text:
A beautiful student animation film about a little girl who wants to dance. The twist at the end really got me.
Labels: Online Animation
Alright, Let's Do Doctor Who Again
I've been limiting the number of times I have anything to say about Doctor Who to just a couple a year, because I don't want it to be me just complaining over and over again. One day, someone will take over the show from Steven Moffat and maybe it will be good again. It might take longer than I want, but, well... that's being a Doctor Who fan. You're not going to love every era of the show.
Last year was the big 50th anniversary, but I didn't talk too much about it. I said a few times that I was disappointed in the episode, "The Day of the Doctor," and I still am. I didn't much care for "The Time of the Doctor," either. I'll finally get into that a bit here, since I never ended up talking about them.
I'll just go through them in order.
:: The best thing I can say about "The Day of the Doctor" is that I felt like it made sense. I know there were people who felt saying that Gallifrey was never destroyed was a retcon, but I didn't feel like it was. It was just that the Doctor didn't know that Gallifrey had simply been moved and not destroyed. I think that worked without erasing the pathos of the Doctor as the last of his kind. He believed he was. He believed he had actually destroyed Gallifrey. Now he knows the truth. I don't have a problem with that at all.
I talked to some people who were confused about the chronology of "The End of Time" and "The Day of the Doctor," but I felt the dialogue made it clear that what Rassillon and the Time Lord Council had attempted to do in "The End of Time"--using the Master to harness the Earth to move Gallifrey out of the Time War and save it from destruction--had already happened before that final battle at Arcadia. Possibly just before. Again, I don't think there's an issue.
I thought the Moment was an interesting weapon, in that it manifests itself as someone you care about and argues with you whether or not you should use it. I did not, however, like that it took the form of Rose Tyler, nor that Rose was basically written as an expy of River Song. I thought that was a bizarre use of the character (or, more accurately, the character's image). John Hurt was quite good as the War Doctor.
There was so much more that I disliked about it. I thought the Zygons were terrible. I want to like Kate Stewart, but I don't. I fucking hated that Osgood character with her scarf, who was just a pandering caricature of Who fangirls. David Tennant is always good, but the Tenth Doctor wasn't used well, and him marrying Queen Elizabeth I is one of the stupidest things I've ever seen on Doctor Who. It's exactly the sort of thing Moffat thinks is aw, shucks cute.
And then there was Tom Baker's weird, doddering cameo, which was just uncomfortable. It also telegraphs that there are future Doctors and that there was no way Matt Smith was going to be the last Doctor, even though Steven Moffat always wants to build suspense by claiming something is a big deal that can't possibly happen given the realities of television. I've complained about this before, particularly in the previous episode, "The Name of the Doctor": acting like a big mystery is going to be uncovered when, in actuality, it's nothing important. Moffat's like a huckster who thinks he's a magician. What I liked about the Russell T. Davies era is that he would gradually lay down clues in such a way that you didn't even realize you were seeing clues, until, suddenly, you began to realize you were hearing the same things and it seemed to be forming a picture. You didn't have any information before the characters did; it unfolded and you watched it actively. With Moffat, he tells you in advance that something big is happening, then gives you a piece of the puzzle that the characters never see, and then a bunch of stuff happens and the Doctor says no, it wasn't this thing we were all focusing on, it was this other thing the whole time, and look, here's the completed puzzle, it was a donkey the whole time, ha ha, I finished it while you were looking at this other thing, aren't I clever clever clever smarty smart smartingson?
:: "The Time of the Doctor" did one important thing: it got rid of the Eleventh Doctor. Typical to Moffat, everything that happens to the Eleventh Doctor is the most important thing that's ever happened to the Doctor and to the entire universe itself, because the Doctor isn't a traveler anymore, he's the nexus of all of existence and reality. It did bother me that Moffat decided to count that half-human Doctor as a regeneration. I mean, the War Doctor counts, but not the Valeyard? Remember the Valeyard? Shouldn't the Valeyard make it fourteen incarnations?
But no, Moffat always has to have something incredibly important happening rather than just telling a story, and basically he just gets new regenerations by magic, which is exactly what everyone figured was going to happen, anyway. But at least we had an exciting episode of just watching the Doctor sit in a chair and get older and older. (Oh, and that idiot bit about Clara and nudity in the beginning.) I've forgotten so much of it because it was so, so forgettable.
:: Then we got to the new series opener, "Deep Breath," which was actually worse than I feared it would be. At this point, Vastra and Jenny are just tiresome. First off, they're pandering queerbait. Second, they're just indicative of the only two type of women Moffat (who wrote or co-wrote almost every episode this series, so it's fair to blame him) is interested in: the controlling, ball-busting, inappropriately sexual action hero and the one whose life is in service to someone stronger. You know, like all of Moffat's companions, who aren't women, but are problems to be solved, which is why they have titles like The Girl Who Waited and The Impossible Girl in place of personalities. I guess mysteries are easier to relate to than people. I could not stand Vastra hammering Clara about how she must be disappointed that the Doctor's not young and cute anymore, much to Clara's bewilderment.
(Note: to be fair, he also likes writing women who are crazy.)
The overriding thing that bugged me is that Clara didn't seem to have any idea how regenerations worked, which is particularly stupid because back in "The Name of the Doctor," Clara went through the Doctor's entire timeline and saw all of his incarnations. She knows how it works. She's meant to stand in for an audience of fangirls that Moffat apparently thinks never saw the show before he took it over, and he has to condescendingly explain to the audience that even though Peter Capaldi is older, it's okay, because he's still the Doctor. Jeez, they even get Matt Smith to call Clara and tell her basically that. It was stupid to an insulting degree.
I like Peter Capaldi, but I feel like he and Moffat and the various creatives never really found the character this series. Like they were hoping it would just emerge in the performance. Capaldi is a neat actor, and I think he'd make a neat Doctor, but he deserves better than Moffat's ugly version of Doctor Who. I think he and Jenna Coleman had some chemistry, too, but, well, there's a whole host of problems with how Clara was played this series...
:: I actually hated "Into the Dalek" even more than "Deep Breath." This season, the show tried to explore the idea that the Doctor is really, in some way, a soldier, no matter how much he denies it. That opened up all kinds of themes that the show never bothered to go into, instead just making the Doctor seem like a crotchety old bigot with an irrational hatred of soldiers. All those years knowing the Brigadier and he has such a low opinion of soldiers? That didn't sit right with me, especially since it was never really deepened.
:: And then, suddenly, I loved "Robot of Sherwood." It was a silly episode, but silly like an old-fashioned Doctor Who episode. Finally, the show relaxed enough to have some damn fun.
:: I talked about it before, but "Listen" was wonderful, my favorite episode in years. I felt like that one episode did everything--and better, and more succinctly, and more poetically--that Moffat tried and failed to do with Matt Smith over three seasons. This and "Robot of Sherwood" actually made me like Clara, too. And I liked her relationship with Danny Pink, a former soldier and fellow teacher. About the only thing I didn't like--and this happened throughout the series--is that the Doctor was constantly putting Clara down over her appearance. Other than Moffat really seems to hate women, what the hell was that all about?
:: "Time Heist" was dull. I didn't end up paying it much attention. I thought the Teller was a well-executed creature, though.
:: I loved "The Caretaker." I thought it was fun and emotional, and I liked how Danny Pink was let in on the Doctor's identity. Unfortunately, it also created one of my least favorite arcs of the season, which was Clara feeling like she needed to lie to Danny about traveling with the Doctor in order to keep dating him. That was so unfair. He placed a value on honesty, and she never gave him enough credit for trusting that she knew what she was capable of. That was an undertone that marred the season.
:: I still can't decide if I liked "Kill the Moon" or not, but probably I didn't. The twist was so obvious that I spent 10 or so minutes hoping it wouldn't actually be the twist. Then the Doctor basically runs and hides so that three women can settle for all humankind the question of abortion (allegorically), and then their decisions don't actually end up mattering because they don't carry them through. I don't know, it felt like it thought it was very clever, but didn't actually do much. Always nice to see Hermione Norris, though.
:: I did love "Mummy on the Orient Express," however. And at least this one touched more on the ideas of soldiery, duty, loyalty and protection.
:: "Flatline" had some neat ideas, like the two-dimensional aliens and the shrunken TARDIS, but it didn't entirely work for me. Great scares, and Clara in the leadership role was a treat, to my surprise, but this whole inability to resolve her feelings for Danny versus her thirst for adventure got on my nerves.
:: "In the Forest of the Night" was straight stupid. A real mess that had a big concept that it totally failed to make plausible or even, really, care that much about. It mostly fell on the Danny-Clara relationship and the (admittedly cute) interactions of the Doctor with a bunch of children. But for something that wanted to pretend it was big, it sure felt small and paltry. Nothing about it worked.
:: And into the two-part finale, which took all of the goodwill this series had built up for me and threw it against the wall, breaking it into a hundred bloody pieces. First, let's kill Danny Pink right away. That's an absolute disservice to the character, but it's typical that Moff just turns people into living plot devices. Then, let's have Clara betray the Doctor and somehow expect me to ever like or respect her again. All she did was lie to Danny, and now his death drives her mad with grief? And then the Doctor thinks the afterlife is something you can just travel to in a time machine? Yeah, I know, it's not really the afterlife, but I feel like the Doctor would have figured that out pretty early. Like, before he came up with the idea. Almost everything that happens in this episode is totally superfluous up until the last 10 or so minutes. Oh, and then there's the crazy woman that's been popping in all season, which is such a Moffat type of character that I was annoyed whenever she appeared. Yeah, she's the Master. I'm sure he thought that was a clever twist and not completely obvious. 15 minutes in, I was done with the whole series. After Clara's big betrayal, I didn't care what happened anymore.
Honestly, Moffat could have communicated more clearly that this whole afterlife deal was a scientific scheme and not actually some sort of limbo, but he just doesn't care. It's typical Moffat: he loves to come up with big concepts and scenarios, and never knows where to take them to make the whole thing interesting, so they just fizzle out.
:: "Death in Heaven" was even more dipshitted, however. The big plan is to seed the planet so that the organic remains of the dead all become Cybermen. So... the Cybermen's armor is organic, then? And their circuitry? I thought the whole point of the Cybermen was that they were better than the weakness of organics. Does anyone running this show even care about anything anymore?
I wish Moffat's Doctor Who didn't try to be so grand. The Doctor as the President of Earth was itself pretty stupid, but the whole thing just comes down to some people on a plane and a very drawn out confrontation in a graveyard. We can pretend it's on an epic scale, but there's no effort to make it look that way. It looks so small scale.
Again, there was a chance to explore the Doctor as soldier. I've pointed out since the Russell T. Davies era that, with the exception of Matt Smith's sudden violent streak during the last Amy Pond episodes, the show bends itself into pretzels to dispatch the villain in such a way that the Doctor doesn't have to ever actually kill anyone. Danny Pink's line about the Doctor as an officer, keeping his hands clean while others do his killing for him, is a valid criticism that deserves real weight and consideration, but it doesn't really land. And even if it had, the episode takes it away by leaving the killing of the Master to another character. Once again, the Doctor doesn't have to make the hard decisions because someone else does it for him. It felt very anticlimactic.
Oh, and apparently the Brigadier is a Cyberman now and we just have to live with that.
God, I hope this is the last we see of Clara. I'm very annoyed that the show finally got me invested in her and then just had her go crazy at the end. Which is, honestly, what I expect from Moffat, because, in the end, he'll always forego character development in favor of twists and showing off how clever he is. I think the next companion should be a girl called Quirky Cleverton, the quirkiest clever and the cleverest quirk from Cleverhampton, where the clevers quirk so cleverly and the quirks clever so quirkily.
(This is, incidentally, the same problem I had with the awful third season of Sherlock, where Mary Watson was similarly disserviced and where we're seriously asked to believe that the most dangerous and powerful blackmailer in England is a man who can produce no physical proof but just has a really good memory. Okay, sure.)
And hey, the Christmas episode has Nick Frost as Santa Claus, so I guess Santa Claus exists, unless there's some idiotic clever-clever twist there. Maybe Moffat can finally reveal that the Doctor has been Jesus this whole time and just get it over with.
At least Osgood got killed and there'll be no more of her. Don't worry, he'll come up with more pandering caricatures.
Forgot to mention: love the new opening.
Also: the BBC released a weirdly intense and unnecessarily aggressive clip from the Christmas episode that features Clara, so, yay, more of her.
Labels: Skiffy, TV Report
Marvels: Fantastic Four #26
"The Avengers Take Over!" by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby & George Roussos
(May 1964)
This is the big one. The biggest cast of characters yet gathered in a single issue of a Marvel comic.
Picking up where we left off last issue: the Hulk is rampaging through New York City, headed for Tony Stark's mansion and, he hopes, a showdown with Captain America and the Avengers. Reed has fallen into a coma after being exposed to a virus; Sue and Johnny have proven no match for the Hulk; and the only one left to slow him down is the Thing.
Still, as we found out a year ago in Fantastic Four #12, the Thing will ultimately be overpowered by the Hulk. They batter each other for a few pages, and even with an assist from the Human Torch, it's no use. The Army's response is futile; the Hulk literally catches the shell fired at him in midair and throws it back. And remember, as big as the Hulk is, he's incredibly fast and agile, so he manages to slip away and finally makes it to Stark's mansion.
When he gets there, the Avengers are waiting for him, and despite Rick Jones' protests to hear out the Hulk, everyone piles on him at once. It's too hard to fight in such close quarters, though, and the Hulk is too powerful for everyone. He grabs Rick and takes off with him.
Meanwhile, Reed is able to recover and lead the Fantastic Four back into the fight, just as Captain America catches up with the Hulk.
I love that Stan & Jack have chosen to make Cap a real match for the Hulk. It's kind of a surprise; remember, this is only the second time we've seen Captain America in the new Marvel Universe, so we're not totally sure how powerful he is. Here, he's lithe and acrobatic, and a seasoned veteran who know how to use Hulk's power against him.
In fact, he's doing so well against the Hulk that an outside complication has to be introduced in order to prolong the fight, and that comes in the form of Cap's new teammates and the arrival of the Fantastic Four. They're all so eager to take down the Hulk that they keep getting in each other's way, in some cases literally tripping over one another until the Hulk simply picks Rick back up and leaps off.
The main problem, once again, is that no one is taking the time to listen. I mean, sure, the Avengers and the FF take time to patch things up and agree to work with one another, but no one wants to listen to the Hulk and, obviously, the Hulk doesn't want to listen to Rick. The Hulk feels betrayed; Rick knows all of the Hulk's secrets, but now he's run off to team up with Captain America. The Hulk has Rick at the top of a skyscraper under construction, and before anyone can say what needs to be said, the heroes show up and the fight resumes.
The Hulk actually manages to get the best of the Thing, and I believe the only thing that stops him from just straight up murdering Benjamin J. Grimm is the intervention of Captain America. Cap is actually able to use Hulk's leverage against him and flip him!
But to my great surprise, it's actually Hank Pym who defeats the Hulk. Actually using his powers creatively for a change, Hank keeps changing between his three sizes but, realizing that the Hulk is inexhaustible, he gets his ants up to the building and has them crawl all over the Hulk, who becomes so distracted by his itching that Rick is able to shove a gamma pill in the Hulk's mouth just before Hulk falls into the Hudson River. Only we, the readers, see Bruce Banner pop up from the water and, unconscious, float away...
For all that's happened, Captain America feels sorry for the Hulk, noting that "It's a tragic thing to lose a partner! Perhaps I, more than anyone else, realize what a loss it can be--how it can affect a man of action!"
I'll buy that, but I won't buy into Reed's protestation that neither the Fantastic Four nor the Avengers are Hulk's enemies, that it's too bad the Hulk doesn't realize that, and "we want to save him from himself!" They all just seem to hate the Hulk so much. I understand the Hulk is dangerous and hard to reason with, but it's not like anyone's exactly trying anymore.
All of their great minds, and no one's tried to just talk to the Hulk.
Stray notes:
:: I almost feel bad that I find it so satisfying when the Hulk bashes his own head into Iron Man's chest, nearly knocking Tony unconscious. Sorry, Tony, I'm on Team Hulk here, and you've always been a dick about it.
:: Literally the only thing the Wasp does in the fight with the Hulk is to get up to his ear and just annoy him long enough for Captain America to take over.
:: In the letters page, Stan says that the Thing isn't bulletproof, but his rocky skin is thick enough to stop a .22 caliber bullet. Readers want the Hulk back in his own book, and Stan says they're going to redesign the Wasp's costume, but I have no idea why, because her costume is pure sci-fi goodness.
Oh, and apparently the next issue of Fantastic Four will feature the return of the Sub-Mariner and Doctor Strange in his first crossover with the rest of the Marvel Universe! They're going to have a hard time topping this epic, that's for sure.
Next Marvels: the story of the Hulk continues as the Lava Men invade the surface in Avengers #5!
Labels: Funnybooks, Marvels
R Is for Roosevelt Franklin
I've talked about this guy before, but I wasn't going to miss the opportunity to once again call him by his first name first and his second name second: I love Roosevelt Franklin. Unfortunately, I never actually got to experience him as a cast member of Sesame Street as he was off the show before I was even born.
Roosevelt Franklin was created in the first season of Sesame Street (which premiered 45 years ago this week!) by Matt Robinson, a writer and producer on the show who was also the first actor to play Gordon (and, incidentally, the first Sesame Street character to speak on camera in the first episode). Robinson's vision for Gordon was a strong male figure, particularly for African-American kids, saying later that "Somewhere around four or five, a black kid is going to learn he's black. He's going to learn that's positive or negative. What I want is to project a positive image."
Although Roosevelt Franklin is never explicitly said to be Black, it's easy to infer. In every sketch of his I've seen, he's a great and compelling character, easy to like. He loves to scat, rhyme and sing the blues, he plays sports, and he has a great relationship with his mother. Most of his sketches take place at Roosevelt Franklin Elementary School and involve him and his classmates (like Smart Tina, Suzanne Something and Hardhead Henry Harris) learning about concepts like here and there, or up and down, traffic safety, poetry, acceptance, respect, family and, er, not drinking poison.
In this sketch, he teaches the class a lesson about pride by rhyming the story of a duck who wanted to be a chicken:
Here, Roosevelt teaches his class about how Africa isn't just one big jungle like it is in the movies:
And in this delightful sketch, Roosevelt tells the story of Morty Moot Mope, who needs to find some rhymes:
This guy is just so much fun. I'm not sure (no one seems to be) who performed the actual Roosevelt Franklin puppet, but Matt Robinson performed the voice and wrote most of the sketches featuring him, including some wonderful songs. Here are probably Roosevelt Franklin's three best sketches on Sesame Street, all featuring songs written by Robinson and the great Joe Raposo:
"Roosevelt Franklin Counts"
"Roosevelt Franklin's Alphabet"
and "Roosevelt Franklin's Days of the Week"
Incidentally, Roosevelt Franklin's Mother is voiced by Loretta Long, the actress who plays Susan. Here's a picture of the four of them together.
Long once said that Jim Henson performed Roosevelt Franklin's Mother, leaving it up in the air as to who performed Roosevelt himself. Frank Oz seems to be a popular opinion, but it's hard to tell.
By the way, those three songs and more feature on the 1971 album The Year of Roosevelt Franklin, which is my favorite Sesame Street album. (If you're interested, one YouTube user has the entire album posted.)
What I like about Roosevelt Franklin is that as a character he's not just about teaching the basic skills (though he does that quite well), but teaches the importance of accepting yourself for who you are. I think that's some powerful stuff for kids. I grew up not being comfortable with myself, internalizing the negative ways in which others saw me, and that's made being an adult pretty hard. On one track of The Year of Roosevelt Franklin--"The Skin I'm In"--Roosevelt's brother Baby Ray sings about his skin: "Way back in the old days, we used to be ashamed, but then we found out we were beautiful, and we've never been the same." That's important and it's positive.
What bothers me about Roosevelt Franklin is that, despite being considered a main character on Sesame Street, he was rather unceremoniously dropped after the seventh season in response to complaints that he embodied negative African-American stereotypes--particularly in his style of speech--and that his rowdy classroom set a bad example. (If you're really interested in going into the issue of Black linguistics--something Robinson was passionate about retaining as much as possible--and Sesame Street, there's an interesting criticism from 1973 here.)
Roosevelt Franklin appeared in Sesame Street books well into the 1980s, but after 1975, he didn't appear on the show itself. Despite his popularity--enough that he had his own record--he just disappeared.
Except for writing for and voicing Roosevelt Franklin, Matt Robinson had left Sesame Street in 1972 and continued to write scripts and produce. He was involved in two more of my favorite shows: he wrote episodes of Sanford and Son and served as story editor and, for a while, head writer of The Cosby Show, even appearing onscreen in the episode "Cliff's Nightmare," which features the Muppets! Diagnosed with Parkinson's in 1982, Robinson fought the disease for 20 years, passing away in 2002. His daughter is the actress Holly Robinson Peete.
I'm glad all of these sketches survive and that we can still enjoy Roosevelt Franklin. I think they've never had a character quite like him since, and he falls into the same category for me as Prairie Dawn, as a main character who is unjustly forgotten and who added something that the show doesn't really have anymore.
To me, Roosevelt Franklin will always be a main character.
Labels: ABC Wednesday, Muppets
ABOVE SUSPICION (1943)
Joan Crawford and Fred MacMurray are newlyweds who spy on the Nazis for the British government during their honeymoon. I'm surprised how forgotten this movie seems to be, as I found it to be absolutely delightful. It's a serious spy thriller, but Joan and Fred are playing it like low-level Thin Man stuff, and somehow the two tones mix together perfectly. Filmed in the middle of World War II, it doesn't turn the Nazis into cartoon villains, but it does manage to find moments of lightness. I loved it. Basil Rathbone co-stars; Conrad Veidt's final film. It ends with a great, pithy final line. ****
THE FOG (1980)
I'd never bothered to see this John Carpenter film because I'd always seen it dismissed as boring. I didn't find it boring at all. It's deliberately paced, but it's very moody and builds up its suspense. I think it's a minor work of Carpenter's, but one that draws interesting characters and tries to put a modern spin on Gothic thrills. (Carpenter seems to be influenced here as much by Jaws as he is by haunting films.) It makes a lot of its low budget with great locations and wide lenses. ***
HIGH SCHOOL POSSESSION (2014)
Lifetime movie about dumbass kids being dumbasses. Jennifer Stone (from Wizards of Waverly Place) is a high school girl whose parents are breaking up and is going through a rough time. We're supposed to believe that this is a horror thriller and something supernatural might be occurring, but everything that happens to her is really just an unnecessarily overblown (by the film) version of being a teenager going through a really rough time (and possibly going through some kind of psychotic breakdown or schizophrenic episode; she's disassociating, but to be fair, it doesn't help that everyone keeps abandoning her or getting frustrated that, for example, they took her to one meeting with a therapist and "it didn't work"). This was a dumb, frustrating movie. Stone's best friend (my darling little Janel Parrish from Pretty Little Liars), who has been reconnecting with church, is fully convinced that Stone is possessed by a demon and needs an exorcism. This movie seems to be under the bizarre impression that exorcisms are not only perfectly legal, but are pretty well-regulated (the priest who performs them references confidentiality laws), a matter of regular occurrence, and a completely legitimate option for people who have lost their way a bit. The movie spends so much time seemingly arguing that any normal expression of teenage sexuality, autonomy and freedom is actually the unhappy and bizarre result of demonic possession, that the twist that comes in the last 20 minutes or so is completely unexpected. Unfortunately, everyone has to act like a total dumbshit (including the supposedly brilliant Parrish, who is the star journalist of the school paper) to get there. And then the ending seems more interested in setting everything up for a sequel than in resolving anything. It's... it's kind of infuriating. Bad, but not in that fun way we hope for from Lifetime movies. No stars.
THE GHOST GOES WEST (1935)
Fun comedy directed by Rene Clair with Robert Donat in a dual role as an impoverished Scottish lord who sells his castle to an American family, and as the ghost of that castle who is forced to roam each night until he can restore his family's honor. You can see the seams a little bit, but Donat is great and he has a lot of chemistry with Jean Parker, and it's just so damn likable. Great romantic mood, too. I loved it. ****
THE CAT AND THE CANARY (1939)
Another movie that creates a great mood, although I didn't quite enjoy this one as much as I wanted to. Bob Hope and Paulette Goddard are a great team, and the production value is high, but this is the third version of this play I've seen on film, and even though it is the best one, it's just not that moving a story. Great action climax, though, and I love all of the secret passages and intrigue. That black cat is really wonderful, too. ***
Marvels: Amazing Spider-Man #12
"Unmasked by Doctor Octopus!" by Stan Lee & Steve Ditko
This issue is probably the best issue of Amazing Spider-Man so far. And it nicely bookends the previous issue, which ended sadly, with Betty Brant losing her brother and Peter unable to share his secret with her. Still, now that the two are back in New York, they seem to be picking up where they left off. Betty has her old job back and the two are in love. Except that Peter's coming down with the flu, everything seems great.
But there's also the question of Doctor Octopus. Having escaped the police last issue, Doc Ock is on a bit of a crime spree, trying to stay in the public eye so that Spider-Man will show up to do battle, so Ock can have his revenge. Frustrated at the lack of response, Doctor Octopus tracks Betty down at the Daily Bugle and storms through J. Jonah Jameson's office window, taking her prisoner and demanding that Jameson put a notice in the paper telling Spider-Man to come rescue the girl at Coney Island.
Jameson orders Peter to go to Coney Island and hide so he can get some pictures but, second-guessing him, also secretly goes himself. This would be a momentous enough battle even if Peter weren't ailing, but he's so sick that his powers are coming and going. He can't stick to walls and his super-strength fails. When he shows up at the amusement park to save Betty, Ock is actually frustrated: "Don't water down my revenge by making it too easy!"
And then, it happens. As promised by the issue's cover: not a dream, not an imaginary tale. Spider-Man is unmasked!
This is one of my favorite moments in the history of this character. Spider-Man is unmasked in front of Betty, Jameson, and the police, but because his powers are being suppressed by illness, no one--not even Doctor Octopus--believes Peter Parker could ever be Spider-Man. They all think he was just pretending to be Spidey to save Betty. Ock is so upset by this that he races off into the night. This comic is pure soapy greatness sometimes; Archie with superpowers. (That's a compliment, son.)
After a fitful night of sleep, Peter wakes up feeling like his old spider-self, "the ol' zingaroo" back in his jump. And after reading about what Peter did in the papers, Liz Allan suddenly thinks Peter's the most romantic teenager alive and keeps ditching Flash to try to hang out with him.
And then Doctor Octopus releases all the animals from the Central Park Zoo.
There are a couple of fun pages of Spidey gathering up zoo animals (including a lively little fight with a gorilla) before Ock and Spider-Man face off once more. There's an epic fight across the rooftops of New York City--Spider-Man, all too aware of how powerful Octopus' arms are, tries to go in for direct attacks instead of merely outmaneuvering him this time--before the two crash into a deserted sculptor's studio, giving Steve Ditko the opportunity to draw gigantic stone faces for Spidey and Ock to grapple around.
What ends the fight is fire. Somehow--let's not get too into it, because it's really just plot contrivance, but it makes for an exciting ending--their fight starts a fire, and Stan & Steve are more interested in how Peter survives.
Doctor Octopus is captured by police, no one is hurt, Peter's belt-camera was taking pictures, and he even gets the satisfaction of turning Liz down for a date so he can go meet Betty.
After last issue's sad walk-away, Peter Parker sure needed a happy ending. You've earned it, pal.
Stray observations:
:: There are always empty flagpoles around whenever a Marvel superhero needs them. Spider-Man uses flagpoles for momentum a few times in this issue, leading to the remark "If I'm ever elected President, I'm gonna declare a National Be Kind to Flagpoles Week!!"
:: Reading this issue again just makes me want to watch Spider-Man 2, since some of that film's story comes from it. Definitely my favorite issue of this comic so far.
:: Fans in the letters page (including future pro Dave Cockrum!) have lots of praise for Amazing Spider-Man #9--"The Man Called Electro!"--but are more split on Amazing Spider-Man #8, particularly the Human Torch story. Consensus seems to be that Spidey came off like a jerk in that one.
Next issue, another of Spider-Man's classic villains is introduced, but this issue set a high bar for the future. But first, we're going to do the next two issues in reverse order. Going alphabetically, Avengers #5 is next, but it actually takes place after the one after that, which also features an appearance by the Avengers, so... this explanation is sounding complicated, so...
Next time: the Hulk is still rampaging! The Thing is still trying to stop him! And the Avengers get involved! It's almost everybody versus the jade giant in Fantastic Four #26!
Muppet Monday
Not that I'll ever need an excuse to post the Muppets, but Muppet Monday is now a thing.
A Couple of Lucasfilm Things That Made Me Way Too Happy
First, have you seen John Tyler Christopher's variant cover to Marvel's upcoming Star Wars #1?
That's a wonderful homage to the old Marvel Star Wars series. I'm very sure they won't be letting ol' Jaxxon in... or Plif and the Hoojibs, or Dani or the Lahsbees or the Iskalonians or any of the silly old Marvel stuff that still looms so large in my own personal Star Wars universe. But that's a nice little callback. Nice to see some of the stuff I loved as a kid still getting shout-outs. Honestly, sometimes the wonderful thing about being an adult is just having things from your childhood validated. Maybe I'll check this comic out, anyway.
Speaking of validation, how's this?
Like a lot of guys my age, I've pretty much been in love with Lea Thompson since I was 9. And I've said many times that I love the movie Howard the Duck, damn the popular perception of it. And then, outside the Dancing with the Stars rehearsal studio, this happened:
Honestly, my heart almost couldn't take that.
Some good geek references this morning. Hopefully that's a sign of a nice day to come...
Labels: Geekery, Star Wars
Song of the Week: "Johannesburg"
A few weeks ago, NBC aired a cut down version of the 1975 Richard Pryor episode of Saturday Night Live that, unfortunately, didn't include Gil Scott-Heron's performance of this great song. So I just needed to hear it again and, hey, why not share it for Song of the Week, since I've never had anything up by the man. Which is just a major omission on my part, because I love soul, jazz-funk and jazz-fusion. You can trace a line right from his music to dance music and eventually hip hop. And as always, I love the idea of a laid back, even bouncy tune packed with love and truth that is actually a protest song. This is the opening track from Scott-Heron's 1976 album From South Africa to South Carolina. Have a peaceful day.
A Couple of Lucasfilm Things That Made Me Way Too ...


manufacturer of laboratory appliances and supplier of hydraulic components.
1965 Extension of the premises.
1971 Purchase of the first NC lathe.
1980 Erection of a new manufacturing shop with an office section at Köngen.
1986 Extension of the existing factory building.
1991 Gerhard Weigele becomes sole owner and managing director.
1995 Owner's sons, Frank and Matthias Weigele, become partners and managing directors.
1996 New building and relocation. 30 employees move from Köngen to Siemensstraße 18 at Uhingen.
1999 Establishment of EWS Korea.
2000 Relocation with 75 staff members to Maybachstraße at Uhingen.
2000 Establishment of EWS France.
2003 Relocation of EWS Korea to new premises.
2005 Gerhard Weigele goes into retirement.
2005 Building extension at Uhingen.
2006 Award for Innovation from the German state of Baden-Württemberg.
2008 Command Tooling Systems, Minnesota, becomes a new member of the EWS Group.
2009 Opening of the EWS Arena.
Our new technology and innovation centre, with a production area of 5,000 m² and an area of 250 m² for research and development, is initiated.
2013 Relocation of EWS Korea to new premises. For development, production and administration are provided more than 12,000 m2.
2015 Establishment of a sales and service center in Taicang/China.


text:
La isla Alaid es la isla más occidental de las islas Semichi, un subgrupo del archipiélago de las islas Near, en el extremo occidental de las islas Aleutianas, en Alaska.

Alaid

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Looking for Ben Barsi's story? It's here!
Have you been wondering what happened to Gisella and Rozalia's cousin Ben? Do you want to know who betrayed him and how he recovered from nearly ruining his whole family?
I'm so excited to tell you his story, Innocent's Pregnancy Revelation, will begin posting as a serialized, free online read at Harlequin.com today.
When I wrote the first book in my Barsi on Fifth duet, A Virgin to Redeem the Billionaire, I needed Kaine to have a grudge against Gisella's family.
Along came Henriqua, a very beautiful geologist. I don't want to give too much away, but there is a revelation of a pregnancy by an innocent in this story.
NOTE: This romance is serialized and will post one chapter each weekday from April 22-May 17th. You'll have to set up an account at Harlequin.com to read it, but it is completely free to read once you log in. Enjoy!
My week has started with a cover for the UK version of The Maid's Spanish Secret. Doesn't Rico look suitably salty about past betrayals?
He is very dismayed. And when he learns that not only did his now dead wife cheat on him and use him, the one woman who had seemed a sweet light in an otherwise dark life kept his child from him.
Poppy felt used herself. Rico's engagement had shattered like the priceless vase his fiancee had smashed as she left him. She and Rico had been commiserating and one thing led to another, but by the time she realized was pregnant, he was married. She's been thinking about tell him, but had good reasons to put it off.
When he shows up on her doorstep, however, everything changes.
The Maid's Spanish Secret comes out in August, but if you happen to be suffering the Monday Morning Blues and need something to distract you at your desk… Start reading here.
Happy Tuesday! I just caught a glimpse of Poppy and Rico from The Maid's Spanish Secret and it's so sweet and tender. I love it!
Fun Fact: Poppy is Canadian. She's on holiday in Spain when she winds up robbed and broke. She goes to work in Rico's parents' mansion and, on her last day of work, has a tryst with the spare, Rico. His engagement has just ended and Poppy is finally heading back to Canada–but #spoileralert–she unknowingly carries a souvenir of their encounter.
For sweet maid Poppy Harris, her one and only passionate experience was scorching and absolutely forbidden. She shouldn't have succumbed to Spanish aristocrat Rico Montero's tantalizing seduction, but his touch was all consuming…and had a nine-month consequence! Poppy believes they could never be anything more. Until Rico appears on her doorstep demanding his hidden daughter—and determined to make Poppy his wife!
This marriage of convenience is a roller-coaster and has one of the most dramatic endings I've ever written. I hope you love it!
Innocent's Nine-Month Scandal Releases Today!
Rozi heads to Budapest in search of her grandmother's heirloom earring only to wind up in billionaire Viktor's arms. He's the rightful owner of the earring–or so he thinks. Soon the earring is stolen, family secrets are out of the closet, and a baby is on the way. Can this lost pair ever be united?
Fun Fact: Innocent's Nine-Month Scandal is Book Two in my lost earring (Barsi on Fifth) duet. If you missed the first book, it's called A Virgin to Redeem the Billionaire.
Another Fun Fact: this duet has three stories! Watch for Ben Barsi's romance in Innocent's Pregnancy Revelation, coming Apr 22 as a free online read at Harlequin.com.
If you want me to email you the link when Innocent's Pregnancy Revelation goes live, subscribe to Site News or my Dear Reader newsletter.
Waking to a new cover is *the best*. This is the UK version of Untouched Until Her Ultra-Rich Husband.
What does 'ultra' rich entail? Well, take your average billionaire and make him the world's first trillionaire and you have Gabriel Dean, a man so over-the-top wealthy he has a super sonic jet in his fleet of air travel options.
When he inherits his grandmother's fortune, he also inherits Luli, a destitute assistant who is soon swept up in his world. Enjoy the ride with her!
And what do you think of this gorgeous cover? I always love it when they use the art from the North American version.
Sometimes reading is harder than math….
Since today is the official release day for A Virgin to Redeem the Billionaire my wee brain got confused and I made the graphic with the wrong cover. Derp.
I managed to get a shelfie with A Virgin to Redeem the Billionaire thanks to my local Pharmasave.
If you haven't found Kaine and Gisella on a shelf near you, I hope A Virgin to Redeem the Billionaire is arriving promptly on your eReader today. If not, your buy links to download today are here.
A quite enjoyable twist of two favourite tropes: the vengeful H and the fake engagement.
I can't wait to read Innocent's Nine-Month Scandal, because cousin Rozi seems so cute and endearing while Viktor is an intriguing and mysterious hottie Hungarian H.
I can't wait for you to read their story, either!
Good news, if you're anxious to get your hands on Rozi and Viktor, they're available to download today on Harlequin and Mills & Boon UK.
Innocent's Nine-Month Scandal releases on all digital platforms April 1st (no foolin'!) You can read an excerpt here or pre-order here.
Look for A Virgin to Redeem the Billionaire on shelves now!
I've been haunting our local shops, hoping to take a selfie with A Virgin to Redeem the Billionaire but half the time I'm fresh from the gym–not ready for my close-up. The rest of the time, I'm shovelling my driveway and skipping the gym, not leaving the house at all.
Perhaps I'll have better luck if I ask you, Dear Reader, to take a shelfie with Kaine and Gisella from A Virgin to Redeem the Billionaire and tag me with it on social media? It should be out in the wild by now.
I popped onto the Mills & Boon site to make sure A Virgin to Redeem the Billionaire was available so I could give you the link for early purchase.
To what did my wondering eyes did appear? A Virgin to Redeem the Billionaire is #1!
I'm thrilled so many readers are eager to get a jump on this duet about a pair of jewelry-designing cousins who are obsessed with recovering their grandmother's heirloom earrings.
In this first one, Gisella loses the earring to Kaine at an auction. He has a score to settle with her family and holds it for ransom, determined Gisella risk the family reputation to even things up. Their sexual tension is off the charts. What will happen when he discovers she's completely innocent?
Fun fact: There will be a free bonus story on Harlequin.com later this spring about a third cousin, Ben, called Innocent's Pregnancy Revelation. Stay tuned here or join my Dear Reader newsletter. I'll send you the link when it goes live.
If you haven't yet downloaded this one, you can get it now directly from Harlequin or Mills & Boon UK now.
A Virgin to Redeem the Billionaire will be available on all the usual digital retailers on March 1st. Pre-Order are here.
Thank you again! You're the best!
A Dani Collins happily ever after may take you into high society parties, small-town supper tables, or to posh resorts where the jetsetting elite play. High-intensity drama and richly emotional, sensual storytelling. This is romance at its best!
After submitting, be on the lookout for a confirmation email. If you don't see it soon, check your spam folder.


Cold Stone Creamery gets into the spring spirit with the addition of two new flavors: Wild Blueberry Muffin Batter Ice Cream and non-dairy Whipped Meyer Lemon.
Whipped Meyer Lemon is featured in both a Creation and a frozen beverage. The Golden Oreo Lemon Whip sees the non-dairy frozen dessert folded with strawberries, Golden Oreo cookies, and whipped topping. The Lemon Berry Chill is a frozen beverage of Whipped Meyer Lemon blended with strawberries.
Wild Blueberry Muffin Batter Ice Cream and Whipped Meyer Lemon are available for a limited time trough May 14, 2019.


text:
Pleasant Dale
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
A Visit to Kuching, Sarawak
Venue: TIMS
Today, I will share with you my experiences during my visit to Kuching, Sarawak last week. There are 3 Buddhist societies in Kuching—the Kuching Buddhist Society (KBS), the Buddha Dhamma Fellowship Asso-ciation (BDFA) and the Kuching Bhagavan Buddhist Society (KBBS). Tan Guan Soon, our SBS representative in Sarawak informed me that attendance at talks usually peaked during weekends in Kuching. Since I arrived on a Sunday night, I decided it would be just as well for me to go for a retreat from Monday to Friday instead.
My Personal Retreat
The President of KBBS is a thirty-something year old man named Victor Teo who began practising Buddhism about 1-2 years ago. He has a beach house in Kampong Sampadi (a Malay village) about two hours' drive from Kuching that he offered to me for my retreat. As the place is rather isolated and obtaining food would be rather inconvenient, I decided to undergo a vege-blend-fruit juice fast. I took vege-fruit blend in the morning and drank fruit juice in the evening and I meditated. Initially, probably as a result of the journey and change in diet, I was not so alert and faced sloth and torpor.
Victor also joined me in my meditation. When I asked whether he knew the 2 basic methods of medita-tion, he said that he only knew vipassana and according to him, vipassana is "rising and falling (of the abdo-men)"! I therefore had to correct that misunderstanding by explaining to him both samatha and vipassana medi-tations. He was very satisfied with the explanation. I also taught him how to meditate.
Tan Guan Soon acted as my kappiya. He was the one who prepared my daily vege-blends while the poor man survived on Maggi mee! Trying to be frugal, he mixed the residue of the fruit juice with soya bean and consumed it himself. As a result, he had a stomach upset. At the end of the retreat, he lost so much weight that his trousers no longer fitted him! He also took the opportunity to meditate in between preparing the vege-blends and fruit juices for me. When the retreat ended, I felt very clean and energetic, probably because of the diet, a dip in the sea on the eve of departure, the energy from the sun and meditation.
Buddha Dhamma Fellowship Association (BDFA)
After my short retreat by the seaside, I gave the first talk at BDFA's premises, also popularly known as Buddha Dhamma Centre. In the past when I was there, this centre employed two Dhamma workers and was a hive of activity with frequent meditation sessions, yoga and qi gong classes, very much like our place here at TIMS. They are housed in the upper floors of 3 knocked-out units of shop houses. The rental had been kindly waived by the owner, a lawyer. The place is big and nice with an indoor garden in the air-well area. They also had an active committee with committed members.
This time round however, things have changed. Gone are the employed Dhamma workers, and even volunteers to upkeep the place are hard to come by. Regular meditation sessions seemed to be petering out. Yoga and qi gong classes are still regularly held but most of the participants are not Buddhists. During my 3-nights stay there, it did not even occur to them to pay their respects to a monk when they saw me. This is be-cause a Buddhist centre may be active but not in the right type of activity befitting its aims and objectives. Tan Guan Soon lamented about the lack of capable Theravada monks in Kuching. At present, there is not a single one there.
(I would just like to remind members of TIMS that adult Dhamma classes are very important to keep the members interested in their meditation practice. One cannot just leave a newly planted seedling to grow by itself—it needs to be nurtured with shade, water, fertilisers, pruning and weeding. Similarly, newcom-ers to the Dhamma need to be nurtured with relevant Dhamma talks and classes.)
On the first night when I gave a talk, there were a lot of people. However, many of them were from the other Buddhist centres. As the premises were originally offered to BDFA for Buddhist activities, it would not be at all surprising if the owner changed his mind, considering the present usage of the facilities.
Kuching Buddhist Society (KBS)
On the other hand, the Kuching Buddhist Society (KBS) is a very active one. It is at present the largest Buddhist Society there. They have an active and influential president. He runs the society in the manner of a Taiwanese Buddhist corporation. They have a columbarium and crematorium a few acres in size at the outskirts of the city. Furthermore, they have some support of the Sarawak state government. They even have plans for a Buddhist hospital and an old folks' home. At their centre in Kuching, they have a kindergarten, a nursery and a Sunday school. Their kindergarten is franchised and students in nursery and play school groups have to pay a few hundred ringgit each as their monthly fees. Thus their teachers are paid and full time administrative staff are employed. They are aggressive in their activities and are financially sound. There is no problem with funds.
They have no Theravada teachers. However, Alison, who attended Dhamma classes at Subang Jaya Buddhist Association when her husband was posted to West Malaysia some years ago, has started an adult Dhamma class on Theravada teachings there. The KBS (English Section) organises a biannual retreat during which they invite external meditation teachers to conduct the retreat. Recently they invited a Singaporean monk to teach them anapanasati meditation.
Q&A: How to help trapped spirits
During my Dhamma talk there, the turnout was not too bad. This was followed by a Q&A session. A couple approached to ask me how to deal with spirits. They are owners of a factory that is haunted by many spirits. It seems the wife has been able to see spirits since childhood. Even when she was small, she had been asked to become a medium but she declined.
Earlier on, they had employed the services of a bomoh to trap some of the spirits who were then "im-prisoned" in a bottle and thrown into a river so as not to bother them any more. However, since embracing Bud-dhism, they felt sorry for the trapped spirits and wished to know what they can do to help the spirits. I advised them to transfer merits to these spirits and to spread loving kindness to them whenever the opportunity arises.
Q&A: When does consciousness enter the womb?
A very interesting question asked by a teacher was "When does consciousness enter the womb? " Ear-lier, I had explained to them about the Theravada concept of the absence of a "soul" and the belief that the re-birth consciousness arises immediately after death. In my research into the suttas, I discovered that in several places, the Buddha had alluded to an intermediate state after death and what happened to it before rebirth. There was, however, no direct mention about the time for this "crossover". The Chinese believe in the 7 x 7 days, i.e. 49 days period, which is probably based on Tibetan beliefs.
In several suttas about the Bodhisatta's last rebirth (DN 14, MN 123, AN 4:127, AN 8:70), the Buddha mentioned that he left the Tusita body and entered his mother's womb "mindfully and fully aware". In Sam-pasadaniya Sutta (DN 28) and Sangiti Sutta (DN 33), four ways of descent into the womb are mentioned:
1) One descends into the mother's womb unknowing, stays there unknowing and leaves it unknowing
2) One descends into the mother's womb knowing, stays there unknowing and leaves it unknowing
3) One descends into the mother's womb knowing, stays there knowing and leaves it unknowing
4) One descends into the mother's womb knowing, stays there knowing and leaves it knowing.
The fact that there exists beings who are aware of the moment of entry into the womb indicates the presence of an intermediate state.
In India, there was research done on documented cases of very young children who were able to recall their previous human lives. In some of these case studies, it was discovered that if the lapse of time between death and rebirth was about a year or even more, the newborn child's features and mannerisms were usually similar to that of the previous human personality and unlike that of the parents. If the period is less than 6 months, the child would resemble the parents because by this time the features of the foetus would have been formed already, thus the characteristic of the being going to be reborn would not be able to alter it. This obser-vation shows that the "intermediate state being" can enter the womb in the middle of pregnancy and begs the question: Does this mean that conscious life does not begin with conception? Before attempting to answer this, let us consider another case study.
In Thailand, there was a case of a man who died in his forties. Following Thai custom, monks were invited to chant for him. This man recalled looking onto his dead body and the other members of his mourning family. He wanted to tell them not to cry but naturally they could not hear him. Somehow he did not benefit from the merits transferred. Then he thought about his younger sister who had just delivered a newborn baby. In an instant, even though the 2 houses were far apart, he was at the doorway to her bedroom where she was resting with her one day-old baby.
His sister saw him standing there and dismissed him, saying that he had died and should not be there. He tried to turn away but an irresistible urge in him caused him to turn back. For the second time, his sister chased him off. This time as he tried to turn away, he felt himself spinning around and he lost consciousness. When he awoke, he found himself in the crib and in the body of the newborn child! Even though he was still a baby, he was able to recognise the faces of his relatives and when he learned to talk, he could call his mother by her maiden name. Naturally, everyone was shocked and unable to deny what the baby claimed as he knew the names of all his relatives!
When he grew to adulthood, he became a monk and his story was brought before the Sangharaja where it was debated whether it was a case of rebirth or possession. If it was possession, it would mean that the "soul" of the dead person had evicted the original "soul" of the baby, even though in this case, it wasn't done deliber-ately. If it had been a rebirth, the rebirth occurred after the baby was born, but how could this make sense in terms of Theravada doctrine?
Thus, considering this case and the findings of the Indian research mentioned above, we cannot really determine the actual moment when conscious life begins in the womb. And we shouldn't also react to the use of the term "soul" as heretical, so long as we understand that it is merely a designation for a residue of the gross Five Aggregates that also exhibits the three characteristics of existence.
Kuching Bhagavan Buddhist Society (KBBS)
The other society I visited was the Kuching Bhagavan Buddhist Society (KBBS), a Chinese-based Buddhist group. As most of the Chinese in Kuching speak the Hokkien dialect, I decided to give a talk in Hok-kien, with Tan Guan Soon prompting me whenever I had problems with the dialect.
At present, their spiritual advisor is Ven Kai Tak. He was ordained as a shamanera in the Ang Hock Si Temple in Penang where the Abbot, Ven Boon Kheng, was very strict and insisted that anyone who wished to become a monk had to observe the eight precepts, followed by 3 years as a novice before he could be ordained as a full-fledged monk. Ven Kai Tak later went to Hong Kong for his higher ordination and by now he had been a monk for over 10 years. He has been the spiritual advisor for KBBS for the past two years. Even though he was ordained in the Mahayana tradition, he teaches Buddhism according to the Agamas (equivalent to our 4 Nikayas). His devotees do not chant "Namo Omi To For" (as characteristic of Pureland Buddhism). Instead, they chant "Namo Sakyamuni For". This is a legacy from Ven Boon Kheng who is open minded enough to al-low his disciples to choose their own preferred paths, and has thus produced a number of very diligent and well-versed monks. Another well-known disciple of Ven Boon Kheng is Ven Kai Chao of Nibbanavihara, Kajang. Ven Boon Kheng himself was English-educated but successfully managed to master the Chinese language be-cause of his desire to learn Mahayana Buddhism.
The KBBS premise is currently a shophouse like ours but they have acquired a 1.25 acre lot of land in the countryside where they are building 2 kutis (20ft by 30 ft). They have plans to build a 3-storey main shrine hall. I gave a talk on the fundamentals of vipassana and samatha meditations and their application in our daily life. They were very happy and requested that I return often to give more talks on Theravada Buddhism. Tan Guan Soon later told me that Ven Kusala who is currently in Myanmar will return soon and has been invited to reside at KBS (not confirmed). This is good news for them.
Appreciation of merit transfer
I am sure all of you can recall that we always transfer merits to Ming Choo after our daily pindacara sessions. She had severe kidney problems but has recently miraculously recovered. Although she still has to go for dialysis sessions, she is fine. The doctor was surprised at her recovery. On my return to Petaling Jaya, she visited me at the Buddhist Wisdom Centre as soon as she was released from the hospital. She wanted to thank all of us for transferring merits to her. Of course, she has a very strong spirit herself and that aided in her recov-ery. When I saw her, she looked radiant, more like a person who had just returned from a retreat than a sick per-son who had just recovered from a near death condition.


text:
Q: The logic of the ocaml compile process I wrote a small project in OCaml.
I have two folders:
./myUnionFind. inside there is a file myUnionFind.ml.
./percolation. inside there are two files: myPercolation.ml and percolation_stats.ml.

myUnionFind.ml works as a module.
myPercolation.ml works as a module too, but it uses MyUnionFind module defined in myUnionFind.ml.
percolation_stats.ml uses myPercolation.ml.
together with above all, I also use Batteries.

I want to compile them all to work and get a executable file run.
But how?
I have tried the following:
inside folder ./percolation, I did ocamlfind ocamlc -package batteries -linkpkg ../myUnionFind/myUnionFind.ml myPercolation.ml percolation_stats.ml -o run
It failed, and said File "myPercolation.ml", line 1, characters 0-16:
Error: Unbound module MyUnionFind, but I did include that folder ../myUnionFind, right?

Also, if I just want to compile ./myUnionFind/myUnionFind.ml once, how can I do so that not every time, myUnionFind.ml gets compiled again and again?

A: Inside myUnionFind, you should compile myUnionfind.ml to a compiled unit:
cd myUnionFind
ocamlc -c myUnionFind.ml

This will generate myUnionFind.cmo, which stores the compiled implementation, and myUnionFind.cmi, which stores the compiled interface. Other modules using MyUnionFind will need to access the cmi at type-checking type.
Inside percolation, you can compile myPercolation.ml to a module by doing
cd percolation
   ocamlc -I ../myUnionFind -c myPercolation.ml
Again, you get both a .cmo and a .cmi. Note that the compiler has looked up myUnionFind.cmi automatically in the search path, and found it because of the -I option.
You can then compile percolation_stats (relying on both previous compilation units)
ocamlc -I ../myUnionFind -c percolation_stats.ml

You finally link the three resulting .cmo together to build an executable:
ocamlc ../myUnionFind.cmo myPercolation.cmo percolation_stats.cmo -o run

(If you use batteries, wrap each command with ocamlfind ocamlc -package batteries, but only the linking command with linkpkg).
To make this process simpler:

*

*ocamlbuild is good at finding and compiling all the files of your current project to produce an executable. In the percolation directory, ocamlbuild percolation_stats.byte can produce an executable with all the stuff present

*but if you want to use myUnionFind as an external library, the best thing to do would be to install it with findlib, to make it easy to find and specify from percolation; for information on how to create a findlib package (it's very simple), please see this older answer

*once myUnionFind is a findlib package, the single command ocamlbuild -use-ocamlfind -pkgs batteries,my-union-find percolation_stats.byte (or .native) should be enough to get an executable

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Words are tricky, yet precious
March 11, 2016 / Helio	/ 3 Comments
Word has come to me that my latest piece on Polytheist.com has generated a heated debate in several circles. This is not an unexpected result. The topic is sensitive, so addressing it would naturally be controversial in some way, and I wanted it to be thought-provoking, so it had to question popular notions and press a few hot buttons in modern polytheism – especially the most protest-oriented side of it. Of course, also unsurprisingly, while some have disagreed in a civil and well argued manner, others lashed out in ways that raise doubts over whether they understood the piece or even read it.
In reaction to that, Theanos, AKA the Anomalous Thracian, has written a brilliant blogpost where he addresses some of the most "curious" critiques (to put it mildly) and analyses the points where he disagrees with me. I highly recommend you read it. In fact, it's so good that it had an unexpected impact on the way I perceive my own thought process and cultural background, making obvious things that I've been doing rather unconsciously.
The issues with words
His main critique to my article pertains to the equation of the Latin deus, dea and di with "god", "goddess" and "gods". Though that is the conventional translation found in a dictionary, he is right when he points out that the Germanic word may contain a diverse sense and hence be a poor equivalent to terms that were produced in a different cultural context. In this case, that of Roman polytheism, which historically had a more open, even somewhat egalitarian notion of deity. The problem may not be immediately obvious, but he makes an excellent analogy with the use of English, Spanish and Portuguese vocabulary to convey notions of deity in African-American religions, highlighting the issues around the use of terminology from one culture, which has baggage, to convey notions from another, which has its own specifics. Semantic mismatches are bound to happen.
One solution to the problem would be to use the word in its original form. Thus, when addressing ancient Roman notions of deity, the Latin term deus, rather than the Germanic "god", would be a more suitable tool of communication, especially when discussing theological topics with people from different religious and cultural backgrounds. Theanos mentions – and rightly so – the case of interfaith dialogue as opposed to intrafaith, where a given meaning is already established. It can save a lot of time and trouble, because it would have an immediate referential effect to a specific cultural and historical context instead of generating a debate on how different people view a particular word. It's basically the same as using the term kami to discuss Shinto with a western audience. It's more straightforward and avoids a lot of the effort needed in a translation, whose limitations can easily require an explanation of Japanese notions of deity to people to whom the word "god" carries a different meaning. But while I understand and can sympathize with that solution, it's one that's not entirely or at least not immediately available to me.
The reason is that the Portuguese word for god is exactly the same as in Latin: deus! The feminine is different and the plural more so, but that's because their construction has become simpler by virtue of large grammatical changes. To give you an idea, case endings have largely disappeared in Portuguese, with a few traces remaining in things like pronouns, prepositions or patronymics. This makes the vocabulary more static than in Latin, something that is equally true for gender and number, with feminine and plural being commonly marked by an ending in -a and -s, respectively, often with little or no changes to the rest of the word. Hence "deus" (god), "deusa" (goddess), "deuses" (gods) and "deusas" (goddesses). Not entirely unlike what happens in English.
As a result, every time I consider the notion of god in my native language, every time I think about it on a daily basis, I'm using the exact same term that was employed by ancient Romans. So when confronted with their writings and inscriptions in trying to discern a pre-Christian sense of deity, it's easy, almost natural, for the old and modern words to become one and the same, not just in spelling (which is already the case), but also in meaning. I don't have the option of resorting to a different terminology to make a distinction between ancient and specific notions of divine on one side and current or general ones on the other. There are instances where such mechanism is available, a clear example being the difference between the pre-Christian pietas (duty) and modern "piedade" (mercy). In that case, a discernment is easy, both mentally and verbally, because I have two separate ideas, each with a corresponding word. Not so in the case of god: by virtue of identical spelling, the sense of the Latin deus – wide, inclusive, not restricted to supreme deities – can quickly become that of the Portuguese "deus" for a Portuguese Roman polytheist once the monotheistic layer has been peeled away.
This is something I've been doing naturally and somewhat unconsciously. It was Theanos' blogpost that drew my attention to it and made evident that I was acting like any English translator of my native language. The ancient-specific and modern-general words have become undistinguishable to me, so when addressing an Anglophone audience, the former is instinctively translated in the same way as latter: "god"! If it were an article about pietas, we'd be having a different conversation, since mentally I have a firm distinction between the old concept, written in Latin, and the new one, spelled in current fashion. And as such, when putting my thoughts in English, there would be no risk of equating pietas with "mercy", because the two are clearly identified by different words. To achieve the same effect with the term in question, I'd have to separate the Portuguese "deus", which means "god" and is conventionally translated as such, and the Latin deus, which may be better left untouched. Which is a challenge, because it requires me to mentally and verbally slipt something my mind has fused into a timeless whole. I guess it's a bit like asking a Japanese person to make a distinction between "kami" and kami, depending on whether it's a new word or an old one, a general modern meaning or that of a specific context, even though in the Japanese mind they may be one and the same.
The value of words
There was another unexpected consequence to all of this, in that it highlighted the value of being familiar with a romance language when reviving Roman polytheism in today's world. It's not that you need to be Portuguese, Italian, Spanish or French in order to be a cultor or cultrix (far from it!), but knowing a modern Latin language and culture can help you ground and enrich your religious life as a Roman polytheist, connecting you with the Romanitas of today. And the more you do that, the less you feel the need to take refuge in a romanticization of the past or join an anachronistic micronation out of a feeling of not being Roman enough.
To give you a clearer example that adds to the revival of the ancient sense of deity, take the word "lar". It's still used in my native tongue, where it carries the meaning of "home". Hence the well-known sentence "home sweet home" translates as "lar doce lar". So when dealing with the concept of Lares, as in Family Lares or Lares Viales, I instinctively think of something on a domestic or familial level. Not a revered entity on a high place, a patron with whom you have a professional relationship or an infernal power wrapped up in religious taboos, but something closer, more personal, akin to a relative or family friend. Even if just a side or aspect of a deity that is normally more distant or terrible. And there's also an impact on ritual, for instead of pouring a libation to Vesta after placing the main offerings in the ritual fire, I pour it to my Lares, because the Portuguese word for fireplace is "lareira" – the "eira" (place or ground) of the Lar. In fact, there's a connection or at least similarity between "lareira" and Lararium.
Of course, this holds the danger of semantic anachronism, in that an identical spelling may wrongly suggest an equally identical meaning. Caution, study and careful thinking are therefore advised. But if you find no contradiction and it actually enriches your practices, then by all means, go for it! This is reviving a religion through language, creating a living meaning and connection to your everyday life by means of everyday words. There will naturally be differences depending on whether you're seeing things through Spanish, French or Portuguese lens, because those languages don't have an identical vocabulary. Yet Roman polytheism was never uniform. It was a diverse religion with regional and local variations, so different practices and perspectives are not only natural, but well within the historical precedent. And again, once you connect with the Romanitas of today, in this case by means of a language, which is a doorway to culture and History, it's easier to breathe modern life into an old religion and harder to feel the need to go back in time to get a sense of being Roman.
Many dead, many gods
March 1, 2016 / Helio	/ 1 Comment
Parentalia has come and gone, March is here and the Ludi Mercuriales are just one month away. The latter may be the topic of my next piece on Polytheist.com – or at least something related to Mercury in honour of His birthday – but for now, I'll just post a link to the most recent one:
The dead are gods, too
Some of what is said in it isn't new. I have addressed the issue of what is a god in previous occasions and also pointed out how History works in a manner that is not akin to Athena's birth, which rose fully-formed from Her father's head. But I combine both on the topic of the imperial cult and the divine status of the dead, with a bit of Shinto and a critique of religious re-enactment for good measure. Whether you agree with it or not, enjoy!


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My grandfather, James Walter Scott (known as Walter), was born in Nottawa, Ontario in 1885. I have quite a lot of information about his Scott family and have a basic family tree here.
At the turn of the century in 1902, Grandpa moved to Manitoba by himself and settled in Newdale where he met and married my grandmother, Amy Estella Irwin, in 1910.
According to my grandmother, Grandpa Scott first worked in Thomas N. Peter's store. In the 1910s, he was in business operating a general store with W. R. (William Robert) Lavery. This photograph, identified by my grandmother as showing Grandpa (on your right), W. R. Lavery (left) and Jack Kaskey (centre) together, seems to corroborate my mother's information - that he was also in business with at least one other person. I would like to learn more about Mr. Kaskey.
Walter Scott, Jack Kaskey, W.R. Lavery, Cabinet card; no photographer's information. Private collection.
It appears that there was a second photograph taken of the three men on the same day. I've posted that on tmy Newdale Genealogy website today.
Happy Blog anniversary! This is my first visit to your blog & glad I stopped by. Hope you have many happy posts & wonderful discoveries ahead!
I just read that February 3 is your 9th blogiversary, Diane! Congrats and many more years of writing!


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text:
Colin Dunlop Wilson Rankin,  (20 January 1869 – 2 November 1940) was a Scottish-born Australian soldier, politician, cane farmer and company director.

Early life
Colin Dunlop Wilson Rankin was born on 20 January 1869 at Galston, Ayrshire, Scotland, the second son of William Rankin, colliery manager, and his wife Jane, née Anderson. He was educated at Galston Public School and Kilmarnock Academy.

Rankin accompanied his family to Queensland when his father became manager of the Queensland Collieries Co. Ltd. at Howard (near Maryborough) in 1884. Rankin joined its staff and from 1886 the Queensland Defence Force. By 1890 he was assistant company manager, grew sugar at Tigh-na-Bienne at Isis, Queensland (near Bundaberg, north of Howard), and became a clerk and valuator with the Isis Divisional Board (1890–1899).

Family life
Rankin married Annabelle Davidson Thomson on 5 September 1906 at St Stephen's Presbyterian Church, Maryborough; they settled on his plantation. They had two daughters, Annabelle (born 1908) and Jean. Annabelle became the first woman to enter the Parliament of Australia from Queensland.

The family lived in Brooklyn House in Howard (now heritage-listed).

Boer War
A major when the South African War broke out, Rankin volunteered for service and on 13 January 1900 sailed with the Second Queensland Contingent. He was appointed second-in-command of the First Australian Regiment of Mounted Infantry and saw action at Diamond Hill, Riet Vlei and elsewhere. Invalided to England, Rankin returned to Queensland in March 1901. In 1903 he was promoted lieutenant colonel of the Wide Bay Infantry Regiment, assuming command in 1906.

Politics
Rankin tried to enter the Queensland Legislative Assembly by contesting the Burrum in the 1899 Queensland colonial election.

When the Shire of Howard was formed in 1903, he was elected as a council member and as shire chairman.

In the 1904 election, Rankin stood unsuccessfully again in Burrum.

On 14 May 1905, George Martin, the Labour member for Burrum, died. Standing as an independent candidate, Rankin won the resulting by-election on 17 June 1905 and entered the Queensland Legislative Assembly. He held the seat through the 1907, 1908, 1909, 1912, and 1915 state elections.

Rankin promoted rural interests during his thirteen years in parliament. He became a council-member of the Australian Sugar Producers' Union. His membership of the Farmers' Parliamentary Union (Country Liberal Party from 1913), however, exacerbated disunity among government ranks. After unsuccessfully challenging Denham's leadership, Rankin was Secretary for Railways from 6 April 1915 to 1 June 1915, and then became deputy leader of the Liberal Opposition when Labor won the May election.

His time in the legislative assembly when he lost Burrum in the 1918 Queensland state election on 16 March 1918 to Labour candidate Albert Whitford.

First World War
During the First World War Rankin served briefly in 1915 with the Australian Imperial Force in Egypt before appointment to command the 11th Brigade in the newly formed 3rd Division, as temporary brigadier general from 1 May 1916. On Salisbury Plain in England, he was dismissed by Major General John Monash as "incapable". He returned home in November, and retired with the honorary rank of colonel in February 1917.

Later life
In 1919, when his brother, William Charles Rankin, died he succeeded him as general manager of the Queensland Collieries.

As managing director in 1924–1940, Rankin continued a tradition of paternal despotism. He had found the company in poor shape with a falling output and inadequate coal reserves; charges have also been made of 'intense exploitation, sub-standard conditions and hard-fistedness'. He courageously took out new leases in the Burrum district and opened new mines which helped the company to weather the Depression of the 1930s.

Rankin died in a private hospital in Brisbane on 2 November 1940, survived by his wife and two daughters, and was buried with Anglican rites in Howard Cemetery.

References

Bibliography

 W. J. E. Watson, 100 Years in Coal (Maryborough, 1963)
 E. Ross, A History of the Miners' Federation of Australia (Sydney, 1970)
 D. J. Murphy, T. J. Ryan (Brisbane, 1975)
 W. Browne, A Woman of Distinction (Brisbane, 1981)
 R. L. Whitmore, Coal in Queensland (Brisbane, 1985)
 P. Thomas, The Coalminers of Queensland, Volume 1 (Ipswich, 1986)
 Queensland Government Mining Journal, 15 November 1940, p. 284
 Queensland Times (Ipswich), 3 September 1907, 18 February 1910
 Queenslander, 15 September 1906, 27 December 1913, 20 August 1915, 17 May 1919, 13 December 1919
 Brisbane Sunday Mail, 3 November 1940
 State Library of Queensland
 Raymond L. Whitmore, "Rankin, Colin Dunlop Wilson (1869–1940)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 11, Melbourne University Press, 1988, pp. 330–331.

External links

 Australian Dictionary of Biography

1869 births
1940 deaths
Australian generals
Australian Army officers
Australian farmers
Australian military personnel of the Second Boer War
Australian military personnel of World War I
Australian people of Scottish descent
Members of the Queensland Legislative Assembly
People from Ayr
Scottish military personnel