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Suzy Kellems Dominik Returns to Nautilus
Jenny Bahn Dec. 03, 2018
Last year, in the midst of Miami Art Week 2017, countless spectators stood beneath a series of clear glass tubes and dangling white wires, waiting for an eruption of sorts. An orgasm, to be blunt. The work, by Suzy Kellems Dominik, lit the walls of the Nautilus in neon shades of hot pink and sky blue. There were fireworks, a bird in flight, a labia. And, underneath it all, a proclamation: I can feel!
It was a highly Instagrammable moment, yes — one that received glowing write-ups in Elle, The Cut, W Magazine, and many others — but it was also a powerful statement made during the early rumblings of the #MeToo movement. A message about taking pride and ownership of one's body— specifically, a woman's body. But such wonderfully raw feeling is something one should expect from Kellems Dominik, a multi-disciplinary artist and self-proclaimed "emotional autobiographer." Putting it all on display is the name of the game. The San Francisco-based creative, whose rich personal history includes a stint as a competitive gymnast, specializes in eye-catching explorations into social constructs and human relationships. Feminism, social justice, individual liberty: these are all themes that enter Kellems Dominik's purview. She's a strong female voice, and a timely one at that.
For Miami Art Week 2018, the artist returns to the halls of our own Nautilus with a new sculptural work, "INVISIBLE." As she prepared for her follow-up installation, we caught up with Kellems Dominik to talk the toll of time, the gift of curiosity, and an early lesson in the power of female will.
Suzy Kellems Dominik, INVISIBLE, 2018. Courtesy of the artist. Photo Credit: Christopher Yu.
Tell me a bit about the work you will be displaying this year:
"INVISIBLE" is a sculptural installation that features five larger-than-life female totems that take a poetic, surrealistic approach to representing the female nude. The soft-sculptures are hand-rendered from cotton, much like a sock puppet — albeit far more politically charged and on a monumental scale. They measure in at 12 feet tall! The sculpture is the first public presentation of works from an ongoing series that I started in 2006. As a self-ascribed emotional autobiographer, naturally my work draws significantly from my role as a mother to two beautiful daughters. In 2006, my daughters were six and eighteen respectively — two separate generations in themselves — and it struck me as a fascinating activity to see how starkly different our sock-puppet self-portraits would be. I was involved with my youngest's kindergarten and posited the activity to the parents of her homeroom classmates — I tasked us all with undertaking the activity with our children. What started as banal became such an important exercise for me. I began making these sculptures of different fictive women at varying ages and they became a staple in my studio.
I'm now 57 years old, and while I embrace every part of what that means, there is a reality to be told about what time does to the human body! We are so accustomed to seeing perfection on the runway, onstage, and in the media that it struck me as apropos to take on the challenge of making sculptures that exalted the female body at middle age and beyond. In a setting such as South Beach — and with such an amazing platform as the Nautilus, where people from all walks of life come to experience and engage with the ideas disseminated around Miami Art Week — it struck me as the best opportunity to exalt these totemic middle-aged ladies!
Last year's "I Can Feel" received a good deal of attention — and rightly so! Do you feel the pressure to top that this time around?
Firstly, I am grateful to the Nautilus and SIXTY Hotels for generously giving "I Can Feel" its first public platform. Let's be honest: it was a bold move on [SIXTY co-founder] Jason Pomeranc's part! I am honored that this work resonated with the many art enthusiasts who were drawn to it in person. For those who were unable to visit, I thank the digital information age for allowing audiences to experience the work from afar through social media and the thoughtful stories published about the work. I am, as always, emboldened to shine a light through my practice, and to engage and generate productive social conversation surrounding issues that remain salient well beyond Miami Art week. Pressure… I adore it! I am ready to take whatever may come with the exhibition of "INVISIBLE." Having said this, when the pressure gets a bit intense, there are always Red Vines, ha.
As a multi-disciplinary artist, does your idea drive the medium/materials or does the medium/materials drive your idea?
I am an emotional autobiographer, therefore my work is fully entrenched in the recesses of my brain and soul, and at the intersection of the conscious and unconscious. I am often presented with an experience or an impetus that directs me to a particular form of storytelling. My body of work includes performance, silent film, video, immersive installation, textile, neon, embroidery, vitrine… a variety of forms. That said, the work itself goes well beyond object-making, despite the importance of the art object itself. The process becomes part of the medium. It is a catharsis of sorts. Exploring new skills, mediums, and research through which I communicate my voice is the bedrock of my studio practice. Curiosity is a gift.
What was your first experience with art as a child?
Three simultaneous experiences come to mind. First is having had my creativity piqued with what one might label a "makers space" today… essentially a garage filled with craft and art materials, a spectacular array of metal and woodworking tools and the freedom to engage my curiosity — snacks provided! The second was a spectacular performance by the esteemed Indian conductor Zubin Mehta. The third experience lives in my memory as a kind of amalgamation of cultural exposure. I'm profoundly influenced by my first visits to relics of Renaissance past: the churches, crypts, paintings, and sculptures of that golden era of arts production and patronage.
What did your parents do for work? Were they interested in the arts at all?
My mother was, for the times, a traditional woman: a mother, wife, homemaker. My late father, as his father before him, was an engineer and a stunning, imaginative genius. As far as the arts… yes! As a family, we especially valued dance, classical music, and — as my father called it — "long hair." That said, we were not art collectors; my parents found it more valuable to collect experiences and relationships than objects themselves. They did, however, imbue a certain eye for the whimsical, a lens through which I came to approach life. I inherited an ability to seek beauty in objects others might otherwise find mundane.
How did your youth training as a competitive gymnast — a very physical and body-centric endeavor— shape your perception of the female form?
I am glad that you asked, but my response could truly go on and on so I will respond in brief. At thirteen, I first set foot in the gym as an aspirational gymnast. At sixteen, I was inducted as a member of the United States National Gymnastics Team. By the time I was at USC, I was NCAA All-American. It was a short but unprecedented, extraordinarily ascendant career that proved profoundly formative. It is sad but true that unrealistic expectations and long-term complications relating to the body abound in gymnastics — as with many sports and professions splashed across pop culture today — though for me, at that age and during that era, I was more focused on celebrating the body's ability to do awe-inspiring things. Imagine asking and trusting your body to break the bounds of physics! Moreover, it was perhaps my first outward testament to the power of the female will. I learned that I could achieve most of what I desired through hard work, tenacity, and the courage to dream big.
Your work deals a lot with relationships. In your life, what relationship has had the most influence on you and your work?
Every interaction I have ever had has made me who I am, and has affected how I emotionally intellectualize my existence and work. I addressed the importance of my familial, foundational relationships — my relationship to my daughters, for instance — when we were speaking about the inspiration behind "INVISIBLE." Because my work is so profoundly linked to my lived experience in the world, even the most fleeting interactions find voice in my body of work. And then there is "the muse" who keeps on giving — really just the archetype of who I am, the society I live in and the choices I have made.
You describe yourself as "an emotional autobiographer." Can you elaborate on that a little for our readers?
Some artists are painters, others are sculptors, some are filmmakers. These artists assert a dedication, a technical proclivity for a particular medium or art form. My practice is a bit different. For me, the story is the medium. I'm not discouraged by the fact that many of my projects necessitate months of research and technical practice in materiality and techniques otherwise new to me. In fact, it energizes me to have to work through a new skill in order to arrive at what it is I need to communicate meaning! That said, the story itself is not always narrative or linear in a traditional sense. Hence, I qualify my form of autobiography as "emotional." Sometimes I'm driven by a subtle sensation, a feeling, a discomfort, or a reaction. Other times it is an emotional onslaught! These feelings are the shadow of an experience or the distillation of a series of experiences, but the byproduct is nonetheless fundamentally about communicating that emotion.
In this era of #MeToo, how do you think perception of and response to your work has changed?
The work I produce always seems to hit right at the contemporary zeitgeist, which is interesting considering that the work has generally been years in the making. I don't think this is necessarily to say that I harbor an unusual foresight but rather that the issues women are debating and the change we seek to make has also been years in the making.
Recently, I've found myself pondering whether my life experience has worn thin my ability to withstand the constant barrage of intellectual poison, emotional terrorism, and our overall loss of humanity… perhaps just a bit sooner than others? I would reiterate, however, that despite my work being intensely personal, there exists an innate space where the viewer will ascribe their own associations, their own recollections, experiences. Considering that #MeToo has acted as a catalyst to air many of our respective histories — particularly those relating to women's health and persistent issues relating to consent — I hope that my art can act as a conduit for viewers to internalize the work in a way that adds a new layer to their own lived experience.
From your view, as a woman and an artist, do you feel as though women are making strides?
I am certain that the status quo has broken open entirely; it strikes me as impossible that it would ever revert. At the very least, women are being reincorporated into the historical narrative — female artists are being granted visibility and inclusivity on a scale unlike eras past. That said, my hope is that the fervor and the call to action continues to resound beyond the timeliness or trendiness of particular movements. Progress necessitates resilience, patience, and persistence. And a shared value for the aggregate power of the vote!
Who are other strong female voices that we should be paying attention to?
To circle back on our topic of my involvement with gymnastics, and to further reinforce themes present in "INVISIBLE," I honor the work Michelle Obama has done to link a healthy lifestyle through eating well and being energetically physical. But on a far grander scale, any and every woman courageous enough to speak up for herself and others. Doubly for those who can't!
What was the last book/film/piece of art that inspired you and why?
Most recently, Marcel Duchamp's "Étant donnés" from 1969 at the Philadelphia Art Museum. Be still my beating heart! I gasped, I sighed, I swooned. The work's inspiration upon me was visceral. I encourage all art enthusiasts to experience this magnificent, thought- and conversation-provoking work in person. As I continue in my commitment to reclaim the narrative from the male masters of the canon, I will use this work as my next inspiration — a springboard, if you will.
Similarly, and as it relates to "INVISIBLE," I've found myself revisiting Hans Bellmer's poupées and his unsettling photographs of his wife's bound body. As I toiled over my totems with thread and needle in hand, I found myself grappling with the profound difference between wielding the needle and being the subject of imposed restraint. His works are so seductive in their grotesque, bizarre beauty. I kept finding myself wanting to fight against that representation of the female form produced at the hands of a man. I think that kind of battle cry made it all the more important for me to imbue my sculptures with empathy, compassion, and care.
What is the best piece of advice you were ever given?
I gave it to myself: "Why not me!"
And, lastly, what are you most looking forward to this week?
Moving the art viewer and using "INVISIBLE" as a jumping off point for a powerful dialogue about something much bigger. I have the honor of participating in a panel discussion with fellow power-ladies in the arts and culture world and I am so excited to engage the thoughts, experiences, trials, and tribulations of such a great group of movers and shakers in their respective fields. I hope to inspire candid, productive dialogue as I find myself constantly lamenting the societal aversion to discussing the issues that affect us personally, professionally, and culturally today. In this way, I also thank you for this interview, for the opportunity to collaborate and for a platform to commune!
Suzy Kellems Dominik, INVISIBLE, 2018. Cotton knit, acrylic, thread, organic cotton batting, chunky wool. Approximately 16 ft. W x 12 ft. H x 2 ft. D. Views from the artist's studio in San Francisco, California. Courtesy of the artist. Photo Credit: Christopher Yu.
In the Studio with Pop Artist Todd Gray
In the Studio with Kate Casey of Peg Woodworking
In the Studio with Lucia Hierro
Jenny Bahn
Jenny Bahn is a writer and editor based in Brooklyn, specializing in music, fashion, the arts, and culture, both high and low. Her work has been featured in Cereal, Lenny Letter, and more.


text:
package org.apache.flink.runtime.io.network.partition.consumer;

import org.apache.flink.runtime.checkpoint.channel.InputChannelInfo;
import org.apache.flink.runtime.io.network.api.CheckpointBarrier;
import org.apache.flink.runtime.io.network.buffer.Buffer;
import org.apache.flink.runtime.io.network.buffer.BufferReceivedListener;

import java.util.ArrayList;
import java.util.HashMap;
import java.util.List;
import java.util.Map;

class TestBufferReceivedListener implements BufferReceivedListener {
	private final Map<InputChannelInfo, List<Buffer>> notifiedOnBuffers = new HashMap<>();
	final Map<InputChannelInfo, List<CheckpointBarrier>> notifiedOnBarriers = new HashMap<>();

	@Override
	public void notifyBufferReceived(Buffer buffer, InputChannelInfo channelInfo) {
		notifiedOnBuffers.computeIfAbsent(channelInfo, unused -> new ArrayList<>()).add(buffer);
	}

	@Override
	public void notifyBarrierReceived(CheckpointBarrier barrier, InputChannelInfo channelInfo) {
		notifiedOnBarriers.computeIfAbsent(channelInfo, unused -> new ArrayList<>()).add(barrier);
	}
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Vesicouterine fistula refers to an abnormal communication between the bladder and uterus. The first case of vesicouterine fistula was reported in 1908. It was however first described in 1957 by Abdel Fattah Youssef, an obstetrician and gynaecologist in Kasr el-Aini hospital, Cairo, Egypt. It is characterized by a vesicouterine fistula above the level of the internal os, absence of menstrual bleeding, cyclical presence of blood in urine and absence of urinary incontinence with a patent cervical canal following a lower segment caesarean section. Six of such cases had been reported by other clinicians before the term Menouria was coined by Youssef.

Pathology
Vesicouterine fistula is the least common type of urogenital fistula accounting for 1-4% of urogenital fistulas. It occurs following lower segment caesarean section and the incidence is increasing due to the increasing incidence of caesarean deliveries. The occurrence of menoruria in the absence of vaginal bleeding or passage of urine from the vagina is attributed to a sphincteric mechanism of the uterine isthmus.

Jozwik and Jozwik classified vesicouterine fistula into three types based on the route of menstrual flow;

I - Menstrual flow from the bladder only without urinary incontinence

II - Menstrual flow from both the bladder and vagina with urinary incontinence

III - Normal menstrual flow from the vagina only (no menouria) with urinary incontinence

Youssef syndrome corresponds to a type I vesicouterine fistula.

Causes
Vesicouterine fistulas occur most commonly after lower segment caesarean sections (about 83-93% of cases). The possible mechanisms by which vesicouterine fistulas occur following caesarean sections include undetected bladder injury during caesarean section, inadvertent placement of a suture through the bladder during the repair of the uterus and abnormal blood vessel connections following multiple caesarean sections.

It may also present following use of obstetric forceps, manual placenta removal, external cephalic version, morbidly adherent placenta, surgical removal of fibroids, rupture of the uterus, perforation of the uterus and radiation therapy in the treatment of cervical cancer.

Vesicouterine fistula can also occur as a birth defect in conjunction with vaginal atresia.

Diagnosis
The diagnosis of a vesicouterine fistula is made by demonstrating an abnormal connection between the cavities of the bladder and uterus. It can be diagnosed using hysterosalpingography, hysterography, cystography, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computerised tomography. MRI has been found to have 100% accuracy in the diagnosis of vesicouterine fistula. It is also less invasive than other modalities and is considered the gold standard for diagnosis.

Treatment
The options of treatment include watchful waiting for spontaneous resolution of the fistula, use of medications that can stop menstrual periods such as oral contraceptive pills, progesterone and gonadotropin releasing hormone analogs. Surgery can be carried out through the vagina, bladder or peritoneum and can be done via laparoscopic or robotic surgery.

Watchful waiting is the treatment of choice in case of small fistulas. The bladder is catheterised for a period of 4 to 8 weeks in order to allow spontaneous closure of the vesicouterine fistula. Fulguration of the fistula can also be done via cystoscopy in cases of small fistulas.

Differential diagnosis
 Endometriosis

See also
Obstetric Fistula

References

Fistulas

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Why dal prices have doubled: Here's the math
&nbspPhoto Credit:&nbspTimes Now
Where does a 12% decline translate as 100% increase? In the bizarre world of India's food maths, production of pulses slipped down by 12% in 2014-15 compared to the previous year. As a result, prices of this essential item have zoomed up by more than 100% across the country. The government is scrambling to retrieve the situation, especially because an important election is being fought in Bihar and the festive season is just beginning.
India consumes around 23 million metric tons (MMT) of pulses. This is an aggregate of a variety of pulses including gram (chana), tur or arhar, mung, masur and urad.
Pulses are the main source of protein for a very large number of people in the country - each 100 grams contains about 32 grams of proteins and several amino acids not made by the body. India is the largest producer and consumer of pulses in the world.
But India's production of pulses has stagnated at around 18-19 MMT for several years now. The shortfall between production and consumption is made up by imports, mainly from Canada, Myanmar and some African countries.
This balance has been maintained at a huge cost to the people. A population growing at the rate of about 2% per year in the past decade should have quickly overtaken the pulses rate of growth which was less than half of that.
This has not happened because the amount of pulses consumed per person has relentlessly declined over the past several decades.
This year the balance has been rudely and dramatically upset. In 2014-15, production of pulses was clocked in at 17.4 MMT - a decline of 2.4 MMT or 12% over the previous year. This was caused by various factors including unseasonal rains, pests, and unprofitable prices for offered to farmers even as import duties were waived.
This decline appears to have been seized as an opportunity to make a quick killing by traders - both domestic and global. There are reports of pulses stocks lying in warehouses at ports as traders wait it out and allow shortages to pump up prices even more.
And, exporters in touch with producers from Canada (mainly lentil or masur), Myanmar (mainly tur) and Australia (mainly chickpeas or Kabuli chana) have hiked up the rates because India is the biggest player in the pulses import market.
So, in 2014-15, India has imported 4.6 MMT pulses, up 31% compared to the previous year. International prices have risen in tandem from Rs32 per kg to Rs50 for chana, from Rs56 to Rs75 for lentil, from Rs40 to Rs90 for tur, and from Rs50 to Rs77 for urad between October 2014 and August 2015 according to the latest agriculture ministry profile.
Experts have called for a new impetus to pulses production with new seeds, better pest control, better support prices and a much better organized market so that the future expected requirement of pulses can be met. Otherwise India faces a protein famine in the coming years.
Photo credit: Indiatimes, Representative image

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Amazon Web Services Inc. (AWS), an Amazon.com company, hosted over 10,000 technologists from across the Asean region to share, learn, and collaborate on the very latest AWS features and services at the AWS Summit Singapore 2019 held April 10-11.
The inaugural AWS TechFest, took place on the first day of AWS Summit Singapore, a full day event dedicated to technical audiences such as developers, data scientists, application architects, and IT Professionals. There were hands-on labs, boot camps, certification information, and deep-dive technical training curated by subject matter experts who will share their real-world experiences and lessons learned.
Peter DeSantis, Vice President of AWS Global Infrastructure and Customer Support, gave the opening keynote on the second day of the summit, witnessed by AWS customers, Indonesian start-up "unicorn" company Traveloka, and Certis, Singapore-based leading advanced integrated security services company. There was also wide variety of technical breakout sessions, demonstrations, and hands-on workshops that will help professionals to better understand how they can successfully build their organization on AWS Cloud, be it a startup, small-medium business, traditional business, or a large enterprise.
AWS Summit Singapore also featured the interactive and experiential AWS Solution Expo, where AWS and AWS Partner Networks members presented the latest cloud solutions, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data analytics, and more to help customers get the most out of AWS Cloud.
This year's AWS Summit Singapore saw the world's first global autonomous racing league, DeepRacer League taking place in the Asean region. The live event provided developers with the opportunity to explore ML in a fun and highly entertaining way, as they raced using 1/18th scale AWS DeepRacer cars driven by reinforcement learning, which is a branch of ML that is ideal for training autonomous vehicles.
At a racing area in the Singapore EXPO Convention and Exhibition Centre, developers tested their models and had their lap times with their cars recorded onto a Speedway Leaderboard. Participants with the fastest times advanced to the AWS DeepRacer Championship at AWS re:Invent 2019 in Las Vegas, and compete for the coveted AWS DeepRacer Cup.
Six teams from Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam took part in the grand finale of AWS Hackdays 2019, an annual education and hackathon event, where they spent 12 hours developing a relevant, real-world solution using AWS features and services.
Under this year's theme of "Hack for Good", builders in the region showcased their innovation and demonstrated skills as they developed solutions to potentially drive positive impact in the areas of HealthTech, AgriTech, Smart City, or FinTech.


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In the event that, prior to departure, the package tour is canceled for any reason, except for the fault of the consumer, or the organizer or seller informs the customer about significant modifications of one or more objectively essential elements of the contract, the consumer may withdraw from the contract without penalty if he doesn't accept the change. He could also make use of the alternatives provided in the article n. 6 of these General Terms Conditions. The organizer may, in the presence of reasonable grounds, to introduce changes in the program if the services provided are not objectively lower than originally anticipated (eg: accommodation in a different hotel but with a not lower category of the one indicated in the program).
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TOP GOLF HOLIDAY is not liable for failure or incorrect execution of the contract caused by the consumer (including the client's autonomous initiatives taken in the course of execution of the tour services) or by circumstances extraneous to the fruition of the services envisaged in the contract, fortuitous events, acts of God or "force majeur". The organizer or the seller who has refunded the consumer are surrogates for all rights and actions of the customer to third responsible parties. The consumer must provide the organizer or seller all documents, information and evidence in its possession to enable the exercise of the right of subrogation.
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Any deficiency in the contract must be contested by the consumer without delay, so that the organizer can remedy it. Complaints may be presented by sending organizer or seller a registered letter of parcel with advice of delivery within and not later than ten days from the date of return. If the complaints are presented at the place of execution of the tourist services, the organizer is required to provide the customer the care demanded within the limits mentioned in art. 11 of these conditions, in order to seek a prompt and equitable solution. The traveler loses the right to ask the organizer compensation for any damage for loss of money, objects of significant economic value and other assets in case he did not reported in writing before the start of the trip, and consequently he does not have them insured.
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With Eden Home Healthcare, many of the services you could receive in a hospital or rehab center are available to you in the comfort of your own home.
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text:
Q: Are refs really consistent within a STM transaction? I read at clojure.org/refs that

All reads of Refs will see a consistent snapshot of the 'Ref world' as of the starting point of the transaction (its 'read point'). The transaction will see any changes it has made. This is called the in-transaction-value.

There's also a link to Snapshot Isolation on wikipedia that implies that reads of any number of refs will be consistent with each other once a transaction has started.
I made a test case...
(def r1 (ref 0))
(def r2 (ref 0))

(defn delay-then-inc-ref [id ref delay]
  (.start
    (Thread.
        #((println id " start")
          (Thread/sleep delay)
          (dosync
             (alter ref inc))
             (println id " end")))))

(defn deref-delay-deref [ref1 ref2 delay]
    (.start
       (Thread.
          #((println "S start")
            (dosync
              (let [a @ref2]
                 (Thread/sleep delay)
                 (println "S r1=" @ref1))) ; @ref1 consistent with @ref2 ?
                 (println "S end")))))

*clojure-version*
;=> {:major 1, :minor 3, :incremental 0, :qualifier nil}
(deref-delay-deref r1 r2 2000)
(delay-then-inc-ref "1" r1 500)
(delay-then-inc-ref "2" r1 1000)
(delay-then-inc-ref "3" r1 1500)

The output is:
S start
1 start
2 start
3 start
1 end
2 end
3 end
r1 = 3
S end
nil

The value of r1 = 3 rather than r1 = 0 suggests that in deref-delay-deref the deref of ref1 after the sleep is picking the value of r1 after the three delay-then-inc-ref transactions have occurred.
Note that I know about ensure to prevent updates to refs by other transactions during a particular transaction, but I don't believe that applies here. I don't care if ref1 changes as long as I see a value consistent with the start of my transaction.
How does this behaviour fit with the above referenced documentation?

A: It turns out that if the ref has some history it behaves as I expect, so changing the ref declaration to add a :min-history and then setting both refs as shown, seems to make it work....
(def r1 (ref 0 :min-history 5))
(def r2 (ref 0 :min-history 5))

(dosync
 (ref-set r1 0)
 (ref-set r2 0))

Then the output is:
S start
1 start
1 end
2 start
2 end
3 start
3 end
S r1= 0
S end
nil

Reading here, it's clear what's going on. The read transaction is restarting because there is no entry in the ref history from before the transaction started. To confim I added some more logging:
(defn deref-delay-deref [ref1 ref2 delay]
    (.start
       (Thread.
          #((println "S start")
            (dosync
              (println "transaction starting")
              (let [a @ref2]
                 (Thread/sleep delay)
                 (println "S r1=" @ref1))) ; should be consistent with @ref2
            (println "S end")))))

Output without history mods:
S start
transaction starting
1 start
2 start
3 start
1 end
2 end
3 end
transaction starting
S r1= 3
S end

and with history mods:
S start
transaction starting
1 start
2 start
3 start
1 end
2 end
3 end
S r1= 0
S end
nil

UPDATE: It turns out my answer above is something of a distraction because of the artificial nature of the test case. In real world usage it doesn't matter whether the transaction re-starts or not, since the transactions MUST be written such that they are re-startable. The runtime provides no guarantees about whether read only transactions will complete in the presence/absence of history. Rather it can do whatever's necessary to get the world of transactions to complete and the transaction code MUST be written with this in mind. More detailed discussion here
I'm leaving the above for reference.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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text:
Ubuntu Versus Wetiko Or Why John Key Going To Mandela's Funeral Is So Very, Very Wrong And Yet So Very Right Too
Remember to remember that icons created by oppressors will never liberate the people. M Thandabantu Iverson.
While pondering Mandela's life and death over the last few days, especially in light of John Key's announcement that he would be present at the funeral to "pay his respects", I thought I'd read up on what people have written about his role as Rebel (or terrorist as some would have him ), Symbol for the struggle against Apartheid and as the first Black president of South Africa after his liberation.
What struck me is how universally John Key's presence at the funeral was dismissed as wrong and not just that but how very strange it was that all these world "leaders" whom we all know are doing exactly the opposite of what Mandela stood for, fell over backwards to hail Mandela who, for all his humility and wisdom was an imperfect and fallible human being, as a supreme saintly figure and thus hijacked the very goal of his presence here on this planet for their own purposes.
How very strange is this situation when the power elite absorb a symbol of resistance against them and how very strange it will be to see these people at the funeral of this man whom they are now painting as a saint but at the same time how very fitting will it be when you look at the philosophy of whence Mandela came, the concept of Ubuntu and even more so when you superimpose the concept of Wetiko, which I posted on in times past, on the moment and the event of the funeral of Mandela.
For those of you not familiar with either term I urge you to familiarize yourself with them as they are, IMHO, essential to understanding the strange spiritual convergence that will take place on the day of Mandela's funeral.
Ubuntu (Here is a link to Wikipedia where you will find a recording of Mandela explaining the concept) means that we are all part of the same spiritual body. We are not individuals so much as individual expressions of the same universe and to acknowledge one another as being part of the same human family and energy we become human in the fullest sense of the word. Not just that, we become part of the expression of that same universe as it manifests itself on this planet. (my interpretation)
It means for example that if a stranger passes a village that person does not have to ask for food or a place to sleep as that is understood to be the need of one's self and thus of the other and to deny the other is to deny yourself. It is, I feel, similar to the Buddhist concept of oneness and that of many of the philosophies of what we call first nation peoples. To be part of the human race means to be part of the fabric of life and the universe. The damage we do to others we do to ourselves and in doing so we damage the planet and life itself.
It explains why Mandela was able to forgive those who locked him up for 27 years and why he was able to live his life the way he did. I think it also explains his apparent betrayal of the people who thought he was going to make the economic situation they lived in better, which he didn't and perhaps couldn't, and why he didn't condemn the people who took advantage of the rise of the ANC as a corrupt and oppressive power.
Ubuntu locks in with the concept of Karma too as every individual is responsible for maintaining the peace and balance within the community they live in and the damage done under the apartheid's regime was huge and the negative energies it awakened are still reverberating, like waves hitting the side of a pond after you throw a stone in the water and slamming back into the next waves and they where bound to cause even more upheaval and misery in the damaged country of South Africa Mandela sought to liberate.
But also there is another concept that I find just as applicable here as Ubuntu and that is the concept of Wetiko and it is a concept we would be wise to pay attention too.
Wetiko, described by Paul Levi with the Western term of malignant egophrenia, is the name given by many tribes of the North American continent to what they see as an inner disease of the spirit, soul and psyche that explicates itself through the canvas of the outside world. It acts as a virus in that it can spread to other individuals when they get in touch with an infected individual. It can grow and infect entire groups and if I were to explain it in my interpretation withing the confines of this post I would describe it as the very opposite of what the concept of Ubuntu means in that it tries to convince the sufferer that only his/her own personal gain is important and that what happens to others around him will not affect him and are therefor not his responsibility.
In other words the Wetiko infection separates the "individual" from the spiritual nourishment of being part of the human species and also of the sensation of being part of and at the same time the whole of the universe. This means that the sufferer is no longer part of life and of this planet and this universe. Maybe even the whole concept of peace in the afterlife and the concept of paradise is a manifestation of the sickness of Wetiko and the craving of its victims to get back to the concept of Ubuntu and connectedness.
If you take a closer look at those converging on the day of the funeral you will find that, like our own Prime Minister John Key who amassed a "fortune" of $ 50 million and counting, most of them are global "power brokers" and members of a group not bigger than some 202,000 individuals but I hope that you will agree with me they are also some of the most disconnected individuals and I put it to you that they are all infected with that most horrible of diseases; that of an inner disease of the spirit, soul and psyche, disconnecting them from all of us while destroying our environment for their own sick and desperate needs.
So how fitting that on the day of the funeral of one of the individuals so completely aware of his connection to all of us through the concept of Ubuntu, who was able to bring together through that concept such extremes as the former President Mr de Klerk as his vice president and himself in one government and who served as a focal point of unity in such a divided country as South Africa and dare I say it on a Global scale, some of those most infected with the virus of Wetiko, like zombies, will descent on the place where his earthly remains will be interred.
In initially rejecting the idea of John Key and his ilk going to Africa to bury Mandela but giving my mind and spirit the space to connect to the greater realm of all of us, I have come full circle. I think that while most of us don't need to be present at the interment of Mandela's mortal remains because his spirit is already part of all of us, it is fitting that this group of very ill people separated from us through their infection with the Wetiko should be there at the very place Mandela won't be, confronted with their own isolation, loneliness and illusions of grandeur.
Maybe it will teach us and help us remain vigilant against this infection the Cree Indians call Wetiko and help us cure our fellow men from this infection so that they once again may return to the sum of all of us and live with Ubuntu, safe in the knowledge that what happens to one of us happens to all of us and everyone of us has the power and the responsibility to make what happens to all of us something good instead of the murder and mayhem visited upon all of us by these very, very sick people.
This entry was posted in Economic meltdown and tagged John Key, Mandela, Ubuntu, Wetiko. Bookmark the permalink.
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8 thoughts on "Ubuntu Versus Wetiko Or Why John Key Going To Mandela's Funeral Is So Very, Very Wrong And Yet So Very Right Too"
Very good. This is the best comment I have read on Mandel's death and funeral.
Thank you for your generous comment.
johor777 says:
Bless you for this, a much needed remedy for all the blatant hypocritical crap that Madiba's passing has inspired from the living dead who pretend to be God's gift to Gaia and her creations. Little do they realise that they too will pass into history unremembered even less than Ghengis Khan or Julius Caesar or Adolf Hitler and never to be honoured like Mahatma Ghandi, MLK and now Mandiba.
It is also a gift to know that Ubuntu means so much more than the name of a computer OS. Wetiko is also a very useful word to make more widely known,
Thanks for appreciating my efforts and yes I found it also strangely pleasant to find out what Ubuntu really means.
James Smith says:
They all work for the same team. One is the right hand and the other the left. Both get financed. One presents the problem so the other can present the solution. Together the the masters control. Nothing new. Look at NZ and you'll see the pattern. Freemason dupe handshake anyone (Mandela photos online)?
So, what they are telling us is that Mandela, whom even Amnesty International refused to defend because he was guilty as charged, is a pattern for freedom fighters against "apartheid". Are they advocating that for Australia and New Zealand? It is said that 650,000 white South Africans now live in squatter camps. They went from 1st world to 3rd world. 3rd world people seem to be easier to control and rip off their resources. See a pattern here? Can it happen in NZ? Ask any white South African. There is a reason that people like Mandela, Kissinger, Churchill and Pol Pot get to die of old age, and it's not because they ate organic lettuce.
Seemorerocks says:
Thank you for these reflections
Makuini Elizabeth says:
Wow, powerful stuff. Thankyou


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There are five treasures that humans have. They are spirituality, family, relationship, physical, and material. I will explain them briefly, one by one.
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Indianapolis Motor Speedway officials said four-time NASCAR Winston Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon and Formula One driver Juan Pablo Montoya will participate in speed demonstration laps in their cars on Wednesday, June 11 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
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Gordon will attempt to win his fourth Brickyard 400 on Aug. 3 at the Speedway. He has competed in 12 events on the Speedway oval: nine NASCAR Winston Cup races and three IROC events. The demonstration laps will be his first laps on the IMS road course.
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Said Montoya, "The experience will be very interesting, and driving a big, heavy NASCAR car will certainly be different.
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Develop 30 new LF recipes and successfully implement them into 2013 events – No changes since February.
Update and publicize all LF menus by June 1. Update both online and print menus throughout 2013 as new recipes are developed (see above) – No changes since February.
Update the LF website each month with portfolio and/or recipe entries – No changes since February.
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Finish things I write (and get them to a workshop or a publisher.) My morning routine of getting up 30 minutes earlier than usual to write has now been extended to 60 minutes every morning. Even though I dread getting up even earlier than usual, this is now my favorite time of the day. I'm almost ready to wrap up a book proposal to send off to a publisher, and I have not felt this consistent about writing in my life.
Excel at my job. Things have gotten a lot less organized at work, but I remain committed to my plans for working smarter and staying organized. This month I put a lot of time into professional development, and I'm sure it will pay off. I can already start to feel myself getting frustrated because I just won't ever get the feedback on my performance I would like to have, but I think I'm getting better at figuring things out for myself in this regard.
Finish 36 books. Four more books done (although one of them was really a novella, but I'm counting it.) That puts me 1/3 of the way through to the target.
What a great month!!! I continued to attend my workout classes at the YMCA and even signed up for my first 5K mud run! I'm running the Rebel Race on May 18 with three brothers in-law, my sister in-law and my sister. While I set a goal at the beginning of the year to run the Warrior Dash in August, this may have to suffice as the completed goal since the Warrior Dash itself is when our family goes on vacation.
Other exciting news from the month is that my wife and I sold our house, bought a new (and bigger!) house, and are preparing too move out of our current place. There will be a lot of stress management going on between now and May 10 when the moving van arrives.
The most exciting news, however, is that I achieved the main goal that got me involved in this project in the first place. On March 23, I refereed in the state championship game! It was an incredible experience and to have such a great game in an arena filled with about 9,000 people, being broadcast on statewide television with all of my friends and family sitting in the front row. It was more than I could have imagined. I can honestly say that the confidence I have gained from being more comfortable with myself after being more fit has helped me this year. I may not be bigger, but I know who I am and I know that I can achieve big things.
Well — March has definitely been a "one step back" month in the old adage "two steps forward, one step back"! No excuses though!! I just need to refocus myself down the stretch to June !!
Gained back 2 pounds — now at 237. Goal still 230 for the June 1 wedding!!
Bit back a couple more nails somewhat — guess I was just nervous about leaving AZ and getting back to the cold Midwest!
Still exercising regularly though — lots of walking and hiking and golf in March — BROKE 90 FOR THE FIRST TIME IN MY LIFE ON MARCH 20!
Flossing only about 3 times a week — this is proving a particularly perplexing tough one for me!! I think I need to try to do this at a different time than right at bedtime.
As I mentioned last month, I am waiting until after the wedding to concentrate on the 5K run goal.
Had my annual Physical Exam yesterday — all checked out very well — blood work excellent all around, and I feel great.
Turn in my fermentation book to my publisher on March 13 without too many book-related freakouts. – GOAL ACCOMPLISHED! This was a big one for me. I actually turned the book in a whole day early! I'm pretty proud of that. And there were no freakouts to speak of. You can still pre-order my sweet baby on Amazon.com!
Complete the Pittsburgh half marathon on May 5 and beat my 2012 time – I really stepped up my running in March and did some long (for me!) runs that really made me feel great. I have just about a month to go until the race! I'm starting to get a bit nervous, but the more I run this month, the better I'll feel about it all on race day.
Confidently turn 40 on November 19 – 230 days left in my 30s, and I'm feeling good. Dude and I are planning to take a trip somewhere over my birthday to celebrate the milestone, and to celebrate the book. The destination has yet to be decided. I'm torn between somewhere adventurous, a fabulous city we've never visited before, or a tropical getaway where we can chillax on the beach and not talk to anyone. It's a rough choice.
Complete a home makeover – March got away from me on this front, but I did make some headway with planning. We are going to wallpaper a little section of our pantry and I've been contacting professional hangers for estimates. We are also considering new furniture or perhaps reupholstering a few pieces we currently own. Again, more estimates. And in a total change of course, Dude and I are cautiously toying with the idea of painting our kitchen cabinets. This would be an HUGE undertaking for us and we're not natural-born DIY-ers, so we are proceeding with caution.
Become a more confident runner – The long runs I did in March with the Pittsburgh Area CrossFitters Half Marathon group were real accomplishments for me. I've been pretty candid about getting over the mental blocks of running and breaking through some mileage barriers has done wonders for my confidence. This weekend I have a seven mile run coming up. It is not my longest run or anything, so I'm feeling good about it.
Have more in-person interactions with those I love most – As mentioned above, I went to PaleoFX and had a ball. A big highlight was hanging out with Hayley, Bill, Diane, and Scott. I also got to hang with two new friends, Sean and Suzanne. I also got to spend some much needed time with family after the trip to Austin.
Post more on my blog! – I must do this and I promise I will. Stay tuned for more goodness.
So, there you have it. March is finished and we're looking ahead! There is still plenty of room for YOU to join us! All you need to do is come up with your own list. Here are some helpful hints and tricks to get you started. Send me an email containing your list and you're good to go.


text:
Prevalence of seroadaptive behaviours of men who have sex with men, San Francisco, 2004
J M Snowden1,2,
H F Raymond2,
W McFarland2
School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA
San Francisco Department of Public Health, San Francisco, California, USA
Correspondence to Willi McFarland, HIV Epidemiology Section, San Francisco Department of Public Health, 25 Van Ness Avenue, Suite 500, San Francisco, CA 94102-6033, USA; willi_mcfarland{at}hotmail.com
Objectives: To define and measure the prevalence of HIV seroadaptive behaviours among men who have sex with men (MSM).
Methods: A community-based, cross-sectional sample of 1211 HIV negative and 251 HIV positive MSM was recruited in San Francisco in 2004 by time-location sampling. Seroadaptive behaviours were defined by enumerating and characterising all episodes of anal intercourse by partner type, partner HIV serostatus, sexual position and condom use for up to five partners in the preceding 6 months.
Results: Among HIV negative MSM, 37.6% engaged in some form of apparent seroadaptive behaviour, predominantly pure serosorting (24.7%), followed by seropositioning (5.9%), condom serosorting (3.9%) and negotiated safety (3.1%). Among HIV positive men, 43.4% engaged in some form of seroadaptation, including pure serosorting (19.5%), seropositioning (14.3%) and condom serosorting (9.6%). Consistent condom use was reported by 37.1% of HIV negative and 20.7% of HIV positive MSM.
Conclusions: In aggregate, seroadaptive behaviours appear to be the most common HIV prevention strategy adopted by MSM in San Francisco as of 2004. Surveillance and epidemiological studies need to precisely measure seroadaptive behaviours in order to gauge and track the true level of HIV risk in populations. Rigorous prevention research is needed to assess the efficacy of seroadaptive behaviours on individuals' risk and on the epidemic.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/sti.2009.036269
Funding National HIV Behavioural Surveillance is funded by the Division of HIV/AIDS Prevention, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U62/CCU923549).
Competing interests None.
Contributors JMS conducted the main analysis, provided the primary interpretation of results and wrote the first draft of the manuscript. HFR provided primary oversight to the implementation of the study, including data collection and data management, and contributed to the analysis, interpretation and writing of the manuscript. WM provided overall scientific oversight to the study, including the design and conceptualisation of the research question, and made the final manuscript edits.
BMJ Publishing Group Ltd. All rights reserved.
Whistletop tour
Jackie A Cassell
Sexually Transmitted Infections 2009; 85 407-407 Published Online First: 13 Oct 2009. doi: 10.1136/sti.2009.039438


text:
Q: How to assign a role programatically in Drupal 6? 'role' => 'rolename didn´t worked I have this function to create a new user using the information that is inside a node form, in my Drupal 6 site:
function altas_create_user($name,$pass,$mail) {
  $newuser = array(
    'name' => $name,
    'mail' => $mail,
    'pass' => $pass,
    'access' => 1,
    'notify' => 1,
    'status' => 1,
  );
  return user_save(NULL, $newuser);
}

Now, what I´ve noted is that I didn´t assign a role to that user. How may I do that?
I´ve tried adding this, that didn´t worked: 'role' => 'rolename',
How may I do that? Thanks for your help!
EDIT: I forgot to say that I´ve looked into the API, and found that maybe I should use  'roles' => $roles, but don´t understand how to actually fill $roles with my rolename.

A: Solved it! (found the answer here) and thought I would post it the results, just in case it helps someone:
I should
// Get an array of roles
$roles = user_roles();

first (inside the function, before $newuser array), and then,
'roles' => array(array_search('myrolename', $roles) => 1),

There, it works like a charm.


text:
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Church-state relations
Prophetic speech and witness
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Desmond Tutu and Nelson Mandela in Cape Town in 1995.
Twenty-five years after the end of apartheid, South Africa is facing serious challenges. Majority rule has done too little to ease inequality. At the same time, corruption and state capture by private-sector interests have become important buzzwords. Church leaders are considering what role they must play in politics.
Thabo Cecil Makgoba is the Anglican Archbishop of Cape Town. He is in favour of engaging in what he calls "courageous conversations". The model case is a series of meetings with various stakeholders from South Africa's mining sector, which is marked by social tensions, especially after police killed dozens of miners in Marikana in 2012. The bloodshed shocked South Africa. It not only reminded people of the outrages of minority rule, but also made them aware of persisting inequality and poverty.
Participants in the courageous conversations include corporate managers, trade-union activists, members of the mining communities and officers of state agencies. The idea is to involve all relevant parties in coherent and comprehensive debate. Stakeholders must understand one another and take one another seriously if they want to find viable solutions. Makgoba hosts some meetings himself, but other clerics do so too, including a Muslim Imam.
Today, the Archbishop says courageous conversations could prove useful in regard to other conflicts. For instance, they might contribute to finding lasting solutions for land-ownership disputes.
Ndangwa Noyoo appreciates the concept, but thinks the churches should do more. He heads the Social Development Department at the University of Cape Town. Given that 80 % of South Africans are Christians, he considers the churches most relevant. Noyoo argues that the post-apartheid state is still marked by colonial lagacies. For example, the mining sector still relies on migrant workers.
In the professor's eyes, South Africa has a crude form of capitalism that lacks welfare institutions of the kind that are typical of Western European societies. Noyoo finds it unacceptable that 10 % of the people own 90 % of the wealth and insists that the role of big business in corruption needs to be examined. In his eyes, the churches would do well to put social justice on the public agenda more assertively.
Compared with today's political conflicts, the struggle against apartheid was simple. As racist minority rule was obviously immoral, the churches joined forces to oppose it, says Sithembele Anton Sipuka, the Catholic Bishop of Mthatha in the Eastern Cape Province.
Today, it has become more difficult to adopt a joint approach to politics. Sipuka considers social justice important, but acknowledges that some faith leaders emphasise spiritual issues and personal salvation. He warns, moreover, that it is not enough for people to be content with social grants they get from the government. He says faith leaders must teach the people that the role of the state is not to deliver handouts. Rather, it should empower everyone to take their fates into their own hands.
At the same time, Sipuka warns that the churches must engage in public discourse not only as speakers and teachers, but also as listeners and learners. Criticism in the media and civil society, for instance, contributed to the church's acknowledgement of sexual abuse scandals. The Catholic Bishop argues that all sides will benefit from open discourse and not shying away from sensitive issues.
In a similar sense, Nico Koopman, a professor of systematic theology at Stellenbosch University, argues that the goal is to build responsible citizenship. He is in favour of churches speaking "prophetically" in the sense of spelling out how things should be. Contemporary theologians also want them to bear witness, speaking truth to power and indicating what is unacceptable.
Public theology
Indeed, such courageous discourse is a foundation of democracy. Heinrich Bedford-Strohm, who chairs the board of Germany's Protestant churches, speaks of "public theology". In his perspective, faith-based organisations must be high profile actors in civil society. Accepting the authority of democratically elected governments, religious leaders must not be arrogant and should empathise with policymakers who face tough decisions, he says.
At the same time, the Lutheran theologian wants them to point out what policies are compatible with religious values. In Germany, Bedford-Strohm is a well known public advocate of refugees' rights. He finds it disappointing that journalists tend to quote his political statements, without mentioning that they are inspired by the gospel. Unlike hard borders and limits to migration, compassion and charity are fundamental Christian principles after all.
As Bedford-Strohm told a conference held in February by the Evangelische Akademie Tutzing, a Protestant institution, the churches are especially important in international political debate because of their vast global networks. Pope Francis' environmental encyclical Laudato Sí, for example, had global repercussions. According to the leader of Germany's Protestants, it was a valid, faith-based appeal for good stewardship of God's creation.
Isabel Phiri of the World Council of Churches, an international umbrella organisation of several hundred Protestant and Orthodox churches, similarly sees a global role for churches. She considers it to be a particular strength of major Christian denominations that they bridge the north-south divide.
Phiri emphasises that the Sustainable Development Goals are commensurate with the churches' Biblical mission. After all, the agenda includes social justice, peace and the protection of creation. At the same time, Phiri does not want the churches to adopt the SDGs uncritically. Indeed, she says that church action often goes beyond that agenda. She regrets the "religious illiteracy" of many governments, which is one reason why the SDG motto of "leaving no one behind" tends to resonate more strongly among faith-based organisations than government agencies.
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Every mother has a story about the beginnings of her child's life. Many of them are joyful, some are heart breaking, but all of them are important. And almost all of them will have at least one thing in common: the desire to give their child the absolute best start to life.
Our instincts as moms to nourish, nurture and protect our children from the moment we become aware of their existence actually has a scientific basis. Researchers have identified the first 1,000 days of a child's life—from pregnancy through a child's 2nd birthday—as a critical window of time that sets the stage for a person's intellectual development and lifelong health. It is a period of enormous potential, but also of enormous vulnerability.
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On Blu-ray: Halloween Kills
January 12, 2022 January 12, 2022 Evan Dossey
Halloween Kills is the 12th entry in the Halloween franchise and the direct sequel to Halloween, 2018's mediocre reboot that coasted to box-office victory on the back of Jamie Lee Curtis's promotional charisma. My feelings about that film, and the franchise as a whole, are freely available here. The long and the short of it: The original Halloween is an unmatchable slasher classic. Most of its sequels are unwatchable, with 1998's Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later, the original Curtis reunion, being an exception. The only other film in this franchise that manages to do anything interesting is Rob Zombie's Halloween II, a soul-crushing, mean-spirited knife to the nuts. I don't have the nostalgia of renting Halloween VHS tapes as a kid and being afraid of the Shape. My expectations are relatively minimal.
So rest assured, there's no deep-seated nostalgia for the franchise driving me when I say Halloween Kills is the best of the direct sequels to John Carpenter's original Halloween from 1978. It maintains the formula of a Halloween film while building out the world of Haddonfield in a satisfying, surprising way. Unlike the 2018 movie, it doesn't waste time trying to explore its characters' traumas. All of that is still here but only as an excuse to keep the energy level at 11. The gore and kill choreography are both massively improved from the 2018 film. Some of the deaths are so cruel they feel right out of Zombie's film. There are arbitrary money shots of splattered viscera that made my stomach turn and speeches about the nature of evil that mostly sound written to give the big-name actors something to do between screaming. It's all so deeply silly and refreshingly messy.
The story directly picks up where 2018's Halloween left off. Laurie Strode (Curtis), her daughter, Karen (Judy Greer), and her granddaughter, Allyson (Andi Matichak), locked Michael Myers, aka the Shape, in the basement of Laurie's survival compound and lit the entire structure on fire. Laurie is wounded and en route to a hospital, thinking she vanquished the monster who has haunted her dreams for four decades after the first Haddonfield massacre (which is to say the first movie, the only canon in this newly rebooted series). But Laurie's plan didn't take into account the fact that the Haddonfield Fire Department is the best of the best.
Laurie's out of commission for most of the story — an echo of the original Halloween II — and in her place rises Tommy Doyle (Anthony Michael Hall), also a survivor of the 1978 Myers murders. Tommy was the little boy Laurie was babysitting on that fateful Halloween night. Of course, this franchise has resurrected the character once before — in its sixth, and worst, entry, Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers, there played by Paul Rudd as a pretty cool guy. He's not so cool here. Whereas Laurie became an unhinged survivalist, Tommy became a "regular guy" who likes to stand up at open-mic nights on Halloween night to share his story and bring the room down … and enjoy the free drinks afterward from newcomers. He has barely suppressed anger issues. He probably voted Trump. Despite all his talk about never letting fear control him, his first instinct when Michael returns is to grab a baseball bat and take to the streets with a mob … whether or not he's actually chasing his nemesis.
Of course, Tommy doesn't quite have the same cachet as the return of Laurie Strode, so director / co-writer David Gordon Green and company do their best to bring back as many familiar faces as possible. Turns out Haddonfield is actually a tight-knit community of men and women who never leave. Lindsey (Kyle Richards), who was also being babysat in the first film, and Marion (Nancy Stephens), the assistant to Donald Pleasence's Doctor Loomis, reprise their roles from the first film. There are a few other returns I won't spoil here. Whereas the 2018 reboot leaned on Curtis and tried to make it a treatise on trauma, resurrecting these forgettable supporting characters is deeply silly in the best way. These are cuts as deep as the ones some of them receive from Michael Myers when they eventually find him.
And find him they do. Many don't make it out alive. In fact, this may be one of the most violent entries in the franchise to date. Someone will eventually do a body count. It rarely lets up, and nearly all the kills are crowd-pleasers.
Given how it directly follows the other film, there is thankfully little exposition before blood starts spilling. The only narrative drag is an extended series of flashback sequences explaining how Deputy Frank Hawkins (Will Patton) arrested Michael back in 1978, which serve primarily as character development so that he can share co-lead status with Laurie in the next film. It's likely that looking back, Halloween Kills will be seen as more of an interstitial chapter between 2018's Halloween and 2022's conclusive Halloween Ends, the final story in the David Gordon Green trilogy. It embraces a lot of blunt exposition to smooth over some of the narrative rough patches from the previous film to set up the final confrontation between Laurie and Michael in the next film. Good. Again: This is a fairly messy narrative but no more so than any of the other stories in the series, and at least most of this one dispenses with the need to act like it wants us to care about most of these people. They're angry, get it? They want to kill Michael. He'll probably kill them first. That's all we really need to know.
Halloween Kills is a fast-paced and endlessly brutal piece of slasher horror. Its flaws — of which there are few — mostly exist to set up the next confrontation in the series. So be it. Sometimes it feels closer to the 1980s slashers than most of what has come since. It's filled with moralizing dialogue, jump-scares, graphic violence and even an unpredictable, somewhat nonsensical surprise stinger. Teenagers act stupid to put themselves in harm's way, and the adults aren't much smarter. Our audience scolded a few characters for making mistakes and laughed when Michael mercilessly killed them. I may not have pumpkin-spice memories of the series to color my thoughts. But when seeing someone get a knife jammed through their eye socket fills me with glee, a slasher movie is doing something right. Halloween Kills? Just a wholesome good time at the movies.
The new 4K UHD / Blu-ray release of Halloween Kills features both theatrical and extended editions of the film. There are very few substantial differences between the cuts — I think more gore in some spots of the extended, if you can believe it — save for the "alternate ending," which is really the inclusion of a small scene at the very end that hints towards Halloween Ends. Ironically this scene is in many of the trailers for Halloween Kills but cut from the film itself. Strange it was not in the regular cut.
Several small documentaries accompany the movie, filled with trivia for ardent fans. The gag reel is great and really creates the impression the film was as fun to make as it is to watch. Lastly, a feature-length commentary with Green, Curtis and Greer is also included.
Visually, Green's Halloween films are nothing if not gorgeous, even the scenes re-creating 1970s Haddonfield. Kills plays a lot with fire and water at the start and with color and shadow toward the end, Green's controversial slo-mo close-up splatter sequences in particular. The 4K UHD version is immaculate.
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