text:
Dane Benko, Albuquerque, NM USA
Dane Benko is a freelance filmmaker and way tl;dr Internet movie discussion participant. Recently he has started making more movies than watching them.
I don't like making lists without explanations so here's my responses to movies featured on the Sight and Sound 2012 100 list, in order of how much I 'like' them.
Movies in this section are canonical classics that I also personally adore and could never grow tired of discussing or rewatching.
Sherlock Jr. | Buster KEATON | 1924
Buster Keaton in general (ha! See what I did thar?) is a guy I turn to when I need the world to be okay, but this movie is tops in every regard. In addition to showing the best techniques only he could offer, it also summarily wraps up the silent era in a cocoon of 'this is the new art, and it is a good art.'
La Jetée | Chris MARKER | 1962
…and on the flipside there's always the proof that one of the most remarkable and inspirational pieces of film could be constructed of mostly stills from a cheap camera if you're as ace whiz as Chris Marker (may he RIP) and turn every medium you touch into gold.
L'Eclisse | Michelangelo ANTONIONI | 1962
Most of my love of this film is compositional and structural and I'm astounded at how the pieces fit together. It doesn't matter what aspect of the film you mention, it somehow eclipses some significant other part of the film that gets revealed later.
Sans Soleil | Chris MARKER | 1983
Puzzles feature a lot in my taste preferences and this is one I've rebuilt over and over and over again and found a satisfying new picture every single time. I once started an eight page essay on it where the introduction was supposed to break down its structure. Sixteen pages later, I had finished breaking down its structure and turned in the introduction as the essay itself.
Stalker | Andrei TARKOVSKY | 1979
Bewildering at first but an epic fable at center, one of the things about this film is that every time I watch the scene where they walk through the grass following the rolled up nuts, I get the howling fantods. Tarkovsky constructed a Borgesian like maze out of fields and wind. Crazy.
You have to see this movie. No really, it's important. No, really, you have to.
Ugetsu Monogatari | MIZOGUCHI Kenji | 1953
Like floating through the netherworld. Also at heart a morality fable, nevertheless of a haunting and foggy type.
Un Chien Andalou | Luis BUÑUEL | 1929
I prefer late Bunuel to early Bunuel (and both to mid-career, but that's a discussion for another day), but this is good to put on to remind yourself of some of the semantic roots of surrealist film. And its sense of humor.
Blade Runner | Ridley SCOTT | 1982
Probably the most likely on this section to be dismissed as 'not important', ultimately I like how the movie completely dissolves boundaries between human, machine, animal, and godhead. Plus it's beautiful.
Rashomon | KUROSAWA Akira | 1950
Much of what is amazing about cinema is how it constructs perspective and this movie is a text-book example of that idea, in a more accessible and narrative manner than relying on structuralist breakdowns or other abstract theory. It's one of those movies that even the most unrelated of subsequent 'point, counterpoint' plots get called out as 'A Rashomon ripoff.'
Sunset Blvd. | Billy WILDER | 1950
Neil Postman has us constantly asking of various new technologies and media, "What do we gain and what have we lost?" Sunset Boulevard reveals that that question is important within a specific medium as well. The movie is an ironically talkie production about the loss of the silent era, but it's the only one that uses its irony (as opposed to stuff like Singin' in the Rain or The Artist) to disturb and to use the audience against itself. With Buster Keaton saying 'Fold' and a voiceover narration from a dead character, it's attacking its own audio from the inside.
Mirror | Andrei TARKOVSKY | 1975
Unfortunately this is more the type of film where you have to have seen other movies to understand this one, namely some of if not all of Tarkovsky's other pieces. Chris Marker sez, "It is a house where at any moment, one of the characters from his other films may walk through the door." Contained in that house is also something of his autobiography, meaning his work and life are sutured indefinitely.
Sansho Dayu | MIZOGUCHI Kenji | 1954
I would say this movie is just as haunting as Ugetsu Monogatori but from a more realist perspective. The sister and brother are traces in the wind that you follow to find a very tragic history.
Movies in this section are hated only by irascible contrarians looking for attention, but to be fair they're not perfect.
Blue Velvet | David LYNCH | 1986
After you get passed the novelty of a Lynch film, his wider career is more interesting than the specifics of any typical movie, because of how he developed a film language specific to only him. Here is one highlight that's important merely because it applies his film language to probably one of his most narrative films and the result is satisfyingly self-contained. We don't have to debate whether the blue key is really all that great of a save of a failed pilot or deal with the roughness that is his first and latest feature films (Eraserhead and Inland Empire). Instead, we have only Frank. Dear God scary, terrifying, Frank.
Seven Samurai | KUROSAWA Akira | 1954
Weighted and balanced character development of lost heroes; sheer cinematic storytelling, a basic foundation for how to make a good narrative film.
Man with a Movie Camera | Dziga VERTOV | 1929
The work silent era explorers did in discovering the uses of a movie camera as a tool for making art is continued to this day in the experimental realm, but unfortunately the wider culture of 'cinema' forgets much of the spectacular alternative uses of this tool for their preference on mere narratives. This movie is kino-eye and kino-man and kino-culture and kino-world, construction of visual all through a camera lens. Claiming that 'Movies are about story' comes from either uneducated or dismissive ignorance of movies like this.
Wild Strawberries | Ingmar BERGMAN | 1957
The dream that sets the protagonist on his journey also sets the audience on the same one. Rarely are audience and protagonist searching for the same thing and haunted by the same idea, undefinable by simplification of things like 'life' 'death' or 'aging.'
Singin' in the Rain | Stanley DONEN & Gene KELLY | 1952
Sunset Boulevard is about what we have lost. Singin' in the Rain is about what we have gained. 'Nuff said.
Modern Times | Charles CHAPLIN | 1936
I'd be hard pressed to understand the perspective of a person who doesn't like Modern Times. That's like hating puppies and kittens and guinea pigs in Tyrannosaurus Rex costumes. Though I hear conservative talkshow hosts aren't much for entertainment pieces with social messages or something.
The type of stuff that, if you haven't seen, you should probably get around to, and for the most part set the standard for qualitative cinematic experiences.
A Matter of Life and Death | M. POWELL & E. PRESSBURGER | 1946
A matter of love of life and color and cinema and British humor.
The Spirit of the Beehive | Víctor ERICE | 1973
Surprisingly it's not the meta aspects of the Frankenstein monster that wins this one for me though that type of stuff is right down my alley. Rather, it's the construction of the 'beehive' house and how it warmly cocoons the little girl's life.
City Lights | Charles CHAPLIN | 1931
It's not Modern Times but it's still fun times.
The Battle of Algiers | Gillo PONTECORVO | 1966
Possibly a bit too painful for average audiences but nevertheless a token construct of cinema as documentary of a certain time, place, issue, and arena. This movie is extremely difficult to ignore and equally as difficult to forget. Also, the irony of all ironies is how it's sometimes used to introduce new soldiers to techniques of urban zone combat.
The Night of the Hunter | Charles LAUGHTON | 1955
Now normally I don't react well to intense tonal shifts in movies (see Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans below) but nevertheless Laughton just saturates all 'reality' with the feelings of his characters. It's like this movie takes place inside the hearts of the little children protagonists. Which is actually terrifying when it comes down to the fact that this movie is about a serial killer.
Mulholland Dr. | David LYNCH | 2001
Nice save, Lynch. Some people may not be into the literal key in a puzzlebox reveal but nevertheless the first half indicates the hint of a wider world that Lynch was about to explore (and gratefully returned to in Inland Empire) and the second half manages to wrap up the whole gift and contain it in one character.
Tokyo Story | OZU Yasujirō | 1953
Damn this movie is good. And relaxing. And wonderful. Like warm green tea during late spring (see what I did thar?).
The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp | Michael POWELL & Emeric PRESSBURGER | 1943
To be fair, if you're not a fan of British sense of humor, this movie will probably pass right over your head. I am not British and this is one of the movies that makes me suspect I may be missing some good details herethere. Nevertheless a very compelling character for the fact that he was based off of a caricature.
L'Avventura | Michelangelo ANTONIONI | 1960
Personally I prefer L'Eclisse and find it tighter structurally and compositionally speaking, but if you've seen the one you really ought to see the other. This movie is delicate though because on the one hand, it works better if you don't know where it's going, and on the other hand, the type of people with enough attention span and memory for detail for specific points are typically the type of people who hear about this from people who explain how it works. I went into it educated on its structure in advance, so I never really got a chance to be hit on the side of the head. Basically consider it the arthouse equivalent of a spoiler, though I don't believe in such things. The movie's good either way.
The Passion of Joan of Arc | Carl Th. DREYER | 1928
If a shot is a sentence, then this movie is all exclamatory.
The Third Man | Carol REED | 1949
You know what's great about this? Such a perfect film noir flavor with such a light and fun soundtrack. Appealing in a variety of ways that makes it what one could call 'a crowdpleaser' without application to lowest common denominator thinking.
Movies in this section are classics I personally like a lot but can easily see why other people don't. For the most part we can agree to disagree but I urge you give it a second chance if you have the time.
The General | Clyde BRUCKMAN & Buster KEATON | 1927
Like I said, I enjoy Buster Keaton. What's interesting is that this is one of the lower on the list of his movies I enjoy. What's also interesting is that it subsists on these lists despite getting called out on occasion for having the protagonist on the Confederates' side. I've noticed over time that Birth of a Nation is slowly trickling down these sorts of lists while Intolerance (see below) is gaining head, and I think the same is true of The General. The difference is that I can see how Birth of a Nation stands out in DW Griffith's specific filmography whereas The General really is not one of Buster Keaton's best work. Nevertheless, damn look at what he does with those trains!
Andrei Rublev | Andrei TARKOVSKY | 1966
Every now and then a critic uses the term 'painterly' to describe a movie. Here's one, and purposefully meant to be so. Andrei meets Andrei (it's better than Michelangelo Meets Michelangelo, a late career short of Antonioni brushing his hand over a Michelangelo statue). However, it's the bell sequences that won me over. I thought that kid was a much more fascinating story than most of the rest of Rublev's own.
The Seventh Seal | Ingmar BERGMAN | 1957
Two things about the iconography: one, this movie really created a new image of Death both familiarized by older versions and also unique to its own; two, and did so well at it that now it's a Bill and Ted joke. I love Bill and Ted movies and I don't count parodies against classics, but unfortunately the iconography of this movie sometimes gets in the way of some of its more pleasing and introspective segments.
Au Hasard Balthazar | Robert BRESSON | 1966
Man I love this movie. Man I can totally see why other people would be just a little put off by a donkey playing a religious figure. Man Bresson's suffering innocents movies are great.
Casablanca | Michael CURTIZ | 1942
Pure old fashioned Hollywood greatness.
Late Spring | OZU Yasujirō | 1949
Often the subject of a Tokyo Story vs debate, always weird since Ozu's movies really just build upon and variegate themselves in terms of characters, plot, themes, et al. But anyway, I didn't like this movie as much though it won me over with the sequence where the father and daughter are crossing back and forth in a Japanese hallway getting ready for bed. Interestingly enough that sequence deserves some comparison to what Bunuel does in a hotel hallway in The Phantom of Liberty. These are filmmakers that know their own cameras are what house their characters, let loose once the strip starts rolling.
A Man Escaped | Robert BRESSON | 1956
A minimalist classic that creates a prison out of white space.
2001: A Space Odyssey | Stanley KUBRICK | 1968
Pretty much the litmus test to see if someone is willing to take cinema seriously. Not that people who take cinema seriously always like it, but if they dislike it they usually come up with much better reasons than, "It was boring" or "It made no sense." Like it or dislike it it's a movie to show to see if someone's willing to pay attention.
Taxi Driver | Martin SCORSESE | 1976
Ultimately this movie is messier than it originally seems but it's really Scorsese's best and for some reason I just cannot help but rewatch it quite often.
Psycho | Alfred HITCHCOCK | 1960
Disappointing ending but everything else about it is great!
The 400 Blows | François TRUFFAUT | 1959
I actually saw this one long before I was really that into cinema and it left an indelible effect. That's just the type of movie it is.
Once upon a Time in the West | Sergio LEONE | 1968
I'd be willing to admit this movie is overrated in terms of importance but that doesn't change the fact that it's just so well shot and edited.
No film on the Sight and Sound 2012 list do I find bad and every film I can respect. Nevertheless here begins the point in the list where my appreciation for the film has more to do with the fact that I respect what it's doing rather than do I personally enjoy it all that much or, as we go further and further down, care.
Rear Window | Alfred HITCHCOCK | 1954
Hey. This is just sheer, good, qualitative, rote Hitchcock everything, from its limited set to its playfulness in perspective to its thrilling storytelling and so on. But I've never really cared all that much for Hitchcock, so there's that.
Metropolis | Fritz LANG | 1927
I don't mean to be dismissive, in fact I actually mean it well, when I say I think this movie is a better prototype of a science fiction effects film than its own movie. I think it's more important as an inspiration.
Chinatown | Roman POLANSKI | 1974
I enjoy this movie a lot and obviously other people do as well though sometimes its positive reception stands in almost disturbing contradiction to its negative worldview. It's a really painful movie and that's exactly why I like it but many people talk about it as if it's classic whodunit with a twist.
Intolerance | D.W. GRIFFITH | 1916
You do know if DW Griffith was alive today he'd get the type of crap Nolan gets about being too big, too over-the-top, too decadent, too many storylines, too much…? Right? But that's the point. This movie is just stunning in scope.
Battleship Potemkin | Sergei EISENSTEIN | 1925
I have to admit my privileging of Man with a Movie Camera over this has to do with relative political neutrality in comparison to this propaganda piece. One the flip side, some people feel politics is very important to art and there is no denying Eisenstein's skill, and I really find this movie to be quite amazing.
Apocalypse Now | Francis Ford COPPOLA | 1979
This is a movie I used to adore, but over time I just found better movies.
Bicycle Thieves | Vittorio DE SICA | 1948
I really enjoyed this movie and yet couldn't help laughing at myself a bit because it's almost too rote narrative for neorealism and too neorealist for rote narrative. I respect it as a balance.
Citizen Kane | Orson WELLES | 1941
I will never argue against the brilliance of this movie but it turns out I don't find Kane to be all that fascinating of a character. In fact, it is testament to Orson Welles' skills that he makes this guy so universally talked about. Think about it. Under lesser hands, I'm not convinced anybody would really want to know more about 'who Kane is.' That said, in the end he's revealed to be empty inside, so even my dismissiveness stands as neglectful of that emptiness.
The Godfather | Francis Ford COPPOLA | 1972
Here it is! That movie that apparently guys are supposed to like as some male rule (though strangely the type of bro goes contrary to its careful and considerate exploration of family dynamics and subversion of American Dream themes) and for some reason gets placed at or quite near number 1 on many lists, especially those concerning 'American cinema'. I think it's a testament to its time and a really amazing piece of work, but like Apocalypse Now, eventually I found better movies to chew on.
Greed | Erich VON STROHEIM | 1924
I do honestly wish the ten hour cut survived. This movie was great, though hysterically melodramatic in parts. If anything I sort of wish the ten hour cut survived just so that there'd be better precedence for longer and more involved movies. I don't necessarily think the full piece would have been as good considering what evidence we have of what remains.
8½ | Federico FELLINI | 1963
To me this represents the best of and all the Fellini you need to see.
Lawrence of Arabia | David LEAN | 1962
This was one of those problematic movies where I keenly remember enjoying it but I can't remember anything about it. Doesn't speak well to its long-term effectiveness but then again it's my responsibility to rewatch it.
Vertigo | Alfred HITCHCOCK | 1958
Honestly I'm ambivalent about this movie but it's slowly creeping up the ladder of my best-of lists like this simply because of the profound effect its had on filmmakers such as Chris Marker and a lot of what people have pointed out about its spiraling structure and geography. In a weird way I can agree that this is Hitchcock gone batshit, which is saying something.
M | Fritz LANG | 1931
Great use of sound and a surprising ending, but I get that same 'prototype' feel I get from Metropolis.
Movies I don't really care for but recognize their skills, would never say are bad but at the very least, just aren't for me.
Aguirre, Wrath of God | Werner HERZOG | 1972
I love Werner Herzog as the batty obsessive making movies about batty obsessives he is, but honestly switch this movie with Fitzcarraldo and now we're talkin'.
Breathless | Jean-Luc GODARD | 1960
The movie that's pretty much sold to every cinephile as the movie made for them. The thing that's always struck me about Godard is that I feel like I 'get the joke' based on the structural things he does, and I rarely care for the results because I know the punchline in advance.
Pickpocket | Robert BRESSON | 1959
I love watching this movie as a double-feature with Pickup on South Street. I also like watching Pickup on South Street by itself. Pickpocket I've never felt the need to.
Les Enfants du Paradis | Marcel CARNÉ | 1945
Man this movie was beautiful to watch and I really liked the performance sequences within the movie but didn't care for any of the rest.
Some Like It Hot | Billy WILDER | 1959
You know, Marilyn Monroe is a very disturbing pop culture icon. Billy Wilder seems to have tapped into that fact, and then ran with it.
Barry Lyndon | Stanley KUBRICK | 1975
GOD THE CINEMATOGRAPHY. Like Renaissance paintings in motion! …What was this movie about again?
The Godfather: Part II | Francis Ford COPPOLA | 1974
Same as Godfather but I'm even more puzzled by its fandom. Some say it's 'better than the first' but my counterargument is that too many plotlines rely on your knowledge of the original so it doesn't hold its own.
In the Mood for Love | WONG Kar-wai | 2000
I did love how this movie was a slow, no-physical-contact dance, there was a lot of electricity there. I couldn't really get into it further than that.
La Grande Illusion | Jean RENOIR | 1937
In the end I liked how this movie represented civility and class more than I care for it as a movie.
The Wild Bunch | Sam PECKINPAH | 1969
I used to love this movie as the anti-Western it is. The ending sequence to me signified the death of the concept that the violence of Westerns was anything resembling heroic, but later on I watched some more Sam Peckinpah and realized that he has a strange and distasteful appreciation for the manly men behind such violence and a lot of his anti-Western narratives are as nostalgic as anything. I now have a really hard time with this.
Sunrise: A Song of Two Humans | F.W. MURNAU | 1927
Like getting into a shower that turns alternately hot and cold. The mood and tone changes so frequently I feel at various points like I'm watching entirely different movies. In the end if you break down the plot points individually, the tonal transitions make total sense. I can't really argue against it. I just have those moments when watching it where I'm like, "Wait a minute, wasn't this just a few minutes ago an expressionist movie? Why are they chasing a pig around like a slapstick? Wait a minute, a storm's brewing? Wasn't this just a romance? Dafuq?!"
La Règle du Jeu | Jean RENOIR | 1939
In the end I liked how this movie represented civility and class more than I care for it as a movie. It also suffers from the lack of World War II significance that Grand Illusion has.
These are the movies I don't like. Notice I said I don't like them, not that they're bad movies. I'm perfectly okay with other people liking them and in some cases their influence is undeniable. I just have never found much of interest in them. Oh come on guys I'm perfectly allowed to just not like some things!
Raging Bull | Martin SCORSESE | 1980
I watched it, it was very well made, brilliant performance by DeNiro, and I could care less about anything that happens in it. Like Citizen Kane, the character isn't nearly as interesting as the movie's place in history and the filmmaker behind it, but unlike Citizen Kane, Scorsese never sold me on the idea that he was interesting at all.
North by Northwest | Alfred HITCHCOCK | 1959
This movie is totally silly. Not that that's a bad thing, silliness has its place in the world and I think a lot of it here was intentional, but very little, to me, justifies it being on so many top lists.
The Searchers | John FORD | 1956
I've always thought what people write critically about this movie is of ten times the value of the movie itself.
La Dolce Vita | Federico FELLINI | 1960
Seriously, I could give a rat's ass about these people. At best they bore me and at worse they annoy me. I find Fellini as a whole to be obnoxious, though there's no arguing his showmanship.
- L'Atalante | Jean VIGO | 1934
- Beau Travail | Claire DENIS | 1999
- A Brighter Summer Day | Edward YANG | 1991
- Close-Up | Abbas KIAROSTAMI | 1990
- The Colour of Pomegranates | Sergei PARAJANOV | 1968
- Fanny & Alexander | Ingmar BERGMAN | 1982
- Gertrud | Carl Th. DREYER | 1964
- Histoire(s) du Cinéma | Jean-Luc GODARD | 1998
- Imitation of Life | Douglas SIRK | 1959
- Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce 1080 Bruxelles | Chantal AKERMAN | 1975
- Journey to Italy | Roberto ROSSELLINI | 1954
- The Leopard | Luchino VISCONTI | 1963
- Madame de… | Max OPHÜLS | 1953
- The Magnificent Ambersons | Orson WELLES | 1942
- La Maman et la Putain | Jean EUSTACHE | 1973
- Le Mépris | Jean-Luc GODARD | 1963
- Nashville | Robert ALTMAN | 1975
- A One and a Two | Edward YANG | 2000
- Ordet | Carl Th. DREYER | 1955
- Partie de Campagne | Jean RENOIR | 1936
- Pather Panchali | Satyajit RAY | 1955
- Persona | Ingmar BERGMAN | 1966
- Pierrot le Fou | Jean-Luc GODARD | 1965
- Play Time | Jacques TATI | 1967
- Rio Bravo | Howard HAWKS | 1959
- Sátántangó | TARR Béla | 1994
- Shoah | Claude LANZMANN | 1985
- Touch of Evil | Orson WELLES | 1958
- Touki-Bouki | Djibril DIOP MAMBÉTY | 1973
This section is split into various subsections based on what I feel often gets neglected in 'canon' lists, stuff we need in there to recognize sometimes cinema itself is zany and fantastic and crazy and weird and bewildering and fun and disturbing and messed up and mind-expanding and mind-fucking and psychedelic and broken and a spinning whirligig of awesome. If you take, for instance, this Sight and Sound list on its own, there's really a wide variety and range of exceptional and unique movies. If you take that list in comparison to the following, they're weighed mostly towards sober contemplative dramas with a predominantly Euro-arthouse style for middle class adults to talk about over tea and coffee.
- Anemic Cinema | Marcel DUCHAMP | 1926
- Decasia | Bill MORRISON | 2002
- Dog Star Man | Stan BRAKHAGE | 1962-1964
- Fireworks | Kenneth ANGER | 1947
- Meshes of the Afternoon | Maya DEREN & Alexander HAMMID | 1943
- Outer Space | Peter TSCHERKASSKY | 1999
- Pas de Deux | Norman MCLAREN | 1968
- Serene Velocity | Ernie GEHR | 1970
- Wavelength | Michael SNOW | 1967
- Vinyl | Andy WARHOL | 1965
- Fantasia | Ben SHARPSTEEN | 1940
- Fritz the Cat | Ralph BAKSHI | 1972
- The Incredibles | Brad BIRD | 2004
- Mount Head | YAMAMURA Kōji | 2002
- Persepolis | Vincent PARONNAUD & Marjane SATRAPI | 2007
- The Pied Piper | Jirí Barta | 1985
- Princess Mononoke | MIYAZAKI Hayao | 1997
- Rejected | Don HERTZFELDT | 2000
- Street of Crocodiles | Brothers QUAY | 1986
- Tokyo Godfathers | KON Satoshi | 2003
- Brand upon the Brain! | Guy MADDIN | 2006
- Brazil | Terry GILLIAM | 1985
- The City of Lost Children | Marc CARO & Jean-Pierre JEUNET | 1995
- Gozu | MIIKE Takashi | 2003
- Montenegro | Dusan MAKAVEJEV | 1981
- Shock Corridor | Samuel FULLER | 1963
- Spectres of the Spectrum | Craig BALDWIN | 1999
- Tetsuo: The Iron Man | TSUKAMOTO Shinya | 1989
- Videodrome | David CRONENBERG | 1983
- Zardoz | John BOORMAN | 1974
- Beasts of the Southern Wild | Benh ZEITLIN | 2012
- Bridge to Terabithia | Gabor CSUPO | 2007
- Kids | Larry CLARK | 1995
- Kikujiro | KITANO Takeshi | 1999
- The Red Balloon | Albert LAMORISSE | 1956
- The Secret of NIMH | Don BLUTH | 1982
- Son of Rambow | Garth JENNINGS | 2007
- Spirited Away | MIYAZAKI Hayao | 2001
- Tideland | Terry GILLIAM | 2005
- Walkabout | Nicolas ROEG | 1971
- A Boy and His Dog | L.Q. JONES | 1975
- Carnival of Souls | Herk HARVEY | 1962
- Dawn of the Dead | George A. ROMERO | 1978
- Deliverance | John BOORMAN | 1972
- Drive | Nicolas WINDING REFN | 2011
- Easy Rider | Dennis HOPPER | 1969
- The Rocky Horror Picture Show | Jim SHARMAN | 1975
- Shaun of the Dead | Edgar WRIGHT | 2004
- Soylent Green | Richard FLEISCHER | 1973
- Suicide Club | SONO Sion | 2001
- The Blood of a Poet | Jean COCTEAU | 1930
- Blow-Up | Michelangelo ANTONIONI | 1966
- The Double Life of Veronique | Krzysztof KIEŚLOWSKI | 1991
- Hiroshima, Mon Amour | Alain RESNAIS | 1959
- The Hypothesis of the Stolen Painting | Raúl RUIZ | 1979
- Last Year in Marienbad | Alain RESNAIS | 1961
- Performance | Donald CAMMELL & Nicolas ROEG | 1968
- Russian Ark | Aleksandr SOKUROV | 2002
- Synecdoche, New York | Charlie KAUFMAN | 2008
- Tampopo | ITAMI Juzo | 1985
- Another Earth | Mike CAHILL | 2011
- Brick | Rian JOHNSON | 2005
- Ink | Jamin WINANS | 2009
- Naked | Mike LEIGH | 1993
- π | Darren ARONOFSKY | 1998
- Primer | Shane CARRUTH | 2004
- Sins of the Fleshapoids | Mike KUCHAR | 1965
- Smoke Signals | Chris EYRE | 1998
- Stranger Than Paradise | Jim JARMUSCH | 1984
- A Woman Under the Influence | John CASSAVETES | 1974
(and were better for it)
- Czech Dream | Vít KLUSÁK & Filip REMUNDA | 2004
- Enter the Void | Gaspar NOÉ | 2009
- Eyes Wide Shut | Stanley KUBRICK | 1999
- Fitzcarraldo | Werner HERZOG | 1982
- Glen or Glenda | Edward D. WOOD Jr. | 1953
- I ♥ Huckabees | David O. RUSSELL | 2004
- Passenger | Andrzej MUNK | 1963
- Santa Sangre | Alejandro JODOROWSKY | 1989
- Symbiopsychotaxiplasm | William GREAVES | 1968
- Visitor Q | MIIKE Takashi | 2001
- Alien | Ridley SCOTT | 1979
- The Fifth Element | Luc BESSON | 1997
- The Fountain | Darren ARONOFSKY | 2006
- Jaws | Steven SPIELBERG | 1975
- Labyrinth | Jim HENSON | 1986
- The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring | Peter JACKSON | 2001
- The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers | Peter JACKSON | 2002
- The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King | Peter JACKSON | 2003
- The Matrix | The WACHOWSKIs | 1999
- MirrorMask | Dave MCKEAN | 2005
- The Muppet Movie | James FRAWLEY | 1979
- Star Wars | George LUCAS | 1977
- Born in Flames | Lizzie BORDEN | 1983
- Chronicle of a Summer | Edgar MORIN & Jean ROUCH | 1960
- Gimme Shelter | Albert MAYSLES & David MAYSLES & Charlotte ZWERIN | 1970
- The Gleaners and I | Agnès VARDA | 2000
- Häxan | Benjamin CHRISTENSEN | 1922
- History and Memory | Rea TAJIRI | 1992
- Night and Fog | Alain RESNAIS | 1955
- Robinson in Space | Patrick KEILLER | 1997
- Tongues Untied | Marlon RIGGS | 1989
- The War Game | Peter WATKINS | 1965


text:
Trending News
Must Reads
Most Popular
Great Finds
More sections
By date
Log into your Newser account
Logging in
Joined Newser on:
Email Subscriptions
Find what you're looking for
More about Newser:
About Us
Contact Us
Terms of Use
Privacy Policy
Site Map
What's New
Want to contribute?
Suggest a Story
Get our apps:
Install our app:
Newser App
Breaking News
Barack Obama birth certificate
Stories 1 - 20 |
Next >>
Clinton Hits Trump for 'Racist' Crusade Against Obama
He says he's proud of getting Obama to release his birth certificate
- Donald Trump may have tried to lay the birther issue to rest earlier this month, but it returned during Monday's presidential debate. "[Trump] really started his political activity based on this racist lie that our first black president was not an American citizen," the
New York Times
More »
Sheriff Joe Still Thinks Obama's Birth Certificate Is Forged
'I'm not going to give up,' says Joe Arpaio
- Donald Trump may have finally given up on the birther debate , but Joe Arpaio sure hasn't. The Arizona sheriff who organized a volunteer posse that claimed President Obama's birth certificate was a fake back in 2012, says he's still investigating the document. "I don't care...
More »
Donald Trump Is No Longer a Birther
Candidate admits Obama was born in US
- After five years of promoting the idea that President Obama wasn't born in the United States, Donald Trump reversed course on Friday. "President Barack Obama was born in the United States, period," Trump said in televised remarks, per the AP . "Now we all want to get...
More »
Trump Refuses to Say Obama Was Born in the US
His campaign blames Clinton for birtherism
- Donald Trump covered a lot of ground—including his wife's immigration status—during a
Washington Post
interview published Thursday, but the part that made headlines was his refusal to admit that the president of the United States is an American. "I'll answer that question at the right...
More »
Trump: What Birth Certificate?
Donald still doesn't know whether Obama's was the real deal
- Good news, no one: Donald Trump's name is again appearing next to the term "birth certificate," and it seems he's still eager to gin up a little controversy over President Obama's. Asked today by ABC's Jonathan Karl whether his 2012 antics made him appear...
More »
Trump's Obama 'Bombshell:' I'll Give You $5M ...
If Obama forks over his college transcripts, passport applications. Woot.
- Donald Trump's Obama bombshell ? Not so much a bombshell. It's really just Trump sitting at his desk, very loudly and vehemently declaring his opinion that the president isn't transparent enough ... so Trump is pulling out his checkbook. In his promised big announcement , which he made via...
More »
Kansas May Kick Obama Off the Ballot
GOP-led election board wants more birth certificate evidence
- If you thought birther-ism was dead, we've got some bad news. The Kansas State Objections Board is considering kicking Barack Obama off the ballot unless it finds more evidence he was born in the US, the
Topeka Capital-Journal
reports. The all-Republican board agreed yesterday to investigate a ballot challenge...
More »
Now Obama Tells Birther Joke
Last month, Dems slammed Romney for making similar joke
- Apparently Mitt Romney isn't the only presidential candidate who likes to make a birther crack, because President Obama chimed in with his own yesterday. While at a campaign stop in Orlando, Obama was told a 6-year-old boy at the table was born in Hawaii. "You were born in...
More »
Arizona Sheriff: Obama Birth Certificate Definitely Forged
95-year-old ex-registrar is Arpaio posse's smoking gun
- Controversial Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio's posse of volunteer investigators has concluded that President Obama's birth certificate is definitely ... a fake. Chief investigator Mike Zullo, revealing the investigation's findings yesterday, said he had contacted an "amazingly sharp" 95-year-old woman named Verna K. Lee, a local registrar who...
More »
Hawaii Verifies Obama Birth Records Yet Again
This time, to Arizona
- We somehow doubt that this will finally put the birther brouhaha to bed, but: After what the AP describes as "a nearly three-month back and forth," Hawaii has verified President Obama's birth records to Arizona. Arizona Secretary of State Ken Bennett had threatened to remove Obama from...
More »
Birther Sheriff, Feds Clash Over Monitors
Joe Arpaio refuses to let DOJ 'run my office'
- Talks between the Department of Justice and Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio have broken down, and now the feds are threatening to sue over the sheriff's alleged abuses against Hispanic suspects, reports the
Washington Post
. The Justice Department is insisting Arpaio's Maricopa County sheriff office take on a court-appointed...
More »
Sheriff Joe: Obama Birth Certificate Probably Fake
Selective service card looks dodgy, too, says Arizonan
- Birtherism appears to be alive and well in Maricopa County, Arizona, where self-styled "America's Toughest Sheriff" Joe Arpaio has released the results of his investigation into President Obama's birth certificate , reports ABC . The probe found "probable cause exists indicating that forgery and fraud may have been...
More »
Sheriff Joe to Unveil Results of Birther Inquiry
'I'm not going after Obama,' he insists, 'I'm just doing my job'
- Joe Arpaio has never exactly shied away from the limelight, and he's stepping right into it once again today. The self-styled "toughest sheriff in America" has called a press conference for later today to reveal the results of his investigation into President Obama's birth certificate, the AP...
More »
Perry: I Have 'No Doubt' Obama Is a US Citizen
Says he was just having a little fun with Donald Trump
- Rick Perry made clear today he is not in the birther camp—and he says was never there to begin with. "I have no doubt about it," he tells Florida's Bay News 9 when asked whether President Obama is a citizen. Pressed on his recent comments, here...
More »
Rick Perry Talks Obama Birth Certificate
'Trump doesn't think Obama birth certificate is real,' he tells interviewer
- Is Rick Perry the new birther candidate? The Texas governor told
he's incapable of reaching a definitive conclusion as to whether Barack Obama's publicly released birth certificate is "real," though he ultimately pirouettes away from the controversial issue. When asked in yesterday in
More »
GOP Staffers Meet With 'Birther Queen'
Orly Taitz says top aides receptive to her concerns
- Even a birth certificate can't stop the Birther Queen. Orly Taitz, who literally made a name for herself in the heyday of Birtherism, is still pushing her message—and it seems that top GOP congressional aides are listening. She tells Justin Elliott of Salon that she headed to Washington...
More »
Pat Boone on Obama Birth Certificate: Photoshopped
Fifties crooner also says president is Muslim
- Yep, it's official: The birther movement is still not dead . Pat Boone, who was a heartthrob in the '50s and who more recently led an evangelical Christian tour of the holy land with Mike Huckabee, proudly came out as a birther to the
San Francisco Chronicle
at the...
More »
Sheriff Joe Sics 'Posse' on Obama Birth Certificate
Secret five-member team will investigate its authenticity
- You thought the birther controversy was over, what with President Obama releasing his long-form Certificate of Live Birth ? Well, think again. Arizona's fiery Sheriff Joe Arpaio has a secret five-member Cold Case Posse looking into the authenticity of said birth certificate,
World Net Daily
reports. Sheriff Joe explains...
More »
Air Force Discharges Birther Sergeant
Daryn Moran taunted officials to arrest him
- The Air Force is cutting loose a staff sergeant who championed the debunked "birther" conspiracy theory online. Daryn Moran says he stopped reporting for duty at an Air Force base in Germany, arguing that his orders were invalid because Obama was an invalid president. "Now it's plain...
More »
Birther Book Hits #6 on
Best Seller List
Sales skyrocket a month after Obama releases certificate
- We've seen the long form certificate , but the birther issue just won't die. Author Jerome Corsi's new book
Where's the Birth Certificate?
debuts at number six on the
New York Times
' Best Sellers list out Sunday, according to CNN . The book argues that President Obama's...
More »
Stories 1 - 20 |
Next >>
Popular on Newser
Suspected Culprit Emerges in Mystery 'Havana Syndrome'
Robert Redford's Son Dead at 58
USA Today Breaks With Tradition on 2020 Race
Killer Peter Madsen Escapes Prison
Rush Limbaugh Shares News on His Cancer
On This Day:
October 21
10 Years of Headlines
Newser In Your Inbox
Get The Morning 8: The eight stories you need to know, bright and early.
View all Newsletters and sign up
Get our apps
Install our app
Newser App
Suggest a Story
© 2020 Newser, LLC. All rights reserved.
We see that you're using an ad-blocker.
To read our stories, you'll need to
turn off your ad-blocker.
As an advertising-supported site,
Newser can't exist without ads.
Turn off your ad-blocker
(for Newser only)
One last step.
You have to do this part yourself.
But you're a smartie, and we'll help you out.
1. Click on your ad-blocker icon in your browser.
(It might look like this
or this
or this
2. Every ad-blocker is a bit different, but look for
an option like disable, whitelist, or trust and click it.
Thanks so much.
We use cookies. By Clicking "OK" or any content on this site, you agree to allow cookies to be placed. Read more in our
privacy policy

subset: commoncrawl


text:
As the humanitarian relief and development arm of The United Methodist Church, the United Methodist Committee on Relief assists United Methodists and churches to become involved globally in direct ministry to persons in need. UMCOR works with vulnerable communities to strengthen self-sufficiency and encourage partnerships. UMCOR responds to U.S. and international disasters, addresses diseases of poverty, ministers to refugees and immigrants, provides clean water and actively works to reduce hunger.
Our Work Leadership History Accountability Grants
UMCOR Brochure
Versión Español
Find and Give to an Advance Ministry, Missionary, or Project. 100% of each gift reaches The Advance mission or ministry of your choice.


text:
Dream Dress for Less
You can find anything from elegant, traditional dresses to unique, cutting edge designs not found anywhere else on Vancouver Island.
The best part of all - Dream Dress for Less offers the lowest prices for new bridal, prom and formal gowns on Vancouver Island GUARANTEED!
Dream Dress for Less also offers a wide variety of fashionable veils, crinolines and shawls at reasonable prices.
Every bride wants to look especially beautiful on her wedding day. It is important to have a professional help to get your alterations done. It is crucial to give as much importance to dress alteration, as to the selection itself. A professional and highly skilled team of seamstresses provide alteration services right inside the bridal store.
All fittings are by appointment only
Monday - Saturday - 10:00am - 6:00pm
Sunday - 11:00am - 5:00pm
- Website:


text:
Ragnar stood in the ruins of Alwinton. The Goblin horde had torn through here like a hot knife through butter, if one wished to use a tired cliche. Where once the church had stood, there was now a ruin with a blood-spattered altar raised at its centre. Rotting remnants of the villagers that Ragnar had once thought to protect lay around and on that altar. These were the ones that had failed to get away. Fortunately, Ragnar had been able to lead many to safety in Treyine. There they could rebuild their shattered lives. Meanwhile, Ragnar was looking for revenge but all he could find was this one Goblin, who styled himself King Rech. He was not much of a king to look at for he had only three followers, even if he did have a chariot and driver too.
Ragnar stepped forward and approached the Goblin leader. He would speak to the creature first before killing it. King Rech was obviously calculating his chances here and coming up short, so he too drove forward, eying the Mirholmen archers that stood behind Ragnar warily.
"Speak, monster," yelled Ragnar, "Why should I and my warband not kill you where you stand?"
"Your miserable curs are nothing to me. I do not fear you." The Goblin was determined to put a brave face on a poor situation, but the whites around his eyes gave away the fear he really felt. " You should not kill me for I know where those villagers that live have been taken. I shall guide you there and grant you free passage through my lands."
"Very well. You may live. Show me to my friends and we shall have a truce for the time being."
Muttering from behind Ragnar indicated that some members of his group were unhappy about this, and Ragnar was not particularly happy either. An alliance with a Goblin was not really a good thing, but it might well speed up the process of rescuing those that had been under his protection. Then he could escort them to Treyine where they might make new lives for themselves.
This was a Talk the Talk encounter in a village. With the Border Kingdoms being overrun by the Goblins, we decided to have Ragnar returning to his village to see what had happened. Here he encountered a small Goblin warband and succeeding in sweeping the enemy leader off his feet. As a result, the enemy joined him for the adventure, which will be a quest to rescue some of the captured villagers. Ragnar also received an additional advancement roll. Upon rolling for advancement, his Rep went up 1 to 8, while his Social Status went down one to 4. I used the extra advancement roll to try again and it succeeded at increasing it back up to 5. Clearly recruiting Goblins is a social faux pas. Rolling for the other characters, Gunnvora the Winged, Grim Redshirt and Drogo all decreased in Rep, while Ulf and Richard increased their Rep. Ulf, one of the lowliest of my starting characters now has a stellar Rep of 7! Gunnvora, one of the better starting characters, now has a Rep of 3! Clearly Gunnvora, Grim and Drogo are discouraged by the inclusion of a Goblin in the warband, even temporarily.
Full details of the Ragnar's warband may be found on the Wargods of Valhalla wiki.
Saturday, 16 January 2010
Autumn 988 - Ragnar's Adventure in a Goblin-Filled Land
Labels: Battle Report, Ragnars Saga, WHAA
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


text:
|Nutritional Guidelines (per serving)
|Nutrition Facts
|Servings: 30 to 36
|Amount per serving
|% Daily Value*
|Total Fat 8g
|Saturated Fat 4g
|Cholesterol 40mg
|Sodium 208mg
|Total Carbohydrate 16g
|Dietary Fiber 2g
|Protein 2g
|Calcium 39mg
|*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
This apple dip with pie crust chips is a deconstructed apple pie. It has all the flavor of a homemade apple pie, but with a difference: it's served as an appetizer. It's the perfect snack to offer at a fall or winter party or game event. Serve the apple dip hot from a bowl or keep it warm in a 2-cup or 1-quart slow cooker.
- Apple Dip:
- 5 to 6 apples (about 6 cups diced)
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1/3 cup light brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons corn syrup (golden cane syrup or maple syrup)
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- Pie Crust Chips:
- 3 cups all-purpose flour (13 1/2 ounces)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 3 teaspoons sugar
- 2 sticks ice-cold butter (cut into pieces)
- 8 to 10 tablespoons ice water
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon water
- Cinnamon Sugar:
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Steps to Make It
Peel the apples, core them and then slice into wedges. Dice the wedges.
Put the diced apples in a medium saucepan with the lemon juice, brown sugar, 2 tablespoons of flour, corn syrup, 1 tablespoon of butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon. Stir to blend thoroughly. Bring the apple mixture to a simmer over medium heat. Lower the heat to low and continue cooking, frequently stirring, for about 12 to 16 minutes, or until the apples are tender. If the mixture is too thick, add a little water.
Heat the oven to 350 F.
Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
In a food processor, combine the 3 cups of flour, salt, baking powder, and 3 teaspoons of sugar. Pulse to blend the dry ingredients. Add the butter and pulse about 6 times, or until the butter pieces are about the size of small peas. Drizzle about 8 tablespoons of ice water through the feed tube while pulsing. Add more, as needed, until the dough begins to form small clumps.
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and shape into a flattened disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 10 to 20 minutes.
Roll the dough out about 1/8-inch thick on a floured surface. Cut out leaves or other shapes and arrange them on the parchment paper-lined baking sheets.
Combine the egg and 1 tablespoon of water; whisk to blend. Lightly brush each pie crust chip with the mixture. For leaf shapes, use a toothpick or skewer to lightly trace veins onto the leaves.
Combine the 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar with the 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon. Sprinkle over the pie crust chips.
Bake the pastry chips for about 15 to 18 minutes, or until firm and lightly browned.
To serve, reheat the apple mixture and serve warm in a bowl along with the pie crust chips.
- The recipe includes a homemade food processor pie pastry, but you may use two sheets of refrigerated pie crust.


text:
John McKissick, winningest H.S. football coach, retires after 63 years
After 63 years of coaching the Summerville (S.C.) High School football team to 621 victories and 10 state championships, John McKissick has announced his retirement ahead of the 2015 season, reportsThe Post and Courier of Charleston.
"My age is catching up with me," the 89-year-old told The Post and Courier. "That's a long life, and it has been a long time coaching football. A lot of people have asked me if I'm sure that this is what I want to do. I think I'm sure. I know it's time. I haven't been forced to do anything. I was told I could stay as long as I wanted to."
McKissick coached his first season in 1952 and has the most wins of any coach in football on all levels.
The Green Wave won their last state title under McKissick in 1998, when the team went undefeated with a 15-0 record—one of five perfect seasons. Seven NFL players have come from McKissick's system, including A.J. Green of the Cincinnati Bengals.
Joe Call, McKissick's grandson and current offensive coordinator, is expected to be named the team's interim head coach.
"He's been the face of Summerville for 63 years, and that legacy will carry on," Call told The Post and Courier. "Everything he built in this program is going to continue. Everybody on our staff either played for him for has been here long enough to know that there's only one way to do things, and that's the way he taught us."
- Christopher Chavez


text:
My work focuses on helping individuals and groups gain clarity and perspective on where they are, where they want to be, and then designing a path forward. From there, I accompany clients on their journey, supporting and refining the goals, strategies and paths as the situation changes. Wherever you are on life's journey, you don't have to travel alone.
My personal Vision for ministry is to "Glorify God through the enhancement of human wholeness and flourishing by addressing people's areas of need or pain through a focus on developing people's gifts and strengths."
As of November 2016 I am now privileged to serve as the lead pastor of Central Christian Church (DIsciples of Christ) in Dallas, TX. This congregation is also multivocal, with a range of ministries internally and externally, both on campus and off. It is truly an exhilarating place to serve and grow together.
We'd love to connect with you on your journey into the fullest life God dreams for you.
And since my own practice of ministry is MultiVocal, over the last several years you'd also find me engaged in some of these other ways…
Synchronous Life
Institute for Vital Ministry
Vitality Coaching for
Interim Minister at
My ministry vocation finds is full expression through a variety of channels. These are the primary ways that I seek to live out God's call on my life, which is to support leaders in their pursuit of personal wholeness in the midst of transformative and world changing work.
Life is complex and filled with competing claims on our time, the only truly limited resource in life. My goal is to help clients integrate the energies in each area of life so that the physical and spiritual, emotional and relational, intellectual and occupational expressions of life lead to harmony and vitality rather than competing and thus depleting the very essence of life as it could be lived.
For more information or to schedule an appointment, please fill out the contact form below.


text:
Who carries out a special inquiry?
What investigative powers does the High Council of Justice (HCJ) have?
What are the possible consequences of the outcome of such an inquiry?
What are the limits of the inquiry?
Who carries out a special inquiry?
In principle, the Joint Advisory and Investigation Committee (JAIC) must entrust the special inquiry to the chief of jurisdiction or the competent hierarchical level.
However, the JAIC may decide to conduct the inquiry itself, if at least two-thirds of its members approve the decision, following a request from the Justice Minister or when, due to the subject of the investigation, it is not considered appropriate to entrust it to the chief of jurisdiction or the competent hierarchical level.
In practice, it is the last method which is used the most frequently.
In such a case, the inquiry is systematically led by a member judge of the JAIC.
What investigative powers does the High Council of Justice (HCJ) have?
The Joint Advisory and Investigation Committee (JAIC) has limited powers when conducting an inquiry: interviewing the interested parties (judges are not necessarily bound by the duty of professional secrecy), on-site inspections (although the JAIC does not have real search powers) and consulting the court records (provided that the case is completely closed).
What are the possible consequences of the outcome of such an inquiry?
All special inquiries must be closed with a report which must first be approved by a majority of two-thirds of the Joint Advisory and Investigation Committee (JAIC) and then by the General Assembly of the CSJ. Relevant recommendations for the competent bodies are included in the report's conclusions.
The inquiry report may contain recommendations and/or general policy proposals. The CSJ cannot really impose measures; it can however inform the competent disciplinary body of a lack of cooperation. This disciplinary authority remains free to decide what conclusions it reaches but it must, in all cases, inform the CSJ of the outcome of cases referred to it.
The competent disciplinary authorities may, for example, open a disciplinary inquiry on the basis of the information contained in the report.
What are the limits of the inquiry?
It is important to underscore that the difficulties listed below could also apply to any type of independent inquiry concerning the operation of the judiciary, irrespective of the body which carries out the special inquiry.
Thus, in the framework of a special inquiry:
1) The CSJ has neither disciplinary nor criminal competences
However, if the conclusions of the special inquiry result in the opening of disciplinary proceedings, the CSJ should then have the legal means to refer the case to the competent body with a view to instituting disciplinary proceedings.
2) The CSJ does not have access to ongoing court cases
However, in order to determine structural or staff operational problems and put forward recommendations, the CSJ should be able to act in a timely manner, even in the course of judicial proceedings.
The possible consequences of an inquiry into an ongoing case, the related proceedings and, in particular, disciplinary proceedings, must be systematically considered.
3) The CSJ may only interview members of the judiciary for information purposes
However, the CSJ should be able to interview any person, whether or not that person is a member of the judiciary, in order to have all relevant information when conducting its inquiry.


text:
SKB 3SKB-3018M Maximum Protection Case3SKB-3018M
Product Details
The SKB MP Series cases are tough as nails and designed for real abuse. The SKB ATA Maximum Protection Cases are are great option for transporting goods around the corner or around the world with maximum protection.
- Black
- Custom Colors available on Special Orders.
- ATA Rated
- Gasketed, heavy-duty "L" valance ensures secure close
- Resistant to UV, solvents, corrosion, fungus, and impact damage
- Molded-in protective bumpers
- Heavy-duty twist latch system
- Comforatble, spring loaded side handles with 90 degree stops for efficient transport
- Cases stack securely and accomodate padlocks
- Made in the U.S.A.
LID DEPTH: 8.00" (20.32 cm) / BOTTOM DEPTH: 9.50" (24.13 cm)
SKB's Lifetime Warranty:
SKB brand hardshell cases are fully warranted against defects in materials and craftsmanship for the life of the case to the original owner. That means, if your case breaks, SKB will supply replacement parts, repair the case, or replace your case for as long as you own it. Proof of Purchase is required for all warranty claims. Electronic components in SKB brand hardshell pedalboard systems are warranted for five years from date of purchase. Soft cases and gig bags are warranted for one year from date of purchase. SKB is not responsible for the shipping cost to their facility. However, SKB will cover all of the costs of repairs and/or replacements, as well as the return shipping. SKB hardshell cases are warranted for life to the original owner only. Cases used rental purposes, used by institutions or schools, modified or used cases are not covered by this warranty.The warranty does not cover contents, so we strongly urge customers to test the case prior to use.


text:
MIC and zone diameter distributions and ECOFFs
Link to MIC and zone diameter distributions and ECOFFs.
The website gives MIC distributions (and since 2010 inhibition zone diameter distributions generated with the EUCAST disk diffusion method) for a wide range of organisms and antimicrobial agents, including antifungals.
The distributions are based on collated data from a total of more than 30 000 MIC distributions containing more than several million MICs from worldwide sources. The distributions include MICs from national and international studies such as resistance surveillance programs and and MIC distributions from published articles, the pharmaceutical industry drug development programmes, veterinary programmes and from individual laboratories. Histograms display wild type organisms, together with EUCAST epidemiological cut-off values (ECOFFs) and tentative ECOFFs (TECOFF).
The distributions should never be referred to in any epidemiological context since data from many time periods and many countries have been aggregated.
Using agreed criteria for the acceptance of MIC distributions, the database and ECOFFs are being critically evaluated during 2018 and 2019. Official ECOFFs are determined by EUCAST, adhering to protocols generated by the "EUCAST Subcommittee on MIC distributions and the determination of ECOFFs" (SOP10 and the document "Considerations in the numerical estimation of ECOFF values" - which will be integrated in SOP10).
The 2020 updated version of the ECOFFinder program is available from the EUCAST website. This is a tool made available by EUCAST Scientific Secretary John Turnidge for people wanting to assess MIC distribution data. Caveats for use of the program has been added 2020 (see first page of Excel file).
Questions and comments on EUCAST wild type distributions and ECOFFs.
Contributions of MIC and Zone diameter distributions can be made using the following Excel file templates:
The following agents and/or species were recently evaluated and ECOFFs revised or confirmed:
Note that the presence or absence of a resistance mechanism (MRSA vs. MSSA, betalactam with or without an inhibitor) does not alter the ECOFF which is always decided by the phenotypic expression. Neither does the addition of an inhibitor (unless this has activity of its own) - the ECOFF always pertain to the active substance.
The curators of the database are currently Gunnar Kahlmeter, Erika Matuschek, Jenny Åhman, Derek Brown and John Turnidge.
Submit MIC distributions to Gunnar Kahlmeter or Erika Matuschek.
For Copyright issues, go to the EUCAST home page.


text: Baltimore truly is the Charm City—and never is that more apparent than when our gardens and trees are in full bloom, and the early summer sun dapples the city just so, accenting the remarkable architecture that's around almost every corner. Thankfully, this is also the season when many of our most beautiful historic neighborhoods make themselves available through walking home and garden tours—with residents eager to show off their blocks in all their blooming glory. This year marks the 20th annual home and garden tour in historic Reservoir Hill, and it takes place June 7th and 8th. Save those dates.


text:
Kent Union Teaching Awards
This year I was nominated for a Teaching Award at my university. I have also just found out that I made the shortlist (one out of three in the whole university) in the category of "Postgraduates who Teach". It's a great feeling, and I am happy that I have made an impact on my students' education!
More information about Kent Union Teaching Awards can be found here.
The shortlist was also announced and covered by The Medwire
Comments are closed.
October 2020


text:
Central Kitsap girls grind it out against Yelm
SILVERDALE — The Central Kitsap Cougars led throughout the game Friday night, but they still had to hold on for a grind-it-out Narrows League win over the Yelm Tornadoes, 58-45.
"It was that kind of game," CK senior forward Tiffani Ferrell said. "They came back in the last five minutes. But we're the type of team that comes out tough. No matter if the momentum swings our way or their way, we're relentless."
Yelm cut into a double-digit lead with less than two minutes to go as its defensive play suddenly stymied the Cougars. Things didn't get better for CK until Maddie White and Taylor Krouse made their foul shots to help the Cougars finally put away Yelm.
"Yelm did a good job," CK coach Denise Baxter said. "Our free throws down the stretch, we went six of eight. That was clutch."
Ferrell and sophomore Katie Thorsen had 14 points each to lead the Cougars (11-3 overall, 5-2 league), who are in second place in the Narrows League 4A.
The top four teams in the league advance to the West Central/Southwest District tournament next month. Central Kitsap plays at Stadium and hosts South Kitsap next week.
Thorsen scored 10 of her points in the first half, as CK broke out in the second quarter, putting up 21 points for a 31-21 lead at halftime. She also had a team-high eight rebounds.
"She's a box-out machine," Baxter said. "She's knows her way around a hoop. She makes a difference every time she's on the floor."
Despite early foul trouble, Ferrell scored six of her points in the final two minutes of the first half, as Yelm left her alone under the basket on a couple of occasions. She drove through some Yelm defenders for CK's final basket of the half.
"She's an inside-out type of player," Baxter said of Ferrell. "She can pop the three or take it to the hole. She did a good job out there."
CK led 48-34 midway through the fourth, when Yelm's defense turned up the pressure, getting back-to-back steals by McKaiela Tyler in the backcourt to cut the lead to 10.
Yelm cut the lead to seven at 50-43 with 1:42 before CK started to make their free throws.
Tyler had 16 points for Yelm (7-8, 3-5).
"They wanted it, but we wanted it a little more," Ferrell said. "We came back and made good plays."
White added 11 points, going seven of nine from the foul line in the final minute of the game.
"Our team, everyone out there was doing good," CK's Thorsen said. "We all came to play. We all played hard, and fought back."
Central Kitsap 58, Yelm 45
Yelm 5 16 8 16 — 45
Central Kitsap 10 21 12 15 — 58
Yelm—McKaiela Tyler 16, Kelsey Alwine 10, Leslee Maldonado 7, Jodi Blomdahl 5, Whitney Krause 4, Karley Lawton 3, Jessilyn Enlow, Taylor Finch.
Central Kitsap—Tiffani Ferrell 14, Katie Thorsen 14, Maddie White 11, Samantha Williams 8, Starr Rodenhurst 5, Taylor Krouse 4, Carly Bergsma 2, Kaytie Garguile.


text:
Multiple Teams · Winter Sports OSPYS Set for March 12th.
The school wide celebration of all of our Winter Sports is Monday March 12th at 6:30 pm at Ridgeline High School. The evening will start in the Commons area with refreshments and socializing for a 1/2 hour. We will move into the Auditorium @ 7 pm for recognition of a few school-wide awards. At 7:30


text:
Your shopping cart is empty!
Hey great news, you're in luck.
We're currently accepting offers on FR Street King wheels (SK). To submit your offer simply click the "Make Offer" button below and we'll get back to you right away and let you know if we can accept it.MAKE OFFER
FR Street King Wheels are just what you need to get you moving! Get the grip, control, and speed you need with these awesome wheels.
For boot sizing information check out our Sizing Charts page.
|General Information
|Available in 7 Colors, Available in 72MM, 76MM, and 80MM, 84A hardness Sold in sets of 4
|1 Year Warranty


text:
The name Del Monte has long been synonymous with hospitality in Rochester, so it shouldn't be a surprise that they have opened a restaurant in College Town in the new Hilton Garden Inn. Grappa (30 Celebration Drive) opened on June 30 and features "upscale, casual, modern, Italian cuisine," according to Erica Standish, the restaurant's director of food and beverage. The Del Monte Hotel Group also owns The Erie Grill (inside the Del Monte Hotel and Spa) and Images Restaurant and Lounge (inside the Rochester Airport Marriott).
Executive Chef Ryan Wilcox has worked in the restaurant industry in Rochester for 15 years, and has spent 11 working for Del Monte. Most recently, he was the sous chef at Images Restaurant and Lounge. The cuisine at Grappa is "Italian nouveau" with the goal of having something for everyone. Starters include a spicy, sautéed calamari ($12) with roasted red peppers, pepperoncini, arugula, and frisée. Traditional items like greens and beans ($8) and spicy meatball and spaghetti ($16) are also featured. The greens and beans are comprised of sautéed escarole, hot Italian sausage, cannellini beans, fresh herbs, parmesan, and garlic crostini. A variety of pizzas are on the menu, including the funghi ($12) made with garlic béchamel, roasted Portobello, and button mushrooms, and drizzled with truffle oil.
Grappa has a large patio that includes fire pits and a lounge area. Its cocktail menu is comprised of grappa and Italian aperitif — in addition to craft cocktails, both classic and new. The Celebration Salute ($11) mixes Tanqueray Rangpur, orgeat bitters, fresh lime juice, and pink grapefruit. Happy hour is from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. every day and offers two for one bottled beer and wine by the glass. A private dining room is available for special events and can seat up to 18 people.
Grappa is located at 30 Celebration Drive in the Hilton Garden Inn at College Town. It is open for lunch and dinner on Monday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to midnight; until 2 a.m. on Friday and Saturday. 445-5770. Visit grapparoc.com for more information.
Rochester Brainery (274 North Goodman Street, inside Village Gate) will offer a selection of cooking classes in August. Learn how to make your own sushi ($30) on August 4 from 7 p.m. to 8:15 p.m. A summer sorbet and popsicle-making class ($30) will take place on August 10 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Classes in Indian cooking and French macaroon making also take place later in the month. To register and find out more visit rochesterbrainery.myshopify.com.
Honeoye Falls Distillery has opened at 168 West Main Street in, you guessed it, Honeoye Falls. The distillery's current offerings include a Devil's Bathtub "dry rye" Gin, Lantern Light "rye" Moonshine and Frozen Falls Vodka. The tasting room is open Wednesday through Sunday and features craft cocktails. Visit honeoyefallsdistillery.com for more information.
The Tap and Mallet (381 Gregory Street) will host an Imperial Beer Brunch on Saturday, August 15, at 11 a.m. Breakfast flights of a variety of stouts will be provided in addition to breakfast sandwiches provided by McCann's Local Meats. The cost of the brunch is $20 per person and tickets can be purchased at the Tap and Mallet.
The Rochester Young Professionals Perks Program will sponsor a city-wide restaurant week taking place August 21 through 30. The week-long event aims to promote local restaurants and cuisine. Diners will be able to sample fare from participating restaurants at a reduced rate. More information can be found at ryprrw.wix.com/roc-restaurant-week.
Black Button Distilling and the Rochester Rhinos have paired up to present a Rochester Craft Beverage Trail Tasting Event taking place on Saturday, September 12, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Sahlen's Stadium. Attendees can sample craft spirits, beer, and wine, and watch the Rochester Rhinos play Toronto FC II at 7:05 p.m. Tickets are $35 and include a game ticket, tastings, and a commemorative glass, designated driver tickets are also available for $10. More information can be found at rocbevtrail.com.
Chow Hound is a food and restaurant news column. Do you have a tip? Send it to firstname.lastname@example.com.


text:
the best mortgage solution for you
I'm new to mortgages. I'm researching.
The money you put towards the purchase of your house. The down payment together with your mortgage equals the purchase price of your home.
The larger the down payment, the smaller your mortgage and monthly payment. With a smaller mortgage, interest costs will be less, adding up to significant savings over time – and leaving you with more 'play' money.
Minimum 5% of the purchase price.
With a down payment less than 20%, the mortgage needs to be insured by CMHC. You will pay a one-time CMHC premium based on your mortgage amount.
For example, a 5% down payment and a 25 year mortgage would result in a 3.6% CMHC premium being added to your mortgage balance. You do not have to pay for this up front.
With a down payment of 20% or greater, CMHC typically goes away.
Therefore, a larger down payment has a double advantage. First, you avoid CMHC and second you have smaller monthly payments or can shorten the amortization – both of which saves you money.
5% of the purchase price unless the house is priced above $500k in which case the down payment increases slightly. This can come from a family gift or your own savings.et.
Yes, most lenders accept down payments that are gifted from immediate family. A gift letter signed is required to confirm that the funds are true gift and not a loan.
Under the federal government's Home Buyers' Plan, you can use up to $25,000 in RRSP savings ($50,000 for a couple) to help pay for your down payment on your first home. You then have 15 years to repay your RRSP, at least 1/15th per year. Note that any additional contributions will first go to pay back the RRSP funds withdrawn – so you will get tax credits on RRSP contributions until these funds are repaid.
To qualify, the RRSP funds you are using must be on deposit for at least 90 days. You will also need a signed agreement to buy a qualifying home.
This is a personal budget question more than a policy question. The next question/answer describes how lenders determine how much they are prepared to lend you – for some, it makes you house poor – for others, it works with their lifestyle.
We will tell you what policy says you can qualify to borrow – and you will need to determine at what point the combination of mortgage payment, property taxes and utilities goes outside your comfort zone. Make sure you don't leave yourself house poor. Structure your payments so that you can still afford to live.
Lenders use ratios to determine how much mortgage to provide.
Your mortgage payment, property tax payment and heat (and half the condo fee) can not be greater than 32% of your before tax monthly income. (Gross Debt Service Ratio or GDS)
All debt including mortgage payments, property taxes, loan and credit card payments can not be greater than 40-42% of your before tax monthly income.
This is all about what lenders will provide – you have to decide how much to take on.
Different lenders treat bankruptcy/consumer proposals different ways. In general, lenders want the bankruptcy to be discharged for a minimum 2 years and for you to have re-established credit.
Re-established credit is defined as 2 types of credit, in place for minimum 2 years, with combined limit great than $5,000.
Plan on having a minimum 10% down payment post bankruptcy.
Any late debt payments after discharge will prevent you from getting a mortgage without a major down payment.
I know of no lender who will provide a mortgage after a second bankruptcy.
Note that bankruptcy and consumer proposals are viewed the same way for mortgage lenders.
If you are paying child or spousal support, it is like any other debt payment and will reduce the amount of mortgage you will qualify for.
If you get child/spousal support, it can be added to your before tax income increasing the amount of mortgage you qualify for. Lenders require your separation agreement and bank statements showing support being received.
Insurance for the mortgage lender that is required by the federal government when you have less than 20% down payment. It is provided by CMHC, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation or one of its private market competitors.
A one time premium is charged to you and added to your mortgage balance.
This is not the same as mortgage life insurance.
A residential/commercial mortgage specialist with access to many mortgage lenders and banks. With expertise and access to hundreds of mortgage products, an agent can find the most suitable mortgage for you. In Ontario, a Mortgage Agent is licensed by the Financial Services Commission of Ontario.
A Mortgage Broker is the same as a Mortgage Agent but with more training. A Mortgage Broker can operate a licensed mortgage brokerage whereas a Mortgage Agent must work for a mortgage brokerage.
A licensed mortgage professional who has met the experience and education requirements to obtain the AMP designation from Mortgage Professionals Canada. An AMP agrees an ethics and professionalism code and commits to continuing education in the field of mortgages.
A commitment from a lender to guarantee an interest rate for 90-120 days and the intent to provide a mortgage on a suitable property in the future.
This is not a guarantee of financing, as it is dependent on the actual property you intend to purchase, on CMHC where required and on you confirming things like your employment and down payment.
Most successful realtors want you to have a pre-approval in place before looking at houses.
One of the key things a broker-arranged pre-approval involves is a review of your credit history. Occasionally things show up that no one knew were there and they can take time to resolve. Branches don't always do this.
It is always better to know this up front – saves you time and embarrassment.
In summary, a pre-approved mortgage is one of the first steps a homebuyer should take before negotiating a purchase.
A mortgage where the interest rate is set for a certain period of time – usually 5 years. This is a common mortgage as the mortgage payment doesn't change should market interest rates go up. It makes budgeting easier.
A mortgage where the interest rate changes as the Bank's prime rate changes – and therefore your mortgage payment can change as well. Bank prime rates can fluctuate several times a year. Variable rate mortgages often offer lower rates but bring with them the risk that your mortgage payment could increase quickly with little notice.
Closing costs is a term used to describe your legal fees, land transfer tax, survey or title insurance costs and other costs associated with purchasing a home. Budget 1.5% of the purchase price as an estimate of Closing costs.
Note – if you are a PWU member, there is a one-time benefit where they will pay your title insurance cost when purchasing a home. Ask your rep for details.
In some cases your real estate transaction may be subject to HST as well – check with your real estate agent for this.
A pre-qualification means that a mortgage person has taken your application and provided you with their opinion on what you would qualify for in a mortgage. Note that it does not mean that you have been approved for a loan, but it is first step so you know what you can qualify for before a pre-approval is completed.
A pre-approval means a lender has reviewed your application and credit history and advised that they are prepared to work with you. A pre-approval is mostly an interest rate commitment (90-120 days).
While this is stronger than a pre-qualification, it is still conditional on the home that you decide to purchase, on verification of the information you have submitted and, where required, conditional on CMHC's willingness to insure. Therefore, even with a pre-approval, any offer you make to purchase will be conditional on financing.
If the seller knows that you are approved for the loan, already you may have more leverage. In fact, it is a good idea to plan to get pre-approved. Some real estate agents will not waste their time showing homes to potential buyers who do not have a pre-approval, especially in a hot market.
A Mortgage Commitment is a letter from your lender approving a mortgage on a specific property. This letter includes your interest rate, mortgage amount and payments. It will be conditional on providing documents such as employment letters and paystubs.
An insurance policy protecting you and the lender against title or ownership issues – including many types of homeowner fraud affecting title.
It is a one time expense between $250 and $500 and remains in place for as long as you own your home.
An inspection of the structure and systems: heating and air conditioning, plumbing and electrical, roof, attic, insulation, walls, floors, ceilings, windows, doors, foundation, and basement by a qualified home inspector. This is like a physical for the home and gives you an idea of what kind of shape it is in.
An independent third party who provides an assessment of market value and marketability of your home. They visit a house, take pictures and compare the property to others that have sold recently to arrive at an objective assessment of market value. An appraisal will be a lender's condition when you are putting 20% or more as a down payment.
A mortgage of no more than 80% of the purchase price.
he amortization of the mortgage refers to the entire length of time to pay back the mortgage.
The term is the period you have the current interest rate.
In other words, you may choose a five-year term and a 25-year amortization. This would mean that your interest rate, your payments, and your pre-payment options would be the same for the next five years. At the end of these five years, you would re-negotiate the term, and the amortization would now be 20 years.
- choosing an accelerated biweekly payment schedule over a monthly schedule
- increasing your regular payment
- making lump sum prepayments
- making Double-Up Payments
- selecting a shorter amortization at renewal
Mortgage terms vary widely – from six months to 10 years. As a rule of thumb, the shorter the term, the lower the interest rate – and the longer the term, the higher the rate.
While four or five year mortgages are what most home buyers typically choose, you may consider a shorter-term mortgage if you have a higher tolerance for risk, if you have time to watch rates or are not prepared to make a long-term commitment right now.
Before selecting your mortgage term, we suggest you answer the following questions:
1. Do you plan to sell your house in the short-term without buying another? If so, a short mortgage term may be the best option.
2. Do you believe that interest rates have bottomed out and are not likely to drop more? If that is the case, a long mortgage term may be the right choice for you. Similarly, if you think rates are currently high, you may want to opt for a short to medium length mortgage term hoping that rates drop by the time your term expires.
3. Are you looking for security as a first-time homebuyer? Then you may prefer a longer mortgage term, so that you can budget for and manage your monthly expenses.
4. Are you willing to follow interest rates closely and risk their being increased mortgage payments following a renewal? If that is the case, a short mortgage term may best suit your needs.
You save interest costs by reducing the mortgage balance as quickly as you can.
Increase Payment Frequency – Instead of paying monthly, consider paying bi-weekly. This simple step is very feasible for most working Canadians who are paid bi-weekly. It can cut your mortgage amortization by up to five years, and can save you tens of thousands of dollars.
Prepay – Use every advantage that the term of your mortgage offers you to prepay your mortgage. One way to do this would be to use your RRSP tax refund to make a yearly pre-payment.
Increase Payments – Round up your bi-weekly payment. For example, if you have a bi-weekly payment of $531.59, round your payment to an even $550.00.
For most residential mortgages, the lender pays the broker a commission. With private lenders or commercial mortgages, you would pay a fee to the broker.


text:
Home ==> Locations ==> Michigan==> Dog Sitting / Dog Walking
Home ==> Dog Sitting / Dog Walking ==> Michigan
Home ==> Dog Sitting / Dog Walking ==> Michigan
Get A Deluxe Listing!
Upgrade your free listing for only $30/year.
For more information or to sign up, visit our Get Listed page.
*To get a box around your free listing, become a Link Partner!
Bonafide Bark – Pet Sitting and Dog Walking for Kalamazoo and Portage Michigan!
Little Critter Sitter, LLC – We give you pets the care that you want for them when you are away or just too plain busy!!!


text: Patti Smith Gives Rare Private Performance at NRDC Dinner 1:01 PM PDT 6/2/2013 by Austin Siegemund-Broka FACEBOOK TWITTER EMAIL ME Getty Images The legendary singer dueted with the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Karen O at the Chanel-hosted event. Tobey Maguire, Cindy Crawford and Emma Roberts were among the stars who gathered Friday at a Chanel dinner to benefit the Natural Resources Defense Council, held at art dealer Larry Gagosian's Holmby Hills residence. Guests gathered on Gagosian's patio for hors d'oeuvres and dinner, an all-vegetarian menu by Gjelina restaurant's Travis Lett. The night featured three surprise musical guests: Patti Smith and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Karen O dueted during cocktails, and Pharrell Williams performed over dinner. Smith and Karen O played four songs: "Because the Night," Yeah Yeah Yeahs' "Maps," "Pissing In A River," and a cover of Lou Reed's "Perfect Day." STORY: Dress Du Jour: Emma Watson in Chanel Couture at Cannes 'Bling Ring' Premiere Smith addressed the event's environmental cause in a speech. "We must as activists not always be ready to win -- we always want to win -- but we also have to be ready to lose, and lose, and lose, and lose, and keep on fighting," she said. "We must be a thorn in their side, and sooner or later, they will bleed," she added, to applause. NRDC, one of the nation's top environmental groups, mobilizes 1.4 million activists, lawyers and scientists to tackle green issues. The organization addresses climate change as well as endangered wildlife and ocean preservation. The "Celebration of Art, Nature and Technology" event also featured a benefit auction of such pieces as a work by painter Walton Ford, whose art recalls Audubon's naturalist illustrations, bound volumes of images by Sebastiao Salgado and limited-edition photographic prints of Antarctica and Greenland by Sebastian Copeland. Most stars wore Chanel, including Roberts in Chanel shoes and a white dress, who attended with now-fellow American Horror Story star Evan Peters. Rachel Bilson appeared in a colorful, frilly Chanel number. "I just really like the dress," Bilson said. "It felt kind of like a flower." Dress Du Jour: Karl Lagerfeld's Chanel Cruise Collection Sequin Stunner Chelsea Handler, model Angela Lindvall, actors Balthazar Getty, Emily Mortimer, Bella Heathcote and Haley Bennett, mogul Michael Eisner, New Line Cinema founder Bob Shaye and director Andrew Dominik were also among the guests. "Art, fashion and a good cause -- nothing better than that," is how Bennett summed up the night. Co-hosting the environmental event were Janet Friesen, Jane Kachmer, Lauren and Benedikt Taschen, and Ron and Kelly Meyer, who have previously hosted the Chanel-NRDC environmental fundraiser at their Malibu house. FACEBOOK TWITTER EMAIL ME Austin Siegemund-Broka email@example.com asiegemundbroka


text:
This is my review of Metrosexy by Mark Simpson, published in Freedom In A Puritan Age website/magazine:
If you were to listen to feminists, and the media in general, you might think we live in a culture in which 'sexual objectification' refers solely to women and girls. As some would have it, we are 'bombarded' by sexual imagery of the female form, and our society is 'saturated' with pornified material that demeans and exploits women.
Metrosexy (2011), the most recent book by Mark Simpson, British author and originator (in 1994) of the concept of metrosexuality, tells a very different story indeed. In this impressive collection of articles and essays that span the last two decades, Simpson shows how it is men who have come to be the subjects and objects of the 'gaze' in recent years, maybe even more so than women. Or, to use Simpson's own phrase, men are 'such tarts' these days.
Metrosexy is a fun read – a lively and humorous romp through television, film, boy bands, fashion, sport, gym culture and advertising. But there are some serious underlying messages. Metrosexuality — masculinity 'mediated and (self)-fetishised' — is changing gender roles, relations and identities beyond all recognition.
'Contrary to what you have been told,' writes Simpson, 'metrosexuality is not about flip-flops and facials, 'man-bags' or 'manscara'. Or about men becoming 'girlie' or 'gay'. It's about men becoming everything. To themselves. In much the way that women have been for some time. It's the end of the sexual division of bathroom and bedroom labour. It's the end of sexuality as we've known it.'
It's not just feminists, with their rigid views of women as 'objects' (and victims) of (heterosexual) men's predatory desires who could be threatened by Simpson's theories. In my interview with him on the release of Metrosexy he said:
'I think gay men are very ambivalent about metrosexuality. It's like a dream come true. And a living nightmare at the same time. All these fit, tarty straight men inviting – no, DEMANDING – the 'gayze'. Pro athletes like Beckham and Ronaldo oiled up on the side of buses offering us their lunch-packets, and Becks and Gavin Henson bickering over who has the most gay fans. Homoerotics, narcissism and the celebration of the male body are no longer gay copyright'.
In the wake of Metrosexy's publication, I named Simpson 'A Roland Barthes for the iphone generation', the 'meticulous observer' of contemporary culture. This is a vital addition to cultural theory, and a book that should change the way we look at men and masculinity forever.


text:
The Story of the Lost Child (#4 Neapolitan)
Author(s): Elena Ferrante
Soon to be an HBO series, book four in the New York Times bestselling Neapolitan quartet about two friends in post-war Italy is a rich, intense, and generous-hearted epic by one of today's most beloved and acclaimed writers, Elena Ferrante, "one of the great novelists of our time." (Roxana Robinson, The New York Times) Here is the dazzling saga of two women, the brilliant, bookish Elena and the fiery uncontainable Lila. In this book, life's great discoveries have been made, its vagaries and losses have been suffered. Through it all, the women's friendship, examined in its every detail over the course of four books, remains the gravitational center of their lives. Both women once fought to escape the neighborhood in which they grew up. Elena married, moved to Florence, started a family, and published several well-received books. But now, she has returned to Naples to be with the man she has always loved. Lila, on the other hand, never succeeded in freeing herself from Naples. She has become a successful entrepreneur, but her success draws her into closer proximity with the nepotism, chauvinism, and criminal violence that infect her neighborhood. Yet somehow this proximity to a world she has always rejected only brings her role as unacknowledged leader of that world into relief. Ferrante is one of the world's great storytellers. With the Neapolitan quartet she has given her readers an abundant, generous, and masterfully plotted page-turner that is also a stylish work of literary fiction destined to delight readers for many generations to come.
Product Information
Shortlisted for 2016 Man Booker International
'[Ferrante's] charting of the rivalries and sheer inscrutability of female friendship is raw. This is high stakes, subversive literature.' Sunday Telegraph 'Ferrante is an expert above all at the rhythm of plotting...Whether it's work, family, friends or sex-and Ferrante, perhaps thanks to her anonymity as an author, is blisteringly good on bad sex-our greatest mistakes in life aren't isolated acts; we rehearse them over and over until we get them as badly wrong as we can.' Independent 'In the past decade, no fiction writer has made it more necessary to think about the performative aspect of being a woman than Elena Ferrante. Her novels, written originally in Italian and translated beautifully by Ann Goldstein, are ferociously engaged with the ways in which a woman-as a daughter, a teenager, a lover, and, most dramatically, a mother-is a kind of person in drag, speaking through a costume that slowly becomes all that one knows of her...It's Ferrante's ability to capture both the mirror and the woman standing before it that makes her a writer to be reckoned with.' -- John Freeman 'Nothing you read about Elena Ferrante's work prepares you for the ferocity of it...This is a woman's story told with such truthfulness that it is not so much a life observed as it is felt.' New York Times 'Great novels are intelligent far beyond the powers of any character or writer or individual reader, as are great friendships, in their way. These wonderful books sit at the heart of that mystery, with the warmth and power of both.' Harper's 'Elena Ferrante is one of the great novelists of our time. Her voice is passionate, her view sweeping and her gaze basilisk...In these bold, gorgeous, relentless novels, Ferrante traces the deep connections between the political and the domestic. This is a new version of the way we live now-one we need, one told brilliantly, by a woman.' New York Times Sunday Book Review 'When I read [the Neapolitan novels] I find that I never want to stop. I feel vexed by the obstacles-my job, or acquaintances on the subway-that threaten to keep me apart from the books. I mourn separations (a year until the next one-how?). I am propelled by a ravenous will to keep going.' New Yorker 'Elena Ferrante's magnificent "Neopolitan novels" trace the relationship between two headstrong Italian women...But these books are more than autobiography by other means. They also look outward, offering a dissection of Italian society that is almost Tolstoyan in its sweep and ambition. They are, into the bargain, extraordinarily gripping entertainment; the plot in this latest instalment twists and turns, like a Naples alleyway, towards a sequel-enabling conclusion. Novel by novel, Ferrante's series is building into one of the great achievements of modern literature.' Independent UK 'Ferrante's project is bold: her books chronicle the inner conflicts of intelligent women...Her writing has a powerful intimacy...a bona fide literary sensation-the famous writer nobody knows.' Guardian UK 'The best thing I've read this year, far and away...She puts most other writing at the moment in the shade. She's marvellous.' -- Richard Flanagan 'The best angry woman writer ever.' -- John Waters 'The Neapolitan series stands as a testament to the ability of great literature to challenge, flummox, enrage and excite as it entertains.' Sydney Morning Herald 'There is nothing soft or easy about these books. They are almost rebarbative in their refusal to be nice. They are also captivating in their high intelligence, their evocation of the still-powerful past, and their propulsive narrative drive.' Sunday Age 'Deliciously addictive...An expansive yet intimate feat of storytelling.' O, Oprah Magazine 'Ferrante writes with such aggression and unnerving psychological insight about the messy complexity of female friendship that the real world can drop away when you're reading her.' Entertainment Weekly 'The depth of perception Ms. Ferrante shows about her character's conflicts and psychological states is astonishing...Her novels ring so true and are written with such empathy that they sound confessional.' Wall Street Journal 'The older you get, the harder it is to recapture the intoxicating sense of discovery that comes when you first read George Eliot, Nabokov, Tolstoy or Colette. But this year it came again when I read Elena Ferrante's remarkable Neapolitan novels.' -- Jane Shilling New Statesman 'While each of her [Ferrante] novels is uniquely beguiling, they interrogate a shared set of concerns and obsessions, with bracing narrative frankness. The cumulative effect of her oeuvre is that of reading the distillation of someone's deepest, most furtive thoughts.' Music & Literature 'Ferrante is one of the finest novelists working today...It is difficult to find a more beautiful evocation of a lifelong friendship than the one found in the pages of Ferrante's Neapolitan novels.' National Post 'If you haven't read Elena Ferrante, it's like not having read Flaubert in 1856...Incontrovertibly brilliant.' Anne Meadows, editor of Granta, on Monocle Radio 'There is nothing remotely tiring or trying about the experience of reading the Neapolitan novels, which I, and a great many others, now rank among our greatest book-related pleasures...it is writing that holds honesty dear.' Weekend Australian 'This stunning conclusion further solidifies the Neapolitan novels as Ferrante's masterpiece and guarantees that this reclusive author will remain far from obscure for years to come.' Publishers Weekly
Elena Ferrante was born in Naples. She is the author of seven novels: The Days of Abandonment, Troubling Love, The Lost Daughter, and the quartet of Neapolitan novels: My Brilliant Friend, The Story of a New Name, Those Who Leave and Those Who Stay, and The Story of the Lost Child. She is one of Italy's most acclaimed authors. Ann Goldstein has translated all of Elena Ferrante's work. She is an editor at the New Yorker and a recipient of the PEN Renato Poggioli Translation Prize.
General Fields
- : 9781925240511
- : Text Publishing Company
- : Text Publishing Company
- : 0.63
- : December 2015
- : 234mm X 153mm
- : Australia
- : books
Special Fields
- : Elena Ferrante
- : Paperback
- : 915
- : 336


text:
Stop Traffick
|Why is this work relevant for Brand Experience & Activation?
Stop Traffick brought a statistic to life in a way too big to ignore. It started in Atlanta with the world's largest moving billboard. Three weeks before Atlanta hosted Super Bowl LIII, we wrapped 72 school buses with a staggering data point: "3,600 kids sold for sex each year in Georgia. #StopTraffick." This message was amplified via OOH, car and store decals, social, and a rally. It required six months of coordination with the governor, Department of Transportation, bus drivers, and police officers. Stop Traffick increased awareness in Atlanta and inspired other cities to find their own "number of buses."
Describe any restrictions or regulations regarding Health & Wellness communications in your country/region including:
Does not apply
Health & Wellness work must demonstrate how it meets the criteria 'life-changing creativity'. Why is your work relevant for Health & Wellness?
Thousands of young girls, ages 12-16, are being trafficked for sex throughout the U.S. They are manipulated and abused, eventually becoming broken-down women. It's a devastating cycle on the mind and body. Stop Traffick was born to shine a light on this cycle and to offer victims resources and hope.
Approximately 3,600 adolescent girls are sold for sex each year in Georgia.* This staggering statistic is due in part to Atlanta's visibility as a global business hub. It's supported by a large convention and tourism industry and has proximity to the world's busiest airport.
This crisis was set to worsen in January 2019 as the city prepared to host Super Bowl LIII. It's a sad reality that, while the game brings large crowds and excitement, the excitement is tempered by an increase in sex trafficking. Which is why it's no coincidence that January is also Human Trafficking Awareness Month.
Our goal was to shine a light on the sex trafficking of minors through awareness, education, and action. And we knew Atlanta was the right place at the right time to demonstrate just how big the crisis is – and spark a movement to Stop Traffick.
*The Schapiro Group
Describe the creative idea (20% of vote)
It's easy to ignore a statistic. It's nearly impossible to ignore 72 school buses – generally associated with innocence and safety – stopping traffic in Atlanta to highlight the massiveness of Georgia's child sex trafficking problem. So, the big idea in two words? Stop Traffick
The creative idea is rooted in the power of adding humanity to a statistic. No one can quite understand the magnitude of the number 3,600…until 72 school buses, the number of buses needed to hold 3,600 children trafficked each year in the state, are seen driving in a single line through the streets of Atlanta, creating the world's largest moving billboard. This simple, stunning "Stop Traffick" message was amplified in channels around the city.
Describe the strategy (20% of vote)
With a diverse population of six million people unaware of the city's sex slavery crisis, a newly elected governor motivated to make change, and the eyes of the world watching as we prepared to host Super Bowl LIII, we knew Atlanta was the right city at the right time to Stop Traffick.
Our approach was based on two insights that created a powerful tension. The first was the fact that sex trafficking of young girls is a horrific problem in Atlanta that no one wants to talk about. The second was the fact that highway traffic is also a problem in Atlanta – except everyone loves to talk about that. In fact, the city can't shut up about it! So, we used the conversation around highway traffic to get people talking about child sex traffick to change the conversation. In other words, we used "traffic" to talk about "traffick."
Describe the execution (30% of vote)
The cornerstone of Stop Traffick was a stunt that took more than six months to plan. It required citywide collaboration from public and private companies, as well as 50 police officers and 100 bus drivers.
We wrapped the tops and sides of 72 school buses with Stop Traffick messages large enough for news helicopters to broadcast. These buses formed a mile-long, moving billboard, disrupting morning traffic across Atlanta.
A team coordinated live updates across social channels, literally changing the conversation from "traffic" to "traffick." Video assets of the buses and survivor interviews were distributed.
Highway billboards, car and store decals spread the Stop Traffick message on the ground.
Georgia's new governor and business leaders were recruited to participate in a rally, bringing notoriety and commitment.
It culminated on StopTraffick.com where we promoted numerous ways to take action, including community watchdog pledges, money donations, and training requests for schools and businesses.
List the results (30% of vote)
AWARENESS: Within 48 hours of the event, the stunt was covered in over 500 news stories, had 160M media impressions, 10.8K social media mentions, and 42M social media impressions. #StopTraffick became a trending topic on Twitter and overall Stop Traffick media mentions went up 4,500%.
EDUCATION: Information on how to spot the signs and details on what this crime does to young women were devoured. Facebook engagement went up 594%, page views went up 735%, and video views went up 175,033%.
ACTION: The single most important result was the intense focus the FBI put on human trafficking immediately after our event, which led to 169 arrests throughout Metro Atlanta.
As an aside, Houston was inspired to find their own "number of school buses," sparking their own citywide conversation. Twelve more states are in talks to follow suit, proving #StopTraffick is, in fact, inciting a movement.
|戛纳国际创意节 2019
入围 健康类
Non-profit / Foundation-led Education & Awareness