Shortly after this prohibition, the book De revolutionibus erbium coelestium published in 1543 by Nicolaus Copernicus (Mikołaj Kopernik, February 19, 1473 – May 24, 1543), a book that postulated the theory that the earth revolves around the sun, was banned. Galileo's telescopic observations of the phases of Venus and some of the moons of Jupiter had led him to agree with the Copernican heliocentric theory. In 1610 Galileo had published his book Sidereus Nuncius, in which he said that his observations supported Copernicus. Along with the banning of work by Copernicus, the writings of Galileo that agreed with the Copernican view were placed on the index of prohibited books, as were works by Johannes Kepler (December 27, 1571 – November 15, 1630). Despite being warned to abandon his heretical view, Galileo went on to publish a work in 1616 arguing that the ocean's tides were further evidence of the movement of the earth. In 1632 Galileo published a book in Italian entitled Dialogo sopra i due massimi sistemi del mondo (Dialogue Concerning the Two Chief World Systems) in which the Copernican heliocentric system was compared with the Ptolemaic geocentric system. The book presents a fictional account of a dialogue between two philosophers and a lay person. This book was also eventually banned by Pope Urban VIII. A year later, Galileo was put on trial for heresy "for holding as true the false doctrine taught by some that the sun is the center of the world." At this trial it was pointed out that he had been warned in February 1616 that persisting in defending the heliocentric view would result in his being imprisoned. On June 22, 1633, Galileo, then 69 years old, was found guilty of heresy and was sentenced to prison "at the pleasure of the Inquisition," and the Dialogue was placed on the Index of Prohibited Books. The next day, the prison sentence was commuted to house arrest, a condition under which Galileo lived until he died nine years later.
Although it is rare in the Twenty-first Century to encounter attempts to discredit scientists who accept heliocentrism, there are a number of other areas in which the consensus of scientific experts is disputed, sometimes by religious authorities, sometimes by industrialists and sometimes by the much more amorphous corpus of what may be called, for want of a better term, popular culture. While the overwhelming majority of scientists in the world accept the Darwinian account of the origin of species—change of organisms through purely random mutation not guided by any intelligent purpose—only 32% of the American public admit to holding the conclusion of 87% of American scientists that change occurs solely through random processes without the guidance of purposeful intelligence. In contrast, a much higher percentage of the populations of Australia, Canada, Norway and the United Kingdom accept an account of biological change that explicitly excludes the involvement of a divine or intelligent factor. In industrialized countries, only Turkey has a lower general acceptance of the Darwinian account of the origins of species than the United States. The principal opposition to the Darwinian account in the United States comes from religious denominations. Such religious bodies as the Assemblies of God, two branches of the Lutheran church, the Free Methodist Church, Seventh-Day Adventists, the Southern Baptist Convention, various Pentecostal organizations and Jehovah's Witnesses dispute the Darwinian view and propose some form of Creationism or Intelligent Design theory (which is but a variety of Creationism). Some of the opposition is based on literalistic reading of the Bible, while some is based on a concern that in the Darwinian account human beings are nothing more than another species of mammal with no special status in the universe.
The survey found 97% agreed that global temperatures have increased during the past 100 years; 84% say they personally believe human-induced warming is occurring, and 74% agree that "currently available scientific evidence" substantiates its occurrence. Only 5% believe that human activity does not contribute to greenhouse warming; 41% say they thought the effects of global warming would be near catastrophic over the next 50–100 years; 44% say said effects would be moderately dangerous; 13% saw relatively little danger; 56% say global climate change is a mature science; 39% say it is an emerging science.
And if you get down to the hard, cold facts, there's no question about it: Climate change is not happening, there is no significant, man-made global warming now, there hasn't been any in the past, and there's no reason to expect any in the future. There's a whole lot of baloney.
A look at the official statement of The Weather Channel on global warming, however, shows that the beliefs of John Coleman have not dictated what the meteorologists think on the subject. That notwithstanding, it is safe to say that The Weather Channel is not the first place to turn for the latest developments in climatological studies on global warming. There the science is not being disputed as much as it is being marginalized, relegated to a back page buried deep in a website.
A third area in which there is a distance between the consensus of scientific researchers and the beliefs of the general public is the question of the health risks of genetically modified organisms (GMOs). According to Pew Research Center, the overwhelming consensus of scientific researchers is that genetically modified organisms pose no health risks to human beings (although some acknowledge that there could be unintended environmental consequences down the line). In the American public, however, 39% of the people polled said they believe that GMOs are worse for human health than foods that have no genetic modification. In that survey, there does not seem to be much difference between liberals and conservatives, Republicans and Democrats, one ethnic group with another or level or education. On this particular issue the greatest differences are found in different age groups. In the youngest age group surveyed, people between 18 and 29, 48% were convinced that GMOs are unhealthy and only 35% believe GMOs make no difference to human health. In the oldest age group, people over the age of 65, only 29% believed that GMOs are unhealthy and 60% said they believe GMOs have no effect on human health one way or the other. Unlike the case with evolution and global warming, the significant discrepancy between scientific consensus and the views of the general population cannot be explained as the result of a conflict between scientists and religious authorities or people with vested economic interests. That said, the disagreement between scientists and the general public on GMOs is cited by Shawn Lawrence Otto as one of the many examples of truth being a casualty in what he has called a war on science in his book The War on Science: Who's Waging It, Why It Matters, What We Can Do About It, which is worth reading along with the review of it in Scientific American.


* Image on front - reverse is blank.
Would this make a great gift or what? That special someone will think about you with every sip of their morning java or tea. Yoga and spirituality are for everyone - even the jaded and cynical among us.


Stainless steel case with a brown leather strap with contrast stiching. Fixed stainless steel bezel. Black dial with luminous hands and Arabic numeral hour markers. Minute markers. GMT scale appears around the inner ring. Dial Type: Analog. Luminescent hands. Date display appears at the 3 o'clock position. Automatic movement. Scratch resistant sapphire crystal. Skeleton case back. Case diameter: 38 mm. Case thickness: 11 mm. Band width: 20 mm. Band length: 8 inches. Tang clasp. Water resistant at 100 meters / 330 feet. Functions: hours, minutes, seconds, date. Additional Info: H70655533. Casual watch style. Watch label: Swiss Made.


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Responsible AI: The Human-Machine Symbiosis
By Sal Cucchiara, CIO & Head of Wealth Management Technology, Morgan Stanley [NYSE: MS]
Sal Cucchiara, CIO & Head of Wealth Management Technology, Morgan Stanley [NYSE: MS]
Over 20 years ago, a supercomputer beat world chess champion Garry Kasparov at chess. That moment helped plant the seeds for the era of big data in which we live today, and it marked a critical cultural turning point that suggested a machine could outsmart a human after all.
While Kasparov initially expressed cynicism regarding the computer's methods and its intelligence, he has more recently changed his tune, crediting the power of artificial intelligence (AI) and advocating for a symbiotic relationship between humans and machines. "At the end of the day," he argued, "it is for us to even explain when something is successful. It is still for us to define success and machines to perform their duty" – underscoring the significance of our human role in defining and creating the knowledge base, the logic, and the authority that we empower our AI systems to wield.
"While a common myth conflates machine learning (ML) with AI itself, ML is merely the tool that renders systems artificially intelligent"
What does this mean for those of us who create AI systems, in the era of big data, and in an era where consumers are (rightfully) expecting and demanding that we leverage that data responsibly and accurately? To ensure both consumer trust and high-quality products and services, AI systems need to maintain a high degree of data integrity, enable end-users effectively, and employ responsible use safeguards.
Data integrity sits at the core of AI systems and is the foundation of client trust. Consumers hold higher expectations of accuracy for machines than for humans, however all machine intelligence is derived from human inputs. Our AI systems have the capacity to deliver this accuracy if we have an exacting grip over how our data is identified, collected, maintained, and integrated into our systems.
The first step to achieving this is through effective data curation, which involves identifying the most authoritative, trustworthy source for each piece of data, and then structuring the data in such a way that makes it easily accessible and eliminates ambiguity. We then need to implement robust knowledge management practices to continuously ensure that information remains up-to-date. We must account, for example, for any and all events that impact our data, from world events, to regulatory changes, to individual client events. Finally, AI systems must implement built-in feedback loops, to give technologists visibility into how the system interacts with end-users, and to allow end-users to communicate the accuracy of the answers that AI systems provide.
Beyond the answers themselves, end-users also tend to demand the reasoning behind these answers. For example, if a client's request to execute a trade is denied, he or she will generally want to know why. To engender optimal trust, AI systems must thus also enable model explainability, to provide evidence for its responses and actions. If a system detects a transaction to be fraudulent, it should be able to provide evidence for its detection. If a ChatBot provides an answer to a question about stock prices, it should also be able to link to its source. When an AI system provides evidence in support of its response or actions, users can trust it more completely, and can also indicate whether the evidence itself makes sense in the feedback.
End User Enablement
The goal of AI, at its core and across industries, should be to help users optimize the work that they do—whether by solving problems more efficiently or by adopting tactical work and enabling its users to think and operate more strategically.
One way we're using AI at Morgan Stanley is to support our financial advisors in managing their client relationships. On one level, we're doing this by employing AI to automate time-consuming manual tasks. Automating these tasks makes our branch staff considerably more efficient, and allows our financial advisors to reinvest their time in building client relationships.
We're also using AI to help our financial advisors build these very relationships more strategically through our Next Best Action (NBA) platform. NBA optimizes financial advisors' daily activities with prioritized recommendations that are instantly actionable, employing a task-ranking algorithm that enables financial advisors to dedicate their time to the most valuable tasks at any given moment. For example, NBA would notify a financial advisor of a client's life event such as changing jobs and advise the financial advisor to reach out accordingly, and quickly.
Recommendations are ranked in terms of predicted value, the likelihood of the financial advisor and client to act, clients' optimal contact schedules and indicators of potential attrition. NBA's integration with client relationship management applications enables financial advisors to execute recommendations with scale and ease: it takes just a few clicks to initiate bulk client engagement activities such as emailing cybersecurity recommendations or executing on an investment idea that many clients qualify for. The platform constantly learns by tracking which actions financial advisors enact versus ignore, and leverages this learning to constantly improve future suggestions.
These are just a few examples from the wealth management side of our business.
AI systems should be built with a certain level of self-awareness to ensure that they are only used for tasks they can competently handle and accurately deliver on. To facilitate this, we build algorithms into our systems that constantly score the system's confidence in responding to requests. Confidence scoring helps prevent our AI systems from providing erroneous information to our clients. Complex or ambiguous questions receive lower confidence scores, which indicate when humans are better suited to handling the given task.
Effective and responsible AI also necessitates a vigilant safeguarding of client data. To protect our clients, we maintain robust physical, electronic, and procedural safeguards that are designed to guard client information against misuse or unauthorized access.
While a common myth conflates machine learning (ML) with AI itself, ML is merely the tool that renders systems artificially intelligent. Humans still need to teach the machine how to learn, and ultimately, a system is only ever as intelligent as the data that underpins it. Our role and our responsibility in creating successful AI systems thus remain central, ongoing and necessarily human.
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Las Vegas – Later this summer, The Ultimate Fighter</em> returns for an incredible 28th season. The Ultimate Fighter: Heavy Hitters, premiering August 29 on FS1, will feature male heavyweights and female featherweights. This season also sees the return of two previous season winners as UFC® middleweight champion Robert Whittaker coaches opposite No. 4-ranked contender Kelvin Gastelum.


For many of you, this is your first-time visit to Detroit. For others, it's a reunion a long time coming. While you're here, we hope you get the chance to fully experience Detroit aside from your experience at the newly-renovated Cobo Center, with its waterfront and international views. Cobo has also launched several sustainability initiatives, such as recycling, using 40% less electricity in their exhibit halls, and donating unused food to local food pantries. But during your free time, The D's retail, restaurants, hotels, historic cultural attractions and public transportation options will already have you planning your next trip to Detroit.
If you've been reading or watching the news lately, then you know that Detroit has experienced a huge comeback. Ground has been broken at the former Hudson's department store site to build the tallest building in Detroit. The new Little Caesars Area is now home to the Detroit Red Wings and Detroit Pistons, placing all four of Detroit's major league sports teams within a few blocks of each other. The arena is part of the larger District Detroit, which will feature housing, retail, restaurants and a hotel in a 50-block, walkable area when it is completed. And Detroit's international riverfront features a RiverWalk that takes you from the old Joe Louis Arena to near Belle Isle. With gorgeous views of Canada, live entertainment, family friendly parks, and nearby bars and restaurants, the Detroit riverfront is the perfect way to spend your free time in Detroit.
There has been a resurgence of retail in Detroit's downtown core and each unique neighborhood. If you are downtown, walk along Woodward Avenue to see iconic Detroit brands such as Détroit Is The New Black alongside big brands like John Varvatos and Nike. And take the Cass Corridor through Midtown if you want to see Shinola's flagship store alongside quirky Detroit boutiques. For a comprehensive guide to all of metro Detroit's retail, check out Visit Detroit's Detroit shopping guide.
The D is a foodie mecca, where fabulous meals go from farm to table in just a few miles. Whet your appetite at Detroit vegan restaurants, Detroit breweries, authentic Detroit Polish restaurants, independent Detroit coffee shops, and classic Detroit restaurants that every visitor needs to try. Whatever you might be craving, it's time to get a taste of Detroit. Not sure where to start? Visit Detroit has a Detroit Restaurants guide that covers all the bases.
You've heard about the Detroit riverfront, but check out Campus Martius Park, Capitol Park and Beacon Park for more outdoor time in The D. All three parks feature shopping, restaurants, and tables or beaches to sit at and enjoy the Michigan sunshine. Or take advantage of the proximity of Belle Isle, Detroit's island park in the middle of the Detroit River. You'll get gorgeous views of the Detroit skyline, an aquarium, a conservatory and a nature center.
Take a walk around some of Detroit's neighborhoods to get a taste of all the unique flavors Detroit has to offer. Midtown Detroit is one of Detroit's hottest neighborhoods, with museums, boutiques, breweries, and Wayne State's campus. Corktown Detroit is for foodies. Stop here for views of Michigan Central Station and a taste of one of Detroit's most famous restaurants, Slows Bar BQ or Green Dot Stables. Indian Village is the place to go for architecture buffs. Check out stunning old auto baron homes and stop by the famous Sister Pie for a slice before you head back downtown. And if you're looking for nightlife in Detroit, look no further than Greektown Detroit. Anchored by Greektown Casino-Hotel, this is the place to be for clubs, bars, authentic Greek food and a world-class casino.
If you're looking to stay downtown, head to Midtown's museum district to check out the world-class Detroit Institute of Arts for Van Gogh, Degas, and the famous Diego Rivera mural. Also nearby is the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History, the Michigan Science Center and the Detroit Historical Museum. If you have time to head to Dearborn, then The Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation is a must see for all visitors. You can check out Rosa Parks' bus, the car that JFK was assassinated in, and all of America's great innovations. And lucky for the summer visitors, The Henry Ford's Greenfield Village is open and you can't miss it. Ride in a Model T, and visit the real homes of famous Americans that were all brought to Dearborn to create a one-of-a-kind live history lesson. Need more? Visit Detroit has a full guide to Detroit museums.
Detroit is known for its efficient road system and how well it caters to travel via automobile. Downtown proper expanded its public transportation infrastructure, adding a 3.3-mile circulating streetcar called the QLine, connecting Detroit's downtown, Midtown and New Center neighborhoods. You can also take the Detroit People Mover to get around the Detroit core, with several stops near Detroit hotels and one inside of Cobo Center. You can learn all about getting around Detroit.


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Transport July 1, 2020 July 1, 2020
The new Bentley Bentayga is even more stylish, comfortable and loaded with tech
by Sayan Chakravarty
Bentley has taken the wraps off the new Bentayga, which has received a comprehensive visual makeover to help it compete in a fast-growing segment. It was in 2015 when the British automaker launched the original Bentayga to pioneer the top-tier segment of ultra-luxury SUVs. While in the last 5 years, Bentayga has gone on to become the most popular product for Bentley by selling more than 20,000 units, the competition in the relatively new segment has become fierce with the arrival of the Rolls-Royce Cullinan and the Lamborghini Urus. The mid-cycle refresh for the Bentayga aims at giving the luxury SUV an edge over its existing and forthcoming rivals. The major visual updates received by 2021 Bentayga also make the model's overall design homogenous to the brand's latest design philosophy, creating a distinct family relationship with the Continental GT and the Flying Spur.
Starting with the changes received on the outside, the front has a broader grille that sits higher by 30mm than before and is flanked by elliptical "cut glass" LED headlights inspired by the ones found on the latest Bentley offerings. The changes at the rear are more prominent, which include a full-width wraparound tailgate, oval lamps integrated into the tailgate, and the license plate mounting that has been repositioned to the bumper. The rear track has also been increased by 20mm. Inside the cabin, the aging infotainment system has been replaced with a high-resolution 10.9-inch touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The traditional instrument dials have been replaced with a digital display, similar to the new Bentleys, while a new optional touchscreen remote control tablet for rear-seat passengers in also on offer. The seating has also been improved to offer a more comfortable ride for the passengers. The internal framework for the individual seats has been redesigned to improve knee room by 1.2 inches when upright and by up to 3.9 inches when the seat is reclined.
READ: Bentley Continental GTC V8 convertible debuts at the Geneva Motor Show
Mechanically, the 2021 Bentley Bentayga is mostly unchanged. The new model will be initially launched with the 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V8 as the sole engine option. It churns out 542 horsepower and 568 lb-ft of torque, same as the outgoing model. A V6 hybrid and a W12 will be launched at a later stage. The new, 2021 Bentley Bentayga goes on sale later this year and the pricing will be announced closer to the launch date.
READ: Breiting has made a limited edition watch to celebrate the launch of the Bentley Continental GT
Wald International renders a Black Bison makeover for Bentley Continental Flying Spur
Bentley Continental GT Speed – the most powerful Bentley till date
The new Bentley Bentayga Speed has usurped the Lamborghini Urus to become the fastest production SUV
Bentley SUV teased in a short video to reveal its coupe like design
2013 Bentley Continental GTC V8 Beverly Hills edition is dressed in Tiffany Blue
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Bentley unveils new line of accessories
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2012 Bentley Continental GTC fetches over $377,000 for charity
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The school UPG PRIMARY SCHOOL NURI DIH is located in the area NURIDIH of TAMAR. UPG PRIMARY SCHOOL NURI DIH is in the RANCHI district of JHARKHAND state. pincode is 835225. UPG PRIMARY SCHOOL NURI DIH TAMAR was establised in the year 2002. The management of UPG PRIMARY SCHOOL NURI DIH is Dept. of Education.
UPG PRIMARY SCHOOL NURI DIH is a Primary only school. The coeducation status of UPG PRIMARY SCHOOL NURI DIH is Co-Educational. The residential status of UPG PRIMARY SCHOOL NURI DIH is No. and the residential type of UPG PRIMARY SCHOOL NURI DIH is Not Applicable. The total number of students in UPG PRIMARY SCHOOL NURI DIH TAMAR is 49. The total number of teachers in UPG PRIMARY SCHOOL NURI DIH TAMAR is 0. The total number of non teaching staff in UPG PRIMARY SCHOOL NURI DIH is 0. The medium of instruction in UPG PRIMARY SCHOOL NURI DIH is Hindi.
The total number of class rooms in UPG PRIMARY SCHOOL NURI DIH is 4. The total number of other rooms in UPG PRIMARY SCHOOL NURI DIH is 0. The total number of black boards in UPG PRIMARY SCHOOL NURI DIH is 1. The total number of books in the library of UPG PRIMARY SCHOOL NURI DIH is 50. The total number of computers in UPG PRIMARY SCHOOL NURI DIH TAMAR is 0. The student teacher ratio of UPG PRIMARY SCHOOL NURI DIH TAMAR is 25.00000. The student classroom ratio of UPG PRIMARY SCHOOL NURI DIH is 12.00000. The pass percentage of UPG PRIMARY SCHOOL NURI DIH is 0.00000. The percentage of students who scored first class in UPG PRIMARY SCHOOL NURI DIH is 0.00000.


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Home Newsroom News and press releases Intelligence-led policing discussed at OSCE workshop in Kyrgyzstan
OSCE Secretariat, OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek
Intelligence-led policing discussed at OSCE workshop in Kyrgyzstan
Media accreditation to OSCE events
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Alexander Eliseev, Head of Politico-Military Department of the OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek, is opening the workshop, Bishkek, 28 November 2019. (OSCE/Juraj Nosal ) Photo details
Intelligence-led policing (ILP) as a modern approach to contemporary law enforcement management that combines intelligence gathering and analysis with informed decision-making procedures was focus the of an OSCE workshop in Bishkek on 28 November 2019.
Some 25 senior representatives and managers from Kyrgyzstan's Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Ministry's Training Centre and the General Prosecutor's Office took part in the event organized by the Strategic Police Matters Unit of the OSCE's Transnational Threats Department (SPMU), in close co-operation with the OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek.
Participants were introduced to the OSCE Guidebook on Intelligence-Led Policing and familiarized with experiences, good practices and lessons learned from implementing ILP in Serbia and Sweden.
"With the growing complexity of crime, the police need to adopt a more proactive approach, which prevents rather than only reacts to criminal acts. Just as in other areas of our lives, information and data play an increasingly important role in this regard," said Alexander Eliseev, Head of the Politico-Military Department at the OSCE Programme Office in Bishkek.
Arnar Jensson, ILP Project Manager at SPMU, said: "ILP ensures that strategic decision-making as well as operational planning of law enforcement work is based on empirical evidence. This makes it not only more effective and efficient but also more accountable and transparent."
During the discussions about the prospects of adopting a more proactive policing model in Kyrgyzstan, participants stressed the need to enhance inter-agency co-operation among the country's law enforcement bodies, further develop and integrate databases from various agencies, update the legislative framework, and train the relevant practitioners. A summary of key findings and outcomes from the event will be shared with Kyrgyzstan's authorities.
The event was a part of a series of national and regional training workshops organized by SPMU under its extra-budgetary project on ILP.
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Phone: + 43 676 71 74 592
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OSCE Guidebook Intelligence-Led Policing
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How much is NID anyway???
You do Real Estate too?
Do you have an Ag or Rural related event that you would like to see on the calendar? We would love to include it here. Please email paul@greenacres101.com with the details, website, pertinent phone numbers or simply a link for the event -- and we will do the rest. Thank you in advance!


If you've been following our news posts for the last week, you know we have announced official opening times for several stores already - Kmart is opening at 8AM on Thanksgiving morning and staying open until Friday night, while Best Buy is repeating last year's 6PM open, and Macy's is opening two hours earlier than last year with a 6PM Thanksgiving dinnertime start.
Unofficially, several news sites are predicting a Thanksgiving morning opening for Walmart stores like last year, with doorbuster events beginning at 6PM. Dell.com has a countdown timer on their Black Friday page that ends at 7:00AM CST on Thanksgiving morning.
So far this year the adscans have been harder to get ahold of, but we've already got the full ad for Harbor Freight, and they are opening at 7AM (as usual) with Inside Track members being allowed inside the store a full hour earlier than the rest. Stay tuned here for more updates as they happen for Black Friday 2014, or get them delivered directly into your e-mail inbox!


Postprint of: Chen, HY & Weiler, B in 2014, 'Chinese donkey friends in Tibet: evidence from the cyberspace community', Journal of China Tourism Research, vol. 10, no. 4, Domestic tourism in China: emerging trends and issues, special iss., pp.475-492.
The aim of this paper is to provide insights into Chinese backpacking tourism in Tibet. Chinese backpackers, referred to as "donkey friends" in China, are distinctively Generation Y born in the 80s and 90s. They grew up at a time when China shifted political power to Deng iaoping's explorations with capitalism and greater openness. Aided in part by the diffusion f the Internet and web-based donkey friend associations, backpacking flourished in China. through a virtual ethnography of a leading Internet travel forum, it has been found that Tibet appeals to Chinese backpackers mainly because of its natural environment. Backpackers in Tibet emphasize the "donkey friend" spirit and self-actualization as an important part of their trip. There is a gap between supply and demand for donkey friend travel in Tibet, particularly n terms of accommodation facilities. Attention should also be paid to managing the relationship between the local community and backpackers.


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Craft and Dorsett Win Golden Bell Awards
By Miles Rubens and Miles Rubens
Budget secretary Carol Craft and counselor Evelyn Dorsett received Golden Bell Awards for classified and certificated staff, respectively, this year. The awards, given by the California School Boards Association (CSBA) and county offices of education, are meant to recognize excellence in education across the state of California, according to the CSBA website.
The administration and staff members worked together to decide who should be nominated for the awards, eventually deciding on Craft and Dorsett, who were then selected by the Marin County Office of Education.
Although there were many staff members nominated, Craft and Dorsett stood out as particularly worthy of this honor, according to principal JC Farr.
"Routinely when I walk by [Craft's office] she shares her space with other teachers, she welcomes them, they come and they eat lunch in her office," Farr said. "She's also patient and kind working with students… it's that welcoming of staff that builds community when people are able to come in and eat and have conversation."
Craft, who previously won the award in 2001 while working at Lu Sutton Elementary School in Novato, was surprised to receive the award a second time.
"I was really surprised and I was pleased. I felt very honored," Craft said. "It was very nice that I got picked."
Dorsett, who is retiring at the end of this year, won the award for the first time.
"Ms. Dorsett is an excellent counselor. She is accessible to her students, she really advocates for them, and gets to know them and support them on an academic and socio-emotional level," Farr said. "So I think that she deserves recognition for her contributions to Tam throughout the years."
"I'm really excited I got it. It's a nice recognition after being here for 23 years," Dorsett said. "I know that the spirit behind the Golden Bell is about working with students and working in your environment… It's something that will be a great memory."
A ceremony will take place May 25 at Dominican University for the award winners.
Tags: carol craft, CSBA, Dominican University, evelyn dorsett, Golden Bell Awards, JC Farr, Lu Sutton Elementary School, Miles Rubens, Novato


The dollar extended gains at the highest in more than a decade as a stronger case for hiking U.S. interest rates weighed on bonds and gold. Japanese stocks climbed, while emerging-market assets dropped.
The greenback rose to near a more than seven-month high against the yen, with U.S. markets to be closed for Thanksgiving. Japan's Topix index climbed for a 10th straight session as investors returned from a holiday, while South Korea's equity index and currency lost at least 0.6 percent. The Philippine peso fell to 50 per dollar for the first time since 2008. Ten-year Australian and New Zealand government debt yields rose for a second day, as gold traded near a nine-month low. Copper and zinc surged.
The bond selloff sparked by Donald Trump's unexpected election as U.S. president has resumed, after better-than-estimated data on durable goods orders and manufacturing helped keep bets on a Federal Reserve rate hike next month at 100 percent. Central bank officials saw a stronger case for policy tightening amid solidity in the labor market, with some saying a hike should take place in December, according to minutes of the November gathering. U.S. equity benchmarks extended records last session, while the prospect of higher rates from Janet Yellen's Fed is again weighing on emerging markets.
"The dollar has been really strong in anticipation of Yellen's move next month and that strength in the U.S. dollar is ultimately going to mean that emerging market assets would be seen as disadvantaged," Nicholas Teo, a strategist at KGI Fraser Securities in Singapore, said by phone.
The Bloomberg-JPMorgan Asia Dollar Index is trading at the weakest since 2009 — led by the Philippine peso's plunge past 50 per dollar. The Thailand baht, Indian rupee and Indonesian rupiah each lost 0.4 percent Thursday.


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Room for Improvement
Posted in Film Reviews, tagged 2017, comedy, Dave Franco, James Franco, Seth Rogen, The Disaster Artist, Tommy Wiseau, true story (?) on December 7, 2017| Leave a Comment »
I'm hearing a lot at the moment that Things Are Never As Bad As They Seem and The Future Is Bound To Be Better, but even so, I can't help feeling a bit startled by the optimisim of opening a vast new shopping centre just right now. And yet this is what someone has done: said edifice dominates Oxford city centre like a necropolis for branded goods. The sheer scale of the space seems intended to make one feel tiny, and psychologically bullied into going into a relay outlet to propitiate the trade gods with some kind of financial libation. JG Ballard would have written a novel about it; I went there to watch a movie, of course.
Said cinema is on the roof of the place and is definitely up towards the luxury end of the scale – very much more a winebar than a coffee shop or sweet seller. The staff all seem terribly keen, too, although the decor incorporates different-coloured seats randomly mixed up together (which did my head in) and the place is still so new it has an all-pervading smell of paint. I was left feeling rather nauseated by this, after finding myself unable to hold my breath for the 100 minutes or so I spent watching James Franco's The Disaster Artist.
Speaking of optimism and pessimism, success and failure, I am struck by the fact that, for all that Hollywood loves making films about the movie business, there are very few films about the making of genuine classic movies. No fictional accounts of how The Godfather came to be, or Lawrence of Arabia, or 2001 (yes, obviously there may be a mileage differential here). On the other hand, they did a movie about the origins of Plan Nine from Outer Space (this seminal production is covered in Tim Burton's Ed Wood) and a film has now appeared about how Tommy Wiseau and Greg Sestero overcame the drawbacks of having no discernible talent or experience and made what's generally considered one of the worst movies of the 21st century, The Room.
The Disaster Artist opens with a sort of ho-ho-ho-ironic-sensibility sequence in which various hip and cool folk come on and talk about their admiration for The Room – one of them is JJ Abrams, who is on very thin ice when it comes to mocking other people's films, if you ask me. Hey ho. Suffice to say this initial sequence gives the impression that there's a central joke here which you really have to be in on to fully appreciate the film.
This does not last, however, as the story gets underway and we meet Greg (Dave Franco), a keen wannabe actor unencumbered by talent or presence, and Tommy (James Franco), a bizarre and enigmatic figure who looks like a vampire saxophonist and talks like a Russian Star Trek alien. An unlikely friendship develops between the two, as they bond through playing football very badly and giving impromptu dramatic recitations in crowded restaurants.
Much to the concern of Greg's family, the duo end up heading off to Los Angeles in an attempt to make it in the movie business. Greg is marginally successful, Tommy is not, and in the end Greg suggests they stop knocking on the door of an industry which seems (quite sensibly) determined to ignore them and make their own movie.
Tommy duly bashes out the script for The Room, a drama about human behaviour, to star and be directed by him, also starring Greg, and co-starring a bunch of other actors who frankly have no idea what they're letting themselves in for. But as the stresses of movie production increase, can the friendship between the two men survive?
Full disclosure: I have managed to make it well into my fifth decade on this plane of existence without ever actually seeing The Room. What can I say, maybe I'm cursed. I was a little concerned that you actually do have to have seen this legendary yapper in order to really appreciate The Disaster Artist, but I don't think this is quite the case – obviously there's a degree of in-jokiness about the whole project, but I still found it to be a very funny and engaging movie.
It is, first and foremost, a story about friendship under pressure – it struck me that there were very faint echoes of Withnail and I in this tale of struggling creative types, and the corrosive effects of bubbling resentment when your friend is more popular and successful than you are. But you're never in doubt of the genuine friendship and affection between the characters played by the two Francos (perhaps unsurprisingly) and you never completely lose sympathy for Tommy Wiseau, regardless of how outlandishly strange and arbitrary his behaviour becomes.
Normally I would suggest that James Franco goes howlingly, soaringly over the top as Wiseau, were it not for the fact that Tommy Wiseau himself turns up at a couple of points in the film to show just how spot-on Franco's impersonation of him is. He comes across as not just heroically weird, but weirdly heroic too – if you want a career as a creative person, I suppose you do need the kind of indestructible confidence in your own talent that Tommy has here. But how can you be sure you're not engaged in making your own version of The Room? It's a thorny question.
The Disaster Artist doesn't worry overly about that and instead gets most of its mileage and best moments from its depiction of the making of The Room, which is basically presented as one man's journey into creative megalomania. There are some very, very funny scenes, and Seth Rogen is good value as the bemused script supervisor attempting to act as the voice of sanity on the production. (Such is The Room's notoriety that various big names like Bryan Cranston and Zac Efron turn up in small roles throughout The Disaster Artist.) I share no spoilers, of course, if I reveal that the film concludes with Tommy as outlandishly enigmatic as ever and The Room on its way to becoming a genuine cult movie.
I've been fairly unkind about James Franco's acting at various times in the past (someone I know does not have many kind things to say about his novel-writing, either), but The Disaster Artist is a bit of a triumph for him as both an actor and a director. I'm not sure what to make of the fact that a film as good and entertaining as this owes its existence to one as bad (but still apparently entertaining) as The Room. But there you go. Obviously, the world often doesn't make as much sense as it should. There's a time to worry about that, and a time to go and see films, and going to see The Disaster Artist would be a pretty sensible choice.
Feud, Glorious Feud
Posted in Film Reviews, tagged 2013, action, Gary Fleder, Homefront, James Franco, Jason Statham, Kate Bosworth, Sylvester Stallone, thriller, Winona Ryder on December 9, 2013| Leave a Comment »
Ah, the film career of Jason Statham: or as I always think of it, the gift that keeps on giving. While there is inevitably a shadow over the prospects of Mr Statham's highest-profile release for 2014, Fast and Furious 7, this year has been a good one for Shirebrook's most famous son – by which I mean that none of his films has been an Expendables, and one of them (Hummingbird) was genuinely really good. Now, with the Christmas season upon us, we have one last treat featuring the great man (and a supporting cast of actors whom, it must said, once looked set for better things than secondary roles in mid-budget genre movies).
This is not to say that Gary Fleder's Homefront is by any stretch of the imagination a family-friendly Christmas movie. As you might expect, it is rather too high both in terms of its people-beaten-to-a-pulp quotient and effing-and-jeffing-o-meter for that. A higher-minded friend of mine might even find himself moved to describe it as another 'dystopian opera of urban pain' were it not for the fact that much of it takes place in the countryside.
Jason Statham plays, as ever, the Jason Statham Character, who in this film is in his maverick cop incarnation: an uproariously silly opening sequence sees him working undercover with a gang of meth-dealing bikers (crystal meth is so modish these days), before taking them down in a shootout and bike chase that leaves the substance of his wig wholly unruffled.
Thankfully, at this point the film calms down and the action relocates to rural Louisiana, two years later. Following the unelaborated-upon death of his wife, the Jason Statham Character has retired to the remote countryside to raise his young daughter and renovate a rattly old house. Louisiana looks beautiful and for most of the movie, the direction is moody and effective, picking up on the details of small-town life.
One of the neater twists in the script is the way that what looks like a minor character moment actually turns out to be the inciting incident for the entire plot of the film: the local school bully tries to pick on Statham's daughter and, being her father's girl, she promptly lamps him. Statham is called in for a meeting with the school counsellor (Rachelle Lefevre), following which the other kid's parents confront him, so he promptly goes in for a spot of lamping himself.
This does not sit well with the mother of the bully (an almost unrecognisable Kate Bosworth, whose A-list career was a casualty of the great Superman Returns disaster), who realises that her useless husband is not up to the task of restoring the family honour. So she gets on the phone to her brother Gator (James Franco). Gator is the local drugs manufacturer, but it's his credentials as a general headcase that she's more interested in. Through his girlfriend (Winona Ryder) he happens to have connections with some of the gangs that Statham, in his former life, was such a nuisance to, which may prove pertinent to the unfolding plot…
Now, it would really be stretching a point to claim that Homefront is anything more than a competently-made mid-range genre movie, but it does a very effective job of balancing the action and thriller beats this kind of film requires with a clever and coherent script that – for the most part – departs from the planet Earth no more than is absolutely necessary. I see the actual screenplay is based on a novel by Chuck Logan, but written for the screen by and up-and-coming young talent named… hang on a minute, let me check my notes… Sylvester Stallone. (Sylvester, huh? Sounds like a bookish, sensitive young chap.) Well, young Stallone me laddo, if you're reading this, the script for Homefront is really quite good, and you have a great future ahead of you as a screenwriter – but I would still be careful not to get stuck in the action movie ghetto.
The film tries especially hard to make the escalation from playground clash of egos to full-auto matter of life and death seem half-way credible, and it succeeds up to a point. Unfortunately the story not only requires Statham to keep a massive personal arsenal under his bed (somewhat at odds with the careful nature of the character on this occasion), but also to have detailed files on all his past cases lying unsecured around the house, so this is at most rather qualified success.
Anyone hoping for another instance of Mr Statham really stretching himself as a performer, a la Hummingbird, is probably going to be disappointed, too. The closest thing to an innovation in his characterisation here is making him a single parent, and even here one is inevitably reminded of his relationship with Catherine Chan in last year's Safe. This is yet another movie which ducks the possibility of giving Statham an actual on-screen romance, although there are hints of something potentially on the cards with Lefevre's character. In the end it really just boils down to Statham doing his usual thing with his usual facility – the hard-man-code-of-honour-soft-side-no-nonsense-wise-cracking-one-liner thing. The fights are good this time, as are the one-liners (the best one comes at the end of a three-against-one fight and goes: 'When I get home tonight, I'm going to tell my daughter a story. And this is how it ends:' *KER-THWOK*).
A definite plus to the movie, however, is the presence of James Franco as the chief antagonist. Franco's not the most obvious choice of opponent for Statham, and I've been fairly rude about his acting on occasion in the past, but he manages to give Gator a dead-pan quirkiness that lifts him above the level of the stereotyped bad guy he could very easily have been. He's an oddly likeable character, initially at least, even though the film also makes it quite clear that in many ways he's an irredeemable scumbag.
But there isn't anything particularly outstanding about Homefront – it's a film of extremely modest ambitions that manages to hit the targets it sets itself in a highly polished and competent way. It's a Jason Statham action thriller. It's a pretty good Jason Statham action thriller, with a relatively sensible plot and decent performances. But it still doesn't transcend the limits of the genre in any meaningful sense worth mentioning. I had a good time watching it, but then I would – and I suspect that in a few years time I'll struggle to remember which scenes were in this one, as opposed to The Mechanic or Parker. A solid movie, but basically meat-and-potatoes stuff for Mr Statham and his fans.
The Lives of the Caesars (Part Two)
Posted in Film Reviews, tagged 2011, action, Andy Serkis, drama, James Franco, Planet of the Apes, Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Rupert Wyatt, SF on August 11, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Normally, approaching the seventh film in a series I would expect to be entering distinctly Oh God Not Another One territory – let us not forget, even the mighty Bond and Star Trek franchises had quality control issues round about that point. With Rupert Wyatt's new movie, however, all bets are off and my trepidation sprang from an entirely different source. This is, of course, because Wyatt's movie is Rise of the Planet of the Apes, a new take on one of my very favourite SF series (regular readers will be in no doubt as to my affection for this particular branch of simian cinema).
The movie is trading heavily on the Apes brand in some ways, but it's really something new and startlingly different. Our story opens in a peculiar world dominated by apes and their strange society – the apes in question being human beings and the society being a market-driven western democracy. Chief human this time around is Will Rodman (James Franco), a neurological researcher trying to develop an effective therapy for Alzheimers, which his father (John Lithgow) is suffering from, despite the scepticism of the heartless suit he works for (the suit is played by David Oyelowo).
A fairly major lab setback forces Rodman to start again, almost from scratch, and leaves him the unwilling paterfamilias of an infant chimpanzee (Andy Serkis – no, really), the child of one of his lab apes. It soon becomes apparent that his mother's exposure to the therapy has affected young Caesar's development, giving him a vastly boosted IQ for a start. The problem is that he's no longer merely an ape, but neither does he have a place in human society.
Caesar's growing self-awareness coupled to his alienation and attachment to the Rodmans eventually leads to trouble with the law and Will and his girlfriend (Freida Pinto) are forced to place him in a local ape shelter. The fact that the shelter is operated by Brian Cox (whom you may recall as the bad guy from The Bourne Supremacy, X2, Troy, etc) and Tom Felton (whom you may recall as the bleach-blond kid at Hogwarts) should tip you off as to the kind of establishment this turns out to be. Caesar's intelligence does not prepare him for the brutality of his new life, but – characteristically – he rapidly adapts to it and is soon planning a break for freedom, not just for him but for all the inmates…
Most people, I expect, will have two starting points when it comes to talking about this movie – either the last attempt at an Apes reboot, directed by Tim Burton and released almost exactly ten years ago, or Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, which is the original movie this most closely resembles. That said, the resemblance is not a particularly strong one – while the Burton excrescence didn't reference any of the original films, the whole look and style of the film made it very clear it was wholly in their thrall. Rise, on the other hand, would only need a few fairly minor changes in order to operate as a wholly original independent movie.
Possibly aware of this, the writer-producers have opted to shotgun the movie with what felt like dozens of references to the cast, characters, and stories of the original films, some of which are very obscure indeed – I'm not even sure I spotted them all myself. (That said Pierre Boulle, Rod Serling and Paul Dehn aren't credited, which struck me as a little cheeky.) The subtle ones work best – when Tom Felton is required to recycle dialogue from the original series the effect is wearying rather than iconic. On the other hand, this does set up a moment which manages to be quintessentially Apes-y and yet also wholly and satisfyingly original: it certainly had your correspondent horripilating in his seat.
What's slightly unexpected about this film is what a small-scale and relatively personal story it tells, and the story is that of Caesar rather than Rodman. With the first act completed, all Franco gets to do is to drive around trying to keep up with a plot that doesn't really centre on him any more (Freida Pinto is even more ornamental). By this point Andy Serkis has already stepped into the spotlight and proceeds to dominate the rest of the film.
While Wyatt's direction is good, this film really belongs to Serkis, the other ape performers, and the motion-capture techies at Weta: the special effects in this movie are truly astounding, creating each ape as a separate individual with his or her own personality. The creation of convincingly photorealistic apes is flawlessly done, and yet the wizardry still permits Serkis's remarkable and deeply moving performance to shine through.
As with The Lord of the Rings, the action sequences of the movie are immaculately done but it's the character interactions and performances that really make the film work. You should probably be aware that the action stuff is really only limited to the final act of the film, and given the promise of man-on-simian conflict and genuine ape-ocalypse which the title suggests, I think it would be remiss of me not to mention that the film doesn't really go down this route. That's not to say that the status quo is unchanged come the end of the film: it's quite clear that the balance of power may well be undergoing a signficant alteration very soon, but they're leaving that for the sequel. I would have appreciated a little more of the darkness and fatalism that ran throughout the original series.
In fact, my only real grumble about Rise of the Planet of the Apes is that it does suffer a little from reboot syndrome: rather like Batman Begins, it painstakingly puts everything in place for a follow-up which will contain all the cool stuff you really want to see in this kind of movie, but the problem is that as a result this movie seems ever so slightly underpowered in its climax and resolution. Deferring many potential good bits to a potential sequel is a slightly annoying thing to do, but the overall quality of this film means Wyatt and his associates get away with it. Rise of the Planet of the Apes may on some level be only an exercise in setting up targets to be knocked down at some indeterminate future date, but it does so with such aplomb that you emerge looking forward to seeing how they're going to do it. A superior blockbuster and a worthy (if slightly iconoclastic) addition to the series.
You'll Believe A Man Can Wall-crawl
Posted in Film Reviews, tagged 2000s, drama, James Franco, Kirsten Dunst, Marvel, Sam Raimi, Spider-Man, superhero, Tobey Maguire, Willem Dafoe on April 30, 2011| 2 Comments »
From the Hootoo archive. Originally published June 13th 2002:
A conversation, c.1980 :
Me: 'Dad, dad! Can we go to the pictures?'
My Father: 'Why, what's on?'
Me: 'The new Spider-Man film!'
[This was actually Spider-Man: The Dragon's Challenge, a Spidey-versus-evil-kung fu American TV movie starring Nicholas Hammond that somehow got itself a theatrical release in the UK.]
My Father: 'What does Spider-Man do in it?'
Me: 'He climbs up buildings, throws his web over people, slides down a lift shaft! It looks great!'
My Father: 'Oh, I suppose so…'
My Father: 'Hey, hey! Let's go to the pictures!'
Me: 'Why, what's on?'
My Father: 'The new Spider-Man film!'
Me: 'What does Spider-Man do in it?'
My Father: 'He climbs up buildings, throws his web over people –'
Me: 'Does he slide down a lift-shaft?'
My Father: 'Not in the trailer I saw. Can we go? Can we can we can we?'
Me: (remembering the rubbish Hammond film and feeling rather guilty about forcing him to see it) 'Oh, I suppose so…'
Well, there's the cycle of the generations writ large for you. Actually I needed no persuasion whatsoever to go and see this movie: one of the most exciting and overdue developments in mainstream cinema over the last few years has been that Marvel Comics and their characters have finally begun to punch their weight on the big screen: recently we've had Men in Black, Blade, and X-Men, and within the next year we'll see Ben Affleck in Daredevil and Ang Lee's take on the Hulk. And obviously, a Spider-Man movie, done right, has the potential to be a fantastic movie.
Sam Raimi's film falls roughly into two acts. The first of these is the story of overlooked nerd Peter Parker (a tremendously likeable Tobey Maguire) whose life is transformed after he's bitten by a genetically engineered spider. His delight and excitement as he discovers, one by one, the different powers this gives him is utterly irresistible, and the story is told with the same self-mocking humour that characterised the original comic-books. But along with the powers come responsibilities and drawbacks (not least Peter's new inability to climb out of the bathtub unassisted) and Peter is in for a harsh lesson…
The Spider-Man origin story is the finest in all superherodom, essentially a fable concerning guilt and loss and redemption, and Raimi tells it near perfectly: so much so that you barely notice the radical re-conception of one of Spider-Man's signature powers. The actual effects set-pieces are a long time coming but well worth the wait, and you really don't mind such are the warmth of the performances and wit of the script.
Of course, every hero needs a villain to contend with and Spider-Man spends the second act of the film doing battle with the Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe, displaying a hitherto-unseen talent for manic hamming), a millionaire weapons designer driven insane by exposure to experimental performance-enhancing drugs. To be honest this part of the movie is slightly less impressive, being more formulaic superhero stuff. But the characterisation and energy continue unimpaired and the various bouts between hero and villain are visually startling. Most impressive of all is the ending, which isn't your standard blockbuster fare, but is entirely in keeping with the source material.
Spider-Man is a treat: not only the most faithful and impressive comic-book adaptation yet, but a genuinely terrific film in its own right (much better than The Dragon's Challenge, anyway), with great performances (apart from Maguire and Dafoe, Kirsten Dunst is great as the love interest, James Franco does a slow burn as Peter's best friend and Cliff Robertson is just right as Spidey's Uncle Ben), fantastic visuals, and a wonderful script from David Koepp. Hugely entertaining and pretty much not to be missed – go see! Go see!
Does Whatever A Spider Can
Posted in Film Reviews, tagged 2000s, Alfred Molina, James Franco, Kirsten Dunst, Marvel, Sam Raimi, Spider-Man 2, superhero, Tobey Maguire on March 23, 2011| Leave a Comment »
From the Hootoo archive. Originally published July 22nd 2004:
[Following a review of Thunderbirds.]
Oh well, onto a movie I can confidently describe as a success in all departments: Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 2, currently mounting a serious challenge for the title of all-time box office champion. Readers with long memories and short attention spans may recall I was rather impressed with the original when it came out just over two years ago – something not diminished in the slightest by this second instalment.
Two years on from the events of the first movie – which are helpfully recapped in another stylish title sequence – things have changed a bit for Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) and his amazing friends. The lad himself is juggling responsibilities as Spider-Man and Pizza-Delivery Boy and not making a very good job of it, his love interest Mary Jane (Kirsten Dunst) is mixing occasional interludes of dangling-in-jeopardy with a successful acting career, and his best friend Harry (James Franco) is now a suit at his dad's old corporation, and obsessing over Spider-Man (who he believes killed his father). Basically, being a super-hero is making Peter incredibly miserable as his work and relationships are constantly suffering. Does he really still want the gig?
Things don't get any better when a freak accident with an experimental fusion generator – er – fuses brilliant scientist Otto Octavius (Alfred Molina on fine form) with four malevolent cybernetic tentacles. Restyling himself Doctor Octopus, he sets out to recreate the experiment, no matter what the risks to the city. But he needs Harry's co-operation to do this, and Harry's price is the head of Spider-Man…
After a couple of Affleck- and Bana-shaped wobbles last year, Spider-Man 2 should put Marvel Comics' film division back on course for world domination. This is thanks to a production in which performances, script, and direction all come together to produce a film which is thrilling, moving, and funny in all the right places. The style of the original film is continued seamlessly, with several gags and motifs re-used (Bruce Campbell pops up again in another wittily-performed cameo).
Where it surpasses its predecessor is in its freedom to just pick one story and follow it through, rather than combining the Spidey origin with various Goblin-related clashes. And it's a very human and personal story, very much focussed on the troubled personal life and guilty conscience of Peter Parker. While people are probably going to go to the cinema to see Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus duking it out on the sides of buildings – and the battles themselves are terrific, the villain impressively realised – this isn't really at the heart of the story. Given this it's a shame the climax boils down to a rather generic special effects set-piece that only loosely ties in to the themes of the script. (And if anyone knows how Spider-Man finds out where Doctor Octopus' lair is, I'd love to hear from them.)
But never mind. The performances of the cast are every bit as memorable as the special effects. Normally in a superhero movie you're glancing at your watch when the lead character's in secret-identity mode, but Maguire manages to be utterly engaging as Peter Parker (and seems to be quite a good sport about the achey breaky back problems which nearly cost him the role). Dunst is fairly touching, even if Franco seems ever so slightly over-wrought in a slightly one-note part.
All this just adds into the overwhelming impression of supreme confidence this movie gives off: it's not afraid to go from quite sombre personal moments to offbeat visual humour, to include wild directorial flourishes, or even to run the risk of seeming camp and goofy. It's also not afraid to shake things up and plan for the future: the relationships and situations of the main characters at the end are very different from how they stand at the beginning, and while it's fairly obvious who one of the villains of Spider-Man 3 will be, the script also plants seeds for at least two others somewhere down the line.
It shouldn't really come as much of a surprise if I tell you that Spider-Man 2 is going to be the biggest film of the summer. But it may if I add that the success is thoroughly warranted by a film which mixes thrills, jokes, maturity and heartache to absolutely winning effect. Highly recommended.
Paint Your Wagner
Posted in Film Reviews, tagged 2000s, action, drama, James Franco, Kevin Reynolds, Mark Strong, romance, Rufus Sewell, Sophia Myles, Tristan + Isolde on February 3, 2011| Leave a Comment »
From the Hootoo archive. Originally published 4th May 2006:
Hello again everyone, and welcome to another edition of the film review column that's looking to new horizons. As you may have noticed, as far as mainstream cinema goes we are currently becalmed in the post-Oscar, pre-Memorial Day boonies. This is the time of year when the studios traditionally wheel out the fare which they can't see having much success while there's anything more substantial or heavily promoted about: mid-budget thrillers and action movies, horror, offbeat drama and comedies. (There's another patch like this in the autumn when we here in the UK tend to receive any blockbusters that seriously tanked across the Atlantic.) Quite which of these categories Kevin Reynolds' Tristan + Isolde falls I'm not entirely certain, but I'm positive it does trip up somewhere along the line.
Culture vultures will of course recognise this as the title of one of Richard Wagner's grand Teutonic operas, but then again culture vultures almost certainly have better things to do than read 24 Lies A Second. Bearing this in mind, I shall refrain from showing off my in-depth knowledge of the Bayreuth maestro — suffice to say I do a mean summarisation of the plot of the Ring cycle. In any case this is, sadly, not a musical, just a fairly earnest adaptation of the original legend — greenlit, I would suspect, in the wake of the mega-success of Lord of the Rings, the Wagnerian connections of which are fairly well-known.
We find ourselves in the Dark Ages, with a divided Britain cruelly oppressed by the powerful Irish. (Any historical irony present in this scenario is steadfastly ignored by the movie which has its mind on nobler things.) The barons of Albion gather to forge an alliance and free themselves, but – as is traditional – a traitor amongst them has sold them out and the Irish crash the party looking for a fight. (You will, I hope, note that I too am steadfastly ignoring the opportunity to make cheap jokes based on dodgy ethnic stereotypes.) Orphaned in the scrap is Tristan, son of the leader of the Jutes, but he is adopted by the Cornish baron Marke (Rufus Sewell). Ten years later Tristan has grown up into James Franco, who you may recall from the Spider-Man franchise, and very strapping he is too. Equally strapping is Isolde, the lovely daughter of the Irish king – played by Sophia Myles, whom you may recall from the first Underworld, the big-screen Thunderbirds, and, retroactively speaking, this Saturday's episode of Doctor Who.
Well, what follows is extremely convoluted and rather implausible, and heavily reliant on coincidence and people casually popping back and forth across the Irish Sea apparently by rowing boat. But here goes anyway: the King of Ireland promises Isolde's hand in marriage to his chief legbreaker. She is not pleased. But before nuptials can take place said legbreaker pops over to Cornwall to terrorise the natives a bit. But the Cornish have had enough and fight back. Legbreaker dies but not before stabbing Tristan with poisoned blade. Cornish people think Tristan is dead and push him out to sea in burning rowing boat. Boat does not sink but washes up on coast of Ireland where – what are the chances! – Tristan is discovered and secretly nursed back to health by Isolde. Rumpy pumpy ensues. She does not tell him her name in case he gets caught and rats her out. King of Ireland discovers killer of chief legbreaker is somewhere on the loose in Ireland. Isolde warns Tristan to push off still thinking she is trapped in arranged marriage. He goes back to Cornwall in different rowing boat. Separated young lovers brood for a bit. King of Ireland decides to stir British up a bit by making them compete for Isolde's hand and big wad of cash, thinking this will destroy their unity. Tristan comes up with plan to derail this scheme by winning contest on Marke's behalf then splitting the prize between all the British leaders (Marke still gets princess). Despite attempts to fix contest by Irish this plan succeeds but – alas! – too late Tristan realises who Isolde really is. Isolde marries Marke as planned, thus ensuring peace between Britain and Ireland (sh'yeah right!). More rumpy pumpy, between Marke and Isolde this time. Tristan looks tortured and noble (or possibly suffers from wind a lot – Franco's performance makes it difficult to tell)…
…and all this in just the first half! No wonder they had to cut all the songs out. Anyway things progress along fairly predictable lines – conflict of duty and true love, guilty passion, treachery, machiavellian machinations, tragedy, big siege, you know the sort of thing. There is, so far as I can tell, only one proper joke in the whole thing, and not an especially funny one. It does take itself rather seriously, but it at least is rather less cheesetastic than Reynold's previous swashbuckling opus Robin Hood – Prince of Thieves. Historical anachronisms are kept down to an acceptable minimum for the most part, as are silly costumes (that said Rufus Sewell does turn up to his wedding wearing what appears to be a chain-mail beanie). That '+' in the title might suggest this is a radical and bold reimagining for a modern audience, but it's all a bit dour and naturalistic for a movie pitching for the Rings crowd. At least it's better filmed and performed than the terribly similar Sword of Xanten which you may have caught knocking around not long ago.
To be honest, even at two hours this film feels rather rushed and busy, and, crucially, the central romance never really ignites – this despite the fact that virtually the first thing Isolde does on meeting Tristan is to take all her clothes off and start rubbing herself up against him, Dark Age folk presumably being less inclined to beat about the bush (so to speak). What little sympathy the couple generate is solely down to Myles' performance, who is a radiant screen presence with definite star quality. Franco's a bit of a charisma black hole, though – he broods well but that's about it. Noteworthy also is Myles' Irish accent, which for once does not suggest an upbringing in County Leprechaun. Sadly all the British characters stick with velly proper RSC English – clearly America is not yet ready for the wonders of the Cornish accent, and come to think of it, given his origins on the map Reynolds thoughtfully provides, Franco should be Scouse!
This is a film without any really big names, but there are lots of faces you may recognise in it. Rufus Sewell does an extremely decent job as Marke, and there's a solid turn from a wigged-up Mark Strong as a treacherous Glastafarian (possibly not precisely the correct name for his tribe, but you get the gist). It doesn't completely fall down in any department, and in some – art direction, cinematography, fight choreography – it's quietly rather impressive. But it never really hooks the audience or involves them in the story. It's watchable enough, but I doubt it will linger long in the memory. A few enormous women in horned helmets belting out tunes might have made all the difference.
Mostly Armless
Posted in Film Reviews, tagged 127 Days, 2011, Danny Boyle, drama, horror, James Franco, true story (?) on February 1, 2011| Leave a Comment »
You know, it's a terrible thing to have to admit to, seeing as he's practically been crowned the modern-day answer to Michael Powell, but more often than not I just don't get Danny Boyle films. Even 28 Days Later, which is probably my favourite from the oeuvre, isn't something I fully appreciated the first time I watched it. This isn't a very fashionable thing to admit to, but normally I'd rather see a film starring Jason Statham than one directed by Danny Boyle.
Alas, my man J's latest opus, The Mechanic, hasn't shown up in Oxford yet – no Machete, and now no Mechanic, clearly the local film-bookers don't appreciate knuckle-headed action movies – and so I went to see Boyle's 127 Hours instead. This is another of those films gathering a bit of a buzz around it ahead of the awards season, so it has to have something about it, right?
James Franco plays Aron Ralston, in the true story of what happens to people who go outdoors by themselves too often. Ralston starts the film as an energetic and rather annoyingly cocky young man who opts to spend his weekend canyoning in a remote part of Utah. Unfortunately, he has a bit of a slip and ends up with his arm pinned under a rock, with very limited supplies, no contact with the rest of the world and the knowledge he hasn't told anyone where he is. After 127 hours – see what they did there? – he uses a penknife to hack his arm off at the elbow and walks back to get some no-doubt urgently-required medical assistance.
Sorry if I spoiled the movie for you there. Everyone knows where this film is going, surely? Certainly my own experience of it was tinted from the start by my anticipation of what was going to happen: Something Bad was going to happen to Franco's character, which would eventually lead to him doing Something Arguably Even Worse to himself.
Except it isn't quite like that in the end. The sequences before and after the canyon are really just an extended prologue and epilogue to the meat of the film, which is Franco, his arm trapped, trying to come to terms with what's happening and find a way out. It's one character, with very limited mobility, in the same location for most of this film.
My issue with Danny Boyle as a director is his over-fondness for intrusive stylistic and cinematographic fireworks. When this suits the particular story he's telling, the results can be extraordinary, but all too often he seems to be cramming them in just because he likes them, not because they're appropriate to the subject-matter. Luckily, this story is crying out for that sort of thing. Even so, Boyle is relatively restrained and doesn't go too far down the route of out-of-canyon dream sequences and flashbacks – instead, doing things like sticking the camera in odd places, such as inside Franco's water bottle and so on.
Franco himself is excellent. In the past I have occasionally been sniffy about some of his performances ('looks like he has wind throughout' was, I believe, my considered opinion of his turn in Tristan + Isolde), but he's utterly mesmeric here. Very quickly he wins your sympathy entirely, especially as he comes to realise what his predicament says about him as a person, and the final moments where – his former shell of cocky independence in smithereens – he cries out desperately for help are desperately moving.
Franco as Ralston, from near the start of the movie. Obviously.
Somewhere in there, of course, is the arm-hacking-off moment, which I for one enjoyed with my teeth clamped firmly around the strap of my backpack. It's a deeply, deeply harrowing thing to watch, and Boyle doesn't shy away from the full queasy ick of it. That said, the film does manage the remarkable feat of taking you to a place where Ralston's decision seems wholly rational and you can even imagine yourself doing the same thing – self-mutilation really does seem like the least worst option in the situation.
While it doesn't feature a balding ex-diver with a wandering accent taking off his shirt and kicking people in, 127 Hours is still a superb movie. It reminded me a lot of Touching the Void, another almost-unbelievable tale of human survival against the odds. The story is unforgettable, the direction does it full justice, and there's a monumental performance from the lead actor. One to watch and marvel at, while you're resolving never to set foot out of your house alone again.


Businesses both old and new are likely to understand the importance that customer service holds. Today, with the rapid development of technology, a customer's expectations are growing too. People expect much more from businesses when it comes to the service they receive. In order to keep up with the increasing demand, businesses need to move with the times.
One of the latest customer service trends available is the use of live chat. The software comes with live support, help desk software and usually web analytics. The idea was first launched back in 2002, but today more people than ever expect to see live chat on business websites.
Statistics reveal that 51% of customers are more likely to make a purchase if a site has the live chat feature available, so it must be doing something right.
If you are yet to roll with the live chat trend, here are a few reasons you should think about integrating it into your business plan.
Using live chat has proven to cut down on expenses for many companies. Not only it cuts out a lot of phone expenses, but it also reduces employee task time. Often one employee can handle multiple chats simultaneously. Not only is this an overall process improvement, but you will also have happier customers due to the reduced waiting time.
As mentioned earlier, live chat increases sales. The key to this is that customer has someone they can talk to immediately to walk them through a sale if needs are. Questions get answered straight away, and this could make or break a sale. It reduces the chance a visitor would bounce away, guiding shopping carts all the way through the checkout process.
Additionally, when an employee is chatting with a customer, they are in the perfect position to offer additional purchases to match the needs of the customer.
Many top retail businesses are still not offering a live chat service. Therefore, if you provide it, this instantly gives you an edge over many of your competition. The service provides a simple way for you to connect with paying customers. It is now an essential tool for any company that is thriving to provide excellent customer service.
Live chat gives customers what they want — instant access to help when they need it. By using live chat, the wait time is likely to be a lot shorter than with email or call centers.
So much so, that 41% of online shoppers trust a brand that provides a live chat feature and 48% are customers are more likely to return to the website.
Live chat offers countless benefits, and you can find much more than this over at Website Builder. As a business, one of the most important things you should consider is keeping the customer happy, and live chat offers the perfect solution for you to achieve this.
This article is written by Josh Wardini. Josh is Editorial Contributor and Community Manager at websitebuilder.org. With a preliminary background in communication and expertise in community development, Josh works day-to-day to reshape the human resource management of digitally based companies. When his focus trails outside of community engagement, Josh enjoys the indulgences of writing amidst the nature conservation of Portland, Oregon.


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"Stick a fork in him" means "he's done." It's a barbecue term; the piece of meat is cooked and you can stick a fork in it and take it off the grill.
The term is used in sports, often in baseball. You can "stick a fork" in the starting pitcher and bring on the relief pitcher. The term is first recorded from baseball pitcher and announcer Dizzy Dean. Dean was born in Arkansas, but the "stick a fork" phrase traveled well into Texas.
Jay Hanna "Dizzy" Dean (January 16, 1910–July 17, 1974) was an American pitcher in Major League Baseball, elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. He was born in Lucas, Arkansas, and was a life long resident of Wiggins, Mississippi. He was a pitcher for the St. Louis Cardinals (1930–1937), the Chicago Cubs (1938–1941), and briefly for the St. Louis Browns (1947).
It was the adequate torso of Mr. Bobo Newsom, a professional pitcher, aged forty-five going on forty-six, who has been one of the scenic glories of organized baseball since the Battle of San Juan Hill. Mr. Newsom looked superlatively fit. He confessed that he had trained faithfully all winter serving as a tourist attraction in Winter Park, Fla., flapping flapjacks in the window of a short-order house.


In this week's #AskTDS blog, we answer an agent's question: "How will the deposit cap affect TDS members?"
Set to come into force on 1st June 2019 in England, the Tenant Fees Bill 2017-19 to give it it's official name, will affect how tenants rent, what letting agents can charge, and the level of deposit that can be taken. The deposit cap will limit the amount of deposit that can be taken for a tenancy to 5 weeks' rent where the annual rent is up to £50,000. For those tenancies where the annual rent exceeds £50,000, the deposit will be capped at six weeks' rent.
It will only affect new tenancies beginning after the changes are introduced, so those already renting may not see any change at first, but everyone in the private rented sector should be aware of what it will mean for them.
It won't affect the day-to-day service you receive from TDS, but we will be issuing guidance to our members.
We have a responsibility to ensure that our letting agent, landlord and tenant customers are made aware of what it means for them.
Over the coming months we will prepare clear guidance to support our customers and ensure they are aware of their rights and responsibilities in terms of tenancy deposits, deductions and disputes.
Our partner organisations, the Residential Landlords Association (RLA), ARLA Propertymark, and RICS are publishing guidance for their members too.
Further information on the progress of the bill and what it entails can be found on the UK government website.
For more information on how the deposit cap might affect deposits, you can contact the TDS team.


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How Various Operating Systems Protect Your System
Operating systems serve as a middleman between programmes and your computer, allowing them to run. You may manipulate the hardware by dividing your computer's resources among several apps.
Simply put, any computer that can run the software, regardless of operating system (MacOS, Windows, or Linux), need one.
If You're Building a New Computer, What Operating System Should You Use? Certain OSs are safer than others, although many newer ones are built to guard against security issues right out of the box. Because of this, it would be incorrect to assume that simply because some have a greater number of exploits than others, it means they are evil.
These approaches, which may be found in almost any current operating system, will be discussed in this article.
1. Memory Protection
Programs can't function unless they have resources that can be rapidly modified. RAM (Random Access Memory) is a type of memory that performs random access operations. Temporary storage, such as RAM, allows data to be written and read very rapidly because it is wiped clean when the computer is shut down. This resource is made available to an app when it is first launched by the operating system.
Since this resource is required by all applications, a malicious programme could read data from a place in memory other than the one to which it was assigned. An illustration of this is a buffer overflow. It's a way of saying that someone is tampering with memory outside of where they are meant to be. This can allow malicious code to execute in the background without the user being aware of it, or it can allow malicious code to read sensitive data from memory.
The majority of today's operating systems do not allow problems to do harm, but also cannot prevent them from happening. This is accomplished by encrypting portions of memory that no running programmes should have access to. The only thing it will accomplish is to trigger a system crash. That's preferable to having a security breach.
2. User Privilege Elevation
Additionally, operating systems make use of the idea of privileges to assist in protecting and securing a computer. The concept behind them is that on a single computer, several users may access a variety of different resources. The ability to alter specific items, such as system preferences, is an example of a sort of privilege. Without them, each application that a user executes on the computer has the potential to compromise it, modifying the operating system.
For example, Windows includes an administrator account that enables users to make system-wide modifications (e.g. in restricted folders such as where programmes are located).
Similarly, Linux has a superuser account that allows you to do nearly anything without limitation. High power, however, increases the danger of breaking items… Also, possible harm if the virus was run with high privileges. Regular users, for example, may not be able to specify startup programmes. But a user with higher privileges, along with any harmful applications they execute.
All operating systems try to limit a user's rights. It prevents any damage produced by programmes if any. They can't cause as much damage to the system while defending it. Instead, they urge consumers to manually accept items that desire to accomplish something important. See It Your Way! Windows, for example, features UAC (User Account Control). It allows apps to perform more things if the user approves it. Programs operate with limited rights by default, with UAC alerting the user when more is required (e.g. change system files).
Similarly, Sudo and Polkit are comparable in Linux. In summary, they're both ways of running a programme with more privileges. Akin to Windows UAC, the latter is primarily utilised on Linux desktops. In addition, they both require a password before advancing.
Mobile operating systems function differently. Unless tweaked, users cannot obtain such strong capabilities by default. This keeps their systems safe by restricting what they can do. It's called jailbreaking on iOS. On Android, it's rooted. Regardless of their names, they share many traits.
3. Application Signing
Another essential security measure that most operating systems use these days is application signing. It ensures that programs that you run on your computer come from a trusted source. That is to say, one which is not likely to try and hurt you.
Programs, like anything else on a computer, are just made of a series of data. As such, it can be passed through and processed for verification — a digital signature of sorts to confirm it as correct. Put shortly, this signing of an application makes sure that what you are running is what you intended. Usually, this process is done by certain authorities who allow people to sign their code. This is meant to help confirm that whatever software is running is not designed to harm the users' system.
Programs with a big user base can usually do so. How to See It Most OSes strive to implement application signing. They typically won't block you from running unverified programmes. However, they do tend to advise against it. Windows UAC "unknown publisher" warning. But this isn't limited to a few operating systems.
Many Linux distributions provide a comparable feature. Software repositories are internet sites that house applications that have all been signed and verified. In principle, you are secure if you don't instal applications from unknown sources. But this isn't always the case.
For example, mobile phone operating systems centralise their programmes. And for iOS, it's the Apple App Store. All applications on them are trusted and verified. But that hasn't always worked out.
To summarise, while certain operating systems are considered safer than others, none are easily compromised. Many things happen behind the scenes to keep your computer safe.
That doesn't mean they're immune. Security programmes and self-practice approaches are still vital. After all, common sense and solid judgement are irreplaceable. How do you protect your tech?
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In 1849, the city of Ironton was founded by local ironmasters, railroaders, and financiers associated with the Ohio Iron and Coal Company. They saw the city as a manufacturing and shipping point for their products. As a young industrial city, Ironton prospered when river transportation facilitated the development and export of Lawrence County's natural resources and manufactured items. The Iron Railroad Company was also established to transport pig iron and manufactured goods from nearby towns to Ironton, to awaiting steamboats on the Ohio River. Steamboats, in the form of towboats, packet boats, and showboats, traveled the river providing the city with goods, services, and entertainment. The Ironton wharf and boat landing once served the community as a gathering place to greet incoming passengers, receive mail, and hear the latest news.