For most of my life, hope was too small. I had plenty of hopes, but they mostly involved avoiding hard things and keeping myself happy. I saw God's plan for me as a series of specific choices I had to navigate. Choosing poorly meant heartache, and choosing wisely meant success, contentment and big piles of God's blessings, whatever they might be.
I hope these people will like me.
I hope my boss will be impressed with this project.
I hope I can pay these bills.
I hope my grandmother gets out of the nursing home.
I hope my friends will make it through this storm.
If you asked me, I'd have said my hope was in God, but really it was fueled by a misguided idea that everything would probably turn out alright. Hope was dressed-up wishful thinking. I'd see a problem, make a master plan, do everything I possibly could to get the outcome I wanted, and then throw some hope over the whole mess, asking God to go along with my scheme. Hope was chained to specific outcomes and functioned more like rubbing a lucky rabbit's foot than anything spiritual.
That kind of hope is just too flimsy to withstand real life.
Laura and I collected a string of heartaches, like everyone does, and each time, hope seemed to unravel a little bit more. Laura had dangerous blood-clots that permanently damaged her legs. Our friends' marriage exploded. My cousin overdosed. Long-time friendships withered away. Our church flew apart and closed its doors. Two of my oldest friends lost their teen-age daughter to cancer. My brother battled depression. My deeply loving mother-in-law passed away suddenly at Christmas time. This list is short compared what many people endure, but I gradually stopped hoping. I savored joy wherever I found it and resigned myself to making the best of whatever mess was coming next. Hope made no difference.
Then a few years ago on the longest night of the year, I went to a service at Imago Dei. I sat in the dark and listened to people share their struggles and pain from the last year. No one offered platitudes or favorite Bible verses or promises that everything would work out. The only message that night was "God is mourning, too. He's right there in the middle of your pain, and his heart is broken along with yours." People just poured out their hearts and we all sat with God in silence. We lit candles before we left, defiant sparks in the dark, and the roots of my hope started to shift.
The process was slow, but I began to turn from hoping God would do things a certain way (my way) to hoping God would sit with me and everyone else in the darkness. I still hope for the best outcomes, of course, and do what I can, but real hope is rooted in the truth that God will be with us in every outcome, not just the the happy, shiny ones.
God is the God of all roads. I don't hope to find him on the one perfect road to happiness anymore. He's waiting for us on every road, even the ones we don't want to walk. Whether we encounter joy or tragedy, whether we feel blessed or helpless, whether we see visions of light or drown in the shadows, God is with us. Crying. Laughing. Holding us gently. Wiping our tears. Fulfilling our hopes.
Bryan Holmes has no favorite sports team, but many favorite people, especially his wife Laura, and their suddenly grown daughters Lily and Claire. By day he herds third graders, and by night he solves the world's problems in coffee shops, tackles his perpetual pile of half-read books, looks for the best in people and leads the Formation Team. He's learning to speak GIF.


At Eyeview, like at any other startup, we look closely at our technology cost. As the VP of Architecture, it is my responsibility to forecast our technology cost for the upcoming year as well as track to ensure we meet this forecast, expressed as percentage of revenue. In this post, I will share valuable insights about cost analysis, different tips for cost efficiency across the AWS ecosystem and challenges faced along the way.
If you want to get anywhere with cost analysis you need to start by tagging. Cost allocation tags are keys and values you can set to all of your AWS resources in order to enable slicing and dicing the cost later on. While some of those tags are automatic, the usage of User-Defined tags is the focal point here. We generally use a single tag that represents the resource logical "service". In EC2 it will be the application name, in DynamoDB it is the table name etc. Eventually, we will group those tags in logical ways for different types of reports.
AWS itself provides you with tools to analyze your costs. The one Eyeview uses most is the AWS Cost Explorer which recently got a fresh look. The cost explorer is a great ad-hoc tool which allows slicing and dicing the different applications, services and usage costs. Filtering by your cost allocation value and grouping by usage type is an insightful way of understanding your service cost.
Within the cost explorer you will find other helpful tools, including reports on Reserved Instances coverage and utilization. Reserved Instances are a great way to save costs on EC2 instances second only to Spot Instances. If utilizing on-demand EC2 Instances and forecasting that you will continue to use them in the next year, Reserved Instances is the way to go. The coverage report can tell you how much of your on-demand workload is covered by Reserved Instances hours, while the utilization report will tell you how much of your Reserved Instances hours are being utilized by on-demand instances. Combining the two reports, will provide insights about which instance types you should purchase.
AWS also provides in depth cost report directly to your s3 bucket, though we did not find that useful and determined other services can analyze it much better, which leads me to the next set of tools.
The last native AWS tool you probably want to take a closer look at is AWS Trusted Advisor, though you will need the business support plan to use the cost optimization section. A trusted advisor aids you in highlighting inefficiencies on EC2 utilization as well as RI recommendation.
While the cost explorer is not bad, we reached a point where we needed more insights. The two things that we needed are (a) to have team-level reports and (b) to have a financial view of COGS vs OPEX.
Team-level insights are important to us as every engineering team is using a different part of our AWS infrastructure in different usage pattern. Our data team utilizes Kinesis Streams along with EC2 instances that run KCL to populate S3, while our bidding team utilizes the same streams to populate ad delivery data in DynamoDB. In order to understand how our architecture is evolving from a cost point-of-view, it is better to trace it back from a cost perspective and try to analyze which team's architecture affected the cost bottom line. This tactic can help drive the next architectural decision.
An analysis of COGS vs OPEX is important from a financial point-of-view for two reasons. Firstly, it will allow you to understand what drives costs and whether the technology of the company is scalable from a cost aspect. Secondly, passing an audit often requires that all costs used directly in service of revenue (including those associated with AWS) are recorded as COGS. The balance of the costs should be shifted "below the line" into OPEX.
Those two items can be achieved in a few ways. One way is to create cost explorer reports that have the right filters and contain all of those tag values, but the cost explorer has some limitations and that are not ideal. Another method is to add another cost allocation tag for those two grouping definitions. That is OK but not very flexible, you cannot have a resource that is not fully attached to one group will only show changes going forward and not retroactively.
One tool that we looked at, and maybe so should you, is ice – an open source AWS cost analysis tool created by Netflix. We ended up thinking it is not intuitive nor easy to use enough.
We then tried Stax which proved very effective for us. Stax is a cloud management tool that gives us better visibility and insight into the cost and efficiency of our AWS workloads. You can define the cost allocation rules and have different views looking at it.
An added bonus are the daily and weekly reports providing a summary of how we are doing comparing to past weeks and months.
An obvious but sometimes forgotten item is to track your running instances and catch those that are underutilized for some time or that are just laying there unused at all.
Use auto scaling as much as you can. Auto Scale Groups are fairly easy to use and can help you provisioning only the right amount of instances.
Use new instance generations that are more cost efficient than the old ones. AWS are usually pricing these to incentivize dropping of older infrastructure, so take advantage.
Ask yourself if you really need on-demand instances. If so, make sure to watch your RI reports and purchase accordingly. If you do not, make use of Spot instances and mainly Spot Fleets. Spot Fleets is a neat feature allowing you to use many instance type pools in order to get the cheapest for the moment. The more "diverse" your fleet is, the better cost and availability you have.
Data Transfer: Try to get to a "vertical" architecture in which you do not transfer data from one Availability Zone to another. That will also help you achieving high availability.
S3: Take advantage of the different storage tiers S3 has to offer. For backup and archived data, use Glacier. For data that is not accessed as much, use Infrequent Access tier. If the data is unimportant, expire it. A new tool that helped us understand why our Infrequent Access data retrieval is high is the S3 Storage Class Analysis.
DynamoDB: Remember that DynamoDB charges you for both IO operations AND storage. Make sure to use the TTL feature of DynamoDB which helps both. Learn about how DynamoDB partitions data and implement best practices around it, in order to prevent hot keys that can inflate your provisioned capacity. Don't forget to add auto-scaling to that mix and finally purchase some reserved capacity at lower cost.
I also recommend going over a few re: Invent sessions about cost optimization, like this one or this one, it is never harmful to negotiate prices with your AWS as you grow to a more substantial bill.
Unless keeping a close eye on AWS cost, they can grow exponentially displeasing your finance team (rightfully so). I encourage you to have AWS cost considerations an integral part of the engineering cycle as important as resilience, scalability and availability. In the case of AWS, there is usually a strong correlation between a cost efficient system and a well architected one, therefore analyzing your cost drivers more efficiently will help you understand the weaknesses in your architecture and help you make better decisions on how to improve it.
Making it work with a small team, little maintenance and no budget.


Upon finishing a particularly thought-provoking book or film I will sometimes spend a few days mulling it over before writing a review on this blog. Sometimes I just dash off a quick review on Goodreads or Letterboxd. For the sake of completeness, I thought that each quarter I would post my list of off-the-cuff reviews. Below are my 2013Q1 media missives. As always, my full reviews can be found here.


PPFAS Mutual Fund is competing with the giants of the industry with just one simple fund and 7 key differentiators.
In the mobile technology world, there can be no comparison between Android and iOS, the mobile operating systems of Google and Apple respectively. While many companies launch multiple devices with Android at its heart, only Apple produces phones that have iOS as the operating system. Apple focuses on releasing just one or two flagship phones a year, but they give it their best in terms of technology and hence, are hugely successful the world over.
For whom the term 'long term' means a minimum period of five years.
As on August 2014, the fund had already garnered Rs. 475.72 crore. This surplus is a great feat considering the fact that the fund was launched in May 2013. The firm is headed by Parag Parikh, a contrarian who has been in the Portfolio Management Services (PMS) for more than 17 years. One of his biggest expertise is in 'Behavioral Finance' an emerging theme in the financial world. He is also the author of 2 books "Stocks to Riches – Insights on Investor Behavior" and "Value Investing and Behavioral Finance: Insights in to Indian Stock Market Realities".
The employees have their skin in the game which means that they have put their own money in the scheme which is disclosed on the website on a continuous basis. For instance, as of October 1, 2014, Rs. 41.68 crore (approx. 8.44% of AUM) has been invested in the fund by employees of the AMC.
Thakkar further states that they are not in a 100-meter race and hence he suggests that unless an investor's time horizon is 5 years, he/she should not invest into this scheme. The fund management team is not trying to outperform the markets on a monthly, quarterly or yearly basis. Instead, they believe that 5 years is a representative period of a cycle and they are trying to do well over that period. Thakkar says that the team will not tactically time the markets as they are essentially into buying businesses and holding them for a long time period.
Ask Thakkar about his views on the market and the immediate response is: "We don't have a clue on what is going to happen in the market in the next 3 months to 6 months. Our job is to identify good businesses, buy them and hold them as long as possible. Generally, we would like to buy and hold businesses for the long term".
An interesting thing that we had noticed while glancing through the portfolio is that the global search engine giant Google, is the top holding of this fund in September 2014 with a 9.15% share. This stock first entered the portfolio in May 2014 and the allocation was 2.93%.
When quizzed about this interest in the company, Thakkar replied that Google is in the advertising space and the bulk of its revenue comes from this business. As a listed entity, it is only 10 years old and in this short period, the combined advertising revenue of Google is more than all the newspapers in the United States put together. Google has a competitive advantage in terms of search algorithm, brand name and recall, the computing size and is the biggest buyer of computing equipment at the lowest cost. Additionally Google's dominance can also be seen in 3 major businesses that is email (Gmail), video streaming (YouTube) and Mobile Operating System (Android). All these benefits create an unassailable advantage for this stock. Furthermore, Google's active investments in R&D which leads to creating things like Google Glass, Driverless cars and real-time satellite imaging makes it a one-of-a-kind company. Finally, coming to valuations, it is not excessive and is more or less similar or less than some of the domestic FMCG companies.
Overall, Thakkar's fund which looks for value in the longer term is following the moral of the tortoise and the hare story which is "Slow and steady wins the race".


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Panasonic Avionics names new CEO
By Alexander Preston November 20, 2019 January 16th, 2020 Uncategorised
Ken Sain has been named the new chief executive officer of Panasonic Avionics, succeeding Hideo Nakano, who has served as Panasonic Avionics CEO since 2017 and as deputy CEO prior to that. Nakano will now serve as Special Advisor for Panasonic Avionics.
Sain, who joins from Boeing Global Services, will assume his role on 2 December.
In his most recent role leading Digital Solutions and Analytics, Sain oversaw significant growth in Boeing's customer-facing digital solutions portfolio, using agile software development to launch new products and cloud-based solutions for airline and business aviation customers around the world.
Commeting upon the appointment, Michael Moskowitz, chairman and CEO of Panasonic Corporation of North America, the parent company of Panasonic Avionics, said: "His entrepreneurial spirit and proven track record in aviation will undoubtedly accelerate Panasonic's customer-centric innovation and the digital transformation journeys of its airline customers."
Hideo Nakano, outgoing CEO added: "Throughout his career, Ken has demonstrated tremendous leadership in change management and business growth. This proven legacy of success, combined with his expertise in developing and launching inflight digital solutions, will no doubt help accelerate our mission to make flying an experience everyone looks forward to."

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


God Gives His Heart to Me is a simple and powerful Soul Song. It can bless every aspect of your life. It carries the love, compassion, joy and peace of the Divine's heart. It is a most touching expression of divine love.
God Gives His Heart to Me is a simple but most powerful Soul Song. It can bless every aspect of your life. It carries the love, compassion, joy and peace of the Divine's heart. It is a most touching expression of divine love. Its tenderness can touch your heart and support you in your journey to health, happiness and well-being.
Enjoy this CD. Use it to receive blessings for yourself and to send blessings to others.


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Home Community News Unique jewellery designs representing 'one new man'
Unique jewellery designs representing 'one new man'
Karen Faulkner
One New Man Pendant
Hadassah Jewellery The King's Choice is an exciting new jewellery business that was started to encourage and strengthen unity between Jews and Gentiles in the Body of Messiah all over the world.
The business was opened in January this year by believers Zackary and Esther McDowell, who live with their young children in the coastal city of Bat Yam in central Israel.
"We see our jewellery as a ministry tool to both Jew and Gentile. It is such a unique design that causes people to ask, 'What does this represent?'" Zachary told KNI. "It may give someone an opportunity to witness to the Jew by sharing how much they love the Jewish people because they found salvation through the Jewish Messiah. On the other hand, they may witness to the Gentile by sharing how the Jewish people are the apple of God's eye; that we received the Gospel of salvation from a Jewish Messiah and Jewish apostles, that the gospel is first for the Jew and then the Gentile, that they are still God's chosen people and He desires for them to know Him."
Zackary is Gentile and Esther is Jewish and, thus, their marriage itself may be described as a picture of the "one new man."
"For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of separation, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace." Ephesians 2:14-15
The company currently offers two uniquely designed pendants, each of which features both a cross and Star of David as emblems of faith. The pendants are available on sterling silver chains of varying lengths.
One New Man Heart Pendant
The first design, called One New Man Heart Pendant, features the cross and star inside a classic heart shape, representing an expression of love for the Jewish foundations of faith in Yeshua. The second design, One New Man Pendant, expresses an "understanding of the union that exists between Jew and Gentile through Messiah Yeshua." In this design, the pendant leans toward the star, as an acknowledgment of the Jewish roots of the Christian faith.
While the business is in the early stages, Zackary continues to work as a web designer, including the Hadassah Jewellery website itself. Both Zackary and Esther are very involved with raising their young family and Esther writes a blog on the Hadassah website about her experiences as a parent and the spiritual lessons she is learning as a mother.
The jewellery's unique designs actually grew out of an anniversary gift that Zackary had created for Esther. With the help of Esther's parents, who have been in the jewellery business for 30 years, Zackary had designed a necklace that represented his and Esther's personal union as a marriage between Jew and Gentile and also as "one new man" in Yeshua. The original piece combined the Star of David and the cross as symbols of Jewish and Christian faith. As Esther told KNI, "Zack is very romantic, and it was an amazingly thoughtful and beautiful gift."
As I wore the piece it got a lot of attention. It started many conversations about the Jewish foundations of our faith.
Now, Zackary works with an Israeli jeweler in making pieces for the business. While the current pieces are for women to wear, Zackary says, "We have been asked about pendants for men and are planning on bringing out a new piece that is suitable to be worn by them."
"I am just so thankful for this jewellery design, which I believe God has placed in our hands to unite Jew and Gentile and provoke both into a closer walk with the Lord, who is a Father to all, and desires all to know Him from the heart," Esther said. "Only by acknowledging the Jewish roots of our faith can a Christian really understand our Lord and Father and only by acknowledging Yeshua (Jesus) can a Jew fully understand who he was created to be. We pray that this piece will bless both and bring glory to God in the highest."
Hadassah's high quality jewellery is made of sterling silver and is available on their online shop. Sales began in July and the items are shipped internationally from Israel.
Previous articleVIDEO: Gov. Mike Huckabee speech about Israel and the Holocaust
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Karen Faulkner is a British Israeli citizen. She has a Master's degree in Human Rights & Transitional Justice from Hebrew University, Jerusalem.


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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


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Woman found in Austin house fire died of blunt force trauma: autopsy
Responding crews found fire coming from the front of the house, and the 34-year-old woman unresponsive inside, authorities said. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
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A police officer stands guard outside a home in the 5000 block of West Gladys Avenue in Austin, where a woman was found unresponsive during a fire on Nov. 9, 2020.
Anthony Vazquez/Sun-Times
The death of a woman who was found in a burning house Monday in Austin on the West Side has been ruled a homicide, according to an autopsy.
Officers responding to a fire found the 34-year-old unresponsive about 2:42 a.m. inside a home in the 5000 block of West Gladys Avenue, Chicago police said. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
An autopsy found the woman died of multiple injuries from blunt force trauma, the Cook County medical examiner's office said. She was identified as Stephanie Haynes.
The fire blew out the home's windows.
Investigators believe someone intentionally started the fire, police said.
Area Four and Arson detectives are investigating.
Read more on crime, and track the city's homicides.


The 3,000 sqm property provides an uninterrupted view overlooking the bay of Cannes including several yacht harbors and heated pool with vanishing edge and electric cover.
One master bedroom with separate master bath (main floor). In the lower guest floor, 2 double bedrooms with en-suite batch, 1 1/2 double bedroom and another possible double bed with en-suite bath. One additional guest double bedroom sharing the master bathroom (main floor).
The living and dining room spans half the ground floor and window-doors can be fully opened on two sides.
The whole ground floor is air-conditioned. The air condition system is silently under the roof so no boxes irritate and the noise is limited. Ground floor rooms have separate ventilation.
The whole main floor has underfloor heating to make the house very cozy and comfortable in winter months.
For guests who stay in the winter period or participate in the Christmas Program will definitely enjoy the fireplace in the living room. It is conveniently gas powered and can be turned on with a click.
The Kitchen is especially large and fully equipped. Dishes and glasses for approximately 20 people, top quality kitchen knives, mixer, kitchen aid, 3 coffee machines… pretty much anything imaginable.
The super size refrigerator includes an ice cube dispenser and cold water provider. An additional fridge is in the pool bar and a third small fridge on the garden floor level in the pantry.
The large kitchen houses a built in coffee machine with grinder for real fresh coffee. In addition you find two small coffee machines for a real quick coffee one on the main floor and one in the pantry on the garden floor below.
The kitchen includes a high quality oven at eye level and a separate steamer, plus a 4 place induction stove.
The washer and a separate dryer as well as pressing iron is accessible in 15 sqm laundry on the garden floor. You find there also washing powder etc for your whole stay.
If you have small kids, we setup a pool fence, provide you with high chair and a baby bed if needed. Ideally we know way ahead of time.
The villa has a Sonos Sound System that you can easily manage from your smart phone. Each speaker in each room can be controlled separately so that each guest can listen to different music or all can be grouped together Internet radio, Spotify and local playlists can be used from anybody any time.
A professional Internet Connection plan is part of the offering. While the plan indicates a 100 MB connection, we still experience outages once in a while.
Enjoy a large TV with DVD player and Sonos Playbase sound system.
Board games, games for almost any age and lots of books (English and German) are always in the house.
A dedicated outdoor kitchen with grill, sink, refrigerator is situated at the end of the house and near the pool.
Inside the complex is a car park for 3 cars and another space at the entry for one or two cars.


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Colorado Goes Live with New Citizen-Facing Projects
Chief Technology Officer David McCurdy on some of the major initiatives the state has recently completed.
by Lauren Harrison, Noelle Knell / October 23, 2018
SAN DIEGO — Colorado CTO David McCurdy has been busy this year. At the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) annual conference, he described a number of major projects that have been launched in just the last 90 days, from health and human services applications to new policies around IT architecture.
Next on McCurdy's list is a major multi-agency citizen engagement platform that will allow Colorado residents to access common services like vehicle registration renewals and easily search for other state applications they may need.
McCurdy says this will help resolve one of the central challenges of citizen engagement: "How do I stop government from asking citizens the same questions over and over … how do I give them more control and ultimately quicker, faster workflows?"
Looking for the latest gov tech news as it happens? Subscribe to GT newsletters.
Colorado Names Tech Veteran Theresa Szczurek as New CIO
Lauren Harrison Managing Editor
Lauren Harrison is the managing editor for Government Technology magazine. She has a degree in English from the University of California, Berkeley, and more than 10 years' experience in book and magazine publishing.
Noelle Knell Editor
Government Technology editor Noelle Knell has more than 15 years of writing and editing experience, covering public projects, transportation, business and technology. A California native, she has worked in both state and local government, and is a graduate of the University of California, Davis, with majors in political science and American history. She can be reached via email and on Twitter.
Follow @GovTechNoelle
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#281 The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
March 28, 2011 in Alternate history, Book, Fantasy, Fiction, Mythology, Supernatural | Tags: greek myth, Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, Rick Riordan, Robert Graves, terrorism, The Lightning Thief, YA Fiction | 9 comments
"You mean the Greek gods are here? Like…in America?"
"Well, certainly. The gods move with the heart of the West."
"Come now, Percy. What you call 'Western Civilization.' Do you think it's just an abstract concept? No, it's a living force. A collective consciousness that has burned bright for thousands of years."
I grew up on Robert Graves' translations of Greek mythology. Heracles was a pre-modern superhero, Theseus a tragic hero whose cleverness and bravery could only get him so far, Odysseus proof that intelligence could give a hero the edge when faced with a physically stronger opponent. I enjoyed the morals these stories seemed to contain, alongside fantastical descriptions of minotaurs, gorgons and cyclopses.
Of course later, when I returned to these texts, or read different translations, I realized something – those ancient Greeks were jerks!
Unfortunately Percy Jackson has yet to learn this lesson. An ordinary boy growing up in New York with an unusual habit of getting expelled from schools – he swears that it is never his fault – as well as suffering from dyslexia and ADHD, life has dealt him a pretty poor hand. When he discovers he is also the illegitimate son of the god Poseidon and targeted for assasination by both Hades and Zeus, as part of a growing Olympian civil war, well, it is just not fair really.
Being the son of a god has some advantages though. He gets to escape to the safety of Camp Half-Blood for one, where the marauding furies and minotaurs on his trail are held at bay. What's more he discovers he has several abilities related to the control of water, which could even help him survive a frontal attack by a monster.
He'll need every trick to stay alive when he and two friends leave the camp on a quest to discover who has stolen the thunder bolt of Zeus and framed him for it to boot. So it is time for a road trip to the Land of the Dead – Los Angeles.
While Rick Riordan is said to have completed the manuscript in 1994, but it was not actually published until 2005. It therefore does seem likely that segments of the book were rewritten to suit the Pottermania fad. Camp Half-Blood is a Hogwarts filled with the abandoned off-spring of gods and yes Percy is yet another child of destiny.
Where I found the story sticking in my craw a bit was the translation of Greek myth to American culture. I accept that this is the conceit of the book – as the quote featured above states, America is now the 'seat', of Western civilization – but it leads to some uncomfortable moments. For example Medusa is described disguised as a Middle Eastern woman. Hades is said to resemble "the terrorist leaders who direct suicide bombers."
Really Riordan? You went there huh? What's more, much like the tarnished Greek heroes of my youth, Percy is actually quite a bloodthirsty little punk. I get that his life is at stake, but after the second, or third decapitation I started checking the book for a parental advisory sticker. Through in spouse abuse – his mother has endured a horrible relationship for years, in order to keep Percy hidden – and this becomes an uncomfortable, sickly feeling cynical package.
This is one fantasy series I will not be continuing with.
#243 Young Allies by Sean McKeever and David Baldeon
February 18, 2011 in Alternate history, Comic, Crime, Criticism, Fiction, Graphic Novel, Murder, Review, Sci Fi, Science Fiction, Thriller | Tags: 9/11, antiheroes, Arana, comic book violence, Cuban missile crisis, David Baldeon, Electro, fictionalised historical events, Firestar, Gravity, Ground Zero, Iceman, Marvel Comics, Nomad, nuclear radiation, Sean McKeever, Spider-Man, Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, superheroes, supervillains, terrorism, The Incredible Hulk, Toro, Warren Ellis, X-Men: First Class, Young Allies | Leave a comment
Hey kids. Do you remember this!? Ah. Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends. I used to love that show. Now maybe you would think I wanted to take after Spider-Man. After all, he is the star. Or how about Iceman? But no, my favourite character was always Firestar. Not because I wanted to be a girl or anything…..let's start again – fire powers are cool!
So I was always curious about her character. Imagine my surprise when I eventually started to read Marvel comics and discovered not only was she not 'friends', with Spider-Man – she did not even exist in comics before the show. Eventually she got shoved into the X-Men almost as an afterthought, but I don't think my child self ever got over that disillusionment (cos…y'know…fire powers….cool!).
This book is not all about my girl Firestar. In fact it is a 'non-team', comic, focusing on several random young superheroes who have all been somewhat forgotten. First off there is Gravity, one of Sean McKeever's own creations, a nominally cheerful young hero, who has begun to question the legitimacy of arrested superpowered criminals, as they only just escape to wreck havoc again. Then there's Araña, recently depowered and so unknown most people call her Spider-Girl. Nomad is a girl from an alternate world where she was a highly trained sidekick to the most famous superhero on her Earth – here she is no one. What's worse she had a friend on this other Earth named Benito Serrano, who has his own counterpart in her new home. Though he takes the same superhero name, Toro, and has the same abilities, he has no idea who she is. What's more only Araña is capable of speaking Spanish with him (at one point Gravity mutters regretfully that he took German in school).
What brings these heroes together is a violent gang of young villains, the aptly named Evil Bastards, who torture and kill New Yorkers for fun and then upload the footage online for their 'fans'. Gravity in particular is horrified by the callousness of the gang and is pushed to the edge, in danger of himself becoming a killer in retaliation. In their first encounter with the Evil Bastards, one of the villains detonates a massive explosion on the site of Ground Zero itself.
McKeever has stated that the theme of this book "was that [the Young Allies are] fighting for the soul of their generation". In a neat piece of meta-commentary it is made clear that what McKeever is referring to is the morals of comic books themselves. The Evil Bastards (sounds like a Warren Ellis rock band) claim to be the sons and daughters of supervillains themselves. Their contempt for the value of life, to my mind, reflects the persistence of shock tactics and ultraviolence in contemporary comics. As the older villain Electro comments, to violate the sanctity of Ground Zero itself would be unthinkable for him. It is a horrific moment in the book itself, but Gravity's obsession with finding justice for the victims properly addresses the true horror of this event.
I found myself comparing McKeever's use of an actual site of tragedy, with what has been revealed in the trailer for the upcoming X-Men movie. The plot will involve the superheroes in an actual historical event – the Cuban Missile Crisis. I think ultimately McKeever is respectful in his use of 9/11 as a feature of the plot. The Evil Bastards are reminiscent of message board users making horrible jokes about actual tragedies. One of them even describes her crimes as being like playing an MMO. Marvel Comics frequently used nuclear radiation as a plot device and McKeever refers to this again throughout the book. Firestar, for one, suffers from her constant exposure to incredible temperatures and is in fact a cancer survivor. It is a neat reversal of the comic-book science that allowed for characters such as The Hulk, or Spider-Man gaining superpowers from radiation.
This flirting with realistic concerns and comic book absurdity is ably managed by McKeever, who has a great partner in crime in penciller David Baldeon. The art reflects the threatened innocence of the characters. I particularly like his designs for the Evil Bastards themselves, all quite creative in their callbacks to the absent parents they draw inspiration from.
So Young Allies is that rare thing – a quietly ambitious superhero comic with a lot of heart. Recommended for comic book fans looking something less cynical than certain popular titles out there.
#179 The Night Sessions by Ken MacLeod
December 16, 2010 in Book, Crime, Fiction, Futurism, Murder, Mystery, Political, Review, Sci Fi, Science Fiction, Thriller, War | Tags: A.I., Battlestar Galactica, Edinburgh, fundamentalism, Ken MacLeod, murder, Ron Moore, Scotland, surveillance technology, terrorism, The Cassini Division, The Night Sessions, virtual reality | Leave a comment
'The making of artificial intelligence is one of the proudest boasts of the secularists', said Campbell. 'Next to artificial life, it's the greatest triumph for their materialism. Perhaps greater. They claim to have done what Christians once claimed could be done only by God – creating a rational soul. Would this triumph not turn to ashes in their mouths if their own creations were to acknowledge the true Creator?'
I have a confession. Back in the summer of '03 I was living and working in Edinburgh. I lived out of the Central Library, just opposite the Royal Scottish Museum where I worked in a restaurant. I would take out fourteen books at a time and read them over a month or so, then return them for the next load. Those were pleasant days. I recall taking out Ken MacLeod's The Cassini Division. I remember reading it. To be honest though, I have no memory what it was about at all. I am not even sure I finished the book.
Not an auspicious start for a review, is it?
In The Night Sessions MacLeod maps the conflicts of our time, a diabolical festoon of resource wars and radical religious fudamentalism, on to a near-future society where the Western world underwent an event known as The Rejection. All forms of religious belief have been driven underground. A brutal, second Enlightenment took hold, America was swallowed in a destructive civil war and artificial intelligence escalated the spread of the conflict.
John Richard Campbell is a young man fascinated with robotics. His work in a New Zealand preserve for animatronic models has given him an interesting outlet for his religious beliefs. He has begun to proselytize to his charges and what's more, they are listening to what he has to say. When a secret sect in Edinburgh hears of him, Campbell is initiated into The Free Congregation of West Lothian. During the same visit, he meets a virtual reality dj Dave Warsaw and his partner Jessica at a club night in a former church. Campbell is repulsed and secretly intrigued by the orgiastic scenes created by Warsaw's mastery of music and image. His faith has hidden him from such activities, a faith that makes him especially vulnerable to manipulation.
A year passes and a series of murders in Edinburgh begin to rise tensions throughout the secular world. The targets are clergymen, former soldiers in the Faith Wars, with hints of inter-fundamentalist cell reprisals. Adam Ferguson leads the investigation, using bleeding edge technology to identify patterns in the murders, compile every scrap of data on file regarding the victims and their surroundings. However, he finds himself confounded by the complexity of the case. There are also fears of a much great attack at the secularist nations, so thoroughly denuded of religious faith that Ferguson has to remind his officers out of courtesy to refer to the murder victims by the title of 'Father', or 'Bishop', and not the prefix 'Citizen'.
MacLeod's novel is a vast spider-web of ideas and supposition as to the future course of our society. The 'Rejection', I am sure sounds like Richard Dawkins' fondest fantasy, but the story does not shy away from depicting the overzealousness of the anti-religious factions in this new world. His vision of future developments in surveillance technology and A.I. is also exciting and playful. Ferguson's robot Skulk is more a partner than an investigative tool, complete with a winning sense of humour.
I also enjoyed the familiar sights of Edinburgh being mildly tweaked to fit this depiction, despite surviving catastrophic sectarian conflict. MacLeod's characters are for the most part Scots. There is in fact quite a large cast. The prologue that introduces Campbell serves to fix him in the reader's minds before his eventual return in the latter-half of the book.
If some of this sounds familiar, perhaps you are a fan of Ron Moore's Battlestar Galactica, which also had the premise of a futuristic society running headlong into a conflict with fundamentalist religion. The difference is MacLeod's book has balls. The ending is much more satisfying. Yes, I am still bitter.
This is a book that I will have no trouble remembering. A thrilling and inspiring read.
#158 Hold Everything Dear: Dispatches on Survival and Resistance by John Berger
November 25, 2010 in Biography, Book, Criticism, History, Non-Fiction, Philosophy, Poetry, Political, War | Tags: 9/11, Corrib Shell protests, Francis Bacon, Gleneagles Summit, Hold Everything Dear, Hurricane Katrina, Iraq War, Irish economy, Israel, John Berger, London Underground Bombings, Palestine, Paulo Pasolini, political apathy, rhetoric, terrorism | 1 comment
Somebody enquires: Are you still a Marxist? Never before has the devastation caused by the pusuit of profit, as defined by capitalism, been more extensive than it is today. Almost everybody knows this. How then is it possible not to heed Marx who prophesied and analyzed the devastation? The answer might be that people, many people, have lost all their political bearings. Mapless, they do not know where they are heading.
A few months before Stephanie and I were married we travelled to Foggy London Town to choose a wedding dress for the big day. While there, we looked up an old friend for lunch. I remember at one point we were discussing our reasons for wanting to move to Australia. We had lived together in Sydney already for a year and so thought it only fair to do the same in Dublin. In addition, we felt it was important for my family to get to know the woman I had chosen to marry. Given the distances between our respective families, the normal routine would not be possible. As it was my parents only met Stephanie's on the day of the wedding itself.
The course of international romance never runs smoothly.
At any rate, we were chatting away about our future prospects when I mentioned that one of the reasons we were leaving Ireland was because in Australia we could actually see ourselves having a future. My home was swept up in economic turmoil, wasteful political in-fighting and a general apathy on the part of the public in what was happening to the country, despite the growing mountain of debt. Our friend was greatly surprised at this. Aren't the Irish rebels, she said, coming from a culture defined by its fight for independence and resistance against the British occupation? Weren't we taught as children to admire men like Daniel O'Connell, Charles Parnell and Michael Collins?
Well yes and no, came the reply. We talk a good game, but when it comes to politics the Irish turn a blind eye to the decisions that have the biggest impact on public life. There would be a lot of complaining, certainly, but little in the way of grass-roots political action. Those protesters that did persist in Ireland, such as the anti-Shell protests in Corrib, tended to be dismissed as crusty hippies.
So here I am watching the news from home, hearing about how the IMF have begun to assess the economic mismanagement of my country, the refusal of our leaders to accept any responsibility and the rising calls for a change of government. Too late, too late, the writing was on the wall years ago.
This collection of essays by John Berger focuses on the global political inarticulacy of responses to the illegal invasion of Iraq by Western nations and their allies; the disastrous aftermath of Hurricane Katrina and what it revealed about the poverty ordinary Americans suffered; the encroachment of Israeli forces on Palestinian settlements; and the hypocrisy of Tony Blair's reaction to the tragic London bombings.
Statesmen pitch the rhetoric while ordinary people across the world separated from us by geography, class and war suffer. What is worse, we all know their stories. There is this sense of impotence or apathy that pervades the coverage of these events, as if nothing is to be done and so we simply change the channel.
Berger's intermingles poetry and politics, to highlight just how isolated from common feeling the political process has become. The show of sincerity has replaced the need for any statesman to tell the truth. Propaganda has replaced the need for argument. The Twentieth Century has been a time of great opportunity, as well as loss: Our century was one of unprecedented massacres, yet the future it imagined (and sometimes fought for) proposed fraternity. Very few earlier centuries made such a proposal.
Discussions of Paulo Passolini, Emily Dickinson, Francis Bacon and Lars Von Trier are used by Berger to regain that sense of emotion and creativity abandoned by modern politics. Government has become the plaything of corporate interests and as such, has lost any claim on ideals of how we should live.
To take in what is happening, an inter-disciplinary vision is necessary in order to connect the 'fields', which are institutionally kept separate. And any such vision is bound to be (in the original sense of the word) political.
This is a powerful collection of essays, strongly recommended.
#143 Shooting Elvis by R.M. Eversz
November 10, 2010 in Book, Crime, Feminist, Fiction, Murder, Satire, Thriller | Tags: 'bad girl', Amsterdam, Andy Warhol, book, book review, crime, elvis, Elvis Presley, feminist, fiction, kitsch art, L.A., Lisbeth Salander, Marcel Duchamp, Mike Baron, murder, Nexus, R.M. Eversz, review, satire, Shooting Elvis, Steve Rude, Stieg Larsson, terrorism, thriller, warhol | 2 comments
A sixty-something desk clerk with a dishevelled stare and dark armpits told me to sign my name in the registration book. I blanked. He repeated I should sign my name. I couldn't sign my full name, Mary Alice Baker. Nina was the first name that came to me, because it was exotic, foreign sounding. I couldn't imagine a terrorist Nina. The sum total of my life to date would be my last name. I signed myself in as Nina Zero.
Let me tell you about a weird little incident that happened to me in Amsterdam. Oh don't worry, it's nothing like that. I broke the mould on visitors to that capital of lax morality by visiting comic stores to hunt down hard-to-get titles. In one store I asked the owner if he had any copies of Nexus by Mike Baron and Steve Rude. He directed me to accompany him downstairs to the basement. There I found a low-ceilinged room stuffed with long-boxes. The owner began to list the contents of each, naming companies I was familiar with and then he pointed to the fifth box along and said "those are Bad Girl comics". The pattern repeated itself, with several other boxes being identified in the same way.
Bad girls? I really did not know what he meant. Female protagonists that act like pulp fiction tough guys, often written by men and parodying feminist heroines perhaps.
Mary Alice Baker starts this book as a 'good girl', but informs us that she soon learned how to be a 'bad girl'. Living on a meagre wage from taking pictures of children for doting parents, Mary's own family life is an abusive, dysfunctional nightmare. Her father rules the home with an iron fist, frequently taking out his frustrations on his children and long-suffering wife. Mary does not have much luck with the men in her life, as her boyfriend Wrex is an emotionally manipulative parasite, whose relationship with her is dependent on her allowing him to sleep in her bed.
Then he asks her one favour too many, deliver a package to a stranger at LAX Airport. Seconds later the man, and indeed the arrivals lounge, are blown to smithereens. Mary suddenly finds herself a suspected terrorist, her name and face decorating the front pages of newspapers across Los Angeles. One safety pin through her nose and a dye-job later and Nina Zero is born. She falls in with fame-hungry Warholian artists, even gets a crash course in becoming a private eye and decides to hunt down the party responsible for the bombing. Maybe put a few holes in Wrex as well if possible.
This novel has some fun with poking fun at the shallow LA art scene. Nina's new flatmates are a paranoid film-maker who expresses contempt for Hollywood, but is desperate to get her own picture deal. Then there's Billy b, an intense artist who likes to draw portraits of Elvis and Kim Basinger. Together they talk long into the night about the philosophy of kitsch, which Mary/Nina can only barely follow. When they discover she's a suspected terrorist she becomes their goose with the golden egg.
The eagerness of the people in Mary's life to stab her in the back allows for a certain amount of black humour. However, the sheer negativity of this book becomes tiresome. What's more every man in Mary's life treats her like crap. For all R.M. Eversz's claims to the contrary, she seems less like a bad girl and more like a victim. This leads to the uncomfortable notion that the rough sex and the violence featured is itself meant to be entertaining. Personally I found it distressing. Compare Nina Zero to Lisbeth Salander. Stieg Larsson avoided accusations of voyeurism by creating a character with genuine mental issues, as well as a fierce independence. Eversz does not convince, Nina's problems are solved by handing her a gun. She even points out to her abusive father at one point that while he has fists, she has the means to kill him now she has a weapon.
What a wonderful moral!
While this book was a quick read, it left a bitter aftertaste. Not for everyone. Sadly I only figured out the meaning of the title after realizing the Warhol connection. And yes, a print of Elvis is actually shot.
#132 Patient Zero by Jonathan Maberry
October 30, 2010 in Book, Horror, Science Fiction, Thriller, War, Zombie | Tags: 28 Days Later, 9/11, al Qaeda, Blood Oath, blue state/red state, Christopher Farnsworth, Dr Spectrum, feed, Islamofascism, Jonathan Maberry, mira grant, Patient Zero, terrorism, the USA Patriot Act, Tom Clancy, zombies | 2 comments
'Ever see the movie 28 Days Later? No? You should. The sequel rocks, too. Anyway, that movie dealt with a virus that stimulated the rage centers in the brain to the point that it was so dominant that all other brain functions were blocked out. The victims existed in total, unending, and ultimately unthinking rage. Very close to what we have here.'
'What, you think a terrorist with a Ph.D. in chemistry watched a sci-fi flick and thought "Hey, that's a good way to kill Americans"?'
So it appears someone went and invented a whole new horror sub-genre when I was not looking. Namely books about post 9/11 zombie terrorists. The first book I reviewed for this blog, Feed by Mira Grant did this very successfully I thought. Blood Oath by Christopher Farnsworth was less so, but thankfully did not take itself too seriously.
Jonathan Maberry's novel, as the title indicates, is once again concerned with the notion of scientifically plausible zombification. As silly as that sounds, to his credit the author makes a solid attempt at establishing plausible pseudo-science behind the plot.
Which is kicked off thanks to that handy deus ex machina the United States Patriot Act. Joe Ledger is an ex-military serviceman who has worked with the Baltimore Police Department for enough time to realize that if he wants to put his investigative skills to any real use – and make better money – he should become a federal agent. He is well on track to achieving that goal when he is approached by a man known only as Church and recruited to become a member of a secret intelligence agency, the Department of Military Sciences. Their first mission, defeat a plot hatched by Muslim extremists to infect America with a pathogen that reanimates the dead.
Joe's recruitment is the result of a very special kind of interview. He survives being locked into a room with a zombie. Afterwards he finds himself heading a team of specially chosen grunts and intelligence agents to track down the source of the plague. Meanwhile in the Middle East (don't you just love that phrase?) a man known as Sebastian Gault has been funding the activities of the terrorist El Mujahid. He will deliver the pathogen created with Gault's money to the States, but who is manipulating whom? What is more, as the outbreaks of zombie attacks increase, it becomes clear to Joe that someone in the D.M.S., perhaps even a member of his own squad, is feeding information to the enemy.
This book unfortunately contains a number of things that I loathe in horror fiction, in particular the portentous punctuation of doom, otherwise illustrated as '…'
On the other hand, Maberry has done an admirable amount of research to justify his far-fetched plot. He also makes a number of nods to pop culture to indicate that this is meant to be above all fun. Characters mention 28 Days Later, Dawn of the Dead and The Evil Dead. Then there is 'Doctor Hu', whose name gets a startled reaction from Joe (who in turn appears to take his name from a Marvel superhero, as Hu points out).
Enough character detail is given to flesh to the plot. As a modern man Joe prefers therapy to the confession box. His friend Rudy likes to debate the finer points of Blue State/Red State political divisions with him. What is more Maberry addresses that the activities of the D.M.S. are unconstitutional. Of course modern terrorism does not respect privacy laws, or the Geneva Convention, so in order to defend America they must fight fire with fire.
Which leads to uncomfortable undertones of fascism. This is a macho fantasy and unashamedly so, but I fail to understand why 9/11, an actual historical event, is being employed to underscore fantastical horror (as already stated in my review of Farnsworth's book). On that same note this book features a very ugly portrayal of Islam. A character dismisses the criticism that there is no way an Al Qaeda cell hiding in mountainous wilderness could successfully engineer a deadly pathogen in the required lab conditions, by stating that such an argument is racist. Regardless of that handwaving, it does introduce a note of implausibility into the plot. Also the villains of the piece are Muslims and decadent, bisexual Europeans.
Finally, it is not scary. That is something of a deal breaker for me. Think Tom Clancy, but with zombies.
#29 Rumpole and the Reign of Terror by John Mortimer
July 19, 2010 in Book, Comedy, Crime, Humour, Mystery | Tags: al Qaeda, anti-terrorism legislation, book, comedy, crime, humor, humour, John Mortimer, Leo McKern, mystery, New Labour, Old Bailey, Pakistan, Rumpole of the Old Bailey, terrorism, Tony Blair | 1 comment
Rumpole is determined to win the appeal of that ghastly terrorist who is now safely in Belmarsh Prison. This is absolutely the right place for Dr Mahmood Khan, if you want my opinion, or that of most sensible people, but when I tell Rumpole this he starts talking about Magna Carta and the Bill of Rights. And he hardly listens when I tell him that there were no suicide bombers and no al Qaeda when King John signed up to the charter on the island of Runnymede.
John Mortimer's Rumpole of the Bailey has become an enduring fictional creation. Leo McKern's performance as the character on television immortalised him and the phrase 'She Who Must Be Obeyed' is possibly more famous than the Rumpole himself. I remember watching the show when I was a kid and being fascinated not by the witty badinage, or plot twists, but by the wigs! Oh those wigs, I always wanted one.
Rumpole's own wig has lost its lustre and has developed an unsightly yellowish tincture, to match his raggedy robes. He's a man out of time it seems, coasting on successes that no one remembers, refusing to use a computer in court (pen and paper are faster he maintains) and reduced to relying on the dreadful Timson family for cases, as getting caught committing petty crimes is something of a tradition for them.
Things take a turn for the decidedly worse, however, when Rumpole agrees to defend a doctor from Pakistan who has been accused of crimes under the new anti-terrorism laws drawn up by the New Labour government. Under the terms of the legislation the defendant and their counsel are forbidden from learning what the particulars of the arrest are, such as what the crime in question was, when it occurred, what evidence has been presented. The days of 'innocent until proven guilty', have come and gone it seems, with pressure mounting on Rumpole to drop the case from above and below. A New Labour stooge attempts bribery and the Timsons withdraw their business. Rumpole himself begins to doubt his client's innocence. Dr Khan's seems almost too good to be true, waxing lyrical about cricket and the Queen, all the while wearing a patient, bemused expression on his face while sitting in Belmarsh prison. Is it all an act? What's more She Who Must Be Obeyed, Hilda, receives an unusual proposition from Rumpole's enemy Justice Leonard Bullingham, whom he nicknames Mad Bull, all of which she details exhaustively in her own memoirs! Could Rumpole's lady wife be looking to sweep the carpet from under him?
Rumpole and the Reign of Terror is a quick read, with amusing asides from our hero to the reader. As far as I know She Who Must Be Obeyed was previously an invisible presence in the books, at least that was my impression from the television show as a kid. Mortimer introduces extracts from her own memoirs as a counterpoint to Rumpole's struggles with the Dr Khan case. Much of the humour derives from witty quips traded between the long suffering couple and the courting of Hilda by Mr Justice Mad Bull makes for a diverting secondary plot.
However, at its heart this book is an angry broadside against the policies of New Labour, its shirking of the letter of the law and dismantling of civil liberties. Rumpole finds himself stuck in a situation Kafkaesque in its absurdity, attempting to defend a man stripped of any right to a fair trial. Any appeal on our hero's part to the rights of a citizen of Britain is dismissed as unfashionable and behind the times. Rumpole himself is treated as a relic of a by-gone age.
That Mortimer ties this all together in a gripping, yet also witty package is a testament to his skills as a writer. This is my first taste of the Rumpole series and I'll be happy to investigate further.


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Arizona Entertainment Mogul #ITSDOOBIETIME Seeks More Opportunity
Today we'd like to introduce you to Deandre Taylor.
My story is not too much different than many others. I came up in the Metropolitan Detroit area, living day to day as my mom struggled to take care of 4 kids. This inspired me and made me push hard to be the best possible entrepreneur possible.
Fast forward to me relocating to Arizona and completing my degree in Information Technology, I still wasn't satisfied and had a hungry/desire for more. I remembered sitting at my desk at my corporate job saying is 100k a month enough. The answer was NO.
Being around so many different opportunities in Detroit growing up and now living in Arizona which lacked a lot of culture. I decided to take over the Phoenix Nightlife. I became one of the biggest promoters and community activist known in Arizona. I brought out all of my star studded celebrity friends and also did many community service events to bring people together.
One of my biggest community events was called #DoobieQ a community BBQ which features 500+ individuals from the all around the various cities of Arizona featuring their talents amongst celebrity entities. I become known for the events I promoted at clubs and became what many know now as #ITSDOOBIETIME
When I first got into the entertainment industry dealing and working with celebrities and doing private events for celebrities. Nobody took me serious. After all we're talking about a young 23 year old kid Quirino a job making 100k to pursue a dream of working with icons. However my desire and ambition was far greater than what anyone could stop and that motivated me to become the biggest name known in The metropolitan Phoenix Area.
Many people over the years have asked this question. What makes you better than the next person that put on events or why is it that the community support your events over others. Well the answer was very simple. For me it wasn't about the celebrities I worked with it was about the people. I made the average person that didn't have access to iconic individuals feel as though they had every right to be next to this person. This made people strive to be around me and work with me. Everyone was important. Not just the household name.
Never give up and always believe that the universe wants you to succeed. It's just waiting for you to reach out and say exactly what it is you're longer for so that your desire can be accomplished.
Success means sweat, hardship, pain, and a small Portion of suffering. See many people believe that people such as myself that make 6 figures have had it easy all our lives. When in trust we may have had it worse than most but our desire to succeed and never giving into failure made us/me successful. Success is looking failure in the face and saying you can't stop me
I plan to own multiple venues throughout the country that allows young people the opportunity to showcase their talents. While providing the mainstream celebrity that amazing experience they still like to receive untapped. My vision is to own a complete district of venues giving people various options to come and be entertained. I can't mention too much of my vision for fear of someone taking the opportunity themselves.
My IG (@itsdoobietime_ ) is a great source for contacting me along with my email: doobieboyzent@yahoo.com
Exclusive Interview With Jason Hendrickson
Exclusive Interview With Model, Philanthropist And Entrepreneur Tasia Sli


This is the best priced 46 Grand Banks Europa currently on the market.
Her owners have loved her and enjoyed traveling with her all over the East Coast during the past 16 years and are now thinking about making a change.
Irish Lady had her spring launch and commissioning and is sitting pretty in the water ready for a great 2018 summer of fun.
Easy to inspect…so call and come take a look at this pretty Europa.
She is a nicely maintained example of the popular Grand Banks 46 Heritage Europa. With her in-line six cylinder Caterpillar engines, her engine room is a dream to work in. The only 46 Europa we have seen with Captains Quarters built into what we originally referred to as the garage space (the very large storage/utility area aft of the house and forward of the lazarette).
She is on her second owner, originally from Florida she has been a New England boat since 2002 and is always stored under cover in the off season. Priced right for an immediate sale.
West Florida Yachts would love to guide you through a personal showing of this 46' Grand Banks 46 Heritage Europa 1996. This yacht for sale is located in Falmouth, Massachusetts and priced at $284,000. For a showing please contact us by filling out the form on this page and we will get back to you shortly!
Grand Banks is well known for their superbly crafted full varnished teak interiors and this yacht is no exception. She has the preferred solid teak parquet soles and is the preferred two stateroom, two head galley up layout.
There is an abundance of natural light and ventilation courtesy of the salon/helm deck that is fully surrounded by large windows, several of which are sliders with screens. Forward there are smaller slider type windows in the trunk cabin in each stateroom and head as well as overhead hatches. Artificial light is also superb with brass swivel style reading lamps at each berth and settee as well as several overhead lights throughout. When natural ventialtion is not enough, cooling is provided via three reverse cylcle (they also can provide heat) air conditioning units.
Starting forward is the Master Stateroom featuring an island queen berth below. There is storage in a full sized chart drawer and four cargo drawers. There is additional storage in lockers outboard, a five drawer bureau and cedar lined hanging locker with light. A 15" TV is in a cabinet aft and to starboard followed by the separate shower comparment while opposite to port is the private head featuring Vacuflush W.C. and a generous vanity with ample storage.
Next aft and to port is the Guest Stateroom which features two thwartship running 6'-6" berths below. There is storage in drawers while hanging storage is outboard between the berths in a cedar lined hanging locker with light.
Opposite to starboard is the Guest Head featuring a separate stall shower compartment, combination washer an dryer unit, large vanity with excellent storage and Vacuflush W.C.
Up four steps (storage under some of them) to the Salon, Galley and Lower Helm Station. The U-Shaped Galley is to port and features expansive Corian counter space and storage in several lockers and drawers, stainless steel single basis sink, Princess 3-burner stove with oven and Sharp convection microwave. Refrigerated storage is in two boxes with Grunert 12V refrigeration with small freezer compartments. The yacht was ordered with the optional overhead dish lockers.
Opposite to port is the Lower Helm Station with double helm seat, full navigational and engine controls and the yachts electrical distribution panels. Adjacent to the helm is a side door for quick access to the starboard decks.
Aft is the full width salon that opens out onto the aft deck via two wide double doors, to port is the dining settee, an L-shaped arrangement and teak drop leaf table on a high low pneumatic assist. Aft is a small bureau with storage. Opposite are two barrel chairs with storage under and an entertainment console with storage. Forward of the seating area is a dry bar housing bottle and glass storage and the U-Line ice maker.
Unique to this Grand Banks 46 Europa is the short term "Captains Quarters" built into what is otherwise a generous utility compartment aft of the engine room, below the forward portion of the aft deck. Access is gained via the aft deck and there is a double berth to starboard, electric W.C. to port along with a small vanity and sink.
Wired for both 12 volt and DEC and 120 volt AC power. An Onan 8KW generator showing 1550 hours handles heavier loads when off the dock while a Heart/Freedom 3000 watt inverter handles lighter loads.
A pair of 3116 Caterpillars that have been well maintained turn 4-blade Nibral propellers on 2" stainless shafts through twin disc 2.5:1 reduction gears.
Solid fiberglass hull with original white gel coat in excellent condition with molded in plank lines, spray rails, rub rails and quarter rails. The rub rail is capped with bronze half round as is the varnished teak cap rail. Flag blue gel coat boot top in excellent condition and hard expoxy anti fouling with minimal build up.
Full walk around decks and an expansive aft deck all with the traditional Grand Banks 9/16" thick (thickest in the industry) teak deck overlay in excellent condition. Varnished teak cap rails and safety rails and other trim. Again all varnish work is in very good to excellent condition. Bronze deck hardware including stanchions, cleats and chocks. There are gates P & S and at the transom to provide ease of access.
Part of the beauty of the Europa layout is bringing the outdoors in with her wide double doors opeing from the salon on the aft deck. Irish Lady affords expansive living area on the main deck level. Access to the Captain's Quarters and a generous lazarette is via hatches in the aft deck.
Up the varnished teak ladder to the flying bridge where there is an equally expansive area for family and guests with open deck to port and the optional L-settee which can seat up to 6 with table to starboard. Forward there are the standard fore and aft facing bench seats with storage under (storage is also found under the L settee) capable of seating 8. When one wishes to be out of the sun, a bimini with 3/4 enclosure covers the forward area.
Irish Lady is on her second owner, originally from Florida she has been a New England boat since 2002 and is always stored under cover in the off season.
She is attractively priced for immediate sale.


First Photos for The Muppets… Again!
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Chop and change: specialist cattle carcass processing in Roman Britain.
Maltby, M., 2007. Chop and change: specialist cattle carcass processing in Roman Britain. In: Croxford, Ben, Ray, Nick and Roth, Roman, eds. TRAC 2006: Proceedings of the 16th Annual Theoretical Roman Archaeology Conference. Oxford: Oxbow, pp. 59-76.


These funky bracelets are fun to wear for any occasion. They are perfect to wear as a corsage and the best thing is that you can wear them over and over again to complement your outfit!
The faux leather band has two adjustable sizes.


What's cooler than working for one of the most recognizable beer brands in America? Working to help that beer brand become environmentally friendly in its efforts to brew some of the top ales in the nation.
Sarah Fraser '05 (M.E.S.) wears the title of sustainability specialist at New Belgium Brewing in Asheville, N.C., where she is a member of the corporate and social responsibility team that supports the company's environmental stewardship programs and engages her co-workers to make progress toward energy, water, emissions and waste reduction goals.
"I was drawn to New Belgium for the company's environmental ethic," says Fraser, who studied biology as an undergraduate at Appalachian State University before earning her master's in environmental studies from the College.
Fraser developed a love and appreciation for the natural world while wandering in the woods and splashing in creeks as a kid.
That passion for the environment eventually landed her at CofC.
"The interdisciplinary nature of the M.E.S. program really appealed to me because so many of the environmental issues that I was interested in helping address are affected by public policy," says Fraser, noting that the program gave her a foundation in the intersection of science, policy, economics and environmental law.
For many years, Fraser saw big business and the pursuit of profit as the culprit for environmental degradation, but during her career, she's discovered that corporations have an important role to play in making a positive difference on the planet.
New Belgium has since formalized an environmental stewardship program by creating a sustainability management system that lays out goals and strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, water consumption and waste sent to the landfill at both its Asheville and Fort Collins breweries.
And what better way to solve the world's problems than with a cool beer.


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Fringe/Profile
Sian Berry for London mayor: 'We're not just going to impose our Green will'
Posted	on	 September 11, 2015 by	Jimmy Nicholls / 3 Comments
In some ways it's hard to imagine a city less attuned to the Green party than the gas-guzzling, capitalistic, cutthroat capital that is London.
As well as being a city dominated by fat cats and power-grabbing pols, the capital's working poor are some distance culturally from the residents of Brighton who continue to deliver the party its only MP in Caroline Lucas. One doubts that the Shoreditch hipsters can make up the shortfall.
But fixating on that would be to forget that in 2012 the Greens' London mayoral candidate Jenny Jones pulled ahead of the Liberal Democrat Brian Paddick to secure third place, pre-empting a strong showing in May's general election where the Greens quadrupled their national vote from 2010 to secure 1,157,613 ballots.
All that in mind, Sian Berry, the Green's current London mayoral candidate, looks set to improve significantly on her last attempt to take City Hall in 2008, where she took 3.2 percent of the vote and came in at fourth place. Since then she has been busy working for the Campaign for Better Transport and winning a seat on Camden council in 2014.
"London is a really great size to have an election because you can reach everywhere in a day," Berry told the Right Dishonourable over the phone a week after she won the Green ticket to run for mayor.
The comment is apt, since Londoners tend to be more obsessed with transport than most city folk, and the struggling combination of trains, buses and Tube will be a key battleground for contestants in next year's election. The trouble for the Greens is that even more transport is liable to push London's pollution levels even further past the supposed legal limit.
Boris Johnson, the Tory mayor poised to step down as his second term comes to a close next year, has loosely agreed that East London needs more road crossings, with sites currently under consideration including Silvertown, Gallions Reach and Belvedere.
Source: Transport for London
Yet Berry opposes such crossings. "In my view having people in cars is the most inefficient way of moving people around," she said. Instead she emphasises the importance of buses and public transport, and also wants to encourage people to walk instead of taking the Tube only a stop or two.
Tied into this plan is Berry's ambitious scheme to pedestrianise parts of London, including bits of the West End and Oxford Street, which as the main entertainment and shopping districts are already among London's busiest areas.
"The main reason is to make the place better [to walk around in]," she said. "At the moment it's not really a nice environment." Indeed if she had her way her way Oxford Street would not just be used for shopping, but for other cultural activities.
Berry is also not too much a fan of Uber, a taxi-hailing app which has stirred up hostility from London's black cabs. "What Uber tried to present themselves as is a car-sharing app, but really it's more likely cheap taxis," she said, not unfairly. Since the company has enticed more drivers onto the roads it would likely be faced with more regulation under a Green mayor.
Turning away from transport, the Right Dishonourable asked Berry what she would do about gentrification, a process afflicting many of the poorer parts of London as richer folk move into downtrodden boroughs, driving up prices and forcing original residents to leave, in what some have termed "social cleansing".
"Social cleansing is the right word for what's been happening," Berry said. She argued that some councils have been riding roughshod over the wishes of their residents when it comes to planning permission, and as such one of her key ideas involves handing back control to locals over housing, among other things.
"We're going to be coming up with lots of ways to hold mayors to account," she said, adding jokingly that her party was "not just going to impose our Green will" on London's boroughs.
Credit: London, September 2006 by Andre Zehebauer
One policy she is more keen to impose is the London living wage, a minimum wage hike that campaigners argue is necessary to keep London's workers above the breadline. If Berry had her way the London mayor would have the power to legally enforce this wage, which is currently £9.15 in the capital, and also cap rents – both measures prospective Labour mayoral candidate Gareth Thomas has called for.
Since the Green's will at best come third next May, which policies the Tories and Labour support matter. In 2008 Berry asked her supporters to give their second preference vote to Labour's Ken Livingstone, in a move that was reciprocated (albeit at little cost to Livingstone).
This time round Berry suspects that the Tories would have enough members in the London Assembly to avoid having a Conservative mayor's budget amended (two-thirds must vote in favour of amendment for it to happen), making a Labour mayor one that the Greens would have more influence over. (Berry is also standing for the Assembly.)
Yet whilst the Greens are polling higher than the Liberal Democrats, the surge of Ukip in London – an area not noted for its resonance with an anti-migration party – has placed the purples ahead of the Greens in the mayor race, according to a recent poll by Survation. Berry is unfazed by this, arguing that the attention the Kippers have from the general election "won't last until May."
Rounding up the interview, the Right Dishonourable wondered if some of London's problems would not be improved by some Kipper-style migration controls, especially since the capital's population recently hit record levels of 8.6m.
"Our population needs to grow and we need more young people than our citizens produce," Berry said. "London's population growing doesn't worry me. What worries me is that we need to provide the housing people need."
Image Credit – Green Party, London mayoral launch, September 2015 by Rachel H
Housing, London, London mayoral elections, Sian Berry, Transport
Jimmy Nicholls
Writes somewhat about British politics and associated matters. Contact jimmy@rightdishonourable.com	View all posts by Jimmy Nicholls →
Tim Farron holds milk, looks aggrieved, causes much confusion
Andy Burnham 'privately' says Jeremy Corbyn 'disaster for the Labour party'
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Three topics may surface in budget process
Emelie Rutherford / Daily News Staff
BOSTON -- Hot topics, including diverting Community Preservation Act funds, selling surplus state land and lowering the income tax rate, likely will be addressed during the budget process that will kick off in the Legislature when House leaders unveil a spending plan Wednesday.
While all eyes will be on how much local aid cities and towns receive in the proposed budget, some House members said those three other hot issues cannot be avoided during the budget process -- even if they have to file amendments to put them on the table.
Dozens of lawmakers have denounced Republican Gov. Mitt Romney's proposal to tap some of the money set aside for communities that adopt the Community Preservation Act and spend that money on the state's new "smart growth " housing plan. But because there is support for Romney's proposed diversion among some influential Democrats, Holliston Republican Rep. Paul Loscocco -- who opposes the diversion -- said there may be a battle in the Legislature.
"I have been working to thwart any effort, regardless of where it's coming from, to change (the use of the CPA monies)," said Loscocco, a member of the House Ways and Means Committee, which will release its budget proposal Wednesday. "I will fight that to the fullest and most extreme extent possible."
Whether a CPA battle happens during the budget process is questionable, said Natick Democrat Rep. David Linsky, a member of the House Ways and Means Committee.
House Ways and Means Chairman Rep. Robert DeLeo has said he wants to stay focused on budget matters and not address policy issues in the budget, members said.
Still, Loscocco and Milford Democrat Rep. Marie Parente said they are prepared to file budget amendments to block the diversion.
"The government should not reneg on its promise," Parente said.
Romney's budget proposal calls for transferring $10 million out of the Community Preservation Trust, which is used to match money CPA communities generate from property tax surcharges, to pay for affordable housing, open space and historic preservation.
Romney spokeswoman Shawn Feddeman said it is too early in the budget process to comment on whether Romney would override language in the House and Senate's final budget, if it does not include the diversion, to keep the diversion in place.
"We will look at the final budget in its entirety when it reaches the governor's desk," Feddeman said, adding it is too early to speculate about the Legislature's final budget.
Some House members predict the state's policy for disposing of surplus state-owned land also will be addressed through the budget process.
The current policy that does not involve the state Legislature or local officials, and is spelled out in Outside Section 548 of the fiscal 2003 budget, will expire this June 30.
Romney's proposed budget does not address this surplus land policy. He did, however, attempt to continue the policy for a few years with some changes through a supplemental budget for the current fiscal year filed in January, but the Legislature passed the bill without the surplus land language.
Waltham Democrat Rep. Thomas Stanley said he is working on legislation to replace Outside Section 548 with a process that give communities the right of first refusal to surplus state land within their borders, at a discount, and involves the Legislature.
Stanley said he does not know if he will be allowed to present this legislation as a budget amendment or if he will file it as stand-alone legislation. Yet House Ways and Means members predicted the matter will come up during the budget process.
The Romney administration has held meetings recently with municipal leaders and lawmakers about creating a new surplus land policy and is committed to working with all parties, said Romney spokesman Felix Browne.
As they wait for the House Ways and Means budget -- the Legislature's first stab at a spending plan for fiscal 2006 -- House lawmakers predict Romney's proposal rollback of the state income tax from 5.3 percent to 5 percent will not happen now.
Voters passed a ballot question in 2000 calling for an incremental reduction of the income tax rate to 5 percent.
"The governor thinks it is finally now time to honor the will of the voters," Browne said, pointing to the increased state revenues in recent months.
Yet local House Democrats said the state still isn't ready financially and predicted the rollback will go nowhere in the Legislature. Republicans Loscocco and Rep. George Peterson Jr. from Grafton, who said the rollback has merit, acknowledged this probably is not the year for it to happen.
"We need enough cookies to fill the cookie jar," said Dedham Democrat Rep. Robert Coughlin. "As a member of the Revenue Committee I do not support (the rollback) with the amount of cuts that we've made over the past several years, the amount of aid we're trying to return to cities and towns this year."
"We can't afford to take another reduction in state revenues," agreed Framingham Democrat Deborah Blumer.
Like many of her House colleagues, Blumer said she is anxious to see if the House Ways and Means budget includes local aid numbers that are higher than Romney proposed and closer to what many communities received a few years back, before significant reductions.
The House will begin debating the budget proposal the final week of April. The Senate is expected to unveil and debate its budget starting next month.


Ann Sung Ruckstuhl is senior vice president and Chief Marketing Officer at Unisys. She joined the company in December 2016 and is responsible for all of Unisys' marketing functions, including corporate, product, solution, industry, services, partner and field marketing, as well as communications.
Ann's team partners closely with sales, services and engineering to develop and execute marketing and communications plans that drive measurable brand awareness, preference, demand and top-line revenue growth.
Ann is a Silicon Valley veteran who has led some of the most disruptive innovations in software as a service, cloud, mobile, cybersecurity, big data analytics, e-commerce, networking, servers and embedded systems. She brings more than two decades of marketing and product management leadership experience launching brand awareness campaigns and building successful software and service businesses at start-ups and Fortune 500 companies, including Symantec, Sybase (acquired by SAP), eBay, HP and LiveOps.
Most recently, Ann was the chief marketing officer at SOASTA, the leading digital performance management platform used by Fortune 1000 companies. Prior to SOASTA, Ann was the chief marketing officer at LiveOps, head of marketing at Symantec's NortonLive Services and vice president of marketing at Sybase, where she led its transformation from a database company to a global leader in enterprise mobility.
Ann holds a master's degree in Business Administration and a bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Florida.


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Peugeot e-208 takes the lead in electric car sales in France
Avere-France, the national association for the development of electric mobility, has just published its monthly barometer on sales of electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids during the month of April.
The overall growth of the electric vehicles and hybrids rechargeable batteries continues at a sustained pace with a 1,143% increase in registrations compared to April 2020. According to the latest figures from theHave-France, a total of 21,690 electric and plug-in hybrid (PHEV) vehicles were registered last month, representing a market share of 12%. " this is the sixth consecutive month in which electric rechargeable models represent more than 10% of registrations », Emphasizes the association. Since the start of the year, 86,461 electric and PHEV vehicles have been registered (+ 122% over one year).
In the ranking of the best-selling electric cars, the Peugeot e-208 comes first (1,537 registrations) ahead of the Renault Zoe (1 265), the Fiat 500, the Renault Twingo (679) and the Mini Cooper SE (592).
The goal of 100,000 charging points by the end of 2021 seems difficult
On the plug-in hybrid side, there is still a Peugeot, the SUV 3008 (1726 registrations) which precedes the Mercedes GLC (606), the Citroën C5 Aircross (587), the Renault Captur (585) and the Volvo XC40. It will be interesting to follow the curve of the Renault Arkana, the sporty coupe SUV which attacks the equivalent models at, Audi, BMW, Mercedes and Porsche with a declination plug-in hybrid that has just arrived in dealerships.
The barometer monthly Avere-France also notes strong growth in electric two-wheelers, with 3,412 registrations in March and April (+ 268% over one year). Leading the way is the NIU N-Lite electric scooter (1,027 registrations).
As for the evolution of the charging network for electric vehicles, it is clear that with 33,363 charging points Counted on May 1, the goal of 100,000 charging points in France by the end of 2021 seems complicated to meet.


November 20, 2018 (KHARTOUM) - Sudan's Foreign Minister El-Dirdeiry Ahmed said his government efforts for peace in the Central African Republic (CAR) are aimed at supporting internal stability not serving the interests of another country.
Last week, Russia accused France of taking aim at its joint efforts with Sudan to bring peace in the CAR and accepted the renewal of the UN mission in the troubled country only for one month.
The draft resolution provides that an African-led initiative is "the only framework" for a negotiated settlement of the crisis in the CAR.
In a statement released on Tuesday evening, the official news agency SUNA said Dirdeiry discussed with his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian bilateral relations and Sudan's efforts to achieve regional stability including its initiatives in the Central African Republic, South Sudan and Libya.
Dirdeiry "assured his French counterpart that these efforts are based on Sudan's keenness to safeguard and protect its internal security and not for the benefit of any other party".
He further reiterated that Sudan's efforts to promote peace and stability in the Central Africa Republic are under the umbrella of the African Union.
The French foreign ministry did not issue a statement about the meeting on Tuesday. However, it announced the that Le Drian meeting with El-Dirdeiry will provide an opportunity to discuss regional issues.
Besides South Sudan, the two ministers will "discuss the situation in the Central African Republic in the context of the dialogue anticipated in the near future between the government and the armed groups within the framework of the African Initiative," said a statement by the Quai d'Orsay.
The minister who is in Paris for a two-day visit will also meet on Wednesday with French businessmen before to continue his European tour which includes Germany, Britain and Belgium.


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Kylo Ren™
Kylo Ren™4.5512.
Go on the hunt for Resistance forces with the fierce Kylo Ren!
Lead the First Order into battle with buildable and highly posable Kylo Ren. Featuring a real cloth cape and robe, Ren's special Lightsaber and wheel-activated arm-swinging battle function, epic Star Wars battles are never far away.
Buildable and highly posable Kylo Ren figure features a real cloth cape and robe, Ren's special Lightsaber and wheel-activated arm-swinging battle function.
Move the limbs into any battle pose.
Sturdy and durable design for intense action play.
Play out exciting combat scenes with this iconic character from the blockbuster Star Wars: The Force Awakens movie.
Figure stands over 10" (26cm) tall.
100% would recommend this product.
"I will finish, What you started"
Robster | 14-18
The build isn't that complicated, but once finished, it looks great. The details on Ren's mask are brilliant, with the marks and dents making it very realistic. The helmet is more in proportion to the body than the minifigure is, which is great. The print on Kylo's torso is nice. The lightsaber hilt is a darker pearl grey than on the previous buildable figures, for it is quite dark in the film. He has great poseability and balance, so much so that you can make him karate kick his opponents in the face, or even a Matrix lean. The thigh is grey, and the back of it is uncovered (when the cape is lifted up), so it does not look that aesthetically pleasing. It could have been improved if that thigh piece was black. Also, Kylo has 86 pieces and is £5 more expensive than Rey, who has 84 pieces. This may be due to the fact that the lightsaber piece or the torso is more expensive to manufacture, or is expected to be more popular.
A good figure.
TashaandDaniel | 19-24
When I first heard of this figure,I was like meh, I'll want to see the movie first to get a feeling for Kylo Ren's character. Boy did he deliver! Star Wars has given us a truly developed, flawed, very human villain. I see a lot of my self in that character, do to his personality. As a sufferer of borderline personality disorder, I understand how easily emotions can shift in a millisecond. Honestly, Kylo is a better character than Vader, the Emperor,and Darth Maul. All that being said, this figure let me down a little. I'll start with the aesthetic problems. #1 the fabrics. Lego should have incorporated his true cape. They just threw in vader's cape and called it a day. In the film it's more like a sash than a true cape. I ended up putting the cape on Luke, raising my opinion of that figure by a lot. Along with the cape, the bunched up cloth around Kylo's neck should have been included. The Skirt around Kylo's waist in the film is missing in the figure. The one they included only covers the front of his legs. and the most important fabric piece that's missing is of course. His hood. He needs his hood. #2 The thigh pieces. The thigh pieces for some reason are grey when they should have been black. Aesthetically, it's rather unpleasant. If the skirt had been included it wouldn't have been a problem. Those were my only real problems with the figure. I really like the 10 inch height of the figure Honestly I thought the action feature would in interfere with the articulation and would be a huge problem for me. But I was wrong. It's a fun feature. The joint is tight, so the articulation is spared any hindrance. Congrats, it's really awesome. You guys did a good job. Other toy companies should take some pointers from Lego.I'm a pose and display kind of guy, so I was not disappointed. Honestly the only things bothering me are the fabrics. If you guys were to rerelease this figure fully properly clothed. I could see this being a $45-$50 figure and I'd preorder it immediately. And I think you could also do the same with the Vader figure. Aesthetics are important and I think you guys could draw even more adult collectors like me, if you would incorporate them a bit better. Thank you.
Master of the Knights of Ren
JediFury | 14-18
I think that this set is great. The model itself is a phenomenal representation of Kylo Ren's actual character. I like the inclusion of two cloth pieces, and the skirt-like one is great to get. Well worth the money. Great addition to my collection of the bad-guy characters.
JediLegoLover | 14-18
The new range of Star Wars The Force Awakens build-able figures is superb and I think the designs and proportions have been improved over the first range. This Kylo Ren build-able figure is amazing, with extreme attention to detail and is completely movie accurate. The build is quite straightforward, although it's not like building 'normal' Lego and is more like Technic. I think the proportions are very good and nothing looks too large or small (compared to the first range where Darth Vader's head looked slightly too small). Kylo Ren's helmet is a fabulous piece with loads of detail, even the scratches and dents have been captured, and is completely movie accurate. His lightsaber is also amazing! If you've seen the film then you'll know that the cross-guard isn't for cutting the user's fingers off but actually has a use in combat. The main part of the lightsaber is made of rubbery plastic whilst the cross-guard is two pieces made of plastic. It's very durable and would stand up to playing lightsaber duels. Ren's cape and robes are made from felt and are great quality. An important part is that Ren's cape actually looks like he's wearing it, unlike Darth Vader's cloak from the first range which hangs off him limply. The cloak and robes really finish off the character and are exactly as the movie. The pose-ability of this figure is almost limitless, so you can pose him just as you want or when playing can re-enact many scenes from the film. A cool little play feature is that you can spin Ren's lightsaber hand using a turn-able piece on his back. It's a well thought out feature and works really well. It adds to the fun and pose-ability of the figure. I think the Kylo Ren build-able figure is truly amazing and if you're wondering which figure to get first - I would start with Kylo Ren. A must have for any Star Wars fan!


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The distance between Budapest, Hungary and Tindouf, Algeria is approximately 3,222 km or 2,002 mi.
To reach Budapest in this distance one would set out from Tindouf bearing 39.5° or NE and follow the great circles arc to approach Budapest bearing 56.5° or ENE .
Budapest has a marine west coast climate (Cfb) whereas Tindouf has a subtropical hot desert climate (BWh).
Budapest is in or near the cool temperate moist forest biome whereas Tindouf is in or near the subtropical desert biome.
Total annual precipitation averages 504 mm (19.8 in) more which is equivalent to 504 l/m² (12.37 US gal/ft²) or 5,040,000 l/ha (538,809 US gal/ac) more. About 9 1/2 as much.
The altitude of the sun at midday is overall 19.8° lower in Budapest than in Tindouf.
The table shows values for Budapest relative to Tindouf. You can also view this comparison the other way around from the perspective of Tindouf vs Budapest.