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The term »sound« is commonly used in two senses. Strictly speaking, it refers to sound properall kinds of noises, that is. And in a loose way it designates not only sound proper but the spoken word or dialogue as well. Since its meaning can always be inferred from the contexts in which it appears, there is no need for abandoning this traditional, if illogical, usage.
Early Misgivings
When sound arrived, perceptive filmmakers and critics were full of misgivings, in particular about the addition of the spoken word, this "ancient human bondage," as one of them called it. 1) They feared, for instance, that speech might put an end to camera movementone fear at least which soon turned out to be unfounded.' To Chaplin a talking Tramp was so utterly unconceivable that he satirized conventional dialogue in both City Lights and Modem Times.
As far back as 1928the Russian studios had not yet introduced sound apparatusEisenstein, Pudovkin, and Alexandrov issued a joint Statement on sound film in which dim apprehensions alternated with constructive suggestions. This Statement, still of the highest interest, was probably inspired and edited by Eisenstein. A student of materialistic dialectics, he acknowledged sound as a historic necessity because of its emergence at a moment when the further evolution of the medium depended on it. For with the plots becoming ever more ambitious and intricate, only the spoken word would be able to relieve the silent film from the increasing number of cumbersome captions and explanatory visual inserts needed for the exposition of the intrigue. On the other hand, Eisenstein and his cosigners were convinced that the inclusion of dialogue would stir up an overwhelming desire for stage illusion. Their Statement predicted a flood of sound films indulging in " 'highly cultured dramas' and other photographed performances of a theatrical sort. 113 Eisenstein did not seem to realize that what he considered a consequence of dialogue actually existed long before its innovation. The silent screen was crammed with "highly cultured dramas." "Misled by the fatal vogue of 'adaptations,' " said Clair in 1927, "the dramatic film is built on the model of theatrical or literary works by minds accustomed to verbal expression alone."' It might be added that all these filmmakers and critics accepted sound later on, though not unconditionally.
Basic Requirement
The pronounced misgivings in the period of transition to sound can be traced to the rising awareness that films with sound live up to the spirit of the medium only if the visuals take the lead in them. Film is a visual medium. [5] To cite Réné Clair again, he says he knows of people less familiar with the history of the movies who stubbornly believe some otherwise wellremembered silent film to have been a talkie; and he shrewdly reasons that their slip of memory should give pause to all those reluctant to endorse the supremacy of the image.' The legitimacy of this requirement follows straight from the irrevocable fact that it is the motion picture camera, not the sound camera, which accounts for the most specific contributions of the cinema; neither noises nor dialogue are exclusively peculiar to film. One might argue that the addition of speech would seem to justify attempts at an equilibrium between word and image, but it will be seen shortly that such attempts are doomed to failure. For sound films to be true to the basic aesthetic principle, their significant communications must originate with their pictures.
In dealing with sound, it is best to treat dialogueor speech, for that matterand sound proper separately. Especially in the case of speech, two kinds of relationships between sound and image should be considered. The first concerns the role they are assignedi.e., whether the messages of a film are primarily passed on through the sound track or the imagery. The second concerns the manner in which sound and image are synchronized at any given moment. There are various possibilities of synchronization. All of them have a bearing on the adequacy of the spoken word to the medium.
The Role of the Spoken Word
What caused Eisenstein's gloom when he anticipated that the arrival of sound would generate a flood of "highly cultured dramas"? No doubt he feared lest the spoken word might be used as the carrier of all significant statements and thus become the major means of propelling the action. His fears were all too wellfounded. At the beginning of sound the screen went 11 speechmad," with many filmmakers starting from the "absurd assumption that in order to make a sound film it is only necessary to photograph a play."' And this was more than a passing vogue. The bulk of existing talkies continues to center on dialogue.
Dialogue in the Lead. The reliance on verbal statements increases, as a matter of course, the medium's affinity for the theater. Dialogue films either reproduce theatrical plays or convey plots in theatrical fashion. This implies that they automatically turn the spotlight on the actor, featuring him as an insoluble entity, and by the same token exile inanimate nature to the background .8 Most important, emphasis on speech not only strengthens this tendency away from cameralife but adds something new ,and extremely dangerous. It opens up the region of discursive reasoning, enabling the medium to impart the turns and twists of sophisticated thought, all those rational or poetic communications which do not depend upon pictorialization to be grasped and appreciated. What even the most theatricalminded silent film could not incorporatepointed controversies, Shavian witticisms, Hamlet's soliloquieshas now been annexed to the screen.
But when this course is followed, it is inevitable that out of the spoken words definite patterns of meanings and images should arise. They are much in the nature of the loving memories which Proust's narrator retains of his grandmother and which prevent him from realizing her crude physique as it appears in a photograph. Evoked through language, these patterns assume a reality of their own, a self sufficient mental reality which, once established in the film, interferes with the photographic reality to which the camera aspires. The significance of verbal argumentation, verbal poetry, threatens to drown the significance of the accompanying pictures, reducing them to shadowy illustrations. [9]
Equilibrium. Those aware of the theatrical effects of dialogue film and yet adverse to reducing the of verbal communications tend to err visage the abovementioned possibility of an equilibrium between word and; image as a workable solution. Allardyce Nicoll considers Max Reinhardt' s film A Midsummer Night's Dream a case in point, and defends the latter's equal concern for "visual symbols" and "language" on the strength of an interesting argument. Shakespeare's dialogue, says he, addressed itself to an audience which, confronted with a growing language and still unaccustomed to acquiring knowledge through reading, was much more acutely alert to the spoken word than is the modern audience. Our grasp of spoken words is no longer what it was in Shakespeare's times. Reinhardt is therefore justified in trying to enliven the dialogue by supplementing it with an opulent imagery. This imagery, Nicoll reasons, mobilizes our visual imagination, thus benefiting the verbal communications whose stimulating power had long since subsided. "
The fallacy of Nicoll's argument is obvious. In fact, he himself seems to doubt its conclusiveness; before advancing it, he admits that one might as well condemn A Midsummer Night's Dream for assigning to the pictures on the screen a role apt to divert the audience from the appeal of Shakespeare's language. Well, exactly this is bound to happen. Because of their obtrusive presence the luxuriant images summoned by Reinhardt cannot be expected to revitalize the dialogue by stimulating the spectator's allegedly atrophied sensitivity to it; instead of transforming the spectator into a listener, they claim his attention in their own right. So the word meanings are all the more lost on him. The balance to which the film aspires turns out to be unachievable.
Perhaps the most noteworthy attempt at an equilibrium between verbal and pictorial statements is Laurence Olivier's Hamlet, a film which breathes a disquiet that is much to the credit of its director. Olivier wants to transfer, undamaged, all the beauties of Shakespeare's dialogue to the screen. Yet endowed with a keen film sense, he also wants to avoid photographed theater and therefore plays up the role of the visuals and the significance of cinematic devices. The result is a tour de force as fascinating as it is exasperating. On the one hand, Olivier emphasizes the dialogue, inviting us to revel in its suggestive poetry; on the other, he incorporates the dialogue into a texture of meaningful shots whose impact prevents us from taking in the spoken lines.
During Hamlet's great soliloquy the camera, as if immune to its magic, explores his physique with an abandon which would be very rewarding indeed were we not at the same time requested to absorb the soliloquy itself, this unique fabric of language and thought. The spectator's capacity being limited, the photographic images and the language images inevitably neutralize each other; " like Buridan's ass, he does not know what to feed upon and eventually gets starved. Hamlet is a remarkable, if quixotic, effort to instill cinematic life into an outspoken dialogue film. But you cannot eat your cake and have it.
Cinematic Uses
All the successful attempts at an integration of the spoken word have one characteristic in common: they play down dialogue with a view to reinstating the visuals. This may be done in various ways.
Speech Deemphasized. Practically all responsible critics agree that it heightens cinematic interest to reduce the weight and volume of the spoken word so that dialogue after the manner of the stage yields to natural, lifelike speech. [12] This postulate is in keeping with the "basic requirement"; it rests upon the conviction that the medium calls for verbal statements which grow out of the flow of pictorial communications instead of determining their course. Many filmmakers have accordingly deemphasized speech. Cavalcanti remarked in 1939: "Film producers have learned in the course of the last ten years that use of speech must be economical, and be balanced with the other elements in the film, that the style employed by the dialogue writers must be literal, conversational, nonliterary: that the delivery must be light, rapid, and offhand, to match the quick movements of the action, and the cuts from speaker to speaker."
Rend Clair's Paris comedies, for instance, meet these requests to the letter; the dialogue in them is casual, so casual in fact that their characters sometimes continue to converse while disappearing in a bar. For a moment you may still see them linger behind the window and move their lips with appropriate gesturesan ingenious device which repudiates drastically the goals and claims of dialogue film proper. It is as if Clair wanted to demonstrate ad oculos that the spoken word is most cinematic if the messages it conveys elude our grasp; if all that actually can be grasped is the sight of the speakers.
The tendency toward embedding dialogue in visual contexts is perhaps nowhere illustrated so strikingly as in that episode of Ruggles of Red Gap in which Charles Laughton as Ruggles recites Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. At first glance, this episode would seem to be about the opposite of a fitting example, for, in delivering the speech, Ruggles is not only fully conscious of its significance but eager to impress it upon his listeners in the bar. His recital, however, also serves another purpose, a purpose of such an immediate urgency that it outweighs the impact of Lincoln's words themselves. The fact, established by their rendering, that Ruggles knows them by heart reveals to the audience his inner metamorphosis from an English gentleman's gentleman into a selfreliant American.
In complete accordance with this major objective, the camera closes in on Ruggles's face when he, still talking to himself, mumbles the first sentences of the speech, and then shows him again as he stands up and confidently raises his voice. The camera thus anticipates our foremost desire. Indeed, concerned with the change Ruggles has undergone rather than the text he declaims, we want nothing more than to scan his every facial expression and his whole demeanor for outward signs of that change. The episode is a rare achievement in that it features a speech which so little interferes with the visuals that on the contrary, it makes them stand out glaringly. Things are arranged in such a manner that our awareness of the speech's content kindles our interest in the meanings of the speaker's appearance. Of course, this is possible only in case of a speech which, like Lincoln's, is familiar to the audience. Since the listeners need not really pay attention to it to recall what belongs among their cherished memories, they may take in the words and yet be free to concentrate on the accompanying pictures. Imagine Ruggles advancing a dramatically important new thought instead of reciting the Gettysburg speech: then the audience would hardly be in a position to assimilate the simultaneous verbal and pictorial statements with equal intensity.
Speech Undermined from Within. When first incorporating the spoken word, Chaplin aimed at corroding it. He ridiculed speeches which, had they been normally rendered, would infallibly have conveyed patterns of languagebound meanings. The point is that he did not render them normally. In the opening sequence of City Lights the orators celebrating the unveiling of a statue utter inarticulate sounds with the grandiloquent intonations required by the occasion. This sequence not only makes fun of the inanity of ceremonious speeches but effectively forestalls their absorption, thus inviting the audience all the more intensely to look at the pictures. In the feeding machine episode of Modem Times Chaplin attains about the same ends with the aid of a gag which works like a delayedtime bomb. When the inventor [salesman] of the machine begins to explain it, his whole performance is calculated to trap us into believing that he himself does the talking; then a slight movement of the camera makes us abruptly realize that his sales talk comes from a record player. As a joke on our gullibility this belated revelation is doubly exhilarating. And naturally, now that the man whom we believed to be the speaker is exposed as a dummy, a leftover from mechanization, we no longer pay attention to what the phonograph is pouring forth but turn from naive listeners into dedicated spectators. (In two of his more recent films, Monsieur Verdoux and Limelight, Chaplin has reverted to dialogue in theatrical fashion. From the angle of the cinema this is undeniably a retrogression. Yet Chaplin is not the only great artist to have suffered from the limitations of his medium. One grows older, and the urge to communicate pentup insight precariously acquired sweeps away all other considerations. Perhaps Chaplin's desire to speak his mind has also something to do with his lifelong silence as a pantomime.)
Groucho Marx too undermines the spoken word from within. True, he is given to talking, but his impossible delivery, both glib like water flowing down tiles and cataclysmic like a deluge, tends to obstruct the sanctioned functions of speech. Add to this that he contributes to the running dialogue without really participating in it. Silly and shrewd, scatterbrained and subversive, his repartees are bubbling selfassertions rather than answers or injunctions. Groucho is a lusty, irresponsible extrovert out of tune with his partners. Hence the obliqueness of his utterances. They disrupt the ongoing conversation so radically that no message or opinion voiced reaches its destination. Whatever Groucho is saying disintegrates speech all around him. He is an eruptive monad in the middle of selfcreated anarchy. Accordingly, his verbal discharges go well with Harpo's slapstick pranks, which survive from the silent era. Like the gods of antiquity who after their downfall lived on as puppets, bugbears, and other minor ghosts, haunting centuries which no longer believed in them, Harpo is a residue of the past, an exiled comedy god condemned or permitted to act the part of a mischievous hobgoblin. Yet the world in which he appears is so crowded with dialogue that he would long since have vanished were it not for Groucho, who supports the spectre's destructive designs. As dizzying as any silent collision, Groucho's word cascades wreak havoc on language, and among the resultant debris Harpo continues to feel at ease.
Shift of Emphasis From the Meanings of Speech to its Material Qualities. Filmmakers may also turn the spotlight from speech as a means of communication to speech as a manifestation of nature. In Pygmalion, for instance, we are enjoined to focus on Eliza's Cockney idiom rather than the content of what she is saying. This shift of emphasis is cinematic because it alienates the words, thereby exposing their material characteristics. 14 Within the world of sound the effect thus produced parallels that of photography in the visible world. Remember the Proust passage in which the narrator looks at his grandmother with the eyes of a stranger: estranged from her, he sees her, roughly speaking, as she really is, not as he imagines her to be. Similarly, whenever dialogue is diverted from its conventional purpose of conveying some message or other, we are, like Proust's narrator, confronted with the alienated voices which, now that they have been stripped of all the connotations and meanings normally overlaying their given nature, appear to us for the first time in a relatively pure state. Words presented this way lie in the same dimension as the visible phenomena which the motion picture camera captures. They are sound phenomena which affect the moviegoer through their physical qualities. Consequently, they do not provoke him, as would obtrusive dialogue, to neglect the accompanying visuals but, conversely, stir him to keep close to the latter, which they supplement in a sense.
Examples are not infrequent. To revert to Pygmalion, it is the type of Eliza's speech which counts. Her manner of expressing herself, as recorded by the sound camera, represents a peculiar mode of being which claims our attention for its own sake. The same holds true of those parts of the dialogue in Marty which help characterize the ItalianAmerican environment; the bass voice in the coronation episode of Ivan the Terrible; the echo scene in Buñuel's Robinson Crusoe; and the lumps of conversation tossed to and fro in Mr. Hulot's Holiday. When in Tati's admirable comedy, one of the most original since the days of silent slapstick, Hulot checks in at the reception desk of the resort hotel, the pipe in his mouth prevents him from pronouncing his name clearly. Upon request, he politely repeats the performance and, this time without pipe, enunciates the two syllables "Hulot" with so overwhelming a distinctness that, as in the case of his initial mutter, you are again thrust back on the physical side of his speech; the utterance "Hulot" stays with you not as a communication but as a specific configuration of sounds.
"There is something peculiarly delightful," says Ruskin, ". . . in passing through the streets of a foreign city without understanding a word that anybody says! One's ear for all sound of voices then becomes entirely impartial; one is not diverted by the meaning of syllables from recognizing the absolute guttural, liquid, or honeyed quality of them: while the gesture of the body and the expression of the face have the same value for you that they have in a pantomime; every scene becomes a melodious opera to you, or a picturesquely inarticulate Punch."" This is, for instance, confirmed by the song which Chaplin as a . . . waiter improvises in his Modem Times: a hodgepodge of melodious, if incomprehensible, word formations, it is both an attractive sound composition in its own right and an ingenious device for attuning the spectator perfectly to the pantomime which the involuntary rhapsodist is meanwhile performing.
And of course, Ruskin's observation accounts for the cinematic effect of multilingual films. A number of them, partly semidocumentaries, were produced after World War 11. G. W. Pabst's Kameradschaft and Jean Renoir's La Grande Illusion, both bilingual, anticipated this trend which grew out of the tribulations of the war when millions of ordinary people, cut off from their native countries, intermingled all over Europe. In the Rossellini film Paisan, which reflects most impressively the ensuing confusion of mother tongues, an American G.I. tries to converse with a Sicilian peasant girl; he soon supplements unintelligible words with drastic gestures and thus arrives at an understanding of a sort. But since this primitive approach is not achieved through the dialogue itself, the sounds that compose it take on a life of their own. And along with the dumb show, their conspicuous presence as sounds challenges the spectator empathically to sense what the two characters may sense and to respond to undercurrents within them and between them which would, perhaps, be lost on him were the words just carriers of meanings. The theater which hinges on dialogue shuns foreign languages, while the cinema admits and even favors them for benefiting speechless action.
Emphasis on voices as sounds may also serve to open up the material regions of the speech world for their own sake. What is thought of here is a sort of word carpet which, woven from scraps of dialogue or other kinds of communications, impresses the audience mainly as a coherent sound pattern. Grierson coins the term "chorus" to define such patterns and mentions two instances of them: the film Three cornered Moon, in which the chorus or carpet consists of bits of conversation between unemployed people queueing up in bread fines; and Beast of the City, a Hollywood film about the Chicago underworld, with an episode which features the monotonous wireless messages from police headquarters. "It went something like this: 'Calling Car 324 324 Calling Car 528 528 Calling Car 18 18,' etc., etc. . . . Now these "choruses" may be inserted in such a way that it is they rather than the synchronized visuals which captivate the spectatoror should one say, listener? Being all ear, he will not care much about what the pictures try to impart.
On the surface, this use of speech seems to go against the grain of the medium by disregarding the visual contributions. And yet it is cinematic by extension. The voice patterns brought into focus belong to the physical world about us no less than its visible components; and they are so elusive that they would hardly be noticed were it not for the sound camera which records them faithfully. Only in photographing them like any visible phenomenonnot to mention mechanical reproduction processes outside the cinemaare we able to lay hold on these transitory verbal conglomerates. The fact that they palpably form part of the accidental flow of life still increases their affiliations with the medium. An excellent case in point is Jungle Patrol, a Hollywood B picture about American combat fliers in New Guinea. This film culminates in a sequence of terrific air fights which, however, are not seen at all. What we do see instead is a loudspeaker in the opeartions hut hooked in to the planes' intercoms. As the illfated fights take their course, different voices which seem to come from nowhere flow out of the radio set, forming an endless sound strip. To be sure, we grasp the tragic implications of their blurred messages. But this is not the whole story they are telling us. Rather, the gist of it is the constant mutter itself, the fabric woven by voice after voice. In the process of unfolding, it sensitizes us to the influences of space and matter and their share in the individual destinies. .
Existing Theories
. . . The problem is: what do the varying relationships between image and speech imply for the latter's inadequacy or adequacy to the medium?
It might be best to take a look at the existing theories first. Most critics hold that, for an integration of sound into film, much, if not all, depends upon the methods of synchronization. This isnot to say that they would ignore the significance of the role assigned to speech; as has been pointed out above, they usually repudiate the ascendancy of dialogue in favor of films in which speech is kept subdued. But they practically never think of establishing a meaningful connection between that role and the manner in which words and visuals are synchronized. And their emphasis on synchronization techniques indicates that they take them to be the decisive factor.
This bias goes hand in hand with the tendency, equally widespread in theoretical writings, to follow the example of the Russians, who not only championed counterpoint and asynchronism when sound arrived but plainly assumed that both procedures are inseparable from each other. In their joint Statement of 1928 Eisenstein, Pudovkin, and Alexandrov declare: "Only a contrapuntal use of sound in relation to the visual montage piece will afford a new potentiality of montage development and perfection. " 18 And somewhat later Pudovkin remarks: "It is not generally recognized that the principal elements in sound film are the asynchronous and not the synchronous."" He and Eisenstein took it for granted that asynchronism inevitably calls for a contrapuntal handling of sound and, conversely, the latter for asynchronism. Presumably it was their obsession with the montage principle which made them believe in the supreme virtues of this particular combination, blinding them to other, equally rewarding possibilities. The reader need hardly be told that the Russian doctrine entails, or at least encourages, the no less untenable identification of parallelism with "synchronism. " 20
Even though, thanks to three decades of talkies, modem writers in the field are more discerning than the authors of this oversimplified doctrine, they continue in a measure to endorse the latters' insistence on the cinematic merits of asynchronous sound and its contrapuntal use. And Pudovkin's main argument in support of his proposition is still fully upheld. He defends asynchronismor counterpoint, for that matteron the ground that it conforms best to reallife conditions, whereas cases of parallelism, says he, materialize much less frequently than we are inclined to think. To prove his thesis he constructs the example of a cry for help from the street which stays with us as we look out of the window, drowning the noises of the moving cars and buses now before our eyes. And what about our natural behavior as listeners? Pudovkin describes some of the ways in which our eyes happen to wander while we are following a conversation. We may go on watching a man who has just finished talking and now listens to a member of the party; or we may prematurely look at a person all set to answer the actual speaker; or we may satisfy our curiosity about the effects of a speech by scanning, one by one, the faces of the listeners and studying their reactions [22]
All three alternatives . . . are drawn from everyday life; and all of them represent at least borderline cases of asynchronism, with word and image being interrelated in contrapuntal fashion. The gist of Pudovkin's argument is that this type of synchronization is cinematic because it corresponds to our habits of perception and, hence, renders reality as we actually experience it.
A new Proposition
No doubt the theories presented here carry much weight. Yet they suffer from two shortcomings. First, they attribute to the methods of synchronization independent significance, even though these methods are only techniques which may serve any purpose, cinematic or not. Second, they plead for contrapuntal asynchronism on the ground that it reflects faithfully the manner in which we perceive reality. What accounts for the cinematic quality of films, however, is not so much their truth to our experience of reality or even to reality in a general sense as their absorption in camerarealityvisible physical existence.
How dispose of these shortcomings? Let us proceed from the following observation: Any filmmaker wants to canalize audience attention and create dramatic suspense as a matter of course. Accordingly, he will in each particular case resort to such methods of synchronization as he believes to be the most fitting ones. Supposing further he is a skilled artist, his choices are certainly "good" in the sense that they establish the narrative as effectively as is possible under the given circumstances.
But are they for that reason also necessarily "good" in a cinematic sense? Their adequacy to the medium obviously depends upon the goodness" of the narrative which they help implement. Does the narrative grow out of verbal or visual contributions?this is the question. The decisive factor, then, is the role which speech plays within the contexts under consideration. If speech is in the lead, even the most knowing filmmaker cannot avoid synchronizing it with the images in ways which disqualify the latter as a source of communication. Conversely, if the visuals predominate, he is free to avail himself of modes of synchronization which, in keeping with the cinematic approach, advance the action through pictorial statements.
An interesting fact emerges at this point. As I have emphasized, the existing theories usually recommend a contrapuntal treatment of asynchronous sound, while cautioning against parallel synchronization. Now it can easily be shown that my new proposition corroborates these theories up to a point. In case verbal communications prevail, the odds are that the imagery will parallel them. The reverse alternativespeech being deemphasizedgreatly favors counterpoint, which stirs the visuals to become eloquent. Eisenstein and Pudovkin were of course not wrong in advocating a contrapuntal use of sound. But from the present viewpoint they did so for the wrong reasons. .
Sound Proper
Soundsthis term meaning exclusively noises here can be arranged along a continuum which extends from unidentifiable to recognizable noises. As for the former, think of certain noises in the night: they are, so to speak, anonymous; you have no idea where they come from At the opposite pole are sounds whose source is known to us, whether we see it or not. In everyday life, when we hear barking, we immediately realize that a dog must be around; and as a rule we do not go wrong in associating church bells with the sound of chimes.
Those puzzling noises which the night is apt to produce attune the listener primarily to his physical environment because of their origin in some ungiven region of it. But what about the many identifiable noises at the other end of the continuum? Take again chimes: no sooner does one hear them than he tends to visualize, however vaguely, the church or the clock tower from which they issue; and from there his mind may leisurely drift on until it happens upon the memory of a village square filled with churchgoers who stream to the service in their Sunday best. Generally speaking, any familiar noise calls forth inner images of its source as well as images of activities, modes of behavior, etc., which are either customarily connected with that noise or at least related to it in the listener's recollection. In other words, localizable sounds do not as a rule touch off conceptual reasoning, languagebound thought; rather, they share with unidentifiable noises the quality of bringing the material aspects of reality into focus. This comes out very clearly in scenes where they are combined with speech. It could be shown above that in the great dialogue scene of Orson Welles's Othello the intermittent footfalls of lago and the Moor, far from increasing the impact of the dialogue, help shift audience attention to the protagonists' bodily presence.
In sum, as Cavalcanti once put it, "noise seems to bypass the intelligence and speak to something very deep and inborn."" This explains why, in the era of transition to sound, those addicted to the silent staked their last hopes on films that would feature noises rather than words. So Eisenstein in a 1930 talk at the Sorbonne: "I think the '100% alltalking film' is silly. . . . But the sound film is something more interesting. The future belongs to it.,, According to Réné Clair (who, incidentally, did not share Eisenstein's illusions about the future), the connoisseurs' preference for noises then rested upon the belief that, as material phenomena, they evoke a reality less dangerous to the images on the screen than the kind of reality conveyed by the allout talkie. Nothing would seem to be more justified than this belief. Sounds whose material properties are featured belong to the same world as the visuals and, hence, will hardly interfere with the spectator's concern for the latter.
Yet is the filmmaker really obliged under all circumstances to emphasize the material characteristics of the sounds he inserts? Actually, he is free to divest certain sounds of their natural substance, so that they no longer refer to the physical universe from which they flow; disembodied entities, they then assume other functions. As a matter of course, this possibility involves exclusively localizable noises.
Reliance on Symbolic Meanings
Indeed, localizable noises often carry familiar symbolic meanings. And if the filmmaker capitalizes on these meanings in the interest of his narrative, the noises yielding them turn from material phenomena into units which, much like verbal statements, serve as components of mental processes.
Réné Clair playfully uses sound this way when he shows the main characters of his Le Million scrambling for the jacket which they believe to harbor the coveted lottery ticket Instead of resorting to "synchronous" sound, he synchronizes the scramble with noises from a Rugby game. These commentative noises virtually parallel the actual fight and at the same time relate contrapuntally to it. Evidently they are intended to establish an analogy between the visible fight and an imaginary game; their purpose is to ridicule the seriousness of the scramble by making the participants look like Rugby players who toss the jacket about as if it were, a ball. Assuming the asychronous ball noises really implement Clair's intentions, they affect us not so much through their material qualities as through their function of signifying a Rugby game, for that matter. It is their symbolic value which counts. In consequence, they do not induce the spectator closely to watch the pictures but invite him to enjoy an amusing analogy which has all the traits of a literary apercu. In fact, what the sounds try to suggest might have been imparted by words as well. The whole scene is problematic cinematically because it culminates in a jocular comparison which, being imposed from without on the images of the scramble, inevitably obscures their inherent meanings. Add to this that the commentative noises may not even fulfill the function which Clair assigns to them; it is doubtful indeed whether they are specific enough to be necessarily associated with the idea of a ball game. Not all identifiable sounds are familiar to all the people; nor can all such sounds be localized with absolute certainty. Perhaps, many a spectator, unable to grasp the significance of the Rugby noises, will find them merely bizarre. . . .
Sometimes, especially in theatrical adaptations of stage dramas, the symbolic potentialities of familiar sounds are exploited in a crude manner palpably inspired by venerable stage traditions. As the tragic conflict approaches its climax, the surge of human passions is synchronized with the sinister noises of a storm outdoors. Raging nature, suggested by these asynchronous actual sounds, is thus made to parallel the impending catastrophe in gloomy interiors for the purpose of intensifying audience participation. Such a use of sound will hardly ingratiate itself with the sensitive moviegoer. It rests upon the premise of a closed universe in which natural events correspond to human destiniesa notion incompatible with camera realism, which presupposes the endless continuum of physical existence. Moreover, the attention which the spectator must pay to the symbolic meaning of the storm noises preempts his concern for the meanings of their material characteristics. Because of its emphasis on mental reality the whole arrangement is not likely to benefit the pictures.
Another possibility in a similar vein is the following: the howling storm denoting an upheaval of nature may be synchronized, counterpointwise, with shots of peaceful family life in order to forewarn the audience that malevolent forces are about to invade that world of peace. Yet while in the example discussed just above, the storm noises convey a meaning which can easily be grasped, paralleling the obvious meaning of the soaring human passions, these very same noises are well nigh unintelligible when they relate contrapuntally to pictures whose significance strongly differs from theirs. The reason is that the symbolic content of identifiable sounds is too vague to serve, by itself alone, as a basis for the construction of analogies or similes. It is highly improbable that a spectator immersed in the peaceful images on the screen will conceive of the howling storm as an ominous portent. Perhaps he will believe the discordant storm noises to be sheer coincidence an explanation, by the way, which would at least do justice to the preferences of the medium. But be this as it may, one thing is sure: the symbolic counterpoint aspired to falls flat. Sound used contrapuntally must relate to the synchronized images in an understandable way to signify something comprehensible.
So much for sound symbolism. Filmmakers have resorted to it only sporadically. What they usually feature is not so much the symbolic meanings of recognizable noises as the material properties of sounds, identifiable or not. The subsequent analysis bears exclusively on sounds in the latter sense.
Sounds in their capacity as material phenomena do not weaken the impact of the juxtaposed pictures. This all but selfevident assumption implies that the role which sounds are made to play in a film is a negligible factor. Speech and sound proper differ radically in that the former's dominance blurs the visuals, whereas the occasional dominance of noises is of little consequence. Supposing shrill screams or the blasts of an explosion are synchronized with images of their source and/or its environment: much as they will leave their imprint on the spectator's mind, it is unlikely that they will prevent him from taking in the images; rather, they may prompt him to scrutinize the latter in a mood which increases his susceptibility to their multiple meaningsare not the screams and the blasts indeterminate also?
One might even go further. Sounds share with visible phenomena two characteristics: they are recorded by a camera; and they belong to material reality in a general sense. This being so, camera explorations of the sound world itself can be said to lie, by extension, in a cinematic interest. Flaherty, who was loath to entrust the spoken word with any important message, extolled the contributions of "characteristic" sounds: "I wish I could have had sound for Nanook. . . . It takes the hiss of the wind in the North and the howls of the dogs to get the whole feeling of that country." 2' Now, filmmakers have at all times used closeups and other devices to exhibit the innumerable phenomena which comprise camerareality. So the late Jean Epstein's proposal to penetrate the universe of natural sounds in a similar manner would seem to be quite logical.
Epstein's general idea was to break down, by means of sonic slow motion, complex sound patterns into their elements. In his Le Tempestaire he thus details the various noises of which a violent storm consists, synchronizing them with remarkable shots of the ocean. The film, an experiment as ingenious as it is fascinating, extends the cinematic approach into the region of sound in such a way that the acoustic revelations and the pictorial communications reinforce rather than neutralize each other. Epstein himself accounts for his procedures in this film as follows: "Like the eye, the ear has only a very limited power of separation. The eye must have recourse to a slowing down. . . . Similarly, the ear needs sound to be enlarged in time, i.e., sonic slow motion, in order to discover, for instance, that the confused howling of a tempest is, in a subtler reality, a manifold of distinct noises hitherto alien to the human ear, an apocalypse of shouts, coos, gurgles, squalls, detonations, timbres and accents for the most part as yet unnamed." In analogy to slowmotion movements these unnamed noises might be called "sound reality of another dimension."
Text: Siegfried Kracauer
(aus: Theory of Film: The Redemption of Physical Reality)
1. René Clair, Réflexion faite: Notes pour servir à l'histoire de l'art cinématographique de 1920 à 1950 (Paris: Gallimard, 1951), 141. 1947), p. 205.
2. Siegfried Kracauer, From Caligari to Hitler (Princeton: Princeton University Press,
3. Sergei Eisenstein, Film Form: Essays in Film Theory, ed. and trans. Jay Leyda (New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1949), pp. 25759.
4. Clair, Réflexion faite, p. 116.
5. See, for instance, Georges Charensol, "Le Cinema parlant," in Marcel L'Herbier, ed., Intelligence du cindmatographe (Paris: Editions Corréa 1946), 170; Mortimer J. Adler, Art and Prudence: A Study in Practical Philosophy (New York: Longmans, Green, 1937), p. .541; Ernest Lindgren, The Art of the Film (London: Allen and Unwin, 1948), p. 106.
6. Clair, Réflexion faite, p. 43.
7. Alberto Cavalcanti, "Sound in Films," Films, 1, No. I (November 1939):29.
8. See Hanns Eisler, Composing for the Films (New York: Oxford University Press, 1947), p. 77. Clifford Leech, "Dialogue for Stage and Screen," Penguin Film Review, no. 6 (April 1948):100, likewise rejects stage dialogue because "the epigrams, the patterned responses, the set speeches need the ceremonial ambiance of the playhouse and the living presence of the player."
9. René Barjavel, Cinéma total: Essai sur les formes futures du cinéma (Paris: Les Editions Denool 1944), p. 29, remarks that the imagination of the spectator watching a dialogue film "builds from the words showered down on him and replaces the images on the screen by those which the dialogue suggests to him." See also Clair, Réflexion faite, pp. 146, 150, 158, 188.
10. Allardyce Nicoll, Film and Theatre (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell, 1936), pp. 17880.
11. Cf. Balazs, "Das Drehbuch oder Filmszenarium," in Von der Filmidee zum Drehbuch (Berlin 1949), p. 77.
12. For instance, Balazs, ibid., pp. 7677; Rudolf Arnheim, Film (London: Faber and Faber, 1933), p. 213; Leech, "Dialogue for Stage and Screen," pp. 99101.
13. Cavalcanti, "Sound in Films," p. 31.
14. Cf. Horst Meyerhoff, Tonfilm und Wirklichkeit: Grundlagen zur Psychologie des Films (Berlin: B. Henschel, 1949), pp. 7576; Arnheim, Film, p. 213.
15. John Ruskin, Praeterita: Outline of Scenes and Thoughts Perhaps Worthy of Memory in My Past Life (London: R. HartDavis, 1949), p. 106.
16. Forsyth Hardy, ed., Grierson on Documentary (New York: Harcourt, Brace, 1947), pp. 11516.
17. 1 am indebted to Mr. Arthur Knight for having this film brought to my attention.
18. V. 1. Pudovkin, Film Technique and Film Acting, trans. Ivor Montagu (New York: Lear, 1949), p. 143; also Eisenstein, Film Form, p. 258.
19. Pudovkin, Film Technique, p. 157.
20. Arnheim, Film, p. 251, cautioned against this confusion as early as 1930.
21. For instance, K. Reisz, The Technique of Film Editing (London and New York: Focal Press, 1953), passim.
22. Pudovkin, Film Technique, pp. 15960; part 2, pp. 8687.
23. See Cavalcanti, "Sound in Films," pp. 3637.
24. Ibid., p. 37.
25. So Clair in 1929; see his Réflexion faite, p. 145.
26. Quoted by Dwight Macdonald, "The Soviet Cinema: 19301938," Partisan Review, 5, no. 2 (July 1938):46.
27. Clair, Réflexion faite, p. 145.
28. Arthur Rosenheimer, Jr., "They Make Documentaries," Film News, 7, no. 6 (April 1946):10, 23. At the beginning of the sound era, Walter Ruttmann in his Melody of the World delighted in recording the din of traffic, the screech of a saw. These reproductions were as many discoveries.
29. Jean Epstein, "Sound in Slow Motion," in Gideon Bachmann, ed., Jean Epstein, 18971953: Cinemages, no. 2:44.


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Efficient solar modules to reduce costs by 25 percent
Canadian-based Day4 Energy has announced a major research breakthrough that could see its solar cell production costs reduced by up to 25%. The new design and manufacturing process for its Generation II solar cells will give the cells efficiency of up to 19% on mono-crystalline and 18% on multi-crystalline silicon materials (the average output of current solar cells is around 15%).
Day4 says the new design constitutes a significant improvement not only in maximizing efficiency, but also in low cost manufacturing and lower commercialization risk. The application of the Generation II photovoltaic (PV) cell technology for multi-crystalline products is particularly important because of the material's lower price point and availability. The Generation II technology was designed to be fully compatible with Day4 Energy's existing manufacturing equipment, enabling rapid deployment and scale-up. The company expects that a combination of the technology and manufacturing process will reduce production costs by up to 25% of what is currently possible with conventional technology.
Day4 Energy's first generation MC module has been in commercial production since 2006 and achieves 14.7% efficiency. According to Professor Leonid Rubin, chief technology officer of Day4 Energy, "the second generation of our proprietary solar cell designs we are taking a major step towards making solar energy cost competitive with conventional sources of electrical power generation." Day4 Energy expects to fast track commercialization of its high performance PV cell technology over the next 18 months and has recently filed a patent application in connection with this invention.
Via: Technology Review

subset: commoncrawl


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The Widdershins Dance
One of the rituals practised by the Regency was the widdershins or anti-clockwise dance. The next section of Prospero's Book is headed 'The Effects of the Widdershins Dance':
One of the effects of an anti-clockwise motion if prolonged and particularly if assisted by humming or some rhythmic device or beat (preferably hypnotic, simple and repetitive) is to promote a sense of displacement. This is of supreme importance. One feels that one is outside oneself or at a little distance from oneself. This is invariably to the left side and somewhat above. We meet this phenomenon in the so-called Near Death Experience, and similar disassociated states. Sometimes it can be drug induced. The known effects of displacement also include the suspension of a linear time sense. (Margin: An effect produced by some poems.) The ability, however dimly, to divine and see a different world and a different order become Present. One of the effects of this state is to trigger small lights, mostly red, which appear and disappear if one is working in the dark. They are lattice nodal points; photons if you like; winking in and out of existence. They are a certain sign of contact between dimensions.


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Featured Golf News
Nordqvist Moves Further Ahead in Thailand
A 5-under 67 allowed Anna Nordqvist to quadruple her lead heading into Sunday's final round at the Honda LPGA Thailand. The $1.5 million, 72-hole event started Thursday at Siam Country Club's Pattaya Old Course.
The 26-year-old Swede posted four birdies, an eagle and a bogey to reach 11-under 205, four strokes ahead of No. 1-ranked Inbee Park, who also shot a 67, and Michelle Wie (69).
Five behind is Julieta Granada, and six back are Yani Tseng, Cristie Kerr, Lydia Ko and Lexi Thompson.
Nordqvist knows there is still another round to go and some fine players in close pursuit of her as she seeks her first victory since the LPGA Tour Championship in November 2009.
"I think the great players out there, Inbee, Stacy (Lewis), they've been up there so many times, so they look pretty comfortable out there," Nordqvist said. "For me, it's a matter of keep putting myself in those positions and the win will happen eventually."
Playing in her first event of the year, Park carded birdies on the first two holes before tacking on a bogey and four straight birdies on the 10th through 13th holes. "I hit a lot of great irons shots out there today, I think I still left four birdies out there," said the South Korean.
Wie opened with a 67 before stumbling to a 73 Friday. On Saturday though, the 24-year-old Stanford grad rebounded with three birdies to stay within sight of Nordqvist.
"Couple hard pins, couple easy pins. Didn't really take advantage of the par-5s like I wanted to, but I can't really complain about it. Hopefully tomorrow I'll just have a lot more birdies," Wie said. "I really want that win, but I'm not going to put the added pressure on myself."
For all the scores, visit www.lpga.com.
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My Account X
Remington Model 700 SPS Tactical Centerfire Rifle
Key Features
Hogue Overmolded Synthetic Stock
Heavy-Contour Tactical barrel
Dual-Point Pillar Bedding
SuperCell Recoil Pad
X-Mark Pro Adjustable Trigger System
Our Price $729.99 - $879.99
- To buy online and deliver to a Gander Mountain store or an Independent Firearms Dealer, simply add this item to your cart. Click here for additional details.
- Firearms shipping charge of $25.00 per item.
- You must be at least 18 years old to purchase this item. State and local laws may vary.
Prices, promotions, styles and availability may vary by store and online.
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Product DescriptionThe Model 700 offers the unrivaled out-of-the-box accuracy and high-end performance you've come to expect from America's most popular bolt-action centerfire rifle. The Model 700 SPS features an improved, ergonomically designed synthetic stock for better handling and enhanced overall functionality. The carbon steel barrels are clean without sights and receivers are drilled and tapped for scope mounts. All exterior metalwork features a matte blued finish. Standard amenities also include the revolutionary recoil-reducing SuperCell recoil pad, a hinged floor plate magazine, and swivel studs.
The Model 700 SPS Tactical is a highly maneuverable member of the family, built for tack driving accuracy with a 20" heavy-contour tactical-style barrel and dual-point pillar bedding in its black synthetic stock. Hogue overmoldings on the stock facilitate sure handling, and it has a semi-beavertail fore-end for added stability off a rest.


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Forums: http://tpl.rsnation.net/
.-:The Phoenix Legions:-.
Requirements: 160+ Combat (Freeplay)
80+ Combat for Future Member
About Us
TPL is a large, friendship based community clan. We have over 4 years experience under our belt and a happy environment for all.
Over the past few years, our members have both come and gone.
However, The Phoenix Legions has maintained it's core qualities; Our Family. Our Core Group Of Friends.
To The Phoenix Legions, you are not just a rank, another piece of manpower or another few posts closer to infinity.
You are you, an individual, and you shall be treated as and respected as such no matter who you are.
If you want to be part of a clan like this, part of something fun and enjoyable, then you are looking at the right thread!
In The Phoenix Legions, we can guarantee you a friendly, relaxed, welcoming atmosphere.
We will guarantee everyone a voice, an individual voice. All that you're required to do, is speak up.
Our clan is made up of a broad and varied mix of personalities and people. So don't be shy!
Our fellow Phoenixes are always charming and respectful to one another.
We are always up for a laugh, a joke, a mess around. Or we can also be there should you need to talk to someone, or even just vent your frustrations!
We're here for all kinds of things, from debating important clan issues,
to helping someone along their way on a goal or achievement, or even to celebrate said achievement!
What we want to do for you is to help you create an enjoyable Runescape experience,
we like to give you opportunities to help us shape the clan to suit you.
If The Phoenix Legions is the clan for you, then you can check out our forums here and see if you'd like to join.
If not, there won't be any hard feelings, our members frequently come and go at their discretion,
but even should you leave, you will always be welcomed back with open arms and wide grins.
Official Clan Chat
The Phoenix Legions
.-:Official Cape:-.
Team-46 Cape
World 33 (freeplay), World 97 (members)
What we Offer
We host a wide variety of events.
These events are hosted not only by our official event planners,
but also by our members who we encourage wholeheartedly to plan their own events and do things that they wish to do.
The same applies to you! Our events are both freeplay and members and also are often taken with our allied clans.
Our clan has a very active forums. We are constantly adding to our forums, whether it be the look or features to help make
it more enjoyable.
The Phoenix Legions clan staff are always willing to help any of our members with any quest or skill they may be stuck in or
just need a little guidance.
.-:Clan Chat:-.
No matter what time of the day your playing Runescape it always seems that there is a friendly face in the
clan chat to talk to.
Staff Members
.-:High Council:-.
Good Miner0
.-:Event Planners:-.
Zuu Zuu
Join Today!
Edited by TPLegions, 25 November 2012 - 04:56 PM.


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Tribal Gathering of Jaw Benders
By: The Substation
Date: 17 Dec 2011, Sat
Gagging Sessions:
2:00pm – 6:00pm
Tribal Gathering of Jaw Benders: Feature Performance:
7:00pm – 2:00am
Venue: The Substation Theatre & Balcony
Ticket Prices:
Gagging Sessions:
Tribal Gathering of Jaw Benders: Feature Performance:
$20 for admission to The Substation Theatre (balcony performances are free)
Tickets available from: box office
Contact: Mish'aal at 6337 7800 / firstname.lastname@example.com
Website: www.substation.org/tribal-gathering-of-jaw-benders
As the year comes to an end, join us at The Substation on Saturday 17 December as we close the year with great original music by local bands, musicians and performance artists. The first annual Tribal Gathering of Jaw Benders will kick off with the Gagging Sessions from 2pm-6pm, and conclude with performances by a wide-range of musical acts from 7pm-2am.
Gagging Sessions
The Gagging Sessions will be held in The Substation Theatre for full band, orchestral and electronic sets, and on the Balcony for acoustic and sound art sets. See great local, emerging bands performing only original music for free this December! The main performance comprises a unique selection of the best musical talent Singapore has to offer, beginning at 7pm.
Tribal Gathering of Jaw Benders: Feature Performance
A diverse range of musicians and bands such as Naz, circuitrip, and The Analog Girl will be performing, spilling glorious sound onto the whole stretch of Armenian Street. SPAM, a collective of performing artists will also be performing in The Substation Gallery and in the alleyway next to the building.
The Substation is partnering with 7KICKstart cafe, a charming coffee shop across the road, to host open mic performances and serve delicious food and drinks. There will also be food available in the alleyway, next to The Substation.
(Check out full line-up of performance on website)


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WAILUKU - The Maui County Council gave initial approval of a $559 million county budget Tuesday, with the spending plan including water and property tax rate increases along with more funding for most nonprofit organizations and a new reduced monthly bus pass rate for people with disabilities.
The council rejected a last-minute attempt by Council Member Mike Victorino to grandfather in a lower water meter fee for some of those on the Upcountry water meter waiting list. Victorino's measure would have affected those who were added to the list between Nov. 1, 2001, and Oct. 5, 2012, the latter being the date when higher fees were formally proposed to the council.
Those on the list prior to Oct. 31, 2001, are already protected from any fee increase. Members who voted against the measure said they wanted to more thoroughly discuss the matter in committee instead of on the council floor.
Article Photos
Council members need to approve the budget June 6 on second-and-final reading before it can advance to Mayor Alan Arakawa for final action. The fiscal 2014 budget will go into effect July 1.
All eight council members who were present at Tuesday's meeting in the Council Chambers voted in favor of the budget. Council Chairwoman Gladys Baisa was absent and excused.
The $559 million council budget is $15 million less than what was submitted by Arakawa in March.
Although council members tweaked and changed various portions of the mayor's proposal, they went along with Arakawa's proposed 5 percent across-the-board water rate hikes. They also reduced the amount of real property tax rate increases proposed by Arakawa.
Although the mayor would have kept the homeowners' tax rates unchanged at $2.75 per $1,000 of net taxable assessed valuation, under the council's version, homeowners' rates will rise to $2.87.
Overall, most real property tax categories will see varying increases from a low of 5 cents to a high of 25 cents per $1,000. The residential category will see no increase under the council proposal. That classification usually includes second homes used as rentals.
The budget includes a 3 percent across-the-board increase in funding for most nonprofit organizations. And, council established a new monthly bus pass fee for people with physician-certified disabilities. This group will pay $30 a month. Currently, disabled riders may pay $45 a month for general boarding passes.
The council was able to keep its version of the budget lower than Arakawa's because the Budget and Finance Committee nearly halved Arakawa's request for new positions and cut some funding for equipment and programs. It also shot down increases in permitting fees in the Planning Department.
Overall, the council's proposed budget contains around $88 million for capital improvement projects, about $3 million less than in the mayor's proposed budget, and an operating budget of about $471 million, about $12 million less than proposed by Arakawa.
While the council unanimously approved of the budget, Council Member Riki Hokama continued to express concerns, saying that although tourism numbers are picking up and some economists are optimistic about the future, the economy is still not back on its feet, especially in the private sector. So, he advocated conservative spending.
"There is a capacity of what we can afford," Hokama said.
Although the budget was the heavyweight item on Tuesday's agenda, much of the meeting focused on Victorino's Upcountry water meter waiting list bill. Victorino sought to keep water development fees at current levels for those added to the list from Nov. 1, 2001, to Oct. 5, 2012.
Victorino said residents affected by his bill would otherwise face a doubling of fees from $6,030 for a standard 5/8ths-inch meter to $12,060.
Victorino's proposal died after a 3-5 vote. Council members voting in favor of the measure were Victorino and Stacy Crivello as well as Don Guzman, who voted "yes" with reservations. Council members opposed to the measure were Elle Cochran, Don Couch, Riki Hokama, Mike White and Bob Carroll.
While arguing in favor of his proposal, Victorino pointed out those on the meter waiting list prior to Nov. 1, 2001, already have a grandfathered fee.
"I think this is only fair. Others should be protected as well," he said.
Victorino, the council's Water Resources Committee chairman, added that the lower fee would apply to no more than three lots, so no developer could take advantage of his proposal.
The bill would have affected approximately 1,250 water meter applicants who were on the Upcountry water meter waiting list between Nov. 1, 2001, and Oct. 5, 2012.
Late last year, council members approved a bill to terminate the Department of Water Supply's 18-year-old waiting list for Upcountry water meters. As of June 30, the list had nearly 1,500 applicants.
Budget Director Sandy Baz confirmed that Victorino's bill would not have an effect on the overall proposed budget for fiscal 2014.
Baz said that if the bill passed, it would have an effect on future projects because the funds from the water meter fees would have an impact on the water department's development fund.
Water Director Dave Taylor concurred that the bill would have an impact on the water department's future projects and improvements.
In responding to a question from a council member, Taylor said that water rates may have to be raised in the future to make up for the lost funds if Victorino's bill were to pass.
Victorino said he also would have preferred to discuss the matter in committee, but he said that action needed to be taken while the budget remained before the council. After the budget passes, only the Arakawa administration would be able to seek a budget amendment.
Corporation Counsel Pat Wong agreed with Victorino's assessment.
After the meeting, Victorino said he would continue to discuss the matter of water meter fees in committee, as suggested by fellow council members.
* Melissa Tanji can be reached at email@example.com.


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Winterbottom's sign
Winterbottom's sign is seen in the early phase of African trypanosomiasis, a disease caused by the parasites Trypanosoma brucei rhodesiense and Trypanosoma brucei gambiense which is more commonly known as African sleeping sickness. Dr Anthony Martinelli describes Winterbottom's sign as the swelling of lymph nodes (lymphadenopathy) along the back of the neck, in the posterior cervical chain of lymph nodes, as trypanosomes travel in the lymphatic fluid and cause inflammation.
It may be suggestive of cerebral infection.[1]
The term Winterbottom's sign derives from descriptions of the posterior cervical lymphadenopathy associated with African trypanosomiasis made by Dr. Thomas Masterman Winterbottom (1766-1859) in 1803.[2] Contrary to some beliefs, Winterbottom was not a slave trader using the sign to weed out the ill, rather, he was an abolitionist physician who traveled to the newly created colony of Sierra Leone, home to freed American slaves. While working in Sierra Leone, he is credited with extensively documenting the unique tropical diseases of the region and working to improve public health.[3][4]
- ^ Ormerod WE (October 1991). "Hypothesis: the significance of Winterbottom's sign". J Trop Med Hyg. 94 (5): 338–40. PMID 1942213.
- ^ Winterbottom TM. An account of the native Africans in the neighbourhood of Sierra Leone. London: C. Whittingham; 1803.
- ^ http://www.bl.uk/aboutus/acrossuk/worknat/full/Projects/winterbottom/index.html
- ^ Cox F. History of sleeping sickness (African trypanosomiasis). Infectious Disease Clinics of North America - Volume 18, Issue 2 (June 2004)


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New subscription
Renew my subscription
Give a gift
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Posted: Wed Dec 18 00:00:00 PST 2002
Altering healthy kittens as young as 6 weeks old can be performed faster than traditional surgeries on older animals, but is the procedure safe?
"The skill required to perform the surgery is not extraordinary," Mackie says. "The recovery of the youthful patient is extraordinarily quick, however, leaving it unaffected by this important event in its early life. To date, no significant negative concerns have been found in what is now becoming a well-documented subject."
Early spay and neuter is a growing trend endorsed by major humane organizations like the American Humane Association, the Humane Society of the United States, the American Veterinary Medical Association and the Cat Fanciers' Association.
- More Spay and Neuter -
CatChannel Editor Irvine, CA
AAC -- Thank you for writing. It's easy to be confused about this issue, because people have many different opinions on the subject. This author says that kittens can be altered as early of 6 weeks of age: LINK This author says 8 weeks is the safest, earliest date: LINK Traditionally, people have waited until 6 months of age to fix kittens, but cat advocates urge early alteration in an effort to reduce the unwanted cat population. If a shelter adopts out a cat at 2 months old, they want to make sure that cat is fixed so he or she cannot produce homeless kittens in the future. Short answer: Vet expert say 8 weeks is old enough, and other cat advocates say 6 weeks is old enough.
A.A.C International
I'm not sure if I understand what age a kitten can be spayed or neutered. I have a 8 week old female kitten. She hasn't gone in heat or shown any signs of it, but I would just like to know what age is appropriate for her to be spayed? I don't want to hurt her and cause any problems. Thanks!
Kristen -- Your cats are ready to be spayed/neutered. In fact, you might want to do this as soon as possible! Thank you for being a responsible cat owner and for doing the right thing by researching cat health and taking preventative action against unwanted litters.
Kristen San Jose, CA
I getting a bit confused so when is a good time to get a kitten fixed.I have like 6 6 mth old kittens (5 male/1 female ) and one 2 yrs tuxedo cat
Hi, my name is
Angel Bailey (9/7/02 - 12/20/14).
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Towns across New Jersey are in turmoil as they struggle to balance budgets by cutting services. They are laying off police and other staff, closing town halls on Fridays, shutting libraries, borrowing money, depleting surpluses, and using one-time fixes.
But raising taxes has become such a taboo that only three of the state's 566 municipalities will be asking voters for permission to boost taxes beyond a state-imposed 2 percent cap.
Last year, when municipalities were first required to get voter approval to exceed the cap, 14 dared to hold referendums. Twelve failed, including Medford Township's.
Now Medford is alone in trying again.


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Celtics vs Lakers Tickets for TD Banknorth Garden
Cheap Celtics vs Lakers tickets await you at VividSeats.com. As one of the nation's largest sellers of sports tickets, you can always be sure to find the amazing variety of NBA tickets, as well as a multitude of seating options to choose from, year after year. This match up is the most talked about in the NBA and just having Celtics vs Lakers game tickets could you in the middle of a history making game.
We understand that your time is valuable, so we've put together all of our Celtics vs Lakers tickets and the TD Banknorth Garden seating chart in one centralized location. View the schedule up top to find your game date, proceed to the seating chart and make your selection. It doesn't matter if you're trying to purchase one ticket or a package of Celtics Lakers tickets; you will always receive the same wonderful service that makes Vivid Seats the most trusted online ticket broker. Boston resident or traveling fan ? we're positive you'll find the best tickets for the Celtics vs Lakers game in MA easier than you ever thought possible when use VividSeats.com.


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Ergo Baby Carrier$159.99
Ergo Baby Carrier Performance Infant Insert
The Ergo Baby Carrier Performance Infant Insert Heart to Heart is made of a high performance, lightweight fabric. It is compatible with all of our Ergo Baby Carriers, but is made of the same lightweight fabric as our Performance and Sport Ergo Baby Carrier collections. Ideal for outdoor activities in many different climates.
Both Parent and Baby stay cooler and more comfortable using this unique insert. It is used for infants up to approximately 6 months. The Heart to Heart Infant Insert design easily allows parents to position their newborn correctly, supporting the development of the spine and hips in an ergonomically correct natural sitting position. It holds the baby close in a cozy, protected environment that is close to the heart.
Heart 2 Heart Insert
The ERGObaby carrier in combination with our Infant Insert enables you to buy one carrier to assist you through all the stages of your baby's growth. The support cushion of the ERGObaby Infant Insert is a specially padded and shaped cushion that can be quickly and easily placed in the carrier and readjusted as needed. Parents can remain attentive to their baby's needs at the same time continue daily activities because parent and baby are like one.
Made in India
Customer Reviews
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Great Product! Review by MamaT
Value Quality Price
I love the ergo carrier with the heart to heart insert. It was a lifesaver for me with my second child when I needed to be hands free with my toddler and my newborn wouldn't sleep anywhere but against me. I trusted that my baby was safe and it was very comfortable for both of us. A must have! (Posted on 11/7/13)


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The novel Oblomov is one of the most treasured but, outside the Soviet Union, least read masterpieces in 19th-century Russian literature. Written by Ivan Goncharov, an eccentric contemporary of Dostoyevski, it chronicles the hohum life of a gentleman landowner gone to seed, who tries to snooze his way through most of the book's 485 pages. "Lying down was not for Oblomov a necessity, as it is for a sick man or for a man who is sleepy," wrote the author. "It was his normal condition." In this Soviet screen version (with English subtitles), the passive hero (played by Oleg Tabakov) goes from bed to worse once he is coaxed from his couch by his bubbly best friend. He is dragged on a dizzying round of social visits in snowbound St. Petersburg and falls helplessly in love with a simpering virgin, Elena Solovei. So unstrung is he by this happiness, he abandons her and seeks refuge in his well-worn bunk. The performances are inspired, the cinematography is lyrical and, though no film could match Goncharov's understated, biting narrative, director Nikita (A Slave of Love) Mikhalkov makes a graceful attempt. Like Oblomov himself, this movie may turn out to be a Russian sleeper. (Not rated)
Picks and Pans Review: Oblomov
updated 04/20/1981 AT 01:00 AM EST
•originally published 04/20/1981 AT 01:00 AM EST


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Our 1911 trigger was our first product, and remains a mainstay of our product line. Originating from a design by Hilton Yam and Larry Vickers, our trigger features a solid aluminum shoe with a serrated face, a full width stainless steel bow, and a fixed stainless steel overtravel stop permanently mounted from the rear of the shoe. This trigger eliminates all issues associated with loose overtravel screws -- no staking, Loctite, or other end user monitoring is necessary. Once the overtravel is set, it is good to go for the life of the trigger.
The triggers are oversized and will require gunsmith fitting. Compatible with Springfield EMP short action compact 1911s in 9mm and .40.


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on May 24, 2013 - 7:30 PM
LOCKPORT – Four years in state prison and three years' post-release supervision was the sentence from Niagara County Judge Sara Sheldon Farkas Friday for a Town of Lockport man who repeatedly stabbed a friend July 5.
Justin J. Snead, 22, of Lincoln Place, had pleaded guilty March 21 to second-degree assault.
Deputy District Attorney Doreen M. Hoffmann said the victim, Edward Wright, was stabbed nine times, mostly in the back, and underwent multiple surgeries for intestinal damage and a collapsed lung. Hoffmann said that at one point, Wright was not expected to live.
Defense attorney James J. Faso Jr. said the knife came out when the men ran into each other in the parking lot of a Lincoln Avenue apartment complex several hours after they had been involved in an argument. "This was more about egos than anything else, a couple of guys jawing," Faso said.


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Asolo Vortex XCR
Retailers' Descriptions
Here's what other sites are saying:
Even when you're hiking your way across stormy plains during a spring downpour, Asolo's Vortex XCR will keep your feet warm and dry with a GORE-TEX inner lining and water-resistant suede uppers. Plus, your feet will be comfortable thanks to the dual-density midsole and Vibram sole.
- Mountain Gear refers to the men's version
Asolo Vortex XCR
previously retailed for:
$111.96 - $199.00
$111.96 - $199.00
The Asolo Vortex XCR is not available from the stores we monitor. It was last seen January 15, 2013 at Mountain Gear.
If you're looking for a new hiking boot, check out the best reviewed current models.


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Check out our online interactive tool, Map-Ed. Go to Map-Ed.org and answer 5 questions about key concepts and topics in genetics to pin yourself on a world map. No expertise in genetics necessary! Questions are multiple-choice, and you will be provided with information along the way to point you toward the correct answer. Then, share with your friends and see more pins popping up in your neighborhood. To date, there are 6 Map-Ed quizzes (see list of topics below) and, thanks to our collaborators at Autodesk, each quiz has its own map. Pin them all!
Check out the interactive map below to see the pins that are there or, if you prefer, click here for the full-size map.
Map-Ed topics:
Click here to check out Map-Ed and select from the following quizzes:
- Avoiding genetic discrimination: know your rights – 5 questions exploring civil rights protections in the United States under the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA).
- Ebola – 5 questions addressing key information about Ebola, its transmission, and the important work geneticists are doing on the front lines towards ending this epidemic.
- Alzheimer's disease – 5 questions highlighting important information about Alzheimer's disease, the people it affects, and its links to genetics.
- Alcohol, genetics, and you – 5 questions digging into alcohol's effect on the body, risk factors for alcoholism, and the power of personal choice.
- You are not alone: the microbiome – 5 questions exploring the unseen world of bacteria, viruses, and fungi that live within (and on!) our bodies and broaden our perspective on what it means to be human.
- Genetics is getting personal – 5 questions addressing key concepts in genetics that are important as individuals consider how knowledge of our DNA can improve healthcare and shape our personal and cultural identity.
New quizzes are in the works on a range of topics, including pedigrees, sickle cell trait, cancer and genetics, likelihood and risk, and epigenetics. Stay tuned!
Pinning new frontiers:
Thanks to everyone who has added their pin to our map. In particular, we would like to recognize the following individuals and institutions for bringing Map-Ed to new frontiers.
- The Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History took Map-Ed around the world by featuring Map-Ed as part of its exhibition, Genome: Unlocking Life's Code, which opened in 2013.
- Andrea Loehr and her colleagues took Map-Ed to Antarctica, bringing in pins from all three United States stations – McMurdo, Palmer, and Amundsen-Scott at the South Pole. Because of their efforts, we can say that Map-Ed has reached all 7 continents.
- Adam Steltzner, who led the NASA team that developed the sky crane landing system for the Mars Curiosity rover, took Map-Ed into space and pinning Mars after taking the quiz.
- Rob Knight, 2014 TED speaker and a leading scientist in the microbiome field, put microscopic communities of bacteria on the map when he was the first pin on our second Map-Ed, "You Are Not Alone: The Microbiome."
- Rep. Louise Slaughter, author of the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA), led the nation as the first to enter a pin on a Map-Ed that explores GINA's civil rights protections. Check out a video message from Rep. Slaughter here!
- Geneticist Thomas Merritt brought Map-Ed to new depths, pinning himself on the GINA Map-Ed while on a research expedition 2 kilometers underground at the end of a mineshaft.
Map-Ed team
pgEd appreciates the contributions of everyone who helped us develop Map-Ed as well as those who have pinned themselves around the globe and beyond. We are especially grateful to Autodesk for supporting the development of enhancements to the map.
Building the platform:
pgEd created Map-Ed in response to a one-year challenge for raising awareness, issued at GETed 2012 in April 2012. We could not have brought Map-Ed to life without Dave Bozzi, Niall O'Connor, Dustin Holloway, and Mick Correll. Thanks to Niall, Dustin, and Mick, who we first met at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Center for Cancer Computational Biology (CCCB), for developing the initial prototype for Map-Ed. We are ever so grateful to Dave Bozzi of DB Design Boston for developing the Map-Ed platform, launched less than one year later. Dave's on-going efforts have been instrumental as we continue to improve and expand Map-Ed.
Special thanks to Carlos Olguin at Autodesk and his team, including Florencio Mazzoldi and Malte Tinnus, as well as Justin Brooks, Jonathan Holt, and Jason Landfried at SADA Systems for implementing enhancement to the map. This new map offers much better speed, the option to cluster and count pins, and the capability to filter by quiz.
Developing new quizzes:
Thanks to an energetic group of graduate students from the BBS program at Harvard Medical School, we have a number of new Map-Ed quizzes lined up. pgEd would like to recognize Benedikt Bauer, Chen Li Chew, Natalie Hendrick, Ilana Kelsey, Zecai Liang, Dominick Matos, Kristen Mengwasser, David Radke, Millie Ray, and Aswin Sekar for their inspiration and dedication to this project.
We also have a new Map-Ed quiz on likelihood and risk in the works because of the efforts of one of the working groups at GETed 2013. Thanks to Madeleine Price Ball, Jack Bateman, Samantha Baxter, Stephaine Dumont, Linda Grisham, Tommie Hata, Dustin Holloway, Johnny Kung, Aswin Sekar, Charlie Wray, and Peter Yang for making this an amazingly productive session.
We are so very grateful to all the experts who have weighed in during the development of the Map-Ed quizzes, including Lynne Bemis, Jonathan Eisen, Jim Evans, Mike Dougherty, Howard Edenberg, Cheri Hoffman, Belen Hurle, Rob Knight, Becky Nagy, Amy Niselle, Jessica L. Roberts, Pardis Sabeti, Paul Szauter, and Melissa Wu.


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Free Shipping On All BUNDLES and Orders!
Ends Friday, September 30th. Lower 48 States Only
Contact us to create a bundle specifically tailored to your needs!
Your satisfaction matters most! Return any item for a refund, store credit, or exchange it for another product.
Hurry, Only 1 Left!
Need Assistance? 800-783-3368
List Price:$99.95
Our Price: $79.95
"Simply put, incredible service, wonderful digital piano and yes, you have exceeded our expectations. I'm VERY happy with this purchase and with Kraft Music's service. Excellent job - Thank you!" - Diane, FL
"I never take the time to write about my experience with any company. I mean, why should you not expect that a company would provide a good product and service. But in the case of Kraft Music, I feel compelled to let others know how exceptional this company is. This is a company who still does business the old fashioned way. I cannot recommend them enough and I do to anyone looking for quality instruments at a great price." - Brian, MA
Superior Hi-Fi Sound, Comprehensive Network Features
This high-performance network Hi-Fi receiver powerfully reproduces a wide range of sound sources, including network audio, with unsurpassed sound quality. It features an app control for easy operation and has built-in digital input jacks for TV and more.
Enjoy the Entire Spectrum of All Your Favorite Modern Music Sources
The R-N500 is a receiver and network audio player in a single unit. You can use it to easily play audio sources downloaded from the Internet and stored on a PC or NAS system or enjoy streaming music services and Internet radio (with vTuner). Moreover, Yamaha's original NP CONTROLLER app allows you to enjoy your favorite tunes on a smartphone or tablet device via wireless connection.
Listen to Internet Radio Stations from Around the World and Access Music Streaming*
Support for the vTuner radio station database enables sampling of Internet radio broadcasts throughout the world by connecting to the Internet over a LAN. Furthermore, support for music streaming allows you to enjoy a wide variety of music content.
*Available via future firmware update.
NP CONTROLLER App Lets You Operate from Your Smartphone or Tablet
Download Yamaha's handy NETWORK PLAYER CONTROLLER app on your smartphone or tablet and use it to browse through music sources, view song information and album art, control over network and other settings. The app features a Music Play function that lets you enjoy music streaming without having to select a different app.
AirPlay® Compatible
The R-N500 network receiver has virtually all of your music playback bases covered. This includes full compatibility with AirPlay—which means you get the convenience of wireless music playback from your Mac®, iPod®, iPhone® or iPad®, as well as from a PC.
FLAC or WAV 192 kHz / 24-bit Audio Playback
Compatibility with FLAC/WAV 192 kHz / 24-bit playback is built in, bringing you sound accuracy with rich expressive power that's only possible from high resolution sources. Yamaha technologies refined over many years ensure high stability and reliability.
Digital Audio Input for TV or Blu-ray Disc™ Player
The R-N500 is equipped for digital audio input—with both optical and coaxial terminals. The optical is for receiving audio from a TV and the coaxial for receiving audio from a Blu-ray Disc player. The audio stays in the digital domain, giving you pure, pristine dynamic sound for all your entertainment sources, from sports and other programs to movies and concerts.
USB Digital Connection for iPod, iPhone, iPad and USB Devices
The R-N500 provides a USB port on the front panel for quick connection of an iPod, iPhone, iPad or USB stick. You have instant access to all your stored music and the digital connection ensures that you hear it with the highest possible sound quality.
ToP-ART Sound Quality Design and Highest Quality Parts
Everything in the R-N500 has been built for maximum performance and high quality. The internal design utilizes simple, direct transmission of the signals—ensuring optimum separation, elimination of noise and distortion and pure sound reproduction. This includes dual independent power supplies for the two sound sources, analog and digital, as well as Yamaha's original ToP-ART (Total Purity Audio Reproduction Technology) and Art Base chassis construction to fully protect audio signals from noise and vibration. Moreover, all parts and materials have been carefully selected and tested, to make sure they are of only the highest quality—so that they all work together to provide the absolute best sound possible.
Pure Direct Mode for Greater Sound Purity
Engaging the Pure Direct switch causes the audio signal to bypass the control circuits for bass and treble, balance and the back buffer amp. This improves sound quality while maintaining full output capacity. Shortening the signal route improves sound purity, helping to reproduce even the most delicate musical nuances.
Continuously Variable Loudness Control
The R-N500 also features a dedicated loudness control on the front panel, which lets you adjust the loudness effect as desired. Separate from the overall volume, this controls the balance of the low and high frequency sounds, providing full tonal range at any volume level, compensating for the natural loss in the human ear of high and low frequencies at soft levels.
Simple Yet Sophisticated Design
With a beautifully simple and unique design inherited directly from Yamaha's Hi-Fi audio components, the R-N500 also boasts an easy-to-operate button layout. The aluminum front panel has a richly textured silver hairline finish. The control knobs are also of the same luxurious construction as used on our top-end models. Both inside and out, everything about the R-N500 demonstrates our commitment to superior design and operability.
ECO Mode and Auto Power Standby
The R-N500 has an ECO mode that reduces power consumption by about 20%* and an Auto Power Standby function that you can set to turn the power off after two, four, eight or 12 hours.
*Compared to power consumption when ECO mode is off (Yamaha measurement).
Other Notable Features
When you place an order with Kraft Music, a confirmation will be sent to you via email, with details of your order, including method of shipping. Once your order leaves our facility, you will receive a shipping confirmation via email, with carrier name and tracking number. You will also be able to find this information by logging into your account. You will need to have an account set up with Kraft Music in order to track your order (versus checking out as a guest).
***Please note, many of the products we sell are shipped in the manufacturer box. These boxes will often have images, model numbers, and other text that indicate the contents inside.
We are not able to ship any orders outside of the US and its territories.
***IMPORTANT NOTE: Please test your item before getting it fully assembled. For example, with digital pianos, unpack the keyboard portion, power it on and test all the keys. It is very rare that these items arrive with defects, but it is still a good idea to test it before spending time getting it fully assembled. Use caution when unpacking your purchase from its box, as some needed parts and pieces may be packed in and amongst the packing material. Be sure to save the carton and all packing materials, in case of a needed return. Do not write on the box and do not discard!
Yamaha Limited 1-Year Warranty: This warranty covers the listed products against defects in materials or workmanship for one (1) year from date of purchase. Click here for details.


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Apr 28 2015
Please Donate to Help Nepal's Earthquake Victims
Give. Just sayin…
Next of course, my attention went to the question of "Where to donate?" I received several emails from charities that I already support that do work in the area. I donated to Save the Children. On Facebook, I noticed a list of vetted charitiesshared by another trusted colleague who works in the nonprofit sector, Peggy Duvette. I shared the article on my wall. This sparked a few other recommendations from friends about where to donate. Knowing that Robert Rosenthal had been working and living in Nepal, I was curious to see if he had any recommendations. He posted a link to this Global Giving Fund, a giving network of charities in Nepal, vetted for impact. In the thread was a comment from Nancy Schwartzsuggesting that we all share this wide and far. So, I shared it on my wall tagging friends, many of whom re-shared the post, and made a donation.
via Please Donate to Help Nepal's Earthquake Victims Now | Beth's Blog.
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