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Cinema 16: European Short Films, Vol. 1
16 shorts, 16 stories, 16 tales that prove shorts can have as much power as feature films. What makes these shorts stand out from others is the attention to detail, since shorts tend to be more focused. The styles vary as each work holds its own, and while it is interesting to see famed directors' shorts (often their first or beginning works), the ones that are from lesser-known directors are most refreshing. Yet– watching the works of directors such as Christopher Nolan or Lars Von Trier gives viewers more insight into what their visions were in a more attentive short form.
I was most inspired by "Before Dawn", by Hungarian director Balint Kenyeres. Simply told through its stunning visuals, the story is about refugees hiding in a high wheat field. The premise itself is challenging, and the way it unfolds is powerful and compelling. The cinematography is haunting, as the title may reveal.Continue Reading
Amores Perros
Alejandro González Iñárritu may be best known for his film Babel (2006) or 21 Grams (2003), but his first feature film, Amores Perros, shows his ability in weaving stories together through the commonality of human suffering. Made in his home country, Mexico, the film is set in Mexico City, featuring three stories that are connected by a single car crash. Within these stories contain intensified, passionate characters with tales of love, loss, and dogs.
In the first, Octavio becomes involved with the dog-fighting business in order to make money so he can run away with his sister-in-law Susana and begin a new life. This plan falls out of reach as tragedy pursues, and the story ends with more than the loss of dreams.Continue Reading
Un Chant d'Amour
French writer Jean Genet made his only film, Un Chant d'Amour (A Song of Love), in 1950, but because of its explicit and homosexual content, it was banned and later disowned by Genet. Now, we are fortunate to witness its release and wide distribution. Jean Genet, like Kenneth Anger, used classic cinema's formalities to tell the story – and within that we are like the prison-guard character in this film – voyeuristically deemed the romantic and erotic desires of men who, in their absolute loneliness, can only dream of each other. The walls retain their physical isolation, but somehow their fantasies materialize through masturbatory sexual acts and sharing cigarette smoke through the tiny holes in the wall.
The characters, repressed and alone, interact in the most poetic and arresting ways. Most interesting to watch is the prison guard's journey, whose turn of motives are surprising yet beautiful. The images are shot in the classic black-and-white fashion, and the silent factor contributes to the driving visual style. To both the experimental film viewer and the classic cinema audience –here's a film that we are privileged to watch – earnest, original, and authentic in its very own right.Continue Reading
Tout Va Bien
French founders of the politically active filmmaking Dziga Vertov Group, Jean-Luc Godard and Jean Pierre Gorin, made Tout Va Bien in1972, their 2nd to last collaboration together.
This film certainly falls far from the category of escapism. You, the viewer, are going to have to examine not only the constructs of filmmaking itself, but also the economy of contemporary society and the political ideologies behind it. Sound like a handful? You can be assured that every movement within the frame, every insert, every cut, is deliberate and Brechtian in every formal quality. The staging shows people moving from one room to another through a cross-section of the building, emphasizing the strike at a sausage factory that is observed by an American reporter (Jane Fonda) and her husband, a has-been, French New Wave film director (Yves Montand).Continue Reading
We've all seen the gang leader film a few hundred times. We've seen him in "tha hood" starting fights, we've seen him in a classroom getting into trouble and reporting to the principal's office, we've seen him ride slick cars, and we've seen him lead labor unions into civil uproar.
Place him in South Africa - we have a teenager named Tsotsi (meaning"thug") who doesn't know emotion and lives alone in the ghettos outside of Johannesburg. Place him in a wealthy city, and he steals a woman's Mercedes, as well as shoots her. Riding off, he finds himself not alone - the woman's baby is left in the backseat, and he is left by himself to take care of him. The film follows his journey as he learns how to care for someone other than himself, and the lessons and people that come along the way.Continue Reading
Raisin in the Sun
"What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?"
Langston Hughes' opening lines to his poem "A Dream Deferred" inspires the title of the film, which is adapted from Lorraine Hansberry's 1951 Broadway play. The story is about the working-class African American family in Chicago, each member struggling against the idea of deferred dreams. The way each character has to fight against generational prejudice to achieve their dreams makes a most powerful, touching story, as deep to the core of African American history. And while I want to cry at the injustices that bind many to social despair, I am inspired by the moments of strength that the human spirit can possess.Continue Reading
Killer of Sheep: The Charles Burnett Collection
Killer of Sheep is a beautifully simple urban tale of an African-American community set in Los Angeles' Watts district during the1970s. Yes, the 1960s held a cultural revolution for racial freedom, but history often assures us that problems lie on far more complexities than just a cry for racial freedom. Every community has its individual fight and here we follow Stan, frustrated with the monotony of working at a slaughter house, and how it affects his life at home.
Noteworthy of the film is how personal it feels. It makes sense – Charles Burnett wrote, produced, shot, and directed it with a budget of less than $10,000 with the help of many close friends and family. The result is a natural, humanistic style. It takes a lot of courage for a director to let a story work inside out, and that's where the simplicity lies. Emotion is often wallpaper when complicated plots involve twists and turns. Instead, here, we are embraced in moments within relationships, moments of hardship, moments of tenderness, and moments of family-hood.Continue Reading
The Fountain
I will always passionately love Requiem for a Dream. I will always passionately love Requiem for a Dream more than The Fountain. But I can't really compare Darren Aronofsky's two latest releases; it simply wouldn't be fair! The Fountain is a challenge that takes on a re-definition of science fiction, attempting to span 1,000 years and intersecting three parallel stories. It is certainly a task to admire. Aronofsky searches life's biggest questions - love, death, spirituality, existence - all while trying to go beyond typical science fiction films that were plot-driven by technology and science. He notes, "the interesting things are the ideas; the search for God, the search for meaning."
The film is personal and honorable in how simple yet intricate the story is. While I found it hard to involve myself in the more ancient sections of the film, and also thought using a cancer-stricken loved one as a character seems slightly redundant, but in the end mankind (in the general sense) is truly redeemed.Continue Reading
The Conformist (Il Conformista)
I've never read the novel "The Conformist" by Alberto Moravia, but I can bet that Bernardo Bertolucci's film Il Conformista is a faithful adaptation of the story. The film explores a truly profound relationship between the individual and societal ideals, dealing with Fascist Italy in both an intellectual and artistic sense.
I'd have to say, the best way to watch this film is with your own company or maybe another if you are ready to embark on a heavy, heavy journey. The film is a mind trip - allowing the viewer to question the individual's values, society, civil responsibility, and dependence.Yet it doesn't stop itself there - the photography by Vittorio Storaro is breathtaking and true to its story. The style is so noteworthy that the film is praised in Visions of Light, a documentary honoring cinematographers as artists, and for good reason. Each moment is dedicated to the sorrow of an Italian under governmental pressures.The rich colors, camera angles, and camera movement accentuate Italian expressionism in every sense.Continue Reading


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The Frontier Echo (Jacksboro, Tex.), Vol. 2, No. 43, Ed. 1 Friday, May 4, 1877
Description: Weekly newspaper from Jacksboro, Texas that includes local, state and national news along with some advertising.
Date: May 4, 1877
Creator: Robson, G. W.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Newspaper
Partner: The Dolph Briscoe Center for American History

subset: commoncrawl


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3m SS white BS//the chosen one harry potter bodysuit like pic in convo
Ships 6.20
We only accept Paypal. And we really appreciate fast payments! Unfortunately, if payment is not received within 48 hours, we will cancel the sale. The item will be relisted and available for future buyers (including you?!).
If you purchase with an electronic check we can't send the items or create the items out until the check clears. This form of payment usually clears within a week (usually five business days).
We use economy shipping here at Swanky Shank-- that way we can save YOU money. If you would like your item(s) any sooner, please let us know and we will create a reserved listing just for you!
If your items total over $50 I will automatically use priority shipping! Also I will also purchase insurance and delivery confirmation!
1. If you are not happy with your item AND IT IS NOT PERSONALIZED, please let us know via email and not via feedback. I'm fairly certain we can work out a refund or an exchange!
2. If your item is LOST/UNDELIVERABLE unfortunately we are NOT held responsible. Let us know if you want us to purchase insurance on your behalf ahead of time (usually around $2).
3. If the package is returned because of an incorrect address on your PayPal account, you are responsible for the additional shipping charge.
4. All returned items should be returned within one week of receipt. Items must be in original condition, containing no signs of wear, no traces of lotion/tobacco/etc. AND UNWASHED.
RUSH ORDERS: any orders needed ASAP have a 25% price increase. If I don't have any orders ahead of yours, I'll gladly waive this fee. Please convo for more details! :)


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angola wrote:The following artists have released new songs for free download if you donate money to their Haiti Relief Fund:
Linkin Park, Dave Matthews Band, Peter Gabriel, Alanis Morissette, Slash,
The All-American Rejects, Hoobastank, Kenna, Enrique Iglesias and Lupe Fiasco
team up with Music For Relief to aid earthquake victims.
Go to http://www.musicforrelief.org/ to get the music.
Pretty cool.
CC is saving the world!


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In patients receiving aspirin-based antiplatelet treatment without routine PPI use, the long-term risk of major bleeding is higher and more sustained in older patients in practice than in the younger patients in previous trials, with a substantial risk of disabling or fatal upper gastrointestinal bleeding. Given that half of the major bleeds in patients aged 75 years or older were upper gastrointestinal, the estimated NNT for routine PPI use to prevent such bleeds is low, and co-prescription should be encouraged.
http://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/ ... 0770-5.pdf


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It reports on the challenges you face, the ideas and innovations you craft, and the people behind it all. And it does it with style, insight, humor and intelligence. Read this month's edition of the award-winning State Legislatures, NCSL's national magazine of policy and politics. You won't find a better read anywhere.
Information overload? Then download these short, snappy, two-page briefs for a quick, but thorough, overview of some of the most timely legislative issues you face. You'll be an expert as soon as you need to be. Emailed to you every month, they'll keep you up-to-date on state policy issues along with any federal component.
Mason's Manual of Legislative Procedure is the only parliamentary manual designed specifically for state legislatures. It addresses problems and concepts in the contexts that occur most often in legislatures, so it's the easiest guide to understand and use.
Visit the online bookstore to find the newest ideas, research and analysis from NCSL. Simply the best source of information on state policy, trends and innovations.
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Sign up for the NCSL All Access Package and you'll receive everything NCSL publishes during the entire year. You will automatically receive:


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New year, new ideas and no resolutions!
Instead, each year I tend to come up with stuff I would like to achieve in the year,
In 2013 I will get back to my target weight, I made quite a a good start back on Slimming world after Louka was born but I kind of abandoned it all just before Christmas. As I proved several times now actually going to a group makes all the difference so on 7th Jan I will be joining a new group local to me.
Along with Slimming World, I would also like to regain my former fitness! I was never the sportiest person but when I lost weight the first time round I was exercising regularly and really enjoying it. Of course it also meant the weight came off much quicker. Since having Louka I've had really bad back ache and painful knees so I'll have to work up slowly so I don't kill myself but I know from experience that weight and exercise goes a long way to getting rid of all the aches and pains.... well eventually!
Since hearing so much about it, I also have a mad idea that I want to do the '30 day shred' so that's kind of on my 'to do' list at some point. I think it may be a few months off as it sounds terrifying though! On the same theme, I've entered the "Get Fit Feel Epic competition from Moneysupermarket.com" over on The Road to Being a Yummy Mummy and Mum Reinvented to win a Fitbit Activity tracker and set of wireless scales.
Blog wise, I plan to continue writing here and posting more often on my 'Discovering Cyprus' blog, which had been sadly neglected last year as there was not much 'discovering' going on!
You may remember that a while back I started a '101 in 1001 list'. When I wrote it I didn't expect to be having another baby in that time so I don't expect to be able to complete everything in time but I'll give it a shot - the 1001 days are up on April 26th 2013
Rather ambitiously I'm also starting a '365 photo a day' project - I will be more than surprised if I actually make it all the way to the end of the year but now I've got a decent phone and can do it all on there if I need to, and after seeing 'The Boy and Me' complete her second year I thought I'd give it a go. Aaron said he didn't think I'd manage more than 2 weeks so I've got to at least see January out! I won't be swamping you all with the photos but you will be able to find them over on 'A matter of photos' if you want to follow them.
I'll also be continuing with learning Greek with my twice weekly lessons I've been taking since November.
I've recently discovered that something happened with the email subscriptions on this blog so if you had signed up you may need to do so again if you've not been getting the posts through. Just enter your email on the top right hand side of this page and you won't miss anything :)
I'd just like to wish all my readers a very happy new year and hope you'll stick around in 2013.


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New: In Defense of Pigskin
In the run-up to Superbowl Sunday, National Public Radio played a recording of George Carlin's classic comparison of football and baseball. Carlin depicts football as a game of war-like combat while baseball is a genteel sport — e.g., football players wear "helmets"; baseball players wear "caps." Baseball is "pastoral;" football is "technological." [You can catch Carlin's sketch on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYS_1bQ-rXo or view it here.]
Carlin points to football's military jargon ("throwing a bomb," "mounting a blitz," "penetrating defenses") but it occurs to me that baseball is militaristic, too.
If you think about it, when baseball players aren't hunkered down in a "dugout" or a pacing in a "bullpen," they spend most of their time confined to "bases."
And, if you stray too far from your "base," there's a danger you could be "picked off."
With all due respect to Carlin's stand-up masterpiece, I believe an argument can be made that the sport of football — while more militaristic in terminology — is actually a more socially inclusive and egalitarian activity while baseball is elitist and autocratic. (And why is the word "egalitarian" and not "equalitarian"? Blame the French.)
Baseball is exclusive:
In baseball, you're either "in" or you're "out." There are "innings" and "outings." Even the field is divided into an "infield" and an "outfield."
In football, by contrast, you have a "midfield."
Baseball is autocratic:
In baseball, the players spend most of their time isolated from one another, holding their set "positions" while an "ace" pitcher presides from atop a "mound."
Football is Zen: You have a "center," a "balanced line," an "endzone," and the goal is "completion" or, failing that, a "conversion."
In baseball, you have to belong to a "club."
In football, you belong to a "team."
In baseball, you have "leagues."
In football, you have "conferences."
In baseball, you strive to "blast the ball out of the park."
In football, you "cradle the ball" and try to score a "touchdown."
In baseball, you want to "knock the stitches off the rawhide."
In football, you "carry the ball downfield."
In football, you "take possession" but you can exercise an "option" to "handoff" to an "open receiver" and then provide "cover" to "help the runner."
On the diamond, balls are "foul" (or they are just plain "base").
What's more playful than "pigskin"?
In baseball, you "catch."
In football, you "receive."
In baseball, you 'throw" or "pitch."
In football, you "pass." (But only to an "eligible receiver.")
In baseball, you "throw someone out." (Or even worse, you "run down" a player.)
In football, you can call for a "fair catch" and, when the opposing team has a "kickoff," your team "returns" the ball.
On the gridiron, if you drop the football, it's called a "fumble."
If you drop a baseball in the outfield, you've committed an "error."
In baseball, you "steal" a base.
In football, you "recover" a fumble.
In baseball, you run in circles to wind up back where you started.
In football, you make "forward progress."
On the football field, the teams consult a "playbook" and then call a "huddle," where they proceed to hug each other.
In the end, both games are puzzling.
In football, the players seldom use their feet to move the ball, so shouldn't "football" be called "armball," "gutball" or "chestball"?
In baseball, you try to strike the ball with a bat. If you strike the ball, that's called a "hit." But, strangely, if you don't strike the ball, that's called a "strike."


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You can go directly to your garage or lot at Nationals Park knowing that you have a guaranteed space by planning ahead and purchasing parking online. The number of spaces in each lot or garage is limited but there are several available lots at various price levels. You can print your parking pass at home and be on your way! Eliminate the worry and guarantee your space!
All Red Zone Parking Areas listed below include 1 Free Official Game Notes (all games) and 1 guaranteed promo item on promotional game dates. Both items are limited to 1 per vehicle. For a list of promotional game dates, click here »
For directions from DC, Maryland or Virginia, visit the Way to Go Interactive Transportation Map.
To learn about the best driving routes to our lots from points in the District, Maryland and Virginia please use our Way to Go Interactive Transportation Map.


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text: If you're a follower of music then you'll probably notice that songs trends are switching. In fact it is probably be something you have observed even although you are not an admirer of songs. I am certain many of us are well-aware of the fact that even way we have […] Dance Musical Vinyl10 Sep, 2015 in Music tagged Academic term / American Broadcasting Company / Amsterdam / ballroom dance / Bumbershoot / Burning Man / CBS / compact disc / Competitive dance / dance / dance music / Dance studio / Dancing with the Stars / Disc jockey / Dresden / electronic dance music / Executive producer / film / musical / Strictly Come Dancing / United States / vinyl by Manuel Marino


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At least some content in this article is derived from information featured in Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery. Spoilers will be present within the article.
Rancorous Carpe (fl. 1876) was a caretaker of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
He designed an elaborate trap in an attempt to capture and remove Peeves the poltergeist from Hogwarts; the trap included an assortment of weapons which the caretaker believed would be irresistible to Peeves, as well as a vast enchanted bell jar reinforced by various Containment Charms. He believed it would work, but instead Peeves burst through the bell jar, scattering the corridor with broken glass and firing random weapons acquired from the trap. The castle was evacuated, and it wasn't until the Headmistress, Eupraxia Mole, agreed to let Peeves swim in the boys toilet once weekly, have first choice of stale bread from the kitchen for throwing purposes, and give him a new hat made by Madame Bonhabille of Paris, that the poltergeist agreed to stand down.[1]
- Rancourous is an English word which means "characterized by bitterness and resentment",which is a description that fits many caretakers at Hogwarts.
- Carpe may also be made to fit the exclamation Carpe diem!. It is used to urge someone to use what they have to succeed.This is how he planned to capture Peeves.
- Pottermore (Mentioned only)
- Wizarding World (Mentioned only)
- Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery (Mentioned only)


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SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) Alex Kovalev scored the go-ahead goal during Florida's five-goal outburst in the third period, helping the Panthers rally for a 6-3 victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday night.
Kris Versteeg, Peter Mueller, Jonathan Huberdeau and Tomas Kopecky also scored in the final frame for the Panthers, who scored four unanswered goals in the final 8:40 after falling behind 3-2. Brian Campbell also scored and Jose Theodore stopped 21 shots to help Florida snap a five-game losing streak with its first win since the season opener on Jan. 19.
Tobias Enstrom, Olli Jokinen and Grant Clitsome scored as the Jets dropped their second in a row following a three-game win streak. Ondrej Pavelev had 28 saves for Winnipeg.


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When Jones Senior coach John Davis looked across the field at Dixon Friday night, he saw something familiar.
TRENTON � When Jones Senior coach John Davis looked across the field at Dixon Friday night, he saw something familiar.
�What I saw out there tonight was that our team looks like Dixon looked three years ago,� Davis said. �Like they did three years ago, we are playing a lot of youngsters. Three years later, though, those youngsters have grown up for Dixon.�
The Bulldogs played turnover-free football while Jones Senior coughed up the ball four times in Dixon�s 27-13 Coastal Plains 1A victory. The victory improved Dixon to 5-3 overall, 2-1 in the CP1A.
�Turnovers are big in any football game,� Dixon coach Ray Swaney said. �Our kids did a good job of coming together tonight when they had to.�
Dixon junior running back D�Angelo Williams ran for a pair of 3-yard touchdowns, the first in the second quarter and the final one with six minutes left in the game that provided the final score.
He noted his Bulldogs have been the homecoming opponent the past two weeks � last week, at Pamlico.
�We�ve won both these homecoming games on the road, but I�m just glad I get to go to my home and go to sleep in my own bed,� Williams said. �I�m proud of my (offensive) line and my team.�
Dixon jumped out to a 13-0 lead on TD runs by Robbi Wyble and Williams. The Bulldogs appeared to be ready to take that lead into halftime before Jones Senior struck pay dirt with 17 seconds remaining in the first half to make it 13-7 on a 10-yard touchdown pass from Warren Fields to Carlos Irving.
Dixon pushed the lead to 19-7 on a TD pass from Wyble to Nick Rizzo in the third quarter, but a 54-yard run by Fields pulled the Trojans to within 19-13.
�We knew coming down here that Jones Senior was going to keep playing hard,� Swaney said. �They have a great coaching staff over there and we knew we were going to have to work hard to come out of here with a win.�
Two costly penalties on Jones Senior aided the Bulldogs on their next drive, an eight-play, 54-yard march that Williams finished from 3 yards out.
Dixon, which travels to East Carteret next week, finished with 304 yards of offense, all but the 17-yard touchdown pass from Wyble to Rizzo on the ground. Senior quarterback C.D. Hansley led the Bulldogs with 122 yards on 27 carries while Williams added 94 yards on 22 carries.
Jones Senior, which remained winless in eight overall games and three league contests, was led by Fields, who led all rushers with 172 yards on 19 carries. He also completed three passes for a total of 7 yards and added one reception for 20 yards for good measure.
The Trojans hope to break their winless slide next week when they host Pamlico on Senior Night.
�We�re just trying to keep our kids motivated,� Davis said. �As coaches, we�re always going to stay positive with them.�
Bryan C. Hanks can be reached at 252-559-1074 or at firstname.lastname@example.com. Follow him on Twitter at BCHanks.


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4 June is the 155th day of the year (156th in leap years). There are 210 days remaining until the end of the year.
- 1992: The final day of first year exams, the last one being History of Magic. In the evening, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger follow Quirinus Quirrell through the trapdoor in the Forbidden Corridor, which leads them into a series of Underground Chambers with obstacles to get to the Philosopher's Stone. Harry Potter learns Lord Voldemort lives within Quirrell and seeks the Philosopher's Stone in order to create a new body. Harry successfully defeats Voldemort, which results in Quirrell's death.
Behind the scenesEdit
- The film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban released in the United States.
External linksEdit
Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted.


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Allergies: For love of pets, and their owners(CNN) -- Love is about give and take -- and sometimes a supply of nose sprays, inhalers, pills and tissues.
By: Elizabeth Landau, CNN, CNN
(CNN) -- Love is about give and take -- and sometimes a supply of nose sprays, inhalers, pills and tissues.
For those of us with pet allergies -- that's about 10% of the population, according to the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology -- entering a relationship with someone who already has a furry roommate can present a lot of challenges.
Can you manage if the pet stays out of the bedroom? If you do a lot of extra cleaning? Is this a deal-breaker for the relationship?
When you completely adore a pet and the person who's attached to it, you might willingly suffer a stuffed nose. Or you both might cycle through many kinds of pets until you find one that lets you breathe.
The search for a healthy pet
Bethany and Ronald Johansen of Merchantville, New Jersey, married for 14 years, know this well.
Both love dogs and each grew up with a canine companion -- but Ronald's landed him in the hospital. His childhood asthmatic reactions were so bad that he once spent two months in an oxygen tent, he said. The family didn't realize until later that his symptoms stemmed from their Irish setter, Kelly.
Bethany Johansen gave up her own dog of 13 years for the sake of her husband's health when they married -- a sacrifice upsetting to both of them. The couple lived without pets for several years, but both wanted to expand the family with animals.
"It's been a journey with pets in this house, trying to find one that I can actually live with without it closing my throat," Ronald Johansen, 32, said.
There were bunnies, hamsters and guinea pigs -- all no-goes for Ronald. A hedgehog left sharp 2-inch quills around the house that would stick to the children's feet.
There were dogs galore, such as a Shih Tzu and a poodle, said to be "hypoallergenic" because they don't shed as much as other canines. But different people are allergic to different dog proteins and, according to ACAAI, it doesn't seem that any particular breed is generally best for allergic people.
Ronald Johansen hasn't done well with any of them. Sometimes his throat itches within minutes of being around a dog.
"It has been frustrating," his wife, 33, said. "He sees that it's something that's important to me. It's important to him."
Giving up the large poodle named Javier was particularly rough on the couple's son Isaac, who would sit next to the dog in the backseat of the car and go to baseball games with him. But the boy also suffers asthma and had allergy symptoms around the dog, which he tried to hide from the family.
"When he sneezes it's like eight times in a row, and I'm thinking, 'This isn't going to work out,' " Bethany Johansen said.
What allergists recommend
Allergists such as Dr. Clifford Bassett, director of Allergy & Asthma Care of New York and ACAAI fellow, understand the plight of the allergic pet-lover.
There are several lifestyle modifications that can provide some relief, he said. Bassett recommends getting a HEPA (high-efficiency particulate absorption) air filter, which can suck up irritating particles from dogs and cats, as well as a HEPA-type vacuum cleaner.
Carpeting collects pet dander, so linoleum, wood, tile are preferred on floors. Otherwise, frequent vacuuming, dusting and other cleaning can help make a room more allergy-friendly.
Designating the bedroom as pet-free can also help, Bassett said. Of course, that can be difficult for those of us who like to cuddle with our furry friends.
To treat symptoms, a doctor may prescribe antihistamines, prescription nasal sprays and eye drops, as well as inhalers for asthma. Depending on the person and the circumstances, managing oneself this way may be enough.
A longer-term solution is allergy shots, which can be effective in building up a tolerance to pets. They are particularly helpful when avoidance and medications are not successful, Bassett said. But the shots are an investment -- you need to get them for at least three years, although improvement shows after about six months of weekly injections, according to ACAAI.
Ronald Johansen took allergy shots just to be able to have cats around, but said his dog allergy is so bad that he couldn't tolerate that therapy.
How well people respond to this immunotherapy depends on how sensitive the person was initially, and how well they're able to avoid environmental triggers, ACAAI said.
"I like to tell people, we'll do the shots if avoidance is not appropriate or avoidance is not possible," Bassett said.
Some people with allergies and asthma have such bad reactions that they should really avoid the offending animal altogether, experts say, particularly children who have severe asthma attacks.
The Johansens are still exploring the animal kingdom, but for now they have a combination that's healthy for everyone. Their current cast of characters: Two cats, a chinchilla and a parrot, in addition to four human children.
Coping with cats
Jordon Goulder, 24, of Oakland, California, can also relate.
When she met her boyfriend Etai Rahmil, he had a cat, Dilla. She thought she would be too sick if she spent a lot of time at his house, and wasn't sure the relationship would work out because of her cat allergy.
Fast forward four-and-a-half years: The couple lives in a small apartment in northern California with not just one, but two short-haired tabby cats.
Rahmil helps out by handling the litter box and taking care of a lot of the dusting and vacuuming that would be hard on Goulder. She feels better now that the couple lives together and without roommates.
Goulder's symptoms -- including wheezing, itchy skin, runny eyes and sneezing -- depend on how much she plays with the cats and whether she lets them sleep on her pillow or under the blankets with her, which she often does.
Goulder takes two different allergy medicines in addition to two inhalers. Doctors usually tell her to give up the cats, but some are sympathetic to her love of animals.
"I would never recommend this lifestyle to another person, but I love my cats and I wouldn't change my life for anything!" she wrote in her iReport.
Goulder also has asthma, which can be aggravated by colds and other environmental factors, but cats make it worse. Twice during the course of their relationship she has woken up in the middle of the night with an asthma attack, and had to go to the emergency room.
Rahmil often questions the situation -- but Goulder has been firm.
"It's kind of confusing for both of us. He approaches me in a worried way, like, 'Is this the right option for us?' " Goulder said. "I'm pretty stubborn. I'm always going to say, 'Yes, we're keeping them.' "
Holding out for a dog
As for the Johansens, they are considering adding a pig to their mix, but they haven't given up hope of owning a dog again. They don't want to make any promises to their children that they can't keep, but they are planning to visit another breeder so Ronald can test out his symptoms around another dog.
"A dog is part of the family," he said. "It's something I'm just used to having and my wife is used to having. I guess that's why we try so hard to get a dog. It's part of us."
CNN's Daphne Sashin and Margaret Blaha contributed to this report.
Tags: news, national, pets, health, updates


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Mr. Caravaggio wrote:Dare I ask what happy noodle boy is?
Mr. Caravaggio wrote:Although now that I think abuot it. LC's idea of a Habib made comic
Habib seems like such an awkward guy, maybe a little comparison / contrast to the whole anne rice / picadili image of a vampire as a romantic aristocrat.
LibertyCabbage wrote:Page 1 cover: "MY PONY IS MAGICAL" thing
LibertyCabbage wrote:"I'm sorry, but my heart is for only one man ... Sir Blackery!"
LibertyCabbage wrote:Then Sir Blackery shows up (he should probably be riding a horse but I don't really wanna draw horses >_> )
LibertyCabbage wrote:Page 4: The cutesy dragon looks all tough and it breathes fire on Sir Blackery which doesn't do anything. "Your fiery powers are nothing compared to my unmatched strength and courage!" and then he stabs the dragon w/ his sword (or maybe just clubs it with a mace or somethign) and it flies away. Habibette: "My hero!"
LibertyCabbage wrote:Page 5: They're walking/riding (on a rainbow?)/something and Habibette's like, "Thank you so much for freeing me from that terrible beast!" and Blackery would say, "Alas! I am not a man to back down when the fairest maiden in the land is in harm's way!" Habibette blushes, "*giggle* Oh, Sir Blackery, you flatter me so!" They stare at each other all pre-kiss like and then off-panel is a cry "Somebody, help us!"
LibertyCabbage wrote:Page 6: There's an ugly ogre/giant attacking some children who are in the middle of some field for some reason. Habibette: "Look! The children are being attacked by a giant! What will we do?" Blackery (to the giant): "Cease your foul ways, Giant, or face the wrath of Sir Blackery!" Blackery swipes his weapon at it, but nothing happens. The Giant knocks him to the ground. Blackery: "The Giant is too powerful!"
LibertyCabbage wrote:Page 7: Habibette: "Magical Rainbow Sparkle Transformation!" all shiny and dramatic like. Then she suddenly turns into some magical girl warrior. "I'm Sailor Beautiful, and I'm gonna teach that nasty Giant some manners!" Sailor Beautiful shoots some sparkly stuff from her palm and says, "Ultra Heart Universe Attack!" and it hits the Giant and the Giant's like, "Argh! Me run away!" and then some random kid is like, "Wow, Sailor Beautiful! You are awesome!"
LibertyCabbage wrote:Page 8: [caption: Habibette and Sir Blackery went on many adventures and became very famous. Then they got married and built a lovely cottage in the countryside. They had many children and lived happily ever after.]
(picture of ridiculously cutesy sparkly pink cottage)
[caption: The End!]
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This question might seem to be basic and rudimentary, but I just have to ask because I'm not getting it.
I downloaded XAMPP and Eclipse to my system and after starting Ubuntu through VMware I can't find the applications in my directory. Is this normal ? How can I find and install the applications or any other software?


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John K. Fairbank Biography
John K. Fairbank was Francis Lee Higginson Professor of History and Director, East Asian Research Center at Harvard University. He was co-editor of The Cambridge History of China (1978) with Denis C. Twitchtt, a comprehensive set of volumes covering the history of Chinese dynasties.
The United States and China. Cambridge, Harvard Univ. Press, 1948; Reprint, 4th ed., enl. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1983.
Chinese Communist publications: an annotated bibliography of material in the Chinese Library at Harvard University, edited by J. K. Fairbank and E-tu Zen Sun for the Russian Research Center and mimeographed for private distribution. Cambridge: Russian Research Center, Harvard University, 1949.
Modern China; a bibliographical guide to Chinese works, 1898-1937, by John King Fairbank and Kwang-ching Liu. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1950.
Bibliography of modern China: works in Western languages (revised): section 5, economic, compiled by Douglas S. Paauw and John F. Fairbank for the Regional Studies Program on China. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University, 1951.
A documentary history of Chinese communism, by Conrad Brandt, Benjamin Schwartz and John K. Fairbank. London: G. Allen & Unwin, 1952.
Trade and diplomacy on the China coast; the opening of the treaty ports, 1842-1854. 2 vols. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1953.
China's response to the West; a documentary survey, 1839-1923, by Ssu-yü Teng and John. K. Fairbank, with E-tu Zen Sun, Chaoying Fang, and others. Prepared in Coöperation with the International Secretariat of the Institute of Pacific Relations. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1954.
Japanese studies of modern China; a bibliographical guide to historical and social science research on the 19th and 20th centuries, by John King Fairbank and Masataka Banno. Rutland, Vt., Published for the Harvard-Yenching Institute: C. E. Tuttle Co., 1955; Reprint, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1971.
Ch`ing administration; three studies, by John K. Fairbank and Ssu-yü Têng. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1960.
A history of East Asian civilization, by Edwin O. Reischauer and John K. Fairbank. 2 vols. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1960-65.
China: the people's middle kingdom and the U.S.A., by John K. Fairbank. Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1967.
Trade and diplomacy on the China coast; the opening of the treaty ports 1842 1854. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1969.
East Asia: tradition and transformation, by John K. Fairbank, Edwin O. Reischauer and Albert M. Craig. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1973.
Chinese ways in warfare. With contributions by Edward L. Dreyer, and others Edited by Frank A. Kierman, Jr., and John K. Fairbank. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1974.
China perceived; images and policies in Chinese-American relations, by John K. Fairbank. 1st ed. New York: Knopf, 1974.
The missionary enterprise in China and America, edited and with an introduction. By John K. Fairbank. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1974.
Chinese-American interactions: a historical summary, by John K. Fairbank. New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press, 1975.
The I. G. in Peking: letters of Robert Hart, Chinese Maritime Customs, 1868-1907, edited by John King Fairbank, Katherine Frost Bruner, Elizabeth MacLeod Matheson; with an introd. by L. K. Little. Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1975.
China perceived: images and policies in Chinese-American relations, By John K. Fairbank. New York: Vintage Books, 1976.
The Cambridge history of China, general editors, Denis Twitchett and John K. Fairbank. Cambridge [Eng.]; New York : Cambridge University Press, 1978-2002.
China: tradition & transformation, by John K. Fairbank, Edwin O. Reischauer. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1978; Reprint, Rev. ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1989.
Chinabound: a fifty-year memoir, by John King Fairbank. 1st ed. New York: Harper & Row, 1982.
Christianity in China: early Protestant missionary writings, edited by Suzanne Wilson Barnett and John King Fairbank. Cambridge, Mass.: Published by the Committee on American-East Asian Relations of the Dept. of History in collaboration with the Council on East Asian Studies/Harvard University: Distributed by the Harvard University Press, 1985.
The great Chinese revolution, 1800-1985, by John King Fairbank. 1st ed. New York: Harper & Row, 1986.
China watch, by John King Fairbank. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1987.
H.B. Morse, Customs Commissioner and historian of China, by John King Fairbank, Martha Henderson Coolidge, Richard J. Smith. Lexington: University Press of Kentucky, 1995.
China: a new history, by John King Fairbank and Merle Goldman. Enl. ed. Cambridge, Mass.: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1998.


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In A 'Miraculous Year' For Movies, Edelstein Picks His Favorites
"It was a miraculous year," film critic David Edelstein tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross. At a time when Hollywood is churning out Blockbusters and superhero movies that are guaranteed to make money at home and overseas, "it's really great when so many interesting movies, somehow or other, manage to bleed through," he says. " ... You really feel as if directors are taking chances in their storytelling. They are creating a new syntax for every story."
Here are his favorite movies this year:
Her: A lonely man (Joaquin Phoenix in the year's best performance) forms a wondrous bond with his Operating System (voiced by Scarlett Johansson) — which (who?) becomes more and more sentient. Spike Jonze's futuristic comedy is an exquisite meditation on love, friendship, human connection and the singularity that might enlarge (or possibly contract) our definition of what that connection means.
American Hustle: David O. Russell rewrites the late-'70s scandal known as Abscam into a rollicking comedy about people who reinvent themselves and con one another. His stock company — everyone in howlingly awful '70s clothes and hair — is marvelous: Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper and that mischievous comedienne Jennifer Lawrence.
Much Ado About Nothing: While in postproduction for The Avengers, Joss Whedon gathered a bunch of friends (TV actors, mostly) and shot a Shakespeare movie in 12 days in his own rambling L.A. house. The casualness works.
Short Term 12: Destin Daniel Cretton's fictionalized portrait of a Southern California short-term care facility for at-risk teenagers is a complicated weave: grim, funny, exhilarating, unspeakably moving. There's a breakthrough performance by Brie Larson as the counselor wracked by her own history of abuse.
All Is Lost: J.C. Chador's one-man disaster picture — a cunningly edited procedural about an unnamed man (Robert Redford) trying to keep his damaged yacht afloat in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Redford is pushed to the limit of his own self-containment.
Caesar Must Die: More Shakespeare, from the great Paolo and Vittorio Taviani, who fictionalize the efforts of a group of maximum-security prisoners — most organized crime members — to rehearse a production of Julius Caesar. You're inside and then outside the play, immersed and then distanced. The Tavianis dissolve every artistic boundary they meet.
Blue Is the Warmest Color: Abdellatif Kechiche's intense, three-hour lesbian coming-of-age movie (with graphic sex scenes) hasn't pleased everyone. Is it true to the lesbian experience? Even if it isn't, actresses Adele Exarchopoulos and Lea Seydoux indelibly capture the intensity of sexual discovery and dependency.
The Wind Rises: Hayao Miyazaki's supposed last film (released in New York and L.A. for a week to qualify for awards and set to reopen in February), is a romantic, tragic, exquisitely strange and dreamlike portrait of a Japanese boy (then a young man) who dreams of creating wondrous flying machines — which are then used to rain death and destruction in World War II.
The World's End: The third of writer-director Edgar Wright's genre-bending black comedies starring Simon Pegg (who co-wrote) and Nick Frost is the year's most entertaining sci-fi comedy romp; the story of a middle-aged child-man on an absurd quest to relive his university days and drink his way through 10 pubs in a single night — and driven to his senses in the act of defeating conformist body-snatchers from outer space.
Fruitvale Station: Ryan Coogler's debut film dramatizes a day in the life of Oscar Grant, whose shooting by police in 2009 was caught on bystanders' cellphone cameras. The movie is principally a tour de force for actor Michael B. Jordan, who makes Grant the most recognizable kind of martyr — an unstable child-man whose motor runs tragically fast in a world as jittery as this one.
The Act of Killing: Josh Oppenheimer asked admitted Indonesian mass murderers to write, direct and re-enact their atrocities from 40-plus years ago. They rise to the occasion with alacrity, and the result is one of the most lucid portraits of evil you'll ever see.
20 Feet From Stardom: Despite a thread of melancholy, Morgan Neville's hymn to so-called back-up singers (among them Darlene Love, Merry Clayton and Lisa Fischer) goes from bliss to bliss.
Let the Fire Burn: Jason Osder weaves together archival footage of the bombing of the African-American "anarcho-primitivist" group MOVE in Philadelphia in 1985, and the results are electrifyingly present tense.
Blackfish: Gabriela Cowperthwaite's haunting film begins when a whale named Tilikum kills a trainer before a horrified Orlando SeaWorld crowd and then flashes back to show the grim history of whales driven mad in captivity.
We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks: Alex Gibney's gripping, deeply ambivalent portrait of Julian Assange angered people on both sides of the Wikileaks debate — not necessarily a bad thing when the issues are this complicated.
The Crash Reel: Lucy Fisher chronicles the near-fatal head injury of champion half-pipe skier Kevin Pearce — and the frightening world in which would-be Olympic athletes suffer and die in the name of faster speeds and more medals.
The Square: Jehane Noujaim's penetrating, revelatory documentary begins in Tahrir near the end of Hosni Mubarak's rule — and shows how tragically ununified the Egyptian opposition truly is.
Interview Highlights
On the year's biggest surprise
I think Much Ado About Nothing was extremely surprising. Here you've got [Joss Whedon], a director of superhero films and also Buffy the Vampire Slayer ... and a bunch of TV actors who have eight or nine days on their hands, and they decide they're going to shoot it in black and white and essentially in his backyard. ... It turns out to be so much fun because it's fast and it's casual and these people really know how to speak the verse. They really don't linger in this method-y way on certain words, so it ends up being comprehensible.
On why 12 Years a Slave didn't make it into his top 10
People will notice 12 Years a Slave is not one of my best films of the year. It's a very powerful film, and it will get a lot of awards. It's also a very bludgeoning film and there are lot of people saying, "Well, of course it's bludgeoning. That's what slavers did — they bludgeoned their African-American slaves! Are you a slavery apologist?"
From a political standpoint, it's easy to see why the film is so vital, but for me, I got the feeling that ... [director] Steve McQueen likes to fix his camera on people whose bodies are being defiled. They were starving to death in Hunger. They were shaming themselves sexually in Shame, and now they're being tortured on camera. I think I'd watch his films less guardedly if I thought he [was] searching for more than his characters' reactions to extreme degradation.
But, it's important to say ... there are so many movies that are competing for people's time and entertainment dollars, and I often find that if I have reservations about a film like 12 Years a Slave or the Coens' Inside Llewyn Davis, people say, "Oh, you're saying I shouldn't see it."
That's not it at all. I want people to see 12 Years a Slave, I want people to see Inside Llewyn Davis. See it. Wrestle with it. Be a part of the conversation, and don't be afraid of ambivalence. Don't be afraid if your thumb doesn't go up or down. That's part of what's wonderful and miraculous about movies — that you can sort out your own responses.
On documentaries
Some people show up for [documentaries]. There are still very few that cross over, and none of these documentary directors [are] getting rich. At the same time, because the means of production are so much less expensive, there are more people making them, and these films hold up against the best fictional films.
On Oscar campaigns
You do not know what is happening behind the scenes. You do not know what the Academy voters — how they're being bombarded ... every second: phone calls, parties, leaflets, swag of all kinds. ... A lot of films screen for one week in New York and L.A. to qualify for the Oscars, and then they open again in February just to get on these Oscar short lists. Everything opens around Christmas and December so it's fresh in people's minds.
On not seeing trailers in advance
I never watch coming attractions. Because it's my job. I'm lucky enough to be able to go into a film not even knowing the genre. I know title, maybe I know who is in it, and I sit down and I allow the filmmaker to take me someplace without any preconceptions. I love being that way, and I'm sorry that more and more people go into films having watched the coming attractions, which give everything away. ...
I would encourage people to sometime walk into a movie that you don't even know what it's about. Be transported. You may be crushed. You may be pissed off. You may be disappointed. You may be enthralled and surprised in a way that you can't be when you've kind of steeped yourself in all of the material that surrounds these films before they come out.
This is FRESH AIR. I'm Terry Gross. As Santa finishes checking his list, we have a couple of lists to go over, 10-best lists. A little later our TV critic David Bianculli will be here to talk about the year in television. First we're going to talk with our film critic David Edelstein about his picks for the best of the year.
David, welcome back to FRESH AIR. I love doing these 10 best with you.
DAVID EDELSTEIN, BYLINE: Oh me, too, especially this year.
GROSS: Why, is it a good year?
EDELSTEIN: Oh, it's a miraculous year. I mean, given...
GROSS: Miraculous?
EDELSTEIN: Well, given Hollywood's cataclysmic turn away from middle-range so-called grownup movies, the Peter Pan in me hates me lauding anything grownup, but still when you just see a steady diet of blockbusters, comic book Marvel hero movies they can clean up with overseas, particularly in Asia, it's really great when so many interesting movies somehow or other manage to bleed through.
GROSS: Well, OK, prove it to me. Tell me what's on your 10 best list.
EDELSTEIN: OK. Well, you know that it's a 10 best list of fictional movies, and then I have five documentary, nonfictional movies. Why, you ask, do I do this? Because I can. So here is - here are the fictional 10 best films.
GROSS: I let you get away with this every year.
EDELSTEIN: Thank you so much. The first is "Her," Spike Jones' story of a man who falls in love with his operating system, and it is a soaring romantic film. "American Hustle" is number two, that's David O. Russell's delightful ABSCAM comedy. The third is Shakespeare, "Much Ado About Nothing," Joss Whedon's - essentially his home movie he shot on a break from "The Avengers" in his backyard, best Shakespeare comedy on film, comedy not tragedy.
"Short Term 12," terrible title, the portrait of a Southern California short-term care facility for at-risk teenagers. Number five, "All Is Lost," J.C. Chandor's one-man disaster picture with Robert Redford. Number six is a very small movie, "Caesar Must Die," more Shakespeare, the great Taviani brothers, the great Italian directors. It's about Julius Caesar done by prisoners, many lifers.
Number seven, "Blue is the Warmest Color," the wonderful sexual coming-of-age film. Number eight, "The Wind Rises." This is Hayao Miyazaki's supposedly last film, animated by not for kids. Number nine, "The World's End," the rollicking Edgar Wright genre-bending black comedy with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost.
Number 10, "Fruitvale Station," which is Ryan Coogler's debut film about the shooting of a young man in - north of San Francisco with a deep and searching performance by an actor named Michael B. Jordan.
GROSS: Well, of those films, which surprised you the most that maybe you didn't expect to like, and it ended up on your 10 best?
EDELSTEIN: Well, I think "Much Ado About Nothing" was extremely surprising. Here you've got a director of superhero films and also "Buffy The Vampire Slayer," let's give him credit, and a bunch of TV actors who have, what, eight or nine days on their hands, and they decide that he's going to shoot it in black and white, essentially in his backyard, one of Shakespeare's, you know, great comedies.
And it turns out to be so much fun because it's fast, and it's casual, and these people really know how to speak the verse. You know, they don't linger in this Methody way on certain words so it ends up being incomprehensible. So I was very, very surprised.
"All Is Lost," J.C. Chandor's film, who wants to spend two hours just staring at Robert Redford? He's been such a dull actor over the last 20 years, and yet this movie kind of pushes him to the limit of his own self-containment, and I thought it was enthralling.
GROSS: So you have a separate list of the best documentaries of the year, and it seems like it's been, for the past few years, that documentaries have really become popular, that there's a place for them in theaters. People show up to see them. People talk about them. So do you think that that's like a growing trend?
EDELSTEIN: Well, some people show up for them. It's still - there are still very few documentaries that cross over, and none of these documentary directors is getting rich. At the same time, because the means of production are so much less expensive, there are more people making them, and these films, you know, hold up against the best fictional films.
The five I want to choose are "The Act of Killing," which is Josh Oppenheimer's documentary in which he has Indonesian mass murderers reenact their atrocities from 40 years ago. The second is...
GROSS: These are war atrocities, not just serial murder atrocities.
EDELSTEIN: These are war atrocities, yes, yes. I mean, a million Indonesians were killed in the late '60s, and these guys are still around. They're beloved by the government. And it - who would've thought that they love reenacting their crimes? They want to be movie stars. They think it's just great to play gangster on camera.
The next film is "Twenty Feet from Stardom," Morgan Neville's film about backup singers, which actually has broken through. I guess it's made $4 or $5 million. And these singers have had - their careers have had a new life, people like Darlene Love and Mary Clayton and Lisa Fischer.
"Let the Fire Burn," Jason Osder's amazing documentary about the explosion, the conflagration of the MOVE headquarters in the 1980s. And let me just say why this is such an important film. It is all archival footage. There are no modern talking heads. And yet stitching together all this footage from the time, he's able to create the kind of present-tense excitement that you rarely get in a documentary.
"Blackfish" is Gabriela Cowperthwaite's film about the psychotic whale Tilikum and makes a great case for why we should not keep such mammals in captivity. And finally Alex Gibney's "We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks," which is much more traditional documentary, but I think everybody should see it if they want to know the story of Julian Assange.
GROSS: So David, one of the things that makes end-of-the-year lists and award nominations at the end of the year fun is that you can compare your own taste with the tastes of, you know, the critics you're hearing or the nominations you're reading about. So when you compare your list to the films that have been nominated for awards or have already received awards, where do you feel most in synch and most out of synch?
EDELSTEIN: Well, people will notice that "12 Years a Slave" is not one of my best films of the year. It's a very powerful film, and it will get a lot of awards. It's also a very bludgeoning film. And I know that there are people out there saying well of course it's bludgeoning, that's what slavers did, they bludgeoned their African-American slaves. Are you a slavery apologist?
And from a political standpoint, it's easy to see why the film is so vital. But for me, I got the feeling that the director, whose name is Steve McQueen, likes to fix his camera on people whose bodies are being defiled. They were starving to death in hunger. They were shaming themselves sexually in shame. And now they're being tortured on camera.
And I think I'd watch his films less guardedly if I thought he was searching for something more than his characters' reactions to extreme degradation. But, Terry, it's important to say something. Nowadays, there are so many movies that are competing for people's time and their entertainment dollars, and I often find that if I have reservations about a film like "12 Years a Slave" or the Coen's "Inside Llewyn Davis," people say oh, you're saying I shouldn't see it.
And that's not it at all. I want people to see "12 Years a Slave." I want them to see "Inside Llewyn Davis." See it, wrestle with it, be part of the conversation and don't be afraid of ambivalence. Don't be afraid if your thumb doesn't go up or down. That's part of what's wonderful and miraculous about movies, that you can try to sort out your own responses.
GROSS: You know how some years there's like prestige movies, and you know that these movies are designed to get Oscars?
EDELSTEIN: Oh yeah.
GROSS: What was on your list of that kind of prestige film this year?
EDELSTEIN: Well, a lot of these films, you know, it's such a - man, these Oscar campaigns, you do not know what is happening behind the scenes. You do not know what the Academy voters, how they are being bombarded. Talk about bombardment. Every second, phone calls, parties, leaflets, you know, swag of all kinds by people who are pushing their nominees.
A lot of films screen for one week in New York and L.A. to qualify for the Oscars, and then they open again in February. And, you know, just to get on these Oscar short lists. Everything opens around Christmastime and December so it's fresh in people's minds.
Let me give you an example. "Lee Daniels' The Butler" this summer was - everybody was talking about this movie as a shoo-in for every Oscar category and every critic award. Well, it's largely forgotten now except for Oprah Winfrey, who has the money to mount, you know, a colossal Oscar campaign for herself.
There's no reason from that apart from the fact that it opened in August, and all these other movies are fresh in people's minds. But I do think "Her" and "American Hustle" are opening in time for big awards and are extraordinary films, and they're opening within three days of each other, and they're two of the best American films I've seen in years.
And you know what else is really interesting about them? They are produced by the same person. They are - one of the producers is Megan Ellison. She is 27 years old. She is the daughter of Oracle founder Larry Ellison, obviously comes from billions, and you know, and she's produced - last year she produced "The Master" and "Zero Dark Thirty." This year she produced "American Hustle" and Harmony Korine's "Spring Breakers" and Spike Jones's "Her."
And, you know, on one hand while it's a reflection of the tremendous inequality in this society, but on the other hand it gives you hope that, as in the days of Mozart and Beethoven, maybe these rich kids will come out and they'll take their daddies' money, and they'll put it into really difficult, interesting films that, you know, no studio these days would finance.
GROSS: You know, getting back to the Oscar campaigns, are they effective? Can the people who actually vote for the Oscars really be effectively lobbied or bought?
EDELSTEIN: Oh, sure. Let me give you an example of that. A few years ago, Julie Christie won all the critics' awards for her extraordinary performance in "Away From Her." And everybody thought she was going to be a shoo-in for the Oscar. But Julie Christie didn't want to campaign. She was somewhat reticent, whereas Marillon Cotillard, who was in the Edith Piaf documentary, they brought her to Hollywood.
Nobody knew her. They introduced her at parties. People saw how breathtakingly beautiful she was. I actually think now that Marion Cotillard is one of the world's greatest film actresses. So I'm very happy that she was recognized. But I can tell you in no uncertain terms that her charming all those Oscar voters led directly to her Academy Award.
GROSS: My guest is our film critic David Edelstein. We'll talk more about the year in film after a short break. This is FRESH AIR.
GROSS: If you're just joining us, my guest is David Edelstein, FRESH AIR's film critic and film critic for New York magazine. And we're talking about the year in movies. Well, David, it's holiday season and, you know, there's a bunch of films that are opening for the holidays or have just opened. Of those films, which would you recommend? And I'll ask you to stick to films that are opening beyond New York and L.A., that are opening beyond just, like, Oscar consideration.
EDELSTEIN: Well, "American Hustle" is of course on my 10 best list, and I could not recommend it more highly. Will Ferrell does - and Adam McKay do not disgrace themselves in "Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues." They finally took the big sequel money. But they feel like they have to earn their salaries. So the movie is this stuffed, overstuffed bounty of cameo roles and the weirdest, most absurdist slapstick imaginable.
It does not all work, but you really are seeing people trying so desperately to be weird, to be - and to do something different and to kind of bombard you with surrealism in a way that you don't see in many comedies.
People will go to see "The Wolf of Wall Street," the new Martin Scorsese film with Leonardo DiCaprio. I think it's absolutely nightmarishly awful, but there are colleagues of mine who disagree. It's three hours, essentially, of watching this jerk steal money and be an insider trader, scam people and celebrate by snorting cocaine off the buttocks of hookers and cavort and sleep with everybody and consume conspicuously.
And there are scenes that run on and on and on of Leonardo Di Caprio making these insane speeches about the beauty of capitalism. And the only person who does well in the movie, I think, is Kyle Chandler from "Friday Night Lights," who underplays everything and is surrounded by these desperate over-actors. He's this beacon of sanity. He plays this agent on the trail of Leonardo Di Caprio.
OK, so do I recommend the film? Sure, I recommend it. You should see it, even though...
GROSS: After all that?
EDELSTEIN: After all that, yes, see it, see it. Make up your own mind. "August: Osage County" was from a wonderful play, and you know, the movie is really misdirected, but there are extraordinary performances by Julia Roberts of all people, who gives a very finely tuned cinematic performance versus Meryl Streep, who is chewing up the scenery. And there's Margot Martindale and Chris Cooper. It's an extraordinary ensemble cast.
The one that I recommend for reasons that have nothing to do with its quality is a film called "Labor Day." It's directed by Jason Reitman from a kind of hopelessly bad book by Joyce Maynard. And it is - it's one of the worst films I've ever seen, but it's so hilariously terrible that I think it could turn into a "Rocky Horror Picture Show" or a "Mommy Dearest," where people just sit there and they yell at the screen and they have these rituals.
It's about an escaped convict who hides out with this mother and son and becomes a surrogate father. And he's a gourmet cook. So a lot of the movie is him showing them how to make like peach pie. And they're sitting there, he's fixing up the place, and he's becoming a dad, and then there's a little bit of sort of PG-13-rated bondage in there to add to the sort of romantic literature, you know, kinkiness of it, just a great time hooting at this movie.
GROSS: What are you looking forward to in 2014?
EDELSTEIN: I have no idea.
GROSS: Because you don't know what's coming out, or you don't really know what's going to be good?
EDELSTEIN: You know, Terry, and this is really worth saying: Because it's my job, I'm lucky enough to be able to go into a film not even knowing the genre. I know the title, maybe I know who's in it, and I sit down and I allow the filmmaker to take me someplace without any preconceptions. I love being that way, and I'm sorry that more people, more and more people go into films having watched the coming attractions, which give everything away, on the Internet or in theaters, having read reviews or heard reviews like mine.
I would encourage people just sometime walk into a movie that you don't even know what it's about. Be transported. Sure, you may be crushed, you may be pissed off, you may be disappointed. On the other hand, you may be enthralled and surprised in a way that you can't be when you've kind of steeped yourself in all the material that surrounds these films before they come out.
GROSS: Do you not watch trailers because mostly you're going to screenings where they are not showing trailers, or do you actually making a point of leaving when the trailers are on?
EDELSTEIN: When I see movies in theaters, which I do all the time, I either plug my ears or I leave the seat. I don't want to - I don't want to see it. I don't want to know what the best slapstick moment in a film is. I don't want to know the arc of the story. That's what they give away.
That's what they give away. They show you oftentimes every beat of the story, or a film like "Nebraska," one of the worst trailers I've ever seen, and I don't necessarily blame the people who made it, I think they're trying to sell this very quiet movie, it gets a lot of its power from scenes that kind of carry on in real time in a very low-key way.
When you cut it up in order to make it look like some outrageously quirky movie about this crusty old oldster and people cheering him for - you know, that he's going to be this rich man, when you see a movie like that, that gives such a strong misperception of the film, you oftentimes don't even want to see the movie, or you come to it with, you know, the worst kind of prejudices.
GROSS: Well, I guess you'll be nice and surprised in 2014.
EDELSTEIN: I know, you know, you know which directors you love. You know which actors you love. There are certain directors, David O. Russell, I'll see any film he makes. Nicole Holofcener, who made "Enough Said" this year, I'll go to any film Nicole Holofcener makes in a state of great excitement.
So many films this year, what's remarkable about them, the bad and the good, you really feel as if directors are taking chances in their storytelling. They are creating a new syntax for every story. They are finding new and extraordinary ways of - maybe it's even familiar material, but they're going at it through the back door or the side door, or they're mixing up the syntax.
And that - and they're reminding you of what is so marvelously elastic about cinema. A lot of us have been raving over the past few years about great television shows like "Breaking Bad" that have done narratively what film cannot, by immersing you in a story for 60-some-odd episodes and allowing you to track a character over time.
Maybe movies can't compete narratively with television in that way, but they have extraordinary elasticity in terms of the language of what they can do, of the order in which they can present things, of the technical magic that they can use. They're creating new forms of narrative that I find so exciting.
You know, even if a story, even if it's a formula story, to be able to see it with new eyes, from a new perspective, that's what movies can do that no other medium can.
GROSS: Well, David, it's been a lot of fun to talk about the year in film with you. Thank you so much.
EDELSTEIN: Well, thank you for having me, and thank you for allowing me to do reviews for this wonderful show.
GROSS: Our absolute pleasure to have you. Thank you for being our film critic. I wish you happy holidays. Have a wonderful new year.
EDELSTEIN: Thank you, Terry.
GROSS: David Edelstein is FRESH AIR's film critic and film critic for New York Magazine. You'll find his best-of list with his capsule reviews of each film on our website, freshair.npr.org. I'm Terry Gross and this is FRESH AIR. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.


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Quick Links
Redevelopment and Growth: SoE Planning for the Future
View RU Engineer
SoE Events
Thursday, October 8, 2020
Why Rutgers Engineering?
At Rutgers Engineering, students have the opportunity to be part of a dynamic engineering community that includes world-renowned faculty conducting leading-edge research as well as engaged and motivated students from a diversity of backgrounds and interests, who remain networked beyond their studies as part of a 20,000-strong alumni association.
Our engineers are out front communicating ideas and envisioning projects and solutions that make the world a better place to live. If you share our vision, we hope you'll explore our programs and become part of our community of scholars.


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Pro-factory is a european network that aims to bring forward and coordinate applications-oriented, bottom-up, collaborative r&d projects in production and robotics for greater competitiveness and sustainability.
Project ID:
Raising the productivity and competitiveness of European businesses through technology. Boosting national economies on the international market, and strengthening the basis for sustainable prosperity and employment.


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Mother, daughter confront burglar in Pittsfield Township
Police search for home invader who stole electronics, SUV
PITTSFIELD TOWNSHIP, Mich. – A mother and her daughter confronted a man Tuesday night who had broken into their home on Grandview Drive in Pittsfield Township.
Maria Rodriguez and her mother Sarah Rodriguez were down the street shopping at a nearby Walgreens when a man broke into their home. They arrived in time to catch him in the act.
The couple entered their garage and saw a man standing in the kitchen. He started to flee the home in the Rodriguez's new Ford Escape that he had loaded with items from the home, including electronics such as a TV and computer.
The women tried to stop the man. They grabbed his arm through the driver's side window, but he threatened to shoot them.
They did not get a solid description for police to go on. However, police were searching for the man.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Pittsfield Township Police Department at 734-822-4911.
Copyright 2011 by ClickOnDetroit.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.


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WHEN Y.E. YANG CAME HOME in 68 strokes earlier in the day, I thought the score might hold up for the first-round lead. But then along came Rory McIlroy who played what he termed "stress-free golf." (I didn't know there was such a thing at the U.S. Open.)
The supremely talented Irishman blitzed the difficult Blue Course, carding a 6-under 65 to take a three-stroke lead over Yang and Masters champion Charl Schwartzel, who also posted a 68.
Here's what McIlroy said in a "flash" interview immediately after his round.
Q. That was spectacular, six birdies, no bogeys. Talk about your experiences in this round.Meanwhile, McIlroy's playing partners in the marquee grouping struggled to post a good number. Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson shot 74 and 75, respectively. With a ball in the water at the challenging par-3 10th (his first hole of the day), Mickelson's round and 41st birthday got off to a rocky start. Lefty made a double bogey and had to steady himself the rest of the way.
RORY McILROY: Yeah, it was a good round of golf. I didn't really put a foot wrong. The only mistake I made was missing the green on 14, and I held a nice sort of 15 footer for par there. Apart from that it was pretty much stress free golf. It was nice. I feel like I'm driving it well. I'm hitting my iron shots good, holing a few putts. So it's a nice combination.
Q. Is the course set up perfectly for you?
RORY McILROY: When I got here last week on Wednesday, I felt like the golf course set up good for me. It sort of worked out that way.
Q. I don't know if you ever get comfortable on a U.S. Open golf course, but you looked comfortable, did you feel that way?
RORY McILROY: I did, yeah, I felt very comfortable. I said this in the press conference Tuesday. It doesn't feel like a typical U.S. Open, for some reason. The golf course is going to get harder and it's going to get firmer and it's going to get trickier, but I still feel that it's very playable and fair. If you don't hit a fairway, you've still got a chance to hit it on the green and give yourself a chance for birdie. I like the way they've set up the golf course this year.
The boys had a huge gallery, as you might imagine. I followed along for a few holes, but it was difficult to get a good look at the action.
In addition to McIlroy, Yang and Schwartzel, six players broke 70 in scoring conditions made easier by overcast skies and relatively cool temperatures. British Open champion Louis Oosthuizen and Sergio Garcia are among the group of players who are at 3-under par after 69s.
−The Armchair Golfer
2011 U.S. Open: 'Big Blue' Ready to Challenge Field of 156
2011 U.S. Open TV Schedule and Tournament Notes
2011 U.S. Open: A 16-Year-Old Player and Other Notes


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LOS ANGELES, July 11 (UPI) -- U.S. actor Sean Astin has signed on to star in "The Strain," a vampire pilot Guillermo del Toro is directing for FX, executive producer Carlton Cuse said.
"We are thrilled to have the amazing Sean Astin join the cast of THE STRAIN," Cuse tweeted Tuesday.
Starring Corey Stoll, Kevin Durand, Mia Maestro, Richard Sammel, Lauren Lee Smith, Jonathan Hyde, Miguel Gomez and John Hurt, the pilot is based on a trilogy of novels Cuse co-wrote with Chuck Hogan.
"In FX's drama series pilot 'The Strain,' Sean Astin has been cast in the role of CDC team administrator Jim Kent, the third member of the Canary Team triumvirate along with Ephraim Goodweather (Corey Stoll) and Nora Martinez (Mia Maestro) who are charged with solving and containing the mysterious strain of vampirism that is sweeping over Manhattan," EW.com quoted a synopsis as saying.
Astin's film credits include "The Goonies" and "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy.
Cuse is best known as writer-producer of the TV adventure drama "Lost," and the current A&E series "Bates Motel."


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Overview of Hostel
Piya Hostel is the newest addition to the Istanbul network, Piya hostel, boasts three floors of modern, stylish, budget accommodation just five minutes walk from Sultanahmet Square. Perfect for young backpackers who want to be in the heart of this historically vibrant city.
Our hostel rooms are m
From Ataturk airport to the Hostel The distance between the airport and Piya Hostel is 18 km. The best and cheapest way to get to the Hostel is to take the light metro from the airport.
From the Airport or the Bus Station (Otogar), take the Metro to ''YUSUFPA?A'. Transfer onto the tram and get off at 'SULTANAHMET'' (the 5th stop).
Follow the tram line down (passing several restaurants on the left and the Information Office on the right) to the intersection and traffic lights; cross over to the right and enter the courtyard between St. Sophia on your left and the Blue Mosque a little further on your right.
Go all the way through the courtyard and turn to your right at the end. Take the first left at the taxi stop and follow the street to four ways, from there take the right and fallow left-curved street till you see Akb?y?k Mosque.From the corner of the mosque take the right 50 metres later you wil see the sign of Piya Hostel and its pink building on the right side.
From Sabiha Gokcen airport to the PiyaHostel
The distance between the Sabiha Gokcen airport and Piya Hostel is 65 km
Taxis are available from Sabiha Gken Airport to the historic Sultanahmet district. The journey time may change according to the time of day and traffic conditions(road works,diversions etc), but allow between 60 and 90 minutes.
Havas Bus Services
To get to the Sultanahmet which is the principal tourist area in the city, you can take the 'AirportHavas shuttle bus service and get off at 'Kadiky'. .Then, you can take ferries from Kadiky and get off at Eminn.
Trams run on the route between Eminn, Sirkeci, Sultanahmet, Beyazit, Aksaray, Topkapi and Zeytinburnu.
Public Bus Services
Using (public bus IETT) E-3 KURTKY - UYDUKENT - 4. LEVENT METRO . 4.Levent-Taksim subway has also connections to Taksim. Then public bus has also connection to Sultanahmet by T4 IETT bus
Please do not hesitate to contact us by phone.
We also provide 7/24 pick up service for our guests from Ataturk (IST) airport to the hostel from 30 Euro one way and from Sabiha Gokcen (SAW) airport to the hostel 60 Euro (from one person to 6 person) one way. But when you return to the Atatrk Airport from our hostel, you will pay 5 (one person) euro.and onur hostel to Sabiha Gken Airport 12 euro (one person) Please inform us about your flight number, airport name and arrival time in advance, if you would like to book a pick up service..
Located near
Piya Hostel is located in the historical old city of Istanbul. It's just a few mins from the Blue Mosque, St. Sophia, Topkapi Palace, Bassillica Cistern and Historical Turkish Baths... just 10 mins to Grand Bazaar and Spice (Eqyptian) Bazaar... just 15 mins to Taksim... and just 30 mins to Asian side by historical ferries.
Conditions & Policy
Child Friendly
We accept both cash and credit card to pay for the balance upon arrival. Check-in is 24-hours from 12am (Check-out 11am) on the day of arrival. Same-day early arrivals may store their luggage free of charge. Breakfast served between 08:00am and 10:00am. Coffee and tea are free of charge. However, we do not tolarate any kind of behaviour that consists of racial, religious and sexual discrimination and we reserve the right to refuse service to anyone who falls under these categories.


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By Emily Anderson
One in a series
MADRID — I am totally off of my game this World Youth Day. I am not sure if it is because I am in a non-English speaking country or if it is because it is so hot down here, but either way, the first two days of WYD haven't been fabulous.
I managed to get separated my group tonight for the opening Mass! It was beyond frustrating. At least I had someone with me. It was difficult at the Mass because it was soooo cramped and not in English made it hard to enter in. But, this isn't the big papal Mass. Please keep praying for us! We did go to an exhibit at the Love and Life Center hosted by the Sisters of Life and the Knights of Columbus. It was awesome and really made us consider life and the choices we make. There were a few tears shed, but overall, it was today's high!
Emily "Em" Anderson, 28, is the director of youth ministry at St. James Catholic Church in Falls Church, Va. She is excited to be traveling with seven teens and two other adults from her ministry. This is her second World Youth Day, having trekked across the world to Sydney with 10 teens for World Youth Day in 2008. She enjoys laughing, singing at the top of her lungs — rather badly — praying liturgy of the hours and planning her next party.


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Bouchée à la Reine with Turkey
Courtesy Classic Catering People
Bouchée à la Reine with Turkey
8 vol-au-vent pastry shells
1-1/2 lb diced cooked Turkey (any part)
1/2 c. Chanterelles mushrooms, chopped (or any mushroom of your choice)
1 small sweet onion, chopped
2 T. unsalted butter
1 T. white wine
Handful of chopped parsley
Béchamel Sauce:
1/4 c. unsalted butter
1/4 c. flour
1 c. milk
A pinch of thyme
1/2 c. chicken stock or broth
Coarse salt and pepper for seasoning
1 egg for wash
Serves 8
1. In a pan, fry the onion in the butter until soft and golden; add the diced mushrooms and sauté for 2 minutes. Add the Turkey and sauté 2 minutes -- add the white wine and let the sauce reduce for 3 minutes. Set aside.
2. Pre-heat oven 380 degrees.
3. Prepare the béchamel sauce – melt the butter in a casserole, and gradually add the flour and the milk with a whisk on medium heat. Add chicken stock. It should become thicker and thicker. Lower the heat and stir firmly and quickly until desired thickness. Set aside.
4. Take out the pastry shells and brush with egg wash, heat for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown. Now you can mix the chicken with the béchamel sauce. Reheat slightly for 2 minutes on a low-heat. Fill generously each shell and place top 'hat' shell on top. 5. Sprinkle with chopped parsley.
5. Serve either as a starter or as a main course with a salad on the side.


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(Presented as part of the 2012 Inclusive Language Convocation at Wartburg Theological Seminary)
As I begin, I would like to say a word about faith formation and families. Faith formation for parents and children together and separately is a good and important task of the church. In speaking about single people in the church I do not wish, in any way, to devalue that. Rather, the purpose of this presentation is to make visible some of the unique struggles and considerations regarding language and worldview about single people in the church. That being said, this part of the "inclusive language" convocation will focus less on language and more on attitude or worldview, which comes through in our language.
Single people may find themselves in many different places in life. One might be single by choice or by circumstance. One might be previously married or partnered and now divorced, separated or widowed. One might never have been married or partnered. Each of these circumstances carries its own unique concerns, sensitivities and needs.
As with any situation where one person is speaking for a whole category of people, there are many voices that I will not represent well. The group I can most readily represent is the one from which my own perspective emerges which is: young, female, single and heterosexual. (And relevant to some parts of the conversation, a candidate for the ordained roster.) However, even within that group of people there are many diverse stories and experiences, which is why our ongoing conversations are so important. (Indeed ongoing mutual conversation about all of today's issues is critical so that we can hear and learn from the perspectives of one another.)
In preparing for this, I spoke with several single people on campus. Below are the things that emerged most clearly from those conversations.
1. Please treat me like a whole person! The fact that I am not partnered does not make me less, and doesn't necessarily mean I'm just waiting for someone else. Sometimes I think that people hear the common wedding text about two becoming one flesh and therefore assume that if you aren't partnered then you're just ½ flesh… somehow less than a whole person. This is neither true nor helpful. So, I suggest identifying people by what is, not what isn't.
Similarly, well intentioned people sometimes approach those who are single and try to "help them" by setting them up with someone. Or by telling them, "It's okay that you're single because they have a career", as though trying to justify their place in life.
People need/want community not pity! Value them and help give support when needed. There are some circumstances, like when one is new to an area where one doesn't know people, where extra support may be useful particularly from colleagues. Just think about how you do this.
Please don't make assumptions about my sexuality based on whether or not I'm in a relationship with someone.
On the whole, it is best to see anyone as a person: created imago Dei, claimed by God in baptism, and one for whom Christ died, rather than viewing them primarily by their relationship status (or any other particular attribute).
2. Men and women both have this problem I have heard about this more from women than men, and as a woman will speak from that perspective myself, but please understand that many of these things go both ways.
3. Don't create dialectics. Yes, Lutherans really like them, but they can be problematic when applied to people. One problem faced by young women is that if you aren't married, or well on your way, people assume you will be an "old maid". However, if you are dating someone, but not yet married, especially for those who are candidates for rostered ministry in the church, people react as though something sexually immoral must be going on. (Such assumptions probably also affect unmarried men, but there seems to be more stigma for the women about being unmarried as they approach age 30 and beyond.)
In light of this, particularly with Visions and Expectations for rostered leaders, it is important to curb assumptions and rumors. In small communities like this, where we know so much about one another, it's easy for stories to get started, and before the facts can be checked almost everyone knows. If you have a question or concern about someone's behavior, please ask them before you talk about it.
A couple of helpful things to keep in mind. Sometimes men have friends who are women and women have friends who are men, in whom they have no romantic interest. This is good. However, many times assumptions are made that something is going on between those people. Again, please don't assume. As colleagues in the parish, you can help support those who are single by not creating or exacerbating situations where there are rumors about conduct. If you have concerns, speak to the persons involved.
Some helpful things to think about as we minister in congregations (and other public contexts):
Culturally, being single can be alienating, particularly when most of your friends are married and have children or are getting married and having children. As the church it is great to create an environment that does not mirror this or enhance it.
Consider that relationship status may not be the single person's favorite thing to talk about. In fact it almost certainly isn't. Navigating this cultural issue can be tricky because, as I learned it, one of the five "safe" things to ask someone about is their family. However, you can probably imagine a whole host of reasons, beyond just this one, why that might not be the case.
Please consider that being in groups of all couples may be uncomfortable, particularly if congregational social events are consistently structured around pairs of people. Or have names like "Pairs and Spares".
Let's strive for worship that can include everyone intergenerationally, so that families are welcome and kids are able to participate, and so that people who come to worship alone are also included. A couple situations to consider: I was in a worship service geared toward kids' participation and families were sitting together at tables sized to fit one family. This made coming alone very awkward. It was a good attempt to meet the need of the children. But it separated the worshiping community rather than finding a place for all of us. Similarly, some churches end up with a "widow's pew" where those whose spouses have died find themselves awkwardly set apart in worship. Things like this are a good challenge for us to continue to think seriously about!
One task of our life together as church is to mark life passages. However, our life passages primarily mark out transitions in one's life related to family relationships and traditional passages – like marriage. Otherwise for adults there are few markers of significant moments in one's life unless they are about one's children. So, how might we honor life passages of those whose lives are transitioning from one state to another that do not fall into those "traditional" categories? (Including transitions such as divorce or the death of a spouse that move someone from a state of being married to one where they no longer are.)
How we think about, and honor, primary life relationships is also important.
→ How do we honor and value people's primary and important relationships as primary and important regardless of whether they are with parents, spouse, children, or friends?
→ How do we value people's friends and pets as significant life companions and how can these be honored and taken seriously? For example, taking as seriously a person's grief at their deaths as we do the death of another life partner.
There are a few considerations related to ministry in the church, singleness and particular age groups.
Young adults
Unmarried young adults can be invisible in the church. Please don't treat us like we're invisible.
Also, we do not typically view church as a dating service. Don't make it one. We are here for God and to participate in the body of Christ, not to find a life partner. Please help others to understand this as well.
For older adults there are also unique challenges and concerns, particularly as spouses and life partners begin to die. Suddenly people find themselves in groups of couples, but now they are the odd one out which can exacerbate feelings of aloneness. The aforementioned "widow's pew" can also be an unfortunate result. It is worth thinking about how these folks can be supported without being singled out in an awkward way.
Finally, how do we conceive of the church as a place where we come together to worship God and are viewed in light of our identity in Christ? A community that takes seriously baptismal promises and creates a place for faith formation of people in all walks of life, so that the contributions of all to that journey are valued and each one has a place.


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There are two species of rodents known for their long lives and abilities to avoid cancer. First is the infinitely creepy looking naked mole rat. Less well known, and just as subterranean, is the blind mole rat. We know something of how naked mole rats are cancer resistant, but what about these fuzzy, blind guys?
Blind mole rats live up to 21 years old, and are adept at avoiding the cancers that so frequently do in mammals. So, how do we analyze the way these creatures fight tumors? By inducing them, of course.
Researchers forced fibroblast cells to grow at an increased rate to simulate cancer. This triggered the release of interferon (IFN-β if you want to get precise), and the rat's bodies responded by inducing "massive necrotic cell death" in the growth. It's thought this is caused by amino acid substitutions in the p53 and Rb pathways. It's thought this adaptation evolved to deal with life in low-oxygen conditions underground.
What's interesting is that both varieties of mole rat — naked and blind — have completely different methods of fighting cancer, but both are very effective. Now the trick is seeing if there's a way to apply these same methods to humans.
Photo by Rollin Verlinde


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Beckham off DL, returns to White Sox
DETROIT -- Gordon Beckham rejoined the White Sox for Thursday afternoon's series finale against Detroit. He returned from his injury rehab assignment and was activated from the disabled list.
To make room for Beckham, the White Sox optioned starting pitcher Charlie Leesman to Triple-A Charlotte after Wednesday's 6-4 victory. The White Sox were short a position player Wednesday night, with Adam Eaton working through a left knee strain and Conor Gillaspie out of action because of a sore left hand.
After knocking out two hits, scoring two runs and stealing a base Tuesday night for Double-A Birmingham, Beckham finished 0-for-4 in the Barons' loss to Tennessee on Wednesday afternoon. Beckham's injury rehab for a strained left oblique covered 43 at-bats in 12 games.