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Topic: Darkly Dawns the Duck (Read 3464 times)
The King of Koosh!
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Darkly Dawns the Duck
March 14, 2007, 08:30:00 PM »
I already did a 'review' for this, of sorts, back when I first signed up for this board. And it ended up being one of only two posts I made at the time, and as a review it was pretty awful. So I figured I'd revisit it for the good people here on BadMovies.org to enjoy. It's
a movie, I guess, in the sense that it's longer than your standard episode of your average television show.
And for those of you who dislike long recaps, steer clear of this one 'cause it's gonna be a doozy.
Name of the Movie:
Darkly Dawns the Duck
The Characters:
Darkwing Duck
- Our, uh, "hero." The self-proclaimed defender of the city of St. Canard, he's only in it for the attention from the press. He's a duck if his name wasn't any indication.
- Spunky (read: annoying) little pigtailed orphan. Has the bad luck of knowing the arming code to the Ram Rod, a big bad superweapon, without knowing it. Also a duck.
Launchpad McQuack
- Clumsy pilot who is Darkwing's biggest (and only) fan. Ends up becoming Darkwing's faithful sidekick. Do I need to mention he's also a duck?
Taurus Bulba
- Tim Curry! Finally a non-duck! Bulba's the villain, a big bull with a Russian accent who wants to rob the entire city, or something. Blown up.
- A goat, and Bulba's main henchman. He dresses and acts like a 1930s mobster, and uses his head for a blunt object.
- Bulba's other two henchmen, a donkey and a ram, respectively. Mouth is voiced by Eddie Deezen.
- Marcia Wallace! Bulba's loyal secretary. A cow. And, oddly enough, a sexy one.
- Bulba's pet condor.
Mrs. Cavanaugh
- Marcia Wallace in a stunning dual role! Chicken-lady in charge of the orphanage. Seems to make an unhealthy habit out of allowing children to go off with strangers claiming to be grape jelly stains.
Warden Waddlesworth
- Prison warden and total idiot. He's some kind of dog.
The Story:
I'm pretty sure that Darkwing Duck, both as a cartoon and a character, needs no introduction. Everyone who grew up in the early 90s ought to know him as a crime-fighting duck in a purple outfit who defended the city of St. Canard, and managed to be a colossal prick while doing it. But for those of you who didn't grow up with the Terror That Flaps in the Night, I'll do you the service of providing a little bit o' backstory. The series (and its main character) was created by a man named Tad Stones, and was originally going to be called Double-O Duck in referance to an episode of Duck Tales of the same name, and was originally set to star Launchpad McQuack, Scrooge's accident-prone pilot, as the title character. The episode itself involved Launchpad being mistaken for a secret agent and having to stop an evil organization called F.O.W.L. from destroying the world's economy. As a James Bond spoof it was adequete, and so someone at Disney decided they ought to do a spinoff series based on Double-O Duck's premise.
But Tad Stones disliked both the name 'Double-O Duck' and (apparently) the idea of Launchpad as the main character, so he created an entirely new character to fill the role and arranged for Disney to hold a contest to name him. I have no idea who won, but the winning name was 'Darkwing Duck', the show's current title. Launchpad meanwhile was to remain on board, but was demoted to a supporting role. On September 8th, 1991, a two-part pilot movie entitled Darkly Dawns the Duck was unleashed upon the world. It was an instant success and Darkwing Duck went on to become one of the Disney Afternoon's most popular shows. But my review today is going to focus exclusively on the pilot, specifically the uncut version. Y'see, in reruns, the two-parter was edited for time, but in 1993 (if the video box is any indication) they combined the two episodes into a 48-minute 'movie' and reinserted the cut footage, then released it on home video. It is this video which is to be the subject of my review today. The uncut version is so far only available on this VHS tape, since Disney in their infinite wisdom elected to include the edited version of the two-parter on the recent DVD. Bastards.
Although I loved Darkwing was much as the next kid growing up, looking at it through adult eyes I've noticed a lot of glaring problems with the plot. Now, admittedly, this is a children's show, and its sole purpose is to entertain them, but, nitpicker that I am, I just can't help myself. And if you have issues with someone ripping into a cartoon from his childhood then you're obviously in the wrong place. So, without further ado, on with the show!
The movie begins with a shot of the St. Canard skyline at night, and a voiceover from our title character introducing us to the world in which we're about to spend the next 48 minutes: "This is the city of St. Canard. Like any other major metropolis, it has its problems with the criminal element." Sums it up nicely. If nothing else, the movie starts off good, as we find Darkwing in the middle of pursuing a gang of generic criminals while the irritatingly catchy Darkwing Duck theme plays on the soundtrack. Precisely what this bunch did is never explained; we're just asked to accept that they're bad guys and therefore Darkwing is chasing 'em. At the beginning of the chase he's on his duck-shaped motorcycle with a sidecar, called 'the Ratcatcher.'
Darkwing ramps the Ratcatcher up into the air and comes down in the bed of a pickup truck carrying two of the crooks. The force of the impact is enough to launch the criminals right out of the cab, and they land in some nearby garbage cans, the driver still holding the steering wheel. truck continues to drive for some reason. Hmm, must've been on cruise control. Darkwing jumps atop the cab (which no longer has a hole in the roof) and produces his all-purpose gun which fires both clouds of concealing gas, and grappling hooks as we see here. He snags the back of another crook's motorcycle with a grappling hook and is yanked forwards and dragged along the pavement, as yet another criminal, a really overweight biker pig, tries to run him over. He removes a manhole cover as he's dragged past it, causing the biker pig's motorcycle to crash when the front tire hits the open sewer, sending him skidding on his butt.
In short order he disposes of the remaining two bikers (who are either identical twins or the animators were just lazy) by smacking them both upside the head using the manhole cover. One guy gets his entire face caved in; the other has his head flattened like a pancake. But the laws of Toon Physics ensure their survival (I'll have more to say about this in a minute). This entire chase scene, by the way, was among the scenes deleted from the episode(s) for reruns although for some reason the bit with him catapulting the two guys out of the truck is present in the opening montage of every episode. In the edited version, it cuts, awkwardly, from Darkwing's opening narration to him dropping the captured crooks off at the police station. And speak of the devil, that's exactly what he does next. All five of the criminals are tied up and riding in the sidecar portion of the Ratcatcher. After a harrowing ride he sends them all literally flying into the police station when he slams on the brakes. There's a single cop on duty at the front desk, and Darkwing, hopping on top of the pile of dazed felons, declares, "Another order of dastardly delinquents deposited on your doorstep, courtesy of Darkwing Duck!"
He stresses the fact that his name is two words, not three, and that both D's should be capitalized, while handing the bewildered-looking officer a glossy black and white photo of himself and his business card. Clearly, Darkwing is so amazingly full of himself he behaves more like a rock star than a superhero. "And now I must be off," he adds. "The scent of crime is in their air!" And yes, he does sniff the air here for dramatic effect. Emerging from the police station, he strikes a heroic pose, only to discover the streets are totally empty. "So where's the press?" he complains. "I thought this was the age of media glut!" Further lamenting that he spent all afternoon ironing his cape, Darkwing hops onto the Ratcatcher and speeds home.
Home in this case turns out to be the tower of the Audubon Bay Bridge, a suspension bridge bearing more than a slight resemblance to the Golden Gate Bridge. He gains access to the tower by driving the Ratcatcher up one of the bridge's thick steel cables. Once inside, he declares (complete with dramatic pause), "Another night cleansed of its criminal element, thanks to... Darkwiiiiiing Duck!" His hideout, by the way, can best be described as a budget-cut Batcave. The animators really didn't knock themselves out giving his hideout any interesting background stuff. He "can't wait to hit the hay," but decides to have some breakfast first (who eats breakfast
going to bed?). Darkwing doesn't just eat breakfast though; he gets a full workout along with it. "Stay sharp, stay fit, stay fed!" he reminds himself as he enters the kitchen. He activates an egg timer, triggering the various food-themed booby traps. These include, but are not limited to: A drawer that flies open and launches silverware and a plate, a machine gun that fires Froot Loops, a cannon that fires oranges (there's also one that fires grapefruits and eggs, but I digress), and, oddly enough, a fire pit in the floor.
Darkwing catches eggs in a frying pan, then when a section of the floor slides back, flames shoot out and he holds the pan over the flames to cook the eggs. He then proceeds to burn the absolute hell out of his hand because he's apparently never heard of a little invention called oven mitts. Finally, after catching and preparing all the food that's hurled at him, Darkwing seats himself at the table and checks the timer. "Yes, a new world's record!" he exclaims. Looking over the food, he adds, "Everything a champion needs for breakfast." And then, a horrible realization seems to come over him: "...except the milk!" The fridge is then catapulted up into the air and lands on Darkwing, squishing him.
And now it's time for my rant about the overtly toony nature of the physics in this world. This
annoys me, since it results in a very bizarre clashing of styles. In short, it's one part Batman: The Animated Series (before the fact) and one part Looney Tunes as far as the action is concerned. It's obvious that the writers wanted to have their cake and eat it too, by which I mean they wanted to have both as much physical comedy (the fridge getting dropped on Darkwing, Gosalyn's unrealistic stunts in the kitchen later on, etc.) as they could while at the same time place the characters in peril and have us fear for their safety, but mixing realistic violence in with flat-out cartoonishness just doesn't work. It all boils down to this: if Darkwing can survive having a fridge land on him, it makes their peril less believable. Especially jarring is the fact that Duck Tales, of which Darkwing Duck is a spinoff, was never this cartoony. At least, from what I recall. If my memory serves me, DuckTales actually did its best to stay within the realm of believability and had its characters and the situations they were in obey the laws of physics.
Moving on, of course Darkwing survives. When the fridge door falls open he's gone through the bottom and looks a little like an accordion, holding a pitcher of milk. "I always forget the milk," he groans. changes into his pajamas and heads up to bed. "So I make a mistake here and there," he says to the camera - Yes, he's one of those characters that likes to directly address the audience. Oddly, it's just not as funny as Ferris Bueller. Further expositing that every criminal in town is scared of him, Darkwing flops into bed. "I just wish I could get a shot at a really big-time criminal," he sighs.
And another animation blooper here is that before getting into bed, Darkwing is clearly still wearing his mask. But when we cut to a close-up of him settling in, the mask has vanished.
Last Edit: July 24, 2007, 10:45:52 PM by Kooshmeister
The King of Koosh!
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Re: Darkly Dawns the Duck
Reply #1 on:
March 15, 2007, 02:42:27 PM »
We cut to an office somewhere at an indisclosed location. Taurus Bulba, a
bull in a business suit, is in the middle of a meeting with his gang, which consists of Hammerhead Hannigan, a gangsterish goat, 'Hoof', a donkey dressed like be belongs in a barbershop quartet, 'Mouth', a short ram with a goofy bowtie, and Clovis, his surprisingly attractive cow secretary. Like any self-respecting villain he's even got a pet, a big condor named Tantalus. It would appear that Hammerhead is questioning his plans to steal something called the "Ram Rod." Whatever it is, it's being brought into St. Canard that night by train, and Hammerhead wants to know why they "can't wait 'till the trains before we steal the Ram Rod!" Bulba snarls, with steam shooting out of his nostrils even, "Oh, you mean when the army takes control of the weapon, with its tanks and jeeps and hundreds of guards?!" Hammerhead admits he hadn't thought of that, prompting him to spin around to Hoof and Mouth and ask why
didn't think of it, either. They just stare stupidly and he knocks their heads together. Ha.
Bulba suddenly reaches over and grabs Hammerhead by the throat, yanking him to eye-level, and reminds him, "That's why I am the brain and you are the stooge!" "That's it, boss! I'm a stooge," gags Hammerhead, "just call me Curly!" Bulba continues that this is the first time the Ram Rod has been moved since the death of its inventor, one Professor Waddlemeyer, and that once the army's got it he'll never have another opportunity to steal it. Suddenly, an alarm of some kind goes off, and Clovis monotonously informs her boss, "Warden's coming." "That nuisance," groans Bulba. He concludes the meeting, warning Hammerhead, "Do not come back without the Ramrod!" before sending him and the other two goons away by dropping them through a trapdoor. The office begins to transform. A plush sofa is pulled into the wall through a suddenly appearing passageway. Tantalus picks up his perch and flies through the passage before a wooden bench slides into place where the couch was, the panel sliding back into position. A potted plant is sucked down a hole and immediately an empty pot rises up to take its place. We cut to Bulba, now wearing a prison uniform, calmly smoothing the sleeves out. Clovis, holding his business suit on a hanger, stands beside the desk as it descends down beneath the floor, and then a bunk bed is swung into place over the hole by a revolving wall.
As a grand finale, curtains part to reveal bars. Yes, Taurus Bulba is in jail. I'll buy that Bulba can smuggle his henchmen in for secret meetings, and heck, the idea of a super-villain staying in jail by choice to avoid being blamed for the crimes he has committed is actually a rather good one. But what I
buy is that he's somehow rigged his prison cell to transform into a plush office at the push of a button. And it only gets worse, but that can wait. The warden's got to be the single stupidest person alive not to have noticed any of this. Speaking of whom, he appears outside of Bulba's cell at this point, a chubby canine of some sort in a suit. Although his name is never given here, he appears in a few later episodes of the series, where he's identified as 'Warden Waddlesworth.' Waddlesworth asks Bulba how he's enjoying his stay in prison. "It's peaceful," admits Bulba, now kicking back on the bunk bed. "No one bothers me. Actually, it suits my business needs perfectly." Waddlesworth gives him a weird look, but otherwise doesn't seem to suspect that anything is amiss.
That evening, Darkwing Darkwing Duck is, in his own words, "scanning the horizon for any evidence of wrongdoing," that being that he's in a precariously perched armchair atop the tower of the Audubon Bay Bridge with a pair of binoculars. He continues to talk to himself, something he seems to enjoy, as Tantalus flies overhead carrying what looks like a trunk. "I know birds travel south, but this is the first one I've seen with luggage," he observes, apparently ignoring the fact that he too is a bird. "This bit of feathery intrigue is best investigated by..." Wait for it. "...Darkwiiiiiiiiing Duck!" Leaping down from the chair, Darkwing jumps onto the Ratcatcher and zooms out of the tower down the bridge cable, following Tantalus through the city as the large bird flies overhead. He's so preoccupied thus that he almost doesn't notice a huge truck speeding towards him. The other vehicle has to swerve to avoid him. After getting yelled at by the truck driver (and rightly so in my opinion!) Darkwing sighs in relief and continues on his way as he follows Tantalus out of the city and into the countryside.
At the train tracks, Taurus Bulba's henchmen put into motion their plan to board the oncoming train. How they accomplish this is dubious in the extreme - first they dig a tunnel underneath the tracks, and then when the train passes over them Hammerhead attaches a grappling hook to the underside, pulling him out of the hole with Mouth holding his ankles, and Hoof holding Mouth's. This results in the three of them getting dragged along the tracks in a rather painful-looking fashion. The Ram Rod is in the next-to-last train car, and guarding it is a grand total of two soldiers. They hear sawing sounds and look down to see a big saw cutting a circular hole around their feet (!!!). They look at one another, and then drop out of side. A moment later, we see them sitting on the tracks in their underwear, bound and gagged. On the train, Hoof and Mouth are now wearing the soldier's uniforms and holding their machine guns, while Mouth gushes, "Hey Hammerhead, ain't we cute in our soldier suits?"
Ignoring him, Hammerhead uses his horns like a tack hammer to pry off the huge deadbolt on the door of the boxcar, and peeking inside gets a look at the Ram Rod. As it turns out, the Ram Rod seems to be some kind of enormous laser gun, resembling an outsized version of one of those cheap plastic space guns sold in drug stores across America, crossed with an exotic dildo. Its appearance and name combine to make for several unfortunate off-color jokes, which I will avoid doing. Hammerhead wonders aloud whether the "pea-shooter" is worth all the trouble, then climbs onto the roof and scans the skies for Tantalus. The condor arrives and drops the trunk he was carrying right on top of Hammerhead, and we see that Tantalus is wearing a little TV monitor on a collar around his neck, which displays Taurus Bulba's visage. Bulba demands to know if the Ram Rod is secure. "Like a baby, boss," Hammerhead assures him. Told to proceed, Hammerhead fiddles with the trunk for a minute until it transforms, little "legs" gripping the roof of the boxcar and sprouting a pair of wings and jet thrusters. "Excellent! Excellent!" cackles Bulba in his best super-villain laugh.
Meanwhile, Darkwing is catching up to the train, driving the Ratcatcher on the tracks. It is a bumpy ride, and Darkwing's voice wavers and he shakes uncontrollably as he reaches out and grabs the back railing of the caboose. The poor hero is still shaking as he climbs aboard the train, noting, "I gotta see about getting new shocks!" Entering the caboose, he passes a conductor busy sorting mail, who warns him, "You can't go in there! That's Top Secret!" when Darkwing proceeds to the door leading into the adjoining car. "No worries," Darkwing assures him. "Just checking out an unauthorized bird-boarding." He opens the door, then quickly slams it as he sees the ram and donkey guys outside, recognizing them even in their stolen uniforms. "It's Hoof and Mouth! They work for Taurus Bulba. Bulba's as big as they come! This is it. My shot at big-time crime busting! What Darkwing Duck was
for!" Hoof and Mouth seem to be enjoying their "soldier suits" a bit too much, as they begin twirling their stolen rifles around and showing off. Their fun is interrupted as Darkwing's disembodied voice emanates from nowhere and utters, for the first time, the first of many variations of his classic entrance line: "I am the terror that flaps in the night! I am the switch that derails your train!"
Darkwing appears before the two in a puff of purple smoke, standing balanced on the railing, cape spread wide like he thinks he's Batman or something. But it would appear as though his flashy entrance was a little
successful, as before he can say anything they point their machine guns at him and open fire, filling the screen with smoke. When it clears, Darkwing is nowhere to be seen. Mouth, who appears to have some kind of weird speech impediment that makes him say certain things more than once, blabbers, "Do you think he's dead? I think he's dead. Do you think he's dead? He must be dead!" I guess they assume he fell off the train... but that's crediting them with too much intelligence. More likely, they were dumb enough to believe their gunfire totally obliterated him. Neither of them see Darkwing rising up behind them. Before they can react he bangs them both over their heads with his fists, making them drop their guns. "Sorry, I'm fine! But you two are taking a turn for the worse!" he declares. The train conductor we saw a minute ago, getting the wrong idea from seeing Darkwing attack two guys in soldiers' uniforms, gets a camera and begins snapping pictures of the hero so that the police can have "more than a description!" Darkwing in turn
gets the wrong impression, grabbing the confused conductor and putting him a good position before jumping atop the two defeated thugs and striking a variety of heroic poses while the conductor snaps pictures. "How's this? It's not to pretentious, I hope.
He then sends the conductor on his way; rather, the conductor retreats back into the caboose and closes the door. Darkwing calls after him with instructions to get the photos to "all the major dailies," adding, "Oh, and I'd like a set too!" Suddenly, Hammerhead appears (don't ask me where he was during all this). "Yeah? Well, paste
in your scrapbook!" he snarls, headbutting him into the door of the caboose. The duck is flattened, and waddles around blindly for a bit as nothing more than a squished hat with feet sticking out of it. He "snaps" back to his normal size and shape and collapses onto his butt, as Hammerhead pulls off the chain-doohickey connecting the train cars, calling over to Darkwing, "You're out of your league, duck! Better run along to your costume party!" The train speeds away, leaving the detached caboose behind. Citing that they can't get rid of him
easily, Darkwing pulls out his gas gun and fires a grappling cable, which hooks onto the back of the retreating boxcar. Suddenly the jet engines on the device attached to the roof of the Ram Rod's boxcar ignite. Tantalus, perched on one of the engines, squawks in surprise and takes to the air. Darkwing takes aim and fires a grappling line, which attaches to the railing of the car. He turns and grins at the camera, only to feel a strong tug and then be yanked completely off his feet as the boxcar becomes airborne. It soars into the air, pulling a screaming Darkwing along behind it.
Meanwhile Taurus Bulba is still observing events back at the prison. He stares at Darkwing, confused, wondering who this "clown" is, and finally orders Tantalus to "take care of him." Tantalus does by swooping down and biting the cable with his beak, causing Darkwing to, well, fall.
The King of Koosh!
Bad Movie Lover
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Must have caffeine...
Re: Darkly Dawns the Duck
Reply #2 on:
March 18, 2007, 01:54:28 AM »
As fate would have it, Darkwing's fall is miraculously broken as he crashes through the roof of a ramshackle airplane hangar, leaving a Darkwing-shaped hole in the floor. Whoops, guess that didn't break his fall, after all. "Bruised, battered, but never defeated, Darkwing Duck springs back to action!" he wearily declares. Crawling out of the hole and snapping his twisted back into shape again, he notes, "Clever of me to use my spine to break my fall like that!" Suddenly he's attacked from offscreen by by a big, red-haired duck in a pilot's uniform and old-fashioned aviator's cap, who has apparently mistaken him for a burglar. "Nobody but nobody messes with the airplanes in my hangar," he says, stuffing Darkwing into a tire. Yes, it looks quite painful. "Or my name isn't Launchpad McQuack!" Right after he says this, he walks into the Darkwing-shaped hole in the floor. Thud. Darkwing tries to explain that he's not a thief, and when Launchpad finally helps him free himself from the tire and gets a better look at him, he instantly recognizes him. "Darkwing Duck!" he exclaims. "You know me?" Darkwing asks, puzzled. "Know you? I'm your biggest fan!" Launchpad replies.
"A fan? Really?" gushes Darkwing, then he assumes a more heroic pose and says in a deeper voice, "I mean, uh, really?" (I think this bit is actually funny.) Launchpad answers in the affirmative, then asks Darkwing what he's doing in his hangar. Darkwing is about to answer when he spots an old biplane sitting behind Launchpad. "Hey, you're a pilot!" he exclaims, citing that they can use the plane to catch the up to the bad guys. Launchpad says he's got a better plane in the next hangar over (which is obviously going to become important later on), but Darkwing says, "No time! We have evildoers to thaaa-wart!" "But in the next hangar, I got this--" "No, fan!" Darkwing cuts him off, adding that if he just comes along he'll give him an autograph. Launchpad jumps into the pilot's seat in seconds. "I'm here for ya, DW!" he says. "That's Darkwing," the hero corrects him, and thus begins a legendary partnership, I guess. And so Launchpad takes off... backwards! I don't know if it's possible to fly a biplane backwards, but there you go.
During the ride, Launchpad expresses his desire to be Darkwing's sidekick, adding that he has "a whole scrapbook" of his newspaper clippings. "Of course, it's not a very big scrapbook," he admits. "Wouldn't it be easier to fly if we were facing the other way?" an understandably nervous Darkwing points out. "Oh, yeah," replies the pilot, "I, uh, sometimes have trouble with that." Turning the plane around and facing the right way, they fly on and soon catch up to the flying boxcar, with Tantalus flapping along behind it. On Darkwing's instruction, Launchpad dives down, almost hitting Tantalus and startling Taurus Bulba, who is still observing things via the two-way (I think) monitor on the condor's collar. Launchpad brings the biplane to a bone-shattering halt above the boxcar. "Gosh, thanks," groans Darkwing, dizzy from the sudden stop. "Hey, I aim to please!" the pilot says with pride. "It's that costumed meddler again!" Bulba says to Tantalus. "Get rid of him!" Tantalus then swoops down and plucks Darkwing out of the plane while the hero is distracted trying to figure out how to make the boxcar turn around. "All right, beak-face, this is getting monotonous!" he says. And then Tantalus drops him. "Hey, you don't understand!" yells Darkwing as he plummets towards earth. "I
Luckily for Darkwing though, Launchpad manages to swoop down so that his idol can grab the planes landing gear. Seeing this, Tantalus angrily gives chase, determined to make the hero go splat. The following chase demands that we suspend disbelief and believe a bird can keep pace with an airplane. Uh-oh. Looks like birdys coming back for seconds, notes Launchpad. Dont worry, Ill shake him, DW! Thats Darkwiiiiiiing! yells the masked mallard as the biplane zips back and forth through the skies, the unusually fast condor in hot pursuit. Doing his best to evade Tantalus, Launchpad flies low through trees and at one point even straight through somebody's house. Following them, Tantalus emerges from the structure covered with a sheet. Darkwing on the other hand ended up with a pink bra on, which he quickly removes and tosses away with a sheepish look on his face. What is up with crossdressing jokes in children's programming anyway?
Ultimately, the biplane spirals out of control and crashes noisily at the base of a telephone pole. Satisfied, Tantalus turns and leaves. Both Darkwing and Launchpad survived the crash though, naturally enough, somehow ending up actually clinging to the telephone pole. "They got away," Darkwing whines. "Can't argue that point, DW," says Launchpad, then asks what they do next. "We?
do nothing!" snarls the superhero as he climbs down from the pole. "I work alone!" "But I could be your sidekick!" suggests Launchpad. Darkwing tells him that only singing cowboys have sidekicks and repeats that he works alone. He must not be up on his comic book reading, 'cause there's been tons of superheroes throughout the ages who've had sidekicks. Now,
sidekicks is another matter entirely. Following him, Launchpad ends up clinging to Darkwing's leg, begging, "Oh, please, please, please, please, pleaaaase!" Darkwing manages to shake him off and tells him, "Let me make this clear for you: I never want to see you again; ever!" He then turns and stomps off down the street, presumably back to wherever it was he left the Ratcatcher. "Okay, uh, so do you want my phone number?" Launchpad calls after him. Not surprisingly, Darkwing simply grumbles and walks off, leaving him there.
Speaking of the Ratcatcher, this is the second time he's just abandoned it in the middle of a chase and yet is able to remember exactly where he left it. A later episode in the series establishes that he can summon the motorcycle via remote control or something, but it'd have been less annoying if
adventure would explain this properly.
Back at the prison, Taurus Bulba is wheeling a cart of laundry to the prison laundromat, and we can see that Hammerhead, Hoof, and Mouth are hiding inside. In fact, the laundromat is where the Ram Rod is now stashed, hidden behind nothing but a rack of cleaned clothes. How in the heck did they get that huge thing into the prison? Security in this joint must be nonexistent. Warden Waddlesworth stops in long enough to harrass Bulba, saying, "Doing an honest day's work must be a new experience for you, Bulba. Maybe you'll get some time off for good behavior... in 99 years or so!" Giggling like an idiot, he leaves the room without noticing the gigantic weapon of mass destruction poorly hidden behind the clothes rack. The thugs emerge from the cart after he's gone, with Hammerhead saying how much he'd love to pound on the good Warden. "Ignore him," Bulba soothes, "Such petty annoyances will disappear once I use the Ram Rod!" On cue, Hoof and Mouth move aside the clothing rack to reveal the Ram Rod is all its glory. "Oh jeepers, it's beautiful," gasps Mouth.
Hammerhead suggests they "fire it up and hit a few banks," but Bulba tells him it's useless without a special arming code. Wouldn't they (the henchmen, I mean) already have been aware of this? Guess not. I guess like any self-respecting cartoon villain, Bulba's using his gang members to lay down some heavy exposition. Apparently, an earlier attempt to steal the Ram Rod resulted in the accidental death of Professor Waddlemeyer before Bulba could learn the code. It's hinted at rather strongly that Hoof and Mouth did the deed, but the subject never comes up again. Bulba's got a backup plan, though. "Go to the St. Canard Orphanage and bring me his granddaughter," he tells them. Since she was "practically raised in his lab," there's a chance she knows the code. Bulba's taking an awfully big gamble here to say the least. He then gives Hammerhead a photo to help identify the girl - the photo is a picture of Professor Waddlemeyer standing in front of what appears to be the control panel for the Ram Rod, with a little redheaded girl with pigtails in his arms. Bulba also reveals his intentions that, after they get the code, the girl will "have an accident" like her grandfather, only, like, this time on purpose. Looks like we'll have some clichéd Child Endangerment soon.
At the orphanage, Hammerhead shows the woman in charge, Mrs. Cavanaugh, the photo, claiming that he's an old friend of the Professor's and furthermore, keeps saying, "That's me in the background there!" and pointing to a purple smudge in the photo. Studying the picture, Mrs. Cavanaugh says, "Actually, it looks kind of like of like a grape jelly stain." Hammerhead quickly snatches the picture back and asks where "the little cupcake" is. Mrs. Cavanaugh says she's is outside playing roller hockey, and no sooner are those words out of her mouth than a hockey puck flies through the (open) window. She ducks, and the pick smacks Hammerhead in the face. Ouch. He goes cross-eyed and little Tantaluses begin flying around his head, and then he falls down. Gosalyn Waddlemeyer skates in on a pair of rollerblades, wielding a hockey stick, a determined look on her face. She shoots across Mrs. Cavanaugh's desk and scatters paperwork everywhere. With her red pigtails she is clearly the girl from the photo. She "plays it where it lays," using her hockey stick to smack the puck off Hammerhead's nose and back out the window, where it hits the goalie of the opposing team in the stomach and knocks him down.
I can't even begin to express how annoying I find this character. While Gosalyn is far from the worst or most pointless character in the series, she is by far the most annoying. Regardless of the fact she's the clichéd Spunky Kid Who Darkwing Has to Save, she didn't have to be. Done the right way Gosalyn could've been a genuinely adorable little child for whose safety we would be afraid. Step 1 would be finding somebody other than Christine Cavanaugh to do her voice; I just find her really aggravating as a voice actress.
She's about to leave when Mrs. Cavanaugh grabs her and makes her sit down in a chair. Thinking she's in trouble, Gosalyn rapidly fires off, "I don't know anything about a pig and I was nowhere near the boys' bathroom at the time!" Mrs. Cavanaugh, genuinely puzzled, asks what she's talking about. Gosalyn recovers with, "Pig? I mean BIG! As in how BIG of you to take such an interest in me. How may I help you?" Mrs. Cavanaugh isn't buying it though. "We'll talk later," she tells Gosalyn before introducing her to Hammerhead, or, as she calls him, Mr. Hannigan. "You knew Grampa?" Gosalyn asks, simultaneously surprised and happy. "Uh, sure!" Hammerhead says, and hands her the photo, again stating "That's me in the background!" "Actually, it looks like a grape jelly stain," Gosalyn observes (Thankfully this is the final time this joke is used). Grabbing the photo back from her, Hammerhead suggests they go for a walk and "swap stories about your Granddad." Gosalyn asks if she can go with "Mr. Hannigan." Mrs. Cavanaugh says it would be all right, as long as they don't go too far from the orphanage. "Oh, yeah! Great!" Gosalyn tackles Hammerhead to the floor in a big hug. After they're gone, Mrs. Cavanaugh asks her assistant, "Eugene, have you heard anything about a pig in the bathroom?" I don't know about the bathroom, but Darkwing sure busted one earlier who was riding a motorcycle.
Gosalyn and Hammerhead exit the orphanage through the front doors and begin a leisurely stroll down the sidewalk. As they walk, Gosalyn fills Hammerhead in on her life story: "After mom and dad died, Grampa was the only family I had in the whole world. But since he's been gone, I've made lots of friends here, so it's not so bad. Until adoption day . . . " It would seem as though most prospective parents don't want to adopt a child who is such a bundle of energy - I.e., a really annoying, angsty little brat. "I'm not a problem child," Gosalyn assures Hammerhead. "Grampa said I just have a lot of spirit. He said when you're full of spirit, everyone else looks empty. Someday I'll meet somebody who understands that. Then I'll be adopted." Hammerhead gets all teary-eyed and blows his nose into a handkerchief. I know it's supposed to just be funny, but Hammerhead, already shown as a bad liar and an even worse actor, would be the last person capable of making himself cry on cue. So was he actually moved by her speech? Does he really feel guilty about working for the guy who killed her grandfather? Who knows.
Gosalyn becomes uneasy at the fact that they're a little further away from the orphanage grounds for comfort. "I thought we'd go for a little ride," Hammerhead tells her with an evil grin, suddenly his old self again as Hoof and Mouth jump out of a parked van by the curb that wasn't there three seconds ago. Gosalyn runs, but Hoof blocks her path, and the gang surrounds her!
Last Edit: March 18, 2007, 01:58:30 AM by Kooshmeister
The King of Koosh!
Bad Movie Lover
Karma: 39
Posts: 516
Must have caffeine...
Re: Darkly Dawns the Duck
Reply #3 on:
March 21, 2007, 03:51:42 PM »
As Bulba's gang surrounds Gosalyn, Hammerhead tells her, "Take it easy, kid. Taurus Bulba just wants to have a little talk with ya." Like she'd know who that is. Gosalyn's response is to tell Hammerhead to give him a message from her, then she swings her rollerblades (which she'd been carrying by the laces slung over her shoulder) and clocks Hammerhead in the chin. He grins stupidly, then all his teeth fall out and he collapses. Hoof makes a grab for her, and she smacks him with the rollerblades too, knocking him flat on his back. She runs for the street, while Mouth.... just sort of falls on his face. I think he was supposed to be diving for her and missing, but they didn't make this clear. At this point, Darkwing suddenly (and I mean
) shows up on the Ratcatcher and snatches Gosalyn right off the pavement. How he was able to arrive just at the right moment is rather lamely explained in a bit. "Never fear, little miss! Darkwing Duck has you now!" he assures her. (And animation bloopers ahoy! The shot of Darkwing grabbing Gosalyn shows him not only wearing a helmet instead of his fedora, but also depicts the Ratcatcher without its sidecar.)
Gosalyn promptly socks him in the gut and pulls his fedora down over his eyes, making it difficult to see where he's going, and the Ratcatcher veers into oncoming traffic. The ensuing chase sequence is not the least bit exciting, and very poorly plotted out and animated. It's definitely the low point of the cartoon. After narrowly avoiding colliding with oncoming cars, Darkwing and Gosalyn have a new problem: Bulba's gang are behind them now in their van. They're also shooting at them, which makes no sense because Bulba needs Gosalyn alive. This is enough to convince Gosalyn that Darkwing isn't one of the bad guys after all. "I take it you're convinced now? Stay down! I have a little surprise for them!" The Ratcatcher suddenly emits an oil slick just as they turn a corner; trying to follow them, the gang's van hits the oil and goes spinning out of control.
The oil slick feature of the Ratcatcher impresses Gosalyn. "Keen gear!" she says. "What does this button do?" she asks, pointing to a red button on the handlebar. "Don't touch that!" howls Darkwing. "Why not?" asks Gosalyn... and she presses it anyway, causing the ejector seat of the motorcycle to catapult Darkwing into the sky. Aw, isn't that horrible little child just adorable for endangering the life of our hero (who is admittedly an egotistical a***ole)? Right about this time we see that Launchpad is peddling through the city on a bicycle. "I'll show him! Every hero needs a sidekick," he says. "But how am I gonna find DW?" At that very moment, the airborne superhero goes sailing over Launchpad's head, screaming. Somehow or another the Ratcatcher actually ends up ahead of the flying Darkwing, so that he lands safely in the seat again (see what I mean about being poorly plotted out?).
And somehow, Launchpad's bike is able to keep up with the Ratcatcher. He must have some damn powerful legs. "Hang on, DW!" he calls after him. "What's the rush?" He gets his answer as the bad guys' van suddenly appears and rejoins the pursuit, the gang firing their guns in every direction wildly for no reason. Darkwing is intent on getting Gosalyn to the police station. "The orphanage isn't safe," he tells her. "But you'll be okay at the police station!" Alas, as the Ratcatcher nears the police station, it would seem as though the police have set up a barricade using their patrol cars. "He's attacking!" declares one officer. The dozen or so assembled cops open fire on the oncoming Ratcatcher, and Darkwing is forced to make a major U-turn to avoid the hail of bullets. "Oh, yeah, I feel
," mutters Gosalyn. Further demonstrating that the Ratcatcher is either really slow or that, as I said, he's got some damn strong legs, Launchpad peddles up alongside Darkwing and Gosalyn (backwards, no less!). "Wh--what did you do to make those guys so mad?" he inquires. "I didn't do anything!" protests Darkwing.
But as they pass a newsstand, Gosalyn reaches out and grabs an issue of the day's newspaper. "How about robbing a train?" she suggests. "I didn't rob a--," begins Darkwing as he snatches the paper from her, but stops when he sees the dramatic photo of him fighting Hoof and Mouth in their stolen soldier's uniforms. Ugh. There's so many problems with the whole 'Darkwing is Framed' subplot.
For starters, let's examine the newspaper itself - The photo showing him fighting with Hoof and Mouth couldn't have been taken, as the train conductor didn't start snapping pictures until both of the goons were down.
Next, there's the whole problem with Hoof and Mouth dressed up as soldiers, namely that, if Darkwing recognizes them as Taurus Bulba's henchmen even in their stolen uniforms, shouldn't the police also recognize two such notorious criminals?
And what about the original owners of said uniforms? They make it a point to show that Bulba's gang don't kill the soldiers, but merely steal their clothes and kick them off the train. Therefore, they're alive and should've given their testimony, which is that they were attacked by farm animal goons, not some duck with a flair for the dramatic.
Hell, if the Ram Rod was originally military property why isn't the army involved in any of this?! Like I said, this whole portion of the story is its weakest, because the writers obviously thought none of this through.
Back to the chase, before my head explodes. Darkwing admits that the picture isn't bad, asking Gosalyn, "Uh, you don't think it looks pretentious, do you?" Naw, I'd say it looks faked. Suddenly they find themselves headed right towards the bad guys' oncoming van, with Hammerhead firing on them with a missile launcher (!!!). Um, okay. Right. Darkwing avoids the missiles, zooming past the van, which quickly spins around to resume pursuit as a bunch of police cars speed onto the scene. Wisely, the thugs drop out of the chase here and simply follow the police. The chase soon leads to the seaside district of the city.
"Drastic times call for drastic action!" declares Darkwing as the Ratcatcher drives out onto a pier. "How are you at holding your breath?" he asks Gosalyn. Without waiting for her to answer, he drives the motorcycle right off the dock despite Launchpad's cry of, "Don't do it, DW! It's a dead end!" Unable to stop himself, Launchpad flies off the dock and splashes into the water after the Ratcatcher. The pursuing police cars screech to a halt to avoid plunging into the water, while Bulba's gang also halts their own vehicle, a good distance back from the cops.
Popping up from the water, Launchpad says, "Nice trick, DW! That's one way to lose those bad guys!" When he doesn't receive an answer, he suddenly realizes he's alone. "DW? Uh, little girl? Anybody...?" Back in the van, Hammerhead moans that Bulba isn't going to be happy that they lost Gosalyn. Mouth suddenly begins having some sort of a panic attack, shrieking "We're all gonna die! We're all gonna die!" hysterically until Hammerhead pounds him on the head.
As it turns out though, Darkwing and Gosalyn are alive and have, uh, somehow made it to the Audubon Bay Bridge. What the hell? Did he drive the Ratcatcher on the ocean floor?! Does it turn into a submarine? Ugh. Anyway, he, Gosalyn and the motorcycle are next seen on an elevator of some sort taking them up to Darkwing's hideout in the tower. "Wow," exclaims Gosalyn, "a real police chase with bullets, crooks, and everything!" When Gosalyn inquires whether all of Darkwing's days are as exciting as this one, he replies, "No, because I'm usually sleeping. But when I learned that Professor Waddlemeyer had raised a granddaughter, I knew I had to get to you before Taurus Bulba!" When and how did he get this information? How did he even know what Bulba's gang stole? He didn't see the newspaper article about the train robbery until a few minutes ago, so how he could possibly know of the existence of the Ram Rod or its inventor?
Having heard that name twice in one day, Gosalyn feels inclined to ask just who this Taurus Bulba guy is. Darkwing sums him up: "A deviously clever criminal mastermind, who, I'm convinced, is still operating his gangs from inside prison." "Wow, just like in the comics!" gushes Gosalyn. "I bet you guys are eternal enemies, right?" Chuckling modestly while pulling fish out of his clothes and wringing his fedora dry, Darkwing says he isn't even sure if Bulba knows that he exists. "But he soon will. Mark my words!"
They soon arrive inside Darkwing's abode. "Keen gear!" says Gosalyn, and even though it's only her second time saying this expression, I'm already sick of it. "What a hideout!" "Oh yes, it's just a little shack I like to call home," Darkwing says, attempting to look cool or whatever by tossing his fedora onto a nearby hatrack. He fails miserably, as the still soaking-wet hat plops into the wall instead. "Speaking of which, we have to find you a safe place to stay." He suddenly notices that she isn't there, then spots her on an upper level. "Why can't I just stay here?" she asks. "We make a great team!" Darkwing starts the whole "I work alone!" business again, telling Gosalyn she'd just be in the way. He doesn't notice her messing with a control console of some sort until it's too late. She pulls a random lever, causing a radar dish-shaped laser to turn towards Darkwing and fire red bolts of energy into him, cartoonishly electrocuting him. "See?" he croaks afterwards. "Little things like that... tend to... cramp... my style... ack." I don't care if she
an orphan, this little child is a brat.
Darkwing goes to over to a desk and starts digging through piles of paperwork and such, looking for his phonebook so he can find a hotel for Gosalyn. "Maybe the animal shelter has an opening," he mumbles. "Well, I suppose I could leave," says Gosalyn, "but I might let it slip where a certain masked avenger hangs out." See? The little twerp is taking to blackmail already! "You wouldn't!" gasps Darkwing. "Hey, I'm a kid. I'm supposed to be irresponsible!" she tells him. Darkwing growls and looks like he's so mad he's gonna have a brain aneurysm, but then he calms down. "Like I said, it's much too dangerous out there!" he finally says, falling for her reverse psychology trap. "I'd better keep you close." She tackles him and gives him a big hug. "Thanks, Darkwing!" "Yeah, right," he grumbles.
Back at Taurus Bulba's office/prison cell, we find Hammerhead down on his knees, whining "It wasn't our fault! Oh, it wasn't our fault!" Bulba reaches down and seizes him by the snout, picking him up, and Hammerhead immediately switches tactics. "It was
fault! It was
fault!" he squeals, pointing to a cowering Hoof and Mouth in the corner, and Bulba finally drops him. "That costumed clown is too concerned about his image to kill a little girl," he says. "He has her hidden somewhere. We draw him out, and we'll have her!" He turns to Clovis (his secretary if you'll remember), who is now wearing an aviator's cap and flight goggles. "Clovis, if the Ram Rod is secured, I think it's time we said good-bye to the Warden." "Right away, Taurus Bulba," Clovis monotonously replies, as a control panel pops up from the floor and she pulls a lever on it.
Outside in the prison courtyard, Warden Waddlesworth is talking to a guard. He checks his pocketwatch. "Oh, I've got to run," he says, "it's time for my afternoon gloat over Taurus Bulba!" Suddenly the ground beneath their feet begins to shake. Waddlesworth falls on his butt. Suddenly guards leap from their watchtower as it crumbles. Prisoners run out of the rapidly distintegrating main building, which them explodes revealing a gigantic airship inside of it, shaped like a bull's head complete with horns, and it rises up into the air as Waddlesworth and the guard he was talking to stare up at it openmouthed. Okay, I'm not even touching that one. ...... Okay, fine, I will. It's not bad enough that Bulba is somehow able to have a prison cell that can transform into an office at the push of a button, but he's also got a gigantic airship (shaped like a
bull's head
!) hidden beneath the prison itself for a quick and easy escape.
"Huh, guess he's been making more than license plates," the guard with Waddlesworth observes drly. Ha. Soon the Giant Flying Bull's Head of Doom (as I shall call Bulba's airship from now on) is high in the clouds. "It's a shame to lose a hideout as perfect as a prison, but all things must come to an end," Bulba muses, making me even angrier that they're ruining this really cool villain with such a stupid escape plan. Couldn't they have just had Clovis arrive with the airship and spring her boss? Or better yet, not have Bulba be in prison at all? Argh!
He instructs Clovis to take them downtown. "It's time I met this Darkwing Duck!" he says, turning to the camera and the screen fades to black except for his eyes. The airship then turns and zooms away into the clouds. This is the end of Part 1 of the pilot and originally it said "To Be Continued," but not so here.
To sum up my thoughts on Part 1:
-Darkwing is a jerk, but I think that's the whole point so I can tolerate him.
-Taurus Bulba is is, thus far, the sole redeeming quality of this thing. He's a cool villain despite how little he actually does.
-The animation is terrible in most places.
-Gosalyn is an annoying little brat. Unlike Darkwing, I think we were supposed to find her cute, but it doesn't work for me at all.
-The subplot about Darkwing being framed is lame and poorly thought out.
-Bulba's prison break is even lamer.
Last Edit: March 21, 2007, 04:06:02 PM by Kooshmeister
The King of Koosh!
Bad Movie Lover
Karma: 39
Posts: 516
Must have caffeine...
Re: Darkly Dawns the Duck
Reply #4 on:
March 22, 2007, 04:38:43 AM »
Because this thing is turning out to be way, way too long of a recap for a mere 48-minute video, I've decided I shall recap the second half in a separate thread at a later date. Until then, if anyone's got any comments about the first part please post them here.
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text:
Monday, November 29, 2010
VeganMoFo: Cakey Treats From The Land Down Under
21 comments:
Nice work! The jam is a modern (non-traditional) touch but provided you've used good jam, they're pretty tasty. The one way you could Australianise them a little further is by making them larger... because honestly, the more lammo in your hand, the happier you are. ;)ReplyDelete
If you want a good, easy recipe for Anzac Bikkies, email me!
Oh awesome awesome awesome!ReplyDelete
I've been reading along this MoFo hoping that you would make it to us down here in Australia. And I am very happy you did - hurrah for lamingtons! I am a huge fan, I have only made them once since I've been vegan, but I used to love them when I was pregan.ReplyDelete
I highly suggest trying some Anzac biscuits too though - they are delicious!
A while ago there was a thing in the paper about the US banning vegemite because it had too much vitamin B in it and only bread products could have high levels of vitamin B. Or something equally ridiculous. Which is a shame, because Vegemite is awesome.
Cat and kangaroo is excellent.ReplyDelete
These are so cute!ReplyDelete
- Anonymous4:47 AM
I'm Australian and have never been a huge fan of the lamington (traditional without jam, huge as lamingtons) even though fresh lamingtons are pretty good - I know, I'm hard to impress or maybe shop bought ones just aren't as good as homemade!!! But I think your smaller lamingtons with jam may just make me change my mind!! Nicely done.ReplyDelete

subset: commoncrawl


text:
Packers Sticking With Crosby
GREEN BAY, Wis. -- The Green Bay Packers are sticking with Mason Crosby, although that decision has as much to do with their personnel philosophy as it does with their faith in the struggling kicker.
After missing a pair of field-goal attempts during the Packers' 21-13 victory over the Chicago Bears on Sunday, Crosby is 17 of 29 (an NFL-worst 58.6 percent) this season and has botched at least one kick in the past eight games. Nevertheless, coach Mike McCarthy remained steadfast in his support of Crosby, saying no change is in the offing.
"Mason Crosby is an accountable man. He needs to perform better," McCarthy said Monday. "I'm disappointed in the way he performed yesterday. There's more that goes into it as far as when you evaluate players and everything around each player at their position. So, at the end of the day, Mason will be our kicker and that's my focus."
While Crosby was having another rough outing, two other players the team chose to keep around -- despite uneven production or injury issues -- were delivering for them: Sixth-year wide receiver James Jones and third-year defensive end Mike Neal.
Crosby, a 2007 sixth-round draft pick out of Colorado, signed a five-year, $14.75 million contract extension that included a $3 million signing bonus in July 2011 and responded with the best season of his career last year, making 24 of 28 field-goal attempts.
He has a base salary of $1.65 million this season and has three more years left on his deal, at $2.4 million in 2013, $2.65 million in 2014 and $2.8 million in 2015.
While Crosby has missed at least one kick in each of the Packers' last eight games, the team is 7-1 during that stretch.
"Obviously, it's frustrating whenever you're not making kicks," Crosby said. "But the biggest thing is that I'm not making the kicks to put this team up by two touchdowns. That was my thing. That was six points there and if we're up two touchdowns, it's a different end. But the result is the same. We won the game, just a little different ending."
The Packers can only hope that Crosby rewards their faith the way Jones and Neal have.
Jones struggled with inconsistent play and dropped passes earlier in his career, but was re-signed to an economical three-year deal before the 2011 season. After catching three touchdown passes from quarterback Aaron Rodgers on Sunday, Jones leads the NFL in TD receptions with 12. He enters this Sunday's game against Tennessee with a career-best 51 receptions for 622 yards.
Neal, who endured two injury-plagued seasons and then opened this one serving a four-game suspension for violating the NFL's policy on performance-enhancing substances, registered 1½ sacks on Bears quarterback Jay Cutler and was praised by outside linebacker Clay Matthews for helping him get his two sacks on stunts. Neal has 3½ sacks this season, second on the team to Matthews (11).
However, it does appear that Crosby's struggles are affecting McCarthy's decision-making. The Packers twice went for it on fourth down against the Bears, converting a fourth-and-2 from the Chicago 37-yard line in the second quarter instead of trying a 55-yard field goal and converting a fourth-and-6 from the Bears 26 instead of attempting a 44-yard kick.
The first conversion didn't lead to points because Crosby missed a 43-yard attempt wide right on a fourth-and-6 from the Chicago 25, while the second conversion led to Jones' third touchdown, on the opening drive of the second half.
Crosby's other miss came when McCarthy decided to try a 42-yard kick on fourth-and-1 from the Chicago 24, and Crosby clanged it off the left upright.
Asked if sticking with Crosby despite his misses might create an issue with other players, to whom accountability is constantly emphasized by the coaching staff, McCarthy acknowledged that was a possibility.
"Definitely, no one's happy with the number of kicks that Mason has missed. As we stand here today on who's going to line up and kick, it's Mason Crosby. I don't know how to continue to answer this question. He needs to be accountable for his performance, but as far as what happens between the evaluation of the game or the past games and how he's performed and how we move forward into the next game, there's a number of different factors. Mason Crosby is our kicker."
Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved. Material may not be redistributed.


text:
Canadian, 20th century
Stigmata Otter, from the series Six-Pitch-Otter Slide, 1987
paper, pigment, varnish, copper, birch bark, encaustic, fungi, epoxy resin on plywood
210 x 180 cm
Collection of the Winnipeg Art Gallery; Acquired with funds from The Winnipeg Art Gallery Foundation Inc.
Painting, Canadian Contemporary (1980-present)
Formed in 1979, Fastwürms is the trademark and joint identity of two multidisciplinary artists, Kim Kozzi and Dai Skuse. Their work melds high and popular cultures, gender and identity concepts, means of social interaction, and do-it-yourself home movies. Using distinctly Canadian images and symbols, Fastwürms combines a mixture of spirituality and science to evoke the idea that a type of metamorphosis will occur in the hope of a better, more ecologically balanced future. The WAG piece is a component of a large-scale, site-specific work, titled Six-Pitch-Otter Slide. As seen here, the artists employ a complex array of symbols that evoke associations ranging from ecology and economics to religion and politics.
Gallery Hours
- Tuesday 11am-5pm
- Wednesday 11am-5pm
- Thursday 11am-5pm
- Friday 11am-9pm
- Saturday 11am-5pm
- Sunday 11am-5pm
- Closed Monday


text:
Style # 211146
Inject your look with sexy and interesting prints in this bebe cami, featuring sheer lace trim and cropped design. Try it with a pair of skinny jeans and a strappy pair of sandals to land an instant day look.
- 92% silk, 8% spandex
- Center back to hem: 16" (41 cm)
- Dry clean
- Imported
- Model is 5'9" and is wearing a US size S
- As seen in our spring 2013 catalog
Print Lace Contrast Silk Cami is rated out of 5 by 2.
Rated 4 out of 5 by sbrya28 from Nice print! I purchased this in size Small in the Hot Coral print. I don't do camis much, but something told me to go with this top when I saw it in a store. The print with its coral pop is really cute, and the material is very light. You can get away without wearing a bra, but if you need one like me, it can be concealed as this cami is not very sheer. I'm not crazy about the crop length, but I've worn this with high-waist jeans so that not too much is exposed. I've worn this on its own and with a black blazer and jeans for a dressed down dinner look!
Date published: 2013-06-03
Rated 4 out of 5 by av311 from cute, versatile top! This top is adorable and I love the delicate lace detailing. It is suitable for work with a cute blazer over it and also looks fantastic with skinny jeans and a colored pump! True to size, I'm 5'3", 115lbs, athletic build and usually wear xs. Bebe always delivers!
Date published: 2013-05-31


text:
Open-faced Tuscan Duck Sandwich
|Poultry, Vegetables, Bread, Fruits
|Day Part
|Dinner, Lunch
|Menu Part
|Cuisine Type
Source: Courtesy of Maple Leaf Farms
Duck breasts should be served medium, like a fine steak. When properly done, it is pink inside. (Cook to 152°-155°F and let it rest/set.) A perfectly cooked boneless duck breast should not be dry and tough or very red and soft.
1/2 cup fine julienne white onions
1 large garlic clove, minced
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp. chopped fresh rosemary
6 oz. pulled, cooked duck
1/2 cup small onion, diced
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. sugar
Pinch salt and pepper
1/2 cup grape tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup pitted and chopped cured black olives (Kalamatas, for example)
1 piece foccacia, cut into 4-in. square, then cut in half
1/2 cup mascarpone cheese, whipped, at room temperature
- Prepare Duck: Sauté onions and garlic in olive oil over med. heat until translucent. Add rosemary and stir for a few seconds. Add duck and heat slowly until warmed through. Keep warm.
- Prepare Relish: Cook onion in olive oil with sugar over med. heat until translucent. Stir in sugar, salt and pepper. Add tomatoes and olives; cook until tomatoes are slightly wilted. Can be made one day ahead and refrigerated. Bring to room temperature to serve.
- To assemble: Lightly toast foccacia under salamander. Place toast halves on plate and top with duck. Garnish with relish and mascarpone cheese.


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Tour Details:
Duration: 4 Hours+ more details
- Hotel Pick-up & drop-off
- Guide and Air-conditioned Vehicle
- 0-3 Years Old Child free of Charge
- Entrance fees as per itinerary
- V.A.T. (%18 sales tax)
- 4-6 Years Old Child Discounted % 50
Tour Itinerary:
Duration: 4 Hours+ more details
Spice Market We begin with a brief visit to the 17th century Spice Bazaar*, one of Istanbul's
most colorful, bustling attractions. Next, we travel the Golden Horn on our way
to an unforgettable cruise along the Bosphorus, the majestic strait that runs
through Istanbul, linking Europe and Asia
Bosphours Cruise From our cruise boat, we view the
dramatic sights lining the Bosphorus' wooded shores: mosques, a bridge that for
a time was the world's longest and Rumeli Hisar›, a massive fortress built by
Mehmet the Conqueror in just three months as he prepared to take Istanbul. Also
noteworthy on this tour are the 19th century mansions of the Ottoman elite
and the Sultans' fanciful gingerbread palaces and hunting lodges


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A vital strategy for enterprises is to give consumers a highly personalized, interactive experience that is tailored as much as possible to each consumer's preferences and interests. The goals are clear: to increase loyalty, customer satisfaction and, of course, sales. Personalization requires real-time, dynamic content insertion, on-the-fly customization and complementary product recommendation all driven by sophisticated Big Data analytics.
- Power dynamic content and recommendations with insight-producing real-time analytics
- Implement Big Data using existing web developer talent
- Eliminate the system operations burden of Big Data


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FINAL (1): VCU 4, Campbell 0
FINAL (2): VCU 5, Georgetown 0
- The VCU Men's Tennis team kicked off the 2013 spring schedule with a pair of victories against visiting Campbell and Georgetown Friday in day one of the Rams' annual 4-1 Invitational at Thalhimer Tennis Center.
- Senior Jaime Vazquez (pictured) went 2-0 in singles action, picking up a wins against both Campbell and Georgetown.
- Senior Max Wennakoski and freshman Michael Voscek won their singles matches against the Camels early in the day before juniors Alexis Heugas and Alejandro Argente, and Pascal Domnik joined Vazquez with victories over the Hoyas in the afternoon session.
- VCU won both of its doubles matches Friday as the duo of Huegas and sophomore Claes Gorensson defeated Campbell's Josep Baro/Ondrej Kralik (6-0, 6-3) before Voscek/Wennakowski topped Georgetown's Alex Troplano/Casey Distaso (6-1, 7-5).
Max Wennakoski
W, Guillen (Campbell), 6-2, 6-3
Alejandro Argente
W, Koibe (Georgetown), 6-0, 6-1
Michael Voscek
W, Clavera (Campbell), 6-3, 6-2
Jaime Vazquez
W, Rossignon (Campbell), 6-2, 6-1
W, Khanin (Georgetown), 6-4, 6-2
Alexis Heugas
W, Carls (Georgetown), 3-6, 6-4, 10-7
Pascal Domnik
W, Brosens (Georgetown) 6-3, 6-3
Heugas/Claes Gorensson
W, Baro/Kralik (Campbell), 6-0, 6-3
W, Troplano/Distaso (Georgetown), 6-1, 7-5
WHAT'S AHEAD: The Rams continue play in the VCU 4-1 Invitational on Sunday when they face cross-town rival Richmond at 9 a.m. followed by former Colonial Athletic Association foe James Madison at 1 p.m.


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From Wikimedia ZA
(Difference between revisions)
m (rm colons)
(→Introduction of members and guests: No guests; no introduction needed.)
|Line 8:
|Line 8:
=== Review and approval of agenda===
=== Review and approval of agenda===
Latest revision as of 12:30, 12 January 2013
To enable us to plan our work for 2013 and 2014, we need a full day session with as many board members as possible present.
[edit] Meeting Planner
- Date: 12 January 2013
- Time: 10:00 - 20:30
- Venue: Cape Town (venue TBC)
[edit] Agenda
[edit] Review and approval of agenda
[edit] Approval of previous meeting minutes (2012-11-17-Minutes)
[edit] State of Wikimedia ZA
[edit] Review previous year
[edit] Decision on WikiIndaba 2013 and Wikimania 2014
[edit] Outsourcing (Centeq Events showed interest)
[edit] Start planning for WLM 2013 (including report on WLM 2012)
[edit] Projects and Outreach for 2013
[edit] 2013 GLAM Activities
[edit] JoburgpediA
[edit] Wiki Loves Metro
[edit] Wkipedia Zero
[edit] Discuss financial compensation for directors taking time off
[edit] Approve new director (will solicit applications before meeting)
[edit] Wikimedia Chapters Association representative nominations
[edit] South African Wikipedias portal
[edit] Next Meeting
[edit] Attendees
- Dumisani (talk) 19:32, 10 November 2012 (SAST)
- Slashme (talk) 12:21, 12 November 2012 (SAST)
- MADe (talk) 10:23, 23 December 2012 (SAST)
- LouriePieterse 10:01, 5 January 2013 (SAST)
[edit] Apologies
[edit] Minutes
Disucssion to be followed on the etherpad.
Recorded and ratified minutes of this meeting can be found at 13-01-12-Minutes.


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Member? Sign in. Not a member? Register for free.
This app was removed from the App Store.
RunWatch GPS Running Watch for tracking, mapping and memorizing routes
iOS iPhone Healthcare & Fitness
Aimed at users who require top-class GPS navigation directions and easy route management for fitness, RunWatch, the best running app for outdoor running will help you run faster, be healthier and live longer. It can be used for cycling, running, walking and more.
RunWatch continually records your time, location, speed, calorie and these data will be presented intuitively to help you manage your fitness better. All of your runs will be organized by routes and date. Statistics will be summarized by month and week.
Accurate yet Battery Saving
-This app works outdoor only. After you launch RunWatch, wait for good GPS reception before start.
-Track your run - including your path, speed, time and calorie with very accuracy.
-Dynamic GPS filtering.
-Run your existing routes and set your path as official route.
-No worries about draining the battery: you can lock the app with the screen turned off.
Intuitive User Interface
-Easy-to-use timer that shows time, distance and burned calories for your current session.
-Built-in map support for displaying your routes and runs.
-Lock screen when running to save battery.
-Distance markers on your route.
-Calendar showing your runs with symbols.
-Monthly and Weekly summary for your total distance, time and burned calories.
-Manage your daily log by route.
-Showing your routes with thumbnails.
-Support both metric and English mile units.
Improve Your Result
-Compare any of your runs with the official route and try to improve it every day.
-Summarize your total distance, time and burned calories by month.
-Backup data to PC and restore it as you need.
Take your fitness to a new level with RunWatch! Please write to us before leaving negative reviews, as we can often help with your problem or help you better use the app.
If you have any problem or suggestions please send a mail to email@example.com, and you will get the response and solution in a short time.


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February 09. 2014 4:22PM
Equal pay canard: The 77-cents falsehood
Continuing her thoughtless imitation of President Obama, Gov. Maggie Hassan last week backed a so-called "equal pay" bill in the Legislature by repeating the President's State of the Union claim that, as she put it, "women in New Hampshire, who are working full-time jobs, earn only 77 cents on the dollar compared to men." What complete hooey.
This is the lie that won't die. No serious scholar believes it. In fact, vast troves of data have proven that it is untrue.
A 2009 Labor Department study of the issue reached "the unambiguous conclusion that the differences in the compensation of men and women are the result of a multitude of factors and that the raw wage gap should not be used as the basis to justify corrective action."
That "multitude of factors" consists largely of life choices — work hours, number of children, etc. For instance, Bureau of Labor Statistics data on full-time employees show that never-married women earn 95.8 percent of what men earn, but married women with children under 18 earn 76.3 percent.
PolitiFact rated the 77 cents claim "mostly false" when President Obama made it during the 2012 campaign. How can Hassan not know it has been thoroughly debunked? It is irresponsible of her to repeat such a discredited falsehood.


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What reason are the World War II Veterans not allowed to visit the Memorial? The reasons that the article author submits are not viable.
To the editor:
What reason are the World War II Veterans not allowed to visit the Memorial? The reasons that the article author submits are not viable. The government is shut down, the reason was that to leave the Memorial unprotected could cause the illegal removal of the 4048 Gold Stars and/or some defacing. I understand that reason.
If this person would understand that our National Parks are operated by the government for the people, it makes sense that you would want to protect those wonderful parks/memorials.
This person quotes a figure of 17% of the government is shutdown, I do not know where this person gets their information but numbers can be misleading. I will not argue that point, but I will say that priorities are not the National Parks/Memorials for the U.S. Government during this period.
I also read that this person states "present Democratic Party apparatus. They are beyond sick and disgusting, they're plainly anti-American." How can this person be so judgemental when a lot of Democrats have DD214's. Is this writer's patriotism stronger than theirs? Personally, I would rather see persons compromising instead of acting like an elementary school child who lost a game.
No incumbent will ever get my vote until they act with integrity and put their country ahead of their personal agenda. They, represent the populace that they were elected by. They should vote in the manner that their electorate wishes. They should vote, not impede, nor stop the vote that hurts the American People.


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Judie's Big Pound Cake
I hadn't made this in a while and decided to make it for new years dinner...it's very good so I thought I'd share.
Judie's Big Pound Cake
3 c. sugar
3 c. flour
6 eggs
2 sticks butter (softened)
1/2 c. shortening
1 c. milk
1-1/2 teaspoons almond extract
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract(I leave out the almond extract and increase the vanilla to 1 tablespoon...I don't like almond extract)
3 tsp. baking powder
Place all ingredients in a LARGE bowl .....
Beat 5 minutes on high speed
Pour batter into large tube or bunt pan (WELL greased) (OR 1/2 sheet pan)Bake 350 for 45 minutes - 1 hour (until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean)
Allow to cool in pan until luke warm. Once removed from the pan, I let it sit on a wire rack and cover the whole thing with a heavy towel, till the next day ... This allows the "crunch" to form. If you flip it onto a plate or serving platter right away, the part that *was* the top (open end of pan) can get soggy.
Dust with powdered sugar
The pan I prefer to use most often (for a Bundt)is an old Nordic Ware 14 cup capacity, very big & VERY heavy. It was my Grandmothers, I don't even think they make it anymore.
It fits perfectly in a 1/2 sheet pan.
As far as the texture ... The best way I can describe it is "velvety" and rich. The top (open end of pan) gets the most delicious crispy little "crunch".


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http://mpora.com/videos/GigqDp9Ra More Snowboarding >>
The 8th edition of the Red Bull Nanshan Open went down last month, with Finnish rippertron Juuso Laivisto nailing the winning run, and now we've got video highlights of the contest.
The setup this year looked pretty nice, with smooth, medium sized kickers, jibs and a back-atcha feature at the bottom to reward the riders who'd made the long trip. Though there's a shed load of 9s, it's worth watching for Chinese chicks in white skinsuits alone.


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The Vanda Early Learning Center in Lubbock, TX, sits between two cotton fields, with a bright-blue sign out front and a globe painted on the sidewalk. It's a cheery spot for the children who come here, nearly all of whom qualify for the federal free-lunch program. With its state-endorsed kindergarten-readiness program, it also represents a critical opportunity for them to avoid ending up like the 22 percent of adults over age 25 in Lubbock who don't have a high school diploma.
Zadrian Rodriguez was at high risk of becoming one of those statistics because his mother, Amelia, was struggling to raise three young kids on her own. "I was working long hours and I didn't have time to sit down with them or read to them," she says. Like more than half of the families whose children attend Vanda, Rodriguez also didn't have any books at home. And those are huge problems.
Research has repeatedly shown that access to books and one-on-one reading time is an important predictor of future literacy skills. Reading to your baby from infancy on exposes her to the alphabet, to the sounds that words make, and to the idea that print letters translate into spoken words. Talking to your child about a story boosts understanding and vocabulary. In contrast, not having this language and literacy exposure can quickly set kids like Zadrian and his siblings up for failure. Many children who enter kindergarten without pre-reading skills in place never catch up, according to "America's Early Childhood Literacy Gap," a 2009 report from Jumpstart, a national early education organization dedicated to advancing school readiness in low-income communities. "By second grade, we can predict with reasonable accuracy who will go on to higher education and who will not, based on their literacy skills," says Jumpstart board member Laura Berk, Ph.D., professor of psychology at Illinois State University.
A parade of experts echo this sentiment: If a child isn't caught up by third grade, "it requires intense intervention to close this gap," says Janice Im, senior program manager at Zero to Three, a nonprofit that promotes healthy development in babies and toddlers.
"We have faith in education and how it works, but the truth is that these kids don't catch up no matter how good their schools are," agrees Adam Ray of the Pearson Foundation, the nonprofit arm of the media giant, which helps fund Jumpstart's work.
Having reading difficulties also increases the odds that a child will drop out of school and have a criminal record. States like California and Indiana have even factored in the number of third-graders who are not reading at grade level when planning future jail construction. But the news isn't all bad: There's a growing understanding of the urgent need to help young kids develop literacy skills, and organizations like Jumpstart are stepping in to help.
In 2002, government agencies convened the National Early Literacy Panel (NELP) to understand what helps children from birth to age 5 learn to read when they get to school. Their report, "Developing Early Literacy," released last year, analyzed 500 studies and used the results to define a specific set of skills that predict later literacy achievement for children in kindergarten, explains NELP panel chair Timothy Shanahan, Ph.D., director of the Center for Literacy at the University of Illinois at Chicago. "We're not talking about sitting kids down with workbooks," notes Shanahan, "but you still need a plan to teach a child literacy skills through play."
Children also need access to books, and far too many don't have that. While a child growing up in a middle-class neighborhood will own an average of 13 books at any given time, low-income communities average about one book for every 300 children, according to University of Michigan professor Susan Neuman, Ed.D., author of Changing the Odds for Children at Risk. Even all libraries aren't created equal: School libraries in low-income areas average half the number of children's books as those in middle-income neighborhoods, and public libraries in these communities often have more restrictive hours of operation. "Physical and psychological proximity to books and reading materials is critical. A child can't pick up a book that isn't there," says Neuman.
A language-rich environment, in which parents talk to their children, ask questions, and involve them in an ongoing dialogue, is also essential to emerging literacy. One often-cited study estimates that by the time kids enter school, there can be a difference of 30 million words heard by children growing up in well-off households versus children in poorer ones. These children "often haven't been exposed in their interactions with their parents to the alphabet, vocabulary, and language skills," according to Susan Landry, Ph.D., founder and director of The Children's Learning Institute at the University of Texas Health Science Center, in Houston.
Enter groups like Jumpstart, whose corps of volunteers, a nationwide team of trained community residents and college students, provides intervention in 260 preschools and childcare facilities. Corps members spend six to eight hours each week -- for an entire school year -- reading with kids and doing activities that develop social, language, and literacy skills. The results so far have been impressive: A 2008 review of Jumpstart's program run out of Illinois State University found that the children who received literacy intervention showed fall-to-spring gains in achievement -- on three different tests -- that were two to three times greater than children who did not participate in the program. Zadrian Rodriguez, now 6, benefited from the Jumpstart corps while attending Vanda, and his sister, Nazlyn, 5, is part of the program as well.
Washington seems to be on board, too: Last year's stimulus bill allocated $5 billion for early learning programs like Head Start, a federal program that provides comprehensive early-childhood development services to low-income children. It also included $5 billion in challenge grants to encourage innovative programs that work toward closing "the achievement gap."
The next step: States also need to make early education more accessible. Research has shown that public pre-kindergarten programs increase high school graduation rates, improve academic outcomes, and reduce the number of children who require special-education services, says Marci Young, the director of Pre-K Now, a group working to make quality pre-kindergarten available for all 3- and 4-year-olds. Currently, only 24 percent of 4-year-olds and 4 percent of 3-year-olds in the U.S. are in a state-funded program, according to Pre-K Now.
Public awareness and support for programs that encourage reading is essential as well. A poll by the Pearson Foundation and Jumpstart found that while 95 percent of Americans consider early childhood literacy an important issue, they were not aware that reading to a child between the ages of 3 and 5 is critical for future achievement.
Zadrian Rodriguez is proof of that. Now a first-grader at Hodges Elementary in Lubbock, the little boy loves reading the books he brings home from the school library. His sister, Nazlyn, just got her first book, Eric Carle's The Very Hungry Caterpillar, from her participation in Jumpstart's program. Wednesdays are Zadrian's favorite day at school because that's when they have spelling tests. "He loves when he gets a hundred," says Amelia Rodriguez. "We put it on the refrigerator and we all give high fives." With enough noise, maybe state and federal elected officials can also give a big high five to early literacy education for all.
- Sign up for Parenting's Mom Congress. Our grassroots initiative is dedicated to making sure every child gets what he or she needs to succeed in school. You'll have the chance to connect with other moms who are fighting for greater access to early childhood education through our forums and get the latest education news on our website. Plus, you can enter to win great prizes every month, like this one: a set of children's books from Little, Brown for Young Readers, worth $500! Join now at Parenting.com/momcongress.
- Get behind the bills. At press time, the House of Representatives had approved The Early Learning Challenge Fund, which, if it passes the Senate and is signed into law, would allocate $1 billion a year for eight years to fund state initiatives that increase the number of disadvantaged children who participate in high-quality early learning programs. Stay updated on pending legislation atParenting.com/momcongress.
- Demand more public pre-K programs. At the website Preknow.org, you can sign up for their newsletters and to receive notices about supporting pending legislation in your state.
- Donate books, time, or money. These groups are working to get books to kids and volunteers into classrooms to read:
- Jumpstart (Jstart.org)
- First Book (Firstbook.org)
- Reading is Fundamental (Rif.org)
- Read Out and Read (ReachOutandRead.org)
Here's what parents can focus on to get their child on the road to reading, according to National Early Literacy Panel chair Timothy Shanahan, Ph.D.
- Print concepts: When you read to your child, you show her that you read words (not pictures), where you begin on a page, what direction you go in, whether print is right side up, and that you turn the pages of a book one at a time.
- Alphabet knowledge: Help your child first learn to name letters, then the sounds that each letter makes.
- Phonological awareness Preschoolers also need to hear and remember the separations between words in a sentence and to hear the sounds within words -- such as the "c" sound in "cat." Rhyming books and songs encourage phonological awareness.
- Oral language: Talk to your child about what you're reading, asking basic questions about the characters and the story line. You can also extend your child's language skills by repeating and paraphrasing what she has said to you: "Yes, this is an elephant!"
- Writing: Encourage any drawing or scribbling. If your child is too young to start practicing letters (many are ready by age 4), let her see you write her name, a story that she tells you, even your grocery list.
Correction: August 19, 2010:
A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that "there can be a difference of 30 million words between the vocabularies of children growing up in well-off households versus the vocabularies of children in poorer ones." The difference is in the amount of words heard by the child, not the amount in a child's vocabulary.


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What role did religion play in your family? How did your female ancestors practice their faith? If they did not, why didn't they? Did you have any female ancestors who served their churches in some capacity?
I don't know the religions of most of my ancestors, but I do know of one. Her name was Martha "Patty" Puckett and she was a Quaker. Martha was born 23 March 1801 in North Carolina and died 19 April 1863 in Mill, Grant, Indiana. She was married to Lewis Wooten and was the mother of 13 children. She was a pioneer in her day. She was so against slavery, that she often helped slaves escape. Although she was Quaker, she was for the civil war and supported some of her sons as they went to fight. Patty also went out and administered to widows, and wives who had husbands fighting in the war effort. She also wanted women to be able to have a say in who gets elected. She was a feminist in her day. I am proud to descend from this lady.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Fearless females: day #10
Posted by Paula at 8:01 AM
2 comments:
- Jennie said...
Patty is my hero. What an inspiring woman.
- March 10, 2011 at 9:04 AM
- Janeen said...
What a woman! I have lots of Quakers in my family but none came to Indiana, but I recently met a woman from Gas City, Grant Co., Indiana who said she had Quaker ancestry in Grant Co., my grandma Davis lived in Gas City, Grant Co., Indiana in the 1920's.
- March 10, 2011 at 9:23 AM
Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)


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Health Law Puts Obama Legacy on the Line
Effectiveness of Affordable Care Act Likely to Shape How History Views His Administration
President Barack Obama long has pointed to the Oct. 1 rollout of the Affordable Care Act's exchanges as a consequential date for the country.
It also is a pivotal moment in his presidency, as the effectiveness of the law likely will shape how history views the Obama administration. While Republicans and Democrats diverge on the merits of the legislation that has come to be known as Obamacare, many from both parties say the president's legacy is on the line....


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Source: whitezine.com via Rhian on Pinterest
My Advent Thanksgiving series is a series of posts about stuff I liked in 2011. Music, books, tv, games, handsome gentlemen – you get the idea.
Last week I posted on the coolest kitchenware of 2011 – today I bring you the very best in knit & crochet fandom. You're welcome ;-). Click on the images for sources/patterns.
Source: craftycrafty.tv via Rhian on Pinterest
Knit your own Death Star. One time you want holes in your knitting, or else how will the rebels get in?
Look at these Star Wars amigurumi! You can buy the patterns from Etsy here, make all of them and send them to me. Please. I can crochet but I'm too lazy. I think I like the ewok best (my dark side should obviously prefer Darth, but I'm on a kawaii tip at the moment. I think it's from all the Studio Ghibli films on Film4 at the moment. Bliss).
Source: smapte.deviantart.com via Rhian on Pinterest
More amigurumi genius – bow down to smapte for making these perfect Star Trek: New Generation figures. She's also made characters from The Big Lebowski, Dune, Doctor Who, Tron, Firefly, Mad Men and Lost. I think I just fell in love. Gallery of the others here.
Source: blog.craftzine.com via Rhian on Pinterest
In the future, we won't need Zoidberg costumes because the sea-levels will have risen and it'll be 'Evolve or Die'. We'll have our own tentacley crustacea thing going on. Til then, why not knit this Zoidberg balaclava and mittens. They'll call you futuristic. They'll be right.
Source: ravelry.com via Rhian on Pinterest
Pessimists among you may dispute my 'in the future we'll all have gills' theory. Perhaps you think it more likely that a zombie plague will wipe us out before we get to evolve to Zoidberg heights. Knit yourself a zombie brraaiins hat and go to war against the zoidberg-balaclava people. Fight! Fight! Fight!
Source: wendymoondesigns.blogspot.com via Rhian on Pinterest
Me, I'm a pacifist, more about the theorising than the fisticuffs, so I won't get involved in the dispute even though I started it. I'll be at home, snuggled under my Doctor Who quilt. Night night. Sweet dreams.


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DALLAS (AP) — AT&T says it sold more than 10 million smartphones in the last three months of 2012, topping its previous record of 9.4 million set in the same period a year earlier.
AT&T Inc. said Tuesday that the latest period marked the best-ever quarterly sales of Android and Apple smartphones.
The company says that it sold more than 110,000 smartphones a day on average.
In the third quarter, AT&T said it sold 6.1 million smartphones. The fourth quarter is a busy period for gadget sales because of the holidays.
RecommendedBREAKING: Judge Rules In Stormy Daniels' Defamation Lawsuit Against President Trump
Beth Baumann
The Dallas-based company plans to report its fourth-quarter results after the market closes on Jan. 24.


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List any of this season's It-items and chances are they are water-related or wave-inspired. Yes, that means you boat shoe, loafer, plimsoll, striped tee and navy (hello!) blue shirt.
The mood is light yet determined and spray-in-the-face cool. Imagine sea-side escapades (emphasis on the imagine) and sand between your toes as you loosely raise that striped knit from your oversized Jil Sander mesh-holdall.


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Issue 23 of Music Tech Magazine
Happy New Year! and welcome again to another Music Tech Magazine newsletter. While many of you were enjoying a well-deserved break, we\'ve produced yet another issue brimming with features, tutorials and reviews! oh, and an excellent version of IK Multimedia\'s Amplitube Uno on the covermount CD.
Every budding musician or sound engineer knows that even after perfecting your recording and polishing your mix, the mastering stage has a huge impact on how your music compares with professionally produced tracks. To help you get to grips with this daunting stage of the production process, lecturer and composer Danny Lewis has written an excellent in-depth guide to mastering, covering each of the main steps in turn: compression, EQ and limiting. If you want your recordings to sound like a pro\'s, this is the first place to turn to.
Issue 23 also sees the next instalments of two popular features: Huw Price\'s advanced guide to recording guitar, and Mark Cousin\'s software orchestra. This time, Huw turns his attention to the acoustic guitar, offering advice on what is a notoriously difficult instrument to record accurately. The second part of our Software Orchestra feature looks at what you can do with the samples collection you\'ve carefully amassed.
Our tutorial section has swelled this month, with tutorials on audio restoration in Cubase SX/SL2, Logic Pro 7\'s sparkly new instrument Sculpture, the Matrix Pattern Sequencer in Reason 2.5 and composing with MIDI using Sonar 3/4. On top of all this, we still found space to include Ten Minute Masters on both analogue tape recording and delay, and our Back Track feature this month discusses Basement Jaxx\'s Right Here\'s The Spot.
Our reviewers have been working hard over the holiday season, too, bringing you reviews of Focusrite\'s ground-breaking Liquid Channel, Apple\'s gorgeous new iMac G5, the Novation X-Station, Waves IR-1 and the Ultra Analog VA-1 to name only a few.
On the covermount CD, in addition to Amplitube Uno you\'ll also find demos of USB\'s Charlie, ValveTone \'62, iZoTope Ozone, Trash and Vinyl, Ultra Analog VA-1, MIDI files by Groove Monkee and three multitrack drum parts recorded by legendary drummers including Roots Radics and Dub Syndicate drummer Style Scott.
All the best, and I hope you enjoy the issue.
Neil Worley, Editor.
Subscribe and save cash! Visit http://www.musictechmag.co.uk for our latest subscription offers!