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Fusion: Daniel Rivero- 'An O.J. Simpson Trial Refresher For 90s Kids'
On February 5, 2016 September 14, 2022 By Erik SchneiderIn True Crime3 Comments
Source: Splinter– Characters in a true Hollywood story.
"It's hard to pinpoint the exact craziest moment of the O.J. Simpson saga.
Was it when Simpson led police on a freeway chase in his white Bronco one summer night in 1994, threatening suicide while an estimated 95 million people around the country watched live on network television? Was it the half-witted face he made when trying on the bloody glove, more fitting of his role in the slapstick comedy "The Naked Gun" than a murder trial? Defense attorney Johnnie Cochran's famous line—"If it does not fit, you must acquit"—that followed that face? Or was it the "not-guilty" verdict itself, and sharp racial divisions that it drew across the country?"
Source:Fusion
"AMERICAN CRIME STORY: THE PEOPLE V OJ SIMPSON Trailer (2016) John Travolta Cuba Gooding Jr FX HD"
Source:CBR Presents– Cuba Gooding Jr, as O.J. Simpson.
From CBR Presents
Just to give you a little background of myself: I was eighteen in June, 1994 and about a week out of high school after graduation vacationing with my parents in Delaware. So I guess technically I didn't count as a kid then, because I was one of the youngest adults from Generation X. Actually, more than twenty-years later I still am. Which makes me feel a little younger now than I'm in my forties.
My point being that I remember this case very well, because again as a young adult and having my first real job out of high school and actually interested in the 1994 NBA Finals that was interrupted by this bizarre case.
The O.J. Simpson case represents everything that is wrong with celebrity culture, celebrity news and the country's obsession with it. We have Americans literally who can't go to bed until every single text message that they have is responded to and call is returned. Or have checked every single celebrity news story online generally on their phone and have watched all of their so-called reality TV shows.
The O.J. Simpson, was the start of the reality TV and celebrity news watch in this country. Where you would have networks dedicated to this, well stuff. (To keep it clean) NBC, breaks into NBC Sports that was covering the NBA Finals in 1994. Arguably the biggest event in sports that year. With NBC News, not to cover even a plane crash, or some terrorist explosion, but a car chase that happened to have a celebrity in it that was suspected of murder. We didn't have that type of national coverage before 1994.
We had a twenty-four cable news network that dedicated all of their coverage each day during this trial not to coverage of the 1994 mid-term elections that saw House Republicans win the majority for the first time since 1952, or how would Democratic President Bill Clinton work with this new Republican Congress that controlled the House and Senate, or the Oklahoma City bombing, or what was going on in the Balkans with Europe and America, about to get involved there, but again this bizarre celebrity crime trial. That looked more like a Hollywood crime movie than a real-life murder trial. Pre-1994, CNN actually stood for Cable News Network. Before it was changed to the Celebrity News Network. (Ha, ha)
Of course we've always had celebrity news and celebrity news coverage and even tabloid news and I'm a big movie fan myself especially classic movies and like bios of my entertainers. But pre-1994 average Americans had lives outside of their celebrity news world and reality TV.
Pre-1994, people wouldn't run to the nearest TV and to find out how juries ruled on cases, or skip work to follow murder cases. The O.J. Simpson case, must have been a boom for the brand new internet, that had only been around for a couple of years at this point and started becoming big and more universal in 1994 and the same with cell phones. All because one of the most famous sports/movie celebrities was on trial for murder.
And by the way we're talking about a very interesting case here and I'm not denying that and denying that it should have been covered. But that is what Court-TV was for and what E is for and perhaps A&E and other entertainment networks.
My point is that when you have hard news organizations like CNN and NBC News, dedicating all of their coverage essentially, or at least marathon sessions of it, you're saying that important news is not real news is not as important, because it doesn't help the bottom line as much, or that Americans are pretty stupid and have nothing better to do with their lives. Which is too many cases is very true. That news organizations are not so much reporting important hard news, but reporting on things that drives their ratings.
The O.J. Simpson trial, was a gift to Hollywood. They couldn't have come up with a better soap opera or mini series on their best marijuana high, then what they got from O.J. Simpson, his star power, the people he was involved with and of course how he butchered two innocent people in the prime of their lives and then got away with it. At least in the short-term.
Life has been hell for O.J. as it should almost every moment since. But that is what you entertainment networks for to cover these stories. That is what cable TV, but not cable news is for. To cover cases that Americans who have too much time on their hands and not enough going on in their lives, who have the time to follow these stores will watch. And leave hard news organizations for covering real news.
You can also see this post on Blogger.
Gata Bella: 'Ava Gardner's Private Moments'
On February 5, 2016 November 3, 2019 By Derik SchneiderIn Hollywood GoddessLeave a comment
Source:Gata Bella– Hollywood Goddess and Babydoll Ava Gardner: perhaps being amazed by her own beauty and adorability.
"She was absolutely ravishing – no film had ever done her justice. And as a model, no one in my experience with mannequins and professionals surpassed her." ( Man Ray, painter, photographer)
Photos of Ava Gardner in her private life, with her men, friends and co-stars."
From Gata Bella
I think what I love and respect most about Ava Gardner is not her beauty, (not many prettier) not her adorableness, (not many women cuter) not her sex appeal even though she was this gorgeous baby-faced brunette with a sweet body and great personality and sense of humor. What I love about her the most was her realness. The woman you saw on stage and in her movies is the woman you saw off camera. The people who worked for her and gave her roles knew her so well and set her up so beautifully.
It was like she was never acting in her movies, because she was so natural in the roles that she played. She always said that the only thing that she wanted was to be happy. Those are the characters that she played. She had the reputation of a somewhat immature wild child who went too far and had too much fun and then would pout when she wasn't happy. You see her first seen in the movie Earthquake that she did with Charlton Heston and they have an argument and she's in early fifties at this point and still very beautiful and adorable and she runs to the bathroom almost like a little girl and takes a lot of pills. Heston, her husband in the movie finds her and saves her.
She was always playing a bit of a wild child who loved to have a great time and took it too far. Because as she would tell you life to her was about being alive and living and not just being around. And enjoying life and being happy as much as you can. She died at 68, but she lived her life her way (to paraphrase Frank Sinatra) and was Ava Gardner her entire life. This gorgeous baby-faced brunette with the personality and sense of humor to match. And I believe this is all part of why she's so likable then and still so popular now. Because she was this goddess who was so sweet, charming and funny, but so real and you always knew who she was and what she wanted. Not a lot of mystery with Ava Gardner.


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Home > Industry News & Events from HART > News > PROCESS EXPO 2021 Date & Hall Change Announced
PROCESS EXPO 2021 Date & Hall Change Announced
PROCESS EXPO returns to the South Hall of McCormick Place for the 2021 Edition.
The nation's largest trade show showcasing all aspects of the food and beverage processing and packaging industry has announced new dates and halls for the 2021 event. Originally slated for October 12 – 15 in Lakeside Center, Levels 1 and 2, of the McCormick Place Convention Center, PROCESS EXPO will now be moving this edition to the South Hall of McCormick Place, November 2nd – 5th.
"McCormick's South Hall has always been the preferred location for Process Expo as it is much larger than the other halls and its modern facilities better highlight our exhibits and popular show floor activities. We have hosted numerous shows in this hall and the change in dates only helps move us closer to the original date pattern of the show," stated Matt Malott, Chairman of the Board of the Food Processing Suppliers Association (FPSA) and President/CEO of Multivac, Inc.
When presented with the option to shift the event to the South Hall, organizers saw this as an opportunity to provide a safer environment for business networking and announced this idea. In addition, the spacious South Hall allows for the show to be held in a single location, in comparison to Lakeside Center which was split over two levels, with the lower level presenting notable operational challenges.
"Listening to our customers and remaining diligent in following safety protocols, solidified the decision in ensuring the future success of the show and service to the food and beverage processing and packaging community. We are committed to creating a platform elevating product discovery, the latest technology, and advancements and we are confident that this move will provide a more engaging atmosphere for attendees and exhibitors" stated Kristy Meade, Group Show Director, Messe Frankfurt, Inc.
The 2021 edition of Process Expo is preparing to be one of the first face-to-face events in this industry following the pandemic, bringing together thousands of food and beverage processors, packaging professionals, equipment manufacturers, industry leaders, and academia.
Gather additional information on general show details, registration, and other networking opportunities at www.myProcessExpo.com.
Source: Food Processing Suppliers Association
Small Manufacturers Take On The Skills Shortage Imbordino Dairy Science Scholarship Application Period Opens

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Commemorating Elizabeth Yates
Back in 2009, I posted about Elizabeth Yates, the first woman mayor in the British Empire back in 1893. On February 3, while passing through Onehunga, I came upon two commemorations for this woman. But thought it somewhat odd that they were hidden away in a corner behind the main shopping street (Onehunga Mall), to the side of the church grounds of St Peter's, and on a walkway leading to the local supermarket.
My attention was attracted by one of the old Maungakiekie Community Board signs ...
... and then an Auckland City Council ceramic plaque by a tree. I did wonder if the tree was special in some way. Well, no, it wasn't for the tree ...
First, the sign. Closer examination revealed it was referring to Elizabeth Yates, although with one strange statement: "The event made world news as it was also the year New Zealand women were given the right to vote, and subsequently Elizabeth Yates was the first women [sic] to vote in the general elections, the day before she was elected mayor."
Really?? How on earth did whoever compose the wording for this sign come up with the "fact" that Elizabeth Yates was not only the first woman mayor, but somehow voted ahead of every other woman in the country? Most odd.
The sign was probably erected after the installation of the plaque, which dates from 1993, and also recognises Elizabeth Yates as the first woman mayor.
But it's a pity that these two markers are separated by quite a distance from her actual gravesite, facing Onehunga Mall.
Posted by Timespanner at Saturday, February 04, 2012
Token History
A slightly flawed "genealogy" of street names
Wanderings at Three Kings
The tragedy of Captain Charles Lorraine, 1899
Lion cubs at Wellington Zoo
Ostriches and Politics: the Helvetia Ostrich Farm ...
A cage for a Teddy Bear
Sunrise's remains
George Maxwell Memorial Cemetery online
Some early menageries in New Zealand
The risque gates to the Domain
Abel Tasman's descendants on the Coromandel?
Art and Memory at Manurewa
18 Paget Street, Ponsonby
Horse racing at Orakei
Researching the NZ history of magic
Small box at Hurstmere Road
Bear days at Auckland Zoo
How to suggest a historic place to a Council?
Remembering Miss Newey
The REO building's 75 years


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Хандсуренгийн (Хандсурен) Оюнбилег (; род. 9 января 1966 года, Эрдэнэбулган, МНР) — монгольский футболист, вратарь клуба «Сумида-Жипро», бывший член национальной сборной. Мастер спорта Монголии (2015). По состоянию на август 2021 года — самый возрастной играющий профессиональный футболист. 21 сентября суринамец Ронни Брюнсвийк сыграл официальный матч в возрасте 60 лет.

Биография
Родился 9 января 1966 года в Эрдэнэбулгане. Когда ему было три года, он вместе с семьёй переехал в Улан-Батор. Футбольную карьеру начал в клубе «Замчин» в пятнадцатилетнем возрасте, его первым тренером был Тумэнбаяр. Хандсурен выступал за «Эрчим» в первые годы после реорганизации команды, а завершил свою профессиональную карьеру в клубе «Отгон-Од» в 30-летнем возрасте, дойдя с ним до финала кубка Монголии. Голкипер также играл за национальную сборную Монголии.

В 2000 году в составе команды «Дельта» он выиграл кубок мира среди любителей. С 2012 года Хандсурен выступает за коллектив ветеранов «Эрчима». В 2016 году он возобновил профессиональную карьеру и был заявлен клубом «Жипро» на чемпионат Монголии в качестве третьего вратаря, однако дебютировал за него только спустя четыре года (за это время его коллектив успел объединиться с командой «Сумида» в «Сумида-Жипро»).

Из-за эпидемии травм в «Сумида-Жипро» Хандсурен вышел на замену в качестве защитника 12 сентября 2020 года в матче монгольской премьер-лиги против «Улан-Батора». Появившись на поле на 86-й минуте, Хандсурен успел отметиться грубым фолом и несколькими удачными отборами. Выступление в этом матче (в возрасте 54 лет, 8 месяцев и 3 дней) позволило ему превзойти рекорд японца Кадзуёси Миуры и стать самым возрастным играющим профессиональным футболистом в мире по состоянию на август 2021 года.

Достижения

Командные
 Финалист Кубка Монголии (1): 1996
 Чемпион мира среди любителей (1): 2000
 Чемпион Монголии среди ветеранов (1): 2019

Личные
 Самый возрастной играющий профессиональный футболист в мире по состоянию на август 2021 года.

Примечания

Ссылки
 Профиль на официальном сайте монгольской футбольной федерации

Футболисты Монголии
Игроки сборной Монголии по футболу
Игроки ФК «Замчин»
Игроки ФК «Хаан Хунс-Эрчим»
Мастера спорта Монголии

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


I had the most amazing shoot today. This family blew me away. They were so chill and funny and comfortable to be around... Their style was so classic and vintage in a way And their son (Van) was SO gorgeous. sheesh. Here is a sneek peek and trust me, you'll want more. I'll post some more on my photo blog when I'm finished later this week. Sigh.
So Rob and I decided it would be nice to take Larz to see the snow for the first time. We went up to Strawberry for a few hours. He had so much fun! He kind of flipped out at first but then started getting used to it. Man it was beautiful up there.
There are these little blue specks on my photos when I upload them into my blog but not when you click on them. . sorry.
Oh my little man cub..He's so good at flirting with me.
You radiate beauty beyond what you can see. I love you so much. :) I simply cannot wait to meet my new nephew.
This is My best friend Heidi with her family. Her mom is an amazing photographer and has a studio. They are seriously a hilarious family. She once told me that when their mini van was about to hit its 100,000 mark, they all got in the van together and drove around a parking lot in circles until it hit the number and then celebrated. ha. They all dressed up like the characters from harry potter and took some pics in their studio.. She is the girl in all black. I forgot the charaacters name but its freakin hilarious. Really, who does this kind of stuff?
Today was a long day. But I loved it. I played with Larz in the backyard. He showed me his melons. (I was jealous) . . He was being so happy and charasmatic for me and my camera. I was trying to get him to wear a hat because it was going to be cold. We were headed out to see some Christmas lights. I put the velcro together on the hat and he couldn't get it off. He freaked out and I was laughing so hard I almost peed my pants. ha. Poor guy. He loved the lights so much. He was climbing under the ropes to go see up close. He saw sponge bob and wouldn't stop saying his name out loud.
It is finally showing itself. I had to cancel all of my shoots over the weekend and early week. I needed that money but more importantly I think I needed the rain as well. Rain is always so cleansing for me and obviously for the earth. I was sitting outside this morning having some tea. The clouds were just rolling on by and the sun was out. This is my little hang out. Yea for sunshine!
I'm sitting here editing with Vh1 on my tv behind me. That Taylor Swift song came on, the romeo and juliet one. I watched the video and can I just say, I want to live where that was shot. jeeeeez. And I'll take that horse ..and the dress. . I don't even need the guy in it. I'll just run around the field alone, sing to myself, twirl in my dress and pet my horse.
Besides the fact that its FREEZING here right now and I hate it, the skies have been ridiculous. The other night this was what I got to see. This photo has not been touched AT ALL!!!! Look at the colors! I took a walk with Larzy and he was oooing and aahhing at the sky right along side his mommy.
Here's a picture from one of the million shoots I've done this month...sigh. I'm tired. But this is Tashina and Nate. My little sisters friend and now my friend. They were on fire folks! Check out my photo blog for more.
SO anyone who knows me knows that I pretty much could've killed my parents with the amount of stress and worry I've put on them growing up. I take the credit for my dads grey patches of hair entirely. Poor guy. While eating lunch with my sisters and mom yesterday, my mom gave this to me. I couldn't remember the why's, when's or how's of this card. I talked to my friend Heather and she told me all about it. We were going to mexico and decided to get some fake id's. I'm 17 in this photo. I look innocent. And yes folks, that is my natural hair color. I used her brothers girlfriends name but still used my real address. My mom has kept it for all of these years. I'm such a moron.
My mother is the most special woman I know. How am I so lucky to be her daughter? Everyday I strive to be like her. I've observed her over my life, but especially lately now that I have my own family. Her patience is never ending. He eyes are always sparkling. How can you be so happy all of the time mom? How did you raise 6 children? How are you still so in love that I have to turn my head sometimes at your house so I don't have to watch you two k'noodle? How do you still love me unconditionally after everything I've done in my life? How is your garden always so perfect and beautiful? How have you made so many quilts and blankets? YOU are beautiful mom, in every way. When times are hard in my life, I always think of my mother and I know all will be alright. Love you mom.


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Stories by Emi Kolawole
McCain Ad "Promise": Promises Same Falsehood
The McCain-Palin campaign released a new ad called "Promise," which the campaign says will air nationally. But it contains a whopper we've addressed a few times:
The ad claims Sen. Barack Obama "voted to cut off funding for our troops." But a McCain campaign press release announcing the ad cites the same vote we addressed in an earlier article on this misleading claim. The fact is, while it's true Obama voted against a GOP-backed troop funding bill once,
Home Foreclosures and Voting
Q: Are the Republicans really trying to keep people from voting whose homes are in foreclosure?
A: Republicans deny they have any such plans, and a voting rights group says those with homes in foreclosure can't be barred from the polls anyway.
Obama's Legislative Record
Q: How many times did Obama vote 'present' as a state senator?
A: He did so 129 times, which represents a little more than 3 percent of his total votes.
Stretching with Biden
Biden proved once again that it doesn't take outright falsehoods to create a skewed impression of one's opponent. We found in a Sept. 15 speech that:
Biden used partial quotes to support his charge that McCain wouldn't help "small borrowers" suffering in the mortgage crisis but would "fight for those that lost their … real estate investments." In fact, McCain's full quote said he would also fight for those who "lost their jobs" and "savings,"
Fact-Checking…'The View'?
We generally don't take it upon ourselves to parse ABC's morning gabfest. But we noticed that when the chat turned to Palin's record on earmarks McCain got it wrong.
He was correct on one point: Palin vetoed $500 million in spending as governor. She axed over $230 million in state spending in 2007. And the Anchorage Daily News reported that she lopped off another $268 million in spending for 2008.
But then the ladies shot back with this:
Barbara Walters: She also took some earmark spending.
Off Base on Sex Ed
A McCain-Palin campaign ad claims Obama's "one accomplishment" in the area of education was "legislation to teach comprehensive sex education' to kindergarteners." But the claim is simply false, and it dates back to Alan Keyes' failed race against Obama for an open Senate seat in 2004.
Obama, contrary to the ad's insinuation, does not support explicit sex education for kindergarteners. And the bill, which would have allowed only "age appropriate" material and a no-questions-asked opt-out policy for parents,
A New Stitch in a Bad Pattern
McCain's new ad puts another stitch in what we've called his pattern of deceit on Obama's tax plan. This one claims Obama and congressional Democrats plan to push forward "painful tax increases on working American families" and that they will bring about "years of deficits," "no balanced budgets" and "billions in new government spending."
The ad is plain wrong about higher taxes on working families. In fact, Obama's economic plan would produce a tax cut for the majority of American households,
McCain's First Marriage
Q: Did John McCain cheat on his first wife?
A: He courted his current wife, Cindy, for months before divorcing Carol Shepp in 1980. He recently called the breakup of his first marriage "my greatest moral failure." But Shepp has been quoted as saying "we are still friends."
McCain's Anecdote
Q: Did McCain lift his cross-in-the-sand anecdote from Solzhenitsyn's "Gulag Archipelago"?
A: There's no such story in "Archipelago." There is a somewhat similar story attributed to Solzhenitsyn, which we've traced back to Rev. Billy Graham by way of former Richard Nixon aide Charles Colson. But that's not proof that McCain's story isn't true.
Snubbing Wounded Troops?
A new McCain ad says Obama "made time to go to the gym, but canceled a visit with wounded troops. Seems the Pentagon wouldn't allow him to bring cameras."
McCain's facts are literally true, but his insinuation – that the visit was canceled because of the press ban or the desire for gym time – is false. In fact, Obama visited wounded troops earlier – without cameras or press – both in the U.S.


We welcome Peter Ongera and his colleagues who have established Kitengela, Kenya as an International City of Peace. Peter is building an organization to promote peaceful coexistence among all tribes in Kitengela City while creating a well informed young generation that is challenged and invigorated by a deeper understanding an appreciation of cultural diversity, peace, and unity.
The repeal of section 2A of the Independence Constitution in 1991 rendered Kenya a Multi-Party State. The major challenge since then has been divisive tribal politics every election year. This has led to major tribal clashes the worst being the 2007/2008 P.E.V where over 200 Kenyans lost their lives and thousands others became homeless. The most recent elections of 2017 didn't have as much violence but were still marred by major tension in some parts of the city.
His excellency the President Uhuru Kenyatta and the Rt. Hon Railla Amollo Odinga the opposition leader came together on the 9th March, 2018 and put out a public gesture of a powerful handshake signalling peace and national unity. Among the conversations they envisioned would follow that handshake are such as this one o where young people come together to end tribalism and also achieve the basic tenets of the fabric of society that safeguards traditional and contemporary governance systems leading to a guarantee of peace, economic independence and sustainable development.
THE ORGANIZATION IS COMPOSED OF BRAND AMBASSADORS OF PEACE, ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT, ERADICATING TRIBALISM WHILE PROMOTING CULTURE.
Breaking the walls of tribalism and building bridges of peace.
To promote peaceful coexistence among all tribes in Kitengela City while creating a well informed young generation that is challenged and invigorated by a deeper understanding an appreciation of cultural diversity, peace, and unity.
70% of Kenyans are under the age of 35. The unemployment rate in Kenya is currently at 60%. Divisive tribal politics affect the youth, mostly who are unemployed as they are easily influenced by changing political currents, ending up as victims of the tensions.
The building bridges project is targeted towards the aforementioned class of youths to train on the importance of peace, educate on the constitutional mandate, their constitutional rights and responsibilities and their duty to society. It also endeavours to economically empower and educate them, in a bid to make them independent, self-reliant and self- sustainable.
To send out members of a community to another community in a bid to raise awareness, foster reconciliation and plant seeds of peace and unity amongst the youth while promoting and embracing diversity and culture.
Holding sport tournaments as a way of promoting peace. The foundation intends to educate the youth on the need for a healthy and green environment. This will done by planting of trees and encouraging nurturing of the trees while discouraging activities that would lead to environmental degradation.
In a bid to promote a healthier younger generation, the organisation seeks to sensitize the youth on the importance of subscription to NHIF. The Foundation intends to hold monthly medical camps in different regions to sensitize the youth on ailments such as cancer, diabetes and other lifestyle diseases while partnering with relevant authorities to provide free medical services.
Training of T.o.Ts on conflict prevention and responses who will in turn train other community members in order to create a mushrooming effect for long term peace creation. These individuals will be the peace ambassadors in the different regions they come from teaching and promoting the foundation's ideologies.
importance of table banking amongst the young people for economic sustainability.
Involve and partner and foster partnerships with all relevant authorities in a bid to achieveour objectives.
Our peace building activities and intentions for youth empowerment shouldn't be hampered by lack of resources thus we commit to fundraise and seek financial sustainability diligently.
Forums on panels on peace by conversations around the country. This will include village barazzas, Annual Conferences, television and radio interviews and social media.
Peter Ongera, the African editor of "Africa-The enslaved Continent", was born rural Kenya in 1972. He went to rural ordinary school system through university to study Philosophy, Public Relations and Sociology. During school holidays and sports days in primary school, he would sell sweets and snacks to get pocket money. Peter was always top of his class, a prefect, loved debating and role-playing radio broadcasts. Peter would do commercial photography, freelance journalism and peer counseling while doing undergraduate studies at Egerton University. He got into pro-poor tourism business while at Egerton university at age 22.
He started getting national and international recognitions and awards at age 20 by participating in trainings and study trips to Spain, Denmark, Japan, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Egypt, Greece, Netherlands, Canada , USA, Tanzania and Uganda. Peter has done consulting for United Nations and USAID funded capacity building projects in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Mali, Nigeria, and Ghana. He was recognized as a National Hero by Parents magazine in 2005 and a Business Achiever in 2006 by Capital Radio. He has been featured in Kenyan and international media.
The journalist-turned–social entrepreneur and consultant believes that Africa can eradicate poverty through sustainable social investing in education and skills(especially information technology) transfer and partnerships with companies and communities. Peter is convinced that Africa has all the natural,human tools and resources to overcome poverty.
Peter has founded and administered a number of capacity building projects and is a role model for many in Africa and beyond.
Kitengela is a plain in Kenya, located south of capital Nairobi. Kitengela begun as The Kitengela group ranch, made up of 18,292 ha and 214 registered members which was subdivided in 1988 in efforts by the Government to encourage private land ownership in pastoral systems, with the aim of intensifying and commercializing livestock production. After subdivision of the group ranch, land fragmentation and sales have continued at a steady and escalating pace. The human population within the Kitengela area has more than doubled in the last 10 years, from 6548 in 1989 to 17,347 in 1999 to 58,167 in 2009. There is also a town named Kitengela in the area.
Kenya is a country in Africa with its capital and largest city in Nairobi. Kenya's territory lies on the equator and overlies the East African Rift, covering a diverse and expansive terrain that extends roughly from Lake Victoria to Lake Turkana (formerly called Lake Rudolf) and further south-east to the Indian Ocean. It is bordered by Tanzania to the south and south-west, Uganda to the west, South Sudan to the north-west, Ethiopia to the north and Somalia to the north-east. Kenya covers 581,309 km2 (224,445 sq mi), and had a population of approximately 48 million people in January 2017. Some international trade organizations categorize Kenya as part of the Greater Horn of Africa, and it is a founding member of the East African Community (EAC).
Close to Nairobi National Park is also the Kitengela Game Conservation Area populated with buffalo, Masai giraffe, eastern black rhino, Common eland, impala, Grant's and Thomson's gazelle, common waterbuck and Defassa waterbuck, hippopotamus, common warthog, olive baboon, monkeys and the attendant carnivores – East African lion, spotted hyena, Tanzanian cheetah, side-striped and black-backed jackals, African golden wolves, bat-eared fox and smaller carnivores.
The diversity of species is decreasing in the Kitengela area adjacent to the Nairobi National Park, where land-uses not compatible with wildlife are increasing.


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It's interesting working in the arena of organization development. All to often managers are confounded by the fact that the employees resist any form of change whether the changes are better for the organization, will secure their jobs, and will most probably make the employees lives better.
Organizations spend thousands of pounds and many hours putting together information packs and communication plans to explain the changes, but no amount of information, no matter how rational, will seeming move those who chose not to be moved. What is more frustrating is that those who refuse to toe and line, and who engage in acts of corporate terrorism will be able to justify their bad behaviour with a perfectly rational and logic line of reasoning– even if the rational remains unreasonable. Further investigation will also unveil the truth, which is that the most reluctant will invent fabrications about the real motives of those trying to push for change, even if those reasons are nothing more than lying to ourselves.
Human behaviour, the mind and each individual's personality are nothing if not curious and fascinating.
You see we don't like to consider ourselves as being irrational. We need to deceive ourselves into believing that our bad behaviour is rational. If we are unable to cope with a current situation we may begin to regress, acting out like a petulant teenager, or we might use a displacement defence where we know we have to be strong, so we take out our frustration on a process of change that makes us feel fearful. Finally we might take hide from, and refuse to acknowledge the change that we are experiencing by repressing that which we are finding intolerable from our conscious mind and continuing as if nothing has changed at all.
Culture or rather 'the way we do things around here' exacerbates the cognitive dissonance that individuals develop during a change programme. The effectiveness of an organization can be seriously compromised if efforts to make changes conflicts with an organization's norms, standards, working practices and values, potential creating conflict and toxicity around the change efforts.
Take for example the current context of the environmental peril that our planet is in. If we don't change the way we do things then our grandchildren will quite possible face extinction. The problem is that we have accepted the truth of 'plenty' and of not having to count the external costs of our actions for such a long time that the rules and expectations of 21st Century human culture, especially in the Western World is currently stopping us from acting rationally in the best interests of our long term survival. Organization's can face similar problems in areas that are in obvious need of change, possibly where the way things are done around here is causing the organization to lose business or damage its reputation and yet still change efforts are met with resistance.
Since we are social creatures, doing things differently, changing to such an extent means that we have to go outside group norms. For example the terms Tree Hugger, eco-warrior and nature loving hippy have for a long time been used as insults and denote that the person acting with a belief structure that puts the environment first is in someway uncivilised. Even those organizations that are pursuing green and environmentally friendly agendas wrap their actions up in more acceptable business language of sustainability, Plan A and corporate social responsibility, it goes against our culture that these organizations should say that they care about the planet.
If you are trying to implement a change programme, it is important to consider how people are acting as a group, not just individually. When individuals are unsure how to behave they will look to the community of which they are part to understand what the norms are, which are usually driven by their peers. If there is someone who strongly represents the group displaying signs of cognitive dissonance, then that will determine what reaction the group will have as a whole to the change situation.
Individuals who have a lot lose and in the current hierarchy are in a privileged position will seek to maintain the traditions that keep them in a position of privilege, regardless of the expense to others. Destructive behaviour in a change situation will always be strongest where individuals who fear change the most are in a position of influence within the wider community.
To make the change your organization seeks, it is essential that you first understand those who are key stakeholders, and help them to transition their thinking prior to any change programme happening. That way the individuals who have most impact on cultural norms can help the group express their reaction to change, which in turn will help make the change journey smooth.
Organization Development offers an alternative to the 'information centric' approach to change management. Rather than a top down change that tells people how to think and act, organization development takes the organization on a journey of discovery. Leaders are taught to role model, coach and teach so they can reflect the change that is being asked for. For individual employees, OD interventions create safe places for them to consider the areas of thinking and belief structures that might need to change, and provides the tools for the individual to make that change themselves. For groups it helps transition the change through careful facilitation of groups dynamics to help the group help each other make the transition. Finally, OD considers the reinforcement mechanisms within the organization, processes and systems which will support the culture change going forward, and removing barriers to the successful change.
Know the business beyond an organization chart and what the leaders tell you. Investigate, question and discover; How are things done? What makes the organization tick? What is the underlying rhythm of the business?
If you don't know find out, and use the right OD tools for the situation.
BE the change, coach, mentor and position yourself as a conduit of change.
Ensure Change goals are relevant, and focused on people relationships and behaviour especially in regards to how processes and systems within the organization reinforce or inhibit people processes.
Develop plans that reward behaviours that reinforce the desired culture change but also manage areas where there is reversion to old behaviours.
Handle uncertainty and ambiguity with confidence.
Use methods that work on both the mind, in regards to intellectual stimulation but also the heart, in regards to emotion.
Always develop methods that reinforce new ways of working.
Organisational culture change has never been more relevant. The environmental context in which organisations operate is continually changing, and therefore a culture which enables and organisation to be flexible, adaptable and changable is essential.
Fundamentally culture relates to the way we do things around it. In regards to organisation development, the organisations culture probably has one of the biggest impacts on organisational effectiveness and the opportunity for sustainable performance than any other element of the organisations system.
The problem for organisations is that changing a culture which is damaging the organisations effectiveness is not easy. If it was, then more change programmes would be successful. But delving into the shared beliefs and values, the way people think and interact, and more importantly the why they believe and think and act the way they do takes time, effort and resource. More importantly, there has to be a willingness to explore dark corners, to question everything and to show willingness to examine, without judgement, the shared patterns of behaviour within the organisation.
Culture change cannot be a one off development programme, or a box which is ticked as being done. Culture is dynamic, and informs the way employees work and perform as well as informing the approach taken in decisions made by leadership teams. Organisational structures, systems, rules, policies and the behaviour of people interacting with the organisation are all dictated by the organisational culture.
The job of HR and the OD practitioner is to increase awareness of the cultural phenomena within the organisation. To metaphorically hold a mirror up and play back some of the behaviours that are present and question why these behaviours manifest and the consequences of such behaviour on organisational effectiveness.
By exploring various dimensions on the way the organisation does things, it is possible to understand liminalities within the system that prevent the organisation from being as effective as it could be.
Challenges the the balance of the culture, especially in regards to power, politics and purpose can help rebalance the organisation to ensure that the right influences are impacting decision making and behaviour and are aligned to what it is the organisation is trying to achieve. In effect, navigating the cultural landscape to to ensure that the organisations 'way of doing things' doesn't impinge on the possibility of success.
It is very easy of HR to assume that because the systems exist that there is no requirement to examine HR practices. But exploring HR practices from the point of view of cultural investigation helps HR to understand whether their practices reinforce unhelp cultural norms that are preventing the organisation from being flexible, adaptable and changable.
Many failures in organisation effectiveness have their root cause in the people processes and practices within the organisation. What is said is not necessarily what happens, and as a result failure becomes inbuilt into the cultural paradigm.
HR has a powerful position in transforming the cultural climate of an organisation. But that means that HR managers, and especially OD practitioners pay attention to the 'way they do things' in order to ensure that they move the culture of the organisation forward.
There are five core theories that provide a solid foundation for the work that OD practitioners do. Good grounding in theory is essential for every OD practitioner. The better you understand the theory, the better you will understand the complex and intricate nature of the OD process and OD tool kit.
Lewin developed a unified change theory based on four distinct elements; Field Theory, Group Dynamics, Action Research and the Three step model of Change. All have been criticised and all are necessary to bring about planned change.
Lewin viewed the social environment as a dynamic field which impacted in an interactive way with human consciousness. The theories are useful to the OD practitioner in understanding that by adjusting elements of the organisationl environment then particular types of psychological experience predictably ensue. In turn, the person's psychological state influences the organisational environment.
Lewin first introduced the idea of Group Dynamics in relation to the study of the interaction of complex intra- and inter-personal forces in the operation of group behaviour which determine the groups character, development, and long-term survival.
Group Dynamics is concerned with determination of laws underlying group behaviour and studies a group's formation, structure, interaction and behaviourial processes while looking at the group functioning.
Lewin was well known for "field theory". He was perhaps even better known for practical use of his theories in studying group dynamics, solving social problems related to prejudice, and group therapy (t-groups). Lewin sought to not only describe group life, but to investigate the conditions and forces which bring about change or resist change in groups.
In developing the Field Theory approach, Lewin believed that for change to take place, the total situation has to be taken into account. If only part of the situation is considered, a misrepresented picture is likely to develop.
The field theory proposes that human behaviour is the function of both the person and the environment, this means that an individuals behaviour is related both to their personal characteristics and to the organisational situation in which they find themself.
Lewin's three step model of change is related to Field Theory. The three step model states that organisational change involves a move from one static state via a progressional shift, to another static state. The model, is also known as Unfreeze-Change-Refreeze.
This stage involves creating the right conditions for change to occur. By resisting change, people often attach a sense of identity to their environment. In this state, alternatives, even beneficial ones, will initially cause discomfort. The challenge is to move people from this 'frozen' state to a 'change ready' or 'unfrozen' state.
The transitional 'journey' is central to Lewin's model and at the psychological level it is typically a period of confusion. People are aware that the old ways are being challenged, but there is no clear understanding of the new ways which will replace them. As roles change, a reduced state of efficiency is created, where goals are significantly lowered. The end goal of this stage is to get people to the 'unfrozen' state and keep them there.
The end goal of the model is to achieve a 'refreeze', re-establishing a new place of stability and elevate comfort levels by reconnecting people back into their safe, familiar environment. Refreezing takes people from a period of low productivity in the transitional state to that of organisational effectiveness and sustainable performance.
Refreezing requires changes at a cultural level, to embed new organisaitonal norms, polciies and practices.
Creating dissatisfaction with the status quo will provide th disequilibrium required to drive change.
Identify existing rules that create the current organisational reality and change them to create movement.
Plan the mix of people involved in diagnostic events in order to shift forces and facilitate change.
Provide a desirable direction or 'best way' for group members to change toward.
Develop congruence with the organisation environment to stablise the new equilibrium.
Lewin is one of the founding fathers of Organisation Development, especially the pursuit of the commitment to humanistic values in developing society, facilitating change through learning and the pursuit of changing an individuals mental models and perceptions of the world that they inhabit in order to move forward.
The theory provides the very heart of the purpose of the OD diagnostic phase in the OD cycle. It provides the opportunity to build the knowledge of the causes and dynamics of organisational issues, the understanding of organisational change and the basis of the need for collaboration and joint inquiry between the OD practitioner and the organisational players experiencing the change.
Ultimately though it is a theory based on pragmatism, data itself is no the answer to change, but data regarding the issues that the organisation is experiencing provides the catalyst for change and provides the basis for practical solutions owned by all members affected by the change. Action Research provides both the theoretical underpinnings and the practical application of organisational change.
All organisational stakeholders are involved in the collaborative process of creating and executing the planned changes.
Set up a temporary diagnostic team by using those key individuals who have to support the implementation of change.
Provide a learning zone where individuals and groups can self organise for change.
The debate continues to rage regarding return on investment from development interventions. I have to confess I have always struggled with HR's issue with ROI. They seem to make it so, well, complicated.
Maybe it is because I come from a commercial background that as a development practitioner I believe passionately that people deliver performance for a business and that I can measure it, as you would any other financial performance measure in the organisation. But I am often asked how do you measure the Return on Investment of development programmes – isn't it all a bit intangible and difficult to measure?
As a commercial development practitioner I seem to bridge the gap between the development community and the business world. My thought process is simple. Business performance can be measured, so therefore people delivering performance can be measured too.
Like any other project or business investment can you really measure 100% scientifically, without doubt, that it is your intervention or project and not other factors that have delivered performance? Well yes, to a degree. And yes, I confess that there is a degree of judgement – but it is possible. Consider for a moment a sales person. Are they successful because they got lucky or because they were doing all the right things?
If an organization chooses to invest in capital equipment can it's increase in sales be directly attributed to the equipment purchase? If the equipment is producing a product that previously the organization wasn't producing, then the sales can be attributed to the capital project. But what about a new or additional pieces of kit – can you measure the return on investment accurately. The answer is yes, to a degree. Common sense tells you that if you invest in X and your sales revenue/productivity increase by Y or your costs reduce by Z then you have a positive return on investment.
So why does HR think that people development is somehow different? If an organization is choosing to invest in a programme of development and they are clear about what success looks like and what metrics will be used to measure success then yes performance improvement can be delivered.
Notice the key line "what success looks like and what metrics will be used" – too often HR lacks the discipline to consider what it is they are trying to achieve with a development programme. They decided to do a programme without considering how it aligns with business objectives or what the programme will deliver for the organisation. Before programme aims and objectives are decided on OD practitioners must consider what it is that the programme is delivering.
Starting with the end in mind makes sure that the programme is designed to deliver added value and that measures of success are agreed before a programme is developed let alone implemented. It helps the practitioner to ensure that what they are delivering will achieve a ROI, but also provide a platform for ongoing evaluation so that adaptations can be made if the programme isn't delivering what it should during the implementation phase.
Even 'feeling better' after a programme has a value add that can be measured. If people 'feel better' what does that mean for a business? Absence reduces; productivity increases; attrition rates go down. It could be argued that these are because of other factors – but so to can an increase in sales after investing in capital goods. And is business growth because of a growing economy or is it because you are making good business decisions and investing in the right things?
Why 'people development' has to be any different from any other capital investment I do not understand. Yes some of the indicators are lagging – and therefore behavioural change is more likely to impact long term measures, but there are still things that you can measure and data that you can capture which tell you whether the programme is delivering what is desired.
Personally I work on two measures – Return on Expectation, which is qualitative and Return on Investment which is quantitative. I agree the metrics and success criteria upfront; performance metrics which are used by and meaningful to the business and make sure that ongoing evaluation is part of the programme.
There is no black art, just good relations with the business analysts in the organization I work with. People deliver performance, and business performance can and is measured!


text:
Going, going ... Old £50 notes cease to be legal tender - and there are £2.6BN still in circulation
There are still 53million of the old notes in circulation
Holders of the notes were advised to spend, deposit or exchange them before yesterday
Banks and building societies still likely to accept old notes as deposits until October
Otherwise holders need to post or take notes to the Bank of England
By Rachel Rickard Straus
Published: 12:03 EST, 29 April 2014 | Updated: 05:14 EST, 1 May 2014
Around 53million £50 notes have ceased to be legal tender - meaning that they may no longer be acceptable as payment.
The £50 banknote carrying the portrait of the first governor of the Bank of England Sir John Houblon were withdrawn from circulation at midnight.
However, there are still notes with a total value of £2.6billion in circulation, despite the Bank of England's announcement in January that they are to be withdrawn.
Going out of circulation: The old £50 banknotes, which are now being replaced
The only £50 note that now holds legal tender status is that which celebrates the 18th century partnership of entrepreneur Matthew Boulton and engineer James Watt, who helped forge the Industrial Revolution.
Anyone holding the old notes was advised by the Bank of England to spend, deposit or exchange them before midnight.
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Now retailers are unlikely to accept them as payment, but most banks and building societies will still allow customers to deposit them into their accounts.
But anyone with a £50 note that is not accepted may have to go to the Bank of England to get it changed.
After April 30, agreeing to exchange notes will be at the discretion of individual institutions.
Barclays, NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, Ulster Bank and the Post Office have agreed to exchange the older-style £50 notes for anyone who needs it, up to the value of £200, until October 30.
If people do not pay in or exchange the Houblon £50 notes by the withdrawal deadline, this does not mean that they become worthless.
All notes that have been issued by the Bank whose legal tender status has been withdrawn are covered by its 'promise to pay'.
This means that people can, at any time, obtain the face value of a note that has been withdrawn by exchanging it at the Bank of England in London. There is no fee for the service and banknotes of this type can be exchanged by post or in person.
Replaced: The notes featuring Sir John Houblon will no longer be legal tender
Legally, the Bank is only required to give one month's notice of an intention to withdraw legal tender status. It gave a similar three-month notice period to its latest announcement when a £20 note featuring composer Edward Elgar was withdrawn in 2010.
Sir John Houblon was appointed as the Bank's first governor in 1694 and the £50 banknote celebrating him was first issued in 1994, to coincide with the Bank's 300th anniversary.
The design on the back of the note includes an image of Sir John's house in Threadneedle Street on the site of the Bank's present building.
The withdrawal of the Houblon note is part of the Bank's regular review of notes to make them more secure and crack down on fraud.
The new one: The old note is being replaced by one with a new design
The Boulton and Watt note, which was brought into circulation in November 2011, was the first introduced by the Bank to feature a green 'motion thread', which has five windows featuring the pound symbol and the number 50, which move up and down when the note is tilted from side to side.
In December, the Bank announced that it plans to issue plastic banknotes for the first time from 2016, when a new £5 note featuring Sir Winston Churchill appears.
A £10 note featuring Jane Austen will follow around a year later and will also be made from polymer rather than the cotton paper currently used.
Old-series notes previously issued by the Bank can be exchanged by posting them, at the sender's risk, to Dept NEX, Bank of England, Threadneedle Street, London EC2R 8AH.
Old £50 notes cease to be legal tender


The Bambino deserved better than this.
From 1945 through 1948, there were three bombs of historic import. Harry Truman gave the order to drop the first two, Fat Man and Little Boy, on Japan; the third was dropped by Allied Artists Pictures. It was a motion picture known as The Babe Ruth Story. The fallout continues to this day.
Now is a fitting time to take a closer look at this feature film, since the year 2014 marks the 100th anniversary of Babe Ruth' major league debut. Not that the behemoth Bambino could ever disappear entirely from America's national consciousness, but there has been a noticeable uptick in articles about the man and the legend this year.
Casting an actor to play the title role in any biographical picture is a tricky proposition. This is magnified when the subject is a living legend, as was the case with Babe Ruth. Makeup and costuming help to some degree, but a character who was bigger than life with gargantuan appetites demands an actor cut from the same cloth.
The topic of a Babe Ruth biopic was first broached in August 1941. World War II likely put that project on the back burner, as the studios were drafted to churn out features, shorts and documentaries as part of the war effort.
In the early going, Orson Welles was one of the names supposedly in the running to play the Babe. Too bad nothing came of that, as Citizen Welles playing Citizen Ruth is an intriguing match-up. Welles' baseball skills were likely lacking, but he would have been superb in the overeating scenes. At any rate, by 1948, he was no longer Hollywood's golden boy, and he was too busy making Macbeth anyway.
Complicating the casting process in 1948 was the intent of Allied Artists to get the movie into theaters while the Babe was still alive. By contrast, when MGM released its Lou Gehrig biopic, Pride of the Yankees, in 1942, Lou Gehrig had been dead for more than a year. Producer Samuel Goldwyn could take his time with casting, principal photography, and post-production. As a result, the Iron Horse was portrayed by a real movie star, albeit one more familiar with flesh-and-blood horses: Gary Cooper, who was to movies what Gehrig was to baseball, in spirit if not physique.
Pride of the Yankees was an inspiring film about an expiring baseball hero. The same could be said of The Babe Ruth Story. The difference is in what each film inspires. In the case of the latter, it is mostly laughter. But the demise of the Babe was no laughing matter, and it was ongoing while the film was in production.
On June 13, 1948, the Yankees celebrated the 25th anniversary of Yankee Stadium by retiring Ruth's No. 3. It was the last time the Babe would appear at the stadium, and it was obvious to all present that the Babe was on his last legs.
No time to wait for the best available choice to portray him, so what to do? Hey, William Bendix is available! William Bendix? Seriously?
William Bendix is hardly a household word today, but he was a fairly familiar face in the 1940s and 1950s. If you needed someone to play a New York cab driver, a plug-ugly thug/lug/mug, or a stocky GI with a Brooklyn accent, he was perfect (in 1942 he received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor in Wake Island).
He could even handle more challenging parts, such as an amnesiac war vet in The Blue Dahlia with Alan Ladd and Veronica Lake. He was not out of place in the supporting cast of prestige pictures handled by A-list directors (e.g., Alfred Hitchcock's Lifeboat and George Stevens' Woman of the Year – scripted by Ring Lardner Jr., by the way).
Though he appeared in more than 50 movies, he is best known for a 1950s TV series called The Life of Riley, in which he played a blue-collar everyman whose schemes, grandiose or petty, inevitably ended in failure. His signature line was "What a revolting development this is." Movie critics more or less said the same thing about his starring role in The Babe Ruth Story.
So why was he cast? Paul Douglas (catcher Monk Lanigan in It Happens Every Spring, and the Pirates manager in Angels in the Outfield) was mentioned as a possibility, and Ruth's wife Claire thought he would have been a good choice. Reportedly, Ruth himself was in favor of Bendix. It was not so much professional preference as personal, as William Bendix not only knew the Babe, he had worked with him!
As a teenager, Bendix worked at the Polo Grounds when it was home to both the Giants and the Yankees. Bendix claimed he had seen Ruth hit more than 100 home runs, and given the dimensions of the Polo Grounds, the Bambino's home run totals from 1920 through 1922 (148), and whatever stray home runs Bendix might have seen before or after that period, the assertion is likely no exaggeration. Bendix had also witnessed the Babe's feats of gluttony, since his duties included being a gofer (today we might say an "enabler") when the Babe got hunger pangs.
All of the above might have given Bendix some insight into portraying the Babe, but it doesn't mean he was the ideal candidate to play him. Bendix would have been fine as an umpire (which he did portray in Kill the Umpire two years later), a third-string catcher, a trainer, a newspaper photographer, a beer vendor…but not the Babe. Despite efforts to bulk him up and broaden his nose, Bendix in uniform resembles not so much Babe Ruth as Yogi Berra. I wonder if any Yankee fans picked up on that in 1948, when Yogi was in his third season with the team.
Since the Babe was a man of extremes in all areas of his life, it's only fitting that the same would be true of a movie made of his life. Unfortunately, the result was not extremely good, but the exact opposite.
Now there have been many baseball films over the years. Some were good, some not so good. But there is something of a consensus about the worst baseball movie ever made. The Babe Ruth Story, which premiered at the Astor Theater in New York on July 26, 1948 (just three weeks before the Babe's death), is the most frequently mentioned title. The film was described by one web critic as "The Plan 9 From Outer Space of baseball biopics," but I'm not sure the comparison is apt.
For the uninitiated, Plan 9 From Outer Space has achieved wide currency as the worst movie ever made. This 1956 opus ("Aliens resurrecting the dead! Flying saucers over Hollywood!") from legendary poverty row film-maker Ed Wood was doomed from the start. With no money, lousy special effects (wobbling hubcaps as flying saucers), and the death of Bela Lugosi midway through filming, it could hardly have been otherwise. Over time, Ed Wood became a posthumous brand name, the low-budget, schlock counterpart of, say, Alfred Hitchcock or Cecil B. DeMille.
What makes The Babe Ruth Story different is that it was not a low-budget movie from a studio on a shoestring. It was a perfectly respectable film from a perfectly respectable studio, albeit one with B-movie roots (in Monogram Pictures).
The producer/director, Roy Del Ruth, had been making feature films since the silent era. He was a real pro with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame to prove it. He did some amusing tough guy movies with James Cagney in the early 1930s and later got into musicals, but if you looked at all of his films from 1925 to 1948, you might be hard-pressed to find one you'd actually seen, or having seen it, found it memorable.
Allied Artists was not a conventional bricks-and-mortar studio with contract actors and directors. It could have leased any contract director from another studio or offered the job to any free-lance director, but perhaps Allied just liked the connection between Del Ruth and Babe Ruth. Admittedly, that makes about as much sense as asking Dr. Ruth to direct John Goodman as The Babe in that 1992 movie. Come to think of it, considering the Babe's legendary libido, that might not have been a bad choice.
Despite the debacle of The Babe Ruth Story, Roy Del Ruth's career kept chugging along for the next few years. It looked like he had retired after 1953, when he made Three Sailors and A Girl, which sounds like a smoker but was a bona fide feature film, but six years later, he was tempted out of retirement to direct The Alligator People. Apparently rejuvenated by this reptilian opus, he was inspired to do one more movie called Why Must I Die?
The question was not rhetorical. Less than a year later, Del Ruth was dead. Now that's an exit strategy!
I'm sure Del Ruth had his share of regrets at the end, but the casting of Bendix as Babe Ruth might have been the biggest. Del Ruth's secondary casting, however, was superb, including a number of supporting players at the peak of their powers in 1948. Claire Trevor, who plays the Babe's wife Claire (in this film his estranged first wife, who died in a house fire, is conveniently absent), also appeared in Key Largo in 1948 and won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.
The same year, Charles Bickford, who plays Brother Matthias, the youthful Babe's Baltimore mentor, was nominated for Best Supporting Actor in Johnny Belinda.
Sam Levene, who plays Phil Conrad, a sportswriter who conveniently serves as the Babe's confidante (possibly based on Ford Frick), was a longtime character actor, a familiar face in a number of late 1940s crime movies (The Killers, Brute Force, Crossfire) that have come to be regarded as classic examples of film noir.
William Frawley, today best known for his continuing role of Fred Mertz on I Love Lucy, played Jack Dunn, Babe's manager during his stint with the minor league Orioles. Frawley had appeared in more than 100 films.
All of these people were real pros, but The Babe Ruth Story is not an ensemble film, so their skills only go so far. In a biopic, there's no getting around a miscast title role.
Even so, it's not fair to pile on Bendix. He might have suspected he was not up to it, but how could he refuse such a plum role? Would any other supporting actor have turned down a chance to see his name above the title?
The screenwriters, however, are fair game. Poetic license is one thing; a lousy script is another.
The screenwriting duties were given to George Callahan, a B-movie veteran, and Bob Considine, who was primarily a newspaperman and not a screenwriter. (One source asserts that sportswriter Grantland Rice, a big Ruth advocate, also had a hand in the script.) Since Considine was not familiar with screenwriting, I suspect Callahan was brought in to work with Considine on form more than content.
Since Considine (like Ford Frick) worked for the Hearst newspapers, that would have made him suspect in some circles. He had already done an authorized biography (also known as The Babe Ruth Story) of the Babe, published in book form as well as serial form in The Saturday Evening Post, so he was not only well acquainted with the raw material – he was responsible for it.
Right from the start of the film, the viewer's cornpone detector might start to twitch, as "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" wells up on the soundtrack over a shot of the House That Ruth Built, immediately followed by a group of Norman Rockwellish schoolboys paying a visit to Cooperstown. In highly dramatic, bordering on melodramatic, tones, the narrator (Knox Manning) praises a number of Hall of Fame players as their plaques are shown. He sounds as though he's on a mission to convince the audience that baseball is the greatest game ever invented and George Herman Ruth was the greatest game's greatest player!
In-between, the script does follow the basic thread of the Babe's life, from impoverished upbringing in his father's waterfront saloon to St. Mary's Industrial School (not a reform school, as the dialogue points out), to the minor league Orioles, then on to the Red Sox, Yankees and Braves, and finally to a disappointing retirement and fatal illness.
That might sound maudlin enough, but we also get to witness the death of Yankees manager Miller Huggins, who is shown expiring just before Ruth and his new bride show up at his hospital room after the 1927 season. Actually, Ruth and Claire Hodgson did not tie the knot till April 1929, and Miller Huggins died at the conclusion of the 1929 season.
Jumbled chronology is not unusual in biopics and need not hurt the narrative or the spirit of the film. Rumor has it that leaving out Ruth's first wife, Helen, was at the request of second wife Claire. Or it might have been due to the fact that Ruth had a life that was too eventful for one feature-length movie and something had to go to minimize clutter. Or the separation of Babe and his first wife might have brought in the Babe's numerous infidelities, and those would be difficult to integrate into a hagiography.
According to the film, the Babe met Claire Hodgson while he was still pitching for the Red Sox; in fact, the two did not meet till 1923 when Ruth was in his fourth year with the Yankees.
As portrayed in the film, the initial meeting occurs in a tavern where the Babe is pondering his sudden inability to get batters out. Claire, who has just seen him pitch, intervenes and tells him he is tipping his curveball by sticking out his tongue when he goes into his windup. Problem solved!
As absurd as this might sound, it is actually a perfect example of how screenwriters fuse fact and fiction. According to Robert Creamer's 1974 biography (Babe: the Legend Comes to Life), Ruth was tipping his pitches with his tongue, but it was pointed out to him not by his future wife, but by teammate Harry Hooper and manager Bill Carrigan.
Thus the screenwriters handled the obligatory boy-meets-girl scene. Unfortunately, Babe immediately loses her, but later he finds her at a local cabaret (in real life, she was indeed a showgirl) where he inadvertently injects himself into a production of "Singin' in the Rain," soft shoe and all. I've got to believe this scene is pure fabrication. The same is probably true of the scene in which the Babe pops the question by scribbling it on his 60th home run ball and sending it to Claire along with an engagement ring.
In the Babe's last notable game (May 25, 1935) he is shown hitting three homers for the Braves at Forbes Field, which is certainly true (the Braves, however, lost the game by a score of 11-7). In the locker room afterwards, he announces his retirement, whereas in real life he did not do so till a few days later. Fulfilling a promise he had made to Braves management, he finished up the road trip with the Braves and played his last game on May 30 at Philadelphia's Baker Bowl, where he played his first World Series game in 1915.
In all of Bendix's baseball scenes, the ones with the Braves ring the truest, perhaps because Bendix was 42 years old at the time, just one or two years (there was some dispute as to the year of Babe's birth) older than the Babe was in 1935.
That's a pretty good line, but it sounds too much like screenplayspeak. Another memorable but questionable scene deserves special mention. While the Babe is at St. Mary's, he is shown breaking a window with an errant pitch – on Christmas Day! When he comes inside to apologize to Brother Matthias, he meets Jack Dunn, the Orioles manager, and gives him a demonstration of his pitching prowess. In an astonishing display of control, he winds up and throws the ball right through the same jagged opening in the window without disturbing the tiniest sliver!
In all his action sequences, Bendix is understandably awkward, as he was not a left-handed thrower or batter and coaching can only help so much – especially at his age. In Pride of the Yankees, the solution to this problem was to flip the film so Gary Cooper, batting right-handed and running towards third base, appeared to be batting left-handed and running towards first base.
No laying on of hands for the Babe – just two or three words in passing will do. Thus sayeth the Book of Ruth according to the scribes Callahan and Considine.
The Christ-like aspect of Ruth had never occurred to me – but maybe it should have! After all, in the New Testament, three wise men made pilgrimages to Bethlehem to worship the Babe…and in the junior circuit, Yankee fans made pilgrimages to the Bronx for the same reason.
I'll say he is, laddy boy! But the Babe, whose mission of mercy rendered him AWOL for the game, gets in Dutch with manager Huggins and gets hit with a $5,000 fine and a suspension – which actually happened, sans dog, on Aug. 29, 1925 in St. Louis.
Then there is Ruth's legendary called shot in Chicago during the 1932 World Series, which is fused with the Babe's promise to hit a homer for a sick boy named Johnny six years before. As the film has it, the Babe goes to visit a sick boy named Johnny in Gary, Ind., before the game. The boy remains somewhere between listless and comatose, even after being presented with the autographed ball his doctor had requested. Not to worry, as the Babe promises he will hit one over the center field fence at Wrigley Field that afternoon.
Comes the game, and as the Babe steps into the batter's box, Claire Ruth shouts "Don't forget Johnny!" above the din of the rowdy Cubs fans. Forget? The Babe? Au contraire, Claire! The Babe never forgets a sick child!
Well, we all know what the Babe did (in the film, it looks as though Bendix swings at a pitch high and outside). Pitcher Charlie Root, who served up the historic homer, was offered a chance to play himself and re-create the scene, but he declined, insisting that Ruth had never called his shot, and he did not wish to take part in promoting such a falsehood. Root, by the way, said the pitch was low and outside.
Whether the shot was called or not, after Johnny hears about it on the radio, a smile blossoms on his face and his eyes glow like one of those kids in Village of the Damned. Like radio preachers of old, the Babe can heal through the airwaves! Forget the March of Dimes, just set those crippled kids in front of the radio and twirl that dial till you find the Yankees game!
Unfortunately, self-healing was not in the Babe's repertoire. According to Robert Creamer's biography, the Babe actually left his sickbed (he had been given the Last Rites at Memorial Hospital, now better known as Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, on July 21) for the premiere of the movie… but he left before it was over. I'm pretty sure he wasn't the only one. A blowout does tend to empty the seats. Since the premiere was a benefit for the Babe Ruth Foundation, he must have felt his presence was required.
The film shows Babe volunteering for an untested serum. In fact, his hospital stay did include some experimental treatment, initially with encouraging results, but the Babe was dead before his movie went into general release on Sept. 9.
Some time during those final days, he might have harkened back to his own cinematic efforts in which he played fictionalized versions of himself (Headin' Home in 1920 or Babe Goes Home in 1927) or Pride of the Yankees, when he did play himself. Surely, he couldn't help but compare his biopic to Gehrig's and wonder how there could have been such a discrepancy in quality. About all the two films had in common was that Mark Koenig portrayed himself in both.
As is often the case in baseball films, a number of other people played themselves. In addition to Koenig, the cast included Bucky Harris (who was the Yankees manager in 1948), umpire Ziggy Sears and announcers H.V. Kaltenborn, Harry Wismer and Mel Allen. Curiously, Wismer was known for football broadcasts, and Allen, who is shown behind the mike for the Babe's 60th home run in 1927, did not start broadcasting Yankees games till 1939. He was only 14 years old in 1927!
On the other hand, it appears as though care was taken to use season-appropriate uniforms. The uniforms on screen match up pretty well with what I've seen in still photos. And some of those uniforms were filled with real ballplayers, including college ballplayers as extras.
Behind the scenes, Lew Fonseca is credited for "Special Baseball Assistance," whatever that means. Pat Flaherty, a career minor leaguer (he had yielded a couple of home runs to Ruth in an exhibition game) who somehow became Hollywood's go-to guy every time a production involved baseball, is not only the Technical Adviser but also played Red Sox manager Bill Carrigan.
Establishing shots of major league ballparks are employed throughout, and a number of stock shots (not always from the same ballpark) are intertwined. Yankee Stadium was put to good use, particularly in a couple of panoramic shots, including one of Bendix rounding the bases. Reportedly, Bendix actually hit one out to right field. This might sound like PR puffery, but considering the short porch at old Yankee Stadium, it is a distinct possibility.
Unfortunately, filming at Yankee Stadium in 1948 makes anachronisms inevitable, notably the Ballantine Beer sign shown during a 1927 game when Prohibition was still in effect. As is generally the case with sports movies, game action shots are carefully framed to minimize the number of spectators shown. Those background extras do cost money.
As is sometimes the case with old movies, some lines of dialogue often resonate to a different frequency with the passing of time. Hollywood studios were notorious for genuflecting to the Catholic Church, but today it is almost laughable when the Babe declines to sue Major League Baseball, exclaiming, "No, kid, that would be like suing the church!" Of course, today suing the church is common, now that people realize that not all priests are as benign as Brother Matthias.
The Bambino deserves better, you say? Hell, a utility infielder for the Lansing Lugnuts deserves better.
Baseball fans can argue from now till doomsday about the greatest third baseman ever, the best power hitter, the greatest reliever, or whatever. But as for the worst baseball movie ever?
No debating society would waste its time on that topic.
Good heavens, this movie sounds like a hot, sticky mess. I almost have to see it now.
If nothing else, gotta see that scene with Pee-Wee's miraculous recovery at the human hospital. Still chuckling at the description of that one.
Glad I Wiki'd rather than rented. Sounds like a Depression era chick flick. Your girl drags you there figuring you'll like it because of the baseball in it, you sit there for 2 hours nodding and smiling any time you sense her glancing at you, otherwise ruminate on the things you do for lust-, I mean, love.
Well, it was well after the Depression so you can't blame it on that!
It's still not as bad as the scene in the Goodman version where he hits a popup in the infield so high that he runs around the bases and scores before the ball lands! God that was awful!
Regarding the pinch runner for Ruth's home runs. My understanding is that during this era that pinch runners, I think also called courtesy runners, were allowed to be used under certain circumstances, I think even without being counted as a use (so the pinch runner could be used again). So actually, I think the pinch runners actually lend authenticity to the movie, though I don't know if the Pirates really excused him from jogging out his HRs.
There were courtesy runners then but only to replace a runner on base who was injured.
The opposing team manager had to give permission for a courtesy runner to be used and he also had to approve of the runner, usually the slowest runner on the team. Otherwise runners would fake injuries so that they could be replaced by faster runners.
Let's just say that William Bendix came across more like Chester A. Riley than Ruth.
That John Goodman movie of the Babe was just as bad.
Would you please direct me to a resource that documents which 1977 World Series games were night games?


Today, Impact Austin, the largest and oldest giving circle in Austin, is 450 members strong. Members must be female and donate $1,250 a year, with $1,000 going to provide grants and $250 going back into Impact Austin to support our daily operations and membership development. Its grants focus on five areas: culture, education, environment, family and health. Members can be as involved as they like or they can just give the money. In 2018, Impact Austin awarded $446,000 to four nonprofits.
The junior version of Impact Austin is open to young women in high school with each member contributing $100 each. In 2018 G3 awarded $8,200 to Foster Angels of Central Texas.
Women's Fund offers five levels of membership, each including invitations to educational programs, recognition as a members, and participation in the annual vote on grant recipients, but the higher levels offer more influence on the strategy and direction of the organization. In 2018, Women's Fund awarded $200,000 to four grantees in the areas of housing, child care, education, and unintended pregnancy prevention.
This Georgetown-area giving circle has become a philanthropic powerhouse in Williamson County. In 2018, it awarded $173,000 to eight grantees, and it focuses on arts and culture; community development; children, youth, and families; education; the environment; and health and human services.
This giving circle is on pause in 2018, but look for it to come back soon. The original giving circle created to have a collective impact on the Central Texas Latino community, FuturoFund has also become a convener of Austin's most prominent Latino leaders. Founded by John-Michael Cortez, Mayor Adler's chief-of-staff, and his wife Priscilla Cortez, executive director of Volunteer Legal Services of Texas, this power-couple gathered a few dozen of their closest allies to address the issues that Austin Latinos are facing. The giving circle continues to grow, and has so far targeted its $200,000 to programs that advance Latinos. One member, one vote and 100 percent of funds go to grants.
PHOTO: Impact Austin's 2018 grant ceremony where almost half a million dollars was donated to the community.


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Lunar Vacation are an American indie rock band from Atlanta, Georgia.

History
Lunar Vacation released their first EP in 2017 titled Swell. The group released their second EP, Artificial Flavors, in 2018. In 2021, the band released their debut full-length album through Keeled Scales called Inside Every Fig Is A Dead Wasp. The album was produced by Daniel Gleason of Grouplove.

References

Musical groups from Atlanta