text:
Record of Grancrest War Season 1 Episode 21
Episode Title: Episode 21
Seth is a boy who seeks to become a great magician, and a group of witches who seek to travel to the Radiant. Radiant is a mythical land that spawns…
I Couldn't Become a Hero, So I Reluctantly Decided to Get a Job
The story revolves around Raul, a boy who did not become a Hero, since the demon lord was already defeated just before his Hero exams. His dreams dashed, Raul spends…
T.U.F.F. Puppy
T.U.F.F. Puppy is an American animated television series created by Butch Hartman for Nickelodeon. It premiered on October 2, 2010 on Nickelodeon along with Planet Sheen. T.U.F.F. Puppy is Butch…
China, IL
China, IL – meaning "China, Illinois" – is an animated television series for the cable network Adult Swim. The series is created by Brad Neely, and features Neely's existing characters…
Keima is a dating sim champion. Cute girls are rendered powerless by his irresistible game playing techniques. Too bad things aren't that way in the real world. That is, until…
Genre: Animation, Comedy, Drama, Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Ruff-Ruff, Tweet and Dave
An adventure-filled series bubbling with fun and games featuring three loveable and playful friends. Presented as a modern game show spectacular for kids, viewers are invited to join in their…
Genre: Animation, Kids
Trailer Park Boys: The Animated Series
Nova Scotia's favorite miscreants have always been super sketchy. Now, carrying on from the Season 12 finale, the boys have become complete cartoons. KissAnime Review: Really fantastic anime, my favorite…
Supposedly Japan's greatest swindler, Makoto Edamura gets more than he bargained for when he tries to con Laurent Thierry, a real world-class crook. KissAnime Review: Great Pretender is one of…
Lord Marksman and Vanadis
Tigrevurmud Vorn, the young lord of a remote region far from the kingdom's center, is commanded by the king to go fight the war against a neighboring country. The leader…
Simba's son, Kion, assembles a group of animals to protect the Pride Lands, known as the Lion Guard. KissAnime Review: I watched again this week and this anime is really…
Fafner in the Azure: Exodus
2150 A.D. The battle with the Festum, the silicon life-forms from distant outer space, had reached a new dimension. The North Polar Meir that was crushed during the First Azure…


The social diversity of Mumbai can be found in the culinary lavishness that the city offers as street food with Muslim, Gujarati, South Indian, Parsi, and Maharashtrian impacts. These flavors, hues, and texture make dishes that fly in your mouths without loading your pockets.
In this way, right away, let us examine the buffet of street food in Mumbai.
Vada Pav, or the Poor Man's Burger, is among the best Mumbai street food dishes. It is basically a bun bread (pav) and a fritter (vada) loaded down with squashed potato. The dish is presented with sweet and spicy chutneys, broiled chilies, and garlic powder chutney.
Quintessentially from Pune, the dish is a blend of curried lentils, finished with potato bhaji, poha, chivada, chopped onions, and tomato. This hot and spicy street food of Mumbai is eaten with pav and yogurt.
Another famous Mumbai street food is the Pav Bhaji. An arrangement of minced vegetables cooked with flavors and seasonings (bhaji) is presented with bun bread (pav) warmed on a dish. Butter is applied on the pav.
Among the veggie lover dishes of street food in Mumbai, Bhel Puri and Sev Puri are the most well-known ones. Bhel Puri is a Marathi Chaat made out of puffed rice, vegetables, and a tangy tamarind sauce. Sev Puri is another chaat basically made of Puri stacked with diced potatoes, onions, 3 chutneys (tamarind, chili, and garlic), and finished with sev (little bits of crunchy noodles produced using chickpea flour paste). It is prepared with crude mango or a trace of lemon and chaat masala.
Batata Vada, prevalently known as Aloo Bonda, is a famous Mumbai street food that comprises of potato crush patty covered with chick pea flour and deep-fried. Salt, turmeric, and red chili powder seasonings are included, and the dish is presented with green chutney and fried green chilies.
A mainstream street food in Mumbai, Ragda Pattice is a blend of ragda – delicate and hot rough enhanced chick peas – and pattice – rotisserie patties of pureed potatoes. The ragda is pounded with pattice and finely slashed onions, tamarind sauce, and green chutney is poured on it.
The Sandwich is a street food of Mumbai with a blend of most far-fetched fixings. It comprises of three buttered white bread cuts with cuts of beetroot, boiled potatoes, cucumbers, onion rings, and mint chutney between them. The sandwich additionally accompanies a toasted variation.
Baida Roti, a normal street food, is a square formed parched patty of spiced meat (chicken, lamb, or sheep cerebrum) with whipped eggs and onions.
Frankie is an acclaimed street food in Mumbai. It is a delicious naan bread with egg covering, moved with lamb/chicken stuffing. The veggie lover variation does not utilize egg covering. The stuffing is of paneer or potatoes.
Kanda Poha, another well-known Mumbai street food, is a simple to-make snack. Onions (kanda) and chipped rice (poha) are blended with sliced potatoes, green chilies, and peas. The blend is then tempered with mustard seeds and embellished with new coriander and lime juice.
Zhunka Bhakar is a prevalent street food in Mumbai. It is made utilizing cut onions warmed with mustard seeds, curry patta leaves and chick pea flour. It is eaten with jowar roti (bhakri).
Falooda, an Indian modification of the Persian pastry, is a rich beverage of vermicelli blended with drain, almonds, pistachios, rose syrup, and basil seeds, finished with frozen yogurt.
Another renowned street food in Mumbai for breakfast is Idli – Vada presented with Sambhar and coconut chutney. Idlis are steamed players of aged dark lentils and rice. Vadas, then again, are exquisite misuse type snacks made utilizing Lentils, chilies, onions, and curry patta leaves.
Dosa, a staple South-Indian dish, is a thin flapjack like food made of matured rice batter. Distinctive variations of the well-known Mumabi street food are full in an unexpected way.
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Fermat's Last Theorem by Simon Singh
This is the story of the puzzle that had confounded mathematicians since the 17th century.
'I have a truly marvellous demonstration of this proposition which this margin is too narrow to contain.'
It was with these words, written in the 1630s, that Pierre de Fermat intrigued and infuriated the mathematics community.
For over 350 years, proving Fermat's Last Theorem was the most notorious unsolved mathematical problem, a puzzle whose basics most children could grasp but whose solution eluded the greatest minds in the world.
Many people had tried and failed, including an 18th-century philanderer who was killed in a duel.
An 18th-century Frenchwoman made a major breakthrough in solving the riddle, but she had to attend maths lectures at the Ecole Polytechnique disguised as a man.
In 1963, a schoolboy Andrew Wiles browsing in his local library stumbled across Fermat's Last Theorem. Aged just ten, he dreamed he would crack it.
In 1993, after years of secret toil, Andrew Wiles announced to an astounded audience that he had cracked Fermat's Last Theorem.
The solution of the Theorem was one of the most important mathematical developments of the 20th century.
In 'Fermat's Last Theorem' Simon Singh has crafted a remarkable tale of intellectual endeavour spanning three centuries, and a moving testament to the obsession, sacrifice and extraordinary determination of Andrew Wiles: one man against all the odds.
[Book Description Source: www.amazon.com and www.amazon.in]
Goodreads Rating - 4.21 out of 5 (17,874 Ratings; 739 Reviews - As on February 18 2017)
My Rating: 4 out of 5
My Comments: Gripping narration about an esoteric mathematical subject. Not a single dull moment throughout the book.
Buy from Amazon.com Buy from Amazon.in Buy the Kindle Version
Labels: Biography, History, Mathematics, Popular Science
Running Lean - Ash Maurya

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


(NewsUSA) - The battle over cats versus dogs is as old as the species themselves. Debate any cat lover on this point, and watch the claws come out.
However, while clearly passionate about their feline companions, a new national survey by Missouri-based Royal Canin found that owners are lacking concern for their cat's health.
"We understand the strong bond pet owners have with their cats, and one of the best ways to enhance that relationship is to learn more about them," says Dr. Brent Mayabb, veterinarian and director of corporate affairs for the premium pet food company.
"Understanding a cat's physical and physiological traits is critical to not only finding the right fit for your family, but also in doing what's best for the cat's well-being once they are brought home."
*	Low maintenance doesn't mean low energy. Cats are typically selected because, unlike dogs, they don't have to be walked or taken outside, and can be left alone for hours at a time. While felines do rest a majority of the day (up to 16 hours), they also spend time hunting and hiding. Creating a space that includes a place to climb and scratch or hiding food in toys around the house to let your cat "hunt" will help her overall health and happiness.
*	A healthy cat is a happy cat. More than 70 percent of owners surveyed said they don't consider their cat's health when selecting food for their pet. Other factors that should be considered when choosing a food (but aren't) are: a cat's breed, its weight or its age.
*	Texture should trump flavor. When choosing a food, cat owners tend to rely on taste when it comes to selection. In fact, 15 percent of owners admitted to trying their cat's food. In truth, cats have a weak sense of taste; aroma and texture play a much bigger role in how cats choose their food. Which is why, says Dr. Mayabb, it's important to consider kibble texture, shape and size and especially food aromas when picking a food your cat will like.


LARGE & BEAUTIFULLY PRESENTED 4 bedroom Detached Home of about 191sqm/2051sqft in grounds of about 0.58 acres/0.235ha, DOUBLE GARAGE, MULTI-CAR PARKING & a purpose-built PORTACABIN - additional Office/Teenager etc., space. The House offers spacious family living with a fantastic 8.30m/27'2 Kitchen/Family Room, ideal for entertaining. There s a large lounge with Inglenook fireplace & Multi-fuel Stove for those cosy nights. Extensive screened Front & Rear Gardens. Oil fired central heating. The property is in immaculate order & is priced to sell. Good access for the A66 & A1(M) network & a short stroll into Gilling West itself. For sale with NO ONWARD CHAIN. Viewing is an absolute MUST.
The new A1(M) opens soon bringing the Golden Triangle of Harrogate, York & Leeds even closer. There is excellent access to the A1(M) & A66 at Scotch Corner, Harrogate about 38 miles, Newcastle & York 44 & 48 & mainline rail station at Darlington about 10 miles. The recently opened PRINCES GATE LEISURE & RETAIL PARK is a great area hub (7-screen cinema, 3 Swimming Pools, retail units, cafés, restaurants & bars with 370 free car parking spaces) & the forthcoming DESIGNER OUTLET VILLAGE at Scotch Corner (to include a wide range of high-end retailers, cafés & restaurants) will be a huge attraction. Historic Richmond market town is about 3 miles.
Spacious entrance reception with stairs to first floor. Oak flooring, radiator, UPVC double glazed window with stone mantel to front . Door to utility. Steps to inner hall with oak doors to sitting room, bedroom & cloak/shower room.
Low level WC with corner shower, hand basin with mixer tap, tiling to floor an walls, extractor fan, down-lighting & Chrome towel rail. UPVC double glazed window to front.
Walk-in bay with UPVC double glazed windows & UPVC double glazed French doors opening onto a feature decked area with lovely views of the garden & countryside. This room enjoys an abundance of natural light with an Inglenook fireplace, stone mantel, multi-fuel stove & stone hearth. TV point & radiator.
UPVC double glazed window to side, radiator & television point.
UPVC double glazed window to front. Fitted with an attractive range of cream wall & base units with wood-block style worktops. Cream tiled splash-backs. Floor standing oil fired central heating boiler (19th June 2017), electric cooker point, plumbing for washing machine. Void for dryer. Under stairs storage cupboard. Oak flooring. Panel door to the beautiful Kitchen/family room.
UPVC double glazed windows to rear & UPVC door leading onto raised decked area. The kitchen comprises of: Porcelain sink with mixer tap, country-style cream base, drawer & wall units with wood-block style worktops, cream tiled splash-backs. The heart of this kitchen is the cream AGA with 2- ring hot plates & 3 compartment ovens. Oak flooring. Shelved recesses. Breakfast bar with further base units either side providing a natural divide to the family room: large UPVC double glazed picture window bringing in natural light & with views of the gardens & countryside. Oak flooring, radiator, shaped recessed areas, coved ceiling & telephone point.
UPVC double glazed window to front enjoying views of lawned gardens & woodland.
UPVC double glazed window to rear enjoying fantastic views. Fitted robes with central shelving unit. Radiator. Loft hatch.
UPVC double glazed window to rear enjoying fantastic views, full-length fitted robes. Radiator & coved ceiling.
UPVC double glazed window to front, radiator & coved ceiling.
Shaped panelled bath with screen, above shower & mixer taps, handbasin with mixer taps & WC. Extensive range of vanity cupboards with workstops, heated towel rail. Part-tiled walls. Built-in cupboard housing cylinder tank & pressurised unit.
parking for several cars. The rear gardens have been landscaped with gravelled & shale beds with a beautiful large SOUTH facing lawn with well stocked borders. 2 raised decked areas which enjoy countrywide views - ideal for Al-Fresco dining. There is a flagged terrace & hedging to the back of the garden offering privacy. Within the grounds there are numerous sheds & purpose built Portacabin offering additional overnight accommodation or office/study/teenagers room. There is a double garage with up & over doors with light & power connected. To the front is a extensive lawned garden with woodland edged borders. A great enchanting space for both adults & children alike.


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The Guardian - AU
Ben Doherty
Ben Roberts-Smith 'prepared to lie under oath', newspapers' lawyer tells defamation trial
Ben Roberts-Smith Nicholas Owens SC Smith SAS
Ben Roberts-Smith arrives at the federal court in Sydney on Tuesday. His long-running defamation case is hearing closing submissions. Photograph: Dean Lewins/AAP
Ben Roberts-Smith was "prepared to lie under oath" in his defamation trial, evidence of his "consciousness of guilt", lawyers for the newspapers he is suing have told the federal court, accusing him of being the "architect or the knowing beneficiary of … dishonest collusion".
Roberts-Smith's long-running defamation case is hearing concluding submissions, and lawyers for the newspapers, who have alleged he committed war crimes in Afghanistan while serving in the SAS, have said the Victoria Cross recipient lied, and colluded with other witnesses in an attempt to bolster his alleged untruth, in relation to matters relevant to an allegation of murder.
"Mr Roberts-Smith's credit is seriously damaged, if not irreparably. He was willing to come to court to give false evidence," Nicholas Owens SC, acting for the newspapers, told the court.
Roberts-Smith is suing for defamation the Age, the Sydney Morning Herald, and the Canberra Times over reports he alleges wrongly portray him as a war criminal and murderer.
The newspapers are defending their reporting as true, including allegations Roberts-Smith was complicit in six murders while deployed to Afghanistan, was a bully, and a perpetrator of domestic violence. Roberts-Smith denies any wrongdoing.
Wednesday's submissions by lawyers for the newspapers focused on an allegation in the newspapers' defence that Roberts-Smith was complicit in the murder of an Afghan man who had been detained in a compound in the village of Chenartu in southern Afghanistan in October 2012.
In their written defence, the newspapers allege that while the man was being interrogated by Roberts-Smith, another Australian soldier discovered a cache of weapons secreted in a cavity in a mud wall. When the cache was discovered – after the soldier kicked a discoloured piece of wall – Roberts-Smith allegedly turned to the SAS's interpreter. Roberts-Smith allegedly pointed at an officer in the Afghan partner force – known as the Wakunish – and told the interpreter "tell him to shoot him [the detained man] or I will".
The newspapers allege the message was passed to the Afghan officer – known in court as Person 12 – and then on to his soldiers, after which one soldier stepped forward and shot the detained man multiple times in the head, neck and chest from point-blank range.
Earlier this year, a former comrade of Roberts-Smith, anonymised before the court as Person 14, gave evidence that he discovered the cache, and witnessed Roberts-Smith's order and the subsequent execution.
Roberts-Smith has consistently denied the allegation. During his evidence, he was asked by his barrister: "Did you order [the interpreter] to translate an order to Person 12 to kill a PUC [person under control]?"
"No, I did not … I never killed an unarmed prisoner."
In his outline of evidence, Roberts-Smith said the version of events alleged could not have happened because Person 12, the Afghan officer alleged to have passed on the message, was not on the mission.
Roberts-Smith said Person 12 had been removed from patrols with the Australian troops because, on an earlier mission, he had shot at a mongrel dog, shrapnel from which had injured an Australian soldier.
During the trial however, Owens said Department of Defence documents showed that Person 12 was not responsible for shooting the dog and injuring the Australian soldier. Roberts-Smith conceded that error, saying "it was my understanding that Person 12 had been stood down". But he maintained that Person 12 was not at Chenartu: "One way or another, Person 12 wasn't there."
Owens told the court Roberts-Smith's credibility was compromised by what he described as his "false" assertions.
"Mr Roberts-Smith has shown himself prepared to swear false evidence in circumstances where it would achieve a direct benefit for himself in defending a serious allegation in these proceedings.
"Mr Roberts-Smith has shown himself prepared to lie under oath."
Owens told the court: "Mr Roberts-Smith's conduct in filing an outline of evidence and answers to interrogatories containing a false claim is conduct from which a consciousness of guilt may be inferred."
Four soldier witnesses called by Roberts-Smith to support his case also said in their outlines of evidence that Person 12 had been removed from patrols for shooting the dog. But Owens told the court defence department documents show this was not correct.
Owens argued that it was not credible that five witnesses would independently give the same, specific false testimony, saying their testimonies demonstrated "deliberate dishonesty" and evidence of collusion.
"Mr Roberts-Smith was either the architect or the knowing beneficiary of this dishonest collusion," Owens said.
"He was the one who stood to gain from it and, ultimately, he was the one responsible for the decision to call those witnesses to lead that evidence from them."
"All of that is conduct from which your honour can infer a consciousness of guilt."
Roberts-Smith, and witnesses called by him, denied collusion over their evidence. Roberts-Smith's lawyers said the newspapers' allegation of collusion by the witnesses was scandalous, describing the arguments before court as "completely baseless".
Owens said, beyond the evidence of Person 14, there existed objective evidence that supported the allegation that an Afghan national was murdered.
In particular, Owens cited the real-time chat logs between the SAS troops on the ground and commanders at base. Those logs, tendered in evidence, show soldiers reporting they were planning to bring "three-to-four persons of interest" back to the Australian base, Owens said.
That number was later reduced to only two prisoners, lending weight, Owens said, to the allegation a person was murdered. He also cited alleged discrepancies in reporting over the time of alleged EKIA – enemy killed in action – as evidence of an attempt to cover up the alleged unlawful killing.
Closing submissions for the newspapers are expected to continue until late this week before Roberts-Smith's lawyers will have the opportunity to make their closing submissions.
A judgment is not expected for several months.


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Garlic Bread, Without The Bread? - Parmesan Garlic Kettle Chips
NEW Kettle Brand Parmesan Garlic Chips - Walmart
If you're eating something Italian, and it's delicious, it's usually thanks to garlic and parmesan. This dynamic flavor duo is responsible for some of the most delicious things in the world, pasta, pizza, and best of all, garlic bread.
So, when Cheesy Garlic Bread won Lay's Do Us a Flavor contest when it was first introduced, I wasn't surprised. What did surprise me, however, is how quickly that new "permanent" flavor of chips would disappear. A year or two and they were no where to be found. Then, a few years later, a dupe would start rotating as a special buy item at Aldi, and then at Lidl, and now here? Well these aren't officially marketing themselves as "garlic bread," so that might not be a fair assessment, but...isn't it close enough?
Will these taste like kettle-style garlic bread?
When opened, the chips inside smell surprisingly sweet, and I can't quite put my finger on why. Could it be the oil they were fried in? I mean sugar is listed towards the ends of the ingredients list, so I don't think that is strong enough to cause such a significant dent in the aroma, but...maybe? Other than the sweetness, I can smell onion, garlic, and a buttery dairy scent. It's probably meant to be cheese, but it comes off as more of a sour cream than anything else. Actually, after a few sniffs, these smell like a kind of weird take on sour cream and onion chips. Not weird in a bad way, but definitely familiar, yet, different.
Maybe if you mixed sour cream based onion dip with pasta water? I'm hoping they taste a bit better than they smell.
Grabbing a chip, they actually have a bunch of green flecks on them. Herbs? Dried green onion? I'm not sure, but they look a lot like normal sour cream and onion chips, and they feel really dusty against my finger tips, so here's hoping they're packed with flavor dust.
I popped a chip into my mouth, the initial flavor isn't all that great. It's garlicy, but oddly sweet in a way I'm not really feeling, but the best thing about this chip is after the tangy, but sweet, creamy garlic flavor subsides you're left with a pretty yummy parmesan after taste. The after taste is salty, cheesy, and very authentic. Like grabbing a wad of freshly grated cheese off your plate and shoving it into your mouth. The aftertaste makes me crave more, but each fresh bite has that sweet, sour-creamy, garlic flavor to get through first before the true deliciousness sets in.
This isn't true love, but it certainly is addiction. I keep coming back for more just to feed the aftertaste and keep it going.
Do you like cheddar and sour cream chips? These are just like that, with an Italian twist. As someone who prefers sour cream and onion, these aren't the perfect chip for me, but they'll do for right now.
Are you a cheddar and sour cream lover? Will you give these a try?
Fans of these would also like: Parmesan Goldfish, 2013 Lay's Do Us A Flavor Cheesy Garlic Bread Chips, Parmesan and Garlic Tots, Papa John's Wisconsin Cheese Stuffed Cheesesticks, or Zucchini Fries
Keep Up with My Adventures on Social Media!
Labels: cheese, cheesy garlic bread, chips, garlic, garlic bread, junkfood, kettle, kettle brand, kettle chips, parmesan, snack, walmart


Our Skys The Limit Food and Beverage Service Flags are truly the best on the market! They are a unique resort concept offering your guests the ultimate in convenience and service. The flag is placed in the "up" position to alert your staff that a guest would like to make a food or beverage purchase. It has been proven to increase the efficiency and productivity of your staff, as well as increase profitability by up to 30%!
Our flags come in multiple sizes to fit most chaise loungers and in a free-standing option for the beach. They are made of the highest quality commercial-grade, weather-resistant materials to ensure proper function and long-lasting durability. Our fabrics are fade-resistant, marine/awning grade, ensuring they will last for many years. They are available in hundreds of colors and can be customized with logos and numbers for more efficient branding and service.


text:
Raymond Goussot, né le  à Clamart et mort le  à Ballainvilliers, est un coureur cycliste français, spécialiste des épreuves sur piste.

Biographie

Palmarès sur route

Par année
 1941
  du Critérium de France des sociétés (zone occupée)
 1943
  du Circuit des Aiglons
 1944
  de Paris-Roubaix
 1946
 Grand Prix du Débarquement Nord
 1948
 Paris-Valenciennes

Résultats sur le Tour de France
1 participation
 1948 : abandon ()

Palmarès sur piste

 1943
 Champion d'Île-de-France de poursuite par équipes
 1944
 Prix Hourlier-Comès (avec Francis Grauss)
 1946
  du Prix Dupré-Lapize (avec Robert Chapatte)
  du Prix Raynaud-Dayen (avec Georges Souliac)
 1947
  du Prix Hourlier-Comès (avec Georges Souliac)
 1948
 Prix Dupré-Lapize (avec Émile Carrara)
 Prix Raynaud-Dayen (avec Émile Carrara)
 Prix Goullet-Fogler (avec Émile Carrara)
 Prix du Salon (avec Émile Carrara)
  du Prix de l'Ouverture (avec Antonin Rolland)

 1949
 Prix Dupré-Lapize (avec Émile Carrara)
 Prix Wambst-Lacquehay (avec Émile Carrara)
 Six Jours de Saint-Étienne (avec Émile Carrara)
  du Prix de l'Ouverture (avec Émile Carrara)
  du Prix Hourlier-Comès (avec Émile Carrara)
  du Prix du Salon (avec Émile Carrara)
 1950
  du Prix Dupré-Lapize (avec Émile Carrara)
 1951
 Prix Hourlier-Comès (avec Roger Godeau)
  du Prix du Salon (avec Roger Godeau)
  des Six Jours de Paris (avec Rik Van Steenbergen)
 1955
  du Prix Dupré-Lapize (avec Henri Andrieux)

Notes et références

Notes

Références

Liens externes

Coureur cycliste français
Coureur cycliste sur piste
Naissance en mars 1922
Naissance à Clamart
Naissance dans le département de la Seine
Décès en juillet 2015
Décès à 93 ans
Décès dans l'Essonne

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


David Chipperfield has shaped the face of the new Berlin. He told DW how he sees the city – and why architecture shouldn't be such a competitive sport.
David Chipperfield's rebuilding of the New Museum is being celebrated and his ideas are flowing into the development of the Museum Island section of the city. Currently, he's working on the foyer of the museum ensemble in Berlin's historic downtown district and the renovation of Mies van der Rohe's legendary National Gallery.
DW's Rainer Traube, from the weekly culture show Arts.21, met up with the star architect in Berlin.
At a time when you had the feeling that all cities are somehow done, Berlin feels like a work in progress. It's a city of gaps. Physical gaps and conceptual gaps. I think this is why people find it accessible.
Can Construction Toys Like LEGO Bricks Influence a Child's Intellect?


As mentioned on other KDE Gardening Team bugs we are focusing on getting K3b 2.0.3 release out.
The release will be on 4th November if all goes to plan.
For bugs that we can reproduce or we think they have enough information we are classifying them in three groups using the gardening flag in bugzilla "+" for crashes that are really critical to be fixed before the release, "?" for bugs that seem to be relatively easy and someone could pick up and fix if has time but are not a problem if not fixed, and "-" for bugs that are out of the scope of the gardening initiative. Being out of scope of the gardening initiative doesn't mean the bug is more or less valid, it just means that it is not for the gardeners or not very involved people to fix this bug and requires people with more commitment.
You can visit https://community.kde.org/Gardening/K3b for the relevant bugzilla links.


text:
∞ https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt367nc5fz/
Finding Aid for the Society of Noviomagus Records, 1828-1892
Processed by Manuscripts Division staff; machine-readable finding aid created by Caroline Cubé
The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Collection number: 2061
UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections
Manuscripts Division
Manuscripts Division staff
Caroline Cubé
Online finding aid edited by:
Josh Fiala, February 2004
© 2003 The Regents of the University of California. All rights reserved.
Title: Society of Noviomagus Records,
Creator: Society of Noviomagus
Extent: 2 boxes (1 linear ft.)
Repository: University of California, Los Angeles. Library. Dept. of Special Collections.
Abstract: The Society of Noviomagus was founded in 1828 in England by a small circle of members of the Society of Antiquaries. The collection consists of correspondence, invitations, minutes of meetings, holographs of both serious and humorous addresses, membership rosters of the Society, and colored engravings and ink and wash drawings. Correspondence includes letters from Henry Stevens and copies of letters from William Gladstone and Lord Randolph Churchill to Henry Stevens, Jr.
Physical location: Stored off-site at SRLF. Advance notice is required for access to the collection. Please contact the UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections Reference Desk for paging information.
Restrictions on Use and Reproduction
Property rights to the physical object belong to the UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections. Literary rights, including copyright, are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE AT SRLF: Advance notice required for access.
[Identification of item], Society of Noviomagus Records (Collection 2061). Department of Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
UCLA Catalog Record ID
UCLA Catalog Record ID: 4233802
The Society of Noviomagus was founded in 1828 in England by a small circle of members of the Society of Antiquaries; meetings featured dinner, drinking, and usually a "roasting" of one of the members, who included: Thomas Saunders, Samuel Carter Hall, Joseph Durham, George R. Corner, William Henry Brooke, Thomas Crofton Croker, Alfred John Kempe, Robert Lemon, William Jerdan, James Robinson Planche, George Godwin, Sir Francis Graham Moon, Henry Stevens, and John Noble.
Collection consists of correspondence, invitations, minutes of meetings, holographs of both serious and humorous addresses, membership rosters of the Society of Noviomagus, as well as colored engravings and ink and wash drawings. Correspondence includes letters from Henry Stevens and copies of letters from William Gladstone and Lord Randolph Churchill to Henry Stevens, Jr.
Expanded Scope and Content
(Description of the Archive prepared by Stevens, Stiles & Son)
The Society of Noviomagus or Noviomagian Club was founded in 1828 by a small circle of members of the Societyof Antiquaries. In addition to having a keen interest in antiquarian pursuits, each member of the Noviomagus had to have a sharp sense of humor and a trained palate since the group met many times a year (more frequently in the early years) for dinner, merriment, wines, beer, and liquors. At the sundry meetings a member was usually ridiculed by his peers, and the more scathing the ridicule, the more heartily the attacker was praised; and the butt of the ridicule, of course, had the opportunity to respond in kind. Members were given titles not always consistent with their professions, and they were fined for failure to attend the dinner-meetings, which often were combined with a visit to some site of archaelogical or historical significance.
Membership was never large, but it was always select; and members had the privilege of bringing guests, provided, of course, that the guests were able to take the "roasting" laid out by the regular members. Among the guests taken in hand by Henry Stevens was John Fiske, the American historian, who wrote to his wife an account of the occasion, saying in part: "The Lord High toasted 'our brilliant American guest,' but pitched into me, according to the rules of 'Noviomagus', and said that he never did see a decent American, but that I was the meanest American he had ever set eyes on, and had written altogether the most insufferably tedious and worthless book. Whereupon I rose and replied to the toast, saying that it would have to be a cussed mean American who wasn't equal to any ten Englishment, high or low, and I must say that of all the unmannerly snobs I had ever come across the Lord High was the worst...." (Wyman Parker, Henry Stevens of Vermont, Amsterdam, N. Israel, 1963, p.264). Fiske, of course, was not the only American to be invited as a guest of the Noviomagians; Nathaniel Hawthorne, James Buchanan, George Peabody, among others, were some of the distinguished Americans hosted (roasted and toasted, no doubt) by the Noviomagians. Henry Stevens had also invited a fellow Vermonter and collector, one Lucius E. Chittenden, who was in London in 1871 on patent business. Chittenden was an active collector of Vermontiana and Vermont imprints and apparently spent some hours with Henry talking books as well as buying some. Chittenden has left an account of his day with the Noviomagus. On July 1, 1871, the Noviomagians spent a full day in Oxford, visiting the Bodleian, Christ Church, the Ashmolean Museum and dining with one of the aldermen, Mr. Spiers. As soon as he was introduced to the Noviomagians, Chittenden was in for some typical ribbing: "Stevens: Tell your friend from the States, with the bowie knife, that he will find a third class car farther down the platform." (Recorded in a scrapbook kept by Chittenden and part of the Chittenden Papes at the University of Vermont).
The membership roster included well-known and accomplished men from numerous fields and professions. Some of the members were:
Thomas Saunders (1814-1809) metropolitan police magistrate and author of many legal works.
Samuel Carter Hall (1800-1877) author and editor of the Art Union Monthly Journal, later called the Art Journal.
Joseph Durham (1814-1877) sculptor and Associate of the Royal Academy.
George R. Corner (1801-1963) antiquarian and solicitor, author of many articles in archaeology.
William Henry Brooke (d. 1860) portrait painter and book illustrator.
Thomas Crofton Croker (1798-1854) clerk at the Admiralty, author of Popular Songs of Ireland (1839), Fairy Legends and Traditions of the South of Ireland (1825), and one of the founders of the Camden Society and the Percy Society.
Alfred John Kempe (1785?-1846) antiquarian on the staff of the Gentleman's Magazine and author of archaelogical/antiquarian works.
Robert Lemon (1800-1867) archivist in the State Paper Office and editor of some of its collections.
William Jerdan (1782-1880) dramatist, composer, wrote the libretto for von Weber's Oberon and sundry books including The Conqueror and His Companions, 2 vol. (1874).
George Godwin (1815-1888) architect, editor, Fellow of the Royal Society, and author of various works including Buildings and Monuments, Modern and Mediaeval (1848).
Sir Francis Graham Moon (1796-1871) publisher and printseller, acknowledged leader in the print business in 19th century London.
Other members were, inter alios, William Knight, Samuel Cooper, John Richards, William H. Rosser, John Bowyer Nicholls, John Rouse, John Noble, and Henry Stevens and later his brother Benjamin Franklin Stevens.
This collection of the Noviomagian Society from 1828, the year of its inception, to 1892 constitutes the archive of the organization and includes not only correspondence but also invitations to meetings, declinations of invitations written mostly with tongue-in-cheek humor, holographs of both serious and humorous addresses presented at the sundry meetings of the organization. In this archive are membership rosters, bills for the various meetings, which included dinner, wines and liquors, holograph verse contributed by members, hoax letters, and a variety of serio-comic letters and papers.
In addition to holograph material the archive contains colored engravings of the paintings in Baston House, kent, and of Sir John Frost; ink and was drawings, and an uncolored map of the defenses along the Thames during the Armada scare of 1588, a wash [?] of "Hoke-Poke," "King of the Cannibals," etc. Among the correspondence are copies of letters from William Gladstone and Lord Randolph Churchill, father of Sir Winston, both addressed to Henry Stevens, Jr., and written on Stevens' own letterhead! The collection contains also letters from Henry Stevens dated 1857 February 17, 1859 January 7, 1860 February 15, April 14 (2), 1855 January 30. Although the archive is not complete, it is strongest for the early years of its existence, 1828-1833, with good holdings for the period 1855 to 1860. Numerous printed ephemera are in the collection, most of which were finely printed at the Chiswick Press and are both handsome and very scarce: these include menus, membership lists, and programs.
An excellent record of the Society is found in the minutes of meetings kept with considerable care. The collection includes minutes of the following meetings:
1830: January 21, February 18, March 18, April 1, May 6, June 3, June 21, November 25, December 23.
1831: January 27, February 3, March 17, April 21, May 19, June 20, June 27 (anniversary), December 8.
1832: January 19, February 16, March 26, April 12, May 22, June 26 (anniversary), December 11.
1833: February 1, February 22, March 29, April 26, May 31, July 1 (anniversary).
1834-1854: n/a.
1855: January 17, February 21 (James Buchanan a guest), March 21, April, October 26, November 21, December 20.
1856: January 14 (Peabody as guest of Stevens), February 20, March 19, April 25, November 19.
1857: January 21, January 3, February 17, March, July, December 16.
1858: January, February 17, March, April, July 1, November, December.
1859: January, February, March, July (Nathaniel Hawthorne was guest), November 16.
1860: June 30, November 29, December 19, December 21.
1880: December 15.
1892: December 3.
Very little has been written about the Noviomagus, and this collection provides the nucleus for a history of this fascinating group of genial antiquarians. The collection is in three parts: one bound volume for the early years with detached covers, and two boxes.
Society of Noviomagus--Archives.
Antiquarian booksellers--England--Societies, etc.--Archival resources.
Henry Stevens Papers (Collection 801). Available at the Department of Special Collections, UCLA.
Records. 1828-1982
Creator/Collector: Noviomagian Society
Physical Description: (2 boxes)
Includes correspondence, invitations, minutes of meetings, and membership rosters.
Supplementary material exists in the Henry Stevens Papers (Collection 801). Available at the Department of Special Collections, UCLA.


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Hot Club de Norvège and Touché
The Norwegian band Hot Club de Norvège started in 1979 and is till going strong as Norway's leading band in their style. Touché is a new band who has taken upon them to give Hot Club de Norvège some competition. Friday night they played together at a double concert in Oslo, and the audience got the chance to see both the veterans and the new generation of Norwegian hot club bands.
The special style of jazz that these bands play, comes from Paris, where the Quintette du Hot Club de France started out in 1928 as a French answer to the American swing jazz. Soon there were many clubs that featured this music, and two of the leading musicians in what should become a very distinct sound, came from one of these clubs.
Django Reinhardt and Stéphane Grappelli were members of Louis Vola's band, and they were discovered during one of their jams in the intermission of the band's concerts. They defined the special mix between swing jazz and Romani music played with acoustic guitars, no drums and violin.
Hot Club de Norvège are internationally renowned for their playing, and leader Jon Larsen is both the head of the Django Festival in Oslo that started in 1980, and he has his own record company, Hot Club Records. His band, which also consists of Per Frydenlund on guitar and vocal, Svein Aarbostad on bass and Finn Hauge on violin, chromatic harmonica and musica saw. Their set was brilliant, with virtuoso playing by Larsen, and informative and witty comments between the songs.
The new band Touché opened the concert before Hot Club de Norvège played. They are a much younger band, with Tobias Bergstrøm on guitar, Fredrik Solberg on bass, Hkon Aase on violin and Gildas le Pape on lead guitar. It was a great pleasure to hear Touché. They might lack some of Hot Club de Norvège's polished perfection, but they have an enthusiasm and a lack of respect that shows. Their repertoir consisted of traditional Django Reinhardt material, mixed with their own songs, like the quirky song Snooze.
Gildas le Pape is a brilliant guitarist, and some of us have also seen him with the Norwegian black metal band Satyricon. It might be quite a distance between those two styles in terms of technique, approach, and also the use of technology, but Le Pape masters both worlds. His fellow musicians are also very good, and specially Fredrik Solberg's bass solos were noteworthy.
At the end of the night, all the musicians came on stage for a couple of songs together. It was great fun to hear Jon Larsen and Gildas Le Pape's guitar duels, and all the musicians looked like they enjoyed each other immensely. If you have a chance to see any of these bands, do it. You are guaranteed to have a good time, and you will also hear some excellent musicianship, whichever of the bands you see.
All the pictures are © Per Ole Hagen, and may not be used in any way without written permission.
This entry was posted in Concert and tagged Django Reinhardt, France, hot club, Hot Club de Norvège, jazz, music, Stéphane Grappelli, Touché by Per Ole Hagen. Bookmark the permalink.
2 thoughts on "Hot Club de Norvège and Touché"
Gildas Le Pape on May 5, 2012 at 7:59 pm said:
For sure we did! Thanks for this nice report Per Ole.
Jon Larsen on May 5, 2012 at 7:26 pm said:
We had a great time playing together!


Google has been caught out after the site was caught breaking its own rules by paying bloggers to write posts promoting it's web browser, Google Chrome. Google have said it will manually change its search rankings to 'demote' its own Chrome web browser for two months.
As of today, the Chrome download page has a publicly reported pagerank of 0/10. According to Google, the pagerank will remain lowered for a period of 60 days.
The Google PageRank system is the key to Google's search algorithm – the lower a site's number, the lower it will usually rank in Google searches.


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Listen: Run the Jewels, Chloe x Halle and more hit music for the week
Robert Spuhler June 3, 2020Updated: June 4, 2020, 8:51 am
Run the Jewels Photo: Run the Jewels
The Chronicle's guide to notable new music.
Run the Jewels, "RTJ4" (Jewel Runners)
As the title would suggest, it's the fourth installment of Killer Mike and El-P's collaboration, and it comes star-studded, with DJ Premier, 2 Chainz, Pharrell Williams, Zack de la Rocha, Josh Homme of Queens of the Stone Age, and even gospel and soul star Mavis Staples contributing throughout the 11 tracks. The boom-bap of "Ooh La La," based around a Gang Starr sample, and the aggressive "Yankee and the Brave" both indicate that four years off from releasing music has not dulled the duo's sensibilities.
Warning: This music video contains explicit language.
Chloe x Halle, "Ungodly Hour" (Parkwood/Columbia)
The sisters made their debut on YouTube at ages 13 and 11, and R&B fans have watched them grow up over the past eight years. "Ungodly Hour" is a little darker and a little sexier, if lead singles "Do It" and "Catch Up" are any indication – less Disney, more Beyoncé (fitting, with the duo having opened for Bey on two tours and being signed to the queen bee's management company).
Bruno Major, "To Let a Good Thing Die" (Harbour/AWAL)
The English singer-songwriter wrote a song every month for his first release, 2017's "A Song for Every Moon," and since then he has received shout-outs from Sam Smith, Lianne La Havas and Shawn Mendes, among others.
His follow-up album can be performed in concert halls and around campfires with equal emotional impact; single "Figment of My Mind" should fit snugly onto every "chill Sunday afternoon" playlist.
Sondre Lerche, "Patience" (PLZ)
The stripped-down Norwegian singer-songwriter moved to the West Coast and said, in a statement, that he "needed to make soothing music." The heart-rending single "Why Would I Let You Go," with its swelling strings and delicate acoustic guitar, sums up the difference between the idea of love and love's reality: "And in my dreams I love you like I used to."
Dizzy Wright and Demrick, "Blaze With Us 2" (Smoker's Club)
The Las Vegas-Los Angeles duo's 2016 mixtape gets a sequel that, from the three tracks released in advance, promises to be as weed-centric as the first. The reggae vibe of "Don't Worry" is going to be a favorite of college dorm smoke-outs for years to come, while "All Night" shows that, even in two states where marijuana is legal, it's important to have a dealer on speed dial.
Warning: The following music video includes explicit language.
POSTPONED ALBUMS
Jessie Ware, "What's Your Pleasure?" (PMR/Virgin EMI), June 19
Sam Smith, "To Die For" (Capitol), TBA (and with a new title)
#ICYMI
Tove Lo, "sadder badder cooler" (Island)
She's been called the "saddest girl in Sweden" so often that it's become cliche, but the "Habits (Stay High)" hit maker takes a breakup and makes it empowering.
"Heartbreak pays bills, you lose, I win," she sings on this track, almost as a reminder for anyone dating an artist that yes, your relationship will be fodder after it ends. It's the lone new song on the expanded version of her "Sunshine Kitty" album, released on May 22.
Warning: The following video contains explicit content.
SONG OF THE MOMENT
Andra Day, "Make Your Troubles Go Away" (Warner)
While the piano-driven soul ballad is one from the superstar's "catalog," lyrics like "I wish I could take your pain/ But I can help you stand" seem resonant now, both in terms of the coronavirus and the fight against police brutality and racism.
The single aims to raise money for GiveDirectly, a charity that helps families affected by the pandemic.
YOUR STAY-AT-HOME DANCE BREAK
i_o and Lights, "Drift Away" (mau5trap)
The collaboration between American producer i_o and the Canadian singer-songwriter Lights finds the former leaning in a more melody-driven direction, while the latter continues her run as one of dance music's sought-after voices (she's worked with Deadmau5, Seven Lions and Kaskade, among others).
Robert Spuhler
Robert Spuhler Robert Spuhler is a Southern California freelance writer
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Stevie Nicks announces two Northern California solo dates. Here's the presale code
Review: S.F. Symphony makes a brilliant new score sound drab
Bay Area Sikh violinist combines classical and R&B sounds
By Saumya Monga
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Through Jan 29
Jason Marsalis
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Datebook Pick
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Hertz Hall


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Demi Lovato has never been shy about her struggles with drug and alcohol addiction.
January 31, 2020 by Dominic Nicosia
In July of 2018, Demi was rushed to the emergency room after an apparent Heroin overdose. The incident happened only a month after releasing her single, "Sober," where she admitted to breaking over six years of continuous sobriety. The song's chorus begins with "Momma, I'm so sorry, I'm not sober anymore," continuing with an apology to her fans, saying, "I'm sorry to the fans I lost who watched me fall again/ I wanna be a role model, but I'm only human."
Drugs and alcohol aren't the only demons Demi has faced in her short 27 years of life. Lovato first checked into rehab in 2010 after a year-long stint with cocaine that began in 2009, when she was just 17. In 2011, Demi was diagnosed with bipolar disorder after years of dealing with eating disorders and self-harm in addition to drug addiction. After many stays in rehab and sober living facilities, Demi got clean in 2011 and maintained her sobriety for six years while also being an advocate for people all over the world in recovery from substance abuse and mental health issues. While sober, her career was one of incredible success – she became a judge on The X Factor and released several albums including Unbroken (2011), Glee (2013), Confident (2015) and Tell Me You Love Me (2017). It was only after her 2018 overdose that Demi went dark and fell out of the public eye for over a year and a half… until her Sunday night Grammy performance. When she left that stage that night, there was no doubt…Demi is back, and she is better than ever!
Demi Makes a Comeback!
The performance was not only a personal triumph for Demi but an unexpected salve on the collective heaviness of those watching. After the loss of Kobe Bryant in a helicopter crash that morning, many performers were vocal about their state of mind, including host Alicia Keys who participated in moving last-minute performance of "It's So Hard to Say Goodbye" with Boyz II Men in Bryant's honor. When it was Demi's turn to go on, she appeared under the spotlight looking angelic in a beautiful white gown. She was noticeably tense, with tears in her eyes before the first note was played. With only a piano accompanying her shaky voice, Demi began to sing "Anyone." She was only able to whisper the first few lines of her song when suddenly, she stopped…too emotional to continue. Turning to her pianist, she took a deep breath, nodded her head and the music started again. Demi continued, pouring her heart out, singing: "I tried to talk to my piano/ I tried to talk to my guitar/ Talk to my imagination/ Confided into alcohol." She continued, this time more confident and completely vulnerable to the millions viewing at home: "I tried and tried and tried some more/ Told secrets 'til my voice was sore/ Tired of empty conversation/ 'Cause no one hears me anymore." The song, which Demi wrote just three days before her overdose, expresses the loneliness she felt in early recovery. Her lyrics state: "I feel stupid when I sing/ Nobody's listening to me/ Nobody's listening." It feels obvious that Demi felt ignored, even by those who supported her the most. And, at this Grammy performance – she told the world how small she felt at that moment. She put her soul on display in the hopes that someone would listen. Listen to her regardless of her mistakes, her past shortcomings, and everything in between.
Well, we heard you, Demi. We heard you LOUD and CLEAR. Her Grammy performance was not only captivating but so blatantly honest, it was hard to hold back the tears. We believe Demi's performance spoke to anyone who has ever battled adversity, drug addict or not.
Check out Demi's Emotional Grammy Performance Here:
Demi Takes on the Super Bowl
Only two weeks after her stunning Grammy debut, Demi will be tasked with the tremendous honor of singing "The Star-Spangled Banner" at Super Bowl LIV where the San Francisco 49ers will take on the Kansas City Chiefs at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida. Demi's rendition of the national anthem will not only be heard by the thousands in the bleachers, but the millions of football fans watching live all over the world. Her shoes are tough to fill, as her performance will be following the legends that sang at the Super Bowl in previous years including Gladys Knight, Alicia Keys, Billy Joel, Mariah Carey, and Whitney Houston. But, based on her Grammy performance, we are completely confident that Demi will, once again, blow us all away.


The ISO Category II Vibration Analyst "Intermediate" course is intended for personnel who have at least twelve months vibration analysis experience and a basic understanding of vibration theory and terminology. The course provides an in-depth study of machinery faults and their associated spectrum, time waveform and phase characteristics. Category II certification requires that you have demonstrated 18 months experience in vibration analysis, completed the Category II course and successfully pass the Category II vibration analyst examination, however Category I is not a prerequisite to become certified as a Category II vibration analysts.


A black and white postcard of 67 Baldwin Street.
This house stood on the east side of Baldwin Street, south of the present day pharmacy, and was demolished in March of 1960. This is likely Mr. Duncan's residence. He is listed as a tailor in Brooklin in a directory of 1902.
Back, rubber stamped inscription, "B. Duncan, Merchant Tailor, Brooklin, Ont."
67 Baldwin Street, c. 1907, Photographer Unknown. Whitby Archives P2013_002_001.


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BlogalongaStarWars: Episode 3:
Star Wars: Episode VI: Return Of The Jedi
Phase One of the Star Wars Cinematic Universe comes to a close with Return Of The Jedi, a film which, by necessity, must be all payoff for the two-hour setup of The Empire Strikes Back. And pay off it does, in ruddy great space-spades: Jedi delivers on an increasingly huge scale, even as its supporting characters become increasingly smaller.
twats
The first point of order is obviously to rescue Han Solo from his cryogenic slumber (during which he seems to have miraculously put on a few pounds), and it's to George Lucas' and co-writer Lawrence Kasdan's credit that they devote the entire first act to the heist. It's a fun, extended opener that has almost nothing to do with the rest of the story, but it needs to take up that first half hour because we were so invested in Han's sacrifice in Empire. If you've spent three years waiting to find out how he's going to get defrosted, you don't want the explanation tossed off in the first five minutes.
A quick Dagobah diversion acts as a weird aside where we're reminded of all the important stuff that needs resolving before the credits roll, and in all honesty much of it is a little baffling. We're told that Luke needs to face Vader to truly become a Jedi, but didn't he just do that at the end of Empire? I mean, fair play for raising the emotional stakes of their final father / son chit-chat, but there's a suspicion that Lucas may have put that dialogue in as a placeholder and forgotten to finish it. Then Yoda struggles to squeeze out the words "There........ is...... a................. nother ........................................... Sky............................................... walk........................................................................................ er" before wheezing his last, apparently unaware that "Leia is your sister" has fewer syllables. He's only being vague so we can get the full story from see-through Obi-wan, who gets the short straw of having to explain why everything he said in Star Wars was bullshit. The sense that Lucas is retroactively rewriting his story as he goes along is palpable, but it's a canny move to give Alec Guinness the role of Basil Exposition here; the character's wisdom and eccentricity just about allow him to carry off the bollocks he's spouting.
The team outing to Endor is where the Star Wars machine finally starts to come unstuck, thanks in no small part to a bunch of short furry twats. The Ewoks represent Lucas' wish to have the gargantuan, technologically advanced Empire defeated by a smaller, underestimated foe, forgetting that he'd already done that at the end of Star Wars, and so the pointy sticks and small rocks lobbed by dwarf children in fluffy onesies pierce the armour of Stormtroopers more used to laser bolts, and it all gets a bit silly. Frankly I began to doubt the integrity of the Ewoks as a viable narrative device the moment they provided a complete fitted outfit for the decidedly non-Ewok-shaped Princess Leia with no notice whatsoever.
Maybe it's from the plus-size range
Fortunately there's the mother of all space battles going on concurrently, as well as the apocalyptically epic climax of Luke and Vader's story, the intimacy of which feels weightier than anything going on in Teletubbyland. John Williams' accompaniment to the duel is monstrously doom-laden, and Luke's final, furious attack on Vader - prompted by the old man's threat to recruit Luke's "sissssstaaa" - is gloriously ferocious. The masterful crosscutting between the three simultaneous finales stops you getting bored of any one scene without becoming jarring, and Vader's final sacrifice is the perfect conclusion. Well done, Star Wars Trilogy, you done good.
However. Something's not quite right. Something's changed. The edge has gone. All the interesting character work that continues to set the first two films apart from almost every other sci-fi epic seems to have gone missing; the moment Han and Leia's unresolved sexual tension resolved itself, they stopped being the cool older kids and became your parents. Even Han's belief that everything he says is cool or funny reminds you of your dad. The Ewoks are cute and cuddly with the specific intention of selling toys to small children, and Vader's revealed face is more "favourite uncle" than "evil, twisted warlord". They're all small things, but they add up to a lesser film than their predecessors, which is an undeniable shame.
Still, it's the final Star Wars film, so at least they can't get any worse, right?
Darth Vader is really pointy
Notable by their absence from the prequel trilogy are any scenes in which Shmi Skywalker teaches little Ani that it's rude to point. Decades later, Darth Vader can barely get a word out without his forefinger jabbing around like a sleeping teenager's cock. Put it away, man!
The Death Star II
Once again, production design is totally on point in the Star Wars universe. Like some kind of hideously deformed Pac-Man floating in space, the semi-constructed new Death Star is another terrifically iconic work of art, regardless of the practicalities involved in its actual construction. I mean how come nobody there seems to be doing any actual building work, and why didn't they cover it up with a lifesize painting of the original Death Star, like they do when they're renovating old buildings?
C-3PO is a shit translator
For someone who bangs on incessantly about being fluent in over six million forms of communication, you'd think 3PO might put on an accent every now and again. He always just sounds like a posh Englishman abroad reading loudly from a phrasebook.
I love this guy. Look at his flabby, fleshy folds and just imagine what he keeps inside them. He's so spectacularly disgusting, with his roly-poly tuba theme tune and his shot-from-below, Sydney Greenstreet stylings and his amazing collection of gloopy mucus, I just want to give him a big fat hug.
Leia is a bit mean
Determined not to be all soppy and girly about being in love with Han Solo because she's an independent woman of the '80s, Leia rescues her fella from the carbonite but stands there while he falls out of it and faceplants himself firmly in the concrete floor of Jabba's palace. That woman's gonna be hard work.
Episode 1: Episode IV: A New Hope
Episode 2: Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
Episode 4: Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Episode 5: Episode II: Attack Of The Clones
Episode 6: Episode III: Revenge Of The Sith
Episode VII: The Force Awakens
What is the point of all this? I'll tell you. (short answer: no point)
Header pic by dark lord of the Sith Olly Moss
Labels: blogalongastarwars , carrie fisher , george lucas , harrison ford , mark hamill , return of the jedi , richard marquand , star wars , the empire strikes back
Advertorial: Selling my soul to
Backyard Cinema for a burger and a beer
Londoners would be hard pressed to make it home from work this summer without inadvertently wandering into an open-air cinema screening, so prolific are they at this stage. They're happening literally everywhere: in fields, on rooftops, in markets, in ladies' changing rooms, underwater, in bowls of soup, in space and in the space between spaces.
But only one of the brands currently peddling their wall-and-ceiling-free movie shows has had the foresight to bung The Incredible Suit a free ticket, burger and two drinks, so they're currently the only ones enjoying the unfathomable reach of a promotional post on this narrowly-read film blog. I suspect they were hoping I wouldn't be writing this quite so far into their season, but I have been quite busy so owt's better than nowt at this stage.
Anyway, Backyard Cinema is at Camden Lock until September 4th, boasting two screens, a load of deckchairs, some bean bags and the very real chance of eating an amazing burger. And despite the fact that I was more or less paid to write this, I can happily confirm that Backyard Cinema is actually one of the better outdoor screening events out there. Their partnership with Honest Burger makes them very special in my eyes, because Honest Burgers are my current burgers du jour, so any opportunity to sink my teeth into one of their juicy cholesterol sandwiches is welcome.
Further information can be found here, including the story of how Backyard Cinema's founder started with screenings in - yes! - his back yard, which is interesting because I showed Top Gun to a bunch of friends in my garden a few years ago yet somehow I do not now have an Honest Burger franchise on my patio. I have a greenhouse, a table and some stupid chickens. Anyway that's not important right now. What is is that you go and investigate Backyard Cinema so they get their money's worth out of the goodies they gave me.
If you have an outdoor screening you'd like to see treated with similar reverence - or indeed any product that I might enjoy and be unashamed to pimp with my pixels - then do get in touch, particularly if you work for Tom Ford menswear.
Labels: backyard cinema
BlogalongaStarWars: Episode 2: Star Wars: Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back
The battle is over, but the Wars have just begun. As amazing, exciting and innovative as A New Hope was, it was an introduction, a mere prologue to the expansion of its own universe which is executed on such an epic scale in its sequel. This is the birth of the space opera; the moment where the fun kids' film matures, bringing all the agony and adventure of adolescence to the movies in wave after wave of thunderously enjoyable exploits. This... is The Empire Strikes Back.
If that comes across as a little pompous, then apologies. But also, fuck you. The Empire Strikes Back deserves every ounce of pomp heaped on it over the last 35 years, and I'm not about to change that. It's not alone in being a truly perfect sequel, but it is one of a mere handful: how so few franchises have failed to grasp its aims, its achievements and the efficiency of its setup is a complete mystery. Every character and their connections to each other are deepened, the significance of every action is weightier and everything is accomplished with cast iron confidence, despite the inherent risks: front-loading a massive sci-fi sequel with what should be its climactic battle so that the final act's focus can fall on the relationship between a father and a son is so ballsy that over three decades later, most blockbusters still daren't try anything similar. You can blame Star Wars for the dumbing down of populist cinema if you like, but The Empire Strikes Back showed the world a smarter alternative which seems to have been largely ignored. Even George Lucas can't be held responsible for that.
Lucas' story reveals the true scope of his little space project, but Leigh Brackett and Lawrence Kasdan's script remembers that it's characters and friendships which are the hyperdrive that powers these films. Luke and Han's relationship is enviably solid, as evinced even in their first exchange of the film, and Han and Leia enjoy the most enjoyable unresolved sexual tension in cinema. It's a testament to the writing and acting that even when that sexual tension is resolved, we still can't take our eyes off them. Han is such a dick when he's trying to get in Leia's royal knickers that it's a painful reminder of how irrationally badly many of us behave while trying to impress a member of the opposite sex; as with most things, life would have been so much easier if only we were Harrison Ford.
Even Darth Vader is briefly humanised, that awkward shot of his boiled-egg bonce revealing him to be some kind of person after all, and it's the first step into the wider world of Vader's character that ends with his heroism at Return Of The Jedi's climax. Or maybe he's just trying to have a shit in peace for once without some underling reporting their latest failure, I dunno. Second-tierers Chewie, R2-D2 and C-3PO don't get much chance to evolve - in fact 3PO is so extraneous to the plot that Brackett and Kasdan have to blow him up to get him out of the way - but in their place comes Yoda, a miracle of puppeteering that could have derailed the film entirely had it been any less perfectly accomplished.
Iconic production design is still on-point too: the AT-ATs are unforgettable despite their colossal impracticality (don't the Empire have a TIE fighter equivalent of snowspeeders?), while Cloud City and Dagobah are beautifully realised, diametrically opposed settings. One of the saga's greatest assets is its uniquely distinct locations, never letting you forget where you are - geographically and emotionally - at any given point in the story, while emphasising the sweep of the narrative's universe. In an attempt to up the ante set by A New Hope's Star Destroyer, we get the Super Star Destroyer Executor, which appears to be powered by the very infernos of Hell, and Boba Fett takes over from Vader and the Stormtroopers as the galaxy's sharpest-dressed motherfucker.
As with the self-reflexive nature of A New Hope's David vs Goliath / Rebellion vs Empire / George Lucas vs Hollywood plot, here we see a young man learning the extent of his powers and working out how best to employ them. It's hard not to see Luke's failure at the cave as an ironic signposting of ill-advised decisions Lucas would make himself in the years to come, but for now the bearded genius is still just that. His decision to send his principal characters their separate ways at the climax is as audacious and inspired as all the others he's made up to this point, ensuring that a) the final act of his trilogy is primed and ready to unfold, and b) the green light for another film would be guaranteed by fan pressure, if nothing else. You might say, haha, that the force, right, is strong with thi- (*record scratch*)
"This is no cave"
The Falcon's escape from the jaws of the giant space worm thing - sorry, the Exogorth - is a perfect example of the trilogy's sense of humour and mischief; it's the epitome of the excitement of Han and Leia's adventures as counterpoint to the somewhat less thrilling goings-on on Dagobah. And the great thing about Star Wars is that any questions you might have about how such a beast might evolve or survive have been answered in intricate detail by people with exactly the right amount of time on their hands.
Lando's betrayal
It's semi-expected thanks to Han's casting doubt on Lando's character when he first mentions him, but the events leading to that particular dinner party on Bespin are no less traumatic. It seems like a missed opportunity for more Vader / Leia banter, but the focus on Solo - who at this point knows he's putting his life on the line for a fight he never intended to get into - makes him all the more the hero. What does Vader plan to eat, though? And more importantly, how?
"I love you" / "I know"
This line never made it into The Telegraph's recent 100 Greatest Movie Quotes Of All Time listicle, yet "I love lamp" did. Work that one out if you can.
The carbon freeze
Speaking of iconic production design, as I was, er, several paragraphs ago, is there any cooler representation of the vulnerability of the rugged action hero than this? I bawled my eyes out at this scene when I first saw The Empire Strikes Back, not because I thought Han was dead but because I suddenly realised he wasn't immortal and was overwhelmed by his sacrifice. Why yes, I did get picked on at school, why do you ask?
Oh hi I'm John Williams and I've just tossed off the best piece of music in the entire history and future of cinema. Care for a mint?
Episode 3: Episode VI: Return Of The Jedi
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Anti-Semitism card played against Sandinista Nicaragua —already!
SAN JOSE, Costa Rica — - The return of Sandinista leader Daniel Ortega after his victory in Nicaragua's presidential election has the country's tiny Jewish community on edge.
During Ortega's last stint in power, as head of the left-wing revolutionary government from 1979-90, the entire Jewish community fled into exile while the Sandinistas built cozy relations with the PLO and other anti-Israel groups and allied themselves closely with Cuba.
Now, 16 years later, just as the community is on the verge of restoring itself to its pre-revolution levels, the Sandinistas appear to have narrowly won a new chance at heading this impoverished Central American nation.
Final counts from Sunday's election showed Ortega with 38 percent of the vote in the five-person race, ahead of chief rival Eduardo Montealegre, who won 29 percent. That was enough for Ortega to win on the first ballot under Nicaraguan law.
It marks Ortega's first victory in four tries since he was rousted out of office in a 1990 landslide. The country's anti-Sandinista right split this year, with some supporting Jorge Rizo - the handpicked successor of Arnoldo Aleman, a far-right former president currently under house arrest on corruption charges. Others, including Pataky and the United States, supported Montealegre, a former banker who was dogged by charges of insider trading involving bond issues and embargos by his bank.
An expected split on the left between Ortega and Sandinista dissidents never materialized after the Sandinistas' preferred candidate, charismatic former Managua Mayor Herty Lewites, died of a heart attack in July. Lewites was the son of a Jewish immigrant who had helped supply the Sandinistas with arms when they were a guerrilla movement in the 1970s, but they slandered the father for his Jewish roots after he split from the group. Lewites' replacement in the election, intellectual Agusto Jarquin, finished a distant fourth in Sunday's vote.
Nicaragua's Jews, never more than 100 strong, went into exile within two years after the Sandinistas overthrew the U.S.-backed Somoza dictatorship. The country was possibly without a single resident Jew for the remainder of the Sandinista era, when the synagogue was converted to a secular school - it's now a funeral home - and a number of PLO members were given Nicaraguan passports.
The Sandinista regime had hostile relations with the United States, which funded the "Contra" rebels in a bloody civil war that marred the 1980s and help send the Nicaraguan economy into a tailspin that continues to stunt development to this day.
After losing power, the Sandinistas changed their position on Israel, at least publicly, accepting diplomatic relations and abandoning their backing for rhetoric denigrating Zionism as racism. However, Sandinista leaders like the party's only surviving founder, Tomas Borge, continue to "deplore" Israeli policies in Gaza and the West Bank, and Ortega has expressed support for Iran's government, which threatens to annihilate Israel.
In recent years, Israel and Nicaragua have developed cordial relations. Israeli aid workers provide assistance to farmers in the country, but Israel has yet to open an embassy there, with the embassy in neighboring Costa Rica handling Nicaraguan affairs. Embassy officials could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Jews began returning to the country after Ortega lost the 1990 elections, although the community's Torah remains in Costa Rica. In recent weeks the community has been preparing to build a new synagogue.
Those plans may be put on hold, Rafael Lipshitz, president of the Nicaraguan Jewish Association, told JTA. He said the group's board will meet next week to discuss its future and that a community assembly will be held by early December to make a decision.
Lipshitz called the election results "worrying," but added that he advocates a waiting period before any decisions are made on the synagogue project.
Pataky, who spent her exile in Miami and supported Montealegre in Sunday's election, laughed at the idea of fleeing again. "The conditions of 1979 were totally different from today," she said. "Like all of Nicaragua, I am observing with a keen interest."
Ortega's election marks a foreign policy setback for the Bush administration and a step forward for Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who helped boost the Sandinistas' chances in the final weeks of the campaign by sending the country a shipment of free urea for fertilizer to be distributed by the Sandinistas.
Ortega is to take office in January, though his ability to govern remains in doubt: The anti-Sandinista right is expected to hold a majority in the legislature, also elected Sunday.
This kind of sloppy and one-sided pseudo-journalism merely creates a boy-who-cried-wolf syndrome which is radically eroding concern with charges of anti-Semitism at all in left-wing cricles—needless to say, a very dangerous trend. If the "entire Jewish community" of Nicaragua went into exile, how funny that as late as 1986 (when the crisis imposed by the contra war and economic embargo was at its worst), the New York Times was reporting (April 20) that "Jews who left Nicaragua after the 1979 revolution disagree sharply with the handful who still live there over whether the victorious Sandinistas engaged in anti-Semitic acts and threats."
Even funnier that one of the Sandinista Revolution's official heroes was Israel Lewites, son of a Jewish immigrant from Poland who died in a famous attack on the Masaya barracks in October 1977 and, after the Sandinistas took power, had the central market in Managua named after him. His brother Herty Lewites became Sandinista minister of tourism, and, in the '90s, mayor of Managua. Herty Lewites also represented the more principled wing of the Sandinistas which broke from Ortega's increasingly opportunistic caudillismo to form the dissident Sandinista Renewal Movement, something JTA's writer never makes clear in mentioning his presidential candidacy.
So the case for Sandinista anti-Semitism is nowhere near as clear-cut as JTA asks its readers to assume. Similarly, its pretty pathetic to uncritically accept that the FSLN turned Nicaragua into a harbor for "drug traffickers and terrorists" when the CIA turned to a private network of drug traffickers and terrorists in their campaign to oust the Sandinistas!
The author of this propaganda, Brian Harris, strikes us as the kind of "journalist" who lounges around his hotel in Costa Rica (note the dateline—not Nicaragua, a considerably less comfortable and tourist-friendly place) belting back daiquiris and reading the local press. Heaven forbid he should take the bus up the Panamerican Highway and hang out in Managua for a few days before he puts pen to paper on such weighty issues. Time to get a new guy for your Central America beat, JTA.
See our last posts on Central America and Nicaragua.
You forgot that two more jews were prominent in the Sandinista revolution: Comandante guerrilero Enrique Schmidt, who was killed by the contras, and Carlos Tunnermann, who was the minister of education.
I have to question other "facts" in the original article when the journalist messes up names and other statments about the MRS are inaccurate. It is not fair to call Herty the "Sandinistas' preferred candidate" when he was the candidate for the MRS and not the Sandinistas when he died--yes, he was popular as the Sandinista mayor of Managua but was then expelled from the party and DANIEL ORTEGA and not he was its candidate. And the vice presidential candidate who replaced him as presidential candidate for the MRS was EDMUNDO Jarquin. The "Agusto Jarquin" the author mentions is obviously a deformation of AGUSTIN Jarquin, former Comptroller General of Nicaragua who was VP candidate with DANIEL ORTEGA in 2001.
...for providing more info, but I think Lewites still considered himself a Sandinista after breaking with the FSLN. The word "Sandinista" also appears in the name of his new party, the MRS.
AFTER seizing power in Nicaragua in 1979, Sandinista revolutionaries helped themselves to the riches their defeated enemies had left behind. One "comandante," Daniel Ortega, cast his eyes upon a walled mansion in the center of Managua that was owned by a banker who had fled to Mexico. Without even the pretense of legal procedure, he confiscated the house and moved in. The owner, Jaime Morales, joined the counterrevolutionaries — the contras — and vowed to destroy the new regime by military force.
Despite hundreds of millions of dollars in American aid, the contra war failed. But so, in the end, did the Sandinistas. In 1990, Nicaraguan voters rejected Mr. Ortega. After a period of seclusion, he re-emerged with a new identity — the old-style "caudillo" who uses ideology when it suits him but is dedicated mainly to the pursuit of power.
Last week, Mr. Ortega's transformation was crowned with triumph when, on his third try, he won the Nicaraguan presidency in a free election.
His vice president is none other than Mr. Morales, who moved back to Nicaragua after the civil war ended, reached a "private arrangement" with his old nemesis (reportedly involving a land swap), and gave up his claim to his old house.
During the 1980s, Mr. Ortega denounced the contras as "beasts" and vowed to fight them unto death. No one in Nicaragua, however, was surprised when he chose a former contra as his running mate.
Mr. Ortega is, after all, a crusader for good government who has allied himself with the country's most corrupt figures; an advocate of the poor who has become very rich through a series of mysterious business deals; and a leftist ideologue who has proven ready to embrace any cause — most recently a total ban on abortion — that will bring him political advantage.
Nicaragua is a small country of 5.6 million people. Every member of the political class knows every other member, and in many cases they have complex personal and familial ties. To outsiders, the country seems bitterly divided by politics. Political disputes, however, often mask feuds within families and clans. Outsiders may interpret Mr. Ortega's abandonment of nearly everything he once seemed to believe as an act of spectacular cynicism. To Nicaraguans, it is just the latest example of how leaders of their quarrelsome nation are, in the end, prone to forgive each other and find new ways to share the spoils.
That is not the only aspect of Nicaraguan political life that has remained constant despite the huge changes that have reshaped the country over the last quarter-century. Nicaraguans, like people in some other Latin American lands, are still ready to support populist leaders who rule through the force of personality rather than through institutions. They remain suspicious of the United States, which has repeatedly intervened in Nicaragua over the last century. And they are as fascinated as ever with family melodramas that play out on a national stage.
For much of Nicaraguan history, the spiciest of these dramas involved the Chamorro and Somoza clans. Now the Ortegas have joined the show.
The president-elect's brother, Humberto, who was the Sandinista defense minister in the 1980s and who has since made a fortune in business, refused to endorse his brother's candidacy. Daniel Ortega's stepdaughter has accused him of sexually abusing her starting when she was 11 years old and he was 34. His wife, Rosario Murillo, remains unswervingly loyal. She ran this year's political campaign, in which her husband granted no interviews and participated in no debates, and she is expected to play a key role in his government. Some are already comparing her to Dinorah Sampson, who during the 1970s was the mistress of President Anastasio Somoza Debayle and a sinister power behind his throne.
Some officials in Washington seem ready to confront Mr. Ortega again. They warn that he is about to become the Central American surrogate for President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela, the newest figure on Washington's enemies list. Yet many Nicaraguans, including some former contras, want the Americans to give Mr. Ortega a second chance.
In his years out of office, Mr. Ortega became a master of backroom compromise. Soon after beginning his recent campaign, he signed a statement promising to support private enterprise and the Central American Free Trade Agreement. In the coming weeks, he is expected to ask business leaders to recommend candidates for top posts.
But as Mr. Ortega won over former enemies in Nicaragua, many old allies, including most of the comandantes with whom he ruled in the 1980s, broke with him because they could not abide his egocentric style and undisguised lust for power.


text:
The Saatchi Gallery Magazine
My Maudlin Career (4AD)
Tattooed in twee and unfairly compared to every Scottish group that went before them (most often fellow Glaswegians Belle & Sebastian), Camera Obscura once seemed destined never to find their own voice. With this, their fifth album, they appear to have finally shaken off the shackles of lazy comparisons that dogged their early career. In truth, the band's basic approach has changed little since the days of 'Eighties Fan' (the hit track from their first album, 2001's Biggest Bluest Hi Fi), when singer Tracyanne Campbell was the belle of the Bowlie ball. Her vocals are still as distinct, effortless and beautiful as ever and the band are reliably solid (but subtle) and chiming (but driving), their 'ooh-oohs' and 'Be My Baby' drum beats never overpowering the tear-in-a-beer country narratives. But Camera Obscura have now refined all that early promise into something bigger and slicker. No longer restricted by the modest ambition and budgets of the bedroom indie labels they grew up on, they have quietly matured into major league contenders. Now their albums are stocked in Tesco and they are endorsed by Paul Morley – which tells you more than the constant press release references to John Peel. What relevance Peel's imprimatur has to seventeen year-old record buyers these days is a moot point, but significantly, while a host of bands who emerged around the same time as CO could claim the great DJ's patronage, none of those 'also-rans' are still standing.
© Donald Milne
On the surface, My Maudlin Career offers no immediate departures. The trademark strings and big bold production of their last album, Let's Get Out Of is Country, are still present and correct (as is producer Jari Haapalainen) but this doesn't mean they haven't developed. Lyrically this is an ambitious record and, despite the upbeat tone of most of the songs, a sly melancholia remains at the heart of everything they do. In fact it's very easy to forget what a good songwriter Campbell is; perhaps if she were an 'anorak' indie-boy she would be recognised as such. These are love songs that make you dance as easily as they make you cry and come brimming with lines such as: "We turned the radiators on and there was no way back / Did you know you had the plough star trail on your back?" ('Other Towns And Cities'). You have to wonder why the world is Guy Garvey mad while Tracyanne draws breath. Still, like (Garvey's band) Elbow, CO have stuck it out and made their own luck. Perhaps these 'underachievers' won't have to try quite so hard next time. Greatness awaits.
JAMIE HOLMAN
Author: Gemma deCruz
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Art & Music Publications © 2021


text:
Daily Nutmeg Food. Arts. People. Events. New Haven.
Arts & Entertainment Mar 26, 2019
I n 1970, a group of Boston women looking to improve women's knowledge about their own health care self-published a book they titled Women and Their Bodies. Today, the international bestseller, better known as Our Bodies, Ourselves, is a fixture on millions of bookshelves and has educated three generations of women. This feminist classic is the focus of an exhibition of the same name, albeit with no comma, on view at Ely Center of Contemporary Art through April 10.
Most of the exhibition, comprising about a hundred works by nearly 70 artists, focuses explicitly on the body—female, male and otherwise. That includes several multimedia and interactive pieces, among them Megan Shaughnessy's Gestation (2019), which takes on our culture's expectations about pregnancy. A video projection dominates one wall, showing views of both a pregnant figure and a woman's face, while a woman's voice narrates the many physical and emotional effects of pregnancy and reads quotations—many of them from men—about pregnancy, ranging from the sentimental to the domineering.
Hanging across from the video is an "empathy sack," a 13.5-pound backpack—or, in this case, frontpack—designed to give viewers a feel for the weight of carrying a baby. A label enumerates the weight breakdown of baby, placenta, uterine muscle and amniotic fluid and acknowledges that most women gain more like 25 to 35 pounds (or more). It's tough to recreate the feeling of pregnancy. For one thing, the sack redistributes the weight to one's shoulders. But it is surprisingly heavy when lifted from its hook, and taken in conjunction with the video, it emphasizes the weight of expectations, opinions and physical and emotional burdens placed on women passing through this strange journey that is at once personal and public.
Also interactive is a display titled Kitchen Sanctum (2019), where artist Nadine Nelson was running an event during my visit, teaching artgoers how to make fresh spring rolls as an entrée into talking about social roles and relationships. "You can put anything in it, there's no rules," she instructed, though at least one participant ran into trouble with overstuffing. "Enter the kitchen sanctum," instructs the wall display, "where we will cook [and] share recipes, remedies, potions, stories, and strategies to liberate and revolutionize our connection to food, our bodies, and each other."
More traditional visual offerings in Our Bodies Ourselves are, in their own way, equally interactive as they force viewers to confront some uncomfortable images and emotions. At the top of the stairway is Leila Daw's Remains (1974), which at first glance resembles a skinned haunch of meat or discarded innards from a butcher shop slung over a rafter. But the piece is made of ivory-colored silk, delicately painted in red and green circles, dots and oblong pools of color. Other items come to mind: a woman's stockings hung to dry, a pouch of belongings. The "remains" in question might be those left at the end of a life, or perhaps simply at the end of a day. What's unavoidable is that we all leave something behind.
Nowhere is the body more viscerally examined than in Joan Fitzsimmons's Installation: The Healing Arts (2018). It demands attention as you enter the second-floor galleries, though you may find it difficult to look. Fitzsimmons has taken hyper-close photographs of scarred human skin and blown them up to fill an entire wall of the gallery. A second series commands a facing wall. Gaze, if you can, into the puckered, moist scars stapled shut and the healing purple-brown traces. Glistening wrinkles and dry scales are intimately disturbing and at the same time compelling, a reminder of what covers us all—both its fragility and its incredible ability to regenerate.
Soft Cover II (2018) by Jeanne Ciravolo may also be difficult to look at. The "canvas" is a soft mattress cover, stained as mattress covers tend to be with evidence of the bodies that have slept on them. On closer inspection, there's hidden beauty in the streaks of bloody, oozy color and the stray hairs as the delicate lines of a naked human form emerge. Like Fitzsimmons, Ciravolo seems to ask us to rethink what we sometimes categorize as "gross" and honor the beauty of, in this case, the detritus of our bodies left where they rest.
There's much, much more to see in Our Bodies Ourselves. In a 21st-century take on Johannes Vermeer's famous painting, Nerea Blanco gives us They with a Pearl Earring, with—the title suggests—a genderqueer subject, with concealed whiskers and a bold gaze that transmits a different message than the original Girl. The focus of a round-hipped, broad-shouldered female figure in Anne Doris-Eisner's Womb (2010) is a deep, dark eye at its center, a vortex that seems spun from the ribs above it. Nicole Gugliotti's audio installation Awe/Agency (2017) is an array of aspirin-shaped speakers broadcasting what sounds, at first, like cocktail party chatter. It's like the murmur of women's frustrations and aspirations beneath the surface of everyday life, some spoken loudly enough to be heard, others so quiet that only a good listener will discern them.
Our Bodies Ourselves is trying to do a lot, and viewers will have to find their own way through. The homage to the women's health tome includes a charming corner library of zines—Aly Maderson Quinlog's unNamed Zine Library (2019)—presumably in honor of the fact that the first edition of Our Bodies, Ourselves was actually a stapled newsprint booklet, hand-circulated for 75 cents. Even the next edition, which took on the current title, was printed by a small press and sold an astonishing 250,000 copies, an underground bestseller. It wasn't until 1973 that Simon & Schuster published the first commercial edition of the book.
Like those early efforts of a small group of Boston women, the work by the artists of Ely Center's Our Bodies Ourselves together assert the power of women (and a few men) putting their own stories out into the world.
Our Bodies Ourselves
Ely Center of Contemporary Art – 51 Trumbull St, New Haven (map)
Mon, Wed, Thurs 5-8pm; Sun 1-4pm through April 10
info@elycenter.org
www.elycenter.org/call-our-bodies-ourselves
Written and photographed by Kathy Leonard Czepiel.
Tags: Aly Maderson Quinlog, Anne Doris-Eisner, Ely Center of Contemporary Art, feature, Jeanne Ciravolo, Joan Fitzsimmons, Kathy Leonard Czepiel, Leila Daw, Megan Shaughnessy, Nadine Nelson, Nerea Blanco, New Haven, Nicole Gugliotti, Our Bodies Ourselves, Women and Their Bodies
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About Kathy Leonard Czepiel
View all posts by Kathy Leonard Czepiel
Kathy Leonard Czepiel is Daily Nutmeg's associate editor. She's also a fiction writer, writing teacher and book club troubleshooter. Her perfect New Haven day would involve lots of sunshine, a West Rock hike, a concert on the green and a coffee milkshake.
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Hey, don't get me wrong. I don't hate being isolated nor rebel against my parent's for keeping me close to home but it definitely gets tiring when you're just a 5-minute walk or a 15-minute car ride from school.
I started studying around 3 years old at a school located inside or village in Pasig. It was only a short walk and my mum would drop me off or pick me up before and after school. That was pretty convenient then.
Late in my elementary years, I transferred to another school which is incidentally in another village–it's in Cainta, Rizal though. Just minutes away from my house, nonetheless. My dad would still drop me off and a school bus will bring me back home. Some people would say I was spoiled but I don't think I am. My parents were simply just careful (HAHAHA As if we were rich!!!). In the fifth grade, I wanted to go out alone or with friends. I started telling the school bus driver to just bring home my school bag and I'd commute alone later then I'll go to the mall. My mum would almost get a heart attack when I do this, while my dad would get all red. I never took the warnings and the 'bibingo ka na sa akin' from them seriously because I know they would never hit me.
High school, we moved to the south. I entered St. Paul College Paranaque and for four years, I've been back-and-forth from my house to school via another school service. Although, this time around my mum was more lenient.
First year in college, I wanted to go to UST but my mother was, as usual, frightened of the fact that there are a lot of bad people in Manila so she told me to got to San Beda Alabang instead. One ride from my house.
Second year, I wanted to study in Manila. My mum threw fits when she learned I enrolled in National University but got over it eventually and understood that I just wanted to widen my view on other things and experience some more things.
Right now, I just recovered from fever (prolly because of the long travel to school) but I'm enjoying every bit of my freedom. Not too much though!


The University of New Brunswick (UNB) was named Post-Secondary Institution of the Year at the 2014 Startup Canada Awards on Thursday evening in a ceremony and reception atop the CN Tower.
In the last 25 years, UNB has emerged as a hotbed of innovation and entrepreneurship in Canada by combining experiential education with opportunities for mentorship, skill-development, leadership and commercialization.
UNB President Eddy Campbell says this award is tied directly to the innovation agenda in New Brunswick. "This is really a win for the entire entrepreneurial ecosystem in Atlantic Canada and an endorsement of the culture of innovation that is booming in this province," said Dr. Campbell.
Thanks to investment and support from government, non-profit and community partners, UNB has launched 10 startups in the last three years and has 12 more in the development stage.
Gerry Pond, visionary entrepreneur, investor, philanthropist and co-founder of UNB's Pond Deshpande Centre, also received a Lifetime Achievement Award from Startup Canada for his commitment to uniting and strengthening the entrepreneurship community in Atlantic Canada.
Dr. Dhirendra Shukla, chair of the J. Herbert Smith Centre for Technology Management and Entrepreneurship, accepted the award on behalf of UNB.
"While our faculties of business, and institutes like the International Business & Entrepreneurship Centre, Pond-Deshpande Centre and Wallace McCain Institute deserve special recognition for our stature as the most entrepreneurial university in Canada, this award really belongs to the network that surrounds and sustains the talented and passionate minds at UNB," said Dr. Shukla.
"We're part of a tremendous entrepreneurial ecosystem in Atlantic Canada and supported by government and community partners who believe in the power of innovation and entrepreneurship to drive social and economic change.


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