1. The current infrastructure will support future bulbs.
Early adoption of technology is always risky. Switching to the last data storage medium or buying the latest devices can be expensive or an investment in a fleeting trend. But LEDs are here to stay, and their current support systems are built to last. Whether you want to start retrofitting your hospital in sections or you want to overhaul the whole property, switching to LEDs is a safe bet.
2. Dimmable, programmable bulbs help people do their jobs.
LEDs in hospitals don't just have the general benefits like in other commercial settings. They also have specific benefits for your employees and your patients. You can automatically program LEDs to duplicate daylight with bright white light so employees on the night shift are more alert. You can also add dimmable bulbs to waiting rooms and patient rooms. Even color-changing bulbs are being studied for their positive impacts on people's healing rates.
3. Save on variable expenses.
Hospitals cost a lot of money to run. You have to keep the lights on 24/7, and even a single hospital room has a lot of specific lighting requirements. But LED bulbs will cut down on electrical costs. Because they have long lifespans, you also save on replacement bulbs, or diodes, over the years.
Contact us at Relumination to get started. We can help plan, implement, and analyze your hospital's lighting systems.


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Cuomo Vetoes 'Forgiveness Bill' For Area School District
Mahopac High School Photo Credit: File
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New York State Gov. Andrew Cuomo vetoed a bill that would have offered relief to an area school district that finds itself in financial trouble due to administrative mistakes.
Cuomo vetoed a "forgiveness bill" earlier this month that would have provided the Mahopac Central School District with $3.1 million in relief after a paperwork snafu. The decision has drawn the ire of some local politicians.
"By all accounts, when the state changed the application process for school districts applying for building aid, there was some confusion, and a number of districts submitted applications with errors," New York State Sen. Pete Harckham said. "This was nearly nine years ago, however. The penalties that are being levied on the school district now are unfairly affecting taxpayers and students who were not even in the district when the mistakes occurred."
In the 2011-2012 school year, the administrative errors led to incorrect information being submitted for eight capital improvement projects that received state funding. The state legislation would have allowed the school district to forgo having to repay $3.1 million it has received for the projects because of those errors.
A cost report for a capital project during the 2011-2012 academic year was never submitted to the state, which could cost the district $4 million in the long run. Several projects were completed that year, though a previous administration's mistakes may cost the current administration and students millions.
The gaffe was reportedly discovered last year, when an administrator noticed that eight projects totaling $11 million were never submitted to state officials in 2012. Because that deadline was missed, the district may have to pay back more than $3 million and will lose out on nearly $3 million in aid it's supposed to receive.
The district would still have been eligible for $2.7 million of funding promised by the state for the projects.
As a result of the clerical error, the district incurred steep penalties and has been forced to reconsider what to spend on capital projects in the coming years.
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The Economic Impact of Banning Muslims from the U.S.
Donald Trump has proposed that Muslims be barred from entering the U.S. We know the firestorm this has created among political pundits, social commentators, and civil rights activists. But beyond the question of what is politically correct or socially just or legally possible, there's the question of dollars and cents. What would be the economic impact of such a move?
The industry most obviously impacted by the proposed ban would be, of course, tourism. Just like tourists of other religions or ethnicities, most Muslim tourists entering the U.S. are seeking recreation, and they're carrying money to spend—large amounts of it, reportedly. In fact, reports indicate that Muslim tourists spend on average $2,000 more than European travelers. The cartoon image being painted in some quarters of desert wanderers bent on destruction is pretty far from the reality; Muslim tourists are seeking entertainment and luxury goods just as much, if not more, than their counterparts of other faiths and nationalities (many Muslim visitors come from oil-rich nations with top-notch luxury sectors).
So, how big is the Muslim tourism pie that Trump suggests the U.S. should be taking out its pantry? Big enough to have countries such as Japan and Australia making adjustments in their tourism offering and inserting Muslim-friendly amenities just to get a slice. In fact, according to research done jointly by consultancy DinarStandard and rating agency CrescentRatings, by 2020 overall annual spending for international Muslim tourism is expected to reach $192 billion.
According to the study, in 2011, Muslims spent an estimated $126.1 billion on international travel, which constitutes 12.3% of all international travel. However, the trends indicate that this group's portion of total tourism spending is growing, since the study projects that until at least 2020 Muslim international tourism will increase at a faster rate (4.79%) than the average rate for international tourism (3.8%).
Furthermore, the ban's effects could extend into the realm of Arab investments that include, but are not limited, to the Muslim world. It's been cited on the website of the Aspen Institute that, in 2015, four out of the top ten sovereign wealth funds in the world could be traced to the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council), which reportedly manages, in total, an estimated 2 trillion pounds in assets. It's even been noted by some analysts that during the period of the 2010 European Debt Crisis, which was on the heels of the Global Financial Crisis in 2007, the Gulf provided vital liquidity in European markets. Also worth considering is the fact that according to DinarStandard, 57 Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) countries represented a GDP in 2013 of $6.7 trillion and this is projected to grow in the period from 2015 to 2019 at a higher rate (5.4%) than the rest of the world (3.6%), in fact at a rate that exceeds that of the BRIC nations (3.9%).
It's important to note that Muslim populations in these areas also represent potential markets, with doors at which our exports might have to go knocking. What purchasing decisions will they make? And what about the purchasing decisions being made right in the U.S. by our Muslim population – numbering between 6 and 8 million? It's been reported by the U.S. Embassy in Iraq on its website, based on Pew Research numbers, that a significant portion of that population are immigrants, who tend to be more educated, and to make more money than the average American citizen. The Embassy notes that there are "strong concentrations of Muslims in professional, managerial and technical fields, especially in information technology, education, medicine, law and the corporate world". And their purchasing decisions tend to lean toward American products, with research by the Pew Research Center showing that they are "decidedly American in their outlook," and some studies indicating that they tend to buy American cars.
How would a ban affect these purchasing decisions?
Let's not forget our higher education sector, with the U.S. Embassy itself noting that "state universities… often have sizeable numbers of foreign-born Muslim students and faculty." How could these institutions be affected, and what would be the impact on their bottom line when they must deal with staffing challenges and costs, and possibly reductions in contributions and tuition inflows from those in the Middle Eastern community?
The safety of the American people is a paramount concern, but when considering possible policies to ensure homeland security, decision-makers must weigh the effectiveness of such policies against the potential effects on the country's economic and social wellbeing. Donald Trump's suggestion that immigration by Muslims into the U.S. be banned over security concerns, at least temporarily, could have far-reaching, and long-lasting effects on inflows of investments from certain regions and potential tourism revenue, as well as on certain parts of the U.S.'s private sector.
Why did the U.S. government take control of the steel industry in 1952?


Michael Myers takes over Oct. 31, Hocus Pocus airs for 12 hours straight and more Halloween viewing options.
Take a horror flick marathon, add a sugar rush and Halloween 2018 is complete.
Major networks and streaming sites are throwing flashy specials around this year — Netflix and Hulu even started a clever name war — which means your weekend and Oct. 31 television options are frightful.
Here's what's on TV this Halloween week.
"Halloween" (Oct. 31): Michael Myers is taking over Halloween. The AMC marathon starts at 9 a.m. with the the fifth film, "The Revenge of Michael Myers" and concludes 11 p.m. with the 1978 original. After you get your "Halloween" fix, consider dropping by the theater for the re-imagined film circa 2018.
"Hocus Pocus" (Oct. 31): You probably won't actually spend an entire 12 hours with the Sanderson sisters, but Freeform is making sure you won't miss out on your Halloween movie tradition no matter how late your shift runs. The network is slated to air the Sarah Jessica Parker, Bette Midler and Kathy Najimy flick — celebrating its 25th anniversary — at 12:30 p.m., 2:40 p.m., 4:45 p.m., 6:60 p.m., 8:55 p.m. and midnight.
"Aliens" (Oct. 31): Sigourney Weaver will battle space creatures in "Alien," "Aliens," "Alien 3" and "Alien Resurrection," airing consecutively on IFC from 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.
"Ghost Adventures" (Oct. 31): Spook yourself out with stories of the world's real-life haunts as told by paranormal investigator Zak Bagans. The Travel Channel is airing back-to-back episodes from noon to midnight.
"South Park" (Oct. 31): Maybe Halloween isn't for you; maybe "South Park" is. Comedy Central is airing the series' best from 9:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. It all leads up to a new episode at 10 p.m.
"Ridiculousness" (Oct. 31): For your prank portion of the evening, Rob Dyrdek will offer up a 14-hour stretch of his internet video clip show on MTV. The marathon is set to run 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. and will be followed by the 2000 parody "Scary Movie" at 11 p.m.
TCM's classic haunts (Oct. 31): Staying true to expectations, TCM is airing mystery and thriller films dating back to 1942 ("Cat People"). There are more than a dozen films set to air on Halloween. The most notable: "House of Wax" at 8 p.m., "Pit and the Pendulum" at 9:45 and "The Masque of the Red Death" at 11:15 p.m.
"31 Nights of Halloween" (through Oct. 31): It doesn't really matter what time of day you choose to kick back with the remote and a tub of popcorn. Freeform's annual Halloween special — expanded from 13 days to 31 — includes daily viewings of all the family-friendly favorites like "The Addams Family" and "Monsters." A few non-Halloween specific movies made it into the mix this year, like "The Parent Trap" and "Maleficent." Visit freeform.go.com for the full lineup, dates and times.
"Netflix and Chills" (through Oct. 31): If Netflix attended your Halloween party, it would be dressed up as a combination of all the classic horror villains. The streaming service has made several scary movies — like "Children of the Corn" and "The Shining" — available for viewing through Oct. 31. Plus, it's added a few of its own spooky series, like "The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina" and a "Haunted" docuseries.


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Q: Merge two images(Byte array format) to a single image with alpha How to merge two byte array images using alpha mask to a image. I want to add an image on top of other image with alpha using byte operations.
How to achieve this for byte array images?

A: Considering you are using true color format (here 32bit - ARGB), Here is how you can do. Adding pseudo code so that it will be useful for any language (infact a bit lazy to write in Java ;)).
Assuming Color Struct - 4 bytes per each color

//Prefill with color information
Color[] image1;
Color[] image2;

Color[] composedImage;

//For individual color components. Just normal blend equation.
composedImage[i].r = (1-image2[i].a) * image1[i].r + image2[i].a * image2[i].r;
composedImage[i].g = (1-image2[i].a) * image1[i].g + image2[i].a * image2[i].g;
composedImage[i].b = (1-image2[i].a) * image1[i].b + image2[i].a * image2[i].b;

//For final alpha
composedImage[_i].a = image1[_i].a + image2[_i].a * (1 -_image1[_i].a); //This is just by observation.

For optimisation,

*

*Can completely ignore creating memory for composedImage and overwrite any one of the input image (if it suits your case).

*Pre-calculate the common operations Ex: (1-image2[i].a)

*If you are blending your second image in many places, having a premultiplied color values makes much more sense and avoid multiplication operations.

Above should make you dive in now! ^_^

A: I have this code. You would need to convert your images to Drawable format but that is easy enough.
Just pass in a resource object and 2 drawables.
public static Bitmap GetOverlayedImage(Resources res, Drawable img1, Drawable img2) {
    float den = res.getDisplayMetrics().density;
    int dip = (int) (80 * den + 0.5f);
    int sz = (int) (128 * den + 0.5f);

    Drawable[] layers = new Drawable[2];
    layers[0] = img1;
    layers[1] = img2;

    LayerDrawable layerDrawable = new LayerDrawable(layers);
    layerDrawable.setLayerInset(1, dip, dip, 0, 00);

    Bitmap b = Bitmap.createBitmap(sz, sz, Bitmap.Config.ARGB_8888);
    layerDrawable.setBounds(0, 0, sz, sz);
    layerDrawable.draw(new Canvas(b));

    return b;
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Q: Hikari - org.postgresql.util.PSQLException: The connection attempt failed I am connecting to a postgres database using spring boot java. I recently add hikari connection pooling to my code and started getting the following error. The error will not show up for days but sometimes it returns.
here is the error:
INFO 1 --- [           main] com.zaxxer.hikari.HikariDataSource       : HikariPool-1 - Starting...
ERROR 1 --- [           main] com.zaxxer.hikari.pool.HikariPool        : HikariPool-1 - Exception during pool initialization.

org.postgresql.util.PSQLException: The connection attempt failed.
at org.postgresql.core.v3.ConnectionFactoryImpl.openConnectionImpl(ConnectionFactoryImpl.java:331) ~[postgresql-42.3.5.jar:42.3.5]
at org.postgresql.core.ConnectionFactory.openConnection(ConnectionFactory.java:49) ~[postgresql-42.3.5.jar:42.3.5]
at org.postgresql.jdbc.PgConnection.<init>(PgConnection.java:223) ~[postgresql-42.3.5.jar:42.3.5]
at org.postgresql.Driver.makeConnection(Driver.java:402) ~[postgresql-42.3.5.jar:42.3.5]
at org.postgresql.Driver.connect(Driver.java:261) ~[postgresql-42.3.5.jar:42.3.5]
at com.zaxxer.hikari.util.DriverDataSource.getConnection(DriverDataSource.java:138) ~[HikariCP-4.0.3.jar:na]
at com.zaxxer.hikari.pool.PoolBase.newConnection(PoolBase.java:364) ~[HikariCP-4.0.3.jar:na]
at com.zaxxer.hikari.pool.PoolBase.newPoolEntry(PoolBase.java:206) ~[HikariCP-4.0.3.jar:na]
at com.zaxxer.hikari.pool.HikariPool.createPoolEntry(HikariPool.java:476) [HikariCP-4.0.3.jar:na]
at com.zaxxer.hikari.pool.HikariPool.checkFailFast(HikariPool.java:561) [HikariCP-4.0.3.jar:na]
at com.zaxxer.hikari.pool.HikariPool.<init>(HikariPool.java:115) [HikariCP-4.0.3.jar:na]
at com.zaxxer.hikari.HikariDataSource.getConnection(HikariDataSource.java:112) [HikariCP-4.0.3.jar:na]
at org.flywaydb.core.internal.jdbc.JdbcUtils.openConnection(JdbcUtils.java:48) [flyway-core-8.5.11.jar:na]
at org.flywaydb.core.internal.jdbc.JdbcConnectionFactory.<init>(JdbcConnectionFactory.java:75) [flyway-core-8.5.11.jar:na]
at org.flywaydb.core.FlywayExecutor.execute(FlywayExecutor.java:147) [flyway-core-8.5.11.jar:na]
at org.flywaydb.core.Flyway.migrate(Flyway.java:124) [flyway-core-8.5.11.jar:na]
at org.springframework.boot.autoconfigure.flyway.FlywayMigrationInitializer.afterPropertiesSet(FlywayMigrationInitializer.java:66) [spring-boot-autoconfigure-2.7.0.jar:2.7.0]
at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.invokeInitMethods(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:1863) [spring-beans-5.3.20.jar:5.3.20]
at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.initializeBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:1800) [spring-beans-5.3.20.jar:5.3.20]
at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.doCreateBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:620) [spring-beans-5.3.20.jar:5.3.20]
at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.createBean(AbstractAutowireCapableBeanFactory.java:542) [spring-beans-5.3.20.jar:5.3.20]
at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.lambda$doGetBean$0(AbstractBeanFactory.java:335) [spring-beans-5.3.20.jar:5.3.20]
at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.DefaultSingletonBeanRegistry.getSingleton(DefaultSingletonBeanRegistry.java:234) ~[spring-beans-5.3.20.jar:5.3.20]
at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.doGetBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:333) [spring-beans-5.3.20.jar:5.3.20]
at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.getBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:208) [spring-beans-5.3.20.jar:5.3.20]
at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.doGetBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:322) [spring-beans-5.3.20.jar:5.3.20]
at org.springframework.beans.factory.support.AbstractBeanFactory.getBean(AbstractBeanFactory.java:208) [spring-beans-5.3.20.jar:5.3.20]
at org.springframework.context.support.AbstractApplicationContext.getBean(AbstractApplicationContext.java:1154) ~[spring-context-5.3.20.jar:5.3.20]
at org.springframework.context.support.AbstractApplicationContext.finishBeanFactoryInitialization(AbstractApplicationContext.java:908) ~[spring-context-5.3.20.jar:5.3.20]
at org.springframework.context.support.AbstractApplicationContext.refresh(AbstractApplicationContext.java:583) ~[spring-context-5.3.20.jar:5.3.20]
at org.springframework.boot.web.servlet.context.ServletWebServerApplicationContext.refresh(ServletWebServerApplicationContext.java:147) ~[spring-boot-2.7.0.jar:2.7.0]
at org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication.refresh(SpringApplication.java:734) ~[spring-boot-2.7.0.jar:2.7.0]
at org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication.refreshContext(SpringApplication.java:408) ~[spring-boot-2.7.0.jar:2.7.0]
at org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication.run(SpringApplication.java:308) ~[spring-boot-2.7.0.jar:2.7.0]
at org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication.run(SpringApplication.java:1306) ~[spring-boot-2.7.0.jar:2.7.0]
at org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication.run(SpringApplication.java:1295) ~[spring-boot-2.7.0.jar:2.7.0]
at com.customer.testing.CustomerApplication.main(CustomerApplication.java:11) ~[classes/:na]
Caused by: java.net.SocketTimeoutException: connect timed out
at java.net.PlainSocketImpl.socketConnect(Native Method) ~[na:1.8.0_212]
at java.net.AbstractPlainSocketImpl.doConnect(AbstractPlainSocketImpl.java:350) ~[na:1.8.0_212]
at java.net.AbstractPlainSocketImpl.connectToAddress(AbstractPlainSocketImpl.java:206) ~[na:1.8.0_212]
at java.net.AbstractPlainSocketImpl.connect(AbstractPlainSocketImpl.java:188) ~[na:1.8.0_212]
at java.net.SocksSocketImpl.connect(SocksSocketImpl.java:392) ~[na:1.8.0_212]
at java.net.Socket.connect(Socket.java:589) ~[na:1.8.0_212]
at org.postgresql.core.PGStream.createSocket(PGStream.java:241) ~[postgresql-42.3.5.jar:42.3.5]
at org.postgresql.core.PGStream.<init>(PGStream.java:98) ~[postgresql-42.3.5.jar:42.3.5]
at org.postgresql.core.v3.ConnectionFactoryImpl.tryConnect(ConnectionFactoryImpl.java:109) ~[postgresql-42.3.5.jar:42.3.5]
at org.postgresql.core.v3.ConnectionFactoryImpl.openConnectionImpl(ConnectionFactoryImpl.java:235) ~[postgresql-42.3.5.jar:42.3.5]
... 36 common frames omitted

WARN 1 --- [           main] ConfigServletWebServerApplicationContext : Exception encountered during context initialization - cancelling refresh attempt: org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanCreationException: Error creating bean with name 'flywayInitializer' defined in class path resource [org/springframework/boot/autoconfigure/flyway/FlywayAutoConfiguration$FlywayConfiguration.class]: Invocation of init method failed; nested exception is org.flywaydb.core.internal.exception.FlywaySqlException: Unable to obtain connection from database: The connection attempt failed.

and this is my hikari configuration:
spring.jpa.hibernate.connection.provider_class=org.hibernate.hikaricp.internal.HikariCPConnectionProvider
spring.datasource.hikari.connection-timeout=${HIKARI_CONNECTION_TIMEOUT:60000}
spring.datasource.hikari.maximum-pool-size=${HIKARI_MAX_POOL_SIZE:10}
spring.datasource.hikari.idle-timeout=${HIKARI_IDLE_TIMEOUT:60000}
spring.datasource.hikari.minimum-idle=${HIKARI_MIN_IDLE:2}
spring.datasource.hikari.max-lifetime=${HIKARI_MAX_LIFETIME:1800000}


Hush is the boss of the Blue Womb.
Hush starts off with a fight identical to the ??? fight, having the same attacks and behavior but a noticeably different appearance and half of ???'s health (as well as a 2×2 room). After Hush's first form is defeated, it reveals its large true form at the top of the room, taking the form of its splash screen appearance. Its health pool is very large, and its basic attacks consist of barrages of shots following various patterns akin to those in the "bullet hell" genre of shoot 'em ups. Combined with enemy summons in between, the attacks can be particularly hard to evade.
During the fight against Hush's true form, every time Isaac deals roughly 20% of its health, it will sink into the ground, becoming stationary, non-attacking, and invulnerable. Once most of the projectiles on screen have dissipated, it will pop back up, using more varied attacks than before.
Shoots rapid-fire lines of tears that curve as they move.
Shoots rapid-fire lines of tears in eight directions with varying intensity and speed.
Two eternal flies begin to circle around Hush, occasionally blocking tears.
Summons Attack Flies, Moters, Pooters, or Super Pooters to orbit around himself.
Fires 4 homing tears in a lop-sided X pattern.
Fires 8 homing tears in every direction.
Hush will teleport at a distance in front of the player, either in the last direction he was moving, or directly onto the player if he didn't move at all. Hush will not teleport if he is slowed (e.g. with a Stop Watch Removed in Afterbirth Automatically inflicts slow to all enemies in every room.
Added in Afterbirth Upon taking damage, inflicts slow to all enemies for the current room.).
Hush fires barrages of bullets in certain patterns, combining 1-3 different patterns of shots. The same pattern can be used multiple times in each barrage.
Hush spawns a cluster of Hush Flies that fly toward Isaac. These flies have invincibility for a short time after being spawned.
Hush spawns a horde of Blue Gapers, which have an appearance similar to Hush's first form, before sinking into the ground to relocate. While relocating, Hush summons Blue Boils that fire either single shots or triple salvos at Isaac that can travel across the room. Hush is invulnerable in this state.
Hush fires three rows of wavy Continuum +2.25 Range Up. +1.5 Tear Height. Isaac's tears travel through walls and appear out of the opposite wall. Isaac's tears also travel over rocks and objects. shots in one of the cardinal directions, which warp over to the other side of the screen and increase in speed the longer they travel. Hush will perform this attack 2-5 times before using a different one. These shots move in a set pattern, so standing still in a safe spot will allow Isaac to avoid an entire barrage.
Hush sinks into the ground while firing its barrages patterns, moving in a random direction or chasing Isaac as it fires, and spawning Blue Boils as it moves. Hush is invulnerable in this state.
Hush creates three large red projectiles that move outward and split rapidly into numerous smaller projectiles. Hush can start other attacks before the projectiles from this attack fully dissipate.
Hush fires two laser beams upward from its eyes, which will create beams on the ground that move toward Isaac and leave slippery Blue Creep in their wake. The speed at which the beams move is based on Isaac's speed stat, and are always possible to outmaneuver. While firing these lasers, Hush will also release wavy, slow-moving lines of tears in five directions.
When defeated, Hush will scream and disappear in a flash of light. The ground where it once was will become scorched in a shape resembling a distressed face.
Hush's initial appearance in Phase 1.
Hush's appearance in the second part of Phase 1.
Hush's appearance in the third and final part of Phase 1.
Hush's true form in Phase 2.
Unused and unfinished skinless Hush sprite sheet.
New Area - Defeat Hush for the 1st time.
Purity - Defeat Hush as Magdalene.
D12 - Defeat Hush as Cain.
Betrayal - Defeat Hush as Judas.
Fate's Reward - Defeat Hush as ???.
Athame - Defeat Hush as Eve.
Blind Rage - Defeat Hush as Samson.
Maw of the Void - Defeat Hush as Azazel.
Empty Vessel - Defeat Hush as Lazarus.
Eden's Blessing - Defeat Hush as Eden.
Sworn Protector - Defeat Hush as The Lost.
Incubus - Defeat Hush as Lilith.
Keeper now holds... A Penny! - Defeat Hush as Keeper.
Hushy - Defeat Hush as Apollyon.
Hallowed Ground - Defeat Hush as The Forgotten.
Earn all 9 Completion Marks on hard mode as The Lost.
Damage scaling is an unclear mechanic introduced by Nicalis in The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth to provide a more challenging experience to the players, enabling some enemies to retaliate against high damage attacks by deploying an "armor" of sort to greatly reduce the amount of damage taken. Further details and an in-depth explanation may be found here.
Having a Stop Watch for this fight is very valuable, as the slow effect triggered upon taking a hit will aid the player's ability to dodge the complex tear patterns and deal with the massive spawns of enemies, which can happen in quick succession.
Using the 'I'm Drowsy' pill will have the same effect as Stop Watch.
Any items that can fend off projectiles will be highly useful for the fight. Orbital familiars, Circle of Protection, The Soul, Trinity Shield, Dry Baby, Fart Baby, and Infamy may greatly help mitigate damage.
When the player has piercing tears, however, Lost Contact can cause dodging most attacks to become trivial regardless of the player's tears stat, as the player's tears will destroy any enemy projectiles they come into contact with while remaining themselves intact.
Piercing tears (or any tear-replacing item that grants a piercing attack) are also useful for killing the enemies Hush spawns, preventing Isaac from becoming overwhelmed and allowing him to dodge its other attacks more easily.
Marked and homing tears may help to land more tears while trying to avoid enemy projectiles, either by automatically firing at or targeting Hush even if the shot is a little off.
A safe way to beat Hush is through the usage of Gnawed Leaf in combination with a passively damaging item such as Daddy Longlegs or The Pinking Shears, though it will take a while. Using The Ludovico Technique in combination with Gnawed Leaf can also be effective since Hush doesn't move a lot.
Hush is affected by the Chaos Card. It's advised to save the card for phase 2, which has far more health. Alternatively, throwing it upwards during its first phase can kill both phases if timed correctly.
Hiding in a corner may assist the player in dodging some of Hush's bullet hell attacks by allowing time for the associated projectiles to spread out.
Although Samson's Chains can block shots, the wavy path of Hush's continuum shots may allow them to hurt the player even when they are directly behind the ball from Samson's Chains.
Having three orbitals, e.g. Pretty Fly, Big Fan, Cube of Meat or Ball of Bandages at once will block a large number of Hush's shots.
Ventricle Razor allows the player to repeatedly enter and exit the boss room, granting multiple uses of items like the Wooden Nickel to help as the Keeper, provided a source of charges is available. Multiple pickups may also be dropped for use during the fight.
Holy Mantle can also be reset in this way, giving the player infinite attempts to kill Hush without taking any damage.
Serpent's Kiss or Maw of the Void will make killing Hush's spawns occasionally drop black hearts, effectively increasing the player's health pool past the normal restriction of twelve hearts.
When playing as Keeper, Head of the Keeper and Wooden Nickel can be used to drop spare coins on the floor that can be taken after being hit. The latter can be combined with The Battery for one extra charge, and with 9 Volt for continuous recharges every 15 seconds.
A Card Against Humanity works in the Hush room. This can be used to generate hearts and coins. Having Sack Head or Petrified Poop makes this strategy even more effective.
Regardless of Isaac's item combination, taking occasional breaks between firing at Hush is effective, as during this period, Hush's damage resistance will decrease since he isn't taking any damage.
It is not recommended to have Broken Modem, as it will stop Hush's tears and close some escape routes, making it harder to dodge in some cases.
If the player is able to get Mysterious Liquid Tears leave a small, short lasting pool of creep on impact or when their range is depleted. and Trisagion Tears are replaced with piercing white blasts of light. (and possible a high tear rate + slow moving tears), the player is able to kill Hush extremely quickly due to the multiple tear creeps underneath him, which doesn't seem to trigger his resistances.
Defeating Hush for the first time will spawn a Final Boss Chest. Moving into the chest will unlock Ending 17 and end the run.
Using the Emergency Contact on Hush's second form seems to lower its damage resistance by 50% for approximately 5 seconds.
Though it is possible to fight Hush in Challenges, doing so is not recommended. Despite the fact that it offers the chance for two or more new items, the fight is very difficult, and the player may lose more that what they have gained.
In its first form (the replica of the ??? fight), "Ascension" plays while in its second form, the name of the boss theme is "Morituros".
Morituros in Latin is the accusative masculine plural for 'about to die', which roughly translates to "those who will die".
Hush is one of two bosses that have damage resistance, the other being Ultra Greed.
Hush is one of only two bosses in the game with a Boss Room scaled in a 2x2 fashion, the other being Delirium.
There is an unused file in the game named "boss_hush_skinless" which appears to be an unfinished spritesheet for a third form of Hush. It resembles a red, fleshy version of the head of The Forsaken. This was confirmed by Edmund to be "a red herring for dataminers."
Tyrone has confirmed that Hush's "skinless phase" was originally intended to be his second form, having concept art ideas based on it.
It is possible to spawn it using console command. It moves, but doesn't attack in any way.
Hush has the second-highest health of any boss in the game, with a total of 7666 health; only Delirium has more health. However, Hush has damage resistance while Delirium does not.
Hush shares his name with a level from Edmund's previous game Super Meat Boy.
Hush's boss room gradually becomes darker as Hush loses health.
According to Edmund on Twitter, Hush represents Isaac's imminent death slowly approaching towards him, which is the reason why Hush and ??? are the same thing, since ??? represents Isaac suffocating in the chest.
According to Edmund on Twitter, Hush is a giant ??? pushing from the other side.
Bug! If Delirious is used in phase 2 of the Hush fight and Delirium is killed,The Calm (music usually played after defeating a boss) will replace Morituros.
Bug! Having the No Return seed enabled when going to Hush will result in no doors being available, softlocking the run.
This page was last edited on 19 April 2019, at 17:42.


A lot of fans over the years have asked me about my astrological star sign, but I never responded. I kind of thought astrology was stupid. I mean, I'm a scientist. With a degree in biochemistry and advanced real-world experience with genetic engineering. Astrology seemed like hooey.
But then Lynsey G, the writer who's making a graphic novel about me, wrote this piece on Luna Luna about What's Your Labyrinth Zodiac Sign? And I love Labyrinth! So I read it and that took me down this long, long path, learning about astrology. I basically did nothing for the past few days except learn allllll about myself and like HOLY CRAP YOU GUYS it's so so so true!
So my birthday is December 19, so I'm a Sagittarius-Capricorn cusp (sun sign) with a Gemini moon and Scorpio rising. (Also I'm a Tiger according to the Chinese Zodiac and Elder Tree in Celtic Tree Zodiac, in case you were wondering.) But the main thing is, I'm a Sag-Cap cusp–or, as I like to call it, a Sapricorn! Or a Caprittarius!
Ooh, not sure which I like better.
The fact that I'm curious, witty, and charming, but also prone to moodiness and emotional vapidity is because I'm a Gemini rising. Go figure! Hah!
Annnnd I'm basically a force to be reckoned with in everything I do, thanks to my Scoprio rising.
So basically I'm SO glad I started looking into astrology because I feel SO GOOD about this! Like, I know myself better now, lol!
Anyway, my friend Jayel Draco (who's illustrating the graphic novel about me, hehehe) made me this GORGEOUS illustration of myself as a Sapricorn/Caprittarius!


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Your Daily Fashion And Beauty News
Let's Stop Dragging Jessica Allen Down with Don Cherry, OK?
(Photos: Getty Images and Bell Media)
While hockey fans are used to seeing a fight or two on the ice, the biggest brawl of late has taken place off ice—in the court of public opinion (and Twitter, of course). Last week, longtime hockey commentator Don Cherry was fired from his position on Sportsnet's Coach's Corner after making some seriously problematic comments in a November 10 segment. In a completely unprompted rant, Cherry launched into a tirade against what he says are fewer people wearing poppies in honour of Remembrance Day. Specifically, Cherry singled out those he believes are immigrants in Toronto.
"You people, you come here…you love our way of life, you love our milk and honey, at least you can pay a couple bucks for a poppy or something like that," Cherry said in the broadcast. "These guys paid for your way of life that you enjoy in Canada, these guys paid the biggest price."
Don Cherry's rant on immigrants:
"You people… love our way of life, love our milk and honey. At least you could pay a couple of bucks for poppies or something like that. These guys paid for your way of life that you enjoy in Canada."
Ron MacLean nodded and gave a thumbs up. pic.twitter.com/OXnIwV1n9T
— Rosa Hwang (@journorosa) November 10, 2019
In response to his comments, the internet went wild, with Canadians across the country sharing photos and memories of their immigrant family members who served Canada. After his firing, fans of Cherry protested online and IRL, with a petition calling for his reinstatement amassing over 200,000 signatures and the hashtag #boycottsportsnet trending. Cherry, for his part, doubled down on his comments. A day later, The Social's Jessica Allen commented on Cherry's firing and the backlash from hockey fans around his departure, saying: "I don't worship at the altar of hockey…there's a certain kind of person, in my mind, in my experience, who does," Allen said in the segment. "And they all tended to be white boys who weren't, let's say very nice, they were not generally thoughtful, they were often bullies, their parents were able to afford to spend $5,000 a year on minor hockey…and for me Don Cherry is the walking and talking representative of that type."
And, for some reason, *this* is the comment that took off as out-of-bounds. Soon after her comments, #FireJessAllen started trending on Twitter and as of November 14, #BoycottCTV (the network that owns The Social) was also trending. Several parents of players involved in the Humboldt bus crash also spoke out against Allen, concerned that she was spreading prejudice and assumptions about their sons. While both Allen and CTV have since issued apologies, many people are still accusing Allen of negatively stereotyping a group, calling her comments offensive and putting them on par with Cherry's.
And honestly? That needs to stop; comparing the two comments is a non-starter:
Listen, Cherry probably isn't racist
I'd like to give the popular hockey commentator *some* benefit of the doubt. I don't know that Cherry is a racist person, or at least he probably doesn't think he's racist—but that doesn't mean that he's not subconsciously subscribing to and perpetuating harmful racist language and stereotypes.
Anyone who's a visible minority knows the implications behind "you people." While arguments have since arisen that the ambiguity around this phrase means Cherry could have been addressing *anyone,* a.k.a he could have also been addressing non-immigrants and non-racialized people, I'm calling BS. "You people" is a perfect example of "dog whistle" language, words that—from the exterior—appear innocent and like they mean one thing (for example, you the people who don't wear poppies), but actually signal something coded and more insidious. In the case of Cherry's comments, "you people" clearly sets an "us" versus "them" dichotomy between "real" Canadians (ie: white Canadians) and the "other" (immigrants of colour). As Toronto Star columnist Royson James wrote in a November 15 column: "'You people' is the refuge of the xenophobe — it's a narrow, small-minded, racist identifier that hurts, perhaps surprisingly, each time."
But it whittles down to who has power
And it's this racial dynamic that makes Cherry's comments so much more harmful, because they're steeped in and directed at a community that has a history of being marginalized and oppressed. The big difference between Allen's and Cherry's comments is who they are aimed at—and the history of power within those groups. It's the difference between punching up and punching down.
Typically used in relation to comedy, the notion of punching up versus punching down applies to going after a person or group who is above you—such as in power, societal status or privilege—or someone below you, respectively. The rule stands that it's always more worthwhile to target those a notch above you, usually those with tangible power who are abusing it (*ahem* Trump *ahem*).
As BuzzFeed writer Scaachi Koul pointed out in an October 2016 article about conservative talking heads poking fun at minority groups:"There's a reason why jesters made fun of kings," she writes. "There's nothing funny to be wrung from punching below your weight."
And the same can be said outside of comedy, too. In this scenario, Cherry is the one with immense privilege, in every sense of the word. He's a wealthy white man with an enormous platform and a fan base that obviously listens to and values what he says (at least if the backlash to his firing is any indication). He's taking aim at a visibly marginalized group, with no platform and already tenuous standing as immigrants; a group at a disadvantage to defending themselves publicly against his generalization. It's more like the King taking aim at the jester. And really, how fair is that?
On the other hand, in the context of Allen's comments, hockey culture—as a predominantly white and inherent part of stereotypical Canadian identity—is firmly rooted in a place of power that is whiteness and maleness. While it's important to note that the demographics within hockey are (thankfully) changing, the fact remains that it *is* an inherently white sport. A 2016 study done by The Hamilton Spectator found that in Ontario, an elite AAA player's family can spend up to $15,000 annually. As The Guardian writer Sameer Rao points out in a March article, these costs "inevitably prevent many Indigenous, Black, Latinx and immigrant groups, who experience disproportionate poverty, from enrolling their children." In addition to cost, the Spectator found that several factors, including geography, public policy and the funding mechanisms of non-profits, make it increasingly difficult for low- and middle-income families to access the sport, particularly at competitive levels.
Hockey is played by predominantly white males. It has a history of embracing misogynist behaviour. The cost excludes members of marginalized communities. If you're raising your hockey sons to do hockey differently, great. It doesn't make what #JessicaAllen said any less true.
— Ally Garber (@AllyGarbs) November 15, 2019
While data based on race in hockey is limited, the sport has historically been white and still has issues with racism on the ice, so it's not a stretch to say that a large percentage of those within the community *do* come from a systemic position of power; a position rooted in colonialism and Eurocentric thinking and one that continues to privilege whiteness. Which makes any claims of "reverse racism" or equivalency between Allen and Cherry's comments, false. The two groups targeted—racialized immigrants and white hockey players—are not starting on a level playing field. Allen is punching up.
The stakes are much higher for those Cherry is talking about
And it's because of this discrepancy in societal standing that the stakes for immigrants is much higher; the implications between Allen and Cherry's statements are much different. Cool, so everyone thinks that hockey players are white, middle-class jerks. Does that stereotype suck? Sure. Does it have any real, tangible implications on how people from within that community are treated or their safety? History would show us that no, probably not. That's because that community has historically been the one in power. On the other hand, singling out a minority demographic as 'other' or in the wrong can have serious repercussions, especially when said demo is racialized.
4 days later this is still trending??? White people get called out by a white person for being white & all hell breaks loose. Imagine what it's like for people who experience REAL racism everyday. Get a grip Canada #jessicaallen
— Zee (@zeerawi) November 15, 2019
In Canada, racism is getting worse—or at least more vocal. Police-reported hate crimes have steadily risen over the past few years, with hate-motivated crimes peaking in 2017, according to Statistics Canada. While 2018 did see a slight dip in numbers, Stats Canada noted that it was still higher than 2016.
And, as we've seen with our neighbours to the south, when someone in a position of power targets or calls out a minority or racialized group, it can incite others to enact violence against them. Since Donald Trump's election, and his very public condemnation of immigrants and minority communities (remember that whole calling Mexican people "rapists" thing?) minority communities have reported being physically assaulted, called racial slurs and being subjected to racist and anti-semitic graffiti on their homes and places of worship.
I highly doubt any hockey players are going to face violence or racism as a direct result of Allen's comments.
And bringing in Humboldt is unfair—to the players and other communities
Which makes the inclusion of the Humboldt Broncos in this entire narrative kind of unfair, to both the team, their families and community, and the racialized community. The Humboldt bush crash was absolutely a tragedy; but conflating their tragedy with Allen's comments is unjust and doesn't really make sense, because they have nothing to do with one another. The bus accident in which 16 people died and 13 were injured was in no way related to Allen's statements or opinions on the white maleness of the sport.
The Humboldt bus crash was an absolute tragedy, full stop. But conflating that tragedy with Jessica Allen's statement on whiteness and the type of masculinity dominating hockey (both of which are true) is wrong and emotionally manipulative. https://t.co/WSwkaZXY18
— Michelle da Silva (@michdas) November 15, 2019
And considering the fact that Cherry's comments could pose a real threat to immigrants and minority people of colour, and that people from this community are targeted and killed at a disproportionate rate, it's a harmful comparison.
When reached for comment, a media representative for Bell Media said Allen is not responding beyond her personal statement. Sportsnet was unable to comment.
This article was originally published by Flare.com. Read the original article here.
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Tag: writing
Are You Writing a Novel in November? Really?!
There are so many ways to write a novel, or jump-start yourself from a state of inertia on your novel. The one of choice this month is National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo, where some 300,000 writers have signed up to keep their word count honest, to keep their butts in the chair, to get to 50,000 words by the end of the month.
I have signed up before. I have tried NaNoWriMo. But I've come to the conclusion that it doesn't really make me write a first draft. For one thing, I'm not compulsive enough to report my word count each day. (I am too busy actually writing for that!) Also, 50k words isn't really a novel in my book, so a whole lot of editing, adding, subtracting, plumping, and excising would be required down the line. At the end of a frenzied flurry of work (if you wrote every single day of 30 (including Thanksgiving and Black Friday and the day you get that dreaded cold) you "only" need to get down 1667 words each day, about six or seven pages double-spaced, you are left with what? Months of organization. And frustration.
Of course if you planned your November Attack ahead of time it wouldn't end up such a pile of dreck. Maybe that's how you're doing it; if so, kudos to you for forethought. I confess to being a former pantser, that is, someone who writes from the seat of their pants, who doesn't know where their novel's plot is going, someone who wrote her first mystery not knowing who the killer was. [Note: this didn't go well. Cue another 12 months of rewriting the book from scratch.]
I wonder how many of the NaNoWriMo crowd have outlined their novel ahead of time. This would make sense, if they did. Then you could actually write 50,000 words (if not a novel) in four weeks, by following your step by step breakdown.
I have written out elaborate outlines, pages and pages of where I thought the story might go, sort of a short story or what they call in film, a treatment. "Might go" being the operative term, as these outlines rarely held up past the midpoint. Back in those days I knew where the novel started, the inciting incident, and how it would end, more or less. Definitely who the villain was after that first mess of a first draft. I almost always had to knock off a character at midpoint to get past that dreaded quagmire.
Now I use Scrivener, an outlining program with visual bulletin boards with note cards (you can do it yourself with real objects) and a template overlay that tells me basically where my plot points should be, where the midpoint is, keeps all my setting and character info and research in one place, and keeps me looking at the big picture of where my story is going. (I blogged about Scrivener and my love for it here.)
It's easy, especially as a beginning writer, to get tunnel vision about your story. You fall in love with a character, with a scene, even though you have no idea what it means in the grand scheme of your story. Outlining really helps with this. You may think it takes the magic out of writing, and you may be right. It is less right-brained than the whole "the story came to me in a dream" thing (which does sometimes happen but usually goes nowhere.) But here's the thing. You need both sides of your brain to write a good novel, the magicky-woo-woo side where deep emotional drama lives and breathes, and the cool, organized side that evaluates what level of crap you're throwing down.
You can write a novel with only one side of your brain. But don't expect fireworks. Just a whole bunch of rewriting.
I'm including these words of wisdom from Michael Crichton because I just read his last, posthumously published book, Pirate Latitudes. I've been on a pirate kick lately for some reason, and in general I find Crichton's books fun, inventive, and well-written. But this book was found in his files after his death. It reads well, there is nothing glaringly wrong with it. But, as Entertainment Weekly said back in 2009, "If nothing else, Pirate Latitudes is a reminder of the importance of picking an ironclad password for your computer."
It reads like a young adult adventure novel, which isn't a bad thing. I'm sure many 14-year-old adventurers-to-be will enjoy and have loved it. Crichton fans were thrilled when a last novel was found, no doubt, despite a sea of pirate sailing jingo like "Mizzen top blown!"
But there is a reason Crichton never released it. And it probably starts with "re" and ends with "write."
Author Lise McClendonPosted on November 8, 2015 November 8, 2015 Categories TPAC NewsTags creative writing, fiction, Michael Crichton, NaNoWriMo, outlines, outlining, pantser, Pirate Latitudes, Scrivener, templates, writing, writing processLeave a comment on Are You Writing a Novel in November? Really?!
Rides the Black-and-white Horse
Some years back at a mystery convention in Boulder, Colorado, I performed this tone poem with John Harvey on tambourine, Bill Moody on drums, and a variety of semi-volunteers snapping their fingers to the beat. I wrote this as an homage to the mystery novel. Recently someone quoted snippets of it on twitter with illustrations, and I liked it so much I've added a few of my own.
I'm always amused at reactions of people who don't read mysteries and thrillers, who don't know the excitement of entering a frightening world of evil or an everyday town where strangers wait their turn to make mayhem. Got the shivers yet?
Here's how the book sees you the reader.
I am a book.
Sheaves pressed from the pulp of oaks and pines
a natural sawdust made dingy from purses, dusty
from shelves.
Steamy and anxious, abused and misused,
kissed and cried over,
smeared, yellowed, and torn,
loved, hated, scorned.
I am a book that remembers,
days when I stood proud in good company
When the children came, I leapt into their arms,
when the women came, they cradled me against their soft breasts,
when the men came, they held me like a lover,
and I smelled the sweet smell of cigars and brandy as we sat together in leather chairs,
next to pool tables, on porch swings, in rocking chairs,
my words hanging in the air like bright gems, dangling,
then forgotten, I crumbled,
dust to dust.
I am a tale of woe and secrets,
a book brand-new, sprung from the loins of ancient fathers clothed in tweed,
born of mothers in lands of heather and coal soot.
A family too close to see the blood on its hands,
too dear to suffering, to poison, to cold steel and revenge,
deaf to the screams of mortal wounding,
amused at decay and torment,
a family bred in the dankest swamp of human desires.
I am a mystery.
I am intrigue, anxiety, fear,
I tangle in the night with madmen, spend my days cloaked in black,
hiding from myself, from dark angels,
from the evil that lurks within
and the evil we cannot lurk without.
I am words of adventure,
of faraway places where no one knows my tongue,
of curious cultures in small, back alleys, mean streets,
the crumbling house in each of us.
I am primordial fear, the great unknown,
I am life everlasting.
I touch you and you shiver, I blow in your ear and you follow me,
down foggy lanes, into places you've never seen,
to see things no one should see,
to be someone you could only hope to be.
I ride the winds of imagination on a black-and-white horse,
to find the truth inside of me,
to cure the ills inside of you,
to take one passenger at a time over that tall mountain,
across that lonely plain to a place you've never been
where the world stops for just one minute
and everything is right.
-Rides a Black and White Horse"
― Lise McClendon
Author Lise McClendonPosted on October 26, 2014 July 4, 2015 Categories McClendon, TPAC NewsTags black-and-white horse, books, crime, crime fiction, Halloween, Lise McClendon, mystery, mystery writers, Reading, scary, secrets, thriller, writingLeave a comment on Rides the Black-and-white Horse
Your Second Act
What will you do with the rest of your life? Rest? Or reinvent yourself? Statistics show that people in the work force today will have several careers over their lifetimes. The retirement this month of two schoolteacher friends of mine — and my husband's second retirement — has me thinking about how long and vital lifetimes are today. If you can afford to retire and spend the rest of your life traveling and exploring, that may be enough for you (or me!) It's a big, fascinating world. But many of us feel a restlessness not for necessarily for new places, but an itch born of the search for meaning, maybe from our upbringing in the sixties. We are seekers, happy but not entirely satisfied with the bringing up of children and the making of a nest egg. We still hope there might be more. And maybe in so-called retirement we'll have the time to find it, or chase it at least. As a writer I struggle to find a balance between writing about things and people that matter, and actually going out into the world to help make it a better place. Sometimes I feel disappointed in myself that I don't try harder, give more to the world, find a cause that matters deeply and give it my all. But I am protective of my time and energy. Writers can be a bit obsessive. We tend to latch onto our projects and ride them out to 'the end.' What if I love this new charity work so much I forget how to write? (I don't want to ever forget the joy I get from writing.) Continue reading "Your Second Act"
Author Lise McClendonPosted on June 9, 2014 January 4, 2015 Categories McClendon, TPAC NewsTags charity, day jobs, finding meaning, retirement, second act, seeker, volunteering, writingLeave a comment on Your Second Act
Twenty Years
Twenty years.
That's how long it's been since my first novel, The Bluejay Shaman, came out. April 1994 was a heady month but not as exciting as nearly a year before when I sold the book to my first publisher, Walker & Company. I had already run through a couple of agents and found my editor on my own at a writer's conference. He had liked the book but told me it was too long. I demurred about cutting it (oh my precious words!) then came to my senses, whacked away the fluff, and sold it.
Yes, I wax nostalgic about that first book. As a writer it holds a special place in your heart. An older writer told me to buy a box of books and stash them in the closet for posterity. (I did.) I remember silly things like the UPS man who asked me about the box then wondered if it was about the Toronto Bluejays baseball team. My first book signing, my first public reading. Good times.
I didn't sell a zillion copies of The Bluejay Shaman. But that didn't matter because now I was a professional writer. It would be a rocky road, these twenty years, with ups and downs, falling outs with editors, divorcing agents, new editors, new series and long stretches without books. I've probably done everything wrong with what I laughingly call my "writing career" but really – I don't care. One thing twenty years in the writing game teaches you is to develop a thick hide.
When Katy Munger and I decided to get our out of print books back into print and started Thalia Press we became cover designers by default. We had a graphic designer set up a template for our first books and we put the photos, stock or otherwise, into that. Here's how The Bluejay Shaman turned out. I still love that tepee shot and I've never changed that cover.
Other covers to come: yes, there has been evolution. Some I got tired of, or decided as we transitioned from just print-on-demand books to e-books, that the type was too small when seen in a thumbnail size. Over the years we've learned a lot about covers from trial and error. I have decided I love to fiddle with Photoshop! But I'm not great at it, just barely competent. But I do love the control.
Control of the cover image, the emotion that it projects, the story that it implies, the tone it offers, is a two-edged sword. As writers we love to gripe about our covers. Sometimes the publisher gets it exactly right in our minds, and yet the marketing department hates it and says it won't sell. Or we hate it ourselves and the sales guys love it. And now as author/publisher/cover designer I have no one to complain to but myself.
This first cover of Blue Wolf, the final book in the Alix Thorssen series set in Jackson Hole, was just short of abysmal in my opinion. Everyone thought the wolf looked like a puppy and it was a children's book.
The next version, left, from the mass market edition, was an improvement.
But it wasn't until I convinced Montana artist Carol Hagen to allow me to use her fabulous and colorful wolf painting that I got a cover I really loved, right.
In 2009 Thalia Press published its first original novel, my women's suspense book, Blackbird Fly. In my role as She-Of-Many-Hats I designed the cover. It's set in France so I used what I thought were iconic French images, lavender and wine corks, on the cover. The only problem was the corks looked like cheese. I redid the cover in 2011 and now, in conjunction with the publication of the sequel in a couple weeks, there is a brand new cover. I've learned my lesson. This time I got a real cover artist, the fabulous Lisa Desimini. She also designed the cover of the new book, using the blue French shutters in both to connect them.
Twenty years — of hunching over the computer, blundering through covers, and proofreading. Of neck pain, expanding ass cheeks, and eye strain. Twenty years of waking up at night with ideas, of following false leads, of plodding to the finish and rewriting, rewriting, rewriting. I loved it all, mostly. Please excuse me for a second while I have a glass of wine and toast the young innocent I once was. 🙂
Author Lise McClendonPosted on April 21, 2014 June 21, 2014 Categories McClendon, TPAC NewsTags agents, book covers, covers, publishers, self-publishing, writers, writing, writing life6 Comments on Twenty Years
One Picture, One-Thousand Words
Here at Thalia we are word slingers. We craft sentences that lead to paragraphs that morph into scenes that join into chapters and eventually become novels. We love words. They are our clay, our seeds, our bricks, our dirt.
That said, we live in an image-driven world. A world of television, movies, Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and the next big photo site. For me writing stories is a way to describe the movies in my head. I am a visual person. I really wanted to be a film reviewer right out of college. I love movies. I love the stories they tell, the subtleties conveyed in a passing look on screen, in a touch, in the twitch of a smile. Film is an emotional medium. A picture, as they say, is worth a thousand words. An image conveys different emotions to different people. Words work on readers the same way but there is something about a picture.
Assuming then that I have added all sorts of pictures to this post and you are still engaged, I'd like to point out that a thousand words makes a very short story. Like short-short. One-thousand words times five is a short story. One-thousand words times seventy is a novel. So a series of seventy photographs might tell you the story depicted in a novel? In a comic book there are twenty or thirty pages with six or so panels per page. That makes 120 to 180 images per story. Does that mean a comic book is richer and more textured than a novel of 70,000 words? Your call. To each his own entertainment.
I come to you with no agenda. I don't write comic books or screenplays. I am a novelist. I love the long form story. I can write short stories but I don't find them as, well, rich and textured and satisfying as a novel. A novel takes months to organize. It takes another big chunk of time to write from that hilarious outline you wrote before you started. Six, ten, twelve months, sometimes much more. Then more time to clean up the mess of the first draft. If a novelist is lucky and extremely organized — and can we say 'driven'? — writing a polished long work of fiction in twelve months is good, honest work. That doesn't include time spent promoting your book, blogging (yes, here we are!), tweeting, traveling to conferences, doing public appearances and booksignings and even getting your book copyedited and proofread. And if you're not with a traditional publisher, getting your cover designed.
The novel, despite its name, isn't all that new any more. Today the definition is "a fictitious prose narrative of book length, typically representing character and action with some degree of realism." Realism is a bit of a stretch these days. Novels of urban fantasy, science fiction, and time travel exist. What ties them together is the understanding they have of the human psyche, human existence, its vulnerabilities and ironies. Is that touch, that indescribable something, more easily conveyed by a film clip or a photograph? Or is the depiction of the journey a character goes through, the barriers, the trials, the highs and lows, more honest?
During Oscars week we can take some collective joy in the stories told on film, and every medium. Some movies are adapted from books we love. We hope they translate well. (If not we can always go back to our books.) More are delivered via letters and words and sentences, between pages, on screens, wherever people read. Wherever we get our stories is fine.
Our stories bring us together, help us connect with one another, and illuminate the fabulousness and ironically deep pain of life. Which makes us all better humans, if only we continue to read and listen to stories.
PS: I was watching 'A Good Day to Die Hard' while I wrote this. Not saying it changed my life. Just saying. 😉
Cross posted at lisemcclendon.com
Author Lise McClendonPosted on March 3, 2014 March 11, 2014 Categories McClendon, TPAC NewsTags Academy Awards, adapted screenplays, books, books to movies, films, movies, novelist, novels, Oscars, Reading, screenplay, writingLeave a comment on One Picture, One-Thousand Words
"I hate writing. I love having written." –Dorothy Parker.
I wrote those words today, and I have to ask: are there any sweeter words to a writer? Those last two words that signify that that's it, the story's done, th-that-that's all folks!
For some writers, of course, that's just the beginning. There are rewrites, edits, proofreading, and more rewrites. I do all of that. But my practice is not to put those magic words on the page until all that's done and I'm ready to either start getting the thing uploaded (if I'm self-publishing) or send it off to my agent or editor (if I'm going through a publisher, as I am with the one I just completed).
But how do you know when it's done? How do you know when to stop fiddling and fussing with it and put those fateful words on the screen, save the file with the word "FINAL" in the title, and release the monster on an unsuspecting world?
Sometimes, the question is easier than others, like when you have a deadline, or when (like me) you've blown said deadline because pretty much your entire December was an unrelieved personal nightmare. But even when I know it's got to go, my finger still hesitates when pushing the "send" button. I always feel like there's one more thing that I should change, one more scene I could tighten up, one more line of dialogue I could have rewritten one last time in an attempt to kick it up from merely very good to awesome.
There's a story, possibly apocryphal, about Bruce Springsteen and his classic album "Born to Run". I'm a Springsteen fan, and I think it's one of the best rock albums ever made. I've worn out multiple copies over five different formats. So I was kind of shocked to hear that Springsteen almost didn't release it. He spent months messing with it, re-recording, re-mixing, chasing the sound he had in his head that he couldn't quite seem to get down on tape. The title track alone reportedly took over six months to get right. Finally, in despair, Springsteen proposed to his producer, Jon Landau, that they scrap the whole thing and start again. "Listen," Landau is supposed to have said, "you think Chuck Berry was in love with everything he ever released? Put the damn thing out there." So he did, and rest was history.
I said I was shocked to hear about Springsteen's travails in getting the record out, because I heard the story before I was writing on a regular basis. After the first time I spent weeks agonizing over whether the book was actually polished enough to let anyone who didn't love me see, I understood.
So, is this next one my "Born to Run"? Who knows? One of the side effects of all this editing and rewriting is that I've spent so much time second-guessing that I can't tell what's good about it and what's not so good. Quite frankly, I can't even stand the sight of the damn book anymore, which is my usual criteria for writing "The End."
As for the book itself, it's the long awaited fourth Jack Keller novel, entitled DEVILS AND DUST. I'm tremendously excited to be working with writer-turned-publisher Jason Pinter and his new venture Polis Books, which will be re-issuing the first three Keller books, then the new one, as e-books. Look for them wherever e-books are sold.
So how about you, fellow Thalians? When do you know when it's done?
Author jdrhoadesPosted on February 23, 2014 February 24, 2014 Categories RhoadesTags books, writing, writing process1 Comment on This Is the End


Jennifer and Keegan's day began at the Wilde Memorial Chapel in Portland. This small, yet stunning chapel was the spot these two were married and where we were able to take some time for their photos together before heading over to their reception at Spire 29 in Gorham.
Jennifer and Keegan both planned special dances at their reception - Jennifer and her dad put on an amazing show for their father/daughter dance while Keegan and his friends pulled out an NSYNC routine later in the night. The dance floor was wild and it was so much fun to capture the array of dance moves all night long. It's tough to put into words the amount of love and joy that were witnessed on Jennifer and Keegan's day; but we hope the photos will do.


You *MUST* use the dynamic core, with at least 10000 emulated cycles. in other modes the game will run but will be very slow even with very high emulation speed on a fast computer, and will tend to crash often!
Digital sound did not work in 0.62, but in 0.63 everything works perfectly.


Its always nice when you ride to the MOT station, chat with some friends and ride out with a nice new MOT certificate in your pocket. Well, thats exactly what happened to me this morning.
I headed down to Bournemouth Bikes to a) get the MOT and b) have a look around their new smart as you like showroom. Its really nicely put together with lots of space to walk around look at the bikes and comes with a lovely waiting area with a telly and a good coffee machine. They are having the official opening of the new showroom tomorrow, complete with former MotoGP rider Michael Laverty in attendance. Their website is www.bournemouthbikes.com and if you pop down, tell Mike I said hi.
Parked outside was the bike you see below. A proper streetfightered FireBlade, complete with a car back wheel on the single sided swing arm. It was amazing and totally spotless to boot.
With the good, often comes a little of bad. I clipped my Arai on my desk at work and after a quick look, thought nothing more of it. Then, when I get home, I notice that my top vent has disappeared onto the A35 somewhere. Regular readers will know this isn't the first time I've inadvertently littered a Dorset trunk route. Must break this habit.
Bit of a pain really, but there is an Arai 5 Star dealer near me so as I'm heading out to meet Phil, of Phil O's Garage, for a long overdue catch up tomorrow, I may pop in first thing before meeting up to see if I can order the right part.
Until I get it though, I'll be heading out in my HJC instead. See, this is why you should have more than one lid good readers....either that, or do what I did, just buy it because you fancied it.


As their name implies, New World blackbirds are found throughout North and South America, as are orioles. Some species are also found in the Caribbean.
Grasslands and marshes are popular breeding grounds for icterids, but this diverse family of birds can be found in a number of different biomes.
Birds in the Icteridae family have a diverse diet, feeding on insects, seeds, fruits, and grains.
One species—the slender-billed grackle—is extinct, or has died out. Three more species of Icteridae are Critically Endangered, facing an extremely high risk of extinction in the wild; and four are considered Endangered, facing a very high risk of extinction.


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Do Not Fear the King of Babylon
January 21, 2017 / Charles H. Featherstone
When we think of the conquest of Judah, and the destruction of Jerusalem, we tend to think of the exiles taken into captivity, hauled off to build a city of their own along the banks of Euphrates, to play their songs for those who will never truly appreciate those songs, and to weep and mourn and remember the loss.
But there was another remnant of Judah whose lives were also changed by the war that laid waste to Jerusalem:
9 Then Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, carried into exile to Babylon the rest of the people who were left in the city, those who had deserted to him, and the people who remained. 10 Nebuzaradan, the captain of the guard, left in the land of Judah some of the poor people who owned nothing, and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time. (Jeremiah 39:9-10 ESV)
The elites have been carried into exile. The people who keep and preserve the stories, rituals, and myths of Israel, who tend the temple, who count the coins in the treasury, who determine and manage the affairs of the court and the nation — they are gone. The city is broken and burnt, as wasteland, a shell of what it once was.
But only the elite have gone into exile. Judah is still full of Judeans, who are still God's people, people with a language and culture and customs, and they have inherited the land from its dispossessed elite. The occupiers have doled out some of that which they have taken from the people they have conquered, and given it to the poor, to those "who owned nothing."
It is interesting to note how this distribution of land comes about. As a result of the conquest and destruction of Jerusalem and the exile of Judah's elite. I wonder how many of those who "owned nothing" were actually debtors who had been dispossessed, for whom this is something of a redemption as outlined in Leviticus 25. "The land shall not be sold in perpetuity, for the land is mine. For you are strangers [תוֹשָׁבִ֛ים] and sojourners [גֵרִ֧ים] with me. And in all the country that you possess, you shall allow redemption of the land," God tells Israel through Moses in Leviticus 25:23-24.
So, this land doesn't belong to Israel. It belongs to God. Any talk of promised land and title deed needs to remember that. And even as Babylon has taken possession, it is still God's land. Nebuzaradan, the Babylonian captain of the guard who with his own hands packed Israel off into exile, speaks to Jeremiah with the voice and authority of God — "The Lord your [singular] God pronounced this disaster against this place. The Lord has brought it about, and has done as he said. Because you [plural] sinned against the Lord and sis not about his voice, this thing has come upon you [plural]." (Jeremiah 40:2-3) He appoints a governor, Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, to rule the remnant in Judah.
And Gedaliah speaks to the conquered remnant of Judah: "Do not be afraid to serve the Chaldeans. Dwell in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you [plural]." (Jeremiah 40:9) And many refugees return to Judah, all but the elites of Jerusalem, and "they gathered wine and summer fruits in great abundance." (Jeremiah 40:12)
So, perhaps it makes some sense that in the wake of the disaster, the land that had belonged to the elites — who sit in carts and trudge in long caravans on their way to far-off exile — gets doled out to "the poor people who owned nothing." They are still the people of God, these poor who own nothing, still inheritors of the promise, even as their elites have been carted off into exile.
There are two remnants here. Those in Babylon, who would found the settlement of Tel Aviv along the banks of the Euphrates, who would wonder what the promise of God meant given the disaster that transpired, and what the promise of God to dwell among his people meant given that God's house has been reduced to rubble and is, to boot, so far away. And those is Judah, who have inherited the land, who are left to work it.
Of course, there is chaos. Gedaliah, the leader of the Judean remnant, is murdered by a member of the dispossessed royal family. And his murderers eventually flee with Jeremiah and many of the other remnant of Judah to Egypt, even after Jeremiah warns them not to. Jeremiah pronounces doom on those who flee to Egypt, and says few will return to Judah. Those who go to Egypt will be tempted by its gods, and that remnant will be consumed by sword and fire and famine.
And they are. Again, this is no abstract if-then, else-then.
But it's worth it to remember Jeremiah's words to the remnant in Judah, as they pondered their fates following the assassination of Gedaliah. While Israel did not heed Jeremiah's words, it is worth remembering God's promise to a conquered and occupied people:
10 If you will remain in this land, then I will build you up and not pull you down; I will plant you, and not pluck you up; for I relent of the disaster that I did to you. 11 Do not fear the king of Babylon, of whom you are afraid. Do not fear him, declares the Lord, for I am with you, to save you and to deliver you from his hand. 12 I will grant you mercy, that he may have mercy on you and let you remain in your own land. (Jeremiah 42:10-12 ESV)
Bible, Uncategorized
Babylon, exile, Jeremiah, Judah, remnant
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What I Mean by "Elite Failure" →


text:
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text:
Click here to login Veterinarian uses stem cells to treat spinal cord disease
By Timothy Kirn
With veterinarians across the country training to use stem cells for tendon and ligament repair, a professor at the University of California, Davis (UC Davis) wants to take the technology a step further by applying them to chronic, cell-based diseases.
Richard Vulliet, DVM, is very early into the work. But he is optimistic about the evidence as it exists, of course, and he may have had a success.
Vulliet has treated four dogs with degenerative myelopathy with their own stem cells, which he prefers to call mesenchymal stem cells or pluripotent marrow stromal cells. The terminology has evolved and those names are more descriptive, he says.
The process works like this: Vulliet derives the mesenchymal stromal cells from bone marrow. The bone marrow aspirate is then filtered and plated (stromal cells adhere to plastic) because only about one cell in 100,000 is the proper mesenchymal stromal cell. He then cultures the cells into an enriched colony, and injects them back in.
He injects the cells systemically into the circulation because it appears that they home to an area of injury. Moreover, when the cells are injected directly into tissue, they tend to just clump there.
"We're still in the exploratory phase," he says. "When I talk to possible clients, I generally get the impression they think I know what I am doing. But no, this is research."
Vulliet's potential success is a dog named Turbo, a German Shepherd that belongs to his neighbor. A videotape of Turbo prior to treatment shows the dog trying to walk with little, if any, proprioception in its hind limbs. The dog careens and stumbles and hops to get along. At one point, Turbo falls right into Vulliet, who is holding the dog's leash.
That was in April. A videotape from July shows Turbo clamboring up into the seat of a pickup truck. Vulliet says Turbo was unable to do that prior to treatment.
The owner did not immediately tell Vulliet about the dog's improvement. It came out by chance during a conversation. "Oh, yeah, by the way, I forgot to tell you. But I think he is a lot better," Vulliet recalls the neighbor saying.
That kind of lax reporting is one of the pitfalls of doing the research the way Vulliet is conducting his. The conditions that he is interested in treating — the degenerative myelopathy common in German Shepherds, Rhodesian Ridgebacks and Pembroke Welsh Corgis as well as dilated cardiomyopathy common in Doberman Pinschers — have no experimental model. Therefore, he cannot use colony dogs, as is the usual practice in veterinary school research.
In fact, Vulliet isn't even doing the research at UC Davis. He has rented a small, nondescript office in town, which he is paying for himself and with a $100,000 grant he received from the AKC Canine Health Foundation. The protocols he would be forced to adhere to at the university, working with pet dogs, would be too cumbersome, he says.
Because he is working with pet dogs, Vulliet says he is screening potential owners carefully. But it is not to determine if they will be conscientious reporters. He wants owners who have accepted that their pet's condition is a fatal one and understand that his treatment is experimental. He says he wants owners who are going to be grateful if their dog gets any relief or improvement, because it might be very little.
Vulliet says he got interested in treating these conditions because he was working with mesenchymal stem cells and their interaction with connective tissue, and it was boring. Then he came across two papers.
In one of the papers, Japanese researchers described treating induced cardiomyopathy in experimental rats (Circulation 2005;112:1128-35). They reported that when the cells were injected into the myocardium, function improved, and there was evidence that the cells formed new vascular structures and produced collagen.
In the other paper, researchers at Tulane University in New Orleans induced spine injuries in experimental rats and treated them with mesenchymal stem cells. When they treated the animals immediately after the injury was induced, there was no apparent effect. However, when they waited one week before treating, they found that at five weeks, seven rats out of 12 could lift their trunks with their hind legs. By comparison, none of the 10 rats that were not treated showed similar signs of improvement.
Vulliet says notions of how mesenchymal stem cells might enhance the healing process have expanded beyond the idea that the cells migrate to a site of injury, differentiate into the proper type of cell and incorporate into the tissue. They might modulate immune response as well.
In the Tulane paper, researchers noted that microscopy showed that some of the injected cells had elongated and attached themselves to the injured areas where they appeared to be supporting the axons of the spinal cord. But they had not become axons. Vulliet suggests that they might be exuding tropic factors or growth factors, or they might be physically protecting the axons. Nobody really knows.
Of the four dogs with degenerative myelopathy that he has treated, one is far enough out from treatment to say that it definitely has not had any benefit, one has shown some signs of benefit, and two — Turbo included — seem to have been helped.
One dog was found to have a malignant tumor on its spleen, after it was treated. Vulliet says he did not note the tumor when the dog was examined before treatment, and it was large.
Vulliet has not treated any dogs with dilated cardiomyopathy. But he has been in contact with Doberman groups to recruit possible subjects.
Vulliet is not even far enough into his research to develop a protocol for collecting his data. Still, he hopes his work becomes a model. Most veterinary research done at veterinary schools uses dogs kept in a colony. Most animal research done for human medicine is done in rats. But there could be great advantages to using real animals living in a non-contained environment, he says.
Stem cells are an ideal entrée into real-animal research, Vulliet explains. Experiments with human subjects and stem cells are not generally allowed, and federal regulators are unclear about whether they have the authority to regulate such research, since the cells are not drugs and usually are autologous tissue.
There is nothing to hold back research with animals, apart from proper ethics and compassion, Vulliet says.
"I think we will learn more from these dogs than from the thousands of Ph.D.s who are experimenting in the labs," he says. "If I can buy the dogs a few months of comfortable time, I will consider that a success."
Feedback from colleagues has expressed concern regarding the nontraditional approach and discussion of VERY preliminary data.
This is very early work. That two of four patients appeared to improve is NOT proof of efficacy and neither Dr. Vulliet nor VIN New Service are making claims of efficacy.
Dr. Vulliet would like to find more patients to treat, but no one reading this should interpret these early results as proof of efficacy. It is very possible that this early result, that 2 of 4 dogs treated appeared to improve, is a chance result and not an effect of the treatment described.
These early studies are intended to fine-tune the methods involved and to assess whether larger, more controlled, trials should be pursued.