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Just driving in most cities is a struggle, have you tried parking in one? Many people are seeing a significant increase in the cost of parking tickets because they're an easy way to generate revenue. With that in mind, here are a few of the more outrageous parking fines from around the world.
1. Chicago, Illinois: United States
It is very common across the United States for someone who is parking illegally in a handicapped spot to receive a fine of approximately $250. However, even if you're driving a car with a valid handicapped license you can get an even higher fine if the pass is registered to another driver. Say you're visiting your sick mother and she asks you to run to the pharmacy to pick up her medication. If you drive her car and park it in the handicapped spot, you will get a $500 fine for "misuse" of a handicapped parking pass. Better leave the grandma car at home and go for your Holden Captiva instead.
2.Pienza, Italy
Travelers beware! If you receive a parking ticket in Pienza, Italy; pay it immediately. In one instance, a gentleman traveler did not pay his ticket and was fined $72.75 from his car rental company in fees for assisting the Italian government in finding him as well as a parking fine of $178.29. The fine isn't typically this high but when you skip out on paying your ticket they charge you fine violations as well.
3. Washington D.C.: United States
If you've ever considered driving around the capital city of the United States, we recommend taking public transportation or a taxi. Not only is the city laid out in the most convoluted manner but they have parking fines in the $500 range for idling excessively in a parking spot and a $250 fine for parking on private property without the owners consent. We're still not certain how exactly they determine if you have consent or not as hunting down property owners can often be tedious work.
4. Sapporo, Japan
You had better keep a close eye on your car while visiting Sapporo, Japan. If a neighbor or concerned citizen calls in a car they do not recognize parked in the area late at night you open yourself up to a $103 fine under the heading "abandoned vehicle." The only good thing, they do not tow the car that they believe to be abandoned immediately. The worse thing, they can ticket you at any time of day or night and if you're sleeping, you're getting a ticket.
5. Adelaide, South Australia
According to the Adelaide City Council's handbook of fees and fines they have some pretty excessive fees. For parking in a handicapped spot you will have to fork up $334.50 (it's $250 in America unless you're misusing a parking pass). If you're renting or short term leasing a place within the city limits you have to pay an annual parking permit fee of $330. You don't just have to pay fines when you do something wrong, you have to pay one to be able to park at your home.
6. Marbella, Spain
If you want to park in Spain, pay close attention to signs and paint colors. Yellow paint means no parking, blue paint is metered parking, and there are signs denoting things like which side of the street you can park on in odd or even months. If you park somewhere they consider you to be obstructing the walking paths of people and/or animals you'll be paying a whopping $130 fine. You can formally complain about it but while most countries end up throwing out contested parking fines, Spain will merely lower it by about $40 and charge you the rest anyway.
7. Atlanta, Georgia: United States
Want to visit "hot-lanta?" Make sure you're following their parking regulations carefully. With the contraction of a private parking company, ticketing and fines have gone up significantly. If you accidentally stay parked after the expiration of your parking meter for any length of time your fine can run as high as $95 per infraction! With parking meters that don't allow you to stay for your entire work day or more than 4 hours at a time locals run the risk of multiple infractions a week.
Parking that Holden Captiva can cause you a lot of problems around the world. Pay attention to signs, watch for paint colors, and if all else fails, ask someone who lives there for help. Avoid these outrageous fees by being proactive in your parking. If you wouldn't do it in your country, don't do it in someone else's.
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Wondrous Winter
Friday, January 11
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Cold blue and violet tones are complimented by metallic-gold accents that add just the right amount of warmth to make this a perfect painting to enjoy this winter.
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Doctor Who: The Happiness Patrol (UK - DVD R2)
The Wilson Bros take on The Kandyman with this much-maligned McCoy story...
Doctor Who was in one of the darkest periods of the history of the show; it had unwisely been put up against that televisual morphine for the easily-amused (otherwise known as Coronation Street) and had predictably came off the worse out of the two. For many, the writing on the wall had been visible quite a way back and fans will have differing accounts of exactly when they perceived the rot to have set into Doctor Who. The adventures of the time-travelling exile from the planet Gallifrey had survived Michael Grade's initial attempt to kill the show, but the shadow of the axe was still hanging over it and the last thing that they needed was a story, a premise and an adversary that could be easily misinterpreted and taken out of context, leaving Doctor Who open to ridicule by all and sundry...
After the destruction of Daleks' home planet of Skaro, the TARDIS materialises on the planet Terra Alpha, where The Doctor (Sylvester McCoy) and Ace (Sophie Aldred) quickly discover that the sadness has been outlawed and that happiness is enforced by the appropriately monikered Happiness Patrol. This band of fascist, overzealous, jollity-enforcers hunt down and kill anyone who is seen to be anything less than jovial; The tyrannical ruler of this society is Helen A (Sheila Hancock), along with her companion Joseph C (Ronald Fraser) and The Doctor and Ace decide to help sow the seeds of rebellion in the oppressed populace, but they have to encounter the dreaded Kandyman along the way...
The premise of the story is most interesting as it's fairly obviously a satire of Thatcher's Tory government; the mid-to-late seventies saw a recession, crippling inflation and general discontent within Britain and Thatcher's election seemed to provide a boom for the UK (unless you were a miner or in some sort of union), not to mention that the eighties brought about garish, brightly-coloured clothing that seemed to reflect the perceived general well-being of Britain at the time. The luminous colours of the members of the fascist Happiness Patrol seem to reflect (or should that be 'radiate'?) and enforce superficial geniality in such a way that you could easily have envisaged Timmy Mallett has their chief henchman. Helen A is clearly modelled upon the Iron Lady herself, with Hancock bringing a certain evil charm to her role, issuing hollow, non-heartfelt dictates to the unfortunate denizens of planet Terra Alpha; the fact that Helen A does not personally practice what she preaches doesn't bother her in the slightest - she just wants to have total control of her subjects. There is a scene during episode three that sees Helen A effectively spelling out her political agenda and it eerily mirrors - almost certainly intentionally - Thatcher's "where there is discord..." speech that she made when she was she won the 1979 election.
It's always good to see dependable character actor Ronald Fraser, and his turn as Joseph C acts as an amusing contrast to Helen A, essentially playing Denis to her Maggie; Fraser plays Joseph C as a vaguely likeable buffoon who is perfectly happy to profit from her partner's unjust rule and watches footage of people being killed to amused himself, much to the displeasure to Helen A, who reacts in a disapproving manner that is usually reserved for someone being seen stamping out a cigarette on a white fur rug. It is established in the second episode that there are bigger problems with their relationship than just the standard marital indifference that sets in around 20 years into a relationship - as The Doctor covertly flicks through Helen A's photo album, there are no pictures of her husband, but plenty of images of Helen A and her beloved pet Stigorax, Fifi.
To say that The Happiness Patrol only targets Thatcher in it's satirical script is not entirely fair - other more brutal regimes are in the sights, such General Pinochet's dictatorship that saw large numbers of people disappear, and the reference to the destruction of an entire township can be applied to numerous oppressive governments over the years. The "population control programme" that Helen A has been operating brings to mind any number of attempts at ethnic cleansing, from the Holocaust during Nazi Germany to the actions of the Khamer Rouge and Slobodan Milosevic.
In an environment where sadness is outlawed and happiness is mandatorially enforced, the nice little touch of having occasionally having a harmonica playing in a melancholic manner over the soundtrack is a lovely little touch; the harmonica is something of a staple of blues music and not only adds atmosphere to the story, but also acts as a subversive "fuck you" to Helen A's oppressive government.
Then there's The Kandyman - what might have seemed like a good idea in the mind of writer Graeme Curry (despite his original Kandyman being very different) and even looked like a good idea on the page didn't translate amazingly well to the screen. Clearly modelled upon a certain Liquorice Allsorts front-man, the Kandyman is has the appearance of Bertie Bassett after he has been bitten by a zombie, with oversized Liquorice Allsorts making up his body and liquefied parts of these confectionaries dripping down the torso. It's no surprise that the CEO of Bassett foods was none-too-happy when he saw the more than passing resemblance between the evil, psychotic Kandyman and their product's jovial mascot. Though it was eventually decided that the Beeb hadn't infringed upon copyright, it is easy to empathise with the confectionary company as to why they were more than a little miffed at seeing something that could potentially turn consumers off their product. David John Pope manages to instil a sense of cartoonish menace into such a ridiculously wacky character, but a character that can be rendered immobile by squirting lemonade at his feat doesn't really allow for THAT many possibilities in terms of being seen as an implacable or invincible enemy. It might just be us, but there is something fundamentally amusing when you hear an immobilised Kandyman frantically calling for help from his assistance "Gilbert! GILBERT!". The Kandyman's ultimate fate is handled fairly poorly, but there are still a few great lines at his expense when confronted by The Doctor on a couple of occasions, especially the last thing that is said when they part company for the final time - we defy you not to laugh.
What's interesting in this story is the decision to have the TARDIS painted pink; when Sylvester McCoy was announced as The Doctor, many newspaper hacks were immediately critical of him - we remember an article in the Daily Mirror, which head the headline "Doc's Too Diddy To Duff-Up Daleks", which went on to unsportingly describe Sylv as a "pint-sized pratt" and said he would be too busy "munching on muesli and wondering what colour of pink to paint the TARDIS" - perhaps doing just that was a way of the production sticking two fingers up at the Mirror.
Speaking of pink, there is a surprising gay subtext in The Happiness Patrol; Silas P (Jonathan Burn) is an undercover agent who targets possible glum subversives and tells them that there is somewhere they could go to be miserable - when they accept, he reveals his true identity and kills them. This form of entrapment was fairly common in the dark days before homosexuality was legalised in Britain and whilst including such a thing here was a couple of decades too late as far as striking a blow for homosexuality was concerned, it still makes for a fairly chilling method of a police force weeding out those considered undesirable. Adding to this, pink triangles are on display, not to mention Joseph C ultimately deciding that he's had enough of his wife, dumping Helen A to go off with another guy.
Sylvester McCoy was, by this point, in full swing as far as being able to portray his Doctor how he originally envisioned; the Seventh Doctor was cunning, occasionally brooding and always thinking several moves ahead in the galactic game of chess that was playing out in his head. One of the best and most dramatically intense scenes in Sylv's Doctor Who career occurs in The Happiness Patrol - The Doctor has escaped the clutches of Helen A and sneaks up on a couple of snipers and even though one of them has a rifle pointed at him at point blank range, The Doctor manages to coldly talk him out of firing. It's a wonderful scene and is brilliantly scripted, shot and acted, especially by McCoy - it should have been played to anyone who has ever accused Slyv of being too lightweight to play The Doctor. At one point, McCoy find himself in front of a microphone singing As Time Goes By, which is one of the quintessential depressive songs in cinema history and musical accompaniment is provided by wandering harmonica player Earl Sigma (the appropriately-named Richard D Sharp) and makes for an amusing and vaguely poignant scene.
Sophie Aldred's Ace appears to be more militant here than in any other story, hating the oppressive atmosphere of the environment that she has found herself in; being a streetwise "yoof", Ace is more tuned-in to the more ugly aspects of social exclusion and she almost immediately allies herself with the native inhabitants of the Terra Alpha, known as the Pipe People (subterranean workers who are oppressed by a ruthless female dictator - sound like the miners to us) and sets about helping them. In many ways, Ace was a blueprint for New-Who's Rose Tyler, but Ace was always more gung-ho and prepared to beat or blow things up in order to help the forces of good prevail.
Sheila Hancock is particularly good as Helen A, bringing a degree of gravitas to the role, but also bringing a not inconsiderable amount of humour to the part of a power-crazed dictator who seems sure that the genocidal policies she has implemented are for the greater good. Hancock also augments the duplicitous nature of those in power that was present in Graeme Curry's script, reminiscent of Hitler's drive for having a Master Race comprising of blond-haired, tall Aryan physical perfection when he was essentially a dark-haired short-arse. Hancock's final scene is unexpectedly touching and the actress appears to grab hold of the chance to do something poignantly dramatic which shows that Helen A - unlike Hitler - couldn't bear to lose her beloved pet as her empire crumbled around her.
There are a couple of faces from the Peter Davison era who pop up in The Happiness Patrol; the gorgeous Leslie Dunlop, who appeared in Frontios here plays Susan Q to great effect and John Normington (the voice that launched a thousand vending machine adverts), who so memorably played evil corporate bastard Morgus in The Caves of Androzani is Trevor Sigma in this story, managing to be completely different form of system-enforcer, in the shape of a pen-pushing box-ticking official. Though Normington's role in this story is relatively (Androzani) minor, the sheer class that he brings to things adds a great deal of gravitas to what could have been a fairly bland part.
During episode two, the story begins to switch into another one of those Doctor Who tales that sees The Doctor rally the lower order in a society to rise up and overthrown the oppressive ruling minority. As mentioned earlier, the Pipe People are a clever play on the miners who were subject of Thatcher's ire during the eighties and The Doctor seems to being doing his Arthur Scargill and getting them to rebel. If this was the case, Graeme Curry's decision to depict the Pipe People as not particularly intelligent subspecies might indicate that he was a member of the general public who was caught in the crossfire during the Miner's Strike.
Director Chris Clough brings some impressive moodiness to The Happiness Patrol, with plenty of shadows that conceal what lurks in the darkened corners and the underground netherworld of Terra Alpha, contrasting with the brightly-coloured areas controlled by Helen A and her Happiness Patrol. Helen A's offices are you standard eighties Doctor Who gleaming white, but in this case it seems to work in context of the story. Clough also manages some interesting high angles and some occasional use of hand-held cameras.
Opinion has always been divided on the subject of Helen A's pet, Fifi; there are those who look upon it as an annoying animatronic addition that seems to take the story even further into the realms of the ridiculous, but we see it as an interesting plot device showing Helen A to have more love for her pet that most (if not all) of the population of Terra Alpha. Helen A allows Fifi to hunt the subterranean Pipe People and the photo album full of pictures of her and Fifi just show how little genuine affection she has for her husband; the departure of her hubbie in a geographical and nuptial sense, along with Fifi's departure in a mortal sense leave Helen A a broken woman and finally able to feel the negative emotions that she had so ruthlessly rallied against during her time as ruler.
The switchover to inferior videotape that occurred toward the end of the Davison era meant that the resulting image was softer and less detailed. As with all of the Sylvester McCoy era, the original one-inch masters were all archived properly and, as such, means that you are getting the best possible image that the format allows.
The Happiness Patrol looks fine, with a level of detail not seen since the original broadcast back in 1988. The colours are as fine as the videotape will allow - whilst not being as vivid and well-defined as anything recorded on the old Quad tapes, it still doesn't look bad on DVD.
No problems here - the Dolby Digital 2.0 soundtrack serves Dominic Glynn's score very well and there are no issues with the dialogue or sound effects.
Audio Commentary: Once again, Toby Hadoke is your genial moderator for this commentary track, which features actor Sophie Aldred, writer Graeme Curry, script editor Andrew Cartmel, composer Dominic Glynn and director Chris Clough all giving their thoughts on this most controversial of stories. With so many distinguished actors in this story, it's a pity that one person who appeared in front of the lens has participated in this commentary, but Sylvester McCoy is a busy man and has recently made a Hobbit of not being available for DVD-related extras due to work commitments.
Anyway, this is a fairly lively track with Mr Hadoke always more than happy (appropriately enough) to step in an pep things up when the pace shows signs of flagging; Cartmel is on good form here, making some interesting points about his infamous appearance on Newsnight a while back, stating that at the time of the production of The Happiness Patrol, Doctor Who had no real influence within the BBC because the show was regarded by the BBC as "a pariah" and "the lowest of the low", so it was not seen as trying to covertly push a socialist agenda, but Cartmel admits that he egged on writer Graeme Curry to rip the piss out of Thatcher.
Director Chris Clough addresses some of the issues that he had with the shoot, but these were mainly budgetary, rather than anything to do with the story, including the usual suspects of not having enough time, not having big enough sets and also - not a usual occurrence in Doctor Who - having motorised vehicles that were so underpowered that they could only allow The Doctor and Ace to have a slow getaway.
Contributors come and go between episodes and although Dominic Glynn only sticks around for the first episode, he speaks warmly of his own contribution to this story and how the music added an atmosphere to the thing. There is much love for the design of The Kandyman, with writer Graeme Curry admitting that he has grown to love the design, which was a complete departure from what he originally envisioned; Sophie Aldred reveals that her son also loves The Kandyman.
Happiness Will Prevail: This is a 23 minute look at the making of this much-maligned Doctor Who story and features several members of the cast and crew, who all reflect upon what was - at the time - considered one of the worst stories of the McCoy era. Andrew Cartmel comes across as genial and tells how writer Graeme Curry fired off numerous pitches for story ideas until in desperation, he hit upon the concept of a planet where it is illegal to be unhappy. Cartmel also spins and amusing tale of his reaction to seeing The Kandyman for the first time ( "we are so gonna get sued!"). It's great to see The Kandyman unmasked as we are treated to an interview with actor David John Pope, who recalls how he got the gig and also goes into detail about how painful his elaborate costume was.
Though there are depressingly few members of the cast interviewed (we know that it's standard policy for every living participant to be chased-up, and it would seem that those who don't appear either declined because they didn't want to talk about it, or because they had work commitments or quite possibly they were asking for too much money) and it's a pity not have see Sylv, Leslie Dunlop or Sheila Hancock, but those who are interviewed, along with the members of the crew, make up for those who don't appear. This documentary finishes with some cute moments with the cast all messing around on-camera and there are some very sweet pieces with Sophie Aldred and Sylvester McCoy.
When Worlds Collide: This is a pretty hefty 45 minutes documentary that looks at the numerous times when the fictitious world of Doctor Who intertwined with the very real world of politics. Presented by broadcaster Shaun Ley, things get off to an amusing start when the chimes of Big Ben are used to punctuate some of the subjects in a manner awfully similar to News at Ten and cutting to the famous (reversed) shot of the wing of an alien ship obliterating it from Aliens of London.
Politics quite frequently found it's way into Britain's longest-running sci-fi show - from the tried-and-trusted "actors-dressed-in-garish-alien-outfits-and-make-up-passionately-shouting-bollocks-at-each-other-across-tables" as seen in stories such as Revenge of the Cybermen, to the endless fountain of sly wit that is The Sun Makers, Doctor Who has not shied away from dipping it's toes into the polluted waters of politics.
There are interviews a-plenty and a plethora of clips to illustrate and underline the various times when Doctor Who took jabs at governments both at home and abroad. From the dangerous advice given by William Hartnell's Doctor about overthrowing the establishment when it doesn't suit the populace in An Unearthly Child, to the increasingly fascist actions of Harriet Jones in New-Who, few - if any - of the satirical swipes are passed over.
Contributions come from Doctor Who luminaries like Andrew Cartmel, Terence Dicks, the late Barry Letts and New-Who writer Gareth Roberts, amongst others. Whilst watching the various clips of Doctor Who continually regenerating into various forms of political animal over the years, you get the impression that the Pertwee era saw The Doctor (and the production team) at his most politically subversive; whether it was showing the ghastliness of colonialism, tackling the evils of corporate greed and pollution or just belittling bureaucratic pen-pushers the socio-political climate of Third Doctor's era really gave the writers plenty of material to sink their teeth into.
If the Letts and Dicks tenure of the seventies allowed Doctor Who to display subtle political commentary, the Andrew Cartmel period in the eighties was anything but, having all the subtlety of the sharp end of a claw-hammer to the temple; representing the overt shift in sensibilities as far as thumbing one's nose (or even flipping the bird) at the establishment, the political and social references toward the end of Thatcher's 'reign of terror' (ahem) were far more "in your face" than had previously been seen, but were still effective in their own way (apart from the confrontation with the yobbos in Silver Nemesis, which is rightly skewered in this documentary) - the moments when Ace encounters racism and prejudice were particularly affecting, and rightfully so for the time.
This documentary is a joy, being both entertaining and informative, with the 45 minute running time just flying by, so much so that you really wish that more time could have been spent on such a fascinating area of Doctor Who.
Isolated score: Dominic Glynn's eclectic music score for The Happiness Patrol is presented without dialogue or sound effects for your aural indulgence. Glynn's mixture of grand "space-opera" themes and melancholic bluesy tunes make for an entertaining experience and it's great that fans have the chance to watch the story and appreciate Mr Glynn's sterling efforts.
Deleted/extended scenes: For your viewing pleasure, a remarkable 23 minutes of additional footage has been included, which is almost the length of an episode of Doctor Who. Some of the running time is taken up by including pieces that were broadcast (shown here in black and white) to help put the additional material into context, but there is still a hefty amount of stuff here, including some great material from episode one that helps to flesh out John Normington's role of Trevor Sigma and clarifies who is he is and what he is doing on Terra Alpha. As well as helping to boost the significance of John Normington, the additional scenes also help expand the character of Leslie Dunlop's Susan Q and helps to make her a wee bit more sympathetic than in the broadcast version - we have long had a liking for Ms Dunlop (we have a soft spot for The Monster Club), so any extra material with her is fine by us.
There are also additional entrances and exits that were trimmed to make the story pacier, along with some wise deletions, such as the stupification of Earl Sigma at the hands of the Kandyman that seems to conform to Terence Dicks' "up hills and down dales" theory of unnecessary story padding.
There are some interesting behind-the-scenes glimpses here, including a blatant look at the operators of the Fifi puppet, shots of the fruit-machine without the opticals overlaid upon it and a look at the Kandyman's lair without the digital ceiling extensions. You also hear brief snatches of the Kandyman minus the digital manipulation, which all adds to the fun.
It's a pity that some good material with Sheila Hancock also didn't make it into the finished story, as there is a great scene where Helen A and Daisy K about the specifics of the term "disappeared", which, apart from being well-acted, also seems to explicitly reference the lethal aspect in which the term can be applied.
What is interesting is that the original cliffhanger of episode two is included that actually seems to play better than the one they went with; all it really consists of is an additional shot of Sophie Aldred that clearly shows Ace as she is being marched off to almost certain death - this works better than merely ending the episode on a poster with her face upon it.
The quality of the deleted material is great (we can't be sure if it's from the original tapes or a dub from them) and an extended version of The Happiness Patrol could have been possible, but as with many deleted scenes from film and television, just because the material is available to make an extended version doesn't necessarily mean that you should - a couple of scenes aside, they pretty much got it right in the final edit.
Information Subtitles: Once again, Doctor Who fans are presented with an exhaustive barrage of facts, figures and statistics relating to this particular story. The Info-Text for The Happiness Patrol is most handy when it explains about deleted and extended scenes, explaining where they were supposed to be, why they were deleted or truncated and what methods they used to cover potential continuity problems and/or plot-holes.
The Info-Text also helps to flesh out the influences on the story, including presenting some of the Thatcher-related moments and puts them in context, explaining to younger fans who either weren't old enough to remember or simply weren't born during those dark days of selfishness and hedonistic greed.
Photo Gallery: This five minute run through the still images that were taken for The Happiness Patrol. Whilst watching the story, we secretly hoped that some of the images seen of Helen A and Fifi briefly glimpsed in the scrapbook would be included in the photo gallery, and we are pleased to report that they are the first things that feature, and very amusing they are too. The clarity of the images allows the viewer to experience the original intention of the production design in that everything on Terra Alpha was formerly grand, but is now crumbling and that includes the make-up of the Happiness Patrol and Helen A; Sheila Hancock's pancake slap is most certainly cracked and worn, which doesn't come across too strongly in the show due to the medium upon which it was captured. There are also other nice shots of the sets, of The Kandyman and the Pipe People, amongst many others, all set to appropriate sound effects and Dominic Glynn's music.
Coming Soon Trailer: The final Dalek story to be released on DVD is almost here! Jon Pertwee's Death to the Daleks is coming and this cool trailer is the perfect way to announce its imminent arrival.
PDF Material: The individual listings for episodes of The Happiness Patrol are presented here, as per usual and they're always a welcome addition to any DVD release. For episode three, the somewhat bizarre confrontational come-on reads "the blues versus muzak" - who could fail to have their curiosity peaked over that one?
Though intended as a satire, The Happiness Patrol came at a time in Doctor Who's life when it didn't need something that could be easily seen as silly and frivolous; the show was fighting for it's life and many mistook the clever social commentary as silliness and just saw it as further evidence that Doctor Who was going even further down the toilet.
When viewed from a more mature perspective, The Happiness Patrol speaks to an adult audience about the horrors of oppressive regimes and the duplicitous nature of corrupt governments. It was a story that we hated when it was originally broadcast - the show seemed to be getting a kick-in from all and sundry so we were desperate for Doctor Who to do something serious that could restore public faith - but watching it now, we can see just how clever The Happiness Patrol is, being not only a biting satire of dictatorships but also of Margaret Thatcher's tenure as Britain's Prime Minister (same thing, some might say) and the casting of Sheila Hancock is quite possibly the rare examples of producer John Nathan-Turner's stunt-casting working wonderfully well.
Be sure to give The Happiness Patrol another go - we think you will be pleasantly surprised...
Review by Wilson Bros
General viewing, but some scenes may be unsuitable for young children
Disc Details
Release Date: 7th May 2012
Discs: 1
Disc Type: Single side, dual layer
RCE: No
Video: PAL
Aspect: 1.33:1
Anamorphic: No
Colour: Yes
Audio: Dolby Digital 2.0 English
Subtitles: English
Extras: Audio Commentary, Happiness Will Prevail, When Worlds Collide, "Ace" wishes Blue Peter Happy Birthday, Deleted/Extended Scenes, Isolated Score, Information Subtitles, Photo Gallery, Coming Soon Trailer, PDF Material
Easter Egg: No
Feature Details
Director: Chris Clough
Cast: Sylvester McCoy, Sophie Aldred, Sheila Hancock
Genre: Sci-Fi
Length: 74 minutes
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23 killed in feud between families in south Egypt
LUXOR, Egypt (AP) — A bloody feud in southern Egypt between an Arab clan and a Nubian family killed at least 23 people in two days of fighting, leaving bodies strewn on hospital floors and homes torched in its wake, government officials and witnesses said Saturday.
An Interior Ministry statement said the fighting in Aswan province erupted over the harassment of a girl and students from the two sides later spray offensive graffiti at local school. Vendetta killings are common in southern Egypt, where perceived violations of honor often spark violence, but this violence apparently raged while security forces did nothing to stop it.
Nubian students' graffiti accused members of the Arab Haleyla clan of working for the former governments of ousted President Hosni Mubarak and overthrown Islamist President Mohammed Morsi, witnesses said. They said offensive graffiti sprayed earlier this week on the school wall accused the Nubians of backing the military after a community delegation met former military chief Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi. El-Sissi, who led the military overthrow of Morsi, is now running for president.
A security official also said tensions come from accusations that some Arab Heleyla members take part in an arm and drugs smuggling ring. Aswan is a way station for a smuggling ring from Sudan. The official spoke on condition of anonymity as he wasn't authorized to speak to journalists.
A Nubian resident who asked not to use his name for fear of retribution said he locked himself and his family inside their house, fearing revenge attacks. He said two members of his family were killed in the fighting.
"There is terror now in the area," he said. "At the outset, we'd call the police and they tell us, 'You work it out.'"
Authorities said more than a dozen schools in the area of the infighting will be closed indefinitely until calm is restored.
Footage from the area on social media that appeared consistent with Associated Press reporting showed school children pelting a rival group, despite the presence of an armored police vehicle before the bloodshed.
Adel Abu Bakr, a Nubian resident of Aswan, said members of the Arab Haleyla first beat a Nubian and then shot dead three Nubians on Friday, including a woman. Another Nubian was killed later that night, he said. Following their funerals, hundreds of Nubians attacked the Arab neighborhood, killing over a dozen people using mostly sticks and daggers, he said.
Health official Mohammed Azmi told private television station CBC that 23 people were killed and 12 are in critical condition. A local government statement said 31 were injured. Abu Bakr said a local Nubian community center was set on fire, and other witnesses said seven homes were torched. Ambulances failed to reach the neighborhood were the two clans live, leaving bodies strewn everywhere.
The Interior Ministry said police officers attempted to negotiate a truce late Friday and arrested three people, but fighting resumed Saturday.
Later Saturday, Prime Minister Ibrahim Mahlab and the interior minister traveled to Aswan to mediate.
Abu Bakr said the police failed to stem the violence and called for the army to intervene.
"The (police) presence would have changed the nature of this fight," he said.
A joint statement from the two clans accused "invisible hands" of igniting the feud. In a Facebook post, military spokesman Col. Ahmed Mohammed Ali blamed members of Morsi's outlawed Muslim Brotherhood group of trying to ignite the fighting. He did not offer evidence to support the claim. Egypt's military-backed interim government routinely blames the group for violence.
Associated Press writer Sarah El Deeb in Cairo contributed to this report.


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Leading the way for the girl's team was junior Mercedes James. James finished second overall out of a field of 39 runners, with a time of 21:12. Junior Jessica Stucki finished in 13th place with a time of 24:18; sophomore Zhanna Rice finished 14th with a time of 24:59; junior Alena Geiser finished 16th with a time of 25:11; and senior Mary Rice finished 23rd with a time of 26:06.
Also competing for the Lady Red Devils were freshman Annie Heywood who crossed the finish line with a time of 27:23; junior Sierra Indergard with a time of 27:48 and sophomore Marisol Pesce with a time of 28:13.
"The course in Richfield is a very challenging course for our runners with many difficult hills to run up and down in the heat with the sun beating down on them," coach Randy Martin said. "However, it was a great experience running this course early in the season as we will be running it again in October as Richfield hosts the region meet."
Martin said the team will be running hills every week to prepare for running that course again at the region meet.
On the boy's side, junior Treyton Helquist finished fifth overall out of a field of 75 runners, with a time of 17:46. Finishing right behind Helquist, in sixth place, junior Jackson Knowles logged a time of 17:49. Junior Joseph Andrew finished 11th with a time of 18:49.
Junior Adam Jenkinson finished 29th with a time of 20:12; junior Skyler Johnson finished 38th with a time of 21:07; freshman Samuel Hansen finished 41st with a time of 21:19; and junior Brendon Henderson finished 51st with a time of 21:48.
"Our top seven boy runners all ran very good races," coach Martin said. "Almost all of the boys either matched or improved their times from last weeks meet in Salt Lake City which at this early part of the season is exactly what we are looking for. In particular, we saw solid improvement in the times for Jackson, Joseph and Brendon from last week to this week."
Also competing for the Red Devils were junior Liam Kelley with a time of 22:14; junior Jeremy McDougall with a time of 24:01; freshman Cody Jones with at time of 24:07; junior Reyce Knutson with a time of 25:46; and sophomore Mikeal Ford with a time of 25:48.
"Our runners are all working very hard every day in practice running miles and miles," Martin said. "It is good to see their hard work paying off with improved individual times and great team results."
The Red Devils next meet is the BYU Autumn Classic held on the campus of Brigham Young University in Provo on Saturday Sept. 15.


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Print and cut out this cute pirate puzzle. Print on plain paper or printable magnetic page. Easy, nine piece puzzler is an easy starter puzzle. Free printable.
Items needed:
- Scissors
- Print design on magnetic sheet.
- Cut out puzzle, following puzzle lines.
- Play with on fridge or other metal surface.
- * Option: print on heavyweight paper


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Alphabetical Listing
Information and Accuracy in Interest-Rate-Risk Simulation
by Mike Carhill
OCC Working Paper 94-7, October 1994.
Accurate interest-rate-risk modelling requires detailed information, but information is costly. By assessing the rate-sensitivity estimates from models that require differing degrees of detail, we calculate the marginal improvements in accuracy that result from marginal increments of informational detail. We limit the analysis to the instruments most commonly held by financial intermediaries.
Surprisingly, for most of those instruments, we can discriminate between model estimates with great precision. As a corollary, a high degree of model precision appears to be possible, provided that sufficiently detailed data are used. However, this precision holds only if the models' underlying assumptions are granted, and it is not easy to discriminate among alternative underlying assumptions. Therefore, model precision does not imply model accuracy.
As with all OCC Working Papers, the opinions expressed in this paper are those of the author alone, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency or the Department of the Treasury.
Any whole or partial reproduction of material in this paper should include the following citation: Carhill, Mike, "Information and Accuracy in Interest-Rate-Risk Simulation," Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, E&PA Working Paper 94-7, October 1994.
This Economics Working Paper (PDF) is available for viewing in Adobe's PDF format. The PDF viewer is available for download free from Adobe in versions for different platforms.


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Building the Carbon Temple - Part 2
Secrets of the Carbon World
Carbon is the fourth most abundant element in the universe and, due to its ability to form long polymer chains; it is the fundamental building block of organic life. Carbon's secrets revolve around its atomic number – 6 – and the hexagonal building force that underpins Nature's processes. HP Blavatsky tells us:
|"There are six Forces in Nature...and the seventh—the all-Force, or the absolute Force, which is the synthesis of all.".1
This etheric building force impresses itself on substance in manifold ways in the natural world, such as the beautiful symmetry of the snowflake and the structure of quartz, the second most abundant mineral in the earth's continental crust. The great pollinator of the flower kingdom – the bee – reveals himself as an agent of love at his own level as he builds the honeycomb – a little hexagonal structure built out of the transformed nectar from the heart of the flower. Carbon can be made particularly responsive to this six-fold force in the ethers as science is now discovering through its work with carbon nanotubes.
Carbon nanotubes are based on the hexagonal structure of graphite and have the highest strength to weight ratio of any known material, with remarkable electronic properties and many other unique characteristics. Drawing inspiration from the behaviour of proteins in making biological structures, science is imitating life and engineering structures on the smallest possible scales. Drawing inspiration from the behaviour of certain proteins that spontaneously self-assemble into complicated structures, researchers are using molecules and individual atoms as building blocks and endeavouring to achieve a "specific geometric pattern of the atoms that these proteins are composed of on the surface of the nanotube." Researcher, Gevorg Grigoryan,goes on to say, "If you know the underlying atomic lattice, it means that you know how to further build around it, how to attach things to it. It's like scaffolding for future building."2
Now that the magnetic properties of carbon have been discovered an added dimension has appeared that will affect future research and experimentation. In the words of Hendrik Ohldag, of the Stanford Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory: "With carbon, we know how to make things very small. On the other hand we know a lot about how to process and store information using magnetism. This opens up the door for future studies that will lead to improved magnetism in carbon that could one day mean that we will be able to combine the 'magnetic' and the 'carbon' world."3
All of this work with carbon is evoking the great life that manifests itself through this element with undreamt of consequences for the future. Even now, the electromagnetic waves that permeate the ethers through communication networks are having a tremendous effect on the mineral essence of the planet accelerating its evolution and making it more adaptable to future human use. As carbon is rendered magnetic at room temperature and enters the field of electronics on a vast scale this can only intensify. We are witnessing the spiritual electrification of the entire world with corresponding changes in the human organism. The key to understanding these changes lies in one of the yoga sutras of Patanjali:
|"Symmetry of form, beauty of colour, strength and the compactness of the diamond, constitute bodily perfection."
The Light of the Soul, Sutra 46 Bk III, A.A. Bailey
This sutra veils the secret of the future evolution of the human organism. It involves a new understanding of the relationship between carbon and oxygen in the physical body eventually leading to the transformation of humanity into the diamond souled kingdom. To understand this alchemy of carbon in the human organism, carbon as a symbol of "living matter" has to be explored.
Four basic elements:
Instead of the four classical elements of alchemy: earth, air, water and fire, we can use in a symbolic manner, the more modern chemical elements and ponder their deeper significance. Thus, the lower principles of man are represented by four basic elements that also form the main physical constituents of the physical body. These are
|Carbon, Hydrogen, Oxygen, Nitrogen.
Carbon forms the backbone biology for all of life on Earth, bonding with other elements, particularly Hydrogen, Oxygen and Nitrogen to form complex molecules. In The Cosmic Bloodstream we saw that Hydrogen and Oxygen are direct precipitations of the universal aether and they facilitate the desire to manifest on the physical plane. These four elements are prevalent throughout the universe, with carbon, the symbol of organic life, tantalisingly present, the substance formed and moulded over the etheric vehicle by the action of prana.
The Birth of Cosmic Desire? The "eagle" nebula, is what many astronomers refer to as a "star factory" or "stellar nursery", a region where many stars are formed. It is a mixture of gas and dust made of mainly Hydrogen, Oxygen, Carbon, and Silicon gases. The Carbon and Silicon gases are what give the object its central "dark dust column" appearance, while the Hydrogen gas gives it the red coloring and the Oxygen gas gives it the slight tint of blue.
Hydrogen: The lightest of all gases, burns in oxygen giving off the most intense heat of any substance in combustion, and forms Water, the most stable of compounds. It is related to the principle of animal desire, which burns fiercely during life in matter resulting in satiety.
Oxygen: The supporter of Hydrogen's combustion – it is the life giving gas and related to the human principle of prana, the active power behind all vital phenomena. These two precipitations are supported by the work of:
Nitrogen: An inert gas; the vehicle with which Oxygen is mixed to adapt the latter for animal respiration. It is related to the etheric vehicle – the inert subtle body on which the physical body is moulded.
Carbon: "The fuel par excellence"; the basis of all organic substances. It is related to the gross matter of the body, the substance formed and moulded over the etheric vehicle by the action of prana.
|– related to the Astral body
|– related to the life principle, Prana
|– related to the Etheric body
|– related to the Physical body
Four Basic Elements, References: The Mysteries of the Hebdomad, The Secret Doctrine, vol II p. 593. H.P Blavatsky
Carbon forms compounds with Hydrogen, Oxygen and Nitrogen, to provide on the physical plane, a body that reflects the vehicle of desire on the astral plane. Inversely, as a human being transcends the emotional nature and purifies the astral vehicle, the relationship between carbon and oxygen in the physical body is similarly transformed. Astral man becomes Spiritual man, no longer a product of uncontrolled emotional combustion. On the physical plane, this is reflected by a reduced need for oxygen in the respiration process of the physical organism, and a transformation of its carbon content. This will be addressed in Part 3.
1 Classification of "Principles", Collected Writings vol VII, H.P. Blavatsky
2 Penn Researchers Help Nanoscale Engineers Choose Self-Assembling Proteins, Penn News http://www.upenn.edu/pennnews/news/penn-researchers-help-nanoscale-engineers-choose-self-assembling-proteins
3 Carbon joins the Magnetic Clubhttp://www.physorg.com/news98111007.htm


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A genealogy blog for researchers of the surname Reeves in all of its flavors.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
Who really are the descendants of Henry Reeves?
By 1753 when Henry's grandson George Reeves (son of Henry Reeves, Jr.) died, he named various nieces and nephews as legatees. After this 1753 will, there are few probate records for this family to aide in clearly identifying future generations. Four sons of Thomas Reeves, Sr. were mentioned in George's will, Henry, George, Thomas Jr. and John. Of those four, further records can only be found of Thomas, Jr. and John.
George Reeves of Grayson County, Virginia is noted in numerous family trees and websites as being the son of Thomas Reeves of Spotsylvania County, son of Henry Reeves, Jr. Since the DNA of several descendants of George Reeves is a match to members of my own Reeves' family, I have been searching for some documentation to either prove or disprove these assertions. Three descendants of George Reeves have been placed in Group 6 of the Reeves' DNA Project along with three descendants of William Reeves of Wake County, North Carolina.
Conversely, a participant in DNA Group 9 which is a completely different lineage, has a pedigree that extends to John Reeves, born circa 1730 in Spotsylvania County, the son of Thomas Reeves, Sr. If the research in this pedigree is accurate which it appears to be, DNA Group 9 is the lineage that descends from Henry Reeves of Essex County.
The three descendants of George Reeves of Grayson County in DNA Group 6 match 34 to 36 markers out of 37 with descendants of William Reeves of Wake County, North Carolina. It is worthy of note that there was a George Reeves living in the Orange/Johnston County area (became Wake in 1771) in close proximity to William Reeves and associated with him in various deeds. Also living in this area and associated with William and George Reeves was Richard Burton, father-in-law of George.
Both Richard Burton and George Reeves sold their property in Johnston County around 1765 which coincides with their appearance in the New River area in 1767. Additionally, a Johnston County court order of July 15, 1766 records Timothy Shaw replacing George Reeves as overseer of the road which was probably the result of George Reeves' removal from the area.
When documents with signatures by George Reeves of Grayson County or his sons can be found, their surnames are written "Reves" just as William Reeves of Wake County and his sons. This was not the case in the Henry Reeves family.
John Reeves of the Group 9 lineage was named as a legatee in the 1753 will of his uncle George Reeves in Spotsylvania County, Virginia. He is recorded in the land records of Augusta County along with his brother, Thomas Reeves, Jr. from the 1760's to the 1780's. After the formation of Rockingham County, he is on the tax lists there in 1792 and his death in 1799 was recorded in Augusta County.
Although George Reeves also named a nephew George, son of his brother Thomas Reeves, in his will, nothing can be found to support a conclusion that George Reeves of Grayson County is that person. From the available extant records and the results of DNA testing, George Reeves of Grayson County is of another Reeves' lineage, not that of Henry Reeves of Essex County.
Posts in this Blog with the latest research and information concerning the family of Henry Reeves of Essex, Virginia
Essex County's Henry Reeves Family
Thomas Reeves of Woodford County, Kentucky
Up to date listing of the descendants of Henry Reeves, Sr.
2 comments:
I would like to add group #14 to the list of possible true descendants of Henry Reeves of Essex County VA. The two members of group 14 both descend from George Reeves Jr of Grayson County. One of the group 14 members descends through George Reeves, Jr. son, Rev Enoch Reeves. The other member descends from a Reeves branch that descended through Nebraska.ReplyDelete
Any thoughts on how these lines relate would be appreciated. George Reeves, Jr. and his descendants have the additional mystery of the murder of George by William Toliver in 1811.Replies
I'm aware of DNA Group 14 and the fact that their DNA doesn't match that of the other descendants of George Reeves of Grayson County. I can't think of any reasonable explanation other than possibly an adoption. Of the other three participants descending from George Reeves in the Reeves DNA Project, two descend from Jesse and one from John.
These two individuals also don't match Group 9 where a participant has a valid paper trail to Thomas Reeves of Spotsylvania and a descendant of Henry Reeves of Essex.
To make the whole matter even more mystifying, I can't see how George Reeves of Nebraska could be the son of George Reeves, Jr. There may be something I'm not aware of, but the George T. Reeves, born about 1811 who remained in Ashe County is believed to be the son of George, Jr. He was also 10-15 years younger than the George Reeves who married Elizabeth Doughton and migrated to Nebraska. I was convinced that George Reeves of Nebraska was the son of Jesse Reeves and his first wife Elizabeth Terrell who would have been of the right age and left the Grayson/Ashe area sometime in the 1830's. If he was the son of Jesse, then the DNA issue is even more puzzling.
Are you one of these participants? I am curious as to whether their DNA matches any other surname groups.
Thanks for your comments.


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Dietary Supplement Research: Contradictions, Bias, Misinterpretation and Confusion
By G. Douglas Andersen, DC, DACBSP, CCN
I do not care what the truth is, one way or another; I just want to know it. And when it comes to dietary supplements, the truth can be hard to find for a number of reasons. When a recent headline stated that multivitamins are a waste of money,1 it prompted today's analysis on interpretation and comprehension of dietary supplement research.
This is the biggest problem for the public because so many headlines from large studies seem to routinely conflict. For example, consider two of the best-selling supplements, calcium and omega-3 fatty acids. In February 2013, a large Swedish study reported that women who took calcium supplements doubled their chances for heart attack and had a higher mortality rate than women who did not take calcium.2 In May 2013, a Canadian study found that calcium supplements up to 1,000 mg a day lowered mortality rates.3
In April 2013, seniors with the highest blood levels of omega-3s had the lowest death rates, according to a study in Annals of Internal Medicine;4 while in July, the Journal of the National Cancer Institute reported that men with the highest blood omega-3 levels had the highest rates of aggressive prostate cancer.5
Outright Bias
Alternative medicine tends to embrace positive studies and is skeptical of negative studies. Mainstream medicine takes the opposite approach, or as I like to say, "One side is quick to praise and the other side is quick to condemn." Many times the bias is related to secondary-gain issues, because both positive studies and negative studies affect where consumers spend their money. In any event, when groups overemphasize, overgeneralize and/or spin by omission, the result hurts everyone.
Most of our nutrition news comes from sound bites which, in general, come from press releases and/or abstracts. Anyone who reads scientific papers knows abstracts do not always tell the whole story. Press releases can be even more misleading. In fact, most of the public and many professionals get supplement news from a summarized summary, which makes the odds of misinterpretation higher than anybody would like. And that's before the information is manipulated by advertisers to sell products.
It's pretty obvious that the headlines can be confusing for health care professionals, let alone our patients. The good news is that bias, misinterpretation and confusion can decline substantially when we read the entire study from the original authors. Just knowing how the study was conducted and all of the results allows a person to evaluate both the reporting and the response to what we hear from the media
Unfortunately, few have the time to evaluate the source of whatever conclusion makes headlines. In turn, many people make the mistake of taking – or not taking – something based on group percentages, rather than determining if their individual intake is adequate.
What I Tell My Patients
Dietary supplements provide what an individual's diet lacks. It's like putting air in your tires: the lower the tire pressure is, the more air your tire needs and the more you feel the difference when the "air deficiency" is treated. But once you have enough air, more is not better.
Unfortunately, most people take dietary supplements based on either media reports or what a friend or acquaintance tells them. Using the tire analogy, they put air in their tires without reading the gauge to see if they're low or re-reading the gauge to see when they have enough. So, when a news report of a large study states, "Most people do not have enough air in their tires," it does not mean your tires need air. For that information, you must check your own tires.
What I Tell Health Professionals
Finally, with respect to the studies I used as examples, taking calcium supplements when diet provides more than enough calcium (i.e., more is not needed) is unwise and can be harmful.2 Many misinterpreted this to mean "calcium pills will cause heart attacks," rather than "taking high supplemental doses with zero need for any supplemental calcium can be unhealthy." On the flip side, getting enough (but not too much) calcium is healthy.3
In the two omega-3 studies, which, at the times they were released, were used to either support4 or oppose5 the use of fish oil pills, neither study actually was on omega-3 supplements. In both cases, blood levels of omega-3 fatty acids were measured and conclusions were made on those values. Those who took the time to read the research discovered that the study which concluded fish oil supplements could lead to prostate cancer got its data from a vitamin E and selenium study.5
As for the "multivitamins are a waste of money" commentary,1 we will take a closer look at the validity of that statement in the future. In the meantime, taking any dietary supplement that isn't needed doesn't make sense – nor does it make sense for an individual to start or stop any dietary supplement based on advice from a person unfamiliar with their diet.
Click here for more information about G. Douglas Andersen, DC, DACBSP, CCN.


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Friday, December 10, 2010
A Glimpse of the Future (I Hope)
Working with uniform manufacturer Nike, the Oregon State Beavers wanted to create a 1960s-style throwback uniform for the latest installment of their traditional "Civil War" game with the Oregon Ducks. This presented a common problem: reconciling the classic uniform style of distinctive sleeve stripes with modern jersey cuts which no longer have sleeves. This is a problem the Packers have faced for years. The previous solution (also created by Nike) was to reduce the number of stripes to something more likely to fit. This time, Nike's designers came up with an inspired solution (if such a description is not too immodest, as I have been advocating the exact same move for years), they moved the stripes off the jersey itself and on to the compression shirts worn under those jerseys.
The end result was pretty solid. And it's one that the Packers should seriously consider when Nike takes over the NFL uniform manufacturing contract in 2012.
It's easy to imagine these jerseys in a particular shade of green and gold.
I'm aware that the reduction in sleeves has come at the request of players, particularly linemen, who feel that every square inch of fabric gives an opponent more opportunity to grab a handful of jersey. That's why I like this solution - not only does it address the æsthetics but also the performance aspects. Fabric worn tight against the skin is hard to hold onto. To the extent any jersey prohibits such holds, the compression shirt model does.
There can be long-sleeve versions and short-sleeve versions for players, ensuring that in warmer weather players could still show their stripes, and in colder weather players would be assured that opposing players couldn't get a grip on their sleeves.
There's an added off-field benefit - the Packers could do a brisk business selling compression shirts to fans, either for wearing under their jerseys or by themselves.
So there you have it. There is a performance benefit, a commercial benefit, and an æsthetic benefit. A win/win/win.
Okay, Mr. Murphy. The ball is in your court - time to bring the Packers' jerseys back to their original form by embracing a bold step forward.
2 comments:
Excellent post! These unis look awesome - love the stripes on the compression shirt sleeves. The matte finish on the helmets looks great, too.
I would probably buy a compression shirt like this in Packers colors (current or retro) for cycling. Hopefully the Packers will head in this direction in the near future.
- December 12, 2010 at 9:43 AM
That was a fantastic looking "Civil War" game, possibly the best looking game played all year with the hyper-modern astronaut Ducks and the absolutely wonderful Beaver uniforms. I really think it's due time to start copying USC-UCLA (also usually the best-looking game) and have teams in NFL and NCAAF to start wearing home and home uniforms. Have some sort of basic color test to avoid say Red vs. Red, but can you imagine home and home with Bears-Packers or ultimately Ohio State Scarlet/Silver vs. Michigan Blue/Maize, that would be nice!
- December 28, 2010 at 11:58 AM


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I first saw this guitar and drums duo last month, in their home town of Asheville, N.C. during Moogfest. The festival is often thought of as just an electronic music festival and it does skew in that direction, but it primarily celebrates the creative souls in music and in doing so honors the spirit of electronic music pioneer Robert Moog. The sonic palette of guitarist Shane Perlowin and drummer Ryan Oslance certainly fits that description. I also hear these influences as I listen to Ahleuchatistas: the guitar inventions of Robert Fripp and even progressive rockers Gentle Giant, but also sounds that span the globe with styles that can feel North African or Asian.
Heads Full of Poison, Ahleuchatistas' new album, is a fabulous sonic journey honed from nearly 100 live performances into studio recordings that were made over a few years. The group has made seven albums in the last 10 years, but embarrassingly for me, this is my first encounter with Ahleuchatistas' music. I think I have some listening to do. The video here, for the tune "Lighted Stairs," may be your introduction to Ahleuchatistas. Director Courtney Chappell wrote to us about the choice of military footage to accompany this song:
The imagery is comprised of still photographs culled from antiquated special-interest military publications. Photographs that are intended to display the glory and athleticism of military air power are spliced into a sequential narrative and animated by hand. The aircraft are a stand-in for the human body. The shaky footage dramatizes agitation and apprehension, undesirable qualities for effective military conquests. The frantic quality of the video alludes to our somatic responses to the threat of violence and trauma, repressed realities in the selling of modern warfare through media. As aerial combat is increasingly waged from remote locations, the boundaries between two dimensional images and real acts of violence become blurred. By reanimating war instruments from a bygone era and setting their trepidatious activities to music, I hope to exhibit a human response to traumatic events.
Ahleuchatistas' Heads Full Of Poison is out now on Cuneiform and Harvest Records.


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Katy Perry..a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador!
- 1 Post
Katy Perry is the new face of UNICEF and rightly so. The woman is magnificent. You can just look at Katy and almost see the woman has a deep spirit, caring heart, beautiful mind, body of a goddess, and a heavenly soul.
This actually reminds me of a star who also cared this much throughout his career and constantly invested his time, money, and emotion into 3rd world countries and charities his whole life. He even incorporated it into his music. Every where he went, this man was loved by everyone. He shined like a star, aka Michael Jackson. For the legend he is, it's rare for a AAA star (aka top-list celebrity) to have this much devotion. It's good to see people, especially celebrities, constantly trying to breech/break the barrier and help people who are unfortunate and pretty much can't help themselves. It brings flutters to my heart, really does:):):). Still, no matter what the social environment can be' I adhere/adore this and can't help but feel emotionally happy and warm about Katy being the ambassador for this campaign its amazing! mj forever


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posted by Thom Holwerda on Mon 18th Jun 2007 21:54 UTC, submitted by ericvh
A team comprised of members from Bell-Labs, IBM Research, Sandia National Labs, and Vita Nuova has completed a port of Plan 9 to the Blue Gene supercomputer. Plan 9 kernels are running on both the compute nodes and the I/O nodes and the Ethernet, Torus, Collective Network, Barrier Network, and Management network are all supported. Screenshots are available on the development blog, and a live-demo will be attempted during the USENIX poster session.


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WHAT: A cocktail event benefitting Toys for Tots. The Toys for Tots Foundation's primary goal is to deliver, through a new toy at Christmas, a message of hope to less fortunate youngsters that will assist them in becoming responsible, productive, patriotic citizens. The mission of the U. S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program is to collect new, unwrapped toys during October, November and December each year, and distribute those toys as Christmas gifts to less fortunate children in the community in which the campaign is conducted. Help support the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation this holiday season by bringing hope and joy to children
WHO: Tiffany Hines (90210), Tristan Wilds (90210), Rory Cochran (Argo), John Francis Daley (Bones), Jill Marie Jones (Girlfriends), Kyle Massey (That's So Raven), Judi Sheckoni (Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2), Quinton Aaron (The Blindside), Johnny Pacar (Make it or Break it), Danny Booko (21 and Over), Chelsea Ricketts (The Secret life of the American Teenager), Angell Conwell (The Young and the Restless), Ben Bledsoe (Riddle), Joel Rush, Cottrell Guidry (Model), Chyna Layne (Precious), Ryan Rottman (The Lying Game), Sharon Pierre-Louis (The Lying Game) and more!
WHERE: Lexington Social House, 1718 Vine St. Hollywood, CA 90028
WHEN: December 14, 2012 -- Red Carpet: 7-8:30PM,


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Sep 12, 2006
Sept. 12, 2006
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - Sophomore Jake Ruzevick was named NEWMAC Runner of the Week after pacing the men's cross country team to a dominating victory at the Engineers Cup, held at famed Franklin Park last Saturday.
MIT opened the 2006 season with its 10th consecutive victory at the annual Engineers Cup featuring WPI and RPI. Ruzevick led an impressive 1-2-3-4 finish for the Cardinal and Gray, breaking the tape with a clip of 26:30 en route to his first individual victory in the collegiate ranks. MIT won the Cup with a score of 17 points.


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custom made displayfor every activity at the point of sale a custom made display is required. display should reflect brand values through colors, shape and design. ready made solutionsthe high demand for simple and fast solutions led many companies around the world to develop ready-made units that could be either used as is, or slightly customized with a logo or a specific message.
customizable signs and displays for kent and viceroy


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AN ACT relating to medical malpractice insurance and making an appropriation therefor.
Amend KRS 304.13-051 to require the filing of medical malpractice insurance rates; permit any person to send comments to the department of insurance on medical malpractice insurance filings; allow a person who pays premiums for medical malpractice insurance to the insurer that made the filing to request the commissioner to hold a public hearing on the filing; authorize the commissioner to hold a hearing on medical malpractice insurance rate filings; create new sections of Subtitle 40 of KRS Chapter 304 to create the Kentucky medical liability mutual insurance authority to provide medical malpractice insurance to physicians and other health care providers as determined by the board; provide that the authority is a nonprofit, independent, self-supporting de jure municipal corporation and political subdivision of the Commonwealth; provide for a board of directors which shall function in a manner similar to the governing body of a mutual insurance company; direct the board to hire a manager who shall have proven successful experience for a period of at least five (5) years as an executive at the general management level in insurance operations or in the management of a state fund for medical malpractice; establish powers and duties of the manager; provide that the authority shall provide medical malpractice insurance to any licensed physician, and other health care provider as determined by the board, who pays the premium and complies with any other qualifications and conditions adopted by the authority; require the authority to provide coverage to any physician, and other health care provider as determined by the board, who is unable to secure coverage in the voluntary market unless the health care provider owes undisputed premiums to a previous medical malpractice carrier or to a medical malpractice residual market mechanism; direct the authority to establish separate rating plans, rates and underwriting standards for different classes of risks; require rates to be based only on Kentucky experience; authorize the board to declare an annual dividend and distribute it in the form of premium discounts, dividends, or a combination of discounts and dividends if certain conditions are met; require a quarterly report of assets and liabilities to be provided to the board, the Governor, and the Legislative Research Commission; require the board to file an annual report indicating the business done in the previous year and deliver the report to the Governor, commissioner of the Department of Insurance, Auditor of Public Accounts, Attorney General, and co-chairs of the Legislative Research Commission; prohibit the authority from entering into a contract for an audit unless the Auditor of Public Accounts has turned down a request to perform the audit; provide that if the assets of the authority are less than its liabilities, the board may levy an assessment on its policyholders; require the board to formulate and adopt an investment policy; require the manager to compile and maintain statistical and actuarial data; prohibit the authority from receiving any direct state general fund appropriation; provide that upon request of the board, the Governor and the Secretary of the Finance and Administration Cabinet may authorize initial funding which may include a loan from an existing state agencies not to exceed seven million dollars ($7,000,000); provide that the authority may utilize only agents duly and legally licensed and in good standing with the provisions of this chapter; exempt board members, the manager, and any employee from being held personally liable for acts taken in official capacity; require the board, manager, and employees to comply with the Executive Branch code of ethics; prohibit the authority from participating in any plan, pool, association, guarantee, or insolvency fund required by this chapter; require the board to comply with the open meetings and open records laws; direct the Attorney General and the Auditor of Public Accounts to monitor operations of the authority and authorize each to make examinations or investigations of the operations, practices, management, and other matters of the authority; require the Attorney General and the Auditor of Public Accounts to report jointly to the General Assembly in January in each year in which the General Assembly convenes in an even-numbered regular session the results of their monitoring activities; and create a new section of KRS Chapter 411 to encourage the Kentucky Supreme Court to promote mediation and arbitration of claims in a malpractice action against a health care provider.
Feb 10-introduced in House
Feb 11-to Banking and Insurance (H)
Feb 12-posted in committee
Feb 21-posting waived
Feb 26-reported favorably, 1st reading, to Calendar with Committee Substitute ; floor amendment (1) filed to Committee Substitute, floor amendments (2-title) and (3-title) filed
Feb 27-2nd reading, to Rules; posted for passage in the Regular Orders of the Day for Friday, February 28, 2003; floor amendments (4) and (5) filed to Committee Substitute
Feb 28-recommitted to Appropriations and Revenue (H); floor amendments (6) and (7) filed to Committee Substitute
Kentucky Legislature Home Page | Record Front Page


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It's a day late, but I'll tell you what I'm thankful for.
I'm thankful that I'm no longer in the hospital.
Thankful that our healthcare system, which I've criticized pretty heavily, is a marvel of medical technology and expertise.
Thankful that steps are finally being taken to make that system more efficient and accessible to everyone.
But there's clearly much work to be done. I'll get back to that.
First, let me explain why you haven't seen my column for a week or so. There will be some who will say I grabbed my cat after he slipped out of the house, and the darn thing bit my hand, causing a painful infection that penetrated deep into my tendons and ligaments.
That strikes me as kind of lame. So I'll say that I broke up a knife fight.
No matter the cause, I found myself last week in a bed at UCLA Medical Center in Santa Monica with an intravenous drip of antibiotics hooked up to my arm. The fact that I have Type 1 diabetes was a complicating factor.


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By Meg Carter, Sponsorship Communications Specialist
In 2007, the United Nations declared Feb. 20 World Day of Social Justice, formally recognizing centuries of civic- and faith-based movements aimed at improving the lives of the oppressed.
In the 1840s, the Jesuit theologian Luigi Taparelli, influenced by the 13th-century writings of Thomas Aquinas (who himself studied the philosophy of an ancient Greek named Aristotle) coined the phrase social justice.
Although the concept of social justice is not new, its impact on U.S. foreign policy and foreign aid became more prominent in the second half of the 20th century. ChildFund didn't wait for formal theories of development assistance. This fall we will celebrate 75 years of social justice in action, beginning with the aiding of war orphans in China and extending our circle of care to vulnerable children in 31 countries throughout the world.
According to the U.N., the pursuit of social justice is at the core of human development. Social justice promotes gender equality and the rights of indigenous peoples and migrants. It removes barriers of gender, age, race, ethnicity, religion, culture and disability. It eradicates poverty, promotes full employment and supports opportunity for all people, particularly when accomplished with an eye to sustainability.
ChildFund's dual focus addresses exactly those social justice concerns that have troubled philosophers for millennia. Through the one-to-one relationships between sponsors and children living in poverty, we discover our own – and each other's – human dignity. Internal motivations – the dreams that urge a child to achieve more than anyone thought possible – form one side of the success equation. External changes in the child's environment shape the other.
Sponsorship contributions provide for the fundamental health and education needs of sponsored children. And because no child succeeds alone, sponsor support also improves the conditions of entire communities. Sponsors make it possible for all children to thrive in their own cultures and contexts by identifying and removing the barriers that threaten their security – be it access to safe water, proper nutrition, sanitation, medical care or education.
Additionally, ChildFund's programs build life skills among youth and behavior change among adults. We educate children to prepare for a future as responsible adult leaders, rather than handing out short-term fixes that offer them little hope of transcending institutionalized poverty.
How will you celebrate Social Justice Day? We'd love to hear from you.


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The Wedding Car Hire Company Ltd. is a full time wedding car company with our own wedding cars.
We are a leading provider of classic wedding cars throughout West Yorkshire and specifically we have helped several brides with their wedding car hire in Adwalton.
Our cars are used exclusively for wedding car hire. (We do not do proms.)
It's our passion to provide a timely, relaxing wedding ride for the bride on her wedding day.
You will find us friendly but efficient and dependable; we recognise it's the bride's (or her mother's!) day.
Considering the style of your wedding car is an important part of your wedding day plans. It might be a classic wedding car, a traditional wedding car or even a modern wedding car, but either way it should be high on your list once you have booked
your ceremony and reception venues; it's never too soon to hire the wedding car of your dreams!
We offer a bespoke wedding car hire service & can assist you in planning your journeys and in advising you on the suitability of our wedding cars to your unique requirements.
First of all, when the wedding car has arrived in Adwalton for the departure (about 15 minutes early)
and providing the distance in not too great to the ceremony in West Yorkshire or further afield, we would transport up to three bridesmaids or other members of the family in the hired wedding car to the ceremony.
We can do more than that but be thoughtful of the fact that everyone delivered is then waiting for the bride.
The Wedding car will have the ribbon colour you have specified, be smartly turned out, as will the Chauffeur.
When everyone is safely delivered, we wait outside the ceremony as photographs of the bride and groom are generally taken at this point.
Providing the location is local, we can go elsewhere for photographs or, if you are having a reception at another location, photographs can be taken there.
If the ceremony location is the same as the reception location we still recommend a short ride in the wedding car around West Yorkshire;
it gives the bride and groom time on their own, the groom a ride in the wedding car that he has hired & the guests a few minutes to prepare for the reception. And if the roof is down on a sunny day, it shows off the bride and groom too!
On request we serve something to drink which we arrange beforehand. This can be provided by yourselves or we can provide it.
Once the photographs are taken, the wedding car will leave and that will be the end of the wedding car hire period.
We never do more than one wedding car booking in a day, so if things go wrong there is leeway to get things back on track.
We are fully insured for wedding car hire.
We recommend you view any wedding car before making your choice. There is plenty of choice for a Classic Wedding car in West Yorkshire!


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Condoms in Contemporary Romance
In Janet's positive recommendation of Roxanne St. Claire's Bulletcatcher series, she mentions the lack of use of condoms:
There is one thing that drove me absolutely crazy in all three books, but it is more of a pet peeve than a strike against the work itself: no condoms. Now I know that some feel that because Romance is a fantasy condoms aren't part of the romantic fantasy, but in a contemporary, where I am supposed to respect these women as intelligent, independent, and self-sufficient, I just cannot take that leap when a heroine begs for the hero to "come inside me," especially before any declaration of love or commitment.
Where on the line do you fall? Condoms or no condoms? I know I didn't allow you for "doesn't matter" because I'm asking if you had to choose, which would it be?


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German Website Pixel-Channel.de just uploaded the Intro Cinematic and some gameplay of "Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance.
Check out the Video below!
You can tell almost instantly that its a Platinum Games game.
I ♥ this game!
Edit: @ the hater below...Did you even play MGS4? The attached video proves that you are just being a hater because Raiden has always been strong and geckos are no match for him.
MG has the right to expand to different genres and if hack and slash is not your cup of tea then do buy the game...your ground zero is coming so just let us hack and slash MG fans enjoy this game.
So why is this a Metal Gear game? They may as well have just made this into a brand new ip with different characters and just kept the gameplay. I also like how Raiden in MGS4 could barely hold his own to a few gecko and in this game he is basically taking down everything in his path with machines 10 times his size. It looks pretty fun but to have this in the MGS universe is just puzzling.
lets get over with this crap
cant wait for mars the king of the genre is back which is gow ofc,mgr will be history by then
It looks good. DmC and God of War looks waaaaaaaaay better though.
...I just compared Devil May Cry and God of War to a Metal Gear game what is happening


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In a fiscal fantasyland
• The following is from an editorial in the Los Angeles Times:
The prospect of recovery-killing across-the-board tax hikes and spending cuts at the end of the year hasn't been enough to spur lawmakers to craft a plan to avert those changes. The onus for Congress' inaction falls squarely on House Republicans, whose refusal last week to follow their own leadership has quashed just about any hope of a "grand bargain" with President Barack Obama to address the federal government's long-term fiscal woes.
The House GOP's brinkmanship since taking power has diminished the public's faith in its ability to govern, leading to a historic downgrade in the federal government's credit rating. And now, by refusing to consider higher tax rates even for millionaires, Republicans practically ensured that rates will go up for everyone when the Bush-era tax cuts expire on Monday.
This intransigence is baffling, given that one of Obama's main campaign pledges was to increase taxes on the highest-income Americans.
There's a slim chance that Obama will persuade Congress in the next few days to accept a stopgap bill that shields many households from higher income taxes but increases the deficit. If lawmakers go that route, they should also continue the scaled-back federal unemployment benefits that they approved early this year, maintaining a safety net under millions while job openings remain relatively scarce. It's more likely that nothing will happen until the new year, however, because too many members of both parties seem convinced that they'll have more political leverage then.
That's a dangerous assumption. Corporate executives have been telling Washington for weeks that they're holding back on hiring and investment until Congress confronts its fiscal challenges.
The task facing lawmakers is clear: They have to lay out a plan for solving Washington's long-term budget problems. That will require a combination of more taxes and less spending, particularly on Medicare and other health care entitlements.
If dozens of House Republicans can't offer a compromise within that basic framework, their leaders should look for support from lawmakers on the other side of the aisle. Republicans can't expect Democrats to face reality on entitlements if they stay cloistered in a political fantasy world on taxes.