UNAVCO provides project support to principal investigators (PIs) engaged in research funded by our core sponsors including the National Science Foundation Earth Sciences (NSF-EAR), NSF Office of Polar Programs (NSF-OPP), and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Solid Earth and Natural Hazards (NASA-SENH) Program. Other non-core sponsors and agencies are supported on a full cost recovery basis. Some major projects in which UNAVCO is involved currently include the Network of the Americas (NOTA), NASA Geosciences and POLENET.
Do you need help with any of the project planning topics listed here?
Project Budgeting includes project design and implementation costs, including possible equipment design and/or equipment loan, and is co-developed with the PIs.
Broader Impacts Proposal Guidance submitted by community PIs — UNAVCO can provide guidance to PIs with proposal planning and budgeting for broader impacts.
Letters of Support can be provided by UNAVCO to detail the resources and support that UNAVCO will provide should the proposal succeed.
Email projects unavco.org for quick questions or if you cannot find what you need in the project topics covered below.
UNAVCO provides comprehensive project technical support services to investigators using GPS/GNSS, TLS, UAS, and SAR data. These services range from loaned equipment, testing, configuration, integration, and new equipment designs for field deployments to technical training for campaign field deployments and permanent station installations.
Geophysical Event Response helps coordinate community field activities, hardware, and data requests following an earthquake, volcanic eruptions, or other notable geophysical events.
Polar Services provides support to NSF-OPP funded scientific investigators working in the Arctic and Antarctic: survey-grade GPS receivers, terrestrial laser scanners, and supporting power and communications systems for continuous data collection and campaign surveying tested for polar conditions are available.
Development & Testing for ongoing instrument & equipment testing of GNSS receivers & antennae, communications systems, and power systems for various UNAVCO projects.
Data Management & Archiving is responsible for GPS/GNSS data delivery or pickup & conversion RINEX, long-term archive storage & FTP access of GPS/GNSS and SAR data.
Education & Outreach Services provides support for Broader Impacts planning and execution of PI projects.
Terrestrial Laser Scanning (TLS) Support with instruments, associated digital photography GNSS and ancillary equipment, as well as trained field engineering staff, software licenses, and TLS data archive.
Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) Support with pool of small unmanned aerial vehicles (sUAV's), and associated GNSS and ancillary equipment, as well as FAA certified field engineering staff, software licenses, and UAS data archive allows UNAVCO to support a wide range of geodetic imaging applications in Earth science research.
Borehole Services provides expertise for borehole drilling and instrumentation for 3-axis seismic, horizonal strain, tilt, and borehole pressure.
UNAVCO has several major projects, some of which collaborate with member institutions and other groups, and several which provide regional capacity-building focused on science and international collaborations.
Network of the Americas (NOTA) is an international geoscience community project that precisely measures Earth deformation resulting from the constant motion of the tectonic plates in the western hemisphere.
NASA Support — UNAVCO helps support NASA's Global GPS Network (GGN) and the activities of the IGS Central Bureau.
POLENET - Polar Observations is a network that improves geophysical observations across the Earth's polar regions and provides a legacy of observational infrastructure to enable new insights into the interaction between the atmosphere, oceans, polar ice sheets and the Earth's crust and mantle.
LARISSA - Larsen Ice Shelf System, Antarctica is an NSF-funded initiative that brings an international, interdisciplinary team together to study the environmental change in Antarctica's Larsen Ice Shelf System and its global change implications.
RESESS - Student Interns (Research Experiences in Solid Earth Science for Students) is an established and successful program for multi-year summer research internships for Earth science undergraduates from populations underrepresented in science.
Real-Time GPS — real-time streaming of 1-Hz GPS data from a subset of the PBO GPS network and of COCONet.
High-Rate GPS — downloading or streaming of 1-, 2-, 5-, and 10-Hz GPS data from select sites in the PBO GPS network, COCONet, POLENET, and other networks.
BINEX, for "BINary EXchange," is a now operational binary format standard for GPS/GNSS data and metadata exchange.
OpenTopography is a project that facilitates community access to high-resolution, Earth science-oriented, topography data, and related tools and resources.
Plug & Play GPS — a NASA ROSES ACCESS funded project to provide no-cost services for generating high precision GPS position timeseries products from continuously operating GPS/GNSS stations from around the globe.
COOPEUS is a project funded under the Research Infrastructures action of the 7th Framework Programme for Research and Innovation of the EU, for bringing together European and US scientists and users.
EarthCube is an initiative to create a community-driven data and knowledge management system for data sharing across the geosciences.
WInSAR is a consortium of universities and research laboratories established by a group of practicing scientists and engineers to facilitate collaboration in, and advancement of, Earth science research using radar remote sensing.
TEQC — Collaboration with GPS/GNSS equipment manufacturers and other institutions is required to make the teqc software a success.
EarthScope - Plate Boundary Observatory (PBO) — a component of the EarthScope project that precisely measured Earth deformation resulting from the constant motion of the Pacific and North American tectonic plates in the western United States.
COCONet - Caribbean Network — an international geoscience community project to develop Caribbean-wide GNSS/GPS observations for geophysical and atmospheric hazard studies in the Caribbean region.
TLALOCNet - Mexico Network — an international geoscience community project to develop Mexico-wide GNSS/GPS observations for geophysical and atmospheric hazard studies in Mexico.
Supersites — an initiative under the auspices of the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) and provides access to space borne and in-situ geophysical data of selected sites prone to earthquake, volcano, or other hazards through a web site hosted at UNAVCO.
GSAC — a collaboration among geodesy data centers to provide web services for discovery, sharing, and access to geodetic data and metadata.
Dataworks for GNSS — a project to provide a turn-key system for regional GNSS data management.


Where do you call home at the moment?
Who are your favourite people to ride with?
My favorite girl to ride with is Gabi Viteri…. We just always make every day on the hill something to remember.
You recently signed to Volcom's snow team (although we understand you've had a relationship with them for a while). What's your look for this season?
I am really exited to be apart of the Volcom Snow program. It is full of amazing people and tons of new opportunities. The best thing about Volcom is there really is no look…. Everything is just spur of the moment craziness, and I love that about the brand.
You learned to ride when you were only six. Do you think this has helped you stay so chilled out about the sport?
I think that learning to snowboard young is definitely one of the reasons I love it so much, I have never had a life without snowboarding and I cannot imagine what it would be like.
We read that you were the first girl to land back to back 900s in a competition back in 2007. Which contest what that and what do you remember about it?
I landed back to back 9's at the Vans Tahoe Cup. The most memorable part of that contest for me was the fact that I was in my home town so I had my family there watching and that really made it something special.
What your lasting memories of the Olympic Games?
The craziest part of the Olympics was by far the opening ceremonies. It didn't really hit me that I was actually there until I walked into the stadium with the entire US team.
We just heard that your team jacket from the 2006 Games is now hanging in the California bar in Heavenly. How did it end up there?
I grew up riding on a snowboard team at Heavenly. The coaches and a lot of the other kids on that team are like my family, we all grew up together and have stayed super close over the years. The team wanted to have some sort of memorabilia of what the kids on the team have accomplished over the years to inspire up and comers to always strive for their dreams. I donated my jacket to help this cause and hopefully inspire people.
Do you feel the hype around the 2010 Olympic Games is starting to build yet?
The hype around the 2010 Olympics is already in full force. It is amazing how much bigger and crazier this Olympics seems in the snowboard world than the last Olympics.
Is Vancouver something you're actively thinking about and working towards?
I would love to go to the Vancouver Olympics. After being at the 2006 Olympics I know that there is absolutely nothing else like it and I would love the chance to experience that again.
You used to do gymnastics which really must have helped you when it came to snowboarding fitness and flexibility. What do you do these days off the snow to keep yourself in competition condition?
I love to surf which is really fun to do in the off season. I also spend time working out in the gym, practicing yoga, and running to stay in shape when I am not riding everyday.
What are your main goals for this season?
This season is full of contests for me, so with that in mind I just want to continue to push myself to progress while I am competing, and most importantly I just want to have a season full of laughter and fun because that is what snowboarding is all about.
Can we see you in action on any films this winter?
I am focusing mostly on contests this season but hopefully I will be able to get in some time with filming with Volcom.
Do you ever get the fear when you're riding? If so, how do you deal with it?
No matter what there is always some sort of fear when I snowboard, because if there isn't I know I am not pushing myself hard enough. It is a hard thing to manage fear but for me the best thing I have found to help me cope is music. Nothing calms me down and takes my mind off of things like a really good dance song!
What's the best piece of snowboarding advice you've ever been given?
What do you to pass the time on bad snow days?
What essential items do you always carry with you on your travels?
On the road there are always a few necessities. Clean socks, chapstick, Orbits rasberrimint gum, an ipod.
Are you interested in getting involved in some of the other related jobs many riders are doing these day – design, filming, camp coaching etc?
One of the best parts of being a pro snowboarder is being able to help design what I am wearing and riding on. I love that aspect of working with Volcom because the designers are all so amazing to work with and we really have fun coming up with fun new ideas.


Col. Ron Allen will relinquish command of the 341st Missile Wing to Col. Jennifer Reeves during a Tuesday morning ceremony.
Allen assumed command in April 2016 and said it's emotional as he's preparing to leave Malmstrom for his third assignment in D.C., this time as the principal assistant deputy administrator for military application at the National Nuclear Security Administration of the Department of Energy.
On June 25, he'll pin on the rank of brigadier general.
"It's been an amazing ride," Allen told The Electric in an early Monday morning interview in his office as he was finishing packing.
It was emotional walking in to the headquarters building for the last time as commander on Monday, he said.
On Tuesday, Maj. Gen. Fred Stoss, 20th Air Force commander, F. E. Warren AFB, Wyoming, will host the change of command ceremony. The ceremony has been indoors due to rain.
It's just a small snapshot in time to be commander for two years at a base that has had a continuous nuclear alert mission since 1962.
A number of changes have been implemented over the last few years to improve education, professional development and morale in the wake of a 2014 cheating and drug investigation among the missile crew officers.
"It's a completely different feeling walking onto a missile base now than it was 20 years ago," Allen said.
The heaviness and fear of making mistakes is gone, he said.
The education of why the nuclear mission is so important, "that's been the game changer," Allen said, so airmen feel valued in what they do.
He said he didn't get to host ribbon cuttings on some major projects, but a number of projects are in motion, like a new dining hall, recreation center improvements, the new facilities for the Huey replacements, updated missile alert facilities and modernizing the missile weapon system.
His time in Great Falls has been "an amazing experience" and he thanked the community for welcoming him and his family. "That's something we'll never forget," Allen said.
The state helps feed the world through agriculture, helps power the world through the energy sector and airmen at Malmstrom help protect the world, Allen said.
"It's pretty special," Allen said, to have that kind of global impact.
His parting advice to airmen is to be professional so they can continue to wear the uniform.
"It's a privilege to wear this nation's uniform," Allen said.
When he started out as a young officer in the mid to late-1990s, Allen said he had no plans to make general.


text:
ABC Is Reportedly Rebooting This Classic Show — With a Twist
by Samantha Puc
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August 24, 2018 at 7:38am AM EDT
Bettmann/Getty Images.
It truly is the golden age of TV, down to every last reboot that's hitting the small screen. Amid news that series like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Veronica Mars are returning in new formats, Deadline reports that another, more classic series is also getting a 2018 makeover for ABC: Bewitched.
Related story How to Stream Call Your Mother for Free
More: All the Nostalgic TV Shows & Movies Being Rebooted in 2018
The original series starring Elizabeth Montgomery ran from 1964 to 1972. The story followed Samantha (Montgomery), a witch who could make magic happen with a twitch of her nose, as she fell in love with a mortal. In the first episode of the classic sitcom, Samantha marries New York ad executive Darrin (first played by Dick York, then by Dick Sargent). When he discovers her powers, he makes her promise to never use them. That, of course, doesn't really work, because what's a sitcom without situational comedy? Samantha tries, but ultimately, they never manage a magic-free life.
According to Deadline, Black-ish creator Kenya Barris sold the rights to his new interpretation of Bewitched to ABC just before he signed a new deal with Netflix. He and Black-ish writer/producer Yamara Taylor crafted the reboot, which still follows Samantha and Darrin as they fall in love and navigate life with and without magic, but the characters are totally new.
Deadline reports that there's a twist to this new series: Samantha is a hardworking single black mom who happens to be a witch. When she marries Darren, a white mortal who's also kind of a slacker, she discovers that even with literal magic, she's still not as powerful as a white man living in the United States. From this description, it sounds like Bewitched will dig into issues of race and class while also holding onto the supernatural and romantic comedy elements of the original series. It's not just updated, it's improved for a modern audience.
More: Are Leo DiCaprio & Jessica Biel Teaming Up for a Facts of Life Reboot?
This isn't the first time ABC has pursued a new take on Bewitched, according to Deadline, but it is the first time a series has made it past the initial development stage. The 2005 film starring Nicole Kidman and Will Ferrell didn't particularly succeed (it only has a 25 percent "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes), but the original series has had an enduring fan base. Although there are no casting announcements or premiere news for the new reboot at this time, the network has at least made a commitment to produce a pilot, which is good news.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


After last year's trip to Ranworth Broad, it was back in my own garden for this year's International Dawn Chorus Day recording. It stars just after 4.20 and rund for an hour and twenty minutes. Sunrise was at 05.22.


of 1990 - S. 12(a) - Transfer of case - "Expedient to do".
Province. In effect both ' courts were conferred concurrent jurisdiction in respect of these matters.
Article 154P of the Constitution.
the Court of Appeal with regard to such appeal or revision relating to orders made by Primary Courts.
an adequate ground - that would be a most unfortunate selfish ground.
S.12 of 19 of 1990."
APPLICATION in Revision from the Order of the Primary Court of Jaffna, under Article 138 of the Constitution.
S. Mahenthiran for 1st and 3rd Respondents.
on the Respondents returnable on 27.11.1998.
before this Bench by the President of the Court of Appeal on 07.09.1999.
entertained by this Court. Written submissions were called for and thereafter filed by the respective Counsel.
Appeal (Article 138) to the Provincial High Courts. (Article 154P).
High Courts to the appropriate High Courts.
Northern Province holden at Vavunia of the devolved judicial matters falling within its jurisdiction.
4. Judgment of this Court in C. A. Revision 686/97 (Primary Court, Jaffna Case No. 139) was also referred to.
These arguments would presently be examined.
irregularity, which has not prejudiced the substantial rights of the parties or occasioned a failure of justice.
may by law vest or ordain.
such High Court shall be designated as the High Court of the relevant Province.
necessary to each such High Court. Every such Judge shall be transferable by the Chief Justice.
of any Court of First Instance within the Province.
Court of Appeal in accordance with Article 138.
Article 154 P of the Constitution"
(a), the proceedings pending in the High Court shall stand removed to the Court of Appeal for its determination.
application or to transfer it to a High Court.
Article 154 P of the Constitution.
Amendment or Act No. 19 of 1990. In effect both Courts were conferred concurrent jurisdiction in respect of these matters.
The only consideration, to our mind, that should receive our attention when we deem a mattertobe"expedienttodoso"
the forum far away from their residences.
this matter decided in this Court.
application in respect of this matter".
case to the High Court of Northern Province holden at Vavuniya would be height of insensitivity on the partofthisCourt.
Section 12 of Act No. 19 of 1990.
of the Court of Appeal but on adequate grounds favourable to the litigants.
would be greatly prejudiced under the present circumstances if a transfer is ordered.
of Northern Province holden at Vavuniya and dismiss the preliminary objection raised by the learned Counsel.
TILAKAWARDANA, J. - I agree.
Preliminary objection overruled. Application to transfer case refused.


text:
Gut Reactions: Oz the Great and Powerful (2013)
Director: Sam Raimi
Writers: Mitchell Kapner & David Lindsay-Abaire, based on the works of L. Frank Baum
Cast: James Franco, Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz, Michelle Williams, Zach Braff, Bill Cobbs, Joey King, Tony Cox, Bruce Campbell
Plot: Carnival huckster Oscar Zoroaster Diggs (James Franco) is swept up by a cyclone and hurled away to the mysterious, magical land of Oz. There, he finds himself caught in a power struggle between three witches (Mila Kunis, Rachel Weisz and Michelle Williams) over the realm's vacant throne. A prophesy claims that a wizard from another land will save Oz from wickedness, but can this humbug of a man find in himself the hero that Oz needs?
Thoughts: Before I really dig into this movie, I think it's only fair that I (briefly) tell you about my personal history with Oz, so you can understand where my opinion is coming from. Like most people these days, my first exposure to Oz was the 1939 MGM film, which I saw as a child and enjoyed. When I was a bit older, though, at my local public library (visit 'em kids, they're awesome) I found an entire shelf of Oz books by the creator, L. Frank Baum. I devoured the books they had (which, as it turned out, weren't all of them), and since then I've been a devoted consumer of any book, movie, or comic book I can find that offers a different vision of the land of Oz. Although I think there is plenty of room in media for many, many different Ozzes (a phenomenon I discussed in more depth on my other blog yesterday), in my heart, my favorite visions of Oz are those that pay due deference to Baum.
And it's with that perspective that I can say I enjoyed Oz the Great and Powerful immensely. (Don't worry, I'll put up a warning before I get into any spoilers for those of you who haven't seen it.)
The biggest problem with prequels, as George Lucas proved, is that it's difficult to maintain suspense when the audience already knows where the characters will be when the story ends. This isn't really a big problem with this film, though. Baum gave precious little backstory on many of his main characters, and almost none on the witches of Oz (although subsequent writers would often turn to this as their inspiration), and that leaves the screenwriters an enormous amount of room to play in. They also create a version of Oz that is mostly consistent with the books, while still giving a few nods to the 1939 film that they know is what most people will use as their measuring stick.
The casting is very good. Zach Braff as Finley the Flying Monkey brings a totally unexpected element of comedy to the film, one that serves to give us a glimpse of light in very dark moments. Each of the witches feels very natural in their respective roles – Mila Kunis's naïve Theodora and Rachel Weisz's sly Evanora work very well as the sister witches, and from the beginning present an interesting question to the audience… which of the two will someday become the insidious Wicked Witch of the West, and which one has a date with a house that's going to fall out of the next tornado?
Michelle Williams is almost perfect as Glinda. While Billie Burke's portrayal from 1939 is that of a hands-off fairy godmother, the sort who prefers to pulls the strings and not get directly involved, Williams is a much fiercer, braver woman. The display of power she puts forth in this movie is impressive, and certainly more in keeping with the character Baum created. He didn't go in for the pyrotechnics quite as much as this movie does, mind you, but it's easy to see Williams's Glinda capable of maturing into the strong, confidant witch she becomes in the original books.
Then there's Oz himself, James Franco. Oddly enough, he's the only one of the main cast that doesn't always work for me, and it's for an strange reason. Franco plays Oz as a snake oil salesman, a con man who has a good heart buried somewhere deep inside, and that's all well and good, that's how he should come across. But there are moments in the film where it feels like he's actually overselling the overselling, moments where you'd want Sam Raimi to ask him to dial it back down to 11 from 12 or 13.
As for Raimi's directing… it's fantastic. His visual effects team has built a brilliant, remarkable Oz that satisfies me on absolutely every level. Even the 3-D in this film is superior to most others. It's funny – I've long said that I've never seen a movie that convinces me that 3-D is a tool that improves storytelling, that there is no movie that does for 3-D what the 1939 The Wizard of Oz did for color… and this film almost does it. Raimi's transition from Kansas to Oz is a truly remarkable moment, and one that uses 3-D in a very clever way, similar to the way the '39 film did with color. It's visually stunning and, for a few scarce moments, I was glad I saw it in 3-D. Then later on he starts throwing monsters and spears straight at the camera and I was over it. Raimi also throws in a few moments of self-reference, which I think are fun as well… there's one scene that's almost straight out of his own Army of Darkness, which had my friends and me in hysterics, probably because we're the only people in the theater that got the joke.
I've got other things to say about this movie, including a few problems, but nothing I can discuss without putting up a spoiler wall. So if you've read this far and you haven't seen the movie yet, let me assure you that it has my wholehearted recommendation. It's a great fantasy film, probably too scary for the little kids, but well worth watching in the movie theater. And I won't even judge you for choosing the 3-D this time.
SPOILERS AFTER THIS LINE. ———————————————————————————————-
Aside from Franco being a bit over the top, my biggest problem with the story itself is one of timing… not pacing, timing. Once Franco arrives in Oz, it feels like things happen entirely too fast. For one thing, I think it's clear too early in the film that it is Theodora, not Evanora, who is fated to become the Wicked Witch of the West. In fact, I think it's clear too early that Evanora is the real villain, and not the "Wicked Witch" the sisters are warning us about. Granted, as soon as we learn the "Wicked Witch" is named Glinda, the audience should know Franco is being conned, but that moment should be played as a reveal and never really gets that chance.
Theodora's emotional turns are also hurt by the sheer speed of the piece. I'm not entirely sure (after just one viewing) but it seems like no more than three days pass between her meeting Oz and her transformation. In that time she falls madly in love with him, decides she's going to marry him and become his queen, and then grows to utterly hate him when she sees a glimpse of him talking to Glinda and learns that he "romanced" her sister the same way he did her. (Incidentally, I think the film does a nice turn leaving it a little ambiguous as to whether or not this actually happened. We see Oz work his charms on various women in the movie, but never Evanora, which leads me to suspect he never did. Instead, I got the impression Evanora pulls off the con on her sister because she was spying on the two of them in her globe the whole time.) The sheer speed with which Theodora's affections turn weakens the character, making her the fantasy equivalent of the internet Overly Attached Girlfriend meme. Even more problematic, she truly becomes wicked not because her heart is broken, but because after her heart is broken she allows her sister to make her evil. It's still the character making a choice, but I think it's a weak choice, she doesn't "earn" her evil, so to speak… not so much a monster as a victim, which will give her death at Dorothy' s hands a level of forced tragedy I don't think works.
It seems very clear to me that this movie was made to be the beginning of a franchise, despite its prequel status – and in fact, Disney was already talking about sequel plans the day before the movie was released. I've got no problem with this turning into a franchise, but it's a little too obvious that was the intent… instead of taking us from point A to point Z ("Z" being where The Wizard of Oz begins), this gets us to about… let's say "J." The film ends with Oz in power and the witches banished, but there are a lot of things that don't mesh up. Evanora doesn't have the Silver Shoes (or, if you insist on going with the MGM version, Ruby Slippers). Theodora isn't in command of the Flying Monkeys. Both sisters have been driven out and humiliated, where Evanora pretty much has dominion over Munchkinland when the original begins. Probably lots of other little bits I'm forgetting now, but will remember when I (inevitably) see the movie again.
The biggest sequel hooks come in for the Wizard himself, though… specifically, he's not the recluse we know he's doomed to become. He and Glinda have a romantic relationship, which simply doesn't fit the first movie (or any other incarnation, for that matter). This gives the screenwriters a delicate task – they have to do something to alter the relationship in such a way that they are no longer together, that he has retreated into his palace, but where she still has enough faith in him to send Dorothy down the Yellow Brick Road when she drops from the sky. Then there are Finley and the China Girl, Oz's surrogate family. Their inclusion in this story is actually wonderful, but it has us poised for tragedy. The moment Finley swears his life debt to Oz, pledging to remain with him until he (Finley) dies, I had a chill at every moment he was in danger. We know that the Wizard has no Finley when Dorothy arrives, and there's simply no way the character Zach Braff played would ever turn on his friend… which leaves only one possible reason for his absence in the later stories.
I appreciated a lot of the little touches that were brought in from the original book, for example, the inclusion of all four of the peoples of Oz, and not only the Munchkins as the original film did. The prominence of the China Town was good too, although it does raise the question of how it will be rebuilt to the point it will be when Dorothy arrives. (Then again, as this is a point left out of the original film, perhaps the filmmakers don't plan to address it again.) And although there were a few creatures we encountered that didn't come straight from the books, there was nothing that would feel out of place in a Baum story, and so I'm perfectly happy with that.
As a lifelong Oz fan, though, there's one glaring red flag waving in my face, one thing that simply flat-out contradicts any version of Oz I've ever seen, one thing I'm having a little trouble getting over, and that's the notion that Glinda is the daughter of the murdered King of Oz. This doesn't fit in anywhere, and I have a hard time wrapping my brain around it… not only idea that Glinda is the king's daughter, but also the question of what this means for the true ruler of Oz in the original novels, Princess Ozma. Considering how much work was done to mine the book, making a change of this magnitude is really troublesome to me. At the end of the movie, I kept waiting for an exchange like this:
OZ: Hey, if your father was the king, doesn't that mean you should be queen?
GLINDA: No, I had to renounce my claim to the throne when I chose to become a witch. My sister was supposed to take over, but she's been missing ever since our father died.
Not a perfect solution, I admit, but at least it would be something. The point is, it's not a minor quibble, but a major chance to the Oz canon that I think the sequels simply have to address.
That said, as big an issue as I have with that element, I still really enjoyed this movie. It's a modern Oz with a timeless feeling, which is as much as anybody could possibly have hoped for, and I hope to see Disney march forward with this franchise for a long time… even, if they have the guts, rolling into an actual adaptation of the original novel. Despite all the different versions of Oz that have hit the screen, very few filmmakers have dared try a full-on adaptation of the original, fearing comparisons to the MGM film. If the Disney juggernaut doesn't have the courage to finally make a version of The Wizard of Oz that's closer to the book, nobody ever will. And that, my friends, is where I really want to see this franchise go.
The first Reel to Reel study, Mutants, Monsters and Madmen, is now available as a $2.99 eBook in the Amazon Kindle store and Smashwords.com bookstore. And you can find links to all of my novels, collections, and short stories, in their assorted print, eBook and audio forms, at the Now Available page!
Posted in Fantasy, Gut Reactions
Tags: 2013, Bill Cobbs, Bruce Campbell, David Lindsay-Abaire, Disney, James Franco, Joey King, L. Frank Baum, Michelle Williams, Mila Kunis, Mitchell Kapner, Oz: The Great and Powerful, Rachel Weisz, Sam Raimi, Tony Cox, Wizard of Oz, Zach Braff
Lunatics and Laughter Day 13: Bubba Ho-Tep (2002)
Director: Don Coscarelli
Writer: Don Coscarelli, from the short story by Joe Lansdale
Cast: Bruce Campbell, Ossie Davis, Ella Joyce, Heidi Marnhout, Bob Ivy
Plot: In Mud Creek Texas, there's a quiet little nursing home called Shady Rest with a few extraordinary residents. Sebastian Haff (Bruce Campbell) lies in bed bemoaning how his grand "plan" went horribly wrong. As he feeling sorry for himself, his roommate loudly expires in the bed next to him. That night, a woman is attacked in bed by a huge scarab beetle. After the beetle bites her, a horrific man appears in her bedroom. Down the hall, Sebastian sees her being dragged past his door, asking for help. Thinking it's a dream, he goes back to sleep, and the next morning, she's found dead.
Sebastian wakes up to find a young woman going through his deceased roommate's belongings. Callie (Heidi Marnhout), the man's daughter, starts throwing things out, and Sebastian asks if he can keep some of them. He's dismayed that she hasn't been to visit him in the three years since he'd come to the home, and he wonders if his own daughter would visit him if she knew he was still alive. His nurse (Ella Joyce) comes in and he insists she call him by his given name. He doesn't go by Sebastian Haff anymore – he's Elvis Presley. The nurse insists he's an old Elvis impersonator who has had mental problems since he came out of a coma years ago. Elvis claims he traded place with the real Haff, an Elvis impersonator, after he decided he was tired of the manufactured thing his managers had turned him into. Elvis isn't Shady Rest's only celebrity tenant, though. His friend Jack (Ossie Davis) claims to be John F. Kennedy, victim of a conspiracy. Jack says his brain was tampered with and his skin dyed black in order to get him out of the way years ago. Even Elvis is skeptical of Jack's story.
That night, when Elvis wakes up to go to the bathroom, he sees a scarab the size of his hand. He manages to kill it and goes to Jack's room, where his wheelchair-bound friend is lying on the floor facedown. He's alive, but confused, saying he saw someone "scuttling" through the hall, someone he believes the conspiracy sent to finish him off (possibly Lyndon Johnson). As he thinks about the bugs, about Jack, about Callie, Elvis starts to feel an energy he hasn't had in years. For the first time in years, something interesting is happening.
The next night, Jack wakes Elvis up to show him bathroom graffiti that turns out to be Egyptian hieroglyphics. Jack tells Elvis that, the night before, his strange assassin tried to suck out his soul, and he believes there's a connection. Elvis finds a book that indicates the creature may be a mummy, one that survives by eating souls, but can't last long on "small souls," souls of people who have little joy for life. The nursing home makes for the perfect place to feed without drawing suspicion. As the lights start to flash Elvis steps into the hall and encounters the mummy – a gnarled, ancient man in cowboy attire (Bob Ivy). Their eyes lock and Elvis sees moments of the mummy's life. As it walks away, another resident comes out of his room and dies of a ruptured heart. Elvis and Jack take comfort in the knowledge that the mummy failed to consume the old man's soul.
The next day Elvis tries to track the mummy, finding his way to a creek nearby. In the water, he finds a submerged van near a bridge, and recalls the mummy – from its own memories – being lost in a van crash. Jack meets him later with research that indicates there was a mummy stolen from a museum years ago by a pair of crooks in a van, on the night of an incredible storm. Although Jack wants to adopt a defensive strategy against the monster, Elvis persuades him to go on the offensive. Suited up and armed, the old men prepare for battle. When the mummy appears and tries to suck out Jack's soul, Elvis douses it with lighter fluid and sets it ablaze. Jack implores him to "take care of business," and dies. Elvis climbs in Jack's wheelchair and charges, battling the mummy to the edge of the creek. He lights the mummy on fire again, and it plunges into the water, inert. Too wounded to go on, Elvis Aaron Presley dies as what he always only pretended to be in his movies: a hero.
Thoughts: By the time Bubba Ho-Tep came out in 2002, ten years after the final Evil Dead/Army of Darkness film, Bruce Campbell had legitimately ascended to the status of a cult hero, even if he'd never had any real mainstream success. It's a double-edged sword. On the one hand, much of the mainstream public still is unaware of his sheer awesometude. On the other hand, he's largely avoided making any tremendous suck-fests (largely, not entirely), because he has a lot of freedom to pick movies that really speak to him. This utterly, utterly bizarre film fits that bill perfectly.
At its core, this movie has all the hallmarks of a Type-B horror spoof: Nursing Home Elvis and Black JFK team up to fight a mummy. How could that be anything but a goofy farce? But in fact, although the characters and performances are very funny, the movie is surprisingly grim, from the unending pallor of death around the nursing home to the thoughtless, sometimes cruel things the residents do to each other. An early scene features a woman stealing a tin of cookies from a friend in an iron lung, a crime for which she is targeted by the scarabs. It's actually a neat sort of twist on the classic horror-as-morality-play motif. The characters who fall victim to that trope are usually teenagers. Seeing an old woman chosen to be struck down for her sins is an interesting change of pace.
With the horror played straight, it's largely up to Campbell and Davis – and the ludicrous nature of their situation – to provide the comedy. Campbell's voiceover narration does a lot of the heavy lifting in that regard. His commentary on the world around him, his feelings about being an old man, and his regret over how his "new life" went so terribly wrong, are actually pretty amusing. The flashbacks that show him trading places with Haff are entertaining as well, if they're left somewhat unclear as to exactly how real they are. The film doesn't bother to explain whether our heroes really are who they say they are, or if they simply suffer the delusions of old age, and I'm rather glad they don't. Confirmation would make the film almost too ridiculous to be believed, while busting the myths would just make them sad figures. The ambiguity is practically essential for the film to remain entertaining.
Coscarelli makes liberal use of the comedy factor in seeing older characters throw around toilet humor. Elvis is constantly concerned with a growth in a private area under his pants, and is overjoyed when it starts to show a little life while his nurse applies ointment. The discussion of the mummy itself is ripe with scatological commentary (pardon the pun). It's all justified in that it works for the purposes of the story, but one can't help but get the impression it was structured in such a way as to wring out a few extra laughs by the juxtaposition.
One of the few bits where the laughs fall flat comes from the pair of hearse drivers who arrive after each death. The first one is treated fairly straight, but the next one comes with jokes about the smell of the corpse, and by the final time they appear it's an outright comedy of errors, as they drop the body and stumble into the bushes. Sandwiched, as it is, between two fairly intense scenes, it's no doubt intended to be a little light comic relief, but as Coscarelli just made us feel a sense of honor for the body they're transporting (it's the man who died naturally and escaped the mummy), treating him as a slapstick prop just feels wrong.
I give Coscarelli some slack, though, for the way he manages to pull some genuine tenderness out of these two truly absurd characters. The friendship between them feels honest and genuine, even if you suspect they're both totally off their rockers. The scene where Elvis asks Jack what Marilyn Monroe was like in bed would feel crass in most other cases, but instead, it comes across like a bonding moment between two old soldiers, and it makes us believe in both of them just before they're about to risk their lives to stop the monster. By the time Jack dies, it's actually heart-wrenching. When Elvis dies a few minutes later, his last words are simultaneously funny, sad, and absolutely perfect: "Thank you. Thank you very much."
On paper, even as a spoof this movie would sound like a ridiculous, unbelievable, unworkable jumble of big ideas that can't possibly work in concert. Somehow, though, Coscarelli wrings out a clever, entertaining, and impressively emotional film, one of the deepest movies we've yet encountered here in Lunatics and Laughter. That's not the sort of thing I would have expected, and it's surprises like this one that make this project worth doing.
Posted in 2-Lunatics and Laughter, Comedy, Horror
Tags: 2002, Bob Ivy, Bruce Campbell, Bubba Ho-Tep, Don Coscarelli, Ella Joyce, Elvis Presley, Heidi Marnhout, Joe Lansdale, John F. Kennedy, Monster, Mummy, Ossie Davis
Lunatics and Laughter Day 11: Army of Darkness (1992)
Writers: Sam Raimi & Ivan Raimi
Cast: Bruce Campbell, Embeth Davidtz, Marcus Gilbert, Ian Abercrombie, Richard Grove, Bridget Fonda, Patricia Tallman, Ted Raimi
Plot: S-Mart employee Ash Williams (Bruce Campbell) has had a hard time of it – finding the Necronomicon (Book of the Dead), awakening something terrible, getting attacked by zombie-like "Deadites," being forced to kill his possessed girlfriend and chop off his own hand, and then getting hurled back in time to the middle ages. As the film opens, Ash recalls how he fell through a time portal (along with his car, shotgun, and chainsaw) and was taken into captivity by the soldiers of a warlord named Arthur (Marcus Gilbert). Although Arthur's Wise Man (Ian Abercrombie) believes Ash to be a prophesied savior, Arthur has him chained with the men of his captured enemy, Henry the Red (Richard Grove). As the captives are marched to a pit for execution, Arthur is attacked by a woman named Sheila (Embeth Davidtz) whose brother was slain by Henry's men. Arthur blames Henry for loosing an evil upon the land, but Henry claims his men have fallen prey to the same beast. Arthur opens the pit and a captive is tossed in, blood erupting from the bottom. Ash tries to convince Arthur he's not one of Henry's men, but Sheila hurls a rock at him and he falls into the pit, where a Deadite awaits. The Wise Man throws Ash's chainsaw into the pit and, his weapon returned, he escapes. He sets Henry free and uses his shotgun to intimidate Arthur's men, into obeying him.
The Wise Man tells Ash his only hope of returning home lies in finding the Necronomicon. He prepares for battle, making a mechanical hand for himself. Sheila gives him a blanket, hoping to apologize for her actions, but he rebuffs her at first. When it's clear she's upset, he instructs her to "Give me some sugar, baby," and she sends him off with a kiss. The Wise Man gives Ash the words he needs to allow him to take the book safely: "Klatu Verada Nikto," but the overconfident Ash refuses to repeat them more than once. He's pursued by the dark forces from inside the book, who burst from a broken mirror as several miniature versions of himself, tormenting him in painful and amusing ways. One manages to to jump down his throat and sprouts from him as a full-grown "Evil Ash," whom Ash manages to subdue, chop up, and bury. Ash makes his way to the stone altar where the Necronomicon awaits, but finds he has forgotten the Wise Man's magic words. He tries to fake his way through it, but when he takes the book an army of skeletal Deadites rises from the earth. Evil Ash, now rotting and mutating, rises to lead them.
Returning to the Castle, Ash insists the Wise Man send him home as soon as possible. Before it can happen, a flying Deadite swoops in and takes Sheila captive. It brings her to Evil Ash, who is opening every grave to set free even more Deadites. When word of the army reaches Arthur he debates fleeing, but Ash is determined to stand and fight. He convinces Arthur's remaining me to stay, and sends an envoy to Henry the Red, hoping to recruit his army to their cause as well. The Deadite Army approaches, a now-possessed Sheila at Evil Ash's side, and battle ensues.
Ash's homemade gunpowder gives Arthur's forces an early advantage, but the Deadites break down a gate and get inside the fortress walls. Just as it seems the living will be overwhelmed by the dead, Henry the Red's forces arrive and turn the tide. Evil Ash and Sheila overwhelm the guards protecting the Necronomicon, but Ash manages to toss her over the side of the wall and face his counterpart. The two battle, and Ash defeats the monster and saves the book. The rest of the Deadites retreat, and Sheila is restored. Arthur and Henry make peace and the Wise Man gives Ash a potion that will send him to his own time, provided he can remember the magic words. He bids Sheila farewell and returns to his time and his home, working in S-Mart, where we see him telling the story to an unconvinced, unimpressed coworker. Suddenly, a customer transforms into a Deadite, attacking, and Ash grabs a rifle from the store's case, blowing her away. It's not too bad to be home.
Thoughts: The Evil Dead franchise (I covered the first film in the original Reel to Reel project) is a strange animal. The first film is a straight-up "Cabin in the Woods" sort of horror movie. The sequel, Evil Dead II, is a virtual remake of the first, copying the plot and largely ignoring the first film, but providing better special effects and a brand of dark comedy the first laughed. By this third installment, writer/director Sam Raimi decided to go for a full-blown comedy. Bruce Campbell's Ash – a struggling everyman in the first film – had become a cool-as-ice balls-of-steel action hero capable of creating advanced robotic prosthetics with 14th-century technology. And yes, we love him for it.
Early in the movie Raimi ramps up the already-gory franchise to a truly comical degree, with a literal geyser of blood early. The violence, however, has a much more comical tone than in the first two films, and after that initial spout, there's surprisingly little blood. A lot of that comes down to the monsters that make up most of the movie – rather than fleshy pseudo-zombies as in the first two movies, the majority of the Deadites this time around are reanimated skeletons – fun to break, but not much blood to spray at the camera. As Ash battles the stop-motion skeletal Deadites, there's a nice feel of the Three Stooges meeting Jason and the Argonauts. Every bit of action is far sillier than would have been allowed in the earlier movies, in fact. The scene where Ash leaps into the air and snaps his chains aw on to his dismembered hand would be preposterous even in a more serious, Type-A horror/comedy. This movie rides the line between the two types – the basic plot is something out of a horror (or perhaps more accurately, medieval fantasy) film. The antics of Ash and the Deadites, however, are too broad to really place in the same category as Ghostbusters and the like.
For sheer silly, though, nothing tops the battle with the mini-Ashes. This segment is full of pure slapstick, comedic moments that aren't too far off from the antics of Home Alone, about as far from a straight-up horror movie as you can get. The only thing that keeps things even a little creepy here is Bruce Campbell's attitude as he does battle with the miniatures, his face growing truly maniacal as he guzzles boiling hot water in the hopes of destroying one that forced itself down his throat. The rest of the scene spins wildly though different gags: Ash finds an eyeball growing on his shoulder and it's goofy (although there is, to be fair, a nice dose of body horror in that moment), the eye begins sprouting into a second Ash and it gets silly again. If it weren't for the unique charm Campbell brings to the character, the whole thing would be entirely too inane to give even a moment's consideration.
That said, Ash truly is an iconic character, thanks mostly to this movie. One of the greatest horror/comedy moments of all time has to be Bruce Campbell's "boomstick" speech, where he extols the virtues of shopping at S-Mart to a crowd of medieval screwheads (I quote him directly, of course) who live in a world where the fictional retail giant won't even exist for another 700 years. If you know a movie fan who loves Bruce Campbell and you can't figure out why, I can only assume you've never watched this movie.
The Army of the Dead itself is a pretty macabre sight. Raimi gives us a complex mixture of stop-motion skeletons, mechanical puppets, and people in costumes. Although it's fairly easy to tell the difference between them, at this point you've bought so completely into the world in front of you that you don't even care if the effects aren't seamless, the greenscreen is obvious and the action is more like a live action Looney Tunes short than anything else. In fact, some of the more technically absurd moments are the most entertaining. Whenever one of the skeletons explodes in a sudden burst of white dust, you get a visceral thrill, and if you can watch a group of skeletons storming a castle with a battering ram without your inner 11-year-old thinking about how awesome it is, something is terribly wrong with you. By the time Bruce Campbell fights two Deadites with two different swords at the same time, you're either a fan for life or you're never going to appreciate what you're watching.
I know a lot of people prefer this movie's rather famous original ending, in which Ash is returned home via a magic sleeping potion, but he takes too much, sleeps too long, and awakens in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Thematically, it actually fits the trilogy pretty well. The first movie was unflinchingly bleak, the sequel only marginally less so. Ending the series with a completely hopeless climax would have been perfectly in character. That said, I'm kind of glad Raimi relented and gave us the ending he did. Maybe it's just because I'm basically a positive person. Maybe it's because I think Ash deserves a happy ending after everything he's been through. Or maybe it's just because the S-Mart finale gives Ash one last moment to be kick a little ass, I don't know. All I know is that if the theatrical ending had never been filmed, we never would have been treated to Ash's immortal "Hail to the King, baby." And that would be a damn shame.
Tags: 1992, Army of Darkness, Bridget Fonda, Bruce Campbell, Deadites, Embeth Davidtz, Evil Dead, Ian Abercrombie, Ivan Raimi, Marcus Gilbert, Monster, Patricia Tallman, Richard Grove, Sam Raimi, Ted Raimi
Mutants, Monsters, and Madmen Day 26: The Evil Dead (1981)
Writer: Sam Raimi
Cast: Bruce Campbell, Ellen Sandweiss, Betsy Baker, Hal Delrich, Sarah York
Plot: Five college students head out to a cabin in the woods, looking for a short getaway. From the very beginning, though, the trip seems to be in trouble. The bridge they have to take is crumbling and their car almost gets stuck. The cabin isn't in any better shape than the bridge itself. And something, some presence in the woods seems to be watching them for some malevolent purpose. Cheryl (Ellen Sandweiss), while sketching an old clock, finds her hand seemingly possessed, and draws a crude image of a book with a face on it, then sees a trapdoor rattling in the corner. She dismisses her experience and returns to her friends, where her brother Ash (Bruce Campbell) lightens the mood with a stumbling toast that's interrupted when the trapdoor is thrown open. Ash and Scott (Hal Delrich) investigate the cellar, finding some horrific artifacts, including an ancient book wrapped in human skin and inked in blood, The Book of the Dead, and a tape recorder. When they play back the recording, they hear a message from the cabin's previous occupant – an archeologist who was studying the Book of the Dead and the demons it can summon. The voice on the tape recites an old chant and a horrible light glows from beneath the ground. Horrified, Cheryl storms off. Ash is left alone with his girlfriend, Linda, and gives her a necklace with a magnifying glass pendant. Cheryl, believing she's being watched, walks out alone into the woods (a stupid move that girls in horror movies had been doing for years and would keep doing for years to come), only to be attacked by a demon in the trees. (Literally, in the trees.) She demands Ash drive her back into town, but the bridge they used on the way in has been destroyed. Returning to the cabin, Cheryl suddenly transforms into a "Deadite" – possessed by a demon, possessing strange power. She attacks, stabbing Linda with a pencil and throwing Ash into a shelf before Scott manages to lock her in the cellar. Shelly (Sarah York) is next, transforming and attacking Scott, and he kills her to save himself.
Scott wants to leave the injured Linda behind and look for a way back to town, but Ash refuses, so he wanders off alone. Linda's injury spreads, transforming her into another Deadite, and Scott reappears, horribly wounded by something in the woods. While the possessed girls taunt them, Scott tells Ash there's a trail in the woods. The girls suddenly become themselves again, but when Ash goes to free Cheryl, she breaks through the floor and tries to strangle him. He escapes and drags the again-possessed Linda outside, and returns to find that Scott has died. The girls attack and Ash kills Linda. Remembering that Shelly didn't stop until her body was completely dismembered, Ash chains up Linda and is about to cut her up with a chainsaw when he sees her pendant. Grief-stricken, he carries her outside to bury her intact, but she reanimates and attacks him again; he finally beheads her. Returning to the cabin, he finds that Cheryl has escaped and arms himself with a shotgun. As he barricades himself in, Scott reanimates and Ash loses the gun. He gets free of Scott as Cheryl breaks in, and the two Deadites try to hold him down and kill him. Ash manages to use Linda's necklace (which somehow, miraculously appeared at the right time) to grab the Book of the Dead and hurl it into the fireplace. The two Deadites deteriorate before his eyes, collapsing into piles of gore. As the sun rises Ash – broken, battered, and covered in blood – stands up, alive and victorious. But as he steps into the light, something else approaches… and attacks.
Thoughts: To be perfectly, frank, this isn't a masterpiece of a movie. Sam Raimi is still very raw as a director at this point, with ineffective angles and stiff performances from his actors. But the film is significant nonetheless in that we can see the germ of greatness in here. Raimi, who has gone on to do a great many very good movies, was cutting his teeth at this point, and was learning the basics of telling a story. Campbell was not yet the tongue-in-cheek master of camp that he would later become.
Some scenes, in fact, are downright awkward. The scene where Ash pretends to be asleep to give Linda the necklace, for example, includes a weird game where the camera keeps doing close-ups of Campbell and Baker's eyes while she tries to decide if she's going to take the box and keeps feigning sleep, while watching her at the same time. It's supposed to be sweet, but even for the audience, it's kind of uncomfortable. And while that feeling fits in with the rest of the film very well, in this scene it somewhat undermines the intent. Ash himself has a long way to go before he becomes the badass we know from Army of Darkness. When Shelly attacks, he's actually paralyzed with fear, leaving Scott to take care of dismembering her himself.
But one thing that was effective right away was the mood. Raimi managed to put together scenes that combined shadow, nice tricks of the camera, and haunting music to make you feel that the characters' fear was justified, even if it wasn't presented in a flawless manner. There are several moments where the viewer is placed in the eyes of the Evil itself, as it zooms in on the characters, watches them from the woods, and otherwise stalks them.
By the time we reached the sequel, 1987's Evil Dead II, both Raimi and Campbell had improved dramatically. In fact, the sequel is little more than a more successful remake of the original – it tells the same story, but injects it with superior storytelling, a healthy dose of black comedy, and a much stranger ending, making it a true classic of the horror/comedy mashup genre. (If and when I do the follow-up to this project about horror/comedies, you can bet Evil Dead II will occupy a place of honor.)
That's not to say that none of the scenes work, though. The scene of Cheryl's "possession" (which, let's be honest, is a nice way to say she's "raped by a bunch of freaking trees") is horrible in all the ways the filmmaker wants. Considering that so much of it is dependent on our ability to believe that the branches and sprigs that are wrapping themselves around her body are acting of their own accord and not being manipulated right off-camera by a guy in a sweaty t-shirt, it looks very convincing and pretty horrifying. In fact, the makeup and gore effects on the whole are very well-done. There's also some impressive stop-motion animation at the end, as the book burns and the two Deadites decay.
Speaking of them, the Deadite makeup is instantly frightening, and the scene where she stabs Linda with the pencil is convincing as all hell. And man, man is there a lot of blood in this movie. Every wound, every cut, every scrape absolutely gushes, and it all looks real enough for me. It multiplies when Ash hides in the cellar – pipes drip with blood, electrical outlets, blood flows into a lightbulb, drips down the lens of a movie projector… Raimi must have spent half his budget on corn syrup and food coloring. This does, however, lead to some amusing continuity errors. At one point, Ash bashes the possessed Cheryl's hand in the door and it explodes with blood – in the next shot he slams the door shut and the door and frame are totally clean. Similarly, the pattern of gore on Ash's increasingly dirty face and clothes changes noticeably from shot to shot. It's a small thing, but when you notice it, it takes you out of the film.
The ending of the film is particularly – if justifiably – bleak. Ash, who has managed to survive all the horror around him – is attacked once more as we cut to black. Raimi's philosophy for the movie, he says, was "everything dies," and if he had stopped here, that would have come across very well. Of course, in the sequels we learn that not only does Ash live, he rules. But that's neither here nor there. If nothing else, we owe this film and Sam Raimi an unending debt of gratitude for giving the world the awesomeness that is Bruce Campbell. And even though you know the forthcoming remake has both Raimi and Campbell's stamp of approval, there's just no way it capture the thrill of watching Ashley Williams become one of the great cult movie heroes.
After spending a couple of days in the woods, let's get back to civilization… a nice little house in the suburbs. In a film called Poltergeist.
Posted in 1-Mutants Monsters and Madmen, Horror
Tags: 1981, Betsy Baker, Bruce Campbell, Deadites, Ellen Sandweiss, Evil Dead, Hal Delrich, Monster, Sam Raimi, Sarah York


It's sad thinking of where most pets end up following their owners' deaths, but when a friend (or an ex-girlfriend in this case) offer to take care of that orphaned pet, it gives us hope in mankind.
Miller adopted a little pup called Myron back in January 2017 when he was dating Ariana. They split up last May. Sadly, he passed away on the 7th of september, a couple weeks ago, of a drug overdose.
Ariana Grande shared on Instagram videos of all her adorable pets, and one her fleet of pups appears to be Mac Miller's doggy—leading fans to believe she's taken the little dude in. Now, we don't know if this is a permanent situation or not, but either way, it's good to know he's in good hands!
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Our events calendar is below. More details are available by email (events@armylgbt.org.uk) or on the private members' Facebook group.


text:
Q: Mocha async execution order I'm using Mocha for js unit tests of AMD (requirejs) modules.  Since the module needs to be loaded by requirejs, the test is asynchronous:
'use strict';

var chai = require('chai');
var should = chai.should();
var requirejs = require('requirejs');
requirejs.config({
    baseUrl: '../../',
    paths: {
        PieWidget: 'tools/scheduler/PieWidget'
    }
});

describe('PieWidget tests', function() {
    var PieWidget, pw1, pw2;
    before('Set up the PieWidget module', function(done) {
        requirejs(['PieWidget'], function(_) {
            PieWidget = _;
            done(); // tell Mocha we are now ready to run the tests
        });
    });

    // tests here
};

For readability and conciseness, I want to say:
context('when the constructor is called', function() {
    pw1 = new PieWidget();
    it('should create a valid PieWidget', function() {
        pw1.should.exist;
        //todo check validity
    });
});

but Mocha runs these lines out of order.  To satisfy Mocha, I must either:
context('when the constructor is called', function() {
    it('should create a valid PieWidget', function() {
        pw1 = new PieWidget();
        pw1.should.exist;
        //todo check validity
    });
});

which to my eye is a mismatch between the description and the logic, or:
context('when the constructor is called', function() {
    before(function() {
        pw1 = new PieWidget();
    });
    it('should create a valid PieWidget', function() {
        pw1.should.exist;
        //todo check validity
    });
});

which seems verbose and less readable.  Is there a better way to write this code?

A: The two ways you've discovered works are it, as far as Mocha is concerned.
Mocha works in two phases: test discovery and test execution. (I don't think the documentation spells this out.) The callbacks passed to describe and context are called immediately by Mocha, during test discovery. The before, beforeEach hooks are called during test execution. (See the example with the console.log calls that output numbers in this answer to see this order in action.) You cannot have anything executed during test discovery that depends on code executed during test execution. This is principle that your code violates: new PieWidget() executes before your before hook.
Now, I would argue that this is the correct way to write your test:
context('the constructor', function() {
    it('should create a valid PieWidget', function() {
        var pw1 = new PieWidget();
        pw1.should.exist;
        //todo check validity
    });
});

Why? Your initial attempt did not work because Mocha does not allow it, but suppose that it does. And suppose that your constructor crashes. What is Mocha to make of this failure? I can tell you what Mocha would do. It would just not execute any test at all. If you happen to test another object in your suite, which is not impacted by the fact that PieWidget is buggy, those tests won't run either. Mocha will give up right away.
What about putting the creation in a before hook, which you've discovered works. This is still not a good idea. The end result will be different but the reason why it is a bad idea is essentially the same: Mocha won't run as many tests as it could. If your PieWidget is buggy, then the hook will crash. Mocha interprets a crash in a hook as a sign that the test suite itself is buggy and will abort execution. Any test executed before the crash is fine but any tests that would be executed after the crash won't be executed.
Doing it the way I show above ensures that when you run your test suite Mocha will run a maximal number of tests. The failure of new PieWidget() in your test won't have any effect whatsoever on any other test.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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text:
Q: Comparing two columns in pandas dataframe I have a pandas dataframe where I would like to verify that column A is greater than column B (row wise). I am doing something like
tmp=df['B']-df['A']
if(any( [ v for v in tmp if v > 0])):
   ....

I was wondering if there was better(concise) way of doing it  or if pandas dataframe had any such built in routines to accomplish this

A: df = pd.DataFrame({'A': [1, 2, 3], 'B': [3, 1, 1]})

temp = df['B'] - df['A']

print(temp)

0    2
1   -1
2   -2

Now you can create a Boolean series using temp > 0:
print(temp > 0)

0     True
1    False
2    False
dtype: bool

This boolean series can be fed to any and therefore you can use:
if any(temp > 0):
    print('juhu!')

Or simply (which avoids temp):
if any(df['B'] > df['A']):
    print('juhu')

using the same logic of creating a Boolean series first:
print(df['B'] > df['A'])

0     True
1    False
2    False
dtype: bool

A: df['B']>df['A'] will be pandas series in boolean datatype.
 >>> (df['B']>df['A']).dtype
      dtype('bool')

For example
>>> df['B']>df['A']
   0     True
   1    False
   2    False
   3     True
   4     True
   dtype: bool

any() function returns True if any of the item in an iterable is true
>>> if any(df['B']>df['A']):
...     print(True)
...
     True

A: I guess you wanted to check if any df['B'] > df['A'] then do something.
import pandas as pd
import numpy as np
df = pd.DataFrame({'A': [1, 2, 3, 4], 'B': [2, 0, 6, 3]})
if np.where(df['B'] > df['A'], 1, 0).sum():
    print('do something')


Found a link to one of the many "big huge awesome" projects that we started in ACM@UIUC back in the day. I'm pretty sure this page is the only thing that actually came out of this project. 🙂 I think (hope?) that I've gotten a little better at completing things (retro pc project and this blog not withstanding).
These big huge unfinished projects were not really failures. Many of the people who worked on projects like these at ACM@UIUC are now veterans of the startup scene or leaders behind the scenes at the hot tech shops around. I look back at these projects as ambitious and a great learning experience.
Update 1/25/2017: updated link to be via archive.org.


The swarm command runs a Swarm container on a Docker Engine host and performs the task specified by the required subcommand, COMMAND.
time="2016-02-17T17:57:40Z" level=fatal msg="discovery required to join a cluster. See 'swarm join --help'."
The environment variable for this option is [$DEBUG].
--log-level "<value>" or -l "<value>" — Set the log level. Where <value> is: debug, info, warn, error, fatal, or panic. The default value is info.
--experimental — Enable experimental features.
--help or -h — Display help.


text:
@interface NSPopUpButton (PopUpButtonExtensions)
	-(void)addItemWithTitle:(NSString *)title image:(NSImage *)image;
	-(void)addItemWithTarget:(NSString *)title target:(SEL)target;
	-(void)addItemWithTag:(NSString *)title tag:(NSInteger)tag;
	-(void)addItemWithRepresentedObject:(NSString *)title object:(id)object;
	-(void)insertItemWithTag:(NSString *)title tag:(NSInteger)tag atIndex:(NSInteger)index;
	@property (nonatomic, readonly, strong) id representedObjectForSelection;
	@property (nonatomic, readonly) NSInteger tagForSelection;
	-(void)addSeparator;
@end

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


MANILA, Philippines – Mexican slugger Juan Manuel Marquez said that he "trained very hard" for his upcoming fight with world boxing icon Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao, a 990AM report said Thursday.
Marquez arrived early Thursday in the country where he and Pacquiao would promote their November 12 bout in Las Vegas. He was aboard Philippine Airline flight PR 105 which landed at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) at 5 a.m.
Despite Marquez's claim that he is ready for Pacquiao, sports analyst Ronnie Nathanielsz thinks otherwise, predicting that Marquez will wind up being beatend handily by Pacquiao.
Speaking on 990AM, Nathanielsz said he noticed that the Mexican boxer was "slower" and that it was "easier to hit him".
But at the same time, Nathanielsz said that there was little chance that Marquez would be knocked out, pointing out that the Mexican boxer was a proud fighter.


My husband is a coffee fanatic so we have a Keurig in the house. I wondered how I could make my creamy chai latte every morning with a Keurig coffee machine! I set to figure out how to create a Starbucks Tazi Chai Tea Latte Recipe that would fill my mug with Starbucks without leaving the house.
Every morning, I absolutely love having a Starbucks Tazo Chai Tea Latte. Oh my goodness, just thinking about the warm creaminess of a chai makes me want to run out and get one right away.
But the cost was killing my budget! Who can drop $5 on a drink every day? There had to be a better way for me to enjoy my morning indulgence without killing my budget.
If you prefer, learn how to make your Starbucks Chai Tea Latte from scratch.
Turn on your Keurig and brew the Tazi Chai Tea.
When brew is complete, fill the rest of your mug with milk. For a creamier chai, add less water and more milk.
For a creamier cup of chai, add a little less water and little more milk.
Also, if you want to have a froth to your milk, put the milk into a container with a lid, shake rigorously for about 10 seconds. Then put into the microwave for 15-30 seconds. Remove carefully and then add it to your chai.
Hi Jenny, do you find the Tazo chai to be very peppery? The thing I can't stand about Starbucks chai is how much ginger it has. My favorite is Big Train chai but it has SO much sugar. It's the opposite of gingery.
I actually like the spicy bite of the Tazo chai. And I find if I want it to be a little more mild, I add in extra soy milk.


text:
Reflect Forward Podcast
Industrial Theory Podcast
Reflect Forward Podcast with Kerry Siggins
Ep 6: How to Build a Valuable Business and Be a Leader Worth Following w/ Howard M. Shore
Guest: Howard Shore is a business strategist, executive coach, speaker, and author. His firm, Activate Group, helps businesses tap into the true potential of their people, develop a winning strategy, and execute by staying focused and aligned.
Episode in a Tweet: Play to win, not to lose by building a strong team, a strong strategy, and strong plan to execute.
Quick Background: Howard Shore has established himself as one of the most sought-out business speakers in the country with more than 30 years of experience helping organizations across all industries achieve record breaking results. From his personal experience owning multiple companies and working with some of the most successful organizations in the world, he has discovered how to truly manage and grow businesses. Howard has also authored two bestselling books, "Your Business is a Leaky Bucket" and "the Leader Launchpad." Howard gives so much great advice in this podcast; you don't want to miss it!
EP 4: How I Built One of the fastest Growing Companies in America with Ben Wright, CEO of Velocity Global
Guest: Ben Wright is the founder of Velocity Global, a global employment solutions firm based in Denver, Colorado.
Episode in Tweet: Learn how the CEO of one of America's fastest growing companies built his company and his take on leadership, stewardship and overcoming self-limiting beliefs. This episode is funny, insightful, and inspiring.
Quick Background: Velocity Global is a full-service international business expansion firm, specializing in global talent acquisition and international PEO (Professional Employer Organization), global payroll, and immigration services. It's one of Colorado's fastest-growing companies, winning dozens of awards for its leadership, culture, and growth. Ben founded Velocity Global as a first-time entrepreneur in 2014 and shares the lessons and insights he's gained along the way.
EP 2: Chris Larkins - CEO Coach and Leadership Development Expert
Guest: Chris is a Partner at CEO Coaching International, a member of the firm's Executive Leadership Team, and an active coach. He has a proven record leading, growing and reinvigorating large and medium companies across a wide variety of industries. And he's my executive coach!
Episode in a Tweet: Lessons on how to be a great leader from one of the country's top executive coaches.
Sneak Peak: Chris and I explore how the best of the best build teams, smash though self-imposed roadblocks, and develop themselves to be at the top of their game.
Subscribe
Reflect Forward isn't your every day leadership podcast. This show is about exceptional leadership. Game-changing leadership. Learn from peers, experts, authors, and more on how to be an uber-successful leader…one that stands out from the rest. One that inspires others to do great things. One that others want to follow. How does Reflecting Forward fit into exceptional leadership? You can only become great at what you do by deliberately creating your future by reflecting on the past and present…what you did well, mistakes you've made, and lessons you've learned.
Embrace Change


text:
Tintin auction in Paris fetches 1.8 mn euros
By Shin Hae-in
PARIS (AFP) -- A Paris auction of items related to Herge's comic book reporter Tintin, whose adventures have been adapted for the big screen by Steven Spielberg, fetched more than 1.8 million euros Saturday.
Auctioneers Arcturial said the sale, including costs, had brought in 1,873,396 euros ($2,480,095) -- far more than the one million euros expected.
The 856 lots up for grabs were equally divided between recent objects and older material, including some very rare items, said Arcturial. In all, 85 percent of the items sold in a packed hall.
One of the most sought-after objects was an original gouache and watercolour drawing of a battle scene from "The Secret of the Unicorn"; estimated at between 35,000 and 40,000 euros, it finally sold for 168,900 euros.
Spielberg's "The Adventures of Tintin," saw its worldwide premiere in Belgium in October and later in other parts of Europe to generally positive reviews and strong business. It opens in North America in December.
An original drawing for another Tintin adventure, "Flight 714 to Sydney," fetched 90,100 euros, about three times the initial estimate of between 25,000 and 35,000 euros.
And a special edition of the adventure "Explorers on the Moon", signed not just by Herge but by six astronauts to have made the journey to the Moon, fetched 100,000 euros -- around 10 times more than originally expected.
Even a handmade greeting card by Herge, featuring a drawing of Tintin and his faithful dog Snowy perched on the famous red-and-white rocket from the moon adventures, fetched 40,000 euros. It had been estimated at between 10,000 and 15,000 euros.
The Tintin adventures were written and illustrated from 1929 until his
death in 1983 by Georges Prosper Remi, whose pen name Herge is the French pronunciation of his initials reversed: RG.
Herge memorabilia are among the most sought-after comic book items. A Paris auction of Tintin drawings and sculptures last year brought in just over a million euros.
And a single illustration fetched 764,200 euros at another Paris auction in 2008, a world record in the field of comic books.


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text:
Q: I'm unable to add newlines to the email's content I'm using EmailJS to successfully send emails, but I can't add newlines to the content of the email.
Info about Email.JS can be found here
This is what the calls looks like:
emailjs.send("[service]", "[template]", {"send_to": "[email]", "subject": "[subject]", "content": "This is a \nsentence"});

I've tried using %0D%0A, \r\n, \n, and
 but each email doesn't have a newline.

A: It is possible to do it using
 if the variable in the template is wrap with three brackets {{{content}}}.
3 brackets sintax means that the variable is not espcaped, and it is used when the variable contains HTML code.
Also you can use   to add an space etc...

A: I solved this issue. EmailJS does not allow the newline character in the send variables because it does not want you to pass in a large string for the entire content of the email. Instead you have to use the email template within EmailJS to organize the content as you want it. You need to create new variables within your template for each piece of dynamic content passed by send and keep the static content in your EmailJS template.
It has to do with their pricing structure. You have to subscribe to get access to more templates. If you could pass in a single string for the email you would not need more templates.


text:
Q: About the elements of Dihedral Group. I have some difficulties finding the elements of Dihedral Group $D_8$ (note that the order $|D_8|=8$).  I know the geometric approach for defining $D_8$, but I prefer the algebraic way.  In this case, I'd like to work with the group presentation.
Namely, $D_8=\langle x,a|a^n=x^2=e, xax^{-1}=a^{-1} \rangle$ with $n=4$.  My question is about what the elements are in $D_8$.  I really want to know why $a^3$ is not equal to $1$.  I tried this work with this way: firstly, I consider the Dihedral Group $D_8 = X / S$, where $X$ is the free group  generated by $\{x,a\}$, and $S$ is the smallest normal subgroup of $\langle x,a\rangle$ that contains $\{a^4,x^2,axax^{-1}\}$.  Thus I want to figure out whether $a^3$ is in $S$ or not.
I agree $a^3$ is most likely not in $S$, but I want to make sure that it is true in very rigorous way. And I want to generalize this way for the general case, $D_{2n}$.
If I violated some rules of this awesome forum, Please let me know so that I can fix it.
Thanks.


text:
Drew Alexander On Why He Signed With Geffen
The Arizona Republic caught up with Drew Alexander of Scottsdale about signing with Geffen Records, revealing that several other labels had expressed interest in him, but he trusted what Geffen music president Ron Fair, a fellow piano player, and the label had to offer. "Ron Fair is notoriously known as a music guy," Alexander said. "He knows music, yet he's also very proficient in the business sector of the music industry. The Interscope/Geffen offices have been stable and have been putting out hits. They seem to know what they're doing down there, and I'm happy to be part of the team, so no regrets." Alexander's debut album is due out in the fall.
The story at amp.az has since been removed.
August 15, 2007 Jeff C News No Comments Drew Alexander
«Did Carey Hart Cheat On Pink?
First Images Of Lindsay Lohan In Utah»
Drew Alexander: The Album Is Everything But Done
Jason Alexander Family Soaks In Post Britney Wedding Fame
Jason Alexander's Marriage Regrets
Pop Stars React To Lee Alexander McQueen's Apparent Suicide
Britney Spears Unleashes Lawyers On Jason Alexander


Dawn's Cakes: Are you bikini ready?
I never have been and never will be - but thought this was interesting. Consumer Reports published a top 4 weight loss programs.
Check out a clip about it from a morning show here.
Now to work on that tan . . .
I haven't worn a swimmng suit for at least 5 years. I am hoping to avoid it again this summer. Maybe I should try volumetrics.


In 2009 we were responsible for the entire campaign and award show of the Dutch Design Awards. Everything from texts, music and graphic design to stage setting and the course of the night itself was thought of and directed by us.
As a concept we used the landscape of Dutch Design as a backdrop for the new Dutch Design Heroes. A fantastical story filled with references to the rich history of Dutch Design.


text:
Hockey Betting Odds - Blues at Stars on Versus
Written by Michelle Allan
Bet on the NHLHockey betting odds Wednesday will feature a Western Conference hockey betting matchup on Versus TV as the Dallas Stars host the St. Louis Blues. Hockey betting odds have been break even with the Blues so far this season while Dallas has had an impressive start to the hockey betting season under new coach Mark Crawford.
The St. Louis Blues had a hockey betting odds record of 8-8-2-2. St Louis had a road hockey betting record of 3-1-1-2. The Blues were trending significantly under as they posted just 4 NHL betting "overs" in their first 20 games. A big reason for the Blues going under the hockey betting odds so consistently was their inept offense, which ranked 26th overall in the NHL for scoring.
St. Louis' defense has been impressive, however, and ranked 5th overall for goals against. The Blues power play has been a disaster so far as it ranked just 30th in the NHL for efficiency and that has cost them dearly with the hockey betting odds. On the other hand, however, the Blues did rank a most impressive 3rd in the NHL for penalty killing. The Blues lost 7 out of 10 games with the hockey betting odds from October 24 through November 21.
The Dallas Stars had a record of 10-6-2-4 with the hockey betting odds and are a viable playoff contender after missing the post season altogether last year. Dallas has seen significant improvement on offense as they ranked 9th overall in the NHL for scoring. Center Brad Richards had 6 goals and 20 assists while left winger James Neal had 10 goals and 11 assists. Right behind Neal was fellow left winger Loui Eriksson, who had 9 goals and 11 assists.
Goaltender Marty Turco was an asset with the hockey betting odds as he had a 2.41 goals against average. The Stars have paid out with the hockey betting odds in 9 out of their last 11 home games against the Blues. The two teams have gone over the total in 4 out of their last 5 matchups at Dallas.


Wente Vineyards was founded about one hundred and thirty years ago. Based in Livermore, it claims to be the oldest continuously operated vineyard in the United States. Many vineyards did survive the experiment with prohibition in the 1920s. Those that did survive, did so by making wine for communion, one of the few exceptions that the Volstead Act allowed to the otherwise complete ban on the manufacture of alcohol in the US. Wente is still owned and managed by the Wente family.
We were recently provided with three bottles of Wente wine. This article focuses on the Wente 2014 Riva Ranch Pinot Noir. This wine is not from their Livermore estate, but from a single vineyard in the Arroyo Seco AVA in Monterey County. This coastal area of California is noticeably cooler than Napa Valley or the Livermore area; making it well suited for growing Pinot Noir. This wine was fermented in stainless steel was then aged for sixteen months in French and neutral oak barrels.
The colour of the wine was garnet; a striking shade that my photographs do not fully capture. The nose was instantly appealing, with spice, plum, and damp loam. No one aroma dominated and this was one of those wines where I delayed tasting it so that I could fully appreciate the smell.
Taking my first sip I encountered a first impression of a silky smooth mouthfeel. The flavour was of cherry with a hint of vanilla. The fruit components were not overwhelming. The finish left one with an acidity in which those original hints of vanilla strengthened.
I paired this wine with a chicken and mashed potato dinner; demonstrating the versatility of Pinot Noir as it works well with white meat as well as more traditional red wine partners. The wine's acidity working well with the creamy mashed potato.
The wine showed the complexity that makes Pinot Noir such a fascinating variety, with fruit and earth, mixed in with the vanilla from the year and a bit in the oak barrel. What the wine did not demonstrate was a well-balanced integration of these components. There was nothing specific to dislike about the wine, but I was slightly underwhelmed; the wine has greater than potential than is on display. It is a young wine and I think that the elements are present for the Wente 2014 Riva Ranch Pinot Noir to age into a delightful and balanced wine, so I would advise against drinking now; keep it for another year or two.
The retail price for this wine is $30, which makes an investment to lay a few bottles down fairly reasonable.