text:
Friday, July 31, 2009
Pure reason shall never win
I was just reminded of this lovely clip, which I thought might appeal to some of you.
I can translate the lyrics if anyone is interested.
This is the remix, the original has more of a ringing guitars sound and is also very nice.
I know, I know. That's the opposite to this week's theme. However...your indulgence, I pray, for my celebration of the launch of the In and Outlaws' eponymously-titled CD. I shall explain.
My son Matt is not the most dynamic or dedicated of folk and in the past he's had lots of disappointments. (We don't use the word 'failure' in our family.) He's not very good at sticking to things and tends to take the easy way out if he can. He was a founder member of the In and Outlaws, and they get paid for gigs, but not a great deal, so they decided that instead of just sharing the money out they'd put it in the bank and save it so that they'd be able to make a record.
And so they have. But this wouldn't have happened without Matt's efforts. The other three band members are very difficult to work with - sometimes they don't turn up for gigs, let alone rehearsals and recording sessions. At least two of them have a serious alcohol problem. It's been very frustrating for Matt but he's seen it through and it's quite true to say that the record wouldn't be out now if it wasn't for his work. He is proud of himself and I (have you guessed?) am very very proud of him too. He's already been on the radio to promote it and next week they set off on a tour of Louisiana, the first time they've played outside Texas, so having the record to sell at gigs will be very helpful. The timing couldn't be better.
UNFORTUNATELY I haven't received my copy yet and so the first version of Weddings (below) hasn't got Matt's backing vocals on it - they recorded this particular one when he had a bad cold. So I'm including his demo version as well, with him doing all the singing and playing. Go Matty!
I Always Cry At Weddings - the In and Outlaws
I Always Cry At Weddings (demo) - Matt Rose
However Much I Booze - the Who
The Wife of Usher's Well - Steeleye Span
One More Dollar - Gillian Welch
Can't Win - Richard Thompson
Lord Franklin - Pentangle
My Husband's Got No Courage In Him - the Silly Sisters
Nomming and donding
Another week where I have been too busy on a Friday to play RR.
This work lark is getting in the way of the important stuff.
Would anyone like to volunteer to cover my conference call with this project I am working on next week?
Experience of database design would be useful ...
We Both Go Down Together
Shane & Shoey present the collaborative failure playlist:
Everyone's Starting Over
I've Been Let Down
They're Leaving Me Behind
Breakups Breakdowns
Fallen Not Broken
Wherever You Go
Rusted Guns Of Milan
Wisdom Fail
Losers Weepers, Finders Keepers
Divine Disappointment
I Can't Get Next To You Babe
Let Love Not Weigh Me Down
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Look, Treefrogdemon!!
oops--I loaded the pictures backwards--obviously, the tadpole picture is on the bottom.
David found a tadpole in a puddle, and he brought it home so we could watch it for a while. (The puddle dried up the next day!!) It was thrilling watching him (or her) grow little arms and legs. Last night he was swimming around with a tail. This morning...he had disappeared!! We finally found him not far away on the table. Well, we said to ourselves...what kind of frog could climb up a sloping glass wall? What kind of frog has big clingy pads on his toes? A TREEFROG!! How wonderful is that? We're reading up on the best place to let him go. But we think he might be a pine barren treefrog, which is an endangered species. Isn't he beautiful?
it's only a game.
It's been pointed out to me that this game has the capabilities of setting up your own league.. as we did last year on the defunct Guardian game... Don't know if I can play this year Mummy sez my tea is nearly ready... (got a big project starting at the end of August)
..but if snadfrod hasn't gone out to by todays Times to get a head start on the rest of you.. then it could be a good good one to set up and get going with the RR lot... the good thing about it - no-one can have the same player in their team as one of their opponents... double plus tough.
Carnaval del Pueblo. Sarf London Sunday 2nd August. FREE. The biggest Latin American festival in Europe.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
On The Beat
Just Dave Van Ronk
Having just acquired this album by devious means, I've put it in the Dropbox for all the rest of you DVR fans.
I'm taking it out on Friday though to make room for the next RR topic.
Enjoy it!
Some Rushed EOTWQs
Who lives (occasionally) in a place like this? Ans: not me, but v.relevant to RR this week!
OK, just got in and seen that there appear to be no takers for End Of The Week Questions this week. As steenbeck said, I'd reserved a place in the queue, but the number on my pull-ticket was kinda smudged, so I'm not sure if I should be standing up or not . . . which leads me into my first question:
1. At some point, we've all been snapped back to attention in a boring meeting by realising we've been called upon to contribute. But, uh-oh, you weren't listening, so you have to wing it. What happened next? And was your response embarrassingly off-topic, or, as with mine, serendipitously brilliant. (I'll share later.)
2. A couple of weeks ago, we were asked what basic life-skill we lacked. This week, I want to know what ULTIMATELY MEANINGLESS life-skill you are actually ace at? Me? As a former house-husband responsible for all domestic duties including the laundry, I am ridiculously proud of my "flick" ability. Who knows what I mean?
3. Sticking with the idea of "ultimately meaningless", what is the knick-knack that a burglar (God Forbid!) would pass by, but you would be heartbroken if it got lost or broken? Nothing over 20 quid/bucks in value allowed, and we'll exclude the usual photos/lock-of-kids'-hair type stuff. I'm not really after sentimental attachments, more inexplicable possessive ones.
4. Big one now: when was the last time you were REALLY scared, and why? I don't know what I can justifiably expect you to say, as I'm still debating with myself whether to even share mine with you.
5. I eventually realised that my Question 5 was music-related, and thus banned from the EOTWQs. So instead of asking about your choice of funeral music, I'll ask what quirky request/demand would you like to put in your funeral instructions. I have a couple, one of which is that, subject to a veto by my girls (of anything meaningful or valuable to them), I'd like all of my friends to choose one album from my music collection to take away, keep, and play occasionally to remember me by. But of course that puts us back on the subject of music AGAIN, which means this question might get ejected from the EOTWQ lounge. So just in case, here's an extra question to ensure I stay at the minimum of five required . . .
6. Having made myself a coffee in my clients' works kitchen today and walked out, I turned around to pick up the folder I realised I'd left next to the kettle, and went *SPANG!!* right into the self-closing door! So - what's your last stupid, self-inflicted injury? On scales from 1 to 10, which score was higher: the pain or the embarrassment?
New Genre Alert!! New Genre Alert!!!
Sample, Sampled, Covered
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
I just spent a week in LA visiting old friends, the first ones we stayed with were John and Marti in Topanga Canyon, John's a carpenter/artist and Marti's a botanist and works for the National Parks, she needed a new car and they saw this sitting on a car lot, they bought it instantly. It's a new Honda and the paint job was commissioned by the House of Blues in Hollywood as a fund raiser, it was then sold to the car dealer who was having a hard time selling it. Marti's well past middle age and this is the car she drives to the office every day, it draws lots of attention. I've put a folder in the dropbox with some more pictures.
Shoey's Album of the Month - July
This is another in my series of 60's classic vinyl, this album came out in 1965 and it had an enormous influence on me. The band comprised Paul Butterfield on harmonica, Elvin Bishop and Mike Bloomfield on guitars, Mark Naftalin on keyboards, Jerome Arnold on bass and Sam Lay on drums. The psychedelic revolution of the late 1960s had several sources, but probably the most important was electric blues. Gradually, electric blues evolved into psychedelic rock and East West was one of the seminal albums that led and marked that transition. The Butterfield Blues Band started out as a straight-ahead Chicago electric blues band and there are several traditional electric blues numbers on this album but there are also several tracks that stretch the boundaries of the blues genre. The band was remarkable for the work of the two great soloists plus Paul Butterfield was an outstanding harmonica player. Unlike a lot of 1960s blues rock musicians, Butterfield, Bishop and Bloomfield still sound fresh and unique today. In particular, Bloomfield's solos on "Work Song", and "East West" have a modal quality unlike any of the other blues rock guitar players of his era and the contrast between Bloomfield's complex droning runs and Elvin Bishop's more traditonal lick-based solos is stunning.
There was another album a couple of years later with a similar line up and sound, that was Super Session with Al Kooper, Steven Stills, Mike Bloomfield, that was one of the earliest 'super group' bands: Kooper and Bloomfield had both toured with and played in Dylan's Highway 61 album band a couple of years earlier which is where I developed a love of their style of playing.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Loft Classics No. 1 - "Curfew" by Drive
RIP - Merce Cunningham
I was lucky enough to witness the Merce Cunningham Dance Company on more than one occasion, and to actually witness the great man contribute his steps.
Attending Goldsmith's College in the 1980's - physically attached, as it was at the time, to the world famous Laban Centre on Laurie Grove - was an instruction in many things, mostly unrelated to the subject I "studied". Dance was one of them. Without attending Goldsmith's, I am certain that one complete area of the Arts might have completely passed me by.
My first experience of attending a dance performance was Yolanda Snaith in a small performance space in East London, just after arriving at college. I had few hopes for the evening, but instead my eyes were opened to the talent, dedication and prowess of great dancers and why they deserve respect. I went expecting to be rather bored, but instead I was profoundly moved.
Merce Cunningham (like Martha Graham) was among the towering figures of modern forms of dance - the Elvis or Beatles of his discipline in many ways. He went on dancing until well into traditional old age and, in this respect, he is also an inspiration to those of us who have ambition to stay fit and healthy as long as possible.
AOTW: A**erisked with abandon
Four-piece Meursault – loved by Mojo (which spelt their name wrong) and praised in The Scotsman – play six & twelve string acoustic guitars, five string banjo, tenor ukulele, accordian, upright piano, cajon, shaker, korg electribe samplers, korg synth, bowed electric guitar, autoharp, floor tom, snare – and circuit bending. If you read that list and think "folktronica", listen in – the beats are so programmed and prominent, and Neil Pennycook's voice strains so hard (without cracking), that the label doesn't really do them justice. Pennycook is also a fine songwriter, producing humane lyrics such as "the worry that you carry is another word for courage" in The Furnace. They've also thought about the pacing of the album – for example, the instrumental Statues of Strangers is a welcome breather in between Salt Pt.1 and The Furnace.
If I may be so bold as to recommend a couple of tracks, try four, the title track (also on my social CD) and eight, A Small Stretch of Land. The title track makes a combination of lamb-and-apricot perfection with Poke, by Frightened Rabbit, whom they're supporting in Edinburgh on 18 August. Meursault are also playing a session for Marc Riley on 6 Music on 6 August.
Since Pissing On Bonfires/Kissing With Tongues was released last year, Meursault have released the Nothing Broke EP. This is the title track:
This is a live version of the penultimate track, William Henry Miller, Pt.1, played on a bandstand in Newcastle. The eccentric Miller lived in 18th-century Edinburgh and was rumoured to be a hermaphrodite. When he died, he asked to be buried face down, forty feet below the ground, so that when he ascended to heaven, he could see the souls of others burning in hell below. The story (his? hers?) makes for a beautiful song, though.
EDIT: Thanks Ed!
Neither the album nor the EP are on sale in the remaining high-street music chain, but you can buy it from Song By Toad, which helpfully puts the online store on the front page, or iTunes, which a**erisks the album with abandon.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Speech debelle
Just heard this for the first time on Ninja Tune.. I like it a lot.
Celebration of Light Fireworks
Last night my wife and I were there for the second entrant, South Africa. It was sunny when we got there at 5 PM (people go early to get a good viewing spot) and through 7 PM by which time we had done the NY Times saturday crossword and had our picnic lunch. Then it started to rain and a lightning storm moved in. Below is a pic of Mrs. Marconius and I looking like drowned rats hiding under our blanket.
And here is a video of some of the lighning strikes before the fireworks, one during the fireworks and finale of the fireworks.
In spite of getting as wet as drowned rats, it was a lot of fun. Fireworks and music go well together.
Tin, if you've ever been to one of these, I hope it brings back memories!
The Twelve Tasks Of ToffeeBoy - #6 Ben Folds
Bet you thought I'd forgotten about the foolish pledge I made back in January. Well. I'm afraid you're wrong. Here, about a month and a half later than scheduled, is the sixth installment of the (quite lidderally) Herculean task I set myself at the beginning of the year, to expose y'all to some of the sections of my collection which don't seem to get much exposure in these parts or over on the Mothership.
The whole series got off to a flying start with some enormously gratifying (not to say, elucidating [I told you not to say that. Ed.]) debate on the nature of pop music: what exactly is pop music, what isn't it and what qualities define what we call 'Pop Music' - which we ARE NOT GOING TO REVISIT! OK???
The debate continued with the controversial choice of Coldplay but the last two editions have raised barely a mumble as first Steely Dan and then Aztec Camera have been rejected either as MOR in the former case or as not even worth rejecting in the latter. Well, I ask you ...
Hopefully, my latest choice will get people talking a bit more. I was surprised to find (courtesy of the magnificent Marconium) that Ben Folds has only featured once on the A-List, putting him alongside such luminaries as Bette Midler and The Spice Girls and two behind Britney Spears. Without wishing to buke the works of everyone's favourite former Disney starlet, surely that can't be right??!! I suspect that there have been some B-Listings as well, one of which (The Luckiest) I was responsible for myself but this still ain't enough, d'ye hear? We need more Ben Folds in Readers Recommend and we need it now.
So , to that end, may I present to you the wonderful, the one and only, Mr Ben Folds (with and without his Five (who were actually only Two (or Three if you include him))). As always, I'll let the music speak for itself but I just want to mention a couple of highlights.
Song For The Dumped has been nominated on RR for a number of topics over the years - it's about a really, REALLY bad breakup and features the line, 'Give me my money back, you bitch'. What's not to like?
Late is a hauntingly beautiful song written by Ben Folds after the death of his fellow singer-songwriter, musician and good friend, Elliott Smith. There's a great line it where he says, 'Elliott man you played a mean guitar, and some dirty basketball'. I remember listening to the song when I realised what it was about and having a good greet (as my Granny would have said).
Boxing is one of the loveliest songs I know. If I liked boxing I would ask to have it played at my funeral.
Oh, and if you buy only one Ben Folds album, let it be Songs For Silverman.
Here's some music ...
Song For The Dumped
Uncle Walter
Satan Is My Master
Alice Childress
Carrying Cathy
Hospital Song
The Luckiest
... and here are some links:
Official site
Fan club
Saturday, July 25, 2009
RIP Captain Pugwash
The Spill's Ninja Stealth Undercover Reporter um reports
Some of you may have read on the motheRRship that webcore was going down to play at his allotment garden's annual open house today.
Given this week's topic, I rolled on a healthy coating of spystick and went down to see what I could capture surreytip... suratep...stirruptish..., well capture on my little mini-video recorder.
It's a song he wrote himself, and is sung here accompanied by his son Kevin on guitar. In the background prepubescent boys, representing the innocence of youth lost, kick a football, symbolizing Mother Earth and man's struggle to understand opera.
Hip hop funky organ samples post #2
Steen posted this great A.T.C.Q. track a couple of weeks ago on RR for the youth cults theme, it opens with a sample of Reuben Wilson's recording of Inner City Blues, from the album The Sweet Life, recorded in 1974. Additionally, a recent compilation from Steen featuring Jamaican organ legend Jackie Mittoo inspired me to revisit Wilson's organ and blues band.
Here's Wilson's Inner city blues, a nicely stripped down piece of R&B. The rest of the album occupies the same relaxed, pared down groove- in particular the title track and the Mittooesque I'll take you there hit some very sweet spots.
Listen on Dropbox.
Poets and pop.
The topics picked for RR lists just goes to show (for the mockers and sneerers) that there's a lot of overlap between pop and poetry. The songs people mention can very often easily stand beside the stuff I read in Carol Ann Duffy's piece in today's Guardian :
Those wonderful poems brought to mind a song from one of Australia's biggest ever bands Cold Chisel called Khe Sanh. Don Walker writes like Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan, two other pop poets (among many)
http://www.coldchisel.com.au/l1_khesahn.html (no, that's not one of my prolific typos - it really is the URL).
And then I went rummaging around for stuff about pop and poetry and found this piece from last year about poet Simon Armitage's love for pop :
Cheers, Caitlin
Velvet pants
While idly flicking through some old singles I stumbled over this spybreaks mix of the 'Spill theme song.
BUGS in the attic
"I'd like to be followed by a private eye, just to prove that I'm not for real"
Ultra Vivid Scene 'Not in Love (Hit by a Truck)'
Ital Visions
Raise The Alarm
Light In Her Window
Hidden Camera Show
A Normal Suburban Lifestyle Is A Near Impossibility Once You've Fallen In Love With An International Spy
Let's Fall In Love And Run Away From Here
Shutter Buggin'
I can Hardly See Them
the Government
the police and the private
Hide and Seek (demo)
Friday, July 24, 2009
The Name's Gazer, Shoe Gazer.
I Turn My Camera On
Vision Thing
Observatory Crest
Spy In the House of Memories
Spy Song
You Are In My Vision
They Won't Let Me Run
Worldwide Watchdog Peepshow
Hell Is Empty
Definitive Gaze
School Mam
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Well, one glass can't hurt....
Check out this Japanese designed "glass for drinking a lot". It uses the power of pyhsics to automatically fill itself up
Surely a shoo-in for many a 'Spillers Christmas list.
O Time MACHINE!
Free music in Manchester
hope some of you can make it - if you do come and say hello, I'll be helping to man the outdoor stage, in a 'CAN' badge & unfeasibly long (approaching ZZTopness) goatee.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Houses Of The Holy (new improved version)
I am a big Led Zeppelin fan, I was an even bigger fan back in the 1970s.
This album is almost perfect, fantastic cover art, great songs, but - and it is a huge but - there are two tracks I really don't like.
They are The Crunge and D'yer Mak'er both of which I tend to avoid playing if at all possible.
Anyway, when Zeppelin were recording Physical Graffiti, they decided to put it out as a double album because the new stuff they had recorded was too long for a single vinyl album.
To do this they took songs that had been recorded for previous albums and used them to bulk the album out. There were three songs that had been recorded for Houses Of The Holy but rejected at that time.
Those songs were The Rover, Black Country Woman and Houses Of The Holy itself.
So, now that we are not limited by vinyl and tape I put together a better, in my opinion, version of the Houses Of The Holy album, using songs that were rejected initially.
I played around with the options and this is my final track listing;
1. "The Song Remains the Same"
2. "The Rain Song"
3. "Over the Hills and Far Away"
4. "Houses of the Holy"
5. "Dancing Days"
6. "The Rover"
7. "No Quarter"
8. "The Ocean"
I tried moving the track listing around in all sorts of ways but in the end just felt that a straight replacement was the most effective option because the dynamic of the album stays mostly the same except that tracks 4, 5 and 6 have a similar feel and make a nice solid block of riffery in the middle.
I think that it really works and it ROCKS, to go a bit Tommy Vance.
If you are a Zep fan and you have these tracks, give it a go and let me know what you think.
Ladybug Transistor
My brother went to a show the other day, and this band, that he'd never heard of, was the opening act. He liked them and told me about them, and I liked them, and now I'm telling you. They have two albums on spotify, and I've listened to them both in my distracted way. They have some elements that add up to general goodness in a band, by my reckoning...HORNS!! Musical complexity, and lots of instruments you don't expect in pop music (cellos, flutes, violins) intriguing lyrics, a female bass-player (think about it--how many good bands have female bass players? Right?)
They play breezy pop music, almost 60s sounding, sometimes, but it feels like there's more going on there. Anyway, there are two albums on spotify, and I've enjoyed them both, and thought I'd share...
Oceans in the Hall
Perfect for Shattering
The video I posted actually has a female vocalist, but most of the songs are sung by a fellow.
Fishing For Compliments.
Well, it was only a matter of time until someone did it. Unfortunately, that someone is me, who can't get any kind of music posting to work, so here's a load of YouTube links instead. This plaice . . .
Okay, now I'm just codding. This wasn't the brightest idea I've ever had. Far too many links . . .
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
The EOTWQ Wears Its Disappointment Like A Badge Of Honour
So Question 1: Dislocation - which apparently essential cultural experience, one that simply everyone else has done/read/watched/tasted/etc, has managed to pass you by?
2] Still with BBC4-related quizzery: last year, back in the days when I (shudder) contributed to Guardian blogs other than RR, there was a film blog asking for suggestions of "TV shows you'd like to see re-made for the big screen." The idea I posted was "Flight Of The Conchords: The Musical - directed by Michel Gondry." Many months later, I sat down to watch an episode of the second FOTC series, and the director was of course Michel Gondry. Now, it's not likely anyone got this idea from my one post on that Guardian blog but I did wonder about what the process and resulting kudos might have been if I'd been more active in turning my idea into this actual (if relatively small) cultural product.
Thus Question 2: Voice In The Wilderness Which of your achievements should have guaranteed you riches, glory or fame were it not for the conspiracy of a mocking Universe?
3] This question rips off a question ejaydee posed on the mothership earlier, asking what is the thing people are least proud of having done. Since a particularly lurid confession might place the 'Spillers in exactly the same moral quandary as Montgomery Clift in I Confess, I'll adapt the question:
Question 3: Shame. (a)If you could erase one thing you have done in your past, what would it be? and (b) Which one thing could you have done that you most regret not having done?
4] It's not all about the politics of despair even in cruelty week, though. Question 4 sheds a little nightlight on the quiz.
Question 4. Fleeting Innocence You can answer this in your guise as a parent, grandparent or former child, or a combination - which is/was your favourite children's book?
5] In honour of the RR social and reflecting on the ale-laced memoirs of those who attended, as a follow-up to the discussions on dinner party politicking and etiquette in last week's EOTWQ, and because I bizarrely found myself at the Queen's garden party last Tuesday (the explanation of why I was there makes it less bizarre but it's too boring to go into right now), we close this oddly emo-flavoured quiz with a multiple choice.
Question 5: The Despairing Quest For Acceptance. You have the choice to be dropped into one of these social situations - in which one would you feel most comfortable?
(a) Drink down the pub
(b) Foody dinner party
(c) Queen's garden party
(d) Just you, a tumbler of something free-poured, and your tunes
(e) An after-hours shebeen/lock-in/drinking den/speakeasy
(f) A big family do
Cruel to be kind...gremlinfc asks if it is so?
Getting to wear groovy tanktops was a plus in this fillum which gave me one of my favourite calm put downs ever...not really cruel but HONEST. What was the fillum? This grand scene included a flying plate of asparagus... Another great quote from a TV episode for which I was overlooked (had an inflamed pea at the time so looked unusual) is:
"I have seen more intelligent creatures than you lying on their backs at the bottom of ponds.
I have seen better organised creatures than you running round farmyards with their heads cut off." Now that IS acerbic...
Finally , my fave rant and cruel jibe , which i thoroughly enjoyed doing (pictorial clue)
"I'm gonna rip the eyes out of your head and piss in your dead skull! You fucked with the wrong________(carries on)
I can deal with the bullets, and the bombs, and the blood. I don't want money, and I don't want medals. What I do want is for you to stand there in that faggoty white uniform and with your Harvard mouth extend me some fucking courtesy"
Easy points there , methinks.
Woodstock: 40 years on
Monday, July 20, 2009
Don't Take Candy From Strangers
AOTW- The Chills, Submarine bells
I still consider Submarine Bells the best release by a Flying Nun band, compilations excluded. It's over in a fairly racy 36 minutes, but covers a lot of ground in a surprisingly cohesive way.
There's the folky tied up in chains linking the exhilarating sweetness of heavenly pop hit with the rockier oncoming day, which is then tempered by the intricacy of part past, part fiction and the ballads; the oddness of dead web and the Smiths-like cynicism of familiarity breeds contempt then lead into the extraordinary effloresce and deliquesce, and the whole thing is rounded off by the exquisitely orchestrated sounds of the title track. The fishy cover and Greenpeace info of the liner notes convey something of the dramatic political change taking place in NZ at the time, while Martin Phillips' light hearted sci-fi tendencies (the swooping-past-planets or diving-into-suns of heavenly pop hit and the pseudo astro-chemistry of effloresce and deliquesce) blend with more serious themes of confusion, longing, conflict, and distance.
Give it a listen, either on the box or below, and please post your own opinions.
Spotify link here
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Strange goings -on down t'Spill
I've just posted something I started writing over the weekend (don't let that put you off, it's really not that long) and was irritated not to find it on t'Spill when I checked. I didn't realize that posts appear according to the date you started on them rather than the date you finished them (live & learn) - PLEASE scroll down, it's the 8th post beneath this one.
Thanks! Merci! Danke! Kiitos! Ta very much!
The Dirty Dozen
Seated in comfort or perched precariously on the arm of a chair (left to right); snadfrod, Mnemonic, TatankaYotanka, Proudfoot, cauliflower, Tim (Kalyr), ejaydee, GarethI
Seated agonisingly on the floor (left to right); ToffeeBoy, Abahachi, glasshalfempty, tarxien
Click on the picture to see the horrible truth, closer up than you'd really like.
The eagle-eyed amongst you will notice that there are 13 CDs here - the additional one was supplied by DarceysDad whose presence was felt throughout the evening. A bit spooky - ever so slightly creepy really ...
I'll add some thoughts on the evening tomorrow and I'll put some more piccies in the dropbox (far too tired right now) but I just wanted to say a big thank you to ejaydee for organising things and also to say how genuinely lovely it was to meet everyone.
The only down side of the whole event was the complete lack of ginger beer on the premises ...
Saturday, July 18, 2009
People Get Together
Walkabout - Atlas Sound & Panda Bear
i haven't got the new LEMONHEADs LP (which is all them doing covers) but i did hear some life being breathed into this old standard by Evan Dando, just goes to show and bit of feedbacky guitar can go a long way:
Uploaded by www.cellspin.net
Pour encourager les autres
This is Admiral John Byng, whose trial and execution for not chasing the French diligently enough was satirised by Voltaire as being done to make all the other admirals try harder. A bit cruel, you might say; and here are some more cruel people.
Cruel Sister - Pentangle
The Cruel Brother - Five Hand Reel
The Cruel Mother - Shirley Collins
The Cruel Ship's Captain - Bryan Ferry
Cruel Sister is bethnoir's recommendation.
Kirsty MacColl's 50th birthday event 11th October
Cocktail Slippers - St. Valentine's Day Massacre
Pure pop from Norway, they are on Steven van Zandt's 'Wicked Cool Records', enjoy!
Friday, July 17, 2009
The Duckworth Lewis Method
Not sure how I missed the reviews of this! Neil Hannon (of the Divine Comedy) has recently embarked on one of the strangest projects of recent times - a cricket concept album, in tandem with fellow Irish musician Thomas Walsh. Under the name The Duckworth Lewis Method (which will probably mean nothing to non-cricket fans) they've released an eponymously titled album which, amongst much more, features a song called Jiggery Pokery. Here's a recent piece from The Times all about the track:
Here is a taste of Jiggery Pokery, a Noël Coward-style song about the famous ball delivered by the great Australian bowler Shane Warne that bamboozled Mike Gatting in 1993: "I took the crease to great applause and focused on me dinner/ I knew that I had little cause to fear their young leg spinner." Then Gatting is out, after the ball "span obscenely". And he's very angry: "It was jiggery pokery trickery jokery how did he open me up?/ Robbery muggery Aussie skulduggery out for a buggering duck." The song ends in a hysterical crescendo: "I hate Shane Warne!"I think I might just recommend it over on the Mothership!
The Duckworth Lewis Method's Myspace page
My brother texted me this afternoon from the Latitude Festival (taking place this weekend) to tell me that he'd just seen them performing and was more than impressed. I'm off to download the album - if you want a taster you can hear the whole thing on Spotify.
Warning! A few of these tracks at the end are possibly disturbing.
32-20 blues
crow jane
Big Leg Blues
Funky Butt
Lord Anthony
You Don't Send Me
Satin in a Coffin
Scrap Metal
Black Widow Pt. 2
Dance With the Devil
Return to Innocence Lost
Mother's Pride
I realize I can bore for England on the topic of my kids, but this time it's something special (honest, guv). I've mentioned before over on the Mothership that mrdebbyjr writes his own songs, and I may well have regaled you all with tales of his fearless performance in a packed pub at a party a couple of weeks ago.
Last weekend was the little summer festival we run in the Schroederstift (that's the place we live) and Sam and his band played their first ever gig, Saturday afternoon up on the main stage. For 13 year-olds on their first outing it wasn't half bad! They sold every single copy of their recently recorded CD, and that at EUR 5 a pop - there's hope he'll earn his own college fees yet...
The sound man was great with the lads (they'd never even done a soundcheck before) and made them a little recording of their set. Unfortunately it seems to have gone on holiday with the Young Master, so I'm going to try and upload one of his solo songs (they're all I can find on this computer). So, this is Sam & his magic pedal (many thanks to tincanman for patience & technical information)
My Dear Cousin
And this is the band with a track off their CD (but I'm not sure if this is the final mix!) available to anyone interested in about a month's time, courtesy of Proud Mum
Shark in the Jungle
P.S. Just in case anyone starting up a RRecord lable is interested in this (hint, hint) - surprisingly enough they're not signed yet!
Stay Cruel
I don't have too many nominations and they aren't particularly on topic but I haven't done a playlist for a while and I really wanted to put up the Downliners Sect track.
I've been considering the Downliners Sect for a future AOTW, it still might make it, but here is a taster.
The Chloe Poems track is a personal favourite of mine too and should appeal to all good Guardian readers.
One Ugly Child
Mistakes and Regrets
The Queen Sucks Nazi Cock
Just thought i'd add a couple more. First is a track which I can't remember whether i've posted before or not, but it's definitely worth another listen (just not with the kiddywinks around!). The artist is Valerio Camporini Faggioni. The other is The Pony's.
A Polite Man
I Only Love You 'Cause You Look Like Me
Thursday, July 16, 2009
FREE Big Sexy Festy Party
I'm just dropping in briefly to post about something special I heard about then I'll scurry back into my den to go back to lurking.
I've resisted posting here for as long as I could. I've been posting on the Guardian music blog for a little while, RR and other bits of it, trying to contain my online music jabbering. As much as I've enjoyed reading the Spill, I know posting here will make my essay-prevention procrastinating even harder to rein in.
Aaanyway, I volunteer with Crisis, the homelessness charity and we're being supported by the Big Sexy Festy Party in September which aims to cover 10,000 Christmas dinners for homeless guests at the annual Crisis Christmas which is an amazing feat of goodwill and organisation. Breathtaking really.
I hadn't heard of the BSFP before this week. Maybe the other RRers/Spillers have been before. It sounds briliant so I thought I'd mention it here. It's huge, it's free and it's all built on goodwill and a belief in "excellence in music", a bit like the RR blogs which have really been a pleasure for me lately.
Saturday September 5th in East London :
Thanks, Caitlin


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subset: commoncrawl


text:
Busted Europe, Busted Dream
by Gary North
The European Monetary Union is going to break down. This will be followed by a break-up of the European Union.
This is denied by the New World Order's promoters of international unification. They have been planning for this since the end of World War I. They have been actively implementing this by stealth since the early 1950s. They used treaties to bring this political unification to pass. They used economic unification as the bait. The hook of political unification was always buried in the bait.
The threat facing the NWO is that the economic bait has turned out to be poison. The EMU is based on a common central bank and a common fiat currency. But without a common system of government, there can be no fiscal union. There can be no central planning by Keynesian means.
The nationalism implied by Keynesian fiscal manipulation has led to the Greek crisis. The EMU rested on an unlikely premise: the wisdom of Europe's commercial bankers, who had spent their careers in highly regulated domestic markets. Always before, bankers in large banks could count on their national central banks to bail them out. But, in this new world banking order, the European Central Bank does not have the flexibility to bail out all of the large national banks that are now in big trouble. There are members of the ECB's board who are part of the German-Dutch axis, which favors tighter money and stable prices. The Board must placate them to some degree. This reduces the ECB's response time.
The Party Line of the EU and the ECB is that there is no unity-threatening problem or series of problems facing the central government. They insist that the current problems are temporary.
We have heard all this before.
The Rest…HERE


text:
Easy Street mystery quilt. I've got about 1/2 the geese sewn. I'm using the Companion Angle and Easy Angle rulers to cut the triangles for the geese. Thanks to Bonnie's really good instructions and video I've found they are working really well. I had tried using the rulers previously and wasn't really happy with my results, it makes a big difference with some clear instructions. Thanks Bonnie!
I've also been working on a couple of other projects at the same time. Not such a good thing when I accidently cut my 2 1/2" strips into 2" pieces cause I got mixed up with measurements. Easy mistake if you're not concentrating on which project you're working on.
I received my copy of 15 Minutes of Play by Victoria Findlay Wolfe I've been reading her blog for ages and really love her work. I decided I'd have a go at using my crumbs to make some blocks, Victoria has a couple of suggestions for sewing "made fabric". I made these 2 blocks using telephone book pages as foundations. When I do string piecing I like using foundations. It was a bit tedious getting all the paper out so I might have a go next just at stitching the fabrics together.
I thought I'd show you my earliest patchwork fabrics before I cut them up to go into my scrap strip bins. I bought these fabrics when I had my first patchwork lessons at eighteen which makes them over 30 years old! Back then I went to a local ladies house to be taught the basics of hand piecing and I made a variety of cushions for my Grandma and my Mum. I was very keen on brown obviously cause all the cushions were brown! For some reason I didn't make a quilt, back then I don't remember anyone making lap quilts or wall quilts. I think the idea of making a full size quilt must have been too daunting so I didn't do any more patchwork until I had my daughter 11 years later. (Maybe I didn't want a quilt all done in browns). I do remember driving my Mum and I to look at the local quilt show that was held every year in peoples homes. Times sure have changed.
Do you still have pieces of your earlies fabrics in your stash? I wonder what the colours where?
Happy sewing


text:
Going to a dispensary sounds like it could be an intimidating and nerve-wracking experience, especially if you are a ganja newcomer and suffer from the residual effects of "Reefer Madness" and moralizing politicians. In actuality, it is a very easy process that is not unlike, say, buying meat at your local butcher — there's even weighing involved! This is what it's like to buy legal cannabis:
The first step is to prove that you are old enough (21+ for recreational users) to enter the sales room of the dispensary. A security guard behind the front desk will check your driver's license, and if there aren't too many customers already waiting in line then you will be buzzed inside. At first glance, the sales room might seem overwhelming: there are glass display counters featuring a wide array of pipes, bongs, concentrates, edibles, pre-rolled joints and the strains themselves. What is all this stuff? What exactly does sativa even mean? How will I decide what to buy? Your budtender will be able to answer all these questions, and more.
Budtenders are just like any other retail professionals. They are here to help you, the customer, and possess a wide breadth of weed knowledge. If you are looking for something to help you relax or get creative then let them know! Are you a newbie and want to try something mild? Just ask! After deciding what best suits your personal needs, your budtender will dispense the weed by measuring out an eighth (or whatever amount you decide) into a small container and sticking on a label with relevant information, including ingredients and THC level. You can be rest assured that there are strict regulations set in place to protect the customer.
Cash is the only accepted form of payment, but there is usually an ATM on the premises in case you've only brought a debit card. Otherwise, the transaction is just like any other. Once you've received your change and receipt, you are free to go and smoke your legal cannabis. Oh, and it's always polite to leave a small tip!
Try it for yourself – find the best deals and dispensaries here.
Want to read more? Check these stories out:
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text:
One Direction wasted no time in recruiting Australian fans when they stripped off on a luxury yacht in Sydney Harbour shortly after touching down in Oz.
Eighteen-year-old Harry Styles and his bandmates Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan, Zayn Malik and Liam Payne took time out from heir hectic schedule to unwind before reembarking on their quest to take over the world Down Under.
The boys are taking time to recoup after their recent tour of the US which saw them unleash a hysteria amongst American fans which some say hasn't been seen since the days of The Beatles.
And with Niall's all American look proving to be a big hit in the States, frontman Harry appeared to be trying to claw back his numero uno status when he bared all to take a dip in the water.
A move which has undoubtedly see fans swooning.
VIDEO: Devoted 1D fans prove to be just as wild Down Under
Comfortable with his new-found popularity, Niall, however, opted to cover up and relax in the shade as the rest of the boys topped up their tans in the Sydney sun.
Elsewhere on the yacht Liam indulged in a little fishing looking a little worse-for-wear.
And it seems all the boys are keen to get noticed in Oz.
Earlier in the day, 19-year-old Zayn gave hoards of 1D fans a glimpse of his tattooed physique from his hotel window.
And let's hope fans liked what they saw. With reports of Harry hooking up with 19-year-old US singer Lily Halpern, only Niall and himself are free, single and ready to mingle.
VIDEO: 1D perform What Makes You Beautiful on Saturday Night Live
The New York Post claims Harry and Lily have been 'seeing each other for a few months'.
Lily was allegedly seen leaving Harry's New York hotel room last month.
VIDEO: Check out the fans reactions to 1D here:


text:
A one-day course designed as an add-on to the PROFIBUS Commissioning & Maintenance course covering Actuator Sensor-interface sub networks and gateways.
Actuator Sensor-interface or AS-i is widely recognised as the simplest solution for networking actuators and sensors at the lowest level in a control or automation system. AS-i is suitable for the manufacturing, materials handling and storage sectors and is applicable to most machine control and monitoring systems. AS-i is fundamentally aimed at simple and small systems which mainly use digital or switching sensors and actuators, although analogue IO and more complex devices can be catered for.
One of the most important developments has been the AS-i "Safety at Work" profile, which is allows a simple but high integrity functional safety system to be built using AS-i technology. This includes emergency stop, machine guarding and interlocking systems. These safety protection systems can be integrated into the AS-i control network giving many advantages in maintenance and trouble shooting.
What does the course cover?
This is a practical course aimed at people who have previously taken the PROFIBUS Commissioning & Maintenance course. It can be easily incorporated as an additional day of training for those who need to commission or maintain AS-i sub-networks and gateway devices.
Each pair of students is provided with a rack of AS-i slave devices and a PROFIBUS/AS-i gateway. The course teaches how the gateway is set up and how the AS-i IO data is accessed over PROFIBUS. The course is manufacturer independent and covers gateways devices from Siemens, Pepperl+Fuchs, IFM and WAGO, giving the trainees the confidence to deal with any of the many gateway devices that are available. A wide range of AS-i slaves from many manufacturers are used on the course. (Note that for on-site training it is possible to use specific gateway devices on the course if desired; please contact VTC to find out more about this option).
You will learn about device identification and IO codes and how to recognise and use device profiles. This practical course teaches the various ways to program device addresses, how to set up and use automatic addressing, exercise IO and locate faults on devices and wiring. The course also covers how to use an oscilloscope and analyser to perform a network health check and locate network errors.
The course also covers the basics of the Safety at Work profile and shows how to fault find and maintain such systems. Please note that the course does not cover the specific safety related considerations that are required for designing and implementing AS-i safety protection systems.
Why must I do the PROFIBUS Course first?
By far the most common application of AS-i is as a sub-network from a higher fieldbus such as PROFIBUS. Therefore it makes sense to cover this as an integrated part of the standard PROFIBUS training. Attendees will incorporate AS-i sub networks onto a working PROFIBUS system and use modern PROFIBUS tools to set up and interpret AS-i diagnostics from this higher level.
Course options
For those wishing to achieve a recognised certification from this training the course can be optionally extended by an extra half day to incorporate practical and theoretical assessments resulting in a Certified AS-i Engineer qualification, which is accredited by AS-i International.
For on-site delivery only, the course can be customised and optimised to meet your exact requirements. Particular gateways from other manufacturers can be incorporated into customised training. Please contact VTC to discuss options.
See downloads for printable course leaflet. Email email@example.com for prices and further information.


text:
– Isaac Asimov,
writer and professor
To succeed, planning alone is insufficient. One must improvise as well.
– Isaac Asimov,
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text:
Top-Flite Gamer
I know a lot of folks are balking at the $24 msrp but if they sell them in a 15 pack, as with most other TF balls, then that price doesn't seem so bad.
Could somebody answer a question for me? (since the gamer is not out yet I know it could be hard)
Could someone rank the three D2 models and the Gamer on spin? (low to high)
I would assume the D2 straight has the least amount of spin, but I wanted to get some confirmation? I need as low a spin ball as I can. Last LM fitting all #s were pretty good, but spin was over 5000 rpm.
omeletpants wrote on Oct 14 2007, 02:24 PM:rick101554 wrote on Oct 14 2007, 12:20 PM:turnbowm wrote on Oct 13 2007, 01:19 PM:taylormade golf guy 182 wrote on Oct 13 2007, 12:37 AM:chop180 wrote on Oct 12 2007, 11:59 PM:I'm not paying 25 bucks for top flights,..........can't do it. I'll spend 5 more for b330's/TM Reds.........to many balls in the 25-30 range......and yes I do like the D2's but for 15 for 15, not 25 for 12 for top flights. If they would just keep it below the 20 dollar break point I would go for them.
I agree with you, and I think that the market will too. The D2 is a good ball for sure, and this new one probably will be too. I just don't see that many people spending that much for a Top-Flite. No matter how good it may be.
Yep, a Top-Flite ball with a street price of more than $20/box will be a tough sell!
I don't really care what the brand name on the ball is--if they perform like or better than balls in the price category, I'll at least try them. I think the TF brand has lost much of it's stigma because of the Callaway ownership and Callaway has engineered and manufactured some great balls--as well as the success of TF's D2 line, which is a very good 2 piece ball, at a great price. This isn't your father's TF, and if the Gamer performs well for it's price, I don't care what brand it is. Like the Callaway brand and it's products or not, Callaway is masterful at marketing, and if the balls are good, I'll bet they sell well, and will be talked up on this site. From what I've read, the ball will sell well below the MSRP of $24.99, likely at $19.99. Even if the price is $24.99, if you like the ball better than a Bridgestone E5 or E6(also $24.99), would you buy the Bridgestone's merely because of it's name, and because it isn't a TF? I'll buy the TF!!
You don't care but many do which is why they would never play a Top Flite
That makes a lot of sense! /cheesy.gif' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':russian_roulette:' />
jwfgolfpro jwfgolfpro Members Posts: 1,324 ✭✭Didnt get to hit as many as I would have liked but I compared it to the
D2 Feel and Hx Tour 56.
Hit a few full 7 irons into a green with no wind.
HX Tour 56 ball went 2 feet past ball mark and came back about a foot.
D2 Feel ball went about 5 yards past and then stopped.
Gamer ball went about 3 feet past ball mark and backed up a few inches.
Hit some little pitches off a tight lie.
HX Tour 56 had the normal forward bounce, check and then trickle.
D2 Feel had a longer forward bounce with less check.
Gamer had the normal forward bounce and about 75% of the check that the HX 56 had.
This might not make sense to some folks but the Gamer in my opinion is about twice a good in the spin catagory than the D2 Feel.
I currently play the D2 Feel and as soon as I get my stock of the Gamer it will be my ball.
The Gamer will be released inn january 2008.
JWFTaylormade M3 10.5
Taylormade M3 3-HL Fairway
Taylormade M3 5 Fairway
Taylormade M3 #4 GAPR
P790 Irons 5-AW
Milled Grind 54* and 60* Ceasarized
Spider Limited Edition
TP5 Ball
I've been a Pro V1/Pro V1X guy for years, but bought some D2 distance after watching my buddy continually get it to perform......I spent the last month of golf season hitting them and HONESTLY i loved them and won't be buying the Pro V's any more....
From GolfBallTest.org:
Top-Flite Gamer™ Golf Balls - Top-Flite takes the benefits of its proprietary Dimple in Dimple™ aerodynamics and puts it on a 3-piece performance golf ball that's long, soft and generates more short-game spin for total tee-to-green control. The thin soft ionomer cover over a firm boundary layer and a highly resilient rubber core gives golfers a ball that performs like no other in the Top-Flite lineup. ($19.99 per dozen)
Worth a try, I'd say.[font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Callaway Rogue[/font]
[font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Callaway GBB Epic 16º/20º/24º[/font]
[font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Callaway Steelhead XR 25º[/font]
[font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Callaway Apex CF16 6-AW [/font]
[font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Callaway MD3/MD-PM 54º/58º[/font]
[font=helvetica, arial, sans-serif]Callaway "O" Works #7[/font]
Ace In The Hole What blocks growth is ignorance. Members Posts: 1,562edited Dec 8, 2007 #38Just you wait come the new year I bet you will be able to buy HX TOUR 56 for $25-$35 a Doz. I'd spen the extra $5-$10 buck and play the HX
Papitwinki Members Posts: 130$24.99 ? Pay an extra $5.00 and play the Wilson TX4 instead, a first class, 4 piece with urethane cover, premium ball that can compete against the very best.
biga9999 wrote on Dec 7 2007, 08:43 AM:Could somebody answer a question for me? (since the gamer is not out yet I know it could be hard)
Could someone rank the three D2 models and the Gamer on spin? (low to high)
I would assume the D2 straight has the least amount of spin, but I wanted to get some confirmation? I need as low a spin ball as I can. Last LM fitting all #s were pretty good, but spin was over 5000 rpm.
if your spin is over 5000rpm the ball is not going to make the difference. you are going to have to look at your swing and what faults are causing spin that high.M1
X2Hot 19 Hybrid
Apex CF16 4-W
Golo 3
You are right. I hit down on the ball at a very steep angle. I am trying a few things to correct that, but I would think playing a low spin ball would help as well.
I still hit it 250 on average, but would like to get a little more roll. Right now it lands and stops.
rick101554 Members Posts: 67As a TX4 fan, I'm wondering if you know whether it's true that the new TX4 Pro is simply the improved version of the TX4. I love the improved TX4--great ball for the money, and I'm curious if the Pro is even better yet. I wrote and called Wilson, who doesn't have the best customer service, and I've gotten no answer.
Papitwinki Members Posts: 130The Tx4 Pro is just the Tx4 "improved" in a new packaging.
I know that from the local Wilson Staff representative.
rick101554 Members Posts: 67Wilson, IMO, is being very misleading by giving the ball a different name--that certainly gives me the impression that it is a different ball. Not a perfect comparison, but how many times have you seen products labelled, "same product, different look" or something like that.
I e-mailed 2 questions to Wilson. They answered one, but not the other, which was about the difference between the TX4 and the TX4 Pro. I can understand why.
rick101554 wrote on Dec 10 2007, 02:39 PM:Wilson, IMO, is being very misleading by giving the ball a different name--that certainly gives me the impression that it is a different ball. Not a perfect comparison, but how many times have you seen products labelled, "same product, different look" or something like that.
I e-mailed 2 questions to Wilson. They answered one, but not the other, which was about the difference between the TX4 and the TX4 Pro. I can understand why.
It is misleading but at least the price is the same. $30/dozen for a 4-piece urethane covered ball? Tough to beat that deal. I've played it and it's great. My ball & glove contract with Wilson Staff will continue (Pro Soft glove is the best there is).PING G400 Max 10°
PING G400 hybrid 19°
PING i25 hybrid 22°
Callaway XHP 5-AW
PING Glide 2.0 Stealth, 54° SS, 58° ES
Kevin Burns 9306
Snell MTB Red Optic Yellow
My playing partner (+2 hcp) played a round with this ball a couple weeks ago and he really liked it. Believe it or not his normally plays Pinnical (spelling???). I for the life of me can't understand why so many people pay $45 dollars for 12 balls just to go through 5-6 a round loosing them and shooting 95. Years ago when I played allot I would play anything I found. Guys would make fun of me for playing Pinnicals or TF. My favorite ball was the TF exceptional spins. I loved those. Guys would rag me and then I would go out and shoot a 68. (I played to a +2 HCP). Then they would shut up. My point is you can get used to the way any ball performs. I just try Taylor Made Reds from the D2 feel. I liked the D2 but hit it higher then I wanted. However I will probably go back to them, and will try the gamer.
You are right on the money!


text:
- Long lasting fragrance
- Soft on skin
- It comes in a cream
Cinthol brings to you this Deo Stick that gives you a refreshing experience like never before.
1. It comes in a cream formulation and not spray, and lasts 3 times longer than ordinary deos.
2. The deodorant is gentle on your skin too.
3. For an amazing feeling throughout the day, use it after shower.


text:
A journey through time awaits you in this otherworldly beautiful remnant of Java's glorious past.
Borobudur is not just a temple. It's a pinnacle of spiritual, architectural and artistic achievement of Indonesian ancestors.
Located on the center of Javanese cultural basket with Yogyakarta to its south, you'll get more than you'll expect by visiting this place.
"If those stones can talk," you can't help but wondering what it has seen for centuries as the sun rises, slowly unveils the temple from its misty cover. A strong silhouette at first, as black as the night, before manifesting in its entire splendor, like a silent guardian.
Simply breathtaking.
Head to Yogyakarta. You can set your base here as this city has a lot to offer, tourism-wise. Borobudur is just one of them. It's only one hour from Yogyakarta by car which you can rent directly or via your hotel.
The Borobudur Temple Compound is one of the greatest Buddhist monuments in the world and was built in the 8th and 9th century AD during the reign of the Syailendra Dynasty. The temple was revealed by Sir Thomas Stanford Raffles in 1814 in ruined conditions and buried. The overall height was 42 meters, but it's now only 34.5 meters after the restoration. The dimensions were 123x123 meters (15 129m²) and it consisted of 10 floors.
Beside the actual temple, visitors can visit two museums, called Karmawibhangga Museum and Samudra Raksa Museum. The Karmawibhangga Museum is an archaeology museum that focuses on the temple's history, restoration work of thousands original stones carvings and relics from the temple. The Samudra Raksa Museum is a maritime museum that tells the story of the ancient trade amongst Indonesia and its neighboring countries.
Besides shorts and mini-skirts, there is no other restriction on dress code. Female visitors should dress politely and modestly as they would to visit any religious place. It's always wise to show a sense of respect for Buddhist and Hindu temples in this predominantly Muslim country.
For a perfect Borobudur experience, you need to come early, as in before-the-dawn early. The epic sunrise at Borobudur is a thing you don't want to miss.
There's a place called Punthuk Setumbu, which is like the best place to enjoy the sunrise at Borobudur. As a follow through, after enjoying your breakfast, you can go to the temple complex for an up-close and personal experience with the temple itself.
Yogya is like the culture capital of Indonesia. So, if you set your travel HQ in Yogyakarta, you can do a lot of things. For example, enjoying the city, which is famous for its culture, art and vibrant communities.
The early morning and late afternoon are considered as the best
times to visit the temple. You can watch the sunrise or sunset while
visiting a less crowded temple compound. It takes at least 3 hours to
visit the whole compound including the museums. The opening hours are
daily from 6am till 5pm.
The dry season lasts from April till October and the wet season from November till March. The dry season also coincides with the peak tourist season. It rains more often during the wet season, but there are enough perfect days where you can enjoy the uncrowded Borobudur.
Yes, there are 4 waypoint temples near the actual Borobudur temple compound. They're called: Candi Mendut, Candi Pawon, Candi Ngawen and Candi Canggal. These temples are considered as waypoints on the ancient road to Borobudur and they offer statues and reliefs of the highest quality. You should visit them to get the whole insight into the history of the region.
August is considered as the mistiest month at Borobudur. The morning mist creates a mystic atmosphere and the views are incredible. Furthermore, the mist will offer you the feeling of being the discoverer of the holy temple.
Borobudur contains approximately 2.670 individual bas reliefs. The panels tell 4 different stories about: the Javanese life, Karma, the birth of Buddha and Sudhana's search for the ultimate Truth. The panels are astonishing detailed and taking a look at all of the bas reliefs is definitely worth it.
You can hike Mt. Merapi, which is the most active volcano in Indonesia. Maybe that's why it's so desired and popular by the countless hikers that go there every year. The mountain is locally known as the fire mountain, so bringing a camera could be useful. You might get the picture of your life.
You can go on a 3 hour rafting tour on the two holy rivers near Borobudur. The rivers are called: The Progo and The Elo. There are many rafting operators around and they offer packages that not only provide rafting, but also a culture insight by the guides.


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I've lived in my current house for 13 years, though some of my neighbors have been here for decades. Take Ben, for example. Ben grew up in the wooden 800-square-foot house around the corner. A few years older than me, Ben recalled playing with the boys who lived in my house. (Maybe they were the source of all those empty beer bottles in the old shed out back?)
Ben also remembered staying down the street at Grandma and Grandpa Jones' house while his mother was at work. The Jones' lived in a white one-story house next to the Baptist church. According to Ben, the Jones' were the first blacks in the neighborhood to have a television set as well as indoor plumbing. He spent many a summer night playing in their yard, eating dinner at their kitchen table, and watching their tv.
Grandpa Jones was still alive when I first moved here, though I never met him. He passed away about five years ago. Unfortunately, his house then became a haven for drug users and fell into disrepair. A once meticulously cared-for home had cracked windows and peeling paint. The yard, always fertilized and neatly mowed, was weedy and overgrown. Junk cars lined the driveway. I could imagine the Jones were turning over in their graves!
Luckily for the neighborhood, the new owners of the Jones family homestead did not pay the taxes, so the county swooped in and took possession. The house was sold to the Baptist church next door and torn down to build a parking lot.
But before it was torn down, I received permission to dig up the two rose bushes that lived near the front porch. One, a climbing red rose, did not survive the transition. The other, a orange-yellow tea rose, has thrived at my house. Maybe it's the cold winter we had or the extremely wet spring, but the bush this year is absolutely covered in blooms.
Looking at my rescued rose bush, I think about Grandma and Grandpa Jones. I imagine the love with which the bush was first planted and the happy times their family shared in my neighborhood. I hope to be a good caretaker for this bush, and to keep both its blooms and the memories associated with it alive for years to come.


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Classic Rooms
Our two Classic Rooms are the smallest rooms that we have, but both of them have their own charme.
The first one has a sleeping part of 15m2 and a spacious bathroom of 7m2 with a warm atmosphere and a big shower.The other one is a bit smaller with a sleeping part of a comparable size, but with a bit smaller bathroom. This room however has its own patio, where one can sit quite nicely.


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Top navigation
Main navigation
The launch of the Nordic Independent Living Challenge is not far away, and all those interested will now have a chance to get more information.
Each of the five Nordic capitals will hold local information meetings during January and February. We hope that as many as possible will attend the meetings, which will give you more information about the competition scope and process. Some of the events will be standalone events, whereas others will be held in connection with bigger events.
Helsinki is the first to hold an event in relation to the Terveysteknologia & eHealth 2015 fair on 8 January. Thereafter follow events in Stockholm on 21-22 January, Oslo on 29 January and Reykjavik 30 January, before Copenhagen rounds it off with their event on 5 February.
Event dates
Below is a list of the five national information events. Some of the events require registration.
You can read more about the competition here.
Senior Innovation Adviser
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As soon as I saw the 50 people see... photoset on Flickr, I was immediately reminded of Jason Salavon's similar work, which I came across a couple of years ago (and from which the programmer here found inspiration).
I'm completely fascinated by the fact that the almagamation of so many disparate pictures, with nothing in common save their subject, can produce something so (in my opinion) beautiful. If I have time I might try to hack the source used to create the photoset so that it blends together every picture I've ever taken — I'd be real interested to see the ?ber-pics produced by different people's collections.


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Foster Care and Adoption
"A father of the fatherless, a defender of widows, Is God in His holy habitation." Psalm 68:5
I've always had a passion for young people, especially those who have experienced hurt and trauma. I know from my own personal walk that childhood and the teen years can be the toughest, especially when we endure trials and hardships.
After going through the application process for adoption through foster care, I was more convinced than ever that God was calling me to something far beyond just adoption. In fact, it became my greatest inspiration to begin writing.
Far too many young people endure trauma, neglect, and abuse. Over 400,000 children are in the U.S. Foster Care system alone. Many never know what it is to have a loving, safe family, let alone ever see their true worth and potential in life. I think it's time we take a stand and reach out to these young people.
If you have a moment, please check out some of the links below. Whether you just want to know how you can make a difference, or you are interested in becoming a foster parent or adoptive parent, I hope you glean some information before you leave. Also, feel free to contact me any time for more information. My husband and I are still navigating the process ourselves and realize it can be a bit complex and confusing. I'm always happy to hear from you!
Links and Resources:
I Care About Orphans - Focus on the Family
Christian Alliance for Orphans


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Posts Tagged 'Daryl'
Sentimental Sunday – There is No Joy in Joyland Today…
by Sherry Stocking Kline
Sunday, September 5, 2010
There is no Joy in Joyland.
On Sunday, July 18th, I received an e-mail forward from a cousin that said "Stan Nelson, owner of Joyland died today."
So I checked Wichita Eagle's website at Kansas.com and found this article by Beccy Tanner "Joyland a theme in Nelson's life".
My cousin's email also included the link to a photo slide show by Mike Hutmacher, Wichita Eagle, with photographs of the long-closed and now sadly in disrepair Joyland. ( Click Here to view the slide show, complete with calliope music.)
It was the sideshow that prompted this post…
The slideshow begins, and there it is, Joyland. Larger than life when we were children; the stuff of dreams. There's the bridge we used to run over to get to the magic inside. Now it's covered with wind-blown leaves. Deserted.
And there are the rides. What's left of them. Where is the Merry-go-Round with its fiery steeds? And where are the bump-em cars that we drove fiendishly into all our friends with all the the precision of drunken sailors? Both gone.
The Tilt-A-Whirl, part of it, remains, looking like deserted teacups from a giant's forgotten tea party.
Can't someone please rescue the train…
And the little steam engine train that could (and did) take you around the park, in and out among the trees, over a little bridge, and by your family picnicking in the pavilian, while all the while going rackety-clackety-clack, and Whoooo-uh-ooooooo when it came to a crossing . The train, a favorite ride, sits waiting for passengers to go again. (Oh, please, can't someone rescue the train?)
And the roller coaster. Falling, faded white boards. Surely this can't be the terrifying ride that traumatized me so when our eighth grade class went there on a field trip that after one ride up, down, and around on the rattly track I wouldn't climb back on it , not for all the tea in China and not even for the chance to sit with the cute little green-eyed, blond-haired boy that asked me to go again? Surely this short, faded pile of wood isn't the same one.
And there's the ferris wheel, minus the little 'people buckets' that swayed and swung as you went up, over, and around and around, terrifying twenty-something young-mom-me, holding onto my tiny daughter for dear life, afraid to look down.
Joyland. Even the name brings back a kaleidoscope of memories: the night my nephew, Daryl, just barely younger than I pitched a fit so instead of staying home with a sitter, we all got to 'help' his folks chaperone the youth group, falling asleep in the back window of a car on the way home letting the stars lull me to sleep. (No seatbelt laws then and no seat belts, either.)
Church picnics, family picnics, and ride-all-night-nights…
There were church picnics and family picnics and ride-all-night-nights-for-$5.00 church nights. And my goodness, look at the sign, a ticket for a nickel. The rides are gone along with the prices.
And while the rides may be gone, and the grounds may be deserted, we still have the memories.
Thank you, Mr. Nelson….
Wordless Wednesday – Constantine Breneman & Carrie Breneman Jones' Families
by Sherry Stocking Kline
14 April 2010
I love this wonderful old photograph of the family, and am so glad that someone snapped a photo of their get-together.
And like many photographs, I wonder, was this just an ordinary family gathering? A funeral? Someone's wedding?
I may never know, but the question itself reminds me to make an extra note on the back of my photos or in my scrapbooks!
L – R: Ira, baby Paul, & Dee (Hoover) Breneman, Constantine Breneman, Carrie (Breneman) Jones & Children, Rose, Daryl, and toddler Dorothy.
The Best Fishing Trip – Ever…
by Sherry Stocking Kline
October 19, 2009
It may sound crazy, but the best fishing trip I ever went on was nowhere near the water and we didn't catch any fish.
It All Started With a Garage Sale…
It all started with a garage sale. (I do love garage sales.)
Driving by a garage sale late one Saturday afternoon I begged my son to stop so I could feed my garage sale fix. (no, I have no pride and he was driving so I begged, maybe even offered a bribe.)
I knew we were too late in the day to get first choice on the good stuff, but we were prime time for getting bargains on the I-don't-want-to-box-it-up-and-keep-it leftovers.
Sitting there amidst a lot of stuff we didn't want was what looked like a really nice fishing reel. I picked it up, checked it out, and laid it back down.
Which immediately prompted an offer from the owner of the garage.
So I snapped up the fishing reel. When we got back home, my son and I immediately went to my mom's home to show off our 'treasures.'
"Looks like a nice reel," she said, "but it needs new line." And she, being the veteran of years of pond, river, lake, and ocean fishing, knew what she was talking about.
Take it To Your Uncle Daryl…
"Take it to your Uncle Daryl," she said, "he can put new line on it and get it ready to go for you."
So I did. My Uncle Daryl Jones, Sr. was pretty much a 'pro' at fishing. Whether it was pond, river, creek, lake, or ocean, he'd fished them all, and he usually brought home the fish that the rest of us call "the one that got away."
He looked the reel over, allowed that it was an "o.k." reel, and that I had gotten a pretty "o.k." deal, kept it, and promised to put new line on it and get it back to me soon.
A couple of weeks later he called me up and asked me if I had a little time. He had an hour to kill while my Aunt Elsie, got her hair done.
"Sure," I said, and when he knocked on my door an hour later my fishing reel was now attached to a pole.
And Not Just Any Pole…
Not just any pole, but the one that his first wife, my Aunt May, who had passed away, had used to catch a shark in the Ocean near Aransas Pass, Texas, where they and my mom and her husband used to spend their winters fishing and being winter Texans.
Awesome! I was thrilled, and moved to tears, and I tried to talk him into keeping it. But he wouldn't have it.
"At my age, it won't be too long before someone will have to put my things in an auction," he said, "I'd like for you to have it." (Fortunately, it was some time yet before he passed on.)
Nothing would have it but that he give me an on-the-spot fishing lesson. So out the door we went to his little Toyota pickup, put down the tail gate, sat down, and he began to show me the right way to cast and reel in, cast and reel in.
That day is a Golden Moment in my memories…
It was fall, and the air was fresh and clean and just crisp and cool enough to need a light jacket. The trees were turning gold and red and even the dust motes in the breeze were golden with reflected sunlight.
We sat there, uncle and niece, on a pick-up tail gate in my driveway, dangling our feet, talking about fishing and memories, and casting out up and down the street as if we were actually on a lake, and bonding.
Casting out and reeling in, and hurrying like mad when a car turned down my dead-end street and threatened to run over our 'catch.'
And enjoying being family on a beautiful fall day.
My Neighbors Thought We Were a Brick Shy of a Full Load…
There's not a lot of traffic on my street, but I'm sure the neighbors and the occasional 'foreigner' (car that didn't live there) that drove by that day had to be certain we were 'a brick shy of a full load', but I didn't care.
I learned a lot that day, not all of it about how to fish, and the most important thing I learned was to tuck golden memories like this one into my heart to keep forever.


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I will be a special guest artist at the Williamsburg, Virginia Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum this Friday, April 28th, from 11 am to 1 pm!
I am the Special Artist Guest at the Heliosphere convention in Tarrytown, NY next weekend (March 10th). I'll be doing a slide show of my work and a demonstration as well as selling my art and prints. I hope to see some of you there!
Hey look! Professional Artist Magazine mentioned my second Niche win in an article!
I will be a guest at the Mysticon convention in Roanoke next weekend (February 24 – 26). Here's my schedule.
Costuming Under $20 (Friday 3:00 PM): Thinking on a budget and outside the box to create your new character.
Cosplay 201: Surviving the Masquerade (Friday 6:00 PM): This panel covers the "what's next" questions about how to take your amazing cosplay to the next level. Come learn some tips and tricks to help you not just get through the masquerade, but be confident and successful at conveying excitement about your costume.
Oddball Costuming Supplies (Saturday 2:00 PM): Panelists discuss their favorite unusual costume materials, their most difficult, and why they need to work outside the box.
Costuming: Form, Function and Fantasy (Sunday 10:00 AM): Costume designers discuss the merits of costuming in different applications from comics, to movies, to video games and cosplay. What design choices are rooted in functionality and what just looks cool.
I'm so amazed! I just found out that I won another Niche Award for Magritte!


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By Bryan Dietzler
The Bears are going into their bye week coming off of a loss to the previously winless Detroit Lions and they are reeling a bit. After having success against the Raiders and the Chiefs the previous two weeks, albeit they won in the final seconds of each game, the Bears fell flat against the Lions and failed to win what should have been a winnable game.
Chicago has some work to do and has a lot of room for improvement in several areas.
The following is a look at some things that the Bears can do, on offense, to help improve and get better to help themselves win games. There is a quick look at a few key players on offense that the Bears could have them help improve their position on offense.
There is also a look at what the Bears can do overall to improve their offensive capabilities and what the future might hold for that side of the ball.
The Bears need to get Matt Forte more involved in the offense. They didn't run him as much as they should have against the Lions this past Sunday and weren't able to control the ball or the clock as a result. Forte is the Bear's best weapon on offense and they need to get him more involved whether it's running the ball or catching it.
Chicago has had solid success with Forte when he's being used a great deal in the offense and when he is productive so getting him more involved in the offense is a must. The Bears should be able to realize this and use Forte much more in the future to help them improve on offense and win games.
Chicago got a big shot in the arm on Sunday when wide receiver Alshon Jeffery was able to play in the game after missing several weeks with a hamstring injury. We saw the effect that Jeffery's presence had on the Bear's passing game against the Lions and a healthy Jeffery brings a lot to the offense.
Now if he can just stay healthy and quarterback Jay Cutler can get him the ball the Bear's offense will be that much more potent in the coming games and they should have a better shot of winning.
Cutler has had a pretty decent season except for an interception or a fumble here and there. He rallied the team two straight weeks in a row for a win and almost rallied the team for another come from behind win against the Lions. Cutler, when healthy, is starting to flourish in this offense and with a healthy Jeffery back, as well as Eddie Royal making a comeback after suffering an injury that kept him out for a little while, Cutler now has the weapons at his disposal to make an effort to win games through the air. As long as those weapons stay healthy and Cutler is on target, they will have success throwing the ball.
The Bears have struggled greatly in the red zone this year and those problems were evident in their game against the Lions. The Bears have been settling for field goals in most instances (good thing they have a very accurate and reliable field goal kicker) but need to be scoring touchdowns.
Whether it's the execution in offense or the play calling something isn't going right when the Bears hit the red zone. This is something that the coaching staff should concentrate on during the bye week in getting these problems fixed so that they can score touchdowns in the red zone and win more games.
Penalties have been holding the Bears offense back and they have come at critical moments in games. Offensive holding and false start penalties, along with offensive pass interference penalties have come at the worst possible time for Chicago especially when they are mounting scoring drives or in the red zone.
The team needs to clean these things up. This comes with lots of practice and keeping a level head when you are in the middle of a play. The Bears have some smart players and those players just need to clean their technique and play better.
The Bears have a very smart offensive coordinator in Adam Gase and, when healthy, this offense has some good players. Guys like Forte, Jeffery and Cutler help make this offense hum and if all the parts are in place and healthy and the offensive line is performing well then this unit can put up points and win games.
Their struggles in the red zone need to be overcome so that they score more points and the penalties that they get at critical times need to be eliminated. If they can work on these things and clean some of this stuff up they will have success in their remaining games this season.


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Owning just four film soundtracks on CD and a further one on mp3, some may believe I cannot possibly be well versed enough in film music to publish my opinions in any kind of authoritative way, especially a virtually anonymous post on a website. However this is merely because one must rigorously evaluate a film soundtrack before paying the extortionate high-street prices for the aforementioned genre. This is because film soundtracks run the gauntlet of having dud tracks or tracks that simply do not fit, for simplicity I will choose to cite the song Walking Song by Meredith Monk on the soundtrack to The Big Lebowski, which happens to be one of the soundtracks I own. Some may argue the song echoes the bizarre nature of the film however I would counter that the song is simply irrelevant as the rest of the soundtrack reflects the eccentric nature of the film, for example the extraordinary cover of The Eagles' Hotel California by Franco-Spanish flamenco band Gipsy Kings who graced the cinema world recently with their charming cover of You've Got A Friend In Me for Toy Story 3.
I would argue that the criteria of success for a film soundtrack is far broader than that of a regular album because, despite running the risk of dud tracks, the selection is far more likely to triumph, for example the David Dobkin film Fred Clause, which suffers from what can only be described as Terrible-As-Usual-Christmas-Film-Syndrome, a disease that plagues the cinemas every year like a particularly nasty strain of Ebola. Fred Clause however has one stand-out scene that isn't blighted by symptoms such as soppy discharge or bleeding ears due to the banality and predictability of the dialogue. A man teaches a dwarf to dance in order to impress a beautiful woman, an unsurprisingly idiotic scene though it isn't unfunny and the song chosen lifts the scene out of what could have been an uncomfortable situation. For some reason Beast Of Burden by The Rolling Stones strikes the balance between being beautiful enough to make the scene ironically funny but having the signature Rolling Stones rock-blues beat to drive the pace of the scene along in a way that sets the scene above the rest of the film. Especially the final scenes in which dwarves watch family's open presents that the dwarves themselves admitted the families did not want on a giant snow globe that can see into any house on the planet, I won't discuss the implications of this in light of the fact that real people do ask others for products from Ann Summers for Christmas. What really makes this scene almost painful to watch is the hideous selection of Silent Night on the soundtrack. Now I am an enormous fan of the carol, especially preceding Tom Waits' Christmas Card From A Hooker In Minneapolis during his set on the Old Grey Whistle Test in the late 1970s – yes that is a plug, go and watch it on YouTube- however this mournfully slow version is simply so out of place in what is essentially an exultant scene that it makes me think they were just trying to work a carol into the film for the sake of it, which never makes for a good piece of cinema.
A good film soundtrack usually means that one can listen to it with great pleasure without watching the film, or that it fits the film seamlessly, or even in some cases that it is set against the mood of the film to great effect, a perfect example being Stealers Wheel classic Stuck In The Middle With You during the famous scene of grotesque torture in Tarantino's gem Reservoir Dogs. Tarantino himself is famous for his command of music in his films and the Pulp Fiction soundtrack is another of the film soundtracks I own.
Pulp Fiction has arguably the greatest soundtrack of any film ever made adhering to all the success criteria Tarantino uses songs that one can listen to while relaxing in the bath and songs that one can dance the night away to, as Uma Thurman and John Travolta do in another of cinema's most wonderful scenes. As the pair pull out dance moves that harken back to Travolta's earlier career in musical cinema, I think I need not cite examples, the wonderful choice of Chuck Berry's You Never Can Tell plays on the soundtrack. This blending of tunes that both fit the film wonderfully but are so listenable outside the context of it are why the soundtrack is so perfect.
Of course, the opening moments of the film would not be so memorable if it were not for the inclusion of Miserlou a song with strange Greek and Serbian origins. Set alongside the freeze-frame of two would-be armed thieves raising their guns in the diner they are about to ransack the song is perfect, it sets off the film with an electric vitality and makes the bold credits far more interesting. Miserlou does suffer in my opinion however because of it's repetitive and heavily distorted, modern sound which, when listening to it on the CD, has the same effect that I imagine being strapped into a chair in an empty warehouse and having Woody Woodpecker sit on your chest and peck directly into your cerebral cortex would. This said however the track on the CD is particularly pleasing because the recording includes a short amount of Tarantino's rich dialogue before the song actually begins. Snippets of machine-gun dialogue are peppered around the soundtrack like the bullets of the hand-cannon that miss Vincent and Jules by inches in a particularly sharp scene, these add to the intoxicating effect of the soundtrack.
Though I realise I might be bloviating perpetually on Tarantino but he simply is a master of film soundtracks, I have already mentioned two of his films that adhere to all the criteria of a successful film soundtrack and I haven't even time to make a significant dent in the man audacious enough to include Morricone music in his own faux Western cum revenge B movies Kill Bill. It is important however to make a lasting plea to the reader to go and buy the Collectors Edition of the Pulp Fiction soundtrack if it is only for the sixteen minute long interview with the director on how he listens to his records to inspire his films. Perhaps with that rationale he has hit on pure soundtrack gold and for anyone who loves music and film he is certainly a man to study intently.
That is not to say however that the only soundtracks worth listening to are those of Tarantino films, I would be out of a job rather quickly if I was only to talk about the music of his seven full films, especially as I have already talked about the essence of why his soundtracks are so perfect. No the world of film music is far more complex than Tarantino; Scorsese for example is far more prolific and I would say he has done far more for film music and music in general than Tarantino ever will or could. However discussing the music of the greatest film director of all time shall have to wait for another review, that is supposing the powers that be at Coda don't balk at my entry and I am never seen again, you never know I might meet the same fate as Chris Tucker in Tarantino's Jackie Brown. Hm, I wonder which song was playing at that moment… I can't recall…I'm sure it was superb though.


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Quentin Tarantino doesn't have a movie coming out this year, nor is he currently working on one, but that doesn't mean he won't do his damnedest to dominate the news anyway. Just after releasing his incredibly premature Top 10 list of the year, which included The Lone Ranger and Kick-Ass 2, he's given an interview to the French magazine Les Inrockuptibles (via The Playlist) in which he sounds off on Ben Affleck playing Batman. Strap in, everybody! It's time for some QT truth bombs!
"I have to admit that I don't really have an opinion," he said about Affleck's casting in the upcoming Batman vs. Superman movie, before proceeding to have an opinion anyway. Go figure.
"Why? Because Batman is not a very interesting character. For any actor. There is simply not much to play. I think Michael Keaton did it the best, and I wish good luck to Ben Affleck. But, you know who would have made a great Batman? Alec Baldwin in the '80s."
To be clear, QT is not suggesting that Baldwin should have been cast as Batman now instead of Affleck, though given that the studio is aiming for a "weary and seasoned" take on the character, that could be fantastic. It sounds like Tarantino is imagining a version of Bats as played by the fast-talking, smooth yuppie Baldwin of the Glengarry Glen Ross and Working Girl era-- a Bruce Wayne who's more Gordon Gekko than Christian Bale's moody, tortured version. Watch this famous speech from Glengarry Glen Ross and tell me you can't see it:
In case the idea of an Alec Baldwin Batman wasn't enough to rile you up this morning, Tarantino also took the chance to defend his love of The Lone Ranger, which nearly every critic and audiences alike hated this summer. Tarantino isn't crazy enough to think the whole thing works, but apparently the love all comes down to the big train sequence:
The first forty-five minutes are excellent. [….] the next forty-five minutes are a little soporific. It was a bad idea to split the bad guys in two groups; it takes hours to explain and nobody cares. Then comes the train scene—incredible! When I saw it, I kept thinking, 'What, that's the film that everybody says is crap? Seriously?
Feel free to share your own thoughts on The Lone Ranger's train sequence, or Alec Baldwin as Batman-- or both!-- in the comments. If you want to ask for more Quentin Tarantino defenses of generally undefended movies, you're welcome to do that too.
Would Alec Baldwin have made a good Batman?


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Only 3 days before I will go by train Rostock. I watched some videos today about how you should behave on such demonstrations and what you should do if the police catches you. Honestly I have to say that I nervous now.
But I'm still sure that it's important to show support and to live civil disobedience. Of course I will not behave aggresivly *g*
I'm sure I will get a lot of important experience…. Being together with thousands of people to show you opinion…
But for now… I'm a little afraid.. But I think thats good *g*
I found the videos on g8-TV.


text: Danish companies benefit the most from research funding among the Nordic countries 14 6月 2014 - Companies A new analysis shows that Danish companies achieve the greatest benefit from investments in research and development than those in other Nordic countries. The Minister for Higher Education and Science stresses that companies' ability to create and innovate helps strengthen our welfare and create job. Danish companies are among the best in the EU at investing in research and development, from a GDP perspective. Since 2008, Danish companies' annual investment in R&D translates to at least 2 per cent of Denmark's GDP – and it is paying off. A new analysis shows that Danish companies benefit the most from their investments in R&D when compared with companies in other Nordic countries. Danish companies see a 34 per cent return on every extra krone they invest in R&D, while companies in Finland and Norway see a return of 23 per cent and those in Sweden see one of about 16 per cent. According to the Minister for Higher Education and Science, Sofie Carsten Nielsen, Denmark is reliant on strong companies that contribute significantly to growth and welfare. "Investing in research and development is investing in growth and prosperity. It leads to new knowledge, which in turn leads to new technology and products, and help ensure jobs and welfare for all of us. Danish companies are doing really well, and also on a Nordic level. My aim is to see Denmark among the top 5 OECD countries for private investment in R&D," she says. The analysis examines the business return on investment in R&D during the period 2005-2010. During this time, the Danish companies collectively increased their investment in R&D by 23 per cent. Read more about the analysis and results in the full press release from the Ministry of Higher Education and Science