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Sanjay by Edmund Edwards Photography
First shoot of 2015 Model Sanjay Parasher by Edmund Edwards – Photographer Shot on location (not disclosing the secret location but I am going to name it the Heaven's Gate),.. no it's not a studio set either.. you know it's going to be perfect when the higher power has answered your prayer (for whatever God you believe in) for an amazing year. Namaste Bitches!
Categories: Indian Males, Models • Tags: beach, fitness, hot, india, indian, male, model, Photography, sport, swimwear, underwear


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Olivia Newton John got physical while going over the Great Wall of China. Check out China's amazing air quality!
The breast cancer survivor was in China supporting the Great Walk to Beijing fund to fight cancer. You have to believe she is magic!
Olivia must have also fled the U.S. after hearing her daughter, Chloe Lattanzi, mumble out songs on "Rock the Cradle."
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Let's put on our aprons and sprinkle the flour - it's time to make our bread!
Tuesdays for 0-2 year olds
Our Tuesday playgroups are specially tailored for children under 2 and their parents/carers. Here we share a gentle rhythm of facilitated activities and free play, while parents have plenty of time to connect and chat over a cuppa.
In each 10-week term we focus on one of nature's elements and experience the changing seasons around us. Each session includes songs, circle games, nursery rhymes, free play (inside and outside), a delicious morning tea and a simple story, all guided by an experienced Steiner early childhood educator.
For the first half of the term (Baking Days), each week we shape and make delicious bread rolls using organic ingredients to take home (gluten-free option available with prior advice).
For the second half of the term (Making Days), each week we work on a craft project, drawing inspiration from nature and the elements.
Families may book in for each half-term separately ($100 for 5 sessions), or enjoy a discount by registering for the whole term ($180 for 10 sessions).
Little Playgroup : Baking Days
Every Tuesday for 5 weeks starting Tuesday 8th May until Tuesday 5th June 2018.
Your Little Playgroup : Baking Days (Term 2) ticket enrols you and your child into the program for the whole 5 weeks:
-Tuesday 8th May 2018 | 10:00-11:30am
-Tuesday 15th May 2018 | 10:00-11:30am
-Tuesday 22nd May 2018 | 10:00-11:30am
-Tuesday 29th May 2018 | 10:00-11:30am
-Tuesday 5th June 2018 | 10:00-11:30am
PLEASE NOTE: Children must be accompanied by a parent/carer. Our sessions are tailored to allow carers ample opportunities to connect with one another, and to enjoy meaningful activities together with your child. We request you avoid the use of your mobile phone during the playgroup session.
Age: This playgroup is strictly for children under 2. Families with multiple children aged 0-4 may like to consider our over-2s playgroup, which includes younger siblings. Click here for more details.
Transport: Newtown & St Peters Railway Stations are short walks away. The 422 and 370 bus stop at the top of Dickson Street. There is ample 2-hour parking on Dickson Street.
What to bring: Please bring a piece of fruit to contribute to the morning tea fruit salad. Please dress yourself and your child in suitable clothing for the weather on the day. Warm socks or slippers are recommended on cold days for both parent and child, as we take our shoes off while indoors.
Dietary requirements: Please advise when booking if your child requires a gluten-free dough for baking.
Contact: Please email us on firstname.lastname@example.com if you have any questions. Lots more information is also available on our website.
Refund policy: There are no refunds available for missed sessions. However, the cost of one missed session per term or half-term can be credited toward the cost of the term or half-term immediately following. For example, if you book in for the 5-week half-term ($100) and miss one session, you will be eligible for a $20 credit toward the ticket price of the next half-term (or full term). Any additional missed sessions are not eligible for credit.
Playgroup NSW: All families must be current members of Playgroup NSW. You can join online here, or in person at playgroup.
Trial sessions: We only take bookings for the entire five- or ten-session pass. We do not offer single trial sessions. The half-term options (Baking Days and Making Days) are designed to offer a taster of our playgroup while remaining a smaller commitment in terms of both number of weeks and cost. This little bit of commitment and intention really helps the group of parents and children to gel, and also helps with predictability and reliability which is important for young children. If you have a specific concern, we invite you to contact us to discuss options.


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Hi guys
Just a quick question, apart from setting the security settings in xampp, is there anything else when the site is public to prevent anything?
I have checked my logs and noticed that morfeus has had a look for php vulnerabilities.
I know bthub has a firewall and obv windows 7, I have avg running on server pc and doing scans every hour
So, is there anything else that would be recommended?


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The other Western ideal of Japan is the Zen monastery. Anyone who's actually been to Asia and carries that particular brand of baggage with them is struck by the cognitive dissonance generated by the contrast of all the arts and religion we see from Asia over here and the reality over there. The emphasis we see is on tranquility, harmony, and natural beauty. In reality Asia is crowded, noisy, and outside of Japan, dirty and smelly. The smell of Bangkok, for example, has to be experienced to be believed. Incense, savory food, and perfume mix in an olfactory quilt that also includes a river that smells like an open sewer, diesel fumes, and rotting garbage.
The Westerner often forgets that a.) art and religion are often a reaction to an actual living situation that is the exact opposite from the aspirations of the humanist or theologian, and b.) that the arts and religion we see comes from the upper class who could escape to the country without having to actually do anything as messy as slop the hogs.
Japanese adults live in a very small mental box. Bullying and conformism often dominate their lives. To compensate for this, they tend to let their kids run wilder than one would expect from a strict semi-Confucian society. But by 40 those kids will be corporate drones, or have carved out a more pleasant niche as a small businessperson – but still traditional in form.
As an adult, some of the escape hatches in Japan actually do have to do with art and nature, and Tokyo is surprising in its ability to smack you with a quiet park right around the corner from a bustling street. That is one of the attributes I love about the place.
I lived there for 2 years around the turn of the millennium, and this photo essay is a look back at the old neighborhood. I had a day to relax in Tokyo, and I spent it revisiting old haunts. It was an extremely pleasant way to spend an early spring day.
When I lived in Japan, I consciously decided not to live in the Gaijin ghetto. My train station was one of those random platforms that the tourist would pass at high speed in the Romance Car on the way to Hakone. I took the Odakyu line into work, and if I got on the train after about 7:30, I was pushed into an already over-crowded car by guys with white gloves and paramilitary uniforms. The car doors would open at the station, and there would be a hiss as of someone opening a soda bottle as everyone in the car exhaled and gulped a breath of fresh air, while the people whose faces were smashed into the door stumbled out before getting pushed back in again.
Obviously, I was an early riser, as having my nose pressed into some salaryman's armpit while being forced to stare at some other, seated salaryman reading a pornographic version of Sailor Moon Manga is not my idea of a good time. I hate Manga.
Guys often copped a feel in that situation, in fact there were anti-Chikan (pervert) posters in all the train stations when I lived there. There were wild rumors that Japanese girls sometimes felt up foreigners in such situations, but I only knew one guy who had that happen to him. When he told the story to his (Japanese) wife she said: "you know that was a guy, don't you"?
My station was a 3-level deal. The top level was the tracks and platform. The second level was ticketing and a few restaurants. The street level was shops and bicycle racks, with a big open terrace where kids skateboarded in the evening. They've put in an elevator since I was there – in 1999 the Japanese attitude to the handicapped was "suck it up".
This is the view of the train station that I had every morning:
My neighborhood had a few foreigners in it, but it was about 90% Japanese. I certainly didn't know any of the foreigners by name. I felt no need to pay twice as much for a crappy apartment in Roppongi or Hiroo so I could be close to the consulates and the groceries that specialized in foreign foods. I already spoke some Japanese, my wife reads Chinese, so between us we were almost a literate person. We took advantage of that and lived in an area that was not crawling with sailors and Marines on leave from Yokosuka (sorry Jim and Janiece*, but there are a lot of Goobers on that base, and the first place the Goobers with a weekend pass in hand head for is Gas Panic).
That meant shopping was done Japanese-style. This is Marusho, the local grocery about 50 meters from the back entrance to my station:
Yes, space limitations usually make for 3 and 4 story grocery stores in Japan. They have big box stores, it's just that the boxes are tall, not wide.
The streets in the neighborhood were quite narrow, and there were retaining walls one to two meters high all over the place, so street signs were always accompanied by mirrors:
See what I mean about narrow streets:
The majority of people lived in 3 – 5 story apartment buildings:
However, there were still single-family dwellings in the neighborhood, too:
Unfortunately, many of those were torn down since I lived there, and construction continues apace:
This is my place, Maison Nagai (owned by an old Samurai family, the Nagais, natch):
They say everyone is equal in Japan. Society is supposed to be homogenously middle-class. Bullshit. There is a Japanese proverb: "the nail that sticks out gets hammered down". Stores like Tiffany's abounded when I was there. Looking at average salaries and expenses, if everyone was middle class, Tiffany's should have gone out of business in about 15 seconds.
So what was up? Well, everyone in Japan is expected to work, so salaries are pretty middle class for the majority of people. There aren't many entrepreneurs – that heyday was in the 40s, 50s, and early 60s, before the new Keiretsu completely re-instituted the old Zaibatsu system under a different name. Morita would not have gotten Sony off of the ground in the 1970s.
But income isn't wealth. Let's say you were in an minor Samurai family under the Tokugawas. Meiji came along and made you get a real job instead of swinging a sword, so you got a degree and became a bureaucrat. Your kids became salarymen and so on. But, neither Meiji nor his son Taisho confiscated the family homestead. So you have 40 acres in some backwater part of Edo. Your family hangs on through the war years, and goes back to work in the Occupation. Now developers start coming in. Your 40 acres in some rice field known as Shinjuku sits right on the place where Yodobashi Camera wants to build their new store. You have them sign a 50 year lease, and bingo, you're getting 20 million dollars a year in rent.
That's how rich Japanese are made. But they don't flaunt it. The signs are subtle. Classy diamond rings, the quality of their clothes, but not in the sleazy Hollywood way. Oh no. You'd never know they were really rich unless you followed them home and found that they have A PRIVATE FREAKING PARK as big as two American football fields right in the middle of an extremely developed Tokyo neighborhood:
Even in Feudal times it was dangerous to conspicuously consume. Hence the wall. Yeah, I snuck in there one night. It was right around the corner from my place. It was pretty nice.
I lived technically in Shibuya Ward. As I said, say the word Shibya to most people, and they think of this. But Shibuya Ward is big, and I lived in the area where it borders with decidedly blue-collar Setagaya Ward and the quiet part of Meguro Ward. Setagaya was about a 5 minute walk from the house, Meguro was about 10 minutes away.
The street on the way to Meguro Ward was lovely. It wound its way past Higashi Kitazawa Station, a local stop on the Odakyu line (my stop was an Express Stop). It was lined with small shops that spoke of 1950s reconstruction. Yakitori restaurants that held about 10 people:
Udon places about the same size:
Ceramics stores:
And liquor stores:
Tokyo University has a branch with a nice park in the area:
You can still see real 1950s construction here and there to get a feel of what Occupied Japan looked like. I'm sure some developer will be tearing this down soon:
There used to be a traditional Chinese Pharmacy in the area, but it has since closed, so no pictures of deer peni for you.
Now Marusho was all well and good, but I'm a cheap bastard, and in Japan you pay through the nose for convenience. So I got on the internet and found the nearest Daiei, which was a Wal-Mart like chain. It happened to be one express stop from me in Setagaya Ward (remember what I said about blue-collar Setagaya) in Shimo Kitazawa, which is a part of Setagaya Ward that is not so much blue collar as overrun with hipsters on a budget. The rich kids hang out in Harajuku, the working class weirdos hang out in Shimo Kitazawa.
But my Daiei is now closed, being transformed under corporate restructuring imposed by bankruptcy:
I love the Shimo Kitazawa area, because there is still a lot of stuff left over from the 50s. Café Masako, for example:
The Occupation ended in 1955. I wonder how many GIs drank coffee and tried to pick up local girls in there?
Behind the station there is a small roofed neighborhood that was probably built in the late 40s, but evokes an even older Japan. Most tourists would walk right by the entrance:
Inside you feel like you have walked into one of the flashback sets for Riding the Metro (a movie I highly recommend, BTW, despite the bad reviews in English ). Need a massage?
Wooden stalls and steel sinks:
Japanese pickles for sale:
And a metaphorical view from the 1940s to the 2000s:
When I was taking these pictures, I grabbed lunch there in a Japanese Udon / Katsu place. It was full of construction workers on lunch break and families taking a rest from shopping. There was just one waitress and one cook in the place, and every table had a button to call the waitress over when you were ready to order. I could see the panic in her eyes when the white guy walked in, because she was running around and had no time to pantomime an order with some gaijin. Her relief was clearly visible when I asked for a seat for one person in Japanese. I had a great lunch and a huge Asahi Super Dry (about 2 US beers in the mug) for under $12. Japan is not as expensive as people make it out to be. But you have to have a sense of adventure and look for places with no Caucasian faces.
Finally, I took the Odakyu express one more stop to Umegaoka. "Ume" is Japanese for "Japanese Plum" which is not a plum, but a small apricot. The Japanese make a disgustingly sweet liqueur out of them, and it is often homemade. During the harvest season, Japanese grocery stores carry Umeshu home-brew kits.
Umegaoka has a famous park with nearly 1000 ume trees. Ume bloom in late February. I prefer Ume season to Sakura season. The celebrations are much more sedate because it's too cold in February to get drunk and neck under the ume blooms, whereas Cherry Blossom season is one of the few times you'll see PDAs in Japan.
At the back of the station is the flagship store of one of the most famous Sushi chains in Japan, Midori Zushi. There is always a line there, even at lunch. They specialize in fugu. Only in Japan would people flock to eat in a place with a highly poisonous creature featured prominently on the front of the store:
The park is just lovely, even when the blossoms are just about gone:
It is also thoroughly Japanese, with the obligatory holy rock:
And unpilfered bicycles neatly parked in a row without chains or locks:
I spent the rest of the afternoon there, watching the kids play in the park and drinking milk tea dispensed hot from a vending machine. I miss Japan.
*Jim and Janiece, if you have personally been to Gas Panic, please don't ruin my high opinion of you by telling me.


text: Hi all, ordered my 85D on 7/10 and on 7/17 upgraded to 90D and order was confirmed. Went into production about two weeks ago and for the last 7 days or so per my DS its been in final testing and inspection with no updates. Was suppose to take delivery before my loan expired on 8/23 but zero chance that's Happening. Looks like I am getting an extension on the loan until September. I am in Southern California. Anyone have had a similar issue? I just saw a post where a p90dL(not sure if that's what they call it) that was ordered the same time as mine and already in transit. I am wodnrring if it's failing test and inspections and I should be concerned.


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No. 08-643
In the Supreme Court of the United States
Acting Solicitor General
Counsel of Record
Acting Assistant Attorney
Department of Justice
Washington, D.C. 20530-0001
(202) 514-2217
Whether the North Carolina offense of taking inde cent liberties with a child constitutes "sexual abuse of a minor," and therefore qualifies as an "aggravated fel ony" under 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(43)(A).
In the Supreme Court of the United States
No. 08-643
The opinion of the court of appeals (Pet. App. 1a-6a) is not published in the Federal Reporter but is reprinted in 284 Fed. Appx. 800. The decisions of the Board of Immigration Appeals (Pet. App. 7a-11a) and the immi gration judge (Pet. App. 12a-13a) are unreported.
The judgment of the court of appeals was entered on July 10, 2008. A petition for rehearing was denied on August 14, 2008 (Pet. App. 14a-15a). The petition for a writ of certiorari was filed on November 11, 2008. The jurisdiction of this Court is invoked under 28 U.S.C. 1254(1).
1. Petitioner is a native and citizen of Honduras who became a lawful permanent resident of the United States in 2000. Pet. App. 13a.
In 2006, petitioner was convicted of taking indecent liberties with a child in violation of North Carolina law, N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-202.1 (2007). Pet. App. 9a-10a, 13a. Section 14-202.1 provides, in pertinent part:
A person is guilty of taking indecent liberties with children if, being 16 years of age or more and at least five years older than the child in question, he either:
(1) Willfully takes or attempts to take any im moral, improper, or indecent liberties with any child of either sex under the age of 16 years for the purpose of arousing or gratifying sexual de sire; or
(2) Willfully commits or attempts to commit any lewd or lascivious act upon or with the body or any part or member of the body of any child of either sex under the age of 16 years.
N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-202.1(a) (2007). Violation of the in decent liberties statute is a felony. Id. §§ 14-202.1(b), 15A-1340.17(c) and (d). Petitioner received a suspended sentence of 16 to 20 months of imprisonment and 24 months of supervised probation. He was also ordered to have no contact with the victim and to complete a sex offender program. Gov't C.A. Br. 6.
2. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) subsequently commenced removal proceedings against petitioner. DHS charged that petitioner was remov able pursuant to 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(43)(A) and 1227(a)(2)(A)(iii), as an alien convicted of an "aggravated felony," namely, "sexual abuse of a minor." Pet. App. 2a.
Petitioner admitted the allegations, and the immigra tion judge found him removable as charged. Pet. App. 12a-13a. The Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA) dis missed petitioner's appeal. Id. at 7a-11a. The BIA con cluded that "[t]he plain language of the North Carolina statute indicates that a violation of the statute necessar ily constitutes sexual abuse of a minor," relying on its own prior decision in In re Rodriguez-Rodriguez, 22 I. & N. Dec. 991 (1997), which held that sexual abuse of a minor is not limited to offenses involving physical con tact, and the Eleventh Circuit's decision in Bahar v. Ashcroft, 264 F.3d 1309 (2001), which held that a viola tion of the North Carolina indecent liberties statute con stitutes an aggravated felony involving sexual abuse of a minor. Pet. App. 10a; id. at 8a-11a.
3. The court of appeals affirmed in an unpublished, per curiam opinion. Pet. App. 1a-6a. The court con cluded that petitioner's challenge to the characterization of his offense as sexual abuse of a minor was foreclosed by Bahar. Id. at 5a; see Bahar, 264 F.3d at 1313.
Petitioner renews his contention (Pet. 5-21) that his North Carolina felony conviction for taking indecent liberties with a child does not constitute sexual abuse of a minor under the Immigration and Nationality Act (INA), 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(43)(A), and therefore does not qualify as an aggravated felony. The court of appeals correctly rejected that contention, and although its rea soning is in tension with the reasoning of a recent Ninth Circuit decision, there is no square conflict. Further re view is not warranted.
1. In Bahar v. Ashcroft, 264 F.3d 1309 (11th Cir. 2001), on which the court below relied (Pet. App. 5a), the court of appeals correctly concluded that the North Carolina offense of taking indecent liberties with a child qualifies as sexual abuse of a minor under Section 1101(a)(43)(A).
a. The court in Bahar explained that because "no explicit statutory reference exists in 8 U.S.C. § 1101(a)(43)(A) defining 'sexual abuse of a minor,'" Congress intended "courts to rely on the plain meaning of the term." 264 F.3d at 1311. That plain meaning, the court concluded, reaches "a perpetrator's physical or nonphysical misuse or maltreatment of a minor for a purpose associated with sexual gratification." Id. at 1312 (quoting United States v. Padilla-Reyes, 247 F.3d 1158, 1163 (11th Cir. 2001)). As the court explained, the term is not limited to offenses involving sexual physical contact; in ordinary usage, the term "includes not only acts that involve physical contact between the perpetra tor and the victim, but also acts that do not." Id. at 1311.
The court thus concluded that the North Carolina statute categorically qualifies as one prohibiting "sexual abuse of a minor," even though it does not require physi cal contact between the perpetrator and the victim, be cause it requires that the perpetrator have engaged in an indecent or lewd and lascivious act on a child younger than 16 years (and five years younger than the perpetra tor) "willfully" and "for the purposes of arousing or gratifying sexual desire." Bahar, 264 F.3d at 1311 (cit ing N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-202.1(a)(1)).
b. As the court of appeals in this case noted (Pet. App. 5a), the Bahar court also correctly considered, and deferred to, the BIA's interpretation of the term "sexual abuse of a minor" in In re Rodriguez-Rodriguez, 22 I. & N. Dec. 991 (1999).
In Rodriguez-Rodriguez, the BIA held that the Texas offense of indecency with a child by exposure con stitutes sexual abuse of a minor, even though it does not require physical contact between the perpetrator and the victim. 22 I. & N. Dec. at 996. The BIA rejected the argument that the term "sexual abuse of a minor" in the INA implicitly incorporates the definition of the terms "sexual abuse" and "sexual abuse of a minor or ward" in the federal crimes described in 18 U.S.C. 2242 and 2243, which require either a "sexual act" or "sexual con tact," terms defined in the statute to refer to physical contact with specific body parts of the victim. Rodri guez-Rodriguez, 22 I. & N. Dec. at 995-996; see 18 U.S.C. 2246(2) and (3). The BIA explained that, be cause Congress did not explicitly cross-reference any provision of federal law in Section 1101(a)(43)(A), the BIA was "not obliged to adopt a federal or state statu tory provision" to supply the definition of sexual abuse of a minor. Rodriguez-Rodriguez, 22 I. & N. Dec. at 994. The BIA further explained that, because "states categorize and define sex crimes against children in many different ways," the definitions of the federal of fenses in Sections 2242 and 2243 were "too restrictive to encompass the numerous state crimes that can be viewed as sexual abuse and the diverse types of conduct that would fit within the term as it commonly is used." Id. at 996.
The BIA noted, however, that a different provision of federal law, 18 U.S.C. 3509(a), which concerns proce dural protections for child victims and witnesses, defines "sexual abuse" more broadly: that is, as "the employ ment, use, persuasion, inducement, enticement, or coer cion of a child to engage in, or assist another person to engage in, sexually explicit conduct or the rape, mo lestation, prostitution, or other form of sexual exploita tion of children, or incest with children." Rodriguez- Rodriguez, 22 I. & N. Dec. at 995 (quoting 18 U.S.C. 3509(a)(8)). That definition, the BIA noted, is more con sistent with the dictionary definition of "sexual abuse," which "suggests that the common usage of the term in cludes a broad range of maltreatment of a sexual nature, and * * * does not indicate that contact is a limiting factor." Id. at 996 (citing Black's Law Dictionary 1375 (6th ed. 1990)). The BIA thus identified Section 3509(a)(8) as "a useful identification of the forms of sex ual abuse" covered by Section 1101(a)(43)(A), and con cluded that "sexual abuse of a minor" under Section 1101(a)(43)(A) does not require proof of physical contact with the victim. Id. at 995-996.
The BIA's construction of the term "sexual abuse of a minor" as it appears in the INA is reasonable, and thus entitled to deference under Chevron USA Inc. v. NRDC, 467 U.S. 837 (1984). See INS v. Aguirre-Aguirre, 526 U.S. 415, 424-425 (1999).
2. Petitioner contends (Pet. 13-19) that the "decision below contravenes the plain language of the [INA]" be cause it "allow[s] deportation for conviction of an aggra vated felony based upon a statute that does not define a crime," namely, 18 U.S.C. 3509. Petitioner further con tends that the court should have applied the federal criminal definition of "sexual abuse of a minor" in 18 U.S.C. 2243, which, unlike the North Carolina indecent liberties statute, requires proof of a "sexual act," a term defined to mean various forms of direct genital con tact, 18 U.S.C. 2246(2), and allows defendants to raise a mistake-of-age defense, 18 U.S.C. 2243(c). Petitioner's contentions are incorrect.
a. As an initial matter, neither the decision below nor the court of appeals' earlier decision in Bahar "al low[s] deportation * * * based upon" Section 3509, Pet. 13. The decisions instead rest on the court's conclu sion that petitioner's crime falls within the ordinary meaning of the term "sexual abuse of a minor" in Section 1101(a)(43)(A). As the court of appeals correctly con cluded, the ordinary meaning of that term is not limited to offenses involving physical contact, much less to of fenses involving a "sexual act" as that term is defined in 18 U.S.C. 2246(2). Pet. App. 5a; see Bahar, 264 F.3d at 1311.
To be sure, the court of appeals also considered (Pet. App. 5a), and deferred to, the BIA's decision in Rod riguez-Rodriguez, which does rely on Section 3509. But the decision in Rodriguez-Rodriguez makes clear that the BIA did not consider itself "obliged to adopt [any] federal * * * statutory provision" to supply the defini tion of "sexual abuse of a minor," nor did it "adopt[] [Section 3509] as a definitive standard or definition." 22 I. & N. Dec. at 994, 996. The BIA instead explained that it looked to Section 3509 as a useful guide to the range of conduct encompassed by the term "sexual abuse of a minor" precisely because Section 3509's defi nition of "sexual abuse" is consistent with the ordinary meaning of the term. Id. at 996; see Mugalli v. Ash croft, 258 F.3d 52, 58 (2d Cir. 2001) (agreeing that "the § 3509(a) definition is appropriate not simply because it appears somewhere in the United States Code, but be cause it is consonant with the generally understood broad meaning of the term 'sexual abuse'").
b. To the extent petitioner presumes (Pet. 13-15) that Section 1101(a)(43)(A) requires the BIA and courts to adopt a pre-existing federal criminal definition of "sexual abuse of a minor," petitioner is incorrect. See, e.g., Rodriguez-Rodriguez, 22 I. & N. Dec. at 994; see also id. at 998 (dissenting opinion of Member Filppu). A number of the subparagraphs of the aggravated felony definition in 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(43) do explicitly refer to certain federal criminal definitions. See, e.g., 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(43)(B) ("illicit trafficking in a controlled sub stance (as defined in section 802 of title 21), including a drug trafficking crime (as defined in section 924(c) of title 18"); 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(43)(D) ("an offense described in section 1956 of title 18 (relating to laundering of mon etary instruments) or section 1957 of that title (relating to engaging in monetary transactions in property de rived from specific unlawful activity) if the amount of the funds exceeded $10,000"); 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(43)(F) ("a crime of violence (as defined in section 16 of title 18, but not including a purely political offense) for which the term of imprisonment [is] at least one year"); see also Rodriguez-Rodriguez, 22 I. & N. Dec. at 995 n.1 (citing additional statutory provisions). Section 1101(a)(43)(A), however, contains no such reference.
Congress's omission of a federal statutory cross-ref erence in Section 1101(a)(43)(A) is significant. When Congress has intended to incorporate a federal defini tion of a particular offense, it has done so explicitly. Con gress's decision not to do so in Section 1101(a)(43)(A) should be given effect. See, e.g., Russello v. United States, 464 U.S. 16, 23 (1983) ("[W]here Congress in cludes particular language in one section of a statute but omits it in another section of the same Act, it is gener ally presumed that Congress acts intentionally and pur posely in the disparate inclusion or exclusion.") (citation omitted).1
Practical considerations also weigh strongly against petitioner's proposal that Section 1101(a)(43)(A)'s refer ence to "sexual abuse of a minor" be confined to the defi nition of the federal criminal "sexual abuse of a minor" offense under Section 2243. Cf. United States v. Hayes, No. 07-608 (Feb. 24, 2009), slip op. 10-11. Such an inter pretation would mean that only persons convicted of crimes involving direct genital contact would be remov able. 18 U.S.C. 2243, 2246(2). It would also have the ab surd result of excluding any offense involving a minor under the age of 12. See 18 U.S.C. 2243(a)(1) (defining "sexual abuse of a minor" as a "sexual act" with a person who "has attained the age of 12 years but has not at tained the age of 16 years"). Cf. 18 U.S.C. 2241(c) and 2244(c) (punishing offenses involving children younger than 12 years as the distinct federal offenses of "aggra vated sexual abuse" or "abusive sexual contact"). Such a constrained interpretation of Section 1101(a)(43)(A) is "not consistent with Congress' intent to remove aliens who are sexually abusive toward children and to bar them from any relief." Rodriguez-Rodriguez, 22 I. & N. Dec. at 996.2
c. Petitioner contends (Pet. 16-18) that the court of appeals erred in deferring to the BIA's decision in Rod riguez-Rodriguez. That, too, is incorrect.
First, although it is true (see Pet. 16-17) that Rodri guez-Rodriguez did not purport to advance a compre hensive construction of the term "sexual abuse of a mi nor" under Section 1101(a)(43)(A), it did conclusively re ject the primary argument petitioner makes here (Pet. 19): that "sexual abuse of a minor" is limited to offenses involving a "sexual act," as that term is defined in 18 U.S.C. 2243 and 2246. See Rodriguez-Rodriguez, 22 I. & N. Dec. at 995-996. That decision represents a rea sonable construction of the statute the BIA administers, and it is entitled to deference. See Aguirre-Aguirre, 526 U.S. at 424-425.
Second, although it also is true that the BIA has no authority to interpret criminal law (see Pet. 17-18), Sec tions 1227(a)(2)(A)(iii) and 1101(a)(43)(A) are not crimi nal statutes. They are, rather, immigration-law provi sions that fall within the scope of the BIA's authority. See Emile v. INS, 244 F.3d 183, 185 (1st Cir. 2001). Pe titioner cites no case to support his contention (Pet. 17- 18) that the meaning of the aggravated felony definitions of the INA is beyond the BIA's expertise because a con viction for an "aggravated felony" also subjects a person convicted of unlawful reentry to enhanced sentencing under 8 U.S.C. 1326(b)(2).3
d. Finally, petitioner errs in contending (Pet. 19-21) that the decision below overlooked the role of the "rule of lenity" in immigration cases. See INS v. Cardoza- Fonseca, 480 U.S. 421, 449 (1987) (citing "the longstand ing principle of construing any lingering ambiguities in deportation statutes in favor of the alien"). Even in the criminal context, application of the rule of lenity re quires more than "[t]he simple existence of some statu tory ambiguity"; it requires a "grievous ambiguity" such that, "after seizing everything from which aid can be derived," the Court "can make no more than a guess as to what Congress intended." Muscarello v. United States, 524 U.S. 125, 138-139 (1998) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). There is no such "grievous ambiguity" in Section 1101(a)(43)(A). Cf. Taylor v. United States, 495 U.S. 575, 596 (1990) (declining to ap ply the rule of lenity in case concerning the meaning of "burglary" in the Armed Career Criminal Act of 1984, 18 U.S.C. 924(e)(2)(B)(ii)).
Moreover, in the INA, Congress expressly conferred on the Attorney General the authority to resolve ambi guities in the first instance. See Aguirre-Aguirre, 526 U.S. at 424-425; 8 U.S.C. 1103(a)(1). If courts were re quired to resolve any and all ambiguities in the alien's favor, that would wholly usurp the Attorney General's interpretive authority. A court thus properly considers whether statutory ambiguities should be resolved in favor of the alien only after the court has used every interpretative tool at its disposal, including application of deference principles under Chevron and Aguirre- Aguirre. Cf. Negusie v. Holder, No. 07-499 (Mar. 3, 2009), slip op. 5 (the "rule of lenity" may be relevant in reviewing agency action for reasonableness, but does not establish that a statute is unambiguous such that defer ence is unwarranted). In this case, Chevron principles foreclose petitioner's primary argument: that any ambi guity in Section 1101(a)(43)(A) must be resolved in favor of requiring that the alien's statute of conviction contain a physical-contact requirement. See Rodriguez-Rodri guez, 22 I. & N. Dec. at 995-996.
3. Petitioner contends (Pet. 10-13) that this Court's review is warranted to resolve a conflict of authority between the decision below and decisions of other courts of appeals. The decision below is, however, consis tent with the decisions of other courts of appeals that have considered similar questions under Section 1101(a)(43)(A). See, e.g., Mugalli, 258 F.3d at 56-60; Lara-Ruiz v. INS, 241 F.3d 934, 939-942 (7th Cir. 2001). And although, as petitioner notes (Pet. 5, 11), the rea soning of the court of appeals' decision is in tension with the reasoning of the Ninth Circuit's recent en banc deci sion in Estrada-Espinoza v. Mukasey, 546 F.3d 1147 (2008), there is no square conflict on any issue raised by this case.
a. In Estrada-Espinoza, the Ninth Circuit held that certain state offenses involving sexual acts with a person under the age of 18 do not qualify as sexual abuse of a minor under 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(43)(A). In reaching that conclusion, the court looked primarily to the definition of "sexual abuse of a minor" in 18 U.S.C. 2243, which, the court explained, requires: "(1) a mens rea level of knowingly; (2) a sexual act; (3) with a minor between the ages of 12 and 16; and (4) an age difference of at least four years between the defendant and the minor." Estrada-Espinoza, 546 F.3d at 1152. The court con cluded that the Section 2243 definition "comports with 'the ordinary, contemporary, and common meaning of the words' of the term," as well as "the contemporary meaning attached to the crime by a majority of the states," which generally reflect an understanding that, "although sexual activity with a younger child is cer tainly abusive, sexual activity with an older adolescent is not necessarily abusive." Id. at 1152-1153, 1155 (cita tion omitted); see also id. at 1153 ("California is joined by only about six other states in criminalizing sexual intercourse between a 21-year-old and someone about to turn 18.").
The Ninth Circuit declined to defer to the BIA's deci sion in Rodriguez-Rodriguez, concluding that "Chevron deference does not apply in these circumstances because Rodriguez-Rodriguez did not interpret a statute within the meaning of Chevron, but only provided a 'guide' for later interpretation." Estrada-Espinoza, 546 F.3d at 1157. In the alternative, the court stated in a footnote that, even if Chevron applied, the BIA's interpretation would not warrant deference because "[w]hen Congress has spoken directly to the issue, as it has here, our in quiry is over and Chevron deference does not apply." Id. at 1157 n.7.
Although petitioner (Pet. 11, 13-14) appears to read the Ninth Circuit's decision to hold that the term "sexual abuse of a minor" in Section 1101(a)(43)(A) incorporates all elements of the Section 2243 definition, including its "sexual act" requirement, the matter is far from clear. The primary question in Estrada-Espinoza was whe ther state offenses that criminalized sexual activity with "someone about to turn 18" were properly characterized as sexual abuse of a minor. 546 F.3d at 1153. And al though the court relied on Section 2243 in answering that question, it also emphasized its conclusion that Sec tion 2243's age elements are in accord with the "contem porary meaning" of "sexual abuse of a minor," after re viewing the relevant provisions of the Model Penal Code and various state statutes. Id. at 1153-1155.
The Ninth Circuit, notably, did not have occasion in Estrada-Espinoza to consider whether the "sexual act" element of Section 2243 similarly reflects the ordinary, contemporary meaning of "sexual abuse of a minor" for purposes of Section 1101(a)(43)(A). The court's own dis cussion, however, suggests that it does not. In discuss ing the meaning of the term "sexual abuse," the court cited with approval prior decisions, including the Elev enth Circuit's decision in Padilla-Reyes, holding that "abuse" means "physical or nonphysical misuse or mal treatment or use or treat[ment] so as to injure, hurt, or damage." Estrada-Espinoza, 546 F.3d at 1153 (quoting United States v. Lopez-Solis, 447 F.3d 1201, 1207 (9th Cir. 2006), and Padilla-Reyes, 247 F.3d at 1163) (empha sis added). That view of the plain meaning of the term "sexual abuse" is considerably broader than the defini tion of the term "sexual act" in Sections 2243 and 2246. It also suggests that the Ninth Circuit may not consider Section 2243 to supply all elements of the definition of "sexual abuse of a minor" in Section 1101(a)(43)(A).
It is also unclear that, as petitioner contends (Pet. 16), the Ninth Circuit concluded that the BIA's decis ion in Rodriguez-Rodriguez is owed no deference at all under Chevron. Estrada-Espinoza did not concern the physical-contact argument the BIA addressed in Rodriguez-Rodriguez, nor did Rodriguez-Rodriguez address the age question raised in Estrada-Espinoza. The Ninth Circuit's refusal to accord Chevron deference to Rodriguez-Rodriguez is thus equally consistent with the unremarkable principle that an agency's decision is owed no deference with respect to questions it does not purport to answer.
In short, although the reasoning of Estrada-Espin oza is in tension with the reasoning of the decision be low, there is no defined conflict with respect to any ques tion in this case. This Court's intervention therefore is not warranted at this time.
b. Petitioner also contends (Pet. 5-6, 11) that the decision below conflicts with the First Circuit's decision in Emile, supra. That is incorrect. In Emile, the First Circuit upheld as reasonable the Board's decision gener ally to "regard conduct that * * * would violate the federal sexual abuse statutes, where the victim was a minor, as 'sexual abuse of a minor'" under Section 1101(a)(43)(A). 244 F.3d at 185. In so holding, the court made clear that "sexual abuse of a minor" is not limited to the Section 2243 definition of that term, but at least reaches the conduct proscribed by other federal criminal sexual abuse provisions. Id. at 186-187 (citing 18 U.S.C. 2241-2246). And although the court stated that "it is debatable how relevant" the definition of "sexual abuse" in Section 3509(a)(8) may be, id. at 186 n.2, the court did not hold that Section 3509(a)(8) is irrelevant to the proper interpretation of Section 1101(a)(43)(A), nor did it hold that Section 1101(a)(43)(A) is limited to offenses involving physical contact between the perpetrator and the victim.
c. Finally, petitioner suggests (Pet. 6, 13) that this Court's review is warranted to resolve a conflict regard ing Sentencing Guidelines § 2L1.2, which governs sen tencing for unlawful reentry in violation of 8 U.S.C. 1326. In support of his contention, petitioner cites the Ninth Circuit's decision in United States v. Baza-Marti nez, 464 F.3d 1010 (2006), in which the court held that a violation of the North Carolina indecent liberties stat ute does not qualify as "sexual abuse of a minor" that is a "crime of violence" under Sentencing Guidelines § 2L1.2(b)(1)(A)(ii) & comment. (n.1(B)(iii)), because it does not require proof of physical or psychological harm to the victim. Baza-Martinez, 464 F.4d at 1017. But notably, the court expressly rejected the primary argu ment that petitioner advances here, concluding that "physical harm or touching is not required in order for conduct to be abusive." Ibid.; see also id. at 1015 n.1 ("[W]e have never held that 'sexual abuse of a minor' requires touching.").
In any event, this Court ordinarily does not grant review to resolve issues concerning interpretation of the Sentencing Guidelines because the Sentencing Commis sion can amend the Guidelines to eliminate a conflict or correct an error. See Braxton v. United States, 500 U.S. 344, 347-349 (1991). The Commission is charged by Con gress with "periodically review[ing] the work of the courts" and making "whatever clarifying revisions to the Guidelines conflicting judicial decisions might suggest." Id. at 348; see United States v. Booker, 543 U.S. 220, 263 (2005) ("The Sentencing Commission will continue to collect and study appellate court decisionmaking. It will continue to modify its Guidelines in light of what it learns, thereby encouraging what it finds to be better sentencing practices."). Particularly because the Guide lines are now advisory, see id. at 245, whatever dis agreements may have arisen with respect to the applica tion of Guidelines § 2L1.2 do not warrant this Court's review. That is especially so in this case, which of course involves the interpretation of the INA, not the Guide lines.
The petition for a writ of certiorari should be denied.
Respectfully submitted.
Acting Solicitor General
Acting Assistant Attorney
1 Petitioner notes (Pet. 15-16) that, in the same omnibus appropria tions act in which Congress amended Section 1101(a)(43)(A) to include "sexual abuse of a minor" as an "aggravated felony," see Illegal Immi gration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, Pub. L. No. 104-208, Div. C, § 321, 110 Stat. 3009-627, Congress also enacted the Amber Hagerman Child Protection Act of 1996, Pub. L. No. 104-208, Div. A, Tit. I, § 121(7), 110 Stat. 3009-31, which, among other things, amended 18 U.S.C. 2243 to expand its geographic reach. Petitioner contends (Pet. 16) that the simultaneous enactment of those provisions demonstrates that the Congress that added "sexual abuse of a minor" to the list of removable aggravated felonies was aware of Section 2243. Petitioner further contends (Pet. 15-16) that the enactment history supports the conclusion that 18 U.S.C. 2243 and 2246 "should provide the operative definition for 'sexual abuse of a minor.'" The text of Section 1101(a)(43)(A), however, contains no suggestion that Congress intended to incorporate the Section 2243 definition, and petitioner cites no legislative history indicating that, despite the statute's silence, Con gress nevertheless intended that result.
2 Petitioner argues only that Section 1101(a)(43)(A) incorporates the definition of "sexual abuse of a minor" in Section 2243, and does not contend that Section 1101(a)(43)(A) should also be interpreted to en compass the definitions of the federal crimes of "aggravated sexual abuse," 18 U.S.C. 2241; "sexual abuse," 18 U.S.C. 2242; or "abusive sexual contact," 18 U.S.C. 2244. See, e.g. Pet. 19. Cf. Rodriguez- Rodriguez, 22 I. & N. Dec. at 995-996 (discussing both Sections 2242 and 2243). But even if the term "sexual abuse of a minor" in Section 1101(a)(43)(A) were interpreted to incorporate by reference not only the criminal "sexual abuse of a minor" statute, but the full complement of federal criminal sexual abuse statutes, it would still be considerably narrower than "the term as it commonly is used." Id. at 996.
3 Leocal v. Ashcroft, 543 U.S. 1 (2004), is not to the contrary. See Pet. 18. In Leocal, this Court considered whether felony driving under the influence qualifies as an aggravated felony "crime of violence" under 8 U.S.C. 1101(a)(43)(F). Unlike Section 1101(a)(43)(A), Section 1101(a)(43)(F) expressly incorporates the federal criminal-law definition of "crime of violence" in 18 U.S.C. 16. See 18 U.S.C. 1101(a)(43)(F) (de fining "crime of violence" by reference to 18 U.S.C. 16); Leocal, 543 U.S. at 11 n.8 ("Although here we deal with § 16 in the deportation context, § 16 is a criminal statute."). The Court in any event did not consider the BIA's authority to interpret Section 1101(a)(43)(F) because the BIA had affirmed the petitioner's order of removal based solely on the relevant circuit precedent. See id. at 5 n.2.


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Sensors: Accelerometer, ambient light sensor, barometer, compass, gyroscope
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Sound: 4 stereo speakers
Voice Recognition: Yes- Siri
Dimensions: H305.7 x W220.6 x D6.9mm
Weight: 713g
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My foot behaved on the run, I admit after the run it felt tender, but nothing to worrisome.
Headed to the gym
cycled 8.2 miles
55 min. upper body weight training - I pushed the 45's up again. (2 sets of 6) Kenny has to assist after 6 reps, it is not pretty, but I can get them up on the Smith machine. I lost the drive to try for awhile because my shoulder was giving me some issues, but for now I am back at it :)
Headed to the gym
cycled 7 miles - and my legs were sore!
60 min. on circuit machines (lighter weight, lots of reps) planks, stretching
I am trying to keep my easy days, EASY. I am not always so good at this. I am going to work on this, and hopefully it will help me as I try to increase my running mileage.
|I picked a moderate course and pedaled very easy
I got my speed work done ❤ (under the same gray skies)
|First Day 5K put on by the Richmond Road Runners
Official clock time - 26:49
The sunshine finally came out. No exercise at all. My legs felt used up.
We rode to Luray, VA to walk through the caverns.
Do you try to incorporate an easy day to keep your muscles loose? What is your favorite type of run? Easy, long, fartlek, speed?
How did your first run of the new year go?
Did you run New Years day?
Homebody on New Years Eve? or did you go out?
Warmest wishes from me and Kenny to you for a very happy, healthy upcoming year!


text: Little Princess Elizabeth takes a ride on the grounds of Windsor Castle in 1927 with her cousin, Gerald Lascelles. AP hide caption toggle caption AP The Two-Way Royals In Nappies: A Family Album July 10, 2013 The photographers are already camping out ahead of the expected birth this month of Britain's third in line to the throne. As we wait for that highly anticipated first photo, here's a look back at a few other babies who made a royal entrance.


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Monday, May 27, 2013
Is It All About the Frame?
Success that is; art world success. Not that I can define it because each artist seems to have a different dictionary that they're working from. I spent the weekend in NYC seeing everything from sketchbooks, artist's works in progress in their studio, quiet powerful shows and art star work.
Viewing Matthew Barney at the Morgan Library got me thinking about frames because he has some unusual frames. The little title cards always mention the frames....self lubricating frames, polyethylene frames and cast out of prosthetic limb material frames.
The exhibition, Subliming Vessel, focuses on Barney's drawings from the 1980's though works that storyboard his Cremaster Cycle film and his latest River of Fundament.
Generally I found the delicate light line of the drawings buried by the quirky artistry of the frames. Barney's drawings seem studied and a bit tentative; something I found at odds with the exuberance of the frames. Although for Barney, who is concerned with creating mythologies from obscure references perhaps this topsy turvy relationship of overpowering frame to pale, underwhelming drawing is a devise in the overall fable.
Maybe the frame is everything.
The rest of the show happens in the vitrines, which are another framing device. These contain the storyboards, which in this case contain a variety of photos, magazine clippings, diagrams that form a type of "connect the dots" insight into the artist's work on his Cremaster Cycle Films. Selections from the Morgan collection are also in the vitrines, providing the additional [frame] of gravatas, plus additional references to the elaboration of the complex fable that Barney is weaving.
Not quite a fan yet, but Barney has enough of them and plenty of them screaming genius. I'm looking forward to his new work, River of Fundament. I went for the drawings and was disappointed, but I was enlightened by the overall effect that the layering of obscure connections the artist evolves. In effect, Subliming Vessel works well as a frame for insight into the artist's reference points.
Matthew Barney - Subliming Vessel at the Morgan Library through Sept. 2.
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We work with leaders to bring out the best in organizational and individual performance by serving as confidential advisers for identifying and developing leadership and cultural practices to help drive business change, improve performance, and sustain corporate success. We are committed to helping you create a competitive advantage and develop leaders to be more adaptive, flexible and responsive.
Others have recognized our efforts and awarded us with:
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Southeast Facilitator's Association "Facilitator of the Year" awarded to Eileen Dowse Ph.D.
Impact 100 Award, "Business Leader" recognizing outstanding citizens for their hard work and contributions.
"Bronze Quill Award" International Association of Business Communication For excellence in business communication.
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I'm using an unregistered version of mcafee antivirus & firewall...... many times while surfing the internet i get a message "mcafee has intercepted a syn port attack from x.x.x.x" (thats an ip address by the way). Then it offers to trace some computer/server/router.
I understand what "trace" means and does, but whats the meaning of syn port attack ??


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Samo Salamon (g), Tony Malaby (ts), Mark Helias (b), Tom Rainey (d)
Reference: FSNT-238
Bar code: 8427328422383
SAMO SALAMON is a jazz guitarist and composer, but working also as a studio and project musician. He began his musical journey by studying classical guitar in Maribor and continued with studying jazz guitar on the jazz conservatorium in Klagenfurt. In December 2000 he was living with and studying individually for one month in New York with the jazz master John Scofield. Through the years he was studying guitar and had lessons with known guitar players such as Rudy Linka, Tim Brady and Andrea Allione in Trieste. In year 2000 he was a part of the project of the drummer Zlatko Kaucic and has meanwhile recorded and played with many great international and slovenian jazz musicians.
"The band on the CD is just amazing. I am so happy that I was able to play with these cats, it was just beautiful. That's why the CD has the title Two Hours, we recorded namely the whole album in two hours, it was so natural and spontaneous, without any discussions, music just happened... We met two days before the recording session... we were supposed to have a rehearsal in the club Detour but they were shooting a movie there... you know, New York, so the guys came for nothing, I didn't have a phone, so I couldn't call anyone... Tony ate hus Chinese food, Tom was relaxed, while Mark drove to the club with a cab, mad since I didn't call him whether he needs an amp or not... that's how we met... then the Detour situation... Mark luckily lives nearby, so we drove to this place, went through the tunes acoustically, Tom playing on plates and pans... the gig in the evening was really musically beautiful... so was the recording..."
-Samo Salamon
01. Empty Heart 5:59
02. One for Steve Lacy 5:39
03. A Melody for Her 6:14
04. Does David Know He's not Brown? 3:58
05. Where's the Bill? 3:38
06. Silence of the Poets 5:07
07. Mind Breezer 4:23
08. Blink 5:44
09. The Lonely Tune 7:33
10. Coffee with a Girl 5:00
All tracks composed by Samo Salamon
Samo Salamon (g); Tony Malaby (ts); Mark Helias (b); Tom Rainey (d)
Recorded at Systems Two, Brooklyn, NY, on November 17th 2004
Sound engineer: Mike Marciano
Produced by Samo Salamon
Executive producer: Jordi Pujol
Critics say:
"He adds an almost dizzying energy, and he swings hard. The net effect is what Ornette Coleman might sound like if his primary instrument were guitar instead of alto saxophone."
All About Jazz (April, 2005)
"alamon is major league material!"
All About Jazz (October, 2003)
"He is a composer and guitarist beyond his years, and a force to be reckoned with!"
Goldmine Magazine (December, 2003)
"Slovenian guitarist Samo Salamon has generated a good degree of heat over the last couple of years, first with his self-published '03 album Ornethology, then with last year's Ela's Dream. Both discs suggested the emergence of a young guitarist well on the way to finding a distinctive personal voice. The early promise is fulfilled on Two Hours, Salamon's first album with a US lineup, recorded in New York in late '04 with a tough local crew.
Salamon is engaging both as a guitarist and as a composer (all the tunes here are originals), and he brings the same agitated energy to both endeavours. His music is eager and edgy and excited, and his lines! pile up! climactic resolution! after climactic resolution! He can turn his hand to a more leisurely lyricism (as on Empty Heart and The Lonely Tune, both, as their titles suggest, poignant introspections), but is most impressive on hot, jittery, uptempo post-Ornette Coleman miniatures.
Salamon has picked 'n' mixed pragmatically from the harmolodic menu, but he hasn't bought the whole nine yards; when he's at his hottest, you can hear traces of James Blood Ulmer, but other lines recall Bill Frisell and early mentor John Scofield. Sonny Sharrock also peers around the corner from time to time. Salamon uses effects sparingly (mainly chorus and distortion) and has a penchant for tempo changes. He hasn't quite arrived at his destination yet, but Two Hours suggests he may soon.
Salamon's hands-across-the-ocean band here is busting. The album was recorded in just two hours, with one sotto voce rehearsal in bassist Mark Helias's apartment, thus necessitating a high degree of attentiveness and interaction between the musicians in the studio. The resulting collective spontaneity is well suited to Salamon's open-ended skeletal tunes and improvising abandon, and if the band doesn't always land on the one in perfect unison, a few ragged edges sit happily within the music. All three American musicians shine; saxophonist Tony Malaby is a particular thrill and delight, with split tones, growls, smears, lurches, jabs and body punches tumbling out of his tenor.
Salamon, whose recording activity is as prolix as his music, has announced no less than five new albums to be released this year and nextwith a New York quintet, two different European quartets, a US/European quartet, and a trio with Drew Gress and Tom Rainey. On this occasion, then, it is safe to predict that he's a musician we'll be hearing a lot more from in the future.
Chris May -All About Jazz
"Next time you find yourself underwhelmed by a jazz recording on an indie jazz label, it might be entirely the fault of the artistsome people make bad records, after all. That said, the whole system might be the culprit: small labels offer musicians opportunities to do sessions, but dont (and usually cant) give them what they need most to make a proper album: time. Time is money in the studio, of course, and rehearsal must occur on the artists dime before the studio date.
Slovenian guitarist/composer Samo Salamon alludes to these sorts of conditions in the title of his new quartet CD Two Hoursthats how long the album took to record after the band (composed of Salamon, bassist Mark Helias, drummer Tom Rainey and tenorman Tony Malaby) managed to eke out one amp-free rehearsal and one live gig.
Fortunately, thats how these guys operateat least one of thems probably playing a New York gig tonight under the same sorts of cicrumstancesand youll have to strain pretty hard to find any slackness or stumbling in the playing on Two Hours, a bracingly tough yet ultimately melodic collection of ten Salamon originals.
Salamon had an apprenticeship with John Scofield in 2000, and you might hear some Sco-tone in his electric guitar playing, but his slightly overdriven sound, light, brisk touch and jagged, mild-dementia phrasings his own; if he resembles anyone at times, its a more jazz-inflected Marc Ribot. In any case, his jaggedness is just the bitter coating of a sweet musical pillhes really a melodist at heart. Salamons tone blends marvelously with Malabys robust tenor lines, and the two contribute memorable unison heads to A Melody for Her and Does David Know Hes Not Brown?just to name a couple.
Empty Heart, the CD opener, is, simply put, one of the best songs of the year, with a delicate, simple theme that Chet Baker (or any of his European ECM trumpet brethren) would love. Helias threads the track with augustly deep, woody lines that sound eminently wiseboth before, after and during his a cappella solo that is slowly joined by Malaby, then Rainey and Salamon.
Malaby and Salamon bite off the cagey theme of A Melody for Her with real gusto, and the groups sudden, telepathic shift from a looser time into a straight 4/4 swing during Malabys solo emphatically undermines any claim to the band being negatively affected by underrehearsal. Here and elsewhere, Salomons single-note, non-chordal lines act more like a horn than guitar, and, horn-like, he often lays out during Malabys solos.
Silence of the Poets is a strange blues with an incantatory, improvised drums/arco bass introduction and, later, a deep-emotion Malaby solo thats buttressed by whining volume swells and feeback groans from the leader over autonomous bass and drums. Its a perfect, satisfying blend of beauty and noise.
The music on Two Hours rises above the circumstances of its creation. Youll be hearing more from Salamon."
Paul Olson -All About Jazz
"Samo Salamon is a master guitarist. His chops go unchallenged; at any moment he could play any note or chord on the instrument. That said, Two Hours is a disappointment. Salamon and his bandmates (Tony Malaby, tenor sax; Mark Helias, bass; Tom Rainey, drums) fall victim to two of the biggest traps in jazz: sub-par songwriting and uninspired playing.
Salamon studied for a year under John Scofield, and the Sco influence shows in Salamons tone, as well as his lightning runs. Empty Heart opens the album and is a highlight, almost reminiscent of the great ensemble playing in ScoLoHoFo. Malaby plays an eccentric Lovano-ish solo, while Salamons chording during the theme is gripping. In this example of superb ensemble playing, not only are the musicians responding to each other, they are also playing with a purpose.
Salamon has freer tendencies than Scofield, and this recording highlights his proclivity. However, more often than not it sounds forced and out of context. The solo breaks on many of the tunes are contrived, essentially breakdowns into space from straight jazz melodies. As I see it, one essential aspect of great free playing is its emotional content. The great free players are able to eschew the boundaries of music and really play what they feel. While Salamon and his counterparts obviously have the chops to play free, they lack the sheer emotion necessary to sustain interest. Sure, Raineys drums provide perfect counterpoint to Salamons rushes, and Malaby and the guitarist are completely in synch throughout the recording. But without that emotion, much of their playing comes through as noise.
This recording does show promise. Salamon will be heard from again; his immense chops preclude him from falling by the wayside. And while the songwriting here is not great, it is clear that Salamon is able to write a simple, melodic, catchy tune. While Two Hours is not recommended, Salamon is a guitarist worth keeping track of."
David Miller -All About Jazz
"The astonishing Two Hours, from a young, European guitarist, of all people, has all the elements jazz lovers in search of worthy new projects should be seeking.
Salamon certainly can pick a band. Sidemen dont come much, if any better than Tony Malaby, Mark Helias and Tom Rainey. If Salamon sounds a bit starstruck in the liner notes his guitar work betrays no such thing. All the playing is virtuosic: flawless in the pocket and impishly brilliant out of it...hes set himself up at one stroke as a new jazz guitarist to be dealt with.
Salamons tunes are satisfyingly well-structured with strong melodies, but the records looseness and spontaneity (hinted at in the title, which refers to the amount of time Salamon claims the session required) is the real marvel. A paucity of rehearsal and recording time have resulted in a very special recording that will help keep jazz obituary from being written just a bit longer."
Ty Cumbie -All About Jazz (July, 2006)
"It matters not that this recording took but two hours to record after very little rehearsal. Samo Salamon was ready with his music, and his compatriots, three well-traveled musicians with fast musical reflexes and good instincts, actually thrived when thrown into this situation.
It is hard to predict whether better music will be made by a group that has played together or one that is new and fresh. Certainly all of us have heard top-notch music from both sides of the divide. Enough has been said and written about the need for spontaneity and how that can be quashed by over-rehearsal. Many times the magic happens when old hands who have that creative fire get together and can be spontaneous because they know that things will not fall apart.
Two Hours bears no marks of the circumstances of its creation. Salamon's compositions are very strong in both melodic or structural components and thus provide enough of a framework for everyone to feel comfortable and be loose. Except for Where's The Bill, a Bill Frisell dedication that was recorded with Salamon's Italian quartet on Ornethology (2003), all the tunes are new. They seem to share a subliminal connection with each other in that they feel like they are made from the same small set of building blocks. This is not a criticism, but a clear sign that this music represents Salamon at this point in time.
As the album plays, and especially when it is replayed, the essence of who Salamon is right now becomes clearer. He likes melody and has a way of creating a phrase with a memorable contour that can provide real meat for improvisation, allowing the musicians to be free, yet enabling them to keep in touch easily. Many of the tunes have a bop feel filtered through the modern esthetic, which also enables the players to explore and be free from a solid base.
Tenor saxophonist Tony Malaby is terrific throughout, grabbing hold of the melodies and breaking them down, many times playing free sounds. Mark Helias and Tom Rainey create a flexible and solid rhythmic base when needed and break away when the music demands. Very clearly listening to each other and the rest of the band, this pair makes the album the success that it is. For his part, Salamon seems to lay out a lot, perhaps not wanting to upset the balance. When he does take a solo, he is an extreme reductionist, taking his melodies apart into scale or intervallic fragments, at times sounding like he has so many ideas to get out that he might burst.
The arrangements clearly had to be on the simpler side, and yet the players shift alignments effortlessly as if they had been playing this music together for months. Knowing that Two Hours was not the result of long rehearsal only intensifies the wonder of what was laid down in the studio."
Budd Kopman -All About Jazz (May, 2006)
"Sometimes two hours is enough. Groups like Oregon and the Dave Holland Quintet have shown the value of developing long-term chemistry, but sometimes the energy of the unexpected can be equally motivating. With the one rehearsal for Two Hours sideswiped by an unexpected grab of the New York rehearsal space for a movie shoot, Slovenian guitarist Samo Salamon truly made the most out of a situation that might have unnerved a less confident player.
The musicians chosen for the datesaxophonist Tony Malaby, bassist Mark Helias and drummer Tom Raineyare all well-accustomed to working without a safety net. And so, after a brief acoustic rehearsal at Helias home, the quartet went into the studio the next day and cut the albums ten original compositions in just two hours. But youd never know it.
Salamons ambitious nature has been apparent since the out-of-nowhere surprise that was Ornethology (Independent, 2003). With four additional releases slated for this year, 2006 may be the year he makes the leap into greater visibility, especially given that his collaborators include figures like Drew Gress, Josh Roseman, David Binney and Mark Turner. If Two Hours is anything to go by, its going to be an exciting year.
While Salamon often utilizes a gritty tone that references his appreciation for John Scofield, hes also moving towards greater warmth. Empty Heart, a lyrical ballad that flows gracefully despite its 3-4-3 metric irregularity, has a 7/4 middle section thats just outré enough harmonically to give the piece added depth. On the more mainstream ballad The Lonely Tune, Salamon demonstrates increasing confidence in going it alone. His self-contained introduction could easily have gone on longer. But Salamon is a democratic leader, and everyone gets plenty of room to move here and elsewhere on the disc.
The guitarist's motif-oriented constructive approach to soloing is remarkably developed. His extended solo on the jagged One for Steve Lacy, supported by Rainey alone, is a case of one motif explored and enhanced, gradually evolving into another. And another. By the solos end, all reference to the initial idea is gone, but the trip is logical and clearly intentioned.
The spirit of Ornette remains strong in Salamons writing. The lengthy theme of the staggered but still swinging A Melody for Her opens up to freer interplay between Salamon, Helias and Rainey, as does the even more idiosyncratic Wheres the Bill, a tip of the hat to the wry humour of Bill Frisell.
It's a given that Malaby, Helias and Raineywhose unencumbered adaptability is increasingly evident with every session he doesare as elastic as Salamons writing. In many cases a recording where a relative unknown hires more visible players can come off as nothing more than a session. Two Hours, on the other hand, with its unmistakable communal engagement, makes the most of the enlisted players clear respect for the leader. If Salamons other releases this year approach the chemistry of Two Hours, then this may well be the year for this rapidly developing Slovenian find."
John Kelman -All About Jazz (March, 2006)
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Performances @ 7pm sharp
Join us for the opening of WHOOPS! The Play, presented by MJ Miller, John Erbach, and Stevie Southard; joined by a host of ~20 assistants who will appear throughout the show. WHOOPS! is an event that you don't want to miss.
Mashing together references from Donald Judd to Buster Keaton, [Miller, Erbach, and Southard] tackle questions of work place politics, union organization, and how to accept an unexpected situation when everything you do just goes wrong. Holding onto high hopes they take on these topics using the vehicle of comedic performance, all the while remaining considerate of the perception of performance art versus the intersections of theatrics and even the circus. Sometimes in the face of total disarray all you can do is laugh.


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Sign Up as a Linky Volunteer and Enter to Win
You can sign up as a Linky Volunteer for Hearts Should Be Free AND enter to win the $5 Amazon gift card by filling out the Rafflecopter form below. If you have any question please first read the FAQ below.
Volunteer FAQ
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It's just a place where you can list links to things (usually on a certain topic) for free. Giveaway linkies are common on blogs. There are hundreds of them posted weekly and some ongoing ones. Here are examples of two types of giveaway linky forms:
Linky Examples:
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Linky volunteers should fill out at least 5 linkies, but can fill out however they are able and want to.
3. Should I start filling them out linkies?
No! Please sign up first in the rafflecopter form at the end of this page and get your assignment first so that we don't have more than one person filling out the same form.
4. Do I get extra entries for filling out more linkies?
Yes, you get extra entries when you have completed filling out 5 linkies, 10 linkies, or 20 linkies. After 20 linkies you don't get extra entries, just a thank you from me from the bottom of my heart. You can only get extra entries after you've been emailed your assignment and actually completed it (or part of it).
5. Will you show me how to fill out these linky forms?
Absolutely. Instructions will be sent with your assignment, and if you still have questions I'll try to answer them.
6. What if I'm under 18 or live outside the US?
If YOU LIVE OUTSIDE THE US: Yes, you can absolutely be a linky volunteer. You only have to have enough English proficiency to read this FAQ first. Also, giveaways like this must be legal in your country for you to enter. You also have to be able to use a Amazon gift code in your country to enter.
IF YOU'RE UNDER 18: You can sign up to help if you are under 18, but you can't enter the giveaway. However, your parents can, and you can "help them" do their entries if they allow that. Some forms require e-mail and you will be allowed to use my e-mail and can not use your own if you help with this.
7. Will you take my e-mail and spam you.
Short answer...no. As for Such Fun to Give, I'll be only using this to send your volunteer assignment/info and I will also ask everyone if they would like to be notified about the Hearts Should Be Free Giveaway Event next year.
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I've never know Amazon to get spammy unless you sign up for the spam specifically, but I can make no promises there.
8. So, How Do I Enter to Be a Volunteer, and How to I Enter the Contest?
You do both by entering the Rafflecopter below. If you don't want to enter the giveaway but would still like to help e-mail me at ecarian at yahoo dot com and let me know how many linky forms you'ld like to fill out and I'll send you your assignment.
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Monday 11 September 2006
In all the excitement over Test Drive Unlimited, it's been easy to forget that the free-roaming racing game has been attempted before. Indeed, the genre's top-selling franchise Need for Speed has already tried it, with some success, in last year's Most Wanted. But the landscape of EA's games is as unreal as a model set next to Test Drive Unlimited's Hawaiian setting.
Based very closely on the island of Oahu, this is a believable real-world space on a scale seldom attempted in games of any sort before and, save for a couple of unlockable racing circuits, it's entirely free to explore from the start, off-road as well as on.
And Oahu is a breathtaking, bottomless resource of hundreds of miles of road of every conceivable kind: city street, suburban lane, sweeping coastal highway, bustling four-lane freeway and steep mountain switchback.
There is far too much to get familiar with, making this a very different flavour of driving experience - not about learning tracks and mastering technique as much as reading the road and the traffic ahead, and instinctive car control in unexpected situations. It is, in short, just like driving, to the extent that when just exploring the island or taking part in more leisurely challenges, you'll find yourself unaccountably observing traffic signals - despite the complete, and wise, lack of damage modelling.


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Science fiction is the search for a definition of man and his status in the universe which will stand on our advanced but confused state of knowledge .
At first glance this topic could seem rather irrelevant having in mind that the two works are separated by more than a century. During this lapse of time, humanity has witnessed profound changes at a breath-taking speed. The partly Gothic and partly Romantic world of Mary Shelley is quite different from the reality Gibson predicts. We could not say, however, that there are no links between the two. Shelley's work could be viewed as the apprehension of the new-born fear in regard to technical invention and Gibson's work as the divination of the consequences of technological development and sophistication. In both cases the essence of human nature has barely changed. It is what lies behind the destructive human strife for more, more at any price that has led to the despondent conclusions of both works.
Indispensable to understanding the complexity of the problem of technology, in both Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and William Gibson's Neuromancer, is the historical context in which the two were written. Whereas Frankenstein was written in a period of dramatic change - that of the Industrial revolution, in Neuromancer, Gibson echoes the opinion of economists who believe that we are currently experiencing the beginning of a profound economic revolution, due to the breakthroughs in information and communication technology, and which some believe is equal in magnitude to the industrial revolution. The second leitmotif of my research is that of nature in reference to technology. Here I describe the relation of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein to technology and some of the crucial issues concerning technology in relation to human life, and exploration of the dangerous implications of human acts of creation.


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Profile for cinepaul
Favorite theaters: 55 theaters
Favorite movies: 2001: A Space Odyssey; La Dolce Vita; Claire's Knee; Lawrence of Arabia; The Conformist; Trust; The Young Girls of Rochefort; Black Orpheus; Double Indemnity; The Letter - just off the top of my head. Too many to list!
Comments: 12 comments
Member since: October 1, 2007


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