text:
Genuine Sustainable Abundance with Bernard Lietaer and Jacqui Dunne
!Kung people
Bali Banjar system
Bernard Lietaer
complementary currencies
cooperative currencies
Curitiba Brazil
Frequent Flyer Miles
Fureai Kippu
Jacqui Dunne
Money/Economics
Social Change/Politics
Has our present economic system been designed for another age? Does it truly serve the needs of the 21st century world? What are the stepping stones to a new economic structure? The answers to these and many other questions are addressed in this informative dialogue. In taking out a loan or a mortgage under the current system, Bernard Lietaer and Jacqui Dunne point out, "When you pay back interest, you're actually using someone else's principle. We are fighting for money that has not been created." They go on to describe some very successful examples of complementary or cooperative currencies that are being successfully implemented today on some very large scales. For example: Frequent Flyer Miles, the Japanese Fureai Kippu (care of the elderly), TimeBanking, the WIR in Switzerland, the Banjar system in Bali, and many more. What these currencies do is link unused resources with unmet needs. That is why they are so successful. They describe a time when banks closed in Ireland for months at a time and Credit of Guinness became the vehicle of exchange. They also describe what led to the demise of the culture of the !Kung people in Africa. These people had been living sustainably for thousands of years. However, their society broke down in one generation after conventional money was introduced to their culture. You'll also hear the inspiring story of the people of Curitiba in Brazil who turned garbage into a commodity and cleaned up their town, creating new jobs and prosperity. They make the case that a single currency does not allow for resilience. It is actually quite fragile and that is why we need a diversity of currencies to make a robust economic system as we move from the old industrial society to a brighter future. (hosted by Justine Willis Toms)
Bernard Lietaer has an extensive background in all facets of money and economics both local and global. He's a Research Fellow at the Center for Sustainable Resources of the University of California at Berkeley. He's studied and worked in the field of money for more than 30 years as a Central Banker, a fund manager, and a university professor. He's a consultant to governments, multinational corporations, and community organizations. He co-designed and implemented the convergence mechanism to the single European currency system known as the Euro.
Jacqui Dunne is an award-winning journalist from Ireland, now residing in Colorado, and is currently CEO of Entrepreneurs without Borders, an organization that supports emergent, socially conscientious, and profitable technologies. She has worked as a content editor of Money and Sustainablity—The Missing Link, A Report from the Club of Rome and has served as guest host of New Dimensions Radio.
He's the author of:
Future of Money : A New Way to Create Wealth, Work, and a Wiser World (Random House 2002)
They are the co-authors of:
Rethinking Money: How New Currencies Turn Scarcity into Prosperity (BK Currents) by Lietaer, Bernard, Dunne, Jacqui (2/4/2013) (Berrett-Kehler Publishers 2013)
To find out more about Bernard Lietaer and Jacqui Dunne's work go to www.rethinkingmoneythebook.com.
What is money and what is its history
How is money created
What is the current situation of money
What are complementary and cooperative currencies
How a demurrage (penalty for hoarding) helps keeps currencies flowing
What happened when banks in Ireland closed their doors for months at a time
How did the people of Curitiba Brazil create sustainable prosperity with alternative currencies
What happened to the !Kung people of Africa when conventional money was introduced to their society
Why we need more than a single currency
How will technology help support cooperative and complementary currencies
How the new currencies require a balance between masculine and feminine energies
Why having transparency and accountability is necessary for success in cooperative currencies
Host: Justine Willis Toms Interview Date: 3/12/2013 Program Number: 3466
From Album: 17 Seconds to Anywhere
Artist: Liz Story
1998 Windham Hill Records #01934-11291-2
Opening Essay: Track 02 Rumors of Discipline
Music Break 1: Track 04 Voices
Music Break 2: Track 02 Rumors of Discipline (reprise)
Music Break 3: Track 01 Captain April
A Time for Choices, Part 1: Post 9/11, A New Cycle with Terry Tempest Williams, Harlan Cleveland, Marianne Williamson, Sharif Abdullah, Robert Fuller and Bishop Thomas Gumbleton
Moving From Shallow Attention To Life Enhancing, Sustained Attention with Jenny Odell
Finding An Antidote To The Attention Economy with Jenny Odell
Imagining A Sustainable And Regenerative Society with Daniel Pinchbeck
A Shift In Consciousness Will Create A New Economic Paradigm with Martin Adams
Changing Our System Of Land Ownership with Martin Adams
Making The Leap To Happiness with Gay Hendricks, Ph.D.
Building A Conscious Money Strategy with Patricia Aburdene
Creating The New Dream And The New Future Of The Earth with Elisabet Sahtouris, Ph.D.
Toward A More Conscious Economy with David Korten, Ph.D.
Doing What You Love And Making Money Too! with Nancy Anderson
Prosperity Principles with Ruth Ross


We are found in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of NC, land of mountains and plenty of roads meant for driving. We hold an annual show with a pony run to the top of Mt Mitchell. Look for our updated web site soon.


The Rivers Meeting Society was founded in 2006 with the encouragement of the Circuit Evangelist on the circuit, Dr. Ken Baker, and was recognised as a Methodist Society by Conference in 2009.
The society is very active in discipleship and outreach, hosting a number of cross-community events annually, and having opened a Thrift Shop as an outreach of the church, and is presently seeking a new premises in Carrick.
The Rev. Noel Mills, Circuit Evangelist, works closely with the Rivers Meeting Society, providing pastoral care, and supporting the society in their mission to see God's work continue in Carrick-on-Shannon.


We all know how important it is for Bahá'ís to study the teachings of our Faith, to read from the holy writings every day, to reflect and consult on these teachings and to put them into practice. But how can we instil these habits in our young people? And who has the time?
so that they will develop good morals, a sense of self-worth and healthy patterns of behaviour.
All its takes is a few minutes a day.
Designed for primary school aged children but can be adapted for younger and older children.


text:
Dejan Lovren hopes Liverpool can emulate Arsenal's 'Invincibles'
Liverpool is the only unbeaten team in the Premier League after 18 matchweeks.
Jurgen Klopp has reinstate Dejan Lovren in the Liverpool defence after Joe Gomez's injury. - Getty Images
Liverpool defender Dejan Lovren hopes Jurgen Klopp's men can match Arsenal's 'Invincibles' in the Premier League this season.
Klopp's side is the only unbeaten outfit left in the league and holds a one-point advantage at the top ahead of visiting Wolves on Friday.
Lovren wants Liverpool to match what Arsenal achieved in 2003-04, when it went unbeaten in the Premier League.
"Hopefully we can be unbeaten until the end of the season," the Croatia centre-back said.
"Of course it will be a challenge but this is what we want, this is why we came here to Liverpool, because we know we can do it.
"Arsenal did it before so why not?"
Liverpool (45 points) is only just clear of City (44), but has a sizeable cushion over Tottenham (39), Chelsea (37) and Arsenal (34).
Lovren said every game was important for Liverpool, which has clashes with Arsenal and City coming up.
"I'm not sure that they [City] have any weaknesses," he said.
"Last year they won by 19 points. They know how to manage even when they lose. They also lost one or two games last year and still they managed to be 19 points ahead.
"It doesn't mean anything. There are so many games in front of us and in front of them. It will be a tight race and it's not only City. Tottenham are only a few points behind.
"You cannot sit and enjoy and say, 'We are five or six points in front of everyone'. It doesn't work like that. Every game for us is a final."

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
<?php

namespace Symfony\Component\Serializer\Normalizer;

use Symfony\Component\PropertyAccess\Exception\UninitializedPropertyException;

/**
 * Converts between objects and arrays by mapping properties.
 *
 * The normalization process looks for all the object's properties (public and private).
 * The result is a map from property names to property values. Property values
 * are normalized through the serializer.
 *
 * The denormalization first looks at the constructor of the given class to see
 * if any of the parameters have the same name as one of the properties. The
 * constructor is then called with all parameters or an exception is thrown if
 * any required parameters were not present as properties. Then the denormalizer
 * walks through the given map of property names to property values to see if a
 * property with the corresponding name exists. If found, the property gets the value.
 *
 * @author Matthieu Napoli <matthieu@mnapoli.fr>
 * @author Kévin Dunglas <dunglas@gmail.com>
 */
class PropertyNormalizer extends AbstractObjectNormalizer
{
    /**
     * {@inheritdoc}
     */
    public function supportsNormalization(mixed $data, string $format = null): bool
    {
        return parent::supportsNormalization($data, $format) && $this->supports(\get_class($data));
    }

    /**
     * {@inheritdoc}
     */
    public function supportsDenormalization(mixed $data, string $type, string $format = null): bool
    {
        return parent::supportsDenormalization($data, $type, $format) && $this->supports($type);
    }

    /**
     * {@inheritdoc}
     */
    public function hasCacheableSupportsMethod(): bool
    {
        return __CLASS__ === static::class;
    }

    /**
     * Checks if the given class has any non-static property.
     */
    private function supports(string $class): bool
    {
        $class = new \ReflectionClass($class);

        // We look for at least one non-static property
        do {
            foreach ($class->getProperties() as $property) {
                if (!$property->isStatic()) {
                    return true;
                }
            }
        } while ($class = $class->getParentClass());

        return false;
    }

    /**
     * {@inheritdoc}
     */
    protected function isAllowedAttribute(object|string $classOrObject, string $attribute, string $format = null, array $context = []): bool
    {
        if (!parent::isAllowedAttribute($classOrObject, $attribute, $format, $context)) {
            return false;
        }

        try {
            $reflectionProperty = $this->getReflectionProperty($classOrObject, $attribute);
            if ($reflectionProperty->isStatic()) {
                return false;
            }
        } catch (\ReflectionException $reflectionException) {
            return false;
        }

        return true;
    }

    /**
     * {@inheritdoc}
     */
    protected function extractAttributes(object $object, string $format = null, array $context = []): array
    {
        $reflectionObject = new \ReflectionObject($object);
        $attributes = [];

        do {
            foreach ($reflectionObject->getProperties() as $property) {
                if (!$this->isAllowedAttribute($reflectionObject->getName(), $property->name, $format, $context)) {
                    continue;
                }

                $attributes[] = $property->name;
            }
        } while ($reflectionObject = $reflectionObject->getParentClass());

        return array_unique($attributes);
    }

    /**
     * {@inheritdoc}
     */
    protected function getAttributeValue(object $object, string $attribute, string $format = null, array $context = []): mixed
    {
        try {
            $reflectionProperty = $this->getReflectionProperty($object, $attribute);
        } catch (\ReflectionException $reflectionException) {
            return null;
        }

        // Override visibility
        if (!$reflectionProperty->isPublic()) {
            $reflectionProperty->setAccessible(true);
        }

        if ($reflectionProperty->hasType()) {
            return $reflectionProperty->getValue($object);
        }

        if (!method_exists($object, '__get') && !isset($object->$attribute)) {
            $propertyValues = (array) $object;

            if (($reflectionProperty->isPublic() && !\array_key_exists($reflectionProperty->name, $propertyValues))
                || ($reflectionProperty->isProtected() && !\array_key_exists("\0*\0{$reflectionProperty->name}", $propertyValues))
                || ($reflectionProperty->isPrivate() && !\array_key_exists("\0{$reflectionProperty->class}\0{$reflectionProperty->name}", $propertyValues))
            ) {
                throw new UninitializedPropertyException(sprintf('The property "%s::$%s" is not initialized.', \get_class($object), $reflectionProperty->name));
            }
        }

        return $reflectionProperty->getValue($object);
    }

    /**
     * {@inheritdoc}
     */
    protected function setAttributeValue(object $object, string $attribute, mixed $value, string $format = null, array $context = [])
    {
        try {
            $reflectionProperty = $this->getReflectionProperty($object, $attribute);
        } catch (\ReflectionException $reflectionException) {
            return;
        }

        if ($reflectionProperty->isStatic()) {
            return;
        }

        // Override visibility
        if (!$reflectionProperty->isPublic()) {
            $reflectionProperty->setAccessible(true);
        }

        $reflectionProperty->setValue($object, $value);
    }

    /**
     * @throws \ReflectionException
     */
    private function getReflectionProperty(string|object $classOrObject, string $attribute): \ReflectionProperty
    {
        $reflectionClass = new \ReflectionClass($classOrObject);
        while (true) {
            try {
                return $reflectionClass->getProperty($attribute);
            } catch (\ReflectionException $e) {
                if (!$reflectionClass = $reflectionClass->getParentClass()) {
                    throw $e;
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


All of us can relate at some time or another to the feelings we had as a new student in the 5th grade.
Remember being an uncertain young child walking through the lunch line collecting your food? For some of us that was traumatic enough. But what happens next is the feeling we all remember.
Once we have our food and turn around to find a place to sit, it can be easy – or it can be very uncomfortable.
We first look for friends. If they cannot be found then we look for an open spot to sit. If that doesn't work, then we are really stuck. Left feeling awkward and alone, and even saddened.
This defining moment is what Your Employment Solutions strives to eliminate in your modern job search.
YES uses this example in regards to the potential employees it seeks to hire. There is a certain amount of anxiety we all feel when we go somewhere we are not accustomed to – especially to find a new job. We already feel vulnerable.
You know that feeling of dread you get going to the DMV? Why do we feel that way? It's because of their system or process makes us feel undervalued. There, it doesn't feel like they care about treating people right. No one likes to go to the DMV and take a number to be helped, so don't go to a staffing company that treats you that way.
From the moment an employee walks through our door it is our goal at Your Employment Solutions to help them feel like they are in a safe, fun place. A staffing agency where they can get some results.
The basic guidelines of "treat others the way you would like to be treated" is a constant focus at Your Employment Solutions. When employees feel our concern and see a real effort to help them find solid employment, turnover will drop and successful placement is achieved.
And that feeling of nowhere to sit in the lunchroom is eliminated.
When you treat people right in business and in life, you open the door to all sorts of success.


Or if it is added because it is configured properly and then it is changed later (let's say a new active adapter was added) it will become non-compliant and marked as not usable by the iSCSI adapter until it is fixed.
In this case the customer had one pre-existing vmkernel port with two active adapters AND were still using the Software iSCSI Adapter. There were no network port bindings in the iSCSI adapter though but it still saw storage fine, when they got to the step in my blog post to create the network port bindings it couldn't be done because the vmkernel port was non-compliant.
The iSCSI adapter was using their previous storage fine, saw the paths and presented the volumes. So this begs the questions–what NIC/vmkernel ports was it using and how was it multipathed? Can you then actually use vmkernel ports with active-active host adapters? Is everything a lie? Santa…?
So essentially, you do not have to create network port bindings to get the Software iSCSI Adapter to work and access storage. If no port bindings exist, the iSCSI Adapter will simply look for the first vmkernel port it finds (vmk0, then 1, then 2 etc.) that can communicate with the configured targets in the static target list in the iSCSI adapter refer to the vmkernel route table for the specified connection.
So while it is predictable to what vmkernel adapter it will choose, it is not obviously apparent by looking at the vmkernel port or the iSCSI adapter. There is no configured relationship between them really.
Furthermore, the multipathing is not really active/active–even though there are two active adapters for the vmkernel port. Instead a single vmkernel port is chosen and only one of the host adapters/NICs is used at a time. So basically this turns the active-active host adapters into active/standby–so their configuration state is somewhat misleading. There is no load balancing across the adapters–they are just failed over when there is a failure.
So below we have zero network port bindings but we do have a vmkernel port with two active-active physical adapters (as indicated by the two orange lines).
If I were to run I/O to an iSCSI device we will see in esxtop that only one NIC is being used but the I/O is still spread across the array front end. So it is multipathed on the array but not on the host–all of the I/O is going through one physical adapter. The first image shows esxtop and the fact that only one vmkernel adapter (vmk1) is being used and only vmnic2. The second image shows the balance on the FlashArray across both controllers. You can see they are pretty well balanced.
Now what if we configure network port mappings in the Software iSCSI Adapter? In this case I have two vmkernel ports each with their own physical adapter (vmk1 and vmk2, with vmnic2 and vmnic3 respectively).
Let's restart the I/O. You can see in esxtop that both vmkernel ports and their respective physical adapters are bring used and quite evenly. Also the FlashArray controllers remained balanced. Lastly note the increase in throughput by leveraging two physical adapters.
Besides improvements in multipathing, assigning network port bindings help make sure you do not accidentally remove access for the software iSCSI adapter by deleting the wrong vmkernel port. If you don't have network port bindings and instead are just having the iSCSI adapter pick one, there is no protection against deletion because the Web Client or CLI or whatever doesn't know about the relationship.
Okay, so I think you get the point. Let's all use network port binding from now on.
Do have Round Robin enabled and the IO Operations Limit set to one.
DO set the iSCSI "LoginTimeout" to 30 seconds and "DelayedAck" to disabled. Set these on the dynamic target and let it cascade to the static targets. DO NOT set them on the iSCSI adapter itself–this will provide for the possibility of different targets that might have different recommendations down the road.
DO use network port bindings to more than one physical adapter if possible. Redundancy and performance.
DO NOT configure the physical adapter teaming and failover only at the virtual switch layer and then let the vmkernel ports inherit them. If you add a new active adapter at some time later the vmkernel ports will inherit them and become non-compliant. Always override the teaming and failover settings on the vmkernel ports themselves and choose just one active physical adapter.
OPTIONALLY use Jumbo Frames–this is at your discretion.
A few comments here: If you're using the default path to strorage (not using bound ports), the vmknic that is used is determined by the ESX vmkernel route table. It is not jsut the first vmknic that can see the storage.
I am planning on doing some performance testing with the IO operations with iSCSI shortly. That is good to hear–I will focus my testing in that area.
No problem, Cody. I know you're not confused, but I just want to make sure anyone else who makes it all the way to the comments knows I'm at SolidFire at this point, not still whipping up iSCSI stuff at VMware.
Cody, still recommending round robin IO operations limit set to 1? Saw that you were going to do some testing after Andy stated the sweet spot was rarely 1 on VMware ESX.
Of note, I'm setup exactly this way, but seeing about 1/3rd of the traffic on one vmk and vmnic and 2/3rds on the other for some reason!
Yes. We have seen no significant difference in changing it to anything higher than 1. There can be a very slight CPU difference but it is rarely even detectable. At this point we see no reason to change that recommendation. Anyways, moving forward we will likely be changing our recommendation to the new latency-based policy, which is certainly superior to any configuration using the "IOPS" based policy. Though we still have some testing to do before we make that recommendation.
If you are seeing that type of imbalance, it could be that either your logical paths are imbalanced across your physical paths for some reason (VLANs?) Or potentially some devices are not set to round robin?
Thanks very informative. So If I have two NICS should I have one vSwitch with two vMkernels mapped to one vmnic and a second switch configured the same way?
You're welcome! Doesn't matter. You can have two vSwitches, one with a NIC and each one vmkernel, or one vSwitch with both NICs. If you do the latter you just need to make sure the active/unused NIC configs inside the vmkernel ports are correct. One vmkernel port per NIC is fine either way.
In general you should use port binding only if both vmkernels and iSCSI targets are in the same subnet.
I have followed the steps tried to set up the port binding with two physical NICs but found that only one vmkernel NIC is working. If I unplug the cable of the working NIC, the storage is disconnected. How can I troubleshoot it?
I would try to use vmkping, and ping the iSCSI target by specifying the exact vmk to ping through. I suspect there might be a routing issue. Or maybe a VLAN problem. You might want to open a ticket with Pure Storage support so that they can help you.
The vmkping with the two vmkX interfaces works. The storage and the hosts are connected with a standard switch. There is no VLAN settings on the switch. Besides open a ticket, is there any way to diagnose the problem on my own?
Sorry for the delay, have been traveling all week. Hmm. If one nic doesnt see the storage but the other one does, but the pings work which is strange. Can you ping all of the iSCSI target IPs from both vmk? Which IP did you ping?
It's ok. I have successfully set it up with the commands mentioned in http://www.vmware.com/content/dam/digitalmarketing/vmware/en/pdf/techpaper/vmware-multipathing-configuration-software-iscsi-port-binding-white-paper.pdf. It is weird that configuring it via ESXI web client doesn't work.
In case of adding a FlashArray to an existing iSCSI SAN connected to vSphere hosts, is it best practice to just stick it on the iSCSI subnet of the existing array and hit it with the existing vmkernels or should it be placed in a separate VLAN/subnet on the iSCSI switches, with dedicated vmkernels added to the port binding?
Broadcast domain vs simplicity I guess, not sure which one is the best.
Where do you enable round robin on 6.5?
I'm installaling a new infrastructure ( 2 x Esxi6.5 + 1 x Lenovo Storage DS4200 + At side a Synology all under ISCSi).
I would like to use more that only on Network card ( & be limited to 1GB).
The best practice, should to use Port Binding & get 2x 1GB, or 3X, etc..) . Under Vmware no problem, same for Synolgy.
By the way, for Lenovo DS4200, i can't found the way to make a teaming of 2 Network interace on controller.
Each network card need to get is own IP ( Same range, or different range, i can choose).
In this case, i think that i can't use Port Binding, right?
What's the other option ?
Hi, I am not really familiar with Lenovo, so I would recommend asking their support, but that being said, nothing that you say, at this point, sounds like you cannot use port binding. There are a few restrictions in vSphere 6.0 and earlier, but with 6.5 those mostly went away. Regardless it doesn't sound like you situation anyways (since you are on 6.5/not routing).
I opened a ticket to Lenovo, we are exchanging some email, waiting they feedback now.
Btw, i'm looking for a workarround since the Port Binding is available on most storage system ( HP, EMC, & Low cost with Synology….).
This is really great. I've used this a couple of times now.
I have a somewhat unrelated question, but I can't seem to find anything about it. In our environment, I see a fairly large difference between what the vmnic shows in top, and what the vmk shows. Bandwidth is similar, but number of packets and packet size is not. We have jumbo frames enabled. It's almost like the vmkernel port is always using jumbo frames, but some other traffic is using the vmnic but not via the vmk. The vmnic is dedicated only to iSCSI, so I'm not really sure what's going on. I would really appreciate any input. Love the site!
I appreciate the response! I'll check that out.


text:
MORGAN AWYONG
little truths . little deaths
Film, Lifestyle, Published
JIANG ZI YA: LEGEND OF DIEFICATION – A REVIEW
Posted by morgaga on September 29, 2020 September 28, 2020
If the opening credits are anything to go by, this project took a LOT of work. Studio after studio flashed their vanity intros across the screen, but the most significant contributor is clearly Coloroom Pictures.
Initially bought over by Beijing Enlight Pictures to establish themselves as a Chinese animation powerhouse on par with Disney's Pixar and DreamWorks, the crew produced box office receipts that went beyond even their talented imagination.
The Hollywood Reporter revealed that Ne Zha, the studio's 2019 previous effort, smashed records by a wide margin, raking in $425 million in the first 13 days of release. Disney's Zootopia previous record, in comparison, was only $236 million. Needless to say, Jiang Zi Ya: Legend of Diefication has big shoes to fill.
From the trailer alone, this sequel piece to Ne Zha has yet again the renderings animation equal to the giants. But then Covid-19 happened, and the Chinese Spring Festival release ground to a halt. It is now finally telling its tale this October.
Similar to many film studios over the last decade, Enlight is beginning to build a universe populated by Chinese lore – which is quite the trove. Jiang Zi Ya is based on the Ming Dynasty novel Investiture of the Gods, and illustrates the concept of compassion above justice. And this it does beautifully.
Visually stunning with epic settings, Jiang Zi Ya continues to showcase the potential of the Chinese creatives through glorious depictions. While it doesn't stray as far as it wants to, trying to differentiate itself from Hollywood and Japanese animation, there is enough material here for them to call it their own.
The legacy of Chinese folklore is extensive and rich, often layered with centuries of philosophy and ethics that fuels mature storytelling. Though Jiang Zi Ya over-simplifies the concept here for me, the story here makes better sense for a mainstream capture and yet remains engaging enough for a global audience. Admittedly, I would have enjoyed more injection of poetic segments like the bone chimes, but I'm grateful that there's enough here to move the story forward sensibly, as opposed to productions which script motivations through loosely-chained visual ideas alone.
But yes, you'll see a little of Pixar's style of character design and delivery, or the format and sequences of Japanese anime coming through, and even in some close-up scenes, eerie parallels reminiscent of Blizzard's signature textural scenes. Jiang Zi Ya's influence from its creators (who have worked on Disney projects and cited Hayao Miyazaki as inspiration) can be a point of contention for some, but calling it a copy would be a disservice. The skill here is undeniable, and the flair of Chinese culture translates well in animation, delicious in its details. The opening sequence in 2D is especially stylistic and riveting, and scenic displays with generous scale suits the divine story.
This journey of a disciple that challenges the heavenly immortals does however have some distractions. The discrepancy in attention to detail and style can make certain scenes feel unfinished, such as the ones where the characters move over landscapes and no footprints are seen. The editing too can sometimes be too snappy for one to make sense.
The characters in their reactions too are odd at times, and can benefit from better depth – especially in the case of the rogue girl Xiao Jiu and the fox spirit. A villain needs to move beyond just how fast they move the body count. And my own pet peeve is probably China's new tendency to insert a cutesy sidekick in every flick, often serving as nothing more than an emotional plug with their beeps and boops. Some restraint here would be nice.
To graduate from pure visual excellence to global success, Enlight has to realise they need to move past the showy visuals and produce stories and personalities that truly captivate. But when it comes to pure wizardry in the animation skills themselves, it's safe to say they have ascended.
Hands-down a visual success, delivering opulent scenes and a good protagonist. Could bear better support from the rest of the cast though.
First published: www.movieXclusive
chanfilm reviewjiang zi yalegend of dieficationmoviexclusive
Previous Post IMPRESSIONS OF 1MORE'S COLORBUDS: DO THESE EARBUDS GO BEYOND PRETTY?
Next Post COFFEE OR TEA? 一点就到家 – A REVIEW
METAMORPHOSIS (FILM REVIEW)
GHOST MANSION (FILM REVIEW)
THE NIGHT OWL (FILM REVIEW)
HIDE AND NEVER SEEK (FILM REVIEW)
THE CURSED LESSON - MOVIE REVIEW
AT CAFE 6 (FILM REVIEW)
PEE NAK 3 (FILM REVIEW)
SURVIVAL FAMILY (FILM REVIEW)
View morgaga's profile on Facebook
View morgaga's profile on Twitter
View morgaga's profile on Instagram
View morganawyong's profile on LinkedIn
View morgaga's profile on YouTube
Archives Select Month January 2023 (2) September 2022 (1) August 2022 (1) June 2022 (2) May 2022 (1) April 2022 (1) March 2022 (1) December 2021 (1) November 2021 (1) October 2021 (2) September 2021 (2) August 2021 (2) July 2021 (1) June 2021 (3) May 2021 (3) April 2021 (4) March 2021 (4) February 2021 (5) January 2021 (4) December 2020 (2) November 2020 (2) October 2020 (4) September 2020 (5) August 2020 (5) July 2020 (2) June 2020 (1) May 2020 (3) April 2020 (1) March 2020 (3) February 2020 (1) January 2020 (2) December 2019 (5) November 2019 (6) October 2019 (7) September 2019 (2) August 2019 (7) July 2019 (7) June 2019 (7) May 2019 (4) April 2019 (5) March 2019 (7) February 2019 (6) January 2019 (2) December 2018 (4) November 2018 (6) October 2018 (6) August 2018 (5) July 2018 (5) June 2018 (5) May 2018 (3) April 2018 (7) March 2018 (10) February 2018 (6) January 2018 (8) December 2017 (14) November 2017 (5) October 2017 (8) September 2017 (5) August 2017 (10) July 2017 (9) June 2017 (8) May 2017 (8) April 2017 (6) February 2017 (7) January 2017 (6) December 2016 (4) November 2016 (11) October 2016 (7) September 2016 (4) August 2016 (4) July 2016 (2) June 2016 (2) May 2016 (1) April 2016 (1) February 2016 (1) December 2015 (2) June 2013 (1) August 2012 (1) April 2012 (1) March 2012 (1) February 2012 (2) October 2011 (3) September 2011 (2) July 2011 (2) June 2011 (1) March 2011 (1) January 2011 (1) April 2010 (1) February 2010 (1) January 2010 (1) July 2009 (1) May 2009 (1) November 2008 (1)
Follow MORGAN AWYONG on WordPress.com


text:
Our podcast, formerly known as the AAS21 Podcast, acts as a conversation around the field of African American Studies and the black experience in the 21st century. We focus on the political, economic, and cultural forces that shape our understanding of race within America. We invite you to listen as we explore outcomes, question dominant discourse, and consider evidence instead of myths. The podcast is recorded and co-produced by Elio Lleo and Anthony Gibbons at Princeton University.
[AAS Podcast] Episode #18: The Journey From Solitary To Activism
Tuesday, Oct 1, 2019
by Department of African American Studies
[AAS Podcast] Episode #17: Legacy and Racialized Politics
Friday, Sep 6, 2019
We sit down with Eddie Glaude Jr. and Julian E. Zelizer, Author, and Professor at Princeton University, to discuss the challenges of balancing and teaching within the academic and public media arena. They then explore the historical cycle of racialized politics displayed by President Donald Trump and its impact within America as we approach the 2020 Elections
[AAS21 Podcast] Episode #16: Black Bodies, White Gold
Tuesday, Apr 30, 2019
In this episode, Prof. Eddie Glaude discusses with Professor Anna Arabindan-Kesson her application of research on textiles, music, and photography for her upcoming work Black Bodies White Gold. Professor Kesson, an Art Historian at heart, reveals the history and connections of blacks and cotton and their turbulent history across America and Europe. Not only does she examine the economic equivalence, in which enslaved people and cotton were commodities in the eyes of the law, but she also explores how it physically framed the way a slave looked, and in turn felt. Ultimately with this research, her goal is to examine how this history complicates what it means to be free and black in today's world.
[AAS21 Podcast] Episode #15: The Influence of Ancient Ethiopia
Tuesday, Mar 12, 2019
In this episode, Eddie Glaude sits down with Professor Wendy Belcher to discuss her recent book. Prof. Belcher reveals her connection to Ethiopia, and how her life experiences of growing up white in Africa seep through her perspective and understanding. Professor Belcher explains how her curiosity pushed her to research, archive, and translation ancient Ethiopian writing; becoming the foundation of her recent book, The Life and Struggles of Our Mother Walatta Petros: A Seventeenth-Century African Biography of an Ethiopian Woman.
[AAS21 Podcast] Episode #14: Inspiring Change in Trump's America
As we step into 2019, Professor Eddie Glaude, Jr. and Associate Professor Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor discuss and review the political climate of America. Professor Taylor points out the importance of continuing to organize and mobilize social activism, like Black Lives Matter, with the understanding that a single objective is more significant than the different political views. Dr. Glaude highlights the deep fear and "Shock and Awe" around President Trump's current administration and policies. Professor Taylor warns of the dangers of moving forward as a nation with an "anything but Trump" perspective; how it lowers the expectations for parties and continues to perpetuate similar issues. Agree or disagree? Listen, share and let us know what you think.
[AAS21 Podcast] Episode #13: Black Pulp Fiction's Uncanny Origins
Tuesday, Jul 10, 2018
AAS 21 is a podcast conversation about the books and ideas animating the field of African American Studies in the 21st Century and the political, economic, and cultural forces that shape our understanding of race and racial groups. We invite you to listen as we "read" how race and culture are produced globally – looking past outcomes to beginnings, questioning dominant discourses, and considering evidence instead of myth. The podcast is recorded and produced at Princeton University in the Department of African American Studies.
[AAS21 Podcast] Episode #12: Reimagining Science and Technology
Wednesday, Mar 28, 2018
Welcome to the AAS 21 Podcast. I'm Eddie Glaude, and I'm the Chair of African American Studies here at Princeton University. I'm delighted to have joined us today Professor Ruha Benjamin. She's in Social Professor here in the Department of African American Studies and a Faculty Associate in the Program on History of Science, the Center for Health and Wellbeing, the Program on Gender-- Gender and Sexuality Studies, the Program in Global Health and Health Policy, and the Department of Sociology at Princeton. Her research focuses on the social dimensions of science, medicine, and technology; race-ethnicity and health; knowledge and power. She's the author of People's Science: Bodies and Rights on the Stem Cell Frontier.
[AAS21 Podcast] Episode #11: The Making of the Modern Black Diaspora
Monday, Feb 19, 2018
Professor Guild specializes in 20th century African-American social and cultural history, urban history, and then making of the modern African Diaspora with particular interest in migration, black internationalism, black popular music, and the black radical tradition.
[AAS21 Podcast] Episode #10: The Pulse of Black Life in the Long 19th Century
Hello. I'm Eddie Glaude and I'm the chair of the Department of African-American studies here at Princeton University. And welcome to the African-American Studies podcast. Today I'm delighted to have as our guest my new and wonderful colleague, Professor Autumn Womack. Professor Womack specializes in 19th century and early 20th century African-American literature with a particular research and teaching focused on the intersection of visual technology, race and literary culture. She's currently at work on a brilliant book entitled, at least right now--
[AAS21 Podcast] Episode #9: Rethinking Empire and Democracy
Monday, Nov 6, 2017
Hello, I'm Eddie Glaude and I am the chair of the Department of African American Studies at Princeton University and welcome to the African American Studies podcast. I'm delighted to have with me today my new and brilliant colleague, Reena Goldthree. Professor Goldthree specializes in the history of Latin America and the Caribbean. Her research and teachings focus on social movements; political theory; labor and migration; and Caribbean feminisms. Her latest book is on the horizon right? Its, uh, Democracy Shall be no Empty Romance: War and the Politics of Empire in the Greater Caribbean. Beyond her new, upcoming book, her researches has appeared in the Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History, Labor: Studies in Working-Class History of the Americas, The American Historian, Radical Teacher, Caribbean Military Encounters and Global Circuits of Blackness: Interrogating the African Diasporas. She's also the co-editor of the special issue of the Caribbean Review of Gender Studies. Welcome!


text:
Watch The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas (2000) Online
The Flintstones are at it again. The Flintstones and the Rubbles head for Rock Vegas with Fred hoping to court the lovely Wilma. Nothing will stand in the way of love, except for the conniving Chip Rockefeller who is the playboy born in Baysville but who has made it in the cutthroat town of Rock Vegas. Will Fred win Wilma's love?
Director: Brian Levant
Actors: Alan Cumming, Jane Krakowski, Joan Collins, Kristen Johnston, Mark Addy, Stephen Baldwin, Thomas Gibson
Lady Bird (2017)
A California high school student plans to escape from her family and small town by going to college in New York, much to the disapproval of wildly loving, deeply opinionated…
The Good Guy (2009)
Ambitious young Manhattanite and urban conservationist Beth wants it all: a good job, good friends, and a good guy to share the city with. Of course that last one is…
What Just Happened (2008)
During the course of an ordinary week in Hollywood, movie producer Ben must navigate his way through shark-infested waters as he struggles to complete his latest projects. A demanding studio…
Gloria Bell (2018)
Gloria is a free-spirited divorcée who spends her days at a straight-laced office job and her nights on the dance floor, joyfully letting loose at clubs around Los Angeles. After…
Country: Chile, USA
Mansfield Park (1999)
This fun and sexy comedy tells a timelessly entertaining story where wealthy, secret passions and mischievous women put love to the test.. When a spirited young woman, Fanny Price, is…
Miss Congeniality (2000)
When the local FBI office receives a letter from a terrorist known only as 'The Citizen', it's quickly determined that he's planning his next act at the Miss America beauty…
Genre: Action, Comedy, Crime, Romance
Rita, Sue and Bob Too
Realistic story of working class Yorkshire life. Two schoolgirls have a sexual fling with a married man. Serious and light-hearted by turns. Rita, Sue And Bob Too was adapted by…
Adventures in Public School (2017)
A socially awkward home-schooled kid forces his way into public-school against his suffocating but loving mother's wishes.
Ray and Ken, two hit men, are in Bruges, Belgium, waiting for their next mission. While they are there they have time to think and discuss their previous assignment. When…
Genre: Comedy, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Zelig (1983)
Fictional documentary about the life of human chameleon Leonard Zelig, a man who becomes a celebrity in the 1920s due to his ability to look and act like whoever is…
Wheels of Fortune (2020)
To claim a big inheritance, a down-on-his-luck mechanic must win a series of competitions as outlined in his birth father's will.
Trailer: The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas (2000)


text:
Rhonda Gorseth Alberts
One of the finest gymnasts to pass through the doors of the Gustavus gymnastics studio, Rhonda Gorseth Alberts was a rare talent during the era of Gustie dominance in the early 1990s. Alberts was a key member of Gustavus' national championship teams in 1990 and 1991, earning National Collegiate Gymnastics Association All-America (NCGA) honors a total of eight times over her two-year career including a national championship on the balance beam in 1991. At the 1990 NCGA championship, Gustavus knew going into the final routine on the uneven bars, that Gorseth needed to score a 9.0 or better for the Gusties to win the national title. The rookie answered the call, registering a score of 9.1 allowing Gustavus to edge UW-Oshkosh 141.95 to 141.80. She then went on to earn All-America distinction with a third place finish on both the vault, bars, floor and all-around. In 1991, the Gusties won their second-consecutive NCGA championship and Alberts earned All-America honors four more times including a first place finish on the balance beam and third place finishes in the all-around and on the vault and the floor exercise.
A well-rounded student-athlete who wanted to experience all that Gustavus had to offer, Alberts stepped away from gymnastics her junior season to study abroad. She returned to the team her senior year as an assistant coach under Head Coach Jerry Connolly. Alberts played a vital role in Gustavus's fourth straight national championship as she was in charge of choreographing and refining the team's floor routines. Rhonda finished her career as the program's all-time record holder on the uneven bars (9.30) and in the all-around (37.050).
After graduating cum laude in 1993 with a degree in Spanish and a teaching license in secondary education, Alberts began teaching Spanish at Austin High School in the fall of 1994. While at Austin, she served as the head coach of the gymnastics program from 1994 to 2001 and as an assistant from 2001 to 2002. In 1999, Rhonda received her master's of education in curriculum and instruction from the University of Minnesota. Since the early 2000s, Alberts has continued to coach gymnastics as a volunteer at Austin High School and the local YMCA youth program. She lives in Austin with her children, Hannah and Andrew.


The first Official Evil Dead 2 Henreitta Halloween Mask!
Sculpted by Russ Lukich using countless screen shots, every detail of Henrietta from Evil Dead 2 is represented in this amazing full over the head latex mask.
Got this mask today after having pre-ordered it. Really nice sculpt and paint with great detail. The hair is well laid too. This will be one of the female zombies in our haunt this year. We'll likely use it on a static prop but it's a mask that can be worn as well.


It's red, white, and blue time over here... and no I don't mean in the stars and spangled kind of way. Think instead crowns, royal guards, and corgis! I have to admit it's been a little weird but also comforting to see so much British pride lately. Coming from the states, where pride is something we far from short of, I never really understood this lack of flags and patriotism. But thanks in part to the Royal Wedding, The Queen's Diamond Jubilee, and The Olympics, I'm happy to announce that Union Jacks are a plenty! Now while I am all for showing your pride, I'm even more for doing it in a tasteful and fashionable way. No cheesy seasonal things for me thanks! An easy way to show your pride without investing in theme specific clothing is by simply buying in the appropriate color scheme. This way garments can be used again. For those iconic lovers, here are a few pieces that have the very Britishisms we all have come to love, but again, done in a cool way. Let's give it up the brands above, all British... all prideful... and above everything else, all stylish!


text:
I-66 North Leg West K Street Tunnel
I-66 North Leg West K Street Tunnel,
DeLeuw, Cather, with Harry Weese "District of Columbia Interstate System" November 1971
The K Street Tunnel was to be built beneath the existing 147 foot wide right of way K-Street with 6 lanes plus shoulders from Washington Circle eastward to connect with the Center Leg.
Overview: The I-66 K Street Tunnel was the end product of a search for a tunneled I-66 North Leg option with the best benefit to cost ratio, to provide this express east-west urban highway without massive building demolition or a localized separation of an open trench or elevated bermway that made the previous I-66 North leg proposal along Florida Avenue and U Street extremely unpopular. To see this earlier plan, see plates 1 and 3 at 1955-62 Plans.
Building this freeway as a cut and cover tunnel beneath the right of way that happened to be both D.C.'s widest east-west right of way, as well as being on a straight line with the Georgetown waterfront and New York Avenue, would be more cost effective then separate one way tunnels beneath any of the parallel and narrower streets, while eliminating the need for building removal for almost its entire length. Although more expensive per lane mile to construct then the preceding Florida Avenue U Street option, the K Street tunnel route was shorter and did not reduce taxable real estate square footage.
It was initially promoted by Elizabeth Rowe, then Chairman of the National Capital Planning Commission in 1965, who 8 years later would promote its cancellation "for all time" with the other un built D.C. highways to increase WMATA funding from 2/3rds to 80% in the wake of arguments that the world was running out of petroleum, hence, making private automobiles obsolete by the 1990s.
History: The K Street Tunnel first appears during the mid-1960s in the wake of the October,1963 establishment of a Policy Advisory Committee on the North Leg, which concluded that highway be constructed in tunnel to the maximum extent feasible, either as a 4 or 6 lane tunnel.
Other tunnel options considered involved drilled (moled) technologies under parallel streets to the north, and were studied with access ramps that would have required some adjacent properties and building demolition. The route considered included parallel one way tunnels beneath Q and R Streets, in order to avoid potential conflict with the traffic circles to the south.
The first engineering study for the I-66 K Street Tunnel itself occurred in 1965 or 1966; it was conducted by Edwards and Kelcey, and included detailed functional plans at a scale of 1" = 200', but which never reached the report stage; as then considered it would run beneath K Street all the way to the Center Leg Tunnel (3rd Street Tunnel). The concept received favor in such Washington, D.C. newspaper editorials as the following of December 24,1965:
The new proposal to build a six-lane freeway in a tunnel under K Street Northwest, from the Potomac River to a connection with the Center Leg freeway near Third Street Northwest has several advantages which are immediately apparent.
It would preserve intact the essential concept of a continuous inner loop freeway system around the downtown shopping area. Indeed, its connection wit the maze of freeways in the Georgetown-Foggy Bottom area would provide a shorter, more direct route to the east than the alternative road location, swinging northward to Florida Avenue, which city highway planners have previously supported.
It would avoid completely the displacement of hundreds of families and of dozens of business establishments, which would be required along the original route. The width of K Street is147 feet. Since the right of way is publicly owned little or no private property would be taken. Since it runs largely though a commercial area, disruption to residential neighborhoods would be adverted. In terms of cash, the cost in all likelihood would be no greater than the controversial Florida Avenue route.
Most interesting of all, from the viewpoint of the politics involved in the inner-loop controversy, the new route was advocated by Elizabeth Rowe, the National Capital Planning Commission chairman, who previously had blocked any east-west freeway north of the shopping districts. By her adamant position, Mrs. Rowe had also halted progress on every other crucial element of the freeway system in the western part of the city, including Maryland's George Washington Memorial Parkway and a new Potomac Rive bridge in the Rosslyn area.
At a series of secret, informal meetings during the last several months however, the half-dozen federal and District officials with the authority to make decisions on all aspects of he freeway network have been trying to reach agreement on a single package of proposals which would permit the entire program to proceed. That is the context in which Mrs. Rowe's K Street Tunnel proposal was advanced- and it is the context in which highway officials have agreed to consider it.
To be sure, there are a number of questions as to the feasibility and cost of the K Street project which still require answers. The inconvenience and disruption along K Street, during construction would be enormous. The work would have to be carefully staged, so as to hold the impact to a minimum. The highway department contends the new proposal would be less efficient then the original route in terms of the city's total traffic-distribution plan. It is keeping its fingers crossed on this point until consultant studies now under way are finished next February.
The new proposal, however, fully deserves the intensive study it is receiving- provided Mrs. Rowe and everyone else understands that it is only one part of a package of agreements which will break the whole freeway stalemate. That condition should be made perfectly clear. Piecemeal decisions on a single project are not good enough. The time has come now for agreement on this entire program.
The concept received favor in a Sunday, July 31, 1966 article in The Washington Post by Wolf Von Eckard, Freeways Enter the City.
Unfortunately, neighborhoods are easily disrupted and destroyed by plowing through them, particularly if they are occupied by groups with no great ability to bring pressure on City Hall.
It will be well to remember this for instance, when our highway planners approach Takoma Park, the ten-lane North Central Freeway would split this proud old tightly-knit and unusually diverse community right in half.
Frequently then freeways must be tunneled, an approach the high builders usually oppose not only because it is expensive, but also because driving through a tunnel is an unpleasant experience. Not necessarily so says Halprin. Properly designed, they could have all the qualities of a handsome environment. The walls might be lined with bas-reliefs and other works of art to be seen in motion, as the vaults of the Stockholm subway. Widths of tunnels can vary; light may be brought in from the top; and there might be vast underground plazas with shops and arcades, theaters and restaurants and, of course, parking places.
The proposed K Street tunnel, which will replace the [open depressed] North Leg of the Inner Loop, offers an excellent opportunity to do just that. It could become a model for others to follow- an example to the world on how America, which produced automobiles, learned to cop with them.
The I-66 North Leg K Street Tunnel concept was generally favored by groups involved with modifying Washington, D.C.'s road plans. Through the efforts of Elizabeth Rowe and others, the U.S. National Capital Planning Commission favored the K Street Tunnel to replace the preceding Florida Avenue- U Street. This was similarly true with the D.C. City Council.
Involving the most direct and widest existing right of way, the K Street Freeway Tunnel concept had much arguing in its favor as the shortest and cheapest route for a tunnel, but the existing geometric problems of its western and eastern connections. This was a stated reason for the D.C. Department of Public Works opposition to the K Street Tunnel, along with its lack of downtown access ramps.
Early I-66 North Leg West K Street Tunnel proposal
From the 1966 North Central Freeway Supplementary Study
(I have not seen information regarding how the tunnel beneath the K Street axis at Mt Vernon Square was to be achieved,
either via removing the Carnegie Library, or by somehow going directly beneath that structure.)
Early Design Interchange Problems: The earlier designs carrying this tunnel strictly beneath K-Street from the Whitehurst Freeway to 3rd Street NW, presented geometric problems at both of its ends. At its west in Foggy Bottom, the I-66 West Leg/North Leg connections involved tight, even descending radii with some building demolition. At its east it would have required a large interchange at K Street and 2nd Streets that would likely trisect the area.
Planers got around these problems by more employing the L'Enfant Plan, particularly the easier angles provided by K Street's respective intersections to the west with Pennsylvania Avenue and to the east of the New York Avenue. These basic ideas were in place by the 1971 study.
The idea for the connections from the K Street Tunnel to the I-95 Center Leg, east of Mt Vernon Square along New York Avenue, appears in a 1967 proposal from the Urban League neighborhood Advisory Council, which issued a proposal NEW YORK AVENUE TUNNEL-- A CITIZENS" ALTERNATIVE TO FREEWAYS
Residents in the near northwest, northeast, and Center Leg areas have developed a proposal to turn the Center Leg traffic into New York Avenue. This proposal has many advantages:
1. A K Street-New York Avenue tunnel route would handle east-west traffic.
2. This route could become the North Leg of the Inner Loop system, connecting with the East Leg.
3. The Center Leg would be halted at New York Avenue, thus
-- Saving countless homes
-- Keeping the Inner Loop out of the Shaw area
-- Keeping the Freeway away from the new housing and community developments in Northwest I
-- Preserving the site for air rights housing-- Protecting the unity of the northwest community
-- Allowing proposed plans for the expansion of Dunbar High School to be adopted without threat of disruption.
An eastern tunnel approach beneath and or along New York Avenue would provide a gentler east to north-east transition at Mt Vernon's eastern side at 9th Street NW, thus providing an ultimately more workable solution for connecting with, and for routing the Center Leg's extension via re-enforcing the utility of New York Avenue
In order to tunnel beneath Mt. Vernon Square without disturbing the foundations of the historic Carnegie Library, it appears that the 1971 design routed both directions of the I-66 tunnel to this library's north, including a portion now occupied by the Convention Center.
Downtown Ramp Access: Working more with the L'Enfant plan with the superior geometry of its K Street transitions with Pennsylvania and New York Avenues, placing the western and eastern approaches allowed access ramps at both of these ends. Under the 1971 plan, the Pennsylvania Avenue segment had ramps to I-66 to and from the east for improving Maryland access to Georgetown, and to Massachusetts Avenue to I-66 to and from the west just to the southeast of Mt. Vernon Square for improving Virginia traffic to Chinatown. It may have had an additional ramp from I-66 just east of Washington Circle, which would have been feasible of planning had taken the opportunity provided by real estate building demolition and replacement that occurred anyway. It does not appear that any other locations for such ramps were even considered.
Working with a Washington, D.C. highway system to feature an Whitehurst Freeway upgraded to 8 lanes to a 4 lane George Washington Memorial with an all new bridge crossing 1/8 mile west of the Key Bridge at 3 Sisters Island.
Connection Considerations with other system segments:
The I-66 K Street Tunnel, was the main part of a link with I-66 to I-95 and Route 50, and was designed as part of a system that was to include an improved westerly continuation, designated as I-266, via a Whitehurst Freeway corridor upgraded to 8 lanes leading to a 4 lane Canal Road Parkway, with I-266 continuing into Virginia via a new Three Sisters Bridge. Under the 1971 plan, the 6 lane – 3 per direction – K Street Tunnel would split to a 4 lane – 2 lane per direction – connection with I-266, with only a 2 lane – 1 lane per direction with the I-66 West Leg.
As a replacement for the original I-66 North Leg via an open depressed route along Florida Avenue and U Street, the I-66 K Street Tunnel plan was criticized for its relative lack of down town access. Hence in addition to the above mentioned ramps, the 1971 plan included a "penetrater" road at its western end that would continue north to underpass Pennsylvania Avenue to met a traffic light intersection with M Street, and then to meet the surface street network at N Street and 24th Streets NW.
Because of the need to avoid the Carnegie Library at Mt Vernon Square, the 1971 design had the tunnel swing to the north, overlapping with the Convention Center and to the east along the north side of New York Avenue. This connection to the east along the north side of New York Avenue, was where the 1971 design for the cross-town D.C. I-66 Tunnel had a residential displacement of 145. This was in sharp contrast to the destruction of 2393 family housing units with 8376 persons of the Florida Avenue/ U-Street plan.
The project was designed in concert with the WMATA train subway system.
http://mysite.verizon.net/cambronj/wmata/m80-52.jpg
As described in the 1971 DeLuew, Cather and Wesse report:
From McPherson Square to Mount Vernon Square, an enclosed tunnel is envisioned. The surface street would be restored to its present cross section. Between Washington Circle and Mount Vernon Square, the tunnel would be built within the existing right of way. Additional right of way takings into Pennsylvania Avenue and Massachusetts Avenue would be minimal. Landmarks such as the Carton Hotel, Franklin School and Southern Methodist Church would remain intact. Special studies indicate that the Mount Vernon Library could be maintained during tunnel construction, but only at a cost of several million dollars.
The present surface configuration of K Street consists of a four lane main roadway flanked by two lane service drives with a row of trees in each separator. K Street's layout is unique in the District and should be retained or restored.
The 148 foot width of the thoroughfare from property line to property line is found on only a few other major streets in the district. It was considered appropriate, therefore, to extend the three roadway treatment eastward from 2th Street to 9th Street at the western edge of Mount Vernon Square. This area, as has been noted previously, is a high priority area under present public programs and warrants such a design.
Parks which now project into the right of way of K Street would be retained
Nonetheless, the I-66 North Leg K Street Tunnel became one of the first D.C. highway links canceled following the July 1973 cancellation of the I-95 Northeast Freeway. This would be via a political deal to cancel it along with the far better known and highly controversial I-266 Three Sisters Bridge Project. In an article appearing in The Washington Post on May 13, 1977, Douglas B. Feaver, Washington Post Staff Writer wrote (at Page B1):
The Three Sisters Bridge, a once locally famous proposed interstate highway project that was to span the Potomac River above Georgetown, officially was killed for the third or fourth time yesterday. This time it looks unusually permanent.
Announcement of the death of a project that had long-since been regarded as abandoned by highway officials came from Mayor Walter E. Washington. The city of Washington, he said, has received approval from the U.S. Department of Transportation to transfer U.S. Money from the bridge and another less-famous highway project to the Metro construction fund. The less-famous project was the K Street tunnel, which was going to carry lanes of automobiles across town. The total amount of federal money made available by killing the two projects is $392 million. About $344 million will go to Metro, the rest to other D.C. street and bridge improvements the mayor said.
The Three Sisters Bridge - so named because it would cross the Potomac at the point where three rocks known as the Three Sisters are located - was to connect a branch of Interstate 66 with an un built District of Columbia freeway. The branch of I-66 also is now dead, as is the D.C. Freeway.
Construction on the Three Sisters actually began in 1970, and about $1.2 million in work was completed before a court order stopped it. Before that court order, there were several days of media events - people standing in front of bulldozers, chanting, and making speeches about the ecological disaster of highway projects.
Another popular rallying cry in the anti highway movement was that the Three Sisters and other now defunct D.C. roads would be "white men's roads through black men's bedrooms."
According to the 1971 DeLeuw-Cather-Weese study, the I-66 K Street Tunnel North Leg would serve an estimated 88,000 vehicles per average weekday.
Of this traffic, 32% would have an origin or destination within Downtown Washington, plus 14% cross-town traffic both originating and destined within this urban area, and 24% estimated to have either an origin or destination within D.C. further from the Central Business District, with 30% making trips between Virginia and Maryland.
The K-Street Tunnel was seen as a central component in any conceivable D.C. Highway program, being included in every variant of a D.C. highway network considered during the later 1960s and early 1970s, and included in COG documents as late as 1977, rated as presenting the highest degree of traffic relief for any individual highway project, with significant extra capacity for at least the next 20 years.
Of all the highway projects of the 1960s and 1970s that were canceled, the K Street Tunnel was by almost any indication the least controversial, having the greatest compatibility with the L' Enfant plan-derived street grid and hence its greater use and reconciliation of the existing environmental footprint. It enjoyed the early support of the D.C. City Council and the National Capital Planning Commission, but would not be the choice of the D.C. Department of Public Works until 1969-70, and the adaptation of the later designs for its interchanges at its western and eastern ends.
However, the proposed I-66 K Street succumbed to a scheme to increase the Federal share of WMATA rail funding from 67% to 80%.. According to a 1976 Memo by Peter S. Craig, canceling the I-66 K Street Tunnel would yield $399.4 million in Federal funds and $44.3 million in local D.C. funds for a total of $443.7 million in funding WMATA.
There would be no apparent consideration of the increased costs of not building these highways, nor of the failure to plan for them for a future date, as these highway cancellations would be then described as being "for all time."[!] Nor was there any apparent consideration of the I-66 K Street Tunnel's high degree of employing and serving the existing developed footprint, plus new real estate development east of North Capital Street along the brown fields along New York Avenue.
"De-mapping" "for all time" -- the words of then DC Mayor Washington -- the I-66 K Street Tunnel would thus remove any requirements that adjacent projects accommodated it, such as preserving its easement.
A 1976 Council of Government report simply concluded that:
"The North Leg Freeway, or K-Street Tunnel, does not appear warranted on the basis of predicted traffic."
"As can be seen in assignments for Alternatives 1, 2, and 3, the volume predicted for K-Street will slightly exceed service volume at level D. This prediction is without constraints. It is believed that with traffic management strategies, coupled with some change in planned development, K-Street can operate adequately. In view of the enormous cost of the proposed tunnel, the marginal improvement it would provide would appear unjustified. (Without the road tunnel, the Farragut North and Farragut West METRO stations can be linked by a pedestrian tunnel)." traffic management strategies [unspecified] coupled with some change in planned development.
No mention was given to its many previously acknowledged benefits, such as its favorable cost benefit ratio over the original 1955 plan for not requiring massive displacement and for being a shorter route.
No mention is given to the utility of the east-west utility of such a cross town tunnel connecting I-66 with Route 50 in time-savings and in directing new real estate development along Washington, D.C.'s New York Avenue corridor, nor even the logic of continuing the I-66 designation east of the Center Leg.
Nor is mention given to its highly efficient use and encouragement of re-use of the existing developed footprint.
Posted by Douglas Andrew Willinger at 12:50 PM
Labels: I-66, North Leg, Underground Highways, Washington D.C. Freeways
11th Street SE Bridges & Ramps
South Capitol Street Corridor Tunnel?
I-395? New York Avenue Corridor
I-395? New York Avenue Tunnel
Barney Circle Freeway & Bridge Project
Georgetown's Waterfront Freeway Corridor & Connect...
I-66 West Leg
I-695 South Leg
Washington, D.C.'s Built Upside Down "T" of Multip...
SW/SE Freeway
I-95 Center Leg (today's I-395 3rd Street Tunnel)
I-95 Center Leg (today's I-395 3rd Street Tunnel
Choices to the North, East and South to West!
Route 50/proposed I-95 (I-395) Theoretical I-66 Ne...
I-295 East Leg to East Capitol Street and the SE F...
I-95 (today's I-395) & Theoretical I-66 North Leg ...
The Washington Post gets it wrong again (in Raw Fi...
Bob and Jane Levey Refuted
Misrepresenting the history of the D.C. Freeway Im...
The Anti Freeway Dogma's Indifference Towards The ...
And I made one last attempt at burying the Capital...
Scott Kozel Launches www.Capital-Beltway.com
What this was an outcome of: A Highly Suspiciously...
What Could Have Been Said: Backroom Political Deal...
What Others Got From Siphoning the Urban Deck Fund...
Rubber Stamp Resolution by U.S. National Capital P...
How Things Went at the U.S. National Capital Plann...
An Example For the U.S. National Capital Planning ...
Douglas Willinger Comments to U.S. National Capita...
Ossified Entrenched Bureaucracy Types


text:
var App = require('app');

var modelSetup = require('test/init_model_test');
require('models/service');

var service,
  serviceData = {
    id: 'service'
  },
  statusPropertiesCases = [
    {
      status: 'INSTALLED',
      property: 'isStopped'
    },
    {
      status: 'STARTED',
      property: 'isStarted'
    }
  ],
  hostComponentsDataFalse = [
    [],
    [
      {
        staleConfigs: false
      }
    ],
    [
      {
        service: {
          serviceName: 'HIVE'
        },
        staleConfigs: false
      }
    ]
  ],
  hostComponentsDataTrue = [
    [
      Em.Object.create({
        service: {
          serviceName: 'HDFS'
        },
        staleConfigs: true,
        displayName: 'service0'
      })
    ],
    [
      Em.Object.create({
        host: {
          publicHostName: 'host0'
        },
        service: {
          serviceName: 'HDFS'
        },
        staleConfigs: true,
        displayName: 'service1'
      })
    ]
  ],
  restartData = {
    host0: ['service0', 'service1']
};

function getModel() {
  return App.Service.createRecord(serviceData);
}

describe('App.Service', function () {

  beforeEach(function () {
    service = App.Service.createRecord(serviceData);
  });

  afterEach(function () {
    modelSetup.deleteRecord(service);
  });

  describe('#isInPassive', function () {
    it('should be true', function () {
      service.set('passiveState', 'ON');
      expect(service.get('isInPassive')).to.be.true;
    });
    it('should be false', function () {
      service.set('passiveState', 'OFF');
      expect(service.get('isInPassive')).to.be.false;
    });
  });

  App.TestAliases.testAsComputedGetByKey(getModel(), 'healthStatus', 'healthStatusMap', 'workStatus', {defaultValue: 'yellow', map: {
    STARTED: 'green',
    STARTING: 'green-blinking',
    INSTALLED: 'red',
    STOPPING: 'red-blinking',
    UNKNOWN: 'yellow'
  }});

  statusPropertiesCases.forEach(function (item) {
    var status = item.status,
      property = item.property;
    describe('#' + property, function () {
      it('status ' + status + ' is for ' + property, function () {
        service.set('workStatus', status);
        expect(service.get(property)).to.be.true;
        var falseStates = statusPropertiesCases.mapProperty('property').without(property);
        var falseStatuses = [];
        falseStates.forEach(function (state) {
          falseStatuses.push(service.get(state));
        });
        expect(falseStatuses).to.eql([false]);
      });
    });
  });

  describe('#isRestartRequired', function () {

    beforeEach(function () {
      service.reopen({
        serviceName: 'HDFS',
        clientComponents: [],
        slaveComponents: [],
        masterComponents: []
      });
    });
    it('should be false when no component has stale configs', function () {
      expect(service.get('isRestartRequired')).to.be.false;
    });
    it('should be true when clientComponents has stale configs', function () {
      service.set('clientComponents', [Em.Object.create({staleConfigHosts: ['host1']})]);
      expect(service.get('isRestartRequired')).to.be.true;
    });
    it('should be true when slaveComponents has stale configs', function () {
      service.set('slaveComponents', [Em.Object.create({staleConfigHosts: ['host1']})]);
      expect(service.get('isRestartRequired')).to.be.true;
    });
    it('should be true when masterComponents has stale configs', function () {
      service.set('masterComponents', [Em.Object.create({staleConfigHosts: ['host1']})]);
      expect(service.get('isRestartRequired')).to.be.true;
    });
  });

  describe('#restartRequiredMessage', function () {
    it('should form message for 2 services on 1 host', function () {
      service.set('restartRequiredHostsAndComponents', restartData);
      expect(service.get('restartRequiredMessage')).to.contain('host0');
      expect(service.get('restartRequiredMessage')).to.contain('service0');
      expect(service.get('restartRequiredMessage')).to.contain('service1');
    });
  });

  describe('#serviceTypes', function () {
    var testCases = [
      {
        serviceName: 'PIG',
        result: []
      },
      {
        serviceName: 'GANGLIA',
        result: ['MONITORING']
      },
      {
        serviceName: 'HDFS',
        result: ['HA_MODE']
      },
      {
        serviceName: 'YARN',
        result: ['HA_MODE']
      }
    ];
    testCases.forEach(function (test) {
      it('service name - ' + test.serviceName, function () {
        service.set('serviceName', test.serviceName);
        service.propertyDidChange('serviceTypes');
        expect(service.get('serviceTypes')).to.eql(test.result);
      });
    });
  });

  describe('#allowToDelete', function () {

    beforeEach(function () {
      this.stub = sinon.stub(service, 'get');
    });

    afterEach(function () {
      this.stub.restore();
    });

    Em.A([
      {
        m: 'may be deleted (1)',
        slaveComponents: [{allowToDelete: true}],
        masterComponents: [{allowToDelete: true}],
        workStatus: 'INIT',
        e: true
      },
      {
        m: 'may be deleted (2)',
        slaveComponents: [{allowToDelete: true}],
        masterComponents: [{allowToDelete: true}],
        workStatus: 'INSTALL_FAILED',
        e: true
      },
      {
        m: 'may be deleted (3)',
        slaveComponents: [{allowToDelete: true}],
        masterComponents: [{allowToDelete: true}],
        workStatus: 'INSTALLED',
        e: true
      },
      {
        m: 'may be deleted (4)',
        slaveComponents: [{allowToDelete: true}],
        masterComponents: [{allowToDelete: true}],
        workStatus: 'UNKNOWN',
        e: true
      },
      {
        m: 'deleting is not allowed (1)',
        slaveComponents: [{allowToDelete: false}],
        masterComponents: [{allowToDelete: true}],
        workStatus: 'UNKNOWN',
        e: false
      },
      {
        m: 'deleting is not allowed (2)',
        slaveComponents: [{allowToDelete: false}],
        masterComponents: [{allowToDelete: false}],
        workStatus: 'UNKNOWN',
        e: false
      },
      {
        m: 'deleting is not allowed (3)',
        slaveComponents: [{allowToDelete: true}],
        masterComponents: [{allowToDelete: false}],
        workStatus: 'UNKNOWN',
        e: false
      },
      {
        m: 'deleting is not allowed (4)',
        slaveComponents: [{allowToDelete: true}],
        masterComponents: [{allowToDelete: true}],
        workStatus: 'STARTED',
        e: false
      }
    ]).forEach(function (test) {
      it(test.m, function () {
        this.stub.withArgs('workStatus').returns(test.workStatus);
        this.stub.withArgs('slaveComponents').returns(test.slaveComponents);
        this.stub.withArgs('masterComponents').returns(test.masterComponents);
        expect(Em.get(service, 'allowToDelete')).to.be.equal(test.e);
      });
    });

  });

});


text:
Which Three Bruins Have Won the NHL All-Star Game MVP Award?
by NESN Staff
Once (almost) every year, one NHL player is able to consider himself the best of the best — at least for one night.
In every All-Star Game since 1962, one player has been awarded the game's MVP, and in three of those games, the recipient of the award happened to be representing the Black and Gold of Boston.
The game has been tweaked many, many times over the years, and this year is no different. For the first time in the exhibition's history, the teams will be decided by two captains, Eric Staal of the host Hurricanes and Nicklas Lidstrom of the Red Wings. In years past, the game has worn many hats: East vs. West, Wales vs. Campbell, North America vs. World and even All-Stars vs. host cities (Montreal, Toronto, Chicago, Detroit).
Since there was no All-Star Game last year due to the Winter Olympics, the last MVP award winners have been Alexei Kovalev (2009), Staal (2008) and Daniel Briere (2007). What three Bruins have won the All-Star Game MVP Award?
Boston Bruins	Headlines	NHL
'Field of Dreams' Leads the Way in Top 10 Baseball Movies Made
State of the Union Address Features No Criticism of Jay Cutler From President Barack Obama
Bruins Focus: Boston Looks To Get Back On Track In Two-Game Set Vs. Flyers
Ford Final Five Facts: Bruins Edged Out By Islanders In 1-0 Loss
Jake DeBrusk Explains Bruins' Mindset On Even-Strength Scoring Woes
Bruins Notes: Bruce Cassidy, Tuukka Rask Among Those Optimistic After Loss


Neil Riordan, PhD is an accomplished scientist and one of the pioneers and leading experts in the use of non-controversial stem cells. He began his research career at the Riordan Clinic leading the research team studying the pro-oxidant effects of high dose intravenous vitamin C on cancer. He went on to develop and refine mesenchymal stem cell technologies that he utilizes at the Stem Cell Institute in Panama, where these technologies continue to be implemented in patients with autoimmune and degenerative diseases and injuries. He is also the co-founder and Chief Science Officer of the Riordan-McKenna Institute in Dallas, Texas. In the stem cell arena, he and his colleagues have published more than 20 articles on multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injury, heart failure, rheumatoid arthritis, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, autism, and Charcot-Marie-Tooth Syndrome. His new book, Stem Cell Therapy: A Rising Tide: How Stem Cells Are Disrupting Medicine and Transforming Lives, has recently been published.
Anne: Can you tell us a little bit about your early research career at the Riordan Clinic? You talk about this in your book, the research you did studying the effects of high-dose vitamin C on cancer.
NR: I think the biggest discovery we made was that we could get vitamin C levels in the blood of cancer patients high enough that the vitamin C was able to kill cancer cells. We were able to do that because we had many tumor cells growing in cultures in the laboratory. The break-through study that led to our patents was we actually drew blood from cancer patients, who were receiving intravenous vitamin C in one arm, drew blood from the other arm and took the liquid part of the blood (the serum) out and put it on the tumor cells. The blood containing the high dose of vitamin C could actually kill tumor cells. That's why the patent office gave us such broad claims. To date, out of all the patents I have, it's the broadest claims we ever got out of the patent office, because no one had ever shown that before. There were studies of high dose vitamin C in cancer patients showing benefits that nobody had shown, that you could get blood levels of vitamin C to kill tumor cells. The cell culture part of that, learning at the Riordan Clinic how to grow cells, was hugely important to my career.
The next generation of treatment was trying to stimulate the body's own immune system to recognize and destroy cancer cells. One of the main players, which is now a drug called Provenge, is used for treating prostate cancer using dendritic cells. To get the immune response in the body, to get rid of these cancer cells, the dentritic cell is a huge player in that it stimulates the T cells. If it has the right information, it can pass it along to the T cells, which can then divide and create an army of cells that are active against the tumor cells themselves.
Our next leg of research was cases of patients who got vitamin C in lower levels, that weren't toxic to tumor cells and yet the tumor cells went into complete remission. We found that interesting, and the more obvious conclusion is that the vitamin C is having a biologic response modification benefit; it's not directly killing the tumor cells, although there could be some of that. But when we looked at the data, looked backwards, some of these patients received only 15 grams which we know is not enough, and 25 grams is not enough to be cytotoxic to tumors, so we believe that the immune system was ultimately identifying and destroying the cancer. We started looking at dendritic cells as a way to stimulate this transfer of knowledge to the immune system about the tumors, and that's where I got into stem cells, because the dendritic cells are the progeny of one white blood cell in the body called the monocyte or the macrophage. When the macrophages are out of the body, you can convert them into dendritic cells. What we did was harvest large amounts of white blood cells from the patient, take the monocytes and convert them to dendritic cells, give those cells information about the tumor, and then that was a therapeutic vaccine for the patient.
Anne: How did this transition into your work with stem cells?
The reason I got into stem cells was, after leaving the Riordan Clinic, when I was in the Bahamas, we wanted bigger and better dendritic cell vaccines, and in order to do that we'd give the patients a drug called GCSF (granulocyte-colony stimulating factor), which would stimulate the bone marrow to produce more of these stem cells to be harvested from the peripheral blood. We would convert those stem cells to monocytes, the monocytes into dendritic cells. So the basis for my whole first stem cell company was taking this certain type of stem cell and growing it in the laboratory to make a bigger, better vaccine.
That was the early stuff with stem cells, but there are actually two major kind of stem cells in the body. There are HSCs (hematopoietic stem cells), which are bone marrow stem cells that basically make all of the blood products (white blood cells, red blood cells and platelets). Then there are MSCs (mesynchymal stem cells) and they are found in bone marrow, but they are also found in every tissue in your body. They actually reside next to every stem cell of whatever organ you are in. In the liver there are stem cells and right next to those are the MSC, which supports and nurtures the liver stem cell. It is the same thing in the heart, kidney, intestine, etc. Every tissue in your body has stem cells that are specific to the tissue and every one of those is supported by an MSC.
"Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) used for treatment may come from the patient (autologous, or self-derived) or from a donor (allogeneic.) MSCs can be obtained from many tissues in the body, including fat, bone marrow, and umbilical cord. Bone marrow contains cells that are useful for regeneration, including MSC and CD34+ cells. Bone marrow MSCs are usually extracted from the hip or the knee. In many cases, it is useful to concentrate the extracted cells that will be the most helpful – this is known as bone marrow aspirate concentrate (BMAC). Bone marrow MSCs have been used to safely treat various conditions with positive results.
So the work that we do now, since 2001, is utilizing MSCs to stimulate healing. We do it in three major categories through the secretions of the cells. It's not the cells becoming another cell. We thought in the early days that they could become many kinds of tissues, and in the lab we and others have gotten very good at converting them to liver cells, heart cells, and they kind of default toward connective tissue. It's simple to convert them in the lab but when you inject them in the body they do not differentiate. The benefit of these cells has nothing to do with them becoming something; it has to do with what they secrete while they are alive in the body. The three major categories are: they secrete things to decrease inflammation, modulate the immune system, and they stimulate regeneration. They also have anti-scarring effects, anti-cell-death effects, but those three mechanisms are where they have so much value.
Anne: How can one cell treat so many different things?
The reason one cell can do this is because the root cause of the majority of chronic diseases is either a lack of these cells or a dysfunction of these cells or a combination: these cells just aren't doing their jobs anymore. We know the exact molecule that they don't produce in lupus patients, we know they are dysfunctional in multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, we know in rheumatoid arthritis they don't secrete what they're supposed to, so basically every auto-immune disease, I believe, is a net result of a lack or dysfunction of these cells. Aging, unfortunately, is the leading cause of having a low number of these cells, not only the total number but their ability to repair something. If you take one of these cells from an infant, you can grow it in a lab and watch it divide every 24 hours, at the end of the month, that's 1 billion cells. So if you have an issue that needs 800 million cells you can fix it, but at age 35 you can take the same cell and it'll only divide every 48 hours. At the end of the month you have 32,000 cells, so at the end of the month if you require 100,000 cells, you have a math problem. At age 65 that one cell divides every 60 hours, so at the end of the month you have 200 cells. At 65 you have a lot of 500 cell problems and only 200 cells.
The Riordan Clinic identifies things that can be detrimental to your MSCs, and the nutrients they need. The clinic really does stem cell work, removing what harms the stem cells and replenishing it with things that are beneficial.
Dr. Neil Riordan will be giving a lecture about stem cell therapy at the Riordan Clinic on Friday, October 6 at 6:30PM. This lecture is open to the public and he will be signing copies of his new book. For more information and to register for this lecture, please visit: https://riordanclinic.org//events/.
Riordan, N.H. (2017). Stem Cell Therapy: A Rising Tide: How Stem Cells Are Disrupting Medicine and Transforming Lives. United States of America: (n.p.).


text:
USA: Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore walk the red carpet in Los Angeles to promote their latest film, "Music and Lyrics"
Title: USA: Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore walk the red carpet in Los Angeles to promote their latest film, "Music and Lyrics"
Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (English) BRAD GARRETT, WHO PORTRAYS CHRIS RILEY IN FILM, SAYING: "He was an great singer and I have to tell you, if I ever switch, he is my bitch. I am not saying that in a weird way, I have run this by him."
Reuters ID: LVAEPZIFHF3A1CQO28I6ACQ3B6YH
Story Text: Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore walked the red carpet in Los Angeles to promote their latest film, "Music and Lyrics" while co-stars commented on their singing and dancing skills.
The verdict on Hugh Grant's singing capabilities are in and the results proved positive at the Los Angeles, California premiere of his new film co-starring Drew Barrymore "Music and Lyrics" on Wednesday, February 7. Hugh Grant plays Alex Fletcher, a washed up 1980s pop star with a second chance at the big time, when he's given the opportunity to write a song for the current day pop diva played by newcomer Haley Bennett.
"Working with Hugh Grant was amazing it's funny because he would ask me advice (about singing) and I would sit there and think to myself, 'Hugh Grant asked me for advice.' He is a superhero! He could do anything, he did an amazing job," Bennett said.
Grant claims that computers were used to make him sound good but his co-stars are happy to let him take the credit.
"He was an great singer and I have to tell you, if I ever switch, he is my bitch. I am not saying that in a weird way, I have run this by him," said comedian Brad Garrett, who portrays Chris Riley in the film. Actress Drew Barrymore plays Sophie, the quirky young woman who waters Fletcher's plants and has a flair for words.
The two begin a collaboration to find all the right notes and words and - naturally - discover something about themselves along the way.
"I love about Drew the fact that she can you know, I am can be a bit of a gloomy bastard I bring a bit of London gloom to the set and she brings California sunshine and she can give us all a lift , she especially gives me a lift," Grant told Reuters in Hollywood.
The film points out all the good and bad music that came from the pop culture of the 1980s but it was a particular Wham member that gave Grant his inspiration for this film.
"It's our homage to especially the acting talents of George Michael and so on you know when they used to do thing like "Last Christmas" it was George Michael sitting at the dinner table giving sexy looks to the girl opposite and we do that style of acting in it and it was fun to do and I think people like it," Grant said.
Barrymore wo was already a child star in the 1980s thanks to movies like "E.T. the Extra- Terrestrial" said that she had plenty of pop star crushes at the time.
"I did like Wham and I was convinced I would marry one member of Duran Duran if not all five of them I mean so in love with Duran Duran it hurt. I don't think you could see my walls at a certain point because they were just covered of pictures of them. But then started getting into fashion and it was like Duran Duran got replaced with Halston models," Barrymore said wearing a black and gold Roberto Cavalli gown.
The films co-stars spent plenty of time together while filming and realized that though they have very different personalities they were happy to work togther.
"My favorite thing about Hughbert is that he is super tortured but knows he is and can make fun of you on a dime but you are not insulted you are laughing right along side of him. In all honesty at the end of a hard day he is a great person to know because he is very caring and very supportive you know," Barrymore said about her co-star.


Our latest developments will present themselves as models of StarLine range. All seats provide immediate relief to the tired neck muscles due to the new pillow with adjustable massage strength.
During the latest range development we built in a completely new, modern diverter and air inlet regulator, which ensures smoother, more precise massage settings. StarSide thick, slat side panels and the corner element with RGB lighting provides harmony with the interior of the spa. Lighting waterfalls on the edge of the spa make the bathing more enjoyable.
A renewed filter house design allows you to enjoy your favourite movies on your tablet, thus enhancing the pleasant recreation. Voyager spa is certainly stands out from other manufacturers' product lines, as a spa with five reclining places is unique in the market. With the drains placed on each seats you can easily remove all of the water from your spa.