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Arctic Ocean Currents
Do you want to learn about how water moves through the Arctic Ocean? Then put your finger on the map on this page. Start on the blue line to the far left of the map. This is where water enters the Arctic Ocean. You can then trace where that water would go as it gets swept into the Beaufort gyre. Water in the gyre goes round and round and round until it gets thrown out of the gyre and flows to the North Atlantic Ocean (follow any blue line that goes to the bottom of the map). The red lines on the map show where warmer water from the Atlantic comes into the Arctic Ocean. You can trace those lines too. You might think that warm water would melt sea ice in the Arctic, but the sea ice is protected from the warm water by layers of Arctic water.In the last few years, scientists have discovered that the Arctic region actually has an impact on surrounding areas and on global climate. Scientists are using special instruments called Ice-Tethered Profilers (ITP's) in the Arctic. Researchers can actually set these machines up in the Arctic and then leave them for up to three years without having to change their batteries! The instruments actually hang down about half a mile (800m) below Arctic ice and measure how cold and salty the water is. Then the measurements are sent to computers via satellite so scientists can access the data from anywhere in the world. Imagine looking up information about the Arctic Ocean while using your laptop on a nice, warm, sunny beach. That's just what scientists can do! And the instruments work year round in the harsh Arctic environment where there are high winds, low temperatures, thick ice and even polar bears who like to wander by! ITP's will help shed more light on the Arctic Ocean and its role in regional and global climate.


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- Top Countries
- Around the web
Matthäus criticizes lack of professional knowledge at Bayern: 'These are just football fans'
Lothar Matthäus has clearly expressed his opinion about the club management of Bayern Munich. The German record international believes there is a lack of expertise. "In many parts of the club, there is a shortage of leaders who come from the football world."
Guardiola sends a clear signal to Grealish: 'That's the difference'
Pep Guardiola has sent a clear signal to Jack Grealish ahead of the FA Cup clash with Luton Town. If the 28-year-old Englishman wants to regain his starting spot at Manchester City, he will have to perform.
New Bayern director already spoke with Alonso: 'At that time, he thought it was too early'
Max Eberl also wanted to bring in Xabi Alonso during his time at Borussia Mönchengladbach as a coach. However, according to the new sporting director of Bayern Munich, the interest at that time does not indicate who will succeed Thomas Tuchel.
Doubts about the future of Kevin De Bruyne, say in England
The Belgian midfielder's contract expires in 2025, and it's not certain whether he will renew.
I am sure that one day I will return to coaching, I would like to coach again
Statements from Zinedine Zidane, coach currently inactive since leaving the managerial position of Real Madrid in 2021.
Aguero doesn't promise but doesn't close the door to a return
In 2021, Sergio Agüero had to retire from his football career due to heart problems. The progress has been positive, and the Argentine carries the hope of still playing - probably for Independiente - but does not promise that it will happen.
Unlucky Nkunku out again for weeks: 'He's not the same as before'
Christopher Nkunku is sidelined again for a few weeks at Chelsea. He has already missed a total of 27 matches this season. He got injured for the third time against Liverpool.
Kaoru Mitoma is on loan at Brighton until the end of the season
Kaoru Mitoma, the promising Japanese winger, is currently on loan at Brighton until the end of the season.
In today's football, if you don't have speed, you're worth nothing
Words from Dietmar Hamann, who disapproves of the return of the Real Madrid midfielder to the German national team.
Bordeaux player Elis still in an artificial coma
The Honduran striker Alberth Elis is still being kept in an artificial coma. The Bordeaux forward lost consciousness during Saturday night's Ligue 2 match against Guingamp.

subset: commoncrawl


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Freshwater conservation in the Peruvian Amazon
Geographical location:
Latin America/Caribbean > South America > Peru
The Abanico del Pastaza wetlands and the Pacaya Samiria national reserve in northeastern Peru are extremely rich in biological and cultural diversity. But decades of development has effected water quality and reduced fish populations, the main source of food and income for many local communities.
WWF is working with indigenous groups to help manage threats to the region and protect themselves from the negative effects of commercial oil development and overfishing. WWF is also promoting conservation efforts in the protected areas.
Extremely rich in biological and sociocultural diversity, the Abanico del Pastaza Wetlands Complex and Pacaya Samiria are of high conservation value and have been categorized as one of sixteen priority areas for biodiversity conservation in the Amazon River and Flooded Forest (ARFF) Ecoregion.
However, due to the high degree of connectivity in the Abanico del Pastaza, unsustainable natural resource extraction activities have had a profound and widespread impact on freshwater habitats, affecting wildlife populations, migration processes, and ecosystem health. Two major threats to both the biological and cultural diversity of the Complex are petroleum extraction and commercial over-fishing, both of which will be addressed.
Several oil lots currently being promoted threaten biodiversity conservation in the wetlands. It is critical to restore specific areas as soon as possible and reduce current contamination generated by oil companies in order to conserve Lake Rimachi's, and the region's, remaining, important natural resources over the long term.
1. Improve livelihood opportunities and general welfare in priority communities in the Abanico del Pastaza and Pacaya Samiria National Reserve.
2. Improve the indigenous community members and leader's capacities, as well as those of the Pastaza Watershed Coordination Committee (PWCC) members in concert with policymakers and oil companies, on the viability of hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation, as well as designing mechanisms of social and environmental compensation for the recuperation of degraded ecosystems.
3. Sustainable natural resource management practices are identified and being implemented and replicated by communities in selected sites in the Pastaza River Basin and Pacaya Samiria National Reserve.
4. Reduce the levels of overfishing through the implementation of a fishing management plan in Lake Rimachi, and an improvement of the market to ensure that economic benefits from the Complex's natural resources flow directly to Kandozi indigenous communities.
5. Improve policies and planning pertaining to the Pastaza River Basin, by supporting the participatory development of transparent legal mechanisms that promote equitable and sustainable development in the River Basin, and protect stakeholders' natural resource rights.
This project is part of a long-term conservation program with the following goal: Promote and guarantee biodiversity conservation in this area through sustainable and participatory management of its ecosystems and natural resources, based on a scientific understanding of its ecological, hydrological, socioeconomic and cultural processes as well as on respect for the rights of those indigenous groups that live in the area.
At a larger scale, the program's goal directly contributes to the achievement of the primary goals established at the ecoregional level for the Amazon River and Flooded Forests Ecoregion, which include: ensuring freshwater representation and integrity; maintaining and restoring connectivity and ecological and hydrological processes; and ensuring viable species populations.
Over the long term, the goal responds to the issue by providing indigenous groups with the skills and tools to conserve the Complex's ecological processes. By building their capacity for sustainable management of natural resources and other strategies, threats to the area's biodiversity can be controlled. This will result in an improvement of water quality, a reduction in deforestation and over-fishing and the sustainable and controlled use of other natural resources.
Freshwater contamination problems are too severe to be resolved over the short-term. However, through the exercise of indigenous people's rights and the strengthening of their federations, the involvement of policymakers and civil society will be promoted so that better environmental standards exist and plans for adaptation and remediation of the areas affected by oil company activities are respected, thereby reducing the threat posed by petroleum extraction. By promoting participatory management of natural resources, the overexploitation of these resources will decrease, resulting in increased economic benefits for indigenous communities based on sustainable natural resource management strategies which will also benefit the Complex's biodiversity.
A. Freshwater ecosystem recovery. After more than 30 years of contamination in the Corrientes River due to irresponsible oil extraction activities, FECONACO, the indigenous federation that groups the Achuar and Urarinas people from this river, Pluspetrol, an Argentinean oil company, and the Government of Peru have signed a historical agreement that requires Pluspetrol to reinject 100% of production waters into old oil pits. Production waters also known as formation waters contain at least twice as salt as seawater and heavy metals like mercury, cadmium and barium among others.
B. Facilitation of actor cooperation on the Peruvian and Ecuadorian borders of the Pastaza River Basin. The first bi-national Achuar Congress was held in August 2006 in San Lorenzo, Loreto, with more than 130 participants. The discussion of this meeting focused on 4 main issues: governance, territory, education and petroleum. After 3 days of intense discussions, many agreements were reached regarding environment conservation. A very important resolution was achieved: "The Achuar indigenous people of Peru and Ecuador reject any oil-related activity in their ancestral territories". The Achuar position against oil activity in their territories is still united and now is official for both countries. Building capacities in COBNAEP will improve coordination between Achuar people in the Pastaza basin from Peru and Ecuador.
C. Reduction of overfishing levels in Lake Rimachi. In December 2006, the election of the new directive of APA Yungani (Artisanal Fishing Association) was held in the town of Musa Karusha, very close to Lake Rimachi. More than 70 indigenous Kandozi fishermen as well as the Director of the Regional Office for Production - DIREPRO, participated during 2 days of intense debate. Personnel from the local NGO Racimos de Ungurahui, a WWF partner, assisted in the legal issues and personnel from DIREPRO assisted in technical issues. Second elections for the new APA Yungani Directive were held with participation from DIREPRO's director to improve governance in the Kandozi territory (6 years ago DIREPRO, formerly known as Ministry of Fishing, was not allowed in Kandozi territory).


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Photo by Alan Cleaver
Every week I'll pose a question for you to share your experiences and tips. If you have a question that you'd like me to post, I'd love to hear from you!
There have been a ton of great deals this holiday season. One of my favorites is this Radio Flyer Tailspin Trike (normally $89.99) that I got for my almost 3-year-old for $29.99. I paid for it with Swagbucks, making it an even better deal!
What's the best deal you've gotten so far? Was it something you knew you wanted and watched for a sale or something unexpected? Did you splurge on any gifts even without a deal? What are you hoping to get for Christmas?
Join the discussion — add your two cents to previous Ask DSM Readers questions too!


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Dir/scr: Uberto Pasolini. UK-Italy. 2013. 87mins
A mannered and rather familiar dark comedy-drama, Uberto Pasolini's attractively structured British-set film is given life and depth by a striking performance by Eddie Marsan as a solitary man who works doing a rather usual job, and who is given a glimpse of what his future could be when he finds himself out of a job when his department is downsized.
The film is very much centred around Eddie Marsan's restrained and highly watchable performance.
Directed in a rather static manner – which helps the astute production design, costumes and location, but means it lacks a certain energy – Still Life is littered with engaging and entertainingly oddball moments, though in the end its lacks the poignancy it is aiming for, and rather shoots itself in the foot with a misjudged final scene. The film had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival.
In modern-day South London John May (Marsan) works for the local council attempting to find the next of kin to those who seem to have died alone. He meticulous, ordered and focused just on his job (he returns to his small council flat to a dinner of toast and a can of tuna) and always tries to do the right thing by those who have passed away by organising funerals, replete with music and eulogies, despite the fact only he is there to attend.
One day he gets a new case, an elderly alcoholic named Billy Stoke. But the death hits him rather differently, because it happens to be in a flat directly opposite his own apartment, and as he looks the detritus of the man's life the emptiness of his own stark existence starts to dawn on him.
When he is told that he is to be let go and that Stoke is to be his last case, he sets about scouring the country for clues as to the man's past (he finds a photograph of a daughter in a battered old album), and slowly reveals the man's rich history (friends in the Midlands, the fact he served in the Falklands War and that he had another daughter he knew nothing about). He eventually tracks down Stoke's estranged daughter Kelly (Joanne Froggatt), and against the odds these two lonely souls are drawn to each other.
May starts to become a new man – abandoning his tie and wearing a sensible jumper, sipping hot chocolate instead of tea and meeting Kelly in a railway café – but a few days before Billy Stoke's funeral he does something else he has never done that has tragic consequences.
The film is very much centred around Eddie Marsan's restrained and highly watchable performance, but suffers from being rather static in terms camerawork (which helps reinforce the astutely staged scenes but hampers momentum) and just not as darkly funny as it perhaps needs to be. There are moments to enjoy in the details of this man's strange and solitary life, but it is just too subtle at times. The other performances are okay at best – though Joanne Froggatt is terrific as the rather sad Kelly – but the film makes rather a mistake with its final scene (it would spoil the plot to give full details) that involves ghosts.
Production companies: Redwave, Embargo Films, Cinecitta Studios, Exponential Cinema, Beta Cinema, Rai Cinema
International sales: Beta Cinema, www.betacinema.com
Producers: Uberto Passolini, Felix Vossen, Christopher Simon
Cinematography: Stefano Falivene
Editors: Tracy Granger, Gavin Buckley
Production designer: Lisa Marie Hall
Music: Rachel Portman
Main cast: Eddie Marsan, Joanne Froggatt, Karen Drury, Andrew Buchan, Ciaran McIntyre, Neil D'Souza, Paul Anderson, Tim Potter


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KALAMAZOO—The Kalamazoo Film Society will present "Anna Karenina" Friday through Sunday, Feb. 8-10, at Western Michigan University's Little Theatre.
Show times are 7 and 9:30 p.m. Friday; 4:30, 7 and 9:30 p.m. Saturday; and 2:30, 5 and 7:30 p.m. Sunday. Admission is $5.
The third collaboration of Academy Award nominee Keira Knightley with acclaimed director Joe Wright, "Anna Karenina" is a bold vision of the epic story of love. Adapted from Leo Tolstoy's novel by Academy Award winner Tom Stoppard, the story explores the human capacity for love. As the married Anna questions her life and happiness, change comes to all around her. The age-old story of sweeping passion is given new life in this visually stunning production.
Starring Keira Knightley, Jude Law, Aaron Johnson and Alicia Vikander, the film is rated R for some sexuality and violence, and has a run time of 2 hours, 10 minutes.
Parking and directions
The Little Theatre is located at the corner of Oakland Drive and Oliver Lane on WMU's East Campus. Free off-street parking is available behind the theatre.
For more information, visit kalfilmsociety.net, contact the Kalamazoo Film Society at email@example.com, or call the Little Theatre movie line at (269) 387-8221.


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Forum for all KLX650 enthusiasts to share knowledge and know how regarding this beautiful machine
lovers, enthusiasts, klx650, share, knowledge, beautiful, machine, enduro, touratech, hipster, rally, dakar, acerbis, xt600, klx650r, klx650c, #gsxr
Gallatin Sport Riders. GSR Gallatin Sport Riders. Bozeman Gallatin Montana MT Bike Sportbike R6 R1 Gsxr CBR yamaha honda suzuki kawasaki ducati aprillia buel
bozeman, gallatin, montana, motorcycle, sportbike, #gsxr, yamaha, honda, suzuki, kawasaki, ducati, aprillia, buel
suzuki gsxr from 1985 to 2000 from sacs to srad gsxr 1100 gsxr 750 swap tuning tips and tricks
sacs, house, suzuki, #gsxr, cooled, 1985-1992, srad, 1100, aria, olio, water, swap, tuning, fornt, rear, cooler, match
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Motorcycle Forum for all bikers, all ages from learners to the experienced. Friendly Bike forum
bikerider, motorcycle, forums, bike, bikers, motorbike, talk, zx10, #gsxr, yamaha, suzuki, honda, kawasaki, ducati, wheels


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Judge Halves $30.2M Infringement Award Against Nintendo
A U.S. judge on Wednesday ruled that inventor Seijiro Tomita can take half the $30.2 million in damages awarded him after a jury found Nintendo Co (OTCMKTS:NTDOY) infringed one of his patents, or risk getting nothing.
The federal jury in New York awarded Tomita the damages in March after deciding the video game company infringed a 3-D display technology patent with its handheld 3DS videogame system.
Tomita's patent related to technology he developed for providing 3-D images without the need for 3-D glasses. He sued Nintendo and its U.S. unit in 2011 for patent infringement.
In a ruling on Wednesday, federal judge Jed Rakoff deemed the award "'intrinsically excessive' and unsupported by the evidence presented at trial."
By August 23, Tomita, 59, must decide whether to accept $15.1 million in damages or proceed to a new damages trial, the U.S. district judge ruled.
Rakoff noted that evidence at the trial showed Nintendo's 3DS console is not profitable, and the vast majority of games designed for it do not use technology covered by Tomita's patent.
The judge denied other requests from Nintendo, including overturning the jury's verdict or granting a new liability trial.
"Nintendo respects the intellectual property rights of other companies and is confident that none of its products infringes the asserted patent," Charlie Scibetta, a spokesman for Nintendo, said in a statement. "Nintendo will appeal the jury's verdict and reduced damages award to the court of appeals."
Joe Diamante, Tomita's lawyer, said that "We are still reviewing the decision and have no comment."
The case is Tomita Technologies USA, LLC et al v. Nintendo Co, Ltd et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, 11-cv-4256.
(Reporting by Bernard Vaughan; editing by Andrew Hay)


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What's the best nitrogen purity for me?
The answer to this depends on your tire pressure. For most passenger vehicles, with recommended pressures of 32 to 35 psi, it's OK to use more than 93.4 percent nitrogen in your tires, but that's all you need to gain all the benefits you'll read about on this site. For tires that have a recommended pressure of 100 psi or more, the nitrogen purity should be 98%. Higher pressure tires require higher purity to balance partial pressures with the outside air.
• Bridgestone/Firestone
• Ford Motor Co.
• Air Products
While nitrogen will help you maintain proper pressure, you should still check your tires on a regular basis and/or as recommended by the tire manufacturer.
What's so special about nitrogen?
Nitrogen's larger size decreases the rate at which it permeates through the tire, keeping the tire correctly inflated for a longer time.
It's not about the nitrogen, it's about reducing oxygen and moisture. Oxidation can damage the tire and it's components, as well as the wheel. The rate of oxidation increases as the tire heats during use. Compressed air also contains moisture which increases oxidation and pressure fluctuation.
While nitrogen will help you maintain proper pressure, you should still check your tires on a regular basis and/or as recommended by the tire manufacturer.
Will nitrogen work in the tires I already have?
Nitrogen works in any tire and will work great in the tires you already have. There's no need to buy new tires; you already have everything you need to start using nitrogen today…
While nitrogen will help you maintain proper pressure, you should still check your tires on a regular basis and/or as recommended by the tire manufacturer.
What if I get a flat or my tire has a leak?
We recommend that you use nitrogen in your tires whenever possible, but if you run into a situation where you can't get it, no problem. Go ahead and "top off" or completely fill your tires with air. Later, you can go back to the tire dealer who inflated your tires with nitrogen for a refill.
While nitrogen will help you maintain proper pressure, you should still check your tires on a regular basis and/or as recommended by the tire manufacturer.
How much does it cost to fill tires with nitrogen?
The average cost to fill a tire can vary widely, anywhere from $3-10 per tire, depending on several variables such as tire size and pressure (larger and higher pressure tires require more nitrogen and longer purge/fill times). In addition to this, many tire dealers choose to bundle nitrogen with other services making the cost per tire higher, while some charge less (or nothing) per tire if you purchase tires from them.
You may use the Nitrogen Locator on the home page of our website www.getnitrogen.org to locate a dealer near you. They will be able to give you a firm quote on what it will cost to fill your specific tire size, along with any special services they may offer with the nitrogen.
What if I've checked the Nitrogen Locator and there isn't a dealer near me that offers nitrogen?
Get Nitrogen Institute is able to list only those dealers that are currently members of the organization. New dealers are joining every week, so please keep checking the Nitrogen Locator periodically to find a dealer in your area.
Are tires covered under warranty by the manufacturer if they have nitrogen in them?
Yes! Tires are still covered under warranty when nitrogen is used as the inflation medium. Using nitrogen has no effect on the manufacturer's warranty for the tire.
Does Nitrogen affect the accuracy of the Tire Pressure Monitoring System on some cars?
No! Nitrogen as an inflation gas has no affect on the TPMS sensors. The sensors will read compressed air and nitrogen the same. The Tire Pressure Warning light should not be on if your tires are properly inflated with nitrogen to the manufacturer's recommended pressure.
Is there a PSI conversion factor needed when filling a tire with nitrogen instead of air?
There is no conversion factor necessary for filling tires with nitrogen vs. air. Simply inflate tires with nitrogen to the manufacturer's recommended PSI rating.
What's the best process for adding nitrogen to my tires?
You may simply add nitrogen to a tire already filled with air. However, in order to reap the full benefits of nitrogen tire inflation, you need to achieve the desired level of nitrogen purity (GNI recommends 93.4% for passenger tires and 98% for truck tires) and remove any moisture in the tire. To do this it is necessary to first purge the tire of the existing air, down to 3psi, and then refill the tire with nitrogen. This purge/fill cycle may sometimes need to be repeated to achieve optimum results.
Does over-filling the tire with Nitrogen provide better purity?
Get Nitrogen does not recommend over-filling a tire. The tire should always be inflated to the manufacturer's recommended pressure. While over-filling the tire may provide a slight increase in purity, a double purge will provide the same result without over-filling the tire.


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The compound sulforaphane, whose natural precursors are found at high levels in broccoli and other cruciferous vegetables, has been hailed for its chemopreventive powers against cancer.
Now sulforaphane has demonstrated new skills in treating a genetic skin blistering disorder called epidermolysis bullosa simplex (EBS), Pierre Coulombe and colleagues at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore report at the American Society for Cell Biology 47th Annual Meeting.
EBS is a rare but devastating inherited condition in which fluid-filled lesions called bullae appear at sites of frictional trauma to the skin. Unfortunately, treatment options for EBS are limited and palliative in nature. Much work remains to be done before sulforaphane can be tested clinically with EBS patients, but Coulombe notes that extracts from broccoli sprouts rich in sulforaphane have already been shown to be safe for use in human skin.
In EBS patients, the bottom layer of the epidermis, which is made of cells called keratinocytes, is unusually fragile and ruptures readily. Molecularly, most cases of EBS result from mutations in genes that produce the proteins keratin 5 (K5) and keratin 14 (K14). These proteins co-polymerize to form the intermediate filament cytoskeleton in basal keratinocytes. Since the discovery in 1991 that EBS is a keratin-based disease, more than 40 additional disorders affecting a broad range of tissues have been traced to defects in genes that encode intermediate filament proteins.
Coulombe and colleagues turned to sulforaphane in their search for a chemical activator that would induce the production of missing keratins in basal epidermis. There are 54 "conserved" keratin proteins in mammals -- meaning that evolution favored their survival. Many of these keratins are closely related in their genetic sequences and their properties and by their distribution within epithelial tissues. Coulombe reasoned that such a situation breeds "functional redundancy," meaning that the genetic loss of one keratin could be partially rescued by the overlapping functions of a keratin cousin.
Could this partial redundancy serve as the basis for therapy in EBS and related conditions? Coulombe was guided by prior evidence that partial redundancy was at work. In EBS patients, skin blisters heal without scarring, correlating with an induction in the expression of the protein K6, to which K5 is related, and of K17 and K16, to which K14 is related. In transgenic mouse models, these keratins are indeed partially redundant in their ability to provide structural support in skin keratinocytes.
Sulforaphane was originally identified by Johns Hopkins colleague, Paul Talalay, as the chemical entity in cruciferous vegetables responsible for its anti-cancer properties. As originally reported in the August 2007 issue of PNAS, the researchers found that exposing keratinocytes to sulforaphane caused the selective induction of keratins 16 and 17. Moving to an EBS mouse model with a K14 deficiency, they found that treatment with sulforaphane significantly reduced epidermal blistering while it was ineffective for a K5 deficient mouse.
Paper titled, Reprogramming of Keratin Biosynthesis by the Natural Product Sulforaphane Restores Skin Integrity in Epidermolysis Bullosa Simplex, will be presented at 5:50 to 5:45 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 2.


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This yarn-dyed gabardine has a slight sheen and a fluid drape. This would make a truly special buttondown!
Sold in half-yard increments, so for one yard, select 2 in the "quantity" menu.
What Is... Tencel? Tencel is a brand name for lyocell, which is a cellulosic (plant-based) manufactured fiber, usually made from processed wood pulp. It is made with a "closed loop" process-- the solvents used to pulverize the wood pulp are reused/recycled, resulting in a lower environmental impact.
Fiber Content: 50% cotton, 35% rayon, 15% tencel
Width: 43"
Country of Origin: Japan
Pattern Idea: Grainline Studio Archer Button Up Shirt


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Yesterday I was telling you about this guy who's been working on updating BlackSn0w to work on iPhone OS 3.1.3. Well it seems he has worked out the kinks and someone has made his update available.
You can now download and install BlackSn0w RC2 to unlock your iPhone 3.1.3 with baseband 05.11.07. The app should be available in the MMI repo soon, but if you can't wait, you can always add this repo: http://cydia.pushfix.info/
After jailbreaking your iPhone, simply launch Cydia and look for BlackSn0w RC2. Download and install, then reboot your iPhone. You should be good to go.
Note that if you accidentally updated your iPhone to 3.1.3, thus updating your baseband to 05.12.01, you will not be able to use this hack.
To date there is still now jailbreak and unlock for iPhone 3.1.3 on baseband 05.12.01.


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Classic review: In the Country of Men
[The Monitor occasionally reprints material from its archives. This review originally ran on Feb. 6, 2007.] Suleiman lives on Mulberry Street, but it's nothing like the Dr. Seuss story. That street was so gentle and boring its hero had to gussy up events to make them worth telling, whereas Suleiman doesn't need to use his imagination at all.
Instead of a horse-drawn wagon plodding slowly down the street, the 9-year-old boy sees his best friend's father arrested by the Revolutionary Army, beaten and kicked and carted off in a white car. That's because this Mulberry Street is located in Tripoli, Libya, under the regime of Col. Muammar Qaddafi.
In the Country of Men, which was short-listed for last year's Man Booker Prize, is a knockout – emotionally wrenching and gorgeously written. It is not primarily a political novel; it's about the relationships in one family and about a boy struggling to make sense of events, both public and private, that he has been exposed to far too soon.
The story begins in 1979, eight days after the neighbor, Ustath Rashid, "vanished like a grain of salt in water." Suleiman's baba, Faraj, is away on a business trip, and his mother is getting over an "illness." But when Suleiman goes shopping with his mom, he sees his baba downtown, wearing unfamiliar sunglasses and disappearing into a strange building. Nor is his mother's illness anything so straightforward as a cold.
His mom is only "ill" when his dad is away, Suleiman explains. She gets her "medicine" in bottles wrapped in black plastic bags that the baker keeps hidden under his counter.
On those nights, Suleiman is afraid to leave her alone, and she regales him with stories, like his hero Scheherezade. Only instead of Sinbad, Aladdin, and Ali Baba, his mom, Najwa, tells him about how, at 14, she was forced to leave school and marry an older man she had never met as a punishment. Her crime was holding hands in a cafe with a boy.
But much of what Najwa tells her son is difficult for a 9-year-old to bear. "The things she told me pressed down on my chest, so heavy that it seemed impossible to carry on living without spilling them. I didn't want to break my promise – the promise she always forced me to give, sometimes 30 times over in one night, not to tell, to swear on her life, again and again...."
And when Suleiman can't hold the words back she reproaches him, saying, "I beg you, don't embarrass me.... A boy your age should never speak of such things."
Although a compulsive storyteller while drunk, Najwa has little patience for Scheherezade. "Scheherezade was a coward who accepted slavery over death," she snaps at the son she calls her "prince," retelling the final chapter with feminist fury, as Scheherezade gathers her three sons about her and begs to live.
" 'To live,' she repeated. 'And not because she had as much right to as he, but because if he were to kill her his sons would live "motherless" ... My guess: five, maybe ten years at the most before she got the sword.' "
But in daily life, Najwa makes the same choice as the scorned queen.
"Here it's either silence or exile, walk by the wall or leave," as she explains to Moosa, an Egyptian friend whose business schemes (Polish tires, chickens) are a source of much amusement.
She drinks because she's terrified: Suleiman's father is a political dissident. During his "business trips," he writes the prodemocracy pamphlets Suleiman and his friends see people ripping up on their doorsteps.
Now that their neighbor has been interrogated on live TV, Najwa is certain that Faraj will be next. She burns all his books (except one that Suleiman hides in his own room) and hangs a giant picture of "The Guide" on their wall. And when Faraj doesn't come home, she bakes a cake and goes to a high-ranking neighbor to beg for the life of the man of whom she once fainted at first sight.
Matar's writing is strikingly poetic. He brings as much detail to a boy's whimsical thought of mulberries as a crop planted by angels to remind Adam and Eve of paradise as he does to a public execution. And that detail helps to bring to life a place where the TV programs shift from interrogations to a still life of pink flowers, and where people are hanged in stadiums from basketball hoops, to the cheering of crowds.
While it's never a good idea to read too much autobiography into a novel, author Hisham Matar does share certain characteristics with his narrator. Both were 9 when they left Libya – although Matar was accompanied by his parents, and Suleiman is sent abroad alone. Matar's father was also a dissident, although according to an interview Matar gave last year to London's Guardian newspaper, he was not politically active until after the family was living in Egypt. In 1990, his father was kidnapped from Cairo and returned to Tripoli, where he was imprisoned and tortured. The family hasn't heard any news since 1995.
"Nationalism is as thin as a thread, perhaps that's why many feel it must be anxiously guarded," Suleiman writes years later from his home in Cairo, where his "stray dog" status means that he can't return to Libya and his family isn't allowed to leave.
The too-hasty coda is the only weak part of the novel. The grown-up Suleiman glosses over the experience of exile in a way that seems at odds with the sensitive, confused child he once was.
Reviewers like to give debut novels a pat on the head by calling them "promising." If "In the Country of Men" proves to be merely a promise of what Hisham Matar can do, London's literary lights had better watch their backs.
Yvonne Zipp regularly reviews fiction for the Monitor.


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Thanks to Adrienne's post, I am also linking up my card over at Moxie Fab World: Chevron Challenge! Double squee!!
Thank you so much for stopping by the Playhouse. Special thanks to you if you take the time to leave a comment or join as a follower!
A site for my handmade cards, accompanied by my photos and written meanderings which are occasionally witty, often tongue-in-cheek, and rarely profound. Beginning in June 2013, you'll also see lots of NBUS, which is an acronym I coined for Never-Before-Used-Schtuff. Note: my Privacy Policy can be found at a tab below and you can find my NBUS Challenge online. I hope you'll join in the fun there! Thanks for coming by! Have a beverage and enjoy!
So glad you're back! I missed you but it sounds like your time was very well spent! This sunny almost-rainbow card is a fantastic link in the CASADIA chain! Heading over to Wida's right now. (and I'm sure you meant Aunt Ink, right? Aunt Ique was just a typo, right?)
Gorgeous cards, love the zig zag
Hugs Tamara
Hi Darnell, oh how I have missed my daily fix of fun from you! Welcome home girl. You achieved so much at your Sister's house - now can you come and do the same for me please? Fingers crossed that your Sister sells quickly - love the sound of the air mattress on the orange crates....
Your card is a triumph, love the colours and the amazing chevrons, that is a wow card! Big hugs, Annie xx
Welcome back, You were missed. Your card is nicely done, and a great case...way to go...Thanks for sharing that great website where the idea came from.
Welcome back Darnell! I missed you. What a fun idea the CASADEA is - I just sent off an email to Wida to see if I can join in.
I love your chevron card!
You are a Diva darling...staging and creating amazing. Well done. Lucky sisters..blessing abound. I'm sure it will sell quickly. Well done. BTW Fabulous card.
Hey Darnell, love this and think that is such a cool concept to keep the case going. Your card is amazing, love that chevron. Great to see you back.
I'm glad you're home safely! Missed you! Love the chevrons and what a wonderful idea to keep the CASE going!
Welcome back. I'm back, too. Your chevrons are great. I'm sure you did a great job on staging. So many talents you have.
WOWSAH! I love those colorful chevrons!! I like those snipped corners too which add great interest! Welcome home..........wanna come to PA and re-vamp my home? The door's open :)
Welcome back! Missed coming to your blog and seeing your wonderful creations. I absolutely LOVE your chevron card! Perfect even with the crookidy pattern. ;)
Happy to hear things went well with your sister and will pray that her home sells quickly for her.
Yay! You're back! Sounds like you guys could have done a television show accomplishing that much in 3 days. Any before and after pics to share?
Awesome card! The fun colors seems to reflect the happiness that you carried home with you from your time spent with your sisters!
Welcome home. Sounds like you accomplished a lot. Love your card for CASADIA--it is so fun to see how the chain is evolving, and I love the spin you put on your link.
OMG LOVE...you made such good use of that chevron die, love it when you get to use new stuff right away. THis card is right up my alley, I love the way you used the sketch. Laurie is fab and I too am glad you are back! thank you so much for wanting to play CASADIA. great explanation too :)
Love the card. I didn't notice anything crookedy until you mentioned it. The card still looks fab.
Love these pattern paper chevrons! Great card!
Awesome creations, dearie!!!
What a brilliant idea Dippy - beats a blog hop hands down! Love your CAS(e) of Adrienne's card - serendipity that it also fitted the sketch challenge. Love those chevrons but tut tut for not lining up the lines....,.hehe. Sounds like you had a really busy time at your sisters - you should have taken some photos....sounds like you did an amazing job. Bet Mister was pleased to see you back.
Karen xxx
Welcome back, Darnell! It sounds like it was a very productive trip!
I love your card, wonky lines and all. In fact, I think if you lined up those lines, it wouldn't be quite as nice. ;-) Great CASE!!
Great to have you back Darnell and even greater to hear you had a great time with your sisses (that's a lot of greats!) Great card too!! Xx
Welcome home, Darnell!! I love your take on the CASADIA - those colours with the stripes are just awesome :)
First off, sounds like you were a super productive helper. Wishing your sister luck with the sale... As for Casadia - ain't it fun? Love your chevrons and the twine. Oh and the multi-colored sentiment. Looks like you've got nice weather to welcome you home. Lucky.
ooo this is chevron heaven!!! Love that the pattern doesn't line up :0)
Sounds like a very productive trip and a great get-together with your sisters... Shame you have to come back to mount laundry, I scaled that one at the weekend :0)
Jenny x
So glad to see you back safely, Darnell! Sounds like your time with your sister was productive and fun. I hope her house sells quickly!!!
LOVED your chevron card! It may have given me an idea . . .
Sounds like you had an awesome and productive time with your sis! Welcome back! I love your Chevron card--so colorful and cheery! Beautifully done, Darnell!
You're baaackkkk! So glad to *hear* your voice and *see* your face again! And, lest I forget, your creations!!! Love your rickityrackty card! Bright and happy, just what we need in snow and cold land. Bev
What a bright and cheery card ,love the chevron stripes(in fact reminds me of a sweater I once owned ..I loved that sweater) & glad u enjoyed the time with ur sisters x
Get out of here this card is amazing! Wow I so love what you did with this one. I would not want to follow you.
Today is the feast day of Saint Joseph. I have heard many people say if you pray to him your house will sell also if you plant…. if you want to know give me an email I will say a prayer to him for you.
Welcome home, Darnell, I've missed you ... lovely to have you back! What an amazing amount you squeezed into your time away ... hope the house sells without a hitch.
The zigzag CASE is stunning ... I love that the stripes don't match up ... it adds more movement! Anita :)
What a fabulous idea CASADIA is - I may have to partake! :)
This card is fantastically happy and sunny - I love a good rainbow! :)
In answer to your comment - Mr. Nojo is unfortunately still with me whereas Mr. Mojo is nowhere to be seen - doh! Hence my lack of posting the last week or so :( I thought if maybe I left it a while that a new wave of inspiration may fall upon me - I'm not feeling it just yet! I'm working on it though :)
I'm glad to hear that you had a lovely time at your sisters', I hope all goes well for her :) glad to have you back in bloggerland now too! :)
Loved reading your post and glad you were able to help you sister by CAS'ing her house. It's bound to sell quickly now!
Lovely take on your muse card and it looks so cheerful. x
Darnell, welcome home!!! I missed seeing your posts but sounds like you were quite the busy bee and I am sure your sister was so grateful to have you there. I too love your CASADIA, so fun and your take on her card is simply stunning! Again, welcome home!
Welcome home Darnell!
Your card is stunning. I love that chevron die and the colours look amazing.
It sounds like you had a really busy time helping your sister but so worthwhile and I am sure her house sell soon
Sue xx
Oh wow.. what a fab blog!
xxx Susi
please notice our monthly challenge for
Art Journalers over on
and do you know what a MOO is?
look here and take part:
I can't believe I missed this post Darnell! Your card is just gorgeous and I think lined up perfectly.
Fab card and all those colours go wow together. Hugs Mrs A.
Really cool card, darnell! I quite like how things arent perfectly lined up!
Yay, so glad to have you back home! And how fun that you're in the CASADIA chain! Wow are those a lot of chevrons ... love the combination of colors you chose. Very cool card : )
And what a great sister you are! Quite a lot of work, but in this market you need it. Glad you still had some time to relax together!
Hi Darnell,
Love the card. I just had to come see how the chevron die worked.... couldn't wrap my pea brain around it.
My little condo is still for sale (going on three months now). And I really could clear out more of the clutter. Being a crafter that's just hard to do! Although with the weather getting warmer I can now move more things to my storage unit in town and organize what I put in there.
I like the idea of a list -- yep, need to make a few!
Hey Darnell! Thanks also for linking this up to the Chevron Challenge in the Moxie Fab World! I'm so glad you joined in on all the fun there as well! :)
Wecome back Darnell! Your card is terrific!!! The crisp white panel looks fantastic against your vibrant chevrons.


text: I'm not sure, I thought Cheney was supposed to be The Dark Knight? [rquoter]What Bush and Batman Have in Common By ANDREW KLAVAN July 25, 2008; Page A15 A cry for help goes out from a city beleaguered by violence and fear: A beam of light flashed into the night sky, the dark symbol of a bat projected onto the surface of the racing clouds . . . Oh, wait a minute. That's not a bat, actually. In fact, when you trace the outline with your finger, it looks kind of like . . . a "W." There seems to me no question that the Batman film "The Dark Knight," currently breaking every box office record in history, is at some level a paean of praise to the fortitude and moral courage that has been shown by George W. Bush in this time of terror and war. Like W, Batman is vilified and despised for confronting terrorists in the only terms they understand. Like W, Batman sometimes has to push the boundaries of civil rights to deal with an emergency, certain that he will re-establish those boundaries when the emergency is past. And like W, Batman understands that there is no moral equivalence between a free society -- in which people sometimes make the wrong choices -- and a criminal sect bent on destruction. The former must be cherished even in its moments of folly; the latter must be hounded to the gates of Hell. "The Dark Knight," then, is a conservative movie about the war on terror. And like another such film, last year's "300," "The Dark Knight" is making a fortune depicting the values and necessities that the Bush administration cannot seem to articulate for beans. Conversely, time after time, left-wing films about the war on terror -- films like "In The Valley of Elah," "Rendition" and "Redacted" -- which preach moral equivalence and advocate surrender, that disrespect the military and their mission, that seem unable to distinguish the difference between America and Islamo-fascism, have bombed more spectacularly than Operation Shock and Awe. Why is it then that left-wingers feel free to make their films direct and realistic, whereas Hollywood conservatives have to put on a mask in order to speak what they know to be the truth? Why is it, indeed, that the conservative values that power our defense -- values like morality, faith, self-sacrifice and the nobility of fighting for the right -- only appear in fantasy or comic-inspired films like "300," "Lord of the Rings," "Narnia," "Spiderman 3" and now "The Dark Knight"? The moment filmmakers take on the problem of Islamic terrorism in realistic films, suddenly those values vanish. The good guys become indistinguishable from the bad guys, and we end up denigrating the very heroes who defend us. Why should this be? The answers to these questions seem to me to be embedded in the story of "The Dark Knight" itself: Doing what's right is hard, and speaking the truth is dangerous. Many have been abhorred for it, some killed, one crucified. Leftists frequently complain that right-wing morality is simplistic. Morality is relative, they say; nuanced, complex. They're wrong, of course, even on their own terms. Left and right, all Americans know that freedom is better than slavery, that love is better than hate, kindness better than cruelty, tolerance better than bigotry. We don't always know how we know these things, and yet mysteriously we know them nonetheless. The true complexity arises when we must defend these values in a world that does not universally embrace them -- when we reach the place where we must be intolerant in order to defend tolerance, or unkind in order to defend kindness, or hateful in order to defend what we love. When heroes arise who take those difficult duties on themselves, it is tempting for the rest of us to turn our backs on them, to vilify them in order to protect our own appearance of righteousness. We prosecute and execrate the violent soldier or the cruel interrogator in order to parade ourselves as paragons of the peaceful values they preserve. As Gary Oldman's Commissioner Gordon says of the hated and hunted Batman, "He has to run away -- because we have to chase him." That's real moral complexity. And when our artistic community is ready to show that sometimes men must kill in order to preserve life; that sometimes they must violate their values in order to maintain those values; and that while movie stars may strut in the bright light of our adulation for pretending to be heroes, true heroes often must slink in the shadows, slump-shouldered and despised -- then and only then will we be able to pay President Bush his due and make good and true films about the war on terror. Perhaps that's when Hollywood conservatives will be able to take off their masks and speak plainly in the light of day. Mr. Klavan has won two Edgar Awards from the Mystery Writers of America. His new novel, "Empire of Lies" (An Otto Penzler Book, Harcourt), is about an ordinary man confronting the war on terror.[/rquoter]


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He'd given up six runs in three innings of work when MLB 10 The Show sent the manager out to remove him from the game. Even in a video game, the bad losses stick with you. They stick with Hans Smith a little more.
Smith, 25, bitterly watched the remainder of the game, every play simulated by his PlayStation 3. When it was over he got a visitor. "You look pissed off," the guy said, moving Smith in his wheelchair.
"I said, 'Yeah, I just had the worst game I ever played,'" Smith recalled on Friday. "He said, 'Well, don't worry, it's just a video game.'
"I knew what he meant, it was well intentioned, but it rubbed me the wrong way," Smith said. "I just had the worst game of my life, and you said it was just a video game? I don't know how to explain to him that this is baseball for me."
Smith has cerebral palsy, a disability that manifests itself by early childhood at the latest. A decade before most boys grapple with the reality they aren't ever going to make the majors, Smith had to come to terms with the fact he'd never even step foot on the diamond.
Three years ago, MLB The Show was first introducing its Road to the Show career mode. Create yourself in the game, the TV ad said, tour the minor leagues, and fight to reach the majors. It dawned on Smith that this was more of an opportunity than a game. He sold his original Xbox and all his games to pick up a PS3 and The Show. He might never play baseball, but that didn't mean he would never become a baseball player.
"My friends thought I was crazy," Smith said. "I said, you don't get it, I'm not a gamer, I'm a baseball player."
It explains why Smith will watch every minute of his team's games, even if he's not performing. Why, last year, he waited out a four-week virtual injury in real time, without simulating ahead. And why, thanks to Smith's insistence on considering himself a virtual athlete, not a disabled gamer, that more will be able to experience the game with MLB 11 The Show.
This year's game will include settings that enable certain gameplay assistances so that all gamers, even those who can't fully manipulate a PS3 DualShock controller, can play all modes of MLB 11 The Show, even online. They're called the "ADVA Settings," for the Association of Disabled Virtual Athletes," an organisation that grew out of Smith's studies at Boise State University, and a relationship with San Diego Studio, makers of The Show, that began with an earnest letter a year ago.
"We do get plenty of emails, fan mail, requests, to add feature XYZ to The Show," recalled Kolbe Launchbaugh, a senior designer on MLB 11 The Show. "Nothing really compares to the passiona nd honest behind the words that Hans sent us. He thanked us for making the game, and he thanked us for giving him an experience he could not have had in real life."
Touched, the San Diego developers brought Smith down for a studio tour and created him in the launch roster of MLB 10 The Show, with a proper 3D head scan for his face, and put Smith on his favourite team, the St. Louis Cardinals. The studio guys had to make him a pitcher, a position easier to integrate on the major league roster, rather than as a position player who might displace an actual roster player when the game simulates roster moves mid-season. But Smith is there, a left-hander with a fastball, curve, change and slider plus a knuckleball. He is on the Cardinals' 40-man roster by default.
The relationship didn't end there. In one of his classes, Smith was tasked with creating a fictitious business and a business plan for it. "Hans chose to use this opportunity to create something he'd been thinking about for a while," Launchbaugh said.
While Smith plays the game as completely as he can, certain controls are impossible for him to manipulate, requiring specific play settings to assist him with things like fielding. In live multiplayer, both control systems must be the same. What Smith was proposing was a means for each player to select his control type, which would be a way to integrate disabled gamers with the rest of the game and the miltiplayer community.
The ADVA controls are described more or less as "one-button" controls – the CPU takes over moving the baserunners or fielders, requiring only the press of a button to swing the bat or throw the ball. Smith had been able to play the game without this new control set, of course, but not against live competitors of any ability. Now he can.
"Strategically speaking, the game plays exactly the same way," Launchbaugh said. "That fact is a very important distinction as ADVA members want the same mental challenges as everyone else, they just need an interface scheme that enables them to physically play the game."
The ADVA will come into being with MLB 11 The Show's March 8 launch, Hans said. The association's web site will go live that day. "I hope to create not only a competitive league, but a place where people with disabilities can come together with a common interest to socialize and have friends, where otherwise they might be alienated from that group," Smith said.
And when The Show arrives, Smith will be back within Road to the Show, continuing his baseball career. Last year, Smith stayed with the Cardinals' major league roster the entire season despite the injury, going 9-11 with a 4.51 ERA. Smith said he stopped playing The Show at season's end last year and won't pick it up again until pitchers and catchers report to spring training in a couple of weeks.
"Last year I gave up 39 home runs; it's sad I can remember that," Smith jokes. "I could tell you what the count was and who I was pitching against in nearly all of them. For me, that's a part of baseball. That's part of the experience.
"You multiply your feeling of wanting to play in the majors by the fact I've never put on a pair of cleats, not in the major leagues, not ever. Now I'm pitching in Busch Stadium," Smith said, "This game has given me a pair of cleats. It has given me a glove and said here. You're on the mound for nine innings. Go and take it."
Stick Jockey is Kotaku's column on sports video games. It appears Saturdays at 2 p.m. U.S. Mountain time.


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Back in 2011, there were only a handful of startup accelerators and incubators in the burgeoning LA tech scene. Of course, as "Silicon Beach" has grown over the past few years, this has changed. Amplify was one of the initial accelerators that debuted a few years ago, with backing from big names like Eric Schmidt, reality TV king Mark Burnett and Accel Partners. Today, Amplify is announcing its second fund, which is just over $8 million from yet another list of marquee investors.
The list includes a mix of traditional tech investors and CEOs as well as a few well-known names in the media and entertainment worlds. They include Accel, Greycroft, Siemer Ventures, Deep Fork Capital, Karlin Ventures, Jarl Mohn (ex CEO of Liberty Digital), Ron Burkle (Yucaipa Companies), Jim Wiatt (ex CEO William Morris Agency), Ed Wilson (ex President Fox Television, Tribune and CBS), Ben Silverman (ex co-Chairman NBC Entertainment), Rick Barry (founder & CTO Sycamore Networks), Rob Glaser (Founder/Chairman Real Networks), Joe Lewis (head of Amazon Studios), and David Baron (VP of content Hulu), among others.
The accelerator, which is the brainchild of Greycroft venture partner and former William Morris exec Paul Bricault, Oded Noy, Richard Wolpert and Jeff Solomon, has backed 26 companies with its first fund, resulting in 3 exits and more than $30 million in additional seed and Series A funds raised. Bricault tells me that Amplify has aimed to differentiate itself from the growing sea of accelerators in a number of ways.
First, Amplify doesn't have set classes/semesters. The accelerator accepts applications from founders and startups on a rolling basis. This is beneficial to startups for a number of reasons, he explains. First, because development process for startups differs (i.e. enterprise vs. gaming), having a set three-month-long program doesn't necessarily work for all companies. Another benefit to not having classes is that not every startup is fundraising at the same time, and this creates a more collegial atmosphere among founders because most of them are not competing for investors. In fact, Bricault has observed that founders tend to share information and contacts more freely when it comes to investors.
The second differentiating aspect of Amplify is not having set terms/financing for all startups joining the program. Not each startup gets the same amount of cash for the same amount of equity (i.e. $50,000 for 6 percent of the company). "Not all companies are created equally," Bricault says. Bricault and Solomon will take into account how far along the startup is, the quality of the team, customers and more when accepting and financing a startup. And he adds that, increasingly, companies come to the program having already developed and/or launched a product, so the traditional accelerator terms don't necessarily fit. Amplify has also brought on a CTO, a director of investments and a business development exec to help startups with raising money, marketing and more.
Bricault says this approach has paid off for the founders themselves. Out of the first 26 companies, 24 raised seed rounds over the past two years, including Stack Social, Bitium, and Battlefy. Many are raising their Series A rounds at the moment, he adds. The three exits mentioned above include Look.io to LivePerson, Shipmate to Cruiseline.com, and Kingmaker to Joyus.
As for the new investments, Solomon and Bricault decided to raise more money so they could put more money to work in each company, and do more follow-ons within the portfolio. The Amplify team will also begin to experiment with a few in-house incubations of ideas into companies.
Is it a coincidence that some of tech's hottest companies like Snapchat, Tinder, and Whisper, are all based in LA? As for the strength of the LA tech scene, Bricault says he's never seen this level of startup activity in LA, combined with the strength of the companies that are being started in the region. And as many say, more money in the region is a very good thing for the ecosystem.


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This page was published in Feb 2011 issue of SNR magazine
I had some spare time time and decided to scrap some old photos and to fit the page to some challenges.
So this one is for Artastic: seashore, seaguls (hand drawn and covered with white email paint) and some shore accessories- sand castle, bucket etc
The page was done with 3 kinds of pp from Fancy pants, Jellibean soup and Eco park, with A2Z chipboard that I decided not to cover at all to fit the sand look of Kraft paper matting, so I just added some distressed glitter splashes and glittered the sun.
The techniques here: inking. faux stiching, paper piecing, glittering, 3d glue splashes, using brads and buttonsover the paper
And for more challenges:
Kraf paper for Kraft journal


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AMD's Radeon HD 5830: A Filler Card at the Wrong Price
by Ryan Smith on February 24, 2010 12:00 AM EST- Posted in
- GPUs
When AMD was launching the 5700 series last year, I asked AMD whether they were concerned about the pricing gap between the 5700 series and the 5800 series. The MSRP on the 5770 was $159, the MSRP on the 5850 was $259 - there was a $100 price gap, cutting right through the $200 sweet spot. AMD said they weren't concerned, citing the fact that there were still products like the 4890 to cover that gap.
Things have changed since then. AMD hasn't been getting quite the yield they were hoping for from TSMC's 40nm process. Meanwhile a lack of pricing competition from NVIDIA has lead everyone in the chain to do some profit-taking that rarely gets to occur. The 5850 is now a $300 card, and the 5770 hovers between $160 and $170. That pricing gap that was $100 has become $130-$140. AMD has a hole.
Today they're going to try to plug that hole with the Radeon HD 5830, the third and lowest member of the Cypress/5800 family.
AMD Radeon HD 5850 | AMD Radeon HD 5830 | AMD Radeon HD 5770 | AMD Radeon HD 4890 | |
Stream Processors | 1440 | 1120 | 800 | 800 |
Texture Units | 72 | 56 | 40 | 40 |
ROPs | 32 | 16 | 16 | 16 |
Core Clock | 725MHz | 800MHz | 850MHz | 850MHz |
Memory Clock | 1GHz (4GHz data rate) GDDR5 | 1GHz (4GHz data rate) GDDR5 | 1.2GHz (4.8GHz data rate) GDDR5 | 975MHz (3.9GHz data rate) GDDR5 |
Memory Bus Width | 256-bit | 256-bit | 128-bit | 256-bit |
Frame Buffer | 1GB | 1GB | 1GB | 1GB |
Transistor Count | 2.15B | 2.15B | 1.04B | 959M |
Manufacturing Process | TSMC 40nm | TSMC 40nm | TSMC 40nm | TSMC 55nm |
Price Point | $299 | $239 | $159 | $199 |
Much like the Radeon HD 4830 before it, the 5830 is a dual-purpose card. On the one hand it's a card to fill a perceived gap in their product line, and on the other hand it's an outlet for less-than-perfect Cypress chips. Particularly when yields could be better, AMD wants to take every chip they can and do something with it. The 5850 line sucks up chips that can't meet the 5870's clock targets and/or have a 1-2 defective SIMDs, but until now AMD hasn't had a place to put a Cypress chip with further defects. With the 5830, they now have a place for those chips.
The 5830 will be using a more heavily cut down Cypress. Compared to the 5850 AMD is disabling another 4 SIMDs, giving us a total of 6 disabled SIMDs and 14 remaining active SIMDs. Furthermore the ROPs are also taking a shave, with half of the ROPs (16) being disabled. Since Cypress has 4 ROPs per memory controller, AMD is able to disable 2 of them in each cluster without disabling memory controllers, so the 5830 maintains all 8 memory controllers and a 256-bit bus.
The clockspeeds on the 5830 will be 800MHz for the core clock, and 1GHz (4GHz effective) for the memory clock. AMD tells us that the higher core clock is to help compensate for the ROP loss, while the memory clock is unchanged from the 5850. It's worth noting that the 5830's clock speeds have clearly been in flux for some time, as the sample cards AMD shipped out to the press came with a BIOS that ran the card at 800MHz/1.15GHz, with AMD giving us a BIOS update to put the card at the right clocks once it arrived.
Overall the 5830 has the same memory bandwidth as the 5850, while in terms of core performance it has better than 5850 performance along the fixed function pipeline (due to the higher core clock), 85% of the 5850's performance in shader/computation/texturing activities, and 55% of the 5850's pixel fillrate and Z/stencil performance due to the disabled ROPs. In a lot of ways this makes the card half of a 5850 and half of a 5770 – the latter has around 75% of the 5830's shader performance and the same 16 ROPs, albeit ones that are actually clocked higher than the 5830 and giving the 5770 a slightly higher pixel fillrate.
Unfortunately disabling further units on Cypress isn't enough to make up for the cost of running the chip at 800MHz instead of 725MHz like the 5850. The higher core clock requires a higher operating voltage (we suspect 1.175v), and as such the 5830 ends up having a higher load power than the 5850: 175W under load, versus 151W for the 5850 and 188W for the 5870. Idle power usage benefits from this situation however since idle clocks are fixed at 157/300 across the 5800 series; the extra disabled units bring idle power usage down from 27W on the 5850/5870 to 25W on the 5830.
Given the 175W load power, it shouldn't come as a surprise that AMD and its partners are doing some recycling on board designs. The launch 5830s will be using the 5870's board due to the similar power usage of the two cards. This is something that AMD says may change in the future if vendors want to do their own boards.
However while the 5870's board is being used here, the 5870's shrouded cooler is out. In fact any kind of reference design is out as AMD isn't doing one. Instead this is going to be an AIB launch, so each vendor is going to be doing a custom design which at this point would entail a 5870 board with a custom cooler. Since the review samples that went out were 5870 cards with the appropriate functional units disabled on the GPU we don't have any first-hand cards to show you, but AMD did send along a collection of photos from their vendors, showing how each vendor is equipping their 5830. The lack of a reference design for the 5830 also means that you can expect some significant variation in what the thermal and noise characteristics of the shipping cards are, as some of these coolers are significantly different.
Our sample 5830: A 5870 housing a 5830 GPU
Update: It looks like AMD's partners have been able to come through and make this a hard launch. PowerColor and Sapphire cards have started showing up at Newegg. So we're very happy to report that this didn't turn out to be a paper launch after all. Do note however that the bulk of the cards are still not expected until next week.
With that out of the way, it's time for the bad news: this is more or less a paper launch. The chips are done (AMD has practically been stockpiling them since August) but AMD has decided to jump the gun on this announcement so that they can announce the 5830 before CeBit next week, where they believe the launch would get lost among the myriads of other products that will be launched at that time.
At this point the production of the final boards is running a week later than the launch itself, which AMD is attributing to the fact that their partner's factories were shut down earlier this month for the Chinese New Year. Two of AMD's partners are hoping to have cards to e-tailers on time for this launch, but as of half a day before the launch no one is sure whether they'll make it. Realistically you're looking at the middle of next week before the cards are widely available.
We're not amused by any of this, and we've told AMD as such. Paper launches were supposed to be something long-gone, and while this isn't nearly as bad as what we've seen in previous years where products were paper launched solely to discourage consumers from buying a competitors product (there isn't an NVIDIA product to counter at this point), this is still a paper launch, and there's nothing good about a paper launch. This is a very bad habit to get in to.
And while we're on the subject of supplies, we asked AMD what the continuing supply of the 5830 would be given that it's a product of die harvesting, and the supply of its precursor the 4830 thinned out after some time. AMD tells us that they expect to be able to produce the 5830 in similar quantities as the 5850, which should give you an idea in relative terms of how many Cypress chips are coming back with 1-2 defective SIMDs or are missing clock targets, versus the number of chips coming back with 3-6 defective SIMDs or a defective ROP.
Finally there's the second piece of bad news: the price. AMD is estimating $240 at launch for these cards, and we've seen that the price on the 5000 series can be quite variable. In terms of performance the 5830 is closer to what would be a Radeon HD 4880 with DX11, so you're looking at a card that is going to underperform the 4890 and still cost at least $40 more. Of course at this point you can't buy a 4890 (or a GTX 275) so AMD isn't facing close competition at this performance level, but based on the historical pricing of the 4890 we strongly believe that $200 is the sweet spot for the 5830 right now.
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heflys - Wednesday, March 10, 2010 - link
Are you kidding Anandtech? Who in their right mind would buy a 4870 over a 5770? Hell, they're pretty much even in performance, and the 5770 possesses more features. -
kallogan - Sunday, March 14, 2010 - link
Not to mention they're so quiet and their low power consumption allow upgrades even on a weak PSU. -
Alouette Radeon - Wednesday, March 24, 2010 - link
Nope, AnandTech's last great review of something (by that I mean intelligent and unbiased) was the review of the Phenom II X4 920 and 940. I applauded AnandTech for that on other boards because AnandTech didn't drink Intel's kool-aid at the time. AnandTech didn't do the idiotic thing like other sites and compare the Phenom II X4 to the i7. No, AnandTech did the RIGHT thing and compared it to the Core 2 Quad Q8200 and Q9400 (I think those were the Q #'s). That was the day I REALLY got into reading AnandTech because all other sites were left in the dust. I also applauded AnandTech for having the balls to point out that the GTS 250 was just a rebranded 9800 GTX+ regardless of the consequences and even posted Charlie's article about it. Those were the days when AnandTech was the best review site I'd ever seen. Those days are unfortunately...over. -
nickime - Saturday, February 27, 2010 - link
long reader of anandtech but with this article for me you have lost all credibility, am not a fanboy, but it has become so obvious
for once AMD is executing like a clock, it is not their fault that there is no competition (but maybe you can blame them for that as well) and they can charge premium on their products
if they renamed and offered 4790 as 5830 might have pleased you but then it might not as it would come from wrong company
won't be checking this site that often anymore, will try to time it with Nvidia releases, have a nice day -
piroroadkill - Sunday, February 28, 2010 - link
Ho ho ho, I see what you did there
Actually, I don't, this is just retarded -
UnBiasedGuru - Friday, February 26, 2010 - link
It seems that Anandtech takes pride in using outdated Catalyst drivers to run their tests here. It is a shame that they are too lazy to re-run the tests with newer drivers.
It is a deception to its readers/members to use HORRIBLE drivers and attempt to use the results as an indicator of the ATI card's performance. None of you should listen to any of these results because Anandtech nor Guru3D can be trusted.
You will see the other websites with reviews on the 5830 actually use the 8.703 and 10.3b drivers ---> All all ATI cards!!!
Shame on you Anandtech for misleading the community and public. How much is Nvidia paying you? Your results don't match ANY of my results with the 5870. You are a bogus reviewer! -
Alouette Radeon - Wednesday, March 24, 2010 - link
Haven't you figured it out? nVidia isn't paying AnandTech. It's Intel that's behind this. AnandTech has been Intel's pet puppy for almost a year now. The idea isn't to hurt ATi for nVidia's sake but to hurt AMD for Intel's sake. Just read any Intel review and I swear that AnandTech sounds like they want to date that criminal organization the way that they coo and fawn over everything Intel does. -
Voo - Friday, February 26, 2010 - link
Yeah so because they used older cards for the RV770 chips which more or less don't profit from new drivers at all (didn't read anything in the release notes and didn't noticed any performance gains with my 4870), the 5830 didn't perform as well!
That's absolutely logical! I mean the bad karma of old drivers - for other cards - just horribly disturbed the 5830 and that's why it ended up, being.. as bad as in the 3dguru review :( -
silverblue - Friday, February 26, 2010 - link
Send me a test rig and a 5830 and I'll give it a go ;) -
Hrel - Friday, February 26, 2010 - link
I wouldn't be willing to spend a pennny over 150 for this card; and I feel that's generous. The GTS250 was going for 110 for a while; and this card is only a little faster. It has DX11, which is a requirement at this point in time, and not a feature. And it is faster, but only to the amount that I'd expect this far into the future; in relation to the GTS250. In other words, it's the same class card, but for some reason it's selling for over twice as much; that's just stupid. I understand price drops got out of hand last generation; which is why I say 150. Really, excluding the 5850 and 5870 I'm really really disapointed with the performance of the 5000 series.


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Join our Lenten Campaign 2024.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has renewed calls for the Iranian government to release American citizen Saeed Abedini, a Christian pastor serving an eight-year sentence on religion-related charges.
"The United States respectfully asks the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran to work cooperatively with us in our efforts to help U.S. citizens," Secretary Kerry asked in an Aug. 29 press release, to "return to their families after lengthy detentions."
"These men belong at home with those who love them and miss them."
In his statement, Kerry also asked for the release and location of Amir Hekmati and Robert Levinson, who are detained and missing in the country as well.
The secretary of state explained that as of September 26, "Mr. Abedini will have spent a year in detention in Iran. He was sentenced to eight years in prison on charges related to his religious beliefs."
Born in Iran, Abedini converted to Christianity in 2000 and obtained U.S. citizenship after marrying a U.S. citizen. The pastor lived with his wife and their two children in Idaho. He was arrested in 2012 during a visit to Iran to work with non-religious orphanages in the country.
Until 2009, Abedini worked with house churches in Iran, an action that drew opposition from the government, despite being technically legal. As a result of government objection, he switched his work to the non-religious orphanages.
Following his arrest, Abedini was charged with posing a threat to national security for his earlier work with the churches. He is now serving an eight-year sentence in Iran's Evin Prison, and has reportedly been faced with brutal beatings, attempts to make him renounce his faith, and insufficient medical attention.
On Aug. 26, it was announced that Abedini's appeal for a reduction in his sentence's length was denied.
Kerry noted that Hassan Rouhani, the newly-elected Iranian president who took office Aug. 3, "has shared in his speeches and interviews over the past few months his hope and vision to improve the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran's relationship with the world."
Kerry asked that in light of this wish, Rouhani urge the government to release the prisoners "so that they may be reunited with their families as safely and as soon as possible."
Naghmeh Abedini, Saeed's wife, said in a statement that she is "very thankful for the statement that Secretary of State John Kerry made to Iran regarding Saeed's immediate return to our family."
She added that she hopes "that the State Department is truly willing explore all avenues to secure my husband's release."
She mentioned, however that while "I am pleased with this development," she hopes that President Obama will "speak out on this very critical human rights issue and let the Iranian government and the world know that religious freedom is still a top priority for our government."
"President Obama must demonstrate that America will not stay silent in the face of religious persecution, nor will it let an American citizen waste away in an Iranian prison simply because he chose to follow Jesus."
Originally published at Catholic News Agency on 1 September 2013. Used with permission. All other rights reserved.


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Having worked there the one thing I wonder about every anniversary is how are those that survived making out.
As there was no discussion about Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) back then these employees were left on their own to find a way to deal with the explosion, loss of life and to try to repair their own lives and provide for their families.
Volumes have been written and mountains of conversation spoken about what happened, how it happened and the cause, but the only ones that know for sure were the deceased.
As for us, the survivors, I hope and pray they were all as lucky as me to find work and to remember those that died that day and those that had to rebuild their lives afterwards each time this anniversary rolls around.
On May 9 say a prayer for all the former Westray employees.
Don M. Dickson
(Former process operator, Westray Mine)
FULL COVERAGE: Remembering Westray: 25 years


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Say I add the following iptables rules:
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp -s localhost --dport 4444 -j ACCEPT
iptables -A INPUT -p tcp --dport 4444 -j DROP
This allows localhost to access port 4444 then blocks all other IPs from accessing port 4444...
I now want to undo these previous iptables commands. What is the easiest way to "undo" that? e.g. allow all ips to access port 4444 again.


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Dear Dave,
Why do you think all debt is bad? Aren't some kinds of debt, like a mortgage or student loans, good?
Dear Nathan,
It sounds like you're letting me know you think some kinds of debt are okay, instead of really asking for my opinion. When you ask a question that's really a statement, it's called a passive aggressive question. That's okay. You and I will now argue as best we can in a newspaper column.
It's not necessarily a question of what I think. I'm really just the aggregator of information we've gathered while walking with people through their financial issues. I've worked with tens of thousands of folks over nearly 30 years, everyone from billionaires and millionaires to broke people, and those in between. In the process, we've collected a lot of data through formal research projects — I'm talking about a huge stockpile of statistics, facts, and figures. And all that data shows debt is the biggest roadblock between people and wealth. I'm also a Christian. Having read the bible, and what it says about money, I can tell you there's not one place where it says debt is a good idea.
So, all that information leads me to one conclusion. Debt is not a positive thing. The only kind of debt I don't beat people up over is mortgage debt, as long as it's a 15-year, fixed rate loan. Houses are wildly expensive, and I understand that most people can't save up to buy a home with cash in a reasonable amount of time. Still, that doesn't make mortgage debt a good thing.
Any kind of debt is a burden, Nathan. It steals from your ability to save, build wealth, and be generous.
Dear Dave,
I owe $18,000 on my only car, and the payments are killing me. I'm also upside down on the vehicle by about $4,000. I'm 31, and I've got exactly $18,000 in my 401(k). Should I cash it in to pay off the car?
Dear Monty,
If you use your 401(k) they'll charge you a 10 percent penalty, plus your tax rate. That means you'll probably lose anywhere from 25 to 50 percent to the government. I don't know about you, but I think they already get too much of our money.
I love the fact that you want to get rid of your car payment, but I don't want you to cash out your retirement plan to make it happen. If you can pay off the car in 18 months or less, I'd advise living on a strict, written budget, and throwing as money as possible toward the car debt until it's out of your life forever.
If it would take longer than 18 months to pay it off, I'd get rid of the car. To do this, you'd have to sell it for as much as you can get, then go to a local credit union for a small loan to cover the difference. If it's your only car, you'd need to ask for an extra $2,000 to $3,000 to buy a little beater to drive until you can save up and get into something better.
I hate all kinds of debt, Monty. But being $5,000 to $6,000 in the hole is a lot better than having $18,000 in debt hanging over your head!
* Dave Ramsey is CEO of Ramsey Solutions. He has authored seven best-selling books, including The Total Money Makeover. The Dave Ramsey Show is heard by more than 14 million listeners each week on 585 radio stations and multiple digital platforms. Follow Dave on the web at daveramsey.com and on Twitter at @DaveRamsey.


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This week we've had an announcement from Facebook, the SOPA blackout and I've read some great articles on Google+, social media measurement, and a couple of home grown articles. Here's my pick of the week.
The SOPA blackout was the big story of the week. Wikipedia, Boing Boing & Reddit led the way in a blackout against SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) in the US. So far it looks like the campaign has succeeded with many senators withdrawing their backing of the bill. A big hat tip to Kro IT Solutions and Carnsore Broadband, two of the Irish companies that also observed the blackout.
It was lovely to see so many diverse sites and people coming together over this one issue. Google in the states blocked out their Google Doodle and Mark Zuckerberg took to twitter as well as updating his subscribers on Facebook with his statements against the bill, a rare example of these two rivals agreeing on something.
Here's Storyful's collection of information about the SOPA blackout and an explanation of the act itself.
This parody song 'The Day The Lolcats Died' had me in stitches
New Facebook Apps
Facebook announced 60 new apps that will integrate with the new Timeline profiles. I was delighted to see some of my favourites on the list including Goodreads and Foodspotting. These apps will have deeper integration with Timeline and will introduce new verbs into the Facebook lexicon. So watch out for 'Amanda has read' or 'Amanda is eating'. It will be interesting to see how this develops, will these updates just irritate friends?
Here's Silicone Republic's great explanation of how it will work. And here's where to find the full list of Timeline applications.
Social Media Measurement Metrics
Not a new article but one I discovered this week, this brilliant post on measuring social media, the metrics you need to measure and how to collate them. It even includes a handy download to simplify the process.
A great start to understanding measurement although it lacks a focus on ROI (return on investment) it does give you the tools to measure the virility of your campaign
QR Codes
QR codes are endlessly fascinating to me but until now I'd failed to see the relevance of linking them to information rather than a web page. This post from Convince and Convert blog was an eye opener. Some great ideas that has changed my rather one dimensional thinking about them.
A Best Practice Guide To Using Online Video
I predict that 2012 is going to be the year of the videocast. I'll be talking about this more in the next week or so. If you're thinking of starting, or have started but feel you need some guidance here's a great post on some best practice tips via Social Media Today.
Two excellent posts from Social Media Examiner this week on Google+ for business. So good that I couldn't choose one so am cheating a bit and featuring them both here.
For businesses struggling to find their focus on Google+ here's three great examples of brand pages.
And thanks to GreensideUp for sharing this one with us. 5 ways to use Google+ to improve your SEO.
How do Hotels Use Social Media?
In an interview with Hotel Insights Blog, Christina from CG Online Marketing takes us through the social media marketing strategies of some top Irish hotels including the Clanard Court in Athy, just down the road from me.
Some great examples of creative marketing in the hospitality industry.
And finally, not part of our social 7 but here's your chance to catch up on my posts this week.
An End To Social Media Automation? A post I wrote for Bloggertone about the removal of the share function from third party apps posting to Facebook.
How To Get More Engagement On Facebook – These are my ideas on how to get more people to see your Facebook updates.
If you've read a great social media article this week, or if you've written one leave it in the comments below and I might fit it in to next weeks roundup.
On our own blog I


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Spicewood Vineyards 1419 Burnet Cty Rd 409, Spicewood, TX
$60.00Regular Price -
Celebratory wine at the finish
Wine Glass + Shirt + Great Music
$60.00Regular Price -
4 Wine tasting stops along the course
Wine Glass + Shirt + Great Music
$85.00Regular Price
"I'm doing BOTH, Captain Obvious!" -
5K Finish Line Wine
4 Wine tastings on 1K course
Wine Glass + Shirt + Live Concert
Race through the vineyards and trails of the beautiful Spicewood Vineyards. Your wine-fueled night out features a great music, local food trucks, vendors, games and wine festival. The start time for the 5K Wicked Run begins at 4:30pm and the 1K Wicked Tasting Walk begins at 6:00pm. Runners and ALL attendees must be 21 or older to participate.
March 5, 2022
Gates Open: 2:30pm
5K Trail Fun Run: 4:30pm
1K Fun Walk: 6:00pm
Event Ends: 8:00pm
PACKET PICK-UP: Friday March 4th 2022
Time: 12:00PM – 6:00PM
Location: TBA
To pick up your packet bring a printed or digital copy of your QR. If you can't make it, you can send a friend– just make sure you signed your online waiver and give him/her a copy of your QR code. There is no race day pick up
Raid Grandma's closet and your nearest party store because we want you to create the most insane costumes. We've got some great prizes if your get up bests them all!
Top finishers for the 5K win premium Wicked Wine Swag, prizes and bragging rights to boot. Although this fun run is untimed the top 3 males and females to cross the finish line will receive awards.
After your race enjoy our Wicked Post Race Party with Food Trucks, a Great Music, and… more wine!
If you are having trouble registering or need assistance with your registration please reach out to ACTIVE Consumer Support at 877-228-4881 ext. 4 or firstname.lastname@example.com, Mon – Fri 9am – 5pm Central
Q: Can I run the 5K and jog or walk on the 1K afterwards?
A: Um…of course! In fact, we know this is such a popular option just choose the "BOTH" option when you register…we've even applied an automatic discount when you choose both!
Q: Do you need volunteers?
A: Yes, lots. Volunteers can help keep our runners happy by helping with registration, water stops, set up and tear down. For their selfless service, volunteers get Wicked Wine Run swag, complimentary wine after the event, and a thousand "thank you's" by the world's happiest runners. CLICK HERE to register as a volunteer or email firstname.lastname@example.com to get started.
Q: What are the minimum and maximum ages?
A: 21 is the minimum age to attend the event either as a participant or spectator. There's no maximum age.
Q: What should I bring?
A: Wear you running gear or running costume. Bring your I.D., your favorite designated driver, cash for parking (general parking $10), food trucks and more wine. Bring sunblock and water to keep you safe and healthy. We invite you to bring your picnic blanket or pop up chairs to relax after the race while you rock out to the live band.
Q: What do I get with my registration?
A: You get a premium Wicked race shirt, free event photos and access to our Wicked post-race party with great live music and the best area food trucks. In addition, 5K runners get finish line wine and 1K participants will enjoy 4 wine tastings on their course.
Q: Do designated driver-runners get a non-alcoholic drink?
A: We love DD's and we are supplying you free soda or water with your DD wristband.
Q: Where do I park?
A: This year everyone will be parking on site. Please bring $10 in cash for parking or purchase a $10 parking pass at packet pick up, hang it on your mirror or put it on your dash and drive right through on race day.
Q: Do you provide refunds or credits?
A: Purchases are non-refundable, which is stated and agreed to in the policy at the time of checkout. However, if you can not attend an event, you are able to transfer your registration to another individual up to 21 days before the event by emailing us your request to email@example.com to get started. The transfer of a registration to a different location or date is not permitted.
Q: Is this race timed and are their awards?
A: Although this wine fueled fun run is untimed, the top 3 males and top 3 females to cross the finish line win awards! There are also awards for the best costumes and fun contests through out the night.
Q: What happens if it rains?
A: We still run….generally. In the case of heavy rain or thunderstorms we will contact you via the e-mail address you provided and publish information via Facebook . To read more about our weather policy click here.
Q: What about spectators, kids and pets?
A: The event is for adults 21 years old or over. Spectator tickets (21yrs+) are available on-site for $10 and will come with a wristband and commemorative glass (wine is available for purchase). Spectators can purchase food and drink just as long as they bring along a valid ID and have cash or credit card. Kids, infants and pets are not permitted during event hours at the venue.


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Faculty Assessment of Student Learning Department by Department
Friday, October 24 – Saturday, October 25, 2008Lake Forest College
Lake Forest College received a Phase II Faculty Career Enhancement (FaCE) grant from the Associated Colleges of the Midwest (ACM) to support a Collaborative Event entitled "Faculty Assessment of Student Learning Department by Department" focusing on effective practices in assessment of student learning outcomes. The workshop attended by approximately 50 faculty members from ACM colleges was held on October 24 – 25, 2008.
The goal of the workshop was to deepen understanding and support among faculty members for effective practices in systematic assessment of student learning outcomes, particularly as they apply to specific content disciplines in the liberal arts across divisions. The workshop gave faculty members practical ways to: apply these practices across campuses; determine their effectiveness; and develop ways of sustaining and disseminating these effective practices. To demonstrate the effectiveness of this departmental approach, departments that enroll large numbers of students on ACM campuses served as models for other departments in the same division. The departments were Biology, English, History/Art History, Modern Languages, Politics & Economics, and Psychology.
The event began on Friday with a working dinner and opening keynote address by Dr. Marie Baehr, Dean of Faculty at Coe College and an HLC consultant and expert on assessment in higher education. Saturday consisted of panel presentations from ACM faculty colleagues, breakout group working sessions, faculty sharing their work in a "poster session" and a culminating discussion.


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Few filmmakers make a better case that the story is in the telling than Roman Polanski. The director's eighteenth feature, the conspiracy yarn The Ghost Writer, exudes excellence in its confident rhythm and incisive attention to intellect and emotion; above all, there's an ineffable je ne sais quoi to Polanski's style, an audio-visual élan.
Like other cinematic old masters, Polanski has his pick of top-tier talent. Ewan McGregor plays this mystery's dogged flatfoot, a professional (unnamed) ghost writer hired to rewrite the autobiography of former Prime Minister Adam Lang (Pierce Brosnan). Disconcertingly, the ghost's predecessor lately washed up on the shores of Cape Cod, not far from Lang's seaside property.
Though the circumstances are suspicious, the death is deemed an accident; still, no sooner does the new ghost arrive than a scandal involving Lang blows up in the press. Suddenly facing war crime charges, Lang appears to have authorized the illegal use of British Special Forces for a secret kidnap culminating in CIA torture. And with that, the book becomes a hot commodity, with editors demanding that the ghost cut his one-month work time in half.
Paring down Lang's windy tome will be no easy task. "All the words are there," the ghost deadpans. "They're just in the wrong order." Adding to the pressure: the louche Lang's hair-trigger temper; his wife (Olivia Williams), also emotionally unstable; and protestors swarming the property line. But all else pales next to a growing suspicion that Lang and his friends in high places have conspired to cover up yet more damaging secrets, secrets that just may have gotten one ghost killed and his replacement in mortal danger.
The plot of The Ghost Writer is serviceable, but it's basically an "airplane read" elevated by dialogue (Polanski shares screenplay credit with the source novel's author, Robert Harris). Unlike many of Polanski's earlier exercises in the mystery, thriller and horror genres, from Chinatown to The Ninth Gate, The Ghost Writer isn't much interested in well-placed shock tactics. The most delicious scene here is a long, squirmy dialogue between the ghost and Paul Emmett (Tom Wilkinson, superb): a high-powered old friend of Lang who would rather not be known for it.
The director's shrewd and witty approach to the material demonstrates his finely tuned sense of the absurd. Partly, he takes a personal interest in boundaries and the escaping of them; the story's many gated communities seem to hold people in as much as they hold people out (and, ironically, Polanski had to finish cutting the film from jail). Polanski also tells several sharp visual jokes, at least one of which doubles as a metaphor: a servant sweeping up brush on the deck of the windy beachfront home. It's as comically futile a task as anything any character attempts in the film.
[This review first appeared in Palo Alto Weekly.]
Summit delivers The Ghost Writer in a Blu-ray + DVD special edition that introduces the latest state of the art: a single flipper disc that is a Blu-ray on one side and a DVD on the other. I almost couldn't believe my eyes when I took a gander at this hi-def transfer: it's truly eye-popping in its depth, clarity, textures and razor-sharp detail (just-so light grain helps to retain the picture's film-like essence). Color is represented with great accuracy, and black level is inky. Obviously, there are no distracting digital artifacts: this is first-rate hi-def. The definitive DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 soundtrack does an equivalent job with the picture's source audio: the mix is crystal-clear and immersive, retaining the subtle ambience heard in theaters.
For the special features, Summit engaged the master: Laurent Bouzereau (he produced Universal's Hitchcock special editions, among many others).Although director Roman Polanski does not contribute a commentary, Bouzereau provides a neat triptych of interview featurettes: one with the story's author, one with the cast, and one with Polanski. All three featurettes weave in intriguing behind-the-scenes footage.
"The Ghost Writer: Fiction or Reality?" (10:46, HD) features Robert Harris, the film's screenwriter and author of the novel on which the film is based. Harris discusses his work with Polanski, how they came to adapt The Ghost, the trickiness of the adaptation, the film's ending, and Polanski's working style, filmmaking genius, and commitment to the original novel.
"The Cast of The Ghost Writer" (11:48, HD) finds Ewan McGregor, Pierce Brosnan, Olivia Williams, and Kim Cattrall talking about their characters, their castmates, and their director; co-producer Timothy Burrill also puts in his two cents.
In "An Interview with Roman Polanski" (8:38, HD), the director discusses his collaboration with Harris, his love of the novel, the cast, his intentions for the audience, the film's ending, and his desire for the film to reflect the modern political landscape.
The Ghost Writer is one of the most satisfying films of the year, and I can unreservedly recommend the Blu-ray + DVD special edition.
Review gear: |
Panasonic Viera TC-P55VT30 55" Plasma 1080p 3D HDTV
Oppo BDP-93 Universal Network 3D Blu-ray Disc Player
Denon AVR2112CI Integrated Network A/V Surround Receiver
Pioneer SP-BS41-LR Bookshelf Speaker (2)
Pioneer SP-C21 Center Speaker
Pioneer SW-8 Subwoofer