edenland: We Just Left On A Whim.
I'm outta here. Gone. Up in the sky right now with my two boys, on our way to Queensland to stay in a hotel with a pool and do all of the worlds - Dreamworld, Movieworld, Wet'n'Wild World. Not Griefworld - they have seen me living there far too long and I will not spoil their holidays. I want them to be blissfully unaware of the worlds problems while they still can. I will not stay a minute longer in this house where all the sad memories are. I cry in the street about foreign aid cuts because babies will die of preventable diseases and vaccinations cost less than a dollar. That literally doesn't add up.
So I'm taking my boys for a huge holiday and we're going to order room service, watch in-house movies, read, talk, laugh, and be together. I love my two boys more than I love myself. That is why I stay. I will give them awesome memories and ice cream at 11pm and I'll listen to them when they speak.
The other day at the park? The most important thing in the world was waiting until this ladybug flew off his finger so he could make a wish. He kept accidentally dropping it in the lake about three times and fished it out while I scrunched his blue jumper and held on to him so he wouldn't fall in. I am his keeper, his minder, his carer. Finally the bug flew off and he asked me nicely to go away because he wanted to say his wish out loud.
He received a christmas card today - the envelope absolutely slayed me.
He knows too much - has overheard too much, seen too much in the past year. He is the only person who initiates conversations about Cam with me and I am so grateful for that. Stories I didn't know - he still plays a game that Cam introduced him to years ago as they both sat bored together on the couch at a family do. The last time we saw Cam I hired out Waynes World for Max to introduce him to some old-school humour because I knew my brother and I would talk for hours, outside on the back deck. We did. I wrote a blog post the next day about it and I purposely wrote "I hope to see Cam again soon" and I wrote it just for him to read because I knew his dark thoughts. I knew his dark thoughts.
I was totally just in Uganda for World Vision and have hardly begun to tell the stories that need to be told. About how inclusive a specialised school is that they incorporate teaching children with disabilities in their classrooms. And ALL the kids learn sign language to be able to communicate with their deaf friends. So beautiful.
I was really down yesterday and needed a chai so I went to see Owen from Fresh Katoomba and they were out of chai so I said ok better make it a double shot flat white. He reminded me that he hadn't done me a picture for a while, asked what I wanted.
"Please don't say the Mona Lisa. EVERYBODY asks for that."
I told him to surprise me. So he said he'd go old-school for me and do something he used to draw back in the day. I laughed so hard. Laughing is good.
For the first time in my adult life I haven't put the christmas tree up. We have exactly one decoration in this house, bought from an over-priced gift shop near the River Nile.
A HANDMADE SANTA DRIVING A WOODEN CAR WHAT MORE DOES ONE NEED?
Like everyone, I'm reeling from world events. Especially the Sydney siege. The children in Pakistan. I worry. I worry.
So it appears I kept going, after the most devastating year of my life. I'm still here. And so are you. Well done you. There's always hope.
It drives me spare that I appear to have inspired other people but couldn't inspire my own brother. I've started to collate all his stuff laying around the house and my bedroom - photocopies of his death certificate. His aftershave. Wallet. His actual real suicide notes not just photocopies - to me, to his friends, and the first responders. In one of them he wrote how disgusted he was of himself. The pain he was in pains me beyond belief. He is not in that pain now. I'm a bit jealous of that, but I got stuff to do. I always had a sense that me starting a family and having children made him feel a bit pushed out, like he didn't want to be part of us, didn't want to intrude. My friend Beth told me that maybe Cam taught me how to love my own children. I think she's right. But I never replaced him with my own. He will always be the first human I ever loved. I never knew exactly how sensitive his heart was until after he died. And until my dying day I will always just want one thing for Christmas which I will never get.
As they say in recovery, acceptance is key. Acceptance is also very very painful.
So me and the two boys that grew in my belly like miracles are off up in the clouds, visiting my friend Megan and I can't wait. They are SO EXCITED. I didn't get them that much for Christmas - some books, games. They already have everything. But I'm going to love them so furiously, I am going to give them the best holiday they've ever had and eat burgers and explore and the beds will be made by someone else EVERY day and I'll try not to feel too guilty. Eden Guilt Riley, that's my name, don't wear it out.
I've never cared much for myself, but if I don't have a proper holiday I will implode. So bring it, Queensland. There's a deck chair by the pool with my name on it. I will even eat all of your bananas in public with nary a care. NARY.
I hope you guys out there are ok. Have a warm shower. Eat icing. Walk. Keep moving. Keep moving.
If you tell yourself you'll be ok often enough ... you start to believe it. Pinky swear.


text:
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Turbo soul lives in the 2018 Volvo XC60
December 15, 2017 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment
There have been many quirky vehicles in The Garage over the years, but one of the coolest remains the 1984 Volvo 240 Turbo wagon that we owned for a few years during the late Nineties. Officially, the longest of the turbo bricks was called a 245T. Our wagon was the exact spec that fans of the boxy speedster lusted after: A silver wagon with the correct Turbo blackout striping, Euro style grill with inset fog lights, GLT wheels and a manual transmission. It even had the dog gate which swung down from the ceiling to keep Fido in his place. Sadly, we didn't have a Fido in those days but it was still neat to have it.
That wagon was perhaps the best family vehicle of all time. It could carry 5 adults in comfort. Fold down the rear seats and it would carry a 4×8 sheet of plywood. It looked cool as hell to those who knew and could keep pace with a Fox-body Mustang off the line. While it was a bit too big for an autocross course, the car was a joy to hustle down a winding country road, even when fully loaded.
Back in the day, Volvo used the slogan "Boxy but good" and their sporting varieties became know as Bricks and Turbo Bricks. They weren't exactly sexy, unless you were turned on by straight lines. Fast forward three decades and our tester, an XC60 T6 R-Design couldn't be more different. While there are straight accent lines here and there, sensual curves are the order of the day. Those curves do however push up towards muscular rear shoulders, in keeping with the brand's heritage.
The interior of the old girl left much to be desired, as many of its surfaces were as square as the exterior. Nothing flashy or luxurious here, just black plastic and blue cloth seats in a style that only really excited a Volvo diehard. The interior of the XC60 on the other hand is nothing short of World class. Without seeming too modern, the combination of sensual curves and well chosen finish materials, the Volvo has a definite Scandinavian flair. The machined metal speaker covers are particularly striking.
Techie types will be astounded by the XC60's incredibly user friendly infotainment system, which is centered around a 9″ centre stack touch display which operates with the fluidity of a smart phone or tablet. It gives users control over a wide range of audio and vehicle settings to tailor the vehicle experience to the individual driver.
The audio system in particular deserves a mention, as it stands out in a segment which is full of serious audio gear. The Volvo Canada media fleet guy enthusiastically pointed out that the Bowers & Wilkins system has different modes, including studio for normal music and concert hall for higher quality music. Most often, these systems seem, to my ears at least, to simply muck around with reverb settings to change the sound in the cabin. The system in the XC60 was painstakingly tuned to replicate the sound in the middle of the renowned Gothenburg Concert Hall, complete with displaying a picture of the place.
To test the system, I directed the system to play music from my bluetooth connected phone rather than the Sirius XM feed. I brought up my Google Play app and chose the Evanescence Fallen album, hit play and cranked the volume. The sound was nothing short of mind blowing. The drums or thunder or whatever the rumble is in Bring me to life, quite literally caused the vehicle to shudder. After that, a bit of vintage Pink Floyd confirmed that the XC60 offers one of the best sound systems on the market.
Back in 2014, I had the opportunity to spend a rather silly 22 hours in Gothenburg, Sweden, home to Volvo with the intention of going for a ride-a-long in the company's first self driving car. Sadly, it was raining and the vehicle's sensors could not "see" the markings on the road, which it used to stay in its own lane. Autonomous vehicle technology is moving forward in leaps and bounds and much of the tech that Volvo was working on three years ago is now included in the company's Pilot Assist system.
Volvo's tech sheets describe the system as "Semi Autonomous Drive System with Adaptive Cruise Control and Active Lane Keeping Aid". Adaptive cruise is not a new concept and lane assist type of systems are becoming more common in the marketplace. Some of the systems offered by other manufacturers are clunky at best, disruptive at worst. Where Pilot Assist stands out is in its seamless, unobtrusive operation. Once could quite easily, gasp, look down at their phone, confident in the knowledge that the car is going to do what it is supposed to do.
You may think I have lost my mind with that statement, but that action is exactly what Volvo has had in mind with their development of autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicles. During that visit, I sat down with Volvo's Autonomous Driving Director, Marcus Rothoff, to discuss the reasoning behind autonomous cars. Volvo has set milestone after milestone for automotive safety over the past 50 decades, so imagine my surprise to hear Rothoff say that self-driving cars would create "possibilities to open up more time", even going so far as to say that the technology would allow drivers to stay connected to the internet while they were on the road.
Don't worry, I obeyed the rules of the road while driving the XC60.
All of this talk of inside technology might lead one to think that the spirit of the Turbo Brick has been lost to modern gadgetry, but nothing could be further from the truth. Beneath the hood of our tester was a 2.0L 4 cylinder that is boosted by both a turbo and a supercharger. Yes, you read that right. The combination generates an impressive 316 HP and 295 lb-ft and is fed to all four wheels through a slick shifting 8-speed automatic unit.
Wait…..what?
If you have ANY Volvo background, a T5 was a turbo 5-cylinder. At what point did some marketing committee decide that a 4-banger should bear the designation T-6? I know, I am crusty and old, but there is something very wrong there. Don't get me wrong, I knew this was a four-pot Volvo, the way Uncle Olaf intended, the branding just seems off.
What is not wrong is the way the XC60 drives. Around town, with the drive mode in the default comfort position, the XC60 feels like the dreaded nice car. The comfort and technology take the lead. Move out into the country and switch the drive mode to sport however and the spirit of the Turbo Brick quickly makes itself known. Very quickly.
Honestly, during the first few days with the XC60, I was in full responsible Dad mode. The subtle R-Design logo on the rear hatch caught my eye and somehow reminded me that there was likely some fun lurking within this family machine. At the next light, I fully rolled into the throttle and was pleasantly surprised to find that the Swede is seriously quick. Quicker than many cars of the sporting variety. Sub 6 second 0-60 quick. To put that into perspective, the sort-of legendary 1989 Mustang GT (rollin' in my 5.0) reached that standard in 6.1. A lot has changed over the years, but a four cylinder Swedish family hauler can still haul ass.
While the XC60 R-Design might not be a track ready weapon like say, a Porsche Macan GTS, it is definitely a vehicle one can have one heck of a lot of fun in and maybe embarrass a few tuner kids along the way.
On a humorous note, I learned that keeping the key fob in your pocket while washing the XC60 will cause the door lock system to spasm frequently, locking and unlocking the doors, flashing lights and wiggling the side mirrors like a curious puppy's ears each time the brush or even water stream go near the door handles. Technology can be a weird and wonderful thing.
There was a time when Volvos were driven by science teachers, accountants and rally enthusiasts. In other words, Volvo was the car for the intelligent, the conservative and throw all caution to the wind performance fans. Today's Volvo is a different animal. The XC60 T6 R-Design is one which still appeals to all three.
Toyota C-HR Review: 2013 Volvo S60 T5 AWD Review: 2013 Volvo S60 T6 R-Design Review: 2013 Volvo XC60 Review: 2014 Volvo S80
AJAC announces 2017 Best New Technology Awards for Innovation and Safety
January 20, 2017 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment
An important part of the Canadian Car of the Year award program, the Best New Technology awards are a program to acknowledge excellence in the development of new features which are either innovative or improve driving safety.
While I am one of the co-chairman of the CCOTY program, I tend to stay away from the tech awards, mainly because I just don't have the time to deal with another aspect of the program. Sometimes that is a shame, as there are some really cool new technologies out there that change the way we drive and the evaluation team researches them in depth.
This year's winners are:
AJAC press release
January 19, 2017 – Montreal: Two "Best New Technology" award winners were announced today by the Automobile Journalists Association of Canada (AJAC) at the Montreal International Auto Show.
BEST NEW SAFETY TECHNOLOGY for 2017
Volvo Pilot Assist II, Large Animal Detection, Run-off Road mitigation is the winner of the BEST NEW SAFETY TECHNOLOGY FOR 2017.
"Pilot Assist II is actually three systems using camera and radar technology to help keep drivers and passengers safe," says Technology Panel Chair, Jim Kerr. "The Pilot assist feature can control acceleration, braking and steering up to 130 km/h to help keep the S90 in its lane at speed. Run off road mitigation keeps the vehicle on the road by applying braking and steering forces if an impending road departure is sensed. Large animal detection senses the density of larger animals such as deer, moose and coyotes within about a 200 meter range, to determine if they pose a danger, warn the driver and automatically brake the vehicle to mitigate a collision if the driver takes no action. These features are semi-autonomous, giving the driver full control of the vehicle at all times while using automatic control to assist when required."
Finalists in this category included:
GENERAL MOTORS: ONstar ProActive Alerts
GENRAL MOTORS: Rear Seat Reminder
MERCEDES-BENZ: PRE-SAFE Sound
SUBARU: Global Platform
TOYOTA: Safety Sense P Package
BEST NEW INNOVATION TECHNOLOGY for 2017
Mazda G-Vectoring Control (GVC) is the winner of the BEST NEW INNOVATION TECHNOLOGY FOR 2017.
"So subtle that most drivers won't even be aware of the feature operating, G-Vectoring control enhances the vehicle's feel of stability and smoothness by controlling engine power in almost imperceptible time frames to shift the weight balance of the car," says Technology Panel Chair, Jim Kerr. "For passengers, the result is a comfortable and more relaxing ride. For drivers, GVC reduces small steering wheel inputs by almost 50% and provides a feeling of linear control of the steering on all types of roads and road surfaces."
FORD: Pro-Trailer Assist
MAZDA: SKYACTIV-G 2.5T Engine
GENERAL MOTORS: Position Sensitive Spool Valve Damper
The awards are judged by a panel of 12 automotive journalists who are all technology specialists. As a first step, they independently reviewed overview briefs on all the technology entries submitted by automakers.
From that initial review, by secret vote, the jurors established a shortlist of finalists. Then, in early December, they convened in Toronto for a day of presentations by manufacturers' representatives on each of their shortlisted entries and a chance to grille them with questions. The jurors then voted a second time, again by secret ballot.
As with the Canadian Car of the Year awards program, those votes were compiled by the accounting firm, KPMG and kept secret until the announcement today.
The "Best New Technology" awards are part of the association's annual Canadian Car of the Year Awards program, created in 1985 to provide consumers with sound, comparative information on vehicles that are new to the market.
2014 Canadian Car of the Year awards ceremony Eight "Best New" Winners Announced for 2017 AJAC's 2017 Canadian Car of the Year Awards Testing kicks off for the Canadian Car of the Year awards Video: Day 2 at Testfest AJAC hosts inaugural Executive Forum at Testfest
World's Fastest Car Review: Volvo Drive Me
May 29, 2014 by Gary Grant 1 Comment
In this episode, I mess up a guy's name and even manage to mess up the title of my own video series, while being driven around Gothenburg, Sweden in a Volvo that drives itself.
Part of me thinks I should start scripting these things, while part of my thinks my blunders are kinda fun.
Used Volvo ad is the best copycat ad ever created
May 14, 2014 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment
On Sunday afternoon, I flew from Canada to Sweden to not drive Volvo's self driving car. 23 hours after I arrived, I was on another plane, headed back to this continent. Obviously, there will be more on the Drive Me project later, but thanks to my buds at Car Crushing, I have something else to share.
While we were visiting the Volvo Museum (more on that later too), my handler, a wonderful gent named Bosse Handel, was telling me about a dramatic new television ad that Volvo had created. In said ad, a Swedish pro footballer named Zlatan Ibrahimovi?, recited a classic Swedish poem to a dramatic background track. The idea was to convey the Swedish-ness of the Volvo XC70 or something along those lines. The ad spot has become so popular that other ad agencies have copied the style to promote their clients products.
2008 VOLVO XC70 – SNOW-MOBILE Scion marketing iQ with Babes, Donuts and Milk Porsche GTS web spots by Toronto filmmaker Impatient Camaro driver clips oncoming Volvo
Impatient Camaro driver clips oncoming Volvo
March 25, 2014 by Gary Grant Leave a Comment
A number of years ago, I remember reading a Q & A with then Sgt. Cam Woolley, when someone asked when it was ok to pass on a rural road. The not so obvious answer was that on a single yellow line, one can pass provided it is safe to do so. Then there were the obvious dotted line discussions and the fact that you may never, ever pass on a double yellow line. Common sense that one.
When that double yellow is on a twisty canyon road, it shouldn't take a brain surgeon to figure out that you should stay in your own lane, even if there is a local turtle ahead of you. Last weekend in California, a current generation Chevy Camaro driver felt that the law and common sense didn't apply to him. #becausecamara ya know.
Reddit user humanwire was out for a drive and had a couple of cameras on board.
Went out this Saturday to hit up my favorite canyon road with some friends, but it ended up being closed once we got there. Hesitantly, we decided to give a Malibu canyon road (Decker Canyon, aka Route 23) a try on the way back, so the whole day wasn't a complete waste.
I was quickly reminded why I don't like driving on Malibu canyon roads, and why I head out much further away from Los Angeles for some frisky driving.
A group of three cars came barreling up behind us; a black Comaro, a red Mazdaspeed 3, and a black M3, unable to wait a second for a turnout.
Completely ruined the fun mood of the trip, and my friends and I turned around almost immediately so we wouldn't be associated with that group. Wouldn't want a CHP call to go out including us with that group.
Too many dickhead drivers. Too much traffic. Too many police patrols. Less than stellar roads (not all of them).
Pony car boy gets fed up with idling along behind a slowpoke in a Ford Explorer, and decides to pull out and pass, on a blind corner. He actually clips a Volvo that was headed in the opposite direction. Things could have very easily been a deadly incident, so everyone involved were very lucky.
Here's to hoping that the local police get hold of this and track the moron down.
Source: YouTube via Reddit
Modern Muscle Comparo: Time machines First drive: 2011 Chevrolet Camaro Convertible Chevy shows the Wonder Twins at Detroit On board at Interlagos in a V8 powered Chevy Sonic Review: 2012 Chevy Tahoe
Review: 2014 Volvo S80
February 20, 2014 by Tom Williams 1 Comment
The Flagship. The most enviable position in any car company's line up. It is the pinnacle of what you have to offer. The best of the best. Right? The Volvo S80 is the car that sits at the absolute top of the totem pole, yet it seems to sit there very quietly. No buzz, no 'ooh or ahh' factor. For a flagship car, the S80 leads what appears to be a low key existence. For 2014, Volvo gave the S80 a very mild refresh-so subtle it would take a Volvo fanatic to notice the slight exterior changes. It's worth noting that this is actually the current S80's second refresh. The current, second generation S80 has been around since 2006, and with a car that old, it is of little surprise it has dropped off the radar of luxury car buyers.
For such an old design, the S80 still looks great. Our test car arrived in a deep dark blue metallic that positively dripped with class and elegance. Styling is clean, and after two refreshes, looks timeless. If anything, Volvo has proven once again that a great design to start with can stand the test of time. In the luxury car class, the S80 is understated, exuding a cool Swede charm in contrast to its more brash German competitors. For some, that is the appeal of the S80; for others more intent on trying impress others, the subtle demeanor of the S80 would be a turn-off for the guy trying to fuel his ego.
Stepping inside the S80, the car does show its age against the competition. Groups of tiny buttons and a navigation system that seems hopelessly trapped in the past are clear indicators the S80 is no spring chicken. But, it is a great cabin in spite of its age. The vertical gauges flanking the tach are LCD but offer a clear nod to Volvo's of yore, and no other manufacturer offers anything like it. I love the back lit transmission selector, and I don't know why other car companies have not followed in Volvo's foot steps. The seats are supremely comfortable. I appreciated the warm luster of wood accents and highly polished metal decorating the interior. But again, the S80's age is tough to ignore. For some. Sure, I could get another car with a more up to date interior, but after spending a week with the S80, I concluded this car was so comfortable I put it on my short list of cars I could drive across the US in.
The S80 is available in two flavors. The base model is front wheel drive with a 3.2 inline six rated at 240hp. Our test car was the S80 T6, equipped with a 3.0L turbocharged inline six rated at 300hp, with all-wheel drive. Both models share a six-speed automatic. The EPA pages fuel economy at 18/25 MPG city/highway, hardly stellar figures despite being an all-wheel drive luxury car. The Volvo provided plenty of power when needed, and positively excels in cruise mode. This is not a sports sedan however-everything has been tuned to comfort and isolation. No, it's not exciting to drive, but what it lacks in driving excitement, it makes up for in complete comfort.
A base S80 starts at a modest $39,900USD. Step up to our T6 AWD, and the starting prices is raised to a still reasonable $43,950. Standard equipment includes an eight speaker stereo with satellite radio, Bluetooth, power moonroof, leather interior, power front seats and walnut wood inlays. Our heavily optioned test car added the Platinum Package (Navigation, Premium sound, rear view camera), Climate Package (heated front and rear seats, heated steering wheel), Inscription Package (Sovereign Hide leather, ventilated front seats, leather covered dash),Technology Package (Adaptive Cruise Control, Collision Warning with full auto brake, Pedestrian/Cyclist Detection with auto brake, Distance Alert, Driver Alert, Lane Departure Warning), and active xenon headlights. All in, including destination charges, our S80 stickers at $55,765. It's hardly inexpensive, but compared to the competition, the Volvo is priced far below similarly equipped cars.
The S80 reminds me of how Volvo once used to be. You crank out a solid, well designed car, and make modest updates over time, like the iconic 240. The Volvo of yore was never a slave to fads or fashion, and their buyers appreciated that, and repaid that mentality with a fierce loyalty. Unfortunately in today's luxury car market, that mentality is overlooked. While the competition is grabbing headlines and the attention of the media and buyers alike, the S80 quietly soldiers on with little or no fanfare at all. And that is a shame, because Volvo has built a fundamentally excellent luxury car. Yes, she is showing her age, but the greatest compliment I can pay the S80 is that it would be the perfect cross-country cruiser.
Review: 2013 Volvo S60 T5 AWD Review: 2013 Volvo XC60 Review: 2012 Audi S4 Review: 2013 Hyundai Elantra Coupe Review: 2013 Honda Accord Sport
Review: 2013 Volvo XC60
October 4, 2013 by Tom Williams 1 Comment
Quick! Flash back to the last time you parked at the mall by a high-end department store. What did you see? Lexus RX's, BMW X3, X5's. Maybe an Audi Q5 or Mercedes GLK. Without a doubt, the market for premium compact CUV's has a plethora of options, yet the Volvo XC60 is rarely discussed. Why is this? For one, and I blame Volvo, they simply are not promoting or marketing the car. If you don't raise product awareness that this car exists, you are not going to get much showroom traffic. The Lexus RX reigns supreme in this segment, and through no fault of their own, it appears image conscious McMansion inhabitants feel better about themselves if they can brag about buying a Lexus than a Volvo.
And that is a shame, because the Volvo XC60 is a fine car that seriously deserves some recognition that car buyers and news media have not been giving. The XC60 is certainly a handsome, even classy CUV, but like any other crossover, it won't turn heads. Cool and understated, our Volvo wears its Swedish design philosophy proudly. If bling is your thing, this may not be the car for you, but our test car's optional 19″ wheels were a nice touch.
Let's face it though-if you're buying a crossover, you want utility and comfort, so the interior matters. Again, simple, clean elegant design prevails, but the quality of materials were exceptional. Leather, aluminum, soft touch plastics, every tactile feature of the XC60 reeked of excellent quality and workmanship. Volvo has a well earned reputation for constructing exceptionally comfortable seats. Coming from someone who drives a different new car every week, I can honestly say the XC60 has some of the best seats in the business. You actually feel better once you climb into the car. The gauges are clear and easy to read, and most controls are simple enough to understand. While the overall architecture of the interior is gorgeous to touch and look at, a huge grouping of tiny, small and largely inconsequential buttons clutter the center console, which unfortunately ages the otherwise gorgeous interior by about ten years. And while packed with the latest tech features, the navigation/entertainment systems also feel, well, old in comparison to the competition. It's sort of like whipping out a flip phone at a party when all your friends have Androids and iPhones . Yes, it works, but is it cool?
Volvo XC60 buyers have three engine choices to suit their needs. The base model is equipped with a 3.2L inline six rated at 240hp, with the option of front or all-wheel drive. Our test car was the mid-level T6, which is powered by a 3.0L turbocharged inline six rated at 300hp, and all-wheel drive is standard. At the top of the food chain is the T6 R-Design, which has the same engine but is tuned to 325hp. Our XC60 T6 has EPA fuel economy figures of 17/23 MPG city/highway. Interestingly, Volvo claims the more powerful R-Design will return the same numbers. However, few people in this market are looking for sports car like acceleration, and I found the turbocharged six to have plenty of power. Even with the optional 19″ alloys the Volvo was very comfortable to drive. If Volvo's mission was to deliver a comfortable, easy to live with CUV, they succeeded. Though not offered in North America, European buyers have the option of a diesel engine, and even the choice of a manual transmission. I know, it hurts me too.
Our Volvo XC60 T6 has a base MSRP of $40, 450USD. As you'd expect, Volvo has thrown in numerous safety features, and boasts a five star rating from IIHS, the best rating you can get. Standard features include a leather interior, 7″ color screen, panoramic sunroof, power seats with memory, push button start, dual zone auto climate control, and Bluetooth. Our test car had the optional Platinum Package, which added navigation, rear park assist, rear view camera, power liftgate and active xenon headlights, the Climate Package which includes heated heated front and rear seats, and heated windshield wiper nozzles. Special paint, optional 19″ alloys and destination charges bring the tally to $46,146. In the premium crossover market, this actually represent a pretty decent value.
The Volvo XC60 is a perfectly competent vehicle for families seeking a premium crossover, and until the V60 wagon arrives, is the true iteration of the Volvo wagon Americans have embraced for decades. Flashy? No. Pretentious? No. But that's not what Volvo has ever been about. Quietly producing vehicles that offer unprecedented safety, quality, and comfort are the hallmarks of Volvo, and in that respect, Volvo has succeeded with the XC60.
Review: 2013 Volvo S60 T5 AWD Review: 2012 Volkswagen Passat Review: 2012 Nissan Armada Review: 2013 Hyundai Elantra Coupe Review: 2013 Jeep Wrangler
Review: 2013 Volvo S60 T6 R-Design
February 4, 2013 by Tom Williams 3 Comments
In the Volvo family of cars, the S60 T6 R-Design sits at the top of the performance food chain-in other words, this is as hot as it gets. Even today, most people rarely think of Volvo's as quick or entertaining cars, with safety being the first thing that comes to mind when Volvo is mentioned. But the truth is, Volvo has been dabbling with hot rod versions of their cars for years. As an awkward fifteen year old, I have fond memories of being catapulted down the scenic Merritt Parkway by my neighbor, and boss on our way to work in mega-wealthy Old Greenwich, Connecticut in his 1984 Volvo 240 Turbo wagon. Well, I'm 40 now, not quite as awkward, and I do the driving now, thank you. So it was time to sample Volvo's current hot rod.
Not that The Garage is any stranger to the Volvo S60. Last fall we reviewed the base T5 AWD, and came away very impressed. The S60 is arguably one of the most handsome luxury sedans on the market, and without a doubt the sexiest Volvo ever built. It will, however, take a true Volvo fanatic to recognize you are piloting the R-Design. Unique 18″ wheels, front and rear spoilers, rear diffuser and polished exhaust pipes. In other words, the changes are very subtle. Not so subtle was our test car finished in Rebel Blue, a color nearly every person I asked disliked. Color is a personal choice, but since the R-Design is so subtle against its less powerful S60 siblings, a milder color would make this the ultimate Q-Ship.
If the changes to the exterior are subtle, then the interior is even more so. Special sport seats, steering wheel, shift knob, blue watch dial gauges and aluminum pedals are all that differentiate the R-Design from other S60's. And that is not a bad thing, as the S60 has an open, airy cabin that is exceptionally comfortable, especially over long distances. As before, most controls are fairly intuitive, but the S60 seems to be a step behind the competition with its infotainment interface. Even so, the S60 R-Design sports some of the best seats in the business.
So while we all agree the R-Design does not do a lot to distinguish itself from outside/inside, the biggest difference is what lies in the engine bay, where you will find a 3.0L turbocharged inline six rated at 325hp, paired to a six-speed automatic. All R-Design S60's are all-wheel drive. Sadly, no manual transmission is offered. The R has 75 more horsepower than the five cylinder T5, and Volvo claims a 0-60mph of 5.5 seconds, which is over a second quicker. Suspension and steering have also been tightened up for the R-Design. Yes, it is quick and tight, but as I drove the R-Design, I kept thinking back to the sublime Audi S4. Boasting only eight more horsepower, the S4 will toast the S60 1.1 seconds to 60. While the S4 is intense and engaging, the R-Design has the goods but the speed is delivered in a far smoother, relaxed manner.
But where the R-Design trumps its competitors is price. And not because it is lacks features or suffers from inferior build quality and materials-far from it. The Volvo S60 easily matches its Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz rivals. This top-spec S60 has a starting MSRP of $43,900. Our test car included the Platinum package (navigation, premium sound, rear view camera), and Climate package (heated front seats, interior air quality system, heated windshield washer nozzles). Including delivery, our S60 T6 R-Design had a cost of $48,195, which is about $12,000 less than the Audi S4 we tested with similar content. If you don't demand a manual tranny, and for normal daily driving, the R-Design is by far the better buy.
If you view Volvo owners as New England types working at prestigious universities, well, you would not be far off. Owning a Volvo is not to show off your car to brag to your friends about, that's what BMW's are for. And despite Volvo's heritage in turbocharging cars, public perception still perceives Volvo has a brand that places safety above all else, and that is true. What most do not know is that you can be enveloped in an extremely safe Volvo, and have some fun as well. If your perception of Volvo owners is the college professor, then the S60 T6 R-Design is the cool college professor you had that played in a blues band on weekends. Fun, passionate, yet mellow. In other words, a long term friend, for which Volvo's have a strong reputation for.
Review: 2013 Volvo S60 T5 AWD Review: 2011 Volvo S60 Review: 2012 Volkswagen Passat Review: 2012 Nissan Armada Review: 2013 Hyundai Elantra Coupe
Review: 2013 Volvo S60 T5 AWD
November 13, 2012 by Tom Williams Leave a Comment
I would forgive you in an instant if you hadn't noticed the changes happening at the entry-level side of Volvo's offerings in North America. The compact S40/V50 sedan and wagon quietly departed here two years ago, replaced with the sublime V40, which is not available here. Now comes news the two door hatch C30, which had hoped to steal sales away from the MINI Cooper but barely made a ripple here will also be exiting the stage. So, what then is the entry-level Volvo?
Well, that leaves the S60, which for many years was comfortably positioned as Volvo's mid-level, bread and butter sedan, positioned above the smaller S40 and luxurious S80. The Garage reviewed a 2011 Volvo S60 T6, and we came away impressed. That was the sole S60 for 2011, but in 2012, Volvo added the S60 T5. A less powerful S60 that would ultimately wear the dubious crown of being the 'starter' Volvo. Was any luster lost? Read on…
I've been staring at my pics of the T5 and T6, and I cannot tell any difference between the two. Apart from the T5 badge on the rear, no one will know you went with the base model. Two years on, the S60 still looks fantastic. Volvo still marches to the beat of their own drum while other competitors relentlessly chase the German marques. In place of our T6's eye searing copper paint, our T5 was finished in a soothing Ice White. All S60's come standard with 17″ alloys, but our test car was equipped with an alternative, optional Kjord Design, which look far better than the stock wheels for only a little extra money. Style-wise, this is one sophisticated looking car, handsome, contemporary, and in a class of its own.
I confess, on my first encounter with the S60 the Beechwood leather seating surfaces left me cold. Second time around, I was warming up to them. Yes, it is a bold color, but without the copper exterior, it was much easier to swallow. After a 500 mile round trip from Connecticut to Lancaster, Pennsylvania, I actually started to like it. The seats offer comfort that are best in class. Controls are easy to use, gauges simple and elegant to look at. I relished attention to details, such as an illuminated shift knob showing your gear. Offered a choice between an S60 or BMW 3-series for a long distance tourer, I would pick the Volvo in a heartbeat. The only downside was a smallish trunk. We're a family of three, so we could fit items in the back seat, but a larger family would find the S60 a challenge for long trips.
For the gearheads, the real question is what is the trade-off by going with the base engine? The T5 is powered by a 2.5L inline-five cylinder rated at 250hp, paired to a six-speed automatic. That's down 50hp from the T6 we last reviewed. The T5 is offered in front or all-wheel drive. Our car was all-wheel drive, and Volvo claims a 0-60mph time of 6.6 seconds. That's about a half second slower than the T6, while delivering 20/29 MPG city/highway mileage. Bombing down the interstate at 80mpg the S60 T5 was showing 27MPG on the trip computer. It's no scorcher, but the power is always there when you need it, and passing is done with ease. The T5 is the smoothest five cylinder car I have driven to date.
The ride quality is exceptionally comfortable. Steering is direct, with just enough feel to keep me happy. I found the handling to be confidence inspiring. It's these Connecticut-Pennsylvania trips that really tell me the story of a car, especially when my son and wife doze away, it is just the car, the road and me where I truly get a feel of the car, and in this case, the S60 was positively one of the most stand-out cars of the year. That I can point the S60 at rapid pace without disturbing my passengers as they nap is the mark of an excellent automobile.
The Volvo S60 T5 starts at $31,900USD. Our test car added all-wheel drive, the Premier Package (power moonroof, leather seating, auto dimming rearview mirror, power passenger seat, keyless entry), Climate Package (heated front seats, air quality system, heated windshield washer nozzles), rear spoiler and upgraded wheels, with an as delivered charge of $38, 178. Yes, I scoffed at the price of the car with the absence of of GPS navigation (which is available), but reminded myself the four banger BMW we reviewed cost over $50,000 which offered only a few extra bells and whistles. In that light, the Volvo is a virtual bargain.
In the world of cars, entry-level and base model often provoke fears of decontented, weakly powered cars, but with the Volvo S60 T5, that is hardly the case. Odds are, if you are a potential buyer, you have a phone with GPS. If you demand a stick shift and slightly sharper handling, the BMW is your car. But again, if long distance touring is your thing, and you prize a roomier interior and a calmer demeanor with a distinct Swedish flair without giving up anything in speed and handling composure, a look at the Volvo S60 T5 is worth a look, and will never leave you with the impression of driving a base model.
Review: 2011 Volvo S60 Review: 2011 Cadillac CTS-V Coupe Review: 2011 Saab 9-5 Turbo4 Review: 2012 Mazda5 Review: 2012 Honda CR-V
Robb Holland joins Compass360 Racing for World Challenge opener in St. Pete
March 10, 2012 by Gary Grant 1 Comment
Popular Denver, Colorado racer Robb Holland finished off the 2011 Pirelli World Challenge season with a third place in the championship, but that didn't mean he had a ride for 2012. The problem was that the Volvo C30 program being run by K-Pax racing came to an end at the close of the season.
Earlier this week, Karl Thomson of Compass360 Racing announced that Holland would be returning to the Toronto based team to drive the #70 Civic at the season opening race in Florida. The St. Petersburg race is a support event for the Indycar season opener. While the deal is currently just for the one race, it sounds like there is a possibility that there might be more news soon.
Check out a gallery of Holland in action at the 2011 Mosport round of WC, along with the team press release after the jump.
Ron Fellows is still the Mayor of Mosport Mike Skeen captures podium finish at St Petes Things are hot at Mosport already A ride Mr Toad would approve of Mosport's Victoria Day SpeedFest On Track In Two Weeks
Driven: 2020 Kia Telluride
Snorkel tales, or that time we drove a TRD-Pro Tacoma
Press Release: OFFICIAL STATEMENT FROM ARX AND IMG
Press Release: PENSKE ENTERTAINMENT TO ACQUIRE HULMAN & CO INDYCAR ASSETS
Press Release: SALEEN UNVEILS GT4 CONCEPT RACE CAR
NEW Feature: World's Fastest Car Review
World's Fastest Car Review: Enviro Dad and the VW Touareg TDI
World's Fastest Car Review: 2014 Mazda5
May 8, 2014 By Gary Grant 1 Comment

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


Otherwise known as 'Lil Ripsta, he is a rapper with the Grammy Award-winning group Bone Thugs-n-Harmony. He also pursued a solo career beginning in 1998.
His father kidnapped him and his sisters when they were little and they lived as fugitives in motels and cars for a while.
In 2011 his bandmates officially announced they were leaving the group, but then they reunited a year later.
He was born Bryon Anthony McCane II in Cleveland, Ohio.
He appeared on "America's Most Wanted," talking to host John Walsh about his abusive upbringing.


CCommons Inn offers comfortable accommodation within close reach of all of Halifax's storied historical heritage. Located off the Commons park in the very centre of Halifax the Inn is conveniently close to the downtown business government (VISA) offices and the city's downtown shopping entertainment educational and medical facilities. The Inn consists of three floors with stairway access only and a roof top patio. Non-smoking Inn 24 hr. Front Desk Meeting Room Seats up to 40 sit down breakfast area microwave fridge available on request free onsite parking copy fax service wireless internet access lobby computer for guest use. 200 metres north of Halifax Commons on a quiet residential street. Short walk to downtown and Spring Garden Road.
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Tag: cover reveal
Cover Reveal & Author Snapshot: Journey of the Pale Bear by Susan Fletcher
By Cynthia Leitich Smith for Cynsations
Check out the cover of Journey of the Pale Bear by Susan Fletcher (McElderry, Oct. 2018). From the promotional copy:
A runaway boy befriends a polar bear that's being transported from Norway to London in this lyrical and timeless adventure story about freedom, captivity, and finding a family.
The polar bear is a royal bear, a gift from the King of Norway to the King of England. The first time Arthur encounters the bear, he is shoved in her cage as payback for stealing food. Restless and deadly, the bear terrifies him. Yet, strangely, she doesn't harm him—though she has attacked anyone else who comes near.
That makes Arthur valuable to the doctor in charge of getting the bear safely to London. So Arthur, who has run away from home, finds himself taking care of a polar bear on a ship to England.
Tasked with feeding and cleaning up after the bear, Arthur's fears slowly lessen as he begins to feel a connection to this bear, who like him, has been cut off from her family. But the journey holds many dangers, and Arthur knows his own freedom—perhaps even his life—depends on keeping the bear from harm.
When pirates attack and the ship founders, Arthur must make a choice—does he do everything he can to save himself, or does he help the bear to find freedom?
Based on the real story of a polar bear that lived in the Tower of London, this timeless adventure story is also a touching account of the bond between a boy and a bear.
From author Susan Fletcher:
Journey of the Pale Bear is based on the true story of a polar bear given by King Haakon IV of Norway to King Henry III of England in the year 1252.
When you put a polar bear at the heart of your novel, you're almost guaranteed a good cover. I mean: a polar bear. Those guys are inherently gorgeous and magnificent.
Still, it took me a moment to catch my breath the first time I saw the jacket art. I wasn't prepared for just how stunningly beautiful it would be.
It's the light—the puddles of light on the surface of the water, the streaming undersea light, the tips of light on the polar bear's snout and neck and crown.
It's the texture of the bear's fur. It's the masses of intense underwater blue.
It's the expressions of the bear and the boy—worried but not hopeless, setting off on an adventure not of their own choosing, straddling the boundary between documented history and some kind of dream.
I love this cover, and I'm very grateful to everyone who helped to make it happen, especially my editor, Karen Wojtyla, and illustrator Shane Rebenschied.
Cover Reveal: Hearts Unbroken by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Wow! Today, BookRiot is hosting the official cover reveal for my upcoming realistic YA novel, Hearts Unbroken (Candlewick, Oct. 2018).
Click this link for the inside scoop on my initial inspirations for the story. You can also pre-order the book from Indiebound, Barnes and Noble, Amazon and other book retailers.
And then keep reading here to learn more about my thoughts on the cover art itself.
From the promotional copy:
When Louise Wolfe's first real boyfriend mocks and disrespects Native people in front of her, she breaks things off immediately and dumps him over email.
It's her senior year, anyway, and she'd rather spend her time on her family and friends and working on the school newspaper.
The editors pair her up with Joey Kairouz, the ambitious new photojournalist, and in no time the paper's staff find themselves with a major story to cover: the school music director's inclusive approach to casting The Wizard of Oz has been provoking backlash in their mostly white, middle-class Kansas town.
From the newly formed "Parents Against Revisionist Theater" to anonymous threats, long-held prejudices are being laid bare and hostilities are spreading against teachers, parents, and students—especially the cast members at the center of the controversy, including Lou's little brother, who's playing the Tin Man.
As tensions heighten at school, so does a romance between Lou and Joey—but as she's learned, "dating while Native" can be difficult. In trying to protect her own heart, will Lou break Joey's?
What I adore about this cover is that it's so unabashedly casual and contemporary. Accessible and inviting.
Learn more about Cynthia Leitich Smith.
Modern depictions of Native teens, especially girls, are rare. Showing a character in a T-shirt and jeans, simply standing, comfortably relaxed, is fairly revolutionary.
Centering the T-shirt imagery is something I discussed with my Candlewick editor, Hilary Van Dusen, who was working with Pamela Consolazio, the jacket designer.
To me, the art vaguely suggests the feel of a powwow T-shirt. So, it's grounded in daily life, but intentionally not groundbreaking. You'd find a few similar Ts in my closet.
On another note, I'm glad that the design largely leaves facial casting to the young reader's imagination.
I love the covers of two of my previous novels, Rain Is Not My Indian Name (HarperCollins, 2001) and Tantalize (Candlewick, 2007), both of which clearly show the face of the protagonist.
But prose novels are such deeply interior experiences. Sometimes it's best for young adults to envision the story, including its hero, in their own theaters of the mind.
Beyond that, I highly approved of the decision to use a teen-friendly handwriting font for "Hearts" and a firmer, more formal one for "Unbroken." When I think of real-life teens like my fictional Louise, I am optimistic about the future. Young Native hearts are strong.
Don't forget to read about the inspirations behind Hearts Unbroken!
Posted on November 6, 2017 October 18, 2018
Cover Reveal: Penguin & Tiny Shrimp Don't Do Bedtime
By Gayleen Rabakukk
Debut author Cate Berry interviews illustrator Charles Santoso about Penguin and Tiny Shrimp Don't Do Bedtime! (Balzer+Bray/Harper Collins, May 2018)
Cate: Hi, Charles! I'm here with Penguin and Tiny Shrimp to talk about—
Penguin: Hey, Charles! Love the cover, but what's with the pajamas?
Tiny Shrimp: We don't do bedtime, Charles. (Although I love my nightcap and I'm keeping it.)
Cate: Guys! Let's slow down here! I want to talk about the cover for our new book Penguin and Tiny Shrimp Don't Do Bedtime! (J'dore, Swoon, Applause!).
Charles: Hi, Cate! Hello, Penguin! Hello, Tiny Shrimp! Thank you for the kind words about my work.
Cate: You're such a versatile illustrator. I've fan-girled over your books I Don't Like Koala (by Sean Ferrell, Atheneum, 2015), Ida Always (by Caron Levis, Atheneum, 2016) and Peanut Butter and Brains (by Joe McGee, Abrams, 2015) just to name a few.
You don't seem afraid to try new styles.
Can you talk about this as it relates to our book and the cover?
Charles: Yes, I'm weird like that. I always try different styles for different books I'm illustrating.
I try to "listen" to the story carefully and let my gut feelings guide me towards finding the right style for the book. I want to make sure the words and illustrations blend in and compliment each other as much as possible. It's all about the story!
Cate: Yes! It's always about the story! Hey, speaking of story, can we get a glimpse into the illustrator's life and peek at your studio?
Penguin: Yes!
Tiny Shrimp: Ooooo, where the magic happens.
Charles: Here you go. My other pictures are unfortunately super messy.
Charles's studio
Cate: Hey, don't knock messy. I love how sly Penguin and Tiny Shrimp's expressions are on the cover. There is so much there. They seem indignant—
Penguin: We are indignant. We're not sleeping.
Tiny Shrimp: Dial back the big words, lady.
Charles: There you go, Cate! I told you they would evolve on their own!.
Cate: It sure seems so! The cover makes me laugh. When I teach, I like showing how humor is a mix of something serious with something silly. You have to find the balance. Does this come into play with illustrating for you?
Charles: I have to care about the characters. When I said that I "listened" to the story, I really meant knowing how both characters sound for me personally.
Both Penguin and Tiny Shrimp say things that might be funny to us but they are 100 percent sincere! So I have to make sure I'm portraying them genuinely— as close to their unique characters and personalities as I hear and see them in my mind.
Cate: That's so neat. I love what you say about listening. I feel that's true with the whole picture book making process. It's like a duet at first, writer and illustrator. I'm writing and discovering these characters. And then you listen and have them come to life through your art. Then it's a quartet when the editor and art director collaborate with us. Making picture books is so amazing.
Penguin: Hey, let's get back to basics!
Tiny Shrimp: Did he ever answer about the pajamas?
Cate: Oh! You're right, Tiny Shrimp! Let's talk about those adorable red striped pajamas.
I love the entire color palette throughout the book. Can you talk a little about the choices you made?
Charles: Penguin and Tiny Shrimp love things that are fun! Full of energy! But, I did want them to go to sleep too, so I added more night colours to balance things out.
Cate: What else should we know about the cover?
Charles: The illustrations are done digitally but with the same attention to detail as I normally do with traditional media. It was time consuming, but I'm happy with the result.
Cate: I'd love to hear about something that's unique to our book. Something you discovered along the way that shows up on the cover?
Charles: Penguin and Tiny Shrimp weren't looking like they do now. I went and did lots and lots of explorations before finding the final look.
Cate: Did I miss anything else other than…
Penguin: Shhh! Don't spill!
Tiny Shrimp: They have to read the book!
Charles: I don't know what you're talking about, Cate… Ha!
But, yes! Go read the book when it's out!
Cynsations Notes
Charles Santoso (Chao) loves drawing little things in his little journal and dreaming about funny, wondrous stories. He gathers inspiration from his childhood memories and curiosities he discovers in his everyday travels.
He has illustrated several picture books, including The Snurtch (Atheneum, 2016) and I Don't Like Koala (Atheneum, 2015) – both written by Sean Ferrell, Ida, Always by Caron Levis (Atheneum, 2016), Peanut Butter & Brains by Joe McGee (Abrams, 2015) and Spy Guy: The Not-So-Secret Agent by Jessica Young (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2015).
He worked at Animal Logic as a concept artist/art director and was involved in various animated feature film and tv commercial projects.
His work has been exhibited in Sydney and also internationally in North America and France. He currently lives and works in Sydney, Australia.
Cate Berry is a recent graduate of Vermont College of Fine Arts, Writing for Children and Young Adult MFA program (July/2017), receiving her Picture Book Intensive Certificate in the process.
Cate is an active member of SCBWI and the Austin children's literature community.
She teaches numerous picture book classes at the Writing Barn, including the upcoming Perfecting the Picture Book II, starting January 8, 2018.
She lives in Austin with her husband and two children.


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We do not currently have a way to reset the progress on our sequential programs (such as the 7 Days of Calm), and we apologize for the inconvenience. We recognize this is a much-needed feature, and hope to make it available soon.
In the meantime, you can track your progress when repeating a program by checking Session History to see which session was most recently completed. You can access your Session History by, first, tapping the More button in the bottom right corner of your Calm app and then tapping Profile. On your profile, tap "Calendar and History" to display Session History.


text:
tAsyncCall* System_DateTime_InternalUtcNow(PTR pThis_, PTR pParams, PTR pReturnValue) {

#ifdef WIN32

	FILETIME ft;

	GetSystemTimeAsFileTime(&ft);

	*(U64*)pReturnValue = ((U64)ft.dwHighDateTime) * 0x100000000L + ((U64)ft.dwLowDateTime) + TicksAtFileTimeEpoch;

#else

	struct timeval tp;

	gettimeofday(&tp, NULL);

	*(U64*)pReturnValue = ((U64)tp.tv_sec) * TicksPerSecond + ((U64)tp.tv_usec) * TicksPerMicroSecond
		+ TicksAtUnixEpoch;

#endif

	return NULL;
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


3. The plantains are fried, smushed, then fried again. DOUBLE FRIED PEOPLE. If you were in Cuba, it would probably be double fried in LARD.
This went with some not-so-special pork roast. I usually also make boiled yucca, but time was limited for me so the plantains were our starch. Green plantains, which seem too hard to be useful, actually behave a lot like a potato: softer when fried, then better WHEN FRIED AGAIN.
I used my hand blender to puree these together. As I said, this is a really garlicky dish, but mojo specifically is one of those rare sauces where the garlic is meant to be burn-your-tongue fresh. The vegetable oil smooths it out, but this is definitely for garlic lovers. Also, a traditional mojo might have pork fat drippings in place of the some or all of the oil. I added some to this version, and it was delicious. Some of the mojo was the marinade for our pork, and half was reserved for fresh dipping. Once you heat it in a pan, the garlic will have less of a bite, but I like the burn.
Peel and deep-fry 1.5" lengths of green plantain (brown/yellow is too sweet for this) until they turn a darker yellow, about 1 minute or less.
Now commences the smushing of the plantains. I made a professional-grade smusher with a little ramekin that fit into an icecream bowl. My fulcrum of smush was a meat tenderizer.
After you've smushed them all, reheat your pan and toss them back into the grease! They'll need to brown up for about 30 seconds to a minute, then allow to cool before salting lightly. Serve with mojo on the side, but don't put up with sissies who won't try it. The mojo makes the dish.


text:
How Did Apple Get Its Name?
The Origin of the Name
The Story of Steve Jobs and His Friend
The Story of the Apple Tree
The Fruit of Knowledge
The Computer Company
Apple is one of the most iconic brands in the world, but how did it get its name? According to Steve Jobs, it was inspired by a visit to an apple farm.
Apple was founded on April 1, 1976, by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne. The company was originally named Apple Computer, Inc., but the word "Computer" was dropped from the name in 1987.
Apple Computer, Inc. was founded on April 1, 1976, by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak, and Ronald Wayne. The company's first product was the Apple I, a personal computer kit they designed and hand-built. The Apple I went on sale on July 1976 for $666.66.
In September of that year, Jobs and Wozniak introduced the public to the newly revamped Apple II at the First West Coast Computer Faire. It was an immediate success and helped fuel the budding personal computer market with its color graphics and open architecture.
During this time, Jobs had hired a friend from college, Dan Kottke, to work with them in their garage on some of the early hardware designs. It was during one of their college road trips together that Jobs came up with the name "Apple."
Jobs had been inspired by his visit to an apple farm while he was working on a project at Xerox PARC (Palo Alto Research Center). He thought the name sounded fun, youthful, and unique—just like their company.
It is said that the story of apple tree began with a disagreement between two old friends, Isaac Newton and Gottfried Wilhelm von Leibniz. The two men were arguing over who had invented calculus, and the dispute became so heated that they stopped speaking to each other. One day, while Newton was walking in his garden, an apple fell from a tree and hit him on the head. As he lay there on the ground, he suddenly realized that the force of gravity was what made the apple fall, and that this force could be used to calculate how objects move. From this moment on, calculus would be known as "the mathematics of movement."
Apple was named after the fruit, not the computer. The story goes that Steve Jobs was on a fruitarian diet at the time and he took a trip to an apple farm. He was impressed with the size and variety of the apples and decided to name his company after the fruit.
Apple's history is a long and winding tale that's as complicated as the origins of its logo. The company has been through several iterations and rebrandings, starting out as a computer company called Apple Computer, Inc. in 1976. The name was shortened to Apple Inc. in 2007 when the company shifted its focus from computers to consumer electronics.
But where did the name "Apple" come from in the first place? There are a few different stories floating around, but the most likely explanation is that it was a tribute to Alan Turing, the English mathematician and computer scientist who cracked the Enigma code during World War II. Turing took his own life in 1954 after he was convicted of "gross indecency" for being homosexual, an act that was decriminalized in England in 1967.
Steve Jobs was known to be an admirer of Turing, and it's believed that he named his company after the famous codebreaker as a way to honor his work. In an interview with Walter Isaacson, Jobs said that he didn't care what people thought about the name "Apple" and that it could have just as easily been called "Orange." Whatever the true story is, there's no denying that Apple is one of the most recognizable brands in the world today.
Apple was founded in 1976 by three friends who met while attending Reed College and built their first computer in a garage. The company's first product was the Apple I, a personal computer kit that the team sold for $666.66.
In 1977, the Apple II was introduced, becoming one of the first highly successful mass-produced personal computers. The Apple II was followed by the Macintosh in 1984, which featured a graphical user interface and built-in screen.
The company's name was inspired by founder Steve Jobs' favorite fruit, the apple. In his childhood, Jobs had often spent time at an Oregon farm owned by his parents, where he would help with the harvest. He later recalled that he had "an instinctive urge to economiesize" while working at the farm, which may have influenced his thinking when it came to naming his company.
The logo for Apple was designed by Rob Janoff and includes a silhouette of an apple with a bite taken out of it. The bitten apple has been interpreted as a reference to the story of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, as well as an allusion to Newton's discovery of gravity.


Kolkata, 28 November 2018: West Bengal's new IT policy to disseminate the IT-ITeS activities across the state for the benefit of the population in the fringe and rural areas.
This will be a game-changer for the state's real estate market as well as its larger economy. This is one of the many highlights of the report 'Kolkata: The East's Icon of Balanced Growth' by knowledge partners ANAROCK at CREDAI StateCon today.
The report emphasises West Bengal's aim to spread the reach of IT/ITeS across the state will help replicate the success of Eastern Kolkata in other parts of the state.


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ROGERS CUP: Bianca Andreescu wins thriller to advance to third round
Ian Shantz
Bianca Andreescu was down and out. Left for dead.
That's what everyone not named Bianca Andreescu thought, anyway, before the 19-year-old Canadian superstar willed herself into the third round at the Rogers Cup.
With her opponent, Daria Kasatkina, serving for the match, up 5-3 in the decider, all the Mississauga, Ont., native did was storm back for a pair of breaks, first to tie it 5-5 and then to win it 7-5, as she prevailed, 5-7, 6-2, 7-5.
Andreescu, who was playing in just her second match since returning from a shoulder injury that had kept her on the shelf since the French Open — 68 days between tour contests, in fact — displayed plenty of power en route to yet another heart-stopping victory. One day earlier, she dispatched Eugenie Bouchard in an all-Canadian affair on Centre Court. The top-ranked Canadian will want to rest up after the latest two-hour, 39-minute slugfest.
"I just let loose, really, because I know when I do that, I play my best tennis," the world No. 27 and lone Canadian standing in the singles draw in Toronto said of her late-match mentality. "I just stay relaxed, I go for my shots and that's what I did towards the end and I think that's what helped me win today."
Andreescu was anything but perfect in this one. She hit powerful forehands and succeeded with several epic drop shots, but she was far from accurate overall, regularly sailing shots wide, long and into the net.
Andreescu struggled off the service line as well, committing six double-faults.
It's to be expected from a player coming off such a long layoff, but getting another chance to shake off the rust, against a top-flight opponent in Dutch star Kiki Bertens no less, will be more than Andreescu herself might have hoped coming into her hometown tournament, despite her declaration that she enters every event with the lone goal of winning it outright.
Andreescu converted 8-of-21 break points, saved 5-of-11 break opportunities and won 54% of her first-serve points, but the only stat that will matter in what was at times a downright ugly outing will be the win.
The Canadian is known for disrupting opponents with a varied arsenal and her opponent brought a similar tool kit into the match, which made for some entertaining tennis, highlighted by an early Kasatkina tweener and pair of beautiful drop shots by Andreescu in the opening set.
"I was talking to my coach after the match. I told him, 'Now I know how people feel when they play me,' " Andreescu said. "She likes to change the rhythm and that's what I've been working on the most because I know players don't like that."
Andreescu let her emotions show throughout the sunny afternoon on Centre Court, throwing her racquet in disgust midway through the opening set in the second round after missing a golden opportunity to take a stranglehold in the eighth game.
She fell apart in epic fashion at that juncture, turning what should have been a 5-3 first-set lead into 4-4, all square, with momentum swaying in the direction of world No. 40 Kasatkina, a 21-year-old silent killer of sorts who, like Andreescu, has lived inside the top-30 as an 18-year-old NextGen star.
"Oh my God!" Andreescu screamed in disbelief before eventually surrendering the opening set.
But the Canadian's fighting spirit was never in doubt and her emotional outbursts and fiery on-court conduct must have served as a motivator, too.
Andreescu went into full-on assault mode with the match on the line, and pumped her fists when she pulled off the big save in the third set.
"I felt that she was holding back a lot and I was just on top of everything," Andreescu said. "At 5-3, I think I lost four games in a row. I was really, really pissed. And I think I just took all that anger and just put it in my shots. That's why I think my shots were a little more affective."
It was the first meeting between Andreescu and Kasatkina, players who share similar career trajectories. Andreescu broke into the top-20 earlier this season courtesy her first career WTA Tour title at Indian Wells, while her Russian counterpart likewise rose to prominence with a runner-up finish to Naomi Osaka at Indian Wells one year earlier.
While both players landed inside the top-30 at the same age, both have also had rough patches this season — Andreescu with her shoulder woes and Kasatkina with a slow start on the Australian courts, followed by a first-round exit at Indian Wells where she failed to protect her points and dropped outside the top 20.
ishantz@postmedia.com
twitter.com/IanShantz
Francis: Peliwo watches fellow junior Wimbledon champ net tennis success


To explain why a subgroup of young men aged 20–24 years do not follow the general trend within the adult general population, of declining violence with age.
A cross-sectional survey of 8,397 adults in households in Great Britain in 2000. Computer-assisted interviews to measure self-reported violence and psychiatric morbidity.
Young men age 20–24 years had the same high prevalence of self-reported violence as those 16–19 years (52 vs 50%; P = 0.737), contrasting with women whose violence demonstrated a progressive decline (24.1 vs 14.5%; P = 0.002). This age-related gender difference was explained primarily by young men who continued to live at home with their parents (OR = 2.53; 95%CI 1.23–5.20), with smaller effects from childhood conduct disorder (OR = 1.56; 95%CI 0.75–3.21), and hazardous drinking (OR = 2.23; 95%CI 0.76–6.56). Young men living at home were only 4.3% of all male respondents but yielded an attributable risk fraction of 21.4% reporting victim injury.
The persisting high prevalence of violence among young adult men is explained by delay in moving to social independence. Public health interventions to reduce effects of known risk factors for violence must consider progressive economic and social changes in young men's lifestyles in westernised countries.
The survey was conducted by Office of National Statistics and was funded by the Department of Health.


Do you sometimes worry that your brain isn't working quite right? Maybe you feel depressed and anxious…suffer from mood swings…or have problems with poor memory and an inability to focus. Well, the problem is not "all in your head"—in fact, it may be largely in your gut.
What most people don't realize: Your brain is more than the gray and white matter between your ears. It is part of a system that includes the gut and the microbiome, the community of bacteria that populate your digestive tract.
If your gut or microbiome isn't working right, you will feel as if your mind is deteriorating and your emotions are out of control.
Recent finding: In a study of 12 depressed people who were not helped by antidepressants alone, 75% had significant improvement in depression scores after two months of adding a probiotic, a supplement containing "friendly" gut bacteria. But when the probiotics were stopped at the end of the study, depression returned.
• Neurotransmitters. Your gut and microbiome produce neurotransmitters—serotonin, dopamine, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and many others—biochemicals that your brain needs to process thought and emotion. In fact, a staggering 95% of serotonin, the "feel good" neurotransmitter, is made by the microbiome and gut.
• Neurons. Your gut has its own neurons (nerve cells) that send messages to the neurons in your brain. There are actually more neurons in your gut than there are in your spinal cord. Those neurons—collectively called the "enteric nervous system"—also are responsible for digesting food, absorbing nutrients and expelling waste.
• Immune system. An estimated 70% of your immune system is located in the gut, regulating inflammation. Further, an imbalanced microbiome can lead to leaky gut, which allows food proteins, carbohydrates, fats, bacteria and other by-products of digestion that should stay in the gut to escape into the bloodstream, causing body-wide inflammation—including neuroinflammation, a primary cause of negative emotions and confused thinking.
• Genes. The bacteria in the microbiome optimize gene expression (epigenetics), helping to suppress a genetic tendency to depression, anxiety and dementia.
The gut-brain axis is what scientists call the two-way street through which your gut sends instructions to your brain—and vice versa. Messages on the gut-brain axis help determine whether you feel depressed or buoyant…anxious or calm…mentally foggy or sharp.
STEP #1: Prebiotics are high–fiber foods that nourish the healthy bacteria (probiotics) in your microbiome. There are three key fibers important for your microbiome—arabinogalactan, inulin and resistant starches. Important: Try to get two or three servings of these high-fiber foods in your diet every day.
Arabinogalactan feeds your lactobacillus and bifidobacterium, two types of bacteria that are crucial to your microbiome. This type of prebiotic also has strong antibacterial properties, helping to keep disease-causing bacteria in check. Best food sources: Carrots, kiwis, onions, pears, radishes, tomatoes and the spice turmeric.
Inulin is believed to help your microbiome produce B vitamins—must-have nutrients to manage emotions, think clearly and cope with stress. Best food sources: Asparagus, garlic, Jerusalem artichokes, jicamas and onions.
Resistant starches help your gut bacteria produce butyrate, an "information biochemical" that feeds your microbiome. Additionally, butyrate lowers inflammation—which helps reduce anxiety, depression and cloudy thinking. Best food sources: Grains such as millet, quinoa and rice…legumes (beans, garbanzos and lentils)…nuts (including almonds, Brazil nuts, walnuts, nut butters and nut flours)…and seeds (including chia seeds, flaxseeds and pumpkin seeds).
STEP #2: Fermented foods are rich in friendly bacteria, making them a natural probiotic. They include kefir, kombucha, kimchi (a fermented cabbage from Korea), miso, pickles (and other pickled fruits and vegetables), sauerkraut, tempeh and yogurt. Important: Try to eat at least three to four weekly servings of fermented foods.
Important research: When 70 people consumed probiotic-rich yogurt for six weeks, they had a 44% decrease in depression, anxiety and stress, according to a study published in Nutritional Neuroscience. They also had a 25% improvement in general health. Caution: Many people are sensitive or allergic to yogurt from cow's milk. That's why I recommend goat's or sheep's milk yogurt to my patients.
STEP #3: Probiotics. You'll get plenty of probiotics in fermented foods—but as with prebiotics, a supplement provides nutritional insurance. And the best probiotic supplement is one with multiple strains of gut-healing bacteria—the key to the health of the microbiome is diversity. Note: Two strains of probiotics are uniquely effective in fighting depression and anxiety—bifidobacterium and lactobacillus.
Key evidence: In a study published in British Journal of Nutrition, when depressed or anxious people received either the probiotics bifidobacterium and lactobacillus or a placebo, the probiotic group fared better with a 50% decrease in depression after one month, along with a 60% decrease in anger and hostility and a 13% decrease in urinary cortisol—a sign of reduced stress.
*Consult your doctor before trying this or any other supplement—especially if you take medication or have a chronic medical condition.


text:
The Mormon concept of true love closely resembles that prevalent in 19 th century Victorian England. In practice, however, sexual love in fundamentalist Mormon society is often highly eroticized, as it was in Victorian society. Sexual pleasure is an appropriate desire provided that it is the by-product of spousal affection and marital love. Most fundamentalists, while disapproving of premarital sex, firmly believe that sexual pleasure should be an enjoyable aspect of every marriage. This attitude is stronger among the younger generation than among their grandparents.
Ideally, women should never use birth control. Rather, they should use self-control or abstinence. In the Montana community it is forbidden to have "sexual activity during lactation, pregnancy or menstruation" (Bennion, 1998, p. 81). In Colorado City and Centennial Park some women continue to have sex long after they are pregnant or lactating. Many women and men engage in sexuality as a communicative and pleasure-seeking activity. However, there are examples of women who found that their husbands were no longer interested in sleeping with them after they had a hysterectomy.
Neither sex should engage in extramarital sex. If a man sleeps with his fiancée before the marriage ceremony it is considered an adulterous act. There are cases of wives leaving their husband upon discovering this act. Given the value placed on reproductive vitality, it is not surprising that, as a woman grows older, she loses some of her esthetic value. This does not necessarily mean that she loses her influence over her husband. In fact, in Centennial Park I never found a single family where the favorite wife was the youngest wife. A wife's aging does not appear to undermine either the love bond (provided that she has already developed one) or her position within the family. It only affects her desirability as a sex partner.
There is a fear of sexual abuse in the community. Adults often suspect that children over the age of 7 years will play with the sex organs of the opposite sex. In Colorado City and Centennial Park this is referred to as "doing the nasties." This behavior is considered to be unnatural and something that must be prevented. In these two communities it is common for teenagers to sneak out of the house and engage in midnight drinking parties and dancing. A few of the youths have been known to engage in heavy petting and sexual intercourse.
Homosexuality is regarded as a terrible sin against the laws of God. Given this judgment, no one would openly admit to having these inclinations. Bennion (1998) found lesbianism to be rare, but not unknown, among women in the Montana community. In the Colorado City-Centennial Park communities I found only one instance in which a man was thought to be a homosexual. In every fundamentalist community homosexual behavior between males is considered more threatening to the community than that between females.
Powerful Ways to Attract Men
Sexual Activity, Have Sex, True Love, Does Extramarital Sex Cause Divorce


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text:
It's Actually Ambidextrous
Ursula K. Le Guin – which I always thought an unnecessarily long moniker on her part, considering that she's easily the most famous Le Guin on the planet – is the uncontested queen of science fiction, though given her gender politics she might prefer a more neutral honorific. Shall we go with "democratically elected literary dictator for life"? I doubt she'd be any happier with that title, but I'm sure she'd concede once I convinced her of its necessity for the greater good, for if there are any more empathic, more humanely insightful authors writing in the genre I remain blissfully unaware of their existence.
The Left Hand of Darkness is as exemplary a piece of Le Guin's style and philosophy as she's ever written, and probably the best introduction anyone could find to her work this side of the Earthsea saga (which is admittedly a bit more of an investment and more appropriate for the most hardcore fantasy enthusiasts). Harold Bloom famously wrote of the book that "Le Guin, more than Tolkien, has raised fantasy into high literature, for our time," which is exactly the kind of hyperbolic yet essentially right-spirited praise I would have heaped upon the work myself had I read it at the time of its publication (1969, twenty years prior to the formation of my zygote) without the benefit of hindsight to reveal how dated some aspects of the novel would one day appear in comparison with Tolkien's timeless masterpiece. Still, Left Hand is certainly more worthy of the "high lit" label than 99.999...% of the crap masquerading as science fiction (most of it published under the Tor and Bantam labels, of course), and you know a woman's doing damn fine work as an author when even as blatant a misogynist as Bloom recognizes her craft.
I wish I could give it the analysis it deserves at present, but due to my massive backlog of pending critiques (specifically of works not forty-three years old) I'm going to have to summarize it with nothing but Twitter hashtags until a full review at a later date: #GenderBender #FirstContact #AlienSurvivalSaga #LikeNothingYou'veEverRead.
Arbitrary Numerical Score: 9/10
Posted by Caleb at 5:30 PM 0 comments
Labels: Classics That Are Classic , Le Guin Est La Femme , Queer Theory Is Unproven , Rubber Forehead Aliens , SciFeminism , Terrific Titles
For They Shall (Not) Be Satisfied
Disclaimer: this review offers no context for the film's narrative and a number of my comments on that score, making the assumption you have read my earlier review of the novel.
I realize it's considered bad form to start off a review of any piece by lambasting it for its weakest element, but I cannot tell you just how tempted I was to entitle this critique "Shake Shake, Shake Shake-a-Shake It." Of all the major tentpole films in recent decades that have tortured the audience with madly aggressive handheld camera work, The Hunger Games is surely the most egregious offender, and small wonder coming from the cinematographer who brought us the incomprehensibly muddled rugby sequences of Invictus. Good luck following any of the actual action in the action flick portion of the film (i.e. the entire third act), and to the easily motion sick among you I recommend skipping the greasy popcorn this time around. Additionally, I should warn any of you with editing experience or cinematographic aspirations to prepare yourselves from aneurism at the breakneck cuts between the various handheld angles, even when they manage to defy all story logic and to sever continuity of action.
Still, while the shoddy camerawork and editing may mar every moment of motion in THG (which are, admittedly, not quite as abundant as you might think if you have seen only the trailers and never read the novel), the mise-en-scène of the first act act is nearly skillful enough to compensate for it. The opening shots of an impoverished, post-post-industrial Appalachia establish in seconds a desperate, pervasive quietus that colors and contextualizes the (initially) sparse dialogue every bit as effectively as did Collins's prose. Harsh browns and yellows of torn and faded clothing clash with the verdant green of the forest to reveal a humanity humbled by its own sins and betrayals, a pitiful remnant of civilization clinging to a newly victorious wild, whose trees stand sentinel opposite the too-clean white of the Capitol officers.
In the case of the first thirty minutes of THG, a picture truly is worth a thousand words.
The subdued anguish of these early scenes is embodied nowhere more effectively than in the haunting complexion worn by Jennifer Lawrence, a shoe-in for her second Academy Award nomination and strong contender for the award itself, if I may be so bold as to mention the possibility in March. Yond Katniss Everdeen has a lean and hungry look, and if Lawrence's eyes perhaps do not contain the latent danger I pictured from my reading, they certainly reveal a cold sort of fire that is equally unsettling. Yes, you troubling naysayers, Lawrence is perhaps a healthier weight than would be expected given her character's circumstances and the descriptions of the text, but it is unreasonable and reprehensible to hold all Hollywood stars to the metamorphic – and downright dangerous – physical standards of the kind held by Christian Bale for his method.
Morally disquieting criticisms of her physicality aside (and yes, she is almost certainly the wrong ethnicity for the part), Lawrence delivers a stunning performance to put the collective cast of the Harry Potter franchise to shame. Every look, every line is delivered as Katniss, and her hyper-expressive eyes reveal as pathos every bit as powerful as the desperate opening landscapes, entire generations of unseen oppression weighed in every half-pensive, half-smoldering look.
What a shame, then, that Lawrence's dramatic weight is arguably the film's only impetus to move its meaning beyond the opening act. Were we to sever the first half hour or so of The Hunger Games from its culmination, we might be left with a compelling short sci-fi flick on the psychological effects of systemic oppression, a study in the desperation of subsistence and the poignancy of self-sacrifice. Alas that the show must go on. Other than a moment of appallingly bad CGI, there is little to complain about in the second act save for its interminability and lack of imagination, but the third act not only manages to careen into a madcap handycam misadventure but to betray the entire core concept of the story in the process, and to do it in the laziest way possible to boot.
That is a strong claim, so allow me to elaborate.
Those of you who read my review of the novel might recall some of my descriptions of social commentary in THG, including its harsh deconstruction of consumerist culture in the western world and specifically the degeneracy of the entertainment industry.
-Semi-Spoilers Ahead-
Perspective: The Hunger Games is a movie about children forced to fight to the death for the reality TV kicks of an callous, morally debased bourgeoisie. Twenty-three of them are brutally murdered, usually on-screen.
Unironic comment I heard from a eight-to-ten-year-old child walking out of the theater with his parents: "That was so AWESOME, Mom, can I get a bow and arrow?"His mother laughed, of course. Kids say the darndest things, right?
Suffice it to say that the moment brought new meaning to the phrase "a culture of death," and certainly not in the way Pope John Paul II might have used it.
We can talk all day about the distinctions between Morality and Art – and I have, believe me – but in this case it's a rather moot discussion since THG isn't particularly good art anyway. It's a poorly filmed, well-acted, occasionally gripping but mostly-just-functional action flick about kids killing each other. No, it's not high art, but it's pretty decent spring-blockbuster entertainment. And what's really disturbing about it is that it's not disturbing.
Everyone and their mom remembers being forced at some young age to stomach their way through Golding's Lord of the Flies in either novel or film format (usually both), but did any of us actually enjoy it? I don't mean "enjoy" in the sense of an aesthetically moving experience; I mean "enjoy" as in "have a swell ol' time." And I'm guessing the answer is a fairly unanimous "HELL no." Lord of the Flies is enjoyable in the same way a root canal is; it's painful as anything to get through, but the hope going in is that you'll in some way be a better (or in this case more educated) person at the end of the ordeal, or at least more prepared to deal with some of the darker elements of human nature.
The Hunger Games novel was a similar experience for me, albeit a more intense and readable one than Golding's ponderous piece of the canon. The Hunger Games film, however, was a different animal altogether, not a horrific ordeal to induce frightful contemplation but an invigorating PG-13 survival adventure piece in the vein of Swiss Family Robinson. A film that downplays the horror of desperation and frenzied murder in favor of the "fun" of the thing or the totally badass way Katniss can put an arrow through an eye a hundred yards out. Also, teen romance, because nothing says Hollywood integrity like transforming a complex, calculated survival relationship facade to a grab for Twilight's piece of the teenybopper pie*!
Total inversion of its original media message aside, eminently unadventurous director Gary Ross misses almost every opportunity to turn the latter half of his film into something artistically worthwhile. Never mind the "meaning" of the reality TV conceit: Ross fails to take advantage of its film potential in anything more than the most cursory fashion, throwing us a few overindulgent clips of the "gamemaker" control panel and Donald Sutherland's paycheck while ignoring the manifold opportunities of the television format itself, to say nothing of capitol reactions beyond sweeping views of Stanley Tucci's character's studio audience (a Caesar Flickerman whom he handles quit well, admittedly). What we are left with is as generic an action adventure set as anyone could have concocted, complete with a climax that not only flaunts its pathetic CGI budget but openly flouts the novel's original depiction of the hybrid child-wolf monsters in the most insulting way possible.
In the end, The Hunger Games is a wasted opportunity with little hope for sequel improvement unless Ross is torn from the helm by some act of divine mercy. Those who haven't read the book and do not intend to do so might enjoy this well-acted, artificially vanilla-flavored Hollywood teen flic, but fans are are advised to enter with low expectations if they must enter at all.
Arbitrary Numerical Score: 6/10 as a film (mostly for the first act), and 4/10 as an adaptation.
* And may God have mercy on the soul of whoever is responsible for that vile marketing label.
Posted by Caleb at 11:12 AM 1 comments
Labels: Completely Missing the Point , Handycams from Hell , Murder as Family Fun , Occupy Panem , The Book Was Better
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text:
Dane Terry
1. Eagles
2. Normal At Last
3. Kids
4. Fighter
5. The Working Class
6. Moonshiner's Boy
7. House That Harry Built
8. Clown
9. My Baby Don't Wanna Know
10. Volton Destroyer of Stars
11. Game Day
Buy 180-gram LP w/ download
On this, his first "official" album following a string of CD-Rs, Terry explodes his craft in scope and meaning, jumping across genres with almost each and every track – ironic nods at the comforts of a regular life in the sitcom-esque "Normal At Last," reminiscences of wild young love in the tender ballad "Kids," piano bar melting-into-the-stool inspiration in "Clown" and "Game Day." These are balanced against a number of strains of country/roots that occupy much of the center of Color Movies – "The Working Class" is like if the Mekons stopped laughing, "Moonshiner's Boy" a papercut of bad-man noir, "My Baby Don't Wanna Know" the sort of honky-tonk that must be fun to play – which seem to center on Terry's Midwestern upbringing. There's a sense of what he was born with and what he's learned going across every song here, but two in particular stand out: a poignant tale of coming out to his family in "Fighter," and a complex relationship with a wild force in "Voltron, Destroyer Of Stars" that might merit some unpacking in my next therapy session for how it left me feeling. Look – this guy is fucking incredible, as a songwriter, a lyricist, and a multi-instrumentalist. He could be the next Elton John, the next Mark Eitzel, the next Randy Newman, and he has the potential to best all three. How long is it gonna take for you and everybody else to get on board?
- Doug Mosurock, STILL SINGLE
Canada/Mexico | International