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Love.Live.Dance
Ballroom Chat Podcast
Standing Out From the Crowd: Kimberley Mitchell
Samantha StoutJune 01, 2020Ballroom Chat: Episode #8
A conversation with Kimberley Mitchell. She is a two time US Professional Latin Champion, coach, judge, adjudicator, and invigilator. We talk about her start in the industry, the preparation process to get showcase ready for the 40th Anniversary of the Ohio Star Ball, her thoughts on when and how to restart competitions, and the importance of finding your own authentic style.
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Our transcripts are automatically generated from our podcast interviews with only small modifications for readability. As a result, they will contain errors.
SAMANTHA: Good morning everyone. Welcome back to the podcast. Welcome to the first official episode of Ballroom Chat under our new name, renamed it so, so very excited to have you this Monday morning. I'm your host SAMANTHA with Love Live Dance, and today I am joined by the amazing KIMBERLEY Mitchell, who is a former UK open international, Latin and standard champion. And then she is a two time U S professional, Latin champion, current coach, adjudicator judge, and just overall wonderful person. So please give her a warm welcome.
KIMBERLEY: Thank you. Thank you.
SAMANTHA: So thanks so much for coming on this morning.
KIMBERLEY: Well, thank you for having me.
SAMANTHA: I'm excited. So for those that maybe aren't familiar with you, what, what does the resume look like? How did, how did you get into dancing?
KIMBERLEY: Okay, well. My parents have a dance studio in England, and they grew up dancing together as children and as professionals. And then along I came to spoil all of their farm. I think I came out dancing. So when people ask me how long I've danced, and I say forever, it really is forever. my forever, I started ballet at the age of two. My mum thought I needed a little bit of discipline. I can't think why she thought that. I had my first dance partner at the age of five ballroom dance partner. We were British champions, international champions, and then kind of went on from there. I actually moved to the United States at 18 just turning 19 to to dance with a guy in San Francisco. We were, we were going to dance. We were dancing for England and going to spend six months in America, six months in England, and then along came Bill Sparks. Who saw me dancing at a national championships. And at that time he was looking for a dance partner.
I was still, we were dancing in the youth category and he was already a United States champion. So after some back and forth, then my mum asked what she thought I should do, and having my coaches speak to his coaches, speak to my mom. It was this big run around. I decided that, you know, I'd already done really well leading up to that point. Why not turn professional and go on from there. So I did, and six weeks later after teaming up with Bill, we danced our first Ohio Star Ball for anybody that seen that was the one way we had the dog color and I led him around the floor, which yeah, that was, that showdown. And, and the, I guess the rest is history. We became a two time national champions four time Ohio Star Ball. We traveled to England and won the British rising star. And, and then, you know, we, Bill retired and I moved back to England for awhile. Worked in my parents' studio, got to do a lot of social dancing, working with kids.
There's a lot of kids classes over in England, way more than we have here. So my, my talents and teaching skills changed a little bit, but there was something missing and America was what was missing. So. Just over 10 years ago, I moved back and, and here I am. So I did a little bit of Pro-Am, which was fun because I love to dance and I still love to show off. Let's just be honest about it. I can't help it. Who doesn't like to get all gussied up and show off a little bit? but now it's coaching and judging, traveling around and sharing my gifts and talents with others. So
SAMANTHA: that's amazing.
KIMBERLEY: That's my resume. Like, tick it all off.
SAMANTHA: No, that's, that's fantastic. And I think, you keyed on, keyed in on something that, is certainly true, which is youth programs, youth dance sport is much more prevalent internationally than it is here in the U S I feel like in the U S we really focus our kids' programs on ballet, tap, jazz, acro, modern, very solo dance or group choreography based, but never partner dancing. And I don't know if that's because we're uncomfortable as a culture, having kids dance with partners, or if it's just something that never really took on here or took off here.
KIMBERLEY: For me, I just feel you don't know what you don't know. And we, we also, money is a big thing. So the, the ballroom industry is a little bit more expensive than, than going to a ballet class. So I think that's, there's people away and, and the, the whole. Ballroom dancing is for old people.
That's a big deal here. I mean, yes, that that's something that's in Europe, but because again, they know what they know. We. For me, I was teaching kids who's parents had been to the dance studio, whose grandparents had been to the dance studio. So it was kind of a generation, and then the next generation came in and the next generation came in.
So maybe if we could find a way to, to really get it into schools all over, not just in a, in a few areas, then they would know more than we can do ballroom dancing as in and not be up close and icky.
SAMANTHA: Yes, yes. where I'm located in salt Lake city, we are just North of Provo, which of course is like dancing Mecca for the U S and they, especially in Utah County, in salt Lake County, they do have more of a push for ballroom in middle and high school levels. And their youth program is. Much more prevalent. but it's interesting. So coming from the East coast and training with Andrew and Amanda at their studio in Pittsburgh, that was all their, their business was all driven by adults. Right? either adults that are looking for Pro-Am competition or seniors that are just looking to get out and be mobile and be active and be social. here in Utah, I'm finding that because. There's such this prevalent amateur, and there's this push for youth that then by the time you get to. An adult and you're having kids of your own, you're no longer dancing, or you're no longer interested in dancing, or you're like, Oh, I did that as a kid. I don't need to do it.
As an adult, do you find the same situation happening, with your experience in the UK where because there is such this youth drive that as an adult, it's not as interesting to take on as a hobby or because it's this multigenerational push, you see people really make it a lifelong activity?
KIMBERLEY: I think a little bit of both.
We find that there, there is a, I'm a middle ground, I guess, when, when kids go off to college and then life happens. If, if it's not that, that they're chosen career chosen hobby cause of all those kind of infiltrate, then they'll probably come back to it later on. But, but there is a gap. Unless it's something that they're going to do for for a job. Cause I know for me, when I first moved here, how dance instructors are, are found and born is a lot later on in life. And it could be off of Craigslist, it could be off the street. That could have been a bartender. That's, we've got a really good personality and we teach you how to dance. And then we teach you how to teach. Whereas in Europe the dance teachers are groomed from tiny. So you do this, and then the stages, you move on and then you move on, and then you move on, and then you end up to either teaching in the school or moving and opening up your own studio. So I, I think. I guess if, if you laid it all out, it's probably the same everywhere.
It's just different ages. Right. I'd love to get, well, that's just the be all end all that I know. I'd just love to get more kids involved.
SAMANTHA: Yes. Yes. And you can learn so many life skills. I feel like, you know, we could 100% get into a dance as life life as dance metaphor about how to. Interact with people and how to, navigate uncertain circumstances and how to go with the flow and how to fake it till you make it and all, all of that fun stuff.
KIMBERLEY: Yeah. The health benefits from the coordination and the skills that you learn not just in life, but within yourself are amazing. People should know, these things.
SAMANTHA: Yes. so you mentioned competing with Bill. you mentioned showcases with Bill or, or show dance performances with Bill. has it been three years already since the 40th anniversary? Was that 20, 17,
KIMBERLEY: Yeah.
SAMANTHA: Oh my gosh.
KIMBERLEY: Well, that's scary.
SAMANTHA: Yeah. Time is time is flying past. so because it was the 40th anniversary of Ohio star ball. they brought back a bunch of former champions that are now either on the judging circuit or retired, to do show dance performances. So how did all of that come together? Did Sam Sodano reach out and say, Hey, I'd love for you guys to do a performance? Or was it something they, that you guys as judges and adjudicators were like, Hey, it would be really cool if we did this?
KIMBERLEY: I think it was a little bit both, I think the core group. W w. Was invited to come and dance, and then other people got wind of it. Please invite me. So the may have been a few that invited themselves, but we won't, we won't go too much into that, but it was mainly an invitation. please is the 40th year anniversary. We would love to have you all come and dance. And it was, he gave us free reign to do whatever we wanted to do. So
SAMANTHA: that's the best.
KIMBERLEY: Yes.
SAMANTHA: So had you and Bill danced at all between the time where you retired from competition and then, or was that,
KIMBERLEY: That was it. We, Bill retired, I believe in 2001 and we hadn't touched each other. well, no, I take that back when I was, that was dancing pro / am. I'd taken my guys to him for some lessons. So moving around, but we hadn't performed.
SAMANTHA: Gotcha.
KIMBERLEY: So going back into the studio, practicing sweating figuring stuff out. It felt great. It, it felt great not only to get out there and be dancing with Bill, but. To see how we'd evolved and matured and the PR as much as the pressure was on. Cause nobody wants to look silly on the dance floor. Here's a past champion. Oh my goodness. Were they a champion? Nobody wants that to be said about them. So the, there was pressure. Okay. It was competitive pressure. It wasn't, I got to do this and. Fisticuffs so it was, it was fun.
SAMANTHA: Yeah. You were, you were performing for yourself and you wanted to make sure that you set the bar high enough that you did yourself justice.
KIMBERLEY: Yeah. When those lights came on,
SAMANTHA: just right right back to the first time you hit the Ohio floor.
KIMBERLEY: It was great. I have to say when, when we were at the Star Ball and. Doing the rehearsal, so everybody was there. I have never seen a room full of champions, so nervous. Okay. You have world champions over here walking around, you have American champions over here, pacing up and down. Get somebody in the corner rocking around. It was quite funny. I mean, we will part of it as well, but all of these champions that are just amazing in their own rights, so scared to go back out on the dance floor and then when the lights hit. It was fabulous.
SAMANTHA: I think that's reassuring to those of us that are mere mortals then, because it's like, okay, everyone gets nervous when they go.
KIMBERLEY: Yeah. Behind the scenes was hilarious. Everybody's sweating and nervous, and so yes, it happens to us all. Yeah.
SAMANTHA: Excellent. So how do you, I mean, obviously you've performed many, many, many, many, many times at all different levels. What is your personal like preparation, to either push through the nerves or do you have kind of a ritual before you perform every time where, you know, like, I'm going to get really nervous for 15 minutes and I'm going to calm down and I'm going to get some water and then I'm going to walk around and then I'm just going to do my thing.
Do you have kind of a process?
KIMBERLEY: I still get nervous. I get nervous. Even stepping onto the floor. For me, the nerves go away when the music starts. So when, when I was competing, I had my music and I took myself away and you know, just spend a moment with myself going through some actions, going through some movement, connecting with my body, connecting with the floor, making sure that. I knew my routines, maybe going over the routines in my head, just to, even though we all practice and we all know our routines, stuff comes up. So it was kind of dance meditation and I guess you could, you could say, focusing on who I want to be, what I want to put out there. now. Obviously the competitive side is, is gone.
And I do, I do, do some show dances and every once in a while, competitions have the judges do a little bit of something and, and we have fun with it and I still get nervous and I still get nervous getting onto the floor and the moment the lights and the music comes on, I turn into a beast and off I go.
SAMANTHA: That's excellent. Yeah. I, I have a similar process whenever I go and compete either. Pro-Am with my students or, do showcases at the studio. It's like, I, I need to find five or 10 minutes before I go on, or I can just mentally go through the routine from start to finish a couple of times. Because it is, you were, you were relying on muscle memory, you're relying on adrenaline and performance, quality and all of those hours that you put in behind the scenes for your body to do what it's supposed to do. But it's also very much a mental. Okay. And like you have to be in the right head space. You want to know exactly where you're going, exactly. What counts you're holding, exactly what syncopations you need to remember that you tweaked or changed, so,
KIMBERLEY: yup. Yeah. Yeah.
SAMANTHA: Well, I think, I think a lot of, I have a feeling that a lot of dancers have similar rituals that they go through.
KIMBERLEY: You see a lot of headsets and people wandering around and taking a moment and then, yeah. Coming together and. Touchy feely with your dance partner and connecting with them and then you're off and.
SAMANTHA: Absolutely.
KIMBERLEY: I always needed the bathroom.
SAMANTHA: Yes, yes.
KIMBERLEY: And the you walk on the floor and its gone. And then you forget about it and you dance and you come off the floor and you don't need it anymore. So it's definitely a nervous thing. And I'm going to admit that I don't want to.
SAMANTHA: A hundred percent a nervous thing. I learned that, early on I did. I did the ballet tap jazz thing as a kid, and there's nothing worse than feeling like you have to go to the bathroom two minutes before the curtains pull up and you've got tights and a leotard and the overdress and the Tutu and the shoes. It's like, I can't, so we're just going to go with it. But you're right. As soon as, as soon as you step out onto the floor or you step out onto the stage and the lights hit you, you're like, Nope, I'm fine. What was, what was I worried about?
SAMANTHA: Yup. so you mentioned that, when, when you were kind of getting ready for the showpiece at Ohio, that you, you were realizing where you were working through how much you had adapted and changed your style, from the first time that you were on the floor.
I'd love to hear a little bit about how your dancing has evolved to be what you're finding the differences, whether it's just time or whether it's how the dance has evolved, how you, how your teaching style has changed based on what your body is, is wanting to do or leaning towards doing now?
KIMBERLEY: I feel the, my style of dancing has, obviously as I've matured, my dancing style has matured. But getting choreography to put on to the dance floor in 2000 end of 2017 going into 2018 you can't do the choreography that you did in 97 98 99 2000 because there are so many people in the audience that really, she slow and all of that good stuff.
So I think we, we tried to adapt. Some of the new athleticism and you know, th the speed and the spins. I know for me, I've always been, if in doubt, spin three times and stop. Yeah, kill it off with a spin.
SAMANTHA: It works with
KIMBERLEY: working, working with bill, we wanted it to be ours, but the choreography itself still needed to be up to date. Does that make sense?
SAMANTHA: Yeah, no, absolutely. when I had Rozana on, we talked a little bit about her, her opinion and feelings on athleticism versus artistry, right. And, kind of her views on how dance sport, maybe leaning more towards the sport than the. Dance. so what's your take on that or as, as a judge and as a former performer, are you seeing more of that athleticism and kind of pros and cons to moving in that direction?
KIMBERLEY: I think the things that I noticed the most, that gets me the most, there are so many people that look alike. So I think. I don't want to put the blame on YouTube, but let's face it, let's put the, let's put the blame on YouTube. There are so many avenues that people can go to now to learn. Yes, dancings evolved and I wouldn't wanted to necessarily look how it did in years gone by, but the, the charisma and the characteristics and the character of that person.
Whose dancing, I think that's what I'd like to see more of. So for, for our industry, it doesn't like, let's say skating that's evolved by, once upon a time it was, could you do one spin could leaps and jumps and spinning in the air. I don't know the term, so I'm not going to butcher it. And then it moved on to two and then it moved down to three and then it's a quadruple blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
So in their industry, that's how they moved on, and that's how they are being judged in, in the ballroom dance industry. I'm not judging you on if you can spin twenty times, I don't care. I want him to see how you move from foot to foot and how you interact with your partner. For me, the artistry, the realness, and the rawness that is out there today, I love, but I don't want to see everybody looking the same.
SAMANTHA: Yeah.
KIMBERLEY: So I would love more personality. And I think going back to the whole YouTube, there was, we went through a stage where everybody learnt off of the greats at that time, but what they didn't do, they didn't do it smart and take the special flare. They took everything. They took the wink, they took the point, they took the nod, they took the flick, they took, what was that person and just copied it.
They didn't even take it and make it their own. So you just have stamps of Slavik and stamps of Karina instead of, Karina does this really well. How can I make that mine. How can I make that even better than Karina? How can I make it even yummier then Slavik yeah. Instead of, well, I'm just going to copy what Slavik does cause it works for him.
Well, yes it does, but now you gotta find something different. So that to me, I would, and I'm going to say this, I would rather watch Smooth. Cause is it so different and everybody's so different then a Latin competition where for me as a judge, I stand there, okay, yes, I have my opinions and I know who's going to win.
I know who I want to win and I know why, but I stand there for a minute and go, Oh my goodness, everybody looks the same and you're all good. It's not that they're a low level, they're all at a really high level. But now then as a judge, I'm now waiting for something bad to happen. I'm judging based on something I really don't like rather than something I like.
So it's the the least offensive that normally wins,
SAMANTHA: which, yeah, I don't know how I feel about that, but I, but I know it's true because I hear it time and time again from. Judges that I speak to, it's like I want to see someone stand out, even if it's very bad or very weird or very out there. I'd rather see a train wreck.
KIMBERLEY: I think that's, I don't have speech bubbles above my head. That's probably a good thing.
SAMANTHA: Oh my gosh. Can you imagine if, if suddenly every single judge just had the speech bubble pop up? yeah. I, I agree with you. I, I look at. Instagram, and I look at YouTube and I look at the videos that are getting posted. I'm like, I've seen that routine. Or, okay, I saw that particular move on Denys and Antonia during their world of dance showcase, and now I'm seeing it on a completely different couple. And they're, and they're trying to do it the same way, and it's like, eh. That doesn't work for your body, you know? one of the things that I found very early on is because I'm five, 10 pushing five 11 without heels, I have to dance my jive very differently because my five 11 frame does not support the jive that it, that a five foot two person can do. so yeah, I, I also feel like, and maybe this is just coming from some, some of the frustrations that I've found now that I'm, I'm teaching more and more and teaching more full time, is students really want to. Mirror what they see in other people and, and I feel like it's a good learning technique, but then you also have to figure out, okay, at what stage in the process, day one, day 50 day 500 do I say, okay, I love that you've absorbed all this information from all of your different coaches and all your different instructors.
There is no right way. Show me the right way for you.
KIMBERLEY: There's no right and wrong. It's what works and what doesn't work.
KIMBERLEY: And then so to me, going in and coaching, I use that phrase a lot because I, it's ballroom dancing. It's my body working how my body works and exactly how you said five 10 I'm five four. It's going to be completely different. And for me, when I was dancing, dancing at a time when I'm curvy. I have shoulders, I have hips, and I go right in the middle. And, and how what looks good on me doesn't necessarily look good on somebody else, but it's not wrong. And yes, I can give it a go, but at the end of the day, in order for, if we're being honest, if you're going to be a competitor, when we say, I'm just doing it for the fun of it, nobody really wants to compete and lose.
KIMBERLEY: So, yeah, do all the things that don't have a trophy at the end of it, they don't have a first, second, or third. But if you are going to go into that competitive realm, then find out what works for you and what makes you special and what makes you special is what's on the inside. So bring that to the outside rather than bringing to the outside whats special.on person number two on Instagram.
SAMANTHA: Okay. Yeah. No, I, I, I think that's absolutely, absolutely 100% the direction that I love to see students and instructors and everybody move in. you are the owner or co-owner, I should say, or co-organizer of two competitions.
KIMBERLEY: I was, this, this world is changing and we find ourselves moving on, Andrew Pueschel, and I had a same sex dance competition. I am so in love with that world, because I've, I believe everybody can dance and everybody should have the chance to dance competitively. Yes. We've kind of opened up the same sex world, the independent mainstream, but at that time, Andrew and I were running it. same-sex wasn't allowed,
SAMANTHA: and I, I wanted to get your opinion on that for just a second.
SAMANTHA: Obviously your competition, the glitz and glam ball, came out of kind of a need to showcase and highlight, the LGBT Q plus community and give the opportunity for same sex couples to perform in dance, with the NDCA moving towards non-gendered partnerships. Do you. And I'm going to try and phrase this politically correct, and you can 100% choose to not answer this if you don't want to. do you think that the NDCA change came about because it's 2019 and we should be there already? Or do you think it came about because if you open up to have more people in more diverse roles, then you have more entries at competitions? Or do you think it's a little bit of both?
KIMBERLEY: I would say it's a little bit of both. it's an industry, people earn money, so opening the doors and welcoming more people in brings more interest in them. More money. But it's 20, 19, 20, 20. This is the world we're living in and everybody, let's have some equality here. I think what you will find, there won't be an awful lot of same sex couples that come to the NDCA world because it is so expensive. Whereas their world, they can go and dance and pay an amount to get in and dance all day. Whereas there. Our world is you pay per dance or per competition. I think what the biggest bonus that I saw that I, myself, feeling cause I can female instructors can now go into the NDC world and dance with their students.
SAMANTHA: Yes.
KIMBERLEY: So let's face it, taken away or making it. The man must lead and the lady must follow that. Shut down. Any chance you and I had take our students, that would pay onto the competition floor, and there are males out there, that are only comfortable dancing with their instructor, which would is a male. Let's put it out there. I think for me, I know of more females that has, it's opened up the business for us. I think you'll see more on the pro/am side rather than the, am/am. Pro pro side. I think that's what you'll see more of.
SAMANTHA: Excellent. Sorry. Sorry to interrupt you. When you were talking about
KIMBERLEY: we get to dance, ladies get to, well,
SAMANTHA: yes, I got a text message. As soon as the announcement had been made, that was just like, go get that top teacher trophy girl. Like go.
KIMBERLEY: Yeah, I can dance with my guys and I can also dance events with my ladies, so, yeah.
SAMANTHA: Yes, yes. but you were, you were going to talk about, the other competition that you were a co-owner, co owner of
KIMBERLEY: the, a one day competition and life happens. Andrew, is now a professor in Ohio, so he's kind of gone. Outside of the dancing business and into the professional world, and Andrew and I still really, really good friends. So he left it with me and you know, it just, it just wasn't the right time for me to do something with it. I took on another partner and ended up selling my my half to my new partner in the competition. I think it's. An amazing thing to have to be an organizer. But at the end of the weekend, it's like, yay, I've earned this much money and I've made all of these people happy. But it isn't just for the weekend. It takes all year to set up that one weekend, which have, you look at it as a weekend challenge and. You know, celebration, it's fine, but you got to see the dark side of it as well. And for me, my life was changing. I got married last year, closed my studio, moved to Being part of a Fred Astaire studio, my dance director, Fred Astaire studio here in Columbus. We were going to move to Indiana. We didn't move.
So all of these life changing things are just going to call them. Things happened, that kind of thing that kept me out of that. So I was happy to, to pass the Baton on to somebody else, for them to run the competition. And you know, maybe down the line I'll get involved with another competition. Just at the moment I'm doing me.
SAMANTHA: and I think that's a good point for. Especially competitors to understand is that it is a year round process to put on a competition, regardless of what size. And certainly as you're adding, you know, two to three, four or five days on to the competition, it just becomes that much more of a process to really, put together. So, I know one of the things that's, that's come up because of obviously, the pandemic is that a lot of organizers are having to. Choose what is in their best interest as a business, but also what's in the public's best interest for the sake of the competition. here, BYU nationals, it was quite the controversy because they decided to start before the pandemic really hit, and then midway through everything had to come to a grinding halt because new information was released. We learned and it just, it wasn't safe anymore. North coast is intending to continue their competition this June, but they've decided to not have the professional competition, just Pro-Am and am am, if, obviously you're not, in this position, but if you were still looking at. Being in the organizer seat for a competition, what, what would your kind of pro and con list be to continuing a competition?
What, what would, what would, what conversations would you be having with either your judges or your volunteer staff or, you know, hotels and whatnot?
KIMBERLEY: I think if, if my competition had been now. And let's say June, June, July, it, it would be on, on my mind that maybe next year would be the best time to run it. I think for one half of half of the country is still not sure whether they should come out of their house yet and the other half is like, whew, let me out. Let me help, let me do whatever. So The S the safety, we still don't know. Yeah. All we say we not safe. I don't know. Is this silly? Is it am I? Am I wearing a mask.
Am I not wearing a mask? What am I doing? But then, for me on the dancing side of things as a business. We've been dance studios have been shut down for so long, and yes, we've had online classes and private lessons, but there's nothing like real touch. So I know it's going to take and to get our students back in the door, to get them back to regular lessons, to get them back dance ready. Then competition ready, and then let's go and as if nothing happened. So is this as a competition organizer? Knowing that it'll take two to three months to get everybody back and running. I would be a little apprehensive and a little bit, Hmm. Not so sure about running my competition because so much money goes into it.
Wait, the competitions have to look the best. They have to be all bells and whistles and sparkly, and because that's what we've come to love and require from our competitions. and everything costs money. So was it as a competition owner, I know I would. I would probably have canceled it and waited till next year.
SAMANTHA: So on the flip side then, as, a judge or as a coach that has students that are interested in competing, What are your decision making factors, whether or not to agree to be a judge or whether or not to take your students to a competition at this point?
KIMBERLEY: I mean, for me, I have a pro/am guy. Well, I have two, one is definitely going to start again. His goal is for August. The other one, actually has his first lesson today. As a judge, we stand around the floor, social distancing, but they're on the competitions. So for us as a judge, I'm, I'm, I'm booked at the end of the year, so I don't feel so bad. I guess that's kind of able to stay at home and recoup. As, as a a dance teacher taking my guy, it's good to have a goal instead of it just, we're coming back into the studio and there's no sign of a competition. We're hoping the August will be. Clear and safe, say first to go. So that that's going to be my goal and it's going to take me a couple of months before I believe that he's ready and we are ready, cause let's face it, ballroom dancing together, sport that I'm, if I'm good, woo, but it's not.
It's not what we're doing here. So I don't know. Did that answer that question?
SAMANTHA: Yeah, no, no, absolutely. Absolutely.
KIMBERLEY: And I know a studio point with, with the Fred Astaire that w we're involved in, people are slow to come back. You got your die-hards and the ones that have been on the zoom calls and have had their lessons. It's still with, with staggering people coming in. People that are diehards want their lessons first thing in the morning, so they're not going to be around anybody. So it's going to be a slow-go I think.
SAMANTHA: Yeah. I, I think, franchised or not franchised, I feel like a lot of studios right now are experiencing the same thing. I know with my students, I have. Exactly the same situation. I have some diehards that, you know, we're doing the zoom calls and then as soon as I said, okay, the numbers look good, we're in phase two, we're moving towards phase three. We can come back to the studio. They were like, yep, great, let's do this. And then I have other students that are like, I don't know if I trust it yet or I don't want to dance with a mask on, so let me know when things are completely back to normal.
KIMBERLEY: Yeah, that sweaty.
SAMANTHA: Yes. Well, and we've got, we, we do not have the altitude that Denver has, but we are farther above sea level than Ohio and Pittsburgh. And, yeah, it's suddenly altitude training. When you put that mask on, it doesn't matter how good cardio shape you're in.
KIMBERLEY: So fit when we get back on the competition floor.
SAMANTHA: Yes,
KIMBERLEY: That's how to look at it. Not oh my goodness. He's a mask. We use it for training purposes.
SAMANTHA: Yes. Yes. I, I was joking with one of my students last week that I have one of the cloth masks, and I was joking with him that suddenly I was much more aware of when I was breathing in through my mouth rather than through my nose when I was dancing, because every time I would take like a gasp in, I would have cloth in the mouth and it's like, Oh, okay.
KIMBERLEY: Yep. I think it's good. Good for me. Cause I'm, I'm hiding the faces that I pull at my students. So it's maybe it's kind of making me a little bit more aware of, Oh my goodness, I just pulled that face. Maybe I shouldn't do that. So, yeah. Yep. You can't tell underneath.
SAMANTHA: Yes. Yeah. And, and learning, to. At least for me, when I make like a silly, goofy, sarcastic moment to just kind of like lighten the mood, how to smile with my eyes because you can't see like the sarcastic grin underneath the mask. It's like, all right, I've got to, I've got an emote through my eyes.
KIMBERLEY: Why are you so surprised? I'm not, I'm smiling. Yes,
SAMANTHA: precisely. so we talked a little bit about, Kind of the fact that you would like to see more individuality and personality on the dance floor. what other trends are you seeing as a judge that you either are really glad to see in a certain dance style or you would prefer if folks moved away from it?
KIMBERLEY: I think every now and then the. Overly sexed moves. Can we say that? Yes,
SAMANTHA: that's, yes, you can say that.
KIMBERLEY: A nice way of saying it. I know. I don't know if that's just me being very English or it's just I don't, I don't want it theres other ways around portray love and pleasure. Then some of those moves. I think that that, for me, I get a little bit awkward.
I love when couples dance to the judges. Just don't do it for a long period of time because you make me feel uncomfortable, and then I tend to do the whole, "yeah, I'm making it obvious that I'm now not looking at you and I would like to look at somebody else." Everybody's trying their best and they're even couples that, taking from YouTube. Everybody's trying the best. So you know, well, why now? And the nice thing is a competition. I'm not the only judge. So what I like, somebody else might not like what they like. I may not so. Nine times out of 10 the result is fair.
SAMANTHA: Yeah. There's there, there are enough differing opinions to have it balanced out to a nice medium. Yeah.
KIMBERLEY: Yeah. Latin's the one that I'm not so much in love with, as as that's, that's my thing. That's what I won with, that's who I am. I, I've kind of now, like I said, I love watching Smooth, so this is my favorite because everybody is so different. Okay. I found something, the tragic face in Viennese Waltz. Oh yeah. All of that. I'm not sure I'm in love with that.
SAMANTHA: Yeah. Yes, yes. We get the Viennese Waltz is a sad dance, but we don't want to think that you're in pain as you're dancing it.
KIMBERLEY: Yeah. I don't want to have to run on with a bandaid or you know, to, cause I think you've heard it yourself.
SAMANTHA: Yes, yes. Yeah. on, on the, thought of Rumba being a little bit too steamy at times. I don't want to ever watch a competition and feel uncomfortable. Or like I'm seeing something that I shouldn't be seeing. You can hint at things. You can, you can give the emotional quality of things, but tone it down just,
KIMBERLEY: yeah. I remember Shirley Ballas having a lesson with Shirley Ballas when I was like 16 because I was, we were already in youth. I danced with a guy that was older than me, so I was already dancing in to dance and against. Ladies that had got world experience. Well, Shirley Ballas taught me how to be feminine and how to put hands on myself. That wasn't putting hands on myself.
SAMANTHA: Yes, yes, absolutely.
KIMBERLEY: So it's like across the throat and down the side, and if you have to do something down, like on yourself, so down the middle, it's not all like. Yes,
SAMANTHA: and okay, I will get myself in trouble in this one.
KIMBERLEY: yeah, we haven't got in trouble yet. Let's do it.
SAMANTHA: I guess I'll, I'll put the disclaimer. Not all male instructors, but I can tell immediately with lady's arm style, if it is taught. By a man or by a woman, because I think most female instructors, if they're doing like the neck down the side, they're going to have you brush the hand away from your body and then like give the hint of it, of it brushing something. Whereas most male instructors that I see styling their ladies arms, it's like put the hand exactly where I want the eyes to go and it's like, please, no. Hint at it.
KIMBERLEY: That's the best way. When you travel around coaching, again, a guy gave you this choreography. did they, yes, they did. How do you know? And we love you men. Yes, but
SAMANTHA: yes, we, we, we would be far worse off if we did not have our male instructors. But
KIMBERLEY: I know I have my thing when I'm trying to, dance the guy's part. I tend to sound and I make noises. I sound like a pirates. I'm not really sure why. I think that.
SAMANTHA: So, okay. So I want to ask this question actually because, because that leads perfectly into it.
Thoughts on verbalizing your breath while you're dancing on a competition floor? I'm a big believer in verbalizing your breath on a practice floor, but I don't want it to sound like a tennis match when I'm actually dancing the Chacha in front of a judge.
KIMBERLEY: Yeah. I think there's a time and a place I, I agree. I know I, I, I use techniques when coaching, so that, my students get used to that drops weight that they can, right. Let it out and let it out with the noise if you need to, because then everything's going to go. The hard part then is if I'm training it constantly in the competition in the studio, am I going to bring it to the competition floor and Paso Doble how many times do I have to stomp my feet really loud and go "Ha" like it does make me look at you? I think that you get a second look from me, so maybe that's a good thing, but it's a judgmental look. No, I'm getting paid to judge, but like, why would you yell like that? So yeah, I think that there's a time and a place and sometimes if you feel it, you can't help it.
But again, that goes to the, my well-rehearsed is my wink, my point in the same spot every single time. And I've started my routine in front of this judge round after round, after round, and I'm still winking and points in it, the judge in the same spot. Every time. I know. I know. There's no spontaneity. You're not listening to the music. You're not going with what you feel at that time. How you portray in the whole situation. You just well-rehearsed on pointing and looking, so then it's not real. Oh, I think that goes with the voice and Ooh.
SAMANTHA: Yeah. I 100% agree. If, if you were, if you're going to rely on it being rehearsed, at least move your starting point so you aren't giving the same judge the same look through multiple rounds of competition. But if you can find a level of authenticity and a find a level of improv and react in the moment and react to your partner and react to the music, then that's going to make you a more rounded, more interesting, better dancer. Yeah. you mentioned that you in particular like watching smooth at the moment. obviously the NDCA as far as Pro-Am competitions and closed syllabus versus open syllabus made a whole bunch of changes, at the end of 2019 to just kind of restrict and give more focus, I think to, instructors that are moving their students through. Rozana and I talked about. About it a little bit on her podcast, but I wanted to see from a judging perspective and from an adjudicator and an invigilator, perspective, what, when it comes to you can only be apart for four bars or the first four bars have to be closed.
Then you have to have 12 over the course of a minute. Then you can only be a part for X number of counts or X number of measures. how has a judge, are you keeping track of that and how. How frequently do you see people not adhering to the new guidelines on that, on the floor?
KIMBERLEY: I actually think the guidelines are great. I think if, if you're going to enter a student into closed bronze, closed silver, and you need to play by the rules, and these are the rules, I think starting with. Four bars of closed. Choreography isn't that much. I think it gives, if we've got 12 bars overall, it gives the newer teachers guidelines. It gives them a structure.
It gives them something to run with. As a judge, I see four bars. I'm watching everybody. I'm scanning the room. Do I continue to watch to make sure that you've got 12 bars of closed choreography? That's not my job. So a lot of the competitions now are hiring and we shift out invigilators it's their job.
If I myself stood, well, first of all, I don't have time to watch everybody to make sure, but if I did, then I'm singling one person out. For good or for bad. So as, as as a judge, I don't have, I don't have the time to single that one to single one couple out. I have a job to do to, to make sure that I've got everybody in order how I want them to be as an invigilator.
That's when I get to single somebody out. Yeah. A lot of times I'm only really single in that 1% if they've done something stupid, right?
SAMANTHA: If it's, if it's very obvious that you've broken,
KIMBERLEY: if I'm watching and I see you dance side by side for way too long, I'm going to watch you in the next dance to see if you do it again. If, if you don't. Stop. If you can't count, full bars have closed choreography and you come out of it. I know for sure that there's not going to be 12 so I'm probably going to watch you the whole way round. So for me, I think the guidelines are great if, if you're going to enter in closed competition, play by the rules.
If not, then there's the open category for a reason as a judge. I know there are times when I watching and I'm thinking, Oh my goodness, did the invigilator see that? Do you know what you're doing? Why are you doing? But at the end of the day, that's not my, my, my job is to decide whether I love you or I love you.
Who am I going to put where it's somebody else's job to decide,
SAMANTHA: Fair enough.
KIMBERLEY: That's how I, yeah.
SAMANTHA: Well, and I think, I think it's very easy, as you said, if everyone has to stay in four bars in closed for four bars at the beginning of the music, it makes it very obvious who pops out of it first. And I as a newer instructor myself, although I really need to stop saying that because it's now been a while, I really enjoy the guidelines because, and I, I've said it in a couple of the past conversations that I've had. I enjoy the ability as an instructor now when I go to competitions with my students and they're like, Oh, why? Why can't we do that? Or why can't we do that? I can just very simply say they're not supposed to be doing that. Yep. And yeah. And we aren't going to win by playing that game. We're going to win by listening to the feedback from the judges, listening to the feedback from the NDCA and following the rules.
KIMBERLEY: Tweaking the, the routines to be out of category again, does, doesn't get you marks. 17 spins. Lovely. Yay. Good for you. Can you dance the rest of your chacha after those spins? I did. I invigilated. a top professional dancing. Latin Latin is not his thing, but everything he did was out of category, even though his student was in category. So when I had gone up to him and like, Hey, here's your form. Unfortunately you're out to category. So well, my students doing it correctly, isn't she? Well, yes, but what you're dancing, remember this is partnership dancing. You've now made it open choreography, not closed choreography. So you too. I have to stick to the guidelines.
Just because you're a student is doing the crossover correctly and you're doing something weird. Yeah. So I think, I'm really good at, you know, sit on that fence and bend the rules, bounce it, and bend the rules a little bit, but completely out of category then no, and you're not going to win,
SAMANTHA: And I think that shows a lack of understanding of our awareness of the point of Pro-Am. The point of Pro-Am as a pro is not to look amazing and show your ability as a professional. It's to highlight the ability of your student and make your student...
KIMBERLEY: can we put that out there? Hello people,
SAMANTHA: am I wrong?
KIMBERLEY: This is not Blackpool. This is pro/am in Cleveland.
SAMANTHA: Yeah. And, and when I was still an amateur, that was the reason why I loved dancing with Andrew as much as I did. And, and I enjoyed dancing with Dmitry for the short time that I got to dance with Dmitry is. With both of them. I felt like they were very aware of what my, my ability was at the time. They were pushing me to get better, but they knew where my strengths weren't yet and where I was still learning and would choreograph routines to play to my strengths, and I never felt like.
When I was dancing with them that I was this, this lowly, you know, amateur, and they were this godly professional. I felt like they danced to the level that they wanted me to dance at, and that pushed me to get better. And that, and that showed a lot of my ability at the time. And yeah, I feel like that's the way that pros should be, is make your students look as best as you possibly can.
It's not about your ego.
KIMBERLEY: Change the subject quick.
SAMANTHA: Okay. Well, so, so we're almost out of time. was there anything that you wanted to talk about? Any tips or tricks that you wish more people knew about? Anything coming up in your world that you want people to be aware of?
KIMBERLEY: No, I think, I think the, the world is the world at the moment. For me. I. I think dancing is so important and again, the the health benefits and just the, the, the support with day to day movement due to dancing. If, if the world, if the world knew or just took a moment to try, I think it would be a whole different ball game. My, my world is, has changed a lot with, with the pandemic and, and, and getting back into traveling and traveling to coach and traveling to judge and yeah, things are slowed down.
So for me, it's now about my online coaching and what I'm doing coaching wise with my husband. Together and the things that we're putting out there. So, you know, if anybody's got any extra questions for me and, I'm always more than happy to answer everybody's questions. Send me your questions.
SAMANTHA: Excellent. Well, if you do have any followup questions or you want to find out about coaching opportunities or training opportunities with KIMBERLEY, you can find her at Stand Up, Have Fun on Facebook. Or you can find her at, Kimberly. Dot Mitchell. Dot. Three one nine. That's her personal Facebook, so you can get ahold of her that way. and that information is on screen right below her photo. it'll also be in the dobledo everywhere that this is posted. So, yes, support her well, thank you guys so much for tuning in.
I'm Samantha with love.live.dance. You can find this in podcast form at either www.ballroomchat.com or you can go to lovelivedance.com/podcast. There is a Facebook group and Instagram page specifically for this podcast. Now you can find it at ballroom chat on both platforms. So please follow and engage further in the conversation on those two platforms.
I'm very excited for my guest next week. I will be announcing who he is later in the week, so keep an eye out for that. And I just want to take a second to thank Kimberly again for coming on.
KIMBERLEY: Thank you for having me. Thank you so much.
SAMANTHA: so have a wonderful rest of your day. love each other. Be kind, stay safe, and we will see you next week.
KIMBERLEY: Bye.
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This property could be used for many different purposes. The current tenant runs a Mexican Seafood restaurant and are rated over 4 stars on Facebook and Google. There is 4.5 years left on the remaining on this NNN lease, and the tenants have renovated the interior and exterior of the building. Healthy rent increases that are above market for all of the remaining 4 years. Kitchen pictures shown are prior to lease commencement.


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← "Thank You, Brendon … How to Play Cricket Fair –As Father to Son
Richie Benaud TODAY, today and Yesterday →
The Voice of Our Endless Summers falls Silent
Peter Lalor, in The Weekend Australian, 11/12 April 2015
Flags flew half-mast on the Sydney Harbour Bridge and at cricket grounds around the world, pilgrims attended his beckoning SCG statue, and in all corners of the globe players and fans — young and old — realised that the sound of summer had been extinguished. Everywhere the game of cricket is played, people yesterday stopped to remember Richie Benaud and contemplate what has been lost and is left by his passing. It is immense.
The former Australian captain, brilliant all-rounder and godfather of the commentary box died, aged 84, after a battle with skin cancer. Benaud had been the voice of cricket at the Nine Network since World Series Cricket days in the late 1970s.
Even though he had been absent from the commentary box for the past two seasons, it felt as if he would always be around to mark the arrival of another summer, another Test series, the rise of another star player just as he himself had once been.
He was the voice of the Australian game. The former captain made an appearance before the summer at a Nine Network function but was clearly struggling. He had recovered from a late 2013 crash that had damaged his beloved car — the jaunty Sunbeam Alpine he parked on the spot where his statue sits at the back of the Members Stand — but the effects of the cancer and its treatment were taking their toll.
Benaud at SCG–www.northerndailyleader.com.au
Close friend Bill Lawry told The Weekend Australian yesterday how disturbed he was to see how frail his friend had become. Benaud defied the illness to record a touching, brief tribute to Phillip Hughes that was played at the start of the Adelaide Test, but was not well enough to make a promised guest appearance during the Sydney match.
Benaud's wife, Daphne, contacted friends in recent weeks to prepare them for his passing, but still it came as a shock to those who have never known cricket without him.
Born and raised in western Sydney, the grand old man of the game was remembered and revered yesterday by politicians, players, the rich, the poor, by friends and by the millions of strangers who listened to his peerless commentary.
Benaud was as loved in England as in Australia, and spent 42 English summers commentating for the BBC and Channel 4. When the latter demurred at the notion of hiring him, it caused a public outcry and protest led by the Rolling Stones' Mick Jagger.
At a break in play during the fifth day of the final Test of the 2005 Ashes, the ground announcer at the Oval informed the crowd that it was the Australian's final commentary session. Everybody at the ground stood and applauded, with the players looking towards the box to acknowledge the moment.
Australian captain Ricky Ponting made a point of inviting the commentators into the rooms after matches to break down the barriers between them and the players, and hosted Benaud on a number of occasions — unaware that Benaud had done exactly the same 40 years earlier towards the same end.
"It's a sad day for the cricket family and a very sad day for the Benauds. who are in all our thoughts. I have never known the game without Richie," Ponting said from India, where the ear-splitting IPL cacophony broke for a moment to remember a master of the telling pause.
"He has been there since I was a little boy lying on my stomach in the lounge room in Mowbray watching the game and imagining what it must be like to take part.
"If you loved cricket, you loved Richie. Like every Australian cricket fan, he was the soundtrack to the game. I grew up listening to him on the television and the sound of his voice was the sound of the game, the sound of summer."
enaud leading the Australians at Lords — Pic fr News Corp Australia …
Michael Clarke is of a generation that played cricket in the same spirit as Benaud. "We grew up with that voice," he said. "He was a great player and a great captain. A wonderful leader of men and he continued that off the field.
"He loved winning. He helped the Australian team have the attitude where they wanted to win. He played the game the right way."
Benaud played 63 Test matches as an all-rounder, struggling at first, but coming into his own in the late 1950s when he was made captain. He became the first player to take 200 wickets and score 2000 runs and would have been remembered as a great of the game even if he had not segued into such a celebrated career as a commentator.
Benaud took 945 wickets in 259 first-class matches and made 11,719 first-class runs, scoring 23 centuries at an average of 36.50. An astute and strategic thinker, he had trained as a journalist, working police rounds for the Sydney Sun during his cricket career, but he realised the possibilities of television before most.
In 1956, the year TV was introduced to Australia, he undertook a special course at the BBC to get used to the medium. Two decades later he acted as an adviser to Kerry Packer's World Series Cricket, understanding that the game needed to be dragged into the modern era. It lost him some respect at the time, but Benaud was sure cricket needed to change to survive.
Yesterday, James Packer remembered a man who "loomed large" in his and his father's lives. "Dad and I enjoyed a long, long professional and personal journey with Richie Benaud," he said. "He was not only for nearly four decades a much-loved figure in the Nine family, but also in the Packer family. We never had a cross word. Richie's word was his bond.
"Like so many others, we treasured Richie's quiet but steely integrity, his honesty, his modesty, his sense of humour and his towering skill. Above all, what we always knew about Richie was that he was in the vernacular simply a great bloke."
Benaud was revered for his economy and use of the pause. He let the game speak for itself and said you must never open your mouth as a commentator unless you can add to the pictures. When Shane Warne bowled the ball of the century, it was greeted with no histrionics.
"He's done it," the commentator said before pausing for a few seconds. "He's started off with the most beautiful delivery," he added before pausing again. "Gatting has absolutely no idea what has happened to it — still doesn't know …"
Every word was measured and delivered without a change of tone or raise of decibel.
He could be funny, too. When Glenn McGrath was dismissed for two, he noted dryly that the bowler was "just ninety-eight runs short of his century".
Lawry played against Benaud at state level, for him in Test cricket and then commentated alongside him for many years. Speaking from his home yesterday, Lawry remembered an inclusive, loyal and gifted man who was unrivalled in his chosen field.
"Working with Richie was like having a seat belt on in the car or a parachute on in an aeroplane," he said. "If Richie was there, you felt safe, you knew it was going to be OK.
"He was a wonderful personality but I always thought he was a shy person. He wasn't noisy, or out there, he had a close circle of friends, but I don't recall seeing him in the bar very often, if at all. He rarely went out to dinner, he was the ultimate professional. He was flat out working."
Benaud was such an institution that comedian Billy Birmingham built a career on imitating him. "It's hard to imagine there is another Australian out there as universally loved as Richie," Birmingham said yesterday. "People just adored the man. That's why everyone gives their mate a knowing nudge when the scoreboard ticks over to 2-22, why entire sections of the crowd don silver wigs and beige jackets at the Sydney Test each year, why reciting Richie's commentary gems has become a national pastime."
In the West Indies, old friend Tony Cozier reminisced about the man who led Australia against Frank Worrell's men in the famous 1960-61 series: "His death … has thrown a pall of gloom over cricket's global family," Cozier wrote on Cricinfo. "West Indians of a certain vintage especially remember his role, along with Worrell, in overseeing as influential a Test series as the game has known.Those of more contemporary generations … appreciated his immaculate dress sense, marvelled at his remarkable cool even in the tensest situations and, above all, valued the absolute impartiality of his measured commentary, a rare attribute at a time of much overt jingoism."
Filed under Australian cricket, baggy green, cricket and life, cricketing icons, performance, peter lalor, richie benaud, television commentary, tower of strength, unusual people

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Q: Backbone-relational: reverseRelation in HasOne-HasOne scenario is not working I slightly modified an example from the docs, to create a reverse relation in HasOne-HasOne scenario (a Zoo contains an Animal, and the reverse relation on the Animal should point back to the Zoo). The problem is the reverse relation doesn't get initialized. The following code results in "undefined", I expect it to return "artis" though. Am I missing something? How to create a reverse relation in HasOne-HasOne?
        Zoo = Backbone.RelationalModel.extend({
            relations: [{
                type: Backbone.HasOne,
                key: 'animal',
                relatedModel: 'Animal',
                reverseRelation: {
                    key: 'livesIn',
                    type: Backbone.HasOne
                }
            }]
        });
        Animal = Backbone.RelationalModel.extend({});

        var artis = new Zoo({ animal: {} });
        console.log(artis.get('animal').livesIn);

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Q: webapp hosted on ubuntu server works really slow I'm hosting my app on Ubuntu 14.04 server and what bothers me is that it loads really slow. http://188.166.160.66/ is the link to my app as I don't have domain for it yet. Demo preview isn't impletented yet (also it's not going to use database so testing with it wouldn't give any usefull information), so feel free to login as: Login: test Password: test1234. After you login, at first it looks like angular isn't loaded properly and is displayed as html, after some time it disappears and then it finally shows properly (last time I checked it took it about 3 minutes to load everything). I'm using sqlite and from what I know it's designed to be used locally, but I thought that since it's just a showcase project it will be enough. While being logged in, it's possible to use the api http://188.166.160.66/api/cards that will return existing cards as json, which usually is instant.
Github:
https://github.com/ziombo/KISDNU

A: Solution to my problem was adding proxy_set_header Connection keep-alive; to the nginx .conf file.


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'Burn What Will Burn': tense, hard-boiled crime novel
"Burn What Will Burn" (Minotaur) is CB McKenzie's second novel following his 2014 debut, "Bad Country."
'Burn What Will Burn': tense, hard-boiled crime novel "Burn What Will Burn" (Minotaur) is CB McKenzie's second novel following his 2014 debut, "Bad Country." Check out this story on delawareonline.com: http://delonline.us/293TbWI
AP Published 5:34 p.m. ET June 30, 2016
This book cover image released by Minotaur shows, "Burn What Will Burn," by CB McKenzie. (Minotaur via AP)(Photo: AP)
After his wife drowns in a bathtub, a death in which he may have been complicit, Bob Reynolds retreats to a tiny town in the wilds of the Ozark Mountains to hide out and nurse his wounds.
There, he sets up housekeeping in a rustic cabin where he raises chickens, writes poetry and lives off a sizable family inheritance. But if his plan was to live a simple life, he picked the wrong place.
First, Reynolds finds himself inexplicably drawn to Tammy Fay Smith, an incompetent automobile mechanic with needle tracks on her arms. And then, on one of his long walks along Little Piney Creek, he finds a decaying body bobbing face down in the water.
But when Reynolds returns to the scene with Sheriff Sam Baxter, the body has disappeared.
As Reynolds pokes into the mystery, he accidentally entangles himself in a web of dark, small-town secrets that the locals never want to see exposed. And he soon finds himself both suspected of murder and in danger of becoming the next victim.
The result is a suspenseful, hard-boiled crime novel filled with well-drawn, quirky characters and written in a tight, literary prose style.
"Burn What Will Burn" (Minotaur) is CB McKenzie's second novel following his 2014 debut, "Bad Country," which won the Tony Hillerman Prize and was a finalist for the Edgar Award.
Bruce DeSilva, winner of the Mystery Writers of America's Edgar Award, is the author of the Mulligan crime novels including "The Dread Line."
Read or Share this story: http://delonline.us/293TbWI
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my left arm has been aching since thursday, from buying and carrying materials while running all around town by myself. both my thighs are in tremendous pain from being over-stretched for two days while sitting and squatting on floors (my own floor and sal's floor). this is very bad especially when dealing with things like stairs. on friday morning, i thought my back was going to break from sitting on sal's floor for over 10 hours straight - bent over like a prawn from night till 9am the next day.
worked on it again on friday arvo after a quick nap, tried to get as much done as humanly possible before her farewell dinner and drinkies at night. friday night passed in a blur of food, fun and chatter till 4am. lots of pictures were snapped to be thrown into the last two pages of our labour-of-love scrapbook.
saturday morning, both sal and i were seriously dead to the world in our respective homes. i jumped awake saturday arvo and attacked the scrapbook again while sal had some work obligations. it was a race against time to get it all done before seeing mingster off at the airport in the evening.
6pm. a quick phone call from sal and we're both off to the airport, converging from different directions. she had all the party pictures from the night before and some extra stickers because i'd used up almost all my ribbons and pretty knick-knacks. to maximise time, i was sticking little heart-shaped stickers during the cab-ride to the airport.
so here's our last photo at the airport with the most wonderful babe of all time (last one for now! more to come in the future for sure) and her good friend, shimin as well.
please take care of yourself, babe! i'm so glad that a new chapter is beginning for you, in an exciting new land, no less! :) sal and i will definitely do our best to meet you in japan next year. things will never be the same here without you... but we're happy for you beyond anything else.


It is when you will be opting to buy a car that one of the best places wherein you will be able to get information about the car that you want is on the internet. Whenever you will be using the internet that you will be able to see great deals on the latest cars on the market today. It is with the help of a customized vehicle online resource that you will be able to get a number of different benefits and that is what we will be talking about in this article.
The very first advantage that you will get is that you will b able to check the current prices for the cars that you want. It is the internet that can give you the right prices for the cars that you would want to know. It is the price of the cars that you would want to by that you will be able to determine as there are many online resources that you can opt to use. It is these online resources that can provide you with a detailed pricing as well as the different financing schemes that are available. Another thing that you will also get a customized vehicle online resource is that you will also know the price of the old car that you have in case you would want to sell it. Once you will be opting to sell your old car that you need to see to it that you will know what is its competitive price in the market and that is where a customized vehicle online resource will be able to help you.
Another thing that you can also get with a customized vehicle online resource is that it will also help you determine the trade in price for your old vehicle. It is this one that can be very helpful especially if you don't want to visit any dealership. Trade in offers from local dealers is what you will be able to get once you will be able to place the current condition that your car have using the customized vehicle online resource. When you will get an offer that you are interested in then you can bring the car that you have to that dealer and then sign the paperwork. It is pretty much easier compared to listing your car online and meeting up with potential buyers.
It is also when you will be using a customized vehicle online resource that you can also negotiate online. Doing the negotiation online is now possible with the help of a customized vehicle online resource and that means that you don't have to visit them one by one. Doing the negotiation with the dealer can be done by using an email. Before accepting the offer that they have that you will have more time to think about it. When you will be dealing with the dealer face to face that you will sometimes feel pressured about it, well not this time anymore.


In the social media world full of low-quality content and a heavy reliance on artificial intelligence that retouches and "filters" a raw and beautiful perception of the real world, we're returning people what they deserve - a "voice" in content rating and a fair opportunity for all content creators. We strive to improve the quality of digital content and bring content consumers and creators closer by providing an objective way of content evaluation and distribution.
These days, what our brains consume is determined by computers. But we want to free people from the hypocrisy of the traditional social networks where personal data is heavily abused. We are changing the rules of the game. With Carusel, you get the full freedom of self-expression. Famous name, followers, or bots don't work in Carusel. Only your content and its quality matter.
Join us on our road of changing the digital world for the better. Let's bring quality content and rightfully deserved exposure back into social media together!
- Randomity. We put excitement and authenticity back in the digital content. In Carusel, you cannot expect to see something specific. Content is distributed randomly which creates a pleasant feeling of anticipation of a surprise while using the app. What new will you discover in the app tonight? You never know. But you will want to stay longer to discover more and more.
- Support. We are creating a space where you can be supported by anybody virtually from anywhere in the world. It connects people on a whole new level because, in Carusel, popularity doesn't matter. Your language or region also don't matter. Only your content and its power to amaze defines how many people will discover and support it.
- Creativity. We encourage content creators to post more interesting, authentic, and creative content. The more interesting your content is, the bigger audience it gets shown to. Your creativity is the currency that powers your content discoverability.
- Equality. Our algorithm gives everybody an equal opportunity to be discovered. Hence, whoever you are, you can forget about the bias of the large following or fame. Be yourself and express yourself freely to your benefit.
- #Nofilter. In Carusel, there is genuinely no filter applied to content distribution. You can see all the content that gets shared through the app and, potentially, discover new interests. Get out of the artificial bubble you're placed in via traditional social networks and see the world afresh.


Thanks to the interactive online configurator for signal conditioners and measuring transducers from Phoenix Contact, suitable products can be found quickly, for the widest range of applications.
All devices that meet the respective requirement can be found with just a few clicks. When it comes to electrical assemblies, this makes planning easier as well as shortening the planning time. Entering a few parameters yields a selection of products from Phoenix Contact's extensive range. While doing so, criteria can be selected such as the type of input and output signal, the supply voltage range, the connection method, and many other properties.


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Gob Squad
Are You With Us?
Thu 30 Oct 2014 7pm
Tickets: £13 (£11), Under 26s £10
Production Company: Gob Squad Duration: 3 hours
The University of Warwick is currently undertaking a transformation of campus. Whilst the works are happening there will inevitably be some disruption. We are aiming to keep this to a very minimum, however, please allow extra time for your journey. Click here for up to date information on the road works.
Gob Squad Arts Collective has been making performance and theatre together for almost 20 years. 20 years of working collectively. 20 years of making, discussing, arguing, touring, performing. They know each other inside out. Their private and professional lives are totally inseparable. They have shared highs and lows, fame and failures, children, love, homes and an office. And now it's time to take stock and settle old scores!
Are You With Us? is an improvised performance where Gob Squad ask each other all the questions they are afraid to ask in private, in public. It's part group therapy, part performance nightmare. By turns brutally funny and painfully honest, it's a high stakes game on the verge of a breakdown. Stuck in an endless photo-shoot- cum-therapy-session, the performers change their look from flight attendants to hippies to terrorists and more, searching for a group identity where everyone has found their place.
Are You With Us? is a performance for anyone who has buried what they really want to say to their colleagues, family or team-mates. Anything can go wrong. Everything is at stake. So, are you with us?
Please note, ticket holders must be present for the 7pm start time, but are then free to come and go throughout the performance.
NT Live: Present Laughter (Encore Screening)
Fri 24 Jan 2020 7.30pm
Thu 27 & Fri 28 Feb 2020 7.45pm
Venue: Studio


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HISTORY VS.
KENNECTIONS
LIVE SMARTER
STONES, BONES & WRECKS
JOB SECRETS
THE PRESIDENTS
RETROBITUARIES
DAILY FLOSS
ABOUT RSS CONTACT US PRIVACY POLICY COOKIE POLICY TERMS OF SERVICE
FLOOR8 12UP 90MIN
Plotters Decide to Kill the Archduke
BY Erik Sass
beThe First World War was an unprecedented catastrophe that killed millions and set the continent of Europe on the path to further calamity two decades later. But it didn't come out of nowhere. With the centennial of the outbreak of hostilities coming up in August, Erik Sass will be looking back at the lead-up to the war, when seemingly minor moments of friction accumulated until the situation was ready to explode. He'll be covering those events 100 years after they occurred. This is the 110th installment in the series.
March 26 - 27, 1914: Plotters Decide to Kill the Archduke
In March 1914, the Balkan cauldron was simmering away, as Austria-Hungary faced fresh difficulties in Albania and Serbia and Montenegro threatened to merge, promising further instability. But it was a plot unfolding behind the scenes that lit the fuse for the greatest conflict in history.
At first glance March 7, 1914 marked a diplomatic success for Austria-Hungary, as a German aristocrat, Prince Wilhelm Friedrich Heinrich of Wied, arrived in the Albanian city of Durazzo to take the throne of the new nation. This was supposed to be the culmination of several years of diplomacy and saber rattling by Austria-Hungary's foreign minister Count Berchtold, who persuaded the other Great Powers to create a new, independent Albania to deny Serbia access to the sea after the First Balkan War (the Austrians feared Russia might use a Serbian port as a naval base). The only problem with the scheme was that it completely ignored reality: The Prince of Wied commanded neither troops nor loyalty in Albania, and his "authority" was confined to Durazzo, propped up by a small Dutch-Austrian force. It wasn't long before a powerful tribal leader, Esad Pasha Toptani, began plotting rebellion in the hopes of grabbing the crown.
Meanwhile, Montenegro and Serbia were in talks to create a customs union as a precursor to a full political union. This was another nightmare scenario for Austria-Hungary, as it would give Serbia its long-coveted access to the sea and set the stage for the final struggle to liberate the Dual Monarchy's Southern Slavic peoples. Montenegro's King Nikola wasn't necessarily thrilled about the idea of Serbia absorbing his tiny kingdom but the great Slavic patron, Russia, supported the merger. So on March 15, Nikola tried to put the best face on things by inviting Serbia's King Peter to negotiations for an eventual union that would, the Montenegrin king wrote, "give joy not only to the peoples of Serbia and Montenegro but also to the brother Serbs not yet liberated [and] all Southern Slavism…" On April 2, Serbia's King Peter responded with a letter expressing "tremendous joy" over the idea, as "such fraternal agreement would form the best foundation for the future of Serbia…"
Although negotiations were put on hold by the outbreak of hostilities a few months later, contemporaries recognized that the Serbian-Montenegrin union was itself a possible flashpoint for a continent-wide war. Following a visit to Vienna, on April 5 Kaiser Wilhelm II reported an alarming rumor to the German foreign office: "King Nikita is secretly to sell his land to Serbia, Russia would in the event advance the sum and thereby acquire a claim to compensation on the coast… If it later comes to light and Austria wants to put up an opposition and call the Serbs to account, Russia would at once go to their help and world war would be upon us."
The Conspirators Target Franz Ferdinand
In March 1914, a ragtag group of part-time high school students, pamphleteers, and coffeehouse intellectuals began plotting a murder that would shake the world to its foundations—although at the time none of them had any idea what its real impact would be. While many details remain murky due to conflicting accounts, historians have pieced together the rough outline and timing of the plot, including the role played by members of Unity or Death, an ultranationalist cabal directed by Serbian military officers in Belgrade also known as the Black Hand, and Young Bosnia, an underground organization in Austrian Bosnia.
For several years, a Bosnian Serb teenager and member of Young Bosnia, Gavrilo Princip (above, top row, left), had been drifting back and forth between Sarajevo, the provincial capital of Austrian-controlled Bosnia, and the Serbian capital Belgrade, where he was supposedly attending high school but actually spent most of his time talking politics with other radical Serbian nationalists in grimy cafés. On March 13, 1914, after a visit home to Bosnia Princip returned to Belgrade, where he was soon to be found in his usual haunts.
In late March, one of Princip's café colleagues, Nedjelko Čabrinović (above, top row, right), supposedly received an envelope with no return address, containing a clipping from a Bosnian or Croatian newspaper about Archduke Franz Ferdinand's planned visit to Sarajevo on June 28—known to Serbs as Vidovdan, the anniversary of the Serbian defeat by the Turks at the Field of Blackbirds in 1389. In this version of events, Čabrinović showed the clipping to Princip, who shared his indignation at the apparent insult in the visit's timing, and on March 27 the friends swore a secret oath to assassinate the heir to the Austrian and Hungarian thrones.
Meanwhile Princip's best friend in Sarajevo, a nationalist newspaper editor named Danilo Ilić (who had recently joined Unity or Death, also known as the Black Hand—above, top row, center) also received word about the Archduke's planned visit around this time—again, supposedly from a newspaper clipping sent to him anonymously. However he learned about it, Ilić was thinking along the same lines as Princip by late March, when he met his friend Muhamed Mehmedbašić (not pictured), a Bosnian Muslim and fellow member of Young Bosnia, who was still hoping to carry out an earlier plot to assassinate Oskar Potiorek, the Austrian governor of Bosnia.
On March 26, 1914, Ilić told Mehmedbašić that the plan to kill Potiorek had been canceled by the Black Hand's shadowy leadership—but added that a new plot was being organized against the life of the Archduke. Princip later claimed that he wrote to Ilić around Easter (April 12, 1914) to recruit him into the conspiracy, only to find that Ilić was already considering a similar plan. In the following weeks the conspiracy grew as Princip and Čabrinović recruited their friend Trifun Grabež in Belgrade (above, bottom row, left), while Ilić enlisted Vaso Čubrilović (bottom row, center) and Cvjetko Popović (bottom row, right), both living in Sarajevo.
Some of the conspirators later denied that they had any outside help organizing the "outrage" (as terrorist attacks were termed): At their trial, Čabrinović claimed, "In the company we frequented the conversations always turned on outrages… Nobody told us straight out: 'kill him,' but in those circles we came round to the idea by ourselves," and Princip insisted, "The idea of it originated with us and it is we who carried it out." But they were almost certainly inspired and directed by members of the Black Hand, led by the chief of Serbian military intelligence, Dragutin Dimitrijević, codename Apis (below, left).
For one thing, the plotters needed weapons; thus Princip got in touch with a middle-aged nationalist radical named Milan Ciganović (below, right), an employee of the Serbian national railway who'd fought in the Balkan Wars and belonged to the Black Hand. Ciganović sometimes worked for Major Vojislav Tankosić (below, center), who was in turn the right-hand man to Dimitrijević. Ciganović obtained four pistols and several small bombs from a Serbian military armory, which Princip claimed he sent to Ilić sometime in April, and it seems impossible that Ciganović would have done this without the knowledge and approval of Dimitrijević.
Furthermore, the whole story of anonymous newspaper clippings seems rather suspicious, as does the coincidence of Princip and Ilić spontaneously arriving at the same idea; while the clippings may have played some role in advancing the conspiracy (perhaps as a previously agreed signal) it seems more likely the entire plan was coordinated from an earlier date, following the failure of the plot against Potiorek. Through his spy network Dimitrijević likely heard of Franz Ferdinand's visit to Sarajevo shortly after the Archduke agreed to the trip in mid-February, and well before it was publicized in the newspapers. According to several other accounts, Princip was in contact with Tankosić and Ilić as early as January, and Tankosić told him that the Black Hand had decided to kill the Archduke soon after.
Serbia's civilian government smelled a rat: On March 18, Serbian Prime Minister Nikola Pašić ordered an investigation of the Black Hand, which he rightly suspected of plotting a military coup against him because of his moderate stance towards Austria-Hungary. Eventually Pasic got wind of the plot against the Archduke from Ciganović, who was apparently an informer for the government inside the Black Hand. But it was all too little, too late.
Meanwhile on March 16, 1914, the bellicose Austrian chief of the general staff, Conrad von Hötzendorf, once again called for war in a conversation with the German ambassador to Vienna, Baron Heinrich von Tschirschky. But Tschirschky politely reminded Conrad that a key figure stood in the way—Archduke Franz Ferdinand, who opposed any suggestion of preemptive war.
See the previous installment or all entries.
war world-war-i ww1
7 Weird Super Bowl Halftime Acts
BY Michele Debczak
Al Bello, Getty Images
Shakira and Jennifer Lopez seem like natural choices to perform the halftime show at this year's Super Bowl, but the event didn't always feature musical acts from major pop stars. Michael Jackson kicked off the trend at Super Bowl XXVII in 1993, but prior to that, halftime shows weren't a platform for the hottest celebrities of the time. They centered around themes instead, and may have featured appearances from Peanuts characters, Jazzercisers, or a magician dressed like Elvis. In honor of Super Bowl LIV on February 2, we've rounded up some of the weirdest acts in halftime show history.
1. Return of the Mickey Mouse Club
The era of Super Bowl halftimes before wardrobe malfunctions, illuminati conspiracy theories, and Left Shark was a more innocent time. For 1977's event, the Walt Disney Company produced a show that doubled as a squeaky-clean promotion of its brand. Themed "Peace, Joy, and Love," the Super Bowl XI halftime show opened with a 250-piece band rendition of "It's a Small World (After All)." Disney also used the platform to showcase its recently revamped Mickey Mouse Club.
2. 88 Grand Pianos and 300 Jazzercisers
The theme of the halftime show at Super Bowl XXII in 1988 was "Something Grand." Naturally, it featured 88 tuxedoed pianists playing 88 grand pianos. Rounding out the program were 400 swing band performers, 300 Jazzercisers, 44 Rockettes, two marching bands, and Chubby Checker telling everyone to "Twist Again."
3. Elvis Impersonator Performs the World's Largest Card Trick
Many of the music industry's most successful pop stars—like Prince, Madonna, and, uh, Milli Vanilli—were at the height of their fame in 1989, but none of them appeared at Super Bowl XXIII. Instead, the NFL hired an Elvis Presley-impersonating magician to perform. The show, titled "BeBop Bamboozled," was a tribute to the 1950s, and it featured Elvis Presto performing "the world's largest card trick." It also may have included the world's largest eye exam: The show boasted 3D effects, and viewers were urged to pick up special glasses before the game. If the visuals didn't pop like they were supposed to, people were told to see an eye doctor.
4. The Peanuts Salute New Orleans
Super Bowl XXIV featured one of the last halftime acts that was completely devoid of any musical megastars. The biggest celebrity at the 1990 halftime show was Snoopy. Part of the show's theme was the "40th Anniversary of 'Peanuts,'" and to celebrate the milestone, performers dressed as Peanuts characters and danced on stage. The other half of the theme was "Salute to New Orleans"—not necessarily the first thing that comes to mind when you think of the comic strip.
5. A Tribute to the Winter Olympics
Super Bowl XXVI preceded the 1992 Winter Olympics—a fact that was made very clear by the event's halftime. The show was titled "Winter Magic" and it paid tribute to the winter games with ice skaters, snowmobiles, and a cameo from the 1980 U.S. hockey team. Other acts, like a group of parachute-pants-wearing children performing the "Frosty the Snowman Rap," were more generally winter-themed than specific to the Olympics. About 22 million viewers changed the channel during halftime to watch In Living Color's Super Bowl special, which may have convinced the NFL to hire Michael Jackson the following year.
6. Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye
"Peace, Joy, and Love" wasn't the only Disney-helmed Super Bowl halftime. In 1995, Disney produced a halftime show called "Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye" to tease the new Disneyland ride of the same name. It centered around a skit in which actors playing Indiana Jones and Marion Ravenwood stole the Vince Lombardi Trophy from an exotic temple, and it included choreographed stunts, fiery special effects, and a snake. Patti LaBelle and Tony Bennett were also there.
7. The Blues Brothers, Minus John Belushi
The 1990s marked an odd period for halftime shows as they moved from schlocky themed variety shows to major music events. Super Bowl XXXI in 1997 perfectly encapsulates this transition period. James Brown and ZZ Top performed, but the headliners were the Blues Brothers. John Belushi had been dead for more than a decade by that point, so Jim Belushi took his place beside Dan Aykroyd. John Goodman was also there to promote the upcoming movie Blues Brother 2000. The flashy advertisement didn't have the impact they had hoped for and the film was a massive flop when it premiered.
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15 Fun Facts About Betty White
BY Kristy Puchko
(Updated: January 17, 2020)
Frederick M. Brown, Getty Images
Happy birthday, Betty White! In honor of the ever-sassy star of The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Golden Girls's 98th birthday, let's celebrate with a collection of fun facts about her life and legacy.
1. Her name is Betty, not Elizabeth.
On January 17th, 1922, in Oak Park, Illinois, the future television icon was born Betty Marion White, the only child of homemaker Christine Tess (née Cachikis) and lighting company executive Horace Logan White. In her autobiography If You Ask Me (And of Course You Won't), White explained her parents named her "Betty" specifically because they didn't like many of the nicknames derived from "Elizabeth." Forget your Beths, your Lizas, your Ellies. She's Betty.
2. She's a Guinness World Record holder.
In the 2014 edition of the record-keeping tome, White was awarded the title of Longest TV Career for an Entertainer (Female) for her more than 70 years (and counting) in show business. The year before, Guinness gave out Longest TV Career for an Entertainer (Male) to long-time British TV host Bruce Forsyth. As both began their careers in 1939, they'd be neck-and-neck for the title, were they not separated by gender.
3. Her first television appearance is lost to history.
Even White can't remember the name of the show she made her screen debut on in 1939. But in an interview with Guinness Book of World Records, she recounted the life-changing event, saying, "I danced on an experimental TV show, the first on the west coast, in downtown Los Angeles. I wore my high school graduation dress and our Beverly Hills High student body president, Harry Bennett, and I danced the 'Merry Widow Waltz.'"
4. White's initial rise to stardom was derailed by World War II.
Before she took off on television, White was working in theater, on radio, and as a model. But with WWII, she shelved her ambitions and joined the American Women's Voluntary Services. Her days were devoted to delivering supplies via PX truck throughout the Hollywood Hills, but her nights were spent at rousing dances thrown to give grand send-offs to soldiers set to ship out. Of that era, she told Cleveland Magazine, "It was a strange time and out of balance with everything."
5. Her first sitcom hit was in the early 1950s.
Co-hosting the Al Jarvis show Hollywood on Television led to White producing her own vehicle, Life With Elizabeth. As a rare female producer, she developed the show alongside emerging writer-producer George Tibbles, who'd go on to work on such beloved shows as Dennis The Menace, Leave It To Beaver, and The Munsters. Though the show is not remembered much today, in 1951 it did earn White her first Emmy nomination of 21 (so far). Of these, she has won five times.
6. White loves a parade.
From 1962 to 1971, White hosted NBC's Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade alongside Bonanza's Lorne Greene. But that's not all. For 20 years (1956-1976), she was also a color commentator for NBC's annual Tournament of Roses Parade. However, as her fame grew on CBS's The Mary Tyler Moore Show, NBC decided they should pull White (and all the rival promotion that came with her) from their parade. It was a decision that was heartbreaking for White, who told People, "On New Year's Day I just sat home feeling wretched, watching someone else do my parade."
7. She has been married three times.
White and her first husband, Dick Barker, were married and divorced in the same year, 1945. After four months on Barker's rural Ohio chicken farm, White fled back to Los Angeles and her career as an entertainer. Soon after, she met agent Lane Allen, who became her husband in 1947, and her ex-husband in 1949 after he pushed her to quit show biz. She wouldn't marry again until 1963, after she fell for widower/father of three/game show host Allen Ludden.
8. Her meet-cute with husband number three happened on Password.
Bubbly Betty was a regular on the game show circuit, but she met her match in 1961 when she was a celebrity guest on Password, hosted by Allen Ludden. Though White initially rebuffed Ludden's engagement ring (he wore it around his neck until she changed her mind), the pair stayed together until his death in 1981. Today, their stars on the Hollywood Walk Of Fame sit side-by-side.
9. White originally auditioned for the role of Blanche on The Golden Girls.
Producers of the series thought of White for the role of the ensemble's promiscuous party girl because she'd long played the lusty Sue Ann Nivens on The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Meanwhile, they eyed Rue McClanahan for the part of naive country bumpkin Rose Nylund because of her work as the sweet but dopey Vivian Harmon on Maude. Director Jay Sandrich was worried about typecasting, so he asked the two to switch roles in the audition. And just like that, The Golden Girls history was made.
10. If she hadn't been an actor, she'd have been a zookeeper.
"Hands down," she confessed in a 2014 interview. This should come as little surprise to those aware of White's reputation as an avid animal lover and activist. Not only does she try to visit the local zoo of wherever she may travel, but also she's a supporter of the Farm Animal Reform Movement and Friends of Animals group, as well as a Los Angeles Zoo board member, who has donated "tens of thousands of dollars" over the past 40 years. In 2010, White founded a T-shirt line whose profits go to the Morris Animal Foundation.
11. She passed on a role in As Good as It Gets because of an animal cruelty scene.
White was offered the part of Beverly Connelly, onscreen mother to Helen Hunt, in the Oscar-winning movie As Good as It Gets. But the devoted animal lover was horrified by the scene where Jack Nicholson's curmudgeonly anti-hero pitches a small dog down the trash chute of his apartment building. On The Joy Behar Show White explained, "All I could think of was all the people out there watching that movie … and if there's a dog in the building that's barking or they don't like—boom! They do it." She complained to director James L. Brooks in hopes of having the scene cut. Instead, he kept it and cast Shirley Knight in the role.
12. A Facebook campaign made White the oldest person to ever host Saturday Night Live.
In 2010, a Facebook group called Betty White To Host SNL … Please? gathered so many fans (nearly a million) and so much media attention that SNL executive producer Lorne Michaels was happy to make it happen. At 88 years old, White set a new record. Her episode, for which many of the show's female alums returned, also won rave reviews, and gave the show's highest ratings in 18 months. White won her fifth Emmy for this performance.
13. She is the oldest person to earn an Emmy nomination.
In 2014, White earned an Emmy nod for Outstanding Host for a Reality or Reality-Competition Program for the senior citizen-centric prank show Betty White's Off Their Rockers. She was 92. She also holds the record for the longest span between Emmy nominations, between her first (1951) and last (so far).
14. She loves junk food.
The key to aging gracefully has nothing to do with health food as far as White is concerned. In 2011, her Hot in Cleveland co-star Jane Leeves dished on White's snacking habits, "She eats Red Vines, hot dogs, French fries, and Diet Coke. If that's key, maybe she's preserved because of all the preservatives." Fellow co-star Wendie Malick concurred, "She eats red licorice, like, ridiculously a lot. She seems to exist on hot dogs and French fries."
15. She wants Robert Redford.
White once gave this cheeky confession: "My answer to anything under the sun, like 'What have you not done in the business that you've always wanted to do?' is 'Robert Redford.'" Though she has more than 110 film and television credits on her filmography, White has never worked with the Out of Africa star, who is 14 years her junior.
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrat Nancy Pelosi, poised to become the next speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, said on Wednesday her party's victory in congressional elections was due to its determination to preserve the massive healthcare reform law passed during the Obama administration.
Pelosi became the first woman to take on the top position of speaker in 2007. She held the post until 2011 when Republicans took back control of the House.
At a news conference the day after Democrats won enough House seats to capture the lower chamber, she said she expected to return to the post and congratulated the many women who would join her in the chamber.
In addition to pledging to protect healthcare, Pelosi said Democrats would seek common ground with Republicans "when we can" and stand their ground when necessary. She spoke with Republican Mitch McConnell, the Senate leader, on Wednesday morning about areas where the two parties could find common ground, such as infrastructure.
With Republicans still controlling the Senate and White House, House Democrats will face an uphill battle to advance their agenda. Pelosi said they hoped to work with President Donald Trump on lowering the cost of prescription drugs and that she hoped to reduce the role of "dark" special interest money in government.


PlaceAutocomplete provides an activity that allows a user to start typing a place name or an address and see place predictions appear as they type.
Users are expected to choose one of the predictions. Unlike PlacePicker, users only see a list of places, and not a full map. See the developer's guide for more details.
If the user exits the autocomplete activity without choosing a place, the calling activity will receive RESULT_CANCELED.
class PlaceAutocomplete.IntentBuilder Builder for a Place Autocomplete launch intent.
int MODE_FULLSCREEN Mode for launching the autocomplete activity in fullscreen.
int MODE_OVERLAY Mode for launching the autocomplete activity as an overlay.
int RESULT_ERROR Indicates that an error occurred.
Returns the Status associated with the result.
Mode for launching the autocomplete activity in fullscreen. The app will no longer be visible while the user picks a place.
Mode for launching the autocomplete activity as an overlay. The app will be visible in the background while the user picks a place.
Indicates that an error occurred.
When this result code is returned in onActivityResult(int, int, Intent), you should check the status returned by getStatus(Context, Intent).
The list of possible status codes is available at PlacesStatusCodes.
You should pay specific attention to the value of getStatus(Context, Intent) when the activity's result code is RESULT_ERROR. This can indicate a configuration error (for example, an invalid API key in your Android manifest) or a quota error (see Usage Limits).