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The Apology Anthology
Rabbi Yoel Schonfeld
I am very gratified that I receive much positive feedback for the articles I write in this paper. It makes it worth some of the challenges that come with writing in the public, including occasional biting criticism.
My article last week recalling Eugen Gluck a"h generated a host of compliments, written and oral. Why not? The subject matter was an easy one.
But I must clarify one matter in the article. When my father read the article after it was printed, he remarked, "Beautiful article, except for one point. The story with Mr. Gluck receiving a brachah from the Gerer Rebbe for his business success was not correct. It was for an entirely different businessman!"
Through a series of misunderstandings, I had thought the story was with Mr. Gluck. My apologies go to the family that was as surprised to read that as was my father.
This is not the first time recently that I find myself correcting something I had written. A few weeks ago, I corrected an article that referred to a rabbi in the community, in which I left out an important detail.
Indeed, even the Queens Jewish Link often finds itself apologizing for an incorrect statement, a questionable article, or an image that should not be found in a Torah-based publication. Last week, you will recall, the QJL sent a "blast" advertising an English translation of the Satmar Rav's VaYoel Moshe for a view of "True Torah Judaism's" outlook on Zionism. The publisher did not realize this was actually a propaganda piece of the much-despised Neturei Karta. As soon as this was brought to their attention, the QJL issued an apology to its readership and promised to be more scrutinizing in the future.
Somebody quipped to me that the name of the paper should be changed to the "Queens Jewish Apology." I responded that the difference between this paper and many others is that it readily owns up to its mistakes. How many full apologies have you seen in The New York Times? A colossal error will appear on page one, and the correction, if at all, will be buried in the back of some future edition. Even in Jewish publications, how many do you see that come clean after a blunder?
Years ago, a certain very respected hashgachah was found to have an inexplicably higher amount of glatt kosher tongues than it could count for glatt animals slaughtered under its supervision. The hashgachah reacted by immediately going public and putting a moratorium on its slaughter until the discrepancy could be addressed. The difference between a reputable hashgachah and a questionable one is how they react to a problem brought to their attention. The exact same thing is true of the Jewish media.
The Chazal in Pirkei Avos (5:9) state that one of the characteristics of a wise person is that he owns up to the intellectual truth. We know, as well, that even the greatest of all Jews, Moshe Rabbeinu, did not hesitate to admit that he was not aware of a certain ruling (see Rashi, Sh'mos 10:20). The truth must remain paramount. As Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz zt"l explained, if one cannot depend on the leadership to be wholly dedicated to the truth, even at the cost of embarrassment for that leadership, then the whole integrity of our mesorah, our Torah tradition, is brought into question.
So, yes, the Queens Jewish Link makes mistakes; but, thankfully, the QJL owns up to them. That is the mark of a respect-worthy publication.
Rabbi Yoel Schonfeld is the Rabbi of the Young Israel of Kew Gardens Hills, Vice President of the Coalition for Jewish Values, former President of the Vaad Harabonim of Queens, and the Rabbinic Consultant for the Queens Jewish Link.
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Thule has been the name of at least two ships of the Swedish Navy:

, was a Swedish coastal defence ship that was launched on 4 March 1893.
, was a Swedish icebreaker launched in 1951 and deleted from records in 1998.

References

Swedish Navy ship names

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The 1976 Soweto Uprising
May 21, 2015 March 16, 2018 A Moment in U.S. Diplomatic History Africa Human Rights
During the 1970's, South Africa's apartheid rule continued to use official procedures of explicit and implicit racism to subjugate and demoralize the black Africans in the country. By the 1970's, the majority black communities were sick and tired of these oppressive policies, which led to an increase in violence, protests and militant activity. However, not all organizations and group efforts to fight apartheid involved violence. In 1974, the South African regime passed the Afrikaans Medium Degree which required all black schools to use and teach Afrikaans as much as English. Because the language of Afrikaans was strongly associated with apartheid, black South Africans preferred their indigenous languages or English. Opposition to this decree prompted black students to organize a peaceful rally on June 16, 1976 in the township of Soweto, located in the nation's capital, Johannesburg.
Between 100,000 and 200,000 students marched peacefully through the streets of Soweto, carrying banners and chanting for freedom from oppression. Though the protests began peacefully, they quickly became violent as police officers began to massacre and harm hundreds of students gathered. The amount of casualties is unclear, with numbers ranging from 100-700 people dead and thousands injured. The following excerpts give a glimpse into the events leading up to the Soweto uprising and the aftermath that followed. Many saw the Soweto Uprising as a turning point, signaling the sure end of apartheid in the near future.
William B. Edmonson worked as the Deputy Chief of Mission in Pretoria from 1974-1976. He remembers the Soweto Uprising as a point of building turbulence and change in the country's mindset. He later served as Ambassador to South Africa from 1978-1981 and shares his views that South Africa had already made many changes and progressions in only a couple of years since the Soweto Uprising. He was interviewed by Arthur Tienken and Thomas J. Dunnigan beginning April 1988. Harvey F. Nelson Jr. worked as the Deputy Director of Southern Africa Affairs at the State Department from 1969-1971 and the Deputy Chief of Mission in Johannesburg from 1976-1979. He also recalls the 1976 Uprising as a key period of change for South Africa when the younger generations began proactive changes for a more equal system of government and the older generation and white population began to concede that apartheid's reign was coming to an end. He was interviewed by Charles Stuart Kennedy beginning September 2000.
Monica Joyi was born and raised in South Africa and worked as the U.S. Consulate General in Cape Town from 1975 to 1995. She recalls what it was like to grow up as a black woman in South Africa during apartheid and discusses the importance of the Soweto Uprising in changing South Africa's policies and ideologies. She was interviewed by Dan Whitman on December 1, 2009. Peter David Eicher, a political officer in Pretoria and Cape Town from 1976-1978, discusses the mentality and ideology of both white and black South Africans during this time, focusing on the younger and more moderate generation of people who would eventually help abolish apartheid and explains why the embassy did not view the future as hopeless. He was interviewed by Charles Stuart Kennedy beginning May 2007.
Today, South Africa remembers the events of June 16th and commemorates the lives of the lost students through a public holiday called Youth Day.
You can also read about Nelson Mandela's road to the presidency and other Moments on Africa.
A process of "violent evolution"
EDMONSON: The Soweto riots occurred while I was in South Africa; in fact, had been going on for a while just about the time that I was called back to work in the [African Affairs] Bureau. The riots had pretty well subsided, but the issues that lay behind them were things that we had been pointing out to the South Africans for some time as problems of apartheid….
My belief was that major changes inevitably had to come to South Africa. The question was how they would come about, and how much violence would be involved. I had developed over time a theory that has been picked up in a few academic circles, of what I called South Africa in the process of "violent evolution."
Looking back to Soweto and other events, there were changes… Things had already changed even from my first period there, when I took my daughter on one of her vacations from college to see the post office in Cape Town, where there were separate counters for Whites, Blacks, and Coloreds just to get stamps or money orders. It looked like a railroad station with different trains. Even a bench would be divided, with one end of the bench marked for Whites only, in Afrikaans, and the other for non-Whites, nieblunk. That had disappeared.
You could argue that that wasn't significant change; in any political sense that was certainly true. But change had been occurring, and there was an acceptance of change. I should have mentioned that even during my first tour I had talked to a couple of Afrikaners out in rural areas, and I can remember one man said, "There will be Black government before I die." (He wasn't that old, it might have been a long way off.)
The theory…of "violent evolution" was that there were periods of adjustment and readjustment. Soweto was an excellent example. The outbreak, of course, was over the enforced teaching of Afrikaans to all Africans in Soweto, and the strike against that by young people, and one boy was killed, and then everything broke loose.
All kinds of grievances came out. You saw people, then, wringing their hands, even the very liberal White South Africans who were very concerned about apartheid, who wanted their government to move much, much faster, were also very concerned about this violence. You could see how they were being torn apart by this as they watched these things for the first time on television, which had for a long time been prohibited but came to show this kind of news, so people saw what was happening in their country. You could see people almost literally wringing their hands, worried about it, wanting to move away from apartheid, but not wanting this kind of violence to occur.
NELSON: It was a key period. The Johannesburg township of Soweto went into rebellion – mostly the young ones. This was the beginning of the end. Even the white regime recognized then that it had to do something. When I was Deputy Director of Southern Africa Affairs, I went out on an orientation trip to South Africa. I was full of missionary zeal to get rid of apartheid, not understanding the situation at all. I participated in many discussions lasting well into the night with both blacks and whites.
One old white Afrikaner said to me, in the wee hours of the morning, that I was absolutely correct that apartheid could not survive, but that that wasn't his problem. It would be his grandchildren's problem. So there was a recognition that apartheid had to end. After the young people in Soweto rioted and a number of people were killed, everybody remained nervous because the turbulence continued even after the riots had passed. So it was a very interesting time.
JOYI: I had a voice…as a young adult and I saw other young adults around me, who were also actively involved in politics. The high school I went to was always involved in protest marches, boycotts and demonstrations; and there were several other schools around the country, but Livingstone is the one school that stands out as it had a long history of activism since its inception in the 1940s and the culture of activism was instilled in us from home to school and in the community, leading through the turbulent times of our political history, which culminated with the liberation of South Africa. There were other high schools in the Cape Town area as well but I guess I am a chauvinist since I am sharing my experiences.
Q: Many of the demonstrations, the expressions of the need for change, originated in Cape Town.
JOYI: In the 1940s, 1950s already, yes, but generally throughout South Africa, and especially in the Eastern Cape; I am of the opinion that the Eastern Cape has always been the hotbed of politics. However, if you look back to 1976, I think that was also a turning point where young adults realized this the era of oppression was going on for too long but…the Soweto Uprising…came at a point where we had a youth who were not only militant but they were determined that something needed to give and some reality needed to set in…
It was about time too because many of our parents had gone through this oppression, and suffered and the next generation had also gone through it and so it was the third wave or phase as I call it in the 1970s, when 1976 happened. But what is also important to remember is that while the student protests started in Soweto, it spread to the entire country, thus between 1976 up to the early 1990s South Africa was never the same again.
"It did not seem that it was a hopeless case, bound for major bloodshed"
Peter David Eicher, Political Officer, Pretoria/Cape Town
EICHER: South Africa at the time was very much at the height of the apartheid system, officially called "separate development," but in fact a system of very strict segregation, that was vigorously enforced through a very harsh police apparatus. Apartheid affected all facets of life – where people could live, or work, or eat, or go to school or to the movies, even what public benches they could sit on. It was accompanied by a strict "pass system," under which blacks were officially not citizens of South Africa.
Instead, they were assigned on a tribal basis as citizens of small, unviable "homelands" or "Bantustans," even if they had lived all their lives in a South African city. They weren't permitted in "white" areas – most of the country – without a pass; if they didn't have a pass they could be arrested and deported to a "homeland" that they might never even have visited before…. (Map: Encyclopaedia Britannica)
The theory behind apartheid was that if you could assign all the blacks to be citizens of these little, independent countries that would be created, then the whites would be a majority in South Africa and the blacks would have their own little countries, where they could enjoy all the same rights and privileges that whites had in South Africa. This was a pipe dream, of course…
The Soweto riots of 1976 were the start of a very long period of serious urban unrest in South Africa in opposition to the system. It was the first sustained, widespread, black action in opposition to the regime. There had previously been race riots in Soweto around 1960, but they were very short-lived. The unrest following the 1976 Soweto riots continued for my entire tour of duty, on and off, and led to sharp crackdowns and further restrictions of civil liberty, the arrests of lots of leaders, and the banning of lots of organizations.
It was a very tense period, politically. After the riots in Soweto – a suburb of Johannesburg – broke out, rioting spread to other townships, or segregated suburbs, all over South Africa. So these riots broke out in the summer of 1976, just as I was about to head out.
I remember getting a call from somebody at the State Department telling me that it was important in view of the rioting that I cut my vacation short and get out there just as soon as I possibly could. Being a young officer heading to my second tour, I took this quite seriously and cut my vacation plans short. We got ourselves to South Africa and arrived to the reaction of, "Oh my goodness. We didn't expect to see you so soon." And, you know, here I was, a young officer fresh off the plane, riots in the townships all over the country, and there wasn't really very much that I could do about it, even in terms of reporting. I didn't know anybody yet. You couldn't actually go out and see what was going on because they were rioting and we were supposed to stay away. So, that was one more of those introductions to the Foreign Service. I learned to think very carefully before changing vacation plans again to rush to a post…
The feeling from the outside was that the situation was completely intractable and at some point it would explode or implode and you would have, indeed, an extremely bloody revolution on your hands.
Of course, a low-level violent opposition was already underway through the African National Congress (ANC) and the Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC), the so-called liberation movements, but generally the security forces had these well in hand; the liberation movements were winning the battle of public opinion in the UN and outside the country, but they were not effective within the country. And, of course, with the Soweto riots and the spread of unrest to other urban areas around the country, some people thought this could be the beginning of the violent end. (Photo: AP)
Our view at the embassy was more restrained. We knew the riots were serious and were an indication of the inherent instability built into the system, but the overwhelming preponderance of power was still with the whites; the rioters weren't going to be able to topple the government and its security apparatus, certainly not in the short term.
On the white side, most of the power was still in the hands of the older generation of Afrikaner politicians who were committed to apartheid as the solution to South Africa's racial problem. However, there was already starting to be the first signs of a split in the Nationalist Party, although "split" is probably too strong a word.
The party was still solid, but what was happening was that a group of younger and more enlightened Afrikaners were emerging as a new generation within the Nationalist Party, who realized that they had a big problem and didn't have the answer. They didn't know what the answer was, yet, but they knew – unlike the previous generation which was still in power at the time – that over the long term apartheid was just not going to work. They were not going to be able to corral the black population into Bantustans and have that be an effective policy.
These younger politicians, many of whom were already members of parliament for the National Party, but were still backbenchers, not actually in positions of power, were called the "verligtes," an Afrikaans word meaning "enlightened," and we hoped and believed they represented the future of the Nationalist Party. They represented a chance that white politics could develop in positive way and avoid the "night of the long knives."
On the black side, beyond the ANC and PAC, you saw a very strong sense of "We want our share, we want our rights, we want justice," but, surprisingly, this was not coupled with a strong desire for revenge or retribution, as you might expect. There was a whole new black political movement emerging out of the Soweto riots, the so-called "black consciousness movement," which was an internal opposition that continued to crystallize.
Most of the leaders of the ANC and PAC were in exile or in prison. They were becoming increasingly irrelevant as a new, younger leadership emerged within South Africa. Steve Biko was perhaps the best known name among them but there was a very large group of younger generation people in all the townships around the country who were emerging into informal political leadership positions…
There was indeed a danger of a very bloody revolution in South Africa, but at the same time we saw that the combination of the young Afrikaners looking for solutions and the moderate blacks who were not seeking vengeance might still provide an opportunity for a peaceful way out. Even then we could see that as a possibility, so contrary to the general outside impression, it did not seem to us at the embassy that it was a hopeless case, bound for major bloodshed.
The 2000 Presidential Election – The Florida Recount
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Algeria's Struggle for Independence

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Aenni Hartung, de son vrai nom Anna Maria Catharina Hartung (née le  à Düsseldorf, morte le  à Andernach) est une peintre allemande.

Biographie
Aenni Hartung est la fille de Heinrich Hartung III et la sœur de Heinrich Hartung IV. Elle va à l'école des Ursulines et apprend la peinture auprès de son père et de Franz Molitor. De 1913 à 1914, elle va à l'académie des beaux-arts de Düsseldorf où elle a comme professeur Willy Spatz puis elle est l'élève de 1916 à 1917 de la Kunstgewerbeschule de Coblence. Elle s'intéresse à la peinture de paysage, au védutisme et aux motifs à l'intérieur et autour de Coblence.

Annexes

Liens externes

Références

Peintre allemand du XXe siècle
Peintre paysagiste allemand
Peintre allemande
Naissance en mai 1891
Naissance à Düsseldorf
Naissance dans la province de Rhénanie
Décès en juillet 1983
Décès à Andernach
Décès à 92 ans


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Tag: The Irishman
Posted in 2010-2019, Film Feature
92nd Academy Awards: Best Picture (Collaboration)
Posted on February 9, 2020 April 3, 2020 by Martin: Through the Silver Screen
The biggest night in showbiz is once again upon us, and I have once again teamed up with a group of awesome fellow film bloggers as we try and foresee the future by predicting who will be triumphant by the time the 91st Academy Awards have come to a close. We will be discussing the nine films that are up for Best Picture, giving you our rankings of all the films that we have seen, and making our case for what film should be clutching that Oscar, come the end of the evening. As a reminder, here are the nominees for Best Picture:
Out, of those nine, what film should emerge victorious? Here's my two cents:
As av history student I am, I gravitate to war films. But this is not the reason why Sam Mendes's magnum opus is my pick for the Best Picture of 2019. It's for the fact that it is an astounding cinematic achievement that just floored me in every way. Filmed to look as if it is one continuous tracking shot, it should clean house in the technical categories, and ensure that the legend that is Roger Deakins picks up another Oscar. But all that technical mastery would count for nothing, if the story being told in front of the camera was not compelling and emotionally investing, which it absolutely is.
Focusing on two young English soldiers who must go behind enemy lines to deliver a message to call off an attack to prevent an absolute slaughter. The premise is simple but it's extremely effective, and that's down to the extraordinary performances of Dean-Charles Chapman, and especially George MacKay who demonstrate they are far more than just the uniforms they are wearing. From the first minute, I was thoroughly invested in their mission, and the extraordinary camerawork fully immerses you in the time and the place. You do feel like you are on the ground with these men, and it never let up throughout the tense two hour run time.
For my full ranking of this year's nominees, please click here.
Here's what my awesome contributors had to say:
Maddy: @madelexne
"Parasite is easily the best film I have seen in years. Every inch of it is polished to perfection in a wholly authentic way, and I am in awe of what Bong Joon Ho has created alongside a sensational cast and crew. It's the most deserving winner of Best Picture in years."
Once Upon a Time in…Hollywood
Nathan: @__Nathan
"If not now, when? As foolish as it may sound, Best Picture means more than simply being the most well-made film of the year. All good winners of the Academy's highest accolade, in my opinion, should be saying something about the world we live in; while it isn't exactly necessary, a film's social value makes a winner stand out. Parasite, Bong Joon-Ho's social satire on class (we won't say more, as it's best appreciated blind), touches upon so many genres, incorporates so many tones and speaks so deeply about the way we interact as humans, that it's something of a miracle that it works – never mind as masterfully and as confidently as it does.
Joon Ho's layered screenplay and precise direction, the jaw-dropping production design, combined excellence of its well-dialled ensemble and razor-sharp editing have created something truly special in Parasite.
Never has a foreign language film been so accessible; never in my recollection has a movie earned such adoration across the board; and never has a film with this much hype actually lived up to it. It's unlikely that a film as wildly entertaining, emotionally stirring, thematically sharp and just as consistently brilliant as Parasite will grace our cinemas for some time, so we should embrace it now.
The Academy has the opportunity to introduce one of the very greatest films of the century into a most elite club on Sunday. In the words of Bong Joon-Ho (and his interpreter for the award trail, Sharon Choi), let's hope that voters can overcome the "the one-inch barrier of subtitles" and give the year's best picture the Best Picture trophy."
For Nathan's full ranking of this year's nominees, please click here.
Plain, Simple Tom: @PlainSimpleTom
Looking at 2019's Best Picture nominees, there are only really three of them that I'd count as being truly special: 1917, Marriage Story and Joker – no, I haven't had the chance to see Parasite yet – and out of the three of them, I'd guess that 1917 would be the likeliest to win, though I have no idea what the general consensus is on who the frontrunner is and maybe the critically adored Parasite will surprise everyone by being the first foreign language film to win. But there's something to like in all the nominees and, with the exception of Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and Jojo Rabbit, I'd be perfectly satisfied if any of them won, though my preference would be 1917 and I'd love to see Joker win so that I can see Twitter explode.
And my ranking of the eight that I've seen would be:
Ford vs. Ferrari/Le Mans '66
Please find the links below to the other pieces written by these awesome film bloggers:
Markus on Best Original Score and Song
Tom on Adapted Screenplay
92nd Academy Awards: Best Picture Nominees Ranked
Posted on February 5, 2020 by Martin: Through the Silver Screen
The time has come for Hollywood to pay tribute to the best of the best that 2019's cinematic offerings had to offer. With that comes a plethora of films competing for glory. With a total of nine films up for the big prize this year including a look at one of the most notorious villains in comic book history, a gripping war epic, another adaptation of a beloved novel, a thrilling satire at a capitalist society, and a love letter to the Golden Age of Hollywood.
There's lots of quality to be found in this year's bunch, but only one will walk away with the trophy. So the time has come to rank these from worst to best (per my opinion of course) starting with….
Full Joker review here
By far and away, Joker is the most divisive film among this year's nominees. Every there's always at least one film that I feel doesn't deserve to be in the lineup, and this is that film for me. There's no question it has plenty of admirers, most notably winning the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. On the flip side, it has no shortage of of detractors. While Joaquin Phoenix's performance is superb and is likely to win him the Best Actor Oscar, the film has attracted plenty of criticism for being a poor imitation of the films that have quite clearly acted inspiration for the film, (namely Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy).
Now, I'm not of the opinion that Joker is a bad film. However, it should not be in the Best Picture conversation. Phoenix's performance elevates it considerably beyond its pretty mediocre script, (as well as a great Hildur Guðnadóttir score) Furthermore, there's nothing really remarkable about it. As well as arguably being a poor imitation of those aforementioned Scorsese films, it has plenty of problematic elements. Most notably, its depiction of mental health which leaves a lot to be desired and the fact that it felt as though it couldn't make up its mind as to whether it was demonising its lead character, or heralding him as a hero against the backdrop of a broken society.
Now for these next eight that do (at least for my money) deserve to be in the conversation….
8. Little Women
Full review here
Even with the great calibre of all the other eight nominees, it feels like a disservice putting such a good film so low. However, it's indicative of the quality of the eight remaining nominees that a film as good as this comes in eighth place. However, take nothing away from Greta Gerwig and what she has accomplished with only her second feature film. Having made something so wonderfully original for her directorial debut, her follow up reiterates what a talent she is both as a writer and a director. This beloved novel has had many adaptations in the past, but Gerwig puts her own stamp on the source material, with glorious results.
A key ingredient of why this film works is the brilliant work of each of the actresses playing the March sisters. The chemistry that they share feels so warm and affectionate. Like all siblings, they frequently go between loving each other, to loathing each other. What's more, each sister brings something unique to the story. With every aspect of the production design and costumes on point, and another delightful Alexandre Desplat score, the entire ensemble cast all give excellent performances. Though the show is definitely stolen by Saorise Ronan and Florence Pugh, the latter of whom certainly made 2019 a year to remember with her first Oscar nomination.
7. Ford v Ferrari
The mark of a truly great sports film is one that invests you in its story from the get-go, even if you've never heard of said event before. This is something that Ford V Ferrari does so brilliantly, but this is more than just a film about the 24 Hour Race at Le Mans in 1966. The intense battle between two men both striving for greatness in their fields, and the battle between them and the giant corporate machine that threatens to stomp all over their work is what keeps this well oiled machine of a film running smoothly.
As well as this absorbing drama, the work of the sound teams brings the film's racing scenes to life in an exhilarating manner. With a truly excellent cast full of excellent performances, the best work comes from Matt Damon, and especially Christian Bale. Mixing in the back and forth between company head honchos and the absorbing, immaculately crafted racing scenes ensures that makes for extremely compelling storytelling, that helps this film race past the finishing line in flying colours.
6. Marriage Story
Marrying someone you love can sometimes be a long-lasting and blissful experience that lasts the rest of your life. However, for others, it will sometimes end in heartbreak, causing the two people to go their separate ways. Noah Baumbach captures the pain of the divorce process with such raw emotion, which is lifted in part from his own experiences following his divorce from actress Jennifer Jason Leigh.
If I had my way, Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver would be winning Best Actress and Best Actor for their heart-breaking, powerful and emotional performances. With every moment, you feel the affection that they have for each other, and both strive to make this process as amicable as possible for the benefit of their son. But at the same time, there are moments where you feel the pain and rage that they're both going through at that particular moment. In such a heavy drama, it's a testament to Baumbach's strong screenplay that he weaves some humorous moments expertly into the script, but it never negates the emotional weight of the story.
5. Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood
Quentin Tarantino films are so often known for two things: sharp, well written dialogue and some stylistic violence. And while his latest film ticks both those boxes, it definitely features more of the former than the latter. There's something that feels very personal, almost fairytale like about this film, and it's something that sets is apart from the rest of his filmography. It's the director's very personal love letter to the Golden Age of Hollywood, that so very obviously inspired him as a director.
Recruiting two of the most charismatic actors in the business definitely works in the film's favour. The duo of Leo DiCaprio's Rick Dalton and Brad Pitt's (likely) Oscar winning turn as stuntman Cliff Booth serve up a delightful bromance that I could watch all day long. While Margot Robbie as Sharon Tate was criminally underutilised, what screen time she had, she used effectively. Tarantino films of the past (mainly Inglorious Basterds) certainly demonstrate his fondness to rewrite the history books. With that, he takes us on an exciting journey through 1960s Hollywood, and provides us a very very satisfying pay off.
4. Jojo Rabbit
The second Best Picture nominee to have created a fierce divide between audiences. Taking on subject matter like this is a brave decision for any film-maker. It could have all gone horribly wrong, but if anyone was able to take on this sort of premise and make it work, then Taika Waititi was the man to do that. And that's just what he did, in spectacular, and truly hilarious, style.
In a similar vein to Marriage Story, there was a risk that the sharp and relevant satire could have negated the more intense dramatic moments of the film. Yet Waititi walks this line masterfully, combining the comedy and the devastating drama, whilst introducing the world to the star in the making that is Roman Griffin Davis. At a time when toxic ideologies have reared their ugly head, and have not been consigned to the history books where they belong, it's a damning indictment on society that a film like this and its central message, of love triumphing over hate, feels all the more relevant in today's society.
3. The Irishman
Martin Scorsese and gangster movies are just a match made in heaven. Every time this legendary director ventures into the world of gangster film-making, it always seems to be a recipe for greatness and this is no exception. One of the most expensive Netflix productions to date, telling the fascinating story of delivery driver turned hitman Frank Sheeran and how he rose through the ranks of the mob, leading him to meeting charismatic Union Leader Jimmy Hoffa.
Under the expert vision of Scorsese, and long-time editor Thelma Schoonmaker, the three and a half hours fly by as Scorsese absorbs you into this compelling and fascinating story that spans over multiple decades. Getting the best performances in years out of DeNiro and Pacino, whilst bringing Pesci out of retirement for one last hurrah. All three men are on stellar form, and DeNiro was inexcusably left out of getting a deserved Best Actor nomination, alongside Pesci and Pacino in the Supporting category. If this is Scorsese's last venture into the world of mobster/crime films, then the Godfather of the genre has certainly bowed out in the finest way possible.
2. Parasite
South Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-ho is a name that might not be as instantly recognisable as a Tarantino or a Scorsese, but after watching his latest film, you'll be hard pressed not to be utterly speechless by the brilliant work that the South Korean director has put together. Like last year with Roma, the fact that it stands a legitimate shot at becoming the first film not in the English language to win the top prize speaks volumes as to how well liked this film is, and it well deserved.
Looking at a case of one family living at the bottom of the barrel of society, who find a way to improve their situation by gaining employment with a family steeped in wealth. Filled to the brim with sharp, relevant commentary about the capitalist society that dominates many countries around the world, that simultaneously weaves in some brilliant humour into this story. This is just the tip of the iceberg as to the brilliance of this story that Bong Joon-ho has constructed, combine that with razor sharp performances from every member of this cast, and the end result is something that is a layered, enthralling piece of storytelling that you'll want to revisit many times over.
Being the history student I am, I gravitate to war films. But this is not the reason why Sam Mendes's magnum opus is my pick for the Best Picture of 2019. It's for the fact that it is an astounding cinematic achievement that just floored me in every way. Filmed to look as if it is one continuous tracking shot, it should clean house in the technical categories, and ensure that the legend that is Roger Deakins picks up another Oscar. But all that technical mastery would count for nothing, if the story being told in front of the camera was not compelling and emotionally investing, which it absolutely is.
Focusing on two young English soldiers who must go behind enemy lines to deliver a message to call off an attack to prevent an absolute slaughter. The premise is simple but it's extremely effective, and that's down to the extraordinary performances of Dean-Charles Chapman, and especially George MacKay who demonstrate they are far more than just the uniforms they are wearing. From the first minute, I was thoroughly invested in their mission, and the extraordinary camerawork fully immerses you in the time and the place. You do feel like you are on the ground with these men, and it never let up throughout the tense two hour run time. One of the finest war films ever made, not only is 1917 my favourite film of 2019, after multiple viewings, it has now cemented itself as one of my favourite films of all time.
Could/should have been nominated…
Unlike last year, this year nine films have been chosen for the top honour. Yet once again, I find myself asking, why not just make it a perfect ten and nominate one extra film to have the honour of being in the company of these (mostly) great films. What could have joined their company? If I had my way, out would go Joker, and then choose from any of the following three films to make it a perfect ten:
Knives Out (review): After getting all that vitriol for Star Wars: The Last Jedi, it is delightful to see that Rian Johnson is now officially an Academy Award nominee, and very much deservedly so. Giving the Whodunnit genre a 21st century do-over, and the end result was an utter blast from beginning to end, with one of the best ensemble casts of the year.
Avengers: Endgame (review): Is this me being super biased towards one of my favourite franchises of the last decade? Perhaps, but the fact remains that this film marked the crowning glory of an extraordinary ten year journey, the like of which has never been seen in cinema before. Akin to Return of the King being very deservedly bestowed with a record-breaking number of Oscars for its extraordinary work, the extraordinary work that has gone into this franchise deserved to be recognised with a Best Picture nominee. The Academy definitely nominated the wrong comic book movie.
The Farewell (review): Honestly, how this film got completely overlooked baffles me. Telling a deeply personal story that draws from director Lulu Wang's own background, it's a story that anyone no matter where they are from, or where they grew up can connect with. On top of that, it boasts an Oscar worthy performance from Awkwafina.
Posted on December 31, 2019 April 3, 2020 by Martin: Through the Silver Screen
It is fitting in many ways, that as we reach the end of the decade, that a number of the franchises that have had a massive impact in the last ten years of cinema have been brought to a close. 22 films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe gave a very satisfying pay off, the curtain closed on the Skywalker saga for the final time, and the less said about that Game of Thrones finale, the better. Meanwhile, Netflix continues to assert itself in the industry producing some stellar content, all while an exhaustive amount of discourses and debates on a variety of subjects relating to film have raged all year long. It was certainly an eventful year of cinema to close out the decade, and so the time has come for me to rank all that 2019 had to offer on the big screen, at least of the films I saw.
Due to staggered UK release dates, it can be extremely messy to determine what film belongs in what year. Therefore regarding the eligibility of films for this list, I always aim to include films that are listed as 2019 releases on IMDB. Also, some of the films listed here haven't yet made their way into UK cinemas, but since I was fortunate to be able to catch some of these films at London Film Festival this year, they are eligible for inclusion. On the other hand, there's a 2019 release that doesn't get its UK wide release until February 2020, so that film will be deferred for my 2020's list, and I am absolutely certain that will make an appearance.
Secondly, the grade a film receives does not necessarily determine its place on the list. Getting the perfect grade does not mean it will rank higher than a film that got a lower grade. This is, as is the case for all of us who review films, our one chance to be completely biased about the films that we enjoyed the most, and these are the films that I will remember from 2018. Before I get into the main list, some honourable mentions need to have their time to shine. These films are excellent that you should definitely check out, but they just didn't quite make the list. First up…
Ad Astra [review] Many films have illustrated just how terrifying the eternal chasm that is space, and Brad Pitt's enthralling turn as an astronaut who must venture deep into space in search of his long lost father is another example. It's a slow burner, but well worth the investment.
Harriet [review] Harriet Tubman's story is nothing short of inspirational, a woman born into slavery who escaped and then daringly made several missions to free people from this appalling institution. This biopic, while told in a very conventional manner, tells her story with sincerity, and boasts a magnificent performance from Cynthia Erivo, whose career as an actor is going from strength to strength.
A Beautiful Day in the Neighbourhood [review coming soon] Tom Hanks is simply put, one of the most charismatic answers in the business, and so the decision to cast him as the legendary TV children's presenter Fred Rogers was an utter masterstroke. As you'd expect Hanks's performance is wonderful and Marielle Heller's direction is so charming, that it's guaranteed to give you a warm feeling by the time the credits have begun to roll.
Hustlers [review] For women who work in a strip club, it can be a difficult situation to find themselves in. For one group of women however, it's a situation they choose take full advantage of, by devising a scheme to get back at the wealthy patrons of the strip club that employs them. With an excellent group of actresses at its core, and a fascinating story, the entire show is stolen by an electric, awards worthy performance from Jennifer Lopez.
Toy Story 4 [review] After Toy Story 3 wrapped up one of the best animated trilogies ever, in beautiful and heart-wrenching fashion, many were left wondering, was there any need for another Toy Story? Fears that this would prove to be a cynical cash grab were soon dismissed as Pixar, as they so often do, delivered the goods with a fourth film that absolutely needed to be told. It doesn't quite match the lofty standards set its predecessors, but it comes mighty close.
Captain Marvel [review] It shouldn't have taken as long as it did, but 2019 marked the first time that the Marvel Cinematic Universe had a female led film, and it was certainly worth the wait. While the story was certainly a tad formulaic, it was extremely entertaining and flew its way to a billion dollars at the Worldwide Box Office, firmly shutting up those individuals that tried to derail the film prior to its release.
Little Women [review] Making yet another adaptation of the classic novel by Louisa May Alcott seemed to be a tad unnecessary. However, in the wake of her stunning directorial debut. Greta Gerwig took this beloved novel and put her own take on it, and in so doing may have created the definitive big screen adaptation.
Honourable mentions have been honoured, time to crack on with the main list, which due to the vast number of great films we have had this year I've made it into a top 15 list, and we begin with…
15. Official Secrets
Working for the government can put any employee in a difficult position, especially when they handle such confidential information. For one employee, deciding that a confidential memo demands to become public information, she bravely takes on her government by leaking the aforementioned memo to the Press.
The intrigue is maintained throughout thanks to some excellent writing and a sensational lead performance from Keira Knightley who carries the film on her shoulders magnificently. There's a very important message at the centre of this gripping film that remains very relevant to the world we live in today, namely that governments need to be held to account when they try to sweep such damning information under the rug.
14. Midsommar
After terrifying audiences with his debut feature Hereditary, Ari Aster has reinforced his growing reputation as a horror maestro with his sophomore feature. Telling the story of a woman goes with her boyfriend to a Swedish Pagan festival, and some dark and disturbing events soon start to unfold.
With a magnificent, haunting, awards worthy lead performance from Florence Pugh, that captures raw grief and pain in such a powerful manner. One of the best directed films of the year, filled with some thought provoking themes and imagery, with plenty of scenes that I will certainly not be forgetting in a hurry.
13. Ford V Ferrari
The mark of a great film, especially one about a sporting event, is that you shouldn't have to be the most devout follower of said sport to be thoroughly invested in it. The 24 Hour Race of Le Mans isn't the most glamorous, or indeed the most iconic of sporting events, but that didn't prevent James Mangold from crafting an extremely compelling film about it.
With a truly excellent cast full of excellent performances, the best work comes from Matt Damon, and especially Christian Bale. Mixing in the back and forth between company head honchos and the absorbing, immaculately crafted racing scenes ensures that makes for extremely compelling storytelling, that helps this film hit race past the finishing line in flying colours.
12. Marriage Story
The day the two people tie the knot is so often the happiest day of those people's lives, but sometimes, that loving relationship can be soured, causing people to go their separate ways. The pain of the divorce process is captured so powerfully by director Noah Baumbach, as two people go through a problematic and painful divorce that will push both both parents to the limits, whilst trying to do what's best for their son.
With awards worthy performances from just about everyone, though without any doubt, the spotlight shines brightest on Scarlett Johansson and Adam Driver. The performances of these two are arguably the best performances of the year. To go from a funny moment, to a remorseful moment in a heartbeat is a skill, and it's a testament to the strength of Baumbach's screenplay that he combines these two contrasting emotions so strongly, without tainting the experience.
11. The Farewell
Family, an institution that can mean so much to so many of us. When such sorrowful news about a loved one's declining health reaches our ears, it can be difficult news to take. Especially when, the traditions between generations and cultures can be such a stark contrast.
The film is such a surprise with how much humour it finds in this situation, but Lulu Wang expertly balances the delightful moments, with ones that are just raw with emotion. At the centre of all, Awkwafina gives the performance of her career as a woman who's caught between two different customs and traditions. No matter who you are or where you're from, you'll connect with this film in some capacity.
Now for the top 10…
Most Anticipated Films of 2019
Posted on January 1, 2019 May 18, 2019 by Martin: Through the Silver Screen
Happy new year cinephiles! It is 2019, and another year of film is upon us, and it is shaping up to be quite the year for films as we round out the 2010s. There's lots to look forward to. So without further ado, I present to you my picks for my top 10 most anticipated films that are set to hit UK cinemas in 2019.
Just a quick note to say that certain films that have marketed 2018 releases such as Green Book, Vice etc will not be counted here, even though they are set to arrive into UK cinemas this year. Before we get into the main body of the list, I have a few honourable mentions, that I am looking forward to, but they just didn't quite make the list. These are:
Dark Phoenix, Unpopular opinion coming at you, I don't think 2016's X Men Apocalypse was that bad. For sure it wasn't as good as Days of Future Past, but it was a fun (if a little nonsensical) romp. Which brings me to Dark Phoenix, a film that focuses on a premise I'm sure we have seen before, but cannot remember where (!). Now the continual push backs of this film are a little worrisome, likewise with The New Mutants, but with everyone from Apocalypse back as well as Jessica Chastain in a mysterious role, you have my interest.
Spider-Man: Far From Home,The sequel to 2017's Homecoming, and yes it is hard to escape that Spider-Man was one of the unfortunate ones who did not escape Thanos's snap. Yet the presence of this film would suggest he comes back in the Infinity War sequel (more on that later). Tom Holland is once again everyone's favourite neighbourhood Spider-Man with Jake Gyllenhaal as the villain Mysterio.
Lion King, The Disney mission to remake all their animated classics has now turned its attention to arguably its best. The 1994 animated film is one of the best animated films, ever made. Therefore director Jon Favreau has a simple job of translating this live action remake (if it can really be called that) to the big screen. Whilst the CGI does look great, and the cast is excellent, this remake does seem a bit redundant, but if this takes it place in The Circle of Life and blows audiences away once again, then Hakuna Matata I suppose.
Glass, M. Night Shyamalan's career has been a strange one, starting out promisingly with early cinematic gold before making a few, pretty terrible films, but he came back to form with Split which leads us to the third film in a shared universe that connects the aforementioned Split, with Shyamalan's 2000 hit Unbreakable.
The Irishman, Martin Scorsese, a director who needs no introduction, and the director is returning to what people may know him for best, a film focusing on gangsters. His collaboration with Netflix is the most expensive of his career to date, and sees him reunite with Robert De Niro for an incredible ninth collaboration between the duo. If it is as gritty, and as entertaining as his previous ventures into this genre, we could have another classic gangster flick on our hands.
Honourable mentions have been honoured, let's see what cracked my top 10:
10. Us
Release date: 15th March
For so long, Jordan Peele was one half of the very successful comedy duo, Key & Peele, then he went and made the remarkable and unsettling Get Out, which won him an Oscar. Now for his next film, Peele is going down the horror route once again in this film that looks deeply unnerving to say the least if the new trailer is anything to go by, which hints at a terrifying plot involving some sinister doppelgangers.
That premise alone is very intriguing, but with an exciting cast that includes Lupita Nyong'o, Winston Duke and Elisabeth Moss, only adds to the excitement/dread that audiences are likely to be greeted with when this one hits cinemas.
9. John Wick 3: Parabellum
Release date: 17th May
If you piss off John Wick AKA The Bogeyman, then you better start saying your prayers, cos he WILL make you pay for it. Keanu Reeves's work as this badass assassin has made Wick one of his most compelling and badass characters, it's certainly a role he seems to have had a lot of fun with. However, after he broke the absolute unbreakable rule of murdering someone on the grounds of the assassin underworld hotel, it cost John the access he had to the Assassin underworld and all of the accompanying perks. On top of that, he now has a large bounty on his head, which will likely put pretty much every hitman in the world on his trail.
Reeves is once again suiting up as Wick, and Chad Stahelski is back as director. Stahleski has promised that the death count will be considerably higher for this one. The action in the previous two films was as stylish as it was slickly choreographed, and promotional images have seen Reeves riding a horse! What more could you want? Expect the bullets to fly and the bodies to hit the floor cos John Wick is back for one last bloody hurrah.
8. Toy Story 4
Release date: 21st June
"So long, partner," as Woody uttered those words at the end of Toy Story 3, it undoubtedly caused many tears to be shed by audiences as Woody and co said a fond farewell to their owner Andy for the last time, seemingly closing the book on the Toy Story franchise. It is still one of the best trilogies ever, and so talks of a fourth film were naturally met with some trepidation. However, as Pixar has so often not disappointed, most recently delivering one of their best with Coco, and giving The Incredibles a worthy sequel. One would assume that they know what they're doing.
A fun mini teaser released late in 2018 confirmed that all of the familiar faces will be back, but what exactly they're up to remains a complete mystery. But if reports are to be believed, the cast were crying and struggled to record their lines for the ending, which if you have ever seen a Pixar film ever, you'll know that they have the power to reduce anyone to an absolute emotional wreck. So get the tissues ready cos this is likely to be another tearjerker.
Release date: 4th October
The Joker is one of the most iconic comic book villains, and he has had some memorable portrayals on the big screen from actors like Jack Nicholson and the great performance from Heath Ledger who stole the entire show in The Dark Knight, not forgetting the great work that Mark Hamill has done from an animated perspective to bring the Crown Prince of Crime to the big screen. However, the future of the character in the DCEU is a little bit uncertain since his debut didn't quite go to plan. Hence, Warner Bros has given the green light for a solo Joker film separate from the DCEU.
We have seen a fair bit of production photos courtesy of director Todd Phillips, which has included Joaquin Phoenix in full costume as the Joker (see above). It all looks super dark and mysterious. Phoenix's talents as an actor are undisputed and when you have a supporting cast that includes Hollywood legend Robert De Niro, that only adds to the gleeful anticipation as to what mayhem this Joker will unleash upon audiences when it debuts, not expecting any pencils through any eyeballs though…
6. Godzilla: King of the Monsters
Release date: 31st May
The MonsterVerse has not exactly got off to the greatest start, beginning with 2014's Godzilla and continuing with 2017's Kong: Skull Island. Both the aforementioned films suffered in similar respects, some decent action but were bogged down by concentrating too much on the humans and not enough screen time for the titular titans, though the former was much stronger than the latter when it came to the action. A gargantuan clash between these two is expected to stomp into cinemas next year, but before that, Godzilla has got other monsters to deal with.
This new film looks as though it will remedy that problem with a handful of new Titans battling it out for Titan Supremacy, namely Mothra, Rodan, and Godzilla's arch nemesis, the deadly three headed King Ghidorah. A bunch of new humans have joined the cast including Stranger Things star Millie Bobbie Brown, Charles Dance, Vera Farmiga and Kyle Chandler. Yet, one would hope that this is the film that sees the monsters take centre stage good and proper, and as the trailer teased, we have some exciting battles coming our way.
5. How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World
Release date: 1st February
Outside of Disney and Pixar, Dreamworks Animation Studios have arguably been the studio to compete with when it comes to top tier animation, and and nothing is greater proof of that than the How to Train Your Dragon series. Thus far, this franchise has produced two absolutely stellar pieces of work, and they have a chance to complete their trilogy that, if all goes to plan, would be up there with the likes of the Toy Story trilogy as one of the finest animated trilogies out there.
This new adventure certainly seems to have upped the ante for our characters with Hiccup now the leader of the clan (mighty fine beard and all) facing down a terrifying new threat that puts humans and dragons at risk. Toothless's attention meanwhile is on a Light Fury dragon he is trying to woo. The trailer promises those epic stakes that the second instalment brought, as well as those really hard hitting emotional moments.
Release date: 26th July
Quentin Tarantino, like Martin Scorsese, is one of those names who just immediately catches the attention of most cinema goers, and for good reason, he makes damn good films. If the man's name alone wasn't enough to get people to the cinema, then the cast of his ninth feature film surely will. The likes of Margot Robbie, Brad Pitt, Leo DiCaprio all snag leading roles, but the cast list is quite extensive, with Tarantino alumni such as Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Bruce Dern and Kurt Russell all involved. It's a cast to die for, and given what we know about the plot, and who some of the cast are playing, it's gonna get a little bit unpleasant.
Not much else is known about the plot, other than it being centred on the Manson Family Murders, but if there's one thing to expect from a Tarantino flick, it's some sharply written dialogue, and juuuuuuuuuust a little bit of violence thrown in there for good measure. With his terrific body of work that he has assembled prior to this, this is looking like it will be another piece of glorious, as well as bloody, piece of work from the director in what might just be his penultimate directorial effort.
3. Captain Marvel
Release date: 8th March
The Marvel Cinematic Universe will finally give the world the first MCU female led superhero film in 2019. That superhero in question is Carol Danvers, an air force pilot who becomes the seemingly incredibly powerful Captain Marvel. Though before she can help save the world in the sequel to Infinity War (more on that later), we must venture back in time to the 1990s to see how Captain Marvel came to be.
The presence of Oscar winner Brie Larson in the titular role alone is enough to draw excitement, but she is the lead of an extremely exciting cast that includes Jude Law, Ben Mendelsohn, Gemma Chan and a de-aged Samuel L Jackson as a Nick Fury (also sans eye patch) as well as a de-aged Clark Gregg as Phil Coulson, with Lee Pace returning as Ronan, AKA the villain from Guardians of the Galaxy. Also who knew Nick Fury was a cat person? Maybe it's that cat that takes his eye out after all….
2. Star Wars: Episode IX
Release date: December 20th
The concluding chapter to the new trilogy of films ever since Disney seized control of the franchise from George Lucas. Unless you have been living under a rock, you will know that the preceding chapter, The Last Jedi, caused quite the divide among the population of the world. Some absolutely adored it, hailing it as the best film in the franchise ever, and some absolutely detested it with every fibre of their being. No pressure then JJ Abrams.
As one would expect, the plot details surrounding this new film are a complete mystery, but what is for sure, is the events of The Last Jedi, whether you liked the film or not, are going to have substantial repercussions for the world of Star Wars going forward. The intrigue to see how they close the book on the stories of Rey, Finn, Poe and Kylo Ren will be enormous. Furthermore, it will be extremely interesting to see how the tragic passing of Carrie Fisher will have an impact on the story given she was set to play a big role in this closing chapter. Furthermore, in the wake of the box office disappointment of Solo: A Star Wars Story, Disney really could do with a home run to round out this trilogy. Lightsabres crossed that JJ can steer this ship home to safety.
And, my #1 most anticipated film of 2019 is……………………………………………………
1. Avengers: Endgame
Release date: 26th April
Had to be didn't it? In the same vein that Episode IX will bring the curtain down on the new Star Wars trilogy, Endgame is going to be the culmination of everything that the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been building towards across a remarkable 22 films. With their Cinematic Universe, Marvel really has made cinematic history with what they have achieved, it really is like nothing we have ever really seen before, and after delivering the stunning and heart-breaking Infinity War, the Russo brothers have the mammoth task of giving closure to these characters that for some we have spent a decade following.
Of course, that earth-shattering ending of Infinity War turned half of our heroes into dust after the Mad Titan Thanos collected all six of the Infinity Stones to bring balance to the Universe. Yet, even with that gut punch of an ending, it seems pretty certain that those who disintegrated away at the end will come back somehow. The real question is how? The Russos have hinted that this film could be in the realm of three hours long, and I am more than okay with that.
Yet if it indeed does come to pass that all those who were disintegrated return, who will definitely bite the dust this time around? It seems somewhat unlikely that everyone will return and that will be that and it will be sunshine and rainbows. One particular Titan in particular would be a bit pissed that all of his work would be undone. Some actors (not naming names) have hinted that this is their last hurrah so expect some fireworks as this chapter of the MCU will be brought to what will hopefully be an epic and emotional close.
Thus concludes my picks for the most anticipated films of 2019, What are your most anticipated films for this year? Let me know in the comments below or you can find me on: Twitter, Facebook or Letterbox'd.
Thanks for reading and here's to another great year of cinema!


Spring, Texas was originally occupied by the Orcoquisac Indians because of its prime location as a fishing and hunting area. Today, Spring, Texas, is one of best attractions in all of Texas each year for The Texas Crawfish and Music Festival. Seafood isn't the only thing found in Spring. Anyone from history enthusiasts eager to see and learn more about the history of Texas, to avid eaters and shoppers, can find what they want in Spring, Texas.
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text:
Q: How to color pandas table by comparing two columns For example, I have a dataframe with two columns A and B. If A > B, I want to color the row red; if A <= B, I want to color that row green. Any idea how can I do this? Thanks!

A: From the docs:
def highlight_greater(row):

    if row['A'] > row['B']:
        color = 'red'
    elif row['A'] <= row['B']:
        color = 'green'

    background = ['background-color: {}'.format(color) for _ in row]

    return background

df.style.apply(highlight_greater, axis=1)

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


text:
Q: How to clean auxiliary files within subdirectories with latexmk Well, the title is pretty much self-explanatory but for sake of clarity, I have latex paper with such structure:
.
├── back_matter
│   └── some_tex_files.tex
├── bibliography
│   └── bibliography.bib
├── body_matter
│   ├── a_file.tex
│   └── another_file.tex
├── graphics
│   └── some_images.png
├── styles
│   ├── bib_style.bbl
│   └── paper_style.cls
├── paper.tex
└── Makefile

And a Makefile like so:
.PHONY: paper.pdf

all: paper.pdf

paper.pdf: paper.tex
    latexmk -pdf -pdflatex="pdflatex -interactive=nonstopmode" -use-make paper.tex

clean:
    latexmk -CA

make clean successfully cleans all the auxiliary files in the root (.), however, it does not clean the auxiliary files created in the subdirectories. How to define a rule for cleaning all the .aux files within the subfolders? I should mention that I use \input to add the files to paper.tex.
P.S. Is this make file well written?

A: *

*If all the files in the subdirectories are input using \input, then there'll be no .aux files in the subdirectories.  You will only get such .aux files if the running of pdflatex on some other file made them or if you used \include at some point in the past instead of \input.  In any case, they are not part of the files involved in the current run of pdflatex, so latexmk correctly does not delete them when you do latexmk -CA.  On the other hand, if a file is brought into the document by \include, then the corresponding .aux file is involved in the document, and latexmk -CA will delete it.
If you find some other behavior, we'll need a MWE to understand the problem.

*As regards the Makefile, you should look at the section about this in the latexmk documentation.  The relevant section "USING latexmk WITH make' is near the end of the documentation, and there are some options to latexmk that are useful.  The important thing is that with a little care, make can find all the dependency information that latexmk computes.

*If your description of the project is complete, then a Makefile is unnecessary; the command latexmk without any arguments will do what you need, particularly if there is only a single .tex file in your root directory, and any configuration needed is in a latexmkrc file.  A Makefile is normally needed only when there are other things you need it to do besides those that latexmk is designed to do.
For your case, a suitable Makefile is
DEPS_DIR = .deps
.PHONY: all clean

# Read in known dependencies:
$(foreach file,$(wildcard $(DEPS_DIR)/*P),$(eval -include $(file)))

all: paper.pdf

%.pdf: %.tex
    @if [ ! -e $(DEPS_DIR) ]; then mkdir $(DEPS_DIR); fi
    latexmk -deps-out=$(DEPS_DIR)/$@P -pdf -dvi- -ps- $<

clean:
    latexmk -C

This uses some special features of GNU make.  Dependence information is kept in a subdirectory named .deps.


text:
The Commonwealth Short Story Prize 2013
Regional Winners The Shortlist Judges
Overall and Regional Winners, 2013 Commonwealth Short Story Prize
Eliza Robertson and Sharon Millar, Overall Winners of the 2013 Commonwealth Short Story Prize at Hay Festival, Wales, May 2013.
Listen to the announcement of the 2013 winners by UK novelist John Le Carré.
"It can be incredibly rehabilitative, that's certainly one of the magic components of creative writing", Eliza Robertson interviewed at the 2013 Hay Festival
"Who has control of a woman's body, particularly in areas like the Caribbean?", Sharon Millar interviewed at the 2013 Hay Festival.
Read the regional winners' prize winning stories on Granta
In 2013 Commonwealth Writers continued its partnership with Granta magazine to give regional winners of the 2013 Commonwealth Short Story Prize the opportunity to be published by Granta online. You can read them here on Granta.
Overall and Regional Winner, Canada and Europe
We Walked On Water, Eliza Robertson (Canada)
After the death of his twin sister during the Ironman competition in British Columbia, the boy decides to compete again.
Eliza Robertson was born in Vancouver, Canada and grew up on Vancouver Island. She has an MA in Prose Fiction at the University of East Anglia, where she received the Man Booker Scholarship and the Curtis Brown Prize for best writer. In Canada, she has won three national fiction contests and has been twice longlisted for the Journey Prize. Most recently, she was a finalist for the 2013 CBC Short Story Prize. She lives in Victoria where she is completing her first novel and story collection.
Overall and Regional Winner, Caribbean
The Whale House, Sharon Millar (Trinidad and Tobago)
As a woman recovers from a miscarriage, it resurrects an old conflict and a long kept secret. Bush medicine, teenage sexuality, and difficult moral choices culminate in this uniquely Trinidadian story, one of marriage and the secrets we keep from the ones closest to us.
Sharon Millar is a Trinidadian writer who is particularly inspired by the landscape of her homeland and her work touches on issues that affect her as a Trinidadian citizen and as a woman. The worlds of her stories are occupied by protagonists who struggle with moral issues, crime, illness, loyalty, betrayal, and all the other messy things that make up a life. Writing from a Caribbean island here and now allows her to illuminate complications that lie beneath the surface of a young state trying to move forward as a cohesive society.
Other Regional Winners
Regional Winner, Africa
The New Customers, Julian Jackson (South Africa)
In a South Africa still riven by apartheid, a chance encounter in a small town bar ensues when an English speaking urban visitor finds himself in the midst of a scene of racial aggression between an Afrikaans farmer and local men.
Julian Jackson is a lawyer who was raised in England, Germany and South Africa. In 2003 he founded a legal practice in South Africa to facilitate investment into sub-Saharan Africa. Julian has written in magazines and journals on travel, politics and philosophy. Apart from writing and his legal work, his interests include jurisprudence, in particular the relationship between individual autonomy, freedom and legal rules.
Regional Winner, Asia
The Sarong-Man In The Old House, And An Incubus For A Rainy Night, Michael Mendis (Sri Lanka)
The old house is empty but for Wijey and an assortment of souvenirs of an endless life hiding in shadowy places. A storm after a long spell of dryness stirs the smell-memory of rain-on-dust: taking him back to a forgotten night of innocence.
Michael Mendis is an unpublished writer currently studying law at the University of Colombo. Educated at a Catholic boys' school in Colombo, Michael is the fourth in a family of five children. He likes dogs, debating, and night-time Colombo. More of his unpublished writing can be found at oilmanstreet.wordpress.com.
Regional Winner, Pacific
Things With Faces, Zoe Meager (New Zealand)
Intangible keepsakes– sounds, images, feelings – piece together the memory of a childhood. From a wild landscape, a creature comes forth to live with people, while in return a father is swallowed whole, disappearing past the edges of the known world. As a family lives its life, each learns what it is to seek comfort and to love fiercely, and that those are instincts of not only humans, but other animals too.
Zoë Meager grew up in Christchurch, New Zealand, and completed an undergraduate degree in anthropology and gender studies at the University of Otago, before going on to complete a Masters in Sociology from the University of Auckland. She worked variously as a public servant, research assistant, and English language teacher before returning to the University of Auckland and graduating with a Masters in Creative Writing in 2012. Her stories often play up the artifice of fictional worlds, and explore liminal emotions and states, especially the human-animal conundrum.
2013 Shortlisted writers
Not For Publication, Rachel Bush (New Zealand)
A Killing In The Sun, Dilman Dila (Uganda)
Normal, Susan Everett (United Kingdom)
Chutney, Debz Hobbs-Wyatt (United Kingdom)
Fatima Saleh, Alexander Ikawah (Kenya)
Notes From The Ruins, Anushka Jasraj (India)
A Good Friday, Barbara Jenkins (Trinidad and Tobago)
Anthonya's Baby Shower On Camperdown Road, A.L. Major (Bahamas)
Mango Summer, Janice Lynn (Bahamas)
The Whale House, Sharon Millar (Trinidad & Tobago)
No War Is Worth Debating, Tobenna Nwosu (Nigeria)
Take Me Home United Road, Sally-Ann Partridge (South Africa)
Mortal Sins, Sinead Roarty (Australia)
Tug Of War, Deborah Rogers (New Zealand)
Raven, Tom Williams (Australia)
2013 Commonwealth Short Story Prize Judges
Chair: Razia Iqbal
Currently, Razia Iqbal works as a Special correspondent and Presenter for BBC news; she is one of the main presenters of BBC World Service's flag ship current affairs programme, Newshour. She also presents Talking Books for BBC World TV and the BBC news channel: a half hour interview programme with leading writers. She also presents documentaries and interview programmes on Radio 4 and World Service. Before that she was the BBC Arts correspondent for seven years.
Tash Aw
Tash Aw grew up in Malaysia and moved to Britain to attend university. He is the author of three novels, The Harmony Silk Factory (2005), Map of the Invisible World (2009) and Five Star Billionaire (2013). His work has won the Whitbread First Novel Award and a Commonwealth Writers Prize, and been translated into 23 languages.
Elise Dillsworth
Elise Dillsworth is a literary agent and set up the Elise Dillsworth Agency (www.elisedillsworthagency.com) in 2012. Based in London, the agency represents literary and commercial fiction and non-fiction, with a keen aim to reflect writing that is international. Previously she was a commissioning editor at Virago Press, an imprint of Little Brown Book Group. She co-founded the Diversity in Publishing Network (Dipnet), which ran from 2005 to 2011 and was established to promote wider diversity in all areas of publishing.
Cresantia Frances Koya
Cresantia Frances Koya is a writer, artist, editor, academic and spoken word performer from Fiji. She is a member of the Niu Waves Writers' Collective and her first collection of poetry is titled Of Schizophrenic Voices. In 2008, she founded the Fiji Emerging Women Writer's Group and Kalamwasa: Ocean of Ink Writing Initiative. She co-curated the first Pacific wide women's exhibition Vasu: Pacific Women of Power and co-edited its catalogue. She started the poetry chain 'After The Tsunami': a lament responding in poetry to the last section of an email from American Samoan Writer Sia Figel. 18 Pacific writers contributed to the running poem which featured on BBC's Have Your Say in 2009.
Oonya Kempadoo
Oonya Kempadoo, a novelist and social development researcher, has worked for most of her life in various Caribbean islands and currently lives in Grenada. Her first novel, Buxton Spice (1998), was long-listed for the Orange Prize and translated into six languages. Her second novel Tide Running won a Casa De Las Americas 2002 prize, was also well received on both sides of the Atlantic. Kempadoo was named a 'Great Talent for the 21st Century' by the Orange Prize judges and both books were nominated for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Awards.
DW Wilson
D.W. Wilson was born and raised in the small towns of the Kootenay Valley, British Columbia. He is the recipient of the University of East Anglia's inaugural MAN Booker Prize Scholarship – the most prestigious award available to students in the MA programme – and the 2011 BBC Short Story Prize. His stories have appeared in literary magazines across Canada, Ireland, and the United Kingdom, including the Malahat Review, Grain, and Southword.


text:
Fix Our Roads, Electricity - PDP Lawmaker Pleads With Buhari
Rep Francis Otta Agbo has pleaded with the Presidency to remember his constituency in terms of political appointments and also provide basic infrastructures for them.
Rep. Francis Otta Agbo
A member of the House of Representatives, representing Ado/Okpokwu/Ogbadigbo Federal Constituency of Benue State, Rep. Francis Otta Agbo, has pleaded with the Federal government to address the neglect of his constituency in the area of infrastructure and Federal appointments.
Besides, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) announced a donation of his entire salaries for his first four years in office, to his constituents who are widows and orphans, to help ameliorate their plight.
The legislator spoke in Abuja, during an interactive session with a delegation of Ijigban/Ulayi/Ekile Communities of Ado Local government area of Benue State, led by Hon. Emmanuel Ogaba.
Mr. Agbo regretted that though over one million of Ijigban/Ekile/ Ulayi people were contributing immensely to the economy of the State, they remained the most neglected, in terms of infrastructure and employment in the state and federal civil service.
"I want to use this medium to tell the world, how marginalised we are. The whole world should know that the Nigerian state has forgotten the Ulayi, Ekile and Ijigban Community.
"This community is the only one in the whole of Nigeria, without electricity, roads, water and development of any kind; there is no single person in this community, employed in the Federal civil service, the Nigerian Police , the Customs, Immigration, Fire Service, and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps", he decried.
The lawmaker pleaded with the Federal government to "intervene and save my people from backwardness".
He commended Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State, for appointing an Ijigban son, Mr Sunday Agbaji, as Commissioner for Benue State Independent Electoral Commission (BSIEC).
The lawmaker also disclosed that he lobbied for inclusion in the 2020 budget the Rijo-Ekile road and a first-class hospital in Ijigban, all in Ado local government, a part of his Constituency and hoped that the government if President Buhari will release adequate funding for the projects to be executed.
He said the visit of the delegation, will "spur him to do more" for his people.
He promised to effectively represent the 3 LGAs that make up his Federal Constituency, as he thanked the Federal Constituency for "freely voting me and for the unflinching support so far given me and promised not to let them down".
Earlier, Mr Ogaba, the leader of the delegation that paid him a courtesy visit encouraged him to lobby for the mass employment of his Constituents in the state and federal civil service and the security agencies.
Ogaba, regretted that "you cannot find a single officer from this locality, either serving or retired or even dead.
"This is in spite of the numerous graduates that have been produced by these communities through their sweat. We therefore need deliberate urgent action that will produce officers in the forces from this area".
Man Dies While Sleeping With Lady at His Friend's House (Photo)
Meet The 22-Year-Old Woman Who Looks Like An 8-Year-Old Girl Due To Rare Condition (Photos)
I Made A Huge Mistake - Woman Who Did Surgery To Become A Man Cries Out (Photos)


After starting life as little more than an idea to celebrate the Millennium, the project was completed and revealed on 19th July 2001. A grant from East Cambridgeshire District Council funded the developmental stage of the project. Local artist Zoe Chamberlain worked with Burwell residents of all ages to generate ideas and themes for a permanent wall based feature at the entrance of the Village College. This was achieved through a number of workshop sessions and an open day.
Click on the image below to see the bigger picture.


text:
B5TV.COM > Classic: Babylon 5, Crusade and Rangers > B5.related
NEW Babylon 5 Series
Page 9 of 10 « First < 4 7 8 9 10 >
October 5th 21, 09:30 #81
Location: THE GRIM NORTH, UK
Re: NEW Babylon 5 Series
It's kind of infuriating that in this day we still have "Regions". It's getting in the way of our access to entertainment, and people willing to pay. I wanted to watch the film "Oldboy" but it's not available in my area.
Is this what NordVPN can help with? Am I allowed to ask that question, here?
Yeah, I use NordVPN for a certain degree of online privacy and you can also use it to fool steaming sites into thinking you are elsewhere. Want the USA catalogue on Netflix, no problem. For instance, I can watch Adult Swim, whilst actually being in the UK. I also will occasionally use torrents if I desperately want to see something and can't find it, so I use a VPN to keep that activity private too. I don't own a TV, or subscribe to that many streaming services, so the VPN kinda pays for itself.
Send a private message to Ubik
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Kraig
Location: San Joaquin Valley - California
ExpressVPN isn't bad either. I've been using it for years. I have it on multiple devices (cell, laptop, two desktops). I've been watching UK BBC shows for quite a while. At first BBC required a UK TV license to watch any entertainment programming. But after a year the BBC lets me stream all their shows. I got to learn that what the US calls "illegal dumping" in the UK it's called "fly tipping." It was on a comedy with Martin Clunes as a driving instructor.
For my home computers I mostly use it to view what "isn't available in your area" and for portable devices the encryption prevents you from being a victim of hacked public wifi.
"As democracy is perfected, the office of president represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron." — H. L. Mencken, Baltimore Evening Sun, 26 July 1920
"I've been on food stamps and welfare, did anybody help me out? No. No."
-- Craig T. Nelson
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Originally Posted by Moonface
It's kind of infuriating that in this day we still have "Regions".
Yes, it's really infuriating! No wonder people turn to VPNs and Piracy: Here we are, willing to pay for a certain content, only to be told "I'm sorry, we only can take your money if you're in the right area of the world." The CW Homepage does not even load at all here, it just tells me, that It'S only available in the US.
On Amazon prime I wanted to buy an episode of Columbo. The local Site did not have all episodes, so i figured: doesn't matter, I just buy it from the US site. Yeah, no way: I can only by it, if my IP and my credit card are US based.
That's so stupid for both sides!
No kidding. I suppose it has to do with contracts but it seems a lot of money is being lost.
One common comment I saw throughout the day that the reboot was announced was worry about the show being on CW meaning that the characters would be played by uncharacteristically young actors. Hopefully this tweet from jms will calm those worrying about it.
Our story is rooted in Earthforce. How many teenagers do you see in command positions in the military?
Kyehlar
Location: The Keep
Depends... what kinda anime do you watch? lol
What kind of head of security would I be if I let people like me know things that I am not supposed to know. I know what I know, because I have to know it and if I don't have to know it, I don't tell me and don't let anyone else tell me either.
- Michael Garibaldi
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It's like people aren't willing to consider that a major reason that CW greenlit the B5 reboot was so that they could stop making exactly the same kind of show.
I don't even mind Arrow / The Flash but it's not like they're such massive ratings grabbers that the network would be insisting that every show must be like them.
So long as we get Minbari and Narn in full makeup on Whose Line Is It Anyway? then I'm all for it.
Originally Posted by Kyehlar
Whose Battle of the Line is it Anyway? Sounds like something the warrior caste said when asked to surrender.
For inexplicable reasons... only Children can pilot these giant robots.
If it was good enough for the Drew Carey Show, it is good enough for me.


Headquarters for the 1st Infantry Bridge of the 7th Division of the New Iraqi Army.
1st Battalion, 1st Brigade, 7th Division IA.
2nd Battalion, 1st Brigade, 7th Division IA.
3rd Battalion, 1st Mechanized Brigade, 7th Division IA.
Prime Contractor ECC International, LLC.
Argonaut's scope consisted of all work associated with the generation and distribution of electricity (generators, transformers, switch gears, ect.) for the three FOB's at camp Ramadi.


The potato leafhopper is the most destructive insect to alfalfa in Pennsylvania, causing average annual losses of approximately $15 million. It reduces yields, quality (especially lower protein content), and stand longevity. The stress leafhoppers trigger has increased root rot and stand failures. This damage is especially evident in new seedings.
Adult potato leafhoppers are pale, yellowish green, slightly wedge-shaped, about 1/8 inch long, and have wings. Nymphs are similar to the adults, but are yellow to cream colored (with a faint tinge of green), smaller, and have no wings. Eggs are found in the alfalfa stem and appear clear and gelatinous. Meadow spittlebugs are often misidentified as leafhoppers.
Potato leafhoppers are migratory insects that overwinter primarily in the states along the Gulf of Mexico, although some may overwinter in southern states along the Atlantic Ocean, because cold winters in the northern United States kill them. During early to late May, storm fronts develop in the Gulf of Mexico, move northward into the Midwest and then eastward into Pennsylvania. These storms transport the leafhoppers. A low-pressure system will stimulate the adults to fly into updrafts that draw them into clouds, where they move with the direction of the storm. Models suggest that these storms can transport the pest from the Gulf to Pennsylvania within five days. Research shows that the down drafts in front of these storms drop adult leafhoppers onto fields. Because of this movement, scouting for this pest after each storm system passes during late spring is a good idea.
Only the adults migrate northward. Immature leafhoppers do not have wings, so they cannot fly into updrafts. During the spring migration north, about 70 percent of the adults are gravid females. They deposit their eggs in alfalfa stems and leaf veins as soon as they reach a field. In warm weather, the insects will mature in about three weeks and very large populations of leafhoppers can build up in a short time. Adults are very active and will fly above the plants when disturbed. Nymphs are also active and will quickly move, usually sideways, when bothered.
Both the adults and nymphs feed on alfalfa. They insert their mouthparts into the plant tissue to extract the juices. This feeding process distorts and blocks the tiny tubes that distribute nutrients within the plant, which causes yellow triangles on the leaves ("hopper burn") and stunted plants (insert a picture of their damage). The alfalfa may also turn a reddish or purplish color. Stunted plants do not recover until the stems have been harvested, after the leafhoppers are eliminated. The buds will then begin to grow. Although potato leafhoppers can be found from late May until frost, the bulk of damage is done from mid-June to mid-August during the second, third, and fourth cuttings. Normally, the adults stop reproducing and populations drop off sharply after mid-August.
On new spring seedings: Start sampling about June 5, or when the plants are 3 inches high (if this occurs after June 5). Resample at weekly intervals until the field is sprayed, or until 10 days before harvest.
On new summer seedings: Limited information exists on leafhopper damage to July and August seedings. To be safe, start sampling when the plants are 2 inches high and resample at weekly intervals until mid-September.
On all second and third cuttings: Start sampling when plant regrowth is 2 to 3 inches high. Resample at weekly intervals until the field is sprayed, or until 10 days prior to harvest.
To sample alfalfa, you need an insect net with a 15-inch diameter hoop and a tightly knit bag such as muslin. Satisfactory nets can be homemade (see below). A yardstick can measure the plants height.
In square or rectangular fields, follow a "U" pattern. In narrow strips, an "I" pattern will work best. Sample five sites in each in either the "U" or "I" pattern. You can sample the fields any time of the day when the alfalfa is dry. Avoid sampling in cold or windy weather or when the alfalfa is wet.
Step 1: Make 20 pendulum sweeps with the net at each site, sweeping 3 to 4 inches below the tops of the plants. Don't stop swinging until you complete 20 sweeps. Collect samples from each site following a zigzag pattern, and take one or two steps between each sweep.
Possible pattern to make 20 sweeps at each site. (get image from the Field crop IPM manual for potato leafhopper sampling).
Possible pattern to make 20 sweeps at each site.
Step 2: When you complete 20 sweeps, continue swinging the net several times to force the insects into the small end of the bag. Quickly grab the bag about 10 inches from the small end to trap the insects.
Step 3: Count and identify the potato leafhoppers you collected. Remember, only count the pale green (nymphs are yellowish green) leafhoppers and disregard any brown ones. You must be alert when opening the net: adult leafhoppers are very active and can easily escape without being noticed. Unfold the net slowly and let the insects escape a few at a time, counting them as they appear. Be careful to check the interior walls of the net for nymphs. They cannot fly and will be walking or clinging to the cloth.
It may be easier for you to kill the insects before counting them.
Make a note of the total number of leafhoppers. Repeat the same procedure at the next four sites, which completes your 100 sweeps of the field.
Step 4: Calculate the average number of leafhoppers per sweep. For example, if you collected a total of 60 leafhoppers, find the average per sweep by dividing 60 by 100, which equals 0.6 leafhopper. When the leafhopper population is high (40 or more in 20 sweeps) at the first site, spending time sampling the other four sites is of little value.
The sequential sampling method can also reduce time spent scouting a field. See the Department of Entomology's Field Crop IPM Manual at (insert Web address) for instructions and sequential sampling tables.
A sweepnet is necessary to monitor potato leafhopper populations in a field. Insect nets can be purchased for approximately $15, but are not widely available. Materials to make a net can be found on most farms.
Use a solid piece of wood about ¾-inch in diameter and 2 ½ to 3 feet long as the handle. A broom handle cut to length is suitable.
wrapping them together with light wire, such as baling wire, or by slipping a metal sleeve onto the handle and over the hoop ends.
To make the net, you need two pieces of cloth measuring 24 x 36 inches. Heavy muslin or tightly woven nylon cloth will do.
Step 1: Form the hoop into a 15-inch circle and bend the ends as shown. Bend one end 2 inches from the tip and the other about 3 inches from its tip. Now bend ½ inch of both tips toward the insect.
Step 2: Groove and drill the handle for the ends of the hoop. Cut the grooves no wider or deeper than the diameter of the wire: you want a snug fit. One hole will be approximately 2 inches and the other 3 inches from the end. Check placement of the holes with your hoop before drilling. Drill two holes through the handle for the hoop tips.
Step 3: Construct the net by placing the pieces of cloth (24 x 36 inches) on top of each other. Fold both pieces lengthwise and cut the cloth in an arc from the point of the fold to 10 inches from the top. Unfold into two bullet-shaped pieces. Sew the edges using a ½ inch seam. Do not sew the top 10 inches on either side.
Take the top half of the net and double down the loose top 5 inches. Double it down again and sew securely using a 1/2 inch seam. This process has made a channel to slide the hoop through.
Repeat this process on the other half of the net. Your net is now constructed. You may wish to double sew all seams to reinforce the stitching.
Step 4: Assemble the sweepnet. Slide the hoop through the channel at the top of the net. Fit the hoop ends into the grooves and holes on the handle. Secure the hoop to the handle with wire or metal sleeve.
Step 5: Your net is ready for use.
Four factors help determine whether an insecticide application for potato leafhopper control will be profitable: (1) the number of pests present in the field, (2) the development of the plants, (3) the value of the crop, and (4) the costs of the control application.
1. An insect net is the most practical method developed to obtain the number of leafhoppers present in the field. By following the monitoring procedures previously described, you can get a reasonable leafhopper estimate. The table is calculated on the average number of potato leafhoppers in one sweep, counting both adults and nymphs. If you make 100 sweeps and collect 50 leafhoppers, the average per sweep is 0.5 leafhopper.
2. The height of the plants indicates their development. A relatively low number of leafhoppers can inflict high losses to the crop if they are present in the field when the plants are small. Greatest crop losses occur before the alfalfa plants reach 6 inches in height. Plants 12 inches and taller can better tolerate leafhopper feeding.
3. The higher the crop value, the lower the economic injury threshold. With equal pest populations, spray protection will be more profitable on a crop valued at $140 per ton than on a crop valued at $60 per ton.
4. As the costs of applying control measures increase, losses from pests can also rise before an application is profitable.
The variability of each of these factors shows the fluctuation of the economic injury threshold. The pest injury threshold should be adjusted to compensate for each of these changes. These adjustments have been calculated in Table 1.
A few factors should be taken into account when deciding to spray or harvest alfalfa over 12 inches tall. If the leafhopper injury threshold is reached and the alfalfa is less than 50 to 60 percent in bud, a spray is suggested immediately. However, if the crop is 60 percent or more in bud, it will probably be more advantageous to harvest the field within a week rather than spray.
Table 1: Economic injury level of potato leafhoppers: average number of leafhoppers per net sweep.
How to use the table below: 1. Use the plant height category that reflects your fields (Leafhopper sprays are seldom profitable for plants over 12 inches). 2. Estimate the value of your crop in dollars per ton of hay and calculate the cost to spray per acre. 3. From the monitoring field, find the average number of leafhoppers per net sweep. 4. The number in each small box is the average amount of potato leafhoppers per sweep for a spray application to be profitable in the given situation.
Example: Plants in field no. 1 are 3 inches high, hay is valued at $100 per ton, cost of spray is $10 per acre, and you have 35 leafhoppers in 100 sweeps (average of .35 per sweep). The number in the box is 0.3. The leafhopper population in your field is slightly above the injury threshold so spraying will be profitable. If the leafhopper population averaged less than 0.3 per sweep, spraying would not be profitable.
NOTE: The economic injury levels in this table are based on limited research and are intended to be used only as an aid to predict when estimated losses from leafhoppers will exceed the cost of control spray application.
Several options exist to manage leafhopper population in alfalfa: insecticides, resistance cultivars, and early cutting. The Penn State Agronomy Guide (agguide.agronomy.psu.edu) has up-to-date lists of insecticide products, recommended rates, and other guidelines. For alfalfa producers who prefer to avoid insecticides, the use of potato leafhopper resistant plant varieties is a good option. These strains have better agronomic characteristics and a similar yield potential to nonresistant types. The cost of these varieties has decreased, making them more economical.
Some of the earlier releases were not as hardy and tended to require insecticide applications when leafhopper pressure was high. Only 40 to 60 percent of these cultivars were resistant; more than 70 percent of new strains are resistant. This resilience is the result of multiple factors, including dense hair that exudes a sticky substance to bar nymphs. This substance could have insecticidal properties. Potato leafhopper resistant alfalfas are not the same as non-yellowing varieties. These strains only hide damage symptoms and do not prevent yield loss. Early cutting can be used if the economic threshold has not been reached until after the alfalfa is 12 inches high. At this point, traveling across the field will cause an equal or greater stand loss than early harvesting. It is best to harvest about five days early, when protein levels are high, to offset the total yield loss.