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Defeating the Wolves of War by I.J. Noble
© I.J. Noble
"Defeating the Wolves of War."
Back in the mists of a more dangerous time, a new day was breaking over the Welsh Hills. Their craggy peaks scattered the early morning light into long enquiring fingers. As time flickered on and the sun rose in the sky, it sent daylight down into a darker, secret place.
The light had found its way down into the small hidden valley. This secluded place, the remains of a volcano, was surrounded on all sides by rugged high slopes. The steep sides had a scattering of gnarled ancient pines. Against the odds, the stunted trees had secured themselves on very tenuous footings. Scars infested the heights, where the weaker and more deformed trees, had been teased out by the prevailing westerly winds. In the centre of the long dead volcano, stood a well-crafted wooden stockade. Inside its protection around forty circular wooden huts were huddled together snugly. Ash-grey smoke rose slowly from the dying embers of yesterday's fires. Through the centre of the village a shallow stream meandered over smooth pebbles. For a thousand years, the children of that village had amused themselves on hot summer days, cooling their feet and trying to catch sticklebacks between their chubby little fingers. The water that supplied the stream was borne from seven springs that bubbled out from the foot of the cliffs that encircled them.
This morning, shadowy will-of-the-wisp figures were rising from the stream, and drifting out onto the valley floor. Some of the ghost-like entities were being pulled into the warm smoke, which rose from the smouldering embers; the two entwining as they rose into the cool morning air. The sun's rays made the twirling phantoms look as if they were dancing in its light. Apart from these mesmerising dancers, everything else in the valley was perfectly still.
Then in a beat of a butterfly's wing the sleepy silence was shattered. Two cockerels screeched into life, their crowing was harsh and loud - they were clearly in competition to see who could crow the longest and loudest. In seconds the sleeping village was coming to life. The shadowy figures of its inhabitants began moving around, setting about the tasks of the new day.
A female figure appeared in a doorway, she hesitated there for a moment to stretch the sleep out of her old bones. She pulled her hooded cloak tightly around her, before making her way over to the fireside. From inside her cloak she produced a few strands of dried grass. Her hands showed all the signs of a hard-working life. She skilfully scrunched up the grass into a ball, then, kneeling by the fire, she began to blow softly on the grass as she held it close to the smouldering embers. In just a few moments the tinder dry grass burst into flame. As she continued to blow, the flame grew stronger, and the fire's red glow lit up her face. She was not a young woman - her weather-beaten face was another testament to that - but the years had etched warmth into her face, and her dark eyes looked calm and full of kindness. She continued to stoke up the fire, building the flame with bits of dry wood. But as she went about her work, dark eyes were studying her every movement.
When she was happy that the fire was truly lit, she returned to the hut - still oblivious to the fact that she was being watched.
"Merlin it's time to get up, there's a good boy."
She returned to the fire carrying a metal pot and placed it on a crossbar that straddled the fire.
The flames she was nurturing were soon flickering around the pot. The old woman then sat herself down on the large tree trunk that half- encircled the fire. She sat deep in thought; her only movement was to occasionally stir the pot. She was so intent on the pot and her thoughts, that she never noticed the dark shape of her watcher skulking its way toward the hut. But the creature's hungry eyes never lost sight of her for a moment. The dark shape stopped at the entrance to the hut to listen. After making doubly sure the old woman still had her back to him, with incredible stealth he silently slipped inside the dark hut.
Merlin pulled the large bearskin he was under tightly around him; he just needed five more minutes in the warmth of his bed. At that very same moment the dark shape used the opportunity to slip under the bearskin with him - being very careful not to let his damp fur touch Merlin's skin. The creature waited for a moment, lying perfectly still not even daring to breath. When he was sure he had not been discovered, it moved up inside the bed. Its target was the boy's face. Up it crawled, still being super careful not to touch its quarry. The creature was finding its way in the pitch-blackness by the sound of Merlin's breathing. Up and up it crawled inch-by-inch, the creature's heart was pounding ever harder with anticipation - he could already taste the boy on his tongue, but he knew he mustn't make his move too soon, or he would lose the element of surprise.
He was so close now he could feel the boy's hot breath on his face. But still he wasn't close enough to pounce. Another few inches were squeezed out, and then finally he made his move. He thrust himself forward. But at that same moment Merlin caught a faint whiff of the animal's bad breath. Merlin moved with lightning speed - but was just a moment to slow, he did have his hands around the animal's neck - but the assailant thrust out his long tongue. Merlin felt the hot slobber of it as it hit him full in the face. Before Merlin could push it away, the pest's tongue hit him again; this time it slapped him in the eye.
Although Merlin had a firm grip on the dog's scruff and was pushing him away, the excited animal slobbered him one more time, right on the tip of his nose. Now it was a case of out of the frying pan and into the fire for Merlin. The trouble was the puppy was very ticklish around the neck, and couldn't bear to be touched there. It immediately started to growl. Merlin whispered to the pup that he should be quiet, or they would be found out.
The problem was, if Merlin let go of the puppy when it was in this kind of frenzy, sometimes it would give him a nip on the fingers.
"Shoosh, Gelert, or Mam's going to hear you, shoosh boy."
But the pup, as usual, was unable to control himself. The odd thing was that although he was growling, his tail was wagging like fury at the same time.
Merlin managed to turn the pup over in one movement, and had Gelert muzzled with one hand, preventing it from nipping his fingers. The dog fell silent, now the only noise was its tail hitting the bearskin like a drum. Merlin grabbed the tail and pulled the pup close into him. At that moment a shaft of light fell across his bed and his mother was standing in the doorway.
"Merlin if you don't move now, you'll have to go without your breakfast. And if you're any later you'll have Old Man to answer to, you know he doesn't like it when you're late. He's bound to have a few words with you, and you won't like that will you?"
No he wouldn't, anything but that. He took his hand off the dog's tail to pull back the bedclothes.
"Coming right away Mam."
The tail began to wag again and gave three drumbeats before he could capture it again.
"Do you have that animal in that bed with you again?"
Merlin pretended he never heard her, and stayed silent.
"If your father finds that dog in your bed he's not going to be happy with you."
That was funny, because his dad had told him his Mam wouldn't put up with the flea-bitten mutt in the bed. His dad had been away for the past three days. He had gone down to the sea on a fishing expedition. He had gone with all the other able-bodied men of the village. In another year Merlin would be old enough to go with them, and was excited by the thought of coming of age. The only trouble was, a year was such a long time.
"Hurry now, there's a good boy, your cawl is ready for you."
With that she left the hut.
Merlin loved cawl, the thick soup warmed him in the morning.
Merlin kicked back the furs and was pulling his tunic over his head when the dog took hold of the garment and began pulling it off again.
"Gelert, not now boy, I've got to go."
But the pup must have thought his words were some kind of encouragement, and only pulled back the harder.
Merlin pulled back, and lifted the little dog off his feet; this only encouraged Gelert to grab a better hold on the garment. Merlin turned around trying to get hold of him, but of course the dog went round with him. Then Merlin tried jumping up and down hoping to shake Gelert off, and still he held on. Thankfully his mother called from just outside of the hut, and from the tone of her voice, it was clear all her patience had gone. The dog let go immediately and dived back under the bearskin to cower.
Merlin was out of the hut and still pulling on his clothes as he stumbled his way over to the fire.
Before sitting down he stopped to stretch, then to rub the sleep from his eyes.
Merlin was of average build and around 5'6" in height, and his eyes were as black as his jet black hair. His face and arms were as brown as a berry, obvious signs of an outdoor life. He wore a one-piece tunic, and a cloak with a hood. He wrapped the cloak tightly round himself, before sitting down next to his mother by the fireside.
Merlin's mother filled a small wooden bowl with his cawl from the large pot that was heating on the fire. She held it out to him, but Merlin was staring into the fire, lost in his thoughts. His mother had to nudge his arm to prompt him to take the bowl from her. He took it without taking his eyes off the fire; it was as if the flames had him held in a trance.
"Merlin, eat," his mother prompted.
He began to eat, but was still mesmerised by the flickering flames that reflected in his eyes.
"Merlin!" his mother shouted in a sharp voice.
It was everything he could do to drag himself away from the warmth of the fire. But before he stood, he tucked the remaining contents of his bowl down behind the log, as he did every morning, where it was always met by an eager slobbering tongue.
Once he was on his feet his mother passed him something similar to a small satchel. He slung it over his shoulder quite automatically. He stood there for a moment, his attention still on the fire. His mother kissed him on the cheek, turned him around, and helped him on his way with a little push. With slow undetermined steps Merlin started down through the village. He hadn't gone more than ten feet, when his mother called for him to stop. He had forgotten his Shepherd's crook.
"Here," she said, placing it in his hand, "I don't know you'd forget your head if it wasn't stuck on."
Merlin gave her a smile, turned and was on his way again, now with a little more of a spring in his step. His mother watched until he turned a corner and was lost from her view. As Merlin walked on, a voice called from behind him,
"Merlin: Wait for me!"
Merlin didn't turn or show any sign of recognition.
Running down the path behind him was a much younger boy. He was of a very slight build and only about 4'9'inches in height. On catching up, the boy threw his arm onto Merlin's shoulder and greeted him in a cheery tone,
"Good morning!" he shouted into Merlin's ear, having to jump and got purchase on Merlin's shoulder to do so. Merlin still didn't answer or show any other sign of recognition.
"Just because you're up and about doesn't mean that you're awake. How many fingers am I holding up?" the boy asked, pulling himself up again on Merlin's shoulder and thrusting a hand in front of Merlin's nose.
"If you don't take your hand away Ifan, I'll bite your fingers off."
"Haven't you had any breakfast, then?"
Merlin turned with lightning speed, and grabbed Ifan around his waist, and he began swinging the boy around. At that point another boy joined them.
"Is that little pest giving you trouble again?" the new boy asked, as he grabbed Ifan by his legs. The two of them then started to swing Ifan from side to side. The boy that had joined them was about the same age and size as Merlin, but that was where the similarities ended. Steffan had fair hair, and a few freckles, a warm smile, and a cheery disposition.
"What do you think we should do with him Steff?" asked Merlin.
"Let's feed him to the pigs," said Steffan.
"Better not, he would be sure to give them a bellyache," said Merlin.
"Let's give him the bumps," came another voice, and two other boys joined them.
One was a tall strong looking boy; this was Llewellyn, the chief's son. Again he was very similar in looks to Merlin. The other was of normal height for his age, but he was as thin as a beanpole - this was Gwilym, the fastest runner of the team. The four boys grabbed a limb each.
"How many shall we give him?" asked Steffan the fair-haired boy.
"Let's give him 11 - one for every miserable year of his life," shouted Taliesin, who was about to join them. Ifan, who had been insisting he was almost 12 for the last few weeks, gave it no mention on this occasion.
Taliesin again was just above average height for his age. He, like Steffan, had a fair complexion; only he had blonder hair.
"Good idea," said another boy who was joining them. This was Garnon the blacksmith's son, he had a dark complexion and again was much the same in height as Merlin, but because he was stout it made him look shorter then he was - he might not have been very fast on his feet - but he was already stronger than some of the men in the village.
Ifan shouted for mercy, but it fell on deaf ears.
They tossed him as high into the air as they could, without actually letting him go. Then they let him drop almost to the ground, only holding him back at the very last moment, so he only had a very light contact with the ground.
The noise of the boy's laughing and cheering, mixed with Ifan's joyful screams, brought all the village dogs running and barking excitedly, adding to the din.
Ifan had 14 bumps in all - because on getting to 11, they decided to give him one for luck. Then Gwilym said 13 was an unlucky number, so he had to have one more. Counting wasn't one of Gwilym's strongest attributes.
Ifan had said - before stopping to think of the consequences, that twelve came after eleven. So they were back to thirteen being an unlucky number, so poor old Ifan, by his own doing, had to have another bump.
After the bumps were given things quickly settled down - even the dogs stopped barking.
"We're in trouble now," Merlin said, coming to his senses, "we'd better run."
Everyone suddenly realized it. They collected up their things and ran as fast as their legs would carry them. This got the dogs excited again and they started barking. Merlin tried to encourage Gelert to go back home, but the dog was far too caught up in the moment to listen.
When the Shepherd-boys got to the gates of the stockade they set about their tasks in double quick time. Merlin and Llewellyn opened the gates. The other boys gathered the sheep from their pens and drove them through the gates. Merlin and Llewellyn led the way down the well-worn track. They stopped for a moment on seeing two dark figures walking to meet them. The two boys looked to each other for courage.
The boys knew these dark shapes only too well, and feared them. First came Dog. A dog he was - and it was his only name. Dog was a big animal, as tall as a Irish wolfhound, and as stout as a bullmastiff, and he was as black as night - although his most striking feature were his bright blue eyes. The dogs that had followed them down through the village - barking and completely out of control, turned yelping on seeing Dog bounding in their direction. Merlin willed Gelert to run and prayed he wouldn't be so daft as to have a face off with Dog. But he needn't have worried; Gelert was well in the lead, and putting as much distance as he could between himself and Dog. The animal had no time for anything, or anyone else, other then his master. Merlin had tried to befriend Dog with gifts of food, but the animal ignored it and him. Once the other dogs had disappeared back into the stockade, Dog returned to his master's side. Dog's master came in the sinister form - known to all as the Old Man.
The Old Man wore a long dark cloak that covered him from head to toe. The only things visible from within the cloak, at that distance, were the tip of his large crooked nose. The nose poked out of the hood like an accusing finger. The other thing was a disfigured, blue-veined hand. The hand had very long bony fingers, with two-inch nails, they curled like an eagle's claws around his staff. The staff was no ordinary Shepherd's staff. It was also a battle staff. There was an axe on the top that was forged into the shape of a dragon's head. Its most striking feature were its eyes, two large rubies that gave the head a very sinister look. The deep red colour of the oval eyes seemed to burn into the onlookers mind. The dragon's ears were little axes. The back of its head was formed into a sharp curved blade. The body was serpentined and had one large spike at its centre. It had a large dragon's talon crafted into its base. And of course it was also a walking aid, which looked very much as if it was essential the Old Man's mobility.
He was so bent over that he only looked about 4 foot tall when he walked. Every part of his body seemed to be twisted or deformed. His back looked badly hunched, and one leg looked shorter than the other.
The boys had stopped walking now, and were standing bunched together, as the Old Man drew closer. Ifan squeezed himself into the centre of the throng - deep down he wanted to make a run for it. He was not alone in having those feelings. If one of them had broken rank - it was more than probable that they would all scatter. But they stood fast behind Merlin.
The Old Man and Dog did not stop coming at them until they were only inches apart. The Old Man glared at each of them in turn - his ice-blue eyes seemed to freeze them to the spot - and if they managed to look away, they almost always found themselves looking into the red piercing eyes of the dragon's head, it unnerved them all.
This was not the first time they had been late. When he got this close they could see his ghostly- white wrinkled face. But what always grabbed their attention was a large dragon tattoo running from his forehead down his cheek.
Ifan, who thought he would be out of the line of fire, if he tucked himself into the middle of the bunch - found himself looking right into Dog's face. The dog's foul breath made his eyes water, and judging from the slobber running down the dog's jowls, Ifan imagined it was salivating over the thought of eating him.
"You're late," the old man scolded them.
An uneasy silence followed as Merlin struggled to swallow the lump of dry saliva that had suddenly manifested itself in his mouth; it went down with a clunk, which everyone heard.
"I'm very sorry, but we had some chores that needed doing."
Merlin had dug deep to find the courage to speak. It was a weak excuse and Merlin knew that the Old Man didn't believe it, but it broke the suffocating silence.
The Old Man let out a high-pitched growl and turned to walk away. It was such an unexpected movement, that Gwilym and Steffan stepped back in fright and fell over Taliesin and Garnon. The four went tumbling to the ground. The Old Man turned back, the boys felt as if his ice-blue eyes were burning into them.
"Children, always messing about!" he scolded them once more, before he turned away again. Dog also gave them a fearsome growl. Then the Old Man started mumbling under his breath. This was something new and worrying for the boys.
As soon as his back was turned the boys were back on their feet, and looking at each other accusingly, each blaming the other. Merlin motioned for them to hurry; Steffan and Taliesin were still pushing each other, with Llewellyn desperately trying to keep them apart - as they followed the muttering man. He kept up talking to himself until they got to the entrance of the cave. The cave was the only safe way in and out of the valley. The other way was to risk life and limb climbing the steep cliffs. It was that danger that helped to keep them safe from the evils of the outside world. The cave was also the way the stream got out. This was another unique part of the village's safety.
The boys first and foremost responsibility was to lead the sheep out along the stream's bed. They had to keep the sheep in the stream for quite some distance. This distance varied every single day. Every day they changed the place where they let the sheep out to graze. They did this so that their footprints could not be followed back to the village. This precaution had kept the village safe from the Romans for hundreds of years.
At the entrance to the cave there was a small gate that held back the sheep. The sheep were never allowed through until everything had been checked on the other side; it was only opened when it was safe to let the animals through. Merlin and Llewellyn followed the Old Man down into the darkness of the cave. The only thing to guide them was the sound of trickling water and the soft draw of the old man's gammy leg being dragged behind him.
They turned a bend and the welcome light from the narrow little entrance cut through the darkness. From there they had to step into the stream to get through the final few feet. This was where the Old Man usually stopped and let Dog go on ahead on his own. Dog would then scout out the area for wolves and bears that sometimes hunted in the hills. They would then wait for him to come back to give the all clear. On a few occasions he had come back covered in blood, some was his own, but most belonged to whatever it was he'd been fighting with. Once he dragged a bear back in with him and spent the rest of the day chomping down on it.
But today was different, and to their surprise the Old Man continued going through, he and Dog stopping at the entrance for a moment to make sure it was safe to step out into the open. The Old Man called the Merlin and Llewellyn through. Dog bounded off down through the stream; his huge paws throwing water high into the air as he went. In a few minutes he was back, it seemed they were safe.
"Bring the sheep through," the old man said to Llewellyn, directing him back into the cave with a wave of his staff. Normally it was the Old Man himself that gave that order to the boys when dog returned into the cave.
Llewellyn was quick to obey, and disappeared back into the cave. Then the old man had Dog follow Llewellyn with another wave of his staff.
Merlin had never been alone with the Old Man before, and he didn't think it was by chance. The Old Man was going to have more words with him, he was sure. Merlin wondered what else he had done wrong. He wished that Gerwyn was still in charge; Gerwyn had been the leader of the boys before Merlin. He had come of age and was now hunting with the men. Now he was the leader of the boys -although he was only a few weeks older then Llewellyn. In fact there was only three months between the six of them. Ifan was a lot younger, the baby of the team. Gerwyn had always spoken with the Old Man. Merlin knew Gerwyn had been afraid of the Old Man and he used to tremble when the Old Man spoke to him - now he was in the firing line. The moments ticked away.
Where were they? What was taking them so long? He wished they'd hurry. The old man had his eyes fixed on him, and it was making him feel very uncomfortable. Merlin looked away, trying to concentred his mind on doing his job, He scanned the landscape for anything unusual, as he did every morning. But he was always being drawn back to eye contact with the Old Man. The Old Man had never stared at him like this before. Sometimes he had given him a disapproving look, but nothing like this. Where were the others? It felt as if he'd been waiting for them forever.
Merlin's mind drifted back to the time when he and the other boys were about twelve. On some autumn evenings, when the nights were drawing in the men of the village would go down to near the cave entrance. They would sit around a fire to talk and tell stories. This had long been a favourite place for younger boys to meet and play in the daylight hours. The large tree trunks that surrounded the fire were a good place to build up muscle and balance.
On very special nights, once or twice a year, the Old Man would agree to talk - there was always a buzz around the village that day. The excitement was too much for Steffan, and he instigated a plan with the others to sneak down there early, hid close by so that they could listen in. Merlin remembered the excitement building in him as the darkness drew in around them, Once the fire was lit there was no way out of there without being seen, they were trapped there until the end of the meeting. As the fire grew and its light rose and fell with the flicker of the flame, the atmosphere grew, and as more and more men arrived, their chatter lifted the boy's excitement even more.
Then without warning the talking stopped, and the only sound was the crackling of the fire, as it sent sparks high into the air. The very air seemed to have come alive with anticipation. Then they saw the Old Man he had just seemed to appear out of thin air. The fire's light cast his shadow on the rocks over the heads of the boys. The Old Man was standing tall and straight, looking twice his normal height. He greeted the surrounding company, but was talking too softly for the boys to hear him clearly. Steffan was the first to break cover, without a word to the others he was crawling towards the fire. Llewellyn was quick to follow, then Gwilym and Taliesin. Garnon looked to Merlin, what choice did he have, they had to follow. The boys crawled in behind the tree trunks and were looking into the circle from between the sitting men. The Old Man was talking.
"I entered this forest, when I say forest it was unlike any woodland I had ever seen. I can only describe it as a wall of green, and I soon found out to my cost that this was a very hostile place. There were plants of the like I had never seen, some of their flowers stank of rotting flesh. Other plants had long sharp poisonous looking thorns attached. They ripped at me all the while, and the animals that I only had the odd fleeting glance at, were even more bizarre. But the worst things were the bloodsucking worms and insects that dropped on me from the trees. I moved through the forest all that day and it only grew thicker. I then climbed the highest tree, a tree so tall it rose above the clouds. I saw from there, that there was no way through, the forest went on further then the eye could see. I knew then that I would have to spend the night in that terrible place.
I built my fire just as the darkness ate everything around me. Then I was tormented by the sounds of the night, my imagination tried to put pictures to the deafening howls and pitiful screams, there seemed to be death in action all around me. And there were the eyes - millions of them cought in my fire's light, there seemed to be more eyes shining back at me than there ware stars in a cloudless sky.
I put my back to a tree and vowed not to sleep or let the fire go out. Whatever the creatures were I felt that the moment the fire went out, they would close in and eat me. The night was long and I was very tired, and I did drift into sleep."
The Old Man sat down on the ground and placed his back up against a log and placing his staff across his knees.
"I woke feeling I had only slept for a few moments. But when I went to stoke the fire, I found that I couldn't move, something had wrapped itself three times around me, and it was pinning me to the tree. My axe was in my hands, but I couldn't move my arms, I struggled with all the strength I could muster, but I was being held too tightly. A few moments later I found that it was getting hard to breathe, whatever it was that had trapping me, was very strong. Then in the fires dying light I saw movement out of the corner of my left eye, I turned and came face to face with a monstrous snake, its head was bigger than a dragon's. The beast looked me in the eyes, then ran its long forked tongue over my face, it seemed to quickly decide that it liked the taste of me, and all the time its coils were tightening around me, I thought then that my ribs were going to break. I was in so much pain - that I was almost willing it to sink its fangs into me - hoping the poison would destroy me quickly.
But when the snake opened its huge mouth, I quickly realised it was going to swallow me alive."
The Old Man opened his hands to show how big the mouth had become.
"The snake then began to squeeze its mouth over my head, with the intention of eating me whole."
The men, who had been silent up until that point, let out a collective show of horror, the boys were absolutely mesmerised.
The Old Man continued to use his hands to demonstrate how the snake began to devour him. He pulled his hands down over his head.
"Its breath was as foul as a rotting corpse and it took my breath away. As its mouth slipped down over my head it got very dark. I felt its tongue run over my face again and I bit it. The snake tensed immediately squeezing me all the harder. I wanted to let go and cry out, but resisted - I knew I was hurting it and was not going to let go. I bit down the harder and again the snake tensed again, I groaned through my teeth, and bit down again - even though I knew it was going to punish me again. With its head covering my nose and mouth I was being denied the little air that my lungs could hold. I bit again, I wanted to inflict as much pain on it as I could before I passed out. The beast then began shaking its head violently. My lungs were burning now for the want of air.
The world then began to turn in my head, with the last drop of my being I bit hard again - the tongue came away, and I could taste its blood in my mouth. My thinking at that moment was that it might well be eating me, but it would never forget how it had lost its tongue. Then to my surprise the snake loosened its grip and pulled its mouth off me. The beast then looked me in the eye again and hissed its hate at me - in doing this it splashed my face in its blood, and as I sucked in air, the blood spilled down into my lungs, chocking me and making me vomit. By the time I had gathered myself and had readied my axe, the snake was out of the fires dying light. I quickly saw to the fire, and now made a larger flame than before. The sounds of forest seemed to grow ever louder as I patrolled my small clearing. The night was so long I was becoming afraid that daylight would never return to that place. I walked around the fire not daring to stop for a moment."
And with that he began to walk around the fire, axe at the ready, and mimicking the sounds he had heard, two then three times he went around, but the fourth time when he got on the other side of the fire, the heat's shimmering haze seemed to be devouring him, and it was taking him a long time to reappear on the other side, as the boys looked for him through the flames - something roared in the dark behind them. Their hearts leapt, they turned to see a dragon with the brightest ruby red eyes coming at them.
There was no time for going around the sitting men - the boys went scattering through the men shouting "dragon", they had never run so fast in their lives, and didn't stop until they were home in their beds - where they where supposed to have been all along.
Of course the next day they concluded that they had been tricked - the Old Man must have known they were there all along. It took weeks for the boys to settle out of the nightmares that plagued them after the incident. They had kept well away from the Old Man after that.
Merlin was pulled out of his thoughts
when to his alarm, the Old Man started walking towards him. Merlin's heart leapt. He wondered what it was he'd done to upset him. The Old Man stood beside him for a few moments, without saying a word. Merlin stood perfectly still, his heart racing now. He was that nervous he found he couldn't swallow again. But not wanting to show his fear, he smiled at the Old Man politely, to Merlin's utter surprise and amazement the Old Man smiled back. Well at least he did something with his face that Merlin took for a smile.
Merlin had overheard the men of the village tell stories about him - and Merlin believed that even the men were still scared of him. Merlin's mother and father had agreed that the Old Man looked the same as he did when they were young - and their parents had said the very same thing. It seemed he had kept the people of the village safe for hundreds of years with his magical powers. He was also known as the night watchman, because he looked after the village as it slept. Every dusk he and Dog would take up their place down at the mouth of the cave, where they would stay until dawn. They did this summer and winter, 365 days a year. Merlin had seen them appear at the cave entrance looking like ghosts covered from head to toe in frost crystals. Merlin was sure it must have been magic that had kept them alive - because he thought no mortal man could have survived that cold.
Rumour was that he hadn't slept in 400 years. One of the many stories told about him was that when he was younger, he had killed seven men who had set about him. They had intended robbing him, but he had killed them with his bare hands.
When Merlin was younger the older boys of the village had told him to be careful because the Old Man ate little boys and girls alive - but he didn't believe that any more - kids stuff, he told himself reassuringly. But there was no doubt that the Old Man had magical powers - he'd heard his father talking to the other men about him, and it wasn't just the Old Man that scared the villagers. They were certainly wary of the witches who lived in the caves at the top of the village.


What kind of microphone should I purchase for the HamsPhere?
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Our Tide top is our adjustable triangle top. This top offers you minimal coverage with thin straps to be styled in multiple ways. Wear it to the beach or hit the waves with confidence. Our Tide top in Meloni is reversible from our juicy watermelon print to a solid red. Look cute and flirty in this fruitylicious top! This item is an ultimate must have this season!


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Q: error visual studio 2015 cordova Android Package: extra-android-support enter image description herewhenever I check the dependencies of " cordova " tells me that this package is missing "extra -android -support " . I attach the screen of tools and extras that I installed dall'android sdk manager.
thank you

A: I had to click the checkbox to Show Obsolete packages and then clicked the Updates link (blue text).
This selected Android Support Library in the Extras folder.
(edit: I see that this is mentioned in the comments above, but I didn't notice that so I'll leave this here in case it helps anyone else)

A: You're missing the Android SDK Tools 25.1.7 component. You should download it directly from the Android SDK manager you have open there.
Also, did you download Visual Studio Tools for Apache Cordova recently? Did you install the Android tools with VS?
If so, then you can't update the Android SDK where it is now Program Files (x86). What would be easiest is downloading your own copy of Android Studio, add all the components you have today plus the Android SDK Tools, and link VS to that in Tools -> Options -> Tools for Apache Cordova -> Overriding Environment Variables.

A: If you have Android Studio 3... there is no Extras in it.
So you have to download Support Lib (about 1mb), unzip
and put it in the [ADT_HOME]\extras\android.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


under the GFDL*or*  the GPLv3 (at this time).
I'm sure that could be fine. Alternatively, and without needing any special rules about this, the distribution could contain a separate copy of the code in question in standard source-code form, licensed under the GPL. The documentation could explain that the code itself is also available outside the documentation and that it is GPLed there. As a user, I'd prefer that to cutting and pasting out of the documentation.


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Current Civil Law
Current Criminal Law
SOL vs. perp: +2 years from majority = Age 20
SOL vs. employer: +2 years from majority = Age 20
Majority Tolling: Age 18
Discovery Tolling: Narrow
Age of Consent: Age 18
None for most felonies (enacted 4/21/2001)
+7 years for remaining crimes against victims Age 15+
No pending bills at this time. View SOL Snapshot
Testimony before Arizona Senate, SB-1292
March 4, 2010 /in Arizona, Testimony, Testimony: Arizona, Testimony: Window /by solreform
Testimony Before the Arizona Senate Rules Committee, • Relative to SB-1292: An Act Amending Child Sex Abuse Statutes of Limitations
http://sol-reform.com/News/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Hamilton-Logo.jpg 0 0 solreform http://sol-reform.com/News/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Hamilton-Logo.jpg solreform2010-03-04 00:00:472015-01-01 22:22:58Testimony before Arizona Senate, SB-1292
View All Testimony
The Progress We've Made -- and Haven't Yet Made -- on Child-Sex-Abuse Statutes of Limitations: 2010, the Year in Review
The Progress We've Made -- and Haven't Yet Made -- on…
http://sol-reform.com/News/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Hamilton-Logo.jpg 0 0 solreform http://sol-reform.com/News/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Hamilton-Logo.jpg solreform2010-12-30 00:00:272015-02-17 03:01:11The Progress We've Made -- and Haven't Yet Made -- on Child-Sex-Abuse Statutes of Limitations: 2010, the Year in Review
Testimony Before the Arizona Senate Rules Committee, • Relative…
An Award of Punitive Damages Against A Religious Institution
http://sol-reform.com/News/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Hamilton-Logo.jpg 0 0 solreform http://sol-reform.com/News/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Hamilton-Logo.jpg solreform2004-09-09 00:00:032004-09-09 00:00:03An Award of Punitive Damages Against A Religious Institution
Pretending Decades of Covering Up Child Abuse Is Not a Crime
FindLaw's Writ - Hamilton: Pretending Decades of Covering Up…
http://sol-reform.com/News/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Hamilton-Logo.jpg 0 0 solreform http://sol-reform.com/News/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/Hamilton-Logo.jpg solreform2003-06-05 00:00:002015-02-03 06:27:03Pretending Decades of Covering Up Child Abuse Is Not a Crime

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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don ho net worth
You may have heard of Don Ho, but do you know how much his net worth is? As a Vietnamese-American actor and musician, he's made a fortune thanks to his work in Hollywood and in the entertainment business. Read on to learn more about his net worth, his wife and children, and his personal life.
Born in 1930, Don Ho is a Pop Singer with a net worth of $1.2 million. His career spanned several decades, and he has enjoyed success in several genres. He was a graduate of the Kamehameha Schools and played football at Springfield College, but it was his primary career as a Pop Singer that led to his net worth.
Don Ho's net worth is hard to determine, but a recent survey suggests that it has risen significantly in the past few years. As a musician, he enjoys traveling the world, and is known for his hit song "Tiny Bubbles," from his album of the same name. His biography includes a social media page, a family page, and a wiki. Currently, Don Ho lives in Santa Monica, California.
In addition to his investment banking career, Don Ho has a diverse net worth. His investments include real estate and a bank. His net worth is expected to reach $350 million by 2022. Given his business background, his net worth is predicted to rise even higher in the coming years. The docuseries "House of Ho" has helped him garner massive success in the business world.
dj adoni net worth
drew henson net worth


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Home Games Tekken 3 Game for Android and PC: All you need to know about
Tekken 3 Game for Android and PC: All you need to know about
Tekken means an iron fist in Japanese. The first version of Tekken was launched on the 3rd of August 1995. Tekken is a Japanese media franchise game based on a series of fighting.
Tekken was developed by Bandai Namco, the same company that developed Pacman. It was designed and developed by Bandai Namco Studios and launched or published by Bandai Namco Entertainment.
Tekken is a franchise; it is most popular among the children, often to the eighteen age group. It is a violent hand-to-hand combat game. The developers designed Tekken; Katsuhiro Harada, Yasuki Nakabayashi, Seiichi Ishii, Yuichi Toyama, Landon Nguyen, Yasuhiro Noguchi. You can read about them more if it pleases you.
Who and when Tekken launched?
The plot of the Game Tekken 3
What is the story of Tekken 3?
Tekken 3 Franchise
How to download Tekken 3 Game for Android and PC?
Difference between arcade games and console games
Positive reviews for Tekken 3 Game
Namco published Tekken in the year 1995
However, in 2005, Namco was merged with another company named Bandai.
Bandai Namco is a multinational Entertainment video game publisher located in Japan with headquarters in Minato-Ku, Tokyo. Its international branches, Bandai Namco Entertainment United States of America and Bandai Namco Entertainment Europe, are located in California at Santa Clara (United States of America) and France (Europe) at Lyon.
The third version of Tekken, Tekken 3, became famous as it introduced the players to a new cast of characters for the game. There were twenty-one characters in the earlier versions of the game, but the latest version introduced twenty-seven characters.
Heihachi Mishima has been the game's main boss character or antagonist since the first series. He is the leader of a military organization known as the Tekken force.
The new villain in this series is an Ogre ( an ogre is a mythological creature believed to be a large hideous-looking monster who eats human beings).
Tekken 3 is an entertaining game available for both arcade and consoles. It can also be played on PlayStation, Xbox, and Personal Gaming Computers. It is so popular that it has crossed all geographical boundaries and become a universally loved video game. Tekken was also widely commercially successful.
Tekken 3 is critically the most commercially successful in the series of Tekken. It sold more than eight million copies to date, with more than one million in its origin country Japan. Tekken 3 is the third best-selling fighting game of all time.
Tekken 3 has been adapted in a series of the media franchise. It has been considered to be released as a streaming television series by Netflix in the year 2022. An Original video animation anime series named Tekken: The Motion Picture, a two-part series, was released in 1998.
Afterward, Tekken was included for several media franchises such as the Tekken: Bloodline Vengeance, Tekken Hybrid Collection, etc. Tekken's theme-based merchandise is also trendy, such as theme-based Tops, T-Shirts, School bags, pencil boxes, and other stationery products. Tekken posters and stickers were also widely sold and bought.
Tekken 3 download is available for Android and PC on the links given below:
https://apkvision.com/games/arcade/tekken-3-48368/
https://nextalerts.com/tekken-3-apk-2
An arcade game is also called a coin-operated game. An arcade is a machine generally set up in public places like restaurants, pubs and bars, shopping malls, game stations, game parlors, and amusement parks. Most arcade games are considered games that require skills such as coordination of hands, fingers, and eyes. It also requires intense concentration to become a top scorer. These games are not merely based on luck. A Pinball machine is an arcade.
Arcade video games were first introduced in the early 1970s. Arcade video games use electric, digital or computerized equipment to take inputs from the players and convert the information into an output.
Atari 2600 is an example of a console video game. Console video games are those games for which especially designed hardware is required. Nintendo is an example of a console. The console devices have a screen on which the games are displayed, and it is necessary to have a controller to operate the game and control the players on the screen. Usually, an analogous joystick is used as the controller for a console. Consoles require an audio-video device.
Some examples of console games are Fifa 22, Grand Theft Auto series, etc.
Tekken 3 has a 9.9 out of 10 on GameSpot, a score of 96 percent on Metacritic.
Arjun: One of my cousins introduced me to video games, and Tekken 3 was my first video game. I love The King of the Iron Fist Tournament 3 (Tekken 3). This video game also made me a fan of martial art movies and learn self-defense.
However, we should not forget that in this era of digitalization, when most students and teenagers tend to suffer from social anxiety and feel socially uncomfortable, any video game should be played only for a limited period. It is very natural for the target audience to forget reality and live in a world of video games. To prevent oneself from eyesight problems, headaches caused due to prolonged screen time and various other ailments such as wrong posture, etc. time yourself when you play any video game, keep a distance from the screen of about twenty-five centimeters. Make video games a part of your life, not your life.
I would like to tell you that Tekken 3 is an excellent game to get you involved for some entertainment and an adrenaline rush while playing the hero of the game.
It is an eye-catching, fun fantasy game that mesmerizes the player. It will take you to another world and make you forget the hustle and bustle of your regular life.
People of all ages can play it.
Tekken 3 was one of the most popular games because it attracted great mass towards it. Now it is available in different versions and editions supported by various devices such as Xbox, Playstation 4, Nintendo, etc.
Enjoy a good game!
tekken 3tekken 3 download
Urfi Javed Biography, Father and Family, Age, Religion, Serials and Photos
What is Cyber security & How to protect an App from cyber-attacks?


The Easter Weekend at the Daylesford Spa Country Railway will see a bumper program of Trolley Rides on Good Friday, a special operating day for fully restored 153hp Walker Rail motor 32RM on Easter Saturday, expanded train services on Easter Sunday and a bumper Sunday market.
We are running our famous trolley train again on Good Friday to support the Royal Children's Hospital Good Friday Appeal! Trolleys will be running between 10am until 3pm for a 30 minute return trip through local farmland to the Wombat state forest on Good Friday 19 April 2019. Tickets are available on the day, no need to book.
All proceeds from ticket sales will be donated to the Royal Children's Hospital Good Friday Appeal! So come on down and support this fantastic cause.
Please note that trolleys may not operate in the event of inclement weather.
Following on from the successful public launch one year ago, 32RM will again feature on passenger train services on Easter Saturday. Experience the world class restoration of this rail motor on a 1 hour return trip from Daylesford to Bullarto and return. Pre-book via TryBooking to secure your seat!
Easter Sunday will feature an expanded timetable with two trains in operation to Musk and Bullarto. A bumper Daylesford Sunday Market will also be held in the station grounds. Train tickets are available on the day - No need to book!


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Anníbal Falcão (Recife, Pernambuco, 1859 -  Barra Mansa, Rio de Janeiro, 1900) foi um escritor e político brasileiro.

Foi um ativo participante das campanhas pela Abolição da Escravatura e no movimento para Proclamação da República do Brasil. Eleito como deputado federal em 1890, participou da Assembléia Constituinte de 1891.

É atribuído a ele o libreto escrito com o pseudônimo de Albino Falanca ou Albemo Falanca, que serviu como enredo da ópera Colombo (ópera), do compositor brasileiro, Antônio Carlos Gomes (1836 - 1896), de quem era amigo pessoal.

Escritores de Pernambuco
Deputados federais do Brasil por Pernambuco
Naturais do Recife
Abolicionistas do Brasil

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Local wine boutique offers great wines, cheeses…and you can even stop in for a sandwich!
Artisans: Local wine boutique offers great wines, cheeses...and you can even stop in for a sandwich!
In my usual Monday morning readings of online magazines, blogs and everything in between, I came across a wine boutique that is local, but in location only. Larchmont Village Wine and Cheese is anything but local in its selections of wine, cheeses and even its sandwich menu. Global taste with local ingredients seems a better way to describe this family owned and operated wine boutique that has been in business since 1995. Known for their incredible selection and knowledge of wine, you can stop by and ask any question about their selection and be assured that Simon, "the sommelier of sommeliers" will probably have the answer. If you are a collector or just need a nice bottle of Pinot Grigio for dinner, they offer everything from rare vintages to local favorites and "inexpensive but great finds". The only challenge with this wonderful wine boutique is the line up…but wait – it's not entirely for the wine.
Larchmont's Wine and Cheese also offers a wide variety of gourmet cheeses including local favorites from some of Morin County's best cheese artisans. Cesar, the "house authority on cheese" can guide you through their selection of fine cheeses that include everything from the the "Swiss" they put on their sandwiches to a fine French brie.
It's easy to see why this local favorite has been around and continues to grow such a fond loyalty. Simon (house sommelier) has reputation for being one of the most knowlegeable sommeliers in the county and with an amazing wine selection, great cheeses and of course, those sandwiches, it's easy to see why customers are willing to return time and time again.
If you are in the neighborhood, stop in, peruse the wine and of course — try a sandwich!


There are ways to avoid paying the full retail price for Apple's newest smart phone.
If you haven't already pre-ordered the new iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus, you might be doing yourself a favor by taking a little extra time to compare all the offers available on Apple's latest smart phone. The standard price on the iPhone 6 starts at $199 with a two-year contract, and the iPhone 6 Plus starts at $299 with a two-year contract. Without a contract, the phones start at $649 and $749, respectively. But discounts, trade-in credits and other incentives can reduce the price you pay for your iPhone.
Be prepared to wait, though, to actually get your hands on an iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus. Apple announced that demand for the new phones exceeded the initial pre-order supply. The phones were supposed to be delivered to pre-order customers September 19, but many won't arrive until October, according to Apple. However, the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus should be available in stores -- for people who are willing to wait in long lines, that is.
So before you place an order or get in line, here's what you need to know about getting a deal on a new iPhone.
Walmart is offering the iPhone 6 with 16GB of storage (the minimum amount available) for $179 with a two-year contract through AT&T, Sprint or Verizon. That's $20 less than Apple's price. Plus, those who pre-order will get a $15 Walmart gift card when they pick up their phone, which should be available September 19. Walmart also will be selling the iPhone 6 Plus in stores September 19 for $279 ($20 off) with a two-year contract.
Sam's Club, which is owned by Walmart, will be selling the iPhone 6 (16GB) in stores September 19 for $177 ($22 less than Apple) with a two-year contract with AT&T, Sprint or Verizon, and the iPhone 6 Plus with a contract for $277 ($22 less).
If you already have an iPhone, you can trade it in to get a credit to lower the price of a new phone. Walmart has a calculator you can use to estimate how much you'll get for your trade-in. For example, a working 16GB iPhone 5s with an AT&T service plan could net you $250 from Walmart, according to the calculator.
AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon are offering up to a $300 credit for trading in an iPhone 5s in good condition – which technically would make the purchase of a new iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus at $199 or $299, respectively, free excluding the cost of the contract. The trade-in value for older iPhones is lower. (Sprint, however, is guaranteeing a minimum trade-in credit of $200).
The four major wireless carriers have installment options that allow you to pay nothing upfront for the phone when you sign up for a service agreement. The full no-contract cost of the device is spread over several months. In exchange for agreeing to pay full price over time for your new phone -- $649, in the case of the 16GB iPhone 6 -- your monthly service charges are lower than they would be with a standard two-year service agreement.
AT&T. Pay $0 down then $27.09 a month for 24 months ($32.50 for 20 months) for an iPhone 6 and $31.25 a month for 24 months ($37.50 for 20 months) for an iPhone 6 Plus. Service plans start at $60 a month, but you can save $15 to $25 a month depending on the data plan you choose with AT&T's Mobile Share value plans. Pre-ordered iPhone 6 devices will ship in 21 to 35 business days, and iPhone 6 Plus devices will ship between November 9 and November 27.
T-Mobile. Pay $0 down then $27.08 a month for 24 months. Service plans start at $45. T-Mobile will pay up to $350 to cover early termination fees if you switch carriers. Pre-ordered iPhone 6 devices will ship in one to four weeks, and iPhone 6 Plus devices will ship in one to six weeks.
Verizon. Pay $0 down then $32.49 a month for 20 months for an iPhone 6 and $37.49 a month for an iPhone 6 Plus. Service plans start at $55 a month, but you can get a monthly discount of $10 to $25 depending on the data plan you choose with the Verizon Edge plan. Pre-ordered iPhone 6 devices will be delivered by October 7; iPhone 6 Plus devices will be delivered by October 28.
Sprint. In addition to installment plans similar to other carriers, Sprint unveiled a new "iPhone for Life" leasing plan that requires no money down. The leasing cost for the base model iPhone 6 is $20 a month for 24 months, plus $50 a month for service. The leasing cost for the base model iPhone 6 Plus is $25 a month for 24 months plus monthly service charges. After two years those on a leasing plan can upgrade to a new lease on a new iPhone, purchase the leased iPhone 6 or continue leasing the iPhone 6 on a month-to-month basis. If the leasing agreement is cancelled early, remaining lease payments are due immediately and the phone must be returned. (There's also an option to buy out the lease.) Sprint also will pay up to $350 if you switch from another carrier. Pre-ordered iPhone 6 devices will be delivered in up to three weeks. Pre-ordered iPhone 6 Plus devices will be shipped in up to four to six weeks.
You can compare the costs of carriers' installment plans with two-year contracts that require an upfront payment for an iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus with a new calculator from WalletHub, a site that provides financial tools and information.


The director of "En el Séptimo Día" explains how he wound up making movies about underrepresented communities, and why it took so long for him to make a new one.
At first blush, Jim McKay may not seem like the poster child for diverse filmmaking: He's a white guy who has spent the bulk of his career directing other people's TV shows, from "Law & Order" to "The Good Wife." But the New York filmmaker has consistently delivered astute dramas about the daily lives of underrepresented Americans long before widespread calls for inclusivity hit Hollywood. His new feature, the low budget crowdpleaser "En El Séptimo Día," is just the latest example.
After his 1996 debut "Girls Town," McKay won acclaim at Sundance for 2000's "Our Song," a Brooklyn-set coming-of-age story starring a young Kerry Washington and others as members of a community marching band in a low-income neighborhood. For his next projects, McKay went straight to television long before the era of Netflix Originals, directing the working class ensemble piece "Everyday People" and the social worker drama "Angel Rodriguez" for HBO. McKay spent the next several years in television, before making his way back to feature filmmaking with the self-funded "En El Séptimo Día," which is now playing in limited release a year after it premiered under the radar at New York's BAMcinemaFEST.
The movie follows deliveryman José (newcomer Fernando Cardona), a Mexican immigrant who's torn between playing in his group soccer tournament and working his job when the two schedules conflict. As with much of McKay's work, the movie features a cast of non-professionals riffing on their real lives, but it manages to turn José's dilemma into a riveting neorealist snapshot of immigrant life in New York.
McKay's circuitous route back to this kind of material relates to his early decision to direct movies for television, where he found a more hospitable platform for the kind of stories he wanted to tell. He spoke to IndieWire about how that path led him back to making another acclaimed movie.
"Our Song" was a big hit out of Sundance. Then you made two HBO movies, "Everyday People" and "Angel Rodriguez." Even now, most filmmakers who have success with one movie out of the gate don't turn to making movies for television. How did that relationship come about?
"Angel Rodriguez" was 2005, which was funny because someone wrote the other day that this was my first film since "Our Song." But both films I made were original scripts. They weren't movies for hire. They were my projects, but they weren't theatrical. I think when that happens now, the convergence is finally accepted. I remember saying to HBO, "Can you get some film critics to review these along with TV critics?" They played some film festivals, but they got TV critic reviews, which is great and the writers were excellent, but they don't exist in people's minds as movies.
Did you wish they had theatrical releases instead?
How did you wind up making movies for HBO?
Nelson George put it into development. Every time he was on the radio, he would say to people, "Here's my P.O. box., if you have any stories about race — whether you're black, white, or Latino, or whatever, send them to me because I want to collect them into a project." So he told HBO's Colin Callender, "I've got these things." Colin's a big Mike Leigh fan, and he thought, "Maybe we'll take these and do some kind of improvisational workshop with actors." He knew that I had done something similar with "Girls Town," so they approached me.
Then I came in and read all these stories. There were 50 or 60 of them. I thought it was amazing what they were doing. Basically, it was this massive entertainment company making buttloads of money from boxing, and they wanted to create a library of independent film.
So you could just pick any story to make into a movie?
I said, "I think these are fascinating, but I don't want to fictionalize these stories." HBO had also done that Subway Stories project, with Jonathan Demme, which were basically a bunch of connected shorts with different directors intertwined with the subway system. I said, "If you want to do a workshop, let me write the outline for a story that's completely made up and outside of these things." I had done that with "Girls Town." Then, I cast the characters, keeping these stories in mind. Nelson and I went through the stories, picked the ones we felt strongly about and assigned each one to a character. We used them as backstories.
I think at the time it came out, people felt really attached to it, and it felt special. For me, I'm very critical of the writing. I feel like it's a little coy and clunky at times.
After "Angel Rodriguez," you became a full-time television director.
When I came out of "Angel," "Homicide: Life on the Streets" had happened, "Oz" had happened, and all these independent filmmakers — mostly men — were getting work on these TV shows because they had producers interested in their skills. I was always like, "I wanna get on that." I wanted to get paid. The HBO films had been great. They were bigger movies, but I wanted to actually get paid.
"Everyday People" and "Angel" didn't register on a scale with Hollywood people who actually financed films because they were not seen as theatrical films. They were realist films about people of color who weren't box office names. Most people make small films so they can make bigger films. I really didn't want that, and I think I projected that. So I got to make two things that people saw as TV movies and was even more in that realm. After "Angel" was finished, the people from "The Wire" called and asked if I wanted to direct an episode of the fourth season. Of course I did.
Had you been considering making another movie?
I actually had written a draft of "En El Séptimo Día," ut I kind of got sidetracked by TV. The money is great, especially for a filmmaker like me. I'd worked on a lot of small-scale stuff, and all of a sudden, I had a crane and super-skilled professional actors.
How much did you think about returning to movies during this time?
I always kept thinking, "When am I going to do it? How?" But I'm not a good multitasker. I'm not one of those people who, between takes on a TV show, gets out my laptop and rewrites a script. I do what I'm doing. So I would do an episode of TV for four weeks and then I'd get three to five weeks off. The more TV shows I did, the more I was offered.
A couple of years ago, I had a script about a 45-year-old female singer-songwriter. Typically, I don't like to cast name actors, but I thought because this character is famous, a star, I could actually cast someone famous and it'd make sense. I set about it for a year. It was tricky because whoever I got would have to be able to bring financing in, but they'd also need to sing and play guitar. It just didn't come together. After a certain time I said, "You know what? I'm going to pull this other project out of the closet. I know I can actually make it small." I'd been saving up money for 10 years. And we didn't raise our full budget until we were in prep.
Most of the budget came out of your own pocket?
A lot of it. My kids' college funds. I'm kidding. Partly. We also had a couple people who threw some in.
How did you find the kind of non-actors you needed?
The casting process started in May 2015, and we finished in December 2015, so that's basically six or seven months. I figured we'd shoot in the summer, so we had six months to just do soft prep, which was me just doing own little scouting and having soccer practice with the actors. It gave me time to get to know them, and for them to get to know each other. I gave them some DVDs of my earlier films. I created an early poster that listed my credits on "Breaking Bad." They were like, "Ooh, you worked on 'Breaking Bad'?" So I think they knew it was real. At the same time, we had a crew of like three people, and we were meeting in these dingy places. We got this apartment in Sunset Park as our production office. But each step of the way, things got a little bit more legit. Then there was a crew of about 15 or 20 people on set.
How closely did your lead actor, Fernando, relate to the dilemma of the deliveryman at the center of the story?
He's never done a bike job, but he works mostly in trucks. He's done a lot of construction. He is from Puebla, from Guerrero, specifically. Nobody in the cast had done any acting before. One of the guys is in a band, so he knows about performance. Some of them have family here, others have family still in Mexico.
At this point, you must be used to dealing with questions about being a white person making movies about people of color.
I don't know how this is going to sound, but for all of these films, there's a tremendous amount of meat in terms of these characters. Jose's traits as a person, his ethics, his sense of morality, his personality, that comes from me on a lot of levels. I'm writing myself, and I'm putting that into another person's body who's different from me, who has completely different experiences from me. You just have to make sure it makes sense. I just think this is a universal story. It has all its specificity in terms of the Mexican community here, in terms of males, in terms of immigrants, and labor.
But ultimately there is a universality in the fact that it's a story about pride and dignity, the choices we make in our lives regarding what our lives actually are. I really did think for a minute, "I could make this in Minnesota and the protagonist could be a white guy who works at Walmart and has a big ice finishing competition coming up on the weekend where he has to work." This film isn't as much about class and labor as it is about other things.
You were in pre-production with Donald Trump launched his presidential campaign by referring to Mexican immigrants as rapists. How did that impact your relationship to this story?
We all come from immigrants. If your relatives did it "the right way," it's only because they were a privileged group given that opportunity. They got their special treatment. People refusing to relate to a story like Jose don't realize that it's everybody's story. There's just a bias in immigration law against the less-monied, darker-skinned countries. So I hope people see some of themselves in this guy, and can also look and him and say, "Isn't this the kind of America we want to be neighbors with?" He's hard-working, respects his family and his friends. He's a doer, a hustler. He's got dreams.
"En el Séptimo Día" is now playing in New York at the IFC Center and BAM.


Today you will be mesmerised by the beautiful alpine landscapes of Cradle Mountain. Birds such as Forest Ravens, Black Currawongs and Wedge-tailed Eagles are seen in this area, whilst Echidnas, Platypus, Spotted-tailed Quoll and the Eastern Quoll may also be seen.
Depart the Cradle Valley and travel to Tasmania's Central Highlands also known as "The Heart of Tasmania". On dusk you will have the chance to observe Wombats, Wallabies and Possums as they turn the area into a hub of activity. With a bit of luck you may also see Quolls and Tasmanian Devils in their natural habitat.
This morning takes you from the Tasmanian highlands to Tasmania's East Coast, with its exceptional beauty, pristine white sandy beaches and granite coastline.
the evening, a night tour offers you the rare chance to observe fairy penguins, also known as little penguins, tumble form the ocean and waddle up the sand to their nesting burrows.
This unique island national park sits just off Tasmania's east coast. Enjoy a day of peaceful walking along historic ruins, sweeping bays, rugged fossil cliffs and imposing mountains. This island sanctuary provides an opportunity to view its resident wildlife, including bare nosed wombats, Cape Barren geese, Tasmanian pademelons, kangaroo, wallabies and even the Tasmanian Devil in their natural environment.


Within the Videum portal, both login and video selection and search have an innovative solution: once Videum registration has been linked to a social network like Facebook or Linkedin, it's possible to log in securely with just one click. The search facility allows you to choose the video of your choice, using filters for language (or languages) and pathologies. The videos corresponding to the selection criteria are automatically downloaded in real time. Each video page includes a text translation in all the available languages. The transcript can be used not just for navigating within the video by clicking on the individual words written down, but also allowing search engines – like Google – to index the video as efficiently as possible for the specific content.
Multiple technology server, HTML5/AJAX for the front-end, multiple technology for encoding and video streaming.
Videum is a project created by DOTSUB, a company based in NYC which has made widespread translation technology available (crowdsourcing), and Publicis Healthware International, a digital communication company with head office in Salerno. The translation technology is currently DOTSUB patent pending.


The story behind the quote: This week's quote comes from Star Trek: The Next Generation. A worthy successor to the franchise, The Next Generation introduced a new cast of characters taking control of a new USS Enterprise as they boldly go where no man has gone before.
This week's quote comes from the 6th season episode, Tapestry. In the episode, Captain Jean-Luc Picard (played by Patrick Stewart) is shot in his artificial heart. Ironically, if he has his normal heart, he wouldn't be dying. The god-like being Q (played by John de Lancie) gives him an opportunity to return to that bar fight that made him lose his original heart in the first place. Picard does so but, when he is returned to his original time, he is no longer the Captain of the USS Enterprise, but a simple junior officer. He confronts Q about his current situation and Q explains that, because he never had that brush with death in the bar, Picard never took the risks that made him a daring captain in the first place.
Geek wisdom: It seems easy to take no chances. While you may leave a comfortable life by doing this, the only way to really get ahead is to seize opportunities when you can and take risks. It may seem difficult but the most successful people in life have taken the more perilous route to get where they are. The gamble may be risky but the payout is high.
The story behind the quote: This week's quote comes from the original Star Trek television series. The television that launched a multi-billion dollar franchise and one that has endured for decades. With the latest television show, Star Trek: Discover, set for release tomorrow, I think it would be a good idea to give a quote from the show that started it all.
The quote comes from the episode Amok Time, frequently mentioned to be one of the best episodes of the series. In the episode, Spock (played by Leonard Nimoy) desperately needs to return to Vulcan to complete the right to pon farr, which is essentially the Vulcan mating ritual. However, when he does return to the planet, Spock finds out that his future wife has fallen in love with another man. She enacts the right of koon-ut-kal-if-fee, wherein she picks Captain Kirk (played by William Shatner) as her champion. At the end of the episode, Spock renounces her claim on his supposed bride-to-be and delivers the quote to the man she fell in love with.
Geek wisdom: There's an old adage that goes "Be careful what you wish for. You may receive it." There are times when you want something so badly that it's all you can think about. But, once you do get that thing you crave for, you may find out that it's not all that's it's cracked up to be. By then, it's too late and you may have spend all that effort trying to get something that you actually didn't want or need in the first place.
The story behind the quote: There are already several quotes from the old Star Trek cast. Now, it's time to give a little respect to The Next Generation, the successor to the franchise. Star Trek: The Next Generation successfully introduced new fans to the sci-fi world where humans explored the final frontier. The series also gave us many memorable characters and, thankfully, lots of great quotes.
This week's quote comes from The Next Generation Episode entitled Peak Performance, wherein Picard and Riker (played by Patrick Stewart and Jonathan Frakes, respectively), take part of a series of war games to test their mettle as part of their training. During the episode, Lt. Commander Data (played by Brent Spiner) plays a competitive game against the the war games observer in a strategic game aptly named Strategema. To his surprise, Data, who just so happened to be an android, loses. This makes Data start to lose faith in himself as a strategist as there was supposedly no way he should have lost.
The quote happens during the second act. Picard asks Data to come to the bridge but the android has second thoughts. This is when Picard, after ordering him on to the bridge, gives the quote.
Geek wisdom: Life isn't fair all the time. Sometimes you will given lucky breaks and sometimes unlucky ones. There are also going to be times when, even if you think you've thought of every possible bad thing that could happen and prepare contingencies for them, things may still not swing your way. That doesn't mean that you shouldn't try things anymore. The important thing is that you try.
The story behind the quote: This is actually the second time I'm getting a quote from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. The quote comes from the beginning of the film where Lt. Saavik and the crew of the Enterprise receives a distress call from the Kobayashi Maru, a Starfleet vessel that is stranded in the Klingon Neutral Zone. As Saavik attempts to rescue the crew of the crippled ship, the Enterprise is attacked by waves upon waves of Klingon starships, resulting in the eventual deaths of the crew of the ship.
It turns out the entire scene was just a test for Saavik to see how she would handle a "no-win" scenario. However, it's revealed shortly after that there was actually someone who "beat" the Kobayashi Maru simulation; Admiral James T. Kirk managed to complete the scenario on his third try.
Geek wisdom: When you think you can't succeed, chances are you'll fail because you already let yourself think it's okay to not succeed. Sometimes, it's even better to fail so that you can have an excuse for not trying something again. But if you believe that you have to perform a task and actually do it correctly, you will push yourself harder to do so.
The story behind the quote: This is a first! Not only am I using another Star Trek quote from the second film, The Wrath of Khan, but I'm also going to use the exact same clip from one of this blog's earliest entries! So, I won't really be writing that long of a set up for this one.
Spock had to enter the warp core of the ship to repair the engines so that they could escape destruction. Because of this, he has been exposed to a fatal dose of radiation and is dying. Kirk rushes to his aid but is unable to help his friend. As he's dying, Spock tells Kirk about how he "feels" about his relationship with the Captain of the USS Enterprise.
Geek wisdom: It's easy to cherish your friends when you're with them all the time. But what about the time when you don't meet up with them every day? The sad part of this is friendships can fade away, no matter how many times you check their status message on Facebook.
Still, even if this does happen, you will always be their friend. When you see each other after ages of being apart, it's easy to rekindle that friendship. All it takes is that one time.
The story behind the quote: The quote comes Galaxy Quest. Now, the premise of the film is pretty unique, to say the least. Tim Allen plays Jason Nesmith, a washed-up character actor who had one big hit: the sci-fi television show Galaxy Quest (which, in itself is a parody of the original Star Trek series). Nesmith played Commander Peter Quincy Taggart who commanded the starship known as the Protector. Things get complicated when a group of aliens mistake the Galaxy Quest broadcast as a record of real events. The aliens capture the entire crew of the show and ask them to help them fight a warlike race. Assuming that the aliens are just play-acting, Nesmith agrees to "help" them.
The quote is actually the catchphrase of Commander Taggart. Whenever the Protector is facing seemingly insurmountable odds, Taggart will deliver the quote as seen in the clip below.
Geek wisdom: This is pretty self-explanatory. We shouldn't give up wherever we hit a minor problem. Even the biggest success stories of our time have hit a few speed bumps along their way to greatness. But they never let these roadblocks stop them as they persisted with their endeavor until the did succeed.
We should also have the attitude to not give up and push through hardship. Because if we surrender at the slightest hint of trouble, we'll never get anything done!
The story behind the quote: This quote is probably something everyone is familiar with. It comes from the opening narration of Star Trek. But first, let's talk about Star Trek.
The basic premise of all Star Trek iterations is that a huge spaceship, the USS Enterprise, goes around the universe attempting to make brand new discoveries and encounter new alien races to communicate with. One of the things that made each version of Star Trek memorable was the diverse cast and the attitudes of the crew of the Enterprise. The original 1966 series had James T. Kirk, the captain of the ship, who was usually led by following his instincts. However, his First Office, a Vulcan named Spock, who only works with pure logic.
The second series, called Star Trek: The Next Generation, added more diversity. The crew of the new Enterprise now had a Klingon (a race of aliens that were actually the main antagonists of the original series) named Worf and a full-fledged android named Data joining an entirely new cast.
Anyway, every series would always have the same intro, with a narrator stating the full mission of the USS Enterprise.
Geek wisdom: We all want to play it safe and stay in our comfort zone and, honestly, there's nothing wrong with that. However, it's when we don't explore and do new things once in a while is when we stagnate. We all have to eventually try new things and go to new places. In fact, this is the best way for us to keep learning new things.
The story behind the quote: The quote was actually mentioned twice in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. The first time is relatively early in the film. Spock is actually in command of the Enterprise when it receives a distress call from another starship. Kirk, now an admiral decides to take command due to the emergency. Spock then derides his friend, saying that Kirk shouldn't have taken the promotion since this has taken him from what he actually loves: being the commander of a starship. However, he will still follow Kirk since he is not only his commanding officer, but, more importantly, his friend.
The 2nd time this is mentioned is the more remembered. Spock had to enter the warp core of the ship to repair the engines so that they could escape destruction. Because of this, he has been exposed to a fatal dose of radiation and is dying. Kirk rushes to his aid but is unable to help his friend. Spock asks his friend not to grieve and starts the phrase only to be completed by Kirk.
It is important to note that this is possibly not the true origin of this quote. Greek philosophers have been noted to mention something along these lines. However, most people, especially movie buffs, remember the quote coming from this film due to the emotional weight it carries.
Geek wisdom: Sometimes, self-sacrifice is important in the scheme of things. A lot of heroes know this and this is why we remember them. Its through their sacrifice that we get to live our lives. Think of the soldiers who fight for our freedoms. They are fighting for you so that you don't have to.
We can still do little things, such as volunteering for tasks that no one likes to do (taking out the trash, for example). Or, if your friends wants to go rock climbing and you don't want to, go along with them still. We don't have to give up our lives to follow Spock's example.


support services to the families of Rainy River First Nations.
Please apply in writing by 4:00 PM, Wednesday, January 16, 2019.
recent supervisor, with permission to contact these references.
For further information, please contact Verna DeBungie at (807) 4822479 ext. 249.


The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports that a recent University of Washington graduate is suing his fraternity, Delta Upsilon International Fraternity, for medical bills for injuries he sustained after he fell 45 feet from his bed window onto a parking lot in April of 2005. In the lawsuit, Erik Anderson and his parents, claim that the Fraternity was at fault for failing to provide "a safe living and sleeping space." Anderson's top bunk had no guard rails and it was placed next to a window that swung out. The suit also claims that the Fraternity condoned underage drinking. Reports said that Anderson had been drinking the night of his fall at a chapter-coordinated party.
Luckily, Anderson survived the fall but he sustained serious and permanent damage to his arms, pelvis, lower spine and nervous system. He has had to undergo three years of physical therapy and his medical expenses are nearing $300,000 to-date.
The lawsuit names Delta Upsilon International and Caledonia Bay Builders both as defendants in the suit. Caledonia builders had installed the windows in the house shortly before Anderson's fall.
We reported, just a few weeks ago, that a current UW student, Kevin McDonald, was killed on June 15 when he fell from his fraternity-house bedroom window to concrete below.
In cases we call slip, trip and fall, serious injuries are debilitating and sometimes fatal. The law states that property or business owners must keep a property free from any hazard and in a "reasonable and safe condition." Negligence arises when the home or business owners does not exercise proper caution. In the case of these two tragic falls, one wonders if screening on the windows was present and whether the fraternity is trying to place too many beds in one room when a bed is positioned in front of window.
This information was brought to you by Washington Injury Attorney, a service of The Farber Law Group. We represent people who have been seen seriously injured in slip, trip and fall accidents. We will investigate your case to determine whether the property owner's negligence caused your accident.


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More Info on the New NFL Rules & Andy Reid in a Hawaiian Shirt
Teams can now elect to enforce personal or unsportsmanlike conduct penalties after a touchdown on the succeeding conversion attempt, or on the kickoff.
by Metti
The other day I wrote in depth about the new Pass Interference rule the NFL passed but because that one got a little long winded, I wasn't able to touch on all the other new rules. So here we'll look at the other new rules that passed, and some of the ones that didn't pass.
BUT FIRST. I wanted to finish some thoughts on the PI rules because I've heard/read some other takes on it that I think are important to bring up. Here's one view I hadn't thought of from Warren Sharp.
This rule change will allow more equity, which is good.
But the mess that will be the review of Hail Mary passes at the end of a game will be trouble.
Teams trailing inside 2 mins could fire every pass into the EZ, hoping for a miracle TD or a PI review to put ball on the 1.
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) March 27, 2019
He brings up a very good point here. How many times do we watch a hail mary at the end of the game and go "there's obvious PI right there." How many times at the end of the half will this happen? Any half or game that ends with a hail mary, the teams will have to sit out on the field on wait for the replay officials to make a judgement call on the replay. Are we going to see teams have to go into the locker room, then have to come back out? As a Packers fan the most obvious example I can think of is the hail mary Rodgers threw in the playoffs against the Giants, which with this rule would have actually gone against the Packers because Randall Cobb clearly pushes off here.
I think this rule is very good, but there are ways this is going to get exploited and it will piss fans off, and turn casual fans off to tuning in on Sunday's. The NFL does not want to lose viewership because of poor officiating, or overly long games. Alright lets look at the other rule changes in place.
Currently an extra point field goal is 33 yards. Guys miss that all the time. Now imagine your team scores, and a guy does a little more celebrating than he should. Or running into the end-zone he taunts the defense. 15 yard penalty. In the past, that would be assessed on the kickoff. Now coaches have the choice to enforce that on the conversion. That means, an extra point could now be a 48 yards field goal. As a coach, you have to choose that. You HAVE too. Not only was this a great rule change in general, for the NFL it might cut down on the celebrating they tried to get out of the league in the past. The No Fun League is back and more annoying than ever. But I love this rule. Bring on some dumb WR getting a penalty, making his kicker hit a 48 yard extra point, and then the team losing. I can't wait.
A blindside block is now a foul if a player blocks another player when he is moving toward or parallel to his own end line, and make forcible contact to his opponent with his helmet, forearm, or shoulder. This contact can be made inside the tackle box bit it still subject to the crack-back or peel back block penalties.
So I get it, the NFL is trying to cut down on concussions and according to the NFL one third of all concussions on punts happen on blindside blocks. I get it, I get it, but I don't like it. I'm not sure what the offensive guy is supposed to do now in these type of situations. Just stand in the way and risk his chances of getting hurt? I guess guys can just run in front of the defender to slow him up? The tweet below from the NFL shows examples of what they are talking about. They are taking safety precautions but this will be another rule that's going to take weeks for guys to adjust too.
To expand protection of the player being blocked, @NFL owners voted to eliminate blindside blocks. One-third of all concussions on punts were caused by blindside blocks. With the rule change, any forcible contact by the blocker with his head, shoulder or forearm is prohibited. pic.twitter.com/abA2cENnXe
— NFL Football Operations (@NFLFootballOps) March 26, 2019
The NFL can now review any turnover, or TD that was negated by a penalty and any conversion attempt.
I believe I touched on this briefly but this is also a rule that will extend games but get things right in the long run. Happens countless times every year, a huge TD or turnover is called back because of penalty. We get a look at the replay and see an awful call. Many times those plays are not as scrutinized as others for some reason. Now not all these in the video below are bad calls but these are the types of plays that would be able to be reviewed, no matter the penalty. Plus it's football and I miss football.
There were some rule changes that didn't get passed however, ones that will probably keep coming up after every year. Two of these, are taken from the AAF actually.
The Sky Judge: the rule was proposed to have a ref in booth to review every play and be able to buzz down to the on field ref to stop play and review the previous play. This would seem like a smart thing because 1. obviously, and 2. it would help replays go quicker instead of the on field ref looking at a 12 inch monitor for 5 minutes trying to decide on a call that should take 30 seconds.
The Chiefs proposed to have both teams gain possession in OT no matter what. Packers fans have felt this heartbreak multiple times. Getting scored on in OT without Rodgers even touching the ball. I like this rule for the playoffs. I know its on the defense to stop the other team, but then how come the opposing defense doesn't have to stop our offense. I think for length reasons the regular season rules should stick. But not matter what happens in the postseason, give both teams a chance and if they both score TDs, then go to sudden death.
Or just go to a whole new OT like college football does but start with the ball on the 35 or something.
The Broncos proposed the AAF's onside kick rule. Instead of doing an onside kick, which is now impossible with the new kickoff rules put into place in 2018, you would get a 4th and 15 play from your own 35 yard line. I like this idea also, only for late game situations. In the AAF they can do this at anytime. The only reason I like this, is because of the kickoff changes, its nearly impossible to recover one now.
The last one is actually what eventually became the Pass Interference rule. The initial proposal was to have any "judgement" penalties, like roughing the passer, be review-able. That was shot down until they modified it to just PI. Again, if the PI rules goes over well don't be surprised if roughing the passer and other judgement calls are then added in 2020.
And now, Andy Reid in a Hawaiian shirt.
TagsAndy Reid • Chiefs • Football • New Rules • NFL • ref • Replay • Review
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Come join two Wisconsin boys as they cover everything in the sports world from their home state teams like the Green Bay Packers and Wisconsin Badgers, to rants on why the College Football Playoff isn't a Playoff, to who is the biggest miserable bitch of the week, and everything in between. You know we have knowledge, one was Honorable Mention All Conference Defense as a Senior in High School, and the other rode the pine to a State Tournament appearance in basketball.
THT 12: Bowl Preview, Packers Ugly Play, and The Bucks Are a Wagon
The guys are back for the final pod before the holiday break and talk about how shitty the Packers are at winning, winning ugly, and winning like the Packers have by giving up huge leads but somehow hanging on. The guys then preview the upcoming game against the Vikings as well as the rest of the Week 16 slate in the NFL. Then they go through a mini bowl preview and pick their favorite bowl location, matchups, over, under, and many others. Finally the guys finish talking about the NCAA mens basketball, the Milwaukee Bucks, and finally the Miserable Bitch of the Week.
THT 11: CFB Playoffs, Packers Stretch Run, & Dave the Duck
THT 10: Packers Lookahead, CFP Scenarios, A Fictional Husband is in Trouble
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I am equally passionate about my twin worlds of discovery: art and science. As a scientist at the University of Bristol, working on Alzheimer's disease, my artistic aim is to use glass on metal to explore and crystallise scientific ideas.
The themes which particularly interest me are of memory, our perception of reality and the idea of 'clarity from a distance', both spatial and temporal. My work follows the concepts of uncovering our buried past and facing long forgotten memories that we stumble across. I have tried to portray this in the context of archaeological digs, underground maps, or even as jetsam washed up on the beach.
I use mainly copper because of the superb and often unexpected interactions that are possible with each type of enamel or temperature used. Generally my pieces can be hand-held simply because I love feeling and touching enamels and seeing them change their mood in different light sources.
At the moment I am working mainly in two dimensions but I have begun to explore the third dimension as a way of providing a further opportunity to cover and uncover 'treasures' that may be hidden below. The creation and interpretation of our shared realities are where science and art meet. I would like to use glass on metal to examine the boundaries between these disciplines and to find a way forward which unites them.