I got the error 'User Access Revoked' when I tried to log in. What does it mean?
Generally, the User access revoked' message appears when the password has expired or when a user tries to log on with an incorrect password more than tree times. To regain access, the password must be reset. Send a request for password reset to the PPS Help Desk using the Help Request form on the PPS website.
I am taking over a coworker's responsibilities and need their UserID.
Each PPS UserID is assigned to only one individual. If you need access, complete a new application form which is available from the PPS web site, Forms link. You can specify that you need access similar to the access of your coworker's but the campus Security Committee has deemed that UserIDs and passwords are not to be shared as changes made to the Employee Data Base are tracked by the UserID that entered them.
What should I do if I can't access a screen that I normally can access?
I cannot look at or update one of our department employee's records?
You can view any employee's records within the department(s) that you have access to or for an employee that has one or more distributions funded by the department(s) that you have access to. In order to update an employee's record, there must be at least one person who is identified as the mandatory reviewer of the update action. If this mandatory reviewer is not identified for your department(s), PPS will not allow you to update the employee's record. If you believe this is your problem, contact the PPS Administrator by email at ppshelp@ucdavis.edu. Note: you cannot update your own records nor can the person you are updating be the only reviewer for your department.
If one of our employees is adding a position in another department, how do we grant access to the other department?
Granting access to another department as Alternate Department is only necessary when the employee is active. If the employee has separated, alternate department access is not necessary for that department to hire (or rehire) the employee.
Enter the home department code of the new department in the Alternate Department Code field on the EPER screen, or in the web-based PPS use the Alternate Department Code field in the Employment screen.
Who makes the correction when an error is found?
The reviewer should notify the preparer as part of the PAN review process, and the preparer makes all corrections. This ensures consistency and allows the preparer to learn from the mistake, as well as maintaining separation of duties.
If an error is found outside the PAN review process, any preparer that has access to the employee record can update or correct the information.
How do I get more information about PPS?
Check out the About PPS section of the PPS web site. For information on getting access to PPS, see the Access Information section of the PPS website. You can also send inquiries to the PPS Help Desk or call the PPS Help Desk at 530-752-7750.
What do I do if I update past the ECOM screen (aka PAN Comments screen)?
As soon as possible, send an email to the reviewers who receive the PAN, letting them know that they will be receiving a 'blank' PAN for the employee, and include all the information you would have typed in the Comments screen.
Preparers should also use the web-based PPS access to search for the PAN and add comments.
I am responsible for reviewing post-authorization notifications (PAN). How do I have PANs forwarded to an email address?
Only backup reviewers receive PANs by email. If you are a mandatory reviewer you receive PANs via the online system. You can forward a PAN received in the online system by opening the PAN, scrolling to the bottom of the screen and typing the full email address for the person you want to send the PAN to, then click the Send button. Reviewers on the list can only receive the PAN once so forwarding to them again will not resend the PAN.
To forward an email PAN simple forward as you would any other email message. DO NOT REPLY to any PAN sent by email, this does not send any information to the preparer.
Do the PANs on a separation have to be sent to Payroll Services or does the department keep them?
The original signed copy of the separation IDOC should be sent to Payroll Services; the letter of resignation should be sent to Human Resources. It is recommended that the department keep a copy of the signed separation IDOC for their file. The separation PAN is not required by Payroll Services.
What paperwork needs to be sent to Human Resources when changing the FAU and Home Dept Code?
There is more than one way to update a funding change and a home dept change. If you are changing both for the same employee, use the SALR bundle which contains the EPER screen (for the home dept code change), EAPP screen (for the funding change) and ETAX screen (in case of tax reporting changes). The SALR bundle will create a PAN notice which is forwarded to the appropriate central office. They will determine and print the necessary documents for their files.
For a funding change only use the EAPP screen; for dept code change only use the EPER screen.
For a funding change you need to print the IDOC "Summary of Change in Status" for dept files. Fund changes produce a PAN notice, so again the central offices can print whatever is necessary for their files.
Your PPS UserID allows you access to the Payroll/Personnel System using the installed software from your desktop or using the web-based PPS access. Depending on your responsibilities as outlined in your PPS/OPTRS Access Application form, you may have access to the Inquiry, Entry/Update and/or Payroll (OPTRS) screens. Your user code begins with 'DV' identifying you as a UC Davis campus user, followed by 2 or 3-character unit/college identification, and usually your initials.
Your password on this UserID is good for 180 days, and the system will prompt you to change your password before it expires. The system remembers your last few passwords so you will need to create a new password using the following guidelines. In CICS PPS: First, enter your UserID and current password. Tab to the Change Password prompt and type 'Y', press the ENTER key. You will be prompted to enter your new password twice - do so by typing it once on the "Enter your password" line and then use the TAB key to jump to the "Verify your password" line. Retype the new password and then press ENTER. In Online PPS: First, enter your UserID and current password. If a new password is required the Change Password screen will automatically open, or you can select to open from the main menu. Type in your old (current or temporary) password, use the TAB key to jump to the New Password field, and TAB again to Re-enter New Password, then select the Change button.
If you forget your password or let it expire, submit a password reset request using the Help Request form. Please include your PPS userID. You will receive an email with instructions for accessing your temporary password. Login to PPS using your assigned temporary password, then change your password to one that you will use for the next 180 days. Passwords can usually be reset within a few minutes. If you've waited more than half a day for a temporary password please contact the PPS Help Desk at 530-752-7750 to follow up.
In CICS PPS: First, enter your UserID and current password. Tab to the Change Password prompt and type 'Y', press the ENTER key. You will be prompted to enter your new password twice — do so by typing it once on the "Enter your password" line and then use the TAB key to jump to the "Verify your password" line. Retype the new password and then press ENTER.
In Web-based PPS: First, enter your UserID and current password. If a new password is required the Change Password screen will automatically open, or you can select to open from the main menu. Type in your old (current or temporary) password, use the TAB key to jump to the New Password field, and TAB again to Re-enter New Password, then select the Change button.
What happens when a password is reset?
The PPS Help Desk resets passwords based on the request of a PPS user on the Help Request form. You will receive an email with instructions for accessing your temporary password. After retrieving the temporary password, login to PPS using your assigned temporary password, then change your password to one that you will use for the next 180 days. Passwords can usually be reset within a few minutes.
What is the preferred method of printing an IDOC?
Printing is no longer supported from within the Telnet software access (CICS or DOS-based PPS link from desktop), and is recommended only through the web-based access to PPS. Employee Summary Documents (IDOCs) can be printed at any time for any reason as long as you have access to the employee record in PPS.
2. Select IDOC from Main Menu.
3. Enter employee's last name in the Name field, or ID number in the Employee ID field.
4. An IDOC Menu will provide initial choices for type of IDOC, if your specific transaction is not listed use the Change-in Status selection to see more choices.
5. To return to the previous menu use the Other IDOCs selection.
6. After selecting the type of IDOC, scroll down screen to see a preview of the IDOC, and use the Print IDOC button to print. It will be sent directly to your default printer for the PC you are using, this is not necessarily the printer selected for PPS printing. Document should print immediately, no delay.
7. Print another IDOC for a new employee by using the Select a New Employee button toward the top of the screen and providing employee data. Or, return to the main menu using the Main Menu link at the top of the screen.
What hardware do I need to run PPS?
You can use either a PC or Mac to access the PPS screens at Office of the President. This system uses a software package (called TN3270) to communicate with the mainframe computer at Office of the President by making your desktop computer act like an IBM terminal. Minimum requirements for a PC would be a 486 33 MH2 with 16 MB of RAM and a 15" monitor screen. Minimum requirements for a Mac would be a 68040 Processor with 16 MB of RAM and a 15" monitor. Network connectivity is a definite requirement. See PPS System Requirements for more recommendations on hardware.
What software do I need to run PPS?
You can use either a PC or Mac to access the PPS screens at Office of the President. The minimum requirement for a PC is Windows 3.11 with TCP/IP however Windows 95 or Windows NT with TCP/IP is recommended. Minimum requirements for a Mac would be OS 7.5 with TCP/IP however OS 8.0 with TCP/IP is recommended. Regardless of the desktop computer, PPS uses a software package (called TN3270), it communicates with the mainframe computer at Office of the President by making your desktop computer act like an IBM terminal. The campus has purchased a site license for this software so it is available at no cost to the department from the PPS web site.
To access web-based PPS you'll need Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 or higher, Safari, or Mozilla Firefox.
What should I do if I get a General Protection Fault?
Choose 'close' in the dialog box after writing down the memory address. Then, restart Windows and try to reproduce the error. GPFs are not uncommon, but if you are having more than one per session, you should contact your Systems Administrator as this is usually a problem on your computer rather than the mainframe at Office of the President.
What is the Clear key?
None of my function keys work.
The PPS software does not require any key mapping in addition to the defaults within the TN3270 software package. The old "text-based" Banner Student Information System (SIS) used a key-mapping package called QuickKeys. If this software is still installed or any other special re-mapping of the function keys, it will affect your ability to use the function keys within PPS.
It's also possible you simply locked the function keys on your keyboard. If you are unable to unlock them please seek assistance from your desktop support team at your department.
What should I do if PPS is "frozen" or ABENDS?
Occasionally your connection to Office of the President will be interrupted for whatever reason (network problem, power outage, your system goes down, etc) and when you log back into the PPS system, it won't respond. You may be able to get to the Supersession Menu or you may have a totally blank screen. It is best to close everything down and start fresh.
1. If you can close the Supersession Menu by using the function keys (F12-Exit key, then F3-Exit key), that is best. If you cannot, use the Mouse and click on the 'X' in the upper right hand corner of the PPS screen or click on 'QWS3270t' (upper left corner) and 'close' the session.
2. Log back on to PPS, entering your userID and password at the Entry Validation screen and press the Enter key.
3. If the word "Active" appears under the Status column at the Supersession Menu this means your session is still active from prior to the interruption but it should be closed and started fresh. Type "t" on the line to the left of the sessionID to terminate and press the ENTER key. If you don't see the word "Active", skip to step 5.
4. Press the ENTER key to clear/refresh the menu. The "Active" status should disappear and "Takedown" should be in in its place.
5. Place your cursor to the left of the sessionID CICSPAY3. Press ENTER. Now the PPS Main Menu should come up correctly.
I can't see my cursor.
If your cursor is set to "Underscore", you may have trouble seeing it. Pull down the Option menu, choose Session, choose "Cursor" option in the pull-down menu and click on the Radio-button for "Block". Your cursor will now be a block and easier to find on the screen.
What host do I connect to?
The name of the UCOP host for the PPS system and when the Supersession main menu is located: UCCMVSB.UCOP.EDU (IP address: 128.48.140.4).
How can I "clean up" or customize the Supersession Menu?
The Supersession menu is the main menu for the Office of the President systems. The two entries used by our campus are: test: CICSPP3T UCC CICS TEST production: CICSPAY3 CICS DAVIS PROD. Any other entries can be deleted by typing a 'D' in the space at the beginning of each menu selection. After pressing return, a pop-up menu will confirm that you wish to delete that entry. Press return to accept the default of deleting the entry. Note, you may do more than one delete at a time (enter a 'D' on multiple entries prior to pressing the return key), but you will be prompted with a delete confirmation for each entry. If you accidentally delete either one of the necessary entries listed above, type 'L' to re-add an entry from the Global Session List. For more assistance contact the PPS Help Desk at (530) 752-7750 or use the Help Request form.
What's the process for obtaining access to entry/update in the production region?
5. Approval of practice exercises demonstrating SKA by campus central offices (Payroll, HR, Academic Personnel, etc).
Upon receipt of the request by the PPS Administrator and central office reviewers the transactions completed by the new user are reviewed. If approved, the whole process takes approximately two weeks from request to setup. Users are notified by email once setup is completed.
Each trainee is required to practice all the transactions listed on the Required Practice Transactions page of the PPS web site. Because these practice transactions are reviewed for accuracy when a user requests access to update in the production region, it is strongly recommended that each trainee closely follow the transactions guides in CICS PPS Guide or Online PPS Guide to ensure a "successful" practice.
Please note: practices are reviewed to determine the users understanding of policy as it applies to the type of employee and scenario in the exercise. Therefore, it is critical that REAL data and codes be used (i.e. Correct Salary and Title Codes, Duration of Appointment, Next Salary Review Date and Type). The only 'made-up' data would be the employee's personal information (i.e. name, SSN, address).
What's the best way to practice?
One suggestion for practicing is to hire a new employee and complete all the actions that would impact their personnel program type, following the steps in the transaction section of the PPS Guides.
The dean's office and department reviewers are allowed to set more specific requirements as long as they allow the user to demonstrate their knowledge of policy and procedure.
It is also suggested that practice time be scheduled on your calendar; making it a priority. Practicing in a location where there will be minimal interruptions or distractions is recommended, and guidance from current users in department is preferred.
What practice transactions are required to demonstrate knowledge of staff policy?
If you have any questions regarding this list or any staff transactions, please contact Matt Matuszak at mmmatuszak@ucdavis.edu, or PPS Help Desk at 530-752-7750 or ppshelp@ucdavis.edu.
What practice transactions are required to demonstrate knowledge of academic policy (senate/non-senate)?
If you have other academic titles, besides the professorial series, employed in your department, be sure to also practice transactions for those titles (for example: Lecturers, Cooperative Extension Specialists, Professional Researchers). If you have any questions regarding this list or senate/non-senate transactions contact your dean's office.
How do I know if my practices are correct?
The Mandatory Reviewer at your department is the individual responsible for informing preparers whether their transactions are completed correctly. Mandatory Reviewers should review PANs within two days of receipt and immediately provide information when corrections are necessary. Generally, the Mandatory Reviewer is the individual with the strongest background in policy. Practicing transactions is the perfect time to establish internal processes for reviewing and providing feedback to preparers.
IMPORTANT: Deans' and centralized administrative offices will be reviewing transactions for accuracy and providing feedback after the review is completed by the department reviewer.
How long, after training, does it take to be granted access to entry/update in the production region?
First, it is important to remember that all members listed on the PPS Departmental Roles Structure must complete formal training and required practice exercises to be considered for entry/update access. A department roles structure that does not have a minimum of 3 individuals with completed training and demonstrated knowledge through practices in the Training Region will not be granted access.
Once exercises are completed and reviewed by the department reviewer, notify the PPS Administrator who will provide instruction to request review by central offices. If the exercises are approved, the whole process takes approximately two weeks from request to setup. Users are notified by email once setup is completed.
Will PPS training remain centralized?
Yes, training classes are offered monthly and include a combination of policy, procedure and hands-on lab work. Enrollment is processed through Staff Development & Professional Services. Information about PPS training can be found in the SDPS online course catalog.
Working with other new users in PPS encourages discussion about policy, transactions, the system, etc and sometimes makes people feel more comfortable. This is good. However, ALL users requesting entry/update must complete, as INDIVIDUAL users, a wide-range of (correct) transactions under their own PPS userID. This is an essential element to ensure that everyone in the department structure has demonstrated capability.
How do I sign up for PPS or OPTRS training?
Training for PPS and OPTRS (online payroll time reporting) is scheduled through Staff Development & Professional Services. You can register online using the SDPS online course catalog. The training is a combination of online classes and instructor-lead classes taught by subject experts from the central offices.
What classes are required for me to do payroll processing?
Information about the required classes is located on the PPS website in the Access Information section, at the Required Classes link.
I have an employee who would like her direct deposit statement mailed to her home address rather than sent to the department. How do I indicate that?
Direct deposit statements are available online through a site called At Your Service Online (AYSO). If an employee wishes to receive a paper copy of their statement, they submit the form Online Earnings Statement Exception Form.
The default paycheck and paper statement delivery address is the employee's home department. If an employee is requesting an alternate department be the delivery location, or delivery to their home address, they will use the designated form for their work location. See information on Payroll website at Check Delivery Address.
How do I change (increase) the font size on the PPS screens?
In PPS, go to the Options pull-down menu and click on Session. From the menu on the left, click on Display, click the Select Font button. This should bring up a window where you can change the font, font style and size. If your default font is set to "Fixedsys" it will only allow "Regular" Font Style and size "9". By changing the font to "Courier" or "Courier New", many more sizes and font styles are available. One favorite is: Font=Courier, Font Style=Bold, Size=12. This change is only used while you have the current session of PPS open, once closed your settings revert back to the default settings.


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'Sisterhood of Hip Hop' Season 2, Episode 7 Recap: Queen Latifah Provides Inspiration, Bia Makes a Hit With 'All Around the World' [VIDEO]
Amber McKynzie
Amber McKynzie Published: July 22, 2015
Collaborations. Cat Fights. Qualms. And Queen Latifah. That's all anyone needs to know about last night's episode of Sisterhood of Hip Hop.
Things kicked off with Irv Gotti and Siya. The former Murder Inc. honcho talked to the rising artist about the importance of collaborations and pointed out that many females don't often do that these days. If she's looking to have her name in the streets -- in the most positive and musical way possible -- then she needs to get with her girls and make something to get people talking.
"There's no real unity with females rappers," Irv points out. "I just think it would be dope."
So to help make things happen and push the girls in a unifying direction, the Queens-bred entrepreneur pulls Siya, Bia, Brianna, Nyemiah and Diamond into the studio. He wants them rap over Queen Latifah's 1993 smash, "U.N.I.T.Y." For publishing reasons and a more modern sound, Irv gives details on what he wants them to do: to create something that embodies the original track's vibe while using the hook for help.
Before hitting the lab to record, Irv asks the girls why it's so competitive with women in hip-hop, and why they don't come together more often? The cast quickly jump dispel the stereotype by letting the world know they all ride for each other -- with the exception of Nyemiah and Diamond of course. Then, there's a surprise. Out comes Queen Latifah to add to the conversation.
"Me and Lyte, we talk about this stuff all the time," she tells the girls. "There doesn't have to be this big ass deficit..."
As Queen Latifah shares pieces of her story, the girls keep rubbing their eyes like they're crying, but if you look closely, no one actually had any tears coming from their eyes. So what were they wiping? Just something to think about. Fake emotions for the camera?
Queen Latifah continues, "If you can make it through five girls, five periods, five boyfriends/girlfriends, five make ups...you can make it through anything."
With a little inspiration from hip-hop royalty in the flesh, the girls meet up with Irv to record their song. The camera pans from girl to girl, reminding fans there's a reason these women are on the show. They all hold their own on the track, but Bia's line is what killed it. "The overall difference between the women and the bitches / You see the difference between the bitches and the sisters / A sister never scared to see another sister winning," she rhymes. That's just facts.
Unfortunately, the girl power moment felt during recording doesn't carry over to rehearsal. Irv books rehearsal time for them to practice because they're going to be performing the track live for Queen Latifah and a club filled with people. But when dealing with a group, there's always one that throws things off from time to time. In this case, Bia stepped right up to the plate.
The Boston-born raptress is getting a case of some serious homesickness. She misses her man, Magic. She misses her sister, Trini. Overall, she misses her family. Before hitting the studio to find out about her "Unity." collaboration, Bia meets with her manager, Fam, and lets him know she's not in a space where she can make happy music right now. In fact, according to her, she's just sad sometimes. To fix the rhythmic slump, she buys herself a puppy just in time for her sister's surprise visit. And at the end of the day that's exactly what she needs.
Feeling less alone, Bia and Fam go to the studio to record "All Around the World." The song, produced by her mentor and i Am Other label head, Pharrell, is a smash according to Bia. Her major label, RCA, is backing her up too. So, like any hit, all parties involved move to shoot the video. Unfortunately, the video shoot lands on the same day as the crew's first "Unity" rehearsal.
By time the credits roll, the rehearsal space is empty. So much for girl power.
Check out the season finale next week.
Watch Bia's "All Around the World" Video
See 100 Hip-Hop Facts That Will Blow Your Mind
Source: 'Sisterhood of Hip Hop' Season 2, Episode 7 Recap: Queen Latifah Provides Inspiration, Bia Makes a Hit With 'All Around the World' [VIDEO]
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Pipe Jacking / Microtunnelling
Pipe jacking is a tunneling method where a pipe being installed is used also as ground support during the tunneling operation. In this method, sections of pipe are lowered into the launching shaft and are thrust forward using jacks at the launching shaft as the tunnel advances. At the excavation face, a variety of equipment and configurations may be used according to the ground and groundwater conditions. In good ground conditions, a steel cylinder pushed ahead of the pipe sections provides immediate ground protection and the face may remain stable enough for hand or machine excavation without any special measure for face support. In more difficult ground conditions, partial face support or a closed excavation system using slurry for face support or an earth-pressure-balance (EPB) system may be required. The key difference from conventional tunneling is that the lateral ground support for the tunnel is provided by the pipes jacked from the launching shaft rather than the tunnel ground support being installed just behind the tunnel face. In pipe jacking, as the pipes are slid further and further through the ground, the frictional forces on the pipes lead to an increase in jacking loads that must be applied. This provides limitations on the length of individual pipe jacking installations that are not present in conventional tunneling. Nevertheless, long installations with pipe jacking are possible with the right preparations and equipment – with the longest single installation made to date being 2.5 km for a 3 m internal diameter pipe in Germany.
Microtunneling is a form of pipe jacking installation. It is defined as a remotely-controlled, guided, pipe-jacking operation that provides continuous support to the excavation face by applying mechanical or fluid pressure to balance groundwater and earth pressures. Support at the excavation face is a key feature of microtunneling, distinguishing it from traditional open-shield pipe-jacking. Microtunneling is used to install pipelines beneath highways, railroads, runways, harbors, rivers, and environmentally sensitive areas.
Originally, the term microtunneling was used to describe tunneling for tunnel diameters for which a person was not allowed to enter the tunnel (typically less than 0.9 m or 1.0 m). The term is now used also to describe the method (i.e. not requiring a person to enter) rather than a specific diameter range. Regional differences remain in the usage of the terminology.
The following detailed description is based on a slurry-type machine.
Microtunneling requires jacking and reception shafts at the opposite ends of each drive. The microtunneling process is a cyclic pipe jacking operation. A microtunnel boring machine (MTBM) is pushed into the earth by hydraulic jacks mounted and aligned in the jacking shaft. The jacks are then retracted and the slurry lines and control cables are disconnected. A product pipe or casing is lowered into the shaft and inserted between the jacking frame and the MTBM or previously jacked pipe. Slurry lines and power and control cable connections are made, and the pipe and MTBM are advanced another drive stroke. This process is repeated until the MTBM reaches the reception shaft. Upon drive completion, the MTBM and trailing equipment are retrieved and all equipment removed from the pipeline. Most microtunneling operations include a hydraulic jacking system to advance the MTBM and pipe string, a closed loop slurry system to transport the excavated spoils, a slurry cleaning system to remove the spoil from the slurry water, a lubrication system to lubricate the exterior of the pipe string during installation, a guidance system to provide line and grade control, an electrical supply and distribution system to power equipment, a crane to hoist pipe sections into the jacking shaft, and various trucks and loaders to transport spoil off site. MTBMs have a rotating cutting head to excavate the ground material, a crushing cone to crush larger particles into smaller sizes for transport through the slurry lines, a hydraulic or electric motor to turn the cutting head, a pressurized slurry mixing chamber behind the cutter head to maintain face stability, an articulated steering unit with steering jacks for steering corrections, various control valves, pressure gauges, flow meters, and a data acquisition system. Additionally, the MTBM has in-line cameras to relay information to the operator and a target system for guidance control.
Different ground control and muck transport systems may be used depending on the ground conditions, machine diameter, etc. Auger-based microtunneling systems have been used and earth-pressure-balance systems can be substituted for slurry systems in larger diameter microtunneling projects.
Precise control of line and grade is accomplished using the guidance system and steering jacks to locate and steer the MTBM during a microtunneling drive. The guidance system usually consists of a reference laser mounted in the jacking shaft, which transmits a beam onto a target mounted inside the articulated section of the MTBM. For curved microtunnel projects, gyroscopic survey systems combined with water level sensor systems (for vertical alignment) may be used. These data and other operational information are transmitted through wire cables to a control cabin located on the surface. Microtunneling machines are capable of independently counter-balancing earth and hydrostatic pressures. Earth pressure is counter-balanced by careful control of advance rates and excavation rates of spoil materials. Groundwater pressure is counter-balanced by using pressurized slurry in the soil-mixing chamber of the MTBM.


He may have two states captivated with his unmissable highlights but Josh Addo-Carr remains as grounded and as humble as ever.
The Foxx can now add 'Origin star' to his bio after a scintillating debut series with NSW in which he helped the Blues reclaim the shield.
The 22-year-old would have been on cloud nine when he returned to Melbourne last week given he has become a Premiership player and State of Origin winner in the space of just 10 months.
Yet speaking to the media on Tuesday ahead of his return to AAMI Park this weekend, Addo-Carr was his warm and humble self.
"You get a little bit of confidence but everything stays the same each week, I just try to play my best football.
"People don't realise how long the (Origin) camp goes for and how draining it is with all the media but I can't wait to do it all again... hopefully I get picked next year."


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Our suppliers and the wet process factories are our most important partners on the path toward the safer production of textiles. We developed a number of information documents to support our suppliers in the process of substitution, which you can find here.
In order to explain our Detox Program to our suppliers we have developed a manual. The Detox Supplier Tool Kit includes a general overview of the Detox Program, describes the process to become a Detox compliant supplier and clarifies all corresponding requirements for our suppliers.
To give our supply chain partners additional insights and background information on the different chemical groups, we are developing chemical fact sheets for each chemical group. The fact sheets will provide information on potential risks and their environmental impacts. They also offer advice on how to find compliant and safer substances.
Our Discharge Data Reports are supposed to make our status quo more transparent, show what kinds of chemicals have been found in the production facilities of our products and document the progress we make with regard to the elimination of hazardous chemicals.
In line with our Detox commitment, we are continously updating our MRSL and the process of phasing out non-compliant substances from the textile production processes. The respective method for the MRSL update is described here. Our MRSL can be found here.


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The Best Movies of 2007
Cynthia Fuchs
Fuchs' picks for the year's best movies reveal the difficulty of the quest, uncovering in their seeming failures more remarkable potentials.
+ PopMatters' 30 Best Films of 2007
In looking for a way through the year's many movies and hours lost to them, I've come on a theme to match my need. Many of the year's releases, I'm thinking, evoke a similar desire -- to find order, morality, something like quality. And yet the best reveal the difficulty and even the futility of the quest, uncovering in their seeming failures more remarkable potentials. These are named below, in no special order.
If the films reveal worlds rife with corruptions and premised on betrayals, they also provoke profound questions. How is truth or nobility defined? Who measures the achievement or benefits from the scale? And how different might these worlds be if only such quests might start from somewhere else? Imagine, for example, that Charles Burnett's first feature, Killer of Sheep, had actually been released in 1977, when he made it? Just this year released to theaters, DVD, and TCM by Milestone Films (a miraculous story in its own right), the movie follows the poignant struggle of Stan (Henry Gayle Sanders) to find meaning and self-definition amid soul-crushing poverty and loneliness. Facing death each day on his job at a Los Angeles slaughterhouse, Stan yearns for stability and, more profoundly, hope. His many labors and frustrations -- including his efforts to patch together his relationship with his estranged wife (Kaycee Moore) -- are captured in stunning black and white, his emotional depths rendered in images so stirring and so complex that the film seems almost to rewrite what's possible in film.
Such possibilities are approached, at least, in adventurous movies. Consider the lyrical brilliance of Golden Door (Nuovomondo), directed by Italy's Emanuele Crialese. It narrates another sort of search, as immigrants from Sicily make their way by ship to the New World (specifically, Ellis Island), at the turn of the century. Seeking economic salvation in the reputed land of milk and honey (this notion rendered in lovely, surrealishly concrete imagery), Salvatore (Vincenzo Amato) and his family endure a dark and raucous passage. On board, he meets the woman who may or may not embody his dream, the alluringly red-gloved and British Lucy Reed (Charlotte Gainsbourg). Their relationship, charted in delicate passings on deck and eventual agreements on land, subtly evokes the early promise of the U.S., back before its disappointments became so overwhelming.
Both Andrew Dominik's The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and Paul Thomas Anderson's There Will Be Blood offer something like next steps in the dissection of a seeming national potential. In first, which begins in 1881, the fantasy of infinite prosperity is complicated not by criminality but by celebrity. While Jesse (Brad Pitt) and his brother Frank (Sam Shepard) seek to leave their notoriety behind, finding peace in post-infamous lives, the ultimate fanboy Robert Ford (Casey Affleck) pursues to a grisly conclusion his desire not only to admire his idol, but more compulsively, to be him. The movie explores the dangers of consumer culture made visceral and literal, especially as the assassin not only becomes famous for his deed, but reenacts it nightly on stage, shooting Jesse James again and again for increasingly uninterested audiences.
Anderson's film, based on Upton Sinclair's 1927 novel Oil!, lays out an ostensibly basic structure: the opposition of commerce and religion as these forces shaped the U.S. in 1898, the self-proclaimed oilman Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis) finds his first well, then parlays his talent-cum-expertise into an empire of exploitation and profits. Embodying the most visible challenges to his self-delusions are his son, H.W. (played as a boy by the extraordinary Dillon Freasier) and the preacher Eli Sunday (Paul Dano). The film's schematic framework shape is complicated at every step by stunning oilfield visuals (brilliantly shot by Robert Elswit and designed by Jack Fisk) and Day-Lewis' enthralling performance. Plainview is locked into a lifelong conflict with Eli, whose professed interest in saving souls is no more real or less American than his own interest in making money.
Another sort of pursuit is represented in Zodiac, directed by David Fincher and starring Jake Gyllenhaal as the newspaper cartoonist Robert Graysmith, whose pursuit of the Zodiac killer consumed him. Abetted at first by Inspector David Toschi (Mark Ruffalo) and reporter Paul Avery (Robert Downey Jr.), Graysmith -- on whose book the film is based -- persists in his search for the serial killer's identity, as technologies improved and answers receded. The film reflects not only the discontents of this particular investigation, but also the ways that celebrity and violence intertwine in myth and truth.
The impossibility of attaining conventional truth is crucial in three excellent documentaries. My Kid Could Paint That, by Amir Bar-Lev, begins as one story and becomes another, At first investigating definitions of art -- in the gallery world, in the minds of critics like Michael Kimmelman, even in the ways that artists might imagine themselves -- the film eventually becomes an investigation of documentary as a genre and the limits of documentation. As much as the film grants parents Laura and Mark Olmstead opportunities to show the truth of their four-year-old daughter Marla's brilliants, the less convincing their story becomes.
Two films focused on the war in Iraq also explore the permeable boundaries between fictions and truths. Usama Alshaibi's smart first feature, Nice Bombs, charts his 2004 return to Baghdad with wife Kristie. Endeavoring to make sense of the devastation he finds, Alshaibi manages a consistently acute observation of tensions between troops and citizens, expectations and realities.
Petra Epperlein and Michael Tucker's extraordinary The Prisoner or: How I Planned to Kill Tony Blair, begins with a decision to follow up on an Iraqi prisoner spotted first in their film about U.S. troops in Baghdad, 2004's Gunner Palace. Journalist Yunis Khatayer Abbas, detained with his brothers in Abu Ghraib for years, here recounts his ordeal with wit and profound cultural insight, the film illustrating his experiences with graphic novelish art (at once too real and never real enough) as well as interviews and archival footage.
Quests to think through or at least escape oppressions are made excessively alienating in two films that feature brilliant central performances: in Julia Loktev's Day Night Day Night, Luisa Williams' suicide bomber is severe and vulnerable, callow and resolute, the film tracking her final hours with a fierce, utterly compelling focus. And in Red Road, Kate Dickie makes recovery from trauma into a kind of mission: following the loss of her family to a drunk driver, Jackie finds her way through a bleak mix of grief, anger, and revenge, by way of her job as a CCTV monitor in Glasgow: watching everyone, she finds herself.
Visions of oppression are more systemic but no less personal in three foreign-language films. Cristian Mungiu's astonishing 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days charts the ordeal of two college students as they procure an illegal abortion during Ceausescu's reign in 1980s' Romania. Jafar Panahi's Offside follows a group of young women soccer fans, as they are arrested attempting to attend a World Cup qualifying match at Tehran's Azadi Stadium. Even as they are stymied and contained, the girls find strength in one another, as the film celebrates their ingenuity, passion, and resilience.
And at last, the movie quests of 2007 were not always doomed. Joon-ho Bong's The Host (Gwomeul) is at once a clever paean to old-school atomic-monster movies, satire of nationalist dreams, and enchanting coming of age tale. The creature -- resulting inevitably from South Korea's bad-idea collaborations with U.S. military experiments -- embodies an uncanny grace that is, in the end, overshadowed by its young girl victim, Hyun-seo (Ko A-sung). Resourceful as she resists her fate, she's not so much vengeful as she is charming and courageous, aware of her limits and the truth she faces. She's an ideal hero for our moment.
Best Tv Film And Dvd Of 2007


I just got a letter in the mail today from the school system I work for. This letter explains how I MUST obtain some form of health care coverage in the coming days or I will have to "pay a penalty in the form of a tax." Now if any liberals reading this think that I'm just another right-wing troglodyte making up stuff to make your messiah look bad just let me know. I will be happy to scan the letter and post it so you can see for yourself that I am not making this up.
I know that most of my friends/supporters understand just how evil and unconstitutional this new law is, but the liberals out there just refuse to open their eyes to that aspect of it. They just like to "feel good" thinking that now everyone will have health care coverage, thanks to their messiah. Yeah, in a pig's eye. But let me address any liberals reading this. I would ask you a question about the legality, the constitutionality of this law. Since you seem to think that it is just fine for our federal government to FORCE us to buy something we may not want, through threat of force or extortion, you obviously do not understand our Constitution and form of government.
But, let's use your logic (such as it is) and apply it to a similar situation and see how you feel about it. Let us suppose that the president of the United States, his minions in Congress, and the activists on the Supreme Court, decided that every adult citizen in the United States MUST....I said MUST, purchase either a handgun, a shotgun, or an AR-15 for home protection. I mean, if we MUST force everyone to buy health care coverage, for their own good, then surely the protection of your home and the lives of your family are a worthy cause....right? Now then, you must make this purchase and assure your local government bureaucrat that you have done so, by providing the proper paperwork, by a certain date. If you fail to make this purchase then you will be punished with a fine (tax), which will increase exponentially for each passing month that you fail to purchase said firearm. Your desire to own a gun and ability to pay for it are irrelevant. The Constitution is irrelevant. The only thing that matters is that your government has determined that you must own a gun and that you will be punished if you do not.
Are you OK with this new law? Will you go out and buy a firearm for your family's protection? After all, it is now the law of the land and you must obey, right? Just shut up and do it, because your government said to. Explain to me how the scenario I just described is any different than Obamacare and its effects on us.


Article: Castle Cary Cricket Club are in need of players to strengthen their squads. All abilities welcome. Please contact Jamie Elsworth on 07527 628956 or jamieelsworth@hotmail.co.uk to register any interest.


text:
Dr Thorne
Release Date: Aug 6, 2019
Publisher: Naxos
6,090 ratings arrow_drop_down 4.1 Out of 5
Book #3 in the Chronicles of Barsetshire Series
Anthony Trollope and David Shawparker
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Doctor Thorne is a compelling story in which love, vanity, and greed are pitted against one another.
The squire of Greshamsbury has fallen on hard times, and it is incumbent on his son Frank to make a good marriage. But Frank loves the doctor's niece, Mary Thorne, a girl with no money and mysterious parentage. He faces a terrible dilemma: should he save the estate, or marry the girl he loves? Mary, too, has to battle her feelings, knowing that marrying Frank would ruin his family and fly in the face of his mother's opposition. Her pride is matched by that of her uncle, Dr Thorne, who has to decide whether to reveal a secret that would resolve Frank's difficulty, or to uphold the innate merits of his own family heritage.
The character of Dr Thorne reflects Trollope's own contradictory feelings about the value of tradition and the need for change. His subtle portrayal, and the comic skill and gentle satire with which the story is developed, are among the many pleasures of this delightful novel.
The novel has now been adapted by Downton Abbey creator Julian Fellowes for TV, airing on ITV in the UK and Amazon Prime in the US.
About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the Read More chevron_right
About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.
Frequently Asked Questions About Dr Thorne
How long does it take to read Dr Thorne?
It takes about 12 Hours and 52 minutes on average for a reader to read Dr Thorne. This is based on the average reading speed of 250 Words per minute.
Who wrote Dr Thorne?
Dr Thorne was written by Anthony Trollope and David Shawparker
Which number is Dr Thorne in the Chronicles of Barsetshire series?
Dr Thorne is book #3 in the Chronicles of Barsetshire Book Series and comes after Barchester Towers and comes before Framley Parsonage
Chronicles of Barsetshire Series In Order - By Anthony Trollope
Barchester Towers
Framley Parsonage
The Small House At Allington
The Last Chronicle Of Barset
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India's first-of-its-kind online milk bank -- where lactating mothers can reach children who are in need of breast milk - is now operational thanks to a new online portal and app called MomLine.
The networking app for young moms (www.babychakra.com) has been receiving good response, according to Naiyya Saggi, founder & CEO, BabyChakra. "So far it is operational wherever there is a critical mass of mothers who are happy to donate. Hence, we have had donors emerge in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Chennai and even Guwhati," according to Saggi.
The community team at BabyChakra facilitates direct interaction between the mother who has excess milk with the one who needs help. Both the benefactor and the beneficiary are typically in the same city.
The company mission is to increase the amount of human breast milk available to babies while also serving the needs of the donating mothers. It supports the value of breast milk and the crucial role it plays for breastfeeding infants and is committed to increase awareness and safety methods to provide healthy, safe breast milk to families in need.
Asked about the costs, she said: " We are building BabyChakra as the trusted care companion for every young parent in India.. There's no cost involved for parents using BabyChakra. Our team does the digital milk bank initiative out of a passion for helping promote the cause of breastfeeding: this is the way forward for a healthier next generation."
As far as the concept of milk bank is concerned, it started in Mumbai for the first time and it is now 27 years old. Launched on November 27, 1989, at the Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital and Lokmanya Tilak Municipal Medical College at Sion here, the example has been replicated elsewhere. It was the brainchild of Dr Armida Fernandes and was set up on the lines of Oxford and Birmingham milk banks.


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30 Jun 2008, by The General
A Rant
I'm going to rant about something unrelated to the Civil War now, so if things not related to the Civil War are of no interest to you, please skip this post. This one's been brewing all month, and it's time to get it out of my system. I recognize that some might be offended by what I'm about to say, and I regret that. I likewise recognize that some might consider me to be insensitive for what I am about to say. However, it's how I feel, and I am not going to apologize for it.
Having driven more than 2400 miles this month, I've seen a lot of highways (many of them more than once). There are few things that I find more irritating than makeshift roadside memorials. For one thing, they're terribly distracting. You can't help but look at them, even if you don't want to, as they stand out. That makes them unsafe. My eyes are supposed to be on the road, not on your makeshift memorial with the fake flowers and the deceased person's favorite Big Johnson t-shirt attached to it. I don't want to have to look at it. Neither do the rest of us.
For another, while I'm sure that erecting them makes the person who did so feel better, and I am sorry for their loss, I do NOT want to know about it, and I'm sure most other people don't, either. I realize that misery loves company, but please don't invite me to your pity party. Please don't subject the rest of us to your misery. We didn't know the person, which means that we don't care. Truly, we don't. That's cold, but it's the truth.
Finally, in the overwhelming majority of cases, it's illegal to put this crap up in the right of way alongside the road. If the presence of these makeshift memorials means that weeds can't be mowed, thereby making it even more unsafe than it otherwise would be, then I'm all for tearing the damn things down, even if that means hurting someone's feelings. I also have no interest in having tax dollars go toward the upkeep of these things. There is absolutely no reason why even so much as a single penny of tax dollars should go toward the upkeep of something illegal and which has no business being there under any circumstances.
There. I feel better now. Now, back to our regularly scheduled programming….
It's Over.
Hell month is over. I survived.
I'm just home from the Gettysburg: Retreat and Pursuit seminar put on by Mark Snell at Shepherd University. This makes four straight weekends that I've traveled at least 350 miles to do an event, and wow, am I beat.
The weekend was interesting, to say the least.
It didn't get off to a good start at all. After meeting Ted Alexander in Hagerstown on Thursday afternoon to lay one portion of the tour, I drove on to Shepherdstown to check into the hotel and got the extraordinarily unpleasant news that there was no room reserved for me. Never mind that I was the tour guide for the event, there was no reservation for me. Mark's assistant told me that the hotel screwed up the reservation, that they had reserved 25 rooms and only got 20, meaning that there were others who also did not have reservations. It got worse. I was told to go to the nearby Clarion Hotel and wait there, that Mark's assistant Denise would meet me there. After sitting in the lobby like a moron for half an hour, no Denise. By then, I was so angry that you could have fried eggs on my forehead. I ended up having to change my clothes in the men's room of the lobby of the hotel, which was terribly embarrassing. Denise ended up giving me her room at the lovely Bavarian Inn, which is just across the street from Shepherd's campus, overlooking the Potomac River and Blackford's Ford. All was eventually forgiven, but it was not an auspicious beginning.
One of the very cool things about this seminar was that a couple who attended last week's program also attended this week's. It was great fun having them along again. At dinner last night, I told them that if they want to see me next weekend, they're going to have to come to Columbus to do so. 🙂
Mark opened the program with a good talk on Union logistics that he finished putting together about five minutes before show time. I enjoyed sitting and chatting with Drs. Chris Stowe and Tom Clemens. I've known Tom for 15 years, but I just met Chris for the first time this weekend. He's a good guy, and I enjoyed getting to know him and further enjoyed chatting with him. Kent Masterson Brown was the "scholar in residence" and the keynote speaker, and he gave an excellent talk on the logistics of the retreat from Gettysburg. I then had a couple of beers with the gang at the Center and had a really interesting discussion with Chris Stowe there.
To be honest, I was a little worried about how things would work with Kent. He's used to being the star of these retreat tours–for good reason, since his book has been out for several years and is an excellent work–and I'm something of an upstart. There's also the issue that our work, although intended to complement his, could be construed as competition. Fortunately, I've known Kent since 1993 or 1994, and we worked together extremely well this weekend. He picked up where I left off, and vice versa, and I was perfectly happy to permit him to take the lead on the things where he's the acknowledged expert. It worked like we'd been a team for years, which was very gratifying.
Friday morning, Chris gave an excellent talk on George Gordon Meade and the retreat, followed by a fine talk on the Wagon Train of Wounded by Ted Alexander. I felt kind of bad for Chris. Mark Snell insisted that he do his very silly but spot-on impression of Ken Burns' God-awful cameo in the movie Gettysburg, to Chris' embarrassment. He's a trooper, though, and did it, to lots of laughs.
We then boarded the bus for a trip to Gettysburg to tour the new visitor's center and a number of hospital sites from the battle. A former student of Mark's named Nick Redding, who works for the Civil War Preservation Trust as a grants associate, served as the guide. Nick's very young, but he's a very impressive young man with an incredibly bright future. He did a terrific job leading the tour, which included a stop at the newly-acquired George Spangler farm (where Brig. Gen. Lewis Armistead died of his Pickett's Charge wound). It turns out that we were the first group taken on the property. After dinner, we then returned to Shepherdstown by following the route of the Wagon Train of Wounded. Kent sat next to me on the bus and directed the driver, which was a tremendous help to me.
Saturday morning was my day. We drove up to Gettysburg again, and Mark surprised me by asking whether we could make a brief detour on the way. Mark lives near Gettysburg, and he has a period farm there. He'd just had the pond on his property dredged, and he simply could NOT wait until today to see the work. We HAD to detour by his house to see the reincarnation of the results of the Battle of the Crater in his yard. My guess is that the extra stop proved to be the reason why we had to cut out a stop at the Cushwa Basin on the C & O Canal in Williamsport, where a significant portion of Lee's army waded the Potomac River on July 14, 1863. Well, okay, maybe not. But I had to give Mark lots and lots of grief (which isn't actually all that difficult to do, by the way). After Mark inspected Lake Superior, we finally got to do what we went to Gettysburg to do.
As I mentioned above, the tour went very well indeed. I added a new stop to the tour at the site of the July 12, 1863 fighting for Hagerstown, which was a site Kent had not visited previously. We had a hard and fast time to be back in Shepherdstown for dinner, so we had to drop the last stop at the Cushwa Basin, but that really didn't inhibit things. Folks came away from the tour with precisely the response we'd hoped for, which is an appreciation for the ordeals of the soldiers, the remarkable movements of the armies, and the fact that there was plenty of fighting during the retreat and not just Meade letting Lee go, as is so often portrayed. We got back to Shepherdstown just in time–a hellacious thunderstorm blew in as we were finishing dinner. There was a period musical program last night, but I only made it through half of it before hitting the wall and having to go back to the hotel and collapse. I fell asleep at 9:45 watching TV. It's very tiring having to be "on" all day.
This morning, there was a really good talk about preservation of sites along the retreat route by Tom Clemens and a lengthy panel discussion that was a lot of fun. Once that ended, it was time for me to hit the road. After another miserable six hour drive, I got home. Hell month is finally over. I actually get to stay home for three whole weeks before Ted Alexander's Mother of All Gettysburg Seminars the last weekend in July. I can't wait to just have some down time to decompress. I can tell you this–I'm sick to death of driving at the moment. For now, stick a fork in me. I'm done.
With apologies to William Shakespeare…
Tomorrow, I'm on the road yet again. This time, it's off to Shepherdstown, WV for Mark Snell's Gettysburg retreat seminar. I'm looking forward to seeing old friends like Mark, Ted Alexander, and Tom Clemens, but I can't say I'm too keen on yet another 6 hour drive tomorrow.
I'm leading a tour of the route of the Wagon Train of Wounded on Friday evening, and then a full-day tour of battle sites from the retreat on Saturday. I've got a panel discussion on Sunday morning and then home, at which time my June insanity will finally be over, a couple of thousand miles later.
I will try to post while gone, but I make no guarantees.
More on Cedar Creek
Andrew Duppstadt wrote me privately yesterday and asked if I'd be interested in seeing the response of the Cedar Creek Battlefield Foundation to all of the criticism that's been flying. I said sure, and in the interest of fairness, I quote the letter here verbatim:
To Our Reenactor Partners, Sponsors and Supporters:
There has recently been some negative and misleading publicity about the successful efforts of the Cedar Creek Battlefield Foundation to secure a binding agreement from O-N Mineral's, (Carmeuse) to support preservation efforts and contribute to the shared goals of creating a reserve of property for further preservation efforts. We felt that we owe it to all of our reenactor partners, sponsors, supporters and the public to set the record straight. Contrary to the negative and incomplete information spread by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and Belle Grove, Inc., the Cedar Creek Battlefield Foundation stood alone and successfully took the initiative to preserve and protect core battlefield land and artifacts.
After twenty years of intense and dedicated preservation efforts on the part of the Cedar Creek Battlefield Foundation, ("CCBF"), we are deeply saddened and surprised that any entity would issue a public statement that so inappropriately characterizes the activities and intentions of the CCBF and its members. For this reason, we believe the facts concerning our relationship with the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and Belle Grove, Inc., (collectively designated "Belle Grove"), and Carmeuse, (the "Quarry"), need be disclosed.
Reenactments
CCBF held its first reenactment in 1990, and since that time has occasionally used additional property from Belle Grove, depending on the number of reenactors attending an event. In 1999, Belle Grove required a payment of $6,000 for the use of a few acres behind the plantation and reserved the right to cancel the agreement at anytime and for any reason. CCBF considered this unacceptable, and for the next several years, the event was held solely on CCBF lands. CCBF rented land from Belle Grove for the 140th Anniversary Reenactment in 2004, and through 2007. In addition to paying all the expenses associated with hosting the reenactments, CCBF has paid over $68,000 to Belle Grove since 1999.
First and foremost, our reenactment will continue this fall as it always has. Through the hard work of our many dedicated reenactors, sponsors and volunteers, we will continue our reenactment activities as scheduled on October 18 & 19, 2008, so that preservation, educational activities and respect for our heritage and history can continue. The reenactment will take place on the core battlefield lands owned by the CCBF, as it has for many years. The CCBF Board voted several months ago not to use the Belle Grove property this year due to the high cost of renting the land ($5,000 for 3 days).
FACT – After almost two years of waiting for the local preservation partnership group to negotiate a position, two weeks before the quarry rezoning public hearing, the CCBF stood alone in attempting to negotiate with the Quarry to ensure responsible preservation efforts and responsible land use. Ever since the rezoning issue appeared, our organization had opposed the application, because none of the concerns the CCBF raised had ever been adequately addressed. However, it also became clear to our board members that the "just say no" policy was not a practical position to take when we learned that the limestone vein adjacent to the Battlefield was of the highest quality valued at least $300 million dollars. With the prospect that the Quarry operations would continue as planned, CCBF alone sought to intercede, negotiate and obtain commitments from the Quarry that would enhance and continue our preservation efforts. We were able to secure such an agreement from the Quarry and, more importantly, secured an agreement that would bind the Quarry whether or not its rezoning efforts succeeded.
On April 23, 2008, just hours before the Frederick County Board of Supervisors public hearing, CCBF President Hirschberg signed an agreement with the Quarry guaranteeing the following:
Berms: To improve and enhance the viewshed, the Quarry will reduce the height of the berms around the pits that are visible from the Heater House fields and main battlefield. In addition, the Quarry will landscape the berms with a mixture of deciduous and coniferous plantings. The agreement reached between the Quarry and CCBF was crafted to eliminate or significantly reduce the visibility of the existing processing plant when viewed from Route 11. For two decades, the number one complaint from both reenactors and spectators has been having the processing plant as the backdrop to the battlefield. We believe protecting the viewshed is critical to the experience that our reenactors and visitors enjoy. Its mitigation will become the single most important improvement to the vista of the entire park for years to come. This was the result of simply meeting one-on-one with the Quarry, and sharing our concerns. Berm construction will not occur in areas identified as historically significant.
Cultural Resources: An eight acre tract previously identified as historically significant will be donated to CCBF within sixty days of the signing of the agreement. The Quarry and the CCBF have also agreed that there exists other historical resources, (U.S. VI Corps camp area), immediately adjacent to the eight acre parcel which may encompass an additional twenty acres more or less. These acres will also be deeded to the CCBF upon the completion of an archaeological study to confirm its significance. A joint archeological survey by Dr. Clarence Geier and Dr. Joseph Whitehorne, (both noted experts on the Civil War), will be conducted on all other properties under consideration for rezoning and such studies will be paid for by the Quarry.
Artifacts: All artifacts discovered will become the property of the CCBF and will be held in trust for the public benefit.
Additional Land Donation: As part of the agreement, other newly discovered areas of historical significance, (such as an area known locally as the Middletown Woods), may also be deeded to the CCBF. As a result, more core battlefield may/will be donated to CCBF pending the conclusion of the archeological survey.
In addition to the items mentioned above, the Quarry decreased the acreage in the rezoning application, (from 639 acres to 394 acres), restricted the number of truck loads to 86 per day, and instructed drivers to avoid Belle Grove and Chapel Roads. Also, CCBF has begun discussions with the Quarry concerning the possible placement of preservation easements on substantial amounts of core battlefield land.
In summary, CCBF has at all times acted honestly, responsibly and in a manner believed to be in keeping with the Foundation's mission statement. Our efforts have always depended on the sustained goodwill and dedicated efforts of our many reenactors, sponsors and volunteers who have enabled us to preserve this important national treasure known as the Cedar Creek Battlefield. Our actions were intentionally designed to ensure that the preservation efforts of the past are enhanced, additional battlefield land is immediately secured, and strategies are implemented that will lead to future battlefield and artifact protection.
We look forward to seeing you on October 18 & 19.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the Cedar Creek Battlefield Foundation,
Suzanne Chilson
Cedar Creek Battlefield Foundation
Middletown, Virginia 22645
cedarcrk@visuallink.com
www.cedarcreekbattlefield.org
While I appreciate Ms. Chilson's efforts and explanations, the fact remains that the CCBF dropped the ball on this one, big time. The explanations just don't ring true, and I cannot buy into the idea of appeasement. There are times to negotiate, and there are times to draw a line in the sand. This was a time to draw a line in the sand, and I cannot forgive the failure to do so. I remain persuaded that the time for the CCBF to be the steward of this battlefield has ended.
Thanks to Andrew for passing this along.
This Does Not Make a Bit of Sense to Me
Potomac Books published my book The Union Cavalry Comes of Age: Hartwood Church to Brandy Station, 1863 in 2003. This is one of my favorite of my projects just because it deals with stuff that is seldom addressed. I also had a great deal of fun documenting cavalry operations in the Chancellorsville Campaign in putting it together.
A year ago, Potomac Books decided to remainder the rest of the hardcover inventory of the book and to let the hardcover version go out of print. I didn't agree with the decision, but nobody asked for my opinion, and more importantly, nobody gave a damn about my opinion. However, at that time, I was assured that the softcover version was still selling well and that it would not be permitted to go out of print. So far, that part has been true. It is still in print. Which is too bad. I will explain the reasons why I wish it wasn't.
Lately, I've been noticing that Amazon.com resellers are selling the softcover edition of the book at the sorts of prices one would expect of a book that's been remaindered. You can buy a brand new copy for about $5 on the Amazon.com marketplace. At the same time, the book is still for sale at retail prices on Amazon.com and at a slight reduction on the Potomac Books site.
When I called the marketing director today, he informed me that they had sold most of the remaining inventory in an "inventory reduction" sale. Allegedly, they had too much inventory, and they needed to reduce the inventory and generate cash flow. However, there are still about 100 copies in the publisher's inventory, meaning that it's still in print and still available.
This is the worst of all possible worlds. First, and foremost, I don't get paid a dime of royalties on "inventory reduction" sales or on remaindering. Second, it means that as long as the book remains in print, I can't get my publishing rights back to try to take the book to the University of Nebraska Press. In short, I'm trapped. I told Sam that if he was willing to sell the book to me for what they sold it for in the "inventory reduction" sale, I would buy all of the remaining inventory, provided that they revert my publishing rights to me as part of the deal. He said he would think about it and get back to me with an offer. Something tells me that I'm going to continue to be trapped in this miserable situation for the foreseeable future.
I've got a publisher that doesn't give a damn about me or my book, but which also refuses to allow it to go out of print so I can get my publishing rights back. Tomorrow, per my rights under the contract, I will compose a letter requesting that the rights to both the hardcover and softcover editions of the book be reverted to me the moment it goes out of print. My only hope here is that Sam will make a deal with me to buy the remaining inventory very soon so that I can get my rights back.
There are aspects of the publishing business that suck massively.
Another Long Day of Driving….
I'm home. Again. For three days again. And then it's on the road again….
Here's a report on the weekend.
I left here on Thursday morning. I left early, intending to spend a couple of hours at Cedar Creek on the way. Just as I hit Winchester, it started to rain, so my stop at Cedar Creek was just to see whether I could buy a pin (they don't sell them). I remain absolutely horrified and repulsed by the decisions made by the Cedar Creek Foundation. Maybe it's a good thing it was raining.
I got to Culpeper at about 4:00 (it's a 7.5 hour drive of nearly 450 miles to Culpeper) and tracked down Mike Block, who is a trustee of the Brandy Station Foundation. Mike was my good right arm this weekend, and I couldn't have done it without his help. We had to finish up getting permissions from landowners to go on private property. Once we finished that, I had dinner with Ken Ramsey, who was filling in for Bob Maher as the official representative of the Civil War Education Association. Never mind that Ken lives here in Columbus and that we could have dinner together any time. We had to go to Culpeper to do so. 🙂 I then did an overview and met the tour participants.
Friday, we hit the road. We began the day atop Pony Mountain, which was an important signal station for both sides during the entire war. It has a spectacular view. From there, it was out to Kelly's Ford, followed by a hike out to the Pelham marker at Wheatley's Ford. Once we did that, we covered the Battle of Brandy Station. We must have hiked the crowd five miles, much of it through fields. I told the participants to wear long pants due to ticks, but one particularly adventurous woman did all of this hiking in capri pants and a pair of sandals. I was impressed. We took folks on a number of parcels of private property, and they got to see things at Brandy Station that only a tiny percentage of visitors ever see, including a picnic lunch at the Graffiti House and being the first tour group to spend time on the latest land acquisitions at Fleetwood Hill. One of the highlights of the day was a visit to Auburn, the John Minor Botts house. I'd never been on the grounds before, and it's a cool spot that probably saw more cavalry fighting than any other house in North America.
My friend Karl Fauser joined us Friday, and Karl did a fabulous job of documenting the day. His photo essay can be found here.
I would be terribly remiss if I didn't mention the absence of Bud Hall. Bud was supposed to be with us, but a family situation prevented him from being there. This tour was at least as much his as it was mine. What I know about that battlefield, I learned from him. My tour is based on his. The contacts that got us onto private property were his contacts, developed over a quarter of a century. He was definitely missed. I can only hope that we did him justice there.
When we got back, Ken and I had dinner again, and while at a local place getting ice cream, I ran into old friend Melissa Delcour, who lives just outside Culpeper. Melissa was also supposed to be with us for the weekend, but she'd also had something come up that prevented it. It was great to see her, and we made plans to have dinner together last night. I was asleep by 10:15 after a LONG day in the sun.
Saturday, it was off to Trevilian Station. I had something happen on Saturday that has never happened before, and which, to be honest, weirded me out. We had a father and son along with us for the entire tour, as they have an ancestor who fought with the 5th Virginia Cavalry in all three of the major engagements that we addressed. The son is 17, and a nice young man. His mother was along, too, as the family was going somewhere after the weekend of touring. The mother is such an overwhelming helicopter parent that she insisted on following the bus 35 miles to the Trevilians battlefield, just to make sure that the area met with her approval. My first stop on this tour is at a place called Ellis Ford, which is the next ford on the North Anna River to the west of the one that Sheridan used, as the ford he used, Carpenter's Ford, is under Lake Anna, and Ellis Ford is good for illustrating the crossing. The Ellisville Road gets little traffic, and I have had numerous busloads out there, often standing in and along the road. The mother evidently didn't like the fact that we were in the road, and after she finally left, she evidently lectured her husband on the dangers of being in the road last night. Fortunately, she only stuck around for one stop on the tour, or I would have insisted that she leave, because it was distracting to the group. Also, she consistently tailgated the bus, which was unsafe and which Tommy the Wonder Driver found very disconcerting. I'm not sure whether to be amused by this ridiculous, outrageous conduct or horrified by it. All I could think of was, "that poor kid."
The tour was great. I've long been extremely comfortable with leading that tour, as I've done so many times. We hit all of the spots on my standard tour, which includes about a dozen stops. Ed Crebbs, a former president of the Trevilian Station Battlefield Foundation came by at lunchtime to talk about the preservation effort at Trevilian and do a little fundraising, and was very successful in his efforts. I added a new stop today, at the Exchange Hotel Civil War Museum in Gordonsville, which was the first time I've gotten there early enough in the day to stop and take the group in to see the museum (the Exchange Hotel was a hospital for most of the Confederate wounded from Trevilian Station). It was very warm and humid, and it's also exhausting having to be "on" all day, so it was a tiring day. We got back early, and I grabbed a shower and had a delightful dinner with Melissa Delcour at a delightful restaurant in downtown Culpeper called The Hazel River Inn. I was again asleep by 10:15 or so last night.
One of the highlights of the day yesterday was having my friend Scott Patchan along. Scott and I spent a lot of time discussing lots of interesting things over the course of the day yesterday, including his very intriguing theory about Sheridan's lack of active participation while serving as the commander of the Army of the Potomac's Cavalry Corps. I was really glad to have Scott along, and I really enjoyed chatting with him. It's been a while since I've last seen him, and I enjoyed it.
This morning, we covered the September 13, 1863 Battle of Culpeper Court House. We had two stops, at Greenhill, where much of the fighting occurred, and at the train depot in Culpeper, where the battle ended. Our final stop of the day was the Culpeper National Cemetery. There are battle dead from Brandy Station and Trevilian Station there, and it just seemed like the ideal place to end the tour. We were back at the hotel by 10:00, and I hit the road almost immediately.
Some of the tour participants mentioned going to visit the New Market Battlefield State Historical Park, so I decided to do the same, for a very quick visit to add a pin to my hat. I drove over to New Market, bought the pin and some maps of several different battles and then headed north. I got off I-81 at Tom's Brook and took the Valley Pike (Route 11) north all the way up to Kernstown. Towns like Strasburg are just gorgeous, and I really enjoyed going past all of the many battlefields that line the Valley Pike between Tom's Brook and Winchester (Kernstown, Fisher's Hill, Cedar Creek, Tom's Brook, among others). And then home.
I'm home until Thursday, when I hit the road again, this time for Mark Snell's retreat from Gettysburg seminar at Shepherd University next weekend. It's going to be another week of cramming five days' worth of work into three before I finally get to rest.
I'm going to bed early again tonight, only in my own bed this time.
Bad Decisions at Cedar Creek
A reader forwarded this appalling article to me today:
Drastic Expansion of Mining Operations Threatens Belle Grove Plantation and Cedar Creek Civil War Battlefield
Blasting, Quarry Truck Traffic, Noise and Multi-Story High Waste Piles Will Alter Historic and Rural Gem of the Shenandoah Valley
Washington, DC – June 18, 2008 – The National Trust for Historic Preservation today reaffirmed its strong opposition to radically expanded mining operations proposed in and around Cedar Creek & Belle Grove National Historical Park. Cedar Creek and Belle Grove are situated in a rural landscape whose centuries of historical and cultural significance include 18th century Shenandoah Valley settlements, 18th-19th century plantation lands and Civil War battle grounds. The Belgian mining conglomerate Carmeuse Lime & Stone has recently won county approval to move ahead with mining activities, including blasting and increased quarry truck traffic, which could destroy the character of the visitor experience at Belle Grove Plantation, a National Trust Historic Site and National Historic Landmark, and the Cedar Creek Civil War battlefield.
"The National Trust for Historic Preservation, which has owned Belle Grove Plantation for 44 years, is dismayed that intrusive mining activities could destroy the character of sites of tremendous national and regional significance," said Richard Moe, president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. "Preservation of these irreplaceable cultural landscapes and buildings, rich in our nation's history, is one of the highest priorities of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, and we will do everything we can to protect them from irreparable harm."
Recently, the Frederick County Board of Supervisors, by a vote of 4-3, approved Carmeuse's destructive proposal despite opposition from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, Belle Grove Inc., (which manages the plantation site), and a broad coalition of partners and local residents, alarmed that the quarry operations will destroy the tourism industry and their way of life. Experts agree expansion of the quarry will harm Belle Grove, which dates to the late 18th century, and the Cedar Creek battlefield, the region's most significant Civil War site. Already, multi-story high mounds of mining waste are intruding on the site's world-class vistas. Each year tens of thousands of visitors come to the area because of its history. Proposed blasting would damage historic structures, bulldozers would destroy acres of core battlefield land adjacent to the National Historical Park, and dust clouds, noise, and increased quarry truck traffic would diminish the visitor's experience.
The threat is so severe, the Civil War Preservation Trust in 2007 and again in 2008 listed the Cedar Creek battlefield as one of America's most-endangered Civil War battlefields. The National Trust for Historic Preservation and Belle Grove, Inc., longtime stewards of the 18th-19th century plantation and the Cedar Creek Civil War battlefield, fully intend to pursue avenues that will mitigate, reduce and avoid harm to Belle Grove, and the cultural and historic resources within and adjacent to the National Historical Park, but hope that congressional action can halt the mining expansion altogether.
As one signal of their opposition, the National Trust for Historic Preservation and Belle Grove, Inc. are suspending any involvement with the Cedar Creek Battlefield Foundation and prohibiting their use of Belle Grove for their annual Civil War re-enactment. Although the two non-profits recognize the value of Civil War commemorative activities, including re-enactments, as dynamic educational and tourism programming, they are suspending their relationship with the Cedar Creek Battlefield Foundation because of the Foundation's sudden reversal on the mining issue. On April 17, the president and executive director of the Foundation assured the National Trust for Historic Preservation and Belle Grove of their opposition to quarry owner Carmeuse's mining proposals. Yet on April 23, without notifying the National Trust for Historic Preservation or Belle Grove, the foundation publicly testified before the Frederick County Board of Supervisors they "took no exception" to the quarry expansion, essentially approving the proposal. On the same day, the Foundation struck a deal to accept a gift of 8 acres of land from the quarry owner. The Cedar Creek Battlefield Foundation's conduct has undermined generations of work to protect the historic plantation and battlefield and has strained the public – private partnership that was established by Congress in 2002 to plan the future management of the National Historical Park.
"We certainly respect the Cedar Creek Battlefield Foundation's past contributions to the stewardship of the battlefield. But we cannot silently and passively overlook the Foundation's recent actions, which were taken unilaterally and without the prior knowledge of its partners in the overall preservation effort," said Anne Buettner, president of Belle Grove, Inc.'s Board of Directors. "As a result, the National Trust for Historic Preservation and Belle Grove, Inc. cannot host the Foundation's October 2008 re-enactment on Belle Grove lands, when they have taken actions that tend to undermine the efforts of their partners and that jeopardize the region's treasured historic sites and Civil War heritage. Belle Grove and the National Trust will, as always, commemorate the anniversary of the 1864 Battle of Belle Grove or Cedar Creek with a weekend of special events, speakers and interpretive programs in the historic Manor House and on its lawns and surrounding fields, hosted separately from any other events."
The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a non-profit membership organization bringing people together to protect, enhance and enjoy the places that matter to them… By saving the places where great moments from history – and the important moments of everyday life – took place, the National Trust for Historic Preservation helps revitalize neighborhoods and communities, spark economic development and promote environmental sustainability. With headquarters in Washington, DC, 9 regional and field offices, 29 historic sites, and partner organizations in all 50 states, the National Trust for Historic Preservation provides leadership, education, advocacy and resources to a national network of people, organizations and local communities committed to saving places, connecting us to our history and collectively shaping the future of America's stories. For more information, visit www.PreservationNation.org.
I am horrified, to say the least. This decision by the Cedar Creek Battlefield Foundation reflects shockingly poor judgment on its part and calls into question its fitness to serve as the steward for this battlefield.
I stopped at Belle Grove today. It was a very short visit, only about half an hour. However, it remains one of the most spectacularly beautiful, pristine places on any Civil War battlefield. The thought that any of it might be disturbed by this rock quarrying operation with the blessing of the Cedar Creek Battlefield Foundation is sickening.
Off to Virginia Tomorrow Morning
Tomorrow morning, I head off to Culpeper, Virginia for the weekend's tour of central Virginia cavalry actions. It's going to be a full two and a half days, and I don't know if I will have time to post here until I get home Sunday night. I will try, but please don't be surprised if you don't hear from me again until I return home.
Thanks for your patience and understanding.
Great Preservation News
In preparing for my tour this weekend, I spoke to Gerry Harlow, the founder of the Trevilian Station Battlefield Foundation last night, as I have invited a representative of the TSBF to speak to my tour group about the preservation effort on Saturday.
During the course of the conversation, Gerry told me some terrific news that I want to share here.
Charles Goodall Trevilian was the wealthiest man in all of Louisa County, Virginia. The stop on the Virginia Central Railroad was named for him, as the depot was located on Trevilian's land. His house sits about 75 yards from the location of the war-time depot. The yard of the house saw heavy fighting on the afternoon of June 11, 1864, and it served as George Armstrong Custer's headquarters that night.
One of Trevilian's daughters married a fellow named Charles Danne, Jr., and they lived in the house after Trevilian died. For many years, the house was known to the local citizenry as the Danne house, not the Trevilian house. It's only been in the last decade or so that its real identity was pinned down.
The house has seen hard times. It's not in good shape, and it was about to go to sheriff's sale last week as the consequence of a default on the mortgage. Apparently, the present owner has been tearing up floorboards to burn them for heat. It's a horrifying thought of people living that way, but that's apparently precisely how it has played out.
Gerry was able to make a deal with the present owners and their lender to prevent it from going to sheriff's sale, and it's now in contract to purchase. Our good friends at the Civil War Preservation Trust entered into the purchase contract, and it will close shortly. The present owners get to stay there for a while as a condition of the sale, but the house will be saved and it will be stabilized.
Once that happens, it will make for an absolutely perfect visitor's center for the battlefield/headquarters for the TSBF. It's an important and very worthwhile preservation victory, just one of many we've managed to score at Trevilian Station. Kudos to Gerry for his great work.
This Story Needs to Be Told Fully
This story checks out on Snopes.com, so it is a true story. Hat tip to Sam Hood for bringing it to my attention.
Charlie Brown was a B-17 Flying Fortress pilot with the 379th Bomber Group at Kimbolton, England. His B-17 was called 'Ye Old Pub' and was in a terrible state, having been hit by flak and fighters. The compass was damaged and they were flying deeper over enemy territory instead of heading home to Kimbolton.
After flying over an enemy airfield, a pilot named Franz Stigler was ordered to take off and shoot down the B-17. When he got near the
B-17, he could not believe his eyes. In his words, he 'had never seen a plane in such a bad state'. The tail and rear section was severely damaged, and the tail gunner wounded. The top gunner was all over the top of the fuselage. The nose was smashed and there were holes everywhere.
Despite having ammunition, Franz flew to the side of the B-17 and looked at Charlie Brown, the pilot. Brown was scared and struggling to control his damaged and blood-stained plane.
Aware that they had no idea where they were going, Franz waved at Charlie to turn 180 degrees. Franz escorted and guided the stricken plane to and slightly over the North Sea towards England. He then saluted Charlie Brown and turned away, back to Europe.
When Franz landed he told the c/o that the plane had been shot down over the sea, and never told the truth to anybody. Charlie Brown and the remains of his crew told all at their briefing, but were ordered never to talk about it.
More than 40 years later, Charlie Brown wanted to find the Luftwaffe pilot who saved the crew. After years of research, Franz was found. He had never talked about the incident, not even at post-war reunions.
They met in the USA at a 379th Bomber Group reunion, together with 5 people who are alive now — all because Franz never fired his guns that day.
Research shows that Charlie Brown lived in Seattle and Franz Stigler had moved to Vancouver, BC after the war. When they finally met, they discovered they had lived less than 200 miles apart for the past 50 years!!
Snopes was able to verify the truth of the story. Sadly, Franz Stigler died in March 2008.
Here's what Snopes added to the story:
It had taken 46 years, but in 1989 Brown found the mysterious man in the ME-109. Careful questioning of Stigler about details of the incident removed any doubt.
Stigler, now 80, had emigrated to Canada and was living near Vancouver. After an exchange of letters, Brown flew there for a reunion. The two men have visited each other frequently since that time and have appeared jointly before Canadian and American military audiences. The most recent appearance was at the annual Air Force Ball in Miami in September [1995], where the former foes were honored.
In his first letter to Brown, Stigler had written: "All these years, I wondered what happened to the B-17, did she make it or not?"
She made it, just barely. But why did the German not destroy his virtually defenseless enemy?
"I didn't have the heart to finish off those brave men," Stigler later said. "I flew beside them for a long time. They were trying desperately to get home and I was going to let them do it. I could not have shot at them. It would have been the same as shooting at a man in a parachute."
What a really remarkable story, and what a show of respect from one warrior to another. It's a story that desperately needed to be told.


Not to oversimplify things, but you probably have a pretty good idea whether or not you are going to like Telltale's Batman. It is Telltale at its best and worst. Batman brings some new ideas that work pretty well, but the common complaints about Telltale's adventure games are all included in Part 1: Realm of Shadows. Let's dive in and see what Batman really brings to the table, and whether or not this new series is worth getting into.
One of the best things Batman brings to the table is the difference in playstyle between Bruce Wayne and his alter ego. Bruce Wayne is involved in a lot more of the traditional Telltale gameplay: navigating tense social interaction and realizing what horrible decisions you made earlier in the game. The dark knight, however, features a great deal of quickly timed button presses in order to beat down your enemies. Not that both sides do not have elements of the other, but, at least in the first episode, Bruce Wayne's sections are the tense conversations and Batman's are the action scenes.
Batman is not just a crime-fighter; he's also the world's greatest detective. The puzzle solving mechanic in the game does not seem fully realized yet, but there is definite space to make it interesting. When investigating a crime scene as Batman, players will have to find various pieces of evidence. They can then "link" together the pieces that correspond with one another, revealing new clues and allowing the player to reconstruct the crime. This might be something like linking together a spent bullet case with a dead body, revealing the bullet trajectory and thus, the shooter's perch. Realm of Shadows only uses it a few times, but it does allow you to reconstruct the scene and feel a bit more like the bat.
The crime scenes let you reconstruct exactly what happened.
The graphics in Batman are pretty typical Telltale. They are caught somewhere between the full on cartoon look of Wolf Among Us and Tales from the Borderlands and the realistic look of Game of Thrones. It definitely works for the game. When playing as Bruce Wayne, things do not look quite as exciting, but Batman's world comes alive a bit more with splashes of bright color and faster paced action. It looks solid, but nothing spectacular. Although Harvey Dent's character model just seemed… off to me.
Story-driven games tend to live or die on the voice acting. If actors are not believable in their speaking roles, it can be very difficult to care what they are saying or doing. The voice acting in the first episode is strong, but nothing too amazing yet. Certain characters absolutely nail their roles, such as Erin Yvette as Vicki Vale, who was a surprisingly interesting character for me. Richard McGonagle and Jason Spisak also play excellent secondary roles. Troy Baker makes for a fine Bruce Wayne, but he does not really infuse it with anything amazing. Maybe it is just because Baker seems to be everywhere right now, but Bruce did not quite grab me in the first episode. On the flip side, Batman gets to do some cool modular effects with his voice, utilizing some sort of wearable device on his throat when he goes into "threatening" mode that makes it sound like Christian Bale injected some steroids. It works for the character very well and helps separate the two sides of Bruce Wayne.
The most important part of any story-driven game is the story, and Realm of Shadows does a great job setting up what should be a fascinating take on the Dark Knight. The power struggle for Gotham seems like it will go to some very interesting places, and it will be fun to see which characters from the thousands of Batman comics will make it into the story. The cliffhanger that ends the first episode is one that should push Bruce to the limits in order to solve the mystery, and should leave players very eager for the second episode, entitled Children of Arkham. Sounds like more of Batman's gallery of rogues will be entering the fray, doesn't it? Luckily, Telltale hopes to be more timely with their episodic releases, as they stated a desire to get the entire game released by the end of 2016.
And if not… the knight will find them.
Batman – Episode 1: Realm of Shadows is a good starting point for the series, as it sets things up well and introduces a solid preview of what to expect. On its own, it is a good adventure game. In the grand scheme of things, however, it appears to be pointing in the direction of another home run for Telltale.
Gameplay: Quick reaction button presses for fight scenes, dialogue choices advance the story and have consequences on it, and an occasional crime scene to investigate.
Graphics: Solid, reminiscent of other Telltale titles. Gotham is dark and beginning to fall apart, but splashes of color make is still interesting to look at.
Sound: Excellent voice acting nearly across the board.
Presentation: Minimal UI helps keep the cinematic feel of the game alive.
Batman: The Telltale Series is an episodic point-and-click graphic adventure video game developed and published by Telltale Games and distributed by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment under its DC Entertainment label.