text:
\section{Introduction}
Optical frequency combs generated from high-Q microresonators with a pump cw laser have been attracting significant interest for potential chip scale integration in the past decade especially after the experimental discovery of dissipative Kerr microresonator soliton combs \cite{Kippenberg_review18, gaeta2019photonic}. Soliton combs are in a mode-locked state, producing highly coherent, ultrashort pulses, with low noise comb spectra \cite{Herr_soliton}. Soliton combs have been applied to coherent optical communication \cite{Kippenberg_communication17}, low noise RF generation \cite{OEwaves_RF15}, ultra-fast ranging \cite{Kippenberg_distance18, Vahala_distance18}, optical frequency synthesizers \cite{Papp_synthesizer18}, to name a few.

Another significant advantage of soliton combs in addition to chip scale is the large comb mode spacing, enabling easy access to each comb mode. Accessing each comb mode is very difficult for conventional small comb spacing combs (100 MHz – 1 GHz), e.g. based on mode-locked fiber laser combs. Conventionally, one indirectly accesses each comb mode by using the multi-heterodyne technique, i.e. dual-comb technique, in which two mutually phase locked fiber frequency combs with slightly different comb mode spacings are interfered \cite{coddington2008coherent, coddington2016dual}. Spectroscopy based on the dual-comb technique (called dual-comb spectroscopy) has been considered as one of the most powerful broadband, high speed spectroscopic tools. In addition, in conjunction with (small) optical comb mode shifting, dual-comb spectroscopy can provide high resolution \cite{hsieh2014spectrally, okubo2015near}. However, dual-comb systems are very complicated and expensive. By utilizing soliton combs, we can replace dual-comb systems with a single soliton comb, providing a chip-scale and low-cost spectroscopic tool with simultaneous broadband and high speed capability. In a comb-resolved system enabled by a soliton comb, soliton comb modes can be easily spatially-resolved by using a spectral disperser with moderate spectral resolution and converted to the electrical domain by photo detectors as conceptually shown in Fig. 1. In Fig. 1, an arrayed waveguide grating is used as a spectral disperser, followed by photo detectors and analog –digital converters, which are integrated in a Si platform (Note that the arrayed waveguide grating can be also integrated in the same as the microresonator). The comb-resolved system is useful not only for spectroscopy, but also for 3D imaging \cite{hase2018scan}, bio \cite{michaud2012whispering} and fiber optic sensors \cite{kuse2013static}, where each comb mode is used as spatially-separated, multiple cw lasers (coherence between the comb modes is also advantageous for some applications). However, soliton combs generally provide only very sparse spectral information, which is typically not enough for most spectroscopy applications. The sparsity is determined by the comb mode spacing of the soliton comb, which is typically 100 GHz – 1 THz for microresonators based on CMOS compatible platforms such as Si$_3$N$_4$ \cite{Kippenberg_SiN16, Gaeta_heater, Papp_OL_SSB18}.

In principle, the sparsity can be reduced via frequency shifting of the soliton comb modes, as typically implemented in high resolution dual-comb spectroscopy. However, for microcombs scanning of the comb modes is not as straight-forward as with conventional combs. A first challenge is that detuning between the cw pump laser and one of the resonances of the microresonator has a very limited allowable range in which soliton combs are maintained. Thus, both the cw pump laser and the resonance have to be scanned simultaneously by almost the same amount, which prohibits large and complex scanning of the soliton comb modes. A second challenge is that soliton combs require a much larger scan range than conventional combs to cover any optical frequency in-between the soliton comb modes. For example, soliton combs around 1550 nm (roughly 200 THz) with 100 GHz comb spacing require 0.05 \verb

In this letter, we demonstrate large range, continuous scanning of a soliton comb by overcoming the first challenge, combined with the use of a microheater for the second challenge. A feedback loop based on Pound-Drever-Hall (PDH) locking is employed to fix the detuning between the cw pump laser and a resonance. The detuning is fixed even when the soliton comb modes are scanned, i.e. when the microresonator cavity resonance is scanned, the cw pump laser automatically follows the resonance frequency change. When PDH locking is engaged, a microheater on the microresonator enables continuous scanning with a scan range > 190 GHz without losing soliton operation. To demonstrate the feasibility of high precision spectroscopy via comb mode scanning, the system is applied to the characterization of H$^{13}$C$^{14}$N (hereinafter HCN) in the gas phase as well as resolving the modes of a fiber cavity. Comb mode scanning improves the frequency resolution by > 50000 times, compared with the case when no comb mode scanning is involved (280 GHz). Spectral features of as small as 5 MHz, only limited by the absorption linewidth of a test sample, is obtained.
\begin{figure}[!ht]
\centering
\fbox{\includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{figure1_2019_0710.png}}
\caption{ Conceptual setup for a chip-scale spectroscopic system. Because chips would be based on different platforms, butt-coupling, photonic wire bonding, or other technologies would be required to connect the chips. Depending on applications, the soliton comb does not need to propagate in free space. PDs, photo detectors; AWGs, arrayed waveguide gratings; ADCs, analog-digital converters.}
\end{figure}

\section{Result}

\subsection{Experimental schematic}
Conventionally, PDH locking is used to lock a cw laser to a cavity, where the optical frequency of the cw laser is locked to one of the cavity resonances \cite{black2001introduction}. Very recently, PDH locking has been utilized for preserving soliton comb operation for a long time, where detuning between the cw pump laser and one of the resonances of the microresonator has been fixed \cite{Papp_PRL18}. The detuning is determined by the RF frequency applied to a phase modulator, i.e. a blue-side sideband from the cw laser is locked to a resonance frequency of the microresonator. In this letter, PDH locking is used for soliton comb mode scanning for the first time. When the relevant sideband is locked to the resonance, soliton comb modes can be scanned without losing soliton comb operation because of the fixed detuning as shown in Fig. 2(a). An electric current is applied to a microheater on a microresonator to heat the microresonator, changing the resonance frequency of the microresonator. Because of PDH locking, the optical frequency of the cw laser is autonomously changed during scanning of the resonance frequency of the microresonator, keeping the detuning fixed.

An experimental setup is shown in Fig. 2(b).  A cw laser around 1550 nm is directed through a phase modulator and dual-parallel Mach-Zehnder modulator (DP-MZM). The phase modulator is driven by an RF oscillator with modulation frequency and power of 1.3 GHz and -20 dBm, respectively. The modulation frequency determines the detuning. The modulation power is weaker than typically implemented for PDH locking to ensure the sideband for PDH locking does not affect the cavity dynamics in the microresonator. The DP-MZM operated in a carrier-suppressed single sideband mode is used to initiate a soliton comb \cite{Papp_OL_SSB18, kuse2019control}. By quickly applying a DC voltage to a VCO, the pump frequency can be quickly shifted by a few GHz / 20 ns from blue to red wavelengths. The fast frequency shifting beyond the thermo-optic response in the Si$_3$N$_4$ (SiN) microresonator enables the generation of a single soliton comb with high fidelity. An output from the DP-MZM is amplified by an erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA) up to a power of 500 mW, and coupled into a microresonator. The FSR and loaded Q of the SiN microresonator are about 280 GHz and 10$^6$, respectively. An aluminum microheater is installed on the SiN microresonator separated by a SiO$_2$ cladding layer. The transmission of the cw laser is photo-detected and mixed with the same RF oscillator used for the phase modulator, generating an error signal via demodulation. The error signal is signal-processed by PI filters and fed back to both a VCO for the DP-MZM and the cw laser. Although, in principle, feeding back only to the cw laser works, we have to modulate both the VCO and the cw laser, because the cw laser has a minimum discrete frequency step, while the VCO can be tuned continuously. Alternatively, feeding back to the microheater can also work while changing the frequency of the cw laser, but in this case the feedback loop is nonlinear since the frequency response of the microheater is proportional to the square of the applied voltage. The generated soliton comb is used for a spectroscopy experiment and the optical spectrum of the soliton comb is monitored by an optical spectrum analyzer when the soliton comb modes are scanned.

\begin{figure}[!ht]
\centering
\fbox{\includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{figure2_20190625.png}}
\caption{(a) Schematic of working principle. One of the sidebands generated from a phase modulator (blue side) is locked to a resonance of the microrensonator. The detuning is determined by the RF frequency for PDH locking. (b) Schematic of experimental setup. A microheater is deposited on a SiN microresonator. PM, phase modulator; VCO, voltage controlled oscillator; OSA, optical spectrum analyzer.}
\end{figure}

\subsection{Single soliton comb and PDH locking}
Figure 3(a) shows the optical spectrum of a single soliton comb. The comb modes are clearly resolved, showing about 280 GHz comb mode spacing and a smooth envelope. After generating the soliton comb, the pump frequency, which is located on the red-side of a resonance shifted by about 1.3 GHz, is modulated to check an error signal against detuning as shown in Fig. 3(b). The error signal has a zero crossing when the sideband generated from the phase modulator becomes equal to the resonance frequency. Figure 3(c) shows an error signal when the feedback loop is off and on. When the feedback loop is off, the error signal is fluctuating, originating from the fluctuations of the pump frequency and the resonance frequency. Once the feedback loop turns on, the detuning between pump and resonance frequency is fixed at the RF frequency applied for the phase modulator ($\sim$ 1.3 GHz), showing no fluctuations of detuning. Because of fixed detuning, the soliton comb can be maintained for more than one day as shown in Fig. 3(d). We could operate the soliton comb indefinitely, if coupling to the microresonator would have sufficient long-term stability.

\begin{figure}[!ht]
\centering
\fbox{\includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{figure3.png}}
\caption{(a) Optical spectrum of the soliton comb. (b) Error signal of PDH locking. (c) Detuning with (> 11 s) and without (< 11 s) turning on the feedback loop via PDH locking. (d) Optical spectrum of the soliton comb when the feedback loop is closed.}
\end{figure}

\subsection{Soliton comb mode scan}
When the soliton comb is scanned, an electric current is applied to the microheater. The temperature of the microheater is increased by Joule heat generated from applied electric power ($I^2R$, where $I$ and $R$ are electric current and resistor, respectively). Figure 4(a) and (b) show an optical spectrum of the soliton comb at different spectral spans. Because of PDH locking, the soliton comb is not lost even during scanning. As emphasized in Fig. 4(b), the soliton comb modes are scanned by about 1.5 nm (i.e. 190 GHz) with about 200 mW electric power, which corresponds to 69 \verb

\begin{figure}[!ht]
\centering
\fbox{\includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{figure4.png}}
\caption{(a) Optical spectrum of the soliton comb when Joule heat is generated from applied electric power. (b) Magnified optical spectrum of (a). (c) Frequency shift of one of the soliton comb modes.}
\end{figure}

\subsection{Spectroscopy}
As a proof-of-concept experiment for broadband spectroscopy, gas-phase H$^{13}$C$^{14}$N (hereafter HCN) is used as a sample. HCN has many absorption lines in the C-band \cite{swann2005line}. Instead of measuring all comb modes at one time by using a WDM as shown in Fig. 1, only one comb mode is measured at one time because of the limited equipment in our lab. The separated single comb mode, which is continuously frequency-scanned, is photo-detected and digitized by an oscilloscope (RIGOL, DS1054Z). We measured three absorption lines 1532, 1541, and 1555 nm, which are allocated as R15, R0, and P17, respectively. Since scanning is nonlinear against the applied electric current/voltage, which means optical frequency of the soliton comb modes is scanned nonlinearly, the nonlinearity is compensated by monitoring optical frequency variations via an imbalanced fiber Mach-Zehnder modulator. The transmissions of the absorption lines are shown in Fig. 5. The transmissions show clearly resolved Voigt profiles (blue dotted curves in Fig. 5) with spectral FWHM width of about 1.5 GHz, corresponding to the expected theoretical curve from environmental temperature and pressure.

\begin{figure}[!ht]
\centering
\includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{figure5.png}
\caption{Transmission optical spectra from a gas-phase HCN at R15(a), R0 (b), and P17 (c). The red curves show experimental results and the dotted blue curve show expected theoretical curves calculated from environmental temperature and pressure.}
\end{figure}

To demonstrate higher resolution spectroscopy, we also use a fiber resonator as a sample. The fiber resonator consists of a 1.5 m fiber coupler with 90: 10 splitting ratio. As shown in Fig. 6(a), narrow absorption lines are measured every $\sim$ 130 MHz. Figure 6(b) shows an expanded absorption line. The absorption line has a FWHM of as small as 5 MHz, which is the narrowest absorption line measured by soliton combs. The ultimate resolution is determined by the instantaneous linewidth of the comb modes, which is on the order of kHz for a compact external cavity diode laser.

Although the measurements presented here are based on intensity sensitive absorption spectroscopy, phase sensitive absorption spectroscopy for high precision and sensitivity can be realized by wavelength/frequency modulation spectroscopy \cite{bomse1992frequency}, which has been established in spectroscopic systems based on a tunable single longitudinal mode cw laser. The frequency accuracy can be also very high, combined with an external reference or detection of the carrier envelope offset frequency while counting the frequency of the comb mode spacing. When direct detection of the comb mode spacing is difficult, frequency down conversion through sideband generation via electro-optic modulation can be implemented \cite{Kippenberg_SiN16, xue2016thermal}. However, quantitative analysis and demonstration are beyond the scope of this report.

\begin{figure}[!ht]
\centering
\fbox{\includegraphics[width=\linewidth]{figure6.png}}
\caption{(a) Transmission optical spectra from the fiber resonator. (b) Magnified spectrum of (a). Dotted blue curve is Lorentz curve.}
\end{figure}

\section{Discussion and conclusion}
The achieved scan range here did not reach one FSR, as would be desired for an actual spectroscopic instrument due to the limited current that could be applied to the heaters. By using microcombs with a smaller comb spacing such as 100 GHz, comb mode scanning of more than one FSR can be realized \cite{Kippenberg_chip18}. Furthermore, although the width of the microheater is designed to be the same as the microresonator, a larger microheater width would increase the scan range by reducing the probability of electromigration, which is proportional to the inverse of the cross section. This however goes with a drop in resistance and increase in electrical power. Alternatively, microheaters made by a different material such as Pt would also allow a larger scan range by reducing the effect of electromigration \cite{Gaeta_heater, yu2018gas}. With these small modifications, comb mode scanning of more than 200 GHz, which is larger than the comb mode spacing of most microcombs, can be envisioned, providing for full spectral coverage of the comb spectrum.

At present, the scan speed is slow (> 1 s for Fig. 4) and limited by the scan speed of our bulky cw pump laser. However, much higher scan speeds can in principle be demonstrated. Ultimately, the scan speed is limited by the modulation speed of the microheaters or the cw pump laser, which can be < 1 ms. To reach a scan speed limited by microheaters, distributed feedback lasers (DFB lasers) can be used at the cost of the broader linewidth of DFB lasers ($\sim$  1 MHz). Alternatively, self-injection locked semiconductor lasers could be also used for scanning applications \cite{Lipson_chip18, pavlov2018narrow}.

The method can be applied for any wavelength in principle. Phase modulators for PDH locking from the visible to 2 $\mu$m are commercially available. For longer wavelength, where phase modulators are not currently available, direct modulation of cw pump lasers can be used to add phase modulation.

In conclusion, we demonstrated continuous scanning of a dissipative Kerr soliton comb from a microresonator, in which PDH locking was used to fix the detuning between a cw pump laser and a resonance frequency of the microresonator, allowing for a scan range as large as 190 GHz (and potentially by more than the FSR for most soliton combs). In addition, proof-of-concept experiments of broadband, high resolution spectroscopy were demonstrated, showing a resolution of as high as 5 MHz. The spectroscopic system can be fully integrated in silicon photonics, in conjunction with soliton combs from high Q microresonators, integrated cw lasers, electro-optic modulators, AWGs, and PDs. Scanning soliton microcombs thus afford a unique pathway to the realization of practical, mass producible, spectroscopic tools with superior sensitivity, potentially fast measurement, and broader spectral coverage than currently available. Moreover, since comb mode scanning as presented here is mode-hop free, the system is essentially equivalent to providing multiple coherently-frequency-modulated wavelength channels, with potentially many other applications, for example related to laser ranging, radar, 3D imaging and general signal processing.

\section*{Supplementary material}
See supplementary material for a mathematical expression for more details about experimental setups.

\begin{acknowledgments}
We acknowledge Yi Xuan and Cong Wang in Purdue University at the beginning of the experiment.
\end{acknowledgments}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaArXiv


The club was founded in 1937.
Following is a report from the Aberdeen Press and Journal Saturday 1st May 1937. "At a meeting of the Alford Golf Club office-bearers were elected as follows; Hon. president, C F Spence; president, Gordon Will; captain, D Benzie; secretary and treasurer - A E Urquhart, Malvern House; committee - president, captain, vice-captain, secretary, John Duthie, Simon Leask and John Mitchell. It was decided to open the course on Wednesday 19th May.
The current Alford Golf Club opened in 1982.


Bins, bags, and silos for pellet storage. Augers and vacuum transport/conveyance solutions. Hardware connections for bulk refueling.
Henan Kingman M;E Complete Plant Co.,Ltd is one of the leading Chinese Producer who have specialised in the manufacture of Wood Pellet plants and Wood Pellet.
* Diesel wood flat die pellet mill is suitable for processing biomass materials such as wheat straw, sunflower stalk, forestry wastes, wood chips and many other wastes into wood pellets for green fuel.
Windhager manufactures state-of-the-art, Austrian-made boilers for individual heating solutions based on renewable energy sources. Our product range includes heating systems that use pellets, wood and wood chips, and solar power.
Burn Wise is a partnership program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that emphasizes the importance of burning the right wood, the right way, in the right appliance to protect your home, health, and the air we breathe.
Pellet Barbeques. Pellet barbeques give you six cooking options in one amazing unit. You can grill, smoke, braise, bake, roast or barbeque! The grills are simple and safe to operate.
Principle: This burner was originally designed for wood pellet stove/boiler. But the same burner can be used to construct BBQ smoker/grill. Following explaination is for stove.
While a Central Boiler outdoor wood furnace itself is one of the most technologically advanced ways available to heat with wood, how it delivers heat is a pretty simple and neat idea.


text:
Vintage menus reveal Hawaiian sea change
Scientists are using old menus from Hawaii to study population trends in wild fish, a creative approach that's shedding new light on seafood in the Aloha State.
Russell McLendon
August 6, 2013, 4:24 p.m.
A midcentury menu from Stewart's Family Restaurant on Oahu. (Photo: Kyle Van Houtan/NOAA)
Hawaii's fish populations have undergone dramatic changes in the past century, but much of their story has been hidden by a 45-year gap in state fishing records. That's beginning to change, however, thanks to an unorthodox data source: old Hawaiian seafood menus.
Many tourists bring the colorful menus home as souvenirs, often preserving them for decades without realizing they hold valuable environmental data. In addition to these private collections — some of which date back to the 1800s — researchers tracked down vintage menus in archives, libraries and museums, revealing their findings in a peer-reviewed letter published Aug. 1. While menus don't meet the usual criteria for scientific records, they're often the only available clues to past fish populations.
"It's not something that would normally be considered data," lead author and Duke University professor Kyle Van Houtan tells MNN. "But at this point, it's all we have."
Van Houtan, who also leads the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Marine Turtle Assessment Program in Honolulu, says there's no precedent for using old menus this way. "What we're trying to do is get at historical baselines — what was normal," he says. "And to do that, sometimes you have to get creative."
Photo: Kyle Van Houtan/NOAA
The strategy seems to be working, according to results published in the journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. After analyzing 376 menus from 154 different restaurants, Van Houtan and his colleagues found that reef fish and other near-shore species were common on Hawaiian menus before 1940. By the time Hawaii became a state in 1959, however, they collectively appeared on fewer than 10 percent of menus sampled.
Hawaiian restaurants began shifting toward big, open-ocean fish like tuna and swordfish in the 1960s. These species appeared on 95 percent of menus by 1975, while inshore fish had all but vanished. Changing public tastes may partly explain this, the researchers acknowledge, but their analysis of fishing records and socioeconomic data suggests the exodus of reef fish from menus paralleled declines in their wild populations.
"Back in the 1920s and '30s, these reef fish were on every menu, but now you don't see that at all," Van Houtan says. "Some of that could reflect taste, but people do still eat those fish. Their general abundance in the reef is just nowhere near what it used to be."
The idea to hunt for data in old menus began with separate research on sea turtles, Van Houtan says. After hearing that green sea turtles were once sold in Hawaiian restaurants, he set out to find proof. "I just wanted a photo of turtles on the menu, because that's not really something that's in our consciousness today," he explains. After finally finding a turtle dish among dozens of antique menus, he became intrigued by the idea of restaurants as ecological record keepers. "So I decided to see what else I could find if I just kept looking at menus. And in doing so, that kind of became the story itself."
Some of the menus came from local resources — Honolulu's Bishop Museum, for example, and the archives of a community college's hospitality program — but Van Houtan relied heavily on private collectors. "A lot of it was word of mouth," he says. "People would hear I was looking for old menus and say, 'You should talk to this guy.' I kind of stopped after I got about 500. This was really a side project, and not a project in itself."
In a press release about the research, co-author Loren McClenachan from Maine's Colby College says this kind of creative sleuthing could be useful for an array of other studies.
"Historical ecology typically focuses on supply-side information," she says. "Restaurant menus are an available but often overlooked source of information on the demand side, perhaps a modern equivalent to archeological middens, in that they document seafood consumption, availability and even value over time."
"Most of the menus in our study came from private collections," Van Houtan adds. "They were often beautifully crafted, date-stamped and cherished by their owners as art. The point of our study is that they are also data."
Related marine life stories on MNN:
12 gorgeous animals of the coral reef
Hawaii dolphin rescue caught on video
Hawaii's ocean debris could fill 18-wheeler
Marine reserve helps both fish and fishermen
Russell McLendon ( @russmclendon ) writes about humans and other wildlife.
Related topics: Conservation, Marine Life, Oceans, Science, Wild Animals
Scientists are using old menus from Hawaii to study wild fish populations, a creative approach that's shedding new light on seafood in the Aloha State.
Thirsty koala seeks help from bikers in South Australia
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15 birds with unbelievable beaks

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


The AWEIS SC is the smallest Electronic Ignition System for use in Fire Bowls and Fire Pits on the market today. Its small size, especially in height makes it the perfect match for those features that do not have much room in the vertical. With a maximum gas output of 290K Btu/hr – which is quite a large amount of gas - it can be used in most fire feature applications.
Installation must conform with local codes or, in the absence of local codes, with the National Fuel Gas Code, ANSI Z223.1 / NFPA 54, or International Fuel Gas Code. The appliance, when installed, must be electrically grounded in accordance with local codes or, in the absence of local codes, with the National Electric Code, ANSI/NFPA 70, if applicable.


text:
The Breakdown of the Multiple Parts in the Cutting Ball Tempest
October 9, 2010 by Bennett Fisher 7 Comments
I mentioned in my last entry that three actors play all the roles in our version of The Tempest. The breakdown of the parts are as follows:
David Sinaiko – Prospero, Alonso, Stephano
Donell Hill – Ferdinand, Caliban, Antonio
Caitlyn Louchard – Miranda, Ariel, Gonzalo, Sebastian, Trinculo
The first scene with the Boatswain we have staged as a kind of collage of voices, and Adrian and Francisco's lines have been redistributed amongst the other lords.
Our director, Rob Melrose, is working with the concept that there are three meta-roles – Prospero, Ferdinand, and Miranda – and that the other doubled characters may be understood as fragments of their personalities and psyches or how they are perceived by another character. Other three-actor productions, such as the London Globe's 2005 Tempest, have used a similar conceits to ground their actors (in their case, Prospero, Caliban, and Ariel instead of Prospero, Miranda, and Ferdinand). Critics like Marjorie Garber have noted that the, with the abundance of similarities between the sets of characters, that the story may be reduced to a story involving certain key figures or types.
With this understanding, the actors change characters not simply when there is a need manifested by the plot (i.e. it's now time for the Stephano scene, so the actor playing Prospero has to turn into Stephano), but when there is a need created within the meta-character (Prospero is turning into Stephano because something in the last scene has triggered the Stephano aspect of his conscience).
To give an example: we begin the first scene between the shipwrecked lords with Alonso drinking from a bottle out of despair from the loss of his son. By the time this scene comes to a close, Alonso has drunk so much that the Stephano aspect is able to appear. Stephano and Alonso share many of the same defining traits as Prospero – they are, each in their own way, leaders and masters, but with varying levels of sophistication and mastery. In the case of Ariel and Miranda, the first instance of the change is manifested when, after Prospero lulls Miranda to sleep, he awakens the latent Ariel personality within her almost by means of a kind hypnosis. In some instances, we need to get a little creative with the narrative. Sebastian and Gonzalo cannot be onstage at the same time, so the Sebastian aspect only awakes when Gonzalo is asleep.
It may appear from my account that we are taking quite a bit of liberty with the text. True enough, our production is not as strict as a more "traditional" interpretation (whatever that means), but I feel that a lot of the logic we have created for the transition between characters is more for the benefit of the actors than the audience. When they are able to make sense of why they change characters, the audience can make sense of the transitions as well. Once again, we are not trying to force a new narrative down the audience's throats that warps The Tempest, we are telling the story of the play.
The actors have all taken great pains to significantly differentiate the characters through their voice and physicality and those choices, with the aid of certain costume choices (glasses for Ferdinand, sunglasses for Antonio, etc.), but, with the same three actors playing all the roles, it is impossible to dupe the audience into believing that the characters are entirely distinct. Shakespeare was undoubtedly conscious of these similarities when he wrote the play, and if those similarities are expressed so clearly with three actors, we would be doing ourselves a disservice by trying to mask it.
-Bennett Fisher, Dramaturg
Cutting Ball Theatre's production of William Shakespeare's The Tempest opens November 5 at the Exit on Taylor in San Francisco. More info at www.cuttingball.com
Filed Under: Cutting Ball, The Tempest Tagged With: Cutting Ball
Cutting Ball Theatre's Three Actor Tempest in Rehearsal
In my dramaturgical research for The Tempest, I was delighted when I stumbled upon blog entries written by actors during the rehearsal process for Globe Theatre in London's three-actor production of the play in 2005. I found those entries profoundly informative, since the actors not only discussed their interpretation of the characters and their understanding of the play's meaning, but addressed the challenges of manifesting those ideas physically in the production. So, when Professor Mentz offered to have us blog about our production at the Cutting Ball Theatre in San Francisco, which begins previews on November 5, I was delighted. I hope that these entries provide an interesting and worthwhile supplement to the course.
Our director, Rob Melrose, has chosen to stage the play with three actors – David Sinaiko, Caitlyn Louchard, and Donell Hill – playing all the roles, hoping that it will give "an up close and personal look at the monsters lurking inside all of us." Our staging includes video projection, original music, and other surreal elements that I hope to describe in more detail in future entries. Most dramaturgs are justifiably wary of more experimental stagings, but I believe theater is a living organism, and just in the way modern critics have been able to read everything from Freud to Fanon into The Tempest, so should we freely though heedfully dive certain fathoms into a piece to find what may be buried at the center. Combing through some critical writings on The Tempest and seeing the actors on their feet in rehearsal, I feel that this production succeeds in uncovering compelling and essential aspects of Shakespeare's play that may not be as readily apparent in a "traditional" staging. Overlapping groups of threes abound in the play – the Prospero, Miranda, and Ferdinand trio, the Prospero, Ariel, and Caliban trio, the Caliban, Stephano, and Trinculo trio, and so forth. Seeing the same actor in a different role a few pages creates wonderful, unexpected moments of revelation. Prospero's line to Miranda that "to the most of men this [Ferdinand] is a Caliban/And they to him are angels" is deliciously curious when the actor playing Ferdinand has just minutes before left the stage as Caliban: the audience is left to question whether or not there is any fundamental difference between the two. Just so, when Stephano (played by the same actor playing Prospero) shows affection for Caliban, we are reminded of that missing episode before the events of the play when Prospero was loving and compassionate to his sole subject on the island. Moments later when Caliban entreats "Prithee, be my god", we are viscerally made aware that this new allegiance, like Caliban's allegiance to Prospero, is not much better. Oddly, by reducing the number of actors, we have revealed more about the similarities and differences between each character than one might be able to do with a larger cast.
Innumerable critics have talked about the relationship between The Tempest and psychology – likening the island to the human mind, arguing Ariel and Caliban are Prospero's Superego and Id respectively and that the play is the story of reconciling these aspects of his conscience. Melrose is interested in exploring the play in this light, but also sees it as a deeply personal story about a father letting go of his daughter, a man forgiving his enemies, and the universal desire shared by all men and women to be "released." I think this focus on the human element has helped keep our production grounded in the story, and, ultimately, is what preserves, what is, in my opinion Shakespeare's most essential messages in the play, that "the rarer action/Is in virtue than in vengeance." Freud and Jung are there, and plentifully, but the audience is not held hostage by the concept but given freedom to draw their own meaning. Our Island may be more surreal at moments, but we've built a bridge to the mainland.
Filed Under: Cutting Ball, Performance Updates, The Tempest Tagged With: Cutting Ball


Ms Angie Motshekga leaves "impressed" and "inspired" and promises to continue the conversation with IkamvaYouth.
The Minister of Basic Education Ms Angie Motshekga visited our Strategic Planning Weekend and sat in on one our group discussion sessions.
Ms Motshekga praised all the IkamvaYouth volunteers around the country who give back so selflessly to the community and who carry the desire to improve the circumstances of our IkamvaYouth learners. In light of the recently launched Bill of Responsibilities, Ms Motshekga said she is greatly encouraged by organisations like IkamvaYouth who are making a real and valuable contribution to our society.
Ms Motshekga left "impressed" and "inspired" and promised to continue the conversation. We now look forward to the future with greater confidence and the promise of greater coollaboration.


text:
Offaly deaths and funerals (April 3)
May they rest in peace
Express Reporter
Carthage Grennan - Harbour House, St. Bridget's Place, Tullamore, Offaly / Rahan, Offaly
Removal on Tuesday morning to St. Carthage's Church, Killina for Requiem Mass at 11am. Interment afterwards in Rahan Cemetery.
Pat Troy, Alexandria (USA), originally from Kilcormac, Offaly
A celebration of his Pat Troy's life will be held in Alexandria. The wake is on Friday, April 6 from 6-8 pm at Demaine's Funeral Home, 520 S. Washington St. A Mass of Christian Burial on Saturday, April 7 at 11 am at The Basilica of St. Mary, 400 Green St. Internment immediately following the mass at St. Mary Cemetery, 1001 S. Royal St. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to St. Ann's Center for Children, Youth & Families, 4901 Eastern Ave., Hyattsville, MD 20782 and Christ House 131 S. West St., Alexandria, VA 22314.
Sheila Mabel Bailey (née Johnston), Dublin / Portarlington, Offaly
A Memorial Service will be held in Tullow Church, Brighton Road, at 5pm on Saturday, 14th April.
Kathleen Mahon - Ballintemple, Walsh Island, Offaly
Requiem Mass on Tuesday at 11am. Interment afterwards in the adjoining Cemetery.
Margaret (Maggie) McNamee (née Mooney) - Clonmore, Fahy, Rhode, Offaly
Funeral Mass on Tuesday at 11am in the Church of the Holy Trinity, Castlejordan, followed by burial in the adjoining cemetery. Family flowers only please. Donations to Oncology Unit Tullamore Hospital if desired. House private on Tuesday morning please.
Kathleen O'Neill (née Dunne) - 203 Arden View, Tullamore, Offaly
Removal on Tuesday morning to the Church of the Assumption, Tullamore, arriving for Funeral Mass at 10am. Burial after Mass in Clonminch Cemetery, Tullamore.
Bridget McDonnell (née Mooney), 51, Gilroy Ave, Edenderry, Offaly
Reposing at her home this Tuesday from 6pm with Rosary at 8pm. Reposing all day Wednesday with removal to St Mary's Church, Edenderry at 6pm arriving at 6.30pm. Funeral Mass on Thursday at 12 noon followed by burial in St Mary's Cemetery. Family flowers only please, donations to Friends of Tullamore Hospital, if desired.
Eileen Finlay (née O'Gorman), Patrick St, Portarlington, Offaly / Ballyragget, Kilkenny
Reposing at her residence on Tuesday and Wednesday from 4pm with Rosary at 9pm on both evenings. Removal on Thursday at 11:40am arriving St Michael's church Portarlington for Requiem Mass at 12 noon. Burial afterwards in St Michael's cemetery Portarlington. Family Flowers Only Please. Donations if desired to the Offaly Hospice. House Private On Thursday Morning Please. "Ar dheis Dé go raibh a h-anam dílis."


So, how do you do this??? I had to wait a month from my first order to set it up so now is the time. I have called Medifast a couple of times and they have sent an email to someone so she can send me a user name and password but I haven't gotten that yet. Does it take a while for them to get back to you? I want to get this done before I forget to do it. Any ideas??.
My coach walked me through mine, but I actually did everything on line myself..
Set up my account and did my own ordering under her site through MF..
I have actually received my 2nd order yesterday. I even went in and tweet the order to be a little different. And changed my delivery date..
Does your coach have a website? Go on there and do it yourself..
Never mind I just re-read the title. You are looking for the TSFL rewards, but I still think you can do it through your ordering site. Maybe not! Get your coach to get online with you and have your coach call Medifast while you are on the phone with her. amy require your coach to have a cell phone for you and a land line for MF..
Cellis, like the others have said, your health coach should be able to help you set up your rewards. Or you can call Take Shape for Life directly at 800-572-4417..
I've called that number at TSFL at least 3 times regarding setting this up. First I was told to email someone there to get it set up. That didn't work as I never got a response. Next time I called, I was told I had to wait for a month after my first order was placed, so I did that. Now, when I called, the gal I talked to at Customer Service sent an "in-house" email to the person who has to give me a user name and password but I haven't heard a thing from her. So, I am kind of frustrated.
I would think that I should be able to go online to my order page, use my TSFL ID number, and go through the listed steps but it doesn't work. I guess I'll call them again (because I have a ton of time on my hands right now with school staring up soon and have nothing better to do).
Thanks for the suggestions. If my coach weren't in Mexico, I'd give her a call and ask her to work her magic. She is terrific..
No one helped me - as long as you know your id, you should be able to go here and set it up yourself.
To join the Be Slim Club on TSFL all you need is your member number. If you don't know it just check your previous shipment's packing slip, your confirmation email from the last order, or call TSFL and ask the CSR for it. You don't need anyone else to send you log-in info, passwords, or health coach websites. Once you have your member number, go the TSFL website and click the link to register for the Be Slim Club..
I've done this at least 20 times and it says my access code is invalid. I use the number that is called my TSFL ID#. I called TSFL again today and the gal I talked to said she would go find the gal that I talked to yesterday. So, I was on hold for 10 minutes. She came back and said that she was going to walk to the desk of the person who had to set it up for me and that she would call me back. She didn't call back so I called the extension she gave me that she said would get me to her.
Well, I assume they are not on the west coast and that the business day has ended for them and I haven't heard anything. They keep telling me this person has to set up a user name and password for me. I have called TSFl about this 6 times now. I guess I'll see what happens tomorrow..
Thanks for the advice. I wish it worked. It seems like such a simple thing to do..
Yep. That sounds about par for the course for TSFL. They make MF's CS appear first class!.
Wow, Cellis, I am so sorry you are having such a hard time getting set up. I would be beyond frustrated, too. I would suggest the next time you call that you ask right off the bat to speak with a supervisor. There is nothing I hate no, LOATHE more than dealing with customer service. When it is just plain BAD customer service, I can get downright livid. I feel for you.
And don't forget to tell the supervisor that you want credit for that 1st month that the idiot CS agent told you you had to wait for in order to join..
Well, if I don't hear tomorrow, I will ask to speak with a supervisor. I am sure my coach could get it straightened out in a nanosecond but she is on vacation. I just want to get it done because I am going back to work soon and I won't have time to hassle with it. I want to give CS the benefit of the doubt but I am beginning to feel like I can't get a straight answer and that they are just putting me off. I don't want to feel that way. I have the patience of Job ......up to a point..
You are not alone. I put in my ID# and it comes up with the name of someone totally different than me and say "started May 2007"..
Wrong I'm not "Karen" and I started May 2010..
I'm on hold trying to get it fixed also..
Yay! They got it ironed out and I am now registered for the BeSlim Rewards Program through TSFL! Now, I just have to get them to credit me with the points from both month's orders rather than just the last one. When they do that, I'll actually have enough points to redeem for a personal blender..
I just registered today for my rewards and I already have enough points for a cute dooney & bourke handbag!!.
That's cool. I didn't look at the apparel, etc. I'll have to check it out. You are 2 months ahead of me because, although I started Medifast on July 1, I didn't start TSFL until August..
No one helped me - as long as you know your id, you should be able to go here and set it up yourself..
Yep. That sounds about par for the course for TSFL. They make MF's CS appear first class!..
I just registered today for my rewards and I already have enough points for a cute dooney & bourke handbag!!..


Dernier ajout : 20 janvier.
Jocelyne Saab was born on 30 April 1948 in Beirut. Early morning during the night of January 17 2019 she has passed away in Paris.
On December 18 2018 she was signing Zones de guerre just release out at the MK2 Quai de Loire bookstore. A pictures book extracted from her works along her life. A sort of panoramic biography till her disappearance. The book was produced by Jean-Luc Godard and contains only two texts one by Elias Sanbar and other by Etel Adnan. Published by Les éditions de l'œil.
Père Lachaise, Crematorium, Mercredi 16 janvier 2019, 11h. Nicole Brenez pour Jocelyne Saab.


The test prints of the Scavenger Arken submersible just arrived from Shapeways and they are really awesome! I probably need to do some minor tweaking to ensure they can survive shipping, but, considering how small they are, the amount of detail that is there is astounding.
Meanwhile, I'm working hard on the art book, dvd, and sorting out logistics for printing and shipping goods.
I have amazing posters designed thanks to some really talented friends, which I will post soon. We have a total of 6 posters now which makes for a fun random set!
Henry Russ, Les Finley, and 1 more person like this update.


The Laser Competition 1 has become the classic, one person backpacking tent and has received multiple industry 'Best In Test' awards. The tent is designed for travellers and backpackers looking for weight saving kit and is suitabe for medium, duration backpacking trips and 3 season conditions.
The forerunner to the Laser Competition 1 (the Laser Lite) was first launched in 2004 and was the first 1kg tent in the market. It sparked a trend for lightweight tent development and the Laser design became the defacto standard for lightweight tents.
Although the silicone flysheet cannot be seam sealed, the Laser Competition has been cleverly designed to minimise the number of seams over the inner. There is one main seam, which incorporates the pole sleeve, over the inner and the tent is supplied with a removable, waterproof hood to cover this seam and add extra stability. The remaining seams at each end of the tent are positioned away from the inner so the inner is fully protected from the wet.
To keep weight and pack size down folding carbon rods are used at each end of the tent. The main pole is high quality DAC alloy. The Laser Competition 1 tent is compatible with the Terra Nova FASTPACK system, allowing those who want to trim weight further when conditions permit, to use the flysheet and the fastpack groundsheet (which is available separately) without the inner.
Suitable for 1 person, or two people at a squeeze during mountain marathon events.


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Monday, September 22, 2014 - 7:24 AM
Today In KISStory - 1998
www.KISSopolis.com
Today In KISStory - September 22, 1998: KISS release their 18th studio album "Psycho Circus".
"Psycho Circus" features the original four members of he band back together and in full make-up (since 1979). Some pressings of the album featured a lenticular cover that alternates between a black KISS logo and the album title with pictures of a clown and the band members, while the Japan initial first pressing featured a pop-up cover which had 3 foam spring-loaded panels of a clown face and 2 others with band members faces that popped out when the doors were opened. The track "You Wanted the Best" is the only KISS song in which lead vocals are shared by the entire lineup.
Following the highly successful 1996-1997 reunion tour, Psycho Circus was marketed as the first studio album by the band's original lineup since 1979's Dynasty (as Peter Criss did not participate on 1980's Unmasked). As with Dynasty and Unmasked, however, many of the songs were recorded by uncredited players. Guitarist Ace Frehley and drummer Peter Criss were used sparingly, with Criss only playing drums on "Into the Void." Frehley played on two songs from the album (not including vocals). In 2011 in Frehley's book No Regrets, he says that he wrote a lot of songs for the album, one of those songs being titled "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Rock 'n' Roll." He mentions that the title and song were deemed very similar to the song "I Pledge Allegiance to the State of Rock 'n' Roll." "Into the Void" was originally titled "Shakin' Sharp Shooter" but Simmons and Stanley were unhappy with the lyrics and title so Simmons rewrote it.
In a radio interview with Eddie Trunk following his departure Criss stated that only "Into the Void" featured instrumental contributions from all four members. Regarding the lack of cohesion in the group at the time of recording, Stanley stated "We tried to do a KISS album, and it was an ill-fated attempt because there was no real band," and continued by adding "For a band to make a great album, it has to share a common purpose, and we didn't have it." In 2012 Stanley also talked about why the original lineup didn't play on the record, and that's because so many lawyers were getting involved and they just lost tolerance and told Frehley and Criss not to bother showing up. Although Stanley doesn't say whose lawyers were getting involved. (Drummer Kevin Valentine and current KISS guitarist Tommy Thayer are thought to have played on the album, although not credited in the album notes.)
Bruce Fairbairn was brought to produce the album, and stated that he wanted to stay away from gimmicks and trends such as guest appearances, just "tried to stay true to what KISS does best and people remember them for". The album was mostly recorded at Los Angeles' A&M Studios and One on One Recording Studios, with the performances being first recorded with analogue equipment, and then digitized for mixing and overdubs. Afterwards it was mixed by Mick Guzauski in his New York studio, and mastered by Fairbarn and Kiss' long-time partner George Marino at Sterling Sound NY. Fairbairn complimented the band for being collaborative, declaring that "it had the potential to be a nightmare because they're all disparate and strong characters, musically and as people."
"Psycho Circus" debuted at #3 on the Billboard 200, selling 110,000 copies in its first week of release, and was certified Gold by the RIAA on October 22, 1998. Rolling Stone said about the album, "Psycho Circus" is an album of platform-stomping rhythms, roller-coaster guitar riffs and sing-along choruses - is far more respectable than any of the awkward flops from the no-makeup years." Entertainment Weekly (9/25/98, p. 106) said, "This is rock with a capital R, captured in all its cheesy glory... This new effort proves that in the circus of hard-rock dinosaurs, KISS remains its Barnum & Bailey."


Toddlers like to help, so teach them tasks that they can do to help you clean up; if you still have a toddler, you're lucky to have them just pick up their toys after their play time. You should set aside certain areas for storage for them so they know where to put their belongings. Always start them with simple tasks, like making their beds when they wake up. Then praise them for their efforts. Always encourage them so that you allow them to learn without discouraging their attempts. That means that you do not remake their beds if they are not perfect!
One trick to get them to help is to hide 'surprises' in their messes; things like coins, small toys, or something you know they would enjoy.
Rewards are great incentives, too, but don't make those the only reason for cleaning. Always show appreciation and do not expect perfection when they are learning to clean and help out.
If all else fails, resort to the garbage bag trick. Use a garbage bag when you clean up instead of them and put everything in it. Then give them tasks to do to get those items back.
If your kids are going to school, then the next tip may help you.
Making a schedule will teach your kids how to become organized and time-efficient. Starting early on helping them make their own cleaning schedule will make them grow into more responsible adults.
So make a schedule for their cleaning times before they grow up and clutter becomes a bad habit. At the very least, cleaning just once a week is not too hard for your kids to manage. Check up on them at the end of the day to be sure they stick to the schedule.
Then if that fails, resort to the garbage bag trick as stated above.
Regardless of how old your kids are, if you choose a place for their stuff, you will not have to worry about where it goes in their rooms. You can use bins or boxes to help organize things so they will have better-organized rooms. Some bins are made for under the bed storage, too.
If selecting clothes to wear is a problem, you may want to invest in a small set of drawers that you label for Monday through Friday items, sports, or special classes that they are enrolled in.
By doing this you will not have to hear, "Mom! Where's my…" because they will know where to find it. Once they get used to being responsible for cleaning their own rooms, it will become a habit. (It takes about 21 days to form a new habit to form, so be patient.).
If you're already having a hard time with their cleaning, nagging will only make things worse. It's a very negative approach which will discourage the children. As tough as it is to resist, try your best to be nice. You can even role play if you want to see what they would do if they were in charge.
Just remember as a parent, you need to teach them skills that they will need as adults. When they learn to clean at a young age, they are able to quickly clean up after themselves as adults.
Home cleaning services are professional cleaning services that have trained staff to clean in an environmentally safe and effective manner. These professionals have deep cleaning services to take care of your deep (spring/fall) cleaning needs. Hire a trusted house cleaning service so you can relax and know that your home cleaning needs are taken care of.
If you are not getting a personal recommendation, then you should read the customer's reviews before choosing one to be sure that they can be trusted. Then you can make an appointment with them based on the schedule that you want, so you can sit back and relax while they do the work, giving you a healthy, clean home, not just for your kid's room, but for the whole house!


Watch this video about the making of a Ginkgo leaf (origami).
Click on this link to see an enlargement and option to print the page.
I hope you dont mind, I have copied this picture to my own blog with a link to you.I watch your pages and passed them on to my daughter who is mad keen on Ginkgo and is called Ginkgo Girl!


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Home Misc. Features The Best Films We Watched This Year
updated on 31 December 2021 31 December 2021 Misc. Features
The Best Films We Watched This Year
UCL Film & TV Society Leave a Comment on The Best Films We Watched This Year
Yearly roundup lists highlight the best films to come out that year, they can be a tool to lift smaller films out of obscurity, or a sort of hegemonic force, in those years when a large swathe of popular critics declare the same three films the best of the year. Something that might be forgotten though, is that we all tend to watch a lot more than just new releases each year, and some of our favourite watches aren't new at all, but personal discoveries of filmic gems from years or decades ago. With that in mind, some members of the film society committee decided to highlight some of our favourite watches of the year, with a mind on choosing films that were new to us, but not necessarily new releases. We hope you enjoy reading, that you find something for your watchlist you might not have previously considered, and that you have a very happy new year.
Diego Collado — President — Nashville (1975)
Robert Altman's Nashville was a great discovery for me this year, screened at the BFI as part of their Altman season in June. Although an incredibly popular filmmaker, I had never come across one of his films before.
Fellini's Amarcord being one of my favourite films of all time, I find stories with such an impressive number of characters quite captivating. Somehow, these talented writers manage to distil a person, with their past, future, and present, into a glance, a sigh, or a specific gesture, which is all that these smaller yet still complex characters need to do to express themselves among such a large ensemble cast. Take, for example, Pfc. Glenn Kelly in Nashville. Altman and Tewkesbury's characters quickly materialise, with only a few lines, right before the camera moves to a completely different part of Nashville, leaving the audience with blanks to fill while the camera chases someone else down the streets of the city. The film was a thrilling experience and a great introduction to Altman's world.
Lydia de Matos — Blog & Podcast Editor-in-Chief — The Long Day Closes (1992)
I'm unsure of the last time I was hypnotised quite like this. Watching The Long Day Closes feels like watching what cinema could be, if the art form were distilled into its purest purpose and practice. A collection of remembered moments, observed and (re)constructed with infinite care, the film takes on the qualities of memory itself, existing not simply as a product of memory, but an almost frighteningly accurate evocation of it. I write this aware of just how acutely pretentious it sounds, and yet The Long Day Closes is, for lack of a better phrase, immensely approachable. It is richly textured, almost endlessly so, constructing an atmosphere which envelops, until the spectator can't help but feel themselves a part of the very fabric of the film. Not having been aware of Terence Davies until a friend recommended this film, his filmography has now been catapulted to the top of my to-watch. It may simply be that The Long Day Closes concerns itself with precisely the subjects which I find most interesting, but regardless of that it feels like essential filmmaking; the best film I've seen all year, if not the best film I've ever seen.
Saul Lotzof — Treasurer — Incendies (2011)
As a big Radiohead fan, hearing You and Whose Army? playing over the opening shot Denis Villeneuve's Incendies gave me the feeling that I was in for a real treat. Whilst the film employed possibly the worst usage I've ever witnessed of some irrefutable 'bangers', I think my initial instincts were mostly right; it came off very well on the whole. The film is about a daughter and son who, following their mother's death, are prompted by her will to track down their unknown father and unheard-of brother. It flashes between this current-day quest and the war-torn past depicting the mother's often convoluted ties to their estranged family members. A categorisation of genre seems difficult without spoiling some important details — on a very primitive level, it's a drama-mystery-thriller-sort-of-thing.
It wasn't my favorite watch of 2021 (that accolade goes to a film that I feel like I couldn't gloss as briefly or lightheartedly), but it made a greater impression than most others this year. I loved how it was cut and how it looked; the muted palette, understated camera movement, and gentle pace made much of the appalling action in several scenes even more disturbing. The commitment to a certain 'realism' puts us right up against the horrors of the modern world without the buffer of the fantastical 'Hollywood' rudiments endemic to much contemporary commercial Western cinema. At least, that's what I thought until the twist, which in my mind did not match the grounded 'vibe' of much of the film that came before it — for me, it was too theatrical and artificial. On balance, however, it was an excellent film, and one that is well worth a watch.
Tomi Haffety — Documentary Officer — Tokyo Olympiad (1965)
Never before have I been so transfixed by a marathon, a long jump, or a spectator's reaction to a failed somersault. Kon Ichikawa takes archival footage from the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and by miracle makes it into an arcane tableau that not only follows athletes, but humans at the pinnacle of their ability. Every four years the Olympics rolls around and we experience a two week stretch of gawking at how much determination, discipline and ambition the athletes put themselves through in order to reach superhuman levels of strength. It always becomes an emotional affair, I think, to marvel at how hard these people have worked, only to often walk away empty-handed. Tokyo Olympiad celebrates every success and failure with the respect they deserve, capturing the moment a pole-vaulter realises he's never going to make it, or the relief on a marathon runner's face as they finally cross the finish line. As a documentary, it is both insightful and amusing in a way that captured me for its full three hour stretch, because as well as capturing the sport, it captured the lives of the athletes outside of the arena, and thus documented the external context of the sport. The 1964 Olympics was a demonstration of geopolitical calm, solidarity, and prosperity, and this is laid bare in Ichikawa's presentation of the event. The shots of Tokyo across the November fortnight show the reality of life outside of the glamour often ascribed to global events like this one. This is not my only great watch of 2021, but it is certainly the one that, through its humour and playful editing, resonated with me the most, even if I felt deservedly unfit and inferior after watching it.
Pedro Tafur — Workshops Producer — Love in the Afternoon (1957)
Billy Wilder's films are always funny and always sad. In the endless squabblings between Joe and Jerry in Some Like it Hot, in Norma Desmond's delusional monologues in Sunset Boulevard, and in the deceitful love triangle formed by a thin twenty-year old virgin, her widowed father, and a rich casanova in this brilliant romantic comedy. Trying to protect her from the hurtful reality of love, private inspector Claude Chavasse has kept his daughter Ariane confined to a tiny Parisian flat where she spends her days practising the cello and secretly reading her father's reports on unfaithful wives. After saving a Mr. Flannagan's life from a revengeful husband who had hired Chavasse's services, innocent Arianne begins visiting the international playboy in his suite at the Ritz. While romance flourishes between them, we fall in love with the images of Paris in the 50s, with the waltz music performed by Flannagan's private quartet of travellers, and with Audrey's face which goes from laughter to tears as Wilder puts words in her mouth. If you can find an afternoon during these holidays, watch this masterpiece, I promise, you will fall in love.
Alexia Mihaila — Blog & Podcast Editor-in-Chief — Last Night in Soho (2021)
Last Night in Soho feeds off nostalgia and like most films that do so, I adore plunging right into it. The story follows a first-year UAL fashion student, Eloise, who communicates with a sixties aspiring singer, Sandie, through her dreams. Whilst the plot is somewhat predictable and tries to push a moral message which falls a little short, the magnetism of the leads, the aesthetically pleasing cinematography carry the film through.
Named after the 1968 hit by Dave Dee, Dozy, Beaky, Mick & Tich (yes, that's a real band name), the film certainly continues Wright's tradition of jam-packed soundtracks, and I'd add this to that last list of elements which truly made the film, this being, for me, one of the best soundtracks of the year.
One of the most charming parts is being able to spot the film's locations whenever I'm out in London, the setting being so close to UCL. I still listen to the soundtrack on repeat, something which keeps me longing to rewatch, but I must admit if it weren't for Anya Taylor Joy's deep soulful eyes prolonging the mystique and keeping the audience intrigued, the soundtrack wouldn't have been enough to sustain the neon-classy upbeat culture of the film's sixties London. Ultimately though, Last Night in Soho is the perfect balance between commercial clichés and artistic vision, and I recommend it for a good time!
Elinor Sharples — Videography Officer — The Power of the Dog (2021)
I admittedly pressed play with some reservations, since I've never been particularly thrilled by Westerns. And, at first, I wasn't particularly convinced by Cumberbatch's character, Phil — whose primary occupation seemed to be appearing at odd moments simply to stand there while whistling an ominous tune at his new sister in law, Rose. But, as The Power of The Dog began to unfold, I found myself becoming slowly more and more intrigued by the characters, and by the subtlety underpinning their merging storylines, especially towards the ending.
That said, as compelling as the story and the performances from Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst, and Kodi Smit-McPhee were, what rooted this film in my mind as the standout of 2021 was its cinematography. The characters are framed in both the great outdoor planes and the indoors in such a way (especially with the use of windows, I might add) that the quiet tension that persists and grows throughout the film becomes even more palpable. The name Ari Wegner is on a lot of people's tongues at the moment, and I can't help but wonder if we will soon hear it uttered by whoever announces the Oscar for Best Cinematography this year. It'd be a spectacular first that's been a long time coming – astoundingly, only one woman has ever been nominated for the category, and no woman has as yet won.
It's difficult to tell yet whether or not this movie will cement itself in filmic history and popular culture in the same way as The Piano (or as The Power of the Dog's character Phil would call it, 'the Pinano') has, but I can say this much: Jane Campion has returned to the feature film game at her very best.
20212021 roundupbilly wilderDenis Villeneuveedgar wrightIncendiesjane campionKon IchikawaLast Night in Soholove in the afternoonnashvillerobert altmanterence daviesthe long day closesThe Power of the DogTokyo Olympiadyearly roundup
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updated on 25 November 2020 25 November 2020 Misc. Features
Movies That Feel Like a Warm Hug
updated on 9 November 2020 15 December 2019 Blog Misc. Features
A Decade in: Directors


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Katalepsi er en unaturlig stivhedstilstand i kroppen, med mindsket følsomhed overfor smerte, og med muskulær stivhed og fiksering af kroppen.

Symptomer

Galen inddelte anfaldssygdommene i tre typer: De epileptiske, analeptiske og kataleptiske. I Samuel Schaarschmidts  lærebog fra 1760 beskrives katalepsi sådan: "Den krampesygdom, hvor al vilkårlig bevægelse ophører, og patienten forbliver i den stilling, han indtog ved anfaldets start...Patienten ser, hører og føler intet...Efter en tid kommer patienten igen til sig selv." Schaarschmidt anbefaler, at patienten lades i fred, til anfaldet går over af sig selv.

I litteraturen
Poe var især optaget af sygdommen, og skildrer den i The fall of the house of Usher, hvor Madeline Usher lider af katalepsi, og ikke var død, da hun blev lagt i kisten. Poes optagethed af risikoen for at blive begravet levende, selv om man kun var skindød, skildres også i novellen The premature burial - den forhastede begravelse - fra 1844.  I George Eliots Silas Marner beskyldes Marner for at have stjålet den døende præsts penge, mens den virkelige tyv udnyttede, at Marner fik et anfald af katalepsi, udløst af præstens død.

Noter

Sygdomme

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


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5 ideas about a movie: Tag
And welcome to the review of Tag, or what Hawkeye was doing instead of fighting Thanos!
IMDb summary: A small group of former classmates organize an elaborate, annual game of tag that requires some to travel all over the country.
Tag was written by Rob McKittrick and Mark Steilen (two fairly unknown writers), based on a true story about 5 friends, who have been playing tag for 3 decades. A lot of the developments in the story were embellished and exaggerated for the movie, however, a lot of the core elements o the narrative were actually true as the real footage during the credits proves. You know what else felt real about this comedy? Its sincere message.
I loved the focus on adult friendship in the film and the message that growing up doesn't have to mean losing the fun in life or growing apart. I highly appreciated that misquoted quote "We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing." too (I do love cheesy words of wisdom, have a whole board o them on my wall). In addition to a nice message, the film's humor also worked mostly because it also felt real – the banter between the friends, the inside jokes, the blasts from the past were all familiar and relatable elements for the audience.
Jeff Tomsic directed Tag and did a great job with his cinematic debut (his previous work has mostly been TV related). Tag had a weird 'we are taking this way too seriously' tone that was self-referential and tongue-in-cheek rather than annoying or cringe-y. The style o the action scenes, which were exciting and entertaining, was also very fitting and displayed a good usage of slow-mo and voice-over combination.
A big reason why this movie worked was its cast and the chemistry between them. Ed Helms, Jeremy Renner, Jon Hamm, Jake Johnson, Hannibal Buress made characters with little development be seen as three-dimensional humans. This was probably Helms best performance I have seen in a couple of years, while Renner (MI5, Wind River, Arrival) seemed like he was having so much fun with the role (way more than he appears to have when he is playing Hawkeye). Hamm's (Baby Driver) and Johnson's (The Mummy) characters worked well as competitors of sorts, while Buress (Blockers) commentary was top-notch.
On the supporting/female front we had Annabelle Wallis (The Mummy) as the clear-headed outsider (I liked that she wasn't portrayed as too serious or judgemental) and Isla Fisher (who was a bit crazy but so much fun. Her comedic chops should definitely be appreciated more than they are).
In short, Tag is an entertaining and sincere comedy that might not be a must-watch but makes for a great time.
Rate: 4/5
Trailer: Tag trailer
June 29, 2018 June 29, 2018 Lou Tagged annabelle wallis, arrival, baby driver, blovkers, cinema, comedies, comedy, comedy movie, ed helms, film, film review, film reviews, films, hannibal buress, hawkeye, isla fisher, jake johnson, jeremy renner, jon hamm, mainstream, mission impossible rogue nation, movie, movie film, movie preview, movie review, movie reviews, movies, summer movies, tag, tag game, tag movie, tag review, the mummy, wind river	Leave a comment
Movie review: Baby Driver
An original movie, in this day and age, is a rarity, and that makes Baby Driver ten times more special than it already is. Let see whether the film can live up to the hype, whether it can prove the worth of original material, and whether it can act as the comeback of Edgar Wright! Plus, can it just be a fun and enjoyable summer movie?
IMDb summary: After being coerced into working for a crime boss, a young getaway driver finds himself taking part in a heist doomed to fail.
Baby Driver was both written and directed by the coveted auteur Edgar Wright (one of the few auteurs working in Hollywood). Wright is best known for creating The Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy and cult classic Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. He also worked on the Marvel project Ant-Man before parting ways with the studio. Even though he left Disney/Marvel, he did live to make another movie and Baby Driver very much proves that his career is far from over. So, on a side note, Lord and Miller situation (them being fired from the Han Solo movie) might also turn out fine.
I very much enjoyed the writing for Baby Driver. The story was tight and simple, but yet also complex and unique. Let's begin with the main character of Baby – I don't think I can name another recent character that was so extraordinary. His love for music and driving, his sense of style (those glasses – brilliant), his relationships with his mother, girlfriend, and the deaf foster dad, and a good heart made him not only a relatable but extremely likable lead. And yet, he also had unexpected qualities (like the idea for that brutal kill or just bravery enough to kill). Also, the fact that the movie acknowledged that there are different ways to enjoy music (by hearing AND feeling it) was so great.
The romantic plotline also actually worked, which it rarely does in an action film. I loved the ending shot in black and white: they looked like a couple of criminals from a 60s movie. All the main criminal characters were amazing too and I loved the fact that all of their arcs had a definitive ending and that they weren't dropped halfway through the runtime. My only gripe was that I didn't think that Kevin Spacey's character's change of heart fully worked. The film also had wonderful humor, some of my favorite parts were the kid in the post office and the butchery metaphor. Lastly, I loved how Wright paid dues to other movies, by either giving them a shout-out or just showing a clip from them on TV. Baby Driver was, truly, a film written by a movie lover for movie lovers.
From the trailers, Baby Driver seemed like a super fun movie but I didn't feel that it had the signature flavor of Wright. I was kinda right – Baby Driver was his lowest energy project yet (although it did dial everything up for the finale) and his most mainstream film so far and that is not really a bad thing. It was basically something different yet familiar. I loved all the action sequences and enjoyed the irony of Baby also having to run rather than drive in one of them. I was also impressed by the long takes, especially the one that followed the opening car chase. The signature close-ups were also neat.
Plus, I liked the fact that they used normal looking cars, not super expensive and super fast ones. Thus, Baby Driver was a celebration of driving – a thing that The Fast and The Furious used to have but lost completely in the later installments. Lastly, I cannot write a review for Baby Driver without mentioning the editing and the soundtrack. This is how you edit the visuals into the music. King Arthur and Suicide Squad should watch and learn.
Baby Driver's cast was marvelous: it consisted of both proven actors and some up-and-comers. Ansel Elgort (TFIOS, Divergent) was spectacular, they way he acted into the music/with the music was just thrilling to watch. Lily James (Cinderella) was good as his girlfriend: they looked cute together and had chemistry. The cinema veterans Kevin Spacey (House of Cards), Jon Hamm (Keeping Up With The Joneses was actually not bad), Jamie Foxx (Sleepless was the best movie of this January – not much but something), and Jon Bernthal (The Accountant) all brought their A-game and appeared to be having a ton of fun with this picture. Lastly, an unknown (to me) Mexican actress Eiza González was an amazing badass to watch as well.
In short, Baby Driver is the best version of Drive meets American Grafitti. It has great action, funny jokes, cool editing, spectatcular soundtrack and it's Edgar Wright at his best, even if that 'best' is a bit different than we are used to.
Trailer: Baby Driver trailer
June 29, 2017 June 29, 2017 Lou Tagged acting, action, action comedy, action film, action movie, actors, allegiant, american grafitti, anne, ansel elgort, ant man, antman, art cinema, autuer, baby driver, baby driver film, baby driver movie, baby driver review, cars, cinderella, cinema, cinema review, cinephiles, comedy, directing, director, disney, divergent, django unchained, downton abbey, drive, driving, edgar wright, eiza gonzalez, fast and furious, film, film review, film reviews, filming, films, han solo, hot fuzz, house of cards, indie, indie film, insurgent, jamie foxx, jon bernthal, jon hamm, keeping up with the joneses, kevin spacey, king arthur, lily james, lord and miller, marvel, marvel studios, motion picture, motion picture review, motion pictures, movie, movie film, movie preview, movie review, movie reviews, movies, music, original, original movie, original screenplay, punisher, score, scott piligrim vs the world, script, shawn of the dead, sleepless, sony, soundtrack, suicide squad, summer, summer movies, tfios, the accountant, the fault in our stars, the world's end, thriller, writing	9 Comments


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Home / Student / Themes / Science / Podcast: The Life and Significance of Alan Turing
Podcast: The Life and Significance of Alan Turing
By Author: Dr Tommy Dickinson. Produced by Simon Brown., published 25th June 2015
In this podcast Dr Tommy Dickinson of the University of Manchester discusses the life and significance of Alan Turing. Please note this is only the first section of the full podcast which is available to HA Members
Alan Mathison Turing, (23 June 1912–7 June 1954) was a British pioneering computer scientist, mathematician, logician, cryptanalyst, philosopher and mathematical biologist. Turing is widely considered to be the father of theoretical computer science and artificial intelligence.
During World War 2, Turing worked for the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) at Bletchley Park, Britain's codebreaking centre. Turing's pivotal role in cracking intercepted coded messages enabled the Allies to defeat the Nazis in many crucial engagements, including the Battle of the Atlantic; it has been estimated that the work at Bletchley Park shortened the war in Europe by as many as two to four years.
Turing was prosecuted in 1952 for homosexual acts, when such behaviour was still criminalised in the UK. He accepted treatment with oestrogen injections (chemical castration) as an alternative to prison. Turing died in 1954, 16 days before his 42nd birthday, from cyanide poisoning.
1. Turing's Early Life.
Parts 2-9 of the podcast are available here to HA Members
Alan Hodges (2014) Alan Turing: The Enigma
Nigel Cowthorne (2014) Alan Turing: The Enigma Man
David Boyle (2014) Alan Turing: Unlocking the Enigma
About our Author:
Dr Dickinson initially graduated as a Registered Nurse in 2001 and worked in clinical practice across the UK and Australia. In 2006, he moved into academia and initially held lectureships at the University of Central Lancashire and the University of Chester before commencing at The University of Manchester in 2013. His Doctorate examined the plight of men who were institutionalised in British mental hospitals to receive 'treatment' for homosexuality and transvestism, and the perceptions and actions of the men and women who nursed them. This led to numerous consultancies. Dr Dickinson was a Historical Advisor and Script Consultant to documentary drama "Britain's Greatest Code Breaker" (2011) and the documentary "Undercover Doctor: Cure Me, I'm Gay" (2014) with Dr Christian Jessen. Both consultancies were for Channel 4. He has advised on the redevelopment of the Medical Galleries at the Science Museum, London (2013) and The Manchester Museum's "Alan Turing and Life's Enigma: Exhibition" (2012). He has also written for "Gay Times" magazine and published in various academic journals. His book "Curing Queers" was released in January 2015 and selected as "Book of the Week" by The Times and The Guardian.
The Life & Significance of Alan Turing
Podcast: The Historical Medicalization of Homosexuality & Transvestism
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A 17-year-old case, known as the scam of the century, reemerges as a serial murder case in the present year 2023. It's a nationwide crime case thriller revolving around three people.
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When Hong Kong is rocked by multiple gruesome murders, the police forms a task force to investigate. Jun, once a brilliant detective who suffered a mental breakdown, begins his own investigation. Eventually, the police learn that the murder victims are all suspects of cold cases being rubbed out by a figure known as "The Sleuth". Now, Jun and a detective from the task force are on a race against time to beat the brutal killer at its own game.
Detective Knight Independence
Detective James Knight 's last-minute assignment to the Independence Day shift turns into a race to stop an unbalanced ambulance EMT from imperiling the city's festivities. The misguided vigilante, playing cop with a stolen gun and uniform, has a bank vault full of reasons to put on his own fireworks show... one that will strike dangerously close to Knight's home.
Dark Heart of the Forest
Nikolaï was abandoned at birth and has been in foster care ever since. Although a family would like to give the sixteen-year-old boy a home, he decides to make one himself. He meets Camille, an intriguing fifteen-year-old wiseacre, and tries to convince her to make a child together. Nikolaï is convinced that he can handle any problem and wants to avoid at all costs that an adult thwarts his plans. Camille and Nikolaï flee together from the home and isolate themselves in the woods. In the ...
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The harrowing true story of two elite US Navy fighter pilots during the Korean War. Their heroic sacrifices would ultimately make them the Navy's most celebrated wingmen.
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In custody in New York, Detective James Knight finds himself in the middle of a jailbreak led by The Christmas Bomber, a brutal fanatic whose Santa Claus disciples are terrorizing the city. With the promised return of his badge in exchange for taking out the terrorists, the steely-eyed Knight doles out mercy for the just...and merciless justice for all the rest.
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As Los Angeles prepares for Halloween, mask-wearing armed robbers critically wound detective James Knight's partner in a shootout following a heist. With Knight in hot pursuit, the bandits flee L.A. for New York, where the detective's dark past collides with his present case and threatens to tear his world apart…unless redemption can claim Knight first.
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Semih's girlfriend suddenly breaks up with him. In search of answers about their relationship, he must soon confront what he had long ignored.
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A disgraced internet personality attempts to win back his followers by livestreaming one night alone in a haunted house. But when he accidentally pisses off a vengeful spirit, his big comeback event becomes a real-time fight for his life.
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Alice and Jack are lucky to be living in the idealized community of Victory, the experimental company town housing the men who work for the top-secret Victory Project and their families. But when cracks in their idyllic life begin to appear, exposing flashes of something much more sinister lurking beneath the attractive façade, Alice can't help questioning exactly what they're doing in Victory, and why.


If you like quick and challenging game, this game is for you!
ClockinShot is a game about avoiding projectiles, controlling time and shooting at a flaming creature that shoots fireball by pressing the arrow keys, only.
This game is made for the Game Maker's Toolkit Game Jam event by Mark Brown where the theme revolves around having less is more. This explains the simple controls in the game where up, down, left, right arrow buttons are used to move, shoot and control time as well as to navigate through the game menu.
The game is made in GameMaker: Studio and only available for PC.


There's a great old expression: there's the winning team and then there's the learning team.
But sometimes losing can seem all there is.
It hardly seems like there should be a thought, besides horror and despair, at the sight of images, this week, of a lifeless young boy found lying face-down on a beach near the Turkish resort of Bodrum. Aylan Kurdi was one of at least 12 Syrians who drowned attempting to reach Greece in a desperate bid to escape violence at home.
The issue of refugees and the humane need for other countries to offer a safe haven had been mired in abstract thoughts about hordes of faceless people attempting to storm European borders. Worse was the dismissal that the refugees were largely Moslems wishing to bring their foreign attitudes to a gullible west.
These images and this boy's story have changed all that, not because it depicted something we didn't already know, but because it told it in a way that went straight to people's hearts.
So why is this now different and why is the impact so sudden and decisive? There's an old maxim that says a million deaths is a statistic, but a single death is a tragedy. That's because large numbers of people create a distance between us and the reality of other peoples' plight. A tragedy in another town or the other side of the world always seems less concerning than one in our own street. The images of a little lifeless boy makes it singular, unequivocal and emotionally real. We are confronted and we either 'get it' or we are just bloody heartless.
To reinforce the fact, the boy was clearly identifiable as a dark-haired toddler, wearing a bright red t-shirt, little blue shorts and valcro shoes. Yes, he was someone's son, a brother and a much loved member of a family who had dressed him, feed him and gave him hugs, just like the kids in our own families.
It's stating the obvious, but these lessons can be taken into how any number of causes should be communicated in order to gain support. Obviously, the more a cause can be shown as someone's story – not just many peoples' story – and told visually, authentically and with compassion, the more likely people will respond positively.
It does seem slightly sad and disrespectful to take a lesson from a little boy's tragic death, but the world is full of issues and causes where it is all too easy to forget that it always comes back to individuals, like Aylan Kurdi.
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Q: Showing that $x^*(t)=\sin(t)$ minimizes the functional $J(x(t)) = \int_0^{\pi/2} [\dot x(t)^2 - x(t)^2 ]dt$
We are given the functional
$$J(x(t)) = \int_0^{\pi/2} [\dot x(t)^2 - x(t)^2 ]dt$$
with the fixed boundary condition $x(0)=0$ and $x(\frac{\pi}{2})=1$.
Could anyone help me prove that $x^*(t)=\sin(t)$ minimizes $J$?

By looking at the second variation of $J$, I got a negative term there, so I could not conclude whether $x^*(t)$ is a min or max. I also tried to show the convexity of $J$, and it all boiled down to showing that $J\geq0$, and I got stuck there.
Any help is appreciated!

A: If you plug $x(t)=\sin(t)$ into the integral you get:
$$J(x*)=\int_0^{\pi/2}(\cos^2(t)-\sin^2(t))dt = \int_0^{\pi/2} \cos(2t)dt=\sin(2t)/2|_{0}^{\pi/2}=1/2(\sin(\pi)-\sin(0))=0-0=0$$
Now you are left with showing that $J(x)\ge 0$ for every $x$ that satisfies these boundary conditions.
After integration by parts you get: $\int (\dot{x}^2-x^2)dt=x(t)\dot{x}(t)-\int (x\ddot{x}+x\cdot x)dt$, the boundary term should vanish, and we are left with the equation of $\int x(\ddot{x}+x)dt$, which is zero for the minimizer cause from the Euler-Lagrange equations we get that $\ddot{x}+x=0$ for the minimizer solution.
BTW, this Lagrangian is of course the Lagrangian of a simple harmonic oscillator.

A: Hint: check that if $x(0)=0$ then $$\int\limits_0^{\pi/2} (\dot x^2(t) - x^2(t) )dt=\int\limits_0^{\pi/2}(\dot x(t)-x(t)\cot(t))^2dt.$$

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


The dollar finished flat against its main rivals Tuesday after a key gauge of U.S. inflation showed prices continued to rise in April.
The consumer-price index, a widely watched gauge of inflation pressures in the U.S., rose 0.4% in April as gasoline prices surged. Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected a gain of 0.3%. Other than a tick lower in March, key inflation indicators have risen so far this year as oil prices CLM6, +0.00% have climbed.
A knee-jerk dollar rally that followed the release of the inflation data quickly faded as dollar bulls determined that more evidence would be needed in the months ahead to trigger another rate hike by the Federal Reserve.
Comments from Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart and San Francisco Fed President John Williams provided some support for the dollar in afternoon trade. Both officials largely reiterated earlier warnings that a June rate hike remains a possibility.
The ICE U.S. Dollar index DXY, +0.40% a measure of the greenback's strength against a basket of rivals, was flat at 94.5580 in recent trade.
In recent weeks, the dollar has traded broadly higher, trimming a sharp decline seen since the start of the year. But despite the recent correction, Tuesday's trading suggests significant negative sentiment remains.
"We can derive that the dollar was overpriced at the beginning of the year and we're continuing to see adjustments," Sweeting said.
One euro EURUSD, +0.0890% bought $1.1318 late Tuesday in New York, compared with $1.1316 late Monday in New York. The dollar USDJPY, -0.07% traded at ¥109.10 late Tuesday, compared with ¥109.07 late Monday.
Meanwhile, the pound GBPUSD, +0.0848% rose to $1.4456 late Tuesday, up from $1.4427 late Monday, after a recent poll suggested that support for a U.K. exit from the European Union has waned recently.
In other data, U.S. housing starts climbed 6.6% in April after a slight dip last month, while industrial production saw its largest monthly gain since November 2014.
Market strategists will now be looking for confirmation in the personal consumption expenditure (PCE) price index, the Fed's preferred inflation gauge, which is expected to be released on May 31. The Fed is currently targeting annual price growth of just below 2%.
Tuesday's inflation report followed an encouraging reading on U.S. retail sales, released Friday, which suggested that consumer spending—the primary driver of the U.S. economy—is recovering from a slump early this year.
In a set of forecasts released after the Fed's March meeting, a majority of policy makers appeared to support raising rates twice this year. But signs of faltering global growth have made investors skeptical. The Fed-funds futures market is barely pricing in one hike in 2016.
The Australian dollar advanced after the Australian central bank's latest meeting minutes damped hopes for an early rate reduction.
The Australian dollar AUDUSD, +0.0280% traded at 73.24 U.S. cents late Tuesday, compared with 72.87 cents late Monday in New York.


Proud of our Ontario Athletes and the Canadian National Kung Fu Team who are attending the 7th World Kungfu Championships held in Emeishan, China. The first day of competition at the 7th WKFC overflowed with energy as participants from took to the mats and put on truly astounding performances, highlighting their hard work and passion for kungfu. Medals were awarded in each event, with participants of all ages and forms receiving recognition for their demonstrations that honored kungfu and its cultural significance.


Aspect Software, a leading provider of fully integrated consumer engagement, workforce optimisation, and self-service omni-channel solutions, today announced the integration of Aspect Workforce Management with Amazon Connect.
The integration gives Amazon Connect users all the advantages of Aspect's market leading workforce management solution including accurate labor forecasting, flexible staff scheduling, intra-day performance tracking and a wide range of insightful staffing reports.
Aspect Workforce Management (WFM), recently named the North America leader in Pelorus Associates' 2018 Workforce Management Systems Market report, can operate seamlessly with Amazon Connect as an on-premises solution, privately hosted, or on Amazon Web Services (AWS).
Aspect's Amazon Connect integrations extend the cloud-based contact centre functionality provided by Amazon Connect with popular services and solutions from AWS Partner Network (APN) members. They are designed to be seamless and can quickly be deployed in a few simple steps.
Aspect Workforce Management software's core forecasting, scheduling and tracking capabilities are designed to allow organisations to accurately project future staffing requirements to support customer demand and back office task completion, create efficient multi-skill staffing plans, evaluate schedule efficiency, monitor staff performance and adjust resources to meet changing demand in real-time. It also offers a user friendly web-based icon and widget-based UI, mobile app for scheduling, automated notifications of Voluntary Time Off (VTO), overtime, unlimited 'what-if' scenarios, and patented omni-channel forecasting and scheduling. It is unique in the market as the only workforce management solution available via on-premises, hosted or through the cloud.
Forecasting: integration delivers to Aspect Workforce Management information to build forecasting models which are the engine behind efficient and powerful predictions of current and future staffing needs.
Agent productivity: integration delivers information on agent activity, analysis, and for comparison with assigned activities, to provide insight into causes of adherence issues and improvement opportunities.
Real-time adherence: provides Amazon Connect agent state change information to the Aspect Real-Time Adherence (RTA) product, which enables contact centre managers to monitor activities of agents on Amazon Connect and see how well these activities adhere to the agents' schedules.
Aspect Performance Management: (APM) is a flexible reporting and analysis solution that can surface valuable insights and align individual goals with enterprise strategic priorities at every level of the organisation using contact centre data and Aspect WFM data collected from applications such as Forecasting, Agent Productivity, and Real Time Alarms.
Aspect Software is an APN Advanced Technology Partner.
Aspect helps enterprises break down the walls between people, processes, systems and data sources, allowing organizations to unite around the customer journey. By developing fully native interaction management, workforce optimisation and self-service capabilities within a single customer engagement centre, we enable dynamic, conversational interactions and create a truly frictionless omni-channel customer experience. Leveraging the agility of our worldwide cloud infrastructure and over 40 years of industry ingenuity, Aspect conveniently and easily connects questions to answers while helping enterprises keep service levels high and operational costs contained.