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Jon Stewart Gossip
Jon Stewart gossip, latest news, photos, and video.
Best of 2015: Jon Stewart
James Devaney /Getty Images
Do you miss Jon Stewart? I do. And I don't. I don't because Trevor Noah deserves a chance to grow into the role and it can't be easy to build your own situation when your predecessor is such a beloved institution. Also I don't because John Oliver's show is sooooo f-cking good. Full Story
Jon Stewart's Farewell Emmys
Michael Kovac/ Kevin Winter/ Steve Granitz/ Lester Cohen/ Getty Images
Here is another case of the Emmys making themselves irrelevant by giving trophies to the same people over and over. I get it—Jon Stewart's tenure at The Daily Show is over, and his wins for Outstanding Writing in a Variety Series and Outstanding Variety Series are his send-off from the television academy. Full Story
Emmy Quiet – Mindy Kaling Edition
Lester Cohen/ Kevin Winter/ FOX/ Getty Images
Here's an example of what I mean about the quiet Emmys that it was. Mindy Kaling was wearing probably the most flattering awards show dress I've seen her wear. She looked great and she seemed comfortable. One of my favourite moments of the night was watching her whisper with Jon Stewart the whole time he was supposed to be listening to whomever was accepting the award for The Daily Show. Full Story
Stephen Colbert's fitting ending, new beginning with George Clooney
Brad Barket/ Getty Images
Of all the people who showed up to wish Jon Stewart farewell, Stephen Colbert's heartfelt goodbye was the best tribute of the night. He's arguably the most successful of the Daily Show alums, and he was the last of the former correspondents to come out and say goodbye to Stewart, using an elaborate Lord of the Rings metaphor and the blowhard persona he developed on The Daily Show. Full Story
Jon Stewart's Farewell
James Devaney/ Brad Barket/ Mark Sagliocco/ Getty Images
Jon Stewart signed off on The Daily Show last night, which, barring a surprise retirement from Conan O'Brien, ends a period of turnover in late night television. Over the last few years, all the long-time late night hosts have retired—except for Conan, who not for nothing has always drawn a younger audience than his peers—from Leno, whom no one misses; to Colbert Full Story
Jon Stewart's long goodbye
As Jon Stewart winds down his reign as the host of The Daily Show, which over his sixteen years on the air he's turned into a late-night institution, Comedy Central has been putting together videos memorializing different aspects of his time on the show, like this Full Story
Trevor Noah to take over The Daily Show
In February Jon Stewart announced he will be retiring from The Daily Show later this year, and now it's become official that his replacement will be South African comedian Trevor Noah. There's still no date for Stewart's retirement beyond "later this year", but when he does go, Noah will take over his chair. Full Story
Jon Stewart is signing off
Wenn, Splash, Ray Tamarra/ Getty Images
Jon Stewart has hosted The Daily Show for sixteen years. During that time he's evolved that show from a celebrity-driven late night talk show to an actual news source, seen three presidents come and go, reported on two wars, the worst terrorist attack in US history, and countless national tragedies. Full Story
I am really attracted to Stephen Colbert
Instagram/ Daily Show
I mean, I'm always attracted to Stephen Colbert… But right now, with his glasses off, and his hair longer like that, and you can see his nose and his cheekbones, so defined… Oh My God. Is there even a little Rob Lowe in his face? THERE IS TOTALLY ROB LOWE IN HIS FACE! And while that won't break the internet, it is indeed a new discovery. Full Story
Dear Gossips,
My etalk assignments for TIFF this weekend: British duty. It wasn't deliberate but somehow it just ended up that way. I interviewed Tom Hardy on the red carpet at the premiere of The Drop on Friday and again at the junket on Sunday. Read Full Intro
Why did you change?
Getty Images, WENN, Splash News
Jacek commented as soon as Kristen Stewart was introduced by Jon Stewart on The Daily Show last night how attractive she is. They'd just played the clip of her dancing wildly in On The Road and she's such a lively combination of innocence and sex and youth and freedom in that moment, his reaction is understandable. Full Story


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bid(redirected from bidders)
Also found in: Dictionary, Thesaurus, Medical, Financial, Encyclopedia.
n. an offer to purchase with a specific price stated. It includes offers during an auction in which people compete by raising the bid until there is no more bidding, or contractors offer to contract to build a project or sell goods or services at a given price, with usually the lowest bidder getting the job. (See: contract)
bidnoun advance, approach, estimate, licitatio, offer, offered price, overture, presentation, price, proffer, proposal, proposition, quotation, quoted price, submission, tender
Associated concepts: auction sale, bid bond, bid in, bid off, bidder, competitive bidding, proposal, upset bid, with reserve, without reserve
See also: appeal, application, assign, call, command, detail, dictate, direct, endeavor, enforce, enjoin, impose, insist, instruct, invitation, invoke, mandate, offer, order, overture, petition, pray, prescribe, proffer, propose, proposition, request, summon, summons, writ
BID, contracts. A bid is an offer to pay a specified price for an article about to be sold at auction. The bidder has a right to withdraw his bid at any time before it is accepted, which acceptance is generally manifested by knocking down the hammer. 3 T. R. 148; Hardin's Rep. 181; Sugd. Vend. 29; Babington on Auct. 30, 42; or the bid may be withdrawn by implication. 6 Penn. St. R. 486; 8, Id. 408. Vide 0@ffer.

subset: commoncrawl


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The car is clearly the hack of a countryman - smells of dog, covered in mud and pro hunting stickers. He drives it like he stole it. In juxtaposition the radio is set to the genteel sound of BBC Radio 4, who are just commencing the third part of a series on the history of the duffle coat, read by a woman who sounds posher than the queen.
We rock up at at chez bambi basher and all hell breaks lose. Two cats, six chickens, TEN dogs, and a pair of teenagers, its the pandemonium of family life, with Bambi Basher and The Tea Lady using semaphore to communicate with each other, they pour me a glass of rum that would floor a sailor and it's a home from home. I fall into a fitful sleep on the couch.
The morning is announced by dogs licking my face, The Tea Lady serves a breakfast fit for a king, well several hungry kings, and we're off into the day. Bambi Basher has about 35,000 acres of woodland to stalk but it's all parceled up into a bit here and a bit there. One heavily coppiced section is where he holds his pheasant shoot and its also the rifle range. We set up the range table and the lesson begins with a shooting test. I was using a 6.5 x 55 CZ 550 FS.
Defiantly not a group, probably not even an assembly, maybe a coalition?
Luckily you can take your shooting test from the bench and the next three were all within a 'Minute Of Deer-Rib' and the last three made a comforting line across the target. Phew!
Bambi Basher cheered up right away and let me have a go with his .275 Rigby. Which was nice.
The next part of the training is the simulated stalk where we walk though the woods, seeking out deer targets and assessing their suitability for a safe and humane shot. Nothing through the bushes, nothing without a known backstop to catch the bullet.
A close shot served as a good reminder of just how much you need to adjust for range even with a flat shooting round like the 6.5x55. Bambi Basher told me how a client had managed to shoot right under a trophy Roe doing the same thing. Woodland stalking is sometimes at such close ranges that both-eyes-open and under-the-scope also need to be practiced until they're second nature. A massive learning curve awaits me. Excellent.
We drove to another wood to stalk for Roe and Fallow deer, lots were seen, none were legal. Sadly I'd not set my camera up to work silently so no photos.
More of this one to come - bit distracted from blogging at the moment - work and stuff - good stuff - distracting stuff.
your pal
Bambi Bashers side of the story


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This is one of our archived dishes that is just now coming out!
This is an attempt to recreate a childhood favorite.
When we were growing up, our family would get invited by this other family who held quite the gatherings. From what I remember, they had an expansive buffet with various stations set up on their lawn. One of the stations was the griddled prawn station.
This being the Philippines, when we say prawns, we mean actual prawns as large as one's hands, maybe larger. A lot of "prawns" we see in North America are merely shrimp.
At this magical griddled prawn station, each prawn would be butterflied at the back, then put on the griddle, basted with the heavenliest of concoctions.
When we saw these Thai blue prawns, we thought it was time we attempted a re-creation.
Of course, JS and I don't actually know what went into making that dish. Thinking back, our best guess is this.
A whack-load of butter, garlic, and Worcestershire sauce.
We were aiming to capture that elusive flavor from the past, and did not bother so much with sticking to the griddle method. Perhaps it's because we didn't have a griddle large enough to hold all the prawns, and that would have resulted in dreaded batch-cookery.
For simplicity's sake, we threw in the butter, garlic and Worcestershire sauce into a wok and added the prawns. They needed to be tossed around quite a bit for each one to have a turn cooking in the butter/sauce. Maybe we needed to batch-cook them after all.
Along the way, we seemed to have determined that the dish needed even more butter.
After making sure the final guy had a dip in the garlicky, Worcestershire-y butter, the dish was done.
Of course, being drenched in butter, garlic, and Worcestershire sauce, this could only be fantastic!
But, is this the same dish as the one at that griddle station?
I don't know. I think we probably did not re-create that same dish. I have a nagging feeling that our attempt falls a little bit short. Or, maybe this dish is actually better than the griddled prawns of our childhood. I truly can't say.
Such is nostalgia.
Garlic-Worcestershire Butter Prawns
This dish can be done to taste. Use as much or as little of each ingredient as you wish.
prawns or shrimp (or even mussels or clams)
garlic, minced
Worcestershire sauce (be aware of the salt content in this ingredient)
Heat your pan or wok. Add the butter, garlic, and Worcestershire sauce. When the butter has melted, add the prawns.
Toss until the prawns have turned color.
Melt the butter and mix together with the garlic and Worcestershire sauce.
When the griddle is hot, put your prawns on it and pour the flavored butter over them. One can also baste the prawns with the flavored butter.
Turn the prawns over to cook both sides.
When both sides of each prawn have turned color, take them off the griddle. Serve.
Saturday, July 26, 2014
Garlic-Worcestershire Butter Prawns
Monday, April 07, 2014
Porchetta... and etcetera (2011 Canada Day Event at The Boulevard)
Pork! Pork! Pork!
Having recently tried porchetta at a local sandwich shop, JS and I left reminiscing about our own porchettas from the past.
Surprisingly, it seemed that we had quite a porchetta spree in 2011. And perhaps 2012 as well!
One such occasion -- it may actually have been the first time -- was during the 2011 iteration of our Annual Summer BBQ Event. (See the event from 2010.)
We are usually leery calling this summer party a "BBQ", as guests would undoubtably expect our oh-my-god-it's-so-good Philippine Pork BBQ Skewers. JS and I have not had the time nor energy for such a feat in years. This is, of course, because we would have had to make an obscene number of skewers to satisfy the crowd!
So, in 2011, JS came up with a new concept: a do-it-yourself sandwich bar! We can cook off huge hunks of meat and that would be that! (Well, and make all the sides and condiments, too, of course. I mean, we're not slackers or somethin'.)
DIY Sandwich Bar, aka "TJ's Sammie Shop"
a 2011 Canada Day Event at The Boulevard
Pork loin wrapped with pork belly, roasted with garlic and herbs.
There are more gratuitous shots of the porchetta below. Don't you worry.
Our signature roast chicken, shredded and ready for your sandwiches!
Roast sirloin tip with Montreal steak spice, served with its own jus.
(Pictured in photo of entire buffet, after a few scrolls down.)
Tuna, apple, celery, red onions, Dijon mustard, lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil, salt & black pepper.
I have been accused on more than one occasion of withholding some secret ingredient(s) and/or method. But, once again, I say,
TS' own mix of good stuff – romaine, hardboiled eggs, ham, cheddar, tomatoes
– tossed in a spectacular tangy creamy dill dressing.
Curly-leaf kale with scratch-cooked cannellini beans in a simple lemon juice and olive oil vinaigrette.
TJ Tip:
Add a little dressed Kale Salad to your sandwich for tang & texture!
Not just Roast Potatoes,
What makes roast potatoes better?
Roasting them in roast chicken juices! A little pork fat also joined the party. Woohoo.
Pickled cauliflowers, carrots, zucchinis and celery. Its tang is a great addition to your sandwich! We made hot and mild versions.
Garlic, bird's eye chilis, parsley, lemon juice and olive oil. More than the sum of its parts.
Oh man, what a SUPER APPETITE-STOKER!
See it in action here with flank steak and here on a burger.
Think you don't like olives? Just add this to your sandwich and it will change your mind. Used in our muffuletta and "muffuletta-inspired" stuffed flank.
Of course, it was a bit of a struggle getting everyone to actually build sandwiches. Everybody just went straight for the meat (and the salads, too, actually). I guess that's just how we roll.
TS is pressuring me to write my bit for the porchetta.
You have to remember that this party was almost three years ago! How can I remember what I did to a piece of pork three years ago?!?
Deliciousness of the porchetta not withstanding, everything seems like a dream now, and in two more years, it would not be far-fetched to imagine this porchetta dropping from the sky, like manna.
Maybe we'll just have to wait a couple of years. . .then this post would be FIVE years old.
I had asked for a loin and I had asked for belly.
I was concerned that it would take too much muscle (although these butchers were big guys) to try to wrap the belly around the loin, so I suggested to them that draping the belly over the loin would be good enough. They were going to tie the whole thing up with string anyways.
I had the butcher score the skin, as we only had dull knives at home. We still do.
Getting the pork was probably the hardest thing here.
The skin!
From there, it was a matter of seasoning the outside of the log.
Salt and pepper it was! And, I believe, some garlic powder and dried herbs as well (oregano, thyme).
Turned out that was all was needed because the pork was delicious as it was.
Perhaps, technically, this wasn't a "porchetta" because we didn't get to stuff the rolled up piece of meat. But no matter, we're still calling it porchetta.
The loin.
Look at it, so white and so tender and so juicy.
Since we were making this for sandwich filling, we decided to disassemble the porchetta after roasting. We sliced the loin and chopped the belly. We also separated the skin from the meat and chopped that up.
I believe for our subsequent porchettas, we mostly went with just pork belly. Who needs all that lean loin meat anyway?
If I may, I just want to say that the gardiniera was my favourite! Piled on top of the porchetta, it was simply fabulous. I loved the tang, the crunch, and the heat.
Want to try your hand at porchetta? Why not look to The Food Lab at Serious Eats?
The Food Lab: How to Make All-Belly Porchetta, the Ultimate Holiday Roast
Friday, February 28, 2014
Pastillas de Leche (Philippine Milk Candy), No-Cook Version and Variations
Strangely flat pastillas de leche.
Traditionally, pastillas de leche are made with carabao (water buffalo) milk.
I can't even recall if I've ever had carabao milk pastillas de leche, but given that I do like me a good mozzarella di bufala, I can well imagine the joy in eating carabao milk pastillas de leche.
But, we all live in an imperfect world.
Pastillas de leche are simply cooked down milk and sugar, formed into logs (pastilles, if you will).
Milk candy, in other words.
I tried my hand making them a while back, but it was laborious, all that stirring and watching over the milk, the worrying about scorching and burning the milk, the constant scraping of the bottom of the pot... I believe it was not long after that experience that I discovered (or searched for, perhaps) the existence of a shortcut way of making pastillas de leche.
For this version, all one needs is condensed milk and powdered milk. Of course, this makes sense, for what is condensed milk if not cooked down milk with sugar?
If I can't have carabao milk, then I'll definitely take condensed milk. Besides, it's a badly-kept secret how much I love condensed milk. (You cannot even imagine.)
The condensed milk and powdered milk are combined, then formed into little logs.
There are two ways this log shape can be achieved. One can pinch off a piece from the mixture and form those into logs individually. Or, one can form a long strip with the milk mixture and cut off segments, much like how one would make gnocchi.
Dulce de Leche variation
If you were feeling a wee bit industrious, you can heat up the mixture until it becomes a tad caramelized and becomes a faux dulce de leche.
Or, even easier, simply buy dulce de leche.
What a fantastic idea: dulce de leche pastillas!
The shaped logs are then coated in granulated sugar.
I don't know what I was thinking or doing, but somehow I don't think I added enough powdered milk to the condensed milk. See how loose my mixture is? Each "log" is blob-by and spreading out!
The mixture needs to be more dough-like in consistency.
My pastillas are so weird and flat!
Earl Grey Tea variation
I thought I'd be hoity-toity and have some Earl Grey tea-scented pastillas.
One could go about this in a number of ways. But, the simplest I found was simply dumping a bit of the tea into my granulated sugar. If your leaves are large, or if you have whole-leaf tea, then give them a buzz in a spice grinder first. I could've added the tea to the condensed milk-powdered milk mixture directly, but I wanted to keep that pure.
See the bowl of sugar on the bottom right? It has some tea dumped in it.
After the roll in sugar, each log is wrapped in paper. Actually, each piece is wrapped in regular paper, then the paper-wrapped log is wrapped in tissue paper.
I must confess, though, I gave up wrapping mine. What's the point of wrapping them up when they were to be devoured a few minutes afterwards anyway? We don't know what self-control is.
(There is a demo of the wrapping of which I speak in the embedded video at the end of the post.)
I don't know if I had eaten all the Earl Grey ones, but somehow these guys were the only ones left for the photo shoot. But, look up there, there's a piece there with Earl Grey tea specks.
Other variations
As you may have gathered, pastillas de leche lend themselves to countless variations.
While there are traditional variations (like citrus zest, purple yam, jackfruit, coconut, squash), why not try matcha, coffee, or any of the myriad types of teas?
Or try adding avocado, because you know avocado and condensed milk go so well together.
GENIUS IDEA -- why not try a play on Cuban Guava and Cheese Pastries and add guava paste and cream cheese to the mixture? WOWZA!
Yes, why not add some sort of cheese?
Or, instead of tropical fruits, one can add berry purée to the mixture, either solo or mixed. Or a purée of any stone fruit (your peaches, your nectarines, your apricots).
Or an apple butter.
Or a nut butter (peanut butter, almond butter, cashew butter).
Or speculoos cookie butter. SPECULOOS COOKIE BUTTER!
Or nutella.
Or, leaning towards more adventurous flavorings, how about saffron pastillas de leche?
Or lavender pastillas?
Of course, there are all those spices!
Or add a textural component to the lot -- crushed nuts, pinipig, shredded coconut, cacao nibs, sesame seeds, chia seeds -- either into the mixture or as part of the coating.
Endless possibilities.
It doesn't really matter how my pastillas de leche turned out this time, because for me, it's just an excuse to eat condensed milk.
Eating it straight out of the can seems a little gauche, but how the addition of a little powdered milk changes everything!
Perhaps, though, you will make yours nice and pretty. =)
For more pastillas de leche reading, check out the post on Tangled Noodle.
Sugar Pills: Pastillas de Leche
It's good stuff.
Pastillas de Leche, No-Cook Version
2 to 3 cups powdered milk
1 can (300 mL) condensed milk
granulated sugar, for rolling
paper or cellophane, cut to size
Use dulce de leche instead of condensed milk.
Add any sort of texture component (pinipig, shredded coconut, crushed nuts, etc.) either in the milk mixture, or as coating.
Add fruit purée to the mixture for fruit-flavored pastillas de leche.
Add an appropriate cooked vegetable purée to the mixture (eg, squash/pumpkin, taro, purple yam, etc.).
Add any nut butter.
Mix together condensed milk and powdered milk until the consistency of dough.
Scoop out about a tablespoon's worth of "dough" and roll into a log. Roll log in granulated sugar until coated. Repeat until all the milk mixture is done.
Wrap each log in paper or cellophane.
A video by Pinay Cooking Lessons for your reference:


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nixCraft wishes our readers and families a very happy holiday season!
I'd like to thank you for your support and wish you a happy year ahead in 2008!
( Merry Christmas, from the nixCraft! [Image credit – copied from personal email])
Also, I'd like wish to every one a wonderful new year full of great things, success and more freedom using Linux and open source technologies.
— Vivek Gite, Linux Evangelist.


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So long as I'm in this recycling mood. This is one of my favorites.
There is a boy who just wants a glass of red wine
some good conversation
a nice smile to gaze upon
a friendly face
maybe some Zydeco music
would be nice
he's been there
He's standing on a corner
talking to her
Bachet, Trane, hell, even Bird is gone
Paint the statue in KISS face
Uriah Heep, Black Oak Arkansas no body drives a Studabaker anymore
Open the trunk Have a beer let the party carry on
we sang about what's so funny….
we didn't really mean it
Johnny R was right
despite the hype
She was tall
actually shorter than she looked
she loved his
scared of moving too fast
scared of……SHIT!!!
they loved good together
They did the best they could while they were stuck in this place
would be nice
we don't get older we grow


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BREAKING 06/13/13 11:30am - Yes Men Win Legal Battle with U.S. Chamber of Commerce
The action that gave birth to the Yes Lab.
Shortly after launching a battalion of Survivaballs at the United Nations in the fall of 2009 to urge action against climate catastrophe, we heard from a group of activists in Washington, D.C., the Avaaz Climate Action Factory, who drew our attention to Public Enemy #1 of sane climate policy: the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
While the U.S. Chamber often flies under the radar, in recent years it has become more visible by launching multi-million-dollar advertising campaigns and lobbying blitzes to derail a sensible climate bill in the Senate (not to mention spending hundres of millions to oppose health care reform, employee free choice and even pushing to kill sensible banking regulations that could thwart another economic meltdown). With the fate of the Senate climate bill very much up in the air, and only months to go before a major UN conference on climate that the U.S. Chamber was furiously trying to derail, our Action Factory friends felt that these people needed to be unmasked, and quick.
Lo and behold, a mere one week later, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce surprised everyone with a dramatic announcement at the National Press Club, reversing its position on climate change policy, and promising to immediately cease lobbying against the Kerry-Boxer bill, the leading piece of legislation in the U.S. Senate meant to reduce CO2 emissions.
Within minutes of the U.S. Chamber's announcement, it was dramatically and comically revealed that the "U.S. Chamber spokesperson" was an impostor, and the press conference an elaborate hoax to draw attention to the U.S. Chamber's backward position. For this we have to give thanks to Eric Wohlschlegel, the visibly rattled U.S. Chamber of Commerce spokesperson who barged into the room and declared the event a fraud. In the ensuing stand-off, both Wohlschlegel and "Hingo Sembra" (our U.S. Chamber rep.) accused the other of being a fraud. "Can I see your business card?" Wohlschlegal demanded of his doppleganger. "Can I see yours?" parried Sembra. After an extended impasse in the battle of the business cards, Wohlschlegel beat a hasty retreat, handing every journalist he could collar a business card. (See video here and Rachel Maddow's coverage on MSNBC here.)
The Action Factory and Yes Men ruse was covered by media around the world, putting the U.S. Chamber's greedy and destructive influence on our politics in the spotlight. As for the Yes Men, besides being named plaintiffs in a lawsuit against them and "John and Jane Doe 1-20," it was the collaborative nature of the project—developing and executing an amazing plan over the course of three or four days—that left us inspired and ready to think big. That desire led us on to other amazing collaborations, and ultimately the launch of the Yes Lab itself.
Selected Press:
Rachel Maddow. Chamber of Commerce Punked
The Washington Post. Pranksters Stage Chamber of Commerce climate event
Mother Jones. The Yes Men Punk the Chamber
The New York Times. U.S. Chamber sues activists over climate stunt


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fairview, SD
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Available mailing locations by zipcodes - fairview
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Angelina Ballerina
Inspired by the award-winning children's book series by author Katharine Holabird and illustrator Helen Craig, the new Angelina Ballerina™ The Next Steps follows the now 8-year-old Angelina as she embarks on the next stage in her life at a new school where she experiences new forms of music and dance. The series sees Angelina living on the other side of Chipping Cheddar, attending Camembert Academy, a school for the Performing Arts, and making friends with a cast of characters including her new dance teacher, Ms. Mimi.
Angelina Ballerina The Next Steps celebrates music and brings to life many forms of dance for Angelina including ballet, modern, tap, jazz, classical and ethnic. As an 8-year-old ballerina, her life revolves around dancing and performance, family, friendship and following her dreams.
Angelina always works hard to reach her goals and learns from her mistakes. As young children share in Angelina's experiences, they're inspired to go after their big dreams too!


text:
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Gary Cobbledick necesitaba un nuevo diseño de logotipo y lanzó un concurso de diseño en 99designs.
Un ganador ha sido elegido entre 58 diseños de 24 diseñadores freelance.
Discover English
We are Australia's newest (& soon to be "best") English language college, located in the heart of busy, vibrant Melbourne. We teach English to people for whom English is not their first language. The name of our college is "Discover English" and the website will be http://www.discoverenglish.com.au . We chose the name "Discover English" because our students will be discovering a new language, and, we hope, discovering new friendships, discovering a new city and country, and a new culture. We like the idea of "discovery": it is about learning new things and it's exciting to make discoveries, and we hope that our students will feel excited by the possibilities of studying at our college because of the potential to discover so many new things (we organise activities, tours, excursions, adventures) while also learning or improving their English language skills.
We have a great modern college with excellent teaching facilities and we also have a fantastic rooftop barbeque area with sensational views of the City. We will have social events and barbeques here every Friday afternoon so our students can mix and mingle and have fun with fellow students from all over the world. When people think of Discover English we want them to think of us as offering high quality teaching in a fun, friendly and diverse learning environment. We want people to think: 'Serious study, serious fun".
Overseas students visiting Australia, Working holiday visitors, Student visitors and other tourists who are looking to learn or improve their English.
Demographics: 50/50 male and female. Ages: mostly 18 – 30, but also a reasonable proportion (30%) aged over 30. Varied nationality mix – Asian (mainly Korean, Thai, Japanese, Chinese), South American (mainly Chilean, Brazilian, Argentinian), European, Central European, Turkish, Saudi etc – we expect citizens from over 50 countries to be enrolled in courses at any one time.
We want a logo that touches the "discovery" theme in a fresh, modern, contemporary way. We want something simple, fun, colourful, perhaps "earthy Australian" tones (although we are not set on this). We also want something that appeals to the I-Generation (I-Phone; I-Pod; I-Pad, etc). The logo should be unique and strong, and it should stand out.
This logo will be on our website, business cards, brochures, pamphlets, letterhead, etc so it needs to be truly representative of the college and what we are about, giving a great "first impression".
Once the logo has been designed we would like to work on website design, company stationery and marketing materials.
Thank you in advance!
Descubre cómo funciona un concurso de diseño u obtén más información sobre nuestros servicios de diseño de logo.


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To make a booking for the cruise listed below, please complete this form and submit it. You will receive a copy of your booking by e-mail. Unless it has been specifically agreed by LUCS, all bookings must be paid in advance.
The preferred method is to pay on-line, via PayPal. You don't need to have a PayPal account and can pay using a credit or debit card and your booking will be confirmed as soon as the payment has been completed.
The payment will be processed entirely on PayPal's secure system and LUCS will not have access to your credit or debit card details.
Alternative methods of payment include postal payment by cheque or by Prepaid Gift Voucher, available from LUCS. Bookings made by these alternative methods are provisional until conformed by the LUCS Bookings Secretary.
Description: Avon Aqueduct Cruise Date and Departure Time: 27 September 2020 at: 14:00
Depart from Linlithgow Canal Centre at 2:00pm. Cruise to the Avon Aqueduct and back, returning at 4:30pm.
Number of Places Currently Available: 29 Prices - Adult: £10 Concession: £8 Child: £5
Completion of all fields marked * is essential. We prefer a mobile phone number so that we can get in touch but at least one phone number (mobile or home phone) is required, preferably both.
When you submit your booking it will be accepted immediately as a provisional booking, provided there are enough places free. You will then be taken to the payment section to pay on-line via PayPal using a debit card, credit card or PayPal account (alternative methods of payment are by Cheque through the post or by using a LUCS Prepaid Voucher).
If you subsequently need to cancel or ammend your booking, please let us know by e-mailing firstname.lastname@example.com. Places are limited, so please tell us if you are not able to come.
No refund will be made for bookings that are cancelled less than two weeks before the trip.
Phone the LUCS booking line 0844 272 3812 or e-mail firstname.lastname@example.com if you have any queries.


text:
Sci-Con Vortex Roller 2 Bags
Own this?
Be the first to rate it!
(Tap a star to rate)
A vortex is not a good thing to be in the middle of. Either you're stuck in a mass of water or you're in a vacuum created by violent swirls of water and things are collapsing in on you. Not fun. There are days when bike rides turn into an exercise in managing chaos; everything that can go wrong with a bike, save broken frame tubes, goes wrong. If you think a dangerous swirl of currents is something you might ride into, then the Sci'Con Vortex Roller 2 saddlebag is for you.Compared with the Compact, you can probably fit in a multi-tool along with the second tube and replace the mini-inflator with a regular-sized inflator like the Innovations Ultraflate Plus.Sci'Con's saddle bags are notable for their retention systems. No Velcro straps. The design has been updated to the new Roller 2 mounting system. If you recall the original Roller System (now Roller 1), you start with a plastic cleat that secures to your seat rails with the twist of a knob. Then you install the bag by matching the cleat with the opening in the binding mount. And give it a 1/4 turn. The Roller 2 takes that same idea and adds two tire levers to the design. There's one mount for a tire lever outside the bag, and a mount for a tire lever inside the bag. To make sure the lever slots work, Sci'Con includes the levers. Building the two levers into the design frees up space in the bag, so you can fit more into it. The bag itself has a mix of materials. The side panels are carbon fiber weave. The main panels are Cordura. Reflective piping runs along the seam between the carbon fiber and Cordura panels; reflective is good. Because the bag doesn't have a strap underneath it to help hold the shape, there's an ABS body structure inside. This way it has some structure and shape whether the bag is empty, partially-loaded, or packed to the gills.The Vortex has a zipper that opens the bag up like a cargo ship; you'll have a top and a body. There is reflective tape alongside the zipper as well as on the bottom of the bag along the seams. It has just a simple single cavity with a Velcro compression strap to hold things in place; this is particularly useful when you're not filling the bag, as the stuff won't bounce around the inside, making distracting noises all during the ride. The Sci'Con Vortex Roller 2 saddlebag comes in Black Cordura with Black carbon fiber panels. Bag geometry is 8x6.5x14cm making the volume 480 cubic centimeters (29.29 cubic inches).
Box|Carbon Fiber Handlebar 35mm 6mm Rise(was
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Alumnus named Principal of the Year
December 15, 2009
Collaboration is key for Oregon's Middle School Principal of the Year, Chris Mills M.A.T. '84. In this profile in The Oregonian, Mills discusses his leadership approach, which focuses on listening to the ideas of teachers and students around him.
Mills has been the principal of Gardiner Middle School in Oregon City for the past 12 years, during which time he helped to implement professional learning communities at the school. The innovative technique, which encourages teachers to meet regularly to share tips and discuss methods, has been adopted by all Oregon City schools this year.


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At Massachusetts General Hospital, we track many measures of our institutional performance. We compare our performance to our goal and take steps to improve.
Explore this Web site to see for yourself how we are doing and what we do to ensure that all of our patients receive the highest quality and safest care possible. Read More »


text:
Considering independent senior living is one of life's major decisions. This guide navigates some of the common misconceptions and gives you a blueprint for what to look for when choosing where to spend your retirement years.
Download the eBook
out of 5
Based on
October 10, 2016
5620 Wesleyan DriveVirginia Beach, VA 23455
1005 Elysian PlaceChesapeake, VA 23320
2856 Forehand DriveChesapeake, VA 23323
Meet the people who make Five Star great.
Watch The Videos
Website By Boston Interactive


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Marie Selby was born Mariah Minshall in Wood County, West Virginia, on August 9, 1885. When Marie was still a young girl, the Minshall family moved to Marietta, Ohio where her father studied geology at Marietta College and invented parts for oil drilling equipment. The Minshall family frequently went on camping and hiking trips along the Ohio River; perhaps it was this early introduction to nature that spawned in Marie her love of the out-of-doors.
William & Marie
Marie was an accomplished pianist, and attended a music seminary in Illinois. Shortly after completing her musical studies she met William (Bill) Selby, a partner with his father in the Selby Oil and Gas Company. William and Marie were married on January 31, 1908, in the First Presbyterian Church of Marietta. Early in their marriage the young couple was intrigued by the country's first cross-country automobile race. They decided to travel the same course, and outfitted their touring car with spare parts and camping equipment. As a result of the Selby's enthusiasm and determination, Marie Selby became the first woman to cross the country by car.
Sarasota as Home
Bill Selby had visited Sarasota before his marriage and was drawn into the area by the excellent fishing waters and the astounding beauty of the west coast of Florida. He brought his young wife to Sarasota in hopes that she would share his enthusiasm. She did, and they bought seven acres of land bordering on Sarasota Bay and Hudson Bayou. Little did they dream, at that moment, of the exquisite Sarasota landmark their property would become in the not-so-distant future. In the early 1920s the Selbys built a Spanish-style, 2-story house among the laurel and banyan trees.
Modest Home, Generous Garden
Landscaping of the Selby home site was planned by Marie. Borders of flowers bloomed along the roadway which led to the tip of the peninsula. A large rose garden figured prominently in the overall design – a garden Marie was always reluctant to leave behind during summers spent at the Selby ranch in Montana. Despite their enormous wealth (oil and mining industry produce great wealth for William), the Selbys lived a quiet and unpretentious life. Their home was modest as was their entertaining style. They were not a part of the Sarasota social scene. Both Marie and Bill Selby dressed plainly, as their interests lay in outdoor activities. One would often find Marie in a cotton dress and sneakers. They owned a ranch where they raised purebred Angus cattle and rode horses, often seen around town in dusty riding clothes.
Boating was another favorite activity at the Sarasota Yacht Club. In 1928, a reception was held at the Selby home for local members and visiting members of other yacht clubs participating in the annual Regatta. That year, Marie Selby won the "Express Cruiser Race" and the Sarasota Yacht Club won overall, retaining the trophy won in 1927.
Gardening Passion
Yet one guesses that Marie's love of nature and of gardening was her most consuming passion. She was a charter member of Sarasota's first garden club, the Founder's Circle. She had a great desire to keep Sarasota a beautiful and green place and was disturbed later in life by the proliferation of high-rise construction. The row of bamboo on the bay side of the property was planted by Marie to block her view of the offending condominiums.
The Selby Legacy
In 1955, William Selby had established the William and Marie Selby Foundation. The impact of Selby Foundation in the Sarasota community has been, and continues to be, enormous – on education, the arts, youth and children, libraries, health services, and programs in support of the aged. William Selby died on December 4, 1956 and Marie continued to live quietly in the home she loved until her death on June 9, 1971. The contents of Marie Selby's will revealed her wish to leave her property to the community as a botanical garden "for the enjoyment of the general public." A board of directors was appointed and after consultation with the New York Botanical Garden and the University of Florida, it was decided that the garden should specialize in epiphytic plants, thereby making it unique among the more than 200 botanical gardens in the country.
Marie Selby Botanical Gardens was officially opened to the public on July 7, 1975. Marie Selby's final wish was fulfilled, and the Selby legacy was in full bloom. In November 2001, William and Marie Selby were reinterred in front of their beloved home on the grounds of Selby Gardens. A triangular-shaped fountain pays tribute to this pioneering couple whose generosity has touched generations of Sarasotans. A plaque on the Selby House honors Marie as a Great Floridian, so named by the Florida Legislature in 2000 for her significant contributions to the history and culture of the state.
Selby Gardens Today
Since the Gardens originally opened to the public, the property has more than doubled in size from seven to nearly 15 acres. The historic Payne Mansion on adjoining property was purchased in 1973 and now houses the Gardens' Museum. Selby Gardens maintains a plant collection representing specimens collected from New World Tropic locations during research expeditions and acquisitions from international institutions. The collection numbers more than 20,000 greenhouse plants, plus thousands more in the outdoor gardens. Eight greenhouses include the stunning Tropical Conservatory – the only greenhouse that is open to the public where unusual flora can be seen year-round. The Botany Department provides headquarters for the Bromeliad, Gesneriad, and Orchid Research Centers, and Selby Gardens' Herbarium, Spirit Collection and Molecular Laboratory. The Ann Goldstein Children's Rainforest Garden, opened in November 2013, features interactive stations that allow children and families to explore rainforest plants and habitats. Marie Selby Botanical Gardens has, in short, become a respected center for research and education, as well as a famous showplace that delights more than 200,000 visitors each year.


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Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Hooray for the Craft Room!
Well, I took one step closer this past weekend. Last year, Pier 1 sold a Project Table that was, in essence, a knock-off of the pricey Pottery Barn version. Unbeknownst to me, the item was quickly discontinued, marked down, and is now near impossible to find. Well, after exhausting all of my local stores, I started calling stores in the NY / NJ area, where at least my mom could pick one up if I could find it. Well, lo and behold, I found not one but FOUR of these bad boys.
And here's the best part ... they're down to $199 each. (And one of them was the floor model with an additional 25% off). Here's what I learned: some stores still have one hanging around in their stock room ... and some didn't even realize it was back there. Call around and find someone good on the phone who's willing to go move a few boxes to see if they still have any.
My mom is going to keep two of them (my younger brother is moving out this month and she's setting up a crafting room of her own) and I'm getting the other two. Now I have some motivation to get organized.
Here's my next mission (and maybe you can help): these Pottery Barn Wood Buttons wall art. Again, I coveted these in the catalog but didn't act quickly enough -- they were discontinued, marked down, and now impossible to find. I keep searching eBay to no avail. Does anyone have a lead on a set of these??
17 comments:
Love the worktable! Great score on your mom's part. :o)ReplyDelete
As for the buttons, got a lathe or a buddy with a lathe? They would be really fun to make for yourself.
Don't know where to find the buttons, but they sure are cute. I bet a wood worker could make them pretty easy. You might call some local shops.ReplyDelete
Ok, the buttons are absolutley adorable. What about making your own buttons??? LIke out of fabric or styrofoam? The rounded ones on the end could be wooden salad bowls with holes drilled into them.ReplyDelete
Great worktables!ReplyDelete
Adorable buttons...
Happy stitchings! 8-)
Ooh, good to know! I've been looking at the unafforable Pottery Barn version for a while (and even thinking about making my own), but this is a great find! Thanks!ReplyDelete
Next time I head up to our Pottery Barn Outlet store I will take a look. Sometimes I find wonderful treasures at wonderful prices. Try three bookcases for 15 each. That was a good day.ReplyDelete
I have no clue on the buttons. they look fun, though. I think i need to get on PB mailing list again. they have such great inspiration in their catalogs.ReplyDelete
Two methods to try for finding those wood buttons:ReplyDelete
1) Set up for ebay to notify you when a search meets your criteria. So, set it up for "Pottery Barn Wood Buttons" and check the "Search title and description" box. Choose "Save this search". Then, when an item is listed with your search parameters, an email will be sent to you.
2) The other thing to do, is on ebay, there's a forum for posting "wanted" items... http://pages.ebay.com/wantitnow/ you can list the item description and upload the photo and post it, then, sellers look for items that buyers want and they'll contact you!
I've found a few items using both of these methods!
I just saw beth's comment about the outlet... have you tried calling PB outlets? What about calling or writing corporate? Sometime's you can get a sample out of the corporate warehouse (via the main switchboard) that you can't get from the regular catalog department. :DReplyDelete
- AnonymousSeptember 10, 2008 at 6:29 PM
Score on the tables! I love the setup of it.ReplyDelete
I saw those worktables a long time ago at Cameron Village and went back and found they had no more and no one else close by had any - so that's a good score for you mom. You've been busy. I love the japanese quilt blocks - those colors are so nice - very calming and soothing. Also like the mini booty swap quilt. I have a purple and green top here waiting for quilting and the colors look naseauting together - your purple and green look fantastic.ReplyDelete
I love the worktables! If you have powertools, it might not be too hard to try to make the buttons. I think Lowes or Home Depot sell wood cut in circles back in the area where the wood appliques are-near the dowels. You could cut some with a jigsaw out of mdf and then use a circle attachment for a drill to cut out the holes. Just a thought! It would definitely be cheaper-of course, only if you already own those type tools. We do, but my husband likes power tools.:0ReplyDelete
Great looking project tables!I really like the cubbies on the side--great storage but easy to see what you've got. How exciting for you all!ReplyDelete
- AnonymousSeptember 11, 2008 at 10:48 PM
I just searched Aussie Ebay (you never know what you might find!) - but nope. Not there either! Hope you find them.ReplyDelete
Obviously I need to start looking at Pottery Barn because both the table and buttons are amazing!!ReplyDelete
I live way out in the country though and don't have access to a store. That is probably a good thing for my wallet though. :)
- AnonymousSeptember 17, 2008 at 6:13 PM
So did you get it? You must post pictures if/when you do. It looks awesome!ReplyDelete
Well, at least you have a studio to not photograph. ;) I'm still at the kitchen table. My stash lives in totes in the spare bedroom (I know, it can't breathe). Maybe I'll take some pics on a good day, when they're not about to topple over. How tall is too tall for a stash, anyway? I think you probably follow the same rules as when you dig a trench, or something.ReplyDelete
Good luck with the big buttons. Those are awesome.


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Waltham Group hosting blood drive April 16-18
The Waltham Group will host a blood drive April 16, 17 and 18 from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Upper Sherman Function Hall. Donors and volunteers are highly encouraged to attend. Free pizza will be provide.
Students looking to donate blood must either visit www.redcrossblood.org and use the Brandeis University sponsor code – 965 – to register or email firstname.lastname@example.com or email@example.com with availabilities and/or questions.
It is recommended that before donating blood donors should drink lots of water, eat a good breakfast, block out an hour of free time for the pre-screening process and eat iron-rich foods like vegetables and fish. Donors should be sure to bring their university ID.
"This event in incredibly important because it is an amazing opportunity to give life to someone in need," says Rachel Weissman '15, one of the coordinators of the blood drive.
Those interested in volunteering at the event should contact email@example.com to help.
For more information, contact Rachel Weissman.
Categories: General, Student Life


text:
I'm impressed! The last time I saw photos of Jesus, he had long flowing locks. Damn hippie! Tonight I came home to this circular:
Almost trendy! At least it's not a mullet!
Jesus has really cleaned up his act. A goatee would be better, but hey, this is 2013 and full facial hair is in again. Plus, it's nicely trimmed, if full.
I remember reading somewhere, Jesus didn't really have the Tiny Tim hair style anyway. Something about, being a carpenter, the long hair was in danger of getting caught in his band saw or power drill and then he would need to miracle himself.
Not sure of his ethnicity - Alsatian maybe?
Well, at least everyone is smiling. They all have nice white teeth, too! Another of Jesus miracles, detailed in the book of Crest.
Then there's the 6-pack abs. How did he get those? Must be the fishing. Hard work hauling in those nets. I haven't had abs like those since I was 33.
Probably not the response the mysterious visitors wanted. I wish they were here so I could discuss "Brad Pitt Jesus" with them. He's much sexier than he was before his make-over.
Maybe next time. I always think of the best thing to say hours, even days, later anyway.
Views: 7025
on the next leaflet he will have a shave too.
And maybe a business suit!
Did we ever find a business suit with jesus and maybe he had a briefcase too?
Ever visit the Dress Up Jesus web site? I haven't seen a business suit costume, but there's practically everything else.
I noticed this was from Jehovah's Witnesses church. So, apparently, besides believing Jesus died on pole instead of a cross, they also believe he looked like Ewan McGregor's version of Obi-Wan Kenobi from the Star Wars Preqels (Come on, I can't be the only one who sees that resemblance.)
I think you've nailed it!
He is rather athletic isn't he? Here he is as a gymnast, preparing for a backflip.
For those who don't recognize this statue, it used to exist just north of Cincinatti, OH - before it was ironically burned down by a lightening strike. It was affectionately known as Big Butter Jesus, Touchdown Jesus, Drowning Jesus, Quicksand Jesus, and a few other nicknames.
Struck by lightning and burned down. Absolute proof that god didn't want a Jesus statue there. :)
You got it perfectly! Star Wars Jesus!
The oldest existing version of the Gaspels is in Greek, and the word used in that version is the ancient Greek word for "stake." "Stauros." (I can't get Babelfish to write it for me) So maybe he was killed with his arms over his head. Or maybe he was impaled. OWTCH!
Except....how can you kill somebody who never existed?
PS: My sister is a JeeHoover's Witless; sometimes I have to go in my room and put a pillow over my face so she won't hear me laughing.
© 2020 Atheist Nexus. All rights reserved. Admin: The Nexus Group. Powered by


text:
Henry Casso, a longtime civil rights leader, educator and founding member of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund, died Tuesday. He was 82.
Casso died at an Albuquerque hospital and had been suffering from a number of illnesses, according to Ralph Arellanes, the New Mexico state director of the League of United Latin American Citizens.
Born in Detroit, Casso grew up in an orphanage after his father was severely injured in a train accident. It was at an orphanage, Casso would later say, where he developed a desire to join the priesthood and use biblical stories to fight poverty.
Ordained as a priest in 1957, he served a number of San Antonio parishes before leaving the church for a life of scholarship and fighting discrimination against Mexican-Americans. A supporter of President Lyndon B. Johnson's "War on Poverty" programs, he founded PADRES, a national organization that pushed for Latino bishops and urged the Catholic Church to address equality.
He also helped found MALDEF, a national group that spearheaded a number of civil rights court challenges, and was the organization's first education director.
In addition, he created the Massachusetts Undergraduate Teacher Training Bilingual Program while he was an educational doctoral student at the University of Massachusetts.
"Dr. Casso was a pioneer in the area of civil rights and education for Latinos," Arellanes said. "He opened a lot of doors for many and did it because he thought it was the right thing to do."
Celine Radigan, a spokeswoman for the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, had worked with Casso on some projects. She described him as a man of deep faith and great intelligence who was always willing to offer his services.
"His resume was just mighty and his friends and protégés span the globe," she said.
In an interview with The Associated Press last year, the retired University of New Mexico education professor said his religious training kept him motivated to fight poverty and discrimination. "I think getting a good education is one way to fight all of it," said Casso, who was on a number of New Mexico education task forces. "If we can get more Hispanics through college, we could really make a difference."
Through another program, Project Uplift, he helped students in New Mexico, Texas and Colorado prepare for high-tech careers.
In retirement, Casso became an advocate for making Sor Maria de Jesus de Agreda, also known as "The Blue Nun," a saint. The 17th century Catholic icon is lauded in Spain as one of the most influential women in its history and is believed to have influenced the Jumanos Indians to build what is now called the Salinas Pueblo Missions Monument in central New Mexico.
Last year, Casso led a group of pilgrims to the site after one of his legs was amputated because of diabetes. "The doctor told me I was going to lose my other one. So, I made a promise to Sor Maria that I'd make the pilgrimage if she would help save my last leg," Casso said in April 2013. "She kept her promise."
Follow Russell Contreras on Twitter.
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press.


text:
This document is an excerpt from the EUR-Lex website
Alcohol and alcoholic beverages: approximation of excise rates
Alcohol and alcoholic beverages: approximation of excise rates
Alcohol and alcoholic beverages: approximation of excise rates
This summary has been archived and will not be updated, because the summarised document is no longer in force or does not reflect the current situation.
Alcohol and alcoholic beverages: approximation of excise rates
The European Union sets the minimum rates of excise duty to be applied to alcohol and alcoholic beverages from 1 January 1993.
Council Directive 92/84/EEC of 19 October 1992 on approximation of the rates of excise duty on alcohol and alcoholic beverages.
The shift to flexibility in the excise duty rates levied on alcohol and alcoholic beverages, intermediate products, wine and beer involves setting the following minimum rates:
For the last-mentioned category, Member States which apply a rate of duty exceeding ECU 1 000 per hectolitre of pure alcohol may reduce it but not below ECU 1 000.
For the same category, Denmark and Italy were allowed to maintain their existing tax arrangements until 30 June 1996 provided that their rates did not fall below the minimum rate laid down.
Reduced rates may be applied in certain regions of Greece, Italy and Portugal (see the 'Related Acts' section below).
Every two years, the rates of duty are reviewed and any necessary adjustments made, the first review having been made on 31 December 1994.
Entry into force
Deadline for transposition in the Member States
Official Journal
Directive 92/84/EEC
OJ L 316 of 31.10.1992
Report from the Commission to the Council, the European Parliament and the Economic and Social Committee, of 26 May 2004, on the rates of excise duty applied on alcohol and alcoholic beverages (presented pursuant to Article 8 of Council Directive 92/84/EEC on the approximation of excise duty on alcohol and alcoholic beverages) [COM(2004) 223 - Not published in the Official Journal].
The report examines the status of Community legislation in the field of excise duties on alcohol and alcoholic beverages, which entered into force on 1 January 1993 and has not been amended since. The Commission analyses the effect of the current system on the proper functioning of the internal market, the competition between the different categories of alcoholic drinks induced by different rates of excise duty, the real current value of the minimum rates of duty set in 1992 and the wider objectives of the Treaty on European Union. It concludes that greater convergence is needed between the rates of excise duty applied in different Member States, so as to reduce distortions of competition and fraud. In view of the highly disparate opinions of Member States on the appropriate level of minimum excise duty, and since any change would require unanimous agreement, the Commission refrains from formulating proposals at this stage. Instead it intends to launch a broad debate in the Council, the European Parliament and the European Economic and Social Committee. On the basis of the outcome of this debate, the Commission will decide whether or not to submit proposals on some or all of the issues raised in this report.
Council Decision 2002/166/EC of 18 February 2002 authorising France to extend the application of a reduced rate of excise duty on "traditional" rum produced in its overseas departments [Official Journal L 55 of 26.02.2002].
This Decision is justified by the fact that the distilleries in Reunion, Martinique and Guadeloupe can keep up their activities only by retaining their share of the market in mainland France. Moreover, this industry, which is not competitive, provides some 40 000 jobs. However, the reduced rate may not be more than 50% lower than the standard national excise duty on alcohol and is confined to an annual quota of 90 000 hl of pure alcohol. The measure aims to extend the derogation authorised by the Council Decision of 30 October 1995 which expires on 31 December 2002. The extension will run for a period of seven years, from 1 January 2003 to 31 December 2009.
Council Decision 2002/167/EC of 18 February 2002 authorising Portugal to apply a reduced rate of excise duty in the autonomous region of Madeira on locally produced and consumed rum and liqueurs and eaux-de-vie [Official Journal L 55 of 26.02.2002].
The derogation introduced by the Decision is considered to be vital for the survival of the local industry producing and marketing the beverages produced in Madeira and the Azores. Sales of these spirits also provide 130 jobs. The reduced rate may not be more than 75% lower than the standard national excise duty on alcohol. The extension will run for a period of seven years, from 1 January 2002 to 31 December 2008.
Last updated: 17.08.2004


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Pimpette wrote:goddamn work booked me for friday (22nd) despite the fact that i've been telling them repeatedly that i can't
i only work until 530 (technically) but I often tend to get stuck there until almost seven (pain in the asssss). So blah. We'll figure something out.
goddamn job.
Kisai wrote:I am back in Vancouver.
Of particular note. I got orange juice spilled on me AGAIN. When K-dawg picked us up from the hotel to goto pimpettes, I spilled the orange juice, and when I got on the plane, when they were first serving drinks, I just put down the orange juice and I spilled it all over the place.
That makes for three loss-of-drink accidents during vacation :p
I was the first on the plane The in flight entertainment system was busted in my seat.
But the rowdy drunk singing jocks behind me (who were so obnoxious I remembered their names ), were so loud >:( . One of them kept yelling at the others from the front of the plane. They only shut up somewhat when the jet was louder than they were. As soon as we were on the ground they were back up again. Half of them were wearing their hats backwards.
The flight attendants were nice though. Particuarly after the OJ incident where I was like ... *@#*! Dammit *points to guy in the aisle to grab the flight attendant. I mopped up the OJ off myself, the tray table and picked up the ice cubes from around the guy in the middle seat's feat so he wouldn't step on them. The guy in the middle seat slept almost the entire time, and the guy in the aisle seat lost his headphones when he went to the bathroom.
CJBurgandy wrote:but that requires me to stop being lazy
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text:
Likeable design, Great screen quality
Slick OS, Good camera, Attractive design
Offers good performance and specifications
Great design and build quality, feels great in the hand
Big eye-popping screen and luxurious design
Outstanding battery life
Fast processor and data speeds
Colors are vibrant and the 1,280-by-720 pixel resolution is sharp
Fast performance
Good call quality
Solid build quality
Strong call quality
Qualcomm's lightning-quick quad-core processor
Great outdoor visibility with its great display
Gorgeous display, Sleek design, Good talk time
Beefy hardware makes for a fast phone
Features a fast processor, a lovely screen, 4G LTE
Remarkable compact size, thanks to the almost bezel-less display
Great performance for the money
Affordable and compact
4G LTE, NFC capabilities
Display is great for web browsing
Bright, expansive display
Replaces multiple devices, Great looking screen
ReviewGist helps you find the best products to buy by making sense of online reviews.
We are currently aggregating 376,500 reviews
covering over 29,474 products.
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text:
Do you remember how your breakfast plate was arranged this morning? Even if you don't, your hippocampus might—and growing evidence suggests that there is a way to retrieve this unconscious memory: through your eye movements.
The latest study comes from the University of California, Davis, where neuroscientist Deborah Hannula and her team showed participants photographs of faces superimposed on scenes. Later the volunteers saw the individual scenes again and had to pick the matching faces. By tracking their eye movements, Hannula and her co-workers saw that even when volunteers picked the wrong face, their eyes were drawn for a longer time to the correct one.
Previous studies yielded similar results, but the findings have been controversial because of difficulties replicating them, Hannula says. Her study also showed that the participants' hippocampus was active during the process, indicating that, contrary to conventional thinking, the brain region is involved not only in conscious memory processing but in other memory tasks as well.
The findings suggest that eye movements can be a sensitive measure for both unconscious and conscious memories, Hannula says. This fact could open up new avenues for working with cognitively impaired patients, who may not be able to verbally or otherwise report what they remember.
The results also have implications for crime scene investigations, Hannula says. For example, eyewitnesses may unconsciously remember the face of a perpetrator. Even the eye movements of the person who committed the crime could betray important information. "Imagine the perpetrator used a knife that was in the butcher block on the counter next to the refrigerator," she says. Viewing pictures of that scene would likely draw their eye movements to that butcher block.
Note: This story was originally printed with the title "Eye Giveaway"


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With some exceptions, 18 U.S.C. § 205 bars Government employees from representing anyone other than themselves on any matter before the executive branch or any court, if the United States is a party or has an interest. This bar extends even to pro bono (uncompensated) representations, unless those representations are within exceptions specified in the law.
An exception allows the employee to represent, without compensation:
Example of Practical Effect of 18 U.S.C. § 205
A Government employee works for the Department of Agriculture. Because of this statute, she may not call the Internal Revenue Service on behalf of a neighbor (even if she will not be paid by the neighbor) to ask for reduction of a penalty assessed against him for late payment.


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Is guilt a useful or a useless emotion? There seems to be a strong case for both sides of the argument. On the one hand, guilt, it could be argued, is a useless emotion, to be challenged and alleviated. One thinks of fictional characters portrayed by Woody Allen who are racked with guilt but spend their whole time navel-gazing rather than doing anything to make amends. Or someone who has been in a car accident where they injured or even killed someone, and even though the accident wasn't their fault they cannot get over the incident and may even suffer from PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) as a result. Such cases make one wonder whether guilt is indeed a useless emotion, turning one bad thing (the event one is guilty about) into two bad things(the original one plus feeling bad about it). As therapists or coaches we are tempted to turn to CBT(cognitive-behavioural) methods such as challenging whether the offence was as serious as we imagined (are our negative automatic thoughts supported by the evidence? are we jumping to conclusions?). The responsibility pie is a useful technique, whereby we examine all the people and factors responsible and thereby often realise that we were not as blameworthy as we imagined. In these ways useless guilt can be challenged and alleviated.
On the other hand, it could be argued that guilt is a vital emotion, one that makes separates us from psychopaths and non-human animals. Imagine a society where we avoided thinking about the damage we had done to others, or rationalised it away. We would neither make amends for past harm or resolve to change ourselves. We would, in fact, all be rather like fictional gangster Tony Soprano, who commits murder, adultery and breaks most of the other 10 commandments but sees it all as part of his job and putting bread on the table. Existential therapists argue that existential guilt, the feeling that our whole life is not living up to our standards, can serve as a very useful emotion, one to remind us to take steps to change ourselves and our lives. According to existential therapists, then, the main work to be done when someone complains of feeling guilty is not so much to alleviate the guilt as to find out what the guilt is telling us and to take heed of the guilt. Guilt, according to this view, is a most useful emotion.
These two apparently contradictory views can be reconciled by realising that context is key. The trick is to examine the ideas behind your feelings of guilt, and then to assess whether they are telling you existential messages or are inappropriate feelings which need to be challenged.
For example, consider a woman who feels guilty that she working rather than looking after her young child. The first step is to ask (as CBT asks us to do) – what are the thoughts or images behind this guilt? Suppose it is the notion that a woman's first duty is to be a mother, an idea she got from her own mother. Then she needs to ask herself – is this a view she actually subscribes to , or is this a prejudice she is parroting to herself from her mother? There is no simple answer to this question. Though the CBT therapist might urge her to lessen her guilt by arguing that such notions are old-fashioned, the existential therapist would ask her to decide the issue for heself based on her own values and on the facts. For example, is it the case that children flourish best when looked after by their mother? Or does it depend on the age of the child and the quality of care, whoever is giving it? To determine the answers to this question would resolve research – the guilt tells us that something of value is at stake, but it doesn't tell us whether our suspicions are correct. Then again even if if it was proven that children were in general somewhat happier when they were looked after by their mother, it would not necessarily follow that she should take heed of her guilt. She needs to make a value judgement about whether this statistical finding carries more weight than the certainty that she would jeopardise her career for a number of years.
On balance, it would seem that these arguments suggest that the existence of guilt is more useful than useless. Guilt always gives us useful information about our values, and it often points us in a valued direction. However, as with other emotions, guilt can go wrong in terms of its degree or its its appropriateness. The answer is always to look at the context of the guilt, to identify and then assess the ideas which are fuelling the guilt, and then to take appropriate action – which will either be making amends or changing our life in the direction implied by the guilt, or else using the responsibility pie or other CBT techniques to remove it.


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GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KKCO) Three Cedaredge High School athletes were sickened by carbon monoxide exposure on Sunday. Senior Reid Gates passed away Monday while his friends Aaron Henrie and Tyler Cooper remained hospitalized.
On Wednesday their teammates and coaches spoke out about the tragedy. For the Bruins football team, their home opener is just two nights away, and they're trying their hardest to work through all the emotions and find a way to move forward without one of their star players.
"This has affected so many people that it's just a very difficult time," said head football coach Brandon Milholland.
As a four-year starter and captain on the football team, a two-sport state champion, and a 4.0 student, Reid Gates was no ordinary young man.
"He was never really down," said Kyle Ward, a wide receiver. "He was usually the one that picked most people up."
"He'd go across the field just to talk to somebody, to get them going, get their heads back up," said running back Beau Hebert.
"He was just that guy who was just, if you're down and everything, he would just make you laugh and make you feel better," said Alejandro Alejandre, offensive lineman.
Even the coaches were impacted by Reid's life.
"Reid made us become better coaches, you know, without saying a word, you just see it," said Kirby Henderson, Reid's former track coach. "He makes you elevate your game."
In a high school of just 250 people, everyone knew his name. On the field, he was part of a tight-knit group - the Bruins - the reigning 1A state champions.
"When we're out there we're going to try to really focus on football," said Coach Milholland. "I know it's in the back of our minds, I know it is."
But even in the midst of tragedy, they're moving one small step at a time, taking nothing for granted, and looking back only to reflect on the impact Reid had.
"[He'd be] out there cheering us on, pumping us all up, and getting guys all going and fired up," said Hebert.
"You still remember things that they used to do out there, too," said quarterback Trent Walker, "plays that they ran, plays that they'd make, things that they'd say."
And while the team entered the season with high expectations - a goal to repeat - those wins are no longer the driving force.
"It doesn't get any harder than this," said Coach Milholland. "Football is one thing, but that's just a game."
Through it all, the Bruins remain united, playing for the love of the game, and playing to honor everyone affected by the unexpected.
Cedaredge will kick off their home opener this Friday night at 7:00 PM against Dolores. They will have a moment of silence to honor the three boys affected.


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History and background
Compton was originally created as a fork of Dana Jansen's fork of Xcompmgr. It was refactored and bugs were fixed as it grew into a standalone project. Today it has many improvements and unique features when compared with other lightweight compositors such as Xcompmgr. Here are some of them:
- OpenGL backend
- Inactive window transparency
- Create your own blur kernel and use it to blur unopaque window backgrounds
- Custom-colored window drop shadows
To install compton, just emerge it:
root # emerge -av compton
Creating a custom blur kernel
The version of compton in the Funtoo repositories comes with another application called
compton-convgen allows you to generate custom blurs for the backgrounds of transparent window borders, menus, etc.
compton-convgen takes the following switches:
-f: This option allows you to changes factors such as the sigma (standard deviation) of the blur kernel. A sigma of three to five looks nice and generates blurs similar to those seen in Windows 7 Aero and in the Ubuntu Unity launcher. To set the sigma value, enter something like:
-f sigma=3
--dump-compton: If you add this switch,
compton-convgenwill format the output in a way that can be used with compton. This is recommended.
type: The type of blur kernel to use. Options include box and gaussian.
width: The width of the blur kernel. As mentioned earlier, if you want an appearance like that of Windows Aero or Ubuntu Unity, a sigma of three to five accompanied by a gaussian with a width and height of 13 does the trick.
height: Not required if you enter height (so long as you want width and height to be equivalent).
height and
width parameters must be odd-numbered.
To build a blur (convolution) kernel of type gaussian with a sigma of three and a height of 13, run the following:
user $ compton-convgen -f sigma=3 --dump-compton gaussian 13
This should output some long string of values that begins with:
Testing different blur kernels
Instead of somewhat tediously copying the output of
compton-convgen into the
.config/compton.conf (see below for more info), you can easily test the blur kernel you have generated by running the following:
user $ compton --backend=glx --blur-background-frame --frame-opacity=0.5 --blur-kern=`compton-convgen -f sigma=<your sigma preference> --dump-compton gaussian <kernel size>`
` is not the apostrophe (
') rather, it is found in the upper left of your keyboard on the
~ key (assuming that you have an english layout on your keyboard).
Applying the custom blur kernel to compton
Now that we have generated our own custom blur kernel, we can add it to our
.config/compton.conf so that our transparent windows have blurred backgrounds. To do this, create a line of text in your compton.conf that says:
blur-kern = "
Then, copy the output of
compton-convgen (minus the trailing comma at the end) to the right side of this line in your
.config/compton.conf. After you have copied it over, go back into your
compton.conf and add a quote and semicolon to the end of the
blur-kern entry. For example:
blur-kern = "a bunch of numbers and commas that you have pasted in.........";
Now that the blur-kern is in our
compton.conf, we can test it out. Go into your
compton.conf again and add the following lines to make window borders transparent:
blur-kern = "a bunch of numbers and commas that you have pasted in.........";
frame-opacity = 0.50;
blur-background = true;
After adding these lines, try launching compton. If you see that the borders of windows are now transparent and blurred, congratulations! If the borders are transparent, but not blurred, check that you entered the lines correctly and then relaunch compton. If that does not work, try adding the line
backend = "glx"; to your
compton.conf. If, after relaunching compton, this does not fix the issue, you may need to look into if your graphics drivers support such features.
Blur the background of only certain windows
If you only want to blur the background of certain windows, say, Conky, Tint2, and URxvt, and not blur the background of all other windows on the desktop, you can do that. First, find the class of the window by installing and running the
xprop utility. In a terminal, type
user $ xprop | grep WM_CLASS
and then click on a window that you want to find details about. The line that is printed in the console tells you the class of the window you have selected. Now that we know the
WM_CLASS of the different windows that we want transparent, we can configure compton to only blur the backgrounds of these windows. Open your
.config/compton.conf and add the following:
blur-background-exclude = "!(class_g = 'First WM_CLASS you want to have a transparent background' || 'Second WM_CLASS' || 'Third WM_CLASS')";
You can add more than three classes you want to blur backgrounds on, or you can add only one. Also, you can identify windows using means of ID other than
WM_CLASS. Check out https://github.com/chjj/compton/blob/master/man/compton.1.asciidoc to learn more about this. Read the text below Format of Conditions, in particular.
Drawing custom shadows
Compton supports casting drop shadows on windows. To enable the default shadows on compton, you can either run it with the
-C flag, or you can add the following to your
enable-shadows = true;
Some of compton's other settings related to shadows include:
--no-dnd-shadow: When set to true, Compton will not draw shadows on drag and drop windows.
--no-dock-shadow: When true, compton will not draw shadows on toolbars and docks.
--shadow-radius: Takes an integer value. This option, coupled with the
--shadow-{x,y}-offsetoptions allows you to change how your shadows are centered / sized around windows.
--shadow-x-offset: This setting allows you to configure how much the shadow will be shifted to the left or the right. If the value is negative, the shadow will be on the left, if the value is positive, the shadow will be shifted to the right.
--shadow-y-offset: Similar in function to the
--shadow-x-offsetswitch, except that it controls the vertical shifting of the shadow. Negative values lead to a shadow cast below a window, while positive values lead to a shadow cast above a window.
--shadow-opacity: A value between 0 and 1 that controls how easy it is to "see through" shadows cast by compton.
--clear-shadow: If you were interested in the transparent and blurred windows above, this option is very useful for you. If this option is set to true, compton will try to remove shadows behind transparent windows.
As always, choose the options that you are interested in, add them to your
compton.conf, relaunch compton, and see how things look.
Compton with
backend=glx does not work well with
If you are having strange rendering issues on compton with
backend=glx and
x11-drivers/ati-drivers, consider adding the following two lines to your
vsync = "opengl-swc";
paint-on-overlay = true;


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griet brauchte ein neues Logo Design und hat einen Wettbewerb auf 99designs gestartet.
Aus 81 Designs von 27 Designern wurde eine Gewinner gewählt.
Create a fancy looking logo for a new fashion brand that is redesigning smart casual clothing. Target audience is 20 - 40 year, male and female. Ironing free garments, for sexy lazy hipsters. PLEASE READ THE BRIEF !!http://99designs.com/contests/9254/brief
With wiet&grim clothing you can go from here to here without changing what you wear.
Our ready to wear clothes makes you look more than stylish at every occasion: to work, fancy dinner or clubbing.
They give you that special edge that makes you shine throughout the day.
- Vector graphics (illustrator) and custom font with the used symbols if possible.
- Stylish, sophisticated and clean
- Both words on the same line
- We rather like handwriting fonts
- must be able to change color scheme for the logo and the background - best to design it on white background
- max 3 colors
- use the full words: wiet grim for the & u can do anything you want. Maybe consider α (alpha) of some sort.
- The sign used in the middle might be able to function as mark for the brand
- this Shag painting is what the brand feels like
- Bit of a 70's feeling with the elegance of the 50's
- bit sleazy, but not to much, more like a naughty angel or a good devil.
- for you to have a fun and lustful life.
- 2 letters like D&G
- bold
- to much curls like Beckham denims
- comic fonts
- oh did we mention no CAPITALS !
Finden Sie heraus, wie ein Designwettbewerb funktioniert, oder lernen Sie mehr über unsere Logo-Design-Angebote.


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Indeed, the artist who had so cunningly crafted transgressive psychological thrillers such Obsession (1976), Dressed to Kill (1980), Blow Out (1981) and Body Double (1984) appeared -- at least on the surface -- to be making a deliberate and calculated strategic retreat to safer celluloid ground.
Washington Post critic Hal Hinson ultimately termed the film "a scary prank." Rolling Stone felt it was an amalgamation of all De Palma's worst and most stereotyped qualities, cataloguing the effort as "shallow, derivative, misogynous and heartless."
A close analysis of Raising Cain, however, reveals that the film is anything but shallow. Rather, it's an intricate narrative maze that routinely shifts or fractures our perspective (echoing the film's content; which concerns a man suffering from a multiple personality disorder).
Raising Cain is also a highly-reflexive thriller that embodies the multiple "creative" voices competing inside De Palma's head (from Hitchcock to Godard to Bunuel to Powell). Perhaps even more impressively, the film brazenly illuminates the director's own existential crisis at this point in his career: the canard that he is slavishly re-creating the work of his artistic "fathers" instead of establishing his own unique identity.
"My Father Wrote the Book on Childhood Development"
Raising Cain is the story of mild-mannered Carter Nix (John Lithgow), a child psychologist who has given up his successful medical practice to raise his only child, Amy (Amanda Pombo).
Although professionally successful, Carter dwells in the shadow of his famous father, a child psychiatrist who allegedly runs a clinic in Norway. But the truth is more complicated than that. Some people believe that the elder Dr. Nix actually died years earlier (in a suicide attempt, following a disgraceful attempted baby kidnapping).
Carter hides another secret too: he suffers from multiple-personality disorder, or what today is termed a "disassociative identity disorder." Carter is the "original" personality, and his "twin" Cain (also Lithgow) is the bad-acting, disreputable personality, one "raised" by Carter during times of crisis to take care of him. Or to do Carter's dirty work.
Carter's dirty work, it turns out, involves the neighborhood children. Carter has been abducting them from a local playground and delivering them to his white-haired father, who is conducting a new round of experiments at an out-of-the-way, seedy motel.
Carter is imprisoned for kidnapping Amy, and an old colleague of Dr. Nix's, the frail Dr. Lyn Waldheim (Frances Sternhagen) arrives to shed some light on the Nix family history. She believes that Carter's father experimented on him as a youth and actually splintered Carter's psyche intentionally, in an attempt to create multiple personalities for his popular research...which resulted in a best-selling book and a TV-movie.
Before long, Jenny, Margo and Jack separately arrive at the out-of-the-way motel where the elder Dr. Nix holds the abducted children. But is Dr. Nix just another one of Carter's innumerable multiples, or is the old man still alive, and still conducting his nefarious experiments on the children? Jenny will soon learn the truth with her own eyes.
"You Are Married to the Perfect Man:" American Masculinity in Crisis
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the fantasy of the American man being a "hero" or "conqueror" -- or even the sole bread winner in a traditional nuclear family -- was being torn apart at the seams.
Terms like "Mr. Mom" entered the pop culture lexicon in the mid-eighties after a 1983 comedy starring Michael Keaton unexpectedly became a hit. The nickname was utilized, often derisively, to describe a man who stayed home to raise children while his wife went to work outside the home and functioned as "the hunter-gatherer."
And indeed, this social concern plays out explicitly in the film. The kindly Carter is a touchy-feely milquetoast who lives in thrall to the real alpha male in his life: his father (a robust, arrogant man of the post-war generation). His dad is a world-renowned achiever; Carter just a "regular" psychologist. Carter is indeed a loving father, one who spends more than mere "quality time" with his daughter, Amy. And yet his wife, Jenny is not at all happy with him about his sensitivity and caring. One small, outward sign of this festering problem: Jenny doesn't even take Carter's family name...calling herself Jenny O'Keefe instead of Jenny Nix (forecasting, perhaps, the whole Hilary Rodham kerfuffle...)
Early in Raising Cain, Carter attempts to make love to Jenny, but stops suddenly when he hears Amy crying in her nearby bedroom. Jenny is angry with Carter over this act of coitus interruptus, and soon has an adulterous affair with Jack...a man who clearly has his "sexual" priorities straight. Despite the fact that Jenny is married (and the mother of a small child), Jack brazenly makes love to her in a park. In fact, Jack and Jenny first shared a kiss at the exact moment that Jack's sick wife passed away in a hospital room...just feet away from them (and within the dying woman's line of sight!) So Jack is a throwback, the kind of man who society tells us is not supposed to be cherished anymore...but clearly is cherished...by some women. In fact, Jack is seen as sexually powerful, whereas Carter is a wimpy cuckold.
Carter's many alternate personalities also expose further the crisis in masculinity. Cain is seen as inherently disreputable. He's a smoker for one thing (another big no-no in the Age of Political Correctness), and he's also, well, psychotic. Yet, Cain is the "man of action." Carter outsources his dirty work to Cain, because as a "sensitive" modern male he is deemed incapable of protecting himself or his family. When Carter gets into trouble attempting to subdue Karen, a local mother, Cain suggests that Carter kiss her to allay the suspicions of passers-by. This is something that would never occur to the diffident Carter on his own; but a solution which jumps out immediately to Cain. Cain is Id, through and through. The voice we all hear, but rarely act upon.
Yet another of Carter's personalities, Josh, has regressed to boyhood. He's a terrified child, one constantly fearing the wrath of his father. Again -- not entirely unlike Carter -- Josh is an image of masculinity reverted to a "harmless" or impotent stage, pre-adolescent, and therefore pre-sexual.
Finally, the guardian of the children is the personality named Margo. Importantly, Margo is female. Margo rescues Amy, destroys the Elder Dr. Nix, and restores order. It is a woman, therefore, who finally usurps the role of "hero"/"conqueror" in modern America. Carter can only become a hero when he is...female. The film's valedictory shot is of a looming, powerful Margo, standing heroically behind his family (Jenny and Amy). Carter could only be himself (a caring individual and care-giver) when in the personality and guise of a woman...and the last shot explains this visually. Margo is not menacing; not evil. She is triumphant.
Yep, that's a crisis in masculinity, all right.
Raising Cain is thus a satire, exposing the schizophrenic, contradictory messages sometimes sent by our culture to men of the day. They were expected to "cowboy up" and "be a man"...except when they were supposed to be "sensitive" and "express" their feelings. They were to support the family financially; except in those cases that a woman wanted to do so herself. They were supposed to be committed fathers; but never usurp the sacred role of the primary parent: the mother. In Raising Cain, Carter is crazy, splintered into a million pieces over the competing pressures conspiring against him. Ultimately, the only way he can self-actualize is by becoming, literally, a woman.
Throughout the film, Carter is almost constantly besieged by images of perfect women. After kidnapping a little boy, he drives to his idyllic, fairy tale house, and a gorgeous woman pushing an ivory white baby carriage is seen walking across the sidewalk. She is society's image of a perfect parent...something Carter can never be; at least not until he becomes Margo.
"I Am What You Made Me, Dad:" De Palma's Multiple Fathers
In some very important sense, Brian De Palma suffers the same existential crisis as Carter Nix in Raising Cain.
Both men toil under the expansive shadows of their famous "fathers," either biological or spiritual. De Palma is always being called "The New Hitchcock" or "The American Godard," but these labels always contextualize him in terms of other filmmakers; of spiritual cinematic patriarchs. Rarely is he seen as the pioneer, the trail-blazer. Only the second-comer.
In Raising Cain, De Palma once more acknowledges his debts to such cinematic "fathers" with several deliberate homages. Think of this, essentially, as Carter going to work in the same profession as his dad.
Foremost among these homages, De Palma pays tribute to director Michael Powell and his film, Peeping Tom (1960). That movie involved an adult man, Mark Lewis (Carl Boehm) who was actually a murderer. His violence stemmed from the fact that Mark's father experimented on him as a boy, testing his responses to fear, horror, and death. His Dad then recorded those responses on camera, fostering a strange pathology in Mark, one involving cameras. Importantly, Mark's father was also a psychologist, very much like Dr. Nix.
Almost universally, De Palma develops his homages a step beyond the source material rather than merely imitating them, and that is also true in Raising Cain. Mark ultimately kills himself in Peeping Tom, but Carter -- in Raising Cain's final moments -- doesn't die. His blood is never spilled to satisfy society. Instead, Carter is (willfully) sublimated inside the matriarchal protector, Margo. It's a place where he can finally feel safe; behind the protector and "Big Sister." Carter may no longer be the primary personality, but he is not wiped out either. Instead, his journey may even be one of self-actualization. In Margo's body, he can be the loving, protecting mother that we must presume that Carter never had.
Another spiritual father to De Palma is, of course, Alfred Hitchcock; and again we see him paying homage here. Once more, Psycho appears to be the well-spring for De Palma's creativity since we get a variation on Norman's disposal of bodies (in a swamp), and also the re-appearance of a man dressed as a woman (also deployed in De Palma's Dressed to Kill). Again, it's important to stress that this is not just mindless or rote repetition of familiar Psycho sequences. Instead, De Palma takes the material and twists and turns it to new purpose. For instance, after apparently dying in the Half Moon Swamp, Jenny surprisingly re-emerges to challenge Cain...something which never occurred to Marion. And far from being a villain (like Mother Bates), Margo -- the man as woman -- is Raising Cain's undeniable hero. She single-handedly rescues the children from the evil Dr. Nix.
What's more interesting, perhaps, than the homages to the "fathers" (Hitchcock, Powell, perhaps even Bunuel...), is the clear self-reflexive aspect of Raising Cain. Here -- after a dramatic career failure, -- De Palma is seen as taking up his life's work, which -- not coincidentally - was the life work of Hitchcock: the formalist cinematic thriller. Just as Carter takes up Nix's work; De Palma resumes his Hitchcockian phase. But, just as Carter transforms, De Palma transforms too. He takes this Hitchcockian thriller to an apex never before imagined, and he does so by giving the film not just one perspective, but many.
Chaotic Terrain: Subjective Reality and Narrative Möbius strip
What ultimately makes Raising Cain something more than a clever pastiche of Peeping Tom or Psycho is De Palma's purposeful splintering of the narrative in terms of our identification point.
In Psycho, Alfred Hitchcock moved our central identification from Marion to Norman (in time for a surprise, climactic reveal). Raising Cain multiplies this feat by transferring our fulcrum of identification from Carter to Jenny to Jack, to Waldheim, and on and on, ad infinitum. We therefore get dreams within dreams; delusions and hallucinations (featuring the invisible Cain) and even transferences of identities (from Carter to Josh to Margo).
When all this back-and-forth must at last be explained to the just-barely-keeping up audience, De Palma proceeds in snake-like, coiled fashion. He brilliantly stages an elaborate, lengthy tracking shot (approximately five minutes in duration) that follows two police detectives and Dr. Waldheim from the top floor of a police station down two stair-cases, through an elevator, down into the morgue,...where the shot ends on a close-up of a corpse's horrified expression of horror.
All throughout this masterful, unbroken shot, Waldheim explains the history of the Nix family and the theories underlying multiple personality disorders. She basically describes the events of the movie (Cain vs. Carter) in a fashion that makes sense out of perspective we've witnessed thus far. It's a journey from the top of Carter's mind, literally, to the bottom...to Cain's mind, where we spy his murderous handiwork (the corpse).
Brian De Palma's Raising Cain is an intricate puzzle, a heady brew of multiple personalities and multiple perspectives vetting a story of American masculinity in crisis; of a director's film career in crisis, even. Fortunately, De Palma provides viewers all the clues necessary to pick the film's lock. The keys to the mystery involve cinematic antecedents from Powell and Hitchcock, the language of film grammar and even the specifics of the director's own canon. And that's why Raising Cain is no mere retread, but De Palma's valedictory psychological thriller. It's his zenith in this genre form. Or as Janet Maslin wrote in The New York Times: "In his early days, Mr. De Palma sometimes labored to make his neo-Hitchcockian thrillers appear reasonable. This time that kind of strain is gone."
Indeed, in Raising Cain, the son's audacity outstrips the father's. Like Margo rising triumphantly above Jenny, De Palma rises above his inspirations and homages and attains his zenith here. Sometimes failure frees the soul to take chances without the burden of expectations. And that's what happens here. Raising Cain is no simple De Palma house of mirrors, but a go-for-broke thriller that challenges you to determine what is real, what is imagined, and who -- in fact -- is doing the imagining.