text:
Leif Enger's Off-beat Novel
SO BRAVE, YOUNG, AND HANDSOME (2008)
By Leif Enger
Thorndike Press, 286 pages
What an odd and delightful book! So Brave, Young, and Handsome came out in 2008, when author Leif Enger was still working for Minnesota Public Radio. It often reads like a young adult novel, though it's not one—more like what you might get if you crossed YA wonderment with a Lake Woebegone tale, Huckleberry Finn, and a gentle send up of a Zane Grey Western.
It is set in 1915, a time in which automobiles and horses coexist, though the latter are more reliable. Monte Becket, his wife Susannah, and their son Redstart live along the Cannon River, a for-real tributary of the Mississippi in southeastern Minnesota. Monte penned a Western novel, Martin Bligh, that caught fire and his publisher is clamoring for more. Alas, Monte is having trouble capturing lightening in a jar a second time. Susannah retains faith in him, but Monte trashes draft after draft rejected by editors who want another Martin Bligh.
As such stories go, a mysterious stranger comes into their lives, a boat builder going by the handle of Glendon Hale. He lives in a converted barn downstream, but becomes a frequent dinner guest at the Becket household and a man Monte considers his friend. Glendon has traveled and his tales also delight young Redstart. One day, though, Glendon announces he is leaving, ostensibly to travel to Mexico to apologize to Blue, the love he left behind six years earlier. When he asks Monte if he'd like to come along, Susannah encourages him to go for a few weeks, thinking it might help him get over writer's block.
That's one way of looking at it. Their journey begins on water, but is abandoned when their small rowboat is nearly wiped out on the Mississippi by some rogues. Or are they pursuers? Surprise! Glendon is a wanted man with more aliases than a Russian spy. A man named Charlie Siringo is after Glendon, though he's also a cad, an ex-Pinkerton Detective who is a self-appointed freelance bounty hunter. Monte considers hightailing it back to Susannah, but he's such a milquetoast that you can convince him to do anything. Wouldn't wish to offend, after all, even if it means he has to come up with his own aliases, eat stolen food, and tell a few fibs.
A madcap journey unfolds in which one oddball character after another appears. There is, for instance, Glendon's friend Darlys De Foe, a sharp shooter with failing eyesight; Hood Roberts, a youngster who sells Monte a Packard and wants to ride along to a circus in Oklahoma; and Ern Swilling, an actor who will break his neck and wonder why he is seeing in back of himself. Is anyone on the up an up? Nope.
So Brave, Young, and Handsome is a series of comic misadventures, several of them tinged with tragedy. The latter, though, don't sting because the novel reads like a fable. Of what? Good question. It is surely the passing of one way of life with another having a difficult time being born. Sometimes it seems to be about redemption, though the lesson fails to take more often than it does. Plus, even if you were to assign some moral to it, the novel's tone is too offbeat for your judgment to stand up under cross examination. It's ultimately about how Monte finds his mojo but mainly it's a wacky road trip that ends in California. Glendon will seek out Blue–her name is actually Arãnado–but this isn't a hearts-and-coronets kid of book; it's too quirky for such things. Will Glendon reform and find peace? The book is too idiosyncratic for that as well.
Enger's book is also a fable in that normal logic is suspended. There's even a character who simply refuses to die. Yes, what we have here is a book in which the best odds lie with the improbable. Huckleberry Finn, of course, was Mark Twain's reworking of The Odyssey and you might recall from whenever you last read any of it, that lots of spurious things occurred in it. (If you don't remember, think the Coen Brothers' take, O Brother, Where Art Thou?)
I laughed aloud many times during my reading of So Brave, Young, and Handsome. I was late to the party, but they saved me a slice of the icebox cake. In all honesty, I'm still not sure whether or not I should be ashamed of myself for liking this book so much.
Rob Weir
Posted by Phoenix Brown & Lars Vigo 0 comments
Movie Madness, Celtic Corner, Cranky Notions Books
Undine: Myth or a Gal Wronged?
UNDINE (2020)
Directed by Christian Petzold
Bettina Böler, 90 minutes, Not-rated (brief nudity, sex)
In German/French with subtitles
★★★ ½
If you'd like to try a film unlike the usual fare, the German film Undine will answer and then some. But read my comments first or you might be lost.
Undine is the main character. The is significant. An undine (or ondine) is a mythological creature that morphed into numerous folk tales. Insofar as can be determined, the ancient Greek alchemist/philosopher Paracelsus gave us the first complete view. He thought the world was composed of earth, water, air, and fire, each of which had groupings of elemental spirits misunderstood by humans. Undines were river nymphs—Hans Christian Anderson's Little Mermaid was based upon them—that lived for a very long time. They were ultimately doomed, however, because they lack souls. The way out was to marry mortals, which conferred souls but shortened their lives. The kicker was that undines bonded for life. Do not cross one; if she says she will kill you if you leave her, be very afraid!
We meet Undine Wibeau (Paula Beer) as an architecture and urban development expert lecturing at a Berlin museum. She is in a troubled relationship with Johannes (Jacob Matschenz), a married man, who tells her that he's breaking off their affair. Undine coldly informs Johannes that she will kill him, a threat he dismisses as histrionic. That seems to be the case, as shortly thereafter she meets Christoph (Franz Rogowski). He is attracted to her and convinces her to have coffee with him. Ironically, that scene involves the explosion of a giant fish tank, an event that actually happened in Berlin in 2022. A floor full of glass, water, and dead fish gets them booted from the cafe, but they begin a relationship. Christoph is an underwater welding expert and a klutz, but he is a sweet man very much in love with Undine. He is currently repairing damaged joints on a dam on the short but deep Lingese River, which he and his diving team partner Monika (Maryam Zaree) have done before. He has several times spotted a giant catfish that he dubs "Big Gunther."
Undine falls for Christoph, though when Johannes tells Undine he wants her back, what's gal to do? Undine is slow-paced, but quite a lot happens. Some of it seems head-scratching but it helps to remember that this is a place where folklore and filmmaking intersect. That is to say, some things stand as metaphors rather than depictions of reality. It's a clever ruse of the part of director Christian Petzold. If you think about it, all movies are artifice, so why not blend the expected and the fanciful? Likewise, why impose normal logic or explain everything? Is Undine an actual undine, or just an angry young woman with an odd name looking for love in the wrong place?
This is a film whose tension derives from its relationships and the circumstances of its characters. That's another way of saying that it holds viewers in a psychological grip rather than milking cheap thrills from action sequences. Once you give up the need for the narrative to make literal sense, you can concentrate on the performances. None are better than Beer in the title role. She is one of those actors whom the camera loves, riveting and magnetic. Each year the Berlin Film Festival doles out awards for outstanding work. Its highest honor is called the Golden Bear Grand Jury prize for the best film. Undine did not win the Golden Bear, but Paula Beer received a Silver Bear as best actress. You need not speak a word of German to understand why she won.
Petzold made a unique and provocative film. Don't be surprised if your first reaction is that you didn't like or get Undine. It is the sort of project that needs to settle in and it will. You will find it rattling around in your head days after you've seen it and some (but not all) things will come into sharper focus. Perhaps the film didn't need to be quite as enigmatic as it was, but it's not necessary to decode each frame of Undine. Any spin you put on the movie is fine. It's certainly not a cookie cutter project and of that we can be grateful.
Movie Madness, Celtic Corner, Cranky Notions movie madness
Mercury Pictures Presents Too Ambitious but a Good Read
MERCURY PICTURES PRESENTS (2022)
By Anthony Marra
Hogarth/Penguin Random House, 408 pages.
I adored Mercury Pictures Presents by Anthony Marra, though it is what I call half of an epic. By that I mean it should have been either twice as long or have jettisoned half of its plot lines because there's too much going on to be contained in 400 pages.
It is a film about a Hollywood studio, though not Paramount, MGM, Universal, or Twentieth Century Fox. The 1930s into the 1950s is often interpreted as a Hollywood golden age. From the standpoint of movie quality that is perhaps true, but there were obstacles to be considered such as the impact of two world wars and a little thing called the Great Depression. It wasn't so glamorous to work in the movies either. Only stars and big companies came through those years intact, and not even they were unscathed.
Mercury Pictures Presents is about a second-tier studio that didn't have surefire box office stars. (One suspects that RKO was one of Marra's inspirations; it often leaned upon Orson Welles and his Mercury Theatre repertory company for acting talent.) Even in its heyday Mercury was a cut-rate concern. It was owned by two eccentric brothers, Art and Ned Feldman, who simultaneously love and despise each other; lately they opt for the latter option and engage in tit for tat games. Mercury maintains a staff that ranges from disgruntled to trapped. Its best talent is Eddie Lu, who would like to do Chekhov, but as a Chinese American he is relegated to portraying Yellow Peril types such as an evil Chinaman or a Japanese villain. Maria Legana is a resident alien and Eddie's illicit lover.* She also has a couple of maddening Italian aunts who don't understand why she's not married and continues to work in the office of Mercury Pictures. Add to the wild menagerie of characters several displaced Europeans working for bargain basement wages, a major character who literally isn't who he is, and an American gangster who runs afoul of Italian mobsters. This is merely the short list of the strange characters in a novel that mixes drama, humor, acerbic dialogue, scheming, heartbreak, delusions, and sweetness and (mostly) gets away with it.
Mercury Pictures once did moderately well. Its current fate, though, isn't on the screen, but on a battlefield pitting Artie against Ned. In the good old days, "Artie" took care of movie making in California, and Ned stayed in New York City to write checks and keep the books. Recently, though, Ned has come to California with the intention of wrecking Mercury Pictures in a grab-the-money-and-go maneuver. Should the studio fortunes pick up, Plan B is to push Artie out of the business.
To be fair, Artie is an oddball. He keeps a rack of toupees to fit every occasion and has names for each: the Heavyweight, the Casanova, the Edison, the Mephistopheles, and so forth. Were it not for the command-by-fake-obedience acumen of Maria, Mercury Pictures wouldn't be worth a roll of used celluloid. She's so valuable that even Ned will try to blackmail her rather than let her take another job. Rest assured; she's not the only one being extorted.
All of this alone would have been literary gold, but Marra adds other layers. Much of the novel's action takes place in Italy, both during Mussolini's rise to power and again during World War Two. These sections involve everything from assumed identities, a stolen car, an ever-patient Italian American mother, an accidental cameraman who wants to emulate Robert Capa, and falsehoods that become truths in surprising ways.
Marra adds even other subplots, including the construction of detailed sets to be destroyed for less than noble purposes, movie razzle dazzle, an FBI investigation, an Italian policeman, and a story about Louis Harrington, a black GI whose tale parallels that of Dorie Miller, but without Miller's heroic ending.** As you can probably tell, there are so many irons in the fire that some of them seem tacked on. Frankly, some of the novel is a mess, though credit goes to Marra that he pulls out of such moments with less damage than is done to Mercury Pictures.
Luckily, Marra's novel has memorable characters, inspired silliness, labyrinthine backstabbing plotting, and shifting winds that make an enjoyable read even if you get lost. If you do , my best advice is to take the lead from Vincent, he who would be Robert Capa. He made an analogy to between one of Capo's photos and Mercury Pictures: "The less you saw, the better it looked."
* Illicit because the laws in many parts of the country forbade interracial relationships.
** Miller was a black ship's cook who manned an anti-aircraft gun during Pearl Harbor when its white gunner was killed.
Funny Face is a Dinosaur!
FUNNY FACE (1957)
Directed by Stanley Donen
Paramount, 103 minutes, Not-rated.
Audrey Hepburn was an icon and Fred Astaire one of the smoothest dancers and leading men in Hollywood history. Despite that, some films wear like iron and others are pieces of disintegrating tulle from bygone costume failures. Funny Face is one of the latter.
This musical comedy began life as a 1927 Broadway play and that's about the time that Astaire was young enough to have been involved in such a project. When it was turned into a movie 30 years later, Astaire was 57-years-old, which made his romance with 28-year-old Audrey Hepburn so creepy that not even dollops of Paris and Hollywood magic could gloss it. Nor were Ira and George Gershwin at the top of their game when they reworked songs from the show and wrote new ones for the film. Only "How Long Has This Been Going On" had much of a shelf life and it only after later being re-tailored as a smoky torch ballad. ("S'Wonderful" was popular for about half a season.) Watching Funny Face now embodies the British term naff, meaning insipid.
I grant that it had wonderful set design. The story revolves around Quality Magazine, a fashion rag along the lines of Harper's Bazaar or Vogue. It is simultaneously an advertisement and a lampoon of such publications. Editor Maggie Prescott (Kay Thompson) is a stand-in for Diana Vreeland and Dick Avery (Astaire) of photographer Richard Avedon. Maggie is bored by the magazine's new issue, the setup for the opening musical number "Think Pink" in which she successfully convinces American women that pink is the only color they should wear (though she hates it). Thompson's romp in the high-contrast minimalist office is visually stunning.
Still, Maggie thinks the magazine needs intellectual heft but her models, including Marion (Dovima, one of several actual models in the film), are airheads who wouldn't know Plato from Play-Doh. She dispatches Dick to scout locations for a makeover and he and his pink-clad female crew commandeer a Greenwich Village philosophy bookstore. They rearrange books, and make a mess over the feeble protests of mousy clerk Jo Stockton (Hepburn). Jo is appalled by the vacuousness of the fashion world and is devoted to an empathicalism worldview, especially as espoused by French thinker Professor Flostre. (It's basically empathy draped in mumbo jumbo.) Jo's life is disrupted again when Dick convinces Maggie that Jo's "funny face" is exactly what Quality needs.
How do you convince a beatnik intellectual like Jo to become a supermodel? A trip to Paris, of course. The magazine wants her to debut the new line of French designer Paul Duval (Robert Flemyng [sic]) but Jo relishes a chance to hang out in smoky cafes and perhaps meet Flostre. Add musical numbers, a burgeoning romance between Jo and Dick, contrivances that keep them apart, fashion runway scenes, and the illusion that Jo and Dick are ill-suited, and that's Funny Face in a nutshell. It's A Star in Born in 1950s couture blended with a bit of Romeo and Juliet.
Astaire was past his prime in 1957. His dancing seemed limp and lifeless, even when he pulled cool moves with an umbrella. His acting was equally flat. The less said about Hepburn's spasmodic cafe moves the better. (If you think Maynard G. Krebs on the Dobie Gillis sitcom demeaned the Beats, it's reverential by contrast.) Hepburn was, of course, cute as a button-festooned rabbit, but her dancing also invites the descriptor naff.
In its day, Funny Face got good reviews, with only the London Times having the courage to dismiss it as fluffy nonsense. Audrey Hepburn became a beloved screen star, which helps explain why Funny Face is often accorded "classic" status. Don't be fooled; this fashion-driven antique is like finding an old snapshot of yourself attired in clothing you'd deny ever having worn. Aside from eye-candy sets, one of its few pleasures is watching Kay Thompson connive, throw fits, and dance. If her name sounds familiar, she was also the author of the children's book series Eloise.
At the risk of offending anyone in a May-December relationship, the wooing of Hepburn by Astaire is more than distressing; it's thoroughly unconvincing and could have only been made during that part of the 1950s in which a woman "needed" a man and anyone who showed interest would do. Hepburn falls for Astaire after one kiss, her first we are led to believe. Because, of course, who would want to kiss Hepburn? (Take a number!) Funny Face is an artifact from the past best left in a film vault.
Movie Madness, Celtic Corner, Cranky Notions Classic Films
Brought to Life Brings Color Back to Gothic Churches
BROUGHT TO LIFE: PAINTED WOOD SCULPTURE FROM EUROPE, 1300-1700
Smith College Museum of Art
Through August 6, 2023
Montreal--more typical than you think!
Sometimes visitors to cathedrals such as Notre Dame de Montréal, the Sistine Chapel, the basilica at Notre Dame University in Indiana, or Amiens Cathedral in France are alarmed by what they see. Such Gothic splendors appear gaudy, even garish, riots of sky blues, pastels, and gilding.
This is because they have either visited weathered medieval churches or have seen bare stone and woodwork in museums. Assumptions of spartan interiors dance in their heads, as if somehow naked pillars directed the gazes of the faithful toward heaven and reminded them that they were to eschew the pleasures of the earthly realm. In such imagining, only stained glass windows or perhaps a fresco or painting illuminated the insides of hulking churches.
If that's what you think, you're the victim of time and the changes brought by sunlight, candle smoke, dampness, mold, and ephemeral unvarnished paint. At one time, a 14th century cathedral looked a lot like Notre Dame de Montréal—except their exteriors were painted as brightly as those in Italian cities such as Orvieto. And if you want to push things back even further, Greek and Roman statues were gaily painted as well.
An exhibit at the Smith College Museum of Art (SCMA) give us a glimpse of what medieval cathedrals might have looked like inside via woodworks that retain traces of pigment. Brought to Life is a gallery full of wooden sculptures from the 14th through the dawn of the 18th centuries. Though these pieces have also been dimmed by time, there is enough of their original hue for us to imagine the explosion of color a medieval cathedral would have been. If you're wondering, though they are too big to go on tour or be installed and the museum, even massive Gothic columns and arches would have appeared in Technicolor. (Okay, not Technicolor, which is a film stock, but you get the picture.)
In other words, Gothic cathedrals were quite the opposite of a spartan holiness scenario. For most Europeans, cities and villages would have been drab, muddy, and dark before gas lighting, street paving, window panes, and more substantial dwellings took over. In most places, little of that even began to happen before the 19th century. Churches and cathedrals were brightly adorned because they invoked thoughts of heaven, not because color stymied such reflections.
By extension, there's another historical lesson embedded in the SCMA exhibit. Many North Americans are so present-minded that their view of the past is like the black and white or sepia archival photos from the pre-color film era. We all know Puritans dressed mostly in black, right? Granted their worldview was often gloomy, but many of them liked a splash of color. After all, it was easier to make fabric dyes from flowers and wild plants than blacks from tannin-tinted roots and bark. (Black dyes also degraded fabric much faster.)
To circle back, color was associated with the glories of Creation. It was the case that a lot of medieval public art other than paintings was left unsigned. The skilled artisans who carved figures from wood or stone and those that slathered on the paint were supposed to be conduits to God's glory, one imagined in full living color.
A visit to the SCMA reveals both the ways medieval Europeans were different from us–faith was seldom openly questioned and religious symbols were ubiquitous–yet also similar. Like us, they enjoyed color and light. They liked it so much that some of their efforts strike us as a bit garish!
Movie Madness, Celtic Corner, Cranky Notions Art Smarts
Our Missing Hearts is a Masterpiece
OUR MISSING HEARTS (2022)
By Celeste Ng
Penguin Press, 335 pages.
Our Missing Hearts was influenced by Margaret Atwood, the foster care system, slavery, the removal of Native American children from their homes, the early days of COVID, Japanese internment in the 1940s, folk tales, anti-Trump protests, McCarthyism, anti-immigrant border debates, and yarn bombing. In most cases, if you pick up a novel whose list of influences is that long and varied, alarm bells go off in your head. What we can say about the latest work from Celeste Ng is that it's not a good novel; it's a great one. If it gets half the publicity it deserves, Our Missing Hearts will become The Handmaid's Tale of this generation. Like Atwood's masterpiece, Ng's novel packs the additional wallop of feeling way-too-plausible.
Ng takes us to a not-so-distant American dystopia. A series of events known as the Crisis has decimated the economy. Those with resources have isolated themselves to ride out the Crisis, but so many people have lost their jobs that few have even part time work. For them, life in America has come to resemble that of places such as Chad or Haiti. The streets are a war of all against all and even basic needs such as food and shelter are day-to-day conundrums. Think squatting, contingency labor, dumpster diving, stealing copper wire, and forging survival pods with others.
When the Crisis finally begins to subside, leaders convince the citizenry that an external enemy, China, and its agents caused the collapse. This precipitates attacks on Chinese Americans and Asians in general, as few non-yellow Americans can (or bother to) tell the difference between them. Congress passes the Preserving American Culture and Traditions (PACT) act that most of the populace embrace as salvation. Asian Americans learn to keep a low profile and endure taunts, spitting, and random violence against those unlucky enough to stumble into the wrong place.
The Gardner family is at the center of Ng's drama. Nathan is a linguist, librarian, and adjunct Harvard professor from a well-to-do family. During the Crisis he marries Margaret Miu, a spirited and creative Chinese American woman. They produce a son, Bird, whom Margaret loves so dearly that she devotes a volume of poetry to him. Like those who escaped the streets during the Crisis, Margaret is too grateful to see the full implications of PACT when it ends. It is unique to say the least; a major provision guaranteed to make America "safe," allows the government to remove children from disloyal homes to "protect" America's future. With no prompting or knowledge on her part, Margaret's poetry volume about Bird, which includes the line that titles Ng's novel, becomes an underground classic with "missing heart" iconography showing up on the streets. Margaret's parents die, her father pushed down a flight of steps by an attacker and her mother from a fall that might or might not be suicide. Margaret knows that the only way Bird–rechristened as Noah–can avoid being taken is for her to disappear. Even then, Nathan loses most of his work and his home; he and Noah are reduced to living in two rooms on the 10th floor of a dormitory.
The novel's subtext is what Bird remembers–he was young when his mother left– or can piece together. He is a curious child and a lonely one because he cannot hide his mixed-race attributes, but he does have one friend, Sadie, a foster child obsessed with re-finding her biological parents. Information is nearly impossible to find. Libraries have been carefully curated, as Noah/Bird discovers when he tries to find his mother's poetry; the very attempt potentially places he and Nathan in jeopardy. But Bird is a sensitive adolescent and he thinks he knows where his mother has gone.
It would be easy to overdo a novel like this, but Ng recounts horror, hope, crushed dreams, and quiet rebellion in poetic but never pretentious language that illumines detail, deepens pathos, provokes us to anger, and awakens our fear that, yes, this could happen here. It is healing in its insistence that stories are powerful and that knowledge liberates. Ng also understands that resistance and change are processes, not hokey one-offs. There's even a nod to tribalism, if you choose a clan on the side of true goodness rather than pandering sloganeering. What a beautiful and timely book! Ng writes like an angel. Maybe that's because the heavenly hosts are on her side.
Once Upon a Time in the West: Bury the Legend
ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST (1968)
Paramount, PG-13 (nudity, language, violence)
Did you ever notice that foreigners get American history better than the products of American schools? That's especially the case with Westerns, which American directors treat as star-studded documentaries rather than the legends they really are. Robert Altman was a rare exception, but think of how Ang Lee's Brokeback Mountain or Jane Campion's magisterial The Power of the Dog surpass the cowboy junk that littered TV and theaters in the past seven decades. (Lee is Taiwanese; Campion a New Zealander.)
"Spaghetti Westerns" were among the first to shoot the sheen off of Westerns and few did it better than Italy's Sergio Leone. One of the best was his Once Upon a Time in the West, a certifiable gem. It's something of a spaghetti splatter film as well, but it remains a powerful film whose subtext that the West was more about profiteering than glory is close to the truth.
It starts with a literal bang. Three thugs are sent to an in-the-middle-of-nowhere railway station to make sure that Harmonica (Charles Bronson), its departing passenger doesn't live to ride away. Bringing him down would take more than three! Harmonica will soon learn that the dusters they wear were designed to make others think Cheyenne (Jason Robards) is behind the attempt, though the true culprit is Frank (Henry Fonda), who is preoccupied with slaughtering Brett McBain (Frank Wolff) and his three children.
Meanwhile, enter Jill McBain (Claudia Cardinale), who Brett married a month earlier in New Orleans. Frank didn't find what he was looking for on McBain's land–gold presumably–and is determined to do so. Cheyenne is sniffing around as well, but he has no beef with Frank or Harmonica, so named because he uses one to unnerve those who try to kill him before he sends them to their unjust rewards. We learn that Frank is a gun for hire for crippled businessman/banker Morton (Gabriele Ferzetti). Not that he needs encouragement; Frank is thoroughly amoral.
The plot has nothing to do with gold nuggets or hearts of gold. It builds toward a showdown between Frank and Harmonica with lots and lots of collateral damage interspersed. There's also the matter of trying to figure out which side characters are on, Leone's sly way of deflating American individualism. It's one of many ways in which Leone took standard Western movie devices, turned them on their heads, and left viewers to ponder where the mythical West had gone. (Answer: It was never there in the first place.)
A film like this required topnotch acting from those who could simultaneously play to and against type. Claudia Cardinale made irresistible bait for such a fishing expedition. Is Jill a wronged woman or the high-class whore Frank calls her? Maybe both? Is she ready to settle into domestic bliss with Cheyenne? (Is he ready?) Or is she, in her own way, just as ruthless as Morton or Frank? She's certainly eye candy, which helps keep her alive.
It would be hard, though, even for Jill to be as conniving as Frank. Henry Fonda made a lot of Westerns, but he never before made one in which his blood ran as icy as his blue eyes. Frank has no redeeming qualities and he makes sure everyone he encounters knows that—if he lets them live. Is Frank on anybody's side? He is, after all, the one who pulls the trigger on a nine-year-old boy.
The biggest surprise is the granite-faced Charles Bronson. He made his reputation as a B-movie hack, but he is note perfect in Once Upon a Time in the West. To call him a man of few words is an understatement. His eerie glassy harmonica notes are alone enough to induce fear, though the purest terror comes when he crinkles his eyes and his face morphs into a slow-motion Mona Lisa smile. That's the moment to make sure your affairs are in order. It was such a stunning performance that it might have garnered an Oscar nomination had it been in a more conventional film.
If you've never seen this film, do so. Make sure to avoid the PG version which was sanitized to reduce the violence and cover Cardinale's body. Nothing should be kept from view in a film that will never allow you to see a John Ford or Howard Hawks Western the same way again. It took an Italian to do that.
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Who needs to read about the latest pop chart tart? Who cares about another formulaic mall movie? That's what People Magazine is for, right?
Off-Center Views is for those who want to wade outside the mainstream without getting dashed upon the rocks of academic pretense, post-modernist mumbo jumbo, or high culture snobbery.
Look to this blog for reviews and opinions (including some truly cranky notions) on films, music, sports, art, and anything else that's on our minds at present. We aim to be provocative, but also entertaining and understandable.
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After wandering down a hall and discovering a scattered assortment of clothes, ten birds were shocked to spot a scary monster! What were they to do? Grabbing a piece of clothing as a disguise, "the first bird, always inventive, became a Vicious Polka-dactyl. But the monster didn't budge." So the second bird, then the third bird, and so on, followed in turn, each adding some clothing to the mix to devise a new, frightening creature. But no matter that the birds were "resourceful," "attentive," "creative" and "eager to participate," or that they created fantastically scary beings such as a Gnashing Grapplesaurus, a Bristling Fang-Mangler and a Slimy Long-toed Zapper --- the monster would not be chased away. Until the tenth bird stepped forward, the one who was "always easily distracted." Could this be the bird who finally, and surprisingly, saved the day? This gorgeous picture book by award-winning author-illustrator Cybèle Young is perfect for counting and early numeracy lessons. Each of the numbers from one to ten gets its own spread, featuring two pieces of intricately detailed pen-and-ink illustrations. The smaller illustration incorporates the numeral into the drawing itself, while the larger one offers the opportunity to search for and count all the birds within the growing clothes monster. Filled with silliness, suspense and a terrific reveal at the end, this clever, funny story is also a wonderful read-aloud. It highlights how individual resourcefulness and creativity are magnified by the power of cooperation and teamwork.
Cybèle Young is an award-winning artist who exhibits her exquisite paper sculpture (Japanese paper printed with etched copperplates) internationally. She has illustrated several books for children, including Pa's Harvest by Jan Andrews, which was nominated for the Governor General's Award (Illustration) and Jack Pine by Christopher Patton. She has recently written and illustrated A Few Blocks, a Kirkus Best Children's Book and winner of the Alcuin Award; Ten Birds, winner of the Governor General's Award (Illustration); and A Few Bites, which received starred reviews in Kirkus and Publishers Weekly and was named an OLA Best Bet. Cybèle lives with her family in Toronto.
Cybèle Young is an internationally renowned artist, represented by galleries in New York, London, Vancouver and Calgary. Her art practice and family life have also inspired the creation of several children's books. She was nominated for a Governor General's Award for Illustration in 2000, and has written and illustrated two titles (Ten Birds, Kids Can Press, and A Few Blocks, Groundwood Books).


Growing out of the faithfulness of Cornerstone Church of Knoxville and the faith of a growing group of folks, Trinity Grace Church will begin gathering on Sunday, October 28 in Athens, Tennessee.
Our history is quite simple.
For the past 27 years, Cornerstone Church of Knoxville has been faithfully preaching the gospel under the senior leadership of Bill Kittrell. Over ten years ago, several folks from Athens began attending Cornerstone. This group from Athens continued to grow.
Within a few years, Cornerstone started a small group in Athens, in hopes that members who lived there could cultivate honest, close relationships during the week. Relationships were strengthened and the group continued to grow. Several years later, we added another small group.
In the fall of 2017, it became clear to Cornerstone that the Lord seemed to be encouraging them to plant a church in Athens, Tennessee. Cornerstone desired not just to be a faithful, gospel-centered church; they desired to plant other churches.
The folks in Athens responded enthusiastically! They loved being a part of Cornerstone Church but are very excited about planting a church in Athens, Tennessee—the place they call home and the people to whom God has called them.
So, in the beginning of 2018, the planting of Trinity Grace Church was officially announced and preparations have been rapidly taking place.
Our desire is that this church plant would be a faithful church for years to come and would bless Athens significantly.
Lord willing, Trinity Grace will have its first public meeting on Sunday, October 28.


I used to advise CDIT students at SUNY Albany! So nice to see people from SUNY Albany, a place that is so dear to my heart.
I am enjoying the CDIT program very much. Like you, I am interested in the theories and research-based practices of online teaching and learning. I appreciate that I am learning all about them in the CDIT program.
I am executive director of instruction and faculty development at the University of Houston Downtown's Marilyn Davies College of Business. I began teaching online in 2007 when I was a graduate student at SUNY Albany. This is also when I started delving into the theories and research-based practices of online teaching and learning. In my current position, I am having a hard time finding the time for research and publication, and would love to get back to it again soon. I am open to new collaborations and writing and research partnerships.
I also would like to see what cool things other institutions are doing with online education. Since beginning teaching online in 2007, I have experienced online teaching and learning (as an instructor) at 4 universities: SUNY Albany, UMass Boston, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Lamar University (TX). Currently, at UHD, I am not teaching but I am coordinating online classes and identifying faculty development needs. Prior to my current position, I was assistant professor of teacher education at Lamar University, where I developed the fully online preparation program for ESL teacher certification.
I am excited to connect with old friends (Thanks Alexandra for inviting me to this community) and make new ones while learning more about online teaching!
I am Marina Layvand from north Jersey. I've been teaching accounting and business related courses online since 2005 and at Empire State College since 2012. I am interested in developing my teaching practice and learning more about dynamics of distance learning, including behavioral implications for students.
I think this is a terrific space and look forward to learning from and sharing with all of you!!
I'm Roxann from Connecticut, an educational learning designer, where I presently am an online learning design experience LXD, coach on the Novo Ed, next gen LMS platform. My e-Learning Instructional Design formal ed is UW. In Fairfield, CT, a private university, Fairfield U in CT, my tenure was as a library technology specialist and before that, Coordinator of Technology at a private high school.
I am quite familiar with online learning from three perspectives, a learner, an instructor and a e-learning experience coach. I am currently writing a micro-course module on mindful experiences for professionals and non-traditional professionals. My MBSR training will begin at Yale University in April. I also have experience in writing immersive 360-VR webinars for Educuase/NERCOMP.
You can find me participating weekly in the Future Trends forum hosted by Bryan Alexander, where you can see me weekly on the Shindig platform.
It is an honor to be here with all of you.
My name is Shatha. I live in Tuscaloosa in Alabama. I am a graduate student in the educational technology program, and hopefully I will graduate this semester in May. My enrollment in a full online program grasped my interest in understanding how instructors can design an effective unique teaching, and overcome learning challenges that students may encounter through the course. My intention is to join the instructional design field to provide instructors with ideas and skills to help their students succeed. By joining this community, I believe I will learn more about the field for a better development of a successful learning environment for future students.
My name is Veronika Dolar and I am an assistant professor of Economics at SUNY Old Westbury. I joined the department of Politics, Economics, and Law this past fall and this is my second semester in the SUNY system. This spring I am also teaching my first fully online course and I really enjoy the experience. It is a lot of work, but I think it makes me think a bit more carefully about how and what I teach and has also enhanced my face-to-face teaching.
I am a big supporter of Open Educational Resources (OER) in order to make my online courses even more accessible to my students.
I am really looking forward to learning more about successful online pedagogy and share my own experiences.
I've been teaching at SUNY FIT for 12 years. I teach both face-to-face and online courses and am currently an assistant professor. I always want to enhance my online courses so I am hopeful to learn new tricks and tips from experienced users in this community.
Greetings from greater metropolitan Accord, NY (population 622, more or less). Last night, a bear walked across my front yard. I love it here.
I'm an adjunct instructor at SUNYUlster, teaching freshman English courses and technical writing, in the classroom and online. I'm also a novelist and screenwriter.
I'm exciting (and a bit nervous) about transitioning to OER in my technical writing course in the fall.
Like Steve Hampe, I tried online education as a student in 2001 and discovered that it worked for me as a student and I could see my own potential as an instructor. I was lucky to join Western Governors University in 2004 utilizing my Master's in e-Education (Adult Education and Distance Learning) and my scientist background to help students become middle and high school science teachers. Further, I became a department head for the General Education Math & Science courses. In total, I have 14 years experience in the WGU competency-based model and I'm willing to answer any questions you might have on competency-based education like, how to design an an online science lab that over 50,000 students can complete independently and successfully or how do you know it's really the student taking the exam.
My professional and academic interests are in Instructional Design for online learning (my PhD is in this) and in influencing faculty to join alternative models of online instruction. I'm very good at positively influencing faculty.
My personal research interests are in virtual worlds and their impact on scientific inquiry skills. My premise is that experiences completed virtually increase real-world skills. If one says "what does this button do?", that's the beginnings of scientific inquiry. Asking that question in a virtual world, virtual reality, or online game might increase inquiry skills we recognize as variable identification, the ability to read graphs, or the ability to design cause-and-effect explorations. I'm very willing to research in virtual reality, augmented reality, and extended reality as well.
I'm very eager to join the SUNY online educator network. Please feel free to contact me!
A little background about me – I have dedicated my life to the pursuit of education. I am a passionate teacher and learner, and I have always been an active member of the SUNY community. I earned a B.A. in Political Science and a B.S. in Communication at the SUNY College at Oneonta, and an M.A. in Communication from the University at Albany. While completing my Master's degree, I was motivated to remain in academia and become an integral part of the teaching community through advanced studies in a doctoral program at the University at Albany.
Currently, I am a lecturer at the University at Albany and a doctoral candidate in the Department of Communication. I teach undergraduate courses in public speaking, political communication, and mass communication. My doctoral studies are in the area of political communication, focused on relationship between politics, media and society.


World War I ended on Nov. 11, 1918. Germany signed the Armistice on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.
Armistice Day was created a year later on the first anniversary of the end the war.
Armistice Day was a day to celebrate the peace and continued peace. World War I was known as the war to end all wars. More than 20 million men and women were killed in the war or later died of their wounds.
Congress passed a resolution in 1926 for an annual observance on Armistice Day Nov. 11, and it became a national holiday in 1938.
However, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed legislation in 1954 to change the name from Armistice Day to Veterans Day as a way to honor those who served in all American wars.
The day honors military veterans with parades and speeches across the nation. A national ceremony takes place at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.
While veterans deserved to be recognized, it's unfortunately that the emphasis on peace hasn't continued nationwide.
Veterans For Peace rings bells 11 times on Armistice/Veterans Day instead of shooting guns.
I agree. It's important for Americans to work for peace.
Consider joining an organization such as Veterans for Peace.
It works to inform the public about the true costs and consequences of militarism and war and for peaceful, effective alternatives to war. Veterans For Peace also lobbies for veterans rights and is currently participating in the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations.


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On Congress Blog
Congressional news and analysis
Half the House now backs Fed audits
Listen up, Ben Bernanke.
Rep. Ron Paul's bill authorizing an audit of the Fed — an attempt to curtail the independent body's increasing power — has garnered its 218th co-sponsor, meaning it now has the support of more than half the House [It's now up to 222].
No. 218, by serendipity or design, was Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), whose suspicion of Big Business is matched only by the libertarian Texas Republican Paul's suspicion of Big Government.
"The tremendous grass-roots and bipartisan support in Congress for HR 1207 is an indicator of how mainstream America is fed up with Fed secrecy," Paul said in a statement. "I look forward to this issue receiving greater public exposure."
The issue isn't going away, despite getting a cold shoulder from congressional leadership and the White House.
House hearings on Federal Reserve transparency are expected within the next month — and Kucinich's subcommittee forced the Fed to cough up internal documents earlier this week as part of its probe of the forced BofA-Merrill Lynch merger.
Glenn Thrush is senior staff writer at Politico Magazine.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Ukraine Votes With Opposition Leader in Jail
Oct. 29 2012 00:00
KIEV — Ukrainians voted in an election Sunday that was expected to maintain President Viktor Yanukovych's parliamentary majority, despite his rollback on democracy during nearly three years in power.
Yanukovych's Party of the Regions appeared to be capitalizing on three issues: the jailing of the charismatic opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko, a former prime minister; a divided opposition camp; and Ukrainians' overall disillusionment with politics.
The West is paying close attention to the conduct of the vote in the strategic former Soviet state, situated between Russia and the European Union and responsible for transporting energy supplies to many EU countries.
A strong showing by the Party of Regions would cement Yanukovych's grip on power and likely turn Ukraine further away from the West.
The pro-Western opposition groups hope to gain enough parliament seats to weaken Yanukovych's power and undo the damage they say he has done: the jailing of Tymoshenko and her top allies, the concentration of power in the hands of the president, the snubbing of the Ukrainian language in favor of Russian, the waning press freedoms, a deteriorating business climate and growing corruption.
Ukraine's Economy Nears Post-Election Crunch Time
Despite Abduction, Russians Still Seeking Freedom in Ukraine
How Yanukovych Turned Tycoons Into Enemies


Ideal for all occasions, a must have for any man's wardrobe!
The Bartley is a formal brogue from the Base London Fashionista range.
These brogues are an ideal addition to your smart attire and provide a solid foundation to your formal suiting look. Perfect for work or special occasions, they're sure to make an instant impression on all who bear eyes upon them.


Recently, as I stood at the finish line of Adelaide Coastrek, our first event in partnership with mental health charity Beyond Blue, I realised our business had found its true heart.
As the day rolled into evening, the moon rose over the ocean and hundreds of tired trekkers leapt across the finish line, I was being tossed from tears to tingles because a raw nerve had been exposed. Not just for me personally but for the suffering of my loved ones.
My grandfather took his own life, my dad struggled with depression for years, my aunty lives with bi-polar, my close friend had post-traumatic stress and my daughter has experienced anxiety and depression.
Many of our thirteen hundred hikers, their support teams and loving volunteers, had also experienced the impact of mental illness. In hiking for Beyond Blue, they were hiking for their own mental wellbeing while raising funds for mental health.
There was the amazing Naomi, a grandma who had travelled from the Gold Coast with eleven friends, who had lost her son to suicide. With her three teams, the TT Trekkers One, Two and Three, she raised over $45,000 for Beyond Blue. There was Noelene and her husband Pete, whose 27-year-old daughter Jess had taken her own life only three months prior. There were groups from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide who were all walking to support friends, family members and each other.
Watching this and other similar stories unfold made me realise we'd found our purpose. Because among the tragedy and suffering there was hope. And there was the joy and camaraderie that comes from being proactive in helping ourselves and others. It felt positive because we were uniting to help those who often feel so hopeless. These women were facing fears and walking away anxiety, hopelessness, depression, desperation and overwhelm, and towards hope, resilience and recovery.
I realised an issue I've been passionate about for years had finally landed. It wasn't all about fitness; it was about friends. And it wasn't all about health; it was about hope.
There is power in mobilising, fundraising and coming together to support each other through times that are truly heartbreaking. That's what this event was, and is, all about.
It showed me the immense power of walking to bring people together, lifting mood and healing hearts. Thousands of studies including those published by Harvard University show that walking just 30 minutes a day reduces your risk of heart disease, diabetes, obesity, stroke, Alzheimer's, dementia, depression, anxiety and stress by up to 50%. And walking in nature, or hiking, has the added benefit of improving mood and memory while reducing rumination. But to see it in action was breathtaking. It was love in motion.
We need your help to inspire your family and friends to make walking a daily ritual and hiking a weekly ritual. We owe it to the 70% of Aussies who are languishing and the 25% of us who experience mental health issues. Hiking is our elixir. It can help heal mind, body and spirit as well as improving fitness, strength, agility, immunity and resilience. And by doing it together we bring back support and we bring back hope.
So grab your girl squad or someone who needs a little extra love, get in your activewear and do something with a powerful purpose - to make the world happier, healthier and more connected.


Hunter Valley photography professionals have multiple uses for businesses all across the region.
Viewed initially as event-only specialists who are called upon for weddings and family ceremonies, these expert practitioners can extend their skills for corporate entities as well.
From Newcastle to Forster, Port Stephens to the Upper Hunter and the Great Lakes to Singleton and Cessnock, this vibrant landscape is perfect for snap shots that give consumers an idealistic portrait of an organisation.
It only makes sense to take advantage of that environment and here we will outline how commercial clients from both the public and private sectors can leverage these services.
In 2019 there is not only an appetite but an expectation that customers can obtain a high-resolution 360 degree perspective of products that are listed for sale. With the help of Hunter Valley photography professionals, companies can publish brand new product shots from a transparent white background that removes all interference. This complete view of the item in question is ideal for customers who are scouring the web, giving clarity to the shopper and a chance for the business to update their catalogue in the process.
The new product snaps happen to be one phase under a bigger project, namely the updating of a brand new website. When this activity is underway there is a need to source quality imagery that Hunter Valley photography professionals are capable of providing. This will range from background wallpaper shots to business profiles, product images and social media integration where Instagram and Facebook can be leveraged with high-resolution pictures.
A brand image can be one of those intangible elements of a business, much like a corporate culture that is established by the HR department. What Hunter Valley photography professionals can utilise is their photoshop skills to integrate images and themes that an organisation might want to adopt for a logo or to present on marketing materials. When a brand is lacking cut through or is suffering in the PR stakes, the reboot of a brand image can assist during that phase.
Whilst we have already identified that events are part and parcel of what Hunter Valley photography professionals do on a weekly basis, there is no reason to suggest they cannot apply those same skills to the business sector. Private and public enterprises who want to capture a community event, a tradeshow or the opening of a new retail outlet would be best placed to have a photographer on location, allowing the enterprise to document the day and have a database of pictures to choose from for content purposes. Broadcasting these snaps on social media and including them on newsletters and the website will become easily integrated.
Customers, clients, investors and sponsors would love to know more about a company if they understand who is actually working for the organisation. With the assistance of Hunter Valley photography professionals, enterprises are able to create wholesome business profiles that offer a tangible and visible portrait of everyone up and down the hierarchy. From the president and CEO to the managing director, head of recruitment, marketing officer, administration staff, IT support, customer service and client liaison, these images can showcase who actually represents the company, what roles they are in and what their background is.
Hunter Valley photography professionals can do so much more than turn up for weddings. These practitioners enjoy a diverse range of skills that are applicable to the needs of local businesses, and it only makes sense that the two parties would be able to form a successful working relationship. From builders to dentists, accountants to florists, manufacturers to schools and universities, these operators will prove to be an asset to any brand.


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Lewis Miller 'Unduly Rough Play'
This humorous double-portrait of the artist with Allan Mitelman, the subject of Miller's 1998 Archibald Prize winning portrait, is a record of a lasting friendship between the two artists, and of the passionate discussions about the arts, sport, politics and life in general in which the two artists engage over a cup of coffee in one of their favourite St Kilda joints.
The laconicity of line and the complexity of background cross-hatchings demonstrate Miller's mastery of etching medium.
Lewis Miller is one of Australia's most outstanding figurative painters and graphic artists, specialising in the genres of portraiture, still life, and the female nude. His win of the prestigious Archibald Prize in 1998 with the portrait of fellow artist, Allan Mitelman, and of the Ramsey and Farrell self-portrait awards in 1981 and 2007 respectively, have solidified his reputation as one of the country's most respected portrait painters. Miller's works have been acquired by the National Portrait Gallery, Australia's major national and state collections, regional and tertiary institutions, as well as significant corporate and private collections throughout Australia and abroad.
Lewis MILLER (1959 - )
'Unduly Rough Play' 2001
etching and aquatint on paper
Signed: Signed, titled, dated and editioned in margin in pencil below image
Art and conversation have always gone well together. So click on 'Contact Us', phone 0419 301 279 or email collect@angelatandorifineart.com
Do you need this work of art framed?
At Angela Tandori Fine Art, we offer specialist advice for custom framing. Local clients are welcome to consult with us at our Hawthorn workshop. Alternatively, we also offer online consultation for clients who are busy, located outside of Melbourne or both. To find out more, please message us.
At Angela Tandori Fine Art, we want to empower Confident Collectors. We know that starting an art collection can be daunting - markets fluctuate, trends waver and theories permeate. Our best advice? Start with art that speaks to you. Whether you're drawn to art for its audacity, power or narrative, discovering what you love is exciting. And to ease the process, we're here to help with advice, services and consultation. Start your own art collection today and tell your story.
Since 2001, Angela Tandori Fine Art has been connecting people across the world with art they love. With a focus on Modern and Contemporary collectable Australian art, we offer a platform where first-time, as well as established collectors can discover art with confidence. Always available online - we are professional so you can be passionate.
About Angela Tandori
Our director, Angela Tandori is a second generation art dealer who begun working in the industry in 1998. Armed with vast experience in auctioning, valuing, exhibiting and consulting in Australian art, Angela has honed her vision for the modern collector. She holds a certificate in Auction & Valuation practice and is a member of the Art Consulting Association of Australia and an associate member of the Auctioneers and Valuers Association of Australia. Plus, she's an avid art collector herself!


Definition - What does Batch Reactor mean?
A batch reactor is the simplest type of reactor vessels use for chemical or industrial processes. A typical batch reactor consists of a tank where chemical reactions occur. These tanks also have an agitator and an internal heating or cooling system. Tank sizes range from one liter to 15,000 liters.
A batch reactor is commonly used in steel, stainless steel, glass or exotic alloy production. The liquids or solids used in the batch reactor are usually charged with connections in the reactor's top covers. Any vapors and gases generated during the process are discharged from connections in the top cover. Discharge outlets are usually placed at the bottom of the batch reactor to drain liquids that remain after the chemical reactions have occurred.
The versatility offered by a batch reactor is one of its best advantages, because several operations can be performed in a single vessel without needing to break the containment. This feature is useful when toxic or highly potent compounds are processed.


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b.o. (n.)
by c. 1950, an abbreviation of body odor; an advertisers' invention.
Share b.o.
https://www.etymonline.com/word/b.o.
Etymology of b.o. by etymonline
Harper, D. (n.d.). Etymology of b.o.. Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved $(datetime), from https://www.etymonline.com/word/b.o.
Harper Douglas, "Etymology of b.o.," Online Etymology Dictionary, accessed $(datetime), https://www.etymonline.com/word/b.o..
Harper, Douglas. "Etymology of b.o.." Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com/word/b.o.. Accessed $(datetimeMla).
D. Harper. "Etymology of b.o.." Online Etymology Dictionary. https://www.etymonline.com/word/b.o. (accessed $(datetime)).
Definitions of b.o.
malodorousness resulting from a failure to bathe;
Synonyms: body odor / body odour
Dictionary entries near b.o.
b'hoy
B'nai B'rith
B.B.C.
B.C.E.
b.o.
B.T.U.
Baath


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Ricky Sbragia: Billy King is a younger version of O'Halloran
By Stewart Fisher
WHATEVER happens in Rangers' pursuit of Michael O'Halloran in the next few days, Ricky Sbragia reckons the Ibrox club have already landed a younger version of him in the form of Billy King. The Scotland Under-21 boss was on a scouting trip south of the border when Herald Sport broke the news of his four-month loan move to the Ibrox club and Sbragia can't see much in the way of downside for any of the parties involved.
Rangers are getting the services of a 21-year-old who is already well used to championship play from last year's title win with Hearts, without the need for a transfer fee. The player will hope for frequent first-team football and the chance to acclimatise to playing in front of 50,000 paying customers. Then there is Hearts themselves, who will hope to get a new and improved player back in the summer for the final year of a deal which lasts till 2017. While King has shown plenty in the 11 matches he has started this season, he is behind Sam Nicholson and fit-again Jamie Walker for a role on the flanks at a team that often plays one winger rather than two.
King and his younger brother Adam have both graduated from Under-19 level through to the Under 21s and Sbragia is a big admirer of both. Billy is actually the oldest of four brothers, with Ross and Robbie both talented young players making their way in the game. While central midfielder Adam is now back at Swansea after a loan spell at Crewe, Billy's loan move to Ibrox means that Rangers can now feature both the starting wingers which featured in the Scotland Under-21's last competitive outing, the 2-2 draw with Ukraine in Paisley. While King started on the right, the re-born Barrie McKay started on the left.
A boyhood Hearts fan who attended Portobello High School, King was one of a number of Tynecastle youngsters blooded as the club gamely battled against relegation from the top flight under Gary Locke. A couple of things stand out when Sbragia looks at him. He has flaring pace and willingness to continually run at players, not to mention an eye for goal - his one-time striking coach John Robertson once said he was "one of the best finishers at the club". He has scored 13 goals in 40 league games but like his one-time Hearts team-mate Jason Holt, he often reserves them for big games. In addition to a winning goal in an Edinburgh derby, King scored a late goal for Scotland's Under-21 side against their French counterparts at Pittodrie but Sbragia's side were unable to complete an unlikely late comeback.
"Billy has done really well for us since coming in and I think it is a great move for him," said Sbragia. "Rangers are getting someone they know can play championship football week in, week out. Someone who has played at places like Alloa before, dealt with the artificial surface, and generally been part of a successful championship campaign. Learning how to handle playing in front of 50,000 each week at Ibrox will be great for his development. But from his point of view the main thing is that he will be looking to play football. The bottom line is you've got to be playing.
"What he does really well is run at people and commit them," the Under-21 manager added. "He puts people on the back foot and attacks the space in behind. He's predominantly right footed, but isn't afraid to go to his left as well. If he gets tackled or something doesn't work out, he just picks himself up, gets on with it and runs at folk again. I would think with him it will be the wide areas, as he is good at keeping his width and stretching the play, which should suit the way Rangers play."
One of the quirks of the deal is the symmetry between Hearts loaning King to Rangers, and Celtic loaning Anthony Stokes to Hibs, but Sbragia reckons that is co-incidental. "I don't think that comes into it," said Sbragia. "Maybe they [Rangers] went for O'Halloran and it didn't work out for whatever reason so they think they can get someone in right now who is similar and younger."
Certainly, there is no better blueprint for King to follow than McKay, a player who has kicked on since loan spells at Morton and Raith Rovers. "We are not badly off with Scotland when it comes to wingers," said Sbragia. "We have Ryan Fraser, Ryan Christie, Sam Nicholson, Billy and Barrie McKay - who came in against Ukraine and did really well. Barrie went on loan a few times and it didn't really work out and that can either be your fault or the club's fault or a combination of both. But he has learned from it, he is playing first team football now and doing extremely well."


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Governor Kay Ivey Declares March 2 Day of Prayer for Ukraine
Alabama Governor Kay Ivey has proclaimed March 2, 2022, a Day of Prayer for Ukraine.
In the proclamation, Ivey states:
"The state of Alabama stands in solidarity with the people of Ukraine as they fight to protect their country and democracy. Alabamians are deeply rooted in their faith, and as many Christians observe Ash Wednesday, we join together in prayer for the innocent people of Ukraine.
On February 24, 2022, the Russian Federation launched a brutal, unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which has since been condemned throughout the world by numerous international stakeholders."
Governor Ivey ends her proclamation by making March 2, 2022, a Day of Prayer for Ukraine.
Click here to see Gov. Ivey's full proclamation.
SCLC 2022 Unity Day March
Top Stories From the Tuscaloosa Thread (2/21-2/27)
10 Commandments of Living in Tuscaloosa, Alabama
Filed Under: Prayer, Ukraine
Categories: Articles, Local News, News, Tuscaloosa Events
Retired Tuscaloosa County Man Traveling to Poland to Assist Ukrainian Refugees
BREAKING: Tuscaloosa POW Reportedly Free After Over 100 Days in Russian Captivity


[Serve] supinate - pronate, or pronate - supinate - pronate?
The last sequence must be to pronate.
And more twist can be had when one supinates first before pronation.
But during the toss to trophy position sequence, that is, before racquet drop, what do you do regarding arm twist -- neutral, pronated, or supinated?
Good question. I'd start viewing high speed videos for each type serve. Note variety of serves for your questions. I'd also keep in mind the difference between internal shoulder rotation (ISR) and pronation especially since with a bent elbow during the time you asked about - the two motions then appear so entirely different of course. The most important biomechanical motion during that phase of the serve is ESR - the stretching of the muscles that do ISR. It only involves rotation of the upper arm bone at the shoulder joint and the bone itself does not move anywhere, the upper arm stays still relative to the shoulder joint- it spins like a top.
Using the word 'pronate' makes everything ambiguous and muddles all discussion of what is happening, especially for this OP. I hope that each poster can define what exactly the meaning of 'pronate' that they intend. Or, just use the properly defined terms that can be Googled by everyone.
Why do some tennis players use the wrong term for a joint motion? Some even know that it's the wrong term? Is that to confuse new readers? After 2000 years of academic progress on how the body moves.....................?
In considering pronation, supination, ISR and ESR, it is essential to consider the masses of the forearm and racket and how they lag or move forward by inertia given the rapid motions of the serve. If you take a racket with bent elbow and accelerate the shoulder mass as seen in high speed videos, many of the effects on the forearm and racket (seen in high speed videos) can be simulated. Do so gently to avoid stress with just enough acceleration to see and feel how the forearm and racket move.
If you want detail these are early measurements of joint motions during the serve. (Angular velocity measurements are also available.) I believe racket drop is 150 milliseconds before impact so you would have to find earlier data. But here is an example of how the full answer of your question might look. I believe that forearm pronation on the negative scale is supination, but see the original publication to check that. I marked ISR and pronation just before impact with yellow highlights. Before impact ISR is decreasing while pronation is increasing -- did the ISR forces just simply stop and the ISR is slowing and the inertia of the arm and racket caused the pronation? Or were the pronation muscles stretched - while the ISR was forceful and accelerating the ISR - but then shortened when the ISR backed off ? These were early measurements and the camera frame rate only sampled the serve every 5 milliseconds so I hope there are higher accuracy measurements now.
Note - For defined usage the terms pronation and supination are used for both motion and location. The terms pronate or pronation are used to mean motion in the direction of maximum pronation angle, supination for motion toward maximum supination angle. The term pronation may also be used for the angular location from a defined "0" degrees. Likewise supination. As an example, the forearm may be pronating at 28 degrees per second while at the same time the joint is located at supination angle = 20 degrees.
Note - two joints - one at elbow and the other at the wrist - are actually involved in pronation and supination.
If you just "throw the racket" as hard as you can at the ball, will all of the right mechanics happen auto-magically? I have simplified my serve as follows. For flat and slice, imagine you are throwing the racket at the ball at an upward angle of 45 to 60 degrees or so (adjust the angle so the ball gets in during the warm up!). For a kick, imagine you are throwing the racket at the ball at a steeper angle (toss has to be appropriate). For me, taking the "thinking" out has done wonders. And totally relaxing the arm and upper body helps not only with generating pace, but also with keeping my back in good shape. It's not quite a Sampras serve... lol! ... but it has become a more repeatable and reliable serve.
Do you see internal shoulder rotation (ISR) in high speed videos of your serve?
To do stop action single frame on Vimeo hold down the SHIFT KEY and use the ARROW KEYS.
I would throw the racket like a Tomahawk, end over end.
It might be a good training tool. ? But it does not simulate the serve with ISR as far as I know or anyone has shown. Why is it good for training?
Throwing a ball up does simulate some of the same arm motions as the tennis serve and with similar arm except the elbow has to have some changing bend for the ISR to produce hand speed. See Pat Dougherty video on throwing a ball for serve training.
Throwing balls and rackets have become a perpetual subject for forum threads - there are never any high speed videos to see what is happening for the good throws. The Pat Dougherty video is not high speed. But the Pat Dougherty is the good evidence that throwing a ball up, as in the video, simulates parts of the serve. Step through this Youtube video frame-by-frame using the "." and "," keys. The video is not high speed but you can compare the throw at release to the serve at impact and see the similarities. There is a double image that shows arm positions. Interpret the double image for how the arm moves.
@Chas Tennis : Maybe a javelin throw? I hear you, Chas... but since whatever I am doing has been working well the last few months, I should maybe count my blessings and not overthink the tech aspects. If there is little or no ISR so be it - but it does feel like my arm goes through the same motion as before but a little more crisply for a harder hit. I just hope it doesn't turn out to be a bad marriage after a good, extended honeymoon!


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Looking initially for defining what creativity actually is, first of all there is no clear-cut concluding statement for defining creativity. What psychologists through various researchers have found out is that, creativity is an individual's trait for solving problems and giving interpretations in a unique way of thought and action process. Creativity is thus a novel way for solving issues or for new ideas. There exist two primary important components of creativity which is the degrees of functionality, which is how useful it can be in real life practical problems, and the originality which is the person's purely subjective and own way of thinking and doing things and not any extension of pre-existing materials. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi in his own book, "Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention" has stated that creativity can arise within a person when he or she has unusual perspective and the mind to produce something unique and beyond the facts known. Real life examples of creative people include Alexander Graham Bell, Steve Jobs, etc.
The authentic self is the sense of responsibility and an integral part of their being and where they try to take the authenticity for what they have given to the society in a creative way or idea. These kinds of people activate their creativity in a daily routine and practice regularly to achieve something great in terms of unique creation. The person's brand of creativity matters a lot and it can be anything in this earth like artistic, cultural, scientific, etc.
The positive self of creativity states that being creative can foster optimism and has the large capacity to buffer stress and other negative aspects of an individual's well-being. Even if creativity is not a person's strength, still it has a high value for meeting new aspects of life and new ways of confronting people and situations in their daily lives.
The final and most significant component of creativity in terms of positive psychology is the aspect of flow. Getting into the flow is very usual among the creative people. We can view this with examples like a person being so absorbed and immersed in his or her painting and when someone reads an interesting book with full attention to it.
All the three aspects of creativity are basics for considering it in positive psychology and every part of this has an optimistic value with regards to any individual. These contexts of creativity lead to the highest step of well-being in a person.
The study that was done on purely empirical basis and with scientific rigor is the theory commonly called the Big-C of creativity. This theory, along with the two components of creative people, includes thinking in terms of convergent thinking or divergent thinking patterns. The theory had vast controversies in its predictions.
Psychologists have categorized the theory of investment by Sternberg under the "economic theories of creativity." This theory poses that every person must have the dedication, persuasion, and other factors like cognitive and personality traits within the right environment. The factors are given as the 6P's of creativity which are namely potential, place, persuasion, process, product, and personality respectively. He also states that a person buys creative ideas for little value and sells it for a high value in the society.
The systems theory of creativity in positive psychology, which includes the norms of the 6P's along with Csikszentmihalyi's values include the components like the domain, which is the specific type of discipline, the field, that is the people involved within its context and the person with the mind, knowledge, and with the presence of the Big-C attributes.
As stated by the Darwinian Theory, the evolutionary factors focus on the selective retention and the blind cues from the particular generations, of nurturing creativity within the individual. From the 6P's place, product, the process and the person are given primary importance or considerations from this theory's point of view.
The psychoanalytic theory of creativity by its proponents Freud, Rank, Adler, Jung, Kris, and Hammer states that, people turn into creative beings when they are present at the time of crisis and adding, where their emotions get suppressed. In these situations, they start to rely upon their self's creative side for escaping or finding a solution to the problem. This theory had the failure of not considering people as both social and biological beings.
The mental illness theory for creativity puts forth the value that people having slight levels of mental problems like bipolar, schizophrenia, etc., are said to foster creativity in them. The criticism for this theory is that people have their impaired creativity due to the process of distraction, for example in the context of having stress.
The right brain is primarily responsible for thinking creatively and in unique innovative ways. But research states that the consideration of a single brain for thinking creatively is not the appropriate way and both the brains have to be taken in cohesion. After the discovery of the fMRI techniques, researchers with long studies through people who are artistic and are somewhat with the flow, have found out that there is no single brain area that can ruled for creativity. Even with the experiments on twin studies, people have identified that creativity and intelligence go hand-in-hand along with the genetic materials. They have also found out that the white region of the frontal lobe of the brain has a numerous number of interlocking neuronal pathways that foster creativity in people. Also, using the ready-made creativity regularly results in the neuroplasticity of creative neurons in the brain.
Creative individuals are said to have the best levels of energy, but they are also stated to be at rest and quiet at times.
People who are creative to a certain extent try to get rid of the rigid and strict gender stereotyping and also have the trait towards androgyny.
People who are creative in nature are pointed to be smart enough and at the same time naïve beings also.
Creative people come in pairs of discipline-playfulness or as in the form of responsible-irresponsible patterns.
Being in complete reality along with the touch of fantasy and imagination is a notable aspect of creative people.
Personal and other social cues are said to be the barriers of creative thinking in many people and this may vary from every person.
The creative beings are often considered to be at the very extremes of the extroversion and introversion continuums, respectively.
Along with the enjoyment and fun part, the creative individual is said to suffer from a great deal of stress and criticism.
Creative persons do not judge anything immediately and do not go along with any first opinions on a subject.
Start reading things and information outside your comfort zone and this will widen your thinking both biologically and psychologically.
Redefining your existing thought-process is vital by talking and knowing about other people's values and opinions, without judgment.
Allow your mind to wander freely, as new ideas emerge through mental wanderings and day-dreaming.
Be open-minded, have a broad sense of thoughts, and always welcome any new ideas and values.
When you receive new information about any objective matter try to come and study it with your pre-existing self-thoughts and ideas.
Having a personal journal about your daily observations is very much beneficial for fostering creativity.
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How People Make Economic Decisions Debra Phelps Principles of economics/ECO212 May 09, 2010 John Hebert How People Make Economic Decisions People make economic decisions every day. There are four principles of individual decision-making (Mankiw), people face trade-offs, the cost of something one gives up to get it, rational people think at the margin, and people respond to incentives. The principle of economics does affect decision-making, interaction, and workings of the economy as a whole. The first principle is that people face trade-offs.
This means that a person may have to give up something to get something else. Time is a good example of this principle. A person can chose to spend his or her time studying for an exam to ensure a good grade or spend the time having fun with friends and face the possibility of failing the class. The second principle is the cost of something one gives up to get it. A person may have to give up something now to get what one wants in the future. An example of this principle is giving up time and wages to go to school to gain education for higher pay in the future.
The third principle is rational people think at the margin. Rational people are people who systematically and purposefully do the best they can to achieve their objectives. Marginal change is small incremental adjustments to a plan of action, so margin means edge. An example of this principle is a cruise line charged $1300 for a cabin on this ship yet the closer the time gets to boarding the ship the cruise line has not met the objective of having enough people to fill the ship. The line may choose to offer the cabins at a discounted price rather than sail off with the ship being half full of customers.
The fourth principle is people respond to incentives. An incentive is something that induces a person to act, such as the prospect of a punishment or a reward. An example is an airline that has overbooked passengers may offer a $200 voucher for volunteers to take the next flight out. A decision I had to make that compared the marginal benefits and the marginal cost happened three years ago. My family asked if I wanted to go on an Alaskan cruise in three years. My immediate response was "of course I would love to go. " However, I had to weigh out my final decision.
First part was that I needed to put a down payment of $3000 by next month and the second part was that I would not see the benefit for three years. Three years ago I was not attending college so I had the time, but I did not have the money. I could spend the money on the trip and be short on my bills, food, and gas for the next year trying to catch up, or I could spend the money now and see results now by paying off my bills and having food in my belly and gas in my car. My family is now on the Alaskan cruise and I am attending school with money in my savings and planning my next vacation.
The only incentive that could have led to me going on the trip is if the trip were completely paid for. I did not have the money three years ago and was trying to pay off my credit card. Putting that amount on my credit card was not an option for me because it would lead to an even deeper debt. The principles of economic affect decision making people face trade-offs among alternative goals and people change their behavior in response to the incentives they face. Trade can be mutually beneficial and government can potentially improve markets outcomes if there are some market failures.
The economy as a whole are that productivity is the ultimate source of living standards and that society faces a short-run trade-off between inflation and unemployment. In conclusion when we make economic decision we have to give up something to receive another we compare the cost and benefit when we make our decision and we tend to think rational and incentives play a strong role in our decisions. Reference Mankiw, N. G. (2007). Principles of economics (4th ed. ). : Thomson Learning, Inc.


text:
Yi Dongnyeong (also spelled Yi Dong-nyung) was a Korean independence activist. He served as the fourth (1926), seventh (1927–1930), eighth (1930–1933), tenth (1935–1939), and eleventh (1939–1940) President of the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea in exile in Shanghai, China.

Yi Dongnyeong, along with Yi Si-yeong, Yi Hoe-young and Yi Sang-ryong, started the Military School of the New Rising (Sinheung Mugwan Hakkyo 신흥무관학교) or Shinheung Military Academy in 1911.

He then took part in the establishment of an interim government, leading a provisional government in China for much of his life.

He died at 4:40pm on 13 March 1940, on the second floor of the Provisional Government headquarters in Chongqing. He had spent ten days in bed, suffering from pneumonia, and had previously suffered from asthma for years before his death.

Notes

Korean independence activists
Korean nationalists
1869 births
1940 deaths
Yi clan of Yonan

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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Organ and Organ Scholars
Choir Tour 2014
Next week the choir will be recording its second commercial CD for Stone Records.
The album will feature a selection of advent music by Bach, Cornelius, Wood, Warlock, Poston and Gardner as well as newly commissioned pieces by Toby Young, Raymond Head and Paul Sartin.
Soloists and accompanists include Mary-Louise Aitken (soprano), Jeremy Carpenter (baritone), Robert Smith (organ), Douglas Knight (organ) and Keith Fairbairn (percussion). The recording sessions will take place in the chapel of Keble College, Oxford.
The new CD of advent music is a follow-up to our successful debut album Requiem æternam and will be produced by Alexander Van Ingen and Matthew Bennett.
Leavers' Service
A recording from the last chapel service of the academic year 2012/2013:
Herbert Howells: Behold, O God our defender
David Crown, conductor; Douglas Knight, organ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I960dJbXLzA
Recital at Harris Manchester College
Tomorrow our Junior Organ Scholar will be playing a lunchtime recital at Harris Manchester College Chapel as part of the series The many sounds of Oxford's Organ Scholars. The programme includes works by Buxtehude, Sweelinck, Howells, Schnittke and John Williams.
HMC Lunchtime Recital: Robert Smith (organ)
Thursday 13th June 2013, 1:30pm, Harris Manchester College Chapel
See his website and the Facebook event page for more details.
Welcome to the official website of
The Choir of Somerville College, Oxford
Tweets by @SomervilleChoir


The 15th Annual Compliance & Ethics Institute will be hosted at the Sheraton Chicago, September 25-28. While the conference promises to be an interesting and beneficial event, we at MyComplianceOffice have compiled a list of 8 must do things during your time in the Windy City.
1) Make time for the Chicago Architecture Foundation River Cruise. A 8 minute walk from the hotel. Rated the top tour in Chicago and one to the best ten tours in the US by Trip Advisor, this 1.5 hour tour is a relaxing way to see and appreciate the beauty and history of America's second city. Buy your tickets here.
2) Experience Chicago-style, deep-dish at the Giordanos. A Chicago institution for more than forty years, the world-famous stuffed pizza is irresistible, with one location a 12 minute walk from the hotel. Find your way here.
3) Get the perfect selfie. British artist Anish Kapoor's first public outdoor work installed in the United States, Cloud Gate called "the bean" by local Chicagoans reflects the city's skyline and makes the perfect backdrop. A 15 minute walk from the hotel.
5) Step out onto the ledge. The Willis Tower, formerly Sears Tower, is the tallest buildings in the Western Hemisphere. At 1,353 feet in the air, the buildings Ledge's glass boxes extend out 4.3 feet from the Skydeck. This gives you panoramic views of the windy city. Find your way here.
6) Taste Chicago. Al's # 1 Italian Beef features a menu of Chicago food staples including overstuffed, thinly sliced Italian beef sandwiches prepared with Al's special combination of spices. Be warned: ketchup on a Chicago-style hot dog is spicy. View the menu here.
7) Enjoy panoramic views of the city and refreshing cocktails at the Signature Lounge on the 95th floor of the John Hancock building. Official Site.
8) Drop by booth 506. We work with you to synchronize the needs of your business with the demands of regulation in your sector through effective compliance program solutions. Our software integrates with your existing processes, proviing real-time overshight and control, through one command dashboard. Our expertise is built on almost 20 years of experience, allowing us to offer you a comprehensive suite of solutions covering employee code of conduct, third party and vendor management, customer management and trade surveillance systems. We offer an extensive range of modules covering everything from gifts and entertainment to personal trade monitoring to vendor on-boarding.


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Tag: Break from work
Meeshoites to get 11-day 'reset & recharge' break
HRK News Bureau - September 21, 2022
Meesho, the Indian internet commerce company, is giving an 11-day break from work to all its employees. From 22 October to 1 November, 2022...
Social Sabbatical: Learning with humility
Prajjal Saha | HRKatha - July 4, 2016
Social sabbatical refers to social work, done away from the regular work schedule, for the general good of the society.
CFO highest paid CXO amongst BSE 100 companies
The chief technical officer (CTO) is the second highest paid CXO amongst BSE 100 companies. So, who earns more than a CTO? It is...
How laid-off tech talent can be leveraged by non-tech sectors
In recent months, the tech industry has seen a significant number of layoffs as companies adjust to the economic impact of the pandemic. While...
'Employer cannot impose COVID-19 vaccination': Delhi HC
Much to the relief of a government school lecturer, the Delhi High Court ruled that no employer can force an employee to get vaccinated...


Until I heard of his death yesterday, I hadn't thought much about Marvin Miller since the last players strike, and when I thought about him then I wondered if he would have handled that conflict differently than Donald Fehr had. I concluded that he would not have. He would have left me as angry about the situation as Fehr had.
Anger was only the tip of the iceberg of feelings I experienced for a few days during the 1985 baseball season. Prior to that I had been planning the very first vacation trip of my young working life. I had booked a trip to Boston through a travel company that specialized in baseball-themed trips. The trip included games at Fenway Park between the Red Sox and Yankees, as well as tours of the city and other fun events. I was so excited that I could hardly contain myself. It was also going to be the first plane ride of my life, and I couldn't wait to add flying to my "been there, done that" list.
But several weeks before the trip news started to swirl that the MLB Players Association was planning a strike. Another strike! I worried that the trip would be canceled. I alternated between wanting to cry and wanting to scratch Marvin Miller's eyes out.
But a week before my trip, it was announced that the strike had been averted. I breathed a huge sigh of relief and went off on my trip, not caring that a strike was still possible later in the year. In fact, the players did strike for two days later that year, two days that I don't even remember.
Of course, the biggest work stoppages were yet to come, and Marvin Miller's influence fell on them all, both directly and indirectly. The players are indebted to Miller because of it. I'm not so sure about us fans.


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Official Sub Rosa Site Launches
by Krisstian de Lara on February 2014
www.SubRosaMovie.com
The most rewarding part of making a short film is when actors and crew come together to make visual and emotional artwork and, most importantly, everyone using their talent to bring alive a story that previously could only have existed in your mind. There are many aspects essential to the success of a film, from seeking investors, raising funds, preparation before principal photography, maximizing actor's performance, achieving the desired mood and feel created by camera angles and lighting, incorporating the crew's input, to the final input after editing, sound mix and color correction.
This is why I am very stoked to announce that the official website for Sub Rosa launches this month featuring many of the talented cast, crew and investors behind this project. The official site, SubRosaMovie.com will be a platform to showcase the project, behind the scenes, its festival run and all the people who poured their hearts and souls into this film. For example, highlighting the thoughts of our cast, Mario Temes as Alan, Julie Kendall as Edna and Mario Nalini as Ernesto, throughout the filming process. I will be revealing insights and challenges faced while on and off set. In addition, I will showcase talented crew such as producer, Vincent J. Crupi, director of photography, Dong Kyu Lee and make-up artist, Michelle Surrena, just to name a few, that helped make the film to what it is now. The site will also include wallpaper downloads for all device types, plus, an interactive section where anyone would be able to anonymously submit any kind of secrets and publish their story on the site.
This site will represent a celebration of hard work and this is why I am so excited to share it with the world.
KRISSTIAN DE LARA
I believe all audiences can relate to Sub Rosa and it will be a film that inspires discussion after you see it. You may ask, could real life people be as complicated as the characters portrayed in this film? I believe so. This film visits many corners of human natural interactions and true intentions and after you see it you may understand the power of filmmaking.
I would like to thank the crew, the investors and everyone who as helped through the process of making this film. I would also like to give special thanks to our executive producers, Kevin Noble and Jill Steinberg for making this project possible and helping Sub Rosa reach its highest potential.
Sub Rosa is a coming-of-age story of a male teenager who has grown up under the shadow of his authoritative father. Over the course of a single summer, events transpire which transform this boy into an adult who challenges his dad in very unorthodox ways.
Visit the official site here: SubRosaMovie.com
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Eccleston Street has been partially closed this morning after a theft in the early hours.
Police were called to the NatWest bank at around 2.30am this morning, Thursday 12 September.
Early reports suggest a cash machine was taken, though Merseyside Police have yet to confirm details.
The junction of Eccleston and Leyland Streets has been cordoned off, cutting off either end of the main shopping area, as police investigate the incident.


eBay requires that a Shipping Location be defined to successfully submit a listing to eBay. This guide explains how to set a default Shipping Location for eBay Listings.
2. Select your eBay Storefront by clicking on the icon in the upper left corner (if you have multiple eBay storefronts, hover over the icon to see the name you have assigned that storefront) and select Storefront Defaults.
5. Click "Save" and your default eBay Shipping Location is defined.
How do I list to eBay using a location text (outside of the U.S.)?