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How do they each feel about sexual relationships amongst gender and species.
Obviously Cayden Caiiean doesn't care, only that you're having fun. Calistria seems to want more, more, MORE. Iomedae? Sarenrae? Gorum? (maybe rape?) Groetus can't be bothered, or am I wrong? I wonder if Asmodeus is strict about only married sex (because of the contracts).
What are the Golarion gods' stand on sex?
Several of them prefer to lie down.
Erastil says if you have kids you should get married. And stay married.
Asmodeus wants you to get married so he can tempt you into breaking your vows. Sex is something you have with all the slave girls. Or slave boys. As long as they're slaves.
Abadar is in favor of marriage so it's clear who gets to inherit the property afterwards.
Iomedae wants you to aspire towards marriage because it makes you want to be a worthy hero for the beloved other.
No ones quite sure about Irori, but it's rumored that one reason for him to be in the Inner Sea region is to stay away from someone waiting to marry him....
The lawful deities demand that it be done in a very systematic process. "First the subjects in question must take off their clothes, neatly fold them, and put them into a pile organized by color. Then they must position themselves so that their formation is symmetric, except that some asymmetric positions are perfectly acceptable. Please consult your deity's manual on the subject to know what positions are acceptable and which are a big no-no."
In some cases:
SEX If it isn't solving all of your problems, then you aren't having enough.
here is the inspiration
Per Pathfinder 47: Ashes at Dawn, Urgathoa has very open views on sex and invites her clergy to partake in whatever sexual acts they find pleasurable. She also seems to be okay with birth control and ambivalent toward abortion (although pregnancies among her worshipers are uncommon, due to the large number of undead and availability of contraceptives), something that puts her further at odds with Pharasma.
Canon attributes whips to Calistria.
Fanon apparently attributes manacles to Iomedae.
Both can probably agree that waking next to Cayden Cailean is at least a little risky for one's laundry.
The Prophecies of the Kalistrade are, as far as I know, the only religion / philosophy that has specific sexual mandates.
Even Calistria likely has her share of priests/priestesses who are more interested in the 'vengeance' side of her portfolio than the 'lust' side.
I'd imagine Urgathoa rolls her eyes at the concept of *breeding,* since the whole 'bringing new life into the world' thing is terribly 15 minutes ago, by her standards (isn't biological life that fragile, squishy and unsanitary condition what we are trying to get away from and replace with cold, sterile immortality, kids?), but she's certainly not adverse to 'serving one's hunger' with the sexual act.
Lamashtu, Mother of Monsters, seems to have a broader-than-normal view on sex, which basically boils down to, 'Yes, to all.'
Irori *could* be seen as a self-denying ascetic, and I'm sure he's got plenty of followers who seek to perfect themselves in that sort of way, denying themselves food, water, sex, etc. But surely there are a few who seek to not just be perfect kung fu masters, sublimating their passions into their violence, and have instead decided to become a perfect husband or wife, a perfect parent or a perfect lover, and look at the kama sutra as 'a good place to beginners to start'...
I'd imagine Urgathoa rolls her eyes at the concept of *breeding,* since the whole 'bringing new life into the world' thing is terribly 15 minutes ago...
Breeding is fine if you enjoy it, I would imagine, though adoption is more common for Urgathoans- often, the parents are killed by undead of some sort and then the orphaned child is raised in the teaching of the Pallid Princess. GRIM!
Besides, having children has other uses than just creating more hedons:
[M]any temples have at least one woman, called a "blood mother," whose role is to bear children, either to raise them as members of the church or to offer them as sacrifices in horrid rituals.
I love writes-ups on evil deities.
I know! Me too! They're always so messed up and it makes their cultists nice and villainous.
While I agree with a lot of what you said, I would think getting away from UNSANITARY is about the last thing I would ever think of for Urgathoa. Urgathoa, Queen of the Unclean, Origin of Disease. More like get away from that fragile, squishy, limited form, and replace it with cold filty immortality... :D
A few of my interpretations:
Abadar: I'd guess indifference towards sex, marraiage is viewed as a contract concerning property and inheritance. Concubines optional as long as the marriage contract allows them. Having children in marriage would be important for inheritance of status and wealth. Having children out of wedlock would be frowned upon as it messess with inheritance - however, in case of siring a bastard the father would be expected to provide proper support for the child, according to the child's lower status than legitimate children (think Jon Snow position in Game Of Thrones).
Asmodeus: Callous and somewhat brutal view of sex - it would be seen similarly to Ancient Roman customs as strictly tied to dominance with one side being dominating and the other being dominated (often related to the act of penetration). Obviously the higher ranking partner would be expected to dominate and lower ranking to be dominated, doing otherwise would be sodomy (i.e. unnatural sexual act). Lower status partner would be also forbidden from having affairs or keeping concubines while the higher status partner would be allowed to have them. Bastards have explicitly lower status and cannot inherit but fathers may officially recognize them and provide them with minor titles and wealth but cannot give them more than legitimate children.
Nethys: The mad god of magic would probably have very ambivalent view of sex. At times he would be enthusiastic and positive, at other apathetic, dismissing it as irrelevant fleshy distraction and at some times outwardly hostile with the apathetic stance being the most common. I think that his strong destructive and careless streak would mean that the responsibility is not important factor in his teachings.
If you've seen Hostel, you've probably seen what I believe to be Zon-Kuthon's general outlook on normal, healthy sexual activities.
If you've seen Se7en, most of that film depicts normal, common fetishes the parishoners of the Lord of Darkness share.
Remember, kids: the safe word is.... bahahaha! Sorry, I couldn't help myself. Yes, there is no safe word. Get used to it.
Keep in mind also that Asmodeus is known to be a raging misogynist.
Random Opinions as I Retrieve Them From My Brain:
Abadar- Whatever happens to be legal in your neck of the woods. Kids are a good thing, since they're the next generation of civilization, and cities need people.
Asmodeus- Enjoy yourself at the expense of as many women as you can. Bonus points for degradation through legal restrictions, such as leveraging a contract far beyond the spirit of the writing.
Cayden Cailean- Eat, drink, and be merry. I doubt he much worries about trifling things like social mores- whatever's clever.
Desna- I doubt she's keen on meaningless flings, somehow, despite her chaotic alignment. Marriage is a lovely institution, but she's none too keen on institutions.
Erastil- Get married, make babies. Continue making babies. Babies are good.
Lamashtu- Mate frequently. Make babies. Continue making babies. Babies are good.
Rovagug- I see ol' Rover as utterly indifferent to procreation (it kinda runs against his nature), but violence seems to be in his bag of tricks. Yeesh.
Zon-Kuthon- Watch Hellraiser. Imagine it as your sex life. Yeesh.
Shelyn- Always, always make sure you care for your partner- and that you leave them in better shape than you found them, if leaving happens.
Torag- Forge a family.
Sarenrae- As Desna, but a little friendlier on the concept of formal legal bonds between couples.
Irori- Either an ascetic disregard for sex as a worldly distraction or bland indifference.
Gozreh- Do what comes naturally.
Pharasma- Given her interest in birth, and the fact tat her clergy frequently serve as midwives? I'd say they very definitely know their way around human reproduction. We know she's anti-abortion, but less down on contraception. Presumably, she just asks that everyone show some responsibility.
Nethys- Most likely doesn't have time for that sort of thing.
Gorum- I imagine he simply advises doing things with... enthusiasm.
Calistria- Have fun. I doubt, however, that she has much interest in long-term attachments.
Urgathoa- On record as encouraging her followers to indulge their appetites.
Norgorber- Somehow, I see his clergy fostering relationships with a nasty, secretive edge to them.
Given Nethys' dual nature, I imagine more than a few of hiser followers indulge in wishful thinking, that this 'duality' extends to hiser physical form.
Truly, hermaphrodites who lead the services at the temple of Nethys offer something for everyone (or two).
Random Opinions as I Retrieve Them From My Brain: ... Gorum- I imagine he simply advises doing things with... enthusiasm. ...
First, you recite poetry from the Gorumskarat
(bonus points for reference)
First, you recite poetry from the Gorumskarat Then, she begins throwing things at you... (bonus points for reference)
My forehead isn't rubbery enough to wave impressively when I duck a lot...
Ah, but then how do we explain the Spawn? A mad god of destruction locked away for eternity. That's got to get lonely. That could be a hell of an interesting (and possibly squicky) adventure. Finding the mate of Rovagug. This is all assuming he didn't just slough off a scale or body part and animate it.
Rovagug has Spawn, not children. I'd rather not inquire into the process too closely, but I'm pretty sure a mate is not involved.
As for Pharasma, there's also the fact she's the goddess of fate. Is it your fate to have sex? If so, when? Well, when you do, is it your fate to become a parent? If so, a priestess will be waiting....
Drejk wrote:Asmodeus: Callous and somewhat brutal view of sex - it would be seen similarly to Ancient Roman customs as strictly tied to dominance with one side being dominating and the other being dominated (often related to the act of penetration). Obviously the higher ranking partner would be expected to dominate and lower ranking to be dominated, doing otherwise would be sodomy (i.e. unnatural sexual act). Lower status partner would be also forbidden from having affairs or keeping concubines while the higher status partner would be allowed to have them. Bastards have explicitly lower status and cannot inherit but fathers may officially recognize them and provide them with minor titles and wealth but cannot give them more than legitimate children. Keep in mind also that Asmodeus is known to be a raging misogynist.
In Pathfinder, but yeah, his cult must have twisted rules on/for everything.
Irori might preach tantric sex with worthy partners. The Kama Sutra is basically yoga sex.
Huh, from what I can tell...
Abadar-Being a god of modernity as well as order, I doubt his ideals really apply in this area. Seems outside of his forte...I'm not even sure what his views on prostitution would be, considering one could have different interpretations as to the usefulness/corruption of such a thing in society.
Asmodeus-Well, he's a god of tyranny, so for him, I suppose being "the top" is most important. His views on sex probably don't allow actual rape (a chaotic act if there ever was one) but the sex his worshippers would have is probably only one step away...
Cayden Cailien-Whatever man. I'd assume his thoughts are the basic ideal of the '60s in the US: If it feels good, do it. He'd set limits, obviously, because he is a deity of freedom, he is also a deity of good, so abuses would not be allowed, and sex is something for the enjoyment of both parties rather than the empowerment of one over the other.
Calistria-Being a goddess of sex...just look at her portfolio and you should get a good idea. I feel like with her, its less of a pleasure thing than really just lust for its own sake. I don't know.
Desna-I'm not sure what a dream-n-travel goddess would think on sex, but since she's good aligned, I'd guess she's against most abuses of the act.
Erastil-Old, old fashioned. He's a family man first, so he'd dissaproe of any sexual preferences and acts that aren't done for the purpose of reproduction. Frivolous or pleasure sex is something he'd frown at, and any kind of non-heterosexual sex acts that subscribe to basic norms (keep it in species, etc.) would probably be okay, but the rest would be a no-no. Good doesn't always mean open-minded...
Gorum-When I think of this guy's views on sex, I think back on what Bronn states in George R.R. Martin's A Game of Thrones..."nothing like a woman after a fight." He's a bloodlust battle deity, so I'm guessing that he views sex as a "chill down" or something, or an outlet for hot-bloodedness. An extension of the fight, rather than an act of creation or pleasure.
Gozreh-Same thing as Erastil, but for different reasons. Being a nature deity, he'd approve of only that which is, well "natural." By this i mean that he views sex solely for the purpose to which it was originally made by nature: to reproduce. The fact that it is pleasurable is, probably in his opinion, just the incentive, and you don't worship the carrot at the end of the stick...you're supposed to worship the goal to which it leads.
Iomedae-A chivalrous goddess, she would have a slightly more restricted view on sex than the Accidental God, but less constrained than Old Deadeye. She approves of a courtly sort of love, most like, and a respectful sort of union, where its more about honor and duty. She's disapprove of sex for its own sake, definitely, but only if its done for love and does not dishonor either individual or others.
Irori-No idea...
Lamashtu-Hm...a chaotic evil fertility deity...*sigh* add up the numbers, and say it with me...
Nethys-What's a crazy magic god got to do with sex. That doesn't seem to be even near his portfolio.
Norgorber-Interesting here. Sex done in secret would probably appeal to him, since he's a god of secrets. No idea otheerwise.
Pharasma-So long as the souls aren't somehow abused, she'd probably not care. I have no idea what Pharasma cares about, but her opinions on sex are probably, well, non-existent except when used as part of the total judgment of a soul. Who knows with her, though some of her followers (especially up in Ustalav) view any kind of pleasure as a bad idea...
Sarenrae-A sun goddess and good aligned? Fiery passion would be her forte, I guess.
Shelyn-Express love. No matter how you do it, do so passionately and gently, and make your partner as happy as possible. The importance is not the act itself or the pleasure it brings each individual, but rather the love they feel by being combined in the most initmate manner imaginable.
Torag-See Erastil, I'd guess, but a little more practical. if he'd even care.
Urgathoa-Indulge in whatever sick fantasies you have without regard for consequences or for anything other than the indulgence of desire. Not for love. Not for anything else. Just giving into the id.
Zon-Kuthon-Break out the chains and the dominion and the pain...
Norgorber, as the god of secrets could be also called upon during secret, forbidden affairs. He might view them with favor (as they are secret) or may frown upon as potential breaches of security. He could also preach using pillow talk to wrest the secrets of others and generally using sex to manipulate others for own gains.
Rovagug- the R-Word and wrecking the place.
Calistria: While sex is certainly a part of her teachings, I get the impression that she is less interested in romance. Instead, you get lust, desire, flings, complications, uncertainty, anger, hatreds, thrown plates and cutlery, on-and-off-relationships that drag out for decades, provocations, non-standard relationship models such as polyamory, and so on. She is definitely not all sweetness and roses (that's Shelyn). For Calistria, sex is not a goal in itself, rather it's often used as a way to get somewhere else, whether it's influence, inheritance, making someone feel good about themselves, status...
I'd imagine Pharasma would be utterly indifferent to sex, apart from its role in progeny, with one major and distinct exception: true love.
If two people are fated to be together, that falls squarely under her bailiwick. Most the time this would be fine, except when it isn't. Specifically, that "true love even after death" trope where the vampire or ghost comes back to be with their fated true love centuries later when they're reborn. I'm certain that Pharasma thought it was much neater when there wasn't undeath, and reincarnation could just tie up the loose ends after a few rinse cycles if it didn't work out the first time. And while just killing the undead and his/her mortal (for the moment) true love would seem an easy solution, expecting things to just pick up where they left off with new mortal incarnations is easier said than done. I'd expect Pharasma to give instructions to her priests to butt out of any situations where there was some matter of fate concerned.
Gorum: Sex is a battlefield, make your partner submit and conquer him/her
Well... there's homosexuality in many species, so that's still natural.
The Drunken Dragon wrote: Gozreh-Same thing as Erastil, but for different reasons. Being a nature deity, he'd approve of only that which is, well "natural." By this i mean that he views sex solely for the purpose to which it was originally made by nature: to reproduce. The fact that it is pleasurable is, probably in his opinion, just the incentive, and you don't worship the carrot at the end of the stick...you're supposed to worship the goal to which it leads. Well... there's homosexuality in many species, so that's still natural.
Erastil wouldn't be concerned about homosexuality, he would expect the person/persons involved to contribute to the community in some other way.
I think Erastil would be more than happy for married couples to have a happy healthy sex life... Happy couples make strong families. So within the bounds of your societies view of marriage be that, the multi partnered lifestyle of a nomad community or a female dominated hunter gather tribal group as long as the families and communities are strong and happy then Erastil would be happy.
I think too many people apply a western European - judeao/Christian perspective to Erastil when he is such a hugely pagan figure. In all Polytheistic society's the gods have multiple personalities and aspects some good and some bad...If Erastil was part of the Australian Aboriginal pantheon there would be vast differences in his aspects and personality and they way he was worshiped to be compaired to Erastil as part of the Maori of New Zealands pantheon.
Erastil wouldn't give a fig so long as there's a stable, loving community and babies getting made somehow. Whether that "somehow" involves once-a-year ritual boy-on-girl sex for purposes of procreation during a Beltane-ish type celebration, priests or priestesses who've figured out how to do artificial insemination, or out-and-out magic, he wouldn't much care. He might think it needlessly complicated compared to the obvious alternative, but he's a good god and knows you can't order someone to be happy with something they don't like.
The "argument to nature" really starts to fall down with a Nature god once you start getting into them granting spells. Is magic natural? Are gods natural? If they're not, then Erastil is an amazing hypocrite. But I think the way his priests would argue is that nature is expansive and adaptive. Twigs do not naturally form into perfect bird nests, but birds have the instinct to put them together in that form to make a happy home for their children. Foxes dig burrows to raise their kits, beavers build lodges, bees build hives, and so on. That humans build houses? Hardly remarkable, and while not natural in the small sense, certainly natural in the larger sense. Magic? That some humans know how to weave it or have learned how is obvious. It's a tool that humans use.
Laws are the same sort of thing, and kinship patterns and the laws surrounding these fall under this. Do the laws form a stable nest in which to raise children? Then they're good laws and Erastil approves. Do the laws cause misery and discord? Then they are bad laws and need to be changed, even if they were good and stable laws for centuries before.
Laws about who gets to have sex with whom are part of this, as are the punishments for breaking these laws. What is the punishment? Fine? Censure? Banishment? Death? And is the punishment worse for the community than the crime?
If, in some community, the potter is caught having sex with the weaver, and this is forbidden because potters can only mate with other potters, occasionally flint-knappers, and maybe bakers but only in alternate leap years as part of the "bun in oven" festival. And the potter is supposed to be put to death and the weaver banished and, um....
Exactly why do we have this law again anyway?
To watch desperation settle across the face of the lawspeaker as he tries to remember the exact wording of it, of course.
Gorum - in my views Gorum is actaully gender less and IS a walking piece of armor, a walking avatar of war that has gained the status of deity. Sex is not a concept, let alone a word to Gorum. So what do I think Gorum's view is? He does not care what you do because he rather see you on the battlefield but 'understands' that people have their limits.
I believe the common opinion is:
Shelyn: "Aww sweet."
Calistria: "Oooh kinky."
Zon-Kuthon: "AAAAAUUUUGHHH! SAFEWORD!"
* * *
Other assorted deities:
Iomedae: "Go forth and make more soldiers for the good fight."
Erastil: "What happens between a husband and wife behind closed doors is their business. Just make sure you raise those kids right."
Cayden Caillean: "Who did I wake up next to?"
Desna: "This was nice, but... I have to go."
Sarenrae: "That burning sensation is my infinite love."
Nethys: "Check it out sex magick!"
Gozreh: "Birds do it, bees do it, flowers do it. So y'know go on."
Gorum: "Love is a battlefield."
Rovagug: "Whatevs, Imma eat it anyway."
Gorum also says: All is Fair in Love and War.
anyone got ideas for the rest of the golarion pantheon
Erastil wouldn't be concerned about homosexuality, he would expect the person/persons involved to contribute to the community in some other way. I think Erastil would be more than happy for married couples to have a happy healthy sex life... Happy couples make strong families. So within the bounds of your societies view of marriage be that, the multi partnered lifestyle of a nomad community or a female dominated hunter gather tribal group as long as the families and communities are strong and happy then Erastil would be happy. I think too many people apply a western European - judeao/Christian perspective to Erastil when he is such a hugely pagan figure. In all Polytheistic society's the gods have multiple personalities and aspects some good and some bad...If Erastil was part of the Australian Aboriginal pantheon there would be vast differences in his aspects and personality and they way he was worshiped to be compaired to Erastil as part of the Maori of New Zealands pantheon.
I think you are SO totally right about the varied aspects of gods and how I think it's much cooler to think of each of the gods as transcendent creatures beyond mortal/human understanding/morality. Even Asmodeus at times could be seen as a hero (i.e. the quelling of Rovagug). Even some of Asmodeus's attitudes line up with what I think of as desirable and maybe even good?
In the case of Rovagug, is an insect bad? Is an alien mind bad? Is something whose nature is to destroy bad or just bad to us?
Also, ince everyone is giving such great notes, I wanted to be a quick devils advocate on some of the assumptions I've been seeing about the more Neutral gods (as well as some others:
Abadar - I've been seeing some opinions saying that God Gold Key would be against sex outside of marriage but I think he would see the bigger picture in regards to commitment and faithfulness. Depending on the nation, it isn't The Law to be married. LN alignment would seem to point to a "Do what you will but with purpose and forethought."
Erastil -What 8th dwarf and others have said, loving, non-procreative sex draws us close and creates community.
Nethys - I think it's not fair to say he wouldn't care, rather, is opinions and practices might be unfathomably alien and inscrutable. Like opening a yawning portal into the nothingness right next to the bed...for ambience.
Norgorber - I was thinking Eyes Wide Shut parties...same with Calistria?
Urgathoa - Can the undead engage in sexual activity? I'm sure in some cases they can (i.e vampires?) So wouldn't she be all about it in the right cases? She does have a very pretty top half after all. ;>
Zon_Kuthon, now theres a party animal. Really though for sexual practices, religion is only one part. The Orks of Belkzen might have differant sexual practices than the Gnolls of the Mana wastes, but still worship Lamashtu for example.
EXACTLY! EXACTLY! What an incredible insight! Seriously! One worshipper of Calistria might be falling in love left and right and the other might be just enjoying the physical side. THEY ARE BOTH RIGHT.
All of the goddesses agree: They want to do me.
Priests of Erastil are known to prepare Impregnate Man for this very situation.
In the Rival Guide, there is a ghoul who is somewhat mentioned as being better looking now than she was in life (to be fair, she had serious skin problems when alive).
Overall, I would say it depends on the type of Undead and the partner morality/species/race/religion/culture/etc...
And it is hard to screw a ghost without being incorporal yourself.
Sooooooo ... Rovagug prefers oral??
This is an interesting thought experiment:
Torag (and other largely racial dieties) I think would be very big on increasing the population size of their chosen race. I could see Torag being against things like birth control and would encourage individuals to marry and produce children, since how else are they going to gain influence in the world.
Gorum I could see taking some odd views of sex. For one, as god of battle, he would also be very associated with the sacking of cities. So he probably would be a okay with some pretty nasty stuff, such as rape. On the other hand, he might actually endorse things like sexual relationships amongst the troops, because it is a good way of building comradely. You will fight a lot harder if not only your life was at stake, but also that of your lover. I think homosexuality was endorsed amongst some ancient Greek cities for just this reason.
DM_aka_Dudemeister wrote:Rovagug: "Whatevs, Imma eat it anyway." Sooooooo ... Rovagug prefers oral??
Nope, he's into vore
I'm glad I was only drinking water, because this made it shoot out my nose.
DM_aka_Dudemeister wrote:Zon-Kuthon: "AAAAAUUUUGHHH! SAFEWORD!" I'm glad I was only drinking water, because this made it shoot out my nose.
I really can't claim credit for that one, I first saw it on these boards ages ago. Wish I could find it again.
In all seriousness, always figured safewords would be more Shelyn's thing than Zon-Kuthon's.
(every rose has its thorn and all that)
"Shelyn" is Zon-Kuthon's safeword.
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Book Review: The Time Machine by H. G. Wells (Bottom of TBR Pile Challenge)
Nobody is quite sure whether to believe their eccentric scientist friend when he claims to have invented the ability to travel through time. But when he shows up late to a dinner party with a tale of traveling to the year 802,700 and meeting the human race, now divided into the child-like Eloi and the pale ape-like ground-dwelling Morlocks, they find themselves wanting to believe him.
I was always aware of this scifi classic but oddly had managed to never hear any spoilers. When I saw it available for free on the kindle, I decided I should download it for when a classic scifi mood struck me in the future. I'm glad I did because it was there and waiting for me when that mood did strike, and it was completely satisfying. Like when you eat a food you've been craving for days.
The structure and writing style are typical for the late 1800s. An unnamed narrator tells us of a strange person he met who then takes over the narration to tell us about an event that happened to him. In this case, that second narrator is the Time Traveler. The Time Traveler then expounds quite eloquently and philosophically on everything that has happened to him. I enjoy this storytelling method, because it gives space for the narrator of the strange tale to do this philosophical thinking. It makes sense to think about what you've learned when you're talking about a past event. The events are exciting, but they don't happen at such a break-neck speed that the reader doesn't have time to think on what they might mean. After reading a lot of more modern dystopias, it was interesting to read a slower paced one. Both storytelling techniques work well, but it was definitely a nice change of pace for my reading personally.
The dystopia is really enjoyable. Instead of getting hung up on politics or climate change, the dystopia revolves entirely around evolution. The Morlock/Eloi split happened because of the ever-increasing gap between the haves (the future Eloi) and the have-nots (the future Morlocks). The Eloi are childlike in both stature and behavior. They are the ultimate end result for what happens when people have no responsibilities and everything done for them, which is clearly how Wells sees the then modern-day elite functioning. The Time Traveler talks about the ultimate evolutionary faults of a living that is too easy at multiple times.
Strength is the outcome of need; security sets a premium on feebleness. (page 30)
In contrast, the Morlocks live underground in old industrial tunnels. They are physically strong but have lost their humanity due to a lack of the finer things. They have no contact with the natural beauty of the world and so have turned into these ape-like, cannibalistic creatures. The Time Traveler expounds on this:
Even now, does not an East-end worker live in such artificial conditions as practically to be cut off from the natural surface of the earth? (page 50)
I really like that this dystopia is so well thought-out but simultaneously so simple and easy to understand.
The plot itself kept me on the edge of my seat and constantly surprised at what happened. Although it's obvious the Time Traveler makes it back from his first voyage, there are other threats and dangers that are sufficient to keep the reader engaged. The ending actually surprised me as well.
This book has withstood the test of time extremely well. It has not yet saturated pop culture to the extent that the potential reader is unavoidably spoiled for the details of the plot or the ending. The dystopia is unique and interesting, in spite of the proliferation of dystopian literature since then. The philosophical thoughts of the Time Traveler are still applicable to modern society.
Overall, this is a piece of classic scifi that has aged very well. It simultaneously entertains and challenges the reader. In addition, it is a short read for a classic, more similar in length to modern fiction. It is the ideal read for both hard-core scifi fans and those interested in dipping their toe in classic scifi. Highly recommended!
5 out of 5 stars
Source: Amazon
Buy It
Note: the Kindle edition is free
Book Review: The Wanting Seed by Anthony Burgess (Bottom of TBR Pile Challenge)
In the near future world with no war and totalitarian governments there's an ever-looming threat of starvation thanks to overpopulation and diseases attacking the crops. The governments have responded with worldwide one child policies and psa campaigns to encourage homosexual relationships. Englishman, Tristram Foxe, lives in a skyscraper with his wife, Beatrice-Joanna and works as a social studies teacher. But his advancement suffers both from his status as a person with siblings and as a married man with a child. When he discovers that his wife is cheating on him with his passing as gay brother who works for the Infertility Bureau, his world falls apart just as the world around him tilts from totalitarian regime to cannibalism and pagan fertility rituals.
When I picked up this book, the summaries I'd seen were nowhere near as clear or straightforward as the one I just wrote for you. I'm not sure I would have ever picked it up if I'd had an inkling of an idea as to what I was getting myself into. All I saw was a dystopian overpopulated future by the same author as A Clockwork Orange (which I know some people loathe, but I think has a lot of interesting things to say). This book is….very strange, and I honestly am not exactly sure what Burgess himself is saying, although some of the characters say some horrible things.
The first half of the book reads like a treatise by a Quiverfull (Evangelical Christians who believe in having as many children as possible, more info) with some terror of a hyper-liberal future where people are denied their right to choose to have children (funny how they fear that but don't get that pro-choice is all about protecting a woman's right to choose what to do with her own reproductive organs but that's another rant for another day), and people are forced into being gay/lesbian. I know this sounds like it could be an interesting flip-flop of current times, but it didn't read that way for me. It read as a lot of homophobia and yelling about how population control goes against god's plan and going against god's plan sends the plagues. Seriously. That's how it reads. But, I traveled on because this is Anthony Burgess, and characters don't have to be likeable. They could be used to show the opposite point. But that's not really what happens. What happens is that this set-up gets ditched for a mad-cap dash through sociology.
The last half of the book is kind of an interesting sociological exploration of how the world moves through the liberal/conservative/military cycle. It is mad-cap and bizarre, and as a person with a BA in History, I really enjoyed seeing a country move through those cycles at rapid-fire in a slapstick humor style. This part of the book felt like an entirely different book in fact. But I also think only a certain type of person would enjoy it. (Like, oh, Political Science and History majors).
As for character development, there is none. Everyone ends up pretty much where they started after having lived through the cycles of political change. It really reminds me a lot of playing Civ or SimCity where you move artificial people around to illustrate greater points. I enjoyed this alright, but I would have preferred stronger characterizations or at least some growth.
So, is the book a phobic conservative dream of what a liberal society would look like? I don't think so. I think Burgess actually presented each part of the political cycle as awful, including the fall into tribal-feeling paganism. It sort of felt like the book was saying that someone somewhere will always be unhappy no matter what the political/sociological situation is. Depressing, huh? And yes I know it's dystopian and lot of people think dystopias are innately depressing, but personally I think they can frequently offer a lot of insight and hope for the future. This just felt a bit defeatist. With some Quiverfull and homophobic characters to boot.
Overall I'm left feeling decidedly no reaction either way to this book, which is not what I was expecting from Burgess. I was neither offended nor enlightened and mildly entertained but I could have had the same entertainment from playing Civ on my computer. I think this book best appeals to readers who also enjoy studying political science or the history of societies, but even they should proceed with the caution that this is decidedly a mad-cap, non character-driven look at those topics.
3 out of 5 stars
Source: PaperBackSwap
Book Review: The Diviners by Quinn Robles
In a world where the 1% has taken over the government and resources and the rest are left to fend for themselves, the Symmonds siblings seek to keep starvation at bay with their divining abilities. Everyone knows diviners can find a water source with two rods, but the Symmonds siblings can find much more, including lost people. When they are asked to find girls most likely stolen by the government for sex slavery, they must face a choice. Should they risk it all to save them?
I actually hesitated over whether or not to review this book because it does not appear to be available for sale anymore in spite of coming out just this February. This shows me that perhaps the author is already aware that it wasn't quite ready for publication, so why pile it on? But I did promise a review in exchange for a copy, and I also review everything I read, so I ultimately decided to review. But I will keep it short and try to offer simply constructive criticism.
There are two issues with the book. One is some awkward sentence structures and flat-out wrong grammar. This is something that could be quickly fixed in another editing pass, which I recommend. The other is larger, though. The world building is confusing and weak. It took me until around 75% through the kindle book to finally figure out what was going on in this world, and some of it was still unclear. For instance, what I think is a branch of the government (still not sure) is called the "Jacobs," but they are just called the Jacobs for so long with no other information that at first it seems that they are a rival family or something. The little information the reader does get about the dystopian world is delivered via information dump. It's not smoothly written into the story. It is told to the reader like a confusing history book. If this wasn't a review copy, I would have quit in the first chapter, because it's simply not pleasant to receive information via info dump. The dystopian world itself, though, is interesting and timely. It's based around the Occupy movement's rhetoric about the 1% with the wealthy ultimately blatantly taking over. I could see a lot of people really enjoying the mix of that with the more fantastical element of divining. The characters are also fairly well-rounded and easy to tell apart.
Overall I would say it's a good idea and a good first draft, but it needs some reworking and editing. I hope that's what this author is doing and that she keeps at it, because her ideas are definitely unique.
2 out of 5 stars
Source: Kindle copy from author in exchange for my honest review
Currently unavailable to buy, but check out the author's website
Book Review: Warm Bodies by Isaac Marion (Audiobook narrated by Kevin Kenerly)
R is a zombie, and he remembers nothing about his life before he was one–except that his name starts with the letter R. He and his group of the other living dead inhabit an old abandoned airport and are ruled by the bonies. They hunt the living not just for the food, but also for the memories that come from ingesting their brains. It's like a drug. One day when he's out on a hunt, R eats the brain of a young man who loves a young woman who is there, and R steps in to save her. It is there that an unlikely love story begins.
Now that I have a new job I decided to stop going through the rigamarole that is finding something you actually want to read as an audiobook in the public library and subscribe to Audible, especially since I always have my kindle with me anyway. I decided to choose audiobooks to read from the bottom of my wishlist, so everything you'll be seeing on here (unless it was free on Audible) was put on my wishlist a long time ago. Half the time I couldn't remember why it wound up there. That was the case here. I mean; I'm assuming it was there for the zombies, but I basically had no other idea about it heading in. This is partly why my mind was blown, so if you want a similar experience I'm telling you to go get yourself a copy right this instant! Vamoose! For those who need more convincing, though, please do read on.
Perhaps surprisingly, I have read zombie love stories before, so I wasn't expecting too many new or particularly engaging ideas. This book is overflowing with them though. Everything from zombies getting high on other people's memories to getting to see both the zombie and living side of the war to the concept of what the war is ultimately about to even what a zombie is was all brand-new. And it pretty much all makes sense in the world Marion has set up and is engaging. I could not "put the book down." I listened to it in every spare second I had. Nothing went the way I predicted and yet it all made complete sense.
R is far more complex than what you'd expect from a zombie, even before his symbolic awakening. Julie is everything you would want from a heroine. She's pretty, smart, and she says fuck! She can hold her own but is still emotional and vulnerable. She's exactly what any artistic, strong woman would be in a zombie apocalypse. Even the more minor characters are well-rounded, and there is the racial diversity one would expect from a zombie apocalypse in a big city.
Alas, the narration was not quite as amazing as the story. Although Kenerly does a very good job, sometimes he fails to convey all of the emotions going on in the scenes or doesn't switch characters quite quick enough. Don't get me wrong, it was very good and didn't detract from the story at all, but I also don't feel that it added a ton to it.
This is a book that I know I will want to read again, and I may even need to buy an ebook or print version just to do so in a whole nother way next time. It is an engaging new look at a zombie apocalypse that reads more as a dystopia than post-apocalyptic. Anyone who needs restored faith in the ability of humanity to fix where we've gone wrong should absolutely give this book a shot.
5 out of 5 stars
Source: Audible
Book Review: The Cause by Clint Stoker
In an overpopulated future, a city stands where there are not familial or close relationships, but everyone celebrates every night. Air was recently relocated to a new position as a purger, and he slowly discovers the sinister side of the city.
This is an interesting concept that is poorly executed, badly edited, and takes a turn for the worse at the end.
Anyone who follows this blog knows that I love an overpopulation scifi story. Stoker has an interesting take on it–the world is overpopulated so constantly at war. A city arises where the residents can stay young forever but must follow a series of articles that removes the true joy of living from them. The problem is that I just stated that more succinctly than Stoker does at any point in the novel.
What we have here is the classic example of a good idea poorly executed. The basic concept is great. But the main character's flashbacks and current thoughts are difficult to read. I found myself constantly skimming the flashbacks, because they were so confusing to read and lent so little to the story.
More upsetting though were the constant errors that had less to do with typos or difficult grammar and more to do with poor understanding of the English language. Examples:
A golden metal sat at the top of his desk. (location 2879)
Won't even know your there (location 3148)
I thought we we're in this together (location 4225)
He put Air to sleep so he could remain innocent in the cities eyes (location 4509)
A transport past by (location 4588)
You can't bring people back once their dead. (location 5050)
I am ti sro and you are the villain. (location 5083)
Anybody, understandably, would be frustrated with this amount of errors.
Perhaps more distressing is the "surprise" ending, which to me was just confusing. Essentially, five infants are killed every 50 years to keep the city of 30 million people alive, yet the science of that is never explained. The key to scifi is plausible science, yet Stoker ignores that entirely. It's a good idea, but without plausible explanations and good writing, it falls flat. I'd recommend he gets a solid editor before his next attempt.
2 out of 5 stars
Source: Kindle copy from the author in exchange for my honest review
Book Review: The Walking Dead, Book 1 by Robert Kirkman (Series, #1) (Graphic Novel)
When cop Rick wakes up from a coma brought on by a gun shot wound, he discovers a post-apocalyptic mess and zombies everywhere. He sets off for Atlanta in search of his wife, Lori, and son, Carl, and soon teams up with a rag-tag group of survivors camped just outside of Atlanta.
I just want to point out that this review is purely focused on the graphic novel, not the tv series. I haven't even seen more than 10 minutes of the tv show, so remember this is about the books not the show. Thanks! Moving along….
I almost gave up on this within the first few pages, because COME ON. Can we PLEASE get over the whole oh I had a coma and then woke up to a zombie apocalypse trope, please? First, it is so highly statistically unlikely that it was laughable the first few times it was used in my beloved dystopian novels, but at this point it just looks lazy. Come up with some other way to start the apocalypse, ok? I don't care if your main character is out of touch with reality for a few days because he's on a drug-fueled sex streak. At least it would be different! Also, a cop, really? You want me to root for a cop? And everyone trusts him because he's a cop? A cop is the last person I would put in charge if I was a member of a rag-tag bunch of survivors; I'm just saying.
Once we move on beyond the initial set-up though to the group of survivors caravaning their way across America, the story vastly improves. The people are real. They're scared. They're angry. The snap easily. They hook up with whoever is convenient (and not necessarily young and hot). They teach the kids to use guns. It's everything we know and love about post-apocalypse stories.
The artwork is good. Scenes are easy to interpret; characters are easy to tell apart. The zombies are deliciously grotesque, although I did find myself giggling at them saying "guk." Guk? Really? Ok….
The best part, though, is the people that in your everyday life you are just like, come on, god, bolt of lighting, right here? They're the ones who get eaten by zombies! It is excellent. So that really annoying chick in camp? Totally gets her head bit by a zombie. It's cathartic and awesome.
The cast is diverse, and no, the black guy is not the first to be eaten (or the red shirt guy for that matter). It wouldn't kill Kirkman to be a little less heteronormative, but he's still got time and more survivors to add.
Overall, this is a good first entry in a zombie apocalypse series. Kirkman needs to be more careful to stay away from expected tropes in the genre and bring more of the creativity it is apparent he is capable of. I recommend it to fans of zombies, obviously.
4 out of 5 stars
Source: Public Library
Book Review: How I Live Now by Meg Rosoff
Daisy's stepmother has convinced her father to send her off to England to live with her aunt and cousins, and Daisy really doesn't mind. She hates her life in NYC anyway, and life in the countryside seems like a welcome change. Her cousins are quirky and fun, and Aunt Penn is sweet and practices a relaxed parenting style. When Aunt Penn goes away for a work trip, terrorist acts occur in London effectively leaving the kids on their own. On their own to explore feelings and actions they might not otherwise have felt free to.
The big rumblings about this YA book is that there is incest in it. In the grand scheme of shocking incest though, this incest is just….not that shocking. It's between two cousins who've never met until they're teenagers. *shrug* Plus, the incestuous relationship is really not the main focus of the story at all. It holds center stage for maybe two chapters. Two very chaste chapters. Oh sure, an astute reader knows what's going on, but there are no lengthy sexual passages. The most we get to witness is a kiss. So, this book is really just really not about incest, ok? If that was keeping you from reading it, don't let it. If that's why you wanted to read it, go read Flowers in the Attic instead.
So what is the story about? Quite simply, it's about the impact living in an age of world-wide terrorism has on young people. On their perceptions, decisions, morals, and more. As someone who was only a sophomore in highschool when 9/11 happened, I feel safe in saying that Rosoff depicts the experience of a young person growing up in this world very well. The mixture of relaxing and having fun while the adults panic around you with nights of fear are perfectly woven.
Daisy's voice is wonderful to listen to. She's an appealing, funny narrator with an acute wit. She is truly someone to like and root for. Similarly, her female cousin, Piper, who she becomes a pseudo-parent to, is extraordinarily interesting and appealing. In fact, I'm hard-pressed to name a character who isn't well-rounded.
Unfortunately, all of these positives about the book come to a crashing halt at the end. All I can tell you without spoiling the ending is that Rosoff did not take her themes as far as I was hoping she would take them. In my opinion, she copped out, and I was sorely disappointed. The ending reads almost like the beginning of the Beauty and the Beast fairy tale, and I was just left feeling as if Daisy and her cousins had let me down. What could have been an extraordinary book became just average.
Thus, if you are looking for a YA take on the impact life with terrorism has had on the younger generation, but aren't expecting anything mind-blowing, you'll enjoy this book. If what you're after is shocking YA, however, look elsewhere.
3.5 out of 5 stars
Source: PaperBackSwap
Book Review: The Unit by Ninni Holmqvist
In the Sweden of the near future women who reach the age of 50 and men who reach the age of 60 without having successfully acquired a partner or had children are deemed "dispensable" and sent to live in "a unit." These units appear at first glance to be like a high-class retirement home, and indeed they have all the amenities. The residents, however, are required both to participate in medical experiments and to donate various organs and body parts up until their "final donation" of their heart anywhere from a year or a few years after their arrival in the unit. Dorrit arrives at the unit depressed, but accepting of her fate as the result of her independent nature, but when she falls in love, she starts to question everything.
The entire concept of this book intrigued me as it is clearly a dystopia whose focus is on the older generations instead of teenagers and young people. The concept itself is of course frightening to any of us who have come to grips with the fact that some day we will be elderly too. This dystopia is also unique though in that it examines the possible future movement of Swedish society, which is vastly different from American society.
The writing is entirely from the perspective of Dorrit. Although it is clear she is writing from some point after the events occurred, Holmqvist eloquently allows her voice to change to reflect her changing ideas on society, her friends, her family, and her own life. When Dorrit first arrives in the unit, she attempts to defend herself saying that women used to be raised to be independent instead of with such a high focus on producing children that will add product to the GNP. It's not as if she didn't want a partner, she did, but it didn't happen. So why is that her fault? Deeper issues are addressed too such as why does only a new family unit count and not siblings? What about pets? Don't they need us? The vast implications of such a focus on interpersonal relationships found in the traditional family unit are subtly addressed. What type of people tend to be alone family-less by the age of 50 or 60? One resident in the unit's library, for instance, points out that
"People who read books…tend to be dispensable. Extremely." (Page 26)
Of course the setting of this dystopia also brings up other interesting issues that Holmqvist handles quite well. The dystopian setting allows the author to address the perpetual loss of friends that the elderly face as well as seeing themselves and their friends sicken mentally and physically. Placing it in a society in which this is exacerbated by science naturally gives it another level as well as a welcome distance for the elderly reader. This of course is a large part of what makes this dystopia different from the typical YA version. Instead of dramatizing the challenges young people typically face such as their world widening and new knowledge being imparted, this one shows how the world becomes smaller and acceptance that it's too late to change the world becomes the norm.
Perhaps the most universally interesting issue this dystopia addresses is how much the individual should be willing to sacrifice for the greater good. The residents in the unit are constantly being told that their discomfort in an experiment could improve the lives of hundreds of needed people. Or that they should be perfectly fine with "donating" one of their corneas and going half-blind if it means that a nurse with three children can remain a contributing member of society. While some of the residents grow resentful of this concept, referring to the unit as a free-range organ farm, Dorrit finds leaning on this perceived value helps her with her depression in the unit.
"Otherwise I would feel powerless, which I essentially am, but I can cope with that as long as it doesn't feel that way too." (Page 71)
Clearly this book makes one think not just about the issues the elderly face but also about how society as a whole treats them and makes them feel. It also firmly addresses just how much individuality and choice it is justifiable to give up for the greater good. The ending completely shocked me and has left me with even more to ponder than the points given above, but I want to leave those for the future reader to discover.
I am incredibly glad this work was translated into English, and I highly recommend it to everyone, but especially to dystopia and scifi lovers, as well as those interested in sociology and psychology.
5 out of 5 stars
Source: Amazon
Book Review: The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness (Series, #1)
Todd grew up on New World knowing only the constant Noise of other men's thoughts all around him. He's never known a world where a boy couldn't hear his dog talk or where women weren't all killed off by a horrible plague. Now, mere days before his 13th birthday when he will become a man, his world is turned upside down when his adoptive parents, Ben and Cillian, tell him to run. Run past the swamp. Run and find another settlement. A settlement he never knew existed on New World. He runs with his dog, Manchee, and on the way, they find a creature. A creature whose thoughts they cannot hear.
This book came recommended to me by three different friends, and I can see based on the summary why they would do so. It's a dystopia on another planet with talking animals and a narrator who speaks in a mix of rural Americana and British English. The fact is though, I wound up not enjoying this book, and it probably would have been a "did not finish" if I'd had a print copy I could re-sell instead of an ebook I couldn't. So what's wrong with it?
Not the world-building. That was truly excellent. The wordle-like clouds of Noise that Todd can hear really bring that aspect of New World to life. Similarly, what the animals say are appropriate to their various evolutionary levels, from Manchee's partial toddler-like sentences to the herd of elephants who simply say "here" over and over to keep the herd together. Every single scene on New World is easily imaginable in spite of it being quite a foreign location from the buildings to the presence of Noise.
The plot itself isn't bad but also isn't amazing. There's a secret in Todd's village that we discover at the end of the book that, frankly, did not live up to the build-up. However, that in and of itself doesn't make me dislike a book. The plot was enough to keep me intrigued, which is the important part, even if in the end it is a bit disappointing.
After much thought I've realized that it's the characters that kept me from enjoying the book, particularly Todd who is also the narrator. I just cannot relate to him at all. I've managed to relate to first person narrators ranging from lunatics to serial killers to girly girls to devout Catholics, but Todd is utterly unrelatable to me. He is just so incredibly fucking stupid. Not stupid in the mentally handicapped way. Stupid in the willfully ignorant way that makes me just want to slap him upside the head. For instance, he has this book the whole journey that Ben tells him will explain everything, yet he never sits down to read it. He takes forever to admit he struggles with reading and ask someone else to read it. This is information he needs, and yet he persists in willfully ignoring it. He reminds me of the kids in highschool who wouldn't do their homework because it wasn't "cool." Similarly, I'm sorry, but he's kind of a pussy, and that irks me. He is fighting not just for himself but for the safety of his dog and another person, but he refuses to man up. I found myself siding with the villains in this regard, and I'm sure that's not what the author wanted. Similarly, I do not understand why it takes him so long to come around to appreciating Manchee even though he can hear his thoughts from day one and knows that Manchee loves him unconditionally. What the hell, Todd? How are you such an unfeeling idiot, eh? In the end, I simply could not enjoy the book, because although I felt appropriate loathing for the villains, I also loathed the hero and just could not bring myself to care about his plight. The only character I was rooting for at all was Manchee, and that's not enough to carry a dystopian adventure.
I'm sure there are people out there who can either identify with Todd or empathize with him. For those people who can do so and also enjoy a dystopian adventure, I recommend this book. Anyone who thinks they'll be even remotely irritated by Todd should stay far away though.
3 out of 5 stars
Source: Amazon


text:
About me
My name is Benjamin Adams and I received my Ph.D. in Computer Science with an emphasis in Cognitive Science at the University of California, Santa Barbara. My research interests include knowledge representation, the semantic web, and computational models of place. In particular, my research focuses on an observation-driven approach to geographic knowledge discovery, representation, and exploration. I received the Best Research Demonstration award at the 2012 NGA NARP Symposium and Workshops for my work on discovering and mapping thematic knowledge about places from natural language descriptions. I was also program manager for the Cognitive Science program at UCSB from 2010-2012, and prior to graduate school I worked in industry as a web programmer and designer.
At NCEAS I am a postdoc on the Scientific Observations Network (SONet) project, where I work on the semantic modeling of scientific observations to aid data integration and interoperability. I am motivated by the desire to develop semantic technology solutions that help domain scientists better share and discover data relevant to their research interests. In addition to traditional knowledge modeling, I use bottom-up approaches, including natural language processing, to populate ontologies with terms and concepts that are used by working scientists.


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« White Hinterland (not Hinterland) - new CD, MP3, 2008 Tour Dates (tonight & w/ Taken By Trees) | Dan Deacon's show at the Whitney tonight »
Posted in music on February 8, 2008
Concert Joe reports....
I went to the Living Room last night to see my favorite Resident band there Crescent & Frost. I saw on the Blackboard outside > StinkBug Willies, and thought how the Little Willies ( Norah Jones, Jim Campilongo + Richard Julian ) played there sort of secretly, last year when I saw them. I asked the people who worked there if it was them, and they said Yes. They did 2 fantastic sets from 11:26 > 1:39.Alberta Cross played between Crescent & Frost and Stinkbug Willies. Norah Jones is known for playing shows under fake names.
Comments (6)
anyone catch them at town hall opening for ryan adams?
Posted by Anonymous | February 8, 2008 4:41 PM
Did Lee Alexander play bass? I know NOJO & he brokeup. Went to the shows a couple of years back, they are fun nights.
Posted by Anonymous | February 11, 2008 2:39 AM
yep, Lee played that show, the one they did a week later (billed as "Topanga Willie Rides"), and again 2 days ago (Mar 31) as part of the Living Room's 16 night-long 10th anniversary celebration.
i wouldn't worry too much about internal social dynamics affecting the Willies' future. they've all been good friends for about 8 years now and do these shows, when schedules permit, strictly for fun.
in fact, apart from their record release a couple years ago (when they did a festival, 2 late night tv shows & a 4 city mini tour) they really only play about 4 shows a year, a pace they can surely maintain, regardless of who may or may not be dating whom.
Posted by Jonathan | April 2, 2008 5:37 PM
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Tag Archives: argan oil
I would say that life has no way to turn against you. That is why I have decided to not blame others or external factors for my challenges and difficult circumstances. The road I have chosen to go down is built by my own choices along the way.
Also, who said it was easy growing up, learning from mistakes and tenacity despite failure. Hardship makes a person handle incidents better the next time when encountering demanding situations.
I am not a psychotherapeutic, however I have noticed that both negative and positive thoughts incur in our mind at different times. This means that we involuntarily experience both positive and negative thoughts. However, I believe that we can affect the amount of positive and negative thoughts by making choices. To choose enthusiasm, curiosity, self-realization, logic and spirit can take your mind on trips one never would have dreamed about.
We have got to learn that the potential lies within ourselves. Positive physical outcomes are the result of positive mental choices that encourage and initiate further individual prosperity.
- Alexander Sprekenhus


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Not everyone wants a big home theater receiver. It's true! However, it's possible to add a little boost to the AV in your living room, bedroom, or anywhere else, via the Orb Audio Booster.
According to Electronista, this mini amplifier can connect up to four components to a pair of speakers, as well as one remote control.
Offering 20 watts per channel, the device has two RCA stereo inputs and two headphone mini jacks. It also has a subwoofer output and speaker connectors.
Of course, don't expect the same AV experience that you'd get with a full-size home theater system. That said, you won't need the space or budget that comes with a larger setup.
The Booster measures about 6-by-6-by-1.75 inches, so you won't need a big speaker cabinet for this setup. You also won't need a big AV budget, either. The Booster package is available now for $164. If you want to pair the Booster with two Mod1 Orb speakers, the package will cost you $378.
Follow Electronic House on Facebook and Twitter.
The $599 DHT-S514 Denon soundbar is designed for plug-and-play operation with HDMI and Bluetooth.
The Cake Boss celebrates Christmas with an elaborate home lighting display automated via Elan g!.
We found 13 pint-sized items to stuff into your favorite geek's stocking.


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Abbas Kiarostami Movies
One of the most visionary figures in international cinema, Iranian director
Abbas Kiarostami
makes films that both challenge viewers' expectations of modern filmmaking and expound a deeply humanist philosophy. Using a deceptive simplicity to explore very complex issues, Kiarostami stresses the importance of material over technique. Taking his inspiration and story ideas from the people around him and the observations of everyday life, and stressing a natural, improvisational approach from his actors, he has said, "I think that technique for technique's sake is a big lie, as it doesn't answer real feelings and real needs."
Born in Tehran on June 22, 1940, Kiarostami made his directing and screenwriting debut in 1970 with Nan va Koutcheh/The Bread and Alley. He first earned international acclaim and recognition in 1987 with
Where is the Friend's Home?
, the story of a child's self-imposed journey to find his friend's house so he can give him a lost notebook full of important homework. Stressing a natural approach to his material and building his film on endless repetition, Kiarostami succeeded in making a film from a child's point of view that refused to adopt the condescending, cutesy tone of most films made about children, and he earned kudos for his work.
Kiarostami next won acclaim for
Through the Olive Trees
, which was screened in competition at the 1994 Cannes Festival. A blend of documentary and fictional drama, it was set in a Northern Iranian town that had recently been hit by an earthquake and was the third in the director's cycle of films, following
Where is the Friend's House
And Life Goes On
. In keeping with the style of his previous films, Kiarostami used a straightforward approach without frills or flourishes, encouraging an interactive reaction from his audience by leaving the end of his story -- which in part revolved around a man's pursuit of a woman who keeps rejecting him -- without resolution, and therefore open to interpretation.
Kiarostami's next major project was more of a lighthearted affair: he produced the script for
Jafar Panahi
The White Balloon
(1995), a children's film told from the point of view of a young girl searching a marketplace to buy a goldfish in time for New Year's Eve. With
A Taste of Cherry
two years later, however, he was back to a more serious meditation on life, death, and all that falls in between. The film, with its lack of resolution or reasons for the decision of the protagonist to attempt suicide, invited the same kind of interaction from the audience as
Through the Olive Trees
. It was embraced enthusiastically by an international audience, co-winning the Cannes Festival's Palme d'Or. Further acclaim greeted Kiarostami's next effort,
The Wind Will Carry Us
(1999). Another unconventional meditation on everyday life rooted in a humanist philosophy, it won the Golden Lion at that year's Venice Film Festival.
In the following years Kiarostami scripted such efforts as Willow and Wind (1999) and the short A Good, Good Citizen (1999) before returning to the director's chair with ABC Africa (2001), a compelling documentary concerning the AIDS crisis in Uganda. In 2002 Kiarostami pulled double duty as the screenwriter and director of the Golden Palm nominated drama Ten. Focusing on ten conversations with women at crucial tuning points in their lives, the film proved the perfect showcase for Kiarostami's intimate style by discussing issues generally ignored in Iranian cinema. After earning a story credit for the 2002 drama The Deserted Station, Kiarostami continued his examination of the middle class with his script for Crimson Gold - the deliberate and elegiac story of an overweight man struggling to find his footing in contemporary Iran. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, Rovi
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10 on Ten
In 1997, when Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami was forced to do some last minute re-shoots for his picture The Taste of Cherry, he used digital video equipment for the first time and was immediately taken by the ease and flexibility of working with the format. Becoming an outspoken advocate of digital filmmaking, for his 2002 project Ten, Kiarostami shot the entire picture with a single camera mounted on the dashboard of a car. Using this notion as a jumping-off point, 10 on Ten is a documentary by Kiarostami in which he discusses his philosophies and ideals pertaining to his methods of filmmaking while driving through the countryside outside Tehran, talking into a camera mounted on the dashboard of his car as the locations where he shot The Taste of Cherry pass by. 10 On Ten premiered at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival, where it was screened as part of the "Un Certain Regard" program. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
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ABC Africa
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Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami has often concerned himself with children striving to make the best of difficult circumstances, and this documentary finds him capturing a real-life corollary to the fictional tales of his best-known work. At the request of the United Nations International Fund for Agricultural Development, Kiarostami traveled to Africa to make a film about the work of the Uganda Women's Effort to Save Orphans, a volunteer group established to provide food, shelter, and care for the more than one-and-a-half-million children left to fend for themselves in a nation torn apart by war, poverty, and the AIDS epidemic. While Kiarostami's first visit was planned so he could see the country and map out what he would film, he brought along some digital video equipment, and upon arrival, he was so struck by what he saw that he immediately began to record the events around him, in which the tragedies of this struggling nation were contrasted with the warmth and boundless optimism of the children looking for a better life. ABC Africa received its North American premiere at the 2001 DoubleTake Documentary Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
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Abbas Kiarostami
Abbas Kiarostami: The Art of Living
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Abbas Kiarostami
Alain Bergala
, (
Behdasht-E Dandan
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Bid-o Bad
Owing a rather sizable debt to Abbas Kiarostami, who provided its screenplay, Willow and Wind follows the travails of Kuchakpour, an Iranian boy who must replace a school window he broke while playing soccer. If he doesn't find the money to pay for the window by the end of the day, he will be expelled, so he sets off on his mission with equal parts resentment and determination. ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, Rovi
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Hadi Alipour
Amir Janfada
, (
Certified Copy
A British author and a French art-gallery owner form an intimate bond after a chance meeting in a quaint Southern Tuscany village in director Abbas Kiarostami's dialogue-driven drama. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
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Juliette Binoche
Jean-Claude Carrière
, (
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This Iranian film qualifies as a docudrama, and makes some telling comments on society as it tells its tale. In the story, Ali Sabzian, in a fit of whimsey, claims to a fellow passenger on the bus that he is the famous Iranian film director Mohsen Makhmalbaf. So far, so good, but he then becomes involved with his fellow passenger and her family, claiming that he has cast the family's son in a major role and that the setting he intends to use is their home. At some point this tale comes unravelled, and the family takes him to court. A well-meaning judge persuades the family to drop the charges against this unemployed man. Ironically, while Ali is on trial, the maker of this current film (Abbas Kiarostami) decides to film the procedings, and also stages a reconstruction of the events leading up to the trial, using all the actual participants, but has the restaged trial end less happily. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
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Hossein Sabzian
Crimson Gold
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Jafar Panahi's Crimson Gold was written by Abbas Kiarostami, who also wrote Panahi's The White Balloon. The film opens in the midst of a jewelry store robbery. In a single shot, a hulk of a man, trapped by the store's security system, shoots the store manager. Moments later, with an excited crowd gathering on the street outside, he turns the gun on himself. The film then flashes back several weeks. Hussein (Hossain Emadeddin) (the robber) is working as a pizza delivery man with his best friend, Ali (Kamyar Sheisi). He's engaged to Ali's sister (Azita Rayeji). Ali finds a woman's purse containing a gold ring, which has been cut, and a receipt for an incredibly expensive Italian necklace. Intrigued by the amount of money changing hands, Hussein and Ali track down the store, but the snooty jeweler (Shahram Vaziri) turns them away. They decide to return to the store wearing suits with Ali's sister, to see if there's anything they can afford. Meanwhile, Hussein does his pizza deliveries. At one point, he tries to make a delivery to a building where the military are arresting young people for drinking alcohol and socializing with the opposite sex. Later, he delivers to a wealthy young man (Pourang Nakhael) who has just moved back to Tehran after living in America for years. The man invites Hussein into his lavish home so he can complain about the trouble he's having adjusting to life in Iran. Hussein's unpleasant experiences eventually push him to the breaking point. Lead actor Emadeddin is a diagnosed schizophrenic and real-life pizza delivery man. Crimson Gold was banned in Iran. It won the
Un Certain Regard
Jury Prize at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival and was selected for the 2003 New York Film Festival. ~ Josh Ralske, Rovi
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Hossain Emadeddin
Kamyar Sheisi
, (
Epreuves d'Artistes
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Pedro Almodóvar
Robert Altman
, (
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Acclaimed Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami pays homage to Yasujiro Ozu, the brilliant Japanese filmmaker whose spare but evocative style has been a major influence on Kiarostami's work, with this non-narrative visual experiment. Five features five extended single-shot sequences shot along a seashore, in which Kiarostami, through framing and subtle camera movement, finds different moods and feelings in each shot, lending them a personal and distinctive touch. Shot on digital video, Five was screened at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival shortly before opening in French theaters in the spring of that year. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
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Friendly Persuasion: Iranian Cinema After The Revolution
In the wake of the fundamentalist revolution that overtook Iran in 1979, the last thing most people would have expected was for the nation to spawn one of the world's most interesting national cinemas. But such Iranian films as The Taste of Cherry, The Children of Heaven, and The White Balloon have won enthusiastic acclaim at a number of international film festivals and impressed filmgoers around the globe. Friendly Persuasion: Iranian Cinema After the Revolution is a documentary that examines the new Iranian cinema, as such filmmakers as Abbas Kiarostami, Majid Majidi, Jafar Panahi, Moshen Makhmalbaf, and Dariush Mehrjui discuss the new renaissance in their nation's cinema, and how they've learned to wring creative mileage out of the often tricky details of working around their government's severe censorship laws. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
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Abbas Kiarostami
Mohsen Makhmalbaf
, (
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In this documentary, Iranian schoolboys complain about the amount of homework they have to do. This would not seem to be a particularly harsh criticism of the Iranian school system, but evidently the nation's educational authorities thought otherwise, and held up the film's release. Also highlighted are shots of kids larking around a bit during obligatory prayer sessions. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
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Life and Nothing More
The thin distinction between fiction and reality comes in for some blurring in this fact-based near-documentary. Learning of a major earthquake, the director of a children's movie, Where Is My Friend's Home?, is worried about two of his performers in that film. He sets out with his son to interview the survivors and learn the fate of his two acquaintances. However, he hires locals to play himself and his son and hires local earthquake survivors to play other earthquake survivors. When his alter-egos discover the actors, they are two people who have been hired to impersonate the two men. Even though every story told by the filmmaker is accurate, as are the settings and scenes of devastation, everything is just one step away from reality. Even unsympathetic reviewers saw some saving grace in this self-conscious posturing, in that it is aware of itself; as one old man says: "They told me to say this was my house, but my real home was destroyed in the quake." In addition to coy games played with reality, the film is a moving testament to the will to survive and get on with life, as it shows refugees crowded into a tent to cheer a soccer game being shown on television. Director Abbas Kiarostami has explored the blurred line between fiction and reality before in his well-received film Close-Up, a true story about a man who was arrested for impersonating a movie director, featuring all the real-life participants in a slightly fictionalized re-telling of the events. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
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Like Someone in Love
Celebrated Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami takes the helm for this richly textured drama set in Tokyo, and centered on the unusual relationship between an elderly professor and a pretty student moonlighting as a high-class call girl. Arriving at Takashi (Tadashi Okuno)'s home late one night, Akiko (Rin Takanashi) is surprised when her client shows more interest in cooking and conversation than he does in sex. The following morning, Takashi offers to drive Akiko to class. When the pair crosses paths with Akiko's intensely jealous boyfriend (Ryo Kase), they simply go along with his assumption that Takashi is Akiko's grandfather. Meanwhile, this slight deception begins to color Takashi and Akiko's future interactions while yielding some unexpected repercussions. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
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Man of Cinema: Pierre Rissient
Most Americans -- even those who travel in film spheres -- will not immediately recognize the name of Pierre Rissient, but the lives of cinephiles have been invariably touched by him. A Cannes-based Gaul who enjoyed stints as a theater programmer, critic, and assistant director to Jean-Luc Godard on À Bout de Souffle (1959), Rissient found his niche working alongside eventual
succès d'estime
Bertrand Tavernier (La Mort en Direct) as a publicist. Armed with an extensive network of press contacts, Rissient swiftly projected the ability to make or break any director with a wave of his hand and an effective blurb. His motto: "It isn't enough to like a film; you have to like it for the right reasons." Those who owed their success to him, to varying degrees, included Sydney Pollack, Abbas Kiarostami, Werner Herzog, and Quentin Tarantino -- not a modest lineup. In the 1970s, Rissient traveled one step beyond his normal publicity work by entering the sphere of filmmaking, albeit in a completely noncommercial capacity. Chief Variety film critic Todd McCarthy helms this biographical portrait of Rissient, featuring an extensive look at his accomplishments. It includes conversations with the likes of Pollack, Tarantino, Clint Eastwood, Jane Campion, and many others; Rissient himself also turns up for extensive interviews and discusses the trajectory of his career and the humanist principles behind many of his choices and inclinations. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
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Pierre Rissient
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Roads of Kiarostami
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Celebrated Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami directed this experimental feature in which, in the truest sense, the audience is the star. Shirin was shot during a performance of a play based on Farrideh Golbou's narrative poem Khosrow e Shirin, a love story in which an artist and an emperor both vie for the hand of a queen from Armenia. However, what is happening on stage is never seen; instead, Kiarostami trains his camera on the women watching the performance (one of whom is French actress Juliette Binoche, while the others are artists from Iran). We see the story as it is reflected in the reaction of the spectators, who laugh, cry and become drawn into the emotions of the tale that is played out before them. Shirin was an official selection at the 2008 Venice Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
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Award-winning Iranian filmmaker Abbas Kiarostami uses the casual setting of one woman's automobile as the setting for a subtle but potent look at gender issues in the Middle East. Mania Akbari plays a nameless woman who, over the course of several days, gives a number of friends, family members, and acquaintances a ride in her car across town, among them her young son who is still upset over his parent's recent divorce; her sister; a close friend who has just been abandoned by her boyfriend; an older woman on her way to a worship service; another friend soon to be married; and a veteran streetwalker. As the woman and her passengers ride through Tehran, their conversations cast a light on her views of herself, as well as the ways other women view themselves and the larger world around them. Director Kiarostami shot Ten using two small digital video cameras, one of which was mounted on the car's dashboard, the other in a fixed position in the back seat, using this purposefully stark approach to keep the focus on the characters and their ideas. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
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Mania Akbari
Amin Maher
, (
The Bread and Alley
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text: One sure thing for future employment is in nuclear. Now with three decades past the partial meltdown of a reactor at Three Mile Island and further expansion of nuclear power at a standstill, years of stagnant hiring comes to, as the American Physical Society, an independent group of physicists put it, "a greatly reduced interest among undergraduates in nuclear science and engineering programs. This quote is from a recent report by the Society finding that the number of college nuclear engineering programs has dropped from 66 in the early 1980s to 30 in 2008. (page 4 of the pdf file)


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None of this would be a problem if we were giraffes.
1 comment by Hedgepig23 on Jul 29th, 2011
Hey peeps!
Well my last blog failed didn't it? I start my work again and the the Lagwagon© (the name of my PC, you can't nick it, I've copyrighted it ;) ) decides to go suck a fat one and force me to factory restore... again, 4th time now I think? but heck, I want to map, so shittyass PC or not I will carry on creating maps whenever my computer decides to let my use the Source SDK again.
Seeing as my flat is now gone, I have started a new vision, but I might revive my project next time I have nothing else to do.
If you're out there thinking "Give up man, my fatass mother can fun faster than your computer" Sure, you may be right, but as a wise friend of mine once said ' Live life to the fullest, follow your dreams and make damn sure you have them. ' Although I wouldn't class spending my day sat at a computer living life to the fullest, neither would I class 'Fullest' a word (Should probably look it up before I post this, but heck) I love developing, so in a way, this is my dream - and I will never give up.
Hey Edge
I wanna Help you Create some Interesting Games
Add me If you Get this :D Ty
Only registered members can share their thoughts. So come on! Join the community today (totally free - or sign in with your social account on the right) and join in the conversation.


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A major part of any group's environment is the culture that they have inherited from the past.
December 12th, 2013
Los Angeles, CA
More Info
Brian Kilmeade
January 16th, 2014
Beverly Hills, CA
Register Here
Dan Bongino
February 7th, 2014
Los Angeles, CA
More Info
Muslims condemn atheists to death. http://t.co/yxWDLDgF3N
Obama's inequality a threat to freedom and hypocritical to boot. http://t.co/gwIprMCPvI


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NASA's Ride to Venus; Ready to put a sail-powered rover on Venus's surface!!
Tue, 27/08/2013 - 18:20 by Neha Dutt
There are certain planets that are never the whippersnapper, rather they are the celebrities!! Especially when NASA is after them, then you know there has to be something in these reclusive elements of the solar system. Venus is presently taking that Superstar status as the boffins have turned their dewy-eyes to it. |
Stare at skies for Meteor Shower and Comet sky dazzle!!
Sat, 03/08/2013 - 12:50 by Minnie Mahendru
Get ready with your eyes focused at the dark blueness above and keep your fingers crossed for clear weather this August! This is for you sky watchers. A brilliant dazzle is expected from the Perseid Meteor shower and the stunning Comet ISON in August. |
Oops! 'Chinese spy drones' over Ladakh turn out to be Venus& Jupiter!
Sat, 27/07/2013 - 10:43 by Neka Sehgal
Fears of the Indian military that 'Chinese spy drones' were violating its air space have been put to rest. |
Watch the luminous dance of the "planetary trio" in sky!
Thu, 23/05/2013 - 10:49 by Minnie Mahendru
Keep your fingers crossed that the sky stays clear in the next few days, as it going to be a splendorous sight, on the May 28. Start the countdown from the May 24 to May 29 and watch Mercury, Venus, and Jupiter, dance together in a dazzling and incandescent triangle in the sky! |
Catch the view of four planets coming closer this week
Mon, 09/05/2011 - 21:20 by Anupreet Kaur
According to the StarDate magazine, four visible planets will appear together in the wee hours of the morning this week. |
Stargazers to spot the brightest Jupiter in 50 years
Sun, 19/09/2010 - 16:30 by Neka Sehgal
If you want to witness once-in-a-lifetime event, better catch Jupiter this week in the night sky. |
Crescent moon, Venus adorned night sky; captivated sky gazers
Mon, 17/05/2010 - 13:18 by Jaspreet Virk
In what can be termed as a celestial show that enthralled the sky gazers in most parts of Southeast Asia, the crescent moon eclipsed Venus last night. |
Mercury to be spotted with Venus in a rare celestial dance
Sat, 03/04/2010 - 15:32 by Ishita Sood
Good news for all sky gazers! The coming week brings the best chance to view the planet Mercury after sunset. Being rather easy to spot this week, Mercury will be seen adjacent to the planet Venus, about 30 to 75 minutes after dusk. |


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Mossley, Ontario
Graduating with the Juris Doctor degree
How did you pick your major of study, and why did you choose the University of Windsor?
About 10 years ago, someone suggested to me that I would be a good lawyer. It took a few years before the idea became a possibility and another year for the possibility to become a plan. I was drawn to University of Windsor Law because of the clinic programs, which offered many opportunities for experiential learning.
What were your expectations of university? Has the University of Windsor met those expectations?
I wasn't sure what to expect beyond having to work hard. I liked that Windsor Law had smaller enrolment and correspondingly smaller class sizes. The clinic programs exceeded my expectations, especially Legal Assistance of Windsor. LAW provided an opportunity for "real world" experience with the security of direct and constant supervision.
What would you say is the most important thing you have learned at university: about yourself, about other people, about your field of study, or about the world?
I have learned to enjoy the journey, to be present in the moment, and to be patient with myself.
What would you say has been the most memorable part of your UWindsor experience?
The most memorable part of my UWindsor experience is being nominated for and awarded the Steven William McGhee Memorial Scholarship.
Please tell us why you are proud to be part of the University of Windsor's graduating class of 2011.
We are an amazing cohort. I am in awe of the diversity and range of talent and experience of the young adults I have had the good fortune to meet and study with for the last three years. While most of us have highly competitive spirits, in my experience this did not usually affect the camaraderie of the group as a whole. I am truly honoured to be part of Windsor Law's graduating class of 2011.
Did you have a course, professor or classmate who inspired you?
I beg your indulgence here because there are many people who have inspired me along this journey. From my parents, I learned the importance of integrity, courage and hard work. My daughter, Robyn, always my catalyst for change, inspires me to be the best that I can be. The rest of my family and friends for believing I could do this. Principal Don Macpherson and my colleagues at Ingersoll District Collegiate Institute forced me to see myself in a different way and made possible my application to law school. There are many people who have supported and encouraged me at Windsor Law and I am so grateful to them. I include here professors, office staff and librarians.
I am inspired by Professor Moira McCarney who works harder than her students and by Professor Gemma Smyth for her dedication to the students and the clinic programs.
In the past three years, I have been most inspired by Genevieve Samuels. She is confident, poised, well-spoken and an excellent writer. She is an excellent mooter being a finalist in Law I Moots and Top Oralist in the Zuber Moot. Women and the Law enjoyed a successful year under her leadership. Genevieve is very generous in her support of other students. She was always available to coach first year mooters, to be a judge for moots and for practice rounds, and to work with selected finalists for the Lerner's Cup. Genevieve also spent time tutoring students for whom English was not a first language. On a personal note, Genevieve challenges my thinking and beliefs on many levels and I am the better for it.
What are your plans following graduation?
I will be articling at KirwinPartners LLP in Windsor.


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One Last Look
Mass Market
Attorney Clare Westbrook seeks tranquility--and utterly fails to achieve it--in the final volume of a romantic suspense trilogy. Pregnant and finally engaged to Tony Sonterra, Clare follows her cop fianc' to his new job as police chief of Dry Creek, Arizona, where he will work to close down a group smuggling illegal immigrants across the border from Mexico. Unfortunately, the apparently quiet little town is roiling with ugly secrets, and is full of dangerous people who are willing to kill to keep them hidden.
Genre: Romance
Published: Nov 2006
Publisher: Pocket Books
Pages: 387
View on Library Thing: LibraryThing.com


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Looks like USA Hockey may have their phenom
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Clockwork Orange
Persona Non Grata
I seen him!
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 21,349
Looks like USA Hockey may have their phenom
His name is Phil Kessel.
He's 17 years old and has been unbelievable in the World Junior Championships thus far. He netted a hat trick tonight in the American's 8-2 win over Sweden, including a goal that was so sweet it brought me off of my couch. Even more amazing when you consider that most of the guys he's playing against are 2 years older than he is.
He's not draft eligible until 2006, but this kid is getting some hype Sidney Crosby style. He's currently being recruited by Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin & Boston University.
Keep it up kiddo!
Clockwork Orange
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Make your own customized paper handbag based on the Hermes Kelly bag!
How to make that snap shot really look like something professional
In this tutorial I'll show you how you can achieve an old analogue camera style effect with washed out colours and light leaks, all in Photoshop.
Originally designed as the cover of my friends birthday card, I decided to give Steampunk a shot in an eastern style :) Hope you like it!


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Risk Free Shopping, Wha? Our policy is simple. Have sunglasses sent to you with free shipping and if it's just not working out for you, send them back for free! Its as easy as that!
Going Off The Front takes a big sack. No need to hide what you"re holding. Their underestimation is your biggest asset. These full-rim shades are packing miles of technical talent in an under-the-radar package. They won"t know what hit them "til it"s too late.