whole new color to the concerto." Simonyan plays with the lightning facility we know from both Oistrakh and Leonid Kogan in this compound of virtuosic and eminently lyrical elements. Simonyan likes to lean into the phrases for emotional emphasis, and the LSO supports his singularly emotional outbursts with a panoply of colors. Conductor Jarvi does not stint on the sudden, convulsive thrusts forward, the often ravishing flights of fancy accompanied by strings, harp, gurgling winds, and percussion that might remind us of rattling sabers. The cadenza itself proves a mixed blessing, having shed Oistrakh's bravura contribution for a series of modal colors in the form of broken chant-like figures whose reliance on harmonics sounds less idiomatic than we might prefer. Sounds like an unaccompanied sonata by Schnittke or derivative Ysaye? With the return of the orchestra, the familiar fireworks flame up once more, and we feel grateful for home ground, though it be "merely" virtuosic.
The songful Andante sostenuto rocks dreamy, like a variation on Satie's first Gymnopedie, here become a plaintive lullaby in Armenian colors. Certainly touches of Khachaturian's affinity for the ballet insinuate themselves into the melodic contour, which several times hints at the Adagio from Spartacus. Suave and polychromatic, the last movement Allegro vivace hustles through its motions with fleet assurance, a real joie de vivre. Simonyan loves to use a slight rallentando at the end of phrases coupled with a subito diminuendo to underline his poignant affection for this ceaselessly energetic tribute to the Armenian spirit and its first purveyor, David Oistrakh.
The Barber A Minor Concerto, curiously, moves us a continent westward spatially, but the music (1939) speaks contemporaneously with Khachaturian, though a world of syntax away. Applying his zestful, singing tone to the Barber, Simonyan projects the same ardor of expression as in the Khachaturian piece, again leaning into phrases with the effect of increasing our sense of poignant melancholy. The LSO under Jarvi responds with lovely, transparent colors, quite resonant and idiomatic. Lovers of the Barber Andante movement will easily savor Simonyan and Jarvi's sympathetic approach, rife with the yearning sense of the American heartland that informs portions of Knoxville, Summer of 1915. Jarvi and Simonyan deliberately choose to slow down the otherwise frenetic pace of the final movement, Presto in moto perpetuo, the very bravura of which had at first pronounced the concerto unplayable. With the tympani and sudden strings in the background, the music perhaps gains a country hoe-down character that undaunted speed would not have revealed. The woodwinds and horns add their portion of mustard seed to the mix, and the accumulated energy galvanizes to a colossal peroration. The last pages play like a martial confrontation which ends with a decisive thud.
Yet another Adagio for Strings joins a long list of slow drawn-out readings, loving and deeply valedictory. Does anyone recall that Barber lifted this tune from Torelli? But with recent politics of our old nemesis in North Korea, the tragic sentiment expressed for the film Platoon is perhaps not unwarranted.
—Gary Lemco
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A sprawling $2.5 million mansion in Boca Raton is being occupied by a 23-year-old man who doesn't pay for a mortgage or rent.
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Brad and Angelina Wedding BATTLE
After all is said and done, it will be the images of your day that will help you to always remember all of the emotion, laughter, tears and sacredness of that day. The scary thing is, what if your wedding photos are, well, less than satisfactory?
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By Dave Armstrong (2000)
A Catholic wrote on my discussion list:
Though one can argue that there are two ultra-high Mariologies, one embraced by orthodox Catholics and one twisted in the media to generate controversy (for example, Mary made the cover of Newsweek about a year ago; she was depicted provocatively with her arms stretched out like Christ on the Cross, looking suspiciously like a pagan priestess), there are those within the Church who agree with this Mariology as portrayed in the media. This is why, contrary to the wishes of approximately four million "Catholics," the Pope will never define ex cathedra the terms "co-redemptrix" and "mediatrix," certainly not in any way that will pave the way for Mary's deification or role as high-priestess
"Deification" has nothing to do with it. As I will show below, the present pope is squarely in line with what [name] deems as heretical "ultra-high" Mariology. The concepts of Mediatrix and Co-Redemptrix and Advocate are all firmly entrenched in Catholic Tradition, as I will soon demonstrate below. For example, the following is from Pope John Paul II's encyclical of 25 March 1987, Redemptoris Mater (Mother of the Redeemer):
18. This blessing reaches its full meaning when Mary stands beneath the Cross of her Son (cf. Jn. 19:25). The Council says that this happened "not without a divine plan": by "suffering deeply with her only-begotten Son and joining herself with her maternal spirit to his sacrifice, lovingly consenting to the immolation of the victim to whom she had given birth," in this way Mary "faithfully preserved her union with her Son even to the Cross."[38] It is a union through faith--the same faith with which she had received the angel's revelation at the Annunciation. At that moment she had also heard the words: "He will be great...and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there will be no end" (Lk. I :32-33)
And now, standing at the foot of the Cross, Mary is the witness, humanly speaking, of the complete negation of these words. On that wood of the Cross her Son hangs in agony as one condemned. "He was despised and rejected by men; a man of sorrows...he was despised, and we esteemed him not": as one destroyed (cf. Is. 53:3-5). How great, how heroic then is the obedience of faith shown by Mary in the face of God's "unsearchable judgments"! How completely she "abandons herself to God" without reserve, "offering the full assent of the intellect and the will"[39] to him whose "ways are inscrutable" (cf. Rom. 11:33)! And how powerful too is the action of grace in her soul, how all-pervading is the influence of the Holy Spirit and of his light and power!
Through this faith Mary is perfectly united with Christ in his self-emptying. For "Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men": precisely on Golgotha "humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross" (cf. Phil. 2:5-8). At the foot of the Cross Mary shares through faith in the shocking mystery of this self-emptying. This is perhaps the deepest "kenosis" of faith in human history. Through faith the Mother shares in the death of her Son, in his redeeming death; but in contrast with the faith of the disciples who fled, hers was far more enlightened. On Golgotha, Jesus through the Cross definitively confirmed that he was the "sign of contradiction" foretold by Simeon. At the same time, there were also fulfilled on Golgotha the words which Simeon had addressed to Mary: "and a sword will pierce through your own soul also."[40] . . .
38. The Church knows and teaches with Saint Paul that there is only one mediator: "For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all" (1 Tim. 2:5-6). "The maternal role of Mary towards people in no way obscures or diminishes the unique mediation of Christ, but rather shows its power":[94] it is mediation in Christ.
The Church knows and teaches that "all the saving influences of the Blessed Virgin on mankind originate...from the divine pleasure. They flow forth from the superabundance of the merits of Christ, rest on his mediation, depend entirely on it, and draw all their power from it. In no way do they impede the immediate union of the faithful with Christ. Rather, they foster this union."[95] This saving influence is sustained by the Holy Spirit, who, just as he overshadowed the Virgin Mary when he began in her the divine motherhood, in a similar way constantly sustains her solicitude for the brothers and sisters of her Son.
In effect, Mary's mediation is intimately linked with her motherhood. It possesses a specifically maternal character, which distinguishes it from the mediation of the other creatures who in various and always subordinate ways share in the one mediation of Christ, although her own mediation is also a shared mediation.[96] In fact, while it is true that "no creature could ever be classed with the Incarnate Word and Redeemer," at the same time "the unique mediation of the Redeemer does not exclude but rather gives rise among creatures to a manifold cooperation which is but a sharing in this unique source." And thus "the one goodness of God is in reality communicated diversely to his creatures."[97]
The teaching of the Second Vatican Council presents the truth of Mary's mediation as "a sharing in the one unique source that is the mediation of Christ himself." Thus we read: "The Church does not hesitate to profess this subordinate role of Mary. She experiences it continuously and commends it to the hearts of the faithful, so that, encouraged by this maternal help, they may more closely adhere to the Mediator and Redeemer."[98] This role is at the same time special and extraordinary. It flows from her divine motherhood and can be understood and lived in faith only on the basis of the full truth of this motherhood. Since by virtue of divine election Mary is the earthly Mother of the Father's consubstantial Son and his "generous companion" in the work of redemption "she is a mother to us in the order of grace."[99] This role constitutes a real dimension of her presence in the saving mystery of Christ and the Church.
39. . . . Mary's motherhood, completely pervaded by her spousal attitude as the "handmaid of the Lord," constitutes the first and fundamental dimension of that mediation which the Church confesses and proclaims in her regard[100] and continually "commends to the hearts of the faithful," since the Church has great trust in her. For it must be recognized that before anyone else it was God himself, the Eternal Father, who entrusted himself to the Virgin of Nazareth, giving her his own Son in the mystery of the Incarnation. Her election to the supreme office and dignity of Mother of the Son of God refers, on the ontological level, to the very reality of the union of the two natures in the person of the Word (hypostatic union). This basic fact of being the Mother of the Son of God is from the very beginning a complete openness to the person of Christ, to his whole work, to his whole mission. The words "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord" testify to Mary's openness of spirit: she perfectly unites in herself the love proper to virginity and the love characteristic of motherhood, which are joined and, as it were, fused together.
For this reason Mary became not only the "nursing mother" of the Son of Man but also the "associate of unique nobility"[101] of the Messiah and Redeemer. As I have already said, she advanced in her pilgrimage of faith, and in this pilgrimage to the foot of the Cross there was simultaneously accomplished her maternal cooperation with the Savior's whole mission through her actions and sufferings. Along the path of this collaboration with the work of her Son, the Redeemer, Mary's motherhood itself underwent a singular transformation, becoming ever more imbued with "burning charity" towards all those to whom Christ's mission was directed. Through this "burning charity," which sought to achieve, in union with Christ, the restoration of "supernatural life to souls,"[102] Mary entered, in a way all her own, into the one mediation "between God and men" which is the mediation of the man Christ Jesus. If she was the first to experience within herself the supernatural consequences of this one mediation in the Annunciation she had been greeted as "full of grace" then we must say that through this fullness of grace and supernatural life she was especially predisposed to cooperation with Christ, the one Mediator of human salvation. And such cooperation is precisely this mediation subordinated to the mediation of Christ.
In Mary's case we have a special and exceptional mediation, based upon her "fullness of grace," which was expressed in the complete willingness of the "handmaid of the Lord." In response to this interior willingness of his Mother, Jesus Christ prepared her ever more completely to become for all people their "mother in the order of grace." This is indicated, at least indirectly, by certain details noted by the Synoptics (cf. Lk. 11 :28; 8:20-21 ; Mk. 3:32-35; Mt. 12:47-50) and still more so by the Gospel of John (cf. 2: 1-1 2; 1 9:25-27), which I have already mentioned. Particularly eloquent in this regard are the words spoken by Jesus on the Cross to Mary and John.
40. After the events of the Resurrection and Ascension, Mary entered the Upper Room together with the Apostles to await Pentecost, and was present there as the Mother of the glorified Lord. She was not only the one who "advanced in her pilgrimage of faith" and loyally persevered in her union with her Son "unto the Cross," but she was also the "handmaid of the Lord," left by her Son as Mother in the midst of the infant Church: "Behold your mother." Thus there began to develop a special bond between this Mother and the Church. For the infant Church was the fruit of the Cross and Resurrection of her Son. Mary, who from the beginning had given herself without reserve to the person and work of her Son, could not but pour out upon the Church, from the very beginning, her maternal self-giving. After her Son's departure, her motherhood remains in the Church as maternal mediation: interceding for all her children, the Mother cooperates in the saving work of her Son, the Redeemer of the world. In fact the Council teaches that the "motherhood of Mary in the order of grace...will last without interruption until the eternal fulfilment of all the elect."[103] With the redeeming death of her Son, the maternal mediation of the handmaid of the Lord took on a universal dimension, for the work of redemption embraces the whole of humanity. Thus there is manifested in a singular way the efficacy of the one and universal mediation of Christ "between God and men." Mary's cooperation shares, in its subordinate character, in the universality of the mediation of the Redeemer, the one Mediator. This is clearly indicated by the Council in the words quoted above.
"For," the text goes on, "taken up to heaven, she did not lay aside this saving role, but by her manifold acts of intercession continues to win for us gifts of eternal salvation."[104] With this character of "intercession," first manifested at Cana in Galilee, Mary's mediation continues in the history of the Church and the world. We read that Mary "by her maternal charity, cares for the brethren of her Son who still journey on earth surrounded by dangers and difficulties, until they are led to their happy homeland."[105] In this way Mary's motherhood continues unceasingly in the Church as the mediation which intercedes, and the Church expresses her faith in this truth by invoking Mary "under the titles of Advocate, Auxiliatrix, Adjutrix and Mediatrix."[106]
41. Through her mediation, subordinate to that of the Redeemer, Mary contributes in a special way to the union of the pilgrim Church on earth with the eschatological and heavenly reality of the Communion of Saints, since she has already been "assumed into heaven."[107] The truth of the Assumption, defined by Pius XII, is reaffirmed by the Second Vatican Council, which thus expresses the Church's faith: "Preserved free from all guilt of original sin, the Immaculate Virgin was taken up body and soul into heavenly glory upon the completion of her earthly sojourn. She was exalted by the Lord as Queen of the Universe, in order that she might be the more thoroughly conformed to her Son, the Lord of lords (cf. Rev. 19:16) and the conqueror of sin and death."[108] In this teaching Pius XII was in continuity with Tradition, which has found many different expressions in the history of the Church, both in the East and in the West.
Many other popes have spoken similarly:
For thereupon, in accord with the divine plan, she began so to watch over the Church ... so that she who had been the helper (administra) in the accomplishment of the mystery of human redemption, should also be the helper (administra) in the distribution of the grace coming from it for all time.
(Leo XIII, Adiutricem Populi - September 5, 1895)
Moreover, we must praise the most holy Mother of God not merely for the face that she presented "to God the only-Begotten who was to be born of human members the material of her own flesh" (St. Bede, L.IV, in Luc. XI) by which He was prepared as a Victim for the salvation of men; but also for her office of guarding and nourishing this same Victim, and even, at the appointed time, of presenting Him at the altar. Hence that never dissociated manner of life and labors of the Son and the Mother, so that the words of the Prophet apply equally to both: "For my life is wasted with grief and my years in sighs" (Ps. 30:11). And when the supreme hour of her Son came, "there stood by the cross of Jesus, his Mother" (John 19:25), not merely occupied in looking at the dreadful sight, but even rejoicing that "her only Son was being offered for the salvation of the human race; and so did she suffer, with Him, that, if it had been possible, she would have much more gladly suffered herself all the torments that her Son underwent" (St. Bonaventure, I Sent., d. 48, ad Litt. dub. 4). Now from this common sharing of will and suffering between Christ and Mary she "merited to become most worthily the Reparatrix of the lost world" (Eadmer, De Excellentia Virg. Mariae, c.9) and therefore Dispensatrix of all the gifts which Jesus gained for us by His Death and by His Blood....
But Mary, as St. Bernard fittingly remarks (De Aquaeductu, n.4), is the "channel" or, even, the neck, through which the body is joined to the head, and likewise through which the head exerts its power and strength on the body. "For she is the neck of our Head, by which all spiritual gifts are communicated to His Mystical Body" (St. Bernardine of Siena., Quadrag. de Evangelio aeterno, Serm. X, a.3, c.3). We are thus, it will be seen, very far from declaring the Mother of God to be the author of supernatural grace, which is the function of God alone: yet, since she surpassed all in holiness and union with Christ, and was associated by Christ with Himself in the work of human redemption, she merited for us congruously, as they say, what Christ merited condignly, and is the principal minister in the distribution of grace (princeps largiendarum gratiarum ministra).
(Saint Pius X, Ad diem illum - February 2, 1904)
... nor would he incur eternal death whom the Most Blessed Virgin assists, especially at his last hour. This opinion of the Doctors of the Church, in harmony with the sentiments of the Christian people, and supported by the experience of all times, depends especially on this reason, the fact that the Sorrowful Virgin shared in the work of the redemption with Jesus Christ....I don't see how anyone could conclude from Pope John Paul II's words above that he would never define Mary as Mediatrix, Co-Redemptrix, and/or Advocate. He may not use the term Co-redemptrix often (there are exceptions) because it is highly (and unfortunately) prone to misunderstanding, but he certainly teaches the concept it entails. The actual teachings are more important than the particular descriptive term chosen. One might, e.g., use the terms Holy Bible and Sacred Scripture interchangeably. Either one is sufficient and it isn't necessary to use both or to never use one or the other. Likewise, John Paul II could conceivably define ex cathedra the doctrines in question, but not include the title Co-Redemptrix in his definition. I am an "inopportunist" with regard to the definition (like, apparently, the pope himself) - yet I hold to the beliefs, as I understand them (and so does he - undeniably so).
(Pope Pius XI, Explorata res - February 2, 1923)
Opponents of these doctrines within and without the Church need to precisely define what they call "ultra-high Mariology." What is the so-called "deification" of Mary, and who holds to this? Some absurdly maintain that the people who are calling for the new Marian dogmatic definitions (e.g., Prof. Mark Miravalle of Franciscan University of Steubenville, who heads the group Vox Populi Mariae Mediatrici) hold these views. But this cannot be documented, because it is untrue. He differs not at all from the Mariology of John Paul II (whom he cites copiously). In any event, no one should go by what Newsweek says - a magazine which wouldn't know Christian theology (let alone complex Catholic theology) from a hole in the ground.
There are Marian "nuts" in (or unfortunately connected with) the Church, or even not in the Church, such as the Bayside people, followers of an alleged "apparition" which has been condemned by the Church. But we mustn't make the mistake of thinking that mere non-definition means that a doctrine isn't Catholic. The Assumption and Immaculate Conception and papal infallibility were believed for centuries and firmly entrenched in Catholic Tradition, yet they were all only defined in the last 150 years - the Assumption only 50 years ago! I don't see much difference here. Who cares about the crazies who claim to be Catholic? I got literature once from some wackos who believed that St. Joseph was the 4th person of the Trinity!
This present pope has written more explicitly and deeply about the Blessed Virgin than perhaps any previous one. He may or may not define, but if the latter, that in no way implies in and of itself that he disagrees with the teaching. He may simply not believe it is time to dogmatically define it. He may be an "inopportunist" - as I am (along with many Catholic apologists), and as Newman was with regard to the definition of papal infallibility prior to 1870. Newman gladly defended the view - as he indeed believed it - after 1870.
I could cite many passages from Dr. Mark Miravalle to put the lie to the charges of "ultra-high (heretical) Mariology" against him and his movement, but two will suffice for now:
. . . just as Eve had an active sharing with Adam in the loss of salvation for the human family (although a role secondary and subordinate to that of Adam), so Mary had an active sharing with Jesus Christ in the redemption of the human family (although a role completely [note the added emphasis] secondary and subordinate to that of Jesus Christ).Dr. Miravalle specifically denies an equality in the Redemption. Vox Populi Mariae Mediatrici is espousing completely orthodox and traditional Catholic Marian teaching. It is acting entirely properly and not "unCatholic" at all in desiring further Marian definition. This happened prior to the last two definitions as well - very much so. The distinction between long-held belief and dogmatic definition ought to be an elementary one for Catholics.
(Mary: Coredemptrix, Mediatrix, Advocate, edited by Mark Miravalle, Santa Barbara, CA: Queenship Pub., 1995, 253)
. . . her God-elected task with her redeeming Son as the Coredemptrix ('co' not meaning 'equal to', but rather 'with').
(Ibid., 269)
Any polemical implied equation of these doctrines with "goddess-worship" is impossible to rationally-sustain. Do not many Protestants make the same claim about any developed Mariology? Therefore, the "goddess" charge is quite relative, in addition to being fallacious and empty-headed from the outset. It stems from a sort of half-baked pseudo-anthropology which has been a constant hallmark of theologically-liberal skepticism for some 200 years now.
God chose to include the Blessed Virgin Mary in salvation history, and this in turn included her free cooperation, just as the salvation of any person includes their cooperation (we Catholics reject double predestination and the denial of free will and/or free agency). There is a sense in which Calvary wouldn't have occurred without even Judas. One could argue that God's redemptive plan hinged upon his treachery; else it wouldn't have occurred (at least not how it in fact did). In that sense Mary's participation at Calvary may have been necessary. I think these waters are very deep indeed, when it comes to Providence and free will. In any event, no one is saying that Mary is in any way equal to Christ, either in essence (God forbid the blasphemy!) or in her role as Mediatrix. Several popes (including the present one) are at least as explicit and so-called "ultra-high" in Mariology as Dr. Miravalle is. Vox Populi is no fringe group of questionable orthodoxy: the petition in circulation has been signed not only by Dr. Miravalle, but also by Edward Cardinal Gagnon and Mother Teresa.
The sacrifice of Christ was solely efficacious; of course. But that doesn't rule out Mary's co-participation in the Redemption as a fundamentally lesser creature, by God's design. This is no novelty. All of us participate in our own salvation. Paul said "work out your own salvation, "etc. We can help others get saved by prayer and acts of mercy, etc. Mary acted at Calvary precisely as all Catholics do (or should) at Mass. We offer up Christ in the one act of sacrifice at Calvary, re-presented. It is the offering of the people, which stands alongside the priestly sacrifice. All of the aspects of the proposed definition from have a long, respectable history in catholic Tradition, and were taught and believed by saints and doctors of the Church (e.g., St. Bernard, St. Alphonsus Liguori, St. Louis de Montfort) hundreds of years ago. Saints and Doctors of the Church are monstrously heterodox in their Marian beliefs? And again - not defining is one thing; whether these beliefs are orthodox quite another.
Mary's suffering on Calvary was objectively redemptive. Fr. William Most comments:
If we wish to prove that Mary did co-operate immediately in the objective redemption, we must show that her merits and sufferings were . . . those of a person appointed by God the Father to co-operate officially with the work of the Son. She would then share in a joint work, just as the Old Eve had shared in the joint work of original sin.Note that Fr. Most takes the greatest pains to show that while Mary indeed participates in the objective redemption, it is in a fundamentally lesser, non-necessary capacity. So Mary participates, but is not, therefore "equal" to Christ in Redemption. Likewise taught popes:
Of course, we would not thereby imply that the price paid by Christ Himself was in any way insufficient. We would merely mean that one and the same thing - redemption - would be earned on two different titles: the one a perfect and, in itself, completely adequate title; the other, a title of a lower order, quite insufficient of itself. Then the Redemption would really be parallel to the fall: in both we would have a head of the race, whose work alone was sufficient and necessary, joined by an inferior sharer, whose work alone would be definitely insufficient.
(Mary in Our Life, William G. Most, Garden City, NY: Doubleday Image, 1963, 36-37)
With her suffering and dying Son, Mary endured suffering and almost death. She gave up her Mother's rights over her Son to procure the salvation of mankind, and to appease the divine justice, she, as much as she could, immolated her Son, so that one can truly affirm that together with Christ she has redeemed the human race.Fr. Most states a few pages later:
(Benedict XV, Inter Sodalicia, March 22, 1918; in Most, ibid., 38)
Many were scandalized at the Passion of Christ. St. Paul says it was foolishness to the Gentiles, and a scandal to the Jews. Similarly, some, when they are first brought face to face with the fact of the co-redemptive role of Mary, are shocked at the thought that a mere creature, however pure, could share in redeeming us. But the same love of God that spared not His Only Son is also the reason for the co-redemption: of herself, Mary could do nothing to save us. it is only the incomprehensible love and generosity of God that contrived such a method as this.Fr. Most is no different from Miravalle, who is no different from popes and medieval doctors of the Church. Struggles to understand these doctrines are fine. But Catholics are not supposed to disagree with stated papal teaching - let alone publicly. This is part and parcel of what it means to be a faithful, obedient Catholic. If I am incorrect about the nature of Catholic authority and the magisterium, I am more than willing to be corrected from those sources myself, as I plainly state on my home page.
(Most, ibid., 46-47)
There is also misunderstanding about the terminology of Mary as the Bride or Spouse of God. But this belief has an ancient pedigree as well. St. Augustine [354-430] says that 'Mary was that only one who merited to be called the Mother and Spouse of God.' [Sermon 208] For St. Anselm [c. 1033-1109] asserts that 'the divine Spirit, the love itself of the Father and the Son, came corporally into Mary, and enriching her with graces above all creatures, reposed in her and made her his Spouse, the Queen of heaven and earth.' [De Excell. Virg. c.4]. (The Glories of Mary, Brooklyn: Redemptorist Fathers, 1931 edition, 304-305)
Fr. Louis Bouyer summarizes:
The idea that Mary is the Spouse of the Holy Ghost is found, at least adumbrated, in certain writers, e.g., St. Peter Damian [1007-1072] . . . They tell us that Mary can be looked upon as the Spouse of the Holy Ghost in so far as his intervention took the place of the normal process of conception; and they hasten to add that the comparison stops at that point . . .
(The Seat of Wisdom, translated by A.V. Littledale, Chicago: Henry Regnery Co., 1960, 177)
Implicit in many comments about these doctrines (even from Catholics) is a Protestant-like "dichotomous understanding" that speaking in this way about Mary somehow detracts from Christ's sacrificial offering and intrinsically sufficient Redemption - as if it were a zero-sum game. Mary's role in Redemption - it cannot be stressed enough - is fundamentally lesser and not intrinsically meritorious for redemption. Thus, these sorts of fears are unfounded, and based on fallacious "either/or" reasoning. Mary's "fiat" of Co-Redeemership is not distinct from, or contradictory to the "Lucan fiat." No one is saying that Mary sufficiently caused Redemption. She participates in it . . . See Pope John Paul II's encyclical Redemptoris Mater, section 18 (cited above).
Fr. William Most - an eminent Mariologist, denies the dichotomy of "two 'fiats' " which some opponents of these doctrines have presented. He believes in the participation of Mary in the objective redemption and makes the following point:
Only Christ and Mary merited in the objective redemption . . . Furthermore, Mary's co-operation in the objective redemption may be called both remote (mediate) and proximate (immediate). Her remote co-operation is the divine motherhood. Her proximate co-operation is her service as the New Eve on Calvary. In chapter III we have shown that Mary co-operated immediately in the objective redemption.The very fact that Most distinguishes Mary's divine motherhood (there is your "Lucan fiat") from her immediate cooperation in redemption at Calvary strongly mitigates against the skeptical thesis.
(Most, ibid., 282)
Pope St. Pius X speaks of Mary "presenting Him at the altar" (Ad diem illum, Feb. 2, 1904; from Most, p. 284) Is this a wholly "passive" act? Pope Pius XI states that Mary "offered Him as a Victim at the cross" (Miserentissimus Redemptor, May 8, 1928; Most, ibid., 286).
Fr. Most notes that "the majority of Catholic theologians accept the definition we have given of Mary's immediate co-operation in the objective redemption" (p. 287), but acknowledges that "there is some dissent." He says one group defines it in a different way. The other one tries to "limit herco-operation to the Divine Motherhood and her role in the dispensation of graces . . . We notice at the outset that the procedure of this group is theologically unsound." He later concludes after examining the deficient methodology of the dissenters,
The truth is, every Pope since St. Pius X has given further texts to support the majority view. The texts of Pope Pius XII seem completely inescapable. If this were error, the Holy See itself would be open to an extremely grave charge not only of not hindering error, but of giving it repeated support.Fr. Most says that before Vatican II, there were "two positions about Mary's cooperation on Calvary" - "active receptivity" and "shared meriting." He stated that Vatican II solved the controversy in favor of the latter:
(Most, ibid., 292)
. . . she was called upon not to just passively acquiesce, but to actively will what the Father willed! She did that, heroically . . .This echoes Vatican II (in Lumen Gentium, 55-56):
(Mary: Coredemptrix, Mediatrix, Advocate, ed. Mark I. Miravalle, Santa Barbra: Queenship Publishing, 1995, 163)
. . . Mary was not merely passively employed by God, but was cooperating through free faith and obedience in human salvation.Likewise, Fr. Louis Bouyer writes:
Like our Lady, all the saints have to fill up in their own bodies what is wanting to the sufferings of Christ for his body (Col. 1:24); but Mary, by sharing in Christ's own sufferings, suffered for the fulfillment of her own motherhood. In this way, we can look on Mary's faith on Calvary as the final 'fiat' needed for the full accomplishment of God's plan . . . The faith by which all of us are saved is always merely a communication of what Mary's faith was on Calvary.Archbishop Fulton Sheen concurs:
(The Seat of Wisdom, tr. A.V. Littledale, Chicago: Regnery, 1960, 169)
If it be granted with Leo XIII that, 'God willed that the grace and truth which Christ won for us should be bestowed on us in no other way than through Mary," then she, too, had to will cooperation in Redemption, as Christ willed it as the Redeemer Himself. Christ willed that she should suffer with Him, some theologians say, 'per modum unius.' If He willed His death, He willed her Dolors . . . But it was no imposed will; she accepted it all in her original 'Fiat' in the Annunciation.Mary giving a "fiat" at Calvary does not contradict her "fiat" at the Annunciation - they are of a piece, just like Bible and Tradition, or Faith and Works. The crux of the issue is the active "willing" of Mary to concur with Christ on the Cross. Mary doesn't cause anything in and of herself - it was all God's Plan from all eternity. He knew she would consent to both giving birth to Jesus, and to His sacrifice on the Cross. At the same time she acted freely, without compulsion. This is the mystery and paradox of predestination, foreknowledge, and free will. Mary didn't cause these events - over against God - yet she made them possible in a very real sense, by her cooperation. If she hadn't wanted to cooperate, God would have simply foreseen that and chosen someone else, in His foreknowledge and Providence.
(The World's First Love, New York: McGraw-Hill, 1952, 214)
The objection of Co-Redemptrix involving "two 'fiats' " is a distinction without a difference. One could say that a so-called "second 'fiat' " (as Fr. Bouyer mentioned in 1960 before Vatican II) was simply a reiteration or re-statement of the first, just as the sacrifice of the Mass is not an additional sacrificing of Christ, but rather, a re-presentation of the one Calvary.
No one is saying that Mary initiates Co-Redemption at Calvary. In fact, Dr. Mark Miravalle himself specifically denies this by asserting that Mary's co-redemptive role began at the Annunciation:
When the Father elected Mary from among all women (cf. Lk 1:41) to be the Mother of the Redeemer, it was by virtue of this choice by God and the consent of the Handmaid that Mary began her coredemptive role of cooperation with the Redeemer.
(Mary: Coredemptrix Mediatrix Advocate, Santa Barbara, CA: Queenship Pub., 1995, 250; emphasis in original)
At the Annunciation, Mary begins her role as the Coredemptrix with the Redeemer.The Co-Redemptrix function is also seen by Miravalle and other Mariologists as more or less explicitly prefigured in Simeon's words, recorded in Lk 2:35: "and a sword shall pierce your heart." Miravalle writes:
(Ibid., 251; emphasis in original)
This sorrowful annunciation to the Mother of the Saviour confirms that her intimate sharing in the redemptive work of her Son will be at the price of profound suffering.Pope John Paul II stated in Redemptoris Mater, n.16 that "Simeon's words seem like a second Annunciation to Mary . . . " This is no different from a possible "second 'fiat.'" These are reinforements of the Annunciation; reiterations. There is no contradiction or frightful heresy here - usurping Christ's uniqueness, etc. Dr. Miravalle - like Fr. Most, often takes pains to emphasize Mary's role in Redemption as essentially lesser, insufficient in and of itself, and intrinsically unnecessary, but for God's willing of it.
(Ibid., 255)
Furthermore, Miravalle acknowledges that Mary knew from the time of the Annunciation that there would be a (co-redemptive) suffering, with which she would be intimately involved:
From the time of her joyful and sorrowful announcements (cf. Lk 1:28, Lk 2:35), Mary anticipated her Son's redemptive suffering at Calvary in her motherly heart . . . Certainly Mary's knowledge of the Suffering Servant of Is. 53, coupled with the words of the angel and Simeon regarding her messiah-son and his mission, made the Mother of Jesus keenly aware of her joint call with her Son in salvific effort that would be immersed in profound suffering.Elsewhere Miravalle ties in Mary's co-redemptive function with the patristic understanding of the New Eve, which leads back to the parallelism of Eve and Adam / Mary (New Eve) and the second Adam (Christ). The New Eve typology is related directly to the Immaculate Conception, biblically and developmentally, so that indirectly grounds Co-Redemptrix again in biblical and patristic thinking. Likewise, the Assumption flows logically from the Immaculate Conception. All of the Marian doctrines - as with all of Catholic theology - are interrelated. They intersect with each other at certain points, and cannot be separated from one another. And there is connectedness with the notions of penance and redemptive suffering in general, as well as prayer.
(Ibid., 256; including part of footnote #33 - the second portion of the citation above)
My Catholic friend on the public discussion list wrote:
I have voiced my concerns regarding the agenda of Vox Populi Mariae Mediatrici, its petition for the declaration of a new Papal dogma on the Virgin Mary. This unprecedented call of a lay group for Papal decree . . .
It's not unprecedented at all! Many apologists and catechists have noted the mass petition drives by clergy and laity alike prior to the definitions of the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption. The principle of indefectibility of the Church means not only that the hierarchy and magisterium will never err, but also the Church in all its parts, including pious, committed laity. There is such a thing as the sensus fidelium ("sense of the faithful"), which Cardinal Newman stressed, and which was mentioned in Vatican II. The right and duty of the laity to participate in such things is mentioned in the Catechism: #907,910-911.
If current Marian thinking were adequate, as indeed it is and has been for all the Mariologists up to and including Vatican II, another Marian Dogma would not be necessary; but it is necessary for Miravalle.
Again, one could say the same about the ex cathedra decrees concerning the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption. Indeed, the same sort of thing was said about the decree on papal infallibility from Vatican I. Cardinal Newman was an inopportunist. After it was promulgated, he saw that the Holy Spirit had prevailed against the two extremes (conciliarism and ultramontanism) and enthusiastically supported the decree (as indeed all orthodox Catholics must). I see no essential difference here, and strong similarities. Miravalle also says that he and his group will be fully obedient to the pope's opinions regarding timing.
Despite the recommendations of the Holy See's own Commission against the promulgation of a new dogma, Dr. Miravalle remains undeterred.
Just as Pope Paul VI remained undeterred and went ahead and wrote Humanae Vitae in 1968 over against his advisors' opinion. Theologians are not the magisterium!
In accord with the precedent set at Vatican II, the participants agreed that a doctrinal declaration should not "settle questions which have not yet been fully clarified by the work of theologians" (Lumen Gentium 54).
Exactly; I agree with this. We see even on our list what confusion exists with regard to these doctrines. They are not nearly as understood by Catholics - let alone Protestants - as the Immaculate Conception and Assumption were for centuries before their definition. Co-Redemptrix and Mediatrix theology has developed more rapidly in the 20th century, just as ecumenism has, so it is not at all unexpected that ex cathedra definition would not be considered wise and prudent as of yet. Miravalle disagrees. Well, I disagree with him on the timing, but I agree that what he is calling for is indeed Catholic doctrine already - just not at the highest levels of magisterial authority. I would say it is already infallible in the ordinary magisterium.
The word "coredemptrix" did not appear in the magisterium until the pontificate of Pius XII.
This is an excellent point (assuming you are correct on the history). The concepts had been there, but the word was new at the highest levels, thus causing one to question that the word should be declared as binding and unalterable - on the level of, say, Theotokos or Mary Ever-Virgin.
The second reason the theologians gave for recommending that the Holy See not define these Marian prerogatives dealt with the ecumenical dialogue.
This is my primary reason for being an inopportunist.
Dave's heroic (but myopic?) defense of Vox Populi and Dr. Miravalle continues to avoid their purpose and need for a new Marian dogma.
No; it was irrelevant to the discussion as I saw it - this would come under the category of the thoughts which are included in the concept of inopportunism. Their motives obviously stem from Marian devotion. But such devotion does not have a necessary connection to dogmatic definition. Catholics are not required to say the Rosary or believe in Fatima and Lourdes - yet we know that all are firmly entrenched in Catholic Tradition and endorsed by the Church as pious practices and beliefs.
Instead he sees Miravalle's second fiat as "of a piece" with the fiat of the Annunciation (this disposition is quite orthodox), this despite Miravalle's intimation of a second, creative "fiat" that, in my opinion, has the effect of elevating Mary's suffering to Christ's, her suffering joining His in co-redemptive reality.
What is truly "creative" here is your insinuation of Miravalle's so-called 2nd 'fiat' being "creative" at the Cross in some perverse, usurping, idolatrous (?) sense. That is your own fiction, unique to you as far as I can tell. You have produced no one thus far to back up your specific contentions. As we saw, this report urging against the definition utilized entirely different grounds (as I strongly suspected would be the case). I agreed with the report! That is not at issue between us.
The call for a new dogma by a "grass-roots" organization remains problematic. I believe the laity should never assume such initiative.
Then you are out of step with a long, honorable, completely orthodox tradition in the Church. The laity have long rebuked popes, e.g., and directly influenced their decisions (St. Catherine of Siena being a notable example). The masses soundly rebuked Pope John XXII when he questioned aspects of the beatific vision. Newman emphasized this, giving the example of the laity during the time of the Arian heresy, when the majority of the bishops became heretics.


text:
Ladies and Germs, Brutal Honesty has a name. It's Doug Stanhope. He's from Arizona, and has been a traveling standup comedian for more than 20 years, at which time he's spewed his unique brand of uncompromised vitriol over countless audiences. He has a new standup album/DVD out, Oslo—Burning the Bridge to Nowhere. Why'd he record in Norway? "Because I'm washed up!," he says to the crowd. "You guys get everything 10 years after it was popular." Brutal Honesty. This week, Stanhope brings his hysterical act—think Bill Hicks/ Lenny Bruce-style blood-soaked truth-to-power—to the Trocadero. PW caught up with Stanhope during his last tour for an interview that never ran in print. We run it here, now, for your pleasure, as Stanhope riffs on the difference between American and European audiences, people's insistence on recording everything with their cell phones, and the best advice he ever got.
On doing comedy shows in rock clubs/bars, as opposed to comedy clubs: "It's more of where I belong. It's where I started doing comedy—one-nighters in barrooms in shithole towns where that was considered their comedy club, where every Tuesday some guy from Spokane will come in and tell dick jokes. Comedy clubs always felt like movie theaters. People come in and they sit there and they know they're gonna be there for 90 minutes. They listen and they leave. Barrooms have a sense of chaos where you're talking to people who were sitting at the bar before you showed and they'll be sitting at the bar after you leave. It just has more adrenalin to it, more of a feeling of anything can happen.
"I have my fan base now, but when I first started doing this there was risk financially, not knowing if people were gonna show up. But after experimenting through it we know we're gonna do better at a rock 'n' roll club. The risk I don't have any more is a group of bachelorettes coming in thinking all comedy's the same, like they're at a comedy club where they treat it like it's an adult Chuck E. Cheese for all occasions, and they come in for an anniversary or a company Christmas party and they're being barraged with fist-fuck rape jokes.
"There are times I really miss that though. It does get dull preaching to the choir. I think I'm gonna start working a few more comedy clubs just for fun and so my audience doesn't get too incestuous. Bring in some fresh meat from the comedy clubs and bring a few dark ones out of the improv mailing list."
On the best advice he ever got from a fellow comedian: "The best advice I ever got was 'Never give anyone advice because all you're doing is telling them how to be like you.' And it's absolutely true. I would've told Dane Cook to quit and go sell shoes because he's not funny. Had we met at an open mic 10 years ago I would've told him to hang it up."
On people filming his shows with their cell phones, and uploading them to the Internet: "YouTube could really fucking ruin standup comedy. It really could. Just in the fact that, it's not like music, comedy's only funny once. A good comic will take a year to put out a new CD or DVD to get a full hour. And that's if you're working hard. And if at every show there's some douchebag with a cell phone camera putting shit on YouTube—I'll have people in Baltimore yelling out jokes I did in D.C. the night before. It could be brand new jokes. Videos on YouTube, for comedy, it's like they're giving away the ending of the movie. If you go see a band, Green Day, and you record them on your phone, it'll be shitty quality and the sound will be shitty. But you can do that with Green Day because people just want to hear the songs. You hear the joke when it sounds like shit and it looks like shit, and now you've already heard the joke. It doesn't come across the same way as it would live, but you already know how the joke goes so it doesn't entice you to see the person.
"I probably have 15 minutes of material to use for fucking people with cell phones filming me trying to find a way to get them to fucking stop. You're here! Put the fucking phone down and experience it. 'I like a live performance, but I think I'd prefer it later on on a laptop all grainy.' It's hurt my comedy—the privacy of it. You're in a dark room with drunk people. I can tell you anything, I used to fucking be able to say anything on stage. And now, every show there's a prison snitch with a cell phone camera filming you. Say I was doing Ecstasy with my buddy Billy last night. Well, if I'm in whatever Pine Top Nowhere and people know Billy is my friend and he's a fireman and they know we were hanging out that night—you're ratting someone else out. I can't tell you about my sister's girlfriend who's a bitch. You'll put it on YouTube and my sister's girlfriend will find it.
"And another way that cell phone cameras just destroy the atmosphere is it's live and it's in the moment and it's temporary. When people are fucking recording it ... immediately you just see these fucking tourists of life, you know, you're here fucking live, man, and you're staring at me through a lens on a cell phone."
On doing The Man Show: "It just definitely put all the cliches you hear about television into crystal-clear perspective for me about how much networks fuck up comedy. You have a funny idea, and you say 'OK, this is funny enough and we can do it and here's our idea.' And then the writers' room passes it around, adds some things, takes some things away, and they send it to the executive producer. He scratches a little bit off and sends it to the network. Comedy Central people scratch a little bit off and then the censors get a hold of it. It's like if you had a painting, and you say 'This is a really nice painting. I painted it. Here it is.' And then every single person associated with the painting had to sign it—the person who made the canvas, the delivery service who shipped the canvas, everyone who was involved with making the paint. Get far enough along and you can't even see the painting anymore. Everyone's fucked with it. And the lawyers fucked up more than censors. 'Oh we can't do that, we could get sued.'
"Standup comedy really spoils you as far as being lazy, and being ... I hate to say being an artist, because that sounds so pretentious. But, really, I work an hour, I have some cocktails, I tell people to go fuck themselves, and I do anything I want the way I want to do it. I can do it in a different city every night and I can change it and there's no one there to say anything or change anything. The only thing I have to worry about is whether or not people laugh."
On the differences between American and European audiences: "They're smarter in Europe. They're more polite, and you have to try harder. It's harder to just let loose and talk because you, consciously, you get four minutes into a rant and realize the payoff has nothing to do with them and they're not going to get the reference and this is completely America-centric and you think 'Ah fuck, this is gonna go nowhere.' I have to prepare a lot more [for European audiences], and I really hate being stuck to a set list."
Doug Stanhope performs Fri., May 13, 9pm. $24. Trocadero, 1003 Arch St. 215.922.6888. thetroc.com
Bill Burr's got a brand new F-word
Gilbert Gottfried heading to Helium for three nights
20 nights of summer laughter
John Hodgman on nerds, Obama, the end of the world and "Doctor Who"
Odd man Matt McCusker raves over comedians at Oddball Fest
Black comedy legend Paul Mooney hits Helium this week
On the Guest List: Chris Hardwick at Helium Comedy Club, Navasha Daya at WCL
7 Things You Absolutely Do Not Need to Know About Sketch Comedy Troupe ManiPedi