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1:15 am EDT, May 4, 2017
'Dean's Top 13 Zepp Traxx' and other notable mixtape moments in media
By Natalie Fisher | 1:15 am EDT, May 4, 2017
Did you hear? Dean Winchester made Castiel a mixtape, pass it on. We use this golden opportunity to examine the use of the mixtape as a narrative tool in fiction.
Last week's Supernatural, a plot-heavy piece penned by a new combo of writers — season 12 new hire Meredith Glynn and veteran Robert Berens — saw the long-awaited return of Castiel. It's been four episodes (but thanks to some mini-hiatuses, seven weeks) since the angel has appeared, causing worry both on- and off-screen about what might have happened to him on his jaunt to Heaven, a trip the Winchesters knew nothing about.
We unfortunately didn't get to see any of what went down Upstairs — Cas is not, putting it mildly, a favorite of the other angels, so the return to his roots was quite the turning point. We follow this arc just as the Winchesters do — through Dean's multiple unanswered calls and attempts to track him over the past weeks, through Sam's reassurance that Cas is indestructible, through their pursuit of Kelly Kline in his absence.
When Cas comes home, he casually lets himself into the bunker, where the brothers desperately grill him about what the hell happened and where he's been. The way Dean handles Castiel in moments of stress, particularly in contrast to the reactions and behavior between Sam and Castiel, has long caused people to speculate over the dynamic of their relationship. Those differences were stark this week. Sam genuinely welcomes Cas, whereas Dean stalks off angrily, overcome. However, because we're talking about our feelings this season, the pair later have a more sincere conversation about the problem at hand: Dean expresses why his worry turns to aggression and Cas breaks down the reasons for his actions — that he keeps failing, and needs to prove himself with a win.
This is all very healthy and touching, but when this episode aired, the overpowering virtual sound drowning out any other aspect of the scene was a roaring hysteria of MIXTAPE – several hundred thousand Supernatural fans screaming "He made him a mixtape. He made him a mixtape. A MIXTAPE." Which, yes. That really did happen.
The reconciliatory conversation is kicked off when Cas follows Dean to his bedroom in order to return a compilation mix that Dean had, at some point, given him off-screen, for his long solo road trip chasing the nephilim. The tape is a classic old-school hand-annotated cassette, labelled "Deans [sic] Top 13 Zepp Traxx" — always keen to educate Castiel about humanity, Dean seems to have carefully curated a mixtape of songs by his favorite band Led Zeppelin to keep the angel company on the road.
Yes, in the rest of the episode, things go to shit. Yes, Castiel later steals the Colt from under Dean's pillow (when?) and goes after Kelly alone, hoping to kill her so that Sam and Dean don't have to. Yes, he gets kidnapped by Kelly and corrupted by the unborn nephilim, seeming to think the son of Lucifer is the new Messiah. Yes, he gave Sam and Dean the dreaded sleep tap in order to run away from them. But you guys. The mixtape. Dean gave him a mixtape, and when he thinks Dean is deal-breaker angry with him, he tries to return it as an apology, which Dean refuses to allow.
Look, let's not front — the whole concept of giving back a symbolic object at the assumed break-down of a relationship ("It's a gift. You keep those.") reads like the returning of an engagement ring. The implication of this exchange — especially for a character like Dean, whose battle with toxic masculinity and what he allows himself to express despite it is a huge feature of the show — is eyebrow-raising.
Yes, shippers are delighted, and it's a very understandable read: one of the most personal, domestic, off-hand moments that fans have ever seen between the pair. But while a mix isn't always a declaration of romance, it is always an intimate declaration of care, whether that's for yourself or for someone else. A mixtape is, for anyone who loses themselves in music the way that Dean does, a symbol of love: whether that's passionate, platonic, parental, to make a statement, to share your moods, or to show support.
These guys are bad at emotions when they're not about to die. Earlier this season, Cas told the Winchesters he loved them. Sam's pretty good at openly expressing his uncomplicated appreciation for Cas on a day to day basis – his feelings are stable. In contrast, Dean's hot-headed, volatile reactions often seem to have the angel on the back foot. However, with that tape, Dean, in his own language, said it back.
A tape is a gesture that involves effort — particularly in the traditional format, on cassette, where the manual re-recording of songs is a delicate art. As technology changed, mix CDs fulfilled the same purpose, but of course that process is a little more automated. Nowadays, anyone can curate a playlist in minutes on Spotify, and while the heart of the gesture may be the same, the time and energy is just not the same as putting together a cassette. Dean's a bit of a Luddite, sure, and Cas' truck is old as balls, but fact of the matter is: it's 2017, and he still made him a freakin' tape.
We don't know the tracklist, but we do know that Led Zeppelin are an immensely significant part of Dean's life. Despite the music itself never being featured in the show (presumably they can't get the rights) he mentions them all the time, once citing "Ramble On" and "Traveling Riverside Blues" as two of his favorites, so Cas' tape likely includes those. Both his parents loved the band — Mary first gave John her number because he knew the words to every Led Zeppelin song — so the need he feels to introduce Castiel to this music as well can be easily interpreted as a further move to bring Cas into the family fold, just in case the season hasn't shouted that particular sentiment through a megaphone enough. After all, once we all stop screaming MIXTAPE! MIXTAPE! MIXTAPE!, what's really important about that scene is the loud and proud declaration from Dean that Team Free Will — Sam, Dean, and Cas — are always better as a unit than any other option.
But back to the mixtape. A curated playlist can be used to say so many things — to introduce, to inspire, to reveal, to memorialize. Music as a form of expression, both from the creator and to the listener, has always been a core element of human society, and no matter what new inventions change our way of listening, we'll always keep giving the gift of ourselves to one another via our music.
Lin-Manuel Miranda, who, as we all know, is a chronic overachiever who always needs a side hustle, not only curated The Hamilton Mixtape (released, by his request, on cassette) but is also currently burning off the restless energy that he used to put into organizing his Ham4Ham events by making themed Spotify mixes for his Twitter followers, often referencing the tape and CD mixes he used to make in the past, for his friends and wife, and explaining the constraints of the craft, particularly when he's stuck using shuffle-happy Spotify in order to share. "The art is in the arrangement," he insists, and he even personally assisted a fan in making a crush-revealing mix. His rules are pretty similar to those laid out by Rob Fleming, the protagonist of Nick Hornby's High Fidelity:
"Making a tape is like writing a letter — there's a lot of erasing, rethinking and starting again. A good compilation tape, like breaking up, is hard to do. You've got to kick off with a corker to grab attention. Then you got to take it up a notch. But you don't want to blow your wad, so then you've got to cool it off a notch. And you can't have two tracks by the same artist side by side, unless you've done the whole thing in pairs and… oh, there are loads of rules."
Rob Sheffield, the greatest music journalist (actually, the most validating writer for any reader who's ever been a fan of anything) alive even named his first memoir Love Is A Mix Tape, and it's structured around the mixes he's made or been given. As he puts it, "The times you lived through, the people you shared those times with—nothing brings it all to life like an old mixtape. It does a better job of storing up memories than actual brain tissue can do. Every mixtape tells a story. Put them together, and they add up to the story of a life."
"There are all kinds of mixtapes. There is always a reason to make one." That's Sheffield again, and it's what this article is actually about – Dean's gift to Castiel is just one of many, many examples in media where a mix has been used, subtly or overtly, as a symbolic tool. They don't just pop into being by accident, they're a tangible expression of the effort you're willing to put in for someone. In honor of Dean's unknown top "traxx," here are 13 other mixes which have represented or defined relationships in fiction.
Mixtapes in media
'Submarine'
"I think music can make things a bit more real, sometimes." Truer words were never spoken than these, albeit extremely awkwardly, by a father attempting to bond with his son in Richard Ayoade's adaptation of Submarine. Based on the 2008 novel by Joe Dunthorne and set in 1986 (so the cassette format here is standard, not retro) Submarine is a British slice of life coming of age drama about Oliver Tate, a 15 year old boy desperate to lose his virginity and stop his parents from splitting up.
Oliver's father, who's suffering from depression, makes him this compilation when he learns that Oliver has a girlfriend, explaining that it includes songs he used to listen to during his early "formative" relationships, including some break-up songs, "just in case things don't work out." He's labelled Side A "Celebratory" and Side B "Despondency," and like most good mixes, it's a well-meaning gift aimed to educate and equip someone you love emotionally. He's saying to his son: here. You're new to this. This is how we cope with things. This is what I once felt.
'The Raven Cycle'
In Blue Lily, Lily Blue, the penultimate volume of Maggie Stiefvater's acclaimed urban fantasy series The Raven Cycle (recently announced as being developed for television!) the gift of a mixtape from one character to another is revealed incidentally. The tapedeck in Adam Parrish's patchwork junker of a car, known as the Hondayota, contains, much to everyne's suprise, a dual-sided mix created by one Ronan Lynch — by hand or by Ronan's unique power of dreaming, we're unsure.
Despite its aggressive and comedic nature (Side A: Parrish's Hondayota Alone Time; Side B: A Shitbox Sing-Along) this is a gentle romantic gesture – Ronan, after coming to terms with his sexuality and feelings for Adam, spends the book offhandedly courting the other boy, including several gifts and other intimacies. His interest bears fruit: in the final volume, Adam, who was assumed straight upon his introduction, carefully turns over the potential of Ronan in his mind and ultimately goes for it.
'Bring It On'
Romance is not the primary plot of the iconic cheerleading classic Bring It On, but it does compliment the film's more crucial themes (of competition, creativity, race and socioeconomic boundaries within a competitive sport) as a tasty little side dish. The new captain of the Rancho Carne Toros, Torrance Shipman, begins to bond with Cliff, the grungy, Clash-loving twin brother of her team's new recruit. The pair are flirtatious and supportive of one another's endeavours, while Torrance's boyfriend, away at college, encourages her to step away from her passions.
Cliff, unaware of her long-distance relationship, shows up at her place with a tape for Torrance and witnesses the couple together. He angrily gives her the tape anyway, feeling led-on, and Torrance listens to it. Cliff's tape features voice-recorded commentary from himself — a nice touch, in the world of the mixtape – and at least one of his own songs, about Torrance. ("Oh, Torrance//Can't stand your cheerleading squad//But I love your pom-poms//I'd feed you bonbons all night…") Presumably it also includes other, better, songs, because Torrance loves it, finds her inspiration, and breaks up with her boyfriend.
'Guardians of the Galaxy'
One of the most famous mixtape references of the 21st century, Awesome Mix Vol. 1 was a cassette tape made by Meredith Quill for her son Peter, so he could appreciate all the music that she'd loved when she was a teenager. Her final gift to him when dying of cancer was a second tape, and Peter had both of these tapes on him back in 1988 when he was abducted from Earth by aliens. Peter listens to the first tape constantly, and it serves as a security blanket, a grounding connection to his mother — he even jeopardizes his own escape recover the tapes and Walkman from a prison guard.
The official soundtrack of Guardians of the Galaxy (a version of the album was actually released for sale on cassette) was comprised of the songs on Awesome Mix Vol. 1 including "Moonage Daydream," "Cherry Bomb" and of course, "Hooked on a Feeling." The cherished and still-wrapped gift from his mother, a second tape, goes unopened by Peter until the end of the movie, and will feature as the soundtrack for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
'No Strings Attached'
In this charming, naturalistic rom-com penned by New Girl showrunner Elizabeth Meriweather, Ashton Kutcher's Adam, a TV production assistant and Natalie Portman's Emma, a doctor, are friends who decide to start a casual sexual relationship without falling in love. Spoiler alert: strings very much become attached. Midway through the movie, Adam visits Emma's apartment when she and her friends are synced up mid-menses, and brings them a "period mix" — a specially curated CD to make their time of the month more amusing.
Emma finds this delightful – and kudos to Meriweather for normalizing menstrual cycle talk between men and women — but takes this gesture as an emergency sign of too much romantic investment, and calls off their hook-up relationship for a time. Sample songs: Leona Lewis' "Bleeding Love," Frank Sinatra's "I've Got the World on a String," and U2's "Sunday, Bloody Sunday." What a guy, though.
'High Fidelity'
High Fidelity, both the British Nick Hornby novel and the American film adaptation starring John Cusack, are absolutely brimming with mixtapes. The story follows the relationship dramas of record-store owner Rob, and though the page-to-screen shift in setting between London and Chicago changes something of the tone of the story, along with some of the featured music, the heart remains the same, as Rob tracks down his five worst break-ups of all time to see what went wrong. Rob and his morose music-elitist employees constantly discuss their tastes, plying each other with compilations to introduce each other to artists or set a certain mood (a peppy Monday Morning mix goes down badly.)
The mixtape is also Rob's go-to as a romantic tool, and he spends some of the narrative addressing the audience — I've quoted the novel above — about how to make a great mix. As he finally repairs his relationship with his long-term girlfriend Laura, he catches himself making a tape for a young reporter he's just met, and calls himself on his bullshit. The story closes as Rob finally stops allowing himself to be distracted and impulsive and appreciate Laura, and he muses on the tape he how wants to make for her, a metaphor for putting effort into making her happy.
'The Perks of Being a Wallflower'
Charlie, the first-person protagonist in Stephen Chbosky's epistolary novel, is a deeply introverted and poorly socialized teen who, as a high school freshman, is befriended by two seniors, step-siblings Patrick and Sam. Through this group of friends he begins to get involved in normal teenage activities and experimentation, often not processing or understanding them in an appropriate way. Thoughts on Charlie's behavior are divisive – some see his lack of social development as a marker of Asperger's Syndrome, others as PTSD after his childhood sexual abuse, but that's a conversation for another day. Charlie's love for his new friends is very real and very pure, as is his love for the literature and music that he discovers.
There are a few mixes on this list that were given as a gesture of conscious or subconscious intimacy but did not directly declare romance — with the couple resulting in romance regardless. This is the only one that's a gift of genuine platonic friendship. The movie glosses over this, but when Charlie draws Patrick in their group's Secret Santa, he makes him a mixtape with great care, pondering over how it feels to have crafted this collection, how it might help his friend ("I hope it's the kind of second side that he can listen to whenever he drives alone and feel like he belongs to something whenever he's sad. I hope it can be that for him.") and how the artists who wrote the songs may feel, to have emotionally affected so many people. It's titled One Winter.
'One Tree Hill'
Anyone who watched WB-to-CW transfer One Tree Hill will remember Peyton Sawyer's undying love of music and the arc of her Friends With Benefit compilation album. Both a fictional device and a real physical soundtrack, the mix was born as a way for Peyton to both connect to her biological mother Ellie and support her friend Hayley in her music career. As Peyton and Ellie get closer, it's revealed that Ellie has been diagnosed with breast cancer and is terminally ill, and the Friends With Benefit album turns into a full blown charity project with proceeds going toward the National Breast Cancer Foundation.
Various artists who contributed to the record actually appear on the show — Gavin DeGraw, Audioslave, Tyler Hilton, Jack's Mannequin, Fall Out Boy – hey, remember when she banged Pete Wentz? Sadly, Peyton's mother passes away before she could see final product come together. But what took the story to another level is the fact that the Friends With Benefit was made into a real-life soundtrack for One Tree Hill, and a portion of the funds went to the National Breast Cancer Foundation when people purchased a copy. This unique interweaving of plot and fourth-wall breaking merchandise was, at the time, a newer concept for post-Y2K kids to grasp.
'Nick & Norah's Infinite Playlist'
Given that the actual title of this story incorporates a reference to the modern-day mixtape, it's unsurprising that both the movie and the book of this YA romance feature the concept of mixes. In this instance, high schooler Norah feels a connection to Nick via the break-up mixes (CDs, not tapes, but this is an extremely Gen Y setting) he made for his ex-girlfriend Tris – when Tris immediately threw the gifts in the trash, Norah would scavenge them, telling her BFF that whoever he is, he makes the best mixes in the world.
We don't get to learn the actual tracklist, but in the film we see her examining with a hand-drawn case, entitled "Road to Closure Vol. 12" and the book sees Norah gushing thusly: "Cesaria Evora to Wilco to Ani [DeFranco, presumably] followed by Rancid, capped off with Patsy Cline blending into a Fugazi finale." When Norah accidentally meets Nick and realizes who he is, the pair spend the night running around New York City trying to find a secret gig, and discover that they are musical soulmates. Somewhere in the world of unwritten fiction, they're presumably making each other mixes to this very day.
'Avenue Q'
While we're talking about falling in love in New York City, we must also include Avenue Q's "Mix Tape," which, though comedic and taking place between two Sesame Street-style puppets, is actually the only scenario on this list which involves analysis of the tracklist from the receiver – the quintessential "but what does this mean?" that many an uncertain crush has struggled over. Is it just a tape? Or is it something more? Was it given with the same emotional intent that I am now applying to it? In this circumstance, the protagonist Princeton gives his friend Kate Monster (the show also includes some human-monster prejudice, so the crush situation here is even more tentative) a tape he made, apparently incidentally, while going through some old CDs.
Kate's at first disheartened, with songs including "You've Got A Friend" and the theme from Friends, but becomes more hopeful as the mix becomes more romantic. Kate and Princeton seem to express their feelings in song titles, including Princeton pointing out "I Have To Say I Love You In A Song," the true meaning of a mix is left up in the air, as Princeton exclaims how excited he is to make similar tapes for all their friends. The couple does organize a date, but honestly, it's very unclear if the mix was an intentionally romantic or just an oblivious gesture – a frustration that many such recipients can empathize with, I'm sure.
'Boyhood'
This one is such a tugger of heartstrings. In the universally lauded Boyhood, Richard Linklater's ambitious project spanning eleven years of filming that shows the aging of a family in real time, Ethan Hawke's character Mason Evans presents his son Mason Jr with a very special gift, The Black Album, on his fifteenth birthday. The Black Album, a 3-disc edition, is his father's curation of what The Beatles would have been like if they'd stayed together — the best solo work of John, Paul, George and Ringo from their various projects, with an extensive explanation of how the work, mixed together, elevates it all – that too much Lennon becomes too self-involved; too much McCartney, too sentimental, and so on.
It's a genius concept, indicative of so much genuine passion both for the music itself and for creating a connection with your loved-one listener, but what makes it even better is that The Black Album originated in real life. Ethan Hawke created this for his own child – the idea, the tracklist, and the extensive, opinionated liner notes (which Hawke published on Buzzfeed) were all initially intended for Hawke's daughter Maya, and the actor allowed the mix to be included in the deeply personal film.
'Eleanor & Park'
Another 80s-set story when cassettes were a way of life when to came to sharing music, a mixtape is the catalyst for the relationship between the titular characters, Eleanor Douglas and Park Sheridan. Both are outsiders. Park is a mixed race teen with feelings of inadequacy in many aspects of his life, but Eleanor's situation is deeply dark — the novel is primarily about the physical and emotional abuse that she, her mother and siblings suffer from her stepfather, and her attempts to hide or escape from it. Park, and music, become crucial to her coping mechanisms.
When a bullying incident forces Eleanor to sit by Park on her first day at her new school, he notices a Smiths lyric on her notebook, and does a snobby little bit of gatekeeping when he discovers she hasn't actually heard the band. However, when she explains that it's music that she fantasizes about being able to love (seeing stories in magazines, but having no access to a music player besides mainstream radio) he impulsively makes her a tape of all his favorite Smiths songs, with some other bands thrown in as well. He also lends her his Walkman to listen, and when she gushes over how she could listen to "Love Will Tear Us Apart" forever, he makes her another tape with just that song on repeat.
'Elizabethtown'
When I think "mixtape" I don't necessarily immediately jump to "Kirsten Dunst," and yet, this is the second entry on this list to feature her as a party in the gifting of a mix. In Bring It On, she's the recipient, but this time she's the giver — and what a mix it is. Fun fact – Dunst's role here has the dubious honor of being the character that inspired the "manic pixie dream girl" label (eccentric, adorable, whimsical creatures who do not pursue their own happiness except to encourage a male protagonist to embrace life) and though she's by no means the worst offender of the trope (can anyone say Garden State?) it was a review of this movie that coined the phrase.
Elizabethtown, described by Roger Ebert as "the most unrelenting meet-cute in movie history," is the story of Orlando Bloom's Drew Baylor, who's suicidal after a billion-dollar career failure. Right as he attempts to kill himself, he receives news that his father has died suddenly and has to travel to his family's hometown to deal with the body and the funeral. On his flight, he meets Claire, a quirky and forward flight attendant, and continues to contact and meet up with her on his visit. After some ups and downs, Claire encourages Drew to take a road trip across America with his father's ashes, and gives him not just a single CD, a hand-picked soundtrack for every minute of his 32 hour journey encased in an entire scrapbook album, with directions and advice of places to visit- which leads him, of course, to find her waiting for him in a special location.
Which traxx do you think were on Dean's mixtape?
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To evaluate ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence after breast-conserving surgery for locally advanced breast cancer.
A retrospective observational cohort study was performed in patients with locally advanced breast cancer submitted to breast-conserving surgery after neoadjuvant chemotherapy based on an adriamycin-cyclophosphamide-paclitaxel regimen. We evaluated the clinical, pathologic, immunohistochemistry, and surgical factors that contribute to ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence and locoregional recurrence. A Kaplan-Meier analysis and Cox model were used to evaluate the main factors related to disease-free survival.
Of the 449 patients who received neoadjuvant chemotherapy, 98 underwent breast-conserving surgery. The average diameter of the tumors was 5.3 cm, and 87.2% reached a size of up to 3 cm. Moreover, 86.7% were classified as clinical stage III, 74.5% had T3-T4 tumors, 80.5% had N1-N2 axilla, and 89.8% had invasive ductal carcinoma. A pathologic complete response was observed in 27.6% of the tumors, and 100.0% of samples had free margins. The 5-year actuarial overall survival rate was 81.2%, and the mean follow-up was 72.8 months. The rates of ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence and locoregional recurrence were 11.2% and 15.3%, respectively. Multifocal morphology response was the only factor related to ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence disease-free survival (p=0.04). A multivariate analysis showed that the pathologic response evaluation criteria in solid tumors (RECIST)-breast cutoff was the only factor related to locoregional recurrence disease-free survival (p=0.01).
Breast-conserving surgery is a safe and effective therapy for selected locally advanced breast tumors.
Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women. Approximately 1.7 million new cases are estimated to occur worldwide, and mortality is increasing in developing countries, primarily because the disease is not diagnosed until it is in an advanced stage (1). In the past decade, advanced stage III and IV carcinomas represented 8.5% of tumors in United States and 44.7% of tumors in Brazil, making advanced carcinoma a public health problem in the latter country (2).
From clinical, biological and pathologic perspectives, locally advanced breast cancer (LABC) represents a relatively heterogeneous group of tumors. Although neoadjuvant chemotherapy (NC) does not increase the survival rates, it is used to improve tumor resection, increase the rates of breast-conservative surgery (BCS) (3,4), and identify patients with better prognoses, that is, patients who exhibit a pathologic complete response (pCR) (5).
The rate of conservative surgery after NC varies from 37% to 82% (6,7); however, only 1.7% to 28% of these cases are classified as LABC (7,8). The role of conservative surgery in the treatment of breast cancer is well established if the surgery is combined with radiotherapy (5,9). Studies of large cohorts of patients with LABC who underwent NC and conservative surgery are limited (10). The safety of BCS may be assessed based on the rates of local and locoregional recurrence (LRR). The selection of patients for BCS depends on the tumor characteristics, pre- and post-chemotherapy clinical-radiologic correlation, chemotherapy type, the marking and resection of the tumor bed, excision margins, the type of response to chemotherapy, and the molecular subtype (11-14). Local recurrence and LRR are influenced by the tumor characteristics, the size of the initial or residual tumor, the rate of initial or residual lymph node metastatic disease, the type of response to NC, the duration of follow-up, the expression of markers measured by immunohistochemistry, and the molecular subtype (11-15). However, studies of large cohorts are necessary to assess the safety of BCS in patients with LABC subjected to the same chemotherapy regimen. These studies should evaluate the clinical, pathologic, and molecular factors associated with ipsilateral breast tumor recurrence (IBTR) and LRR.
This study examined a retrospective observational cohort of sequential patients with a clinical diagnosis of non-metastatic LABC who had not undergone previous treatment but received NC and BCS at an oncology tertiary hospital between October 2005 and December 2012. LABC was defined as patients with clinical stage III disease, i.e., advanced tumors at diagnosis with tumors larger than 5 cm, clinical N2 metastasis, clinical skin infiltration, or clinical "peau d'orange" at diagnosis. Of the 449 patients subjected to NC, 98 received BCS and were included in the study. Patients who underwent a mastectomy were excluded from the analysis. Patients were selected for BCS based on tumor size, breast-tumor relation, clinical aspects, response to NC, radiological and post-NC evaluation and surgeon expertise. T3 tumor selection was based breast-tumor relation, associated with free surgical margins. Only localized clinical T4 tumors were selected for BCS. Inflammatory breast cancer was not selected for BCS. Two patients who initially underwent BCS had intraoperative positive margins and received a mastectomy. Thus, they were excluded from the analysis. Table 1 presents the differences between the groups of surgeries performed.
Table 1 Main characteristics of the patients submitted to NC.
At the time of the observation, the standard NC regimen consisted of 4 cycles of AC (doxorubicin [adriamycin] 60 mg/m2 + cyclophosphamide 600 mg/m2), followed by 4 cycles or 12 cycles of T (Taxol® [paclitaxel] 175 mg/m2 or 80 mg/m2, respectively). Standard Brazilian surgical treatment consisted of quadrantectomy combined with level III axillary lymph node dissection, and all patients were subjected to whole-breast adjuvant radiotherapy (5040 cGy) combined with a boost to the surgical bed (1000 cGy). They eventually also received radiotherapy to the supraclavicular fossa. Axillary radiotherapy was not performed. Five-year adjuvant hormonal therapy was indicated for patients with estrogen/progesterone-receptor (ER/PR)-positive tumors. No additional chemotherapy was administered after surgery and was only indicated as a palliative treatment in cases of recurrence. Neoadjuvant trastuzumab was not administered, and adjuvant trastuzumab was provided to some patients.
Clinical, surgical, and histological data as well as tumor marker expression were assessed using immunohistochemistry; all data were standardized. For bilateral tumors, the tumors exhibiting the most advanced stage were considered. The tumor slides were assessed by pathologists (CSN and LFAM), and pathologic characteristics were based on open biopsy specimen at the time of diagnosis. The tumor, node, metastasis (TNM) clinical staging system (7th edition, 2010) was used. Prior to chemotherapy, clinical and radiologic staging and systematic breast assessment were performed for all patients. These clinical criteria were used to identify LABC. If radiologic evaluation resulted in down-staging, the patients were considered for analysis, but clinical-breast radiologic evaluation defined the staging. The classification of the morphologic response formulated by Chen et al. (11) from MD Anderson Cancer Center (MDA) was used to classify the pathologic response to chemotherapy in the breast, which is based on the response of the solid mass, residual multifocal disease, and no residual tumor (absence of tumor and in situ carcinoma). Stable disease was added to this classification, and we considered it a morphologic classification. The response evaluation criteria in solid tumors (RECIST) radiologic classification cutoff values were adapted for 1-dimensional pathologic breast assessment [(RECIST-breast (RECIST-B)], with the cutoff points for 1-dimensional invasive breast disease established as 30% for partial response and 10% for progressive disease (16). A pCR was defined as the absence of invasive disease in the breast and axilla.
The patients were selected based on clinical and radiologic aspects before and after NC. The selected patients were subjected to surgery, which was performed by a team comprising 5 surgical oncologists and 1 breast cancer specialist. The team's preferential approach was the resection of the entire disease area prior to NC (17). The planning was based on tumor marking performed prior to NC, clinical assessment, and radiologic assessment before and after NC. The frozen section analyses were available during the surgeries. All patients were assessed by multidisciplinary staff during the postoperative period.
The patients were assessed every 6 months for 5 years, and then once per year for an additional 5 years. The total follow-up period was counted from the first visit to the last available day. Breast clinical and radiological annual evaluations were performed. In the presence of clinical signs, symptoms, or proven recurrence, the patient was submitted for new radiological staging. The time between the first evaluation to the surgery was evaluated. Disease-free survival (DFS) was defined as the time elapsed from the performance of quadrantectomy to either the recurrence of disease or the last follow-up visit. All patients who missed 2 scheduled visits were considered lost to follow-up.
The response to chemotherapy, IBTR, and LRR were assessed. IBTR was defined as a local relapse of breast cancer, even in the case of secondary breast local invasion. LRR was defined as local relapse associated with ipsilateral regional lymph node disease. Metachronous contralateral breast tumors were not considered to be recurrences. In the presence of recurrence, the patients were submitted to thoracic and abdominal tomography associated with bone scintigraphy.
Systematic assessment of samples in 10% neutral buffered formalin blocks was performed using a tissue microarray (TMA). The approximate molecular subtypes were assessed by immunohistochemistry. The tumor markers anti-ER SP1, anti-PR 1E2, anti-HER2/neu (clone 4B5), and anti-Ki-67 (clone 30-9) were used (Roche Diagnostics). Tumors were rated ER/PR-positive when nuclear labeling was evident in more than 1% of tumor cells. A semi-quantitative score was used for HER2 staining. A score of 0, 1+, or 2+ was considered negative staining, and a score of 3+ was considered positive staining. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) was performed for samples with a 2+ score. The approximate molecular subtypes were clustered as a function of the immunohistochemical results as follows: luminal A (ER/PR-positive, HER2-negative, and Ki-67<14), luminal B/HER-negative (ER/PR-positive, HER2-negative, and Ki-67 ≥14), luminal B/HER-positive (ER/PR-positive and HER2-positive), HER2 (ER/PR-negative and HER2-positive), and triple negative (ER/PR-negative and HER2-negative). In the absence of TMA information, the primary immunohistochemical lamina was reviewed. Discrepancies were discussed until reaching consensus. To evaluate the analysis, luminal A and luminal B/HER-negative samples were grouped into the luminal/HER-negative group.
The data were collected, standardized, tabulated, and analyzed using the SPSS 20.0 software for Mac® (Armonk, New York, NY). Univariate analyses of the categorical variables related to local and locoregional DFS were performed using the Kaplan-Meier method. The difference between the curves was assessed with the log-rank method. A Cox model was used to identify variables independently associated with local and locoregional DFS. We evaluated continuous variables without dichotomization. For Cox modeling, we evaluated categorical interest variables and variables exhibiting p<0.10 in the univariate analysis. An exploratory model was used for Cox multivariate analyses. The significance level was set to p<0.05.
The study was approved by the Research Ethics Committee, no. 135/2008.
This study adhered to the STROBE guidelines for cohort studies.
Ninety-eight patients with LABC who had undergone NC and BCS were evaluated. Tumor size, clinical TNM stage, pT-TNM, and pN-TNM were lower, whereas the incidence of triple-negative tumors was higher in the BCS group than the mastectomy group; age did not significantly differ between these groups (Table 1). The average age of patients who had undergone BCS was 48.5 years old, and the average duration of complaint was 8 months. Bilateral tumors were identified in 2% of samples. The average diameter of the tumors was 5.3 cm (2 to 8.5 cm). Clinical-radiologic staging was performed for all patients, but 4 patients (4.2%) were classified as stage IIa (T2N0) after initial radiologic examination and were further analyzed. Bone scintigraphy was performed for all patients. In 58.2% of patients, staging was based on chest radiographs and abdominal ultrasound, whereas it was based on thoracic and abdominal computed tomography in the remaining patients. All patients underwent mammography with breast ultrasound (64.3%) or ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) (23.5%). Lesions were preoperatively marked on the skin in 23.5% patients. The main characteristics related to tumor staging and treatment are described in Table 2.
Table 2 Univariate analysis of factors related to local and locoregional recurrence -free survival.
Chemotherapy treatment included the 4AC+4T (81.6%) and 4AC+12T (11.2%) regimens, and the standard regimen was modified in 7.1% of patients because of toxicity (4.1%) or disease progression (3.1%).
Surgery was performed 43 days after the end of chemotherapy, on average. The average duration from the first visit to surgery was 8.3 months. All patients underwent a quadrantectomy, and oncoplastic surgery was performed in 26.5% of patients, which was distributed as follows: central quadrantectomy (8.1%), rotation flap (7.1%), periareolar (5.1%), inferior pedicle (4.1%), and superior pedicle (2.0%). Level III axillary lymph node dissection was performed in 97.0% of patients, the sentinel lymph node was investigated in 2.0% of patients, and no axillary approach was employed in 1.0% of patients.
The margins were tumor-free in all patients, and 81.6% of patients harbored tumors measuring 12.3 mm (1 to 40 mm) on average. Moreover, 13.3% of patients had pCR, and the margins were not evaluated. In 5.1% of patients (5), the margins were considered free, and the distance measurement was not evaluated. The average weight of the surgical specimens was 233 g (41.5 to 980 g). The average number of dissected lymph nodes reported during pathologic evaluation was 18.5 (4 to 42). Table 3 presents the response to NC.
Table 3 Cox analysis of factors related to local and locoregional recurrence-free survival.
With regard to adjuvant therapy, 98% of patients received radiotherapy to the chest wall (5040 cGy) and a boost to the breast (1000 cGy) near the incision. Radiotherapy to the supraclavicular fossa was performed in 89.4% of patients. Two patients did not receive radiotherapy, 1 because of rapid disease progression and the other refused because of claustrophobia. Hormonal therapy was administered to 57.1% of patients and consisted of tamoxifen alone, anastrozole alone, or a combined regimen in 35.7%, 3%, and 18.4% of patients, respectively. Adjuvant trastuzumab was administered to only 2.0% of patients.
The average duration of follow-up was 64.1 months (13.4 to 105.7 months), with the follow-up period decreasing to 55.8 months (3.6 to 95.7 months) after surgery. After the exclusion of deaths due to disease, the average total duration of follow-up was 72.8 months (34.4 to 105.7 months) and 64.1 months (26.3 to 95.9 months) after surgery. Moreover, 6.1% of patients (6) were considered lost of follow-up, and 5/6 patients exhibited DFS with a mean time of 39.4 months (26.3-48.6 months).
By the end of the follow-up period, 19.5% of the patients had died from breast cancer, 5.1% had died from other causes, 7.1% were living with cancer, and 68.4% were alive and free of disease. The main sites of metastases were in the bones (16.3%), lungs (13.3%), liver (8.2%), and brain (4.1%). The overall actuarial survival (OS) rates at 36, 60, and 96 months were 87.7%, 81.2%, and 71.4%, respectively (Figure 1).
Figure 1 OS of patients with NC and BCS (upper images) and hazard risk of local recurrence DFS (lower images).
The average months after surgery for recurrence vary from 1.8 to 81.3 months and was 26.4, 26.8 and 27.1 months in general, IBTR and LRR, respectively. At 36 months 72.4% of the general recurrence occurred, 83.3% of the IBTR and 76.5% of the LRR. The overall DFS rates at 36, 60 and 96 months were 77.9%, 68.9% and 67.0%, respectively (Figure 1).
The IBTR rate was 11.2%. IBTR was classified as local recurrence associated with systemic disease (3.1%), local plus LRR (3.1%), breast recurrence alone (3.1%), and secondary breast invasion from sternal recurrence (2.0%). When assessing disease progression, some patients exhibited rapidly progressive disease with early local recurrence plus LRR (2.0%), sternal recurrence extending to the breast (2.0%), breast recurrence alone (3.1%), and multiple local recurrence plus LRR (4.1%). Excluding the instance of local sternal recurrence that infiltrated the breast, the primary recurrence rate was 9.3%.
A univariate analysis of local DFS relative to the categorical variables (Table 1) showed that the absence of necrosis (p=0.04) and the morphologic response to chemotherapy characterized by multifocal disease and stable disease were associated with poorer survival (p=0.04). Neither age [p=0.33, risk ratio 1.01, confidence interval (CI) 0.99-1.03] nor initial tumor size (p=0.35, risk ratio 1.06, CI 0.93-1.20) influenced IBTR DFS. The Cox univariate analysis, which was used to explore factors possibly related to IBTR DFS (Table 2), showed that multifocal morphology was the only factor associated with IBTR because it increased the IBTR 5.97-fold (p=0.04). Figure 1 shows the overall and morphology factor risk curves related to the hazard risk of local DFS.
The LRR rate was 15.3% and was distributed as follows: ipsilateral supraclavicular fossa (4.0%), ipsilateral axilla (3.1%), local and systemic recurrence (3.1%), breast recurrence alone (3.1%), and breast associated with sternal recurrence (2.0%).
A univariate analysis of the categorical variables relative to locoregional DFS (Table 1) showed that the pathologic RECIST-B response (p=0.003), necrosis (p=0.008), and morphology were related to locoregional DFS. Neither age (p=0.41, risk ratio 1.00, CI 0.98-1.03) nor initial tumor size (p=0.27, risk ratio 1.08, CI 0.94-1.23) influenced LRR DFS. The Cox univariate analysis showed that the absence of tumor necrosis at diagnosis increased the LRR 9.33-fold (p=0.03), multifocal morphology increased the risk of LRR 6.09-fold (p=0.04), and stable disease increased the risk of LRR 9.08-fold (p=0.03). However, the RECIST-B pathologic response was the main factor related to locoregional DFS (p=0.01) because stable RECIST-B disease increased the risk of LRR 16.93-fold (p=0.005). An exploratory Cox multivariate analysis model showed that RECIST-B pathologic response was the only factor related to locoregional DFS. Figure 2 shows the curves related to the hazard risk of locoregional DFS.
Figure 2 Hazard risk curves of locoregional DFS.
NC provides global survival similar to adjuvant chemotherapy, with the added advantage of identifying patients with better prognoses, that is, patients who exhibit pCR in addition to increasing the rates of BTC (18). The primary indication for NC is larger tumors or tumors with higher rates of lymph node involvement. When comparing patients treated with NC and BCS with patients subjected to mastectomy, the former have a lower T-TNM stage at diagnosis; higher rates of pCR; and higher rates of ER-negative, PR-negative, and triple-negative tumors, indicating bias in the analysis of this subgroup. This bias may influence the rates of recurrence and survival (19). In our group of patients, patients who underwent BCS exhibited better survival than the mastectomy group (p=0.002), which corroborated previous reports. Bias selection likely occurred based on tumor size, breast-tumor relation, response to NC, and molecular subtype (Table 1) because BCS was performed in patients with smaller tumors, lower clinical TNM stage, and a better response to NC. Because the characteristics differed between groups, we only evaluated patients who underwent BCS. Bleicher et al. evaluated Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) data from a cohort of 5,685 patients aged >66 years old with tumors >5 cm. Of these patients, 887 (15.6%) underwent BCS, and only 205 (3.6%) received NC. BCS was associated with a lower clinical stage and more NC, but only 101 patients received both NC and BCS, and these patients were not evaluated separately (20). Our study represents one of the largest institutional retrospective cohort studies of LABC treated with NC and BCS (11).
BCS is safe provided that the excision margins are free of disease and this treatment is combined with adjuvant radiotherapy to the breast (21, 22). BCS was initially used to treat tumors smaller than 3 cm associated with a 1-cm free margin. These criteria are changing, and smaller margins are currently accepted (23). A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials showed that BCS is a safe treatment for patients with clinical stage I and II disease and tumors smaller than 5 cm (24). SEER data evaluated for tumors >5 cm indicated that breast cancer-specific survival did not differ between patients who received BCS and patients who underwent a mastectomy, but the women in this study were older, the IBTR and molecular subtype were not evaluated, and few patients received NC (20).
The rate of conservative surgery after NC varies from 37% to 82% (6,7); however, only 1.7% to 28% of patients exhibit LABC (7,8). The LABC candidates who were initially selected were patients without skin or chest wall involvement and who were free of multicentric disease or extensive microcalcifications. They harbored tumors smaller than 5 cm, exhibited favorable tumor localization, had no contraindications for radiotherapy, and had negative margins. Primary inflammatory carcinoma is a contraindication for BCS (25). Patients with N2-3 lymph nodes, residual tumors >2 cm, residual multifocal components, and the presence of lymphovascular embolization should be cautiously assessed because of the higher risk of IBTR (11,26). Therefore, the cutaneous infiltration criteria have become more flexible for localized cutaneous infiltration and the breast/tumor volume ratio, and the initial indications for oncoplastic surgery have been expanded (17). Although the average size of the initial tumors was 5.3 cm (varying from 2 to 8.5 cm) in the present cohort, the margins were disease-free in 100% of cases, with a distance to the tumor of 12.3 mm. In addition, oncoplastic techniques were used in 26.5% of patients, which supports the use of BCS in selected cases of LABC.
The preoperative planning was based on clinical-radiologic data and operative freezing. Two patients were excluded from the cohort because of positive surgical margins, which resulted in conversion to mastectomy.
Diagnostic imaging tests are essential to pretreatment therapeutic planning (3) and were performed before and after the administration of NC in 100% and 87.7% of patients, respectively. Although not shown numerically, a tendency toward the resection of the entire tumor bed before NC was observed in this study. Not all patients who exhibited a complete clinical response (21) reached pCR, and the anatomic-pathologic assessment is not always uniform. In this regard, the "Residual Cancer Burden" method renders the resection of the full area necessary prior to NC (27), but it is used in prospective studies. Pathologic sampling interferes with the pathologic results. In the present study, the average number of blocks per surgical specimen was 20, but a consensus for pathologic evaluation was obtained in 2015 (28).
Upon the assessment of patients subjected to BCS and radiotherapy, we should consider studies of patients who did not receive NC that demonstrate the long-term safety of BCS. For example, Veronesi (9) assessed tumors smaller than 2 cm and identified a recurrence rate of 8% at 20 years, whereas Fisher (NSAPB-B06), who assessed tumors smaller than 4 cm, reported recurrence rates at 20 years of 14.3% for patients who underwent lumpectomy and breast radiation and 39.2% for patients who did not receive radiation (21). In patients subjected to NC and BCS, this rate was reported to be 14% at 5.8 years (29), 19% at 4.6 years (15), and 21.5% at 20 years (30); however, the assessed tumors differed diagnostically and in their initial staging (19). Therefore, the possibility of new surgical margins remains open for discussion, but case-control studies assessing locally advanced tumors are lacking. NSABP B-27, which assessed patients with T1c-3N0 or T1-3N1M0 disease, was designed to evaluate the addition of taxanes to anthracyclines and reported an average tumor size of 4.4 cm and a 6% IBTR rate at 102 months; however, only 30% of cases exhibited lymph node involvement. In the present cohort, the average tumor size was 5.3 cm, and 87.2% of tumors were larger than 3 cm; 88.9% of patients were diagnosed with stage III disease, 74.5% of patients harbored stage T3-4 disease, and 82.6% of patients had stage N1-3 disease. The IBTR rate was 11.2% at 64.1 months. Although this rate is high, it is lower than the rate reported in a study by Fisher of patients subjected exclusively to lumpectomy without radiotherapy (21). These findings demonstrate the effectiveness of BCS in patients with LABC subjected to NC and adjuvant radiotherapy.
In the assessment of IBTR, we must discriminate true recurrence at the surgical site, ipsilateral second primary tumors, and ipsilateral thoracic wall tumors (31). Although ipsilateral thoracic wall events involving the sternal bone were defined as a distant event in 2014 (31), previous studies with long follow-up period did not specify this form of recurrence (32). In the present study, we observed 2 patients with simultaneous IBTR and sternal infiltration, but 1 patient underwent local full-thickness chest wall resection. We opted to consider this case as local recurrence to better compare our results to those of other studies with long follow-up periods. No pattern is associated with the type of local recurrence, but many recurrences are defined as multiple recurrence. Alternatively, recurring tumors may indicate resistance to treatment and subsequent multiple recurrences. In the present study, the LRR rate was 15.3% and consisted of all patients with local recurrence and the 4 patients with locoregional lymph node involvement. This finding corroborates the analysis of the DFS results.
The chi-squared test may be used to calculate recurrence, but we also assessed DFS because recurrence depends on time. Several factors are associated with IBTR and LRR. Better results were observed in patients who showed an early response to treatment (33) and were positive for hormonal receptors (12); poorer outcomes were reported for patients with lymphovascular invasion(11), residual tumors larger than 2 cm (11), multifocal disease after chemotherapy (11,34), no expression of hormonal receptors, stage III and N2-3 axillary nodal status (15), age ≤40 years old, excision margins ≤2 mm, and S-phase fraction >4% (30).
Few studies have examined a sufficient number of cases to assess the rates of recurrence in patients subjected to NC and BTC (11,33,34). In the present study, which evaluated a large sample over a long follow-up period, the morphologic response, although valid, was not significantly associated with recurrence, whereas the RECIST-B response was shown to have prognostic value in a multivariate analysis. The response to NC can be classified into several categories (35). Chen et al. suggested a morphologic classification of the response, showing that the response correlates with the occurrence of IBTR (11). In the present study, morphologic assessment showed an association, albeit a non-significant one, between the presence of multifocal disease/stable disease and higher rates of IBTR and LRR. The RECIST-B pathologic response (p=0.02) was the only variable retained in the multivariate model related to LRR: the risk was 2.85 times higher among patients with a partial response (p=0.17) and 16.93 times higher among patients with stable disease (p=0005).
In the present cohort, the absence of necrosis in the pretreatment biopsy sample was the only histological factor that was associated with IBTR and LRR. This finding is corroborated by other studies, which detected an association between complete response and the presence of necrosis (36). The absence of necrosis was associated with a 7.00-fold higher rate of IBTR, but this increase was not significant (p=0.07). It was also associated with a 9.33-fold higher rate of LRR (p=0.03) in univariate analysis. The only significant factor related do LRR in multivariate analysis was the RECIST-B response.
In the assessment of IBTR, other variables, such as the type of tumor fragmentation and the presence of surgical margins, should also be considered. Thus, the rates of IBTR were reported to be 12.7% and 20.3% in the presence and absence of tumor-free margins, respectively (30). In the present study, all patients exhibited tumor-free margins. In a previous study, the presence of multifocal disease increased the risk of IBTR 3.3-fold (12), which is corroborated by this study: multifocal disease increased the rate of IBTR 5.97-fold (p=0.04). In addition, the molecular subtypes are related to the rate of recurrence in an adjuvant (37) and neoadjuvant setting (38). Specifically, the rates of recurrence were 0.8% for luminal tumors (ER/PR-positive and HER2-negative), 1.5% for luminal B tumors (ER/PR-positive and HER2-positive), 8.4% for HER2 tumors (ER/PR-negative and HER2 positive), and 7.1% for triple-negative tumors.
A possible limitation of the present study is the retrospective and nonrandomized design in which cases were selected in a continuous manner, that is, based on the feasibility of BCS. Thus, multiple elements influenced the selection of patients, including age, comorbidities, breast-volume ratio, and response to NC. Another limitation of this study is the absence of NC association with trastuzumab, which may affect the pCR, OS, and DFS (39). Because HER2 tumors represent 23.5% (29) of patients, we observed only 3 incidences of local recurrence/LRR in this group and a 0.487-fold reduction in the recurrence rate (39). The addition of trastuzumab would slightly decrease the overall recurrence rate, but this drug was not used by the Brazilian Public Health System at the time of NC treatment.
The present study corroborates the fact that in cases selected by clinical and radiologic findings with a satisfactory response to NC, BCS is feasible and safe for the treatment of locally advanced tumors, provided that the tumor is completely resected, surgical margins are clear, and patients are subjected to complementary multimodal treatment. This finding was corroborated by the occurrence of acceptable rates of local recurrence and LRR.
We are grateful to Fundação de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP), which provided grants for this study. Project number 2012/19642-0.
Carrara GF participated in the data review, data analysis, and writing of the manuscript. Scapulatempo-Neto C and Abrahão-Machado LF performed the pathological review and reviewed the final version of the manuscript. Brentani MMand FolgueiraMA participated in the study design, data analysis, and review of the final version of the manuscript. Nunes JS participated in the case selection, chemotherapy, submission to the Ethics Committee, and review of the final version of the manuscript. Vieira RA participated in the study design, submission to the Ethics Committee, case selection, surgery, data analysis, and writing of the manuscript.


4-7 November 2016, Vienna, Austria.
On 10 October there will be a Global Expert Network on innovations in antimicrobial drug research and development.
To view a presentation by DRIVE-AB Communications Co-lead Ursula Theuretzbacher, please click here.
21-22 June 2016, Washington, D.C.
DRIVE-AB will be featured in the European Network Corner and the Pipeline corner from Saturday to Tuesday.


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Q: What difference between using Authorization method and new attached param: accessToken in Header? I have a question related to Authorization when creating API.
I often see people using Bearer Token, OAuth 2.0 to authenticate an accessToken is valid or not.
So which difference if I use headers with a param is accessToken and stored accessToken value.
In server side, I also get token from Authorization or token from Headers.
I do not actually know which difference between them.
Example: In js, I send request by two ways with accessToken value:
headers.Authorization = 'Bearer ' + cookie.get('accessToken')

headers.accessToken = cookie.get('accessToken')

Can everyone explains me?

A: To respond to the question "why we should follow standard RFC when arbitrary parameters works too?" applied to the "Authorization" header specifically.
The easy answer is: to avoid rethinking what has already been though of extensively.
The complicated answer is:

*

*To avoid collision, if everyone was using arbitrary header parameters, they are bound to collide at some point and break things.

*To make it easier to use, if there is no standard, someone using Authorization with "Bearer" access token might use a "bearer" without the capital "B" or whithout leaving the space between "Bearer" and the access token  or just doesnt put the "Bearer" altogether . If i want to use that person's package, I would have to do a "try and fail" sequence to understand how it works or worse, read his code. Same thing if he uses the header "authorisation" without the proper format or the right syntax.
Some servers even block non standard headers altogether, and even block non standard format in known headers. Like if you want to send a whole file base64 encoded in the "Authorization" header, the server will block it since any documented use of it should never exceed a specific size (even if the size limit itself is not documented but deduced).

*Good practice: The internet is what it is now because of standards. standards of different protocols, their usage and their limits. If there were no standards followed, we will end up with "pocket" sub-internets everywhere.
It is not required to follow RFCs exactly, but considering them is highly recommended. Considering RFCs will lead to better technical decisions. While programming is primarily an individual act, building software is a social exercise and standards help facilitating decisions between groups.
Imagine someday you decide to make your code a package to be used in any project. Following standards will make it easy for other developers to implement your package into their systems. For example, if your package handles JWT token in the frontend, another package that consume the JWT in the backend will have no issue doing so, since it knows that it will be in the "Authorization" header, in the format of "Bearer [TOKEN]" using a Base64 encoded double json object followed by the signature hash that..... You get the point.
Disclamer: this is a rushed (slightly opinionated) answer and in no way a complete one. dont hesitate to edit it if you see the need to.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


For parents who have a lot on their plate. Children are question marks. Bawling, cooing, spit-blowing question marks. How long should you breastfeed your baby? Will he sleep through the night? How should you start your child off on solid foods? Will she grow up into a responsible adult? While many of life's riddles are difficult to solve, celebrity nutritionist Pooja Makhija addresses one vital question with an insight, and humour, few others have: the question of child nutrition. What you feed your children is only one aspect of nourishment; how they eat is another. Focused on the psychology of eating and keeping a child's unique bio-individuality in mind, this sequel to Pooja's best-selling Eat Delete sheds light on how a child's palate develops, methods to keep junk food at bay, and the habits needed to prevent ill-health and obesity. It also teaches you that while correct eating is paramount, it's okay to bend the rules occasionally if you keep in mind the big picture: that if you teach kids good nutritional habits when they are young, they will take nutritionally responsible decisions as adults. Woven through with fables and fairy tales, and separating the facts from family myth, Eat Delete Junior will help parents emerge victorious over the ultimate child-rearing battleground: the dinner table.
With an engaging language and refreshing sense of humour, the author covers a gamut of issues related to child nutrition. She provides her version of easily implementable solutions and not so easily achievable nutrition goals. The eventual agenda is to slowly transform our practices to ensure nutrition. Eat.Delete.Junior is almost like a reference bible for people like me who are scared of and confused by the ocean of information available online.
What I liked most about this book is that it gives you the liberty of using the best-fit practices and not always the best practices. The author also touches upon peripheral issues that impact food choices and kids behaviour in the modern times.
A lot of our frustrations and dilemmas are put in a perspective, when we are assured by a dietician and specialist of Pooja Makhija's repute that as kids grow up their environment expands beyond their home and parents. Thus we cannot do too much to control their eating habits. And thus providing advice and work plans that are a best probable work arounds towards healthy eating practices.
P.S. – This book is a ready reference guide with very practical tips of how we as parents can induce nutrition into our kid's diet at various life stages. Go for it if you are also looking for some light hearted parent confessions in this regard.


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Biden 'Finding Himself' in Trouble Is a Losing Narrative
And you may ask yourself, 'Well, how did we get here?'
(Photograph by Drew Angerer/Getty Images.)
One of my great peeves, as longtime readers and listeners know, is when the dentist puts his knee on my chest to get leverage to pull a tooth. But that's not relevant right now.
Another peeve: When bad things happen under Republican presidents, it's their fault. When bad things happen under Democratic ones, they just happen.
"Republicans pounce" is a subgenre of this phenomenon. As Kevin Williamson puts it: "When a Republican does something stupid or wrong and gets criticized for it the story is that a Republican has done something stupid or wrong. When a Democrat does something stupid or wrong, the story is 'Republicans pounce!' on the episode, cynically looking to wring some petty advantage out of the mess."
(This is kind of the media criticism version of an even deeper peeve of mine. Think of bad episodes in American history: eugenics, anti-communist excesses, Jim Crow, etc. It's amazing to me how when you read a lot of standard history, these incidents are either the result of "the right" or America itself. It's very hard to find a non-conservative historian who places the blame on progressives themselves. They exist, of course, particularly among Marxist historians like Gabriel Kolko, though they are so far left they tend to define liberals and progressives as "the right." This is a general tendency, not an iron law. Still, I don't want to get sidetracked, but if you do, click here and I'll rant about that in a sidebar.)
But what happens when the Republicans don't pounce or you can't in good conscience write that the real story is Republicans pouncing?
Well, there's one useful scapegoat: The cold impersonal forces of a cruel and imperfect universe.
Consider the Biden presidency so far.
With the notable exception of his craptacular handling of the Afghanistan withdrawal, one might think listening to much of the media—and the White House itself—that the universe is really pissed off at Joe Biden.
Last week, there was an enormous amount of chatter about how Biden had "a bad week" or was "dealt setbacks" or got "bad news." Erick Erickson, who noticed it too, flagged this Tweet from the Associated Press:
The Associated Press @AP
Within an hour, President Biden was dealt a trio of setbacks. The Pentagon said a drone strike that killed 10 Afghans was a mistake. A panel rejected COVID booster shots for all Americans. And France recalled its U.S. ambassador. One stunning afternoon: Setbacks imperil Biden's resetWASHINGTON (AP) — It was an hour President Joe Biden would no doubt like to forget. On Friday, the Pentagon acknowledged that a drone strike in Afghanistan killed 10 civilians , including seven children, not terrorists.apne.ws
Biden "was dealt"?
Once you notice it, it's hard not to see it all over the place, especially at the Associated Press for some reason. It seems that Biden keeps "finding" himself in unfortunate situations. On September 19, the AP reported that "over the past several months, Biden has found himself at odds with allies on a number of high-profile issues." Reporting on the FDA's rebuke of Biden's push for universal booster shots the day before that, it wrote, "But after campaigning for the White House on a pledge to 'follow the science,' Biden found himself uncharacteristically ahead of it with that lofty pronouncement."
Found himself? Has he been in a sweat lodge downing peyote and speaking to his spirit animal, or is he the president of the United States? It's like he's the character in a Talking Heads remix of "Once in a Lifetime":
And you may find yourself, ahead of the science.
And you may find yourself, eating an ice cream cone.
And you may find yourself, watching the Taliban drink your milkshake.
And you may find yourself, getting yelled at by allies.
And you may ask yourself, "Well, how did I get here?"
Even Biden plays this game. In his remarks about our withdrawal from Afghanistan on August 16, his one concession to error was a passive, "this did unfold more quickly than we had anticipated." Jim Geraghty called this "a strong nominee for the Disingenuous Public Relations Spin Hall of Fame."
Heck, even the Canadians are getting in on the action. In their U.N. Human Rights Council statement they lamented, "the events that have unfolded over the past several weeks in Afghanistan."
Now "unfolding" is a fun word. It can mean, "the steady revelation of events beyond our control," and it can refer to personal action, like unfolding a ratty lawn chair. Some events have unfolded beyond Biden's control, but mostly he's experienced the ratty lawn chair kind of unfolding. And figuratively speaking, he's gotten his fingers or some of his danglier bits caught in the pinchy things.
Biden didn't "find himself" ahead of the science, he rejected or disregarded the science—to the point where two career FDA staffers quit in protest. If Trump (or any Republican president) did something similar, the story wouldn't be about Trump "finding himself" at odds with the science. It would be that he defied the science like a rabid spider monkey refusing to put on a dress.
The events in Afghanistan didn't merely "unfold" in front of Biden. He's like Judd Nelson in The Breakfast Club denying he pulled the screw out of the fire door. "Screws fall out all the time, the world's an imperfect place."
Afghanistan fell apart because Biden unscrewed the U.S. military from Afghanistan and screwed the Afghan army by removing all support—a veritable pas de deux of screwing. You can absolve him of his actions, but you can't absolve him of the fact that he took those actions.
Similarly, the drone strike was something he did. He boasted about it. This was supposed to be all the evidence the world needed that we can conduct "over the horizon" counterterror operations. Instead, we killed 10 civilians, including an Afghan aid worker who'd cooperated with America, as well as seven kids. No terrorists were harmed in the execution of this political operation.
Biden hasn't "found himself" at odds with allies, he antagonized allies. The Brits, the French, and even the Canadians were pissed about how we withdrew from Afghanistan. Our allies are furious that Biden has doubled down on Trump's protectionism. These are choices, not cold impersonal forces. If I take my friends to a cut-rate Brazilian churrascaria, à la Bridesmaids, and everyone is laid low by explosive colonic decompression, they get to say they "found themselves" sitting on a sink screaming, "Don't look at me!" But I don't get to chalk it up to the universe dealing me a bad hand.
I think the new deal with the U.K. and Australia is actually a masterstroke. I give him credit for it. But if he's going to get credit for it, he also gets blame—or at least responsibility—for how it was received by the French. Maybe the French are overreacting. Maybe there was no way to do this without blindsiding them. I doubt it, but I don't know. But whatever the truth is, he made a choice, and French outrage was part of the price for his decision. It wasn't akin to the weather, wholly out of his control.
Oh, and let's not forget that when Biden chucked his eviction ban moratorium to the Supreme Court—fully aware that it was unconstitutional and the court would say as much—the response from the administration, Democrats in Congress, and much of the press was, "The court dealt him a blow." No. He chose to have that blow dealt to him so he could then blame the court for doing its job. If I slather myself with honey and vanilla ice cream and walk into a bear pit, the bears will certainly deal me a blow before they eat my face. But only a fool would blame the bears.
I think the reasons for all of this passive voice stuff aren't complicated. Let's run through a few of them.
First, there's old-fashioned liberal media bias. Just because I'm exhausted by the fixation of some folks on the right on this issue, doesn't mean it isn't a thing. The press has rooted for Biden since the beginning of his administration. This is the natural order of things.
Second, and closely related, is the Trump distortion field. There was a nice story a lot of people told themselves that everything that was going wrong in the world was caused by Trump's malevolence and incompetence. Biden was the return to normalcy candidate, the competence candidate, and the get-rid-of-COVID candidate. And while I think Trump made any number of terrible choices in response to the pandemic—choices that almost surely cost him the election—the reality is that there are problems that aren't fixable by a president, whether they say the words, "I alone can fix it" or not. COVID is only the most obvious example. Issues such as climate change, crime, income inequality, and invasive Burmese pythons are big and complicated.
Third, and also closely related, is that a whole generation—perhaps two generations—has been taught that Democrats are the party of government. I don't mean that they like big government, which of course they do. I mean that they know how to run things. They're experts and technocrats. They think there are answers to every problem, and the answers always conform to what the experts and technocrats want to do. Biden's failures undermine this whole mythology. It's better to say that the Fates dealt him some bad cards than to admit he played his cards badly.
Fourth, there's the fact that people, and not just journalists, like Biden personally. (If you don't know anyone who does, you live in a bubble.) Very few people love him the way some folks loved Trump or Obama, but plenty like him. The problem is, Biden is old and he shows his age. Attacking his competence reads to a lot of people like mocking him for being old and infirm. And it doesn't help that a lot of people are mocking his age and making sweeping, rude statements about him being senile.
Finally, Biden started his presidency by wildly overpromising what he could deliver. A lot of people who consider themselves part of the smart set bought into all that new New Deal talk. It was preposterous from the outset. The Democrats' hold on Congress is the narrowest in American history. The idea that he could go "bigger than Obama" was always a pipe dream. But rather than accept that Joe Manchin is closer to where most Americans are, they have to convince themselves that only two things stand between them and the Promised Land: evil, "obstructionist," and anti-democratic Republicans, and the unjustness of the system itself. The filibuster, the "undemocratic" nature of the Senate, the Electoral College, the Constitution, the Supreme Court, and "white supremacy" all stand in the way.
A big part of Biden's appeal was that he knew how to work with the system. But it never occurred to a lot of liberals that working with the system means compromising with reality. Activists and pundits shriek daily that Manchin stands poised to destroy Biden's agenda. But it doesn't dawn on them that this is an indictment not of Manchin—or the Senate, or the filibuster, or any of that other stuff—but of Biden's agenda. Imagine I'm 17 and I tell my dad, "I want a pony, a Ferrari, a Caribbean island full of Hawaiian Tropic models unhealthily attracted to 17-year-old boys, and $10 million in gold Krugerrands," and he says, "No." My demands won't suddenly become more realistic if I say, "But Dad, you're threatening my whole agenda!"
Biden chose to pursue ridiculous goals and bad policies (or good policies if that's your point of view). But he made those choices and their results aren't "happening" independently. That's the difference between events and consequences.
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Michael A. Lagana
I m fully willing to be wrong but I think this is a top 10 G-File of all time. Reading these since early 2000s . May because it resonated with my English/Philosophy thinking, but -Talking Heads, quality stuff. mal
Matt J
I think Mr. Goldberg has nailed the reason for this: people really didn't like Trump. And as Trump used to do, when I say people, I mean me. After 4 years of Trump, I felt a huge weight lifted off my shoulders I hadn't even consciously realized was there to begin with. Melodramatic? Perhaps. But I'd wager a lot of folks in the liberal hemisphere of the media feel the same way.
We're in the honeymoon phase. We've dumped the abusive ex, and we're so happy to be free of them, we're downplaying the new bf's flaws. This'll fade over the next few months, and eventually we'll be back to the old standard where the left wing media occasionally rebukes the president, and the right wing media slams him for wearing a tan suit. You know, back to normal.
473 more comments…

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
CF of the Lowcountry | If Only I Had Known
If Only I Had Known
If you ask people what they'd do differently in life "if they'd only known," you'll hear a lot of people (especially those of us a little closer to retirement age) say they wish they'd made better financial choices and plans for their future.
Wade Webster and his wife Joan, who established Community Foundation of the Lowcountry's first scholarship 24 years ago, are doing something to get people on the right track while they're young. Their own astute financial planning, coupled with career success — Wade as a financial planner and business owner and Joan as a nurse — allowed them to retire early and move to Hilton Head in 1987.
The Joan and Wade Webster Scholarship, administered by the Community Foundation, is part financial support for college and part financial planning for life. Scholarship recipients are required to "learn and demonstrate sound personal financial principles." They must read and write reports for selected books covering an array of financial topics during the four years they receive the scholarship. Additionally, they're required to invest a small amount of money into an investment account and they must attend an annual financial awareness class, taught by Wade.
During these classes, lively discussions expose the students' perspectives on saving, spending and investing. Wade says he must sometimes be painfully blunt with the students when discussing things like instant gratification or unrealistic expectations. But he's learned to distinguish the difference between "educating the kids and stomping on their dreams."
In the scholarship's early days the Websters were able to get to know the students and revel in their successes. Like the recipient who earned a Ph.D. and now works at the National Institutes of Health, or the student who graduated early and was accepted to dental school. They were even invited to one student's wedding. But as more students have received the scholarship
(68 in all!) it's been more difficult to keep track of where all the students have landed.
Joan and Wade feel it's their duty to give back. And they know Community Foundation of the Lowcountry can help them accomplish that. By working with us to establish their scholarship, they have been able to focus not only on providing money for college, but on helping students develop knowledge and skill sets that will offer them more and better financial choices later in life. It's about the long term results. And nothing says that more than the power of education and knowing how to plan for financial success.
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The Other Guy Matt
Gig Photography and Reviews
Review – Wage War
TheOtherGuyMatt	Reviews	 January 16, 2020 January 16, 2020 6 Minutes
Date: Wednesday 15th January 2020
Venue: The Key Club, Leeds
Supports: Thorhill, DED
The Key Club is known for putting on awesome January shows over the years with previous sold out shows from the likes of You Me at Six and The Bronx and 2020 is no different with tonight's headliners skyrocketing through the ranks of new metalcore bands. Having missed the opportunity to catch them at Slam Dunk 2019 after a clash with Busted, tickets were purchased instantly once the tour was announced and with the announcements of Thornhill and DED as support bands it was a bonus for me to catch some new bands at the same time. Tonight also held a special place in my heart as it was the 50th Time that I had been to a gig in The Key Club which doesn't seem like a big number until you actually think about how many band that I've seen in that place from newer bands just starting out to the well-established ones playing intimate shows. Roll on 50 more in the next few years!
Tonight's opener's came in the form of Australian metalcore outfit Thornhill. With the show being sold out it was no surprise that there was a fairly sizable crowd already in the venue by the time the band took to the stage and this certainly brought energy to the room helped out by Vocalist Jacob Charlton making the most of the room on the small Key Club Stage. The band put on a decent opening act and it was clear to see there was a pocket of Thornhill fans at the front signing along to their every word. Some of the lighter songs lacked a little punch in the mix however their heavier tracks made sure this was doubled down on and sounded incredible. The standout from the set came in their final song of 'Where We Go When We Die' and really left a lasting impact from their set. Mixing the lighter tones of previous tracks with the heavier vocals and riffs it made for a nice ending to their set. The chorus fading out to the crowd's applause before one final breakdown was a masterclass. It was great to see that the large crowd were keen to get involved as well with a few members of the crowd already opening up the pits. A promising sign of things to come for later acts. All in all this was a solid set and I'll be adding Thornhill to list of bands to check out this week.
Next up were DED bringing their heavy nu-metal all way from the USA. My path with the band had crossed before after seeing Vocalist Joe Cotela perform alongside In This Moment at Download Festival in 2018 however tonight's show was completely different and really focused on the darker side of things. Being the odd one out on tonight's bill didn't seem to faze the band and taking to the stage in corpse paint and some questionable outfits really highlighted just how different they were from the other two bands tonight both in look and in sound as well. With a similar nu-metal style similar to the likes of Slipknot, they didn't disappoint and from the start of 'FMFY' it was clear that DED were here to do thing's their own way. With Joe's fast almost rapped vocals being centre stage over the thudding guitars a standout moment came in 'Anti-Everything' which had heads banging along through the large crowd. A moment to mention as well was the fantastic tone of the baseline intro to 'disassociate' which built brilliantly into the rest of the track and really highlighted just how good the band sounded tonight. To sum up their set in three parts: heads were banged, fists were pumped in the air, and a good time was had by all. There was no doubt that DED had got the crowd warmed up nicely and from the sounds of it they had gained a few fans at the same time
Tonight's headline band need no real introduction as Wage War are certainly up there as one of the most exciting young bands in metalcore at the moment. New album 'Pressure' was marked my most people as one of the years most anticipated releases and with it delivering fantastic tracks it was no surprise that tonight's show at The Key Club was completely sold out.
From the moment Wage War took to the stage and opened with 'Who I Am' and 'Prison', the crowd were pummelled from the very start and it gave everyone a very good idea of what kind of show would follow for the next hour and a quarter. After a brief introduction the band launched into older track 'Don't Let Me Fade Away' which saw tonight's sold out crowd all singing along in unison. With both the Screams of Vocalist Briton Bond and the clean singing of Guitarist Cody Quistad on fine form it really made for an impactful performance with the two styles really contrasting each other brilliantly. Not much later into the set and it was time for the first of the bands heavy hitters, 'Alive'. From the moment it rang out the crowd was transformed into one big mosh pit. Being the first Wage War song that I ever heard it was a nice surprise to hear it early on rather than being played one of the closers. Keeping the energy up at 100% is no easy task but Wage War made it look like child's play with Briton controlling the crowds every movement. It was great to see that the tracks from 'Pressure' got just as much love as older tracks with huge singalongs for both 'Gravity' and 'Me Against Myself' reaching deafening levels. A standout moment tonight came from new track 'Ghost' which hadn't previously caught my attention but sounded incredible live. With an intense opening with soloing guitars and heavy fast drums all behind the powerful screams, it took no prisoners and had the entire Key Club raging along with crowd surfers being passed around and circle pits opening up in the middle of the room. As the main set came to a close Wage War were determined to end it in style and what better way to do that than with the lead single from 'Pressure' – 'Low. This worked perfectly and was a huge ender for the night with the crowd going even wilder than they had been. Shouts of "You don't know low like I do!" filled the room at deafening levels which made it clear that the song connected with tonight's massive crowd. With the brutal breakdown dropping just after it really showed off the power that the band could deliver and just why they were held in such high regard.
After a brief pause for everyone to catch their breaths the band then came back out for tonight's encore. The encore came in two parts, with the band opening it up with newer track 'Hurt' which showed off the impressive song writing and lighter style from the new album. It also went to show just how well the new album as a whole had landed with the crowd. With that out of the way there was only one way that tonight's show was going to go and that was with the huge 'Stitch'. Going out with their heaviest track, Wage War made sure that no one was left stood still and with sweat dripping from the roof there was just time for one last pit. Some tracks grow on people and some become instant classics. The latter is definitely the case for 'Stich' with it being a mainstay on everyone's metalcore playlists. As the band left the stage tonight it was clear that their success is solidly down to the hard work and fantastic ability as a band. Having sold out tonight's show as part of a 9 day UK run really showed the demand that Wage War have created and will certainly go a long way towards them playing much bigger venues next time they return to our shores.
Pressure Tour
The Key Club
Published by TheOtherGuyMatt
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If you really want to know me, I said, we'll have to start with the witches. And then the drowned boys. The shells from distant lands, a whole room full of them. The Swedish sailor marooned in ice. I'll need to tell you about the false smiles of the Harvard man and the hand-wringing of those brilliant Boston doctors, the dory in the haymow and the wheelchair in the sea.
And eventually—though neither of us knew it yet—we'd end up here, in this place, within and without the world of the painting.


text:
Q: How can I retrieve x number of recent, public tweets, either from a specific location or globally? In Twitter API v 1.0. there was this particular API - GET statuses/public_timeline - that returned x number of latest public tweets.
However, they seem to have gotten rid of it. I am making an iOS Twitter app that shows the latest tweets from either around the world or from a specific location (Depending on users choice). What can I do to fetch public timelines that meet these criteria?

A: "There's not really a direct analogue. There's a streaming API called statuses/sample that you could open for a few seconds to kind of get a sudden burst of tweets -- though we don't recommend connecting over cellular networks. The Search API supports searches with geo coordinates." - Taylor Singletary via Twitter Developer Discussions


Would it surprise you to find out that gum disease is actually the most common disease in the United States? Nearly half of the entire U.S. adult population has a form of it and are not even aware. It starts very subtly with just a little bit of swelling and redness, but it can eventually develop into painful, bacteria-filled pockets along the gum line.Gum disease is the leading cause of tooth loss for adults 35 and over. Dr. Steve Aspros, Dr. Ransey Boyd, and Dr. Kirstin Walther take gum disease very seriously, which is why they will always examine them at your routine checkups. If you have developed it, they have a variety of treatment methods to help you manage your gum disease.
Most people know that if you don't brush your teeth, plaque and bacteria build up on them, and this can eventually lead to a cavity. The same principle is true with your gums. Built up plaque, tartar, and bacteria can irritate sensitive gum tissue and lead to an infection. This can cause the tissue to recede and break down, which takes away its ability to support your teeth and protect the thinner enamel around the roots. This is why tooth loss is so common for people suffering from advanced gum disease.
In its early stages, more diligent oral hygiene at home and dental cleanings can usually manage the problem. However, once the infection has become too advanced, more sophisticated treatments may be needed.
This pair of procedures serves to thoroughly clean your gums and clear out all the accumulated plaque and bacteria. Your doctor will first gently numb the area. They'll then use manual tools to gently scrape away everything that is underneath your gums. This part is called scaling. Afterward, root planing involves smoothing the roots of your teeth so that the gum tissue can more easily reattach to them. This also makes it much harder for plaque and bacteria to gather there in the future. Most of the time, the procedures can be performed during one appointment and you'll be asked to have a follow-up visit to check your progress.
After your treatment, your doctor may apply antibiotics to the area to prevent an infection from developing. For this, they will use something called Arestin. It is made of thousands of tiny microspheres that can be applied directly to your gums. These spheres will slowly dissolve so the medicine is released gradually.
If you have red, swollen, or sore gums that bleed regularly whenever you brush and floss, you may have gum disease. Come see us as soon as you can because the earlier we treat it, the easier it will be. Contact our office today if you have any questions about the symptoms, causes and treatments of gum disease. We're always happy to give you the answers you need.


text:
Inspector Green
Mist Walker
Fifth Son
Honour Among Men
This Thing of Darkness
Beautiful Lie the Dead
The Whisper of Legends
None So Blind
The Devil to Pay
Amanda Doucette
Fire in the Stars
The Trickster's Lullaby
Prisoners of Hope
The Ancient Dead
Wreck Bay
Cedric O'Toole
The Fall Guy
Evil Behind that Door
The Night Thief
Favourite Writers and Links
Ladies' Killing Circle
Contacts and Sales
BARBARA FRADKIN Mystery Writer
Barbara's first two crime stories appeared in the inaugural issue of The Ladies' Killing Circle in 1995, and from then on she was hooked. She loves short stories for their tight structure and pure economy of language, as well as the chance they give her to explore the extremes of storytelling.
In her short stories, she has travelled into the minds of teenage killers, comatose middle aged men, desperate junkies and unlikely heroes. Her numerous stories have been published in the Ladies Killing Circle and New Canadian Noir anthologies, as well as magazines such as Storyteller, Canada's Short Story Magazine. Over the years, she has had about thirty short stories published.
Among her stories is a series of historical tales set in 1870's Ottawa and featuring a young physician named Dr. David Browne, who is modelled loosely on the life of her great grandfather. So far, seven Dr. Browne stories have been published in various magazines and anthologies, including the latest, entitled "The Cauldron" about the dangers of Chaudiere Falls, which appears in the Summer 2009 edition of Ottawa Magazine. Four of her short stories (including two of the Dr. Browne stories) have been nominated for the Crime Writers of Canada Arthur Ellis Award, and two Dr. Browne stories have been prizewinners in Storyteller Magazine's Great Canadian Short Story Contest.
She regrets that she hasn't much time nowadays to devote to short stories, but hopes to get back to them soon. Her latest story appeared in the chilling anthology nEvermore! Tales of Murder, Mystery, and the Macabre, edited by Nancy Kilpatrick and Caro Soles, inspired by Edgar Allan Poe, and published by Edge Publishing in 2015. The story, entitled The Lighthouse, is set in wartime Newfoundland and is inspired by Poe's unfinished short story of the same name. Fog, lurking U-boats, and strange sounds in the night make for a spooky read. She in in impressive company with some of the world's top writers including Margaret Atwood. Details about the publication, release dates, and other authors are available here.
First five Green books reissued in Fall 2022!
Inspector Green is back! His interest in his daughters's domestic abuse case puts her in danger.
Amanda Doucette explores the link between buried bones and her missing uncle.
Nominated for Best Novella!
In the fourth Cedric O'Toole short novel, Cedris'c life is turned upside down.
Released in 2018!
The Third Amanda Doucette mystery is a tale of desperate choices.
Released in Sept. 2017! The second in the Amanda Doucette series is a chilling tale!
Released in Sept. 2016!
And garnering lots of great reviews. Thanks to readers everywhere for your support.
Shortlisted for Best Novella! Breaking news; The Night Thief is nominated for the 2016 Arthur Ellis Award.
Shortlisted for Best Novel!
Barbara is thrilled ro be nominated for the 2015 Best Novel Award by Crime Writers of Canada.
Shortlisted for the Ottawa Book Awards! Barbara is thrilled and honoured that The Whisper of Legends is among the finalists for the 2011 Ottawa Book Awards.
Great reviews!
The reviews are beginning to come in for None So Blind. Check out Publishers Weekly, Quill & Quire, and The National Post.
Superlative Reviews!
The Whisper of Legends has received numerous excellent reviews, such as The Globe and Mail, The Ottawa Citizen, and The National Post.
Nominated for 2013 Best Novella!
Evil Behind that Door, the latest Cedric O'Toole Rapid Reads novel, has been shortlisted for Best Novella by Crime Writers of Canada.
© Barbara Fradkin


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