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Settlements and Samoa
With the on-going vilification of Israel over the settlement and annexation issues, I can't help but ponder the irony inherent in the use of such expressions as American Samoa.
Gerald A. Honigman
Published: Apr 21, 2019, 11:15 AM (GMT+3)
Updated: Apr 22, 2019, 11:02 AM
Judea and SamariaSamoaWest Bank Jewish Population Stats
Just in time for Passover, I received a present of sorts in the mail from my old friend Philip.
As the first Seder on the eve of Passover fell this year on the same day on the Western calendar (the Hebrew calendar is lunar, and equivalent Western dates change on it each year) as Christianity's Good Friday, it's worth noting that the meal Yehoshua (Joshua)/Jesus had on this day was a Passover Seder shared with close friends. The only folks seriously doubting this are mostly those who, for centuries, have tried to disassociate Jesus from the history of the Jewish people and their longing for delivery from oppression under Roman occupation.
Those were, indeed, very Messianic times--especially during the holiday of Passover--the Hebraic celebration of freedom. Whatever theological beliefs Christians have come to have regarding Jesus, solid history cannot be denied related to these matters--as ancient Roman historians living around those times and modern scholars have written themselves…
Years ago, while we were discussing much of the world's problem with Judeans—Jews--wanting to live in a less vulnerable, resurrected nation larger than a compacted sardine can ghetto a mere nine to fifteen miles wide (as UN-imposed armistice lines, not official borders, left Israel in 1949 after it repulsed the attack of a half dozen Arab states immediately upon its rebirth in 1948), the hypocrisy of those vilifying Israel over this issue was as blatant then as it remains today.
Hence the commotion over Prime Minister Netanyahu's announcement about annexing [parts of'] Judea and Samaria to Israel proper. And the shameful, spineless actions of some leading Jewish organizations now complaining to President Trump over this issue themselves.
When I opened the envelope containing Philip's present, to my surprise, out popped a coin from American Samoa. Unfortunately, the latter made news some years ago when tragedy struck the South Pacific in the form of a tidal wave. American Samoa is an unincorporated state southeast of independent Samoa.
As reports came in at that time, and with the on-going vilification of Israel over the settlement and annexation issues, I still can't help but ponder the irony inherent in the use of such expressions as American Samoa. Consider the following, for example…
The Polynesian peoples living on those islands and others as well didn't ask to be converted, conquered, given The Godfather's Don Corleone-esque offers they couldn't refuse, and so forth. Yet the French, Germans, and Americans wound up dividing the islands among themselves--thousands of miles away from home, and with no prior historical connections to the land.
The U.S. Navy secured Deeds of Cession of Tutuila in 1900 and of Manuʻa in 1904. The last sovereign ruler of Manuʻa was forced to sign that Deed of Cession following a series of U.S. Naval trials in Pago Pago, Taʻu, and aboard a U.S. Navy warship.
Again, Samoa is very far away from America, Washington has no historical ties to the land, but--in the name of national interests--eastern Samoa became American territory as a result of the Tripartite Convention dividing the archipelago in 1899.
Now consider the territories where, on the other hand, Jews indeed have historical connections for millennia--clear up until their massacres by Arabs in the 1920s and 1930s…Judea and Samaria. These lands make up what is often termed the "West Bank" (of the Jordan River). The latter designation did not exist until the early 20th century, when, after the defeat of the centuries old Ottoman Turkish Empire in World War I, the British and the French divided up much of the region's spoils of war.
In 1922, to reward Hashemite Arab allies in the Arabian Peninsula, the British chopped off almost80% of the original Mandate of Palestine received on April 25, 1920 and handed it over to the Hashemites, who were in the process of getting their derrieres booted out of the peninsula by Ibn Saud and his allies—hence, Saudi Arabia today..
Since all of this land gifted to Arab nationalism, in one of its many hues, consisted of the original 1920 Mandate of Palestine's territory across (east of) the Jordan River, the East Bank became known as the Emirate of Transjordan. And thus arose the term "West Bank"--formerly known for millennia as Judea and Samaria--located on the opposite shore.
When Transjordan illegally seized the non-apportioned territory of the Mandate on the "West Bank" in 1948 (where Jews, Arabs, and others were legally allowed to live), after it joined other attacking Arab nations to try to nip a minuscule reborn Israel in the bud, it further emphasized this "West Bank" designation to distinguish its newly conquered territory from the land of the original 1922 Emirate. Note that the leader of that land, Emir Abdullah, wrote that he received it not as a gift from London, but as "a gift from Allah" in his memoirs.
Unlike America in Samoa, Great Britain in the Falkland Islands, French Guiana, Martinique, the British Virgin Islands, The Netherlands' Curacao, Russia in Chechnya, etc. and so forth, Judeans--Jews--have lived and owned property in Judea and Samaria--right on Israel's side porch--for thousands of years. The Roman Wars, the hated Byzantines, the crusades, and other events took their tolls under various imperial conquerors which succeeded each other since the fall of Judea to Rome some two thousand years earlier. Open http://q4j-middle-east.com to see a Roman Iudaea( Judaea) Capta coin issued after the first major revolt of the Jews for freedom in 66-73 C.E.
Note please: Judaea Capta--not "Palaestina" Capta….
As soon as Transjordan seized Judea and Samaria, as in Transjordan itself, it declared that no Jew could live there. Imagine the outrage if Jews would do this with their own Arab population in Israel…Places such as Hebron, Beth-El, Shilo, Bethlehem, Shechem, Jericho, Jerusalem itself, and so forth are known to the world primarily via the Hebrew Bible.
This is not to deny that Arabs, largely as a result of their own conquests, settlement, and colonization (including in modern times--as the Minutes of the Permanent Mandates Commission of the League of Nations, quotes from Winston Churchill, and other valid sources testify to after World War I), have rights as well. But, with few exceptions, it's easy to discover that almost all the towns on the "West Bank" were re-named from their original Hebrew sites in Judea and Samaria in the Arabization process.
Check out these excerpts http://www.forward.com/articles/6134/ ("What's In A Town's Name?") for starters. After Muhammad's successors' caliphal imperial conquests and colonial expansion of the 7th century C.E….
"…as with Dor and Tantura, the original name-changers in Palestine were the Arabs, who Arabized hundreds of Hebrew place names when they replaced the Jewish population of the country after the Muslim conquest.
In the great majority of cases, Arabization took place by adjusting old Hebrew names to Arabic phonetic patterns. Sometimes these changes were minor, leaving the old names recognizable.
Biblical Anatot near Jerusalem, the birthplace of the prophet Jeremiah, became the Muslim village of Anata; Modi'in, where the revolt of the Maccabees (in the Chanukah story) broke out, turned into Midia; Bet-She'an, in the Jordan Valley south of Tiberias, was called Beisan.
Often, however, the changes were great enough to obscure the original name. One might never guess from the sound of it that Jenin, the West Bank town that was so controversially in the news a while ago, was once the Hebrew Ein-Gannim; that the Palestinian village of Jib was the biblical Giv'on, where the sun stood still so that Joshua could finish routing the Amorite kings; or that Bet-El, "the House of God," the name given according to the Bible by Jacob to the site on which he dreamed of a ladder to heaven, is now the Palestinian Beitin…"
The very name "Palestine" itself, for the land of Israel/Judah/Judea, arose as a consequence of the Jews' second major revolt for freedom against Rome in 133-135 C.E… It was Roman salt deliberately poured onto the wound of the Jews' defeat. Check out this quote from the contemporary Roman historian, Dio Cassius, along with some other excerpts from the linked article below:
"'…580,000 men were slain, nearly the whole of Judaea made desolate. Many Romans, moreover, perished in this war (the Bar Kochba Revolt). Therefore Hadrian in writing to the senate did not employ the opening phrase commonly affected by the emperors, 'I and the legions are in health.'"
"The Emperor was so enraged at the Jews' struggle for freedom in their own land that, in the words of the late esteemed modern historian, Bernard Lewis…'Hadrian made a determined attempt to stamp out the embers not only of the revolt but also of Jewish nationhood and statehood… obliterating its Jewish identity.'
Wishing to end, once and for all, Jewish hopes, Hadrian renamed the land itself from Judaea to'Syria Palaestina'--Palestine--after the Jews' historic enemies, the Philistines, a non-Semitic (let alone non-Arab) invading Sea People from the eastern Mediterranean or Aegean area around Crete..."
https://web.archive.org/web/20080328161851/http://radicalacademy.com/studentrefreligion22gh1.htm
Most Arabs came into the area after their own imperial conquests in the 7th century C.E. They ruled, first out of Damascus and then out of Baghdad, for several centuries and were then conquered themselves by the next of Judea's imperial settlers and colonizers.
Those now insisting that no Jews should be allowed to live in Judea or Samaria thus also must demand that Israel abandon what the final draft of UNSC Resolution 242 promised Israel after the June '67 War--a territorial compromise that would yield secure and defensible borders instead of the previous '49 Auschwitz/ armistice lines which made it virtually invisible on a world globe…And nations demanding a Jew-free Judea do so for the sake of creating a 22nd Arab state--and second,not first, in the original 1920 borders of "Palestine." See what the chief architect of 242, Lord Caradon, had to say about this here… https://ekurd.net/mismas/articles/misc2013/8/article194.htm
While other nations have acquired lands hundreds or thousands of miles away from home for their own interests, they claim Judea and Samaria must be Judenrein. It would be laughable if not tragic.
Unlike Samoa to America, the Falklands to Great Britain, etc. and so forth, Judea and Samaria--the latest current focus of the annexation debate--are virtually a stone's throw away from Israel's heartland, are an integral part of four thousand years of Jewish history, and are positioned to allow a hostile army entering from the east to cut a pre-'67, 9-15 mile wide Israel (where most of its vulnerable population and infrastructure are located) literally in half.
Thanks, again, Philip, for reminding me, with your Samoan gift, that the time to retell this message had indeed arrived.


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May We Movies?
personal dvd collection
The Ghost of Frankenstein (1942)
This is not a good movie. Entertaining to watch? Sure. But it doesn't make a lot of sense. Clearly, they did not put the best people on it. (That girls been wrapped in her quilt for two weeks??) Which is a shame because the concept's not too shabby. And if they were old, it could have set up some pretty interesting sequels. [See sequel, below, for more comments.]
But of course, these movies are happy to pick and choose what they remember from the previous iterations. I guess before we could watch movies whenever we felt like it, we just had to take their word for it.
The most bizarre moment, however, was that final moment lifted straight out of Gone with the Wind.
And if the music was iffy before the denouement, this moment's music turned a mystifying choice into a laughline.
Frankenstein Meets the Wolf Man (1943)
This starts off as a pretty good wolfman movie. The hair-growing effects are better and Lon Chaney wields the pathos like a machete. Then the Frankensteins get involved and...the rest isn't quite as good.
(Telling: This movie came out of eight days before the year anniversary of the previous installment's release.)
Bela Lugosi's version of the creature is unintentionally comedic. I thought that might change one they brought him to full power, but no such luck. It doesn't help that the makeup makes him look like a cross between Herman Munster and Grandpa Addams.
Also---anyone else notice that no female character's ever played by the same actress twice?
Or that the head village meanie looks like my Face in Hat cohost?
Apparently, the creature was going to speak and be blind ala what Ghost set up, but they thought Bela's voice was too inadvertently amusing. That, and the fact that Bela was old and exhausted and the role was thus played by possibly four different people, help explain why the face just isn't consistent.
Maybe it wouldn't have been good, but I suspect the all-Bela version of this film would have been better.
That's the attitude, guys!
fShareTV
Like Father, Like Son (2013)
I don't know what I expected if it wasn't this. Just...more and less? more emotional impact without seeming so long?
It's a heart-wrenching scenario---maybe impossible not be be running the numbers of one's personal life instead of giving the film your full attention, at least on first viewing.
What do you do when you discover your six-year-old was switched at birth?
I couldn't figure out what, thematically, the film was about making even metaphors with big flashing signs (those cicadas) confusing.
Yeah. The more I think about it, the more certain I am this film would approve with a second viewing--I'm starting to see how all the pieces fit together and how they might make an artful collage rather than sorted piles.
But I also think it'll feel just as long the second time. Maybe even longer?
I'm guessing I don't find out.
Shanghai Noon (2000)
It's sort of a Jackie Chan film (with less consistently excellent action) with a lot of elements (besides just Owen Wilson) lifted from Wes Anderson movies (though hardly as sharp throughout). So it's no surprise I loved it so much in 2000 and can't quite love it as much now.
Still. The oldest two had a riot watching it and I had fun too. You can still, having had filet mignon, enjoy a salisbury steak.
Shoplifters (2018)
Thought-provoking. Complicated. Unsettling.
There are lots of reasons to disagree with me, but this covers a lot of the same ground as Parasite but I don't think it was saying at all the same things. Both have, as surface text, that poor people are awful and will do whatever they can get away with. But that movie provided a big fat subtext blaming the rich. That doesn't happen here. This is about found family; that about birth family.
The connections to the directors previous film (Like Father, Like Son---see above) are also striking. Similar themes, very different things said about this.
Here, the found family is awful in many on-paper ways, but they are wonderful in others. And when the get found out, no one can understand or believe in what they had. And so it is dissolved. (Society would have dissolved it anyway, but this gets back to the eat-the-rich themes this film studiously avoids.)
The actress playing the little girl is astonishing. Not her alone, but she's so little and has to play such a nuanced role and does it so well. Maybe we can praise the director for this as well?
Sigh. I need time for another viewing before film club. It's a lot to unwind.
Yes, it's merely a teaser when it comes to the riches offered by the novel (and misleading---I realized on this watch that IT is why I say a stupid wrong thing every time I teach the book), but it provides riches all its own in the editing, camera work, music, interactions, and Keira Knightley's face.
We watched it to mark the end of the AP test. Turn out was so-so but that's fine. I saved the chat! but I'm not sure it's really appropriate for me to share that with you. You?
House of Frankenstein (1944)
Okay. This is a dumb one. There is a beautiful symmetry to Boris Karloff now playing the mad scientist (and he's great) but most of the rest of the movie is ... not.
The first act involves bringing Dracula back to life (with an actor so similar to Karloff it was a while before I could be sure it wasn't him) and then killing him off. It could have been a standalone Dracula film. Instead, it's a random addition to a Frankenstein film. (But it's not really a "Frankenstein" film either, in the sense of a monster film [he barely gets more screen time than the Bride in her eponymous film]---it's a Doctor Niemann film.)
Anyway, Lon Chaney's great as usual even though the movie respects him less than usual. The only kindness is letting him die. Though the accompanying tragedy is unclear since apparently they can't show blood in 1944? I guess?
Yeah. For completists only.
Be Kind Rewind (2008)
This film wants to be the American Cinema Paradiso and it does have some moments that come close. It's also a Micael Gondry film and it does have moments of visual wonder but nothing like, say, Mood Indigo or Eternal Sunshine.
I think, ultimately, and I don't like saying this, but, ultimately, I think what's wrong with Be Kind Rewind is it wants to be an intensely American movie but it was written and directed by a French guy and it doesn't gel American.
Another issue might be that Gondry's largely playing it straight here. Sure, there's a magnetized Jack Black but outside that, the madness is kept within the sweded movies. This movie wants to be taken seriously to the point that it can never quite become itself. I don't know what that self might have been and I don't know who to blame.
In the end, it's so close. So close.
The Great Dinosaur Discovery (1976)
While technically five and a half minutes too short for inclusion on this list, I loved it too much to ignore. And who could blame me? This "highly acclaimed landmark film broadcast nationally" about the discovery of new and giant dinosaurs at Dry Mesa Quarry by a BYU professor and his gang of diggers. It's both thrilling watching the disovering happen as it happens, and laughing at some of the dated filming choices---and gasping at some of the dated paleontology practices.
Anyway, this old dinohound thought it was great. I loved it. And the watermelon scene alone was worth the time spent.
(Unanswered question: who's the dude with the pipe?)
Fences (2016)
Lady Steed's first time watching!
Not under ideal circumstances, I'm afraid. Kids, daylight, etc. But she was wiping tears away at the end, so the film worked its way through all those barriers.
I can't imagine not crying there at the end. Not from "Blue" on out.
It's just the right thing to do.
Frankenstein (1931)
Now that the seniors have realized they're all passing no matter how little work they do, they're not even showing up for a just-for-fun movie. I may need to rethink my film-unit plans....
But hey---watching a movie with three people's also fun!
And this way, everyone who made it to the end said they liked it. Perfect 100% feedback!
It really is a lovely movie. The sets, camera, and Karloff being the most magnificent portions.
Fantastic Mr Fox (2009)
The baby's been asking to watch this for a while and an excellent article I read made me realize she was overdue.
So, anyway, I love this movie. We didn't see it in theaters because the trailers made me skeptical about the animation. But the animation is great! And the vocal performances / writing combo is barnone.
It's a movie I can watch infinite times.
Don't leave me on a desert island with electricity, a dvd player, and just one movie; but if you must, maybe this one?
Baby suddenly remembered she loves Bambi and so she got this put on today. She's sneaky, too. After Bambi's mom got shot, she rewinded it just just before the first time she was shot at. I was confused for a moment---there are no flashbacks in Bambi!!(?)!.
I know I've said this before, but I just really love this movie. The colors are amazing. Because the cartoon characters---though largely pretty realistic---look like normal cartoon characters it can be easy to miss the richness of the work behind them. And how did they do the look of the fire from above the island? Were the backgrounds wet paint they manipulated between exposures? It seems like the most likely explanation, but I don't remember hearing about such a thing. (And it's been >15y since I've watched the special features.)
Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008)
We THOUGHT we were starting the Genndy Tartakovsky series, but then this weird, awkward CGI started---which is not what I thought it was supposed to look like. And at times it was a pretty good Star Wars movie. And at times it was not. (It was hard to get over the awkward animation and the oft-awkward voice acting.)
I mean---it was fine, but as the credits kicked in and Genndy Tartakovsky's name was not the first...nor the second...nor the third...nor any of the names, I realized, "Ah. Okay then." and "Why did I spend all this time?" and eventually the sinking realization that what I really wanted to watch does not seem to be streaming anywhere online. What a terrible, terrible feeling.
It's kind of amazing that the Genndy Tartakovsky series was a) 17 years ago, then b) followed up by a 2008 theatrical film I have utterly forgotten existed that c) was followed up by a second tv program of the same name that d) lasted more than twice as many seasons and e) is now considered Star Wars Canon while d) the Genndy series is not! How is this even possible? let alone reality?
Such a strange, strange, strange, strange, strange world we live in. It's almost like some god out there has set as his goal ruining Star Wars and every time someone does something compelling for that universe someone else must come along and...lessen it.
It's been so long since we've seen this that our thirteen-year-old has no memory of it. I still think it's pretty much just okay, although the emotions from the cook for the critic till the end are sound and maybe even great. Although every once in while you remember there is no way---none!---rat hairs are staying out of the food---and that lessens the potential impact. I mean: rats.
I think my favorite part of the movie (outside the physical comedy, which is hard to compare) is the critic's change of heart which was not an easy thing to pull off at all, let alone so thoroughly and well.
So it's a good movie and I'm sympathetic to those who consider it top-tier Pixar. I don't, personally, but I don't have any real complaints. Ultimately, they tried to pull of something ambitious (rats+food=good) and we should always celebrate that, even if it's just a double and not a home run.
And isn't that what Ratatouille's about?
A Spaceman in King Arthur's Court (1979)
Note: the original theatrical title and the title under which it appears on Disney+ is the inferior Unidentified flying Oddball which I find appalling. The UK release was titled The Spaceman and King Arthur. The later American rerelease (I'm unsure of the year) got the title I knew it by from the VHS tape I assume we recorded off the Disney Channel.
This is the second movie in a row Lady Steed walked out on because the concept was just too ludicrous. She's not wrong, but the hero's naive charm (five parts Matthew Broderick to one part Tom Petty) keeps the movie alive. (Incidentally, he will go on to direct a host of Happy Madison movies, two of which I have seen: I liked one [but haven't seen it in almost twenty years]; the other was so abysmal I'm still suffering.) In another universe, he went on to become the next Dean Jones.
Anyway, it's fun to think how this fits into history. 2001's ten years old, Star Wars two, Monty Python and the Holy Grail four. I don't know just how much dialogue this film's interested in having with those films, but definitely some. I'm glad to say I got some jokes this time I had not gotten before (mostly Winston Churchill stuff).
The plot has some minor holes and betrays a late-'70s urge to be 'edgy' (most obviously with the robot's Playboy), but for a dumb movie aimed at a broad audience, it's still pretty good. The interplay between Arthur and Gawain is nice for instance, and all this era's live-action Disney---no matter how terrible---has great slapstick.
The Fighting Preacher (2019)
This must be the funniest devotional movie I've ever seen. Because it is a devotional movie. And it is funny. The film has a guileless charm that makes it not really matter if it's a "great" movie or not (it's not) because it is good, in every sense.
I do wonder how it reads to a nonMormon audience---it makes no real effort to cater to an outsider audience---usually a good thing---but sometimes it nudges the audience (like how many times the camera lingers on a minor character with no lines, one "Elder Gordon Hinckley." The fun facts in the closing credits are great but some of them will no make sense if everything you know about Mormonism comes from this movie.
I quite liked the book it was based on and the whole family enjoyed this film. It's a swearfree delight, and you know there's an audience for that.
Duck Soup (1933)
It's still so fresh and modern. There's a reason modern cartoons behave like this, and it's not just because the Marx Bros. are their great-great-great grandfathers.
It's because they are also their fathers.
Rushmore (1998)
Beautiful and joyful and subtle. The camera tells jokes and the music debates and the details are layered like a cake.
What else would you be quoting?
A Hard Day's Night (1964)
If you had asked me three days ago if I would laugh more at Duck Soup, Rushmore, or A Hard Day's Night, I would not have guessed the Beatles to win that race. Maybe it's just because this is the film I've seen the fewest times, but still! Impressive, Beatles! Well done!
The film is brilliant of course---it invented the future as much as the other two---not just in comedy, but in style and attitude and---more than other other two---use of music.
It's also a great film for making you feel part of the group of friends the movie is about---like early Scooby-Doo. You leave Hard Day's Night friends with Beatles; you could fist bump them on the street.
It must have been quite the experience in 1964.
The Iron Giant (1999)
Is this a flawless film? I think it might be. I really can't point to anything wrong with it. The characters, the dialogue, the structure, the allusions, the emotional content---all perfect.
One thing that occurred to me this watch---I think for the first time---is that Jennifer Aniston is really good and I think I've only ever thought that watching The Iron Giant. Maybe every other time I've seen her I've been too distracted by the fact that it's Jennifer Aniston? Or maybe I've only ever seen her in https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0343135/?thmazing?
(I just checked and that is wrong. I've seen Storks [irrelevant], Bruce Almighty [barely remember it] and, of course, Office Space [which she is good in, but it's not, like, a huge role or anything].)
persoal dvd collection
Fluke (1995)
I haven't seen this since it was in theaters back in 1995. I was recently our of high school and, I'm guessing, assigned to take my siblings to a movie. I assume this because I don't think I was interested in dog movies (and just look at that poster). https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118570/?thmazing comes out two years later (meaning my mission was bookended with dog movies in theaters with my siblings) and it ticks all the dog-movie cliches so well I basically haven't watched one since.
This, however!
I was so blown away by its atypicality in 1995 I couldn't see its flaws (or maybe it's just because I was so young), but I was staggered by the originality of Fluke. Unfortunately, all remember about the film in 2020 is its two great innovations, so it's perhaps a bit too easy for me to see all the stuff wrong with it (it may also be that some aspects of the film just haven't aged as well as a body might hope).
I'm happy to say the rest of my family had the ??!?!?!??!?!?! experience I had in 1995.
I wonder what my kids will think of it in twenty-five years...?
The Strongest Man in the World (1975)
The kids picked out one of the old Medfield movies from the Disney+ library---one I'm fairly certain I haven't seen before. (Related: how long until Disney+ releases a Medfield tv show?)
It's dumb and its fun and it has some racist music cues, so, you know, that's what it is. Because you've seen Disney movies from the era, you already know who are the good guys and who are the bad guys, who are the sycophants and who are the saps, who are the heroes and who'll just be in the way. Disney, 1975!
Thritten by Th. at 9:10 PM 1 comment:
Irreversible Pillar of Hermana America's Quarry (books)
033) Irreversible Things by Lisa Van Orman Hadley, finished April 27
What a marvel.
Impossible to categorize, but a marvel.
Is is fiction? Well, it won a fiction prize, didn't it? Or is is a memoir? Depends on how strict we're being. Is it a collection? You bet. These will all stand on their own. Is it a whole thing? Unquestionably. It builds and grows into one coherent work of art.
I picked this up because of its AML Award nomination, my hearing that there was a lot of debate as to which category it belonged to, and general agreement it was a thing of beauty.
It was not cheap, for all that.
But worth it. I can't remember the last book I read so quickly and enjoyed so much. A similar event occurred recently, but it didn't quite rise to this level.
Some facts:
Part one covers early childhood until her family left Florida for Utah when she was eleven.
Part two covers adapting to Utah through becoming a mother in middle adulthood.
The book plays with form like no one's business. There is a madlib behaving in ways madlibs do not behave. There is a choose-your-own-adventure that questions the entire purpose of choose-your-own-adventures.
There are stories close to twenty pages. There are tiny stories. Here are two of my favorites:
The mother is, aside from the protagonist, the main character. And she is a hero like few I have read. I admire her so much.
I love the whole family. I don't think I will ever be able to write a book about my own family, but, if I do, I hope it is as loving and generous as this one. And with just as much cleareyed honesty.
UPDATE: This book won an AML Award on May 2, "Special Award in Literature."
034) Pillar of Light: Joseph Smith's First Vision by Andrew Knaupp and Sal Velluto, finished May 3
My copy arrived horribly damaged, so it's heading back home (to the graveyard) on tomorrow's brown truck, but rather than waiting for the replacement, went ahead and read this copy.
It's good. For some reason I expected it to be a bit longer, incorporating as it does all known sources, but the comics-portion of the book is only 26 pages long. Made in Sal Velluto's classic 80s/90s style (perhaps seen most famously in Black Panther) and some late 2010s-style too-much-Photochop colors by scriptwriter Knaupp (whom I don't know), the visuals are arguable a bit over-the-top. Honestly, I was braced for them being waaaay over-the-top, but they're not that much. At the end, where they talk about the steps in making the comic, I rather wish they had stopped the colors with the flat step (and maybe tried out not inking Sal's gorgeous pencils?), but I know that my tastes are maybe the not the most commercial.
Anyway, as I said, it was good. I'm glad it exists and I'm a bit curious now about other titles from this publisher which, previously, I mostly knew for reissuing the Allreds' Golden Plates (and possibly releasing some previously unpublished??).
Definitely worth checking out. Certainly the sort of book grandparents want to send grandchildren.
not long
035) Hermana by Becca McCulloch, finished May 13*
A day or two ago I finished rereading Doug Thayer's essay about "serious" Mormon fiction. My feelings about the essay, while largely positive, remain conflicted. I thought of this essay---and specifically its claim that the novelist it's prophesying "will probably be a woman"---as I finished Hermana. The little I know of McCulloch's biography puts her in Thayer's imaginative ballpark, and this novel is a very nice opening salvo should she prove to be one of our greats.
Hermana is a melodrama---but I don't mean this as a pejorative, nor do I mean to imply that its emphasis on emotional beats preempts development of character or anything else. But thinking of the novel as a melodrama I think allows us to celebrate what it does well.
And it does do things well.
Looking for something else recently I ran across Scott Hale's warnings to missionary-fiction writers. Scott's read a lot more missionary fiction than I have, but definitely I have read enough to know these bits of advice are accurate. I am ignorant enough, however, that I won't be able to tell if ol' Becca's followed, oh, #2: "You stand a better chance of writing a good Mormon missionary story if you take the time to read Mormon missionary fiction written by other writers first."
(#2, incidentally, is why I won't write missionary fiction. I just don't know. It's also why my opinions here may not be as informed as you might like.)
I suspect so, however. I at least have never read a missionary novel that starts with arriving in the field and ends* one year in. Which was a daring but sensible choice and provided a satisfying denouement that otherwise would have been impossible.
Although... *it actually does not end there. An additional chapter (let's call it an epilogue) picks up to bring her through her last day and her arrival at her home airport. This chapter has some beautiful writing and wraps up an ongoing metaphor in a lovely way, but I'm not sure it makes the book itself better. Maybe it does. Maybe it doesn't. This is the sort of thing a vigorous discussion between writer and editor could have resolved in such a way that I wouldn't be bringing up the issue right now, but alas.
The lack of an editor is plain throughout this novel. 'Tis our modern plague. The prose is melody and propulsive and worthy of our good report, but small errors abound from wrong-pointing apostrophes to people with their arms full picking things up to someone whose head is already lying upon a shoulder lying a head upon a shoulder. (The reliance of heads upon shoulders also suggests more work for an editor: push the writer to find more business for characters to do.)
But these are little things. Perhaps this book will sell enough copies to justifying a Tenth Anniversary Special Edition with the addition of big lizards in the desert and the subtraction of these little goofs.
The basic arc of the story takes our hermana from the low that sends her on a mission to a realization that she is what God wants as part of his "motley army---perhaps the only kind God ever assembles" (224).
The emotional highs and crashes of the novel that led me earlier to label it melodrama largely make sense---especially considering this is narrated in first person. Perhaps a more distant narrator could have navigated our hermana's highs and lows with more gentleness, but as she is lifted to peaks and then crushed beneath them, her narration follows her feelings. Some readers will probably find that difficult, but it makes sense. (Whether first-person was the right choice is a different argument and one you are not prepared for, not having read it yet. Another example is Hermana Lewis's overuse of the work "misogyny"---inappropriate for a third-person narrator, but it makes sense in first-person and tells us a lot about how many tools she has on-hand to navigate her world.
The lyrical prose, the smart constraints on time, the honesty of emotion, and the elegant deployment of spiritual elements (an essay in itself) make this a significant entry in the Mormon-lit scene---even if it does no more than announce its author's presence and make us look forward to her next.
at most two weeks but I think I rushed through it much more quickly than that
036) Best American Comics 2017 by Ben Katchor, finished May 19
I have a love-love-hate relationship with the books, and Lady Steed talked me out of buying them after this one. I got one every year from the first until this one.
Without the pressure of another one in the pipeline, my drive to read this one diminished and I'm just now finishing it.
Some of the best comics I've ever read came from BACs previous. Also some of the worst trash. As Chris Ware made explicit in the introduction to the year he edited, the comics royalty tapped to edit these books make a real effort to show everything that happened in a year. Less 'best' and more 'broadest'; while I applaud the idea and sometimes it results in impossible jems being included, it also results in some weird crap that, while it's nice it's getting attention it would not otherwise get, might not reasonably meet the criteria implied by 'Best."
That said, I love my shelf with all these books upon it. Even when they are not beautiful or compelling, they are interesting and sit nicely together.
Even though this book was the usual mishmash, I'm sad that I don't expect another.
Maybe...now that I'm a couple years behind, I can buy the next one used and save twenty bucks, but continue collecting?
**Send More Shelves**
almost thirty months
037) "Q" is for Quarry by Sue Grafton, finished May 22
This is a bit different from the other Alphabet books because it's based on an actual unsolved mystery the Santa Barbara police department is still taking tips on. (Grafton paid for the exhumation and forensic sculpture you see here.)
Kinsey hooks up with a couple other gumshoes here---a retired deputy and a STPD lieutenant---who both are playing chicken with disease and old age and want to solve this mystery that's been hanging over them (the deputy in particular). It's a nice change of pace for our hero and it balances the grind of running down clues with the thrill of discovery and conclusion. Kinsey also due to a quirk of geography, learns more about her own family. I'm still excited to see how that plays out. Onward to "R"!
"A" "B" "C" "D" "E" "F" "G"
"H" "I" "J" "K" "L" "M" "N" "O" "P" "Q"
I genuinely do not know the elapse. Perhaps a couple months?
Thritten by Th. at 6:46 PM 2 comments:
Labels: comics, five books at a time, mormon arts
For reasons I can no longer recall, we bought Patrick the Stripping Warrior. And it's great! Honestly, probably the best LDS-themed picture book I've ever read. It's about a rambunctious kid who intends to "be reverent" at sacrament meeting and fails and fails and fails. Then he has a moment of paying attention, hears about the "stripping warriors," turns a new leaf, then interrupts sacrament meeting the most ever by stripping down to his underwear and a tie around his head to declare his newest bestest good intentions.
The book is written with an economy of words; simple, repetitive pacing (in the best way); and real characters that are easily to empathize with and laugh with (at). It's a great picture book! You should get it.
Amazon tells me that I purchased Cinderella CTR the same day. Perhaps because it's from the same publisher? I have a vague sense that I already knew Patrick was a winner and was buying it for that reason, but also picked up this second book just to support a nascent LDS publisher (Halemark Picture Books) and because I am an optimist. (Ends up there was at least one other book they had put out, but I just found that out tonight.)
I hate to speak poorly of the dead---especially a great guy like Rick Walton who not only wrote many great books but was also a selfless mentor to many, but this book is a disaster. It includes a couple great innovations, but trying to combine a fairy tale with LDS culture/theology has resulted in a feminist nightmare. It'll really make you take your local Mormon feminist more seriously, let me tell you.
(Aside: although I've owned the book over eight years, I've never read it. When the 3yrold found it tonight, it took me a while to even process its existence. I think we never read it because the boys never cared [I think the baby chose it because Girls on the Cover---score one for representation] and when I opened it up, it was just too dern wordy for my taste in picture books.)
To simplify, let's just go through the story. You know it. What's Rick doing with it? (Some of which he might not have done in the final draft had he been working with a larger company with a better editing department and not just good intentions?)
So we start with mom and dad, respectively, the very best ward activity director and very best Relief Society Enrichment leader ever. (Cinderella herself is on some medieval basketball squad, an innovation of the illustrator's.) They both die in a tragic merry-go-round accident and Cinderella is sent to live with a very, very, very distant relative (both in blood and geography). She's not allowed to bring anything with her, but no one notices her CTR ring.
So far, so good. I like the ditching of the stepmother angle, in part because it redeems the father. Then we get to some traditional awfulness from the three women she's now living with. The text succeeds in making them ridiculous as well as horrid. So far so good.
Actually, no! This was the first upsetting thing, and the sole upsetting thing that I fullstopped reading to talk to my daughter about.
After we're informed of the awful crap Cinderella has been subjected to, we read
But Cinderella did not complain. Her parents had taught her to do her best, no matter what the situation, and that all would be well in the end. When she as tempted to rebel, she would look at that little ring on her finger, remember her parents' advice, and get back to work.
Nononononononono!!! Sometimes standing up for yourself and rebelling IS the right thing, Cinderella! You deserve better and you have the right to say so and act for your benefit!
Cinderella stays up late to work on her dress from scraps (although her, um, new mother?, laughs every time Cinderella hints she would like to attend the ball, she's never said no, so Cinderella can proceed without being disobedient. (Phew.)
And that's what she does. After they leave, Cinderella gets dressed (and, in contrast to the days of makeup the other two younger women have been layering on, "touche[s] herself lightly with makeup") and walks barefoot to the palace.
This is my favorite innovation in the book: no fairy godmother. I suppose you could argue that character is a powerful woman ergo feminist etc etc, but I like this self-contained Cinderella much better.
When Cinderella arrives, the prince sees her and is immediately struck:
She glowed. And that smile, so pure. And that dress, so simple, so modest, and yet so elegant.
That made me laugh. And that leads to a possible semiredemption one could argue for this book. Maybe it's satire? Some of the future lines I'll complain about definitely might be.
But: I don't care.
This is a book for young children (honestly, this is a book for young girls) and they're not going to see satire if satire indeed is what it is. (Which I doubt.)
Anyway. Let's move on.
Somehow, her relations not notice her dancing with the prince most of the night, which is fine if problematic given the rules o' Cinderella (the story, not this version of the character).
The prince is a decent person and they have a lovely time. He's the first to notice her ring and inquire of its meaning. Then,
When the clock struck eleven, Cinderalla ... remembered something her father had told her. "The Spirit goes to bed at midnight."
So she takes off running. The prince, having failed to ask her name, sends guards after her. But
Cinderalla could run and not be weary, and the guards could not.
One guard, bent over panting, is smoking a cig. The other has somehow not spilled his glass of bourdeaux.
See what I mean? Is that satire? Is this a sincere attempt to teach principles? It's clearly humor, but What Kind of Humor Is It? I don't know. I'm just grateful there were no cupcakes at the party.
Anyway, the prince sets off, asking everyone woman in the country what CTR stands for. After the "sisters" guess "Catch That Rhinoerous" and "Cats Taste Rotten," the prince "[turns] to leave and then something [makes] him stop." So he asks are there any other young ladies, yada yada.
So the prince asks her to marry him and, this is good, Cinderalla says, "Whoa! We've just met!" The prince, "stunned," suggests dating. She says have her home by twelve. And then we'll get married!
"I can't do that," said Cinderalla sadly.
The prince was double stunned. "But...why? Why? I love you already, and I know you will learn to love me."
Cinderella looked at her ring, and then explained to the prince the kind of man she planned to marry, and where she would marry him.
The prince was crestfallen. He was not that man. The palace was not that place. But then he smiled. "May I at least take you out for pizza and a movie?"
"I would like that," said Cinderella.
Anyway, they had a good time. "But did they live happily ever after?" Oh, ho, ho. If she becoming queen and he becoming "the second best Ward Activity Director ever" doesn't answer your question then you are bad at reading!
And this gets to what this book does best and worst all at once.
There's a lot of respect for the reader. The text doesn't shout out the Mormon Elements---it lets its readers read between the lines.
But that element lets a lot of the book's problematic elements---elements concurrent in Mormon culture---pass by unremarked upon, even confirmed and reemphasized.
Ultimately, Cinderella CTR is a paean to flirt-to-convert. Cinderalla uses her feminine wiles to get both a baptism and a temple marriage to a rich guy.
(Snide comment: this book must have been a big hit with the Mormon girls whose babydaddies were getting MBAs when this book hit shelves.)
It's a wildly disappointing book. Parts of it are fresh and smart and fun (the illustrator does much work here, herself), but the less-so parts are so much less so, I rather feel we need to get rid of this book before it pollutes our daughter with sex/religion equivalencies and iffy notions of what being a strong woman entails.
Which is a bummer. A failure of editing, methinks, and one that results in such a gaping missed opportunity, one can only frown and sigh and think of what might have been.
[posted unedited: complaints/corrections welcome]
Thritten by Th. at 11:07 PM 1 comment:
Labels: mormon arts
Thbiblio
I'm in the process of finally (finally!) bringing thmazing.com back to life, so this should be the final placeholder bibliography!
•Byuck (Strange Violin Editions 2012) *buy*
•Perky Erect Nipples (Antemoff Ebookery 2015) *buy*
•Armageddon, Burning, And, Hell (The Looking Glass 1994)
•Afterlife (Quantum Muse March 2006)
•The Widower (Dialogue Paperless June 2007, Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought Summer 2009) *read offsite*
•The Oracle (Nossa Morte February 2008)
•Happy St. Patrick's Day (Arkham Tales May 2009)
•Blood-Red Fruit (with Danny Nelson, The Fob Bible 2009) *buy*
•How Long Till Two Times (The Fob Bible 2009) *buy*
•Along with the Rainbow (The Fob Bible 2009) *buy*
•Solomon's Reprise (The Fob Bible 2009) *buy*
•Them Bones Them Bones Gonna—Walk Around (The Fob Bible 2009) *buy*
•Ezra's Inbox (The Fob Bible 2009) *buy*
•The Avon Lady (Pandora's Nightmare 2010; Faed 2015) *buy*
•17 Facts About Angels (Irreantum Fall/Winter 2010) *buy*
•Davey Dow and Lala (Wilderness Interface Zone October 2011) *read offsite*
•The Legend of Boitown (Scars.tv May 2012; Children, Churches and Daddies August 2012; the Mission (issues) May–August 2012; After the Apocalypse: Prose Edition February 2013) *read offsite* *buy*
•Lovely, Fearful Symmetry (Surreal Grotesque Magazine June 2012) *read offsite*
•Swallowing Bones (Windmills 2012 Ninth Edition)
•Stars Were Gleaming (Sing We Now of Christmas 2012) *buy*
•Maurine Whipple, age 16, takes a train north (Everyday Mormon Writer October 2012; forthcoming in a Mormon Lit Blitz anthology) *read offsite*
•The Dancing Monkeys of Blackpool (Windmills 2012 Tenth Edition
•Bearing Testimonies of Death (Lowly Seraphim 2013)
•Laurel Wistian and the Adventure of the Dangerous Mice of Dr. Mortimus Alexander Fitzbottom, PhD, AlcD (Midnight Movie Creature Feature 2 March 2013) *buy* *read offsite*
•Do Not Open Until Christmas (Carol of the Tales and Other Nightly Noels 2013) *buy*
•Out for Santa (When Red Snow Melts 2013) *buy*
•The Great Mormon Novel of the 21st Century (Antemoff Ebookery 2013) *buy*
•Yes, Snow White Ate the Apple. It Was a Suicide. (MicroHorror January 2014)
•Then, at 2:30. . . . (365 Tomorrows February 2014) *read offsite*
•A Laurel's First-Night Fantasies (longlisted in Mormon Lit Blitz 2014, Dialogue Summer 2016) *read offsite*
•All Right, Have It Your Way – You Heard a Seal Bark (365 Tomorrows January 2015) *read offsite*
•An Excerpt from But Very Little Meat (Modern Mormon Men February 2015) *read offsite*
•The Naked Woman (Pulp Literature Spring 2015, Faed 2015) *buy*
•Angry Sunbeam (Mormon Lit Blitz May 2015; performed as part of Thorns & Thistles June 2019; forthcoming in a Mormon Lit Blitz anthology) *read*
•The Swimming Hole (Redneck Eldritch April 2016) *preview* *buy*
•Duties of a Deacon (Dialogue Fall 2017) *read offsite*
•Stanl33's Silver Spaceship (longlisted in Mormon Lit Blitz 2018)
•The Prophetess of Mars -or- the Modern Prometheia (Press Forward, Saints April 2019) *buy*
•Devin in My Bedroom (Imps & Minions August 2019) *buy*
•A Mouse's Tale (forthcoming in The Tertiary Lodgers from Alternating Current Press)
•After Chadwick (Antemoff Ebookery 2015) *buy*
•Chores (From the Asylum June 2007)
•Morning Walk, Spring 2009 (Wilderness Interface Zone March 2009) *read offsite*
•Maher-shalal-hash-baz (The Fob Bible 2009) *buy*
•Gomer (The Fob Bible 2009) *buy*
•My Latest Trip to the Berkeley Botanical Gardens (Wilderness Interface Zone February 2013) *read offsite*
•Rifflection: "To His Mistress Going to Bed" by John Donne (Psaltery & Lyre May 2013) *read offsite*
•Completely Static Account (3by3by3 June 2013) *read offsite*
•Goal Stunning Goal (3by3by3 June 2013) *read offsite*
•God (Psaltery & Lyre July 2013) *read offsite*
•A Hymn for Mother's Day in Long Meter (first accepted to be published as part of "Our Mother Who Art in Heaven" in A Mantle of Stars December 2013; first published on A Mother Here) *read offsite* *buy*
•Sponsored Funeral (Quantum Fairy Tales May 2013)
•Amtrak to SAC (Psaltery & Lyre July 2013) *read offsite*
•Being a High-School Teacher Is a Great Disguise (Psaltery & Lyre August 2013) *read offsite*
•Accidentally Deleted (Quantum Fairy Tales October 2013)
•Overall Free (無μ November 2013)
•Rifflection on the Climax of "The Monkey's Paw" (Passages of Pain, Lyrics of Loss February 2014) *buy*
•In Memoriam: B (Passages of Pain, Lyrics of Loss February 2014) *buy*
•The Young Amateur Imagines the Editor's Pen, ca 1997 (Passages of Pain, Lyrics of Loss February 2014) *buy*
•Enough Is (The Poet's Haven March 2014) *read offsite*
•Solstice (Boston Literary Magazine March 2014)
•The Fiberglass Giraffe in Davis, California (Epigraph Magazine April 2014) *read offsite*
•Some seduction this— (Psaltery & Lyre July 2014, After Chadwick 2015) *read offsite* *buy*
•Jesus Fishing the Styx (Psaltery & Lyre August 2014, After Chadwick 2015) *read offsite* *buy*
•After Party (Psaltery & Lyre October 2014, After Chadwick 2015) *read offsite* *buy*
•Creator (Psaltery & Lyre November 2014, After Chadwick 2015, MCI Poets May 2020) *read offsite* *buy*
•If I had a Book of Mormon Broadway show (LDS.net [now Third Hour] Poetry Contest Finalist February 2015) *read offsite*
•Vulnerability / Intimacy (Quatrain.Fish 2015, After Chadwick 2015) *read offsite* *buy*
•Sheep (have poetry) (After Chadwick 2015, forthcoming in Wilderness Interface Zone) *buy*
•Appreciation to the first poet (After Chadwick 2015, forthcoming in Wilderness Interface Zone) *buy*
•Doline (Califragile September 2017) *read offsite*
•El Niño (Califragile September 2017) *read offsite*
•If Joseph Smith Had Been Born in California (Dialogue Fall 2017)
•Domestiku (Dialogue Fall 2017) *read offsite*
•Sonnet—for Solstice (Dialogue Fall 2017) *read offsite*
•Working Theory (American Journal of Poetry January 2018) *read offsite*
•Sixth Mass Extinction Event (Califragile May 2018) *read offsite*
•Joseph and Emma Grow Old Together (Mormon Lit Blitz 2018) *read offsite*
•Girls Gone Wild (Queen Mob's Tea House August 2018) *read offsite*
•Sex with Tina (Queen Mob's Tea House August 2018) *read offsite*
•This Poem, If Accepted, May Cost Me $250 Million Dollars (Poets Reading the News February 2019) *read offsite*
•Reading May Swenson (Inscape Fall 2018, winner of the Fall 2018 Inscape Poetry Prize) *read offsite*
•Sweater (Dialogue Summer 2019) *read offsite*
•New and Everlasting (Dialogue Summer 2019) *read offsite*
•Bed(s) (Inscape Fall 2019)
•The squirrel that sits atop our bookshelf (Freshwater 2020) *read offsite*
•Sunstone 160 (editor, September 2010) *read offsite*
•Mormons by the Bay (SF Weekly Dec. 12–18, 2012)
•Inappropriate Book Illustrations Redeemed through the Glory of Dance (Red Fez February 2014) *read offsite*
•Served: A Missionary Comics Anthology (editor, 2018)
Essays and Criticism &c.
•Living Literature (flashquake Spring 2007)
•Saturday's Werewolf: Vestiges of the Premortal Romance in Stephenie Meyer's Twilight Novels (Reading Until Dark April 2009)
•Saturday's Werewolves: The Doctrine that Makes Stephenie Meyer's Lycanthropes Golden Investigators (Sunstone Magazine December 2009) *read offsite*
•How to Get Over It (The Fob Bible 2009) *buy*
•Communion with the Small (Wilderness Interface Zone July 2009) *read offsite*
•The Ambiguity of Excellence: Kazu Kabushi's Daisy Kutter (Fantasy Magazine December 2009) *read offsite*
•Foreword (foreword to Cetera Desunt by Danny Nelson 2010) *buy*
•Space Opera 101: Jake Parker's Missile Mouse (Fantasy Magazine March 2010) *read offsite*
•Annie & Kah Leong Poon (Mormon Artist April 2010) *read offsite*
•How to Become a Mormon-Comics Snob in Five Easy Steps (Sunstone Magazine September 2010) *read*
•Why Church Artists Owe Ric Estrada a Thank-You Card (Sunstone Magazine September 2010) *read*
•Pow! Zot! Amen!: Mormon Theology in Michael Allred's Madman (with Stephen Carter, Sunstone Magazine September 2010) *read*
•Ain't No Such Thing: Moving Beyond the First Series of The Lonely Polygamist Reviews (Irreantum Fall/Winter 2010) *buy*
•Orson Scott Card (Mormon Artist December 2010/January 2011) *read offsite*
•Monsters and Mormons and the Deseret Book (Monsters & Mormons 2011) *buy*
•The Bold Spirit of Bryan Mark Taylor (introduction to 200 Paintings by Bryan Mark Taylor 2012; introduction to Bryan Mark Taylor: Cities by the Sea 2013) *read offsite* *buy*
•Connecting the Generations through Disco: A review of David Clark's The Death of a Disco Dancer (Irreantum 14.1 2012)
•Mormons in Comics (Mormons and Popular Culture: The Global Influence of an American Phenomenon 2012) *buy*
•Marital Matters (Antemoff Ebookery 2013) *buy (free)*
•What if Mickey Mouse Isn't Mormon? (Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought Summer 2013) *read offsite*
•Our Mother Who Art in Heaven (published as an introduction to "A Mother's Day Hymn in Long Meter" in A Mantle of Stars December 2013) *buy*
•Luisa Perkins (Mormon Artist November 2013) *read offsite*
•Steven L. Peck (Mormon Artist November 2013) *read offsite*
•Denise Gasser (Mormon Artist February 2014) *read offsite*
•Seriously—Why the Hell Can't You Be More Like the Nelsons? (Sunstone Summer 2015) *read offsite*
•A Cluttering of Symbol and Metaphor (Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought Summer 2016) *read offsite*
•. . . then he was like, "Mind if I hang out here for a while?" (foreword to The Garden of Enid: Adventures of a Weird Mormon Girl, Part Two 2017) *buy*
•Foreword (foreword to States of Deseret 2017) *buy*
•Something Outside the Temporal (Whale Road Review Fall 2017) *read offsite*
•Fertility (forthcoming in Revising Eternity: Latter-day Saint Men and Twenty-first Century Relationships from University of Illinois Press)
•Recent collections, in three movements (forthcoming in Dialogue: A Journal of Mormon Thought)
•Dear the Last Time I Carried You Back to Bed (forthcoming at Rejection Letters)
Presentations/Panels/Lectures/Whatever
•Saturday's Werewolf: Vestiges of the Premortal Romance in Stephenie Meyer's Twilight Novels (Sunstone West Symposium March 2009; Life, the Universe and Everything Symposium February 2010)
•Mormonism and the Arts: Mormon Fiction (Berkeley Institute of Religion December 2009)
•Funny Papers: Sunstone's Comics Issue (Sunstone West Symposium March 2011)
•Rehabilitating Nephi Anderson, a Mormon Norwegian-American Writer Lost to Assimilation (part of the panel "Nephi Anderson, Mormonism's Norwegian-American Novelist" at the Society for the Advancement of Scandinavian Study conference May 2013) *report*
•Mormon Culture and Comic Books (Salt Lake Comic Con September 2013) *view*
•Mormonism & the Arts: Poetry (Berkeley Institute of Religion October 2013)
•Mormonism & the Arts: Fiction, literary (Berkeley Institute of Religion November 2013)
•Mormonism & the Arts: Fiction, sf/f (Berkeley Institute of Religion November 2013)
•Monsters & Mormons: Reclaiming the Peculiar (Salt Lake Comic Con Fan Xperience April 2014)
•Representations of Mormons and Utah in Comics (Salt Lake Comic Con Fan Xperience April 2014)
•Sherlock Holmes in the 21st Century (Salt Lake Comic Con Fan Xperience April 2014)
•Mormons in Comics (San Diego Comic-Con International July 2016)
•Dove Song: Heavenly Mother in Mormon Poetry (Bay Area Mormon Studies Council May 2018)
•Latter-day Saint Life and Literature (Stanford LDSSA Friday Forum January 2019)
•Welcome (Association for Mormon Letters Conference 2019)
•A Month of Sundays: LDS Poets Read from MoPoWriMo (Association for Mormon Letters Conference 2019)
•President's Remarks (Association for Mormon Letters Conference 2019)
•Mormons Making Comics (San Diego Comic-Con International 2019)
•The Past, Present, and Future of Literature by, for, and about Latter-day Saints (LDSPMA Conference 2019)
•Fuzzy Vision, Straight Aim (The Looking Glass 1994)
•Balaam's Sin (The Fob Bible 2009) *buy*
•President-elect (Association for Mormon Letters August 2016 – 2018)
•President (Association for Mormon Letters March 2018 – 2020)
Peculiar Pages
•The Fob Bible (primary editor) *buy*
•Out of the Mount: 19 from New Play Project (publisher only) *buy*
•Fire in the Pasture: Twenty-first Century Mormon Poets (initiator) *buy*
•Monsters & Mormons (co-editor) *buy*
•Dorian: A Peculiar Edition with Annotated Text & Scholarship (editor) *buy*
•States of Deseret (publisher) *buy*
•Seasons of Change: Stories of Transition *buy*
•Dove Song: Heavenly Mother in Mormon Poetry (publisher) *buy*
•Served: A Missionary Comics Anthology (editor and co-publisher with Mike Laughead Illustration)
Labels: publication announcements etc
Irreversible Pillar of Hermana America's Quarry (b...

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
China's Space Program, Satellites for Tech Experiments, and 'Internet of Things' (IoT)
Latest So Asia
China sent two new satellites into planned orbit on Saturday — these will be mainly used for the new Earth-observation technology experiment.
Earlier, on May 12, China launched the first two satellites in a new constellation that will support internet-connected objects.
The satellites are the first in a planned constellation of 80 low Earth orbit satellites designed to support the so-called Internet of Things, (IoT) which connects a host of sensors and everyday objects through wireless communications.
The 80-satellite constellation is planned for completion by 2023, according to another statement from CASIC.
The launch came after this month's successful launch and return of the trial version of China's new-generation manned spaceship.
The test spaceship was launched into orbit on May 5 and returned on May 8 after being in orbit for two days and 19 hours.
Artist impression of the future Chinese Space Station. Credit: CMSA
On board the module was a national flag of Pakistan — showcasing another significant milestone of Pakistan-China bilateral space cooperation.
China plans to inaugurate its large modular space station this year which will be placed in low orbit, says a report. It will be roughly one-fifth of the mass of the International Space Station and about the size of the decommissioned Russian Mir space station.
It is preparing to carry out 11 missions in two years to construct the space station.
Earlier in March, China launched a group of several remote sensing satellites into space which, it had said, will be utilized for electromagnetic environment detection and other technological tests.
A report said these were military satellites with undisclosed missions rocketed into a 370-mile-high (600-kilometer) orbit on a Long March 2C launcher.
According to reports, China will launch its Tianwen-1 Mars mission in July and Chang'e-5 lunar sample return in the fourth quarter this year.
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Israel and US Dealing With 'Aliens', Says Scientist
Iran Fails to Place Satellite Into Orbit, Their…
Turkey Aims to Reach Moon in 2023
Russia on the Cusp of 'Internet Sovereignty',…
Saudi Underwater Archaeologist Unearths Maritime…
India Returns Pakistani Fisherman Habibullah's Pigeon (Video)
Can Belt and Road Resolve India-China Boundary Unrest?


text:
Impoundment of Appropriated Funds by the President: Joint Hearings Before ...
By United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Government Operations. Ad Hoc Subcommittee on Impoundment of Funds
EXAMPLES OF PROGRAMS TERMINATED BY PRESIDENTIAL ACTION President Johnson : Aedes-aegypti-Mosquito control program.
President Kennedy: AEC—Aircraft nuclear propulsion program ; Dyna-soar program.
President Truman: Supercarrier, the U.S.S. United States. President Roosevelt: Numerous flood control projects amounting to about $500 million.
Mr. MILLER. I have another question. I would like to refer, sir, to your testimony which I have had the pleasure of reading before Senator Talmadge's committee last Thursday and I would like to direct my attention at least to this question of guidelines, the colloquy you had with Senator Dole.
I refer now to pages 97 and 98 of the transcript of the testimony. And you said this statement, if I may refresh your memory, sir.
"We get some guidelines in the amount of reductions which they expect us to take, expect HUD to take, expect HEW to take, and so on, and simultaneously work out these things.
"There are other candidates for cuts too." Now my question is this:
I recall when the guidelines were given the entire Cabinet the comment was made, "When you see the figures it will not be a typographical error."
My first thought was it is a typographical error.
Now, my question is not to that, my question is to the articulation of the criteria by your office or by the Office of Management and Budget when impoundment should take place, how do you determine when a given impoundment is to take place?
Secretary Burz. After we got the guidelines on the amount of reduction that Agriculture would take, I think that we followed the same procedure as any other department followed unless they got word to work these ont simultaneously with the cognizant offices.
Mr. MILLER. What are those guidelines, sir?
Secretary Burz. You have to simply establish some kind of priorities where you cut.
Mr. MILLER. Then how do vou establish a prioritv?
We come back to have they ever been published for elucidation, for example.
Secretary Burz. No, sir; except as I said, through half a dozen presidents attempts have been made substantially to reduce and often eliminate the old agriculture conservation program, now the REAP program. That was kind of a guideline.
It had a very low priority through half a dozen administrations and that was a kind of guideline, one that you take into consideration.
The fact that a substantial number of practices under the REAP program were essentially income supplements rather than nayments for pollution abatement practices. Income is up substantially to our farmers-$3 billion.
That became a part of the guidelines. It went into the formula to determine its rank on the priority scale.
Mr. MILLER. Well, sir, I recognize from your testimony from what you said earlier today that you are not a lawyer but you would agree that this is a government of law, would you not ?
Secretary Burz. Yes, sir.
Mr. MILLER. And you would agree that the decision, then, if this is a government of law, have to be made in terms of some articulated standard of judgment.
Mr. Miller. That is the essence of the law; is it not, Mr. Knebel?
Mr. KNEBEL. Yes, sir.
Mr. Miller. I am asking for the articulated standards of judgment then that OMB has issued with respect to impoundments.
Secretary Burz. All I can say, we have acted on the counsel of the Attorney General's Office and our own General Counsel that the executive branch of the Government had in fact the power to do this.
Mr. MILLER. But you are telling me that you have the power, you are not telling me how you do it.
Secretary Burz. I presume how you do it was back of the decision in the Attorney General's Office.
Mr. MILLER. Do you associate yourself with Mr. Sneed's testimony?
Secretary Butz. I haven't read his testimony.
Mr. MILLER. Do you, Mr. Knebel ?
Secretary Butz. Yes, sir.
Mr. Miller. We will come back to that in a moment.
How can you reconcile the fact that you say that we are a government of law when you say that we do not have any standards by which to make decisions ?
You admit implicitly, Mr. Butz, you have no standards, now, the specific question, sir, did OMB direct you to make an across-the-board cut of all agriculture programs?
Secretary Burz. No.
Mr. VILLER. Or did it say cut program X, Y, but don't cut A, B, and C?
Secretary Burz. No, sir; we work these things out together.
As I said previously, once we got our guidelines on total reductions, then we worked them out together.
Mr. MILLER. How do you do it, I think Senator Muskie was asking and Senator Metcalf was asking.
Secretary Burz. Obviously this has to be on the basis of subjective judgment, basis of alternatives, basis of impact the selective cuts would have on the agriculture economy as well as nonagriculture economy; it has to be on the basis of other programs available.
Mr. MILLER. A subjective judgment, Mr. Butz, is a judgment without law; would you agree with that statement ?
Secretary Burz. I do not know that I can agree with that statement. Mr. MILLER. Then what are the criterion judgment standards?
Secretary Butz. In this case we had the opinion of the Attorney General that the President was acting within his authority.
Mr. Miller. That is not the point. The point is how you act within that so-called authority. I happen to disagree with it but that is a different point.
The point is, assuming he has the authority, you have got to have criteria of judgment.
Secretary Butz. Quite right.
Mr. MILLER. Now, that is all I think the committee is really interested in.
I think Senator Chiles was asking that a few minutes ago. How do you determine that program X is not going to be funded but program Y is going to be funded and how do you determine that?
Secretary Burz. I presume the Congress made value judgments along the same line when they made the appropriations.
Mr. MILLER. That is a political process. I am not a politician, I am a poor country lawyer. Secretary Butz. They must have made value judgments there that ultimately got translated into appropriations.
Mr. MILLER. I know, sir.
Senator Chiles. You did not follow any of our value judgments, did you?
Secretary Burz. We followed most of them.
We are just talking about three or four areas here in which we deviated from them.
Mr. MILLER. The question is this, and I will not presume to talk about the political process, because that, I take it is the job of Congress to make political evaluations, but you are telling me now, and I want to make sure because I think it is important to get it in the record, you are telling me that these impoundments are political judgments of the Executive?
Secretary Burz. I would say they are economic judgments of the Executive.
If we had made political judgments obviously we would not have cut anything, we would not be having these hearings.
The politically popular thing I griess was to spend the money as long as Senator Muskie would raise his eighteen and a half billion in tax.
Mr. MILLER. I don't want to speak to that and I am about to be cut off by Senator Chiles.
Senator CHILEs. We have just been called to the floor for a vote. Senator Ervin left two short questions to be asked. I think we should hit those questions because we may be able to wind it up, if we can.
Mr. EDMISTEN. Mr. Knebel, we lawyers have ways of using words. Now you really had to strain the language to terminate these two programs, the REAP program, and the water bank program; did you not?
Mr. KNEBEL. Well, it just depends on how you look at the words. It may have been a strain for you but perhaps for us counsel, it wasn't.
As you know, I did not render the initial opinion, however, I have no problem in adopting it.
Mr. EDMISTEN. It was one of first impression. You just admitted a moment ago that to terminate these programs is a very unusual method of reconciling differences between the Congress and the Executive. So really the General Counsel who handed down this opinion would have had to strain in a difficult way, I would say, to come up with this conclusion.
Mr. KNEBEL. I haven't had the occasion yet but I fully intend to check on the previous General Counsel's opinion. I assume for the last five Presidents when they got ready to impound these funds similar opinions have been rendered, so I would not agree it is an opinion of initial impression.
Mr. EDMISTEN. I have only one more question.
Mr. Secretary, you said that these impoundments sometimes help decrease the tax burden. Isn't it the truth that sometimes the impounding of certain funds, and the slowing down of projects results in much higher costs in the future and, therefore, you really haven't saved anything?
Secretary Butz. That is entirely possible. I think in these cases, however, that would not be true.
Senator Chiles. Mr. Secretary, I just want to ask you quickly, this goes a little bit from the impoundment, but it is in the area that we are concerned with.
Now that you have become a counselor to the President, a member of the super cabinet, your Department is encompassing now, in addition to Agriculture, what other departments ?
Secretary Butz. Well, first, Mr. Chairman, let me say the word super cabinet is an unfortunate term. At 11 o'clock this morning I met with representatives from all of the agencies that will be in the Division of Natural Resources and I said, "Don't let's use that word super cabinet," and that those of us who are counselors continue as cabinet secretaries just like any other cabinet secretary. The primary Departments that come under the Natural Resources category will include from Agriculture primarily, Forest Service and Soil Conservation Service, the great bulk of the Interior Department, not all, not the Bureau of Indian Affairs, for example. It will include the NOAA, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration from Commerce, it will include the Environmental Protection Administration, the Council on Environmental Quality, Corps of Army Engineers, Atomic Energy Commission, Tennessee Valley Authority. I may have omitted one or two.
Senator Cules. Mr. Secretary
Secretary Burz. These are areas all of which impinge on the area of natural resources and energy.
Senator CHES. My concern is this: Again back to the testimony of your confirmation hearing, there was a great concern there not only by the junior Senator from Florida but I think by some others, if you went on as Secretary of Agriculture you were going to be known as the voice representing and speaking for farmers.
Secretary Burz. Yes, sir, and I have tried very hard these past 14 months to do that.
Senator CHILES. Isn't there a built-in conflict now in your role as being a voice to represent and speak for farmers and your role as being. I thought it was a super cabinet member, but if that is the wrong term, of counselor, which goes into all of the areas of natural resources, aren't there certainlv some potentials if not real conflicts?
Secretary Burz. There is always potential conflict, sir, but I do not see this as a serious problem. After all, we are talking about the connection between agricultural production and environmentalists for example. I get burned up when somebody infers farmers are not good environmentalists. They believe in clean water, they believe in the clean air, they believe in the proper use of chemicals and fertilizers and pesticides. I do not see any conflict between my speaking for agriculture and trying to push for a sane and sensible and feasible energy policy, for example, because right now some of our farmers are frarful they won't be able to get fuel for their tractors next spring.
Senator CHILEs. Don't you think sometimes, the voice of the farmers, isn't this a pretty natural thing, is going to be pitted against the voice of perhaps environmentalists or certainly the voice of other fuel users? Aren't these pretty natural things that these differences are going to occur and isn't the thing we are looking for is to be able to speak for all of these voices?
Secretary Burz. Last night, for example, I spoke to the annual meeting dinner of the Environmental Writers Association. We now have a specialized organization for environmental writers and I made the point that the job of all of us is to get emotion out of these issues we have here, to get the facts on both sides of the table so we can make sound judgments, make sound environmental impact studies and then be on with it and stop the business of needless delays in the courts that now impede action.
Senator CHILES. Mr. Secretary, not to limit your capacity, because you might well have it, but I don't see how any person is going to be able to wear the hats that you are wearing and be the spokesman and be the voice which you represented that you were going to be, the voice for the farmer. That is my particular opinion.
Secretary Butz. You watch me very closely in the next few months and if you see me not being the voice of the farmer, call me collect.
Senator Chiles. I would have had to call you a week ago already if you wanted to say that because I already have that difficulty, Mr. Secretary, frankly, by the actions that have already been taken.
Secretary Burz. Let's say our objective remains to increase farm income, to put cash in their pockets.
Senator CHILES. If you are talking about total dollars that may be one thing, Mr. Secretary, but I do not think that again that is talking about completely the representation of the farmer from the little one to the big.
I see our bell is ringing there, we are going to have to conclude. I want to thank you for Congress and I really think the thing you said in your testimony you strike really the note of truth, and I appreciate your doing that, but it really I think has more to say about the differences in the way you feel about this question and the way I feel about anything else when you say on page 3 of your testimony, people are not governed by laws alone. That was my school boy impression, that we were to be a country of laws and not of men. I think this kind of action that we are in right now is showing that we are not gorerned by laws, we are governed by subjective decisions, those have to be by a man or men, they cannot be by laws, and I think
yoll truthfully said we are not governed by laws and everything that I have heard at these hearings today convinces me that that is absolutely true today, we are not governed by laws alone. I think that is one of the things that the committee is trying to get at.
We appreciate your testimony. This will conclude our hearings.
The record will stay open for approximately 10 days.
(Whereupon, at 3:55 p.m., the joint hearing was adjourned.)
have verv


Early start. Leave one vehicle at GR 243 305 on Glen Davis Road and drive to GR 235 322 on the road towards Airly Gap. Ascend the spur towards Airly Turret, then continue clockwise close to the rim of the escarpment all the way to the Ultimate View at GR 251 312 to The Citadel at GR 251 312 and then to the tip of the spur at GR 255 301. Use a known pass to descend to the first car. Scrambling and exposure.


In this video, Dr. Miya Bernson-Leung discusses pediatric stroke and its signs and symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, and occurrence rates.
Initial publication: August 1, 2018.
In this video, Lauren Perlman discusses important considerations for a patient using non-invasive ventilation in a home setting.
In this video, Brienne Leary, describes how to measure a patient's respiratory rate.


In the quest for deploying efficient and scalable Oracle Application solutions to our clientele and keeping in line with the demands of the Digital Era, Widestreams constantly focuses and reengineers its methodology to suit the ever changing market place. This quest is met by using the latest and the best of Industry Standard Implementation Methodologies and Project Management Methodologies to arrive at a perfect mix that ensures successful and referenceable Projects.
Widestreams ' Implementation Methodology is based upon Oracle's Proven and established Methodology namely Oracle OUM (Oracle Unified Method).
Based on Widestreams experience in similar implementation, we are proposing the following project organization setup, however we strongly recommend that a similar structure shall be created from D.G Jones part to match each consultant from our side with a super user from D.G Jones side.
Widestreams uses the latest version of Oracle's proven time-tested Methodology, namely OUM in its approach to Project Implementations.
In addition to the robust capabilities of OUM, Widestreams uses the Project Management Methodology (PJM) for all its Projects. PJM addresses the critical elements of principles, practices and procedures for performing project management and marries the OUM Method and Process to the PJM result oriented approach in order to achieve the best of the conceptual and the practical worlds.
Capitalizing on both Oracle Methodology's flexibility and on Widestreams ' extensive regional implementation experience, Widestreams merged OUM for Business Flows and PJM into a comprehensive methodology that covers both implementation and project management taking into consideration the regional business and cultural aspects. The outcome is a well-defined method based on the guidelines of the Oracle methods and taking into consideration the resource, cultural and budget regional constraints.
Training – Widestreams strongly believes and advocates that intensive and appropriate training is imperative to the actual success of the project. Training events are followed up with a Risk Assessment and the issues are discussed and mitigated in a steering Committee. Widestreams identifies Knowledge Transfer and subsequent knowledge update and retention by D.G Jones teams as one of the most critical aspects that make a successful Implementation.
Change Management – As part of the Project Engagement, Widestreams at various stages sets the tone for necessary changes that the organization needs to adapt to the changing realities. At a subtle level various visual tools like banners etc are displayed to create awareness. Widestreams also emphasises in steering committees the importance of this aspect so that the Project sponsor can proactively address this issue and create an atmosphere conducive to change.
Integrated Approach – Widestreams Requirement scenario gathering and also the rest of the process is flow based. This necessitates and also creates awareness about the high degree of coordination and collaborative efforts between functions. This goes a long way in breaking the usual department centric individuals towards a Process/Organization Centric.
While the milestones are discussed in the previous section, this section discusses another critical area of the implementation – Deliverables and Responsibility that are based on the previously discussed methodology OUM.


The Squirrel Board > FAQ's regarding this board. > How do I upload a picture? > Can't open ANY photos!!
View Full Version : Can't open ANY photos!!
OK, I'm not the brightest crayon in the box with computes/electronics/apps etc... I exceeded my own expectations when I learned to upload and post photos here but since my last posting of photos, which I could not open after posting them but others could, I cannot open ANY photos posted here! blink blink! Also, all photos, including those in my folder and the last I posted, have an "X" on them. What did I do to cause this, and more importantly - WHAT can I do to correct it???
I do use Internet Explorer, and I HAD been able to post AND view the photos... I can still post them, and others can see them but I can't view any of them anymore. I will try using Foxfire.
Well that's your problem :grin2 IE is awful!!
:poke Switch now and enjoy things in a new browser!


text:
Rights of Copyright Holders
Home » Rights of Copyright Holders
From conception to production' you spend a considerable amount of time working hard on your creation' and now it is ready for release. Under the U.S. Copyright Act' a copyright owner is granted five exclusive rights to original works of authorship.
The Right to Reproduction
Perhaps the most fundamental copyright right' the right to reproduce' allows only the copyright owner to reproduce his or her work and make copies. "Substantial and material" reproduction is enough to constitute an infringement. In other words' even partial reproduction can be considered a violation of the copyright owner's rights.
The Right to Prepare Derivative Works
The Copyright Act states that a derivative work is: "a work based upon one or more preexisting works' such as a translation' musical arrangement' dramatization' fictionalization' motion picture version' sound recording' art reproduction' abridgment' condensation' or any other form in which a work may be recast' transformed' or adapted."
An example of a derivative work would be a film adaptation of a novel' or an updated version of a software program.
The Right to Distribution
Only the copyright holder of a work has exclusive rights to sell' rent' lease' or lend the work. The copyright holder may bring legal action against any party that distributes the work without authorization. If the copyright holder does authorize the distribution of a particular work' the copyright owner has full control over its first distribution. However' according to the "first sale doctrine"' generally the copyright holder does not have any control over what happens to a copy beyond first distribution. For example' a book can be loaned or resold by its purchaser. There are some limitations to the first sale doctrine. Software' for example' cannot be rented.
The Right to Public Performance
Public performances of a copyrighted work are controlled by the holder. This right applies to the following types of works:
Audio visual works
A "public" space is defined as a "place open to the public"' or "a place where a substantial number of persons outside of a normal circle of a family and its social acquaintances are gathered." A performance is also rendered public if it is transmitted to multiple locations' such as through the Internet' television' and radio. However' performing a copyrighted song at a party of friends or reading a famous poet's work to a friend would not constitute a violation of this provision of the Copyright Act' since such uses are not considered public.
The Right to Public Display
Similar to the public performance right' this grants the copyright holder of a work the exclusive right to the public "display" of the work. This right applies to the following types of works:
Graphical works
Stills from motion pictures
The definition of "public" regarding this right is the same as that of the right to performance.
Copyright Legal Counsel
If you wish to protect your copyright' or learn more about your rights from a copyright lawyer' please feel free to contact us.


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Can Google Bring Back the Music Video?
By Mike Schuster Dec 09, 2009 12:45 pm
The search giant brings labels together to create a Hulu-like partnership for videos.
It's been quite a week for Google (GOOG).
The search giant unveiled real-time updates, providing up-to-the-second results from news sites and social media groups. Android phone users are one step closer to holding the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy in their pocket with Google Goggles -- an app that photographs landmarks, books, business cards, etc. and spits back the subject's pertaining info. And, through collaboration with Verizon (VZ) and Morotola (MOT), its Android mobile platform is featured in Time magazine's Top Gadget of 2009 -- pushing tech nemesis Apple (AAPL) down to the four-spot.
Now, the company is playing host to a new site which provides full-length music videos via a Hulu-like partnership between major record labels.
Spearheaded by Universal Music Group, Sony (SNE), and Google's YouTube arm, Vevo.com serves as one of the few digital outlets where music videos are uploaded and officially approved by the studio backer.
Along with Universal and Sony, Britain's EMI Group has signed on to provide content with AOL (AOL-WI) and CBS (CBS) waiting in the wings. Warner Music Group (WMG) remains as a major holdout, already having a spotty history between itself, YouTube, and a slew of pulled unauthorized content.
In an interview with CNET, Chairman and CEO of Universal Music Group Doug Morris stated that the companies behind Vevo aim to regain control of content distribution and eliminate third parties.
"Vevo enables us to provide consumers with about 80% of all the music videos in the world. So, this is really like MTV on steroids. We're starting with that kind of audience. But now we're in control of it. We don't have to go through a middleman anymore."
As kinks are still being ironed out, YouTube is steadily redirecting all licensed music videos back to the Vevo site and hopes to eliminate any duplicates -- which is highly celebrated by anyone who has clicked through to find the highest quality clip.
Advanced features like synchronized lyrics, playlists, Last.fm integration, and direct purchase links to Amazon (AMZN) and iTunes are welcome additions. While HD isn't yet provided, it's on its way.
Managing all ad sales, Vevo hasn't had much trouble garnering sponsors. For the site's launch, backers include no less than AT&T (T), McDonald's (MCD), Nikon, Mastercard (MA), Dove (UN), Colgate (CL), Axe, and Infiniti. The site is ad-supported, though every selection won't be preceded by an ad -- aggregate usage will determine the rate.
Last night, at a star-studded gala event marking the launch of the site, U2's outspoken singer Bono had some choice words about the record labels' past and the bitter pill they must swallow to remain relevant: "We've come here to mourn the death of an old cash cow that was the music industry."
But with Hulu, Netflix (NFLX), and now Vevo, media companies are starting to learn that striking deals and legally hosting ad-supported content is preferable to both the producer and viewer than continually pulling every user-uploaded song, show, or movie. If and when a solid revenue stream is forged, all corporate media will fall in line.
As of now, Vevo continues to be plagued by heavy launch traffic and displays error messages rather than videos. Vevo's Twitter page states that its team is working on the launch overload.
Better hurry, because you're currently showing about as many music videos as MTV (VIA) does now.
GOOG,VZ,MOT,AAPL,SNE


text:
Read Next:	'Titans' Crew Member Dies After Stunt Goes Wrong at Special Effects Facility
Maher rises with helmers
Movie-themed episodes helps 'Incorrect' imrpove ratings
By Paula Bernstein
Paula Bernstein
Paula's Most Recent Stories
Roger Ailes, Fox News Founder Who Was Forced Out by Scandal, Dies at 77
WGA East, NBC Battle Over Bid to Unionize Peacock Prods.
Globes honor returning TV series but makes room for the new
Last week Spike Lee, John Waters and Jerry Bruckheimer helped "Politically Incorrect With Bill Maher" deliver its largest audience and its strongest 18-49 demos since the second week of May.
A series of movie-themed episodes — focusing on recent theatrical releases such as Waters' "Cecil B. Demented," Bruckheimer's "Coyote Ugly" and Lee's "Kings of Comedy" — helped ABC's latenight show deliver an average audience of 2.84 million viewers for the week ended Aug. 11, according to Nielsen numbers.
Compared to the previous week, "Politically Incorrect" was up 13% in total viewers (2.84 million vs. 2.51 million), 32% among adults 18-49 (1.57 million vs. 1.18 million) and 33% among adults 12-54 (1.57 million vs. 1.18 million).


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Q: IFERROR returning a null value PHPExcel I'm trying to insert a formula IFERROR using PHPExcel. However, when I try to do that I'm getting a null value like there are no values at all.
My two values that I'm getting are  0 when I generate it will give me a #DIV/0  error. I want to change that error to a complete 0.00 only, can you help me with this?
Here's my code:
 $objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->SetCellValue('I'.$rowCount,
'=IFERROR(G'.$rowCount.'/F'.$rowCount.',0)');

A: I've found a workaround regarding my problem.
I've used this formula that I found in a forum from Mark Baker.
$objPHPExcel->getActiveSheet()->SetCellValue('I'.$rowCount, '=IF(F'.$rowCount.'=0, 0, G'.$rowCount.'/F'.$rowCount.')');

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Home › Perspectives
Death of an Icon, Birth of Another
BY MARCK RIMORIN
Fifty days into the government of Benigno S. Aquino III, a question still unanswered: could Noynoy have become Philippines' President if not for the memory of his mother?
The most vocal critics of Aquino have said it themselves on countless occasions on many blogs and articles: that the Noynoy victory isn't one of democracy or ideals or even hope, but marketing and the Filipino penchant for nostalgia and drama. It was the last hurrah, the final ace up in the sleeve of those who profess by "Cory Magic". For his most ardent supporters, May 10, 2010, was "destiny". For his most unforgiving detractors, Noynoy's victory was the most concerted act of historical coattail-riding in recent memory.
Of course, even the dead wouldn't rest in peace in the new industry of Aquino-bashing. Cory wasn't a hero, and you have endless stories from the gates of Hacienda Luisita – and a mounting national debt – to back that up. It evokes different kinds of nostalgia: of Marcos "instilling discipline" upon the people, or looking back at Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's regime as the "glory days" of a nation that's now facing up to the gaffes – and perhaps the glibness – of the new Administration.
Photo: vladstudio
A year into Cory's death, and 50 days into the Presidency of Benigno S. Aquino III, there's that yellow elephant in the room again.
The motive behind the "nostalgia" is not what we had, but what we want. It's not a matter of having, it's a matter of striving for: that all discussions of "democracy," and all subsequent definitions of it, are in the future tense. If there's any cue that needs to be taken from the Left at this point, it's that the Philippines has never had a genuine, functioning democracy other than the icon that represents that ideal. Those icons – yellow ribbons, photo mosaics, and everything else – when taken in the present tense are representations of an oligarchic, elitist imitation of a democratic system that haven't done a lot for us. So much so that we look at our past, oppressive, less-than-ideal conditions as something to strive for.
The Philippines has never had a genuine, functioning democracy other than the icon that represents that ideal.
Cory's death represented grief, marked as the "death of an icon" not solely and completely out of respect, but another justification and re-affirmation of the politics of personality here in the Philippines. Cory was a vessel into restoring democracy moved and pushed by the tide of public clamor, yet it is the vessel that is being praised. Dwelling and dwelling in the past is our way of remembering, forgetting that we need to forge ahead into the future, and that the current Administration have done enough mistakes and gaffes for us to take what they say with a grain of salt.
I'm not one to look at the political crystal ball, but indeed, Noynoy could have never been President without the memory of Cory. May 10, 2010 was about being at the right place at the right time, and President Aquino was there. The messages that brought him such good fortune were not messages to forge ahead, but to remember and perhaps even dwell, to channel the spirits of Cory and Ninoy into his bid. For the machine fuelled by the ideas and the sentiment of the so-called "Yellow Army", it came across as a simple message: that the dream of Ninoy, and the fight of Cory, was to be visited upon their son.
Destiny is the yellow elephant in the room: somehow, we're all inclined to believe – if only because of the circumstances, the history, and the messages – that Noynoy became President because Fate moved his victory. Indeed, in part, it did; we were moved. For the avid supporters, it was a redemption of the mandate of democracy represented by his parents. For the vocal critics, it was the people duping themselves into thinking that he's the second coming of the "democratic way of life".
Yet fate never puts leaders in place: the will of the people do. Destiny isn't mandate: it is the will of the people. A year into Cory's death, surely we as a nation should remember, perhaps even mourn as it is our way. Yet we, the people, make this dream of democracy more than the icons we remember. With her death democracy wasn't "lost," but found. Hoped for, and in this incidence that dream and demand is projected upon her son. It's that vicious cycle of what makes democracy a wee bit perverted in the Philippine context: that it is an expectation for and a project from particular persons, and not for and from the people of the Philippines.
If our benchmark for democracy will be in the form of coups, brownouts, high prices, and disasters experienced in the Cory administration then yes, at this point Noynoy could only have been President because of his mother. Only when we overcome, and move out of the artificially large shadow we created to remember and honour our first woman President, when we cooperate with this Government to the most of our citizenship and dissent if it impinges upon our ideals, could we truly realize that democracy isn't Noynoy's to own, but for we – the people – to make for ourselves.
This post was originally published on The Marocharim Experiment in August 2010.
With Aquino, the End of Graft in Philippines?
politics Southeast Asia Philippines government PERSPECTIVES Philippine 2010 elections Benigno Corazon Aquino democracy Marck Rimorin


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Rick And Ron Davies, co-founders of 1stPromotion have just released the very first Clickbank search box plug-in for webmasters to add to their sites.! Work-At-Home Entrepreneurs have waited a long time for this Clickbank Storefront as well.
Clickbank affiliates and webmasters alike are celebrating following the news of 1stPromotion's successful development of the industry's first true Clickbank search engine and search box plug-in.
The search box, which comes in various sizes and colors, actually allows webmasters to earn commissions from every one of the 11,400 products and services Clickbank represents without the customer even leaving their website!
These PRO sites come complete with search box plug-ins to add to your other sites are just launched and 1stPromotion PRO members earn $25.00 from the sales of each $49.99 per year PRO site they sell!
The Davies brothers are extremely pleased with the response and feedback they have received on their site and Clickbank search tools. Ron Davies states "There are copy-cats out there, but they just can't deliver the tools like 1stPromotion does!" His brother Rick added "They tend to deal in hype, we deal in technology and service."
1stPromotion has gone screaming up the charts to reach Alexa's top 1% category.
This means that according to Alexa, 1stPromotion is in the top 1% of the busiest stes on the web. #18,500 or so at the time of this article.
Read what people are saying about the 1stPromotion Pro Sites And search boxes.
As President of the Quality Business Institute in Australia I never reccommend anything lightly. There is only one thing wrong with this product... They are not charging enough for it! I only wish there were more 'genuine' value-for-money sites like this. A refreshing change from the usual hype. Well done!