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RE:View Highlander
By The Dark Herald Uncategorized Comments Off on RE:View Highlander
The sword fighting is T-E-R-R-I-B-L-E!
After the first five minutes of this movie and I was wondering if I'd made a mistake. Some things just play better in the halls of memory.
Henry Cavil's commitment to the Highlander has instantly injected a lot of interest into what has been a dead franchise since the early 2000s. On the face of it, he is perfect for the role. Consequently, I decided to watch it for the first time since I was dating my wife, and back then I was concentrating on her instead of the movie. I was wondering how much I was going to regret watching this.
Highlander started life in 1977 as a UCLA writing project by Greggory Widen (The Prophecy). His teacher said it was good enough to be produced and that he should find an agent. He actually got it sold for $200,000. That does not happen anymore. It has to be at least a comic book first these days.
"Widen's original draft of the script differed significantly from the film. The initial story was darker and more violent. Connor is born in 1408 rather than 1518. He lives with his mother and father. Heather does not exist; Connor is promised to a girl named Mara, who rejects him when she learns that he is immortal. Connor willingly leaves his village, instead of being banished. His alias is Richard Tupin and his weapon is a custom broadsword Ramírez is a Spaniard born in 1100, instead of an ancient Egyptian born more than two thousand years earlier. The Kurgan is known as the Knight, using the alias Carl William Smith. He is not a savage, but a cold-blooded killer. Brenda is Brenna Cartwright.
Other elements were changed during the rewrite. Initially, immortals could have children; in the draft Connor is said to have had 37. In a flashback in the first draft, Connor attends the funeral of one of his sons. His wife (in her 70s) and his two sons, who are in their mid 50s, see him revealed as an immortal. In the early draft, there is no release of energy when an immortal kills another nor is there any mention of the Prize. Immortals can still sense each other and when Connor finally kills the Knight, he feels a sharp burning pain. As he senses another immortal nearby, the ending implies this is simply one of many battles the Game continues."
The Kurgan character was a bit more nuanced in the original version. He was simply an immortal that had lost absolutely everything that he ever loved and the only thing that kept him going was his duel with the Highlander. It was the only reason he had left to get up in the morning.
The script bounced around Hollywood for nine years until it was finally bought by Thorn EMI and was fast-tracked into production.
This film has one of the weirdest arrays of stars ever seen. A Frenchman playing a Scotsman, a Scotsman playing a Spaniard, Mister Krabs playing a 3000-year-old psychopathic biker.
The film starts with Sean Connery reading some text that tells the audience that Immortals have been living in secret among them since the dawn of time. But now it's over because it is the time of the Gathering. The Immortals must meet and fight until there is only one remaining. In the end, there can be only one.
The first thing that sets this urban fantasy apart is Queen playing Princes of the Universe. Star Wars has John Williams and Highlander has Freddie Mercury. It would not have been the same film without this song setting the tone.
The music is the only thing setting the mood at first. The opening credits are against a blank screen. I laughed when I saw the Canon Films logo. This was a Golan Globus production? I didn't think it was that cheap of a movie. It turns out I was wrong it was. The producers tried to get away with not feeding the Scottish extras breakfast until Connery asked if they wanted him on set or not? If they did then they better cough up craft services for the extras.
The first scene shows some pro wrestlers that no one had ever heard of entering the ring. There was an eww gross moment I'd forgotten about where one of the wrestlers slowly strips out of his robe and there is a quick cut to a twelve-year-old girl curling her tongue. I searched my memory and recalled thinking that scene was funny in 1986. Times have changed. Anyway, the camera does a very impressive swooping shot that flies past the ring and comes to rest on Connor in the stands. The show in the ring triggers a memory of battle in the highlands. It was an effective bit of imagery.
This movie's two strongest points, the things that made it memorable are the music and the cinematography. That and the concept of eternal warriors fighting forever.
Connor senses something. Leaves the stands and heads to the garage and runs into Iman Fasil, who doesn't look at all like an Iman Fasil. Anyway, Iman attacks Connor and the fight is on. And it is a BAD fight. I was shocked by the poor quality of the swordsmanship.
I understand some of it. By the 1980s movie swordfights were a thing of the past. The days when an actor had to have dancer, singer, horseman, and swordsman on his resume were long over. Besides, fencing wasn't going to work in a film where you have to decapitate an opponent. A rapier wasn't going to do the job unless you had a LOT of time on your hands. The problem was, the Royal Armouries weren't interpreting the medieval broadsword manuals yet and while the audiences wanted to see Kendo, there wasn't a working knowledge base in Hollywood for Japanese sword fighting yet.
Consequently, the sword choreography was extremely weak. There were a number of camera tricks being employed to try and paper this over and they largely worked… In 1986. Today, it's obvious what the director was trying to do. But ultimately the actors were swinging their swords very slowly and inelegantly. Also, there was nothing that approached common sense. Fasil knocks down Macleod and then skitters away from him instead of killing him. Then there were Fasil's backflips. Doing the one off the hood of the car and recovering his dropped sword, that was acceptable but then he started doing backflips all the way to the end of the garage had me laughing. He kept flipping and flipping. I mean running is a bit more efficient as a means of locomotion.
After Fasil is killed and we get our first real flashback I started to remember why this movie had caught hold of my imagination. Everybody is so wrapped around the axle about Queen that they forget about the rest of the soundtrack. The horns of the orchestra mixed with the pipes of highlanders marching off to their clan war carried the sense of a young man seeking adventure for the first time. The fear and the glory of the coming battle were complemented by the soaring camera angles. The music that isn't by Queen is big, dramatic, and romantic and absolutely sets the period.
Then the movie snaps back to the present and Connor is arrested trying to get out of the parking garage. NYPD's response time must have instantaneous in those days. The cop gets rough cuffing him and Connor slugs him, but he is quickly subdued.
The film flashes back to his first battle and we meet the guy that really sold this show; The Kurgan. Clancy Brown looks enough like Frankenstein to play the role… (googling now) … Okay, he did play Frankenstein. The Kurgan was more monster than man. A creature of a very angry id. The only immortal that loves being an immortal because he can kill so many more people in the course of 3000 years than he ever could have in a mortal's three score and ten. His armor is not exactly functional but then I suppose it doesn't need to be. Only his neck needs to be protected and you would think he'd have kept better track of that fact.
The production had a lucky accident in that it started raining when they shot the battle scene. It gave the Kurgan's entrance an appropriate menacing ambiance. Brown's voice was fantastic for this role. Again, the sword choreography was awful but that was what it was at this point.
Connor is struck down and we are back at the crime scene.
I chuckled when I saw the chalk outline around Fasil's body. Cops don't do that. Never did. The Chalk Outline is a movie invention. It was created to meet the Hay's Office's requirement that dead bodies not be shown on screen. The funny part is that art used to imitate life. Now and then a mint green rookie cop was the first on a murder scene and got out some chalk then outlined the body with it, to the fury of the investigating detective, who now had a contaminated crime scene.
We meet the girl from the crime lab who will be the love interest.
Then it's back to the 1500s, where we see Connor dying for the first (but not the last) time.
Back to the present and an amazingly clumsy police interrogation. Connor slugs the same uniformed cop a second time and then stomps out declaring the cops have nothing on him, despite the undeniable fact that they've got him cold for two counts of Assaulting an Officer.
The motif of an A storyline in the present with a B storyline in the past is continued throughout second act of the film. The third act is entirely in the present.
I'll concentrate on the B-story since the A-Story is just the love-interest playing detective until she discovers the truth of Russel Nash (Connor). We already know it.
We join Connor living in a conveniently abandoned castle with his new wife and the love of his centuries-long life, Heather (Beatie Edney). His first love decided she wanted him burned for witchcraft, so he missed a bullet there. It's five years after he fell in battle and rose again. They have an ideal life and then his immortal mentor Ramirez shows up.
Ramirez fills him on the rules of Immortality and trains him in more advanced swordsmanship in a montage sequence. Although, this reveals a fairly big problem for the newly minted immortal; the 10,000 Hour Theory. That it takes 10,000 hours of practice to master a craft. Assuming you work at it for 3 hours every day you'll be able to reach 10,000 hours in about 10 years.
How good will you be if you could that for a hundred years?
Or a thousand years?
Possibly there is a limit to the cumulative effect but more than likely the newly minted immortal is meat on the table for anyone older than a century. And you can just forget about having a chance against someone who has been at this since bronze axes were the pinnacle of weapon technology.
Casting Sean Connery for the part of a Spaniard was just plain weird. I mean he was in Scotland playing a Spanish aristocrat (who is secretly Egyptian).
He absolutely could not do any accent except Scots and Oxbridge. So why Sean Connery? It is rather obvious that they went with the most famous actor who wanted the part. Sean Connery was 55 when this was shot and still in pretty good shape, he had put Bond behind him and had been able to get work in a variety of roles for years. He was only available for a week for this film. So, he couldn't have taken the job for the money. I think he just wanted to play a swashbuckler because he had never been able to play one in his thirty-year career.
He was the only actor in the film who could handle the swordsmanship. His duel with the Kurgan is the best fight in the film (not that that is saying much) largely because he could carry Clancy Brown's sword work.
After the mentor is killed the rest of Connor's time in the past is spent watching his wife grow old before his eyes as he stays young forever. This was the part where Christopher Lambert really earned his paycheck. He had a great glower but watching Connor, as his wife slipped away from him was the point where Lambert proved he could act. The loneliness of a man who was condemned to watch everyone he loved age and perish was what he had to convey and he did. But what gave the character an unexpected depth was that Connor kept his humor and compassion throughout the centuries.
We saw that when he adopted Rachel in WWII. That was a new scene to me, I hadn't known what his relationship to the middle-aged blond in his antique store was until I saw it. The scene must have been put back in somewhere along the line.
The final battle between the Kurgan and the Highlander was more an Eighties music video than a sword fight but in 1986 it was a decent climax that I remember loving the hell out of.
The Prize he won by being the Last, kind of sucked. Being able to help scientists and grow old then die? Hard pass if I had the gift of eternal life. It was clear they hadn't been able to figure out what The Prize was during the rewrites. As far as I can tell the Prize was inserted as a MacGuffin after the original duel for its own sake was abandoned in development and they just couldn't come with anything.
Does it hold up?
Surprisingly, yes. True, the sword fights were what pulled me into the theater in 1986 and they are beyond awful by modern standards. But the music, the eighties video cinematography, and the over-the-top performances by Sean Connery and Clancy Brown continue to carry the movie.
Not a great film but I can honestly say that I enjoyed it.
If you want good sword fights, watch Highlander the Series.
Both of which are currently available on Tubi with commercials. The movie is available on Amazon Prime.
Okay, I'm done here.
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BMC Research Notes
Research note
Comparison of health state utility estimates from instrument-based and vignette-based methods: a case study in kidney disease
Andrew H. Briggs1Email author,
Vasily Belozeroff2 and
David Feeny3
BMC Research Notes201912:385
Received: 2 November 2018
Published: 8 July 2019
We take advantage of a rare occurrence when two different studies report on the estimation of quality of life utilities for the same health states to assess convergence of the reported measures. Health state utilities are important inputs into health economic models that estimate the impact of new medical technologies using a common metric of health gain—the quality adjusted life-year.
We find low concordance between the two measures which is concerning in that this could have important ramifications for health care decision making based on estimated cost-effectiveness. We explore possible reasons for the discrepancy between the two measures and draw implications for the design of future studies.
Health-related quality of life
Quality adjusted life years (QALYs)
Cost-effectiveness
Health technology assessment (HTA)
Quality adjusted life years (QALYs) are commonly used as a measure of overall health outcome in cost-utility analyses of medical technologies. QALYs combine life expectancy and quality of life in a common currency. Theoretical underpinnings of quality of life assessment suitable for estimating QALYs emphasize the need for a preference-based framework and contrast the implications of patients- vs. community-rated utilities [1–3]. In practice, when considering economic evaluation of medical therapies, sponsors are often confronted with the choice between the direct utility elicitation studies using standard gamble, visual analogue scale, time trade-off (TTO) approaches, and indirect utility elicitation in clinical trials based on value sets [4, 5]. Direct utility measures would involve development of health state descriptions (vignettes), while the indirect utility measures would employ a generic preference-based instrument, e.g., EQ-5D-3L, HUI or others as a measure in clinical trials [6–8]. Value sets are defined for a given instrument, such as the EQ-5D, as a method to translate questionnaires into utility values [9]. They are also based on an elicitation method, such as TTO, standard gamble, etc.
A recent report from an international task force offers considerations on utility assessment for healthcare technologies highlighting the need to align utility measurement with the health states of the corresponding economic analysis [10]. We report on a comparison of utility estimates for the same set of health states intended to inform a cost-utility model in the context of end stage renal disease (ESRD). These utilities were estimated using two different methods: the EQ-5D-3L instrument in a clinical trial, and a vignette-based TTO method in a general population. Our objective was to assess the general agreement among these methods using regression techniques, and to discuss the implications for cost-utility.
Summary of the studies
The first of the two studies was a randomized controlled clinical trial that evaluated the effects of a drug therapy cinacalcet on clinical outcomes, including cardiovascular events and fractures in patients treated for secondary hyperparathyroidism in end stage renal disease [11]. The EQ-5D-3L instrument was used in the trial at baseline and throughout a 5-year follow-up in over 3500 patients [6]. EQ-5D-3L health states associated with both acute (3 months post event) and chronic (3–12 months post event) were identified and valued using the UK-based EQ-5D-3L scoring system which is based on preference scores elicited using the TTO approach [12, 13].
The second study estimated the utilities of the same clinical events by surveying participants from the general population. The participants were presented with vignettes describing health states based on the inputs from focus group work with patients and clinical experts.
Health-state descriptions (vignettes) for health states associated with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and a parathyroid hormone condition, secondary hyperparathyroidism (SHPT), were developed based on literature review and a qualitative study involving 54 patients diagnosed with CKD and SHPT. The descriptions were then reviewed by three physicians who treat patients with CKD and SHPT. The description and methods for direct utility assessment using time tradeoff (TTO) were tested in a pilot study.
The vignettes described having CKD and SHPT with and without various cardiovascular or fracture outcomes both for the acute phase (the year during which the event occurred) and chronic phase (more than 1-year after the event). The vignettes described the disease, symptoms, the impact on physical and social activities, dialysis, and an event such as a heart attack. The time horizon for the TTO was 1 year. The TTO was administered in-person by a trained professional interviewer using the ping-pong approach and scored as x/y where x is the duration of time in perfect health that the subject values as being equal to spending the full year, y, in the impaired health state described in the vignette. 199 members of the general population (18+; mean age 46.3 years; 54.8% female; 49.7% reporting no health conditions) were interviewed; the group was not necessarily representative of the general adult population. Respondents were recruited through local newspaper (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) and online advertisements. Mean TTO scores and standard deviations were computed.
Study participants completed time trade-off interviews for both acute (a year including the event) and chronic (a year following the event) health states associated with clinical outcomes relevant to the same disease and treatment population [14].
Results of the comparison
The comparison between the EQ-5D-3L derived utilities and the vignette-derived TTO utilities is presented in Fig. 1a, b). On average, utilities derived from EQ-5D-3L were higher than the utilities derived from the vignette study; average utility was 0.12 higher for EQ-5D-3L for chronic health states and 0.04 higher for acute health states. Several health states had excellent agreement across methods, namely, acute description of myocardial infarction, peripheral vascular disease, and hospitalized angina where the variation was within 4%. The event-free state had a major difference across methods (20%). Acute utility measures had a closer agreement than the chronic ones, with the exception of three states: Stroke, heart failure, and bone fracture (opposite direction). All chronic states were valued lower with the vignette-based method. An ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analysis of the two studies shows a 29% correlation between the EQ-5D-3L-derived and vignette-derived utility measures (Fig. 1c) for the overall data points. The correlation was somewhat stronger (R2 = 32%) if the regression was restricted to chronic compared to acute states (R2 = 23%), despite the larger average difference between the two studies for chronic states.
a–c Graphical comparison and regression analysis of EQ-5D-3L and Vignette-derived utilities
One of the greatest differences between the two studies was the 'no event' basic health state, which was 0.75 for the EQ-5D-3L based method, and 0.60 for the vignette-based method. An alternative comparison that could remove some of the inherent differences between the studies would be to look at the 'disutility' of the events estimated as the utility of the estimated event states less the basic no-event utility. Average differences in acute and chronic disutility for EQ-5D-3L and TTO settings was 0.07 but now with the EQ-5D-3L showing the higher disutility. An OLS regression analysis of the two studies for the disutility outcome shows a 23% correlation between EQ-5D-3L-derived and vignette-derived measures now that the baseline utility has been removed. Of course, restricting to acute or chronic events does not alter the correlation reported for utility above, although for disutility it is the acute events that have the largest magnitude of difference between the measures.
We compared utility estimates from two well-accepted methods assessing health state utilities to inform economic analysis of medical interventions. Both the vignette-based and the instrument-based methods are theoretically correct, but the evidence is limited as to their convergence. An earlier review of health utility measures and elicitation noted that study population characteristics such as socioeconomic demographics and disease or health states should be taken into consideration when deriving health utilities from vignettes [15]. Another study comparing community quality of well-being (QWB) and patient-based preferences (TTO) for health outcomes from randomized controlled trial data found that QWB preference scores were significantly lower than corresponding TTO scores, which may have important implications for estimating QALYs gained [16].
Utility score estimates derived from members of the general population may help approximate a societal viewpoint, but the utility assessment involving a hypothetical health state is limited by the accuracy and level of detail in the health state descriptions. Additionally, including a label of the health state being described and the setting in which the vignettes are presented (online or in-person) may affect the respondents' valuations of the state [17, 18]. Direct utility elicitation using the TTO (i.e., based on vignettes) is considered appropriate/acceptable by some HTA bodies when EQ-5D-3L is not available, and TTO with a 10-year time horizon is the most frequently used approach among the direct techniques, because of greater comparability with the method used to develop the EQ-5D-3L scoring algorithm [19, 20].
Switching to disutility has a potentially important effect on both the estimated impact of clinical events and on cost-effectiveness. The calculation of disutility emphasizes the impact of clinical events and the importance of the baseline utility to which they are applied. In comparing the two studies, the large difference between the basic health state utility without the event was enough to reverse the magnitude of the differences between the studies. Utilities look higher when using the EQ-5D-3L instrument, but that disutility of events was also higher due to the higher no-event utility.
We found a weak positive correlation between both the chronic and acute utility regressions (Fig. 1c). This means there is substantial unexplained variability demonstrated between the studies that are measuring the same health states, and that mapping between the two can only be weakly predicted. This is concerning as such large utility differences may impact QALY estimates when calculating cost effectiveness of drugs and other interventions. Thus, differences in utility methodologies may lead to variabilities in ICER calculations when using EQ-5D-3L and vignette methods.
As there is no gold standard for utility measurement, our goal was not to "validate" a method but rather to compare, and we found that the methods were only weakly correlated. Importantly, there were no consistent differences other than the utility being lower for chronic sub-states for vignette-based method, which may reflect patient adaptation [10].
From a practical standpoint, it is reasonable to use a method that would be accepted by a specific decision-maker. For instance, in a recent assessment of a novel therapy in end stage renal disease, the UK National Institute for Health & Care Excellence (NICE) had accepted the EQ-5D-3L based utilities in a cost-utility model [21]. If a clinical trial with a reasonable duration and health state measurement opportunity is being planned, then including an instrument in such a trial is a good strategy—longitudinal data allow application of regression models to estimate health state utilities. Where such trials are not available, or have already been completed without a utility instrument, a bespoke study to collect utilities seems the only option. A vignette-based method would allow a detailed description of the health states, but will invariably introduce a level of subjectivity. This same situation may arise where valuation of acute health states is wanted but may not be practically assessed in actual patients. To reduce the level of subjectivity, one could argue that a standard battery of vignettes ought to be catalogued so research is consistent across studies.
There are some nuanced differences that one could describe as "you get what you measure" and "you get what you describe" for each of the methods. In other words, if one is able to include multiple EQ-5D-3L measures in a trial, then there are opportunities to explore the data in a way that is fitting an economic model. Similarly, one can describe details in the vignettes to the level that helps discern details important for patients but not visible through a generic instrument, in time as well as in content. As a contrast, limited measurements of an instrument in a trial, like limited descriptions within vignettes, would hamper such flexibility on either side.
We recognize that the value set from Dolan et al. has been heavily criticized in the past and has several issues. One particular issue is the use of a linear regression model for utility values [22]. Authorities such as NICE should consider the criticism of existing value sets, creating more appropriate ones, and provide strong guidance on which value sets to use. Furthermore, the findings of this analysis could suggest that it might be important that all utility values should be quantified based on a consistent approach.
The comparison of the health states utilities in these two studies lies within a general realm of health states whose consequences would be fairly well understood and appreciated by the medical community and the general population when described as vignettes. In that sense, one would expect that the real experience of a health state measured by an instrument in patients would be comparable to a hypothetical imaginary experience by non-patients based on a description of this state, barring the adaptation aspect. A more nuanced health state that requires more details and that is not as readily known to a non-patient may call for a different approach, but that would challenge both vignette-based methods on the ground of complexity and added subjectivity, and the instrument-based approach on the grounds of sensitivity. These are important considerations for further research and methodological harmonization.
It is important to note that there are nuances in the temporal characteristics of the state definitions that may impact scores. There have been other analyses comparing different ways of estimating utility values, and it is well known that different approaches may yield different values [23–25]. There may be more than one factor that contributes to the difference between two utility scores. These differences include but are not limited to instrument vs. direct method, nuances in temporal definitions of the states, differences in the inclusion of events by severity (which may explain, for example, the difference in fracture utilities in our comparison), and differences in the general population vs. actual patients. In this paper, we use a generic (non-specific) measure, the EQ-5D-3L, whereas the direct elicitation method is more disease specific.
QALY:
quality adjusted life year
TTO:
time trade-off
ESRD:
end stage renal disease
SHPT:
secondary hyperparathyroidism
QWB:
quality of well-being
Anjani Parikh helped prepare an earlier version of the manuscript.
Amgen provided funding for this study under a contract that did not restrict or veto publication. A representative of the funder (VB) is included as an author for the manuscript. All authors are responsible for the content of the manuscript which does not necessarily reflect the views of the funder.
AHB analysed the data and wrote the first manuscript draft. VB and DF contributed to data interpretation and drafting of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Andrew Briggs and David Feeny were paid as consultants for this project by Amgen Inc. and Vasily Belozeroff is an employee of Amgen Inc.
William R Lindsay Chair of Health Economics, Health Economics and Technology Assessment, Institute of Health & Wellbeing, University of Glasgow, 1 Lilybank Gardens, Glasgow, G12 8RZ, Scotland, UK
Amgen Inc., Thousand Oaks, CA, USA
Department of Economics, McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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text:
Waterman Ideal
This 1920s Waterman advertisement shows a No 52 and states, "With a few strokes of a pen — American patriots registered their independence…"
Waterman's Ideal Fountain Pen. Imprinted on every pen L. E. Waterman produced from the 1880s into the middle of the 20th century, these words identify one of the most popular and collectible brands in history. But one model stands out among its siblings as perhaps the most popular Waterman: The Ideal No 52.
After devising a way to circumvent Walter Sheaffer's lever-filler patent (by mounting the lever in a metal box instead of running its pivot pin through the body of the pen, U.S. Patent No 1, 197, 360), Waterman began producing its own lever-filling pens c. 1915. At that time the new lever-filling version of the Ideal No 12 received the added identifier PSF, meaning "Pocket (screw cap) Self Filling." Two years later, when the company regularized its ailing Standard Numbering System, Waterman's Ideal No 12PSF became Waterman's Ideal No 52. In the newly ordered system, the units digit (2) meant that the pen carried a No 2 nib (as before), and the tens digit (5) identified a lever filler.
The 52 was a long-lived member of Waterman's stable; even into the 1930s, when the pen world was dropping hard rubber like a hot potato as makers switched to the more durable and colorful celluloid, the company stuck with hard rubber for some of its pens, continuing to churn out the venerable hard rubber No 52 alongside the celluloid No 32 (which was later renumbered simply No 3).
Any Color You Want, as Long As It's Black — Almost
In the era of hard rubber pens, manufacturers were limited in the variety of colors they could apply to their pens; most were simply black, plain or chased, and were fitted with nickel-plated furniture. The black (BHR) and black chased (BCHR) 52s shown here are typical examples from the latter half of the 1910s:
BHR and BCHR Ideal No 52 pens with nickel-plated furniture
The pens above have the famous Waterman riveted clip, patented in 1905 (U.S. Patent No 800, 141), but many pens of their era (including other examples of the 52) were sold as clipless models, to be carried in purses or other "pockets" or, perhaps, fitted with accommodation clips. Chasing, illustrated by the lower pen, had been in use for decades and was the most common — and least expensive — way of improving the appearance of a black pen.
Larger? No, But How About Smaller?
For purchasers who wanted them, Waterman offered larger pens; but those pens' nibs were also larger, and they bore numbers such as 55, 56, and 58. But the company did make a variety of smaller pens with No 2 nibs. First among these is the 521∕2. The 1∕2 designation indicates a pen of smaller diameter, and the 521∕2 is noticeably slimmer than a standard 52:
Ideal No 521∕2 (from the collection of Daniel Kirchheimer)
Smaller can also mean shorter, and Waterman capitalized on the need for a compact pen by producing vest-pocket models such as the 52V:
Ideal No 52V
Combining a shorter body with a thinner profile produced the smallest of the 52 versions, the 521∕2V:
Ideal No 521∕2V
The 52V and 521∕2V above both illustrate a third configuration that was common in the early years of fountain pens. Fitted with a ring at the top of its cap, the ringtop was intended to be carried on a ribbon or chain. Women wore ringtops on a guard around the neck or attached to a chatelaine at the waist, and some men used them as well, to ensure that they wouldn't lose their pens.
Tart Up Your Pen
Part of the reason for the overwhelming "popularity" of black is that adding carbon (as lampblack) to latex during the manufacturing process gives the resulting rubber much greater strength and resistance to oxidation and wear. (This is why automobile tires are black.) Nevertheless, some penmakers produced pens using red/black or brown/black mottled and woodgrain mixtures, as well as plain red hard rubber (actually orange in color). The pen below, a Waterman's Ideal No 018521∕2V, is made of red hard rubber. Waterman's marketing department christened this color Cardinal:
Ideal No 018521∕2V (red hard rubber, "Cardinal")
In 1923, Waterman began producing "mottled" pens, with a red/black pattern resembling the grain of a piece of wood (and called "woodgrain" by collectors today).
Ideal No 01852 ("woodgrain" hard rubber)
Then, in 1926, the company improved on its woodgrain pens with a new line of "Ripple" pens. (Waterman's later retrospective literature incorrectly dates the "Ripple" introduction to 1923.) They weren't actually new models, but they were made of rippled hard rubber, a pattern that was exclusive to Waterman during the Golden Age. These new pens bore the italicized word "Ripple" as part of their barrel imprints to set them apart from lesser competitors. Red rippled hard rubber (RRHR), illustrated here, was a mixture of red and black. It was by far the most common of the Ripple colors, but Waterman also produced pens in blue/green ("Ripple-Blugreen"), olive/black ("Ripple-Olive"), and yellow/red ("Ripple-Rose"). Rippled pens were decked out with gold-filled furniture.
Ideal No 01852 (red rippled hard rubber)
Another method for enhancing the appearance of an otherwise "dull" hard rubber pen is to add precious metal trim. Repoussé gold-filled bands were very popular during the early 20th century, and many pens featured more than one (with the cost proportionate to the number and width of the bands). Illustrated here is a No 0652, with fairly restrained barrel bands:
Ideal No 0652 with two repoussé bands (from the collection of Robert Tuthill)
In Waterman's Standard Numbering System, the hundreds digit signifies the design of an overlay or other similar trim; a 6 describes two gold-filled barrel bands. A zero (0) prefix indicates that the trim is gold filled rather than solid. The clip and lever assembly are gold filled to match.
For the very well heeled, makers offered larger expanses of precious metal. Overlays, both full and "filigree" (properly termed cutwork) added luster to any pen. Illustrated below is a Waterman's Ideal No 452 with a "filigree" overlay in the pattern used to 1923. (The hundreds digit, 4, indicates an overlay of sterling silver.) The clip and lever on this pen are also solid sterling silver:
As did other penmakers, Waterman offered pens with gold overlays in two forms, either solid gold or gold filled (rolled gold). As with silver, gold overlays appeared in both solid and "filigree" forms. Below is an Ideal No 05521∕2V ringtop with a full overlay in the "Gothic" pattern. As with the 0652 above, the hundreds digit and the zero prefix of the model number describe the overlay's style and composition:
Ideal No 05521∕2V (gold filled "Gothic" overlay)
A Gallery of 52s
There are myriad variations of the 52. To give you a sense of the broad range of styles, here are a few pens from the collection of David Isaacson. Note that the "filigree" pattern on the 4521∕2V shown here differs from the pattern on the 452 above. This is not a matter of using different patterns on pens of different sizes; Waterman changed its design in 1923, and each of the known patterns exists on pens of various sizes. The pattern shown here, which collectors know as "Bamboo" although Waterman called it simply "Filigree, " is the later design.
(If there is a magnifying-glass symbol next to a pen, click the magnifying glass to view a zoomed version for more detail.)
Ideal No 02852 (two gold-filled bands at extreme ends of the pen)
Source: www.richardspens.com
Expensive fountain pens
Most durable pen
Most expensive pen in world


text:
Philosophy Logic & Philosophy of Language
Synthese Library
Reasoning about Preference Dynamics
Authors: Liu, Fenrong
A logical investigation of the ubiquitous notion of preference, which brings together many areas: philosophy, computer science, game theory, legal reasoning, and social choice theory
The first systematic treatment of preference change, and its relation to belief revision
A richer model for preference structure which can advance current studies of agency
An introduction to modern developments in dynamic logic
Our preferences determine how we act and think, but exactly what the mechanics are and how they work is a central cause of concern in many disciplines. This book uses techniques from modern logics of information flow and action to develop a unified new theory of what preference is and how it changes. The theory emphasizes reasons for preference, as well as its entanglement with our beliefs. Moreover, the book provides dynamic logical systems which describe the explicit triggers driving preference change, including new information, suggestions, and commands. In sum, the book creates new bridges between many fields, from philosophy and computer science to economics, linguistics, and psychology. For the experienced scholar access to a large body of recent literature is provided and the novice gets a thorough introduction to the action and techniques of dynamic logic.
Fenrong Liu is an associate professor at Tsinghua University, Beijing, one of the most prestigious universities in China. She received her first Ph.D degree in Philosophy at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in 2001 on default reasoning, a topic linking philosophy with Artificial Intelligence. From 2003-2008, she worked at the Institute for Logic, Language and Computation (ILLC) at the University of Amsterdam, where she obtained a second Ph.D degree in Science on dynamic logics of preference. She has published some 40 papers, and has organized many events, including a new Chinese conferences series on Logic,
Rationality, and Intelligent Interaction (LORI). Her research is aimed at understanding how information changes guide rational agency in terms of beliefs and preference, and in modelling similarities and differences between agents, making room for agent diversity in logic. In addition, she pursues an active program in Chinese Ancient Logic, reading Chinese old texts by modern logical theories.
"This is an excellent book. It offers a clear and concise overview of dynamic preference logic and logics that can reason about both beliefs and preferences. Fenrong has managed to provide an accessible and comprehensive overview of recent work in this area, including very interesting connections with deontic logic and game theory. I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in using logical models to reason about rational agents." Eric Pacuit, Tilburg Center for Logic and Philosophy of Science, The Netherlands
"Reasoning about Preference Dynamics is an innovative and unusually well-written account of human preferences and how they change. It is a must for anyone interested in the dynamics of preferences." Sven Ove Hansson, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden
"This nice book presents a survey of preference logics and preference dynamics, very much state-of-the-art, and Fenrong Liu is extremely well-informed about the relevant literature. She has a remarkable talent on how to restrict herself to the essentials, in order to convey the message and produce something very readable." Hans van Ditmarsch, University of Sevilla, Spain
Liu, Assoc. Prof. Fenrong
Dynamic Epistemic Logic
Preference over Worlds: Static Logic
Preference over Worlds: Dynamic Logic
Entanglement of Preference, Knowledge and Belief
Intermezzo: A Quantitative Approach
Preference from Priorities: Static Logic
Belief-Based Preference
Preference from Priorities: Dynamic Logic
A Two-Level Perspective on Preference
Deontic Reasoning
Games and Actions
Fenrong Liu


text:
HomeWorldInsight: In Afghan province, government woos allies against Islamic State
Insight: In Afghan province, government woos allies against Islamic State
By Hamid Shalizi
| WAMA, Afghanistan
WAMA, Afghanistan Afghan authorities are appealing to local elders in the remote eastern province of Nuristan to help prevent militants loyal to Islamic State from expanding into new territory.
The initiative comes as fighters and their families, scattered in recent months by U.S. and Afghan air strikes and special forces ground operations, seek new safe havens.
The mountainous and thickly forested province bordering Pakistan is seen by Afghan authorities as a potential new base for the self-proclaimed offshoot of Islamic State, whose desire to stoke sectarian tensions was underlined this year in a series of high-profile attacks.
With Afghan armed forces and their NATO allies already struggling to cope with the Taliban insurgency across much of the country, the prospect of an expanding Islamic State group has alarmed authorities and the U.S. military.
The group, generally known as Daesh in Afghanistan, has so far been largely confined to the eastern province of Nangarhar to the south of Nuristan. There is has clashed with other militant movements including the Taliban, who reject it.
Afghan intelligence officials say an intense campaign of air strikes and raids by Afghan and U.S. special forces in recent months also pushed many Islamic State fighters out of Nangarhar and into neighbouring Kunar province, which borders Nuristan.
To prevent them moving further north, security officials said they had provided weapons, ammunition and other support to villages in Nuristan, while also tapping the province's particular culture to try to create a barrier against outsiders.
Hafez Abdul Qayum, the provincial governor, has held several meetings with local elders, who enjoy significant powers in a province where central government is weak.
On one recent trip, after a two-hour car journey along mountainous dirt roads, he and his entourage walked the final few hundred metres to the meeting place out of respect for local tradition.
There he sat down with elders young and old, many of them wearing round, woollen "pakul" hats and sporting beards dyed orange, to share a lengthy meal of seared goat meat and urge his hosts to oppose the new threat.
"Whether it is Taliban or Daesh, they both are the biggest misguided people and destroyers of our religious values," Qayum, himself from Nuristan, told elders in Wama district, close to Pech Valley in Kunar where Islamic State fighters have settled.
"Dear brothers, fighting against this menace is our biggest priority."
"VALLEY OF DEATH"
Such outreach is not unusual in a country where the word of traditional leaders often counts for more than directives from central government.
And Nuristan, a province whose name means "the land of light" in Persian, has a history of repelling outsiders, including the Taliban and al Qaeda, by refusing them food and shelter and engaging in combat if necessary.
But Afghanistan's security forces see Islamic State as a fresh menace, because by targeting the minority Shi'ite community it risks making a dangerous insurgency led by the Taliban even harder to contain.
Last month, more than 30 people died in a suicide bombing claimed by Islamic State at a Shi'ite mosque in Kabul.
Nuristan is seen as a natural buffer, with its singular culture, rugged mountain ranges and lack of paved roads or electricity.
Known as "Kafiristan", or "land of infidels", before its people were converted to Islam in the 19th century, it has an economy partly based on barter and local languages and dialects unrelated to the main languages of Afghanistan, Pashto and Dari.
That has made it difficult for the central government to exert control, and only a few thousand lightly armed police and one army unit are stationed there.
The real power in Nuristan is widely considered to be the "Qaomi Shura", or local elders' council.
"If they say to someone 'die', that person dies. This is the power of the council," said a senior government official in the provincial capital Parun.
If elders can be persuaded not to allow Islamic State to settle, security officials believe they will have a better chance of stopping its fighters from crossing from Pech Valley, where the Taliban and al Qaeda are also established.
Officials say Islamic State fighters from different countries have found sanctuary in a part of Kunar that includes an area known by U.S. troops as "The Valley of Death", where they have lost dozens of soldiers.
Al Qaeda's presence was underlined in October, when a U.S. airstrike killed Farouq al-Qatari, the movement's top commander in the east.
So far, Islamic State's presence is contained, as it finds its place in an area hotly contested by other militant groups, and locals have been warned against giving help. But it has the potential to grow.
"They moved in with their families some months ago and only appear in mosques and do not roam around very often," said one official in Kunar, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media.
"They are trying to win local support and recruit young boys, the same method they used when they emerged in Nangarhar."
"WE DON'T WANT MISERY"
The United States, which has a counterterrorism operation in Afghanistan distinct from the NATO-led Resolute Support training mission, calls Islamic State there "operationally emergent", well able to order deadly high-profile attacks on civilian targets but posing a limited military threat.
Regular drone strikes and special forces operations have hit it hard this year.
General John Nicholson, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, has said that Islamic State suffered heavy casualties, with 12 top leaders killed and two dozen command and control facilities destroyed.
From nine districts, it now had sanctuary in only three.
However, Afghan officials fear the Islamic State offshoot, which they say is made up partly of extremists from neighbouring Pakistan, could grow if fighters are pushed out of Iraq and Syria.
Although Nuristan has been historically peaceful, fighting has been going on for weeks in one district, with villagers and policemen repelling Taliban attacks.
An unstable environment could allow militant groups to establish themselves in places where they would typically be shunned, officials fear.
Afghan officials also worry that religious affiliations could push some people in Nuristan to help Islamic State fighters by providing food or shelter.
In Wama district, most residents are moderate Salafi followers, sharing an ideology similar to Wahhabism, the school of Sunni Islam from which Islamic State draws its religious ideology.
Taliban insurgents mainly follow the Hanafi school of Sunni Islam.
So far, locals have been quick to reassure visiting officials that such links will not influence them, possibly aware that Islamic State militants are likely to attract air and ground operations by Afghan and Western forces.
"Here there is no place for Taliban or Daesh fighters. We don't want destruction and misery for our people," said Sheikh Gul Mohammad, an influential tribal figure.
(Editing by Mike Collett-White)
-Reuters
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If sea bass isn't available, you can subtitute snapper. Fish weighing more than 2 pounds will be hard to maneuver on the grill.
1.FOR THE SALMORIGLIO SAUCE: Whisk all ingredients in bowl until combined; cover and set aside for serving.
2A. FOR A CHARCOAL GRILL: Open botoom vent completely. Light large chimny starter filled with charcoal briquettes (6 quarts). When top coals are partially covered with ash, pour evenly over grill. Set cooking grate in place, cover, and open lid vent completely. Heat grill until hot, about 5 minutes.
2B. FOR A GAS GRILL: Turn all burnesr to high, cover, and heat grill until hot, about 15 minutes. Leave all burners on high.
3. Rinse each sea bass under cold running water and pat dry with paper towels inside and out. Using sharp knife, make 3 or 4 shallow slashes, about 2 inches apart, on both sides of sea bass.Rub sea bass with oil and season generously with salt and pepper inside and outside.
4. Clean cooking grate, then repeatedly brush grate with well-oiled paper towels until black and glossy, 5 to 10 times. Place sea bass on grill and cook (covered if using gas) until skin is browned and beginning to blister on first side, 6 to 8 minutes. Using spatula, lift bottom of thick backbone edge of sea bass from cooking grate just enough to slide second spatula under fish. Remove first spatula, then use it to support raw side of sea bass as you use second spatula flip fish over. Cook (covered if using gas) until second side is browned, beginning to blister, and sea bass registers 140 degrees, 6 to 8 minutes.
5.Carefully transfer sea bass to carving board and let rest for 5 minutes. Fillet sea bass by making vertical cut just behind head from top of fish to belly. Make another cut on top of sea bass from head to tail. Use spatula to lift meat from bones to lift out fillet. Repeat on other side of sea bass. Discard head and skeleton. Serve with sauce.
Be sure to rinse the defrosted octopus well. The membrane-like skin is easiest to peel while still warm, so do so as soon as it's cool enough to handle. You can thaw frozen octopus in a large container under cold running water; it will be ready in about 2 hours.
Using sharp knife, separate octopus mantle ( large sac) and body ( lower section with tentacles) from head ( midsection containing eyes); discard head. Place octopus, wine,smashed garlic, and bay leaves in large pot, add water to cover octopus by 2 inches, and bring to simmer over high heat. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer gently, flipping octopus occasionally, until skin between tentacle joints tears easily when pulled, 45 minutes to 1 1/4 hours.
Transfer octopus to cutting board and let cool slightly; discard cooking liquid. Using paring knife, cut mantle in half, then trim and scrape away skin and interior fibers; transfer to bowl. Using your fingers, remove skin from body, being careful not to remove suction cups from tentacles. Cut tentacles from around core of body in 3 sections; discard core. Separate tentacles and transfer to bowl.
Whisk 6 tbsp oil, vinegar, paprika,sugar, lemon juice and zest, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper, and minced garlic together in bowl; transfer to 1-gallon zipper-lock bag and set aside.
FOR A GAS GRILL: Turn all burners to high, cover, and heat grill until hot, about 15 minutes. Leave all burners on high.
Toss octopus with remaining 1 tbsp oil. Clean cooking grate, then repeatedly brush grate with well oiled paper towels until black and glossy, 5 to 10 minutes. Place octopus on grill (directly over coals if using charcoal). Cook (covered if using gas) until octopus is streaked with dark grill marks and lightly charred at tips of tentacles, 8 to 10 minutes, flipping halfway through grilling; transfer to cutting board.
While octopus is still warm, slice 1/4 inch thick on bias, then transfer to zipper-lock bag with oil-lemon mixture and toss to coat. Press out as much air from bag as possible and seal bag. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or up to 24 hours, flipping bag occasionally.
Transfer octopus and marinade to large bowl and let come to room temperature, about 2 hours. Cut away peel and pith from orange. Holding fruit over bowl with octopus, use paring knife to slice between membranes to release segments. Add celery, bell pepper, olive, and parsley and gently toss to coat. Season salt and pepper to taste. Serve.
Try to purchase sole fillets that is similar in size si that they cook at the same rate. If the fillets are very large (6 ounces each), serve just 1 fillet per person and increase the steaming time to 6 to10 minutes in step 4 . Small (3-ounce) haddock or flounder fillets can be substituted for the sole if desired . If the sauce cools while the fish is cooking,reheat it briefly over medium low heat before serving.
1. Fit Dutch oven with steamer basket and add water to pot until it just touches bottoms of basket. Line basket with 4 lemon slices, cover,and bring to boil.
2. Meanwhile, heat oil in small saucepan over medium heat until shimmering. Add shallot and cook until softened, about 2 minutes. Stir in garlic and until fragrant,about 30 seconds. Stir in broth and wine and bring to simmer. Stir in peas and cook until tender , about 2 minutes . Transfer mixture to blender and process until completely smooth , about 30 seconds, scraping down sides of blender jar as needed . Return sauce to now-empty saucepan , stir in lemon juice , and season with salt and pepper to taste ; cover to keep warm.
3. Pat sole dry with paper towels and season With salt and pepper. Arrange fillets skinned side up with tail end pointing away from you. Tightly roll fillets from thick end to thin end.
4. Reduce heat under Dutch oven so that water is at simmer. Place bundles seam side down on top of each lemon slice and top with remaining 4 lemon slices. Cover and steam until fish flakes apart when gently prodded with paring knife, 4 to 6 minutes. Gently transfer fillets to individual plates, discarding top lemon slices. Top fillets with sauce and sprinkle with basil. SERVE.
In this simple dinner, the fish and the couscous Cook in the same packet—in less than 30 minutes.
Be sure to choose fillets of similar thickness so they will cook through at the same time. For an accurate measurement of boiling water, bring a full kettle of water to a boil and then measure out the desired amount.
1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400*. Combine 3 tbsp cilantro,oil, ginger, paprika, garlic, 1-1/2 tsp lemon zest, lemon juice, cumin, and pepper flakes in a small bowl. Season with salt and pepper and sugar to taste.
2. Place couscous in medium bowl. Pour boiling water over couscous. Immediately cover with plastic wrap and let sit until liquid is absorbed and couscous is tender, abou 5 minutes. Fluff couscous with fork, stir in remaining 1/2 tsp lemon zest, and season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Pat fish dry with paper towels any season with salt and pepper. Place two 14-inch lengths aluminum foil on counter. Divide couscous in half and mound in center of each foil piece; place fish on top couscous. Spread 1 tbsp sauce over fish and couscous, crimping edges to seal.
4. Arrange packets side by side on rimmed baking sheet . Bake until fish registers 140 degrees and flakes apart when gently prodded with paring knife, 14 to 18 minutes. Transfer fish and couscous to plate, sprinkle fish with remaining 1 tbsp cilantro. Serve with remaining sauce and lemon wedges.
Salmon is a tasty superfood, loaded with omega- 3- fatty acids that help fight inflammation, make you skin glow, improve cardiovascular health and make you feel great. Serve with garlicky smashed potatoes and sautéed spinach to round out your meal.
Preheat oven to 425*.To make the potatoes,bring 2 qt if water to a boil in a large saucepan. Add salt and potatoes. Let cook 20 minutes. When potatoes are tender, drain water and let cool. Cut into quarters and place in an aluminum foil- lined baking sheet. Smash potatoes and drizzle with 1 tbsp olive oil. Roast in the oven 15 minutes. When finished cooking, use a spatula to place in bowl and toss with garlic, basil, 1 tbsp oil and parmesan. Meanwhile,spoon 1 tbsp of pesto on each piece of salmon , spreading evenly to coat. Sprinkle pistachios over each piece of salmon. Bake until cooked through, 12 to 15 minutes. Serve with a squeeze of fresh lemon.
Mix the flour with plenty of salt and pepper on a large flat plate.
Spread out the matzo meal on another flat plate.
Dip the fish pieces into the seasoned flour, then into the beaten egg and finally into the matzo meal, ensuring a generous coating.
Heat 1/2 inch of oil in a nonstick skillet. Cook the fish pieces in batches for a few minutes, turning once, until golden and cooked through.
For the chili mayonnaise, put the chili sauce and mayonnaise in a bowl and beat together until combined.
Transfer the fish to warmed plates and serve with the chili mayonnaise on the side.
variation: Try adding a tastebud-tingling 2 tsp of lime juice to mayonnaise on the side.
Pan frying makes the most of the delicate sweetness of red mullet.
1. Season the fish,then coat them on both sides with cornmeal or polenta, shaking off any excess. Set a non-stick or cast iron frying pan over mederately high heat and add enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan.
2. Put the prepared fish into the hot oil. Shallow-fry for 2 minutes,or until the fish is golden brown.
This is typical Egyptians street food. If you can't find small red mullet,use fillets instead.
1. Rinse the fish to ensure all traces of blood are removed ,pat dry on paper towels.
2.Mix the garlic,parsley,and lemon zest and season generously. Use this to rub all over and inside the cavity of the fish.
4. When the oil is hot, dust the fish with seasoned flour and cook 2-3 fish at a time. Once cooked, transfer to a warmed serving dish while you cook the remaining fish.
5.For the sauce,mix the tahini paste,garlic,lemon juice to taste, and parsley. Add water if the mixture is too thick. Serve the fish with the tahini sauce and lemon wedges.
An extremely healthy dish, and very easy to make quickly.
1. Season the fish with salt and pepper. Salting the fish-ideally with sea salt- before cooking firms the flesh by removing moisture.
2. Heat half the oil in a large non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Add the fish,skin side down, and cook gently for 5-6 minutes. Turn,and cook on the other side until it just begins to flake when gently pressed; the time this takes will depend on the thickness of the fish, but be carefull not to overcook. Remove from the pan, and set aside to keep warm.
3. Carefully wipe out the pan with paper towels,then add the remaining oil. Saute the onion for about 5 minutes until soft and translucent. Add the raisins,pine nuts, and capers, and cook for a few minutes more, breaking up the capers with the back of a fork.
4.Add the spinach, and cook until just wilted. Taste, and season if needed. Serve the fish on a bed of the wilted spinach mixture.
Typical of the cuisine of Indonesia this recipe uses kecap manis,soy sauce, and molasses.
1. Cut the mackerel fillets in half lengthwise. Sprinkle with the lime juice,turmeric,and salt,cover , and refrigerate for 15-30 minutes.
2. Put the chiles,shallots, garlic,nuts,ginger,tamarind,and sugar into a small food processor,and process to chop very finely. Season lightly.
3. Pat the mackerel dry with paper towels. Heat the oil in a large frying pan or wok. Cook the mackerel skin side down, a few pieces at a time,until firm,opaque,and brown. Avoid stirring to prevent the fish from breaking up. Remove from the pan.
4.Add the spice paste to the pan and cook over medium heat until fragrant. Add 1/2 cup of water and the lemongrass, bring to a boil, and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Return the fish and add the kecap manis,stir over low heat until all ingredients are combined and the sauce is reduced and bubbling. Serve with rice and garnish with lime wedges and cilantro.
This recipe works well with many fish that have a reputation for slightly earthy taste. Pike has lots of large pinbones so make sure you take care to remove them all.
1. Preheat the oven to 400F. Arrange the fish on a baking sheet.
2. Mix the butter,parsley, and lemon juice,and season with salt and plenty of pepper. Spread a thin layer of butter over each fish.
3. Mix together the breadcrumbs, melted butter,sage,chives,and lemon zest,season lightly, and sprinkle over the fish,pressing to stick to the butter.
4. Roast in the oven for 12-15 minutes or until the fish is cooked- it will be white,firm,and opaque.
5. Transfer to a warmed serving dish,garnish with the sage and lemon wedges, and serve with green beans.
THIS IS TYPICAL EGYPTIAN STREET FOOD. IF YOU CANT FIND SMALL RE MULLET, USE FILLETS INSTEAD.
1. Rinse the fish to ensure all traces of blood are removed;pat dry on paper towels.
2. Mix the garlic,parsley, and lemon zest and season generously. Use this to rub all over and inside the cavity of the fish.
3. Heat the oil to 350F in a large pan or deep-fat fryer.
4. When the oil is hot,dust the fish with seasoned flour and cook 2-3 fish at a time. Once cooked,transfer to a warmed serving dish while you cook the remaining fish.
5. For the sauce, mix the tahini paste,garlic,leon juice to taste,and parsley. Add water if the mixture is too thick.Serve the fish with the thini sauce and lemon wedges.


Welche Verfahren zur Behandlung von Lymphödemen gibt es?
Spider veins are found in about 60% of all men and women between the ages of 20 to 29 years old. They are in no ways just a problem for older people. They appear mostly on the legs and generally cause no problems.
For Venous specialists the term spider veins are little veins in the skin that have broadened due to the loss of elasticity. They are filled with blood and therefore are visible through the skin as light red vascular branches, dark blue veins or red spots. They can also be a sign of deep rooted venous disease. This should be checked out before treatment by a venous specialist.
The cause is considered to be an inherited disposition. Other factors have that have influenced their development: Sunbathing, sauna, overweight, sitting or standing for long periods or the intake of hormones.
The first thing to mention is Movement. Particularly suitable is for example venous walking, swimming or bike riding - in other words everything that increases the blood flow. Under more intense strain i.e. sitting or standing for a long time, wearing a stocking or a light compression stocking.
Most often the sclerotherapy method is used, among professional it is called sclerosing. This involves a treatment that is generally performed on an outpatient basis and only takes 15 minutes. But it often requires several sessions (generally 3-4) to permanently remove the unattractive spider veins. Although the treatment only affects the uppermost skin surface, the patient only feels a small puncture on the skin. An anaesthetic is generally not necessary.


text:
Q: Cannot connect via Lighttable to clojure Just started up with clojure and am a really beginner at clojure. I have downloaded leiningen and i am able to compile source code.
However, I am trying to follow a tutorial using lighttable and when i am trying to connect
(ns learningclojure)
followed by cmd-enter
I receive the following error message. Any clue what i shall do? I have tried to give sufficient permission but it still won't work
java.io.IOException: Permission denied. Please check your access rights for /private/var/folders/6y/x_j__0l93gv9fgm612mqxh2c0000gn/T/AppTranslocation/2F779AE0-FA53-4B43-B38E-43852447A9AC/d/LightTable.app/Contents/Resources/app/plugins/Clojure/runner/resources/.nrepl-port
    at leiningen.repl$repl.doInvoke(repl.clj:317)
    at clojure.lang.RestFn.invoke(RestFn.java:425)
    at leiningen.light_nrepl$light.invoke(light_nrepl.clj:77)
    at leiningen.light_nrepl$_main.doInvoke(light_nrepl.clj:85)
    at clojure.lang.RestFn.applyTo(RestFn.java:137)
    at leiningen.light_nrepl.main(Unknown Source)

Versions:
macOS Sierra (10.12.3)
Leiningen 2.7.1 on Java 1.8.0_121 Java HotSpot(TM) 64-Bit Server VM
REPL-y 0.3.7, nREPL 0.2.12
Clojure 1.8.0

A: It appears that LightTable requires your user to have modify rights to it's application folders - this is definitely the case on Windows installations, and I suspect it's the same for linux.
Have you tried it as super (sudo) , just as a test?
If that does not help, try these:

*

*Check this previous similar question: OSX Leiningen permissions error

*Try 'lein clean' and 'rm ~/.lein-repl-history' - many a problem can be fixed this way. :)
Good luck :)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


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Our new AC Hotel by Marriott San Jose Downtown has Spanish Roots, European Soul, and a "NEW Modern" design created with the entrepreneurial and well-traveled curator guest in mind. We've designed hotels that go beyond the conventional, creating experiences inspired by entrepreneurs, innovators, and the modern traveler. Our brand new seven-story modern lifestyle hotel with salt water pool offers 210 elegantly inspired king-bed guestrooms and suites with 3 state of the art meeting spaces and onsite AC Fitness.
Whether it's the artful pour of a perfectly-made cocktail or the edited styling of our European-inspired space, AC Hotel invites your guests to visit a world that's timelessly modern. Your guests will appreciate getting everything they need, without paying for things they don't. Your guests will have friction-less access to free WIFI everywhere, a great selection of quick snacks in the AC Store, a delicious European inspired breakfast in our AC Kitchen, and can elect to join us in the AC Lounge nightly where we offer a selection of locally inspired cocktails and tapas inspired small bites.
We are conveniently located just 5 minutes from San Jose International Airport and 30 minutes from the San Francisco International Airport, just off the 101 and 87. The San Jose Convention Center, SAP Center, and many dining and entertainment options are within just a few blocks from our unique downtown San Jose hotel.
Valet 24/7 or self parking available.


text:
Wattle Grove, New South Wales
Suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Wattle Grove
Wattle Grove Plaza
8,952 (2016 census)[1]
2.4 km2 (0.9 sq mi)
30 km (19 mi) south-west of Sydney CBD
LGA(s)
City of Liverpool
State electorate(s)
Federal division(s)
Suburbs around Wattle Grove:
Liverpool Moorebank Hammondville
Holsworthy Barracks Wattle Grove Holsworthy
Holsworthy Barracks Holsworthy Barracks Holsworthy Barracks
Wattle Grove is a suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Wattle Grove is located 30 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of the City of Liverpool.
Wattle Grove is a residential suburb with a small shopping centre and a number of recreational areas such as Wattle Grove Park, Australis Park, Wattle Grove Lake and the surrounding Lakeside Park.
2 Population
3 Commercial area
5.1 Community
5.3 Churches
5.4 Sport and recreation
6.1 Arts and entertainment
Wattle Grove is built on the land of the Tharawal people. It was also previously land occupied by the Australian Defence Force. The original plans for a suburb were made by the government of Prime Minister Gough Whitlam in the 1970s. Infrastructure was built and the suburb lay dormant until further developed by Delfin Property Group, assisted by the Defence Housing Authority in the 1990s.[2] In 1992, the suburb's name was changed from Holsworthy Village to Wattle Grove. On 12 April 1992, Wattle Grove was officially opened by Prime Minister Bob Hawke.[3]
In 2006, Wattle Grove's tree-lined streets underwent significant change. Many of the Casuarina trees (Australian Pine) that lined the main road were replaced, due to roots potentially damaging nearby houses or falling during storms. Native shrubs have been planted in their place.
Population[edit]
According to the 2016 census of Population, there were 8,952 people in Wattle Grove.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people made up 1.9% of the population.
67.7% of people were born in Australia. The most common countries of birth were India 4.2%, Egypt 2.8%, Philippines 2.2%, England 1.7% and China 1.6%.
66.3% of people only spoke English at home. Other languages spoken at home included Arabic 5.3%, Hindi 2.2%, Mandarin 1.8%, Greek 1.6% and Tagalog 1.5%.
The most common responses for religion were Catholic 30.9%, No Religion 18.3%, Anglican 13.3%, Hinduism 5.3%.[1]
Commercial area[edit]
Wattle Grove Pub
Wattle Grove's shopping centre was opened in 1998, but in late 2005 several of the businesses were gutted by fire. The centre reopened in 2007 and includes a Coles supermarket, hairdressing salon, real estate agency, pizzeria, pharmacy, charcoal chicken, newsagency and other specialty shops. The Wattle Grove Club Hotel is within the complex.
Transport[edit]
Wattle Grove is well connected to other regions of Sydney due to its proximity to the M5 and M7 Motorways. Bus routes 901 and 902, operated by Veolia Transport, run within the suburb. Route 901 connects to Holsworthy railway station and Liverpool railway station.
Community[edit]
The Wattle Grove area was designed to have a strong community 'feel' under the redeveloping of the area by Delfin in the 1990s.
Today, it is possible to evaluate the success of this by the large numbers of young families walking the tree lined footpaths on the weekends, and the strong turnouts at community events, such as the Christmas Carols and the Annual Easter Egg Hunt in Australis Park on Easter Sunday.
Schools[edit]
Wattle Grove is served by four primary schools: Holsworthy Primary School, Wattle Grove Primary School, St Mark's Coptic Orthodox College and St Christopher's Catholic Primary School, in addition to secondary schools: Holsworthy High School, Moorebank High School and St Mark's Coptic Orthodox College. St Christopher's is a feeder school for All Saints Catholic College Liverpool.
Churches[edit]
St. Thomas' Indian Orthodox Church
A chapel of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and St. Thomas' Indian Orthodox Church are located in Wattle Grove.
Sport and recreation[edit]
Playgrounds are located throughout the suburb, as well as walking and bike paths leading to an artificial lake in the suburbs center. Moorebank Sports Club, located nearby, provides opportunities for formal training in rugby league, soccer, hockey, baseball, cricket, Australian rules football, and netball. The Sporting codes are associated with Moorebank Sports Club, all being in the same complex except hockey and AFL which are located in other premises.
Wattle Grove Lake is an artificially constructed lake surrounded by the residential development of Wattle Grove. It is home to a variety of water birds. Anzac Creek is a small stream which leads into Wattle Grove Lake.
Anzac Creek
Notable people[edit]
Arts and entertainment[edit]
Avani Dias (born 1991), Sri Lankan Australian journalist and radio presenter[4]
^ a b "2016 Census QuickStats – Wattle Grove (NSW)". Australian Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 13 May 2018.
^ Delfin
^ http://www.liverpool.nsw.gov.au/ourcity/historicaltimeline.htm Liverpool History
^ "Multicultural Communications Awards: Two local winners get gongs from the Premier". Liverpool Champion. 10 December 2019. Archived from the original on 10 December 2019. Retrieved 26 April 2021.
Home Values in Wattle Grove
Fire Brigade Archives
Coptic Orthodox Schools in Sydney
Wattle Grove Public School Website
Holsworthy Public School Website
Holsworthy High School Website
St. Christophers Catholic Primary School
Saint Mark's Coptic College Orthodox College Website
Holsworthy Junior AFL Website
Moorebank Cricket Club Website
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Wattle Grove, New South Wales.
Suburbs and localities within the City of Liverpool, South-western Sydney, Sydney
Badgerys Creek
Bardia
Bradfield (proposed)
Bringelly
Cecil Hills
Cecil Park
Denham Court
Edmondson Park
Elizabeth Hills
Heckenberg
Hinchinbrook
Horningsea Park
Kemps Creek
Len Waters Estate
Leppington
Luddenham
Middleton Grange
Pleasure Point
Rossmore
Sadleir
Voyager Point
Wallacia
West Hoxton
List of Sydney suburbs
Coordinates: 33°57′25″S 150°56′28″E / 33.957°S 150.941°E / -33.957; 150.941
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wattle_Grove,_New_South_Wales&oldid=1040675011"
Suburbs of Sydney
City of Liverpool (New South Wales)
Use Australian English from August 2019
All Wikipedia articles written in Australian English
Pages using the Kartographer extension
This page was last edited on 26 August 2021, at 00:37 (UTC).


« Get Inspired: Open Studio!
Join us for a Gingerbread House decorating version of Creative Kidlit. With the beautifully illustrated Jan Brett version of the The Gingerbread boy and all the supplies you need to go home with an equally beautifully decorated Gingerbread House!


I bought 81 wooden coat hangers the other day. Mr Ecochick almost had kittens when I told him I bought 81 coat hangers. He calmed down when I said we had 100 coat hangers in our closet at the moment. Even so he didn't see the point of buying new coat hangers when we had plastic ones already. So why did I buy them apart from the fact they were a steal on trade me? Obviously wood is better than plastic and I've found the plastic ones bend over time and don't hold the shape of your clothes as well. We needed several new coat hangers anyway and I could buy plastic but well wood is wood and not plastic. Of course these are second had so that made them even more attractive. So John and I had fun rearranging our closet and taking out the plastic hangers and putting up new one.
I arranged all the hangers with their hooks backwards with the plan that when we wear an item we'll turn the hook around so we know what we do and don't wear. Then in a years time anything with it's hook still backwards can go.
Two things I forgot to take into account; one, these wooden coat hangers are not flat and bend in one direction so they take up more room than the plastic ones so out clothes actually fit tighter. If I bought them again I'd make sure they were flat hangers.
Two, these coat hangers don't have a trouser bar so I'll have to buy another twenty or so with the middle bar to completely replace all our hangers. On the upside I had several left over so I put them in John's room and got rid of the useless fiddly kids plastic hangers in there.
I got rid of the old plastic ones from our room on freecycle. The little kids plastic ones I kept for Gabriel's room or until I get some wooden ones for him. Oh wood how I love you.
Good on you! Don't the wooden coat hangers look great?! I'm gradually replacing our plastic ones for wooden ones, and in the mean time for the light tops I use the free metal ones from the dry cleaners.
I know I love my coat hangers! I also LOVE my wooden pegs I get mine from go bamboo (http://www.nzecochick.com/2012/07/wooden-alternatives.html) they are fantastic and so far have stood up to the test of time I've been using them for almost a year.


Prior to the current financial crisis in Dubai, sukuk issuance had started to revive following two difficult years since the August 2007 peak. New issuance for the year to November 2009 exceeded $17.5 billion with 69 separate offerings. Confidence was demonstrated by the announcement on November 19 by General Electric that it was to raise $500 million through a five-year sukuk–the first Western industrial company to raise such financing.
There are many varieties of sukuk, some–such as the short-term sukuk issued by the Government of Bahrain–being a substitute for treasury bills with a three-month maturity. Such sukuk are attractive for Islamic banks to hold, as they cannot hold conventional treasury bills paying interest, and the alternative of holding cash means they receive no return. Bahrain's regular sukuk bill issuance continued throughout the credit crisis, but the amounts raised are modest–$40 million on average.
Although Islamic capital market activity was negatively affected by the global financial crisis, the impact on Islamic banks has been limited, largely because most are focused on retail business: Dubai Islamic Bank, for example, has reported a decline in third quarter earnings for 2009 of 33% compared to the same quarter of 2008, but this was 8% above market expectations. Trade financing through murabaha in which a bank buys a good on behalf of a buyer, and sells it on to them in instalments at a marked-up cost–has remained buoyant, as has personal financing for vehicles and household goods.
One sector which has continued to expand throughout the crisis is takaful insurance based on the principle of mutual risk sharing rather than risk transfer: Dubai Islamic Bank has developed Al Islami Takaful products, which it has cross-sold to its clients since May. Savings plans are offered with either regular or lump sum contributions made to an endowment fund from which family members can receive compensation in the event of the death of the policyholder. If the policyholder lives to the maturity of the policy, they receive a substantial lump sum plus a terminal bonus.
Most sukuk issuance is concentrated in Malaysia, which is not likely to be directly affected by the Dubai crisis. Moreover, if the Dubai case is tested in the courts, this could clarify the legal position of sukuk investors with regard to their rights to the underlying assets backing the issuance. Although this may be painful for Dubai World subsidiary Nakheel in the short run, a court ruling in favor of investors would increase confidence in sukuk in the longer term. Overall, the global Islamic finance industry seems well positioned for recovery in the longer term with further sukuk issuance, a widening of products to include takaful and the continuing buoyancy of Islamic retail banking.


text:
Southeast Climate Extension project recognized for helping farmers
AU Department of Animal Sciences partners with global packaging group
College of Ag 'Emerging Superstars' receive New Innovator awards
PAR grants program yields big results, quick turnarounds
Bullard receives top honor from American Society of Parasitologists
A message from the dean on the COVID-19 outbreak
York Lecture cancelled for March 17
The (re)connection: How alumni are staying close to their college home, no matter how far they go
Taking stage: student finds success in unconventional double major
Auburn Horticulture Club wins top honors at American Society of Horticultural Sciences' regional meeting
College of Ag hosts graduate student recruiting fair
The Southeast Climate Extension project, a large-scale partnership of six universities across the Southeast, was recently awarded the National Institute of Food and Agriculture's Partnership Award for Multistate Efforts. Brenda Ortiz, an associate professor in Auburn University's Department of Crop, Soil and Environmental Sciences and specialist with the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, is part of the team whose efforts aim to help Southeastern farmers cope with the results of climate change.
Since May 2011, university member institutions have been working to develop an information system, decision-making tools and management strategies to minimize the risks posed to Southeastern agriculture by extreme weather events, climate change and climate variability. Ortiz's specific involvement has focused on building the capacity of stakeholders to cope with the impacts of climate variability and change on agriculture. Specifically, Ortiz has planned and hosted climate science-related trainings, co-developed climate-based decision support tools with farmers and Extension agents and developed Extension fact sheets and videos.
"Brenda's role in this project has been critical and a key to its success," said John Beasley, professor and head of Auburn's crop, soil and environmental sciences department. "She and the entire team exemplify the work our land-grant universities and Extension do daily to apply research in support of those who produce our food and fiber."
The SCE project team is made up of individuals from Auburn University, Clemson University, Florida A&M University, Florida State University, the University of Florida and the University of Georgia. The team is led by Clyde Fraisse of the University of Florida. Ortiz, a member of the Auburn faculty since 2009, is a graduate of the University of Georgia and the Universidad Nacional de Colombia and Universidad del Valle, Colombia.
Brenda V. Ortiz
Professor and Extension Specialist (Precision Ag)
226 Funchess Hall
bvo0001@auburn.edu
OFFICE OF AG COMMUNICATIONS & MARKETING
Auburn University College of Agriculture
3 COMER HALL
agcomm@auburn.edu