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Wintergreen Essential Oil Properties (Gaultheria fragrantissima Wall)
Wintergreen essential oil is invigorating. It has the odor of strong wintergreen or teaberry plants. It uplifts the spirit and revitalizes the mind with a refreshing aroma that is woody, cooling, and spells sharply of wintergreen.
- 100% Pure, Concentrated, Undiluted
- Therapeutic Quality
- Steam Distilled from Leaves
- Country of Origin: Nepal
Wintergreen Essential Oil Packaged
Amber glass bottle with Euro dropper. Tamper proof safety seal. Shrink wrapped.
Wintergreen Essential Oil Uses and Benefits
Many say that wintergreen is nature's aspirin. Its cortisone effects have been widely documented, and due to its pain relieving capabilities wintergreen is very popular with people suffering from rheumatism, arthritis, gout, chronic pain, carpal tunnel, and more.* Wintergreen helps to reduce spasms and eliminates pain thereby inducing needed relaxation. Wintergreen's other reported therapeutic benefits are deodorant, mental alertness, gallbladder function stimulation, aids in promoting a positive self-image and forgiveness.
See our references at the bottom of this page for additional information.
*This statement has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease.
Wintergreen Essential Oil Suggestions for Blends
Wintergreen essential oil blends well with birch, cajeput, oregano, peppermint, spearmint, thyme, ylang ylang.
Wintergreen can be mixed with oil, cream and skin lotions.
Safety Tips
- Keep away from children. Do not ingest.
- Use cautiously as 99% of wintergreen is salicylate, the main ingredient in aspirin. Never use internally, and use very, very carefully topically. Maximum skin use level is 2.4%.
- Not recommended for usage in persons who take aspirin regularly, are allergic to aspirin, on anticoagulant (blood thinning) medication, major surgery, hemophilia, other bleeding disorders.
- May be harmful if swallowed consult a poison control center or emergency room immediately if accidentally consumed.
- Avoid if pregnant or breastfeeding. Do not use on children or with salicylate sensitivity (often applies in ADD/ADHD).
- If you have had a history of health problems, consult your physician before use.


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Let our beautiful horses and carriages make your wedding day a dream come true. Fulfill your wedding fantasies on your special day with a touch of true enchantment: A formal horse-drawn carriage service!! Your wedding guests will look on in awe as you are swept away from your ceremony with the elegance, luxury, style and romance of an exquisite horse-drawn carriage! We can transport you, and up to nine members of your bridal party, in regal splendor to the wedding ceremony, the reception or both. If the distance between your wedding and reception sites is too far to travel by horse and carriage (over four miles), you can still include this once-in-a-lifetime experience. After the ceremony, you can steal away for a relaxing carriage ride and have some phenomenal photographs taken with the horse and carriage. You can then meet your transportation to the reception. The possibilities are endless!! Your wedding day deserves a captivating entrance!! Be unforgettable!! Let the first class livery service and the large selection of quality carriages provided by Bauer's Buggy Rides make your wedding dreams come true!!
Bauer's Buggy Rides
- Karen or Bob Bauer
- [email protected]
- 356 Chrisner Rd, Ligonier, PA 15658
- http://bauersbuggyrides.com/

subset: commoncrawl


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How To Grow Your Instagram
Instagram has just zoomed out of nowhere hasn't it? I mean one minute ago, it was that photo sharing platform where we all shared very dark grainy photos of our dinner and next minute it's this super fancy place where suddenly a grainy photo of a baked potato just don't cut it anymore.
The thing is, if you still want to instagram your baked potato, you can, but recently especially for bloggers, Instagram is a great platform for you and your brand. I love Instagram at the moment, and personally I love thinking of photos to upload and editing them, it's become a bit of a hobby of mine and well if you're photos are good then you can do really well on Instagram. Obviously don't just set out to get big on Instagram cause well we know that ain't a good thing to focus on, but do it for the enjoyment, which I know blah blah how cringe.
Anyway, over the past few months, I have seen my followers shoot up, and I'm not sure why. I think it's maybe cause I've started doing some stuff differently and I thought I'd share some hints and tips for Instagram so if you are looking to build on it for your blog/brand/business, hopefully this will help :)
Take Clear & Crisp Photos- Bit of a 'duh' one here, but taking clear and in focus pictures will always do so much better on Instagram. I'm still using my 5S for instagram so you don't need the latest phone model to take photos, you could use your camera especially now there is no size constraint on Insta anymore. If you're taking photos on your phone, use your finger to focus on what you want to focus on, also if you are taking a photo that is quite dark, tap on the darkest area and it lightens the whole picture up. Aha...
Edit Your Photos The Same Way- Get yourself a little Instagram theme.. I know, I know. But seriously, look at the most popular Instagram accounts, they are all edited in the same way. Some have borders, check out my gal Sarah for this, or they're all edited with the same filter. I like VSCO cam where I use the filter HB1 for all my photos. Some instagrammer's add in certain pops of colour, I like to add pink in, a popular one is blue. VSCO cam is also good for editing your photos and has a grid so you can see all your recently edited photos together so you can see if they go together. Of course this may seem fiddly and may take time, but it honestly takes me a couple of mins and I don't sit and study my Instagram theme. I know that some people probably do and plan it all, but I'd only do that if you really want to build things up or are a brand. It's up to you how you want to play it and how much time you have.
Post Regularly- Make sure you're posting once/twice a day, I'd recommend between the times of 7:30-10am then between 6-8pm as the best times. Weekends are good as well as weekday evenings such as Monday and Thursday night. If you're quite busy, you can schedule instagrams through the Hootsuite app, you still have to manually publish them but it takes out the faff of editing and thinking 'what do I post tonight?'
Share the love- Comment and like on other people's photos, especially people who have a similar audience/theme to you. Don't be fake though, be genuine, if you like someones photo tell them, if you think someone looks smoking in a selfie tell them, but please check if people have tagged outfit items before commenting to ask where they're from.
Tagging Items- If you're doing an outfit post, or posting beauty products etc.. then tag the brand where they are from. Chances are that the brand will pick it up and may like/follow you. I've sometimes had an influx of followers after a big brand has liked my photo. But don't go tagging lots of irrelevant brands/people.
Post about your Instagram- Sometimes people don't always realise that you're on all social platforms. People say to me on my blog sometimes that they didn't know I had a YouTube, so if you have a blog, share your Instagram on there, and twitter and vice versa. It's a good way to link all your social platforms.
Figuring Out What Works: Look back on your photos and see what gets the most likes. Then tailor your content to those kind of subjects. The most popular photos on my instagram tends to be outfit shots, selfies, pictures of frank and funny quotes :)
Of course like with any social platform, it takes time to build a following but hopefully you will notice a difference with your Instagram and hopefully you'll get what you were hoping for. But please remember that it may seem like having loads of followers are the be all and end all but the reality is that it won't really make you that much happier. I'd focus on maybe posting better photos than how many followers you have. Anyway, I'm probably going to finish this post now to go procrastinate on Instagram, maybe next I could talk about my fave instagrammer's? Let me know yours in the comments!
Btw you can totally follow me here if you like ;)
Posted by Corrie♥ at Friday, November 06, 2015
Labels: How To Get More Followers On Instagram, instagram, Instagram advice, Instagram tips, Lifestyle, social media
All you need to know is I've met Cheryl Cole and she liked my hair.
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Meet David Justin, an Italian-Catholic, height-challenged youth, desperately trying to escape the bonds of sexual repression and adolescent innocence that hold him captive…in the 60s. The journey of enlightenment is both laugh-aloud funny and gut-wrenchingly emotional, as David discovers that coming-of-age is more than just a five-minute roll in the hay culminating in a thirty-second celebratory shower.
The audiobook is filled with universal characters and rip-roaring adventures, including a hilarious spring break trip to Key West, Florida, involving a gay artist, goats, fleas, and…well, you get the picture. Anyone who's old enough to remember the Age of Aquarius, drive-in movies, and network TV should appreciate, no, make that "dig" Escaping Innocence: A Story of Awakening.
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Too Close for Comfort...
Escaping Innocence brought back vivid memories of my youth...embarrassment, shame, guilt, lust, as well as some of the greatest times of my life. The events depicted in this tale of coming-of-age in the sixties were universal, and I'm sure anyone of that era would easily relate to them. Mr. Kohler's narration sparkled with an energy reminiscent of Jean Sheppard, one of the great storytellers of all time (A Christmas Story). His excellent voice talent added greatly to this already wonderful story. I highly recommend this to all baby boomers!
I think the section of the book that most touched me was the relationship between the main character, David Justin, and his black college classmates.
The scene in Captain Tony's bar.
Laugh, laugh, laugh! Also, highly emotion was a scene involving 'Nam.
Looking forward to more from this talented author.
- Bob
Escaping Innocence
- Deedra


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Internet Second Opinions
April 24, 2002
Empowered consumers have long used the Internet to seek medical information. Now hospitals and private companies are filling a new Internet niche: on-line second opinions.
The patient or the patient's physician registers at the Website by providing contact information and a case history. Within a few days, a report with treatment recommendations is sent to the patient's doctor who then discusses the results with the patient. In most cases, the consulting specialist never meets or speaks to the patient.
Among health systems offering on-line second opinions and consultations are prestigious firms such as Cleveland Clinic, Johns Hopkins, the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and others.
For example, Partners HealthCare System in Boston began its On-line Specialty Consultation service in 2002.
- In less than one year, about 300 patients have paid the $600 fee (often out-of-pocket) for second opinions from the health system's nearly 500 specialists.
- The service includes a review of medical records, biopsy samples and images, followed by a written report on treatment recommendations.
- Patients seeking second opinions tend to be chronically ill and facing some major decisions about the course of therapy or a dilemma over the diagnosis.
However, legal and ethical questions remain. For example, can a doctor in Massachusetts provide medical advice to a patient in Nevada? Many state laws were written long before the Internet and do not cover legal questions raised by the practice of telemedicine. Second-opinion services get around this issue by dealing doctor-to-doctor and not directly with patients. And the advice given isn't a diagnosis although the original diagnosis may be questioned and new tests may be recommended.
Another concern is malpractice risks. Some physicians worry that on-line doctors may make medical judgments without complete information.
Source: Sidney Stevens, "Docs-on-the-Net Consults Offer Second Opinions," Physician's Financial News, March 2002.
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Coca-Cola Hellenic announces first quarter 2010 results
Coca-Cola Hellenic achieved free cash flow of 65 million (£56.4 million) in the first quarter of 2010, which is an increase of 56 million (£48.6 million) compared to the same period of last year.
The company sold 431 million unit cases of its beverage products, which is two per cent less than the volume sold the first quarter of 2009.
Net sales revenue of 1.4 billion (£1.2 billion) was achieved, which is stable compared to last year.
The company also achieved an operating profit of 52 million (£45.1 million), which is 26 per cent more than the same quarter last year.
Doros Constantinou, chief executive officer of Coca-Cola Hellenic, said: "We improved profitability in the quarter, primarily reflecting the benefit from earlier cost cutting programmes and the favourable effect of currency movements."
Earlier this week, Coca-Cola Enterprises announced that it achieved a net income of $106 million (£69 million), or 21 cents per diluted common share, in the first quarter of 2010.
Tags | Announcements, coca-cola, News, Non-Alcoholic, soft drinks, usa


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Royal Greek Themed Tampa Wedding Cake
Tampa Wedding Cake | The Cake ZoneWith shades of blue, gold, and petal, Patrice and Garri's Grecian royal themed Tampa wedding was fit for
Vintage Downtown Tampa Wedding | Tampa Wedding Cake
Tampa Wedding Cake | The Cake ZoneAshley and Emilio's Tampa Wedding at The Vault was inspired by "historic Tampa." Their vintage theme with shades
Nik and Erendira's Ca' d'Zan Mansion Wedding | Sarasota Wedding Cake
Sarasota Wedding Cake and Dessert | The Cake ZoneOne of our most memorable Sarasota wedding cakes from 2015 was that of local couple
Kaley and Nick's Vintage St. Petersburg Wedding | St. Pete Wedding Cake
St. Petersburg Wedding Cake | The Cake ZoneKaley and Nick's St. Petersburg wedding at NOVA 535 featured a beautiful 5-tier white More
Universal Wedding Trends – 2014
Two things need no translation anywhere you are in the world: art & love. There are no language barriers when it comes to expressingMore
It's Like Walking in a Winter Wonderland!
While other parts of the country are experiencing snowfall and freezing temperatures, we're enjoying gentle gulf breezes and in some cases, record high heat.More
Have a Holly-Jolly Little Tipsy Cake!
Whoever said eat, drink and be merry sure knew what they were talking about! This holiday season we're churning out more Little
A Labor of Love – The Muscle Behind The Madness
A lot goes into making a showstopper cake. There's the initial consultation and tasting, inspirational sketch, brainstorming session, prototype building and testing,
Oh Baby!
Little fingers, little toes and the anticipation of what's to come never fails to create excitement at The Cake Zone. We've been so blessedMore


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Cementon Micronesia and the Port Authority of Guam, along with local and federal dignitaries, and dignitaries from the Asian region, celebrated the groundbreaking of its state of the art bulk cement terminal adjacent to Golf Pier at the Port of Guam.
With up to 26,000t of storage capacity provided through four separate silos and distributed through four efficient truck discharge lanes, Cementon Micronesia will have the ability to provide multiple types of cement and cementitious materials to meet all civilian and military requirements for these products. Cementon Micronesia's cement terminal is a much needed addition to the Port Authority's current 10,000t cement capacity provided by the current bulk cement supplier's sole silo.
Cementon Micronesia's cement terminal more than triples the total storage capacity presently available on Guam and will ensure that cement shortages on Guam are a thing of the past.
Speaking of the new terminal, John Perez, Manager of Cementon Micronesia said: "We are pleased to be a part of the solution to Guam's need for reliable supply of cement. This modern bulk cement terminal is extremely important not only to the economic buildup of our island and our region but also to the military's plans to further secure the interests of our nation."
"We are proud to be associated with the Port Authority of Guam and the Guam business community" he added.
This bulk cement terminal represents an important new phase in the direction of the Port Authority's vision and of its master plan, and establishes a long-term relationship between the Port and Cementon Micronesia. The new bulk cement terminal is expected to become operational during the third quarter, 2010 Published under Cement News


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Well, not quite as the writers of Family Guy so sarcastically wrote into one episode.
The date almost slipped my mind.
I suggest a meal at the Peking Duck for a fuller, bolder experience.
Nearly 20 years later it seems so far away, so distant. But not at all forgotten. At least not for me. Talking with my Chinese friends in Beijing, it also seems so irrelevant, something they would rather not acknowledge let alone dwell upon. I only really began to understand the Chinese perspective on the tragedy five years ago when I held an extensive conversation with an actual demonstrator.
His words sounded so strange to me. He had gone to demonstrate, to actively protest against his government, and now he looks upon the massacre as a practical and necessary business decision. Painful to make at the time but ultimately good for the country. And I believe it's safe to say that his opinion is in line with that of most young Chinese people today. There is almost a sense of gratitude for what the government did, saving them from the anarchy that consumed Russia in its rush to democratize. Preserving the harmony that allowed the economic miracle to rise to undreamed of height. Surely it was all for the best, and your heart has to go out to the poor officials forced to make such a difficult decision.
I understand his argument, and I understand why my Chinese colleagues across the board tow the line on this topic. Many months ago I gave up hope of having a rational discussion with them on topics like this. The last time I tried was about two weeks ago, when I argued with a beloved colleague about whether Mao had been good for China or bad. When I recited the litany of his sins, which are nearly as bountiful as Hitler's, I got the tape recorded message that still, he was good for China. You know, seventy percent and all that. At least now I understand why she says that.
Read the whole thing.
A well written, balanced and thoughtful post regarding this pivotal moment in 20th century history. It is a sense of denial, that "this didn't happen" or a "we know nothing about this" claim, but rather a somewhat interesting perspective holding to the line that while it was a massacre, it was a necessary action in an effort to preserve social harmony, stability and economic progress/development. The apparent support among many for the actions of the CCP during this time provides a snap-shot of contemporary Chinese attitudes towards their government. While they may not be universally liked and hardly loved, it could be easily argued that the CCP is the guardian of stability, holder of moral authority and retain the respect of many segments of the Mainland population. I would argue that the support received from large segments of the population is something not understood by the general masses of the West.
Tags: attitude, beijing, ccp, tiananmen square
Unaelievbble how well-written and informative this was.
Fascinating post, thank you! Some of these examples seem to fit within capitalism and our system here in the US – Bittman's comment that we used to grow so many of our vegetables, ourselves, is a case in point. What the new, urban agriculture does not fit well with is large-scale, mono-crop mega farms. I find it fascinating how urban agriculture–both in the United States and in Cuba–combines very modern, innovative technologies with centuries-old practices of personal and communal organic gardening.
Mere increase in grade pay of examiners would be an eyewash as the increased salary would not be substantial. Designations should be changed such that nobody feels that it is below their dignity to perform examination of patent applications.
Happy Blogaversary!! Congrats to all the previous winners! Beautiful candy! What a way to honor a friend of a friend! Thanks for the chance to win! I am on my way to give Lyndall a card!


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Ryze Build Guide by BigMoss
Not Updated For Current Season
This guide has not yet been updated for the current season. Please keep this in mind while reading. You can see the most recently updated guides on the browse guides page.
Thank You!
Your votes and comments encourage our guide authors to continue
creating helpful guides for the League of Legends community.
Ryze Build
Ability Sequence
Not Updated For Current Season
The masteries shown here are not yet updated for the current season, the guide author needs to set up the new masteries. As such, they will be different than the masteries you see in-game.
How to build
There is no way how to tell what you should buil first, but I will try to tell you. First you should to buy Boots of Speed, 2 Healt Potions and 1 Mana potion. Do not use your abilities to kill kreeps jet. Second think to buy is Tear of the Goddess. After you buy this thing you have to use your abilities as much as you can, because each use of ability will give you 4 mana to your max mana, so its very important to do this. Its 1000 mana on max and thats something. After that you have to realize against who are you fighting, if its a magic or damage, Then you will decice if its better to buy first Banshees Veil or Frozen Heart. After that you will buy Archangels staff and Rod of Ages and the last item Rabadons Deathcap. You will be unstoppable :-D GLHF
Dont know why but Spellwamp and Ability power are not corect its Spellwamp 9% and Ability more that 500
Remember when you need to survive use your ULTI it will give you 25% Spellwamp :-) it has only 30s CD
Best way how to play this hero is to fire on the enemy as much as you can alwayse rune prison then Spell Flux Overload. youse these 3 as much as you can. or just harm them with Overload :-) Have fun everything else will come to you by experience.


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Quick Details
- Place of Origin: Chongqing, China (Mainland)
- Brand Name: Haichen Bimetal
- Model Number: wss
- Usage: Industrial
- Theory: Temperature Sensor
- Thermal response time: ≤40S
- Dial nominal diameter: 60,100,150
- Accuracy: 1.0,1.5
- Protection class: IP55
- Angle adjust error: should not exceed the 1.0%
- Temperature range: -80-+40 °C, 0-500 °C
- Relative humidity: 5-100%
- Material: stainless steel
- Diameter of watchcase: 100mm,150mm
- Location of stem: Centre back
Packaging & Delivery
|Packaging Details
|standard carton or wooden case
|Delivery Time
|15 days after confirmed
WSS Series Adjustable Stainless Steel Industrial Bimetal Cooking Thermometer
WSS series industrial bimetallic thermometers are one kind of field inspection instruments that can be measured the temperature of middle and low range. It can be directly measured the temperature of gas and liquid. Widely used in petroleum, chemistry, shipping, machinery, medicine, electric power etc., it's a substituted products of the glass thermometers. Industrial bimetallic thermometers are in compliance with national specialized standard ZBN11008-88.
Working principles
Bimetallic thermometers-sensing element changes its shape with the temperature. It drives the needle to rotate and measure the temperature of measured medium.
Chemical process, petroleum and food industry
Facility management
For corrosive temperature media.
1. it can derectly display the temperature, more Intuitive and convenient.
2. firm in structure, Vibration resistance and not easy to be damaged.
3. Different Specifications, various installation ways and multiple material of protection tube for you to choose.
Main technical data
- Measuring range:-80~+500°C;
- Accuracy grade: 1.0, 1.5 (If select grade 1.0, please specify)
- Thermal response time: ≤40s;
- Nominal pressure: ≤6.4Mpa;
- Immersion length: 75~2000mm;
- Protective tube material: 1Cr18Ni9i (If need other material, please specify);
- Contact capacity: 10VA (No induction load);
- Maximum operating current: 1A
- Maximum operating voltage: 220v
- Ambient temperature: -20~+60°C
Assure accurate measurement, the immersion length of bimetallic thermometers must be more than the length of sensing element (usually immersion length is more than 75mm).
Before use, please check the dates of bimetallic thermometers if they exceed the assurance time (18months). If they are overdue, need to retest.
All kinds of bimetallic thermometers are not suitable to measure the temperature of open container. Bimetallic thermometers with contact point are not suitable for using in the strong vibration place.
In the installation procedure, please force on hexagonal part to screw, don't turn the indicator head.
If measuring quick flow or strong corrosives medium, please use protective tube.
Transportation and storage:
The protective tube of bimetallic thermometers should avoid vibration and winding in the transportation and storage procedure.
Pls contace me for further information if you're interested in our products.


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Panaji: As the sun set over the lazy Mandovi, a group of large migratory birds fluttered across the crimson evening skies. Suddenly, they changed directions in perfect harmony and flew just along the surface of Panjim's beautiful river.
My cameraperson instinctively spotted a great shot and panned his camera as the birds flew over the calm waters. And almost simultaneously, I spotted my one defining frame: the birds flying right past a cruise-turned-gambling den named Casino Carnival.
Perhaps there couldn't have been a more telling image to describe the loot in Goa. All you need to do is replace the birds by a motley crowd of politicians perceived to be opportunistic and power-hungry, who now stand accused of turning their government into a casino and leaving governance to the whims and fancies of a dozen odd greedy, black-mailing gamblers.
That said, a carnival lasts only for a few days. The suspected plundering in Goa had continued for much too long. An alleged Rs 25,000 illegal mining scam, a controversial Regional Plan, key ministries like Mining, Health and PWD that stood accused of systematized corruption and an overall paralysis in governance. A depressing narrative that's plagued the state for over 5 years.
I have covered assembly elections in several states and nowhere else have I ever sensed such a strong anti-incumbency wave on the ground as I did in Goa. And hence, the drubbing the BJP gave the Congress was largely expected.
Enter a public restroom in Panjim and the usher - with just the gentlest of provocation - goes on a vicious diatribe against the ruling Congress-NCP alliance. Sit in a Goan drawing room and they let loose the choicest of abuses in Konkani against the government. A few children died in a bus accident in Aldona in North Goa. Precious lives were lost because of the driver's error. And locals were so angry against their Congress MLA for not completing a bridge in the area, that they even refused to allow CM Digambar Kamat to visit the site. Or for that matter, a group of drivers who complain how they weren't able to secure even petty government jobs as they were all up for sale. They joke on how they want to gift 9 eggs to a particular MLA - one for each seat the Congress won.
"For years now, the people of Goa have been opposing the misrule and poor governance. There have been tens of protests. But this government simply turned a blind eye as if nothing had ever happened. They took Goa for granted," explains Dr Oscar Rebello, a physician and a leading activist in Goa.
In fact, Goa can be an apt case study to understand how to commit political hara-kiri and give a walk-over to one's opponent. As if allegations of scams and corruption against top cabinet ministers weren't distressing enough, the Congress party seemed to compliment their alleged misdeeds by doling out 12 tickets to family members of 5 of its most influential and powerful leaders. That's 12 out of the 40 seats - 30% of seats - the alliance was contesting.
The BJP rightly sensed the pulse of the people and screamed "family raj" and "nepotism." Their intelligence insulted and challenged, the Goan voter retaliated with vengeance: a record 82 % turnout on voting day and the writing on the wall was clear. Come counting day and the decimation was complete. Congress was able to win only 4 of these 12 "family" seats and ended with an embarrassingly paltry total of only 9 out of 40 seats.
It wasn't that the BJP had put up brilliant candidates. Or promised the moon to Goa. What did the Congress in was over-confidence that bordered and often crossed into arrogance. In an interview with Kamat, I asked him was it so hard to find deserving candidates that go beyond family members of MLAs and he said, "If some people who are working in their constituencies have won the confidence of people and if they deserve a ticket and can win the seat, why should the party see whose son or daughter they are? Ultimately this is a democracy. The people have to be blamed for whom they elect. You can't blame the party or the chief minister."
Or take the case of how sitting MLAs have increased their wealth by stupendously unbelievable amounts and turned crorepatis several times over. Former chief minister and speaker Pratapsingh Rane from the Congress, nonchalantly told me, "No, no. It's just inflation. You give a beggar Re 1 today and he will throw it back and demand Rs 10."
As they say, when in Goa, leave logic at home!
But the real game-changer was the disenchantment of the Christian voters, who deserted the Congress lock, stock and barrel. In South Goa - particularly the Christian belt of Salcette - which for the first time was swept by the BJP.
"They thought Christians are munkars which means 'tenant' in Konkani. As if we were blind and electorally always available for the Congress, irrespective of how corrupt they were or how they had performed," explained Juino De Souza.
This tectonic shift in voting patterns also saw another first. The Church - perceived to be pro-Congress - was actively sermonising to vote against the party. A far cry from 2002, after the Gujarat riots, when the Church took an anti-BJP stance. This time the mantra was 'vote against corruption'. Even several Muslim groups, fell short of asking their community to vote for the BJP, but publicly advertised to vote against the Congress.
Forget the above. It's an old strategy in war where it is said that half the battle is won by studying the enemy closely. A record number of Christians had come forward seeking tickets from the BJP which ultimately was supporting or fielding Christians in as many as 35% of the 40 seats. Had the Congress had one ear -and both feet - to the ground, this could have been a good indicator to gather the mood in the minority community. But the Congress failed on this count too.
They all seemed to be in la-la land.
Days before Goa went to the polls, I asked Kamat if he would be the next Chief Minister of Goa. "That only God and Sonia Gandhi know," Kamat said almost apologetically in a single breath, leaving his fate to different forms of 'divinity'.
Well, Mr Kamat, the people of Goa have spoken.
Let's not disturb God. And Sonia Gandhi.
(The author is the Associate Bureau Chief, Mumbai for NDTV 24X7)


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Hot Movie Takes – "Downsizing" splits Toronto
Hot Movie Takes – "Downsizing" splits Toronto
©by Leo Adam Bga, Author of "Alexander Payne: His Journey in Film"
Alexander Payne has given the world something unexpected from him with his new film "Downsizing." So far, after playing three of the world's most prestigious festivals, the cinema community is decidedly split about this epic sci-fi dramedy from a writer-director heretofore known for his small human satires. After being almost uniformly hailed in Venice, the film elicited divided responses in Telluride and now in Toronto, and it seems most reviewers who've seen it fall into either love it or hate it camps. Some reviewers are practically ecstatic about the film and praising Payne for his brave ambition in departing from what we've come to expect. Others are going out of their way to damn the film and take Payne to task for biting off more than he could chew. If you read enough of the negative reviews, and there are plenty of them, the critics are on the one hand admiring the fact that he dared to upset expectations and chastising him for the temerity to thing big and visionary.
All I know having only read the script and interviewed Payne and a good chunk of his creative team is that the screenplay I saw was brilliant. I can't speak to the final shooting script and how it was executed until I see the film. I suspect I'll like what I see but then again, who knows. It's just an opinion and so much of that is influenced by attitudes, tastes and, there we go again, expectations. People will disagree, but "Downsizing" finds itself in a precarious position now having gone from Paramounts darling project with glowing praise, awards predictions and big box office written all over it to very much an unsure thing that just might flop.
What all this means, if anything, for how Paramount might market and release the picture differently now and how general audiences might perceive and therefore respond to it differently now is anybody's guess. What this presages as far as awards season is also hard to predict. But it does appear that the studio and the filmmaker have been taken aback by this sharply divided reception to "Downsizing." I haven't had a chance yet to speak with Payne about it, but I hope to do so soon. Stay tuned.
Here are three reviews that reflect the good, the bad and the ugly response to the film.
There is a moment in a certain type of great film when you realize you have no idea what is going to happen next, and you cannot wait to find out. Most films written by Charlie Kaufman have a moment like this. So does Downsizing, the wise and wondrous new film from director Alexander Payne, a somewhat unlikely suspect for such unpredictability. His movies (Election, Nebraska) do often have surprising flights of creative fancy in their third act (think the wallet-stealing sequence in Sideways), but none is as persistently inventive and creatively liberated as Downsizing, which starts out as sci-fi comedy, ends as a heartwarming social fable, and squarely hits a handful of different genres in between.
Downsizing is set in a near-future in which miniaturization technology has become cost-effective and popular. There are myriad reasons to "get small," we are told. Some people are doing it to improve their lives, others see it as a way to help the environment by reducing their carbon footprint, and some people are just trying to save money. It's the latter reason that inspires Paul (Matt Damon, effective here in "everyman" mode) and Audrey Safranek (Kristen Wiig) to give up their small life in Omaha for an even tinier one. The painfully average couple are an embodiment of the shrinking middle class. Paul wanted to be a doctor, but he quit medical school when his mother fell ill. Now, he's an occupational therapist at Omaha Steaks, where he earns a meager income, and he and his wife live in the modest home he grew up in.
Their money will go farther in Leisure Land, one of many "micro-communities" popping up all over the world. In fact, their modest $150,000 in assets will make them multi-millionaires, and the loneliness of life without their old friends and family seems like a small price to pay for living in a utopia. After a quick tour, Paul and Audrey decide to take the tiny plunge before they can talk themselves out of it.
From this set-up, there is a clear and obvious path forward – their perfect life turns dystopian, and Leisure Land reveals a dark underbelly – but Payne and his co-writer refuse the easy way out. It's almost as if it never occurred to them. Downsizing is a film of many surprises, from celebrity cameos and abrupt departures for seemingly important characters to the probing, philosophical soul that informs each of the film's radical plot developments True, the film's heroes find their new life to be not all that was promised, but where it goes from there will surprise even the most accomplished twist-guesser.
The film's stream-of-consciousness plotting would be bad medicine if Downsizing weren't also hilariously funny. There are plenty of sight gags, involving large (that is, normal-sized) items that have made their way into Paul and Audrey's miniature world, including enormous flowers, giant jewelry, and a pack of Saltines that could feed a family for a week. Payne also packs his film full of extraordinarily funny people, from Christoph Waltz and Udo Kier as Eurotrash neighbors to Hong Chau, a former Vietnamese freedom fighter who, in one gut-busting scene, enumerates the eight different ways Americans have sex. If there is any justice, the phrase "love f**k" will enter our lexicon.
So if you want to simply laugh at Downsizing, you can. In fact, the film changes lanes so many times that just sitting back and enjoying the wild ride is a perfectly reasonable strategy. Eventually, however, it will ask more of you. The through line that runs beneath the gags and wild plot is a soul-searching character hyper-attuned to our apocalyptic times. The miniaturization process is originally discovered in the search for a solution to the world's unsustainable population growth, and Downsizing follows this idea down its natural path, shifting into a journey of exploration of how best to live in an age when of human self-destruction and spiritual indifference. There are echoes of I Heart Huckabees and the recent Beatriz at Dinner in its ethical questions and earnest probings. At its simplest, Downsizing is simply an exploration of what it means to be good in trying times, a worthy endeavor even if the final product is not your tiny cup of tea.
TIFF Movie Review: Downsizing
Downsizing has a tonal problem in that the film we're watching in the first act is drastically different than the one we watch in the second, which is drastically different than that of the third. At the very least, we can never fault director Alexander Payne on the scope of his vision, as he attempts to tackle a grab bag of topics and themes that all boil down to the idea of the cyclical destructive nature of humankind and the beauty and connection that is to be found amid it all. Even when the world is ending due to man-made disasters, there's still room to be kind and decent and maybe even fall in love while finding out who you are.
In the not so distant future of Payne's latest film Downsizing, the world is beginning to visualize the threats to the environment that up till now had benn blissfully ignored. In order to counteract this, a scientist creates a magical solution where people can chose to be shrunken to help cut down on consumption and natural resources. What began as a novel concept soon turns into a phenomenon as more and more people are lining up be to become small, transporting themselves to different portions of the world where small communities have been set up. Paul Safranek (Matt Damon) and his wife Audrey (Kristin Wiig) think that they too are ready to leave the normal world behind and embark on this great new adventure together. Granted the opportunity to live in luxury opposed to barely being able to keep up with the house they have now, it sounds alluring to the couple. However, cold feet kicks in for Audrey and Paul is left to embark on this journey more alone than he's even been before.
It's a mouthful of a movie to explain but one that, if you're able to get over the hiccups along the way, are well worth it for the ultimate payoff. Beginning (in easily the most dragged out portion of the film) as mid-life crisis film, transitioning into something more stylish and science-fiction geared and then melting away into something romantic, globe trotting and meditative on the meaning of life and our need to contextualize everything and prove that there's a reason for why our lives take the dips and turns that they do, the film never lands on just what it's trying to accomplish. Astoundingly, it's through that indecisiveness that we're given some of the films most cherished aspects.
The single greatest joy of the movie is the introduction and inclusion of Hong Chau's Ngoc Lan Tran, a humanitarian who was shrunk against her will and who stowed away in a TV box to the U.S. to escape persecution. She also lost her leg and it's through her faulty prosthetic that she and Paul strike up a temperamental bond. Up until her joining the narrative the film had been funny, if a touch icy, happy to tell a story that shouts from the rafters that our environment is doomed while also making us laugh with visual sight gags such as a miniaturized Laura Dern in a bubble bath. With Chau's utterly winsome and earnest portrayal the film gains the heart it had previously been devoid of, proving to be the missing link in a film that so desperately needed some warmth to be greater than a film that's applauded on concept alone.
As mentioned, the film does drag in moments with the first act taking the longest due to all of the set up and the third taking what feels like a prolonged detour but for the most part Payne and co., have created a film that feels both uniquely timely while simultaneously feeling out the past with an atmosphere that hints to both Pleasantville and Being John Malkovich. Surreal, initially a little off putting, but determined in telling a story that's both intriguing and significant, Downsizing divisively marches to it's own beat.
Matt Damon proves he's at his best when he's playing decent, albeit, ordinary men while Christoph Waltz is an utter joy as Paul's worldly neighbor Dusan. Of the performances though, again it's Chau as Ngoc's that really wins the day and the chemistry between the entire cast is delightful entertaining as their difference temperaments bounce off of one another with ease. Wiig is the only one who the script truly disservices, which is a sham, considering how well she and Damon's comedic timing played against each other.
There are, admittedly, moments when the CGI is a little out of it's depth, but the set design makes up for it by making sure to keep a sense of artificiality even when they're only surrounded by people who've also gone through the procedure. Similarly, the cinematography by Phedon Papamichael is gorgeously rendered, particularly at the end as the film drives home just how wonderfully beautiful and vast our planet is.
Written by Payne and Jim Taylor, the two make sure to shine a light on the discrepancy of being offered to live in a world worry free where money isn't an issue and you can have anything your heart desires. Like most things in life, this is focused on the privileged, with anyone else who doesn't fit into the demo (minority groups and the disenfranchised) are still pushed to the outskirts of their community. The only thing that's changed about their lives is they've gotten smaller. The films tackling of climate change is perhaps a touch on the nose but it makes sense within the context of the film where humans rush to find away to preserve life on a planet they've helped destroy.
A film that thinks big while keying in on the smaller but grander moments in life, Downsizing is messy, inconsistent and noisy in its many messages, but there's something so refreshingly heartfelt about it all. A reminder that humans are always evolving, even when they don't reflect, and that that evolution can happen both on the micro and macro scale.
by Brian Tallerico
September 10, 2017
Alexander Payne's latest finishes its fall festival trifecta after premiering at Venice and Telluride while a pair of "smaller" films actually feel like more complete, well-considered efforts, despite their own flaws. "Downsizing" has already become one of the most divisive films at the Toronto International Film Festival this year, producing responses all across the board. I know a few critics who consider it one of Payne's best, but more seem to fall into the "ambitious disappointment" camp, and I may be even a step below that group. It's easily Payne's worst film, a work that's woefully misguided, casually racist, thematically incomplete, and tries to ride on a high concept until a ham-fisted message arrives in the final act to really drive the hypocrisy home.
The concept of "Downsizing" is the kind of thing with which someone like Charlie Kaufman could have worked wonders. As human consumption has essentially destroyed our planet, a group of scientists determines that the only way to reverse the trajectory of time is to minimize not only the waste of our species but our actual size. Think about how much less damage we would do to the planet if we were only a fraction of the size we are now. Imagine how far your dollar could go when 1,000 square foot house looks much, much bigger. Everyone could have a mansion, and produce a negligible amount of planet-damaging waste.
For Paul (Matt Damon) and his wife Audrey (Kristen Wiig), the allure of what has been just outside of their reach becoming available to them through downsizing is too much to ignore. What could possibly go wrong? Of course, the journey to the small life doesn't go exactly as planned, while Christoph Waltz, Jason Sudeikis, Hong Chau, and cameos from Neil Patrick Harris and Laura Dern fill out an undeniably talented cast. Once again, Payne wants to examine the current state of America through a satirical, exaggerated lens.
The problem this time is that I don't think he knows what he's looking at. There are plenty of questions in "Downsizing." How do we literally simplify our lives? What should we value? How can one person make a minor difference against major problems? However, none of these are interestingly examined beyond the superficial. Instead, Payne meanders through a surprisingly unfunny narrative about a wanderer, amplified by Damon's least interesting performance in a very long time. The problem is that Paul needs to be either a Chauncey Billups-esque observer or something more exaggerated than the blank slate Damon presents. There's no character here, and not even in an interesting, non-character way. The idea that this guy just bounces from decision to decision, never making long-term ones, feels underdeveloped thematically, and just leaves us with a film that's as unfocused as its protagonist.
Part of the tonal dilemma presented by "Downsizing" is the bad taste left in the mouth by Payne's willingness not only to present a remarkable degree of White Savior Complex but then dive headfirst into casual racism in the portrayal of a Vietnamese dissident whose broken English is clearly being played for laughs. Payne has been accused of condescension to his "less refined," Midwestern characters before but I never felt it as strongly as I did here. It feels like there was a version of "Downsizing" that was broader, in which everyone felt satirical, but then certain characters were softened, leaving only a few stereotypes to stand out and offend, along with an overriding sense of superiority from the filmmaker. Throughout "Downsizing," I kept asking myself what the point of all of this was, never engaged by its hodgepodge of themes. I wish the filmmakers had asked that question too.
Hot Movie Takes: Three generations of Omaha film directors – Joan Micklin Silver, Alexander Payne, Nik Fackler
Hot Movie Takes: Three generations of Omaha film directors – Joan Micklin Silver, Alexander Payne, Nik Fackler
©by Leo Adam Bga, Author of "Alexander Payne: His Journey in Film"
Three filmmakers from Omaha who've made impressive marks in cinema as writer-directors represent three distinct generations but their work shares a strong humanistic and comedic bent:
Joan Micklin Silver
Alexander Payne
Nik Fackler
You may not know her name or her films, but Joan Micklin Silver is arguably the most important filmmaker to ever come out of Nebraska. Her feature debut "Hester Street" (1975) was something of a phenomenon in its time and it still resonates today because of how it established her in the film industry and helped open doors for other women directors in Hollywood.
Dorothy Arzner was a studio director in the early talkies era and then years went by before another woman filmmaker got the chance to direct. Actress Ida Lupino directed a small but telling batch of features from 1949 through the mid-1950s and became a busy television director. Lupino helmed the original "Twilight Zone's" classic episode, "The Masks." The last feature she directed "The Trouble with Angels" was a hit. Her subsequent directing was back in television for a large variety of episodic shows. But it was years before other women followed Lupino as studio directors and Elaine May and Joan Micklin Silver led that fledgling movement. They ushered in an era when more women directors began working in the mainstream: Lee Grant, Penelope Spheeris, Amy Heckerling, Barbra Streisand, Kathryn Bigelow. Hundreds more have followed.
Silver first came to the industry's attention with her original story about the stateside struggles of wives of American POWs in Vietnam. No studio would let her direct and the story ended up in the hands of old Hollywood hand Mark Robson, who'd made some very successful pictures, and he brought in future director James Bridges to work on the script with her. Silver was not happy with the changes made to the story and though the screenplay bears her and Bridges' names, she largely disowns the resulting shooting script and the movie Robson made from it, which was released under the title "Limbo" in 1972. However, Robson knew how much she wanted to direct and did something unheard of then: he invited her to be on set to observe the entire shoot and be privy to his interactions with cast, crew, producers, et cetera. She may have also had access to pre- and post-production elements. This experience allowed her an intimate study of how a major feature film production gets made. This, along with the films she'd been keenly watching since falling in love with cinema at the Dundee Theatre in Omaha, was her film school. Only a couple years after "Limbo" Silver was shopping around another script she penned, this one an adaptation of a novella about the Jewish immigrant experience in early 20th century America that was part of her own family's heritage. The focus was on New York City's Lower East Side and the travails of a young woman trying to reconcile the ways of the Old Country with the new ways of America. Jake has come ahead to America and sends for his wife, Gitl, and their son. Gitl is little more than chattel to Jake and she finds herself stifled by social, cultural, economic pressures. Much to Jake's surprise, she rebels. Silver titled the story "Hester Street" and again no studio wanted her to direct and she was not interested in giving control of her script to another filmmaker. To be fair to the studios, on the surface the project did have a lot going against it. For starters, it was a heavily ethnic period piece that Silver saw as a black and white film. Indefensibly though, while Hollywood by that time was giving all sorts of untested new directors opportunities to direct, it wasn't affording the same opportunities to women.
Silver and her late husband Raphael Silver, who was in real estate then, raised the money themselves and made the film independently. Her beautifully evocative, detailed work looked like it cost ten times her minuscule budget. She and Raphael shopped the finished film around and, you guessed it, still no takers. That's when the couple released it themselves by road showing the film at individual theaters with whom they directly negotiated terms. And then a funny thing happened. "Hester Street" started catching on and as word of mouth grew, bookings picked up, not just in Eastern art cinemas but coast to coast in both art and select commercial theaters. Before they knew it, the Silvers had a not so minor hit on their hands considering the less than half a million dollars it took to make it. National critics warmly reviewed the picture. The story's feminist themes in combination with the film having been written and directed by a woman made it and Silver darlings of the Women's Liberation Movement. The film even got the attention of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, as the film's then unknown female lead, Carol Kane, earned a Best Actress nomination.
Years later "Hester Street" was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry by the United States Library of Congress as a "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant" work. In designating the film for inclusion, the Library of Congress noted historians have praised the film's "accuracy of detail and sensitivity to the challenges immigrants faced during their acculturation process in its portrait of Eastern European Jewish life in America."
Silver is now writing a book about the making of "Hester Street," which is also being adapted into a stage musical the adapters hope to bring to Broadway. A biography of Silver is also in the works.
The success of "Hester Street" allowed Silver to make a number of feature films over the next decade and a half, some with studios and some independently, including "Between the Lines," "Chilly Scenes of Winter," "Crossing Delancey" and "Loverboy" as well as some notable made for TV movies such as "Bernice Bobs Her Hair" and "Finnegan Begin Again." These films show her deft touch with romantic comedies. I've always thought of her work as on par with that of the great Ernest Lubitsch in its sophisticated handling of male-female relationships and entanglements.
I recently saw "Finnegan Begin Again" for the first time and now I see what all the fuss was about for this 1985 HBO movie starring Mary Tyler Moore, Robert Preston, Sam Waterston and Silvia Sydney. It's a thoroughly delightful, mature and surprising dramedy that features perhaps the two best screen performances by Moore and Preston, which is saying a lot. Waterston goes against type here and is outstanding. Sidney never lost her acting chops and even here, in her mid-70s, she's very full in her performance. A very young Giancarlo Espositio has a small but showy part. Watch for my separate Hot Movie Takes post about the movie.
During the 1990s and on through 2003, Silver directed several more feature and television movies, "Big Girls Don't Cry, They Get Even," "A Private Matter" and "In the Presence of Mine Enemies" among them. The tlater two made for cable movies are straight dramas, which she also handled with a sure touch. I just saw "A Private Matter" for the first time and it is a searing true-life tale about a young American married couple with kids who become the center of the thalidomide scandal and tragedy. Sissy Spacek and Aidan Quinn portray Sherri and Bob Finkbine, who discover that the fetus Sherri is carrying will likely be born severely deformed due to the effects of the then widely prescribed drug thalidomide. When their intent to terminate the pregnancy goes public, it sets off a firestorm of controversy that nearly destroys them. In the midst of the medical deliberations, legal wrangling and media stalkings, the couple learn how widespread abortions are and how secret they're kept. Silver brilliantly contrasts sunny, placid 1960s suburban family life with the dark underside of hypocrisy, greed, fear and hate that surface when issues of morality get inflamed. In this case and cases like it, what should be a private matter becomes a public controversy and the people involved are persecuted for following their own conscience. Spacek delivers a great performance as Sherri and I don't think Quinn has ever been better as Bob. Estelle Parsons is excellent as Sherri's mother. William H. Macy has a small but effective turn as a psychiatrist.
More recently, Silver had been working on some documentary projects that never came to fruition. And then her longtime life and professional partner, Raphael, died. Now in her early 80s, she's seemingly more focused on archiving her work and sharing her experiences as a woman trying to shatter the American film industry's glass ceiling.
Her maverick ways and superb films are highly regarded and yet she remains almost unknown in her own hometown, which both saddens and baffles me. The lack of recognition for her here is a real shame, too, because she's one of the great creatives this place has ever produced and her exquisite films stand the test of time. I believe Alexander Payne, who is her junior by some 26 years, is one of the great American filmmakers to have emerged in the last half-century and I regard the best of Silver's films on a par with his. And yet her name and work are not nearly as well known, which reminds us that even after all this time women filmmakers are still not accorded the same respect as their male counterparts. Even in their shared hometown, Payne is celebrated but not Silver. I'd like to do something to change that.
When Silver was eying a career in film starting in the late 1960s-early 1970s, the old studio contract system was dismantled and the New Hollywood hot shots from television and film schools were all the rage. Even guys who'd never directed anything were getting their shot at studio features. Women were still left out of the equation but for the rare exception like Silver, and even then it took her battering on the walls before she was reluctantly let in to that privileged Old Boys Network. Her path to breaking in was to learn her writing and directing chops in theater and television. It was her ability to write that got her a seat at the table if not at the head of the table. She had to make her own way the hard way. She's lived long enough to see progress, if not enough yet, for women directors to now be almost commonplace.
Alexander Payne's cinephile development came right in the middle of the New Hollywood revolution and his entrance into the industry happened right on the wave of the indie film explosion. But like Silver before him, there was no visible Hollywood presence around him when he was coming of age here as a cineaste. No one was making anything like grade A feature films locally. The industry was remote and disconnected from places like Nebraska. His entry into the industry was his student thesis film. But it wasn't until he wrote "Citizen Ruth" and got financing for it that he arrived.
Dan Mirvish is another Omahan from the same generation as Payne whose directorial efforts bear discussion. He's actually been the most ingenious in pulling projects together and getting them seen. None of his films have yet crossed over in the way that Silver's, Payne's and Fackler's have, but he and his work are never less than interesting. He, too, is a writer-director.
A generation later, Nik Fackler came of age when the new crop of filmmakers were coming from film schools as well as the worlds of commercials and music videos. But just as Silver and Payne used their writing talents to get their feet in the door and their first films made, so did Fackler. His script for "Lovely, Still" was good enough to attract a pair of Oscar-winning legends in Martin Landau and Ellen Burstyn. He directed those Actors Studio stalwarts when he was in his early 20s. He was much younger than Payne and Silver were when they directed their first films but he had the advantage of having directed several short films and music videos as his film education. He also had the advantage of having seen a fellow Omaha native in Payne enjoy breakout success. But where Payne and Silver followed up their debut feature films with more projects that further propelled their careers, Fackler did not, It's been nearly a decade since "Lovely, Still" and many of us are eager to see if Fackler can recapture the magic he found so early.
I find it interesting that Fackler, Payne and Silver all tackled tough subjects for their first features:
Alzheimer's in Fackler's "Lovely, Still"
Abortion in Payne's "Citizen Ruth"
Jewish immigrant experience in "Hester Street"
Whereas Payne and Fackler have made most of their films in Nebraska, Silver, despite a desire to do so, has never shot here. There's still time.
These three are not the only Nebraskans who've done meritorious work as directors, but they are in many ways the most emblematic of their times.
Wouldn't it be fun to get Silver, Payne and Fackler on the same panel to discuss their adventures in filmmaking? I think so.
Meanwhile. a special screening of "Lovely, Still" in memory of Martin Landau is happening at Film Streams on Thursday, Oct. 12. Payne's "Downsizing" is playing festivals in advance of its Dec. 22 national release. And Silver's films can be found via different platforms, though a retrospective of her work here is long overdue.
Hot Movie Takes: The reviews are in and 'Downsizing' is the talk of the movie world
Hot Movie Takes – Alexander Payne and Mike Nichols
Hot Movie Takes – Alexander Payne and Mike Nichols
@By Leo Adam Biga, Author of "Alexander Payne: His Journey in Film"
Comparing artists, in this case film directors, is a hazardous business, but that isn't stopping me from doing it. As someone who thinks and writes a lot about writer-director Alexander Payne, I sometimes search for resonance between his work and that of other filmmakers. When first exposed to his satirical cinema I was immediately reminded of Billy Wilder. Later, I saw parallels between Payne's mis en scene and that of James L. Brooks, Joan Micklin Silver and Paul Thomas Anderson. More recently, I found continuity in the mordant, highly composed worlds of Payne and Stanley Kubrick. My newest reference point connects the work of Payne with that of the late Mike Nichols. The difficulty with this particular comparison is that Payne is a writer and director and Nichols was a director who, while I'm sure he had a great hand in the scripts he helmed, practically owned no writing credits. On the other hand, Nichols consistently worked with and interpreted great writers and the spirit of his satirical sensibilities is evident in his oeuvre. The term auteur is overused and misapplied to many filmmakers but it certainly fits both Nichols and Payne. Their work shares in common strong humanistic and satirical strains that reveal character in states of extremis. The comedy and tragedy in the stories they tell co-exist side by side and thus it's hard to describe their movies as just one thing or another. Their movies are like life in that they are a mix of things. Nichols comes from an improvisational comedy, Actors Studio and Broadway stage background that gives his films a distinctive look, feel and sound that is at once realistic and poetic. Payne is most heavily influenced by classic world cinema and his films correspondingly have a formal narrative structure and compositional quality that also retain a sense of freedom and anarchy in line with their sharp tragic-comic turns.
These filmmakers are also both identified with producing thought provoking, highly literate work, I believe that is a reflection of how well read and rounded Nichols was and how-well read and rounded Payne is. Just as Nichols was steeped in literature, music fine art, theater and film, so is Payne. Bandying words and references with Nichols was a game played at your own risk because he seemingly had read everything. Payne is much the same.
But it's one thing to have a great mind and it's another thing to have a great heart, or vice versa, and here's where these two separated themselves from many other directors of comedy. Their films show an intuitiveness and empathy that serve to leaven their sharp insights and harsh satire and to make their characters and situations, no matter how chaotic and desperate, more human and therefore more relatable. This is the same gift that their fellow comedy director masters shared and I'm referring here to:
Charles Chaplin
Buster Keaton
Frank Capra
George Stevens
Howard Hawks
Ernest Lubitsch
Preston Sturges
George Cukor
Billy Wilder
Woody Allen
James L. Brooks
I don't know of Payne and Nichols ever met, but I have to think that if they did they would have hit it off and found they shared similar sensibilities and interests. At the very least, they would have made each other laugh.
My favorite Nichols films are "The Graduate," "Catch 22," "Silkwood," "Working Girl," "Postcards from the Edge," and "Charlie Wilson's War." I don't think there's a great film among them, though those are all really good movies, and the rest of his career was pretty hit and miss. As for some of his other films, I admire "Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf?" and "Carnal Knowledge," for example, but they're not films I feel compelled to see again. His "Heartburn," "Wolf" and "The Birdcage" are interesting but minor works. Full disclosure: I haven't seen his "Angels in America." But I've seen enough of his output to know that while he almost never made a flat out bad film, several of his works are flawed and inconsistent.
By contrast, Payne hasn't missed yet. I have yet to see Payne's new film "Downsizing," but based on his six previous features and other work he's done, I am very comfortable saying that Payne is a consistently better filmmaker than Nichols was even at the peak of Nichols' career. Now, some may argue that Nichols directed touchstone pictures for different eras in "The Graduate" and "Working Girl" and may go on to question whether Payne has done the same. I would assert that "Sideways" is that equivalent picture in the Payne canon. I would also suggest that Payne has made at least five films that are timeless: "Election," "About Schmidt," "Sideways," "The Descendants" and "Nebraska" and that it's hard to find even a single Nichols film that could be so described with the possible exception of "The Graduate." Some may further argue, and I can see the point, that Nichols was a more adventurous filmmaker than Payne in trying sometimes wildly different subjects and approaches from film to film, whereas Payne, to date anyway, has perhaps played it safe by staying within certain parameters and comfort levels that he likes revisiting. His new film "Downsizing" is definitely a departure for Payne in terms of scope – both physical and thematic – and we'll soon know how well he handled that. Nichols made everything from social satires to farces to straight out dramas. I would counter that the few times Nichols departed from his own comfort zones resulted in some mis-steps – "The Fortune," "The Day of the Dolphin," "Wolf" and "What Planet Are You From?" – though Nichols does deserve an A for effort. Most observers count "Catch-22" as a mis-fire but I like its mordant tone and, unusual for Nichols, brilliant visuals. I actually think the best work he did that I've seen was the intense drama "Silkwood" and not the ironic, satiric pieces he's best known for.
Granted, Payne may be taking fewer chances than Nichols did in terms of stretching himself, but I contend that even within the familiar confines of Payne's work, he consistently goes deeper than Nichols usually did. For me, Nichols was more of a surface director, and Payne is more of an interior director, which is to say that in Nichols' films the exterior lives of his characters predominate while in Payne's films the interior lives of his characters speak to us Now, to be sure, there are exceptions to these artificial boundaries.
Certainly, the films of Nichols and Payne both show great respect for the written word and strong performances by actors. On this score, I think we can all agree.
Of course, all this is totally subjective and in the long run doesn't really mean a hill of beans because they're both among the best directors of comedy and of dramedies that have ever worked in Hollywood and they each have stand the test of time films to their credit.
Terence Crawford, Alexander Payne and Warren Buffett: Unexpected troika of Nebraska genius makes us all proud
Terence Crawford, Alexander Payne and Warren Buffett:
Unexpected troika of Nebraska genius makes us all proud
©by Leo Adam Biga
Author of "Alexander Payne: His Journey in Film"
Terence "Bud" Crawford has fought all over the United States and the world. As an amateur, he competed in the Pan American Games. As a young pro he fought in Denver. He won his first professional title in Scotland. He's had big fights in Atlantic City, New Jersey, in Orlando, Florida, in Arlington, Texas. He's showcased his skills on some of the biggest stages in his sport, including the MGM Grand in Las Vegas and New York City's Madison Square Garden. He;s even traveled to Africa and while he didn't fight there he did spend time with some of its boxers and coaches. But he's made his biggest impact back home, in Omaha, and starting tonight, in Lincoln. Crawford reignited the dormant local boxing community with his title fights at the CenturyLink Center and he's about to do the same in Lincoln at the Pinnacle Bank Arena, where tonight he faces off with fellow junior welterweight title holder Julius Indongo in a unification bout. If, as expected, Crawford wins, he will have extended his brand in Nebraska and across the U.S. and the globe. And he may next be eying an even bigger stage to host a future fight of his – Lincoln's Memorial Stadium – to further tap into the Husker sports mania that he shares. These are shrewd moves by Crawford and Co. because they're building on the greatest following that an individual Nebraska native athlete has ever cultivated. Kudos to Bud and Team Crawford for keeping it local and real. It's very similar to what Oscar-winning filmmaker Alexander Payne from Omaha has done by bringing many of his Hollywood productions and some of his fellow Hollywood luminaries here. His new film "Downsizing," which shot a week or so in and around Omaha, is about to break big at major festivals and could be the project that puts him in a whole new box office category.These two individuals at the top of their respective crafts are from totally different worlds but they're both gifting their shared hometown and home state with great opportunities to see the best of the best in action. They both bring the height of their respective professions to their own backyards so that we can all share in it and feel a part of it. It's not unlike what Warren Buffett does as a financial wizard and philanthropist who brings world-class peers and talents here and whose Berkshire Hathaway shareholders convention is one of the city's biiggest economic boons each spring. His daughter Susie Buffett's foundations are among the most generous benefactors in the state. He has the ear of powerbrokers and stakeholders the world over Buffett, Payne and Crawford represent three different generations, personalities. backgrunds and segments of Omaha but they are all distinctly of and for this place. I mean, who could have ever expected that three individuals from here would rise to be the best at what they do in the world and remain so solidly committed to this city and this state? They inspire us by what they do and motivate us to strive for more. We are fortunate that they are so devoted to where they come from. Omaha and Nebraska are where their hearts are. Buffett and Crawford have never left here despite having the means to live and work wherever they want. Payne, who has long maintained residences on the west coast and here, has never really left Omaha and is actually in the process of making this his main residence again. This troika's unexpected covergence of genius – financial, artistic and athletic – has never happened before here and may never happen agaiin.
Let's all enjoy it while it lasts.
Hot Movie Takes – My recap of Julianne Moore in conversation with Alexander Payne
Hot Movie Takes –
My recap of Julianne Moore in conversation with Alexander Payne
©By Leo Adam Biga, Author of "Alexander Payne: His Journey in Film"
Image source : omaha.com
Alexander Payne owns enough cachet as a preeminent writer-director that he can pretty much get any peer film artist to join him for a cinema conversation at the Film Streams Feature fundraiser in Omaha. His latest get was Oscar-winning actress Julianne Moore. Monday night (April 24) Payne, a two-time Oscar-winner himself, and Moore talked craft and life at the Holland Performing Arts Center before a packed house. This seventh feature event raised a record $350,000 in kicking off the art cinema's project to renovate and return the Dundee Theater back into service as a historic cultural touchstone and film haven.
Before Payne and Moore came on, Film Streams founder and director Rachel Jacobson thanked the assembled crowd, including many of its top patrons. She described the affair as "a magical" night for Omaha and she referred to the "extraordinary and inspiring support" that not only made the evening event possible but that's making the growth of Film Streams possible. She called this "a busy and exciting time for Film Streams," which is coming up on its 10th anniversary and nearing completion on the renovation and return of the Dundee Theater. She signaled the theme of the event in saying that cinema as a medium can help shape our dreams and that cinema as a place can help shape our community. She then introduced a TCM-like short tribute film produced by Tessa Wedberg and Jonathan Tvrdick that heralded the history of Film Streams and of the Dundee Theater. Many familar faces contributed comments in the film, including Payne, who praised Film Streams as a nonprofit cinemateque and echoed remarks by Jacobson and others about the important role it plays in treating film as an art form and thus as a conveyor of ideas and a convener of diverse audiences and issues. Payne brought things full circle by saying about the Dundee Theater, "Before Film Streams it was the only reliable place to see an art film (in Omaha)." He added his delight in soon having the Dundee back because it means art cinema is "now rooted in a place in Omaha of historical significance."
These Inside the Actors Studio-like Feature events are not exactly thrilling entertainment and the intrigue of seeing and hearing world-class film figures soon wears off, especially sitting in the nose-bleed section, where anything resembling an intimate exchange gets lost in translation. Usually there's not much new we learn about either Payne or the special guest and their individual processes but just enough nuggets are revealed to make the evening worthwhile beyond merely a financial windfall for Film Streams.
Payne is a capable interviewer and he thoughtfully let Moore do most of the talking. In the buildup to the event it was noted that she has a significant Nebraska connection having lived four years of her childhood here while her military father was stationed in the area and completed law school studies here. Moore attended one year at Dundee Elementary School and her family lived in a Dundee duplex. Payne shared that had he started Dundee Elementary, where he ended up, he and Moore would have been in the same class. That reminded me that filmmaker Joan Micklin Silver and cinematographer Donald E. Thorin were classmates at Omaha Central and that Dick Cavett and Sandy Dennis were only a class or two apart at Lincoln High.
Moore told us how during her visit for the Feature event she toured her old Omaha haunts and remembered various aspects of her family home here, her playing in the paved alley and walking a few blocks to school.
Her family followed her father's assignments, ending up in Germany, where she found a high school teacher who encouraged her interest in theater. It was the first time someone told her she could make a living at acting and steered her toward drama schools. Not surprisingly her parents were horrified at the prospect of her trying to forge a career as an actor. Family's important to Moore, who spoke with genuine pride about being a mother and wife in addition to being an actress.
Payne noted to her that many actors share an itinerant growing up background, including the military brat experience, and Moore said she feels that all the moving around teaches one how "to be adaptable" and to be quick, careful studies of "human behavior." Combined with her natural curiosity and a love of reading, and she had all the requisite attributes for an aspiring actor.
Moore found her calling for the stage at Boston University, where she learned the techniques that would help carry her into the theater. Her lessons there were both a blessing and a curse as she said she felt she was taught to do exterior rather than interior work. She acted at the Guthrie, the Humana Festival, in off-Broadway plays. She broke into television in the mid- 1980s working on a soap and by the early 1990s she'd done her fair share of episodic series work, made for TV movies and mini-series.
For the longest time, she lamented, "I couldn't book a movie." But then she started getting small but telling parts in buzz-worthy pictures like "The Hand That Rocks the Cradle," "The Gun in Betty Lou's Handbag," "Body of Evidence," "Benny & Joon" and "The Fugitive." All decent movies, but purely popcorn fare.
She explained that her epiphany as an actor came when she learned to not just be prepared for something to happen in an audition or a performance but to freely let it happen. In fact, to invite it to happen. "It" being an emotional response.
Her career took a different turn when she found herself in larger, showier parts in independent films made by serious filmmakers: Robert Altman's "Short Cuts," Louis Malle's "Vanya on 42nd Street" and Todd Haynes's "Safe." She got in on the very beginnings of the modern indie movement and embraced it as a home for exploring real, true human behavior.
Then, after a commercial venture or two, she cemented herself as an indie film queen in Paul Thomas Anderson's "Boogie Nights," the Coen Brothers' "The Big Lebowski," Altman's "Cookie's Fortune" and Neil Jordan's "The End of the Affair." That just brings us up to the end of the 1990s. In the proceeding 17 years she's added to her impressive gallery of work performances in such films as:
"The Shipping News"
"Far from Heaven"
"The Hours"
"Children of Men"
"I'm Not There"
"The Kids are Alright"
"Game Change"
"The English Teacher"
"Still Alice"
"The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part I"
"The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part II"
By the way, Film Streams is screening a repertory series of Moore's films through May: Check out the series at–
I personally haven't seen that much of her work, but what I have seen has impressed me. More importantly, her work impresses her peers. Count Payne among her biggest admirers. In his introduction he even referred to her as "our other Meryl Streep," and hoped that she would take that loving comparison in the right way. She did. It turns out that Streep has been a major influence and inspiration for her. Payne said her interpretive, expressive skills are so finely honed that when watching one of her performance "we are truly seeing another person and, by extension, us." Moore always gives whatever her character demands, thus taking on those vocal, physical, emotional traits, but never fails to give us herself as well. And I think Payne was also suggesting that, like Streep, she has that transformative ability to live inside very different skins from role to role without ever losing the humanity of those characters.
Payne and Moore got into an interesting discussion about how an actor's responsibility is to study the director to know what film he or she is making. She said it's important that she know what a director is trying to communicate in the frame in any given shot or scene and where the director's eye is looking. Indeed, she said she believes the director's main job is to direct the audience's eye. She said she likes to see dailies to help her guage things but that some directors are overprotective and defensive about letting actors, even ones of her stature, see the work before it's been refined and edited. Payne said it's vital that the actors and the director are on the same page so that they know what film they're making as co-storytellers.
Moore described movies as "an elaborate game of pretend" and she and Payne talked about how actors and directors have to find common ground with each other's processes. In the end, they agreed, the script must be served, not egos. Payne also referenced something he told me in a recent interview: that because he only makes a movie every three or four years he's often the least experienced person on the set and so he very much appreciates the experience and expertise that cast and crew bring. Moore seconded what a collaborative process any film is.
Interspersed through the conversation were clips from a handful of Moore's films and even those brief excerpts demonstrated her intuitive talents and keen observations. She talked about the extensive research she ever more does for her parts in a never ending pursuit for what is present, real, truthful and alive. It is that pursuit that drives her. She said, "I become more and more deeply interested in it – human behavior." She believes, as Payne believes, that we fundamentally want movies to reflect our experiences back to us. Invariably, the more human the movie, the more indelible it is.
Payne said to her, "I have the deep impression your best work is ahead of you, not behind you." Interestingly, I feel the same way about Payne's work. In some ways, his "Downsizing" may mark the end of a certain strain of themes in his work having to do with protagonists in crisis, mostly males, who set off on some journey. and it may also be the bridge to a new Payne cinema of big ideas and diversity.
It's even possible the two artists may wind up working together in Omaha. Payne intimated as much. That might have just been wishful thinking or something one says in the giddiness of the moment, but it's the kind of thing that Payne doesn't usually say or do, especially not in public, unless he means it. His final words were, "She'll be back."
The discussion wasn't entirely confined to career. Moore spoke glowingly of her roles as wife and mother. She tries to work on as many films as she can that shoot where she and her family live – New York City – so that she can have more time with her family. Payne pointed out she's also the author of children's books and he had her talk about her love for hand-crafted furniture and for home design and decor. It's a passionate hobby of hers.
What Hollywood icon will Payne bring next? It's anybody's guess. My personal preferences would be for him to sit down and converse with more of the leading actors he's worked with, including Matthew Broderick and Reese Witherspoon from "Election," Paul Giamatti ad Thomas Haden Church from "Sideways," Jack Nicholson from "About Schmidt," George Clooney from "The Descendants" and Matt Damon from "Downsizing."
Another preference would be Payne doing a similar program with fellow Nebraska natives in film, such as Joan Micklin Silver. Nick Nolte, John Beasley, Marg Helgenberger, Gabrielle Union and Yolonda Ross.
Then there's my long-dreamed of event featuring Payne one-on-one with Robert Duvall, who in the late 1960s came to Nebraska to make the Francis Ford Coppola film "The Rain People" and later returned to make the great documentary "We're Not the Jet Set" about an Ogallala area ranch-rodeo family. Link to some of the story behind the amazing confluence of talent that came to Nebraska for what became three films at–
Hot Movie Takes: Feature VII – Julianne Moore in conversation with Alexander Payne
Both a celebration of Film Streams' mission and a vital source of support, our Feature fundraiser galas bring together the Omaha community and some of the greatest living artists in film.
Feature VII:
Julianne Moore in conversation with Alexander Payne
Monday, April 24, 7pm
Holland Performing Arts Center
Academy-Award winning actress
Julianne Moore
in conversation with fellow Oscar-winner and Film Streams Board Member
Alexander Payne
Honorary Chairs:
Dana & Dani Bradford
Steve & Sue Seline
On Monday, April24, 2017, Academy Award-winning actress Julianne Moore will join fellow Oscar winner Alexander Payne at Film Streams'Feature VII for an on-stage conversation about her acclaimed career and perspective on the medium. Proceeds from the event, held at the Holland Performing Arts Center, support Film Streams' day-to-day operations.
Single tickets for the event will start at $35, with additional gift levels featuring pre- and-post-party options.
In celebration of this wonderful event, the work of Julianne Moore will be the focus of a Spring repertory series.
Julianne Moore
Julianne Moore is a New York Times Bestselling author, an Academy Award- and Emmy-winning actress, and the ninth person in Academy history to receive two Oscar nominations in the same year. She also became the only American actress to be awarded the top acting prizes at all three major European film festivals: Berlin, Venice, and Cannes. Having appeared in more than 60 feature films, 2015 saw her win both the Oscar and BAFTA for Best Actress for her stunning turn in STILL ALICE. Julianne is an Artist Ambassador for Save The Children US Programs, is on the Advisory Council of The Children's Health Fund, and is a supporter of Planned Parenthood and the Tuberous Sclerosis Alliance. She is married to writer-director Bart Freundlich (THE REBOUND, TRUST THE MAN, THE MYTH OF FINGERPRINTS). She lives with her family in New York City.
Fellow Oscar-winners Julianne Moore and Alexander Payne will get intimate about cinema tonight at Feature VII, the main fundraising event for Film Streams. Payne's celebrated name and work means he can reach out to A-list peer film artists and get them to come to Omaha for these one-on-one movie chats. He's previously brought Laura Dern, Debra Winger, Steven Soderbergh, Jane Fonda, David O. Russell and the principal players from his "Nebraska" – Bruce Dern, Will Forte and June Squibb. I will be there with notepad and pen in hand jotting down golden nuggets from the evening to share with you online later this week.
A repertory series of Julianne Moore's films is showing at Film Streams through most of May. Meanwhile, Payne's new film "Downsizing" is drawing ever nearer to its release in December. Read my latest exclusive feature about the film at–
My book "Alexander Payne: His Journey in Film" is available on Amazon and at fine bookstores everywhere. Contact me for a signed copy.
More about the book at–
Order the book at–
From Film Streams website–
Past Feature Events
Feature VI: David O. Russell in conversation with Alexander Payne
Monday, Nov. 10, 2014
It is fitting that a celebration in support of Film Streams' mission should bring together two of the greatest contemporary directors. Russell and Payne's films have amassed dozens of Academy Award Nominations. Russell was nominated for Academy Awards for two screenplays, Payne for three (with two wins). Both have three best-director nominations. And, both have made three best-picture nominees. More than 1,300 guests attended, raising more than $330,000.
Feature V: Alexander Payne & the cast of NEBRASKA in conversation with Kurt Andersen
Sunday, November 24, 2013
For Feature V, the work of Alexander Payne took center stage when he and the stars of his wonderful film NEBRASKA – Bruce Dern, Will Forte, and June Squibb – joined Kurt Andersen for a lively conversation in which Mr. Dern (who has worked with Alfred Hitchcock, Hal Ashby, and Quentin Tarantino, among others) called Alexander "probably the greatest director I've ever worked with." More than 1,600 attendees helped raise over $300,000 for Film Streams.
Feature IV: Jane Fonda in conversation with Alexander Payne
Sunday, July 22, 2012
For Feature IV, on Sunday, July 22, 2012, lauded actress Jane Fonda returned to Omaha, her legendary father's hometown and the place where she spent summers acting on the Omaha Community Playhouse stage. Alexander Payne interviewed her at the Holland Performing Arts Center before an audience of 1,300, and surprise guest Laura Dern – our first-ever Feature guest back in 2008 – helped introduce the conversation. The event raised nearly $228,000 and welcomed an audience of 1,300.
Feature III: Steven Soderbergh in conversation with Kurt Andersen
Sunday, February 20, 2011
On Sunday, February 20, 2011, Academy Award-winning director Steven Soderbergh was interviewed onstage at the Holland Performing Arts Center by Film Streams Advisory Board Member Kurt Andersen, following an introduction by Alexander Payne. With more than 1,600 attendees, we raised over $217,000.
Feature 2009: Debra Winger in conversation with Alexander Payne
September 13, 2009
On September 13, 2009, Alexander Payne invited three-time Oscar-nominee Debra Winger to return to Nebraska, where the 1983 landmark TERMS OF ENDEARMENT was filmed. A crowd of 750 joined event chairs Annette and Paul Smith in support of Film Streams' Ruth Sokolof Theater on Sunday, September 13, 2009, for a lively program at the Holland Performing Arts Center, raising $150,000 for Omaha's nonprofit cinema. A crowd of 750 raised $150,000 for Omaha's nonprofit cinema.
Feature 2008: Laura Dern in conversation with Alexander Payne
July 13, 2008
Feature, a gala fundraising event centered on conversation about film, was conceived in 2008, when Board Member Alexander Payne invited actress Laura Dern (WILD AT HEART, JURASSIC PARK) to Omaha. On July 13, 2008, event chairs Betiana and Todd Simon welcomed nearly 1,000 attendees at the Holland Performing Arts Center for a dinner followed by an onstage conversation between Dern and Payne. Payne directed the Academy Award-nominated actress in his breakthrough effort CITIZEN RUTH, which was filmed in Omaha. Nearly 1,000 attended.


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SEVENTEEN years after he first stepped into a professional ring, Melbourne boxer Sam Soliman's long wait for a crack at a world title is finally over.
Soliman, 40, will try to relieve Germany's Felix Sturm of the IBF middleweight crown on May 31 in a fight that will be inflamed by festering acrimony from the last time they met.
Soliman came from behind, after being knocked down early, to score a unanimous points decision over Sturm in a non-title bout in Dusseldorf in February last year.
But the German boxing authority, the BDB, changed the result to a no-contest after accusing Soliman of testing positive to an illegal stimulant and banning him for nine months.
Soliman, a clean-living, nondrinking fitness fanatic, embarked on a long and expensive battle to clear his name and was eventually rewarded when the IBF — one of the more respected sanctioning bodies — accepted that his B sample had come up clean after tests in America.
That has allowed this fight to proceed unimpeded at a venue yet to be confirmed, but with the drugs dispute still very much part of the backdrop.
Soliman has sued the BDB for more than $250,000 in damages, with the court case pending.
There has been no love lost between the two camps with Soliman's manager, Melbourne advertising executive David Stanley, describing negotiations over the terms of the rematch as "very tough" and spread over several months.
Sturm lost the title to another Australian, Daniel Geale, shortly before he fought Soliman, with Geale then losing it to Englishman Darren Barker who in turn surrendered it back to Sturm late last year.
Sturm, 35, also a former holder of the WBA title, now has the impressive record of 39 wins, three defeats and two draws, while Soliman is 43-11 and unbeaten since Anthony Mundine outpointed him in a higher weight division almost six years ago.
With his unorthodox style and upbeat personality — and his work with underprivileged youth — Soliman has built up a large and loyal following since he defeated one Heath Stenton over four rounds in the Billboard Nite Club in Melbourne in April, 1997, a lifetime ago in boxing terms.
For six years before that he fought as an amateur and as a kickboxer.
"Getting a world title bout is like climbing Mount Everest," he said on Monday.
"It's taken me 23 years. You get to base camp and line up at the foot of the summit for your turn to conquer the peak.
"I've paid my dues and I'm ready. I couldn't have said that five years ago but now I can.
"I'm fighting smarter and I'm jumping out of my skin.
"I'm under no illusions about the task. I know Felix is going to be more prepared and ready for me this time, but I and my team also learned a lot from the last bout."
Twitter: @Reedrw
Originally published as Soliman ready to conquer his Everest