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Other segments from the episode on August 16, 2012
August 16, 2012
Guest: Frank Langella
DAVE DAVIES, HOST: This is FRESH AIR. I'm Dave Davies, in for Terry Gross, who's off this week. Our guest today, Frank Langella, has been acting for a half a century. He's had memorable roles and times when he couldn't find work or even an agent. But at 74, he's as busy as ever.
Langella got attention in the '70s with his performances in "Diary of a Mad Housewife" and "Dracula." In 1993, he was an imposing White House chief of staff in the comedy "Dave." And more recently, he earned an Oscar nomination for his portrayal of Richard Nixon in "Frost-Nixon," a role he also performed on stage. He received his third Tony Award for that performance.
Langella is now starring in the new film "Robot & Frank." It's from first-time director Jake Schreier, that also stars Peter Sarsgaard and Susan Sarandon. The film is set in the near future, and Langella plays a retired cat burglar living alone in rural New York. He's beginning to experience some dementia, and his family's getting concerned.
In this scene, his son, played by James Marsdon, has arrived at his home to introduce him to a new home health care aid, who happens to be a robot.
FRANK LANGELLA: (As Frank) You have got to be kidding me. I'm not this pathetic. I don't need to be spoon-fed by some goddamn robot.
JAMES MARSDON: (As Hunter) Dad, this - it's not like that. It's new. It's more like a butler.
LANGELLA: (As Frank) You're going to leave me with this death machine?
MARSDON: (As Hunter) What's the problem? It's a robot.
PETER SARSGAARD: (As Robot) Hi Frank, it's a pleasure to meet you.
LANGELLA: (As Frank) How do you know?
Thank you.
LANGELLA: Much later, actually several months, maybe six months after we finished the film.
DAVIES: Yeah, so how did you interact with the robot that's such an important part of the film?
LANGELLA: Well, the robot was a universal sound to me in my head, my imagination of what a robot would sound like and how the robot's rather disassociated voice would sound. So I always played to that, no matter who was reading the lines off-camera. So I never had any - people kept saying to me don't you wish now that you'd had Peter's voice, which he does beautifully, but it really would not have mattered because the robot was somebody I made up in my head.
LANGELLA: Yes, the robot that you see in the film was there all the time, sometimes occupied by a human being, sometimes sitting on an apple box, sometimes not there, if we were shooting on me and not the robot. And his voice was - the voice was several different people at different times.
LANGELLA: Well, I've acted opposite human robots on occasion. So it wasn't disconcerting at all. As a matter of fact, it was rather freeing in certain ways, because Frank the character feels very strongly about this robot, negative and then somewhat positive, although never sentimentally in love, which I thought would have been a cliché to do.
That robot becomes very useful to him. It enables him to sort of get back some of his vigor and youth and do the thing he loves most, which is to steal from the rich. But I didn't find it disconcerting; I found it rather exciting, in a way, in a strange way, to try to be as honest as I could opposite a machine and opposite something that wasn't ever going to change no matter what I did, it was only going to feed me back the information it had been fed.
LANGELLA: And he gives me enemas, and that'll always bring back your mental acuity.
LANGELLA: No, it was not, mercifully.
DAVIES: And of course, your character, you're the Frank in the film, teaches him how to pick locks, and he's a robot, and he's good and learns to do it. And they have - in the scene we're going to hear, they've already done one job, they broke into the local library and stole a rare book so that your character, Frank, could give to a librarian he's sweet on, played by Susan Sarandon.
And now here he is in the room speaking with the robot and considering another heist. Let's listen.
SARSGAARD: (As Robot) I'm sorry, Frank, but I can't agree to let you risk another burglary. Let's focus on the garden instead.
LANGELLA: (As Frank) Look, the library was strictly a smash-and-grab job.
SARSGAARD: (As Robot) Smash and grab? You didn't even give Jennifer the book.
LANGELLA: (As Frank) I'll give it to her some other time. Maybe I'll invite her over for dinner or something. Meanwhile, going after one of these rich yuppies, it's a whole different story.
SARSGAARD: (As Robot) You can't predict that, Frank.
LANGELLA: (As Frank) Isn't this something you're supposed to encourage? Look, without the library job, I'd just be down in the dumps watching you dig up my lawn. Instead, I'm at a party with a beautiful woman. You know, I don't want to lose that again.
SARSGAARD: (As Robot) Maybe we can just do the casing portion as a research project.
LANGELLA: (As Frank) And if I've covered everything so that it's basically zero risk?
SARSGAARD: (As Robot) You would have to be very thorough, Frank. I'm a strict judge.
LANGELLA: (As Frank) OK, OK.
DAVIES: And that's our guest Frank Langella with the robot played by Peter Sarsgaard in the new film "Robot & Frank." Is it fun to hear the finished product with Peter Sarsgaard's voice?
LANGELLA: No, it's absolutely the opposite; it's agony. I'm sitting here in agony because so much of what you do in a film is visual, and not to see the face, not to see the pauses for the emotional life is agony when you're an actor listening to it. I don't think Peter would mind because he's absolutely wonderful, and it's that marvelous sound he makes, but I didn't like the sound of me at all.
DAVIES: Really? Huh.
LANGELLA: No, but then I'm very critical even when I watch a film. But, you know, something that's done for the radio or done for recording is one thing, but when you're doing something in front of a camera, there are all sorts of beats and rhythms in it that you can't possibly get when you listen to it.
DAVIES: Right, so anything we play is just not going to measure up to what it should be.
LANGELLA: Not for me, no.
DAVIES: Yet there's - this is a first-time direction, right? Jake Schreier, and the writer is Chris Ford, young guys writing about an older man. Did - what appealed to you about the project?
LANGELLA: Well first of all the story. I couldn't resist the story. I loved it, and I thought it was intelligently written. But I thought it was missing the heartbeat of what it's like to be in your 70s, which is where I am. So we all had a very, very, very long luncheon. I said immediately I'd like to do this, but may I tell you what it's like to be 70.
And these two guys sat and listened for a long time and asked a lot of really smart questions, and I said if you would be willing to incorporate some of the inner life of a 70-year-old man into this, so the audience of in what way and how he neglected his family and his kids, what he's feeling, just about being in his 70s, with or without this illness, which he totally denies - I'd like to do it when I see it.
And they sent me back a script that was very sensitive to the things we'd talked about. So I said yes immediately.
DAVIES: Did it make you think about what's ahead, you know, in your own health? I mean you have grown kids who probably, you know, worry about their dad at times.
LANGELLA: No more than I did earlier. The only thing that's different now is I know I'm closer to the end than the beginning, so I'm trying to be far more conscious of any time wasted, which I still waste, as everybody does. But I - because it's inevitable, and because there's nothing I can do about it, and I was taught at a fairly young age - not young enough, I wish I'd learned it earlier - that to waste any time on the inevitable or the thing you cannot control or fix is absolute nonsense, and I can't control the clock ticking.
What the film has done for me, and what I hope it will do for people who watch it, is made me much more keenly aware, even though it's a cliché these days, that machines are taking over our lives, it made me much more keenly aware of how often I miss, or we all miss, contact with other and how easy it is to rely on these things to get a point across: I'll just send an email quickly; I won't answer the phone; I'll do that in writing; or I'll sit and listen to a message being read to me live while I'm sitting there rather than deal with whatever the thing is.
Machinery is going to make us, I think, less sensitive to each other, less empathetic to each other because we can turn to the machine to take care of something that's, you know, not particularly pleasant, and I think that's a big danger and a worry.
DAVIES: Frank Langella stars in the new film "Robot & Frank." We'll talk more after a short break. This is FRESH AIR.
DAVIES: If you're just joining us, we're speaking with actor Frank Langella. He stars in the new film "Robot & Frank." You grew up in Bayonne, New Jersey. What kind of neighborhood was it? What kind of kid were you?
LANGELLA: Middle-class, extraordinarily shy, awkward kid; very skinny; very short, cropped hair; big, horn-rimmed eyeglasses; middle kid; not able, much, to express himself. Consequently, I became an actor...
LANGELLA: You know, it's an old story.
DAVIES: I cannot imagine you as shy and awkward. When did you get the acting bug?
LANGELLA: At about seven, maybe earlier than that, but I started - I got on a stage when I was about six or seven, in a school pageant called "Lazy Town." I wrote about it in my book. I wrote that I didn't know what a stage was the first time I walked onto it, and I didn't know what the wings were the first time I stood in them, but I did know I was home.
That is a blessing about as great as you could give a young kid, which is to have a calling, something that you think you're right for and want to do. When I graduated college, I'll never forget my graduation night sitting amongst all my buddies, fraternity brothers and guys in my classes and things, some of them in agony because they had no idea what they were going to do.
And I already had a job in a little theater in Boston, and I had my car all packed up, and I drove away the next day and was in rehearsal that afternoon. And that was one of the things I was spared growing up, you know, all the agonies of being a kid, all the - you know, it's going to - how can I ask a girl on a date, I don't want to enter that room, I'm not as good a ballplayer as the other guy, what - all the things that all of us go through. One of them was spared me, which was what am I going to do with myself. I knew, and boy was that a - that was a blessing.
DAVIES: Did you have a Jersey accent? I read that you...
LANGELLA: Yes, I did. I had a very strong New Jersey accent, and I got rid of it by listening to John Gielgud albums, a record - actually one particular, "Richard III," that Sir Lawrence Olivier did, '54, '55, I think, and I was taken with Gielgud's voice. And so I imitated it in my attic in New Jersey over and over and over again, and pretty soon I sounded like, you know, in the middle of Bayonne, New Jersey, in South Orange, here comes this little British lord.
DAVIES: Yeah, what did your friends think of your John Geilgud thing?
LANGELLA: Well, they were not particularly interested in it, really. They didn't pay much attention. You know, the kid who wants to be an actor is not the kid a lot of people want to be around, especially - particularly girls. They want to be around the captain of the basketball team. And the friends you tend to make when you want to be an actor at that age are all the other misfits in the class, you know, all the strange kids, the ones who wanted to be in the theater and things like that.
And it was an odd bunch but not many of them in Bayonne. It was only when I got to college that I began to find more like-minded people.
DAVIES: Right, you went to Syracuse and studied acting, right?
LANGELLA: Yes, I did.
DAVIES: Early in your career, you were in "Diary of a Mad Housewife," and then the Mel Brooks film "The Twelve Chairs," which is one of my all-time favorite movies. And I don't know if people know about it. How did you get that role?
LANGELLA: I got it because Ann Bancroft and I had done a play together called "A Cry of Players," it's about young Will Shakespeare. And she and Mel were just married, and I was just married, and the four of us, my former wife, deceased wife, and Mel and Ann, became very closer.
And Mel was putting together "The Twelve Chairs" while he was putting "The Producers" in place, editing it and opening it. So I was at all the screenings. I was at the very first screening of "The Producers," and the degree of laughter was beyond anything I'd ever heard before or anybody had.
And while he was thinking about doing his new movie, called "The Twelve Chairs," he had hired Alastair Sim, who was a great English character actor, Albert Finney to play the young male lead and Peter Sellers to play the priest. And one by one all three of those actors fell out, for different reasons, and Mel got more and more angry and more and more upset.
And I said I'd just seen "Oliver!" with an actor named - oh God he's got...
DAVIES: Ron Moody.
LANGELLA: Ron Moody, and I took Mel to an afternoon screening of it, and he said there's my Vorobyaninov. And Annie said: I saw a really funny roly-poly little fat guy on television called Dom DeLuise, and I think he'd be great as the priest, and then that was Dom's part. And one afternoon, he was going through all the different - he'd just worked with Gene Wilder, and they were talking about maybe Gene playing the young male lead and a whole bunch of names.
And I don't know if I can say this on NPR, but I'll say it, and you'll cut it: Mel suddenly turned to Annie and said oh (beep), let Frankie do it.
LANGELLA: And that's how I got my first movie. I just got it in that sort of offhanded way. And I looked at him, and I said: Are you serious? I've never made a movie before. He said yeah. And that's how I got the job. And he paid me next to nothing, but I had 10 of the greatest months of my young life, all over Yugoslavia, just - we became such a great, tight group of crazies.
DAVIES: Well, I have to play a scene early on. I mean, the movie is set in the Soviet Union in the late 1920s, and this - what we hear is there's a member of the - a former member of the Russian aristocracy, played by Ron Moody, who has come into this town because he's learned that he may be able to figure out what happened to his family's jewels, which would be worth a fortune.
And then he crosses paths with you, you're this sort of adventuresome kind of scam artist working his way through the Soviet Union, smart guy, and you don't know this aristocrat, but you sense that there's something here that might be lucrative. And in the scene we're going to hear, you're in a room together. You've just grabbed a piece of paper of his, which is the list of jewels that he's looking for.
And he's trying to get it back from you and keep him out of his plans. Let's listen.
LANGELLA: (As Ostap Bender) Oh, how very impressive. This ought to fetch quite a lot.
RON MOODY: (As Ippolit Vorobyaninov) Please give me that paper. It's personal property.
LANGELLA: (As Bender) Oh, haven't you heard? There is no personal property in the Soviet Union. Everything belongs to the people.
MOODY: (As Vorobyaninov ) Will you please give me that paper? It's a private matter, and I am not at liberty to discuss it.
LANGELLA: (As Bender) Yes, of course, of course. One shouldn't interfere in private matters. It's considered gauche. There you are. Now, I must be off.
MOODY: (As Vorobyaninov ) Where are you going?
LANGELLA: (As Bender) Ah, the eternal question, (unintelligible). Well, if you must know, I am (unintelligible) off to gossip with the secret police.
MOODY: (As Vorobyaninov ) Secret police?
LANGELLA: (As Bender) Well, what can I do, old cock? After all, I am a patriotic citizen of the Soviet Union. It is my sacred duty to turn you in. Now maybe if you weren't such a selfish pig we could do business.
MOODY: (As Vorobyaninov ) I can't.
LANGELLA: (As Bender) I'm going.
MOODY: (As Vorobyaninov ) Wait.
LANGELLA: (As Bender) Why?
MOODY: (As Vorobyaninov ) Let's talk.
LANGELLA: (As Bender) About what?
MOODY: (As Vorobyaninov ) Things.
LANGELLA: (As Bender) What things?
MOODY: (As Vorobyaninov ) I don't know. The situation.
LANGELLA: (As Bender) I am going.
MOODY: (As Vorobyaninov ) Wait.
LANGELLA: (As Bender) Why?
MOODY: (As Vorobyaninov ) Let's talk.
LANGELLA: (As Bender) About what?
MOODY: (As Vorobyaninov ) It.
LANGELLA: (As Bender) What's it?
MOODY: (As Vorobyaninov ) You know.
LANGELLA: (As Bender) I know what?
MOODY: (As Vorobyaninov ) What we're talking about.
LANGELLA: (As Bender) We're talking about nothing. I'm going.
MOODY: (As Vorobyaninov ) You mustn't.
LANGELLA: (As Bender) I must.
MOODY: (As Vorobyaninov ) Why?
LANGELLA: (As Bender) A reward.
MOODY: (As Vorobyaninov ) What reward?
LANGELLA: (As Bender) For turning you in.
MOODY: (As Vorobyaninov ) Wait.
LANGELLA: (As Bender) Why?
MOODY: (As Vorobyaninov ) We'll talk.
LANGELLA: (As Bender) About what?
MOODY: (As Vorobyaninov ) About the diamonds, the diamonds, the diamonds.
DAVIES: It still makes me laugh. That's from "The Twelve Chairs," that's Ron Moody and our guest Frank Langella. Well, it was, I just think, a wonderful film.
LANGELLA: I do, too. I'm very happy for it to have been my debut film.
DAVIES: What was it like working with Brooks on it - and Dom DeLuise?
LANGELLA: Oh, staggering, really, really funny because I was such a novice, and I didn't know. The first day I was called on the sense, I didn't work for four or five hours, and like a total naïve ass, I said: I don't understand, I got here four hours ago. Why am I still waiting? And the whole crew looked at me like I was nuts. And it took me not very long to figure out that that's what movies are about.
But Mel had a relentless, relentless anger about working there because he couldn't get any laughs out of the crowd of people and out of the crew. Most of them didn't speak English.
DAVIES: This was in Yugoslavia, right, yeah.
LANGELLA: Yeah, we were in Yugoslavia, and he was used to getting big laughs and making jokes, and these people just stared at him as if he were a stone statue. And he wanted what he wanted, and he wanted it in the way he wanted it. So after a while, watching him, frustratingly, trying to get what he needed from a group of Yugoslavians who didn't find him, in any way amusing, was really great to watch.
And he was wonderful to me, and Annie, his wife, was on the set with us all the time, and Mel's - Dom DeLuise's wife and mine. People came - no, mine wasn't there. Kate came and went all the time. It was just a wonderful time to be making a movie in a foreign country, to be 28, 29, whatever I was at the time. It was exciting.
DAVIES: Frank Langella stars in the new film "Robot & Frank." He'll be back in the second half of the show. I'm Dave Davies, and this is FRESH AIR.
DAVIES: This is FRESH AIR. I'm Dave Davies in for Terry Gross who is off this week. We're speaking with actor Frank Langella, whose career on stage and screen goes back five decades. He's starring in a new film called "Robot & Frank," which also features Susan Sarandon and the voice of Peter Sarsgaard as the robot. Langella's other films include "Diary of a Mad Housewife," "Dracula," "Dave" and "Frost/Nixon," which earned him a Oscar nomination for Best Actor. He also played Nixon on stage, winning his third Tony Award.
I read at once in an interview, and you said that in your early years as an actor, you described yourself as obstreperous, arrogant and stubborn. Does that get it? I mean were you a hard guy to work with?
LANGELLA: Yes, I was. I made the mistake of believing - as so many young actors do, and many young men do, and women too, I suppose - that because you feel you're right about something it gives you the right to behave badly, or stubbornly or arrogantly to make your point. I think it's a function of youth and I give a wide berth to young actors who are like that these days. The notion that what you feel is the right way to do something or how to do it is the correct way, can make you walk around with blinders on and give you very little understanding into the feelings of the person opposite you, who has their own point of view and their own way of expressing themselves. And so I was, I was a very forceful young man, very strong minded and very strong-willed, and I've moderated that over the years a great deal. I'm not entirely free of it, but I'm still strong minded, but I think I'm a lot more tactful about it now than I used to be.
DAVIES: In the '80s you did a lot of theater. Was that by choice or was it because movie roles weren't coming?
LANGELLA: My career has been really very much like a Chekhov play, which is, it just ebbs and flows and, you know, it's not like exposition, and then the plot turns, and then there's a great big climax and then a denouement. It's been wildly up and down. And I've liked it that way - great, great periods of enormous success, and then even sometimes greater periods where I couldn't get a job, at one point I couldn't get an agent even, where you just feel like you're somehow you're not going to ever pull out of whatever the slump is that you're in.
The thing I think I had in my back pocket that a lot of actors don't have is that I was - I trained myself for the stage. So there was never a period in my life when I couldn't do that. So I did. I didn't run to bad television or do commercials or things like that, I went on the stage and I played great roles. And the movies would be dead to me for three, four, five years - nobody wanted me - and then suddenly, something would come along and start a whole new period.
And as I left my juvenile period and then went into my leading man years, and then when my leading man years were fading along with my hair and waistline, suddenly I began to get offered very interesting character roles, which kind of started with "Dave," the Ivan Reitman film I did, about the president. And that began what was what I think I am in now is my character years.
DAVIES: Well, I do want to talk about "Frost/Nixon." There's a moment that I think we're going to let our audience listen to. And this is, you're playing Nixon. This is, of course, after his resignation. He's unhappy living in the West Coast and trying to figure out what he'll do and how he'll restore his reputation. And this English talk show guy David Frost has proposed to pay him a bunch of money for a series of interviews. Not so clear that he can raise the money and pull it off, but Nixon is interested. And in the scene we are about to hear, you, as Nixon, has just given a boring speech at a convention, I guess, to put some money on the table. You tell some stories that are not particularly interesting and you're speaking afterward with your aide Jack Brennan, who is played here by Kevin Bacon.
LANGELLA: (as Nixon) I can't stand it, Jack. Reducing the presidency to a series of banal anecdotes. I feel like a circus animal doing tricks. And I thought Imade it clear, I didn't want to take any questions on Watergate. Get it? Soon as it came to question time, all those sons of bitches ever wantto hear about is Watergate. It's as if all my other achievements haveceased to exist.
KEVIN BACON: (Jack Brennan) Well, sir, you're going to get a chance to talk about them sooner than you think.
LANGELLA: Yeah? How?
BACON: Frost got there. He got the money.
LANGELLA: What?
BACON: I understand most of it's borrowed - that his friends have bailed him out. But the point is, we start taping at the end of March.
LANGELLA: Really? Now that's terrific. How much time is devoted to Watergate?
BACON: Twenty-five percent. Just one of four 90-minute shows.
LANGELLA: What are the other three divided into?
BACON: Domestic affairs, foreign policy and Nixon the man.
LANGELLA: Nixon the Man? As opposed to what? Nixon the horse?
BACON: Well, I imagine it's some kind of biographical piece.
LANGELLA: I can see it now. The father that neglected me, the brothers that died. Spare me. Still, now, the fact it's come together, now, that's a good thing, no?
BACON: Mr. President, it's fantastic. Frost is just not in your intellectual class, sir. You're going to be able to dictate terms, rebuild your reputation. If this went well, if enough people saw it, revised their opinion, you could move back East way, way earlier than we expected.
LANGELLA: You think?
BACON: I'm certain.
LANGELLA: It would be so good to go back to where the action is. You know, the hunger in my belly is still there, Jack. I guess it all boils down to Watergate, huh?
DAVIES: And that's our guest Frank Langella with Kevin Bacon in "Frost/Nixon." You played this role, of course, on the stage, as well as in the film. I read you were a little reluctant to take it on initially. Is that right?
LANGELLA: Yes, I've said a number of times that I didn't think - I didn't think Richard Nixon's particular way of being was in my bag of tricks. I just didn't think I was going to be able to find quite the soul of this guy. And it was enough reason for me then to decide to do it, which was well, so if I fall on my ass, I fall on my ass.
And it was a very painful three or four weeks. Really, I was like, I sounded like Mr. Magoo for a certain period of time, then I sounded a little bit like Jimmy Stewart and I, you know, I kept - and it's not new information but it was when I sat and watched Nixon in slow motion that I began to get into his soul and into his heart, and then what I sounded like didn't matter to me. Then a noise began to come out of me that was as a result of what was in my imagination, going on inside him.
DAVIES: How do you explain that, that the slow-motion Nixon kind of unlocked it for you?
LANGELLA: Well, I was at the Museum of Radio and Television. I asked the lady there if she'd be good enough to give me some tapes on him. And she said how many do you want? I've got thousands and thousands. And she brought in a big wagon and I got a sandwich and an iced tea, and sat and plugged in the Watergate shows and watch him. And then I got up to go to the bathroom and I pressed the button and when I came back I pressed slow motion as a, in an accident, really. All the wonderful accidents that happen to you as an actor, and that was one of the great ones for me. And I watched his eyes and the way his mouth moved and his hand gestures in slow motion. And suddenly I began to see what he was hiding. I began to notice the ticks much more vividly than I had normally, because we had all seen so much of him that you grew used to it. But when you watch him in slow - when you watch anything in slow motion you're going to see something a little waiver in the eyes, a little strange smile, whatever. And that's when his heart, when the soul of the man, as I perceived him, began to take shape for me and then I began to think well, maybe, maybe I can find a way to do him.
DAVIES: Did you talk to a lot of people who knew him? Did you read a lot of stuff?
LANGELLA: Yes, I did. I actually - the first calls I made were all to journalists. I took Barbara Walters to lunch. I took Mike Wallace to lunch. I spoke to Henry Kissinger about him, at length. And Henry said to me, you know, I'll never see the movie and he didn't see it for two years or so. And then one night at dinner he said to me, I finally saw it. And he was very, very fond of Richard Nixon. And everyone I met who had been around him - I actually talked to the Clintons about him too - everyone who had been around him said very much the same thing, that this was a man about as profoundly uncomfortable in his skin as anyone they'd ever met, usually with a little prepared text of what he was going to say. And when he'd finished asking the first question and the second and the third, would turn to the daughter and ask a question to her and then to him, then he was gone. He just wasn't there anymore and didn't want to be there anymore. Everyone said the same thing. His discomfort in himself was staggering. And that's...
DAVIES: Is it different doing him on stage than in film?
LANGELLA: Oh yes, immensely. The first day we shot this film, I played the first scene, which was ultimately cut, which was Nixon's resignation. I think I did three or four takes and I thought well, I'm ratcheting it down to camera, I'm not doing a stage performance. And Ronnie - Ron Howard - came up to me and said, you know, you played all three of those scenes at exactly three minutes and 20 seconds and I've got lots of film and lots of time. Go your own way. Don't, you know, stare at the other person five minutes longer, five seconds longer. You don't have to be so loyal to your, the rhythms of your stage performance. And it was probably the single greatest note he gave me. He freed me to play it for the camera without any worries about am I, you know, am I getting myself there on time so the next scene can start. And that's - it's one of the rules, of course, of movies, is you don't have to do what you do on the stage.
DAVIES: Franklin Langella stars in the new film "Robot & Frank." We'll be back after a short break.
This is FRESH AIR.
DAVIES: If you're just joining us, we're speaking with actor Franklin Langella. He's starring with Susan Sarandon and Peter Sarsgaard in the new film "Robot & Frank."
You don't like hearing audio clips of your movies. Do you like watching your movies?
LANGELLA: No I don't. I try not to. First of all, it's - just imagine going up to your attic and pulling out all those black-and-white photographs of yourself at six and then 12 and then 14, then 30, then 50, then 60, now 70. It's no fun to watch yourself getting older. And also you're always disappointed - at least I am because the process of it is more exciting, really than the result. The result is never ever as good or even as powerful as it is when you're doing it. And the process of doing it is many ways much more exciting than the result of it.
DAVIES: And when you're doing theater, you get that process night after night, you don't have to look at it.
LANGELLA: Right. You don't and also you get the full story in one night. You know, you go from beginning, middle to end. It's not been chopped up pieces.
DAVIES: As an actor, right? You wrote a book last year, "Dropped Names." Kind of not the standard memoir. It's a set of vignettes of your encounters with famous people. Kind of curious, why you chose to write that book. I mean there are a lot of interesting stories here.
LANGELLA: I wrote it because when I was trying to write my biography at a younger age, not that much younger, but I got bored with... I was in this play, I didn't win this award, I didn't get this part. This was what was going on. But when a fascinating person - and I've been really lucky, I started in 1960 in the theater - when a really interesting person crossed my path, I couldn't stop writing about them. So, a year or two ago, when Jill Clayburgh died and my traveling companion was a young woman who had never heard of her, I was very taken aback by that. And I said let me tell you about her, and I wrote a piece about her. And then I thought, you know, I in this 50 years I've been doing this, there's so many extraordinary people in the 20th century I was lucky enough to meet - not just actors but, you know, royalty and politicians and social people and a whole world of fascinating human beings - and I had impressions of them, all of them. And so I thought I'll write a book about those people and my impressions - only mine, not...
... - I tried to write only what happened between me and that person and give as little of the public stuff as we all know. I thought let's see if I can let you be a fly on the wall, watching my experience with any number of the famous people who were part of the book.
DAVIES: Do you want to share one of your favorite stories with us from the book?
LANGELLA: Yeah. I like very much the story of an actor that nobody remembers anymore called Cameron Mitchell. I made a television film with him and we discovered halfway through the making of the movie that I was wearing a jacket that he had worn when he was a young leading man, so 25 years before, in a major movie. And now he was doing a terrible television show.
And the story is longer than this, but the makeup lady, the costume lady, picked it up off my chair and said, Cameron, look at this. Frank is wearing a jacket with your name sewed into it from a movie of 25 years ago. And Cameron was now an overweight, I'm afraid, heavy drinking, actor who had really rolled, sadly, to the bottom.
And she pushed the jacket onto him and it didn't fit him. It was three sizes too small for him. So he started dancing around kind of like a silly clown and I could see in his face that he was in agony about this, that his youth was gone, his career had fallen apart, and I felt a tremendous wave of compassion for him.
And everybody else thought it was funny. And I just walked up to him and told him I needed the jacket for the next shot and I took it from him and put it on. And when his name came up in the memoriam section at the Academy Awards that year that he died, a number of years later, there was a little spattering of applause.
And somebody else's name came up and they got a bigger hand and somebody got nothing, and even in death there was this rating system to the performer. And what I wrote was that it was a room full of people at the Oscars believing that whatever jacket or dress or gown or tuxedo they were wearing that night was going to fit them forever. And I think that that's the one that resonates with me most because I think it's true of a lot of us.
You know, we kind of believe at the top of our game that it's always going to be like this. And we have to keep reminding ourselves that it isn't, for better or worse. Sometimes it gets much better. Like this is the best time of my life. But I can get terribly sad for people who keep trying to hold onto the thing they were initially loved for. So that - that story means a lot to me.
It's not the most famous person and it's not the ones that everybody else writes about, the prurient ones or the sexual ones or the angry ones, but that's the story I like the most.
DAVIES: Well, Frank Langella, it's been great to have you. Thanks so much for spending some time with us.
LANGELLA: Thank you, Dave. It was a real pleasure. And if you really, really care about me, you'll cut all of those...
LANGELLA: ...all of those, and you'll just stick in some songs from somebody else.
DAVIES: Can't promise it.
LANGELLA: I know. I'm not expecting that you will.
DAVIES: Frank Langella stars in the new film "Robot and Frank." His book is called "Dropped Names."
DAVE DAVIES, HOST: There are lots of stories about the band that got away, the act that never caught the gold ring or lost out on fame for reasons unrelated to their talent or the music on their records. For rock historian Ed Ward, one of those bands has always been Autosalvage, a New York quartet that made one album and vanished.
AUTOSALVAGE: (Singing) Well, I can't see but I think I know for sure whose house this is and the thing that I know is yours. Wearing furs and your jewels and your TV set, you know, I'm going to take what I can get my hands on. If you could find...
ED WARD: A little over 10 years ago, a friend with a small record company in England called me and asked if I wanted to do liner notes for an album he was re-releasing. When he told me it was the Autosalvage album, I flipped. Of course I did.
There was a small problem: I didn't have any idea how to get in touch with any of the band. I'd heard, though, that Rick Turner, one of their guitarists, had made some instruments for the Grateful Dead, and so I contacted an authority on that band, David Gans. Gans is not only a writer, he's also a musician, and he told me he'd been lusting after a Turner guitar for ages. And sure, he had the phone number.
AUTOSALVAGE: (Singing) A hundred days. No, in a hundred days, a hundred years ago. I am too (unintelligible) and I cannot set it down. For the drunkards see that you will only see as close as I could come.
WARD: Turner told me that he'd been part of the Boston/Cambridge folk scene, playing on stages with Tom Rush, Taj Mahal, and Richard and Mimi Farina. He had a friend named Tom Danaher, who'd amassed a bunch of instruments from a music store that had gone out of business, and they played together informally. Ian and Sylvia tapped Turner to play guitar on a tour in 1965, and he made some friends in New York.
Traveling between the two folk meccas, he was walking down Bleecker Street in New York and ran into Danaher, who said he was putting a band together, so Turner, intrigued, moved to New York to be in it. Danaher also recruited Darius LaNoue Davenport, son of a member of the New York Pro Musica, on drums, and Skip Boone, brother of the Lovin' Spoonful's drummer, Steve Boone, on bass.
They began rehearsing in the notorious basement of the Albert Hotel but soon moved to a shared space with the Lovin' Spoonful, who were on tour much of the time. The band got a job opening for the Mothers of Invention at a club called the Balloon Farm, and whatever name they were using, they changed it after Zappa suggested they use the name of the tune they used for a long jam.
AUTOSALVAGE: (singing) La la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la. Inside the auto salvage, on the inside looking in, looking in. On the inside looking deeper. It'll make your hands swing to think of the people that owned them. Like the (unintelligible) what kind of person owned a '53 Nash?
WARD: They were soon offered a deal with RCA Records, home of their friends The Youngbloods, and were booked into Studio B, which Turner had used for some Ian and Sylvia sessions. None of the technical personnel really knew how to deal with a band this loud, and the band was delighted to be in an 8-track studio, one of the world's first. Turner says that the producer, Bob Cullen, just gave them free reign over the recording, and they cut loose.
AUTOSALVAGE: (Singing) You don't have to know at first. All you do is come along. You just have to watch your step. If you want to trust yourself, then trust the one that talks to you. And the highway from here on in is more lifelike than before. Lifelike than before.
WARD: The album came out in March, 1968. Nothing happened. They got a couple of good reviews. Nothing happened. They got a gig opening for Richard Pryor at the Cafe au Go-Go on Bleecker Street. In the year and a half we were together, Turner told me, we probably played only 30 gigs. Unless you were a neo-Chicago blues band or a pop rock band, there wasn't any work. We were just on the wrong coast.
His friend, Jesse Colin Young had urged him to move west, where there were psychedelic ballrooms, underground FM stations, one of which was actually playing their record, and good times to be had, just as Young's band, The Youngbloods, were experiencing. Turner needed no convincing and went on an exploratory visit, but when he got back, the rest of the band wouldn't budge.
AUTOSALVAGE: (Singing) Why don't you see there? Why can't you leave there? Why can't you see them? Why can't you leave them? You would be lost without feeling. Drive to the land of your dreams.
WARD: Turner moved anyway, got a job with Alembic, a company that made electronic stuff and instruments, and eventually opened Turner Guitars. Danaher got a doctorate in psychology. Davenport works in rehab in California. And Boone is a contractor on Long Island. And the album, with my liner notes, is long out of print.
DAVIES: Ed Ward lives in France. And there's this postscript to Ed's story. Since the piece was recorded, the band started talking about getting back together. Now they are committed to reuniting and have applied to perform at the South by Southwest Music Conference in March.
Transcripts are created on a rush deadline, and accuracy and availability may vary. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Please be aware that the authoritative record of Fresh Air interviews and reviews are the audio recordings of each segment.


text: A still camera on a sound trigger captured this intriguing photo of an airborne frog as NASA's LADEE spacecraft lifts off from Pad 0B at Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia. The photo team confirms the frog is real and was captured in a single frame by one of the remote cameras used to photograph the launch. The condition of the frog, however, is uncertain.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Rolling up your sleeves and digging into household chores is much easier when you have the right arsenal of cleaning tools on-hand. If your vacuum is broken and you don't have any disinfecting wipes, you're already off to a bad start.
But there's one effective cleaning solution that you may not be utilizing to its full potential — steam cleaning. Most homeowners know that steam cleaning a carpet can restore the item to its original glory, even with tough stains. But steam cleaners have tons of other applications for windows, bathrooms and kitchens.
Steam cleaners can be used in practically any room to sanitize all kinds of spaces, including hard-to-reach corners and crevices. Check out some areas of your home that could use a good steam cleaning:
* Sinks, tubs, faucets. Steam cleaners have small nozzles and brushes that send a concentrated blast of steam to loosen build-up. It's ideal for faucets, drains, shower doors and tubs.
* Toilets. The whole bathroom can probably benefit from a deep steam-cleaning. Once steam loosens grime around toilet seats, the residue can be easily removed with a cloth.
* Tile floors and grout. Even nice tile can look dingy when grout is stained or starts to mildew. Use a steam cleaner to wash out the trim and grout around ceramic tiles, and then scrub them clean.
* Refrigerators, freezers and microwaves. Sticky spills and splatters of grease can be as tough to clean as soap scum, so use the same tool. Steam cleaners sterilize all surfaces without harsh chemicals, plus they can loosen build-up on shelves and drawers.


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Modular type inference with local assumptions: OutsideIn(X)
This epic 73-page paper (JFP style) brings together our work on type inference for type functions, GADTS, and the like, in a single uniform framework. Version 3 (camera ready copy for JFP) is very substantially revised compared to the May 2010 version.
- OutsideIn(X) - Modular type inference with local assumptions: PDF
- Related papers (constraints)
- Related papers (GADTs)
- Related papers (type families)
Abstract. Advanced type system features, such as GADTs, type classes, and type families have have proven to be invaluable language extensions for ensuring data invariants and program correctness among others. Unfortunately, they pose a tough problem for type inference, because they introduce local type assumptions.
In this article we present a novel constraint-based type inference approach for local type assumptions. Our system, called OutsideIn(X), is parameterised over the particular underlying constraint domain X, in the same way as HM(X). This stratification allows us to use a common metatheory and inference algorithm.
Going beyond the general framework, we also give a particular constraint solver for X = type classes + GADTs + type families, a non-trivial challenge in its own right.
Please help us!. This Wiki page is a discussion page for the paper. If you are kind enough to read this paper, please help us by jotting down any thoughts it triggers off. Things to think about:
- It is a long paper; where did you get lost?
- What is unclear?
- What is omitted that you'd like to see?
- Is there anything we could leave out?
You can identify your entries by preceding them with four tildes. Doing so adds your name, and the date. Thus:
- Simonpj 08:42, 19 April 2007 (UTC) Note from Simon
If you say who you are in this way, we'll be able to acknowledge your help in a revised version of the paper.
Heisenbug 17:42, 8 February 2011 (UTC) Note from Gabor Greif
Just found this paper and had a quick look. You should probably compare your algorithm with Algorithm-P described in Chuan-kai Lin's PhD thesis where he claims to have developed a practical algorithm for GADT type inference. The work presumably obsoletes both references mentioned here to Lin's and Sheard's papers.
Version 1 comments, now dealt with; thank you!
- Simon Meier 15 May 2010:
- Typo on Page 7: "having type Bool" should probably be "having type Int".
- Typo on Page 18: "constraint siplifier"
- Typo on Page 28: "topl-level"
- Typo on Page 31: "But hang on! NoGen means ... in the beginning of Section 4.2 <text-missing-here>"
- Typo on Page 53: Formula below "Simplification rules" is missing a space.
- Typo on Page 59: "makes sens"
Batterseapower 14:24, 14 May 2010 (UTC) You say that local definitions such as "combine" and "swap" could harmlessly be defined at top level. However, there is a cost to doing so in that it pollutes the top-level namespace. Adding a facility for making definitions that are at the top level for the purposes of type checking but not for name resolution would fix this, at the cost of some ugliness.
Rgreayer 16:04, 14 May 2010 (UTC)
- Revisiting Typo on Page 7: "This means that any expression of type F [Bool] can be considered an expression of type F Bool". But would that not mean the axiom is: F [a] ~ F a, rather than: F [a] ~ a?
- Typo, Page 8 (middle): "An similar issue..."
Saizan 14:23, 16 May 2010 (UTC)
- Figure 2: VarCon uses \nu in the conclusion and x in the premises, it seems they should both be \nu considering the textual description below, but then the definition of "Type environments" in Figure 1 also needs to have \nu rather than x.
- typos in Section 9.1:
- "f = case (Ex 3) of Ex -> False" should be "f = case (Ex 3) of Ex _ -> False".
- "f :: Bool -> Bool" should be "f :: Bool".
- Have you considered adding support for partial type signatures?
niall 15:07, 17 May 2010 (UTC)
- Footnote on page 65 refers to an incorrect link (should perhaps be http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/people/simonpj/papers/gadt/ ) although the journal paper does not seem linked from there. The Appendix with the algorithm is perhaps meant to refer to the appendix of "Simple unification-based type inference for GADTs"?
Byorgey 09:10, 21 June 2010 (UTC)
- p.8: should be a colon after "Here is an example"
- p.10: end of section 2.2: "definition of g" should be "definition of test"
- p.15: Indentation of "The judgement Q ; Gamma |- prog..." is too small
- p.16: Grammar of Definition 3.1 needs fixing, for example, "An axiom scheme Q is consistent iff whenever ... *we have* (or, *it is also the case that*, etc.)
- p.17: add comma after however in "For now, however algorithmic constraints..."
- p.19: in Fig 7, should the Empty rule have a premise ftv(Q,Gamma) = empty?
- p.21: I find it very confusing to use the notation t1 <= t2 for "t1 is more general than t2"; we are using a "less than" symbol for a concept involving the word "more"... Also, it took me a long time to grok details of the definition of "more general than", since it's contravariant in the constraints etc... it might be nice to add a paragraph giving a bit more explanation/intuition for this definition.
- p.23, section 3.7: "Haskell type checker usually transform the program"
- p.25: "...explain those modifications in Section 4 and Section 4.2" -- is the "Section 4" correct?
- p.28: "...we abstract over the (Show a) constraint even though g is not polymorphic..." should be h instead of g?
- p.29: "will hardly be delirious": delirious is a strange word choice, not sure what you are trying to convey.
- p.31: "It is not enough to pick out equality constraints..." I find this section unclear. Perhaps a bit more detail would be helpful?
- p.31: "But hang on! NoGen ..." incomplete sentence, and I do not know which f function you are referring to.
- p.36: Period missing at the end of item 2.
- p.37: In the first bullet point, missing comma after tau.
- p.37: "This is obviously..." please drop "obviously", it is not obvious to me!
- p.38: Fig. 13: There are two places where .tau_1 appear in LetA; what does this notation mean?
- p.39: "Subsequently we may recursively solves"
- p.40: last sentence of section 5.5, "being in domain of theta", add "the"
- p.40, Lemma 5.1: "for all" instead of "forall"
- p.45: Sentence "What this means is that ... typing rules" does not make sense. Also, foo is not a good example because in this *particular* case, the algorithm COULD detect the inconsistency.
- p.46: first sentence, "The return type of foo..." is rather confusingly worded.
- p.46: "between the programs typed the algorithm" add "by"
- p.49, section 7.1: You should be more cafeul with the terms "type family", "type function", "function", "function-free"; I was initially confused and thought "function" and "function-free" was referring to function types like a -> b. For example at the top of page 49, "GHC enforces that type family instance declarations involve only functions applied to function-free types"... this confused me a lot at first, I was unsure why GHC would not allow arrow types in type family instance declarations!
- p.49: "Given this syntax of constraints, Figure 17 gives..." should be Figure 18?
- p.50: "for ever" should be "forever"
- p.53, Fig. 20: In the definition of <_alpha, in the first case, what if tau = G vs? And how does a var compare to a non-var, and so on?
- p.55, Fig. 21: Suppose we had an equality F x y z ~ G a b c, how would it be flattened? It seems we need to flatten away the application of G from the RHS but I do not see how the given rules accomplish, since they seem to only flatten things which are *arguments* to type functions on both sides.
- p.56: "would get two new constraints: F beta ~ Int `union` G Int beta", missing a twiddle, should be G Int ~ beta
- p.57, Fig 22: Why do we have both DDICTG and DDICTW? They seem identical.
- p.57, Fig 22 (and Fig 23): given constraints F Int ~ a and a ~ Bool, should this be rewritten to F Int ~ Bool and a ~ Bool? Or does this not matter? There don't seem to be rules to accomplish this.
- p.58: "...and a wanted constraint F Int a", missing a twiddle
- p.59: the typesetting of |->s is strange, there needs to be more space after |->s since it currently overlaps with whatever comes after it
- p.67: "NoQual is a no-option" -- probably better to say "is not an option"
Longlivedeath 03:11, 15 July 2010 (UTC)
- In the References section: replace "Fun with type fnnctions" to "Fun with type functions"
Jobo 12:07, 20 July 2010 (UTC) I just took a quick look at the references section:
- There are some referenses to a Mr Jones, Simon Peyton.
- References in the paper read etal. or et al, shold be et al. (two words, ending in a dot).
- Some references have the form "Sulzman et al. (Sulzmann et al. 2006); consider using \citet.


text:
In my free time I decided to create a nice blog about our life here, to let people know, how we live and practice at this academy. I will write about our daily life, news, interesting moments, tournaments, our free time....
You can help me to make this site more interesting. How??? ASK questions, what you would like to know about us!!!You are always welcome!!!!
our blog: http://equelite.blogspot.com;)


text:
Agricultural Leadership ***Major Not Available at UNA***
What can I do with this major?
- Teaching
- Research
- Administration
- Student Affairs Including:
- Admissions and Recruitment
- Career Planning and Development
- Academic Advising
- Student Activities/Organizations
- Secondary schools
- Colleges and universities
- Vocational and technical schools
Information / Strategies
- Obtain teacher certification for public school positions.
- Plan to earn a master's degree to work in college student affairs or university administration. Earn a Ph.D. to teach at the university level.
- Develop excellent writing and speaking skills.
- Learn to work well with all types of people and build strong interpersonal skills.
- Seek leadership positions in campus organizations related to agricultural science, natural resources, or agricultural education such as Future Farmers of America (FFA).
- Gain practical experience in the area of agriculture.
- Work with youth through volunteer positions or summer jobs with camps, 4-H programs, scouts, YMCA's, YWCA's, and other nonprofit organizations.
- Agricultural Extension
- Family and Consumer Sciences Education
- 4-H and Youth Development Education
- Economic and Community Development
- Cooperative Extension System (national)
- Extension services within states
Information / Strategies
- Gain experience working with children and adults of varying ages.
- Participate in organizations such as 4-H or FFA and seek leadership roles.
- Develop strong communication skills, particularly public speaking and group presenting, because extension agents must effectively deliver information to people.
- Take courses in economics and community development.
- Demonstrate high energy and good problem solving abilities.
- Be willing to live in rural communities and to travel within the county. Prepare to work some evenings and weekends.
- Earn a master's degree to qualify for higher level positions.
Agricultural Leadership
- Sales
- Management
- Human Resources
- Organizational Training
- Management Consulting
- Policy Development
- Governmental Relations
- Community Development
- Informal Education
- Agribusiness firms
- Production industries
- Food retailers and wholesalers
- Food processors
- Farm equipment manufacturers
- Trade and breed associations
- Insurance firms
- Financial institutions
- Market analysis firms
- Consulting firms
- Local, state and federal government including:
- Forestry Service
- Department of Agriculture
- National and state parks and reserves
- Nonprofit organizations
- Professional associations
- Youth organizations
- Foundations, museums, nature centers, zoos
Information / Strategies
- Choose an area of interest, e.g. business, government, or community development, and gain relevant experience through internships, volunteer positions, or summer jobs.
- Get involved in campus organizations and student professional associations such as Alpha Zeta agricultural honor society. Assume leadership roles.
- Learn to work effectively in teams, but also develop strong leadership qualities.
- Become a strong communicator and learn to relate well with people from all backgrounds.
- Develop physical stamina, resourcefulness, and outdoor skills for some informal education positions.
Agricultural Science/Communication
- Agricultural Communication:
- Journalism
- Public Relations
- Electronic Media
- Technical/Scientific Writing
- Advertising Sales
- Photography
- Agricultural Planning and Assessment
- Agricultural Promotion and Consulting
- Local, state and federal government including:
- Forestry Service
- Department of Agriculture
- National and state parks and reserves
- Professional associations
- Agribusiness firms
- Financial institutions
- Youth organizations
- Foundations, museums, nature centers, zoos
- Nonprofit organizations
- Wildlife organizations
- Agricultural magazines and websites
- Newspapers and other publications
- Farm radio and television stations
- Advertising and public relations firms
- Consulting firms
Information / Strategies
- Earn a minor or take additional courses in areas such as journalism, advertising, or graphic design.
- Build strong communication skills, both written and oral.
- Work for campus or local newspapers, radio, or television stations.
- Participate in related student organizations and seek leadership positions. Volunteer to write newsletters or maintain the website.
- Get involved with the Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow.
- Gain relevant experience through internships, summer jobs, or volunteer positions.
- Learn to work well with various computer programs including desktop publishing and web design.
- Be willing to relocate for greater opportunities.
General Information and Strategies
- Agricultural and Natural Resource Leadership, Education, and Communications provides a broad background for working in the agricultural and natural resources industry.
- For entry-level positions, a bachelor's degree is sufficient. A master's or doctoral degree is often necessary for advancement. Some federal and private agency work, consulting positions, and research positions require a graduate degree.
- Teacher certification is required for public school teaching and exact requirements vary by state.
- Obtain volunteer, part-time, summer, internship, or co-op experience in field of study.
- Develop excellent communication and interpersonal skills.
- Join a student club or student professional association to network and cultivate related academic interests. Groups related to agriculture include: Collegiate FFA, Collegiate 4-H, Alpha Zeta, Agricultural Communicators of Tomorrow, and Minorities in Agriculture, Natural Resources and Related Sciences (MANRRS).
- Conduct informational interviews or shadow professionals who have jobs that interest you.


text:
The Basics of Business VoIP in Ben Lomond, CA
VoIP, or Voice over Internet Protocol, is a unique alternative to traditional landlines. The technology utilizes high-speed broadband Internet connection to perform outgoing and incoming telephone communication. Rather than relying on a dedicated telephone network, these services allow businesses to telecommunicate to anyone in the world. With that being said, business VoIP in Ben Lomond, CA is much more than your typical phone provider. The service is flexible, making it possible to adapt the technology to fit the needs of the business.
While basic residential services are available, business VoIP provides the tools a company needs to succeed. The versatile service includes a slew of extra tools and enterprise features designed to increase productivity. Business plans can be used to create a BPX network within the company as well. In most cases, this network can be adjusted to the ever-changing needs of the business without extensive rewiring and costly upgrades.
The most noticeable difference between a business VoIP and standard landline provider is the abundance of features. Advance productivity and call management features are already included. With a standard landline provider, these features are treated as costly extras, driving up the price of service. A simple comparison between the high-speed internet service and traditional landline with show a significant difference in the features offered, flexibility, and price.


text:
Does it matter if you choose to use earth friendly promotional products and ad specialties? Absolutely! There are dual benefits to using environment friendly promotional merchandise that is custom printed with your logo. You are marketing your organization as an eco-friendly business that cares about how the earth is treated, even down to the personalized promotional items it gives away.
Additionally, you truly are helping the environment. So while going green might just seem like an advertising specialties tactic, there are very real benefits to our eco-system by using promotional merchandise made with organic materials, recycled materials, resources that are Bisphenol-A free, or made with P.E.T.E plastic. Use eco-friendly promotional merchandise for your next corporate gift or trade show giveaway.


text:
Banks Stinger System
- The Banks Stinger System is custom-designed to boost the horsepower and torque on your exact vehicle
- Kit features custom-matched components and tuners to optimize your vehicle's performance
- Engineered for enhancing your heavy towing, hauling, and work use
- Boost your power by up to 92 HP and torque by up to 219 foot pounds
- Depending on your vehicle, the Banks Stinger System includes the following components:
- Banks EconoMind Tuner
- Banks IQ Dashboard PC
- Banks Monster Exhaust System
- BigHead Wastegate Actuator
- Banks Ram-Air Intake System
- Dyna Fact Gauges
- Parts included with your kit vary by vehicle
- Muffler tips are available with a Black or Stainless Steel finish
- Banks Stinger Kit includes all the mounting hardware you need for a full installation
- Not street legal in California or other states with CARB emissions standards
- Comprehensive illustrated installation guide included
Equip your rig with the power you need for heavy hauling, hefty towing, and hard playing. The Banks Stinger Bundle does away with your inefficient factory parts and replaces them with custom-engineered performance parts. All the power-boosting upgrades you need come in one budget-friendly kit.
Don't worry about matching your intake, exhaust, and tuner to each other and your vehicle. The tuning and testing masters at Gale Banks Engineering have already done the work for you. Simply choose your vehicle and the Banks Stinger System will contain every custom-tuned parts you need for optimized performance. Depending on your vehicle, these parts may include the Banks Monster Exhaust and Ram-Air Intake System, EconoMind Tuner, IQ Dashboard PC, and more.
Your truck will tow harder, haul heavier, and cruise more efficiently with the Banks Stinger System. You'll see gains of up to 92 HP and 219 ft. lbs. of torque (gains depend on vehicle). Best of all, the Banks Stinger Kit costs less than if you were to buy each part individually, so you can afford even more toys for your rig.
Banks Stinger System Customer Reviews
Overall Rating:
4.4 of 5Average Install Time: 30-60 minutes
Everything fit and performed as it should, although I am disappointed with the auto mind tuner. The description says it is capable of resetting the gear ratio and tired size in the DTC to adjust the speedometer, but that is not even an option.
Install Time: 30-60 minutes


text:
IFSC Code of Allahabad Bank Tarabari Branch - Kamrup, Assam
This page will help you to search the Bank IFSC (Indian Finanicial System Code) Codes by using Bank branch names.
Allahabad Bank IFSC Code by Assam State, Kamrup District and Tarabari Bank Branch Name.
Note : Details Last Updated on July 12, 2015
Allahabad Bank Tarabari Branch IFSC Code - ALLA0211405
Use this site at your own risk. We have tried to display the correct information about ifsc codes by bank branch names. If you find any incorrect data you can let us know via email info[@]indiancodesinfo[dot]com


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Since the sweet and very much missed Rai at "Ugly Fruit" has left Switzerland in order to go back to Iowa (USA) things have been very calm and our little foodie troop has shrunk consequently (also with the departing of Claudia for the UK). Before, thanks to Rai's social skills, our "Dinner Parties" were bustling with life and crowded with people who just came to have a good time while enjoying our wonderful food. Now things have mellowed down, so we are trying to get more people to come to our party as it lacks a little dimension with only a few participants...
Anyway, Kiriel at "Papillon Pantry", our host, Hal & Al and myself had a lot of fun on the occasion of our last gathering on September the 23rd. The theme that evening was "Tea". The idea was to cook or bake something that would either contain or would be flavored with the tea(s) of our choice.
Here is what we made:
Hal & Al (Norway & USA) brought a wonderful "Lapsang Souchong Velouté". It was made with pureed beans, rice, tomatoes and an infusion of this special tea from the Fujian province in China.
Their autumnly tasting soup had a great smoked flavor and was very comforting. An excellent and delicious dish to start with!For dessert, they made a very wintery/Christmassy/Halloweenesque and slightly exotic "Tea Brack", a yeast-free cousin of the famous Irish "Barmbrack". It contained dried cranberries, chopped dried mango chips, raisins and sultanas. It was flavored with "English Breakfast" tea and cinnamon. Their bread was smooth, spicy, rich and gorgeously fruity. Scrummy!
Kiriel (Australia, see her blog), as inventive as ever, offered us Chinese-style "Tea Noodles", a delicious starter contained in dainty little aperitive spoons and cooked in tea-steeped water. Delicate...
As main course, she had the idea to prepare a kind of tea encrusted gravlax that she baptized "Salmon With Gunpowder Green Tea" (see recipe). To accompany her fish dish, she also made "New Potatoes With Green Tea Mayonnaise" and "Steamed Green Beans With Toasted Almonds". It w as just simply gorgeous and dazzlingly flavored!
Then, for dessert, she fulfilled our dessert cravings with a delightful and very cute dessert served in tiny leaf-shaped dishes. Those "Chai Tea Creams With sesame Praline" (see recipe) were pleasantly aromatized with star anise, vanilla and "English Breakfast" tea. Exquisite!
I (Rosa) (Switzerland/England) baked a batch of scrumptious "Chinese Char Siu Bao-Style Lapsang Souchong Flavored Meat Buns" (recipe soon to come) which were ovenbaked (contrarily to their steamed alter egos). I used a "Hot Dog Rolls" dough and made bun-shaped breads that I filled with a ground beef mixture consisting of bell pepper, chopped onions, chopped garlic and Cloud Ear mushrooms spiced up with chopped ginger, soy sauce, oyster sauce, Thai sweet chilli sauce, sweet soy sauce and Lapsang Souchong broth. I was really amazed to see how good my invention tasted and how enjoyable that smokey flavor was when coupled with those Chinese ingredients...
As it is my habit, I also brought a rich dessert. This time it was a drop-dead "Earl Grey Chocolate Mousse" (recipe soon to come, see my other "Chocolate Mousse" recipe) that tasted as if it was aromatized with "Orange Pekoe" tea (thanks to the bergamot). This mousse was a real sin of gourmandise with it's truffle-like taste and texture. It is decadently rich with butter, deliciously chocolatty, voluptuously light and unctuously deadly!!!
~ From left to right: Alison and Halvor (Hal & Al). ~


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The AccessibilityAccessibility Accessibility (commonly shortened to a11y) refers to the design of products, devices, services, or environments for people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design ensures both "direct access" (i.e. unassisted) and "indirect access" meaning compatibility with a person's assistive technology (for example, computer screen readers). (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Accessibility) Team provides accessibility expertise across the project to improve the accessibility of WordPress coreCore Core is the set of software required to run WordPress. The Core Development Team builds WordPress. and resources.
The WordPress Accessibility Coding Standards state that "All new or updated code released in WordPress must conform with the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 at level AA."
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Learn how to design, develop, and write accessible code in our Handbook – best practices.


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GroupDocs.Conversion for Java is an advanced file format conversion API for converting between popular image and document formats such as Microsoft Office, OpenDocument, PDF, HTML, email, CAD. and much more with just a few lines of code. The native API automatically detects the formats of the original documents and offers many options for customizing the converted documents. Along with the function of extracting information from a document, it also supports caching of the conversion results to the local disk by default. However, any type of cache storage can be supported by implementing the appropriate interfaces - Amazon S3, Dropbox, Google Drive, Windows Azure, Reddis, or any others.
Convert your HTM files to JPEG in Java. It only takes a couple of lines of Java code on any platform of your choice, such as Windows, Linux, macOS. You can try converting HTM to JPEG for free and evaluate the quality of the conversion results. Along with simple file conversion scripts, you can try more sophisticated options for loading the HTM source file and storing the JPEG output.
For example, for the source HTM file you may use the following load options:
There are also advanced convert options for the JPEG file:
Once the conversion is complete, you can save the JPEG file to your local file path or to any third party storage such as FTP, Amazon S3, Google Drive, Dropbox etc. Please note - to convert HTM to JPEG, you do not need to install any additional software, such as MS Office, Open Office, Adobe Acrobat Reader etc.
GroupDocs.Conversion for Java allows developers to easily convert HTM file to JPEG with a few lines of code.
Basic conversion with GroupDocs.Conversion for Java API can be done with just a few lines of code. Our APIs are supported on all major platforms and operating systems. Before executing the code below, make sure you have the following prerequisites installed on your system.
// Load source file HTM for conversion
Converter converter = new Converter("input.htm");
// Prepare conversion options for target format JPEG
ConvertOptions convertOptions = new FileType().fromExtension("jpeg").getConvertOptions();
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The foldable Large Adjustable Slat Top Table features a slatted design that allows water and moisture to drain from the surface. Constructed of high-quality, kiln dried, fully-aged teak straight from the forests of Thailand, each SeaForce product features a naturally high oil content for incredible durability over decades. Resists warping, rotting, and damage from insects and withstands extreme weather conditions such as salt, sun, snow, and rain. Intricate grain patterns and color variations make each unique piece as beautiful to your eyes as it is to the touch. SeaForce Teak can be left out in the weather all year long with a proper application of teak oil/sealer annually to maintain its golden color. Matures to a silver gray without applied seal, but can be restored with a good teak cleaner and one or two liberal applications of high-quality teak oil. Cleans up easily with.
We will find the best price for you.
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Caribbean People Program
Cubanos are proud, educated, and often quite happy to share opinions. Isolated for years due to the "blockade" (as Cubans refer to the embargo the US imposed against the Communist state), their culture has been influenced by many cultures, none perhaps as heavily as Spain, Africa and the United States. Full of music, derelict buildings, joy and sorrow, the country offers few material pleasures but immense humanitarian rewards.
There has never been a more exciting time to take part in volunteer travel in Cuba! Imagine a culture where everyone is literate and has access to free medical care, no starving people. This is the Cuba of today. In stark contrast to North America, its southern neighbor also offers almost no material consumer goods. Experience this now, before long anticipated change comes with the passing of the Fidel Castro generation. Open music in streets everywhere, hardly any car traffic, smiles, most visitors are enchanted with a world unlike any they could imagine. The embargo has meant severely restricted commerce, and access to affordable food, but has also preserved and insulated a culture unique in the world.
Event Information
Event Date | 11 8, 2025 |
Event End Date | 11 14, 2025 |
Individual Price | $2,700.00 |


text: Other | 10. February 2011 | posted by Marco Trovatello DLR in your hands - the DLR App, now for iPhone The first version of the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) iPhone App is now available via the iTunes store. This free App gives users access to a wealth of information wherever they go. The DLR App is a dynamic online news aggregator that compiles all relevant information on DLR research areas of space, aviation, energy and transport - from breaking news to videos to imagery - and delivers it to your iOS device (iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad). The DLR App not only allows you to organise news, videos, images and the DLR Twitter stream according to your preferences, but also gives you the option to share the content via E-Mail, Facebook or Twitter. Depending on the language settings of your device, the DLR App gives you the possibility of viewing the content in German or English. Its dynamic quality allows for the content to be updated constantly via the Internet. Although the DLR App does not provide all of the content found on the DLR's web portal, it is now available in a more user-friendly way on iOS devices. The DLR App Version 1.0 for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch is availabe for download at the iTunes Store. Some frequently asked questions: Why does DLR need an iOS App? The answer is simple: it will be possible to reach up to 160 million potential users/readers. A simple newsreader, that's all? Version 1.0 is just the beginning. An update with enhanced functionality, which will also make use of specific iPad features, is currently being developed. Why not a Web App? As mentioned above, the updated version of the DLR App will require a native iOS App. An additional Web App will be provided as well. Please read below. Will other mobile operating systems such as Android, Symbian, Windows Mobile or Blackberry be considered? We are currently developing a Web App for these platforms based on the upcoming mobile version of www.DLR.de/en. It will be available by midyear. This Web App will, of course, also work on iOS devices. Image Credits: DLR, CC-BY-SA (top - higher resolution), Copyright Apple/Photomontage DLR (right).


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If you are looking to purchase SanMar promotional items, then look no further than IASpromotes.com. We are a select distributor of the complete SanMar line of promotional merchandise.
When you purchase any OGIO (R);Port Authority;SanMar (R);CornerStone;District Threads;NEW ERA;NIKE Golf;Port and Company;Precious Cargo;Red House;Sport-Tek Promotional Products from IASpromotes.com you are assured of receiving the best service, fast response and excellent pricing we are known for coupled with the quality merchandise and industry leading promotional products SanMar are known for and why we choose to partner with each other. So shop here for these specialty advertising products and any of our other custom printed and personalized advertising items.


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- Home
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Kids With Special Needs
Kids Who Might Need Extra Help
Isn't every kid special? We think so. But what do we mean when we say "kids with special needs"? This means any kid who might need extra help because of a medical, emotional, or learning problem. These kids have special needs because they might need medicine, therapy, or extra help in school — stuff other kids don't typically need or only need once in a while.
Maybe you know of kids in your school who need a wheelchair or use braces when they walk. Those kids have special needs. They not only need the equipment that helps them get around, but they might need to have ramps or elevators available. They also might need to get a special bus to school — one that lifts them up into the bus so they don't have to get up the steps.
Kids who have illnesses, such as epilepsy or diabetes, would have special needs, too. They might need medicine or other help as they go about their day. Kids with sight problems might use special apps, tablets, or computers to read. Those with hearing or speech problems would have special needs, too. A kid who has hearing trouble might need hearing aids to hear and speech therapy, too, since it can be hard to say words correctly when you can't hear very well.
Kids with learning problems often have special needs. Kids with Down syndrome might go to a regular school and might even be in your class. But they have special needs when it comes to learning, so an aide (someone to help) might come with them to class.
You might be able to spot a few kids with special needs, but you probably don't notice all of them. A kid could have a problem that isn't noticeable unless you know the person well. For example, someone could have trouble with anxiety (worry), but you wouldn't know it unless the kid told you about it. Privately, their parents, teachers, and counselors may be working to help them worry less.
What's Life Like for a Kid With Special Needs?
Life can be extra-challenging for a kid with special needs. It might be harder to do everyday stuff — like learning to read or, if a person has physical handicaps, just getting around school or the mall. The good news is that parents, doctors, nurses, therapists, teachers, and others can help. The goal is to help kids be as independent as possible.
Other kids also can be a big help. How? By being a friend. Kids who need a wheelchair or have other health problems want friends just like you do. But meeting people and making friends can be tough. Some kids might tease them or make fun of them. Be sure to tell a teacher if you see someone being bullied or teased. That's a very lonely feeling.
Also try to be helpful if you know someone with special needs. Ask if they would like help with carrying their books or opening a door. Ask them to join you and your friends at lunch. It's important not to be "overly helpful" when no help is needed. Why? Because just like you, kids with special needs like to be as independent as they can be.
Being friendly to kids with special needs is one of the best ways to be helpful. As you get to know them, they may help you understand what it's like to be in their shoes. And you'll be helping fill a very special need, one that everybody has — the need for good friends.
Note: All information is for educational purposes only. For specific medical advice, diagnoses, and treatment, consult your doctor.
© 1995- The Nemours Foundation. KidsHealth® is a registered trademark of The Nemours Foundation. All rights reserved.
Images sourced by The Nemours Foundation and Getty Images.


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"We should be able to follow the same rules a motorcycle, as a car, because we're still on wheels. So I do believe in cracking down on that," said one bicyclist.
Oh, shut up, narc.
Then there was this one:
"I think it's a really dangerous city for bicyclists. I wonder what the numbers are at the emergency room every day. When I'm driving I almost hit one almost all the time because you can't see them," said one city driver.
Obviously you are legally blind, not to mention legally stupid, and therefore should not be allowed to drive. You've got to love a society in which people feel perfectly comfortable admitting to television reporters that they nearly kill someone every time they get behind the wheel of a car--though his vision's so bad he probably thought the microphone was a Taco Bell A.M. Crunchwrap®. By the way, here is what he looks like:
If you see this man, I recommend forcing him to stop, taking his car keys, and throwing them down a storm drain.
What's most frustrating about this "crackdown" is that the NYPD claim to be ticketing cyclists in order to protect them, yet if the state would simply revoke this one guy's license it would probably save more lives than a thousand ticket blitzes.
No, that said blitz, Mr. Magoo.
Someone better put a boot on this guy's Buick, and fast.
My favorite though is when New Yorkers complain about the threat cyclists pose to pedestrians, and between newspaper editorials and Internet comments you'd think that it was cyclists and not drivers killing hundreds of people a year. This isn't to condone the sort of reckless cycling that threatens pedestrians, and if I said I'm not occasionally tempted to kick the front wheel out from some crosswalk-bombing douchebag I'd be lying. Still, let's get serious here: if cyclists were the terrors some people make them out to be, would our bike lanes look like this?
You: Middle-aged balding man on a Citi Bike sweating through your t-shirt.
Me: Brunette in a blue dress sashaying beneath the awning of the combination Nathan's/Subway/Church's Fried Chicken.
Care to meet up for a World Famous Beef Hot Dog, or a Flatizza™, or a Double Chicken N Cheese Sandwich, followed by a relaxed evening of bike lane foot-salmoning as fast food oil seeps from our pores and our skin glistens beneath the lights of Times Square?
If so, describe the exact location of your sweat rings so I know it was you.
Yeah, I don't know what Delia Ephron was talking about, because New York City's bike infrastructure has "rom-com" written all over it. It's a veritable lovers' lane:
Delia Ephron would have you believe that the unsightly hue of my Citi Bike would drive them apart, but if anything my presence only strengthened not just their love, but also their resolve to walk two abreast directly in my path.
She wasn't scared either, and if anything was probably hoping I was Bill Cunningham:
By the way, none of this is to begrudge pedestrians their lebenstraum. We are animals after all, and as such we should be permitted to roam, like free range chickens. I merely point this out because: 1) It's fun to take pictures of strangers; and 2) It totally undermines the false premise that cyclists are a problem in New York City. If anything, we're treated like guests in our own home, and unwanted ones at that. Here's a typical intersection scenario:
So I swing around the turning cab driver:
Needless to say this involves leaving the protected bike lane, which is not so much "protected" as it is "a trap," at which point another cab leapfrogs me:
And discharges its passenger right in the crosswalk:
I shot the above photo as I passed, and as I re-entered the "bike" lane (in practice they should be called "miscellaneous lanes") I immediately confronted a bike salmon and a stout pedestrian. I attempted to photograph them both as I weaved between them, but all I got was the cockpit of the Citi Bike:
As well as this failed over-the-shoulder shot:
Then, eerily, the bike lane was preternaturally empty in a way that chilled me from balding pate to scranus:
And that's when Salmoning Skateboard Guy appeared, talking on his cellphone and wearing what appeared to be a bag around his throat. Here he is continuing his conversation after stumbling off of his board:
I'm still puzzling over that bag portaging method. It seems like a really good way to snag a side mirror and get garotted.
Anyway, eventually I docked the bike and continued by foot to my final destination, which was Toga Bike Shop, where I got a new bike. Unfortunately it's not for me, though I was tempted to hit the dirt jumps with it when the train stopped by Highbridge Park:
I don't know why I wanted a folding bike. A BMX bike is so obviously the move for train travel.
Lastly, I'd like to extend to commenter Leroy my most sincerest well-wishings after his recent "dooring" (as in he got doored, not as in he doored somebody else):
leroy said...
Got doored on Second Avenue on the way home tonight.
Good thing I was riding a Citibike and not my own bike.
Even better luck: I cushioned the impact with my face.
Driver couldn't have been more apologetic. She's a cyclist.
Funny thing: I was wearing only a BSNYC safety hair net cap and yet somehow lived to tell the tale.
One downside: My dog won't stop the "missed connection" and "Dear Penthouse -- I never thought this could happen to me" jokes.
He's just grumpy because I told him he can be replaced now that our vision zero mayor has lifted the city ban on pet ferrets.
May 28, 2014 at 9:48 PM
Isn't it funny that a driver will go out of her way to say she's a cyclist, yet if you're on your bike and you tell a driver that you're also a driver they never seem to give a crap?
Anyway, I'm glad he seems to be OK. I'm also not going to say a BSNYC hat will protect you from evil and endow you with the gift of immortality or anything like that.
But it totally will.


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Russell Bishop & Mere Berryman (2006) Culture Speaks: Cultural relationships and classroom learning (preview). Huia (NZ) Ltd
This book by Russell Bishop and Mere Berryman focuses on what it is like to be a young Māori person in a New Zealand secondary school classroom today. It presents and discusses narratives drawn from the voices of Māori secondary students, their whānau, principals, and teachers.


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Homeowners are opening their wallets. A rebound in the housing market has made them more willing to invest in renovations that could boost the value of their homes even more in a rising market.
Spending on home remodeling has picked up over the past 18 months and is expected to rise nearly 20 percent to $151 billion by the fourth quarter, according to a recent report by the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University.
Many homeowners decide to make upgrades with the idea that the bigger kitchen or finished basement will make their home more enjoyable. But those looking to sell should know that not all home improvement projects will boost the value of a home.
Here are six tips when considering investing in home improvement projects:
The classic example here is installing a swimming pool.
A pool could make your home a tougher sell and it's unlikely you will recover your expenses, says Richard Borges, president of the Appraisal Institute, a professional association of real estate appraisers.
It may be a deal-killer for buyers who might not want to take on maintenance costs or safety risks for small children. "It's not going to contribute a full measure of its cost of installation because its utility is so limited," Borges says.
The principle holds true for other large projects that can alter the structure of the property, such as adding a second garage. In some neighborhoods, they may be a common feature that becomes a selling point. But if it's not common, it could discourage buyers who don't have a need for it.
Some home improvements can help lift a home's resale value, especially updates to features like cabinets and appliances that are clearly dated.
The key is to select finishes and appliances that don't go well beyond what a buyer might find in similarly priced homes in the area. The term appraisers have for that is "overimprovement."
Consider a homeowner in a neighborhood with modest homes who splurges on pricey countertop finishes like quartz or marble. They're not likely to recoup the cost when appraisers look at recent sales of comparable homes that may not have such lavishly appointed kitchens.
This applies to everything from lighting to flooring and bathroom fixtures.
One of the home improvement projects that's least likely to produce a return on the investment is a room addition that expands the size of a home beyond its original floor plan, says Borges.
Projects that require tearing down an exterior wall often involve moving doors, windows and other features, which can drive the costs higher than, say, converting an attic into a bedroom, which uses existing space in the home.
The more expensive the project, the harder it can be to recover one's costs.
Also, making major changes to the original structure, even when permitted by the city, runs other risks.
"When you become the oddball, the only home in the neighborhood with four bedrooms, probably the fourth bedroom is not going to be that desirable," Borges says.
One way to gauge whether a home improvement project is worthwhile is to estimate how much of what you spend will be recovered at resale.
For example, if you spend a $1,000 on siding, and it only adds $500 to the resale value of your home, that upgrade is giving you a 50 percent return on your investment.
Remodeling magazine's latest cost-value-study, which is based on surveys of real estate agents, can help provide a ballpark reference. You can find it here: www.remodeling.hw.net/2013/costvsvalue/national.aspx
That said, when home prices are rising fast enough, like during the last housing boom, it's easier to recover costs spent on home improvements, regardless of the upgrade. The alternative scenario also holds true.
Making the master bedroom bigger or converting a downstairs closet into a half-bath might seem like good investments, but not if you need to upgrade your roof or fix window seals.
Those fixes may not be aesthetic upgrades, but often make a home easier to sell.
Replacing your front door might cost you $1,500, but it's the type of upgrade that can make a home attractive to buyers, says Sal Alfano, editorial director of Remodeling magazine.
The magazine says replacing the front entry with a 20-gauge steel door is the upgrade from which homeowners can expect to recoup the most money among renovations that cost less than $5,000. The magazine estimates a recovery of 85.6 percent of the cost.
Before moving forward on a home improvement project, consult with a real estate agent or an appraiser who knows your market.
They should be able to gauge how the upgrade could affect the sales price of your home. That can help you determine how much of your investment you're likely to recoup.
Almost all appraisers are independent and set their own fees. A consultation could cost between $500 and $1,000.
Real estate agents might be willing to offer their assessment for free, perhaps with the understanding that they might earn your business when it comes time to sell.
6 tips to weigh the best resale improvements


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The Trouble With Natural Theology
William Lane Craig repeatedly says he does not intend on debating the reliability of the Bible. Of course not, because he can't. Recently he turned down a debate against Jaco Gericke on whether Yahweh of the Old Testament exists. Yep, that's right. He said it wasn't his specialty. But wait just a minute. He's going around debating whether or not God exists, right? Then that means he believes Yahweh exists. So why can't he defend the existence of his God? It's because he can't do it. It would require him to get down off his stilts and wallow in the mire of biblical criticism which completely undermines his faith.
Which brings me to Bill Craig's specialty, Natural Theology.
When I was in school back in the 80's Natural Theology was in a state of disgrace. Not that there weren't people working in that area, because there were. Catholics have always espoused it since the time of Aquinas, and the Gifford Lecture series based on the desire to "promote and diffuse the study of Natural Theology in the widest sense of the term" has been going on uninterrupted since the late 1880's. It's just that Protestants and evangelicals didn't think that much of it for the most part. The consensus seemed to be that Christians could not argue for a theology based in reason and science. Karl Barth's voice as the greatest theologian of the past century might perhaps have been the most significant among Protestants to argue that natural theology was doomed from the start.
But a revival has taken place. Norman Geisler and his student William Lane Craig, who has become the leading voice for natural theology, have made their voices heard loud and clear in works like Geisler's Christian Apologetics, Bill Craig and J.P. Moreland's The Blackwell Companion to Natural Theology and in other works like James F. Sennett and Douglas Groothuis's In Defense of Natural Theology: A Post-humean Assessment, along with the revival of intelligent design proponents like Michael Behe and William Dembski.
But let's not forget that the reason why Natural Theology fell into a state of disgrace was due to the onslaught in the 19th century with Biblical criticism. Because of Biblical criticism defenders of the faith had to resort to faith not evidence. The evidence from Biblical criticism undermined the reasons to believe. That's why Barth called upon a his generation of believers to simply preach the Bible for God will speak through it. The Bible was a witness to God's revelation not that revelation itself. It was an existentialism that derived from Kierkegaard in the midst of reasonable arguments that the Bible contained myths, legends, and forgeries that other similar cultures in ancient times shared.
The fundamentalists were put on notice and they fired back with several replies to these critics called Fundamentals but those arguments didn't win the day for a growing number of believers who became Barthians. Others like Rudolf Bultmann argued for demythologizing the New Testament to discover the kerygma, or gospel proclamation, by stripping it of elements of the first-century "mythical world" that had the potential to alienate modern people from Christian faith.
What I see as the rise of Natural Theology in recent times is based on a complete ignorance of critical Biblical studies. It's like these people never open a book published by Fortress Press, or an Anchor Bible Commentary, or a Cambridge Bible Commentary, or the many monographs published by the Society of Biblical Literature. With archaeology in the past few decades it's even worse than what Barth himself knew. Now we know ancient people shared similar views of cosmology as seen in this book by Wayne Horowitz: Mesopotamian Cosmic Geography, from which Ed Babinski argues for in a chapter for my new book, "The Christian Delusion."
These recent Natural theologians continue to act as if they know what they're defending and that it has a historical basis to it. It reminds me of the emperor who had no clothes on. They act like they have the arguments on their side and strut around like they have clothes on when in reality they're naked. Biblical criticism completely destroys the historical foundations for their faith. They are naked as jaybirds. Hello? You're naked. Get some clothes on and stop embarrassing yourselves.
Natural theology will not last long. That's my prediction. It's a passing fad. And evangelicalism is on it's way out. Evangelicals will have to get down off their stilts and see what it is they're wallowing in.
There's something else. It seems odd these authors never speak about how they came to believe in the first place. Victor Reppert didn't come to believe because of the Argument From Reason, nor did Bill Craig come to believe because of the Kalam Cosmological Argument. What they have done is to defend what they were led to believe because of an initial commitment, usually in their youth, which controls how they approach these arguments. Now they find themselves defending an Anselmian conception of God arrived at by a long process of theological gerrymandering. But they have never taken seriously the scholarship that Barth did.
There are some evangelicals who recognize the results of biblical criticism though, like Kenton Sparks, John Walton and Peter Enns. Sparks, for instance has embraced Barth. More and more will be forced to do so. Then as history moves on they will become liberals and many of them will become agnostics. It's a really slow process but it's been taking place ever since the enlightenment and reflected in how new seminaries and new publishing houses have to be started by conservatives every decade as these seminaries and publishers become more and more enlightened.
This is why I focus my critique of the Christian faith on Biblical criticism. I intend to undermine the whole basis for natural theology. My goal is to knock these natural theologians off their stilts to see the basis for their faith is not there, and in so doing show them as much as I can that they're naked. Naked as jaybirds. It's laughable to me. In my opinion that's the best way to debunk their sophisticated attempts at natural theology. And it doesn't require an immersion in that kind of philosophical literature. While it is important and I do engage them in it, I think it's not actually an undercutting defeater to what they argue for. The really true undercutting defeater is Biblical criticism.