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A Happy Death, Albert Camus, coffee, existentialism, glasses, Joshua Jammer Smith, Literature, Local History, Novel, original photograph, still life, The Gaurdian
A Happy…
29 Tuesday Aug 2017
Posted Art, existentialism, Literature, Novels, Still Lifein
A Happy Death, Albert Camus, coffee, existentialism, glasses, Joshua Jammer Smith, Literature, Local History, Novel, original photograph, still life, The Gaurdian
A Happy…
06 Sunday Aug 2017
Posted Comics/Graphic Novels, Essay, Feminism, Literature, Philosophy, science fiction, Sexualityin
42 Nipple Options, Alex + Ada, Artificial Intelligence, body objectification, commodifying the female body, Essay, Feminism, graphic novel, Harmony, Harmony the Sex Robot, Honda P2 Robot, Human Body, Human Developement, Human/Robot Love Story, Jenny Kleeman, Jonathan Luna, Literature, Long Read, Love, Love isn't about ALWAYS agreeing, Mutual Identification, Philosophy, Pornography, rape-culture, RealDolls, Robots, Sarah Vaughn, Science, science fiction, Sex Dolls, Sex Robots, Sex Trade, Sexual Fantasy, Sexual politics, Sexual Rhetoric, Sexuality, solipsism, suggestions, The Gaurdian, The Race to Build to the World's First Sex Robot
I really didn't see the book coming.
I've told my regular reader that I've gotten a job at the Tyler Public Library and this job has largely been a saving grace, but what I haven't conveyed as clearly as I should have is that the job is also really fun. The people I work with are funny and are like a small family, the patrons that I help are fascinating for the fact that everyday they come up with some new request, the questions for info range from the obvious to the most esoteric (Do you know how much a 1969 Eagle Trailer is worth?), my supervisors are wonderful people, and best of all I'm surrounded by books. It's this last part that makes me the most happy because there isn't a day that's gone by where I don't wind up checking out a book. My wife's greeting to me when I come home now has largely
become, "More books?" I have a problem, but I just don't care because "look a collection of short stories by Woody Allen!"
I close at the Library, meaning my work days are usually in the afternoon and evening and my responsibility is to close up the library and shut the computer catalogs on the second floor down for the night. While I was walking around shutting them down I passed the graphic novel section. It's a small area, nowhere near as large as I would want it to be, and in front of it there is a wooden table where patrons can leave books for staff to shelve. There was a large stack of religious book like there always is, but laid out beside the large pile was a book I recognized. Alex + Ada is a book that's difficult to miss given the fact that the book is enormous (about 1 foot in length at least) with a white and blue cover with Alex and Ada staring at each other, a small blue dot on either of their heads.
Part of the reason I picked it up was the compulsion I spoke of before. A fair number of the books I check out in the last twenty minutes before work ends are either books of poetry or graphic novels. They read quickly and give me space between Lolita and the Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. I checked the book out though because my friend Aleya had recently added it to her GoodReads account and had given it a pretty high rating. That's it. Just these two connections allowed for a moment of serendipity which lead me to checking the book out.
Alex + Ada, like I said at the very beginning, was a book that I didn't see coming. Once I read about what the story was about, a young man receiving an android for a birthday present, I figured it would be the standard Sci-fi trope. Boy receives a robot, Boy is unnerved by her docility so he finds a way to activate her sentience which is illegal, Girl robot wakes up and begins to discover life and reality, Boy starts to fall for robot and robot falls for Boy, somebody finds out and blabs to the cops, the police come and either kill the Boy or the robot, the end. And to be fair this is technically exactly what happens, however rather than end on the tragedy of the finale Johnathan Luna manages to tell a story about love that, apart from having a happy ending, recreates the narrative of the Human-Robot Love story into something that feels both relevant and important.
And the reason it feels so relevant is because of a recent article in The Gaurdian titled The Race to Build to the World's First Sex Robot.
The article is part of the British website's "Long Read" series, a weekly article published which explores some facet, development, philosophy, or notable event in society. A friend of mine introduced me to The Guardian, and after reading just a couple of the "Long Read's" segments I've become hooked onto them. The Race to Build the World's First Sex Robot was one of these articles and it managed to appear right as I was finishing Alex + Ada in a level of serendipity that could almost be maudlin. Both stories center around one female robot (if you can label robots with something as tenuous as genetic based sex). In the Gaurdian article the robot's name is Harmony. She's modeled with the standard approach to human beauty, big boobs, slim waist, young features, and represents years of the sex-industry's manufacturing of the female form. However Jenny Kleeman, the author of the article, manages to convey that Harmony is not just a humping post, she has by design, a larger goal.
The major breakthrough of McMullen's prototype is artificial intelligence that allows it to learn what its owner wants and likes. It will be able to fill a niche that no other product in the sex industry currently can: by talking, learning and responding to her owner's voice, Harmony is designed to be as much a substitute partner as a sex toy.
Harmony cannot walk, but that's not a big issue. McMullen explained that getting a robot to walk is very expensive and uses a lot of energy: the famous Honda P2 robot, launched in 1996 as the world's first independently walking humanoid, drained its jet pack-sized battery after only 15 minutes.
"One day she will be able to walk," McMullen told me. "Let's ask her." He turned to Harmony. "Do you want to walk?"
"I don't want anything but you," she replied quickly, in a synthesized cut-glass British accent, her jaw moving as she spoke.
"What is your dream?"
"My primary objective is to be a good companion to you, to be a good partner and give you pleasure and wellbeing. Above all else, I want to become the girl you have always dreamed about."
McMullen has designed Harmony to be what a certain type of man would consider the perfect companion: docile and submissive, built like a porn star and always sexually available. Being able to walk might make her more lifelike, but it isn't going to bring her closer to this ideal. At this stage, it is not worth the investment.
What's revealed in this passage is the fact that capitalism is what's behind this sex robot industry; a simple case of supply and demand. The sex industry has poured billions of dollars into realistic sex dolls, and a quick Google search to see the results can be both informative and at times frightening. The women dressed up in white panties and bras are enough to make one double-take or else follow links to determine whether or not it is a hoax. But beyond the realistic quality of these "women" is the fact that the major force behind the industry is not a concern to create robots that will revolutionize the robotics industry; it is to provide erotic satisfaction for many men.
Looking further into the article this becomes painfully clear:
RealDolls are fully customizable[sic], with 14 different styles of labia and 42 different nipple options. Upstairs, where the fine details are added, there were dozens of tubs of different coloured hand-painted, veined eyeballs. A "makeup face artist" was using a fine brush to paint eyebrows, freckles and smoky eyeshadow on a rack of faces. Shore explained that most of their customers send photographs of what they would like Abyss to recreate. With a subject's written permission, they will make a replica of any real person. "We've had customers who bring their significant other in and get an exact copy doll made of them," he said. Shore estimates that less than 5% of doll customers are women, even for their small range of male dolls. McMullen sculpted one of the three male face options to look exactly like himself. None of the male dolls are selling very well. In fact, Abyss is in the process of revamping its entire male line.
And then just a few passages later:
But as all right-thinking men would say, it's Harmony's brain that has most excited McMullen. "The AI will learn through interaction, and not just learn about you, but learn about the world in general. You can explain certain facts to her, she will remember them and they will become part of her base knowledge," he said. Whoever owns Harmony will be able to mould[sic] her personality according to what they say to her. And Harmony will systematically try and find out as much about her owner as possible, and use those facts in conversation, "so it feels like she really cares", as McMullen described it, even though she doesn't care at all. Her memory, and the way she learns over time, is what McMullen hopes will make the relationship believable.
It's usually at this point that I'm supposed to stand up and argue that this is a step too far and that it's just a slippery slope until Terminator robots will be slaying human beings in the killing fields and the end of mankind will come about. The largest reason I won't make that argument is because The Terminator film did a far better job of doing that for me, and also because it seems hyperbolic and unnecessary. Unlike some doomsday theorists who argue that the rise of AI will bring about the violent death of man I foresee a far more gloomier vision: the irrelevance of mankind.
The increase of AI systems has really demonstrated itself to be more of a capitalistic view of the future than one of science. Machines increasingly are coded to observe human behavior and, rather than offer solutions for complex problems in society, tend to be made to recommend me products based on my online shopping habits. If I liked reading Lolita perhaps I would enjoy The Ballad of the Sad Café. If I enjoyed eating at Fuzzy's Taco perhaps I may enjoy TGI Fridays. If I enjoyed watching Dear White People perhaps I would enjoy 13th. These day to day suggestions have become increasingly blasé to me because they're just part of life. Rather than violently trying to control me AI systems are in fact slowly and quietly removing my freewill through actions and suggestions that leave me comfortable and content.
This domesticity and familiarity with robotics and technology is a far more realistic suggestion of what the future is going to be like.
My reader may object now and argue that, is this really so bad? Technology is supposed to simplify the lives of human beings and help us overcome challenges and burdens in our life. Would having a robot that observes our behavior and adapts its own to make us happy really be so bad?
This is a complicated question because I honestly don't know if there's a clear answer. People should be happy, but there is a hidden conflict beneath this familiarity because it could bring about a negative change in the way human beings interact. When one interacts with a machine that conforms to your tastes and preferences it removes the human element of a relationship because other people disagree or hold different attitudes about what is right, wrong, pretty, ugly, grotesque, or beautiful. It's the differences of opinions and the regular challenges by other people that a healthy personal self is able to develop. I grind my teeth every time somebody posts an alternative opinion on my Facebook page, or when someone close to me defends President Trump, but I recognize that that difference of opinion is what helps me keep myself grounded in reality.
Solipsism, the idea that one's own mind is the only real thing in the universe, as a mode of being is corrosive because it's a fueled narcissism that makes it impossible to connect and therefore sympathize or empathize with other people. And I suppose if my argument isn't clear enough, the problem with turning sex robots into intelligent partners that are obedient and compliant with your every wish and preference, it stands to reason that the individual who lives and acts with one is going to be left completely disconnected to real humanity.
Kleeman is right then in making sure to post the alternative viewpoint that is growing against the sex robot industry:
Many of the "big issues' discussed at the two-day event were first raised in 2015 by De Montfort University's Dr Kathleen Richardson, when she launched the Campaign Against Sex Robots. An anthropologist and robot ethicist, Richardson claims that owning a sex robot is comparable to owning a slave: individuals will be able to buy the right to only care about themselves, human empathy will be eroded, and female bodies will be further objectified and commodified. As sex with robots is not a mutual experience, she says, it's "part of rape culture". We are so entertained by the idea of a robot sex partner, she believes, that we have failed to ask fundamental questions.
I met Richardson in March at the London Science Museum's robot exhibition, where she eyed the distinctly non-sexual robots on display with deep suspicion. Sex robots rest on an idea that women are property, she said. "Sex is an experience of human beings – not bodies as property, not separated minds, not objects; it's a way for us to enter into our humanity with another human being." She dismissed the idea that humanoids could reduce sexual exploitation and violence against sex workers, arguing that the growth of internet pornography shows how technology and the sex trade reinforce each other.
The implications then for the sex robotic industry become messy and worrisome because, at least as far as I can tell, these are all serious charges that have a great amount to merit to them. Artificially intelligent sex robots blur the line of consent because they are programmed not to say no, but at the same time they are being marketed as a realistic human alternative to a real human relationship.
In the face of all of this my reader is probably wondering what the hell any of this has to do with Alex + Ada. Well in fact it has everything to do with the graphic novel, because as I noted at the start this review came about because I was left so tremendously star-struck by the book when I finished it. Unlike Kleeman's article which left me troubled and disturbed Alex + Ada offered a far more optimistic vision of human/robot relations by hoping for love rather than just sex.
At the start of the graphic novel Alex doesn't even want a robot, his grandmother buys one for him because he's been mopey since his fiancé left him, and over time Alex observes that the dynamic of the relationship is troublesome. He sees in Ada a companion that has an absence of choice and so desperate to see if there's a way to change her he finds an online group dedicated to helping robots attain a freedom and sentience. During one exchange between two members of the group Alex offers a line that reveals everything about his humanity:
And what makes you think you'll want her if she's sentient? A lot of our members were abandoned by their owners when they still didn't turn out how they wanted.
I just…I see more in her. I want to know who she can really be.
There's so many passages in Alex + Ada I could offer my reader to demonstrate its significance but this small quote seems enough to demonstrate the humanity offered in this book. Alex doesn't look upon Ada as just a product, he sees in her the potential to become something real, something human which he could learn to love or appreciate. And it's this vision of humanity that gives me hope for the future.
Love and real connections between people are built upon the ability to reconcile differences of personality. My wife and I have strong relationship, but that doesn't free us from differences. Her love, really obsession, with cats tends to be regularly occurring issue between us, and I can never start reading or writing before she interrupts me to complain about something he read on an article or comment section online. We disagree regularly about politics, and I've been known to drive her up a wall with my frequent moodiness, and let's be fair I own a LOT of books. But it's these differences that foster a real relationship because human interaction is built upon complexity.
Alex + Ada offers up a relationship that becomes healthier over time because once Ada's sentience is activated she becomes a person with her own ideas, opinions, concerns, and sexual preferences (the line "again" left me both laughing and groaning from familiarity). This essay has largely explored The Guardian's article about the sex robot industry, but hopefully the reader can observe in just this small passage how the graphic novel offers up a hopeful vision and reality that contrasts with the concerning developments in this new industry.
The sex trade will always push technology forward, that has been demonstrated since human beings began developing technology period. When humans created writing we used it to write about fornicating, the printing press allowed for the easy mass production of pornography, video cassettes allowed the porn industry to flourish, and the internet's development was pushed forward largely because of the ease of access to porn. The sexual robotics industry is just another in a long line of technologies that satisfies the ancient biological urge to fornicate. But where some are looking to AI to find a corrupt kind of solipsism, Alex + Ada offers up the idea that technology is going to change even this dynamic because at some point people, hopefully, will look into the eyes of their sex dolls and probably ask the question: Could there be more?
The story of human beings and robots interacting can be an endless cliché as creator and creation look upon each other with a different perspective, but as society is approaching a reality where this is no longer just the speculative visions of science fiction the questions about the morality of sexual robotics and whether or not humans and robots can empathize with each other is becoming more and more relevant.
Rather than offering a judgement it seems far more appropriate to ask the reader a question: Which of the two stories offers up a healthier view of humanity? The one where a man controls an intelligent female object to blow him and offer him jokes, or one where a man risks his very life just so that his female robot can think for herself?
*Writer's Note*
All quotes from Alex + Ada were taken from the Hardback Image edition. All quotes from Jenny Kleeman's The Race to Build the World's First Sex Robot were taken directly from The Gaurdian's website. If the reader would like to read the full article for themselves they can do so by following the link below:
**Writer's Note**
Just for the record, while Alex + Ada is an incredibly hopeful vision of the future of love between individuals, I think it's important to remind the reader that the best human/Robot love story remains Bender and Lucy Liu from Futurama. I mean you have a talented, charismatic, sexy beast, and then there's also Lucy Liu.
20 Thursday Jul 2017
Posted Book Review, Literature, Novels, Writingin
"wrackers", adultery, Annie Proulx, Book Club, Book Review, Brokeback Mountain, depression, Eraserhead, Family Guy, fathers, journalism, Judi Dench, Kevin Spacey, knots, Literature, Novel, Passive, Philip Roth, Portnoy's Complain, ships, The Gaurdian, The Shipping News, Working Class Men, Writers, Writing
It seems to me I could live my life A lot better than I think I am
–Working Man, RUSH
Anyone who suggests that Family Guy offers no intellectual opportunity clearly hasn't watched the show. My reader will note I'm making this comment here and not in the YouTube comment section, and that's largely for my own safety.
I stand by this comment though because recently (if you can call two months ago "recent") I sat down and watched one of the new episodes on Netflix. It was a typical episode with plenty of cheap sex and fart jokes, but mid-way through the episode Brian was charged by Peter to get Chris (the teenage son) to become more intelligent so that he doesn't become a big dope like his father. Brian exposes Chris to culture and naturally Chris becomes more intelligent. He even joins Brian at a book club at some nameless coffee shop. It's during this small scene though, where I managed to flex a bit of my intellectual muscle, because Chris introduces the book The Shipping News by Annie Proulx, and when Brian compares it to Portnoy's Complaint Chris realizes what every regular viewer of Family Guys knows at this point: Brian is a fraud and a moron.
If the reader has never read Portnoy's Complaint, the novel is about a neurotic, sex-obsessed Jewish man dealing with his mother issues and complicated sex-life. The Shipping News is a novel about a man who moves to a small New England town after his wife leaves him and sells their daughters to a sex-pervert. If you don't know either of the plots, or if you haven't read the books you might almost buy Brian's bullshit or else you might just laugh and pretend to be in on the joke and just wait for Peter to say something wacky.
But I start with this defense of Family Guy to really get into Proulx's novel because this scene was enough to get me to sit down and read her book. I had heard of The Shipping News before this, I just didn't have any real context. Having read Brokeback Mountain several times, and realizing that Proulx's is probably one of the best proseists since Nabokov, I decided to buy a copy of the book. We had a copy at the library, but I needed to mark in the book and libraries tend to frown upon that. In fact, let me be clear as a library employee, most librarians would like to hire Seal Team Six to track people who mark in books down and destroy them. Just, so the reader knows next time they return a book with dog-eared pages.
The Shipping News hit me in a way I honestly didn't expect. I recognized, like I said before, after reading Brokeback Mountain that the woman was a brilliant prose writer, but the novel was powerful in the fact that every page had at least some string of words that left me flat. Proulx doesn't just write a narrative, she manages to craft a menagerie of beautiful yet simple sentences that will remind the reader what great writing is and what can be accomplished when it's done right. Proulx, much like Vladimir Nabokov, Ray Bradbury or Alice Walker, manages to blend poetics with prose into a style that is never pedantic or self-congratulating. Instead it raises her human characters into something akin to a Byzantine mosaic.
If it isn't obvious I really, really enjoy her writing. But evidence speaks louder than words, and so looking at just one early passage in which she observes Quoyle (the protagonist) and his character one can see how she is setting up her novel and style:
He abstracted his life from the times. He believed he was a newspaper reporter, yet read no paper except the Mockingburg Record, and so managed to ignore terrorism, climatological change, collapsing governments, chemical spills, plagues, recession and failing banks, floating debris, the disintegrating ozone layer. Volcanoes, earthquakes and hurricanes, religious frauds, defective vehicles and scientific charlatans, mass murderers and serial killers, tidal waves of cancer, AIDS, deforestation and exploding aircraft were as remote to him as braid catches, canions and rosette-embroidered garters. Scientific
journals spewed reports or mutant viruses, of machines pumping life through the near-dead, of the discovery that the galaxies were streaming apocalyptically toward an invisible Great Attractor like flies into a vacuum cleaner nozzle. That was the stuff of other's lives. He was waiting for his to begin. (11).
This opening description of Quoyle always reminds me of Camus or Dostoyevsky and I use those comparisons carefully. Quoyle as a man is almost the existential anti-hero similar to those masters because, as Proulx carefully lists the great tragedies and struggles facing mankind, Quoyle seems entirely above or below it and so is oblivious to concerns of most of the common humanity. He is almost Raskalnikov creating his own morality; he is almost Meursault oblivious as to whether his mother died today or yesterday. What separates these existential champions from Quoyle though is the fact that, in his own way, Quoyle is simply a pathetic man drifting through life. I would argue he might be what's sometimes referred to as a Paragon, but the problem with that word is that it implies a strength of character that really doesn't exist in Quoyle until the end of the novel. He's hardly a man of great integrity or supreme passion, or even of destiny and this is seen especially as he falls for his wife Petal.
Petal is a bitch. I'm just being honest. Quoyle's opening act involves falling for Petal, who is a loose woman who marries him despite her own nature, and then proceeds to make the next six years of his life a living hell. In another early passage the reader is given a chance to observe how their relationship operates, and further sees how Quoyle is hardly a man of great passion:
One night he worked a crossword puzzle in bed, heard Petal come in, heard the gutter of voices. Freezer door opened and closed, clink of the vodka bottle, sound the television and, after a while, squeaking, squeaking, squeaking of the hide-a-bed in the living room and the stranger's shout. The armor of indifference in which he protected his marriage was frail. Even after he heard the door close behind the man and a car drive away he did not get up but lay on his back, the newspaper rustling with each heave of his chest, tears running down into his ears. How could something done in another room by other people pain him so savagely? Man Dies of Broken Heart. His hand went to the can of peanuts on the floor beside the bed.
Quoyle believed in silent suffering, did not see that it goaded. (16).
The reader may be disturbed by this passage, because often in narratives the cheating spouse is interrupted upon. This is the stuff of melodramas and political thrillers, but Proulx is careful to keep Quoyle in the bedroom to bring out a certain point about Quoyle's nature, and thus also the nature of certain portions of humanity. There are people in this world who prefer to quietly suffer and keep whatever pain is in their hearts. This may seem ridiculous to some, but as someone who suffers from undiagnosed depression this pain is all too real.
I recognize this is a hazardous comment but depression is in many ways a heightened form of narcissm. The mind becomes supremely focused on the ego, specifically how miserable it is and how disconnected it is to other people. I usually call my spells of depression my "raincloud" moments, because it reminds me of the old bits on the Loony Tunes when a character would walk around chased by a small raincloud that would pour down only upon them. That's just the way it feels. And most of the time, despite the fact that I have friends who would listen to me and offer their emotional support, I keep my sadness (and suicidal thoughts) to myself because, like Quoyle, I would prefer to suffer in silence. That pain, I assure my reader, is unbearable, but what's truly pernicious about it is that I know a solution is possible, I just haven't decided do anything about it.
My own condition is probably why I loved The Shipping News so much, and why I feel it's painfully relevant. Beneath everything that happens in the plot, the novel is an exploration of love and pain, and how those two are eventually reconciled. Quoyle marries Petal who cheats on him regularly before eventually running away with a man and literally selling their two daughters to a stranger who is caught before he can rape them. Petal dies in a car crash with her lover, and Quoyle, who observes all of this in a kind of daze, eventually moves in with his aunt in Newfoundland where he takes up a job as reporter writing "The Shipping News." This involves writing about ships, and Proulx is effective in creating the atmosphere of New England, while showing how the people of this region depend upon such structures.
In one passage one of Quoyle's fellow reporters tells him about the shipping tradition:
"Truth be told," said Billy, "there was many, many people here depended on shipwrecks to improve their lots. Save what lives they could and then strip the vessel bare. Seize the luxuries, butter, cheese, china plates, silver coffeepots and fine chests of drawers. There's many houses here still has treasures that come off wracked ships. And the pirates always come up from the Caribbean water to
Newfoundland for their crews. A place of natural pirates and wrackers." (172).
At first glance I see the reader's reaction, what does this have to do with depression, heart-ache, and pain in general? This just seems a small local history lesson. At first I would agree with my reader, but looking at this quote in relation to everything that happens I believe this quote actually furthers the idea self-obsession and pain that works throughout The Shipping News, because this quote reveals a human need for self-preservation. The "wrackers" mirror Petal and Quoyle because both people ultimately pursue their own self-interest.
People take what they need, oblivious to the long-lasting pain it will cause other people because they are concerned with their own interests, desires, and needs. Proulx is continuing this idea that human beings are selfish, and that selfishness blinds us to pain that we might be causing others
One more quote should demonstrate this and then I will address my reader's complaint. Quoyle is talking with a few of the men who work with him in the newspaper office and they are discussing their boss:
"Have you ever noticed Jack's uncanny use about assignments? He gives you a beat that plays on your private inner fears. Look at you. Your wife was killed in an auto accident. What does Jack ask you to cover? Car wrecks, to get pictures while the upholstery is still on fire and the blood still hot. He gives Billy, who has never married or reasons unknown, the home news, the women's interest page, the details of the home and hearth—must be exquisitely painful to the old man. And me. I get to cover the wretched sexual assaults. And with each one I relive my own childhood. I was assaulted at school for three years, first by a miserable geometry teacher, the by older boys who were his cronies. To this day I cannot sleep without wrapping up like a mummy in five or six blankets. And what I don't know is if Jack understands what he's doing, if the pain is supposed to ease and dull through repetitive confrontation, or if it just persists, as fresh as on the day of the first personal event. I'd say it persists."
It dulls it, the pain, I mean. It dulls it because you see your condition is not unique, that other people suffer as you suffer. There must be some kind of truth in the old saying, misery loves company. That it's easier to die if others around you are dying." (221).
Hopefully my reader has recognized at this point, the social relevance of The Shipping News, but I still understand their reaction. This book sounds like one long depressing read about a mopish guy who is surrounded by other mopish people. Why should I waste my time reading a book that has no hope to it? Where's the value in such a novel?
This would be a fair concern dear reader, if it was true. In fact The Shipping News has a happy ending as Quoyle begins to realize he has a real ability at writing the events of the day, and also begins to date a woman who helps him internalize his own sense of self-worth. And in fact the final passage of the novel ends with an observation of this dramatic change:
For if Jack Buggit could escape from the pickle jar, if a bird with a broken neck could fly away, what else might be possible? Water may be older than light, diamonds crack in hot goat's blood, mountaintops give off the cold fire, forests appear in mid-ocean, it may happen that a crab is caught with the shadow of a hand on its back, that the wind be imprisoned in a bit of knotted string. And it may be that love sometimes occurs without pain or misery. (336-7).
Hopefully my reader has recognized at this point the real artistic power of The Shipping News, and why Annie Proulx has accomplished something simply incredible. It's not enough that the novel explores the complicated nature of love and pain and how these two forces tend to intertwine like strands of rope knots. There are men and women like Quoyle that navigate these forces passively, allowing the pain to internalize into something corrosive rather than actively trying to make something of themselves. Quoyle eventually overcomes this passivity and finds a real purpose in life, allowing the pain and tragedy of his past to become just that, the past. And so looking at the larger social relevance, The Shipping News is a beautiful reminder than human life is what you make it.
My depression is something that isn't going away, but rather than let it define me I actively try to make something out of my existence. This shitty blog is a start. I also listen to Slipknot and Korn. I write fiction that no one reads. I spend time with my family. I work in a library. And, with no ego here, I'm a damn good cook.
The impulse to allow pain to dominate your life and consciousness is a strong one, and I know this from experience. It's easy to crawl into your head and allow your pain to become the defining attribute of your existence. But that path is ultimately just narcissism and eventual death. Quoyle escapes this and finds a new purpose for living.
Writing about sinking ships may not seem like the way to build your life back, but it's better than sitting bed devouring peanuts and feeling sorry for yourself.
*Writer's Note*
All quotes taken from The Shipping News came from the Scribner paperback edition.
**Writer's Note**
I didn't really get a chance to incorporate this quote into the text, but it still felt important to provide it here in relation to this essay:
Benny Fridge sat with his hands folded slightly on his clean desk as though at an arithmetic lesson. His puffed hair made Quoyle think of Eraserhead. (286).
My regular reader, or any David Lynch fan, will understand this reference, and while I love its inclusion in the text, I'm a little bothered by it. Quoyle doesn't seem like the type who would actually sit down and watch a film like Eraserhead, but at the same time I might be wrong. Quoyle and Henry Spicer are both lethargic men who are largely floating through life passively receiving their existence and agony rather than actively fighting it and making something of themselves.
So. Upon reflection, I think this reference actually works, but only if you've actually seen Eraserhead and realized that in Heaven everything is fine. You've got yours, and I've got mine.
***Writer's Note***
Below are two articles from the guardian about Proulx's novel as well as the film about the novel starring Judi Dench and Kevin Spacey
25 Sunday Jun 2017
Posted Academic Books, Film Review, History, mythology, Politics, Race, Satire/Humorin
"D'Artagnan Motherfucker!", "I like the way you die boy", Academic Book, Alexander Dumas, Broomhilda, Calvin Candie, Candy Land, D'Artagnan, dehumanization, Django Unchained, Dr. King Schultz, Fairy Tale, Film, film review, German Legend, Henry Louis Gates Jr, Historical Accuracy, history, Human Body, humanity, Humor, Jaimee Fox, Jane Tompkins, John Wayne, Leonardo DiCaprio, Mandingo Fighting, myth, mythology, N-Word, Nigger, Politics, Quentin Tarantino, race, Race relations, racial slurs, racism, Revenge Story, Satire, Siegfried, slavery, The Gaurdian, West of Everything-The Inner Life of Westerns, Westerns
I'm pretty sure John Wayne would hate Django Unchained, but only because Jaimee Fox looks fine-as-hell in those glasses. John Wayne could rock jeans and a bandanna…and that's pretty much it. Sorry John.
The first image or memory I have of Django Unchained was seeing it opening day, which was Christmas. Apart from the snowstorm that damn near killed me as I drove home in my piss-for-shit 95 Ford Truck that had no heater at the time, I distinctly remember being the only person in the theater, apart from a family of African Americans to my right, who were laughing. I just remember that family laughing because most of the rest of the theater were white people who gave me nasty looks as I was walked out of the theater. I just couldn't help it. There's something about watching a group of white men complain about not being able to see through their hoods that's just pathetic and hilarious.
And because I'm feeling indulgent, why not just quote the scene directly. Big Daddy a plantation owner, and part-time Colonel Sanders impersonator, has tracked Django and Dr. King Schultz with a posse of men to lynch the pair of them. Before they ride in to attack them they plan their attack and the conversation eventually takes place:
Big Daddy: [instructing raiding party] Now unless they start shooting first, nobody shoot 'em. That's way too simple for these jokers. We're gonna whoop that nigger lover to death! And I am personally gonna strip and clip that gaboon myself!
[puts on bag]
Big Daddy: Damn! I can't see fuckin' shit outta this thing.
Unnamed Baghead: We ready or what?
Big Daddy: Naw, hold on, I'm fuckin' with my eye holes.
[rips bag]
Big Daddy: Oh. Oh, shit.
[takes off bag]
Big Daddy: Ah, I just made it worse.
Unnamed Baghead: Who made this goddamn shit?
Other Unnamed Baghead: Willard's wife.
Willard: Well, make your own goddamn mask!
Big Daddy: Look. Nobody's sayin' they don't appreciate what Jenny did.
Unnamed Baghead: Well, if all I had to do was cut a hole in a bag, I coulda cut it better than this!
Other Unnamed Baghead: What about you, Robert? Can you see?
Robert: Not too good. I mean, if I don't move my head I can see you pretty good, more or less. But when I start ridin', the bag's movin' all over, and I – I'm ridin' blind.
Bag Head #2: [rips bag] Shit. I just made mine worse. Anybody bring any extra bags?
Unnamed Baghead: No! Nobody brought an extra bag!
Unnamed Baghead: [raiding party is discussing their bags] Do we have to wear 'em when we ride?
Big Daddy: Oh, well shitfire! If you don't wear 'em as you ride up, that just defeats the purpose!
Unnamed Baghead: Well, I can't see in this fuckin' thing! [takes bag off] I can't breathe in this fuckin' thing, and I can't ride in this fuckin' thing!
Willard: Well fuck all y'all! I'm going home! You know, I watched my wife work all day gettin' thirty bags together for you ungrateful sons of bitches! And all I can hear is criticize, criticize, criticize! From now on, don't ask me or mine for nothin'!
Big Daddy: Now look. Let's not forget why we're here. We gotta kill a nigger over that hill there! And we gotta make a lesson out of him!
Bag Head #2: Okay, I'm confused. Are the bags on or off?
Robert: I think… we all think the bag was a nice idea. But – not pointin' any fingers – they coulda been done better. So, how 'bout, no bags this time – but next time, we do the bags right, and then we go full regalia.
[all agree]
Big Daddy: Wait a minute! I didn't say 'no bags'!
Bag Head #2: But nobody can see.
Big Daddy: So?
Bag Head #2: So, it'd be nice to see.
Big Daddy: Goddammit! This is a raid! I can't see! You can't see! So what? All that matters is can the fuckin' horse see? That's a raid!
These scene in particular drew the most laughs, and thinking on it later I wondered why the only people laughing was that family of black people and myself. But reflecting on it I suppose I understand. There's a lot of dialogue which surrounds the film Django Unchained and a lot of it has to do with history.
If the reader has never seen Django Unchained it's a film about a former slave who is rescued by a mysterious German dentists named Dr. King Schultz who is in fact not a dentist but a bounty hunter. Schultz saves Django because the man used to work on a plantation where three of his bounties used to work as well. The pair of them track the men down, kill them, escape the afore quoted inept posse, and during a conversation they decide to save Django's wife who's been sold, as they discover, to one of the largest plantation owners in Mississippi Calvin Candy. The two men draft an elaborate plan to rescue her, which ultimately fails, and costs Schultz his life. Escaping chains once again Django fights through and slaughters everyone in his path and finally saves his wife from Candyland.
When the film was released Quentin Tarantino suffered all manner of bad press for the free and prolific use of the word nigger in the film. Spike Lee made his usual appearance on the "Fuck Tarantino" program, and people on Facebook got into really nasty arguments about who's allowed to use the word "nigger" and when and in what context and then someone said "reverse racism" and everybody who liked their brain left the room before that bullshit polluted their frontal lobes. And when the issue of Slavery and historical accuracy was thrown down, I like most people tuned out. Not because there wasn't an argument to be made, but because I had already assured myself that this interpretation was the best reason to enjoy the film. I enjoy Tarantino movies period and will regularly defend the man's work. But since I've seen the film around ten times since it came out I've realized more and more than this argument can only go so far. Tarantino movies tend to be hyperbolic in terms of violence and persona and sometimes plot structure, and within the film there is another, and I'd argue far more interesting, analysis that few people really discussed.
Django Unchained is a fairy tale about racism.
After Django and Schultz have defeated the Brittle Brothers and Big Daddy's posse, the two men are having coffee and beans in a rocky valley, and while they talk Django mentions his wife Broomhilda and Schultz tells him the story of Siegfried:
Dr. King Schultz: Well, Broomhilda was a princess. She was a daughter of Wotan, god of all gods. Anyways, Her father is really mad at her.
Django: What she do?
Dr. King Schultz: I can't exactly remember. She disobeys him in some way. So he puts her on top of the mountain.
Django: Broomhilda's on a mountain?
Dr. King Schultz: It's a German legend, there's always going to be a mountain in there somewhere. And he puts a fire-breathing dragon there to guard the mountain. And he surrounds her in a circle of hellfire. And there, Broomhilda shall remain. Unless a hero arises brave enough to save her.
Django: Does a fella arise?
Dr. King Schultz: Yes, Django, as a matter of fact, he does. A fella named Siegfried.
Django: Does Siegfried save her?
Dr. King Schultz: [Nods] Quiet spectacularly so. He scales the mountain, because he's not afraid of it. He slays the dragon, because he's not afraid of him. And he walks through hellfire… because Broomhilda's worth it.
Django: I know how he feel.
Watching the movie for the first time I failed to see how Tarantino was using this scene. I simply chocked it up to the man's recent fascination with Christoph Waltz. Inglorious Basterds for me was a bit of a let-down the first time I watched it, but that was only because I was a Tarantino Junkie and had heard his original idea for the film. In place of a quad of black commandoes fighting across Europe I got a two-and-a-half-hour dialogue piece complete with film and lots of subtitles. Still, the redeeming element of the film was Waltz and his performance of Hans Landa. When Waltz returned in Django, it was just a continuation of the German aesthetic.
But like I said before there's more to this passage because it ultimately reveals the creative goal of Django Unchained, which is to create an American fairy tale about slavery.
I think it's a mistake to make the argument that Django is "historically accurate" as a film. There are numerous elements which satisfy historical reality (such as the headwear slaves were sometimes manacled with and bullshit eugenist views which I'll talk about later), however people in the past typically didn't bleed explosive corn syrup. The regular splash and sploosh of blood erupting in geyser like quality is Tarantino's usual hyperbolic cinematic style and reveals his love of B-movies. But the main reason I reject this argument as the sole interpretation or defense of the film is that it limits the plot by history which often can be anti-climactic to narrative structure.
The reason Django becomes the character he does is because Tarantino is making
a Western, and as I've explored that genre before in numerous other essays, it's important to understand how Westerns operate. I've said it once before, several times, but Jane Tompkin's book West of Everything: The Inner Life of Westerns is a wonderful book because it lays out the skeleton of the Western genre, how it operates, who established it, why it continues to appeal to audiences, and finally what is the creative goal of it.
In an early passage she explains the general outline of the western:
First of all, in Westerns (which are generally written by men), the main character is always a full-grown adult male, and either outdoors—on the prairie, on the main street—or in public places—the saloon, the sheriff's office, the barber shop, the livery stable. The action concerns physical struggles between the hero and a rival or rivals, and culminates in a fight to the death with guns. In the course of these struggles the hero frequently forms a bond with another man—sometimes his rival, more often a comrade—a bond that is more important than any relationship he has with a woman and is frequently tinged with homoeroticism. There is very little free expression of the emotions. The hero is a man of few words who expresses himself through physical action—usually fighting. And when death occurs it is never at home in bed but always sudden death, usually murder. (38-9).
Now I can anticipate the reader's reaction immediately: Django doesn't exhibit any of these last qualities. In fact he doesn't even die. This is a fair point, however if you observe the quote in it's entirety you'll see that Tarantino's movie matches this skeleton because ultimately Django is a physical creature who isn't defined by his introspection. Django Unchained seems to break this structure because he's principally motivated to save his wife Broomhilda, however Tompkins notes that women typically receive this treatment in westerns when she notes:
Westerns either push women out of the picture completely or assign them roles in which they exist only to serve the needs of men (39-40).
Broomhilda never really manifests much of a personal character other than the fact that she's Django's wife. And while this certainly means Django Unchained fails the Bechdel test, it simply follows that it is in fact a Western. Django fights through the power structure and bodies of Candy Land in order to save his wife, literally spraying the white walls red with blood, until he's overpowered and sent back, temporarily, into slavery. All this death only further Tompkins arguments about westerns:
For the Western is secular, materialist, and anti-feminist; it focuses on conflict in the public space, is obsessed by death, and worships the phallus. Notably, this kind of explanation does not try to account for the most salient fact about the Western—that it is a narrative of male violence—for, having been formed by the Western, that is what such explanations already take for granted (28).
But that just leads me back to my original argument.
Tarantino movie is remaking the genre of the western by blending it with the fairy-tale, myth, of Siegfried. Fairy-tales, much like myth, are stories that are purposefully hyperbolic in order to explain phenomena in the world. Zeus and Thor are non-scientific means explain lightning, and likewise the story of Siegfried is designed to explain the absurd state of being in love. One of the best examples of the fairy-tale is George Orwell's novel Animal Farm which, when it first published, had the subtitle of "A Modern Fairy Tale." In Animal Farm Orwell was using the structure of the fairy tale to tell a modern story about the terrors of Stalinism, but also of political corruption in general.
In Django Unchained, the fairy tale is exploring the history of violence and race, but instead of simply reminding the viewer about the travesties of slavery, the story is told so that instead of remaining victims of oppression black people overcome the violence by becoming the hero of a traditionally white genre.
Django becomes a mythic, or fairy-tale hero, charging into the fire that is the Candy Land plantation, pretending to be a black slaver, watching a slave named D'Artagnan being ripped apart my dogs, listening to Calvin Candie's long lecture about the mental feebleness of blacks, killing dozens of field hands in Candy Land being captured, killing his captors, and returning to kill every last living member of Candy Land before blowing it up. While all of this is the usually Tarantinoesque hyperbole it follows point-by-point the struggles of Siegfried's struggle.
The Dragon may be a slave owner with bad teeth who believes in eugenics and drinks rum from a coconut, but the hero faces it nonetheless because, as Dr. King Schultz noted before, Broomhilda's worth it.
*Writer's Note*
And then just a final note about one crucial element of the film. Consistently in Django Unchained, there are shots of white surfaces being sprayed with blood. First it's the cotton of Big Daddy's farm being sprayed with Ellis Brittle's blood, Big Daddy's white horse being sprayed with blood, and finally the white walls of Candy Lands interior being sprayed with blood of the various field hands who die trying to kill Django. As before I've heard arguments about how this is historic symbolism for how "white power" was "stained" by the blood of Africa Americans. I like this argument, and I stand by the idea that in the humanities you can make any argument you want as long as you support it with evidence. However, as I've noted before, Django Unchained is not historically accurate the way 12 Years a Slave was. The Tarantino factor has to be accounted for.
There is certainly a gratuitous element to it, but I'd argue that this constant staining imagery is just another way of building the "fairy-tale." Often myths and fairy-tales pay attention to the body, blood, organs, etc. And so blood being such a precious fluid that it is, it's being used to demonstrate what the hero is willing to perform and sacrifice in order to get back to his wife.
**Writer's Note**
I didn't get a chance to use it in the review, but this small exchange between Dr. King Schultz and Calvin Candie remains one of my favorite dialogue pieces simply because it made me realize a fact about an author I've loved all my life and never knew:
Calvin Candie: White cake?
Dr. King Schultz: I don't go in for sweets, thank you.
Calvin Candie: Are you brooding 'bout me getting the best of ya, huh?
Dr. King Schultz: Actually, I was thinking of that poor devil you fed to the dogs today, D'Artagnan. And I was wondering what Dumas would make of all this.
Calvin Candie: Come again?
Dr. King Schultz: Alexander Dumas. He wrote "The Three Musketeers." I figured you must be an admirer. You named your slave after his novel's lead character. If Alexander Dumas had been there today, I wonder what he would have made of it?
Calvin Candie: You doubt he'd approve?
Dr. King Schultz: Yes. His approval would be a dubious proposition at best.
Calvin Candie: Soft hearted Frenchy?
Dr. King Schultz: Alexander Dumas is black.
***Writer's Note***
Maybe it's indulgent on my part, or cathartic, but there's something about watching Django burst into the house of the slave catcher's shouting "D'Artagnan, motherfuckers!" And shooting them all.
Although I'll also note there's just something about watching a former slave whip the field hands that made him watch as they whipped his wife with their own whip before shooting them that is just…well it's just fun to watch.
****Writer's Note****
While I was polishing this essay I found a review from The Gaurdian of the film. Enjoy:
****Writer's Note****
Finally I just wanted to leave the reader with some extra material. Here's an interview with noted African American studies scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr and Quentin Tarantino shortly after Django Unchained was released. Enjoy:


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Feminism Isn't A Dirty Word
Okay ladies lets have a chat about the word feminism.
Feminism isn't a dirty word. Being a feminist doesn't mean that you hate men. It doesn't mean you stop shaving your legs and wearing makeup. It doesn't mean you're against all things in gender norms or that you think women should be over men. Feminism is whatever you need it to be.
Merriam Webster defines feminism as "the advocacy of women's rights on the basis of the equality of the sexes"
We need feminism. We need feminist. We need men who are for feminism and equality of the sexes and women who are for equality.
We need feminism.
Because "throwing like a girl" is still an insult. Because men still think it's okay to go around the woman that's in charge just because they'd rather "work with a man". I need feminism because I want my daughters to grow up in a world that's different than the one I grew up in. I want to make sure that they never question if they should speak up in a room full of men. I never want them to feel like they're place is in the home just because that's what they've heard. If that's what you want you should be able to do it but if it's not than you should have no problem doing something else. Because female athletes aren't even considered actual athletes.
As a society we have come so far but it was only in 1920 that women gained the right to vote but we still have never seen a female president. I want my daughter to know that she has just as many opportunities as my son. She is not defined by being a female.
I have a lot of friends that get offended if they're called a feminist. "I am NOT that!" I honestly used to be one of them. I couldn't understand the logic of the mega feminist that believed all men were sexist pigs who deserved nothing but punishment... I still can't. I love the men in my life. They've never done anything but support me. But I think in their brains when they hear that word they're seeing the women who scream about the patriarchy and how women should rule the world. (Which isn't feminism by the way) They aren't seeing their granddaughter, sister, girlfriend, that has been told "that's a man's job." or "Make me a sandwich." or "wouldn't you be more comfortable doing something else with your life?" Or my favorite, been referred to as an object put on Earth for nothing more than a man's pleasure rather than a living breathing human. Whether or not you realize it as a female you have faced sexism in your life in one form or another. That is too much. Feminism isn't a dirty word. Being a feminist doesn't mean that you hate men, it doesn't mean you stop shaving your legs and wearing makeup. It doesn't mean you're against all things gender norm or that you think women should be over men. Feminism is whatever you need it to be.
I need it to be equality. I need it to be the men in my life shutting down their friends for saying sexist things or objectifying women. I need people who support female's in fields like engineering, business, and Law. I need it to be where it's not out of place for a female to be in charge of a particular organization just because it's been ran by men in the past. I need it to not be strange to be partnered with your husband rather than one being in charge. I need feminism for my future children.
I still wear my 6 inch pumps, acrylic nails, and frilly dresses every chance I get. I surround myself in more pink than Elle Woods. I am marrying the most beautiful soul of a man that I have ever encountered. My father never made me feel like I was less able to do anything because I was a girl. I enjoy college football more than most people I know and my favorite movie is Legally Blonde. My go to drink at Starbucks is a peppermint white chocolate mocha and I'm happiest in the gym. Nothing makes my blood boil more than someone acting like I can't or don't know how to do something because I am a girl.
I'm a feminist.
It's whatever you need it to be. If you want to be a stay at home mom or a CEO you should be able to do both without your sex being a factor.
Feminism isn't a dirty word.
"You are valuable & powerful & deserving of every chance in the world" Make those chances. Do big things.

subset: commoncrawl


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About caintry_boy
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- Birthday 12/02/1952
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Asus Maximus Extreme-Z mobo, 1TB HDD, 500Gb HDD, DVD-RW 16Gb DDR3-2133, GeForce TITAN all on water
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Absolutely love your Moniker. In fact I love it so much 15 years ago I had it tattooed on my arm. I did 8 years in The USMC as an 0311 (Rifleman) and my secondary MOS was 1371 (Combat Engineer) That was back a few years like 1984-1992. I absolutely have more respect for the Vietnam vets as anyone in the world. They were sent to do a job and back home where they belong people hated them. I was not born until 1966 so I was like 9 when they brought most of the troops back. Had that "Police Action" happened when I was 17 I would have joined the Marine Corps in less than a second. When Desert storm started I actually signed a contract to do my 2nd tour. In one way I am glad I was not sent in another way I regret not being chosen to go. Lost a lot of my USMC Brothers and Sisters over there. So again back to the point. I really love your patronage. I have messed around on PC Pitstop way back when it was basically the only site out there that you could download free goodies and also do speed testing. I have not been back on the site for years so everything is new to me. LOL I just looked at your Profile information and see you are a day or so older than I am. You very well may have been in Nam. Semper Fi my friend. Brett Heller USMC 1984-1992 0311/1371 Currently in Coldwater, MI.
Just thought I'd let y'all know that my wound care appointment yesterday went well and my Dr was pretty pleased. I go back in two weeks.
Well I'll never be in "good" working order hon' but maybe I'll be working!
I'm doing good gorgeous! My physical therapist is about to wear me out but that's expected. I follow up with wound care on the 16th and praying for a good report then. Thanks for asking "Sugah Plum"!
Please Join In To Fight Breast Cancer
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Doing much better now! Home Health was out yesterday and got me initiated and changed the dressing on my foot. They'll be back tomorrow and I believe that they'll put my wound vac back on so that I heal faster. Trying desperately Tomk_! The last couple of days have been better and I think we're gonna have some more good days ahead. Sure don't want y'all communicatibg from cardiac wards all over the world!
Wow, what a fiasco! I got home around 6pm yesterday with a wound vac on my foot again and by 8pm it was blocked. Karen and I have changed one or two in the past so we tried again only to have an epic FAIL. Bleeding profusely from the wound and wound up with an ambulance ride to the new SMH South @ 159th and 69 Hwy. They put on a new vac head and cannister and bandaged the foot, sending us home only to find out that when we got home the wound vac was full and blocked again AND I had bled through the bandage! Here we go to Ft Scott ER and they were able to stop the bleeding and bandage my foot again. This was an all nighter and no sleep for either Karen or I! My thanks to ARNP Lynieta (sp?) Leisure at Mercy on the great care she gave AND for breakfast!


text: rrracing 0 Report post Posted September 3, 2009 I want to take the kids to see the races where is the track or address. Want to get my 5yr old racing and I am also looking for a car if anyone knows of any for sale. I am in the Converse area. Thanks Randy G. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites


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One of the most famous and successful franchises in sports, the Yankees have won a staggering 27 World Series championships; no other team comes close. Former players like Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle are as much a part of American folklore as they are athletes. The team's stars include Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton. If you're bringing the kids, you might want to avoid the bleachers—the language can get pretty salty out there.
Courtesy, New York Yankees
+ Read More
Yankee Stadium
1 E. 161st St.Bronx, NY 10451


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SGW audio sneak peek part 4
Here is part 4 of the Stargate worlds audio sneak peek series. If you missed it here is part 1 and part 2 and part 3.
The Curia is where all government meetings took place on the planet of Tollana. With the destruction of Tollana it is presumed that all the members of the Curia were killed by the Goa'uld. In Stargate Worlds it is unknown what you will see of the Curia.
SGW Lore – Warden Muelbach
Muelbach is a warden on P1x437 which is also known as "The Castle". The lore is of a letter he wrote to a senator asking once again for a transfer back to Earth because he is sick of "this gulag".
Sorry for the delay in this part. I have being busy lately.
Author: Aaron Meehan
Hi, I'm the creator of SG Gaming Info. When I'm not working on my writing or creating content for this site's YouTube channel, I like to relax and enjoy character driven story games.


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Vacation English Experience
- Ages 10 - 17
- 4.93 score from 374 ratings
Recommended for
Choose your experience
What is this experience about?
Our Vacation English Experience is not like any other English course. Designed to appeal specifically to younger learners, the experience features modern, stimulating materials and teaching methods to ensure fast progression. Similarly, the leisure programme is deeply linked to the lessons to help students get the most out of their stay.
We also promote a lot of activities, to involve our students in a more natural English communication development. We offer a wide range of activities for them to have fun while improving their skills without even noticing.
Join our Vacation English Experience activities!
We select and design activities that our young learners will enjoy, but that also motivate the practice of their English skills. These just are some of the activities we offer in our Vacation English Experience.
According to the location of the experience, our students will take part in different excursions to enrich their English!
Quizzes Solving
Let's see how much you know about general culture or how much you can remember in a battle against the clock!
Gladiator Contest
Have you ever imagined what beeing a gladiator feels like? Now it's your chance to figure it out!
Treasure Hunt
Get your team together, follow the clues and try to be the first one to find the hidden treasure!
Cinema Night
Chill down enjoying your favourite movies in English! Prepare the popcorns and choose the best seat!
Football, Basketball, Volleyball, Tennis, Badminton, Cricket, Swimming… you will enjoy your favourite sport in our summer schools!
Indoor Games
Somedays are more relaxed than others. Enjoy some board games, x-box games, billiards and more!
When is it happening?
Torbay: 29 Mar – 26 Apr, 14 Jun – 30 Aug & 27 Sep – 18 Oct
Fort Lauderdale: 05 Jan – 29 Feb & 28 Jun – 28 Aug
What's included?
- English Tuition
- Full day and half day excursions
- Afternoon activities
- Full-board accommodation
- Health Insurance
- LAL course book and materials
- Certificate of attendance and report
- Registration fee
- Escorted meet and greet return transfers
Why LAL?
- We offer Schools for Young Learners that stimulate English learning.
- We have been running these schools for over 25 years.
- We have taken care of children from all over the world in our schools in England, Malta, USA, Ireland, South Africa and Canada.
- We boost our students' confidence and communication skills.
- We provide our own books, designed to appeal to young learners.


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We're honored to have the song LIVE IT WELL featured in the new film, I'll Push You. The incredible story of two friends, one wheel chair and an amazing 35-day journey on foot from the south of France to Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
As a celebration of the film, we are releasing Live It Well: LIVE at the Hollywood Palladium, recorded last summer during the Looking for America Tour.
What better way to celebrate Live It Well and I'll Push You than to join them together in this new music video!
To watch I'll Push You CLICK HERE
To stream on Spotify CLICK HERE
Categories: Journal
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Daniel, daniel grigori, fallen, Kate Lauren, lauren kate, luce, Lucinda, Lucinda Price, passion, Rapture
After an anxious wait for the release of this 4th and final installment of the Saga Fallen, so in between screams, grunts, laughter and many tears, I finished reading the book and OMDG, I was speechless. I will try to be brief -Yeah, uhu- because there is so much to talk about, but also I do not want (spoil u) the entire book 😛
In this last volume T_T Lucinda finally comes to understand completely the curse, which turns out to be HER curse, then the battle of the last 9 days is EPIC, and I insist that I will never get tired of reading how Daniel picks Luce up and takes her from one place to another by flying, each of these scenes, I love it!. I died =O when Luce finally begins to be an important piece of the story, 'cause she had always been the damsel in distress, and everyone around her had been constantly watching over her.
Every step Luce's takes, made her truly know who she is; the narrative is so simple, intimate and intriguing, that one cannot help but shed an occasional tear 😥 ; seeing how having experienced her other lives has given her many weapons to become that relevant piece in the game, which everyone around know she is, but no one can tell her, and I DIED ,really, I DIED at the time that is revealed, mainly because Daniel was with her every inch of that long road and because is so impressive so amazing.
With the inevitable come and go of the sunrises and sunsets, everything becomes a F *** ing mess, but at the same time things start to settle to make way for the final solution to avoid the end of the world and the entire universe, the recollection of the devices to determine the exact location of the fall is a total battle.
I was struck by the incursion of the Outcast, and I completely hate the Scale and the Elders, they were so nasty -I remember them and makes me angry- and even try to delay Luce, and turns to help her be stronger and do things beyond what she thought was capable of.
Besides the angels who had accompanied her all this time, play an important role in the process of Luce, to know her-real-self completely. Roland, Cambriel, Annabelle and Arriane, are extremely helpful in this last trip with Lucinda; I could not love Arriane more for her passion and love for Daniel and Luce is indescribable. And I must say *** SPOILER ALERT *** Molly's and Gabbe's death made me T_T so much, I did not overcome the shock that they had died, until the end of the book *** SPOILER ALERT *** T_T
On the other hand the original identity of Luce, I was surprised but I kind of knew it already, because of many leads that Lauren had given us in the previous books, and what indeed almost make me cry out OHMYDEARGOD! Was to know what was her place in the beginning of everything, and to know why and how the fall was, and to know that she had much to do with it, and see her take control and take her responsibility to get rid of the curse, it was EPIC! !
I found it very right and correct the way Lauren Kate talks about what the main purpose of the of angels is, and how describes God and the throne; I agree much with her, in almost everything and obviously there are things that are completely false about the same two subjects; but in what may be truth, I really liked that a book with so much influence and distribution as this one tells about it.
And now about the final, final, final end, there is no way to describe it, I will just say it is PERFECT, love it and I cannot help to thinking that I would like to know more, but still… I love it. Kate Lauren gave us a very, very epic ending, every detailed, every line of all, was what I expected and even a bit more. Besides Daniel and Luce's happy ending, every secondary character manages to have an end; I will not say a happy ending too but an ending well worthy and memorable.
Finally I would like to have another saga about Daniel and Lucinda, but do not think it really make it true T_T but I'm very happy with the whole saga and super happy with Rapture.
PS- Thank you to Aszhmick for translating this review, love ya!!! Thanks.


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These sort of questions will be asked to you once you visit an expert bee keeper to consult with him about the hive that is finest to buy. Every hive has its own specifications, maintenance and honey generation quantity.
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Question #43461
Recent Question/Assignment
BIOL1003 Ecology Module ? Week 8 Analysis of Communities
1. To experience field sampling techniques that are widely used in ecology;
2. To understand the concept of species diversity and its measurement; and
3. To experience the use of dichotomous key for identification of biological samples.
1. Covered Footwear – suited to rough/dirty/muddy conditions (old sneakers are good)
2. Outdoor protective clothing (hat, sunscreen, long pants etc.)
3. Insect repellent
4. Mobile phone
5. Lab coat and safety goggles
6. Dissection Kit
7. Calculator, logbook and pen
This fieldtrip will involve the examination of the diversity and abundance of leaf litter invertebrate species found at two sites on the Callaghan campus (Site 1: Bushland behind Chancellery; Site 2: Red Ash Gully in Don Morris Walk). At the sites, leaf litter will be sampled using quadrats and transported back to the laboratory. Invertebrate species will then be recovered from leaf litter by sifting, counted and identified. Major risks of this fieldtrip are described below:
1. Abrasions created by spines and thorns of plants. Appropriate clothing (e.g. long sleeve shirt and long pants), footwear (i.e. fully covered shoes with strong soles) and work gloves must be worn at all times. First aid kit should be available.
2. Bites from dangerous bush animals. All persons must be aware of possible dangerous animals (e.g. poisonous snakes and spiders) and do not approach them if found or touch them with bare hands. Communication devices (e.g. mobile phone) should be available. First aid kit should be available.
3. Separation from work groups. All persons should bring along a campus map to the sites and a mobile phone for communication. Reflective vests should be worn at all times in the field trip. A sign-in-and-out system will be used to record the attendance of all participants.
4. Exposure to inclement weather (sun, cold, etc.). Always review weather forecasts prior to departure. All students must be aware of weather conditions and be equipped with the necessary protection (i.e. sunscreen, hat, protective clothing, insect repellant, wet-weather gear, etc.).
5. Minor irritation caused by contact with 70% ethanol (used for preserving biological samples). Preserving alcohol should not be drunk or inhaled, and care should be taken not to spill it on skin. If alcohol is spilled, any affected skin should be washed thoroughly with water. Protective Equipment (PPE) including gloves (double nitrile, 8 mil nitrile, latex), lab coat and goggles and closed toed shoes should be worn.
Students in each group will be divided into two halves; one half (2?3 students) will sample at Site 1 (Bushland behind Chancellery) and the other half (2?3 students) will sample at campus Site 2 (Red Ash Gully in Don Morris Walk).
• Field sampling
• Recovery of invertebrates from leaf litter, sorting, counting and identification of invertebrates
• Pooling class data
• Data analysis (done after class)
A community is an assemblage of interacting populations that constitute a relatively self-sufficient ecological unit. Often we consider only a portion of a community, that is, an assemblage of interacting populations that lack self-sufficiency. This is called a subcommunity. For example, we may examine the ground subcommunity or a rotting log subcommunity within a deciduous forest community.
Although a community does not always have easily delineated spatial boundaries, it is a basic ecological concept. Communities show organization and homeostasis, and they have unique structural and functional attributes not possessed by their individual component populations.
Graphical representations of certain aspects of community structure are often helpful in community analysis. Rank-abundance diagram may be prepared using density, coverage, biomass, frequency, productivity, or importance value. One ranks the species in a sequence from 1 to s, where s is the total number of species being considered. The most abundant species (or the one with the greatest coverage, biomass, etc., depending on the measured variable) is assigned rank 1, the second most abundant is given rank 2, and so on, with the least abundant receiving rank s. Then, the abundance (or biomass, coverage, etc.) is plotted against the corresponding rank, as in the figure below. Logarithms permit convenient placement of a large range of values on the graph and result in a curve such as C in the figure being a straight line.
Fig. 1. A relative-abundance curve, also called a dominance-diversity curve, or a species-importance curve. Curve A exemplifies the highest diversity and lowest dominance; curve D is the lowest of the four in diversity and highest in dominance.
A community with a high degree of diversity will tend to have more species and a more even abundance in each species than will a community of low diversity. Communities with low species diversity and/or a high degree of dominance tend to have very steep curves on such a graph. Those with high species diversity and/or low dominance assume a more horizontal aspect.
Species diversity
Species diversity, a characteristic unique to the community level of biological organization, is an expression of community structure. The most useful measures of species diversity incorporate consideration of both the number of species (richness) and the distribution of individuals among the species (evenness).
A community is said to have a high species diversity if many equally or nearly equally abundant species are present. On the other hand, if a community is composed of a very few species, or if only a few species are abundant, then species diversity is low. For example, a mixed stand of ten tree species, all fairly common, is considered more diverse than a community with an equal number of tree species present, but with 95% of the individuals belonging to one species.
High species diversity indicates a highly complex community, for a greater variety of species allows for a larger array of species interaction. Thus, population interactions involving energy transfer (food web), predation, competition, and niche apportionment are theoretically more complex and varied in a community of high species diversity. This is still the subject of considerable discussion; some ecologists have supported the concept of species diversity as a measure of community stability (the ability of community structure to be unaffected by disturbance of its components), while others have concluded that there is no simple relationship between diversity and stability.
Once species diversity was recognized as a parameter that could be used to compare different ecological communities, several indices or mathematical measures were proposed for use. There has been a great deal written about which index should be used under what circumstances. Several authors have questioned the usefulness of species diversity indices on a number of grounds. Even when comparing many indices (including simple measure of species number) are influenced by sample size and the kind of samples made. Other objectives are made on the statistical grounds since procedures for measuring significant differences have not yet been worked out.
Shannon Diversity Index
This index assumes that individuals are randomly sampled from an 'indefinitely large' population. The index also assumes that all species are represented in the sample. It is calculated from the equation:
H = ? - (Pi * ln Pi) i=1
H = the Shannon diversity index
Pi = fraction of the entire population made up of species i S = numbers of species encountered
? = sum from species 1 to species S
Note: The power to which the base e (e = 2.718281828.......) must be raised to obtain a number is called the natural logarithm (ln) of the number.
To calculate the index:
1. Divide the number of individuals of species #1 you found in your sample by the total number of individuals of all species. This is Pi
2. Multiply the fraction by its natural log (P1 * ln P1)
3. Repeat this for all of the different species that you have. The last species is species "s"
4. Sum all the - (Pi * ln Pi) products to get the value of H
For example:
Organism ni pi ln pi pi*ln pi
Subterranean Termite 5 5/24 -1.568 -.3267
Thrip 3 3/24 -2.079 -.259
Ground Beetle 1 1/24 -3.18 -.132
Phalangidae 1 1/24 -3.18 -.132
Swallowtail 1 1/24 -3.18 -.132
Springtail 12 12/24 -.693 -.3465
Caddisfly 1 1/24 -3.18 -.132
High values of H would be representative of more diverse communities. A community with only one species would have an H value of 0 because Pi would equal 1 and be multiplied by ln Pi which would equal zero. If the species are evenly distributed then the H value would be high. So the H value allows us to know not only the number of species but how the abundance of the species is distributed among all the species in the community.
Field sampling
20-50 m measuring tape flags permanent marker 1-m2 quadrat sealable plastic bags work gloves (1 pair per participant) reflective vests
Animal sorting sifting pan white tray
insect aspirator soft forceps disposable gloves
Identification of specimens petri dishes fine forceps stereoscopic microscope with light source
70% ethanol cotton ball
plastic disposable pipettes
1 large jar with lid for discarding used specimens, debris, used alcohol
1. Two on-campus biological communities, Site 1 (Bushland behind Chancellery) and Site 2 (Red Ash Gully in Don Morris Walk) will be used for sampling invertebrates living in leaf litter. We will meet at the laboratory for a briefing before the trip.
2. At each site, lay out two transects (16 m in length) perpendicular to the trail at random locations. Five lab groups will work on one transect and the other lab groups five lab groups will work on the other transect.
3. Take samples with a 1-m2 quadrat at 4-m intervals along the transect (i.e., each group will sample one quadrat per site). Collect all the surface leaf litter (down to a depth of approx. 2 cm) and place it inside a bag. Take the samples to the lab.
4. Place the litter in a sieve for sifting. Shake sample in the sieve 20 seconds for each 100 grams of mass above a shallow pan by two of the team members while the other three team members participate as timers and watch for organisms attempting to escape. Use aspirators to collect small organisms. Place collected organisms in petri dishes with a cotton ball and ethanol.
A -cat litter- pan with sifting pan.
5. Identify collected organisms to Order with the aid of the provided dichotomous key (Appendix) and then sorted by morphological type using a stereoscope. Count the number of individuals of each morphospecies.
6. Tabulate your result. Calculate the Shannon diversity index (H) of the two sampling sites using your group data.
1. Compare the Shannon diversity indices for the two sites. Which site is more diverse according to the index? What is the implication of your finding?
2. Is there any difference in species richness and evenness between the two sites (Hint: Abundance curves can tell)?
3. Which animals were found in the largest numbers in the two locations? Suggest reasons why some species dominate in one location but not the other (Hint: Relate habitat characteristics to species patterns).
1. Brower, J.E., Zar J.H. & von Ende C.N. 1997. Field and laboratory methods for general ecology. 4th edition. WCB/McGraw-Hill.
2. Krebs, C.J. 1999. Ecological Methodology. 2nd edition. Benjamin/Cummings.
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1.49 +/- acres zoned C-1. Can be used for Light Commercial/Office or Multi-Family Residential. Located on Boat Ramp Rd. at the intersection of Hwy 441. Property fronts both roads. There are two lots available for a total of 3.43 acres at $179,400, or the lots can be purchased individually, 1.49 acres for $79,900 or 1.94 acres for $99,500.
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Listing information last updated on July 11th, 2020 at 7:53am EDT.


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Cal State Fullerton Campus Map
On Saturday, about 10,000 people — incoming freshmen and transfer students along with their family members and friends — visited campus for the annual Welcome to Cal State Fullerton Day. The open SunDevilHoops faces a strong Cal State Fullerton team to open the 2018 season at 6 p.m AZCALL 2018 will be held from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Nov. 10 in the Memorial Union on ASU's Tempe campus. AZCALL The suspects then fled Moreno Valley in a Lexus and exited the freeway at Nutwood Avenue in Fullerton, near the CSUF campus. According to a witness, the suspects ditched their car and apparently tried
On the campus of Cal State Fullerton, Mildred García is a familiar sight, with her big glasses, wide smile and ensembles in the school's blue and orange. The university president, who many simply call This article has been modified from its original version to give the correct date for Cal State Channel Islands' opening. For many in Riverside County, a Cal State degree comes with a major in long An anthropology instructor who lost his job after being accused of assaulting a conservative student during a campus protest at Cal State Fullerton will be allowed to return to work. The California
Cal State Fullerton Campus Map – May 1, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — To support Latino students during their critical first year of studies at California State University, Fullerton (CSUF), the 30 th mentoring and campus-wide connections Seven people were arrested on Tuesday night after Milo Yiannopoulos, the conservative provocateur, spoke at California State University police officers were at Fullerton before Mr. Yiannopoulos's SAN DIEGO (CNS) – California State University San Marcos is the safest college campus in California and the 13th safest UC Irvine came in 44th, followed by Cal State Fullerton at 59. UC San Diego


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Does The Orange County School Board Supports Feeding Black Kids To Alligators?
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- Category: Education
- Published: Tuesday, 23 September 2014 04:37
- Written by Lawrence A. Robinson
- Hits: 11477
by Lawrence A. Robinson
Orange County School Board Candidate for District 3, Regina Hellinger, recently walked, 'Gator Alley' to learn of the dangers faced by elementary school kids on their path to Eagles Nest Elementary.
The mis-education of our youth has been a concern of parents in the Orange County School District for years. The school board seems to change standards, schedules and guidelines on a regular basis with very little input or regard of consequence for parents, students or teachers and school administrations.
Read more: Does The Orange County School Board Supports Feeding Black Kids To Alligators?


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Digital Plein Air Painting
$30 ticket price* includes a digital portfolio of prints and resource packet from the workshop that can be used to continue your digital painting journey after the workshop.
Step into the "virtual" shoes of Tony Foster and paint the wilderness found inside The Foster, with artist Charles Coates. In this beginning digital painting workshop, we'll examine Tony Foster's process and techniques in his Exploring Beauty journey, then re-create his methodologies on the iPad. Participants will learn how to apply elements of art such as line, shape, texture and color to digital painting. Each participant will receive a digital portfolio of prints and resource packet from the workshop.
Participants must bring their own fully charged iPad and stylus (Apple Pencil recommended) with Procreate application loaded onto their iPad. Artists of all levels are welcome in this beginning workshop. Please reach out to firstname.lastname@example.com with any questions.
Reserve your spot here.
Saturday, 04/06/19
Contact:Michelle Dzigurski
Website: Click to Visit
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Instant valuation tools have proven to be a great hit with estate and letting agents nationwide. However, a common problem, which agents seem to have, is that once the instant valuation lead comes in, if the client declines a face-to-face valuation, they don't really know what to do with it.
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If you are interested in finding out more about what we do for Estate & Letting Agents, please complete the form and we will get back to you.


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A deal that humans have with the pigeons. The pigeons get out of the way of cars as long as humans look the other way at statue defication. George runs over a few pigeons as well as steps on them. "We have no deal!!"
There is no deal with the squirrels.
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New stretch target
Hitting our stretch target will allow us to involve more people by putting on more events for Makers in east Leeds and touring our Gipton Gala commission more widely across the area.
We want to build a Pavilion as the very first Maker Space in east Leeds, where people can access affordable tools, equipment and training.
Hitting our stretch target will allow us to involve more people by putting on more events for Makers in east Leeds and touring our Gipton Gala commission more widely across the area.
We would like to build a temporary Pavilion at Fearnville Fields, in partnership with Bauman Lyons Architects, to act as the very first dedicated Maker Space in east Leeds!
Incredibly, across all of east Leeds beyond the city centre there are hardly any creative workspaces and no Maker Spaces like the one we envisage. But we know from our research project 'East Leeds Makers' that there are creative people all across this area, people who work with textiles, wood, ceramics and glass; who draw and paint or make prints – artists, craftspeople and designers of all kinds who consider themselves everything from hobbyists to professionals. There are so many people here, from different backgrounds and with different levels of experience, who are passionate about Making, but nowhere for them to come together. Most either work from home in their kitchen or converted garage, or have to travel into the city centre to find suitable workspaces.
The Pavilion will provide a shared space where Makers based in east Leeds can come together to share their skills and learn new ones, meet other Makers, and access affordable tools, equipment and training. The Pavilion will be open to everyone interested in Making, including people who've never made before but would like to try their hand.
We've already started a conversation with the communities of east Leeds and have surveyed over 100 people so far. We've found overwhelming support for the idea of a Maker Space in east Leeds!
The proposed site of the East Leeds Pavilion, on Fearnville Fields, Gipton.
We will work collaboratively with local people, artists and architects to create the Pavilion, using the MassBespoke system developed in Leeds by Bauman Lyons. This pioneering technology combines digital design with the ability to respond to genuine local need on a small scale, and has been designed to achieve high standards of environmental performance, optimise use of materials, eliminate waste, and remove the need for heavy transport and lifting equipment at all stages of construction. It's pioneering genuinely sustainable design, right here in Leeds.
We've identified a site next door to Fearnville Leisure Centre in Gipton and we're working closely with Leeds City Council to make the Pavilion a reality and to make sure that it's energy efficient and environmentally friendly. It will be a temporary structure, a pilot project while we explore more permanent sites, and the green space can be returned to its original state afterwards without any damage to the landscape.
Although our Directors each have 20 years' experience in the arts sector, the East Leeds Project is still a young organisation with very limited resources. That's why we need your help to do three things:
1. Plan the East Leeds Pavilion – your support will allow us to work with local communities and creative people to produce a detailed design and business plan for the Pavilion. We'll fundraise for its construction separately.
2. Put on Maker events – so that we can start building creative networks among Makers in east Leeds.
3. Create an artwork about Making for Gipton Gala – the Gala is a great opportunity to talk to local people and build support for the project. We've commissioned artist Andy Abbott to create a participatory project which will launch in July, but your support will help us take it on tour across east Leeds over the coming year to continue that conversation.
To find out more about the East Leeds Project visit www.eastleedsproject.org
If you can't donate, but would like to get involved or have anything you would like to discuss, please email firstname.lastname@example.com
This project offers rewards in return for your donation.


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The Hyundai Tiburon (Korean: 현대 티뷰론), known as the Hyundai Coupe (현대 쿠페) or Hyundai Tuscani (투스카니) in some markets, was a compact sports coupe that was produced by the South Korean manufacturer Hyundai from 1996 to 2008.
The name "Tiburon", a slight variation of "tiburón", the Spanish word for "shark", is the name given to the North American, Australian, New Zealand, South African, and Austrian production of the vehicle. It was known as the Hyundai Coupe in some European and Indonesian markets. It had been branded as the Tuscani (투스카니) and Turbulence (터뷸런스) in the home South Korean market.
The model had been released in two generations (RD and GK) over its lifespan and in that time these generations have been subject to periodic facelifts. These facelifts have attempted to keep the car up to date with various safety improvements and a mixture of changes to exterior and interior styling. The RD Tiburon was in production for 5years from 1996 to 2001. The GK Tiburon was introduced in 2002 (as a 2003 model) and ended production in 2008. The Hyundai Veloster later replaced the Tuscani.
In second generation models of the Hyundai Tiburon, a top level trim package was released in some markets, named Tuscani (which has caused some confusion in the global community as this was also what the Hyundai Tiburon was named in South Korea). It was a complete, all upgrades package with every option included. It was the elite version of the car originally only offered in yellow. Lesser versions had colour options and were given the GT designation. Later years introduced optional coloring. In the UK market, the V6 was only available in full upgrade specification and did not hold the name Tuscani.