text:
Mudlarks
by Vickie Donoghue
HighTide Festival Theatre and Lucy Jackson Productions present Mudlarks in association with the Bush Theatre
"Stunning…unforgettable", **** The Times
"This exhilarating three-hander … a drama played with real vigour and subtlety by its young cast" Lyn Gardner, The Guardian.
"Tension which keeps us fully focussed from beginning to end … remarkably assured in the writing, the production and the acting " ***** What's On Stage
The water looks sort of angry, don't it? Racing across the mud. Like it's coming for us! Haven't got long. We have to move soon.
On the muddy banks of the River Thames, downstream from the bright lights of London, three boys hide from the police after a night of thrilling recklessness. Over the course of the freezing night their fears, secrets and dreams emerge, collide and combust revealing the desperate frustration of lives barely led but already ravaged.
Essex-born Vickie Donoghue's powerful debut exposes the culture she grew up with and sees on a daily basis. With brutal honesty interspersed with flashes of humour she explores how the impulse to dream is futile in the context of a reality that has no space for dreamers. A sell-out show at Theatre503 and HighTide Festival, Mudlarks heralds the arrival of an urgent new voice in British theatre.
Age guide 14 +
Photograph by Alexander Henderson
Amy Cook
Hayley Kaimakliotis
Hayley Kaimakliotis's theatre include Girl's Guide To Saving The World (HighTide), Stuart: A Life Backwards (Edinburgh, Watford Palace Theatre, Sheffield Crucible), Neighbors (HighTide/Nuffield Southampton), Mudlarks (Bush Theatre/HighTide/Theatre 503), The Tempest Suitcase Shakespeare (RSC), Pitcairn Workshop (Out of Joint/RSC), The Only True History of Lizzie Finn (Southwark Playhouse), Firewatchers (Old Red Lion), Amphibians (The Bridewell) A Midsummer Night's Dream (Wirksworth Festival/Riverside Studios)
As Casting Director for the Finborough productions include Facts, the award winning Accolade and FoxFinder, Don Juan, Crush, Rigor Mortis, Fanta Orange, Drama at Inish, Me and Juliet, Miss Lilly Gets Boned, The Northerners and numerous Vibrant seasons.
Casting assistant credits include Shakespeare in Love (Noel Coward Theatre), BBC – Very Few Fish, Watson and Oliver Series 2, Autumn Leaves, Doctors, Casualty, Holby City, EastEnders. For the RSC – Troilus and Cressida, Forests, The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Mouse and His Child, Boris Godunov, Life of Galileo, As You Like It, All's Well That Ends Well and Hamlet.
Hayley is a probationary member of the CDG.
HighTide Festival Theatre
New theatre for adventurous audiences.
'It's hard to believe that HighTide has only been running its annual theatre festival for six years. It's already punching far above its weight.' The Guardian, April 2012
HighTide Festival Theatre are proud to be collaborating with the Bush Theatre for a third time following productions of Stovepipe by Adam Brace (named one of the ten best plays of the decade by The Sunday Times) and I Caught Crabs in Walberswick by Joel Horwood.
HighTide Festival Theatre is a national theatre company and engine room for the discovery, development and production of exceptional new playwrights.
Under Artistic Director Steven Atkinson, the annual HighTide Festival in Suffolk has become one of the UK's leading theatre events. HighTide's productions premiere at the festival and then many have toured nationally and internationally in partnerships with co-producers including the Bush Theatre (2008 & 2009), National Theatre (2009), Old Vic Theatre (2010), Ambassador Theatre Group / West End (2011), Headlong Theatre, Soho Theatre, Nuffield Theatre Southampton, BAC, People's Palace Projects and Theatre503 (2012), to the Edinburgh Festival (2008, 2010, 2011 &2012) and internationally with the Australian National Play Festival (2010) and Public Theater, New York (2012).
HighTide receives, considers and produces new plays from all around the world. Every play is read and the festival is an eclectic mix of theatre across several venues in Halesworth, Suffolk. Our artistic team and Literary Department are proud to develop all the work we produce and we offer bespoke development opportunities for playwrights throughout the year.
HighTide Festival Theatre is a National Portfolio Organisation of Arts Council England.
Lucy Jackson Productions
Theatre includes Fanta Orange and Don Juan Comes Back From the War at the Finborough Theatre, where she also produced all of the theatre's Vibrant – A Festival of Finborough Playwrights festivals (2009, 2010 and 2011). For Offstage Theatre Jackson produced Amphibians (Bridewell Theatre), for Misshapen Theatre she producedPhillipa and Will are Now in a Relationship and The Sexual Awakening of Peter Mayo (Pleasance Edinburgh and Theatre503) and Blast Off (Theatre503), and for Rogues' Gallery she produces The Folk Contraption (Heritage Arts Company VAULT Festival/Priceless London Wonderground/Latitude Festival). She was producer at Old Vic New Voices for The 24 Hour Plays, The TS Eliot US/UK Exchange (The Old Vic) and Time Warner Ignite 4(Waterloo East). She has produced and managed at six Edinburgh Festival Fringes including White Rabbit, Red Rabbit (Volcano Theatre) and Thom Tuck Goes Straight-to-DVD (Fosters Edinburgh Comedy Award Nominee for Best Newcomer). She has worked as a Production Assistant for TEG Productions/Jeremy Meadow Ltd.
Richard Hammarton
Vickie Donoghue
Mudlarks is Vickie Donoghue's first full length play for the stage. She graduated from the MA in Creative Writing (Plays and Screenplays) from City University in September 2009. A rehearsed reading of her MA piece Talk for England took place at RADA in March 2010. Her first short play One Last Wave was one of the three finalists of the 2005 Windsor Fringe Marriott Award. She was Dramaturg for The Caroline Carter Show by Flick Ferdinando which premièred at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe in August 2011. She is currently writer in residence at If You Dare Productions.
Will Evans
Will Wrightson
Wrightson has produced and directed nationally and internationally. In 2010 he was Associate Director and Producer of the world première of Peter Nichols play Lingua Franca, that began in London and transferred to New York. In the same year he was the Associate Director and Producer of Threshold for 19:29 Theatre Company which was nominated for a Total Theatre Award. Earlier in 2010 he directed a night of performance and poetry in the Sir John Soane Museum. He then went on to direct Mozart's The Magic Flute for Opera Integra. He recently assisted Christopher Morahan on his revival of The Caretaker with Jonathan Pryce, which is currently on a US tour after performances at the Adelaide Festival. He was HighTide's 2010 Resident Assistant Director.
Scott Hazell
James Marchant


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Campaigning for History | The Peace Presidents
Campaigning for History
Reflections on the American Presidency in a Political Season
The Peace Presidents
May 7, 2007 6:36 pm May 7, 2007 6:36 pm
On Feb. 8, 2004, George W. Bush proudly proclaimed to Tim Russert on "Meet the Press," "I am a war president." Like an 8-year-old playing with toy soldiers, Bush, an Air National Guard dropout, looked at war with vicarious enthusiasm. Contrast the attitude of the nation's "peace presidents" – supreme commanders who led the nation to victory in the greatest wars the country faced: men who had experienced the grim reality of battle and wanted no part of it.
Ulysses S. Grant condemned war as "the most destructive and unsavory activity of mankind." Surveying the carnage at Fort Donelson during the Civil War, he told an aide, "this work is part of the devil that is left in us."
Dwight D. Eisenhower, another former general, was equally outspoken: "I hate war as only a soldier who has lived it can, as only one who has seen its brutality, its futility and stupidity…. War settles nothing."
Both Grant and Eisenhower were elected with expectations that they would put a victorious end to conflicts in which the country was then engaged. Both presidents did end the fighting. But not in ways that their bellicose supporters anticipated.
In Grant's case, the frontier was ablaze, and it was widely assumed that the general-in-chief who had bested Robert E. Lee would make quick work of the Plains Indians who were slowing the nation's westward expansion. That bet was misplaced. Grant admired the integrity and lifestyle of Native Americans and ordered an end to the slaughter. He reined in Generals William Tecumseh Sherman and Philip Sheridan (who seemed bent on annihilation), dispatched a brace of "humanitarian generals" to the West, provided aid and comfort to entice the tribes onto reservations, and replaced corrupt Indian agents with Quakers. "Grant's peace policy" – as it is called by historians – brought peace to Great Plains without racial genocide.
Twice more Grant faced down the hawks clamoring for war — first with Great Britain, then with Spain. British-American relations had not recovered from the Civil War for several reasons: Irish-American expatriates were conducting cross-border raids into Ontario; conflicting claims to fishing rights in the North Atlantic often resulted in bloodshed; a boundary dispute in the Pacific Northwest lay unresolved; and the unpaid claims from Union shipping losses continued to fester.
Grant rejected the possibility of a military solution, and with the cooperation of the Gladstone government in Britain, he submitted the issues to arbitration. This marked a breakthrough in the settlement of international disputes and paved the way for the Anglo-American accord that survives to this day.
The issue with Spain involved Cuba. Portions of the island were in revolt against Spanish rule, and American public opinion demanded intervention on the side of the rebels. Grant not only refused, but deployed the Navy to prevent American freebooters from joining the conflict.
In 1952, Eisenhower was elected with the expectation he would win the war in Korea. After the election Ike went to Korea, measured the situation firsthand, and concluded the war was unwinnable. Without hesitation he negotiated an armistice. After Eisenhower made peace in Korea, not one American serviceman was killed in combat during the next eight years.
Like Grant, Eisenhower believed the United States should never go to war unless national survival was at stake. He resisted calls for preventive war against China and Russia, reached out to the Soviet Union after Stalin's death and slashed the Defense Department budget. He declined to take military action to defend the Chinese offshore islands of Quemoy and Matsu, stepped aside when Hungary exploded in 1956 and refused to deploy American forces in situations that might lead to combat without Congressional authorization.
When the National Security Council – Secretary of State John Foster Dulles, Vice President Richard Nixon and the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff – unanimously recommended the use of nuclear weapons at Dien Bien Phu to rescue the beleaguered French garrison, Eisenhower summarily rejected the proposal. "You boys must be crazy," he told Robert Cutler, the national security adviser. "We can't use those awful things against Asians for the second time in less than 10 years. My God."
In 1956, when Britain, France and Israel colluded to invade Egypt, Eisenhower forced them to withdraw, toppling Anthony Eden's government in London and threatening financial reprisals against Israel. That repudiation of what Ike called "old fashioned gunboat diplomacy" not only kept the peace but enhanced American prestige throughout the world.
George Bush and the neocons have no monopoly on glorifying military adventure. Madeleine Albright, President Clinton's secretary of state, caused General Colin Powell a case of near cardiac arrest when she asked at a meeting of the National Security Council, "Why do we have an Army if we are not willing to use it?"
War is not an instrument of policy. It is an act of desperation. "Any course short of national humiliation or national destruction is better than war," Grant told Prince Kung of China in 1879. "War itself is so great a calamity that it should only be invoked when there is no way of saving a nation from a greater [one]."
Comments are no longer being accepted.
DrNova May 7, 2007 · 7:27 pm
With this column in hand, the entire Congress ought to put an immediate end to the so-called "War in Iraq" and the spurious "War on Terror"–which is as insubstantial as a "War on Ignorance."
May this reminder of what great generals did for our nation in the past encourage Congress to stand up to the perpetrators of the so-called "War in Iraq" and "War on Terror," to stop funding these "Wars," and to bring our troops home WITHOUT DELAY, according to the will of the VOTING public who brought the Democrats to majority in the House and Senate. The NON-VOTING public should have NO SAY in this matter.
Further, the will of the VOTING public to bring the WHOLE LOT OF CONSPIRATORS who brought us into these spurious "Wars" and the attrocities connected with them–such as violating the Geneva Convention and subverting our Constitution and the 2nd and 3rd branches of our government–to the dock for impeachment, and/or into detention to await trial as International War Criminals.
God bless The New York Times for this platform for free speech.
steve Zimmerman May 7, 2007 · 9:10 pm
Simple, eloquent, brilliant.
John Schmitt May 7, 2007 · 10:42 pm
Good thoughts.
Roger Binion May 8, 2007 · 5:45 am
While I certainly agree with most of what was written, this part is taken out of context:
'Madeleine Albright, President Clinton's secretary of state, caused General Colin Powell a case of near cardiac arrest when she asked at a meeting of the National Security Council, "Why do we have an Army if we are not willing to use it?"'
You make it seem as if she said that in a casual way and fail to mention that it was said while discussing the war in Bosnia.
While I agree that pre-emptive wars based on false premises (Iraq) are reprehensible, the ongoing atrocities and genocide that were occurring in Bosnia were real and needed a military response.
Should the US use its military to invade, say, Canada, just because it can? Of course not.
Should the US have used its military to stop the worse bloodshed seen in Europe since WWII? Absolutely.
The US should also use its military to stop the genocide in Darfur.
Of course in all cases peace is the better option. However, when push comes to shove, sometimes a military response is required. Note, a response, not the first option.
Alexander Crawley May 8, 2007 · 12:40 pm
This succinct piece ought to be mandatory reading for all the presidential hopefuls in the muddy stream right now. The smart ones will read it. The brave ones might even respond….
Priscilla Alexander May 8, 2007 · 12:47 pm
The United States should not independently send troops to Darfur. The appropriate agency to send in the troops is the United Nations.
If we want a world with less war, we should commit ourselves to act in concert with other nations, not alone, except in the case where we are attacked first inside the borders of the United States.
henry steen May 8, 2007 · 1:00 pm
We need more of this. No matter the context, Albright's comment is reprehensible, and will be her legacy, along with her words "the price, yes, we think the price is worth it", regarding the 600,000 or so excess deaths of Iraqi children resulting from the sanctions.
Carol Schultz Vento May 8, 2007 · 1:00 pm
And that is the reason why those soldiers who have seen combat are usually not the "gung-ho" hawks that those on the sidelines are.
Gerald Polkovitz May 8, 2007 · 1:05 pm
How can a person of sound mind be proud of proclaiming he is a "war president"? You are proud of some accomplishment in life, not an accomplishment that takes thousands of innocent civilians and 3000 plus of our servicemen/women.
Peter Page May 8, 2007 · 1:07 pm
Although John Kerry was far short of supreme commander as were Grant and Eisenhower he knew war first hand, had killed and been wounded and is recognized a hero for risking his life to save one of his men. I weep to think how different matters would be today if he, or for that matter Al Gore, took the office they rightfully won.
Tunde Ogunnaike May 8, 2007 · 1:07 pm
There is something to be said for being "secure" in one's own skin: Grant and Eisenhower felt no need to prove their "manliness" to anyone; they had seen war up close and personal and had recoiled from its horrors. For them war was real, not something to be used to "prove your manliness." Insecurity is a dangerous thing in regular human beings; it is a deadly flaw in leaders. Most objective Americans, the families of the casualties of this maddening war (Iraqis and Americans alike), and the rest of the world are now paying for the insecurities of a leader who is sadly incapable of admitting to his mistakes.
For someone like me who grew up in another country admiring the American ability somehow to come up with the right leader at the right time, the real question is: how can a country that produced the likes of Grant and Eisenhower (and other such magnanimous leaders) end up in this current tragic and embarrassing predicament? And how can we make sure it NEVER happens again?
Victoria Cassano May 8, 2007 · 1:09 pm
What is interesting about the posting, is that in real time history, both Grant and Eisenhower were demonized. A campaign joke from the early 50's went like this: Have you seen the new Eisenhower doll?… wind it up and for four years it does nothing… I'm not sure why I remember that so distinctly from my childhood, but I guess it struck me odd at age 6 or 7 that someone so loved and so admired could be slandered for the reason the writer here admires him.
As a child, I played with my toy soldiers and forts and cowboys and Indians. As an adult, I became a career Navy Physician and saw the physical, emotional and psychological results of three wars.
There is a big difference between knocking over a rubber soldier on your play mat and consoling a young man/woman who has lost both legs or any eye or her intellect. It is even worse to bury mangled and charred young bodies.
They say physicians bury their mistakes: This administration keeps burying this contries future and refuses to acknowledge its mistakes. It is worse than being an "out of touch kid" with his toy soldiers. It requires a truly deranged mind to continue this course of action.
I weep for the children, the parentsfor this country and Iraq. These wounds won't heal.
Steve Newman May 8, 2007 · 1:11 pm
It is a shame that we have a president who is no doubt ignorant of the wisdom of his predecessors who resisted unnecessary war and saw the national interest in avoiding it. What does it say about the American people that they could heave elected, and re-elected, such an immature and ignorant man?
Gerald R. Slaney May 8, 2007 · 1:15 pm
Nice shot. You got those despicable chickenhawks right square between the eyes. Thank you for saying what needed to be said.
And DrNova, great ideas. Thank you.
Paul Cook May 8, 2007 · 1:16 pm
Charles Spanos May 8, 2007 · 1:16 pm
The irony of having a President (Bush)who evaded wartime service is deafening……………..
Ted Hepburn May 8, 2007 · 1:20 pm
Very good piece. I am new to the on line NY Times and enjoying it. Grew up in NJ in the 30s and 40s about 10-12 miles west of the Lincoln Tunnel so was influenced by the "big city". Missed WWII by about 4 years so spent a little time serving during Korea. Interesting the article calls Truman a war President but cannot disagree although I often wonder what the Korean Peninsula would look like had we stayed out. There was never a reason to go after Iraq. Had we "stayed the course" in Afganistan and kept looking for Osama I for one am sure we would have founc him and probably within a year. It is very dificult to decide what to do now, but I'm certain this adminisatration will find a way to mess it up no matter the direction. Rove is telling "W" to keep at it so the successor will have to withdraw. Sad
Alan Durick May 8, 2007 · 1:24 pm
Note that most of the comments quoted in the article are by military men who have first hand knowledge of the futility of war. People go to war to preserve the peace, but it never, no never, works. WW-II is the only useful war in the memory of our oldest citizens today. It was a war that sought us out. We couldn't have avoided it. That should be the only criterian for going to war.
Brooke Fredericksen May 8, 2007 · 1:34 pm
Simple, brilliant article. This should be required reading for Senators and Representatives and all journalists covering this administration.
Jim Rosenthal May 8, 2007 · 1:38 pm
We would be far better off as a nation had we elected a mature, wise person as President, instead of the man that we did. A failure in all his previous endeavors, he brought to the White House only his miserably mediocre resume and singular lack of aptitude for anything save truculence. He lacks judgment, character, and a work ethic. We should also be mindful of the fact that he was intended to be a throwaway candidate in an election that at one time was felt to be a lock for the Democrats. Memory is short, but we have the prior administration as well as Ralph Nader to thank for the current incumbent. Their contributions were significant, even though they do not wish to acknowledge them.
The current wars in which we engage ourselves are not only unwinnable, with no good way out- only less bad ways- they are bankrupting the country and damaging the world economy. It is also evident that they are serving to enrich the small private sector that promoted them in the first place, but impoverishing the rest of us, both morally and financially.
Finally, I am a physician. We do not bury our mistakes; at least good physicians do not. What we often do, and I speak from long experience, is to think about our bad outcomes, whether or not we feel responsible for them, sometimes for decades after the fact. No general or admiral would daily set out for combat if they knew they were always fated to lose, yet every physician starts their day knowing that the final outcome for every person is the same. What we can cure, we cure, and when we can't do that, we try to help better the patient's life, longevity, and the qualities thereof. In our practical take on the world and acceptance of the ultimate inevitability of death, there is much the current Washington administration might profitably emulate- rather than trying to make the world over in an idealized and unattainable image unwanted by virtually everyone living in it, they ought to be seeking to make the world better for its citizens as they are.
Richard R. Schneider May 8, 2007 · 1:42 pm
History reserves its worst scorn for military commanders who sacrifice the lives of their troops for their own personal glory. Only a totally narcissistic person like George W. Bush could do so on such a grand scale. He will be vilified for decades to come, if not centuries. This will be his own personal little Hell, and he will deserve every minute of it.
Jim Thacker May 8, 2007 · 1:45 pm
This is just another in a long listing of anti-Bush propaganda masquerading as scholarship. To suggest that somehow George Bush revels in his role of wartime Commander in Chief and then to further liken it to a child playing with toy soldiers is just non-sense and believable only to the people to hate Bush already. I think Mr. Smith is the child on the playground guilty of piling on and trying to outdo the other kids with silly insults.
Margaret Brown May 8, 2007 · 1:45 pm
Response to the thoughtful query posed by no. 11,
Tunde Ogunnaike, we need to make sure everyone votes, every vote counts, and no other process intervenes in the results. Then you'll see no more George Bushes and, hopefully, no Guilianis, McCaine, either of the Thompsons, or a Romney (talk about flip-flopping!). This country has what it takes to return to the caliber of the "Peace Presidents"; we just have to deglamorize war and somehow (I don't know how) reduce our propensity to violence at all levels.
This wonderful column shows us the way back to civility at the national level. Thank you, Dr. Smith. Now we all need to find a way back to civility at personal levels.
Donald May 8, 2007 · 1:46 pm
In his "Personal Memoirs" Ulysses S Grant reflected on the wrongness of the Mexican War with these thoughts:
"The Southern Rebellion was largely the outgrowth of the Mexican war. Nations, like individuals, are punished for their transgressions. We got our punishment in the most sanguinary and expensive war of modern times."
Grant's book is well worth the read.
Jeff May 8, 2007 · 1:46 pm
Prof. Smith offers another great piece of writing, and he is absolutely right that no president should ever look forward to a war. American military forces must be used judiciously.
Unfortunately, as the comments reveal, liberals can't decide which wars (if any) to support. If you agree with Prof. Smith, then American troops can never be put in harm's way for anything less than national survival. If so, intervening to save thousands of lives (whether unilaterally or through NATO/the UN) in Bosnia, Rwanda, and Darfur is out of the question. Does that seem humanitarian — indeed, liberal — to you?
Who Said Anything About 'War Powers'?
Sitting Out the Tennessee Waltz
David Greenberg, an assistant professor of history and journalism at Rutgers University, in New Brunswick, N.J., is the author of three books, "Nixon's Shadow," "Presidential Doodles" and, most recently, "Calvin Coolidge." He writes the "History Lesson" column for Slate.
Margaret MacMillan, a professor of history and provost of Trinity College in the University of Toronto, is the author of "Women of the Raj" and "Paris 1919." Her most recent book is "Nixon and Mao: The Week That Changed the World."
Geoffrey Perret has written 13 books of history and biography, including "Ulysses S. Grant," "Eisenhower" and "Lincoln's War." His most recent book is "Commander in Chief: How Truman, Johnson, and Bush Turned a Presidential Power into a Threat to America's Future."
Jean Edward Smith, the John Marshall Professor of political science at Marshall University, in Huntington, W. Va., is the author of 12 books, including biographies of Ulysses S. Grant, Chief Justice John Marshall and General Lucius D. Clay. His latest book is "F.D.R."
Jules Witcover, a political columnist for 30 years, has written a dozen books about American politics, including "No Way to Pick A President" and "The Year the Dream Died." His most recent book is "Very Strange Bedfellows: The Short and Unhappy Marriage of Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew."
Select Month May 2007 April 2007
Statestruck (9)
The Celluloid Oval Office (7)
Stretching Executive Power in Wartime (50)
Repairing the Damage Done (32)
Bush Wars: The Final Frontier (37)
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Baudrillard's writings address a predominantly visual world. He wrote of objects in mirrors, took photographs of absence, and sharply probed a hyper-saturated mediascape that was dominantly ocular. In an interview for CTHEORY in 1995 he was asked to comment on sound as distinct from image. His response was to conflate the two into the "audio-visual", admitting that "the sphere of sound, the acoustic sphere, audio, is really more alien to me than the visual."
For Baudrillard, sound is out there beyond the dichotomy of "self" and "other" or "object" and "subject" -- dialectics he did a great deal to investigate and disturb through piercing essays. No, sound is beyond theory, sound is the alien. It comes from a place outside our system of the solar, beyond the event horizon that's defined only in terms of light. We might combine sound with the ocular into the "audio-visual", but that only allows it past our defences without consideration of its characteristics, methods, or purpose. Sound arrives on our shore as the secret stowaway.
Why is sound the alien? This requires more elaboration.
Our sense of hearing is carved out of bone. It's not nearly clean enough for positivists -- fluid jostling around in spiral cavities, hair cells waving in the interior tide. Whatever happened to light rays beaming out of our eyes, piercing and penetrating the world? Instead we are hollow vessels awaiting vibrations from forces we cannot even see. Sound brings our selves back to ourselves.
Sound is of the body. We hear with more than our ears. We feel things in our gut. And this makes it very difficult to theorize this most potent of the senses. So even the best (Baudrillard) do not. They turn a blind eye -- or is it a deaf ear?
My memorial to Baudrillard, How To Disappear Completely, plays with the idea of silence as a rich vessel. And while I am sure John Cage would be pleased, my own utilisations of silence is more indebted to the essays on picnolepsy by Paul Virilio. Which is to say: the silence I strive for is the utter and complete emptiness of the unconscious mind, the silence heard in death and complete oblivion. Cage's silence was only defined in opposition to notation and the academy. It was the chatter of audience and the rustle of musicians in a concert hall. That is nowhere near silent enough!
It could be that the only way to reach this utter silence is to overwhelm the ear with volume. The silence of the deaf.
The piece I will play at the conference is "The Absence of Baudrillard". It is made entirely from this material: a short phrase spoken by Baudrillard, notably the word "absence" itself. This sound fragment will be manipulated by a stochastic process to create a unique event from this sonic "signature".
The piece will start with nothing (silence) and end with nothing (intelligible speech for 2.5 seconds). In between there will be an awful lot of something else.
Against unintelligible thought we can close out minds. Against unintelligible images we close our eyes. But against unintelligible sound (that alien on our doorstep) we have no defence. For though we have two eyelids, no lids our ears were granted!
"Sound is what happens when we aren't listening."


You hear it all the time: Antioxidants are good for you. But do you know why? Antioxidants fight free radicals to protect your cells. They can bind with toxins to help eliminate them from the body. They can help reduce inflammation too. Some of the most powerful food sources of antioxidants? Bring on the berries!
When metal oxidizes, it rusts. Oxidation inside your body may not look quite the same, but it does make you age faster and damages your DNA.
Free radicals — caused by poor diet, inflammation, environmental pollution, and even as a response to exercise — are the molecules that cause this oxidation damage. They are incomplete cells that pilfer electrons from other cells in your body; those pilfered cells become free radicals themselves, setting up a self-perpetuating cycle. Antioxidants break that cycle because they can give up electrons to eliminate the free radicals, but don't turn into free radicals as a result.
The other things antioxidants can do for you are pretty amazing, too. Each one is unique, and their protective effects range from reducing inflammation to protecting your heart and your eyes, binding with toxins so your body can eliminate them, and fight cancer.
The best sources of antioxidants are nuts, herbs, spices and brightly colored fruits and vegetables. When it comes to antioxidant fruits, two of the very best are also the smallest: Blueberries and cranberries. Their great antioxidant powers are due in large part to the phytonutrients that give them their rich colors. And that's just the start of what these tiny superfruits can do for you.
Cranberries are a proven home remedy for urinary tract infections; scientists think it's because they keep bacteria from sticking to the lining of your bladder and urinary tract. They also help prevent and slow breast, colon, prostate and lung tumors, and they're a rich source of immune-boosting, inflammation-busting vitamin C and the alpha-tocopherol form of vitamin E.
There is one heads up regarding cranberries, though: Some researchers think their oxalic acid content contributes to the formation of kidney stones, and others say cranberries can interfere with anticoagulant medications. There is some controversy over both issues but, if either applies to you, it's smart to limit your cranberry intake and talk to your doctor just in case.
Blueberries contain some very well-known antioxidants, including quercetin, anthocyanins, and resveratrol, plus a whole herd of lesser-known antioxidants like pterostilbene. It's this collection of diverse antioxidants that probably gives blueberries most of their amazing (and diverse) health effects.
Those benefits include reducing abdominal fat, protecting your eyes, improving cognitive and motor function, protecting against cancers of the breast and digestive system, soothing intestinal problems like ulcerative colitis, improving your cholesterol, normalizing blood sugar levels and protecting your heart. And even though they don't have quite the reputation cranberries do, blueberries are good for urinary tract health too.
If you're shopping for blueberries and cranberries in a store or market, look for firm, plump fruit with bright, vivid colors. The best blueberries will still have a whitish, powdery "bloom" on their skin.
If you want a challenge and the season is right, you can also forage for both types of berries — they're very common throughout North America. Depending on where you live, wild blueberries are at their best from May through the end of summer, while wild cranberries are usually best from September through November.
Both berries are tastiest (and have the most antioxidants) when fresh, but they also freeze well.
Spread the berries out on a cookie sheet and freeze them this way. Once they're frozen hard, you can pour the berries into any container without worrying about them clumping together.


text:
Penn Lightbulb Cafe: Birth Control Battles: How Race and Class Divided American Religion
WHO: Melissa Wilde
Associate Professor of Sociology
WHAT: Penn Lightbulb Café: Birth Control Battles: How Race and Class Divided American Religion
WHEN: Wednesday, December 11, 6-7 p.m.
WHERE: Suzanne Roberts Theatre, 480 S. Broad St., Philadelphia
Conservative and progressive religious groups fiercely disagree about issues of sex and gender. But how did we get here? In this talk, Melissa J. Wilde shows how today's modern divisions began in the 1930s in the public battles over birth control and not for the reasons we might expect. By examining thirty of America's most prominent religious groups—from Mormons to Methodists, Southern Baptists to Seventh Day Adventists, and many others—Wilde contends that fights over birth control had little do with sex, women's rights, or privacy.
The talk is part of the Penn Lightbulb Cafe, a free public lecture series presented by Penn Arts & Sciences that sheds light on faculty research in the arts and sciences. The presentation will be followed by an audience Q&A. Café events are free and open to the public. Food and beverages will be available for purchase before, during, and after the talk. RSVPs are encouraged due to limited seating. For more information or directions, call or email Amber Grier at 215-573-3008 or agrier@sas.upenn.edu.
View map Suzanne Roberts Theater
School of Arts & Sciences, University of Pennsylvania
Amber Grier
agrier@sas.upenn.edu


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Wrongful death lawsuit filed for police involved shooting in Evansville
by: Seth Austin
Posted: Nov 1, 2022 / 11:40 AM CDT
Updated: Nov 1, 2022 / 12:19 PM CDT
EVANSVILLE, Ind (WEHT) – A wrongful death lawsuit has been filed against the city of Evansville and Police Chief Billy Bolin for the November 2020 shooting of 33-year-old Rodriquez Pam.
On November 8, 2020, officers were dispatched to the 1100 block of Cherry Street after a 911 caller reported that a man was pointing a gun at her dog and then at her. Evansville Police Sergeant Nick Winsett said Pam pointed a gun at officers and then two officers shot him. Pam was declared dead at the scene.
The lawsuit alleges that the crime scene was altered to make it appear as though Pam was holding the gun for crime scene photos. The lawsuit also says that Pam was complying with the officer's command and did not have a gun in his hand at the time of the shooting.
Bodycam footage released of officer involved shooting
Although a handgun was found at the scene, the lawsuit says it was not loaded. According to the lawsuit, Pam had a BAC level of 0.310 at the time of his death and he may have had trouble understanding the officer's command. The lawsuit claims officers failed to recognize Pam was intoxicated or in a mental health crisis when responding to the 911 call.
Pam's family did not include a dollar amount in the lawsuit. Pam is survived by five children and his parents.
You can read the full lawsuit in the window below:
Lengthy pursuit ends with 'peaceful surrender' in …
POLICE: Felon caught in Owensboro with drugs, handgun


Lighting, Photo Booth and More!
You can change the entire ambiance of an event or elevate the decor to a new level with lighting! We can color your reception with our uplights, put your name or monogram on the wall or dance floor, or make your floral arrangements pop with our pinspots! We can spotlight your cake so it stands as a beautiful decor feature of your reception, as well as highlight your head table so your guests have their eye drawn to a table you've added so many special touches to and want to show off.
Our photo booth can be set up arcade style with a bench for two people, with a curtain for 4-6 people, or we can turn it into an open air photo lounge with is the most popular choice. You can choose one of our specialty backdrops or we can use a favorite wall or feature at your chosen venue for the background. Guests are provided a copy of their photos and our attendant will add a copy to a scrapbook we create for you during the event. At the end of the event, you'll also receive a usb drive with a digital copy of every photo. We customize our props for events and change them throughout the evening so your guests keep coming back for more photos and having a great time!
Can you imagine a more romantic moment than your first dance dancing on a silvery mist as if you are dancing among the clouds? This incredible effect is achieved using dry ice and is completely safe. With the clouds never reaching more than knee height, they create a beautiful moment for photos as well! Maybe you're having a social event and want to add a little drama to your entertainment or a special moment? You can't go wrong with Dancing On a Cloud!
Looking for other entertainment or service options to add to your event? Ask us! We'd love to brainstorm with you and see if there is something we can add to make your event perfect!


The seating plan and additional ticketing information of SMTOWN LIVE '10 World Tour have been revealed today by POWERHOUSE.
On SBS Kim HeeChul's Young Street radio show on 18th June, girlgroup f(x) was the guest appearance on the show.
And during one of the girls' live performances of 'NU ABO', deejay Kim HeeChul stood and danced along with the girls.


Informing your work, saving your time.
Patients and members of the public are welcome to browse the library for reference during staffed hours.
Use this page to find out how to access good quality health information on the internet, and learn more about the Knowledge for Healthcare national strategy. There are also links to some useful "self help" sites.
Finding Good Quality Health Information on the internet– downloadable leaflet, compiled by staff at Musgrove Park Library. Shows you how to appraise health websites.
Knowledge for Healthcare: Patient and Public Information– blog outlining the national strategy for NHS healthcare libraries 2015-2020, with a focus on clinical and outreach librarians, and working towards providing a service for patients and the public.
Self Help- includes the "Books on Prescription" scheme and the Self Care Forum, encouraging people to take an interest in and responsibility for their own health and wellbeing.
NHS – A comprehensive health information service containing articles and other tools, helping you to make choices about your health and lifestyle, and also about making the most of health and social care services in England.
Learn how to use NHS – This page will help you navigate the NHS website, so that you can use it effectively to help support your healthcare decisions and choices.
patient.info – One of the most trusted medical resources online. Contains evidence-based information on a wide range of topics, suitable for both patients and health professionals.
The Good Things Foundation – The Good Things Foundation is a charity which supports digitally and socially excluded people to improve their lives through digital technology.
Helping and supporting people across the UK to access information online, whatever their social background.
The learning platform Learn My Way, helps thousands of people each year to gain basic digital skills and go on to further informal and formal learning, with the support of local UK Online centres.


Greene County's top disease investigator said today that the source of the E. coli outbreak that has sickened people in five states appears to be sprout seeds that were sold to growers.
"It is believed to be the seeds that were the problem," said Kendra Williams, the county administrator for community health and epidemiology.
Three of the E. coli cases linked to eating raw sprouts that are being investigated by federal health officials were in Greene County, local health officials said.
Williams said three women between the ages of 25 and 49 got sick with cramps and bloody diarrhea. The Springfield- Greene County Health Department investigated and found that each woman had eaten a sandwich with raw clover sprouts from Jimmy John's.
Williams said three different Jimmy John's restaurants were involved. She said the restaurants in Springfield had obtained the sprouts from a farm in Kansas, but neither the restaurants or the farm appeared to be the source of the contamination.
When county health inspectors visited the Jimmy John's restaurants, they didn't find any contaminated sprouts. Williams said the contaminated spouts had apparently been used.
John Hershberger, the owner of Sweetwater Farms in Inman, Kan., said federal investigators have not conclusively linked the seeds to the outbreak. He said an investigator from the U.S. Department of Food and Drug Administration was at his farm last week but didn't find any contamination at the farm.
"They don't know that for a fact," Hershberger said of a possible link to the seeds.
Hershberger said he had voluntarily withdrawn clover sprouts from the market.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Wednesday that it is collaborating with state and local public health officials in multiple states to investigate an outbreak of E. coli linked to eating raw sprouts. Using DNA "fingerprinting" of the E. coli bacteria and cross-referencing it with a national database, public health officials have confirmed that the bacterium is responsible for infection of 12 people in five states.
Health officials said the local infections occurred between Jan. 7 and Jan. 13. At this point, there is no reason to believe there is an ongoing exposure risk at local restaurants.
"Jimmy John's has been extremely cooperative and has taken all necessary steps to protect food safety at its locations," said Health Director Kevin Gipson. "They took our investigation seriously and treated it with prompt attention."


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Q: Is it possible to implement server side sorting and pagging in dhtml grid? I want to implement DHTML grid . Which required server side sorting and pegging with ajax support.
Dose any one having any idea about how to implement this.

A: If you want to implement server side sorting then it does not matter what technology you are using in the front end.
On a conceptual level you can do the following things:

*

*Write a SortingServlet which takes your grid and sorts it according to the request parameters passed to it and renders the output in the form of json(not strictly required but good to have)

*Use jQuery to make a Ajax call to this servlet and then format the response when you get it back.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange