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Intercept-slope relation
Mplus Discussion
Growth Modeling of Longitudinal Data
posted on Monday, November 14, 2005 - 7:03 am
I'm using Mplus to estimate level and a linear trend (T1=@0 T2=@1 T3=@2) of self and peer-perceptions in the peer context, and predicting these growth components with perceptions of the self and others in the family context, assessed only at T1. Both growth models fit well, there is individual variation in both growth components, and a negative correlation between the level and the trend (mean for the trend positive and significant)in the self and peer perceptions curves.
I'm getting a consistent pattern of findings indicating theoretically meaningful relationships between the predictor variables and the level (e.g., debilitated perception of self in the family context predicts low levels of self regard in the peer context), but the opposite pattern occurs in terms of the linear trend, e.g., debilitated coping predicts a growing trend of the self-perception positively rather than negatively. These are very consistent findings accross a bulk of predictors. Could this be related to the fact that there is an inverse relationship, i.e., significant negative correlation, between the level (=intercept) and trend of the self-perception in the peer context over time, suggesting that the lower the overall level of self-perception, the higher are the increases in self-regard over time?
The predictors and outcomes are measured with likert scales (scores ranging from 1 to 4), and include some values between these scores due to missing data imputation. I have so far used MLM and MLR estimators, are there something else that I could do/check in Mplus for not obtaining a negative correlation between the intercept and the slope of change? If not, or this really is the phenomennon in empiria, do I still have a valid case to say that the given predictors predict the outcome measures also over time (when there in fact are significant betas in response the slope), and just note that the signs change from positive to negative due to the inverse relationship between the intercept and the slope)? Even with this complexity, I wouldn't want to go to traditional SEM models due to the strong stability of the outcome measures over a short period of time.
Thanks so much,
posted on Monday, November 14, 2005 - 5:50 pm
A negative correlation between intercept and slope is quite alright and may have an interesting substantive interpretation. It could also point to the more mundane reasons of the outcome scale showing ceiling or floor effects such that if a person starts high he/she cannot growth as much.
I would first fit the "unconditional" model without predictors and make sure that the negative correlation shows up here too.
Yes, if intercept and slope are negatively correlated, I think it can make sense that the influence of predictors on them have different signs.
posted on Wednesday, November 16, 2005 - 9:24 am
Thanks for clearing that out!
Still a quick question: If there is a highly significant, inverse relationship between the level and the slope, does the "sign change" in any effect hold even when the covariate in question is unrelated to the level (=beta close to zero), but predicts the slope significantly? For instance, let say a theory predicts a positive relationship between a covariate and the outcome, and variable A has a positive effect on the level, but a negative effect on the slope (covariate-slope relation is then interpreted to reflect the inverse relationship between the level and slope), but a variable B has only a positive relationship with the slope (as predicted by theory in the first place). Does the effect of B support the theory (as one would interpreted without considering the relationship between the level and the slope), or does the effect in fact go against the theory, even if it's effect on the level is close to zero (might have a negative sign though)?
Thank you again,
posted on Wednesday, November 16, 2005 - 4:47 pm
I cannot answer that.
posted on Monday, April 11, 2011 - 7:25 am
Dear Prof. Muth�n,
We modeled individual differences in competence development by using LGC with 3 time points. Time was coded with 0, 1, 2; Measurement error was set equal.
The input-syntax was:
i by T1@1 T2@1 T3@1;
s by T1@0 T2@1 T3@2;
i with s*;
[i* s*];
Model results indicate a strong positive correlation between the intercept and slope of about .7;
However, when we looked at the estimated data for individual subjects, it turns out that students with identical competence values at time one receive higher intercept estimates if their slope value is stronger and vice versa. Therefore I wonder if this positive correlation is an artificial one?
For example Student 1:
Empirical values: T1=37.91 T2=41.85 T3=43.63
Estimated Intercept: 38.60 Estimated Slope: 3.96
Student 2:
Empirical values: T1=37.91 T2=43.71 T3=56.69
Estimated Intercept: 42.46 Estimated Slope: 5.03
Is it okay to interpret the positive correlation between the model based intercept and slope? From your paper (Muth�n & Khoo, 1998, p.92) I learned that such an interpretation is possible, but I am not quite sure if it is appropriate for our data.
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Monday, April 11, 2011 - 9:25 am
When you hold the intercepts equal across time, the intercept growth factor mean should be fixed at zero.
posted on Tuesday, April 12, 2011 - 2:02 am
Thank you very much for your quick response. Unfortunately I'm not quite sure what you mean by "intercept growth factor mean"?
Am I supposed to assume zero variance for the intercept (i@0;)?
It would be much appreciated if you could send me the syntax command.
Linda K. Muthen
posted on Tuesday, April 12, 2011 - 6:09 am
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Ryan Paul Named Skyline Rookie of the Week
Oct 3, 2006
Farmingdale State freshman forward Ryan Paul (Sayville, NY/Sayville) was named Skyline Rookie of the Week for men's soccer on Tuesday, October 3rd. Paul scored three goals to help Farmingdale to a 3-0 week last week. Paul netted his first collegiate goal in helping the Rams to a 1-0 win over John Jay. He also scored two goals as Farmingdale exploded for a 7-3 Skyline Conference road win over St. Joseph's College.
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Twilight (novel series)
Twilight is a series of four vampire-themed fantasy romance novels by American author Stephenie Meyer. Released annually from 2005 through 2008, the four books chart the later teen years of Isabella "Bella" Swan, a girl who moves to Forks, Washington, and falls in love with a 104-year-old vampire named Edward Cullen. The series is told primarily from Bella's point of view, with the epilogue of Eclipse and Part II of Breaking Dawn being told from the viewpoint of character Jacob Black, a werewolf. The upcoming novel Midnight Sun is a retelling of the first book, Twilight, from Edward Cullen's point of view. The novella The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner, which tells the story of a newborn vampire who appeared in Eclipse, was published on June 5, 2010, as a hardcover book and on June 7 as a free online ebook.[1] The Twilight Saga: The Official Illustrated Guide, a definitive encyclopedic reference with nearly 100 full color illustrations, was released in bookstores on April 12, 2011.[2]
|Twilight (2005)
New Moon (2006)
Eclipse (2007)
Breaking Dawn (2008)
|Stephenie Meyer
|United States
|Romance, fantasy, young adult fiction
|Little, Brown and Company
|Media type
Since the release of the first novel, Twilight, in 2005, the books have gained immense popularity and commercial success around the world. The series is most popular among young adults; the four books have won multiple awards, most notably the 2008 British Book Award for "Children's Book of the Year" for Breaking Dawn,[3] while the series as a whole won the 2009 Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Book.[4]
In November 2011, the series had sold over 120 million copies worldwide with translations into at least 38 different languages around the globe.[5] The four Twilight books have consecutively set records as the biggest selling novels of 2008 on the USA Today Best-Selling Books list[6] and have spent over 235 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller list for Children's Series Books.[7]
The books have been adapted into The Twilight Saga series of motion pictures by Summit Entertainment. The film adaptations of the first three books were released in 2008, 2009, and 2010 respectively. The fourth book is adapted into two full-length films—the first film being released in November 2011, and the second film in November 2012.[8]
Plot overview
Bella Swan moves from Phoenix, Arizona to live with her father in Forks, Washington to allow her mother to travel with her new husband, a minor league baseball player. After moving to Forks, Bella finds herself involuntarily drawn to a mysterious, handsome boy, Edward Cullen and eventually learns that he is a member of a vampire family which drinks animal blood rather than human blood. Edward and Bella fall in love, while James, a sadistic vampire from another coven, is drawn to hunt down Bella. Edward and the other Cullens defend Bella. She escapes to Phoenix, where she is tricked into confronting James, who tries to kill her. She is seriously wounded, but Edward rescues her and they return to Forks.
New Moon
Edward and his family leave Forks because he believes he is endangering Bella's life. Bella goes into a depression until she develops a strong friendship with Jacob Black, who she discovers can shape-shift into a wolf. Jacob and the other wolves in his tribe must protect her from Victoria, a vampire seeking to avenge the death of her mate James. Due to a misunderstanding, Edward believes Bella is dead. Edward decides to commit suicide in Volterra, Italy, but is stopped by Bella, who is accompanied by Edward's sister, Alice. They meet with the Volturi, a powerful vampire coven, and are released only on the condition that Bella be turned into a vampire in the near future. Bella and Edward are reunited, and she and the Cullens return to Forks.
Victoria has created an army of "newborn" vampires to battle the Cullen family and murder Bella for revenge. Meanwhile, Bella is compelled to choose between her relationship with Edward and her friendship with Jacob. Edward's vampire family and Jacob's werewolf pack join forces to successfully destroy Victoria and her vampire army. In the end, Bella chooses Edward's love over Jacob's friendship and agrees to marry Edward.
Breaking Dawn
Bella and Edward are married, but their honeymoon is cut short when Bella discovers that she is pregnant. Her pregnancy progresses rapidly, severely weakening her. She nearly dies giving birth to her and Edward's half-vampire-half-human daughter, Renesmee. Edward injects Bella with his venom to save her life and turns her into a vampire. A vampire from another coven sees Renesmee and mistakes her for an "immortal child". She informs the Volturi, as the existence of such beings violates vampire law. The Cullens gather vampire witnesses who can verify that Renesmee is not an immortal child. After an intense confrontation, the Cullens and their witnesses convince the Volturi that the child poses no danger to vampires or their secret, and they are left in peace by the Volturi.
Main characters
- Bella Swan: The protagonist of the series, teenager Bella is a perpetually clumsy "danger magnet" with dark brown hair and brown eyes. She is often portrayed as having low self-esteem and unable to comprehend Edward's love for her. She has an immunity to supernatural abilities involving the mind, such as Edward's mind-reading ability. After her transformation into a vampire in the saga's fourth installment, Bella acquires the ability to shield both herself and others from "mental harm" from other vampires.
- Edward Cullen: Edward is a vampire who lives with a coven of like-minded vampires known as the Cullen family, who feed on animals rather than humans. Over the course of the Twilight series, Edward falls in love with, marries, and then has a child with Bella. At first, Edward feels a mutual hatred toward Jacob Black because of his love for Bella, but in Breaking Dawn, he comes to see Jacob as a brother and friend. Like some vampires, Edward has a supernatural ability: mind reading. It allows him to read anyone's thoughts within a few miles' radius. Bella is immune to his power as a human, but learns how to lower this "shield" after her transformation to a vampire.
- Jacob Black: A minor character in the first novel, Jacob is introduced as a member of the Quileute tribe. He resurfaces in New Moon with a larger role as Bella's best friend as she struggles through her depression over losing Edward. Although he is in love with Bella, she initially sees him as just her best friend. He and other tribe members can shape-shift into wolves. In Eclipse Bella realizes that while she does love Jacob, her feelings for Edward Cullen are stronger. In Breaking Dawn, Jacob imprinted on Bella and Edward's baby daughter, Renesmee, ridding him of his heartache for Bella.
The story is set primarily in the town of Forks, Washington, where Bella and her father, Charlie Swan, live. Other cities in Washington briefly appear in the series or are mentioned, such as Port Angeles, Olympia, Seattle and La Push. Some events in Twilight take place in Phoenix, Arizona, where Bella was raised. Volterra, Italy, is featured in New Moon, when Edward travels there to commit suicide and Bella rushes to save him. Jacksonville, Florida, is mentioned first in Twilight and second in Eclipse, when Edward and Bella visit Bella's mother, who has moved there with her new husband. Seattle, Washington, is featured in Breaking Dawn when Jacob tries to escape his love for Bella, and when Bella tries to locate a man named J. Jenks. It is also the location of a series of murders committed by newborn vampires in Eclipse. In Breaking Dawn, Bella and Edward spend their honeymoon on a fictional "Isle Esme", purportedly off the coast of Brazil.
Structure and genre
The Twilight series falls under the genre of young adult, fantasy, and romance, though Meyer categorized her first book, Twilight, as "suspense romance horror comedy".[9] However, she states that she considers her books as "romance more than anything else".[9] The series explores the unorthodox romance between human Bella and vampire Edward, as well as the love triangle between Bella, Edward, and Jacob, a werewolf.[10] The books avoid delving into provocative sex, drugs, and harsh swearing because, according to Meyer, "I don't think teens need to read about gratuitous sex."[11]
The books are written in first-person narrative, primarily through Bella's eyes with the epilogue of the third book and a part of the fourth book being from Jacob's point of view. When asked about the structure of the novel, Meyer described her difficulty in pinpointing the premise of the novels to any specific their category:
I have a hard time with that. Because if I say to someone, 'You know, it's about vampires,' then immediately they have this mental image of what the book is like. And it's so not like the other vampire books out there–Anne Rice's and the few that I've read. It isn't that kind of dark and dreary and blood-thirsty world. Then when you say, 'It's set in high school,' a lot of people immediately put it in another pool. It's easy to pigeonhole with different descriptions.[12]
The books are based on the vampire myth, but Twilight vampires differ in a number of particulars from the general vampire lore. For instance, Twilight vampires have strong piercing teeth rather than fangs; they glitter in sunlight rather than burn; and they can drink animal as well as human blood. Meyer comments that her vampire mythology differs from that of other authors because she wasn't informed about the canon vampires, saying,
It wasn't until I knew that Twilight would be published that I began to think about whether my vampires were too much the same or too much different from the others. Of course, I was far too invested in my characters at that point to be making changes... so I didn't cut out fangs and coffins and so forth as a way to distinguish my vampires; that's just how they came to me.[13]
Inspiration and themes
According to the author, her books are "about life, not death" and "love, not lust".[14] Each book in the series was inspired by and loosely based on a different literary classic: Twilight on Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, New Moon on Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Eclipse on Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights, and Breaking Dawn on a second Shakespeare play, A Midsummer Night's Dream.[15] Meyer also states that Orson Scott Card and L. M. Montgomery's Anne of Green Gables series are a big influence on her writing.[12] The Cullens were inspired by Meyer's own family[16] as well as characters from the X-Men cartoon.[17] Other influences on the series which Meyer has acknowledged include Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë, HGTV, and the films Iron Man, Somewhere in Time, Stranger than Fiction, and Baby Mama.[17]
Other major themes of the series include choice and free will.[12][18] Meyer says that the books are centered around Bella's choice to choose her life on her own, and the Cullens' choices to abstain from killing rather than follow their temptations: "I really think that's the underlying metaphor of my vampires. It doesn't matter where you're stuck in life or what you think you have to do; you can always choose something else. There's always a different path."[18]
Meyer, a Mormon, acknowledges that her faith has influenced her work. In particular, she says that her characters "tend to think more about where they came from, and where they are going, than might be typical."[11] Meyer also steers her work from subjects such as sex, despite the romantic nature of the novels. Meyer says that she does not consciously intend her novels to be Mormon-influenced, or to promote the virtues of sexual abstinence and spiritual purity, but admits that her writing is shaped by her values, saying, "I don't think my books are going to be really graphic or dark, because of who I am. There's always going to be a lot of light in my stories."[19]
Origins and publishing history
Stephenie Meyer says that the idea for Twilight came to her in a dream on June 2, 2003. The dream was about a human girl, and a vampire who was in love with her but thirsted for her blood. Based on this dream, Meyer wrote the transcript of what is now chapter 13 of the book.[20] Despite having very little writing experience, in a matter of three months she had transformed that dream into a completed novel.[18] After writing and editing the novel, she signed a three-book deal with Little, Brown and Company for $750,000, an unusually high amount for a first time author.[21] Meyer's literary agent, Jodi Reamer of Writers House, discovered her only because the inexperienced assistant who received Meyer's original letter did not know that young adult books are supposed to be 40,000 to 60,000 words in length, not 130,000 words.[22] Megan Tingley, the Little, Brown editor who signed Meyer, said that halfway through the reading of the Twilight manuscript, she realized that she had a future bestseller in her hands.[23] The book was released in 2005.
Following the success of Twilight, Meyer expanded the story into a series with three more books: New Moon (2006), Eclipse (2007), and Breaking Dawn (2008). In its first week after publication, the first sequel, New Moon, debuted at #5 on the New York Times Best Seller List for Children's Chapter Books, and in its second week rose to the #1 position, where it remained for the next eleven weeks. In total, it spent over 50 weeks on the list.[24] After the release of Eclipse, the first three "Twilight" books spent a combined 143 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller List.[18] The fourth installment of the Twilight series, Breaking Dawn, was released with an initial print run of 3.7 million copies.[25] Over 1.3 million copies were sold on the first day alone, setting a record in first-day sales performance for the Hachette Book Group USA.[26] Upon the completion of the fourth entry in the series, Meyer indicated that Breaking Dawn would be the final novel to be told from Bella Swan's perspective.[27] In 2008 and 2009, the four books of the series claimed the top four spots on USA Today's year-end bestseller list, making Meyer the first author to ever achieve this feat.[28][29] The series then won the 2009 Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Book, where it competed against the Harry Potter series.[4]
Other books
Graphic novels
On March 16, 2010 Yen Press released Twilight: The Graphic Novel, Vol. 1, by artist Young Kim based on the first book in the series.[30] In February 2011, the graphic novel won the 2010 Gem Awards Best Manga of the Year.[31] The sequel, Twilight: The Graphic Novel, Vol. 2 was released on October 11, 2011[32] and followed Volume 1 in topping The New York Times Best Seller list for Hardcover Graphic Books in its first week.[33]
The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner
On March 30, 2010, Meyer revealed on her official website that she will be releasing a new novella in the series, The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner, which tells the story of a newborn vampire who appeared in Eclipse, on June 5, 2010.[1] An electronic version of the book was made available free from her web site, as well as in bookstores.[34]
On October 5, 2010, Little, Brown and Company announced that The Twilight Saga: The Official Illustrated Guide, a definitive encyclopedic reference for the saga including character profiles, outtakes, a conversation with Meyer, genealogical charts, maps and extensive cross-references with nearly 100 full color illustrations, was to be released on April 12, 2011, after many publication delays since 2008.[35] It debuted at #1 on The New York Times Best Seller list, where it stayed for three consecutive weeks,[36][37][38] and at #4 on the USA Today Best Seller list.[39]
Life and Death
On October 6, 2015, Little, Brown and Company released the Twilight Tenth Anniversary/Life and Death Dual Edition, which includes a nearly-400 page reimagining of the novel with Edward and Bella gender-swapped as Edythe and Beau. The reimagined novel has a more conclusive ending, seemingly precluding its continuation through the remaining three Twilight novels.[40]
Midnight Sun
In November 2008, Meyer announced plans to write a companion book to Twilight, titled Midnight Sun, which would be the same story told from Edward Cullen's perspective. She stated that the first novel was the only book that she planned to rewrite from Edward's point-of-view.[41] A rough draft of Midnight Sun's first twelve chapters was leaked on the internet in 2011. This prompted Meyer to place the rough draft of these twelve chapters on her website so that fans could read them for free, but placed the project on hold indefinitely stating that she had no plans in officially releasing the book.[42][43] Meyer also stated that if she were to continue writing followups to the original series, she would write from the perspective of either Leah Clearwater or Renesmee Cullen.[44]
In May 2020, Meyer announced that Midnight Sun will be released on August 4, 2020.[45]
The response to Twilight has been mixed. While the books have become immensely popular, they have also generated much controversy.
Positive reception
Twilight has gathered acclaim for its popularity with its target readers. The Times lauded it for capturing "perfectly the teenage feeling of sexual tension and alienation."[46] Other reviews described Twilight as an "exquisite fantasy",[47] and a "gripping blend of romance and horror".[48] Lev Grossman of Time wrote that the books have a "pillowy quality distinctly reminiscent of Internet fan fiction", but still praised the series, comparing it to The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter:
People do not want to just read Meyer's books; they want to climb inside them and live there... There's no literary term for the quality Twilight and Harry Potter (and The Lord of the Rings) share, but you know it when you see it: their worlds have a freestanding internal integrity that makes you feel as if you should be able to buy real estate there.[18]
The Seattle Post-Intelligencer called the book a "hot new teen novel",[49] Entertainment Weekly called Meyer "the world's most popular vampire novelist since Anne Rice",[50] The New York Times described Twilight as a "literary phenomenon",[51] and Matt Arado of Daily Herald noted that the Twilight books have become the "hottest publishing phenomenon since a certain bespectacled wizard cast his spell on the world."[52] The large and diverse online fan community of the series are often noted, sometimes even being called "cult-like".[53] Despite this, the series is often considered to have a wider appeal; Crystal Mack of Daily Herald said, "While teenage girls are the main audience, young boys and adults of both genders have also been swept up in the phenomenon."[54]
The author and the series' popularity are often compared with J. K. Rowling and Harry Potter.[18][55] Describing the fan following of the books, the Phoenix New Times wrote, "Meyer's fandom is reminiscent of Harry Potter mania."[23] The Daily Telegraph described Twilight as the "spiritual successor to Harry Potter".[56] Rebekah Bradford of The Post and Courier stated that the series has a "huge crossover appeal much like the Harry Potter books before them."[57] According to the Daily Telegraph, "Stephenie Meyer, in particular, has achieved incredible success across all the English-speaking nations and Europe and many will say that her Twilight series has filled the hole left by Harry Potter."[58] Meyer has responded to such comparisons, saying, "It's terribly flattering to be compared to her, but there's never going to be another J. K. Rowling; that's a phenomenon that's not gonna happen again", however noting that "you can compare my fans to her fans more easily [than me to her]. I do think that we both have people who are just really really enthusiastic, and will come miles to see you and be involved, and everybody really cares about our characters."[59]
Economically, the town of Forks, Washington, the setting for the Twilight series, has improved due to tourism from fans of the books.[60] Forks is visited by an average of 8,000 tourists per month,[61] and has been described as a "mecca for Twilighters".[62] In response to plans for the aging Forks High School to be renovated, Twilight fans have teamed up with Infinite Jewelry Co. and the West Olympic Peninsula Betterment Association to collect donations in an attempt to save the brick appearance or the building altogether.[63]
On November 5, 2019, the BBC News listed The Twilight Series on its list of the 100 most influential novels.[64]
Negative reception
The series has garnered some notoriety both over its literary substance and over the type of relationship portrayed in the books.
Many have derided the series as poor writing. While comparing Stephenie Meyer to J. K. Rowling, Stephen King said, "the real difference [between Rowling and Meyer] is that Jo Rowling is a terrific writer, and Stephenie Meyer can't write worth a darn. She's not very good."[65][66] However, King understood the appeal of the series, adding, "People are attracted by the stories, by the pace and in the case of Stephenie Meyer, it's very clear that she's writing to a whole generation of girls and opening up kind of a safe joining of love and sex in those books. It's exciting and it's thrilling and it's not particularly threatening because it's not overtly sexual."[66]
A quote from Robin Browne (though frequently misattributed to King or Andrew Futral)[67] negatively compares the Twilight and Harry Potter book series: "Harry Potter is about confronting fears, finding inner strength and doing what is right in the face of adversity… Twilight is about how important it is to have a boyfriend".[68]
Laura Miller of Salon.com wrote that "the characters, such as they are, are stripped down to a minimum, lacking the texture and idiosyncrasies of actual people", and said that "Twilight would be a lot more persuasive as an argument that an 'amazing heart' counts for more than appearances if it didn't harp so incessantly on Edward's superficial splendors."[69]
Elizabeth Hand of The Washington Post wrote, "Meyer's prose seldom rises above the serviceable, and the plotting is leaden."[70] The article, featured on the Yahoo! website Shine, also criticized the books and the author's final word on the series was, "Good books deal with themes of longing and loneliness, sexual passion and human frailty, alienation and fear just as the Twilight books do. But they do so by engaging us with complexities of feeling and subtleties of character, expressed in language that rises above banal mediocrity. Their reward is something more than just an escape into banal mediocrity. We deserve something better to get hooked on."[71][72]
The books have also been widely critiqued as promoting, normalizing, and idealizing an emotionally and physically abusive relationship. Sci-fi website io9 noted that Bella and Edward's relationship meets all fifteen criteria set by the National Domestic Violence Hotline for being in an abusive relationship.[73] L. Lee Butler of Young Adult Library Services Association commented how he was unusually hesitant to stock the Twilight books in his library because he felt the books were "robbing [teen girls] of agency and normalizing stalking and abusive behavior."[74] Many female-oriented and feminist media outlets, like Jezebel,[75] The Frisky,[76] and Salon.com have decried Twilight as promoting an anti-woman message.[77] Bitch magazine stated the novels "had created a new, popular genre of "abstinence porn", concluding that, "In reality, the abstinence message—wrapped in the genre of abstinence porn—objectifies Bella in the same ways that 'real' porn might. The Twilight books conflate Bella losing her virginity with the loss of other things, including her sense of self and her very life. Such a high-stakes treatment of abstinence reinforces the idea that Bella is powerless, an object, a fact that is highlighted when we get to the sex scenes in Breaking Dawn."[78] Ms. declared that Twilight promotes a physically abusive relationship and an anti-abortion message.[79] However, writer Angela Aleiss of Religion News Service said that contrary to popular opinion, Mormons do permit abortion when the mother's life is in danger. Bella's refusal to abort her fetus, along with her quick marriage and pregnancy, instead underscore the Mormon emphasis on family.[80]
Various psychology experts have come out in agreement with the assessment of the relationship as abusive.[81] Melissa Henson, Director of communication and public education for the Parents Television Council, stated:
To impressionable teens, domestic violence is almost romanticized. We've made great strides in recent years in clearly communicating the message that is never okay to hit a woman...Today, the hidden message in the entertainment consumed by many impressionable teens is that if he hits you, it is out of love – which is absolutely wrong.[82]
Many entertainment and media outlets have made similar comments on the abusive nature of Bella and Edward's relationship, including Entertainment Weekly,[83] Movieline,[84] and Mediabistro.com.[85]
Meyer has dismissed such criticisms, arguing both that the books center around Bella's choice, which she perceives as the foundation of modern feminism, and that Bella's damsel in distress persona is due only to her humanity.[86] Meyer also added, "Just because [Bella] doesn't do kung fu and she cooks for her father doesn't make her worthy of that criticism".[87] Shannon Simcox of The Daily Collegian has similarly dismissed the criticism surrounding Bella, commenting, "While Bella plays the perfect damsel in distress that gets herself into sticky situations, she is also very in control of herself. She chose to move to Forks and be in a new place; she constantly faces a bunch of people who want to suck the life right out of her, and she is constantly pleading to become a vampire, too, so she can take care of herself and Edward."[88][89]
Legal issues
In December 2010, professional singer Matthew Smith, known as Matt Heart, sued Summit Entertainment in the case Smith v. Summit Entertainment LLC. Smith's song "Eternal Knight" was posted on several websites accompanied by cover art which Summit claimed used its "Twilight" typeface mark. Smith won four of the seven causes of action, including his right to continue distribution of his copyrighted song, under the terms that he remove any reference to "Twilight" or the "Twilight Saga".[90]
Book challenges
The Twilight series made the number five spot on the American Library Association's (ALA) Top Ten List of the Most Frequently Challenged Books of 2009, for being "Sexually Explicit", "Unsuited to Age Group", and having a "Religious Viewpoint".[91]
Film adaptations
A screenplay for Twilight was written by Melissa Rosenberg and has been adapted into a film by Summit Entertainment. The film was directed by Catherine Hardwicke, with Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson in the leading roles of Isabella Swan and Edward Cullen, respectively. The movie was released in the United States on November 21, 2008.[92] Twilight: The Complete Illustrated Movie Companion, written by Mark Cotta Vaz, was released October 28.[93]
On November 22, 2008, following the box office success of Twilight, Summit Entertainment confirmed a sequel, called The Twilight Saga: New Moon, based on the second book in the series, New Moon.[94] The film was released on November 20, 2009. The Twilight Saga: New Moon was released on DVD and Blu-ray on March 20, 2010 through midnight release parties.[95] That same day, Summit Entertainment released Twilight in Forks, a documentary about the primary setting of the Twilight series, Forks, Washington.[96] Topics Entertainment released its own documentary about Forks and the Twilight series on March 16, called Forks: Bitten by Twilight.[97]
The third installment in the series, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, was released on June 30, 2010.[98][99] The fourth installment, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1 was released November 18, 2011. The fifth and last installment, The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 was released November 16, 2012.[100]
While the Twilight series has been a visible presence in many conventions such as ComicCon, there have also been many conventions whose main focus has been on the Twilight series (books and films). Some notable conventions have been Twicon and a series of "Official Twilight Conventions" that are being held by Creation Entertainment.[101]
Forever Twilight in Forks Festival
Every year around the week of September 13, hundreds of Twilight fans flock to the town of Forks, Washington for the Festival. The festival starts on different dates each year since 2015. It was originally called Stephenie Meyers Day and during September 13, which is her books fictional character Bella Swans birthday. The festival attracts fans to visit all the famous sites from the movie, Forks High School, Bella's House, The Cullen's house, Newton hardware store, La Push Beach, etc. Fans dress up as their favorite book characters.
Stephenie Meyers Day was created by The Forks City Council to celebrate Stephenie Meyers on September 13, 2007 for her novels and films. Ever since Meyers books were published the towns tourist population increases each year.
See also
- ^ a b "Twilight author Meyer to publish next book for free". The Australia Times. 31 March 2010. Retrieved 31 March 2010.
- ^ Oldenburg, Ann (October 6, 2010). "'The Twilight Saga: The Official Illustrated Guide' coming in April". USA Today. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
- ^ Anderson, Hephzibah (2009-04-03). "Obama's 'Dreams,' Meyer's Vampires Capture 'Nibbie' Book Awards". Bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2009-04-11.
- ^ a b "Twilight". Kids' Choice Awards. Nickelodeon. 2009. Retrieved 2009-04-23.
- ^ Twilight Exposed! The Inside Story of a Billion Dollar Franchise
- ^ Cadden, Mary (2008-01-15). "New star authors made, old ones rediscovered in 2008". USA Today. Retrieved 2008-01-16.
- ^ Grossman, Lev (2009-11-13). "It's Twilight in America". Time. Retrieved 2009-11-13.
- ^ Weintraub, Stephen 'Steve' (2010-11-03). "The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 Gets Released November 16, 2012". Collider. Archived from the original on December 8, 2010. Retrieved 2010-11-16.
- ^ a b Kirschling, Gregory (August 2, 2007). "Stephenie Meyer's 'Twilight' Zone". EW.com. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved December 11, 2008.
- ^ Meadows, Bob; Kari Lydersen (September 8, 2008). "Stephenie Meyer: Written in Blood". People. 70 (10). Retrieved December 11, 2008.
- ^ a b Trachtenberg, Jeffrey A. (August 10, 2007). "Booksellers Find Life After Harry In a Vampire Novel". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2008-12-11.
- ^ a b c Margolis, Rick (October 1, 2005). "Love at First Bite". Retrieved December 11, 2008.
- ^ "BookStories Interview with Stephenie Meyer". August 2006. Archived from the original on September 2, 2008. Retrieved December 12, 2008.
- ^ Horng, Eric (August 19, 2007). "Will New Bestseller 'Eclipse' Harry Potter?". ABC News. Retrieved 2008-12-12.
- ^ Proctor, Maurine (August 8, 2008). "Stephenie Meyer's Twilight". Meridian. Archived from the original on December 1, 2008. Retrieved December 11, 2008.
- ^ Why Stephenie Meyer is scared of fame
- ^ a b Karen Valby (November 5, 2008). "Stephenie Meyer: 12 of My 'Twilight' Inspirations". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved November 5, 2008.
- ^ a b c d e f Grossman, Lev (April 24, 2008). "Stephenie Meyer: A New J.K. Rowling?". Time. Retrieved December 12, 2008.
- ^ Mills, Tony-Allen (August 10, 2008). "News Review interview: Stephenie Meyer". The Times. London. Retrieved 2008-12-12.
- ^ Walker, Michael R. (2007). "A Teenage Tale With Bite". BYU Magazine. Retrieved 2008-08-01.
- ^ Cecelia Goodnow (2007-07-19). "Harry Potter and the Last Flight". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Retrieved 2009-04-27.
- ^ Rosman, Kathleen (22 January 2010). "The Death of the Slush Pile". Wall Street Journal. Dow Jones & Company. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
- ^ a b Irwin, Megan (July 11, 2007). "Charmed". Retrieved 2008-12-08.
- ^ "Best Sellers: Children's Books". The New York Times. August 12, 2007. Retrieved December 12, 2008.
- ^ Jacks, Brian (August 4, 2008). "'Breaking Dawn' Sells 1.3 Million Copies in One Day". MTV.com. Retrieved 2008-08-09.
- ^ Memmott, Carol (August 4, 2008). "Record-breaking sales for 'Breaking Dawn'". USA Today. Retrieved 2010-09-19.
- ^ Meyer, Stephenie (July 7, 2008). "Breaking Dawn". Retrieved December 12, 2008.
- ^ Bob Minzesheimer and Anthony DeBarros (2009-01-15). "Sellers basked in Stephenie Meyer's 'Twilight' in 2008". USA Today. Retrieved 2009-01-15.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
- ^ Debarros, Anthony; Cadden, Mary; DeRamus, Kristin; Schnaars, Christopher (January 6, 2010). "Best-Selling Books: The top 100 for 2009". USA TODAY. Retrieved May 27, 2011.
- ^ Jordan, Tina (2010-01-20). "Exclusive: Twilight: The Graphic Novel". Shelf-life.ew.com. Retrieved 2011-07-29.
- ^ "Young Kim's Twilight a big winner at the Gem Awards". Asia Pacific Arts. 2011-02-28.
- ^ "'Twilight: The Graphic Novel' Vol. 2". ICv2. May 23, 2011. Retrieved May 27, 2011.
- ^ Schuessler, Jennifer (October 23, 2011). "Best Sellers - The New York Times". The New York Times. Retrieved October 27, 2011.
- ^ "Twilight Series | The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner". StephenieMeyer.com. Retrieved 2011-07-29.
- ^ "The Twilight Saga: The Official Illustrated Guide". The Twilight Saga. October 5, 2011. Archived from the original on June 15, 2011. Retrieved May 27, 2011.
- ^ Schuessler, Jennifer (May 1, 2011). "Best Sellers - The New York Times". The New York Times. Retrieved May 27, 2011.
- ^ Schuessler, Jennifer (May 8, 2011). "Best Sellers - The New York Times". The New York Times. Retrieved May 27, 2011.
- ^ Schuessler, Jennifer (May 15, 2011). "Best Sellers - The New York Times". The New York Times. Retrieved May 27, 2011.
- ^ "USA TODAY's Best-Selling Books list". USA TODAY. April 21, 2011. Retrieved May 27, 2011.
- ^ Meyer, Stephenie (2015-10-06). Twilight Tenth Anniversary/Life and Death Dual Edition. Little, Brown Books for Young Readers. ISBN 9780316268394.
- ^ Meyer, Stephenie (November 21, 2008). "Twilight (part 3)". EW.com (Interview: Video). Interviewed by Nicole Sperlin. Retrieved December 12, 2008.
- ^ "Twilight series | Midnight Sun partial draft" (PDF). StephenieMeyer.com. Retrieved 2011-07-29.
- ^ Meyer, Stephenie (August 28, 2008). "Midnight Sun". Retrieved December 12, 2008.
- ^ Weiss, Sabrina Rojas (August 12, 2008). "'Twilight' Tuesday: Stephenie Meyer Answers Your Burning 'Breaking Dawn' Questions". MTV. Retrieved 2008-10-22.
- ^ Flood, Alison (May 4, 2020). "Stephenie Meyer announces new Twilight book Midnight Sun". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
- ^ Craig, Amanda (2006-01-14). "New-Age vampires stake their claim". London: The Times. Retrieved 2009-04-14.
- ^ "Editorial Reviews". Amazon. Retrieved 2009-04-14.
- ^ Piehl, Norah. "Twilight" (review). Teen reads. Retrieved 2009-04-14.
- ^ "'Twilight' takes place in Forks, Wash". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. 2005-10-04. Retrieved 2009-08-16.
- ^ Kirschling, Gregory (2007-08-02). "Stephenie Meyer's 'Twilight' Zone". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2009-04-14.
- ^ Bosman, Julie (2008-08-02). "Book Stokes Vampire Feverat Stores' Parties". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-08-16.
- ^ Arado, Matt (2008-07-29). "Hype, excitement building for 'Twilight' finale 'Breaking Dawn'". Daily Herald. Retrieved 2009-08-16.
- ^ Green, Heather (July 31, 2008). "The Online Fan World of the Twilight Vampire Books". BusinessWeek. Retrieved 2008-12-07.
- ^ Crystal Mack (2008-07-28). "Local libraries prepping for 'Twilight' finale". Daily Herald. Retrieved 2009-08-16.
- ^ Valby, Karen (July 18, 2008). "Stephenie Meyer: Inside the 'Twilight' Saga". Entertainment Weekly (1002). Retrieved December 7, 2008.
- ^ "Stephenie Meyer: the million-dollar vampire mom" (profile). London: The Daily Telegraph. 2008-11-27. Retrieved 2009-08-16.
- ^ Bradford, Rebekah (2008-11-23). "'Twilight' lightning for publishing". The Post and Courier. Retrieved 2009-08-16.
- ^ "Twilight vampire series author Stephenie Meyer hailed as new JK Rowling". London: Daily Telegraph. 2009-03-04. Retrieved 2009-08-16.
- ^ Carroll, Larry (April 10, 2008). "'Twilight' Author Stephenie Meyer Sees J.K. Rowling As Kindred Spirit". MTV Movies Blog. Retrieved December 7, 2008.
- ^ Ramirez, Marc (July 27, 2008). "Fans of "Twilight" vampire series pump new blood into Forks". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 2008-08-31.
- ^ O'Sullivan, Kay (2009-07-25). "Small English town becomes Twilight zone". Melbourne: The Age. Retrieved 2009-07-25.
- ^ Margolies, Jane (2009-09-22). "'Twilighters' Put Small Town in the Spotlight". The New York Times. Retrieved 2009-09-22.
- ^ Dickerson, Paige (September 12, 2008). "Twilight fans campaign to donate to help save brick building of Forks High School". Peninsula Daily News. Retrieved 2008-09-17.
- ^
"100 'most inspiring' novels revealed by BBC Arts". BBC News. 2019-11-05. Retrieved 2019-11-10.
The reveal kickstarts the BBC's year-long celebration of literature.
- ^ Tuitt, Brain (March 6–8, 2009), "It's great to be the King", USA Weekend, p. 7.
- ^ a b "Stephen King says 'Twilight' author 'can't write'", MSNBR, Today.com, February 3, 2009.
- ^ "Harry Potter Vs. Twilight". CKL Hotsheet. Snout.org. Retrieved 2 December 2013.
- ^ Futral, Andrew. "Andrew Futral, A Wonderful Man". Tumbler. Retrieved 2 December 2013.
- ^ Miller, Laura (August 30, 2007). "Touched by a vampire". Salon. Retrieved September 17, 2008.
- ^ Hand, Elizabeth (2008-08-10). "Love Bites". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2010-05-26.
- ^ "Oh No. Not Twi-Moms". Mommy Tracked. Archived from the original on 2011-07-14. Retrieved 2011-07-29.
- ^ "Oh, no, not Twi‐Moms", Astrology, Yahoo!, archived from the original on January 29, 2009.
- ^ McMillan, Graeme (2009-11-28). "Official: Twilight's Bella & Edward Are In An Abusive Relationship". i09. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
- ^ Butler, L Lee (2009-11-24). "Twilight and Abusive Relationships". ALA. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
- ^ Dodai Stewart (2009-11-30). "Twilight's Hero Is Abusive, Which Makes Him All The More Romantic". Jezebel. Retrieved November 21, 2011.
- ^ McDonell-Parry, Amelia (2009-11-30). ""Twilight" Love Story Has All The Components of An Abusive Relationship". The Frisky. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
- ^ Miller, Laura (2008-07-30). "Touched by a vampire". Salon. Retrieved 2009-12-03.
- ^ Christine Seifert. "Bite Me! (Or Don't)". bitchmagazine.org. Retrieved 2009-12-03.
- ^ Wilson, Natalie (2011-11-17). "Breaking Dawn: Part 1—An Anti-Abortion Message in a Bruised-Apple Package". MS magazine. Retrieved November 20, 2011.
- ^ Angela Aleiss, "Mormon Influence, Imagery Runs Deep through Twilight", Religion News Service, June 23, 2010.
- ^ Goodfriend, Wind (2011-11-09). "Relationship Violence in "Twilight"". Psychology today. Retrieved November 20, 2011.
- ^ McKay, Hollie (2011-05-31). "Hollywood Perpetuating Dangerous Images of Domestic Violence in Teen Romances, Experts Say". News. Fox. Retrieved November 20, 2011.
- ^ Gleiberman, Owen (2009-11-30). "Edward Cullen, stalker? Yes, but so is the hero of 'The Graduate'". EW. Retrieved 21 November 2011.
- ^ Karen Nicoletti (2011-11-14). "Ashley Greene on Breaking Dawn, Stephenie Meyer and Twilight's Accidental Domestic Abuse". Movie line. Retrieved November 21, 2011.
- ^ Hogan, Ron. "Is Team Edward Enabling Domestic Violence?". 2009-11-30. Media bistro. Retrieved November 21, 2011.
- ^ "New Moon: The Story". StephenieMeyer.com. Retrieved November 13, 2008.
- ^ Karen Valby (2009-09-29). "'Breaking Dawn': 13 Notes for Newcomers". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2009-11-21.
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- ^ https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/06/opinions/the-new-twilight-novel-we-dont-need-thomas/index.html
- ^ "Smith v. Summit Entertainment LLC". Scholar. Google. Retrieved 7 November 2011.
- ^ 21st century challenged books, ALA, 2009, archived from the original on 2013-02-23.
- ^ Weiss, Sabrina Rojas (August 15, 2008). "Did 'Harry Potter' Release Date Change To Avoid 'Twilight' Competition?". MTV. Retrieved 2008-09-09.
- ^ "Twilight: The Complete Illustrated Movie Companion". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2009-04-30.
- ^ Martin, Denise (November 22, 2008). "'Twilight' sequel 'New Moon' gets the greenlight from Summit". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2008-11-24.
- ^ Steve Weintraub (2010-01-15). "High Resolution DVD/Blu-ray Cover Art from The Twilight Saga: New Moon - Plus What Extras Are Included". Collider.com. Retrieved 2010-01-16.
- ^ Debi Moore (2010-01-26). "Twilight in Forks DVD Release Details". DreadCentral.com. Dread Central Media, LLC. Retrieved 2010-01-27.
- ^ Eriq Gardner (2010-02-10). "Summit sues to stop 'Twilight' documentary". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2010-02-11.
- ^ Joshua Rich (2009-02-20). "'Twilight': Third film in series, 'Eclipse,' set for June 2010". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on 2009-02-23. Retrieved 2009-02-20.
- ^ ""Eclipse" opening breaks record for biggest single-day wednesday opening". EW. com. Archived from the original on 2010-07-02. Retrieved 2010-07-02.
- ^ "THE TWILIGHT SAGA: BREAKING DAWN Part 2 Gets Released November 16, 2012". Retrieved November 28, 2012.
- ^ "Twilight AZ", Creation ent, archived from the original on June 19, 2010
External links
|Wikimedia Commons has media related to Twilight series.


text:
Business owner beaten inside his electronics store
Victim likely to suffer permanent injury
A small-business owner was in the hospital Tuesday night after being found beaten inside his northeast Albuquerque shop.
Police are searching for whoever attacked 57-year-old Fernando "Ferny" Romero and beat him so badly inside Fernys Electronics, on Yucca Street off of Central Avenue, that he will likely have permanent physical injuries.
"I know him from 'hi' and' bye' and stuff like that," said a neighbor. "He was a really quiet man. Kept to himself."
Neighbors of the store were saddened to hear Romero was in University of New Mexico Hospital. Police said Romero's son-in-law came to check on him Monday night when he didn't come home from work.
Detectives said they believe Romero was a victim of a robbery that turned violent. His truck was taken in the incident.
"I've been here about two years, and I haven't heard of anything like that happening around here," the neighbor said.
Romero's family was at his bedside Tuesday night.
No suspect descriptions have been released, and APD is investigating to see if anything other than the truck was stolen.
Anyone with information is asked to call 242-COPS.


text:
|This article is a stub, an article too short to provide more than rudimentary information about a subject. You can help the Game of Thrones Wiki by expanding it.
Forbes KB is the stage name of Forbes Keir-Bucknall (born 29 May 1965), a London based Scottish actor. He has appeared in numerous movies and TV series, including the Michael Caine movie Harry Brown, where he appeared alongside fellow Game of Thrones actors Iain Glen, Liam Cunningham and David Bradley.
In Game of Thrones he is playing the role of Lorren. He was announced in the role on 19 August 2011.[1] He joined the cast as a guest star in the second season.
Guest starring
|Season Two credits
|The North Remembers
|The Night Lands
|What Is Dead May Never Die
|Garden of Bones
|The Ghost of Harrenhal
|The Old Gods and the New
|A Man Without Honor
|The Prince of Winterfell
|Valar Morghulis
See also
Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted.


text:
Will Smith
"I don't like being bored"
Will Smith
He doesn't want to save the world in every film, but somebody has to do it. Will Smith talks about heroes, work and family – and why he doesn't want a tattoo.
Mr. Smith, You've saved the world numerous times, at least on screen, and in the new fantasy action film Bright, you once again help humanity avoid the abyss. Are some people just born heroes?
That's a good question, but I don't really have a good answer. And I don't usually walk around protecting elves as I do in this movie (laughs). But I do like the idea that some people are born to be heroes.
Does our world constantly need new superheroes?
I think so, because it's such a saturated superhero world out there. It's nice to throw in some guys who think a little bit differently. I think a new twist always makes it fun.
Is that what you need to stay interested in your work?
Absolutely. I don't want to get bored, I want to face new challenges. That's important for me, it keeps my engine running.
In Hollywood, you're regarded as a right Mr. Charming who never utters a mean word and is always in a good mood. Is that the real you?
That's real! Every person has a choice when they wake up in the morning. You can go through the day with a positive attitude and be constructive and problem-solving, or you can be negative and in a bad mood. I chose the first option. And so far, I can't complain too much. It's been a pretty good ride.
And it's not like you're trying to improve your street cred, either. Is it true that during the filming of Suicide Squad, Margot Robbie tried to persuade you to get a tattoo?
Yes, her trailer became "Robbie's tattoo parlor." Not everybody got a tattoo, though. I don't have any ink on me, and I am in my forties now, so I felt it wasn't right. And anyway, I would have needed to ask my wife first …
How do you prepare for a part? Are you a fan of method acting, the technique where you have to immerse yourself totally in a character's psychology and personality?
I did it one time for the movie Six Degrees of Separation, but the whole thing backfired. When the movie was over I couldn't get out of the role. My character was in love with Stockard Channing's character, and due to my method approach, I couldn't just turn off my love for her. It was heartbreaking. Ever since then I have stayed away from method acting.
So how do you prepare now?
I'll take a week or something like that where I don't break character at all. I do it at home with my family. They understand what I am doing and don't call me crazy. Then I let it go. This usually works.
Your whole family is involved in the entertainment industry. How do you feel about this?
My wife and I never pushed our kids into entertainment, but it has always been around us: movies, TV, scripts, music. I guess it was just a natural progression for my kids to get into what we were doing.
It doesn't come naturally to do something mean when I have the opportunity to do something good
You normally play the nice guy, but recently you've started playing more unsavory characters. Did that feel very odd?
It wasn't easy in the beginning. It doesn't come naturally to me to do something mean when I have the opportunity to do something good. But I've gotten interested in parts that are a little darker.
Do fame and fortune change a person's personality?
I think it depends on what kind of person you are. Fame is like altitude. If you go up a mountain there is less oxygen. Some people can acclimate and breathe and move up gradually. Others can't handle it. They can't breathe anymore, and so you start seeing strange behavior. Fame also burns everything in your life. It puts heat on your family, on your friends and relationship. It's difficult to handle at times.
What was it like for you, climbing that mountain?
I had time to acclimate and fame came to me gradually. The slower pace helped me to keep breathing, and to stay normal, basically. The kids that rise to fame today don't have that kind of time anymore. Due to social media, they just shoot up to fame and have to deal with it. I call it altitude sickness, and it really kicks in a lot faster.
What about the pressure: Is it stressful being famous?
Oh, absolutely. There's lots of pressure. And you have to be able to enjoy it in this business. Otherwise, you are doomed. By the way, fame and money are two separate things. There are a lot of people with money that are not famous. The worst of it, though, is to be famous and have no money. That's just wrong (laughs).
How do you handle personal setbacks?
I am fortunate in being able to leave a lot out there on the set.
A while back I lost my dad, and I was shooting a movie at the same time. In that movie I played a guy that was really sad. I didn't have to play that part, I was sad, really sad. I thought about death a lot.
Are you afraid of aging?
No, I'm not afraid. For over 30 years I've been in the center of the storm. It's time for others to get the attention and that's fine. It's nice to reach a point in your life where you feel a certain satisfaction in what you have accomplished. I think I've reached that point.


text:
Jimquisition: Why the Wii U May Have Already "Won" Next-gen
Pages 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 NEXT
Why the Wii U May Have Already "Won" Next-gen
Reactions to the Wii U among hardcore gamers have been mixed at best, downright cynical at worst.
Ah, the Expo. I think Jim posing as Jesus in the Last Supper posing is the most memorable part of it, besides Yatzee declaring his love for Silent Hill 2's psychological horror.
Holy shit, that spaz-out at the end was funnier than the one he did in the Operation Rainfall ep. I would've had no problem with Jim doing that for a full 5 minutes.....does that make me a horrible person?
I think this new challenge of smartTVs is also the reason Nintendo returned to the "core" market. Why would casual gamers buy a console when they can get their flash and facebook games over the TV now?
Not if you are enjoying it ironically, lol
Personally i can´t see any reason to buy a Wiiu, Atleast not at launch. I normally don´t buy a console until there´s atleast 10-20 games i´d really like to play. At the moment i think Bayonetta 2 is the only game that is even remotely interesting to me, which isn´t already available or "soon to be" available on my ps3. Just don´t see much reason to throw my money at them.
It would get a bit more interesting if they announced downloadable GC games, and about 20 new ips. I´m just a bit concerned that it will end up being a Ps3/xbox360 with a smaller library of games...
I am shocked and appalled. What a shameful waste of perfectly good tomato sauce :P
Oh and yeah the points on the Wii U are an interesting way of looking at the next gen.
Jim Sterling, first teaching people at the Expo how to drink properly, now teaching us what to do with ketchup. Thank God for Jim, indeed.
T-T i didn't get to bask in the glow of Jim's awesome ....
yes the people whining about Bayonetta 2 being a WiiU exclusive are being silly given the alternative, which is not having the game at all.
as for the WiiU it self? its already the most interesting system of the three. why? at bare minimum i expect the PS4 to be a hardware upgrade, and the 720, meh, might as well not exist for all I'll care
I could have guessed Jim wouldn't think much of the outrage over Bayonetta 2, but I didn't think he'd condim ent so strongly.
Smart TVs still aren't very close to providing a real hardcore gaming experience. They will, at most, have minigamey little app type games along the lines of Angry Birds or all the cheeseball Kinect games. That's the kind of gameplay the WiiU is likely to offer with a lot of its titles.
So how can the WiiU "win" when it's competing with the Smart TVs while the next entries from MS and Sony will be the hardcore traditional consoles we've come to know and love?
WiiU is trying to take on tablets, consoles and smart TVs all at once while doing nothing to appeal to someone that wants all three. Not to mention the buyers remorse it has to overcome with millions of dusty Wiis out there.
I'm betting on Microsoft in this round.
You might say the whole thing has him seeing red.
I'd never heard of smart TVs until now. I guess it's obvious thing, but that motion control looks awkward.
I don't really care about Bayonetta 2 or Wii U, but after thinking about it I guess it's a good idea.
I wish I could have meet Jim
@back on topic
what Jim spouted about in this video is very true. Why use xbox360 for netflix when I use the built-in apps on my smart tv/smart phone or netflix dvd/blu ray dvd I get in the mail
Spend what 10 bucks month instead of 60 plus the subscription for that service. This makes me fell not to play XBL at times at least with PS plus Sony gives you free games and discounts. While MS got through bunch hoops to get jack shit.
I ... oh God ... oh fucking God.
The thing is, Jim, Nintendo has done this same thing in the past. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't This doesn't sound like a canny and insightful move by Nintendo so much as the occasional stroke of luck by a bunch of people who more or less flail around randomly.
The tablet as a playing screen is a nice one though.
It's also worth noting the slow adoption of new technologies. Smart TVs are the new gimmick which may or may not catch on, but it will be a qhile before their ubiquity threatens Sony and Microsoft even if they do. This makes it highly unlikely that it will be a threat to the upcoming sequels to the PS3 and 360. Case in point, DVD is still the leading physical medium for video, and it took the artificial death of VHS to make it dominant (and then only several years after the fact did it happen). HDTVs, what the current gens from Sony and Microsoft were built around, are just now getting to a reasonable saturation point. New gadgets may not be enoough to push these TVs, especially with an embedded userbase of Sony and Microsoft fanboys and fangirls.
Not that I particularly want to defend Microsoft's practices of putting social media and stuff ahead of gaming, but these days anything released without that sort of thing gets crapped on. It's kind of like mu;tiplayer in video games. Even if a game is 50 hours of the best storytelling ever, it will probably lose some points for not having team death match. sure, it seems stupid, but really, it seems to be what people demand. Just like they freaked out over whether the current gen could play DVDs, though DVD had become so ubiquitous at the point of launch that most microwaves come with DVD functionality (and are moving to Netflix).
I'm kind of hoping they have to break from their subscription model, though.
What.. the.. I don't even... what?
Firstly, didn't you miss the point that it's actually Sony and MS pushing into the all round arena, not Nintendo, secondly and I speak for a lot of Wii owners out there... what buyers remorse? Seriously, I dropped a small amount of money for a machine I whip out when friends are around or for playing games like No More Heroes and Red Steel 2. Like... seriously... I don't even... where do these assumptions about Hardcore gamers come from?
Can we have a new definition please? Something like.. I don't know... you're only truly hardcore if you remember your tape deck chewing your Commodore/Spectrum games? Just something that prevents the ravening mob pointing at something and screaming; GREEEWWAAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAARRRRGGGGHHHHH WHAT ABOUT THE HARDCORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1111!!!!!!!! THAT'S NOT FOR THE HARDCORE!!!!!111!!!!! WHY DO YOU HATE THE HARDCORE!!!!!!111!!!!!
Seriously... are you all like the Borg, some kind of hive mind who all instinctively know what all the "Hardcore" gamers think... cos seriously, as a hard core gamer, I ain't feeling part of the collective.
wow... had no idea this argument was even out there!
thanks for the heads up jim.
Also, love the tomato on their face sympbolism
announced almost a month ago, they have 5 already, and backwards compatibility to Wii means it already has a bigger library of games (that actually get more consistent high scores from reviewers, and players then PS3/Xbox360)
Cool, i only heard it as a rumour somewhere, but cool :D. The wii thing is the other selling point to me, but since i already own a wii, i see no reason to purchase a Wiiu, until my machine breaks. Maybe at that point, it will have more games, i defineately hope that it ends up with a huge library af exclusive games. But i´m a bit sceptical as Nintendo has underwhelmed ever since N64, they say that they want to do better, but it would be nice to see confirmation that they have succeeded.
It's what I do,
That bit of goop dripping off at the end was perfectly timed.
I think its a good point Jim raises that the Wii U doesn't try to overreach...
I have an uncle who's tv already does web-browsing and youtube streaming quite well. He'd never buy a console to enable the same feature.
plus the 'play on console but via the handheld' - smart idea IMO. Relegate the computing to the console, while the handheld device provides the interface.
For me region free system is what matters. That's why I stick to Sony systems, although they still have a long way to go with region free DLC... Steam is the best here, you get the code for particular region version, you get this version. Retail and digital working together. As for Sony...
See the thing is it has been said that about 40% of people buying an XBox360 do so for XBLA, and then later realize "I have this system, and I can buy game disks for it", and if they can get the same, or similar experience on just their tv that means that Microsoft loses 40% of current market share, and the key reason that they even sell so many systems is because they are using the Apple ADHD off riddlen system, and keep releasing "new models" that don't actually have that great of upgrades to the system (because of development for it).
Microsoft, or Sony back away from the thing that gives them more profit then the selling of their consoles, and with more consistency.
I love ketchup. It goes well with everything.
Holy fucking shit! It's the motherfucking Telebots. That is all I have to say.
Christ, I'd repressed the memory of those *things*.
Fuck the next gen consoles, what's that cartoon you showed clips of?! I know I saw that as a kid but can't quite remember, now it's going to bother me because I don't even remember enough to search for it...
Help me, Jim Sterling, You're my only hope...
What the fuck has this industry come to? A gaming system that emphasizes..you know..fucking gaming is considered a novel idea? Goddamnit this industry is so full of shit, it's unbelievable.
Also it appears they were called Telebugs. Well, it was a long time ago and my brain has taken a beating over the years.
Jim's entire point in this video was that Microsoft and Sony are pushing for the "minigamey little app type games" with the way they're moving things on the Xbox 360 and PS3 right now, and if they continue in that direction instead of reeling it back toward the actual games, they're going to be competing directly with televisions that can provide the same experience without the need for a multi-hundred dollar peripheral. Which I agree with. I don't use my 360 very often, and I never use the online regardless, but I quite like my PS3 and would prefer that it keeps being fairly easy for me to access the games I want to play instead of being bogged down behind tons of Netflix or Twitter or Facebook apps which I neither want nor need.
Off topic, anyone remember HD-DVD?
...Didn't think so :D
The more I hear about the WiiU the more I like it; not-great experiences with the Wii aside (pretty much only ever had 3 games for it, and they were the only ones I wanted, although I never touched the online store...).
Either way the whole 'social media creeping in to Xbox Live' thing has been really rubbing me up the wrong way for quite a while now.
Wait... Jim had an end credit zinger?
Is this the first? Or have I missed others?
Huh... well while all this maynot affect me much at all as I'm going ot stick with the PC for as long as it continues to be a viable platform, that is an interesting turnabout on conventional wisdom.
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There are so many stories on FORCE and so many members willing to share their experiences. We hope these profiles can help you connect with our community and get advice from people like you!
Age: 47
Stage 1 IDC in 2009, lumpectomy, chemo, radiation. Aunt diagnosed with stage 4 Ovarian 2012, tested pos for BRCA2 Nov 2013. Surgeries scheduled 2014
I'm more than my risk… some fun facts about myself:
Favorite book / authors:
Favorite TV / Movies:
Favorite Song:
If you'd like to add your own story to our Voices of FORCE pages, please complete our Voices of FORCE form.
Hoped my journey with cancer was over after treatment in 2009. Tumor was triple negative so no follow up meds (tamoxifen, etc). No history of breast or ovarian cancer in my direct family until my Aunt was diagnosed with Ovarian and she came up pos for BRCA2 mutation. Rest of my family is resistant to getting tested-I have several female first cousins and a brother with a daughter.
I scheduled surgery to remove ovaries and uterus for early 2014 but am struggling with the decision to have a double mastectomy. Not sure why, I think it may be related to my family thinking I am overreacting. My oncologist is being very persuasive, however, and I am likely going to schedule for summer 2014. I am nervous about the possibility of multiple surgeries but have a very supportive husband and parents who will be supportive.
Get genetic testing earlier, should probably have had the mastectomy instead of lumpectomy in 2009. No one recommended testing since I didn't have a family history and didn't have any children.
Reading other women's stories has already helped me find peace with my decisions regarding surgery.


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For the last few months, people have been asking me sell the Red "High Life" Tank Tops that I have been wearing in my YouTube videos. Well the time has finally come! We will be taking orders for the Red "High Life" Tank Tops for ONE WEEK ONLY!!!! I know some of you did not … Continue reading
Top 10 Ten Books for Health, Wealth, and Success
For a long time, people have been asking me to put together a list of my top 10 favorite books. I read it least two books per week and I had been doing that for a number of years. Out of the hundreds of books I have read, here is the list (in descending order) … Continue reading
NEW Limited Edition "HIGH LIFE" Tank Tops (Sold Out)
"There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle." -Albert Einstein Update: Shirts are now SOLD OUT! Thank You! Einstein's words are what "High Life" is all about. Looking at your life through a perspective where … Continue reading
5 CRAZY Ways to Naturally Increase Testosterone
Testosterone is a hormone that is secreted in both men and women. It is responsible for sex drive, as well as protein processing for muscle mass development and strength. The more Testosterone you have, the easier it will be for you to gain muscle and burn fat. In this post I will go over 7 unconventional … Continue reading
Limited Time Offer (Tonight Only)
If you are anything like me, you stay looking for a competitive edge, so you can break your old records and squeeze as much life out of each day as possible. That's why, in the spirit of TODAY I have not one, but three announcements. First, I am giving away my best selling ebook … Continue reading
5 Proven Methods for Gaining Self Discipline
"We must all suffer one of two things: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret or disappointment." –Jim Rohn. Let's start with a statistic – 67% of Americans who have gym membership never even use them, that's 2 out of 3 people. Now an average gym membership costs about $58 according to the … Continue reading
3 Books That Will Make You Stronger (Part 1)
"If you go home with somebody, and they don't have books, don't f*ck 'them!" ― John Waters Bill Gates and Warren Buffett are the top two richest men in America. In an recent interview they were both asked "if you could have one superpower what would it be?". And without hesitation both of them agree that … Continue reading


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Here's what you'll listen to on this October Beats by @thursplay : MIKA's "Origin of Love" from his latest album of same name, opening the playlist, followed by the beautiful "Let it Go" song by Fossil Collective and by the song "Sooner or Later" by New York electronic music duo called MNDR.
Still on this playlist: meet L.A. based indie folk band Milo Greene with their song "1957", followed by Wild Belle's song "Take me Away". Find the new releases by swedish band Turn Off Your Television featured in this playlist with their new song "My Apple Tree (Thank you William Blake)" and norwegian band Casa Murilo with their new song "In for the Kill".
What were your favorite releases during October?
Share it with us today on Twitter using the hashtag #thursplay.
Enjoy it!
Originally posted on Spotify Blog.


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Mark Thomas
Chilaquiles en Salsa de Chipotle
- Yield
- Makes 6 servings
- Canola oil (for frying)
- 18 5- to 6-inch-diameter white corn tortillas, each cut into 8 triangles
- Chipotle Sauce
- 3 large fresh epazote sprigs, stemmed, or 3 fresh oregano sprigs
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
- 1 cup crema mexicana* or sour cream
- 1 cup crumbled queso fresco
- 1/2 cup chopped white onion
- Pour enough oil into large deep skillet to reach depth of 1 inch. Attach deep-fry thermometer; heat oil over medium-high heat to 350°F. Add 12 tortilla triangles at a time to oil. Fry until golden, turning occasionally, about 1 minute. Using slotted spoon, transfer chips to paper towels; cool.
- Heat Chipotle Sauce in another large deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add epazote; simmer 2 minutes. Season with salt; stir in chips. Immediately divide among 6 plates. Top with cilantro, then crema, queso fresco, and onion.
- *Cultured Mexican cream with a slightly nutty flavor and consistency of thin sour cream.


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Missouri Signs 20 Members to 2013 Recruiting Class
COLUMBIA -- The Missouri Tigers signed 20 players to the 2013 recruiting class on Wednesday. Ten of the new Mizzou members come from the Show-Me State including two from the Mid-Missouri area. Jefferson City linebacker Joey Burkett and Rock Bridge defensive lineman A.J. Logan decided to stay close to home.
According to Rivals, Missouri currently has the lowest recruiting class in the Southeastern Conference. Eleven SEC schools have recruiting classes ranked in the Top 25 with nine in the Top 20 and six in the Top 10. Defending national champion Alabama has signed the best recruiting so far this year.
Running back Ezekiel Elliott, who is the top recruit in the state of Missouri, verbally committed to Ohio State on April 1, 2012 but visited the Tigers on January 25, 2013. The St. Louis native from John Burroughs High School made his official announcement on Wednesday, chosing to stay committed to Ohio State.


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SolidWorks Premium 201220 Sep, 2011 By: Bill Fane
First Look Review: Latest release adds cost analysis, motion optimization, and faster handling of very large assemblies.
In the current economy, a picture is only worth about 200 words. If you want the full 1,000 words, you must do a lot more than just present a pretty picture.
Manufacturing companies can no longer survive if designers only produce engineering drawings of their ideas; now they also must conduct detailed analyses to ensure they are producing an optimal, manufacturable design.
Today's engineering software market offers full-featured 3D design and analysis packages that allow designers to analyze factors such as stress, flow, mold design, and environmental impact and almost instantly see results of changes to the model.
SolidWorks, a 3D design solution from Dassault Systemès SolidWorks, is one such comprehensive package, and SolidWorks 2012, announced in early September, adds even more features that give manufacturing companies insight into the overall viability of a product design. For this review, I looked at the Premium edition.
What's New for 2012
One of the most important new analysis tools in SolidWorks 2012 is Costing. With it, you can analyze sheet-metal or machined parts to estimate their manufacturing cost. You can experiment with different materials, different processes (for example, water jet vs. laser cutting), and different part configurations.
SolidWorks 2012 can help you estimate the manufacturing cost of a single sheet-metal or machined part (top, with estimated cost per part enlarged for clarity) or an assembly.
The potential problem here, as with any analysis, is the infamous GIGO (garbage in, garbage out). The results you get are no better than the raw data, specifications, and properties that you put in. SolidWorks 2012 ships with typical values for material properties and the like, but it also lets you populate templates with values that are specific to your situation.
Motion Optimization. A high percentage of assemblies involve relative motions between components. Previous releases of SolidWorks Premium already included motion analysis functionality, but SolidWorks 2012 adds new Motion Optimization tools. This is best explained with an example.
The sample mechanism consists of a V-shaped trough containing a spring and a marble, and a tin can target. The object of the game is to compress and release the spring so the marble lands in the target can with the minimum impact force. You can use a stiffer spring with less compression or a softer spring with a longer stroke. Gravity affects the trajectory, of course.
Motion Optimization works through a range of values for each variable. Some combinations cause the marble to fall short, while others make it overshoot. More than one solution might hit the target, but with different forces. Motion Optimization helps you find the Goldilocks combination that is "just right."
You can imagine how long it would take to complete such an exercise manually. Now, consider optimizing a medical couch to get the minimum actuator force. SolidWorks 2012 quickly processed 15 iterations to arrive at the optimal values for scissor length, height, and piston offset.
New Motion Optimization in SolidWorks 2012 can help save time and improve results by automatically analyzing multiple design iterations to determine which is best. In this example, the software modifies the features of an adjustable medical couch to attain the minimum actuator force.
Large Design Review. As computers have become faster and more powerful, users have created bigger and more complex assembly models. However, much of the speed and power of newer computers has been sucked up by ever-larger operating systems and ever-more-complex graphics. As a result, the increase in power has not yielded a corresponding increase in large-model performance.
All engineering software vendors have been working on this problem, and each has come up with its own solution. SolidWorks 2012's answer is the Large Design Review functionality.
Large Design Review very quickly opens an assembly in what is effectively a read-only mode. Among other things, you can navigate the FeatureManager design tree, measure distances, create and cap cross-sections (only on the three standard planes), plus hide and show components and create, edit, and play back walk-throughs.
It has limitations in that you cannot see or modify constraints and you cannot change the properties of components. You can open components in Large Design Review mode and edit them, but editing is not within the context of the assembly.
Feature Freeze. Very complex single parts, such as the engine block for a V12 engine, can begin to suffer from the same performance issues as a very large assembly. SolidWorks 2012 adds a new Feature Freeze capability to help overcome this. When you invoke it, a Feature Freeze bar appears in the FeatureManager design tree. You can drag this bar up and down the design tree to place it where you want. With it in place, you can't edit the features above the bar, and Rebuild only rebuilds features below the bar.
This can greatly speed up rebuilds of a complex part when you are working on a feature far down the tree, and it can also prevent unintentional changes to features above the bar.
It's the Little Things that Count
The headline-grabbing features in a new release are not always the ones that make a difference in your day-to-day work. SolidWorks is always evaluating how its software is used and listening to user comments. As a result, each new release includes hundreds of changes throughout the program.
The Pin/Unpin option in SolidWorks 2012 is a prime example. Imagine working on a project and continually jumping back and forth between the same few files. To save browsing time, you use the Recent list in the File menu. This works well until someone asks you a question that requires opening a file from a different project. As you return to the project at hand — rats! The file you want has dropped off the Recent list.
SolidWorks 2012 solves this by letting you pin a recent file so it rises to the top of the Recent list and stays there until you unpin it. You can pin several files, so you can always have quick access to your current work, even if other projects intervene.
And so it goes. Very few people use every feature in a program as big and powerful as SolidWorks Premium 2012, but no matter how you use it, I'm sure you'll find several enhancements that will help with your daily work.


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05 May, 2013
A night to rememberWhat a great night - songs from Boy and October, interspersed with several from the forthcoming War album. An Cat Dubh and The Electric Co. made the hairs on your neck stand up. The band were in great form, with Bono creating a party atmosphere by extending 11 O'Clock Tick Tock into We Wish You a Merry Christmas and making the crowd join in! A chaotic second rendition of I Will Follow, where the band seemd to each do their own things, finished off a night to remember. To quote a song from 27 years later - 'Magnificent'.


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Acura Reviews
2018 Acura Reviews
* Prices shown do not include taxes, license or a $940 destination and handling charge. Actual vehicle/accessory costs, labor and installation vary. Dealers set their own prices. Please consult your selected dealer. Vehicle shown may differ from actual vehicle to be sold.
**Based on 2016 EPA mileage ratings. Use for comparison purposes only. Your actual mileage will vary, depending on how you drive and maintain your vehicle, driving conditions, battery pack age/condition (hybrid models only) and other factors. ADW HWERE


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Homer's Iliad is one of the most famous works of Bronze Age Greece. Its date and composition, however, is one of the academically controversial. Recently, a group of researchers at the University of Reading applied the same techniques to researching genetic evolution (using the rate of genetic mutation) to the evolution of language. Using this method, they determined that the Iliad was written approximately 762 BCE +/- 50 years; a date consistent with historical theories.
"Languages behave just extraordinarily like genes.It is directly analogous. We tried to document the regularities in linguistic evolution and study Homer's vocabulary as a way of seeing if language evolves the way we think it does. If so, then we should be able to find a date for Homer." — Mark Pagel, Ph.D.
To learn more about the process and extensive findings, see the article published at Inside Science, "Geneticists Estimate Publication Date of the 'Iliad'" or the paper, published in the Journal of BioEssays.


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InformationSpan helps enterprises develop and deliver value from their investment in analyst/research/advisory services (you can see why we coined the phrase "insight services").
Our new online self-assessment enables you to see how far along the road you are. Visit us at informationspan.com and click the link in the news item, or on the Enterprise page; or visit http://tinyurl.com/bhmfvs.


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"Melrose Place's" bitch – Amanda Woodward – makes her return tonight and she's also set to reunite with three of her original co-stars for an upcoming scene, Access Hollywood has confirmed.
A rep for the CW drama confirmed that Heather Locklear (Amanda), Daphne Zuniga (Jo), Josie Bissett (Jane) and Thomas Calabro (Michael) will all return to the show's iconic courtyard to shoot a scene together.
VIEW THE PHOTOS: First Look: Heather Locklear's Return To 'Melrose Place!'
The mini original co-star reunion will take place in an episode set to air in early 2010.
In other "Melrose" news previously reported on AccessHollywood.com, a source told Access that "Cougar Town's" Nick Zano might be headed to the CW series. Nick could serve as a potential replacement for Colin Egglesfield's character, Auggie, who is being written out of the show.
VIEW THE PHOTOS: Heather Locklear: From 'TJ Hooker' to 'Melrose'
According to Entertainment Weekly, if the talks go through, Nick is likely to play a doctor who crosses paths with Dr. Michael Mancini and Stephanie Jacobsen's character, Lauren Yung.
Related Content from AccessHollywood.com:
VIEW THE PHOTOS: 'Melrose Place': Then And Now
PLAY IT NOW: Inside Katie Cassidy's 'Melrose Place' Wardrobe
PLAY IT NOW: Preview Clips: Heather Locklear Returns To 'Melrose Place' (Airs: Nov. 17, 2009)
MORE ACCESS ON THESE TOPICS: Melrose Place - Nick Zano - Heather Locklear - The CW - TV


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Reviewed by Linda Lerner
In a book that spans forty years of a man's life, we are given a close up of the American soul by this San Francisco poet whose vision ranges across a country he both loves and mourns. "This Land is Not My Land," (1996) a collection of poems dealing with three years he served in Panama during the mid fifties, encapsulates themes that recur throughout this unique collection. "Panama city could have been / any slum city in America;" disillusioned with the corruption he sees there, he views the price paid for not fitting in, being poor, black, elderly and refusing to "Buy...into the system" here as well.
"I have watched / listened / observed / only to return home/ and close the door" behind which he shares his revelations in poems written in a deceptively simple style that startle us with the astuteness of his insights. The book is divided chronologically, beginning with Carmel Clowns (1970) in which we meet the poet in Golden Gate Park picking a flower only to look up into the face of a part-time policeman, the first of many authority figures. Winans tries to ignore him and to "Concentrate on the flower" as the poet throughout his life tries to ignore the dishonesty and hypocrisy he sees in the literary world, paralleled in America, and focus on being true to himself, to his own values.
This is a poet who has never felt comfortable with being called a poet, who would have preferred being blessed with "the skills of a union carpenter" and yet the contradiction: "Poetry and writing have kept me going all these years" he writes in his introductory essay. This dichotomy is at the heart of this collection: how to keep from falling into the American literary success trap and yet be successful for the work one does.
For forty years he's walked the same streets of San Francisco, of North Beach, "stoned on words" observing the misfits, those who've never quite made it into corporate America, people struggling to get by, to keep the demons at bay, walked out of the 20th century into the 21st. where everything and nothing changed.
Crazy John (from Tales of Crazy John, 1975) is a local poet who symbolically embodies them along with poets like Bob Kaufman, Jack Micheline, Bukowski, Kenneth Patchen, A.D. Levya among others, whose visionary genius puts them outside the mainstream and labeled crazy. He's the guy whose laugh "never failed to frighten the establishment" who can't handle a simple job, who "invented his own cloud" the guy who "could be seen / dancing a raindance only / flowers understood." Doctors locked him up in a padded cell, then "with unbelieving eyes (watched) him / create buterflies / from building blocks/ then turn into a frog / forced to devour his creation / in order to survive." Crazy John represents those poets, jazz musicians, artists who've kept Winans going, helped him to believe in what he is doing, to keep his sanity.
The influence of LiPo, in the book's title, can be seen in some of the latter poems where Winans has written several Haikus, and some shorter imagistic poems along those lines as in "Rain Poem." In LiPo on my mind" The poet expresses a kinship with this Chinese poet when he concludes saying, "I mark time / like LiPo / mixing words with / wine."
As he does, he still hears "the shrill cry of dead / jazz greats ring out", and in North Beach sees "Ghosts at every bar stool" recollecting a time when it "was alive/with creativity."
There are the ghosts of women he's loved, poets, and Jazz musician friends who've passed on. Tribute is paid to them in his very moving poem, "I Kiss the Feet of Angels."Among the poets is Bob Kaufman who took a Buddhist vow of silence for ten years after Kennedy was shot, D.A. Levy who knew that you can't beat the system and was killed trying, Charles Bukowski who twenty days before his death from Leukemia, sent a poem to Wormwood Review, " perhaps a wry smile /on his face/ for the doctor/ and a hand on the ass/ of the nurse" a man who played "out the game to the end /like only the old man / was capable of doing, Jack Micheline, "A shaman a con man / a vagabond poet ...His poems racing across the / Streets of America / Pure innocence / Pure genius, ...Drunk on the / Pollen of life, Kell Robertson wondering around the country with his guitar, "Nearly 66 / Hard as the highway...Still scrapping / Like the rest of us / For whatever / time is left."
They are not dead for Winans. As he walks along those same San Francisco streets he's walked along his whole life, he writes
"I hear the drums
I feel the beat
I kiss the feet
of angels."
Early in his life, Winans wrote, "america is no place for / a poet to grow old in" which in the new century, by his own admission, he has become. The poet who in the 1970's watched old men eat their last meals," now in his seventies, has become one of them. But, it hasn't lessened his anger, his determination to stay true to his own values. In "How to Spot a Yuppie" (from South of Market, 2006) he writes, "they are young and have ambitious / looks about them.... like they want something / and are willing to kill / to get it."
So, go out and get this book; walk along with A.D.Winans down those same streets. Cross one decade into the next; leave one century behind and begin a new one. Take a journey you'll never forget.
Drowning Like LiPo in a River of Red Wine (Selected Poems 1970--2010) by A.D.Winans, Bottle of Smoke Press, 902 Wilson Drive Dover, DE 19904, www.bospress.net, 2010, 364 pp. Trade Paperback. $25.00 with shipping.
ISBN 0-97773000-8-5 hardcover
ISBN 0-97773000-9-3 paperback


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Customer Reviews | Ski Butlers | Meribel, France
The Net Promoter Score, or NPS®, asks one single question ---- How likely is it that you would recommend Ski Butlers to a friend or a colleague? It is a straightforward metric that holds companies and employees accountable for how they treat customers. It has since been embraced by leading companies worldwide as the standard for measuring and improving customer loyalty. Companies with the most efficient growth engines operate at NPS efficiency ratings of 50 to 80%.


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News Archives - 2012
Augsburg College celebrates philanthropy
This week Augsburg students, friends, faculty, and staff members celebrate the vital role philanthropy plays in the College's culture with multiple on- and off-campus opportunities.
The Augsburg experience is supported by an engaged community and philanthropic initiatives make the institution's distinct education possible.
Give to the Max DayGiveMn, an online resource that helps Minnesotans donate to the state's non-profit community, will host its annual Give to the Max Day on Thursday, November 15. Augsburg College is pleased to participate in Give to the Max Day, and a $10 donation has the possibility of turning into $1,000.
Beginning at 12:01 a.m. on November 15, one donor will be selected each hour to receive a "golden ticket" worth $1,000 to donate to the non-profit of his or her choice. Auggies can give to a range of College-related programs.
2012 National Philanthropy Day Celebration
Augsburg College administrators, staff members, and friends will attend a National Philanthropy Day Celebration on Friday, November 16, and host representatives from The Carl and Eloise Pohlad Family Foundation, the winner of this year's Outstanding Philanthropic Organization award.
Augsburg College nominated the Pohlad Family Foundation for this recognition, citing the foundation as "one of Minnesota's quiet philanthropic heroes."
Hosted by the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) Minnesota Chapter, National Philanthropy Day honors "local individuals and businesses who have demonstrated exceptional leadership, as well as generosity of time and resources, to encourage and advance philanthropy," according to the AFP website.
Through a written nomination, Laura Roller, senior director of corporate, foundation and government relations, detailed how the "Pohlad Foundation approaches philanthropy as a collaborative enterprise that brings together community-based organizations, neighborhood leaders, communities of faith, schools and others to jointly address issues facing the community."
According to Roller, the Pohlad Family Foundation was the first foundation contributor to the Minnesota Urban Debate League (MNUDL) when that program moved to Augsburg College in 2009.
MNUDL serves young people in Minneapolis and St. Paul through academic competitive debate, and students in the program had a 100 percent on-time high school graduation rate during the past two years. More than 330 youths participate annually, of whom nearly 70 percent are students of color and approximately 75 percent are from low-income families.
MNUDL is assisted by an advisory board and funded through individual donations, foundations, corporations, and the legal community. During the National Philanthropy Day Celebration, AFP will show a video on the Pohlad Family Foundation's involvement in MNUDL and feature commentary by Amy Cram Helwich, Augsburg's MNUDL executive director.
Campus Kitchen's Turkeypalooza to benefit from Finnegans matching funds
The Augsburg College Campus Kitchen program will mark the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday with its annual Turkeypalooza meal service, made possible by a food and fund drive. Now in its 10th year, Turkeypalooza expands Campus Kitchen's ongoing philanthropic work in order to provide a traditional holiday dinner for the Minneapolis community.
This year, donations made to the program will get a boost on Give to the Max Day from Augsburg alumna Jacquie Berglund '87.
Berglund, the founder of Finnegans Beer, will match up to a total of $1,500 in donations made to Campus Kitchen's Turkeypalooza through Finnegans Beer and Community Fund.
Campus Kitchen representatives will collect cash, frozen turkeys, potatoes, green beans, and other items from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at a table in the Christensen Center on Thursday and Friday, November 15 and 16.
Campus Kitchen makes healthy meals accessible to residents of the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood year round. The program typically shares surplus food donated by A'viands—Augsburg's dining services provider—with local non-profit organizations.
The Turkeypalooza event is unique in that it enables Campus Kitchen to serve Thanksgiving-specific cuisine prepared from ingredients donated by Augsburg students, faculty, staff, and friends. Turkeypalooza requires huge Augsburg community participation—food and monetary donations allow Campus Kitchen to deliver and serve hundreds of Thanksgiving meals at four sites: Brian Coyle Community Center, Common Bond Communities, Ebenezer Tower, and Peace House.
To learn more about Campus Kitchen volunteer opportunities or how to donate to Turkeypalooza, visit the program's website.
In addition to preparing and serving meals, Campus Kitchen manages the Augsburg Community Garden and increases access to healthy food through the West Bank farmers markets. Campus Kitchen offers Augsburg students the opportunity to engage in service learning, leadership development, and community building. AFP honored the program with its Outstanding Youth Award on National Philanthropy Day 2009.