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Jeeves and Wooster
No one understands the lonely perfection of my dreams.
Ridders Ranked
During the '80s, I anticipated few filmmakers' movies more than Ridley Scott's; those of his fellow xenomorph wrangler James Cameron, perhaps. In both cases, that eagerness for something equalling their early efforts receded as they studiously managed to avoid the heights they had once reached. Cameron's output dropped off a cliff after he won an Oscar. Contrastingly, Scott's surged like never before when his film took home gold. Which at least meant he occasionally delivered something interesting, but sadly, it was mostly quantity over quality. Here are the movies Scott has directed in his career thus far - and with his rate of productivity, another 25 by the time he's 100 may well be feasible – ranked from worst to best.
25. Body of Lies
Leo and Russell as CIA field agent and jaded handler respectively sounds like a recipe for success, but Scott's seventeenth feature is an abject failure on just about every level. Where Black Hawk Down's propaganda "fortuitously" rode a wave of jingoism that quickly escalated into the War on Terror, here Ridley actively tackles the subject, and reveals himself to be entirely out of his depth.
In that regard, he's in good company, since Leo is still too boyish to play a man at this point, and so seems hopelessly miscast. Always assuming you think his character is remotely credible in the first place. There's a degree of fashionable Hollywood cynicism concerning US strategies and behaviour, but not on an essential level; it's more to do with degrees and approach than questioning justification.
Leo fights the good fight by getting to know the natives – he even falls for one – while Crowe is a bull in a china shop. No cliché of the genre goes unturned, making the suffering DiCaprio's character endures additionally laughable. Oscar Isaac gives a good showing in early scenes but then exits. The one reason to recommend this, though, is Mark Strong, who imbues his smooth Jordanian politician Hani with a sense of intelligence and insight that William Monahan's screenplay otherwise entirely lacks.
24. Hannibal
Anyone nursing the notion of a true second coming of Ridders following the crowd-pleasing Oscar glory of Gladiator and the technical showcase that was Black Hawk Down ought to have been given significant pause by Hannibal. The very fact that he agreed to make it in the first place should have rung alarm bells, Thomas Harris' novel having (intentionally?) sabotaged the appetite for Lector by moving away from the ghoulishly honed procedurals of Red Dragon and The Silence of the Lambs and focussing squarely on his side-dish show stealer, as if to say, "You want more? I'll make you sick with more".
In the process, he entirely undid a great female protagonist, the biggest casualty of the project – even more than Jonathan Demme passing – being Jodie Foster's decision not to return. Not that you can blame her. The presentation of Lector in these movies incrementally deteriorates, arguably, from Brian Cox's minimalist turn to Hopkins' savoured scenery chewing to his unmitigated ham herein.
Unfortunately, he's having rather more fun than we are. Scott has no facility for the pitch-black humour, leaving a predominant feeling of queasiness (witness Ray Liotta's hair-raising final scene). Some of the visuals are pretty, as you'd expect, but never enough to distract from the unappetising content, even when the gore is "artfully" delivered. And as accomplished as Julianne Moore is, she and her Clarice only ever remind you of how indelible Foster was.
23. Black Rain
Scott goes overtly commercial, taking a leaf out of brother Tony's book. At the time, I was a big fan, but then, I lapped up anything the director did on the basis of the possibility his next movie would be another Alien or Blade Runner (I'm still waiting on that front).
Now, well, it's a messy, ugly (in content and tone, rather than aesthetics) flagrantly shallow piece of work, a culture-clash cop thriller without a subtle bone in its body, one that communicates through the sturm und drang of Hans Zimmer's score and Michael Douglas chewing the scenery in a forlorn attempt to do the action star thing, rather than embracing the opportunity to explore and soak in another culture.
There are some evocative visuals, but also some incredibly cheesy action, and it's a much better, marginally less ridiculous movie when Andy Garcia is still in it, which is up to about the thirty-minute mark. Before Douglas' cop solves Japan's Yakuza problem for them. The best you can say of Black Rain is that it did the trick; it was reasonably successful at a time the director needed a hit, and he at least spent his next two or three movies in an about face, attempting to tackle less obvious, non-knuckle-dragging subject matter.
22. G.I. Jane
"Suck my dick!" I think it's probably fair to say that this is the crassest movie Scott has made. It's a high-concept idea that ought to have had hit all over it, and if it had starred Goldie Hawn and been a comedy it probably would have gone stratospheric. Instead, with Demi and her shaved head, it just did decently.
G.I. Jane's nominally political in conception, as a number of the director's movies inadvisably (because he only shows how clueless he is this area) have been, and about as feminist as only a director who made a stripped-to-her-panties Sigourney Weaver an icon entirely by accident can deliver.
There are occasional glimmers of a brain in the "Should women be allowed in the marines?" provocation, mainly from Viggo Mortensen's hard-assed instructor. Mostly, though, it has all the depth of a Bruckheimer movie. As such, it comes with a certain brainless energy; at least you can't be hoodwinked into thinking it has anything going on under the hood. At the time, it looked for all the world like Scott had given up his aspirations towards quality material for good, in favour of box office he couldn't quite grasp, if he had come to this. Little did we know that, as a sprightly sixty-year old, his era as a commercially-reliable director was about to begin. The quality material side is still pending.
21. Exodus: Gods and Kings
After the (surprising?) re-engagement with material (whatever you think of the results, you have to admit he seemed interested in what he was making) of Prometheus and The Counsellor, this represented something of a reversion to late '00s whatever's at the top of the pile, "give-a-shit" form.
Not unreasonably, charges of whitewashing blemished the picture as soon as production began, but fundamentally the problems with Exodus: Gods and Kings don't stem from how ridiculous Joel Edgerton looks, or that Christian Bale is visibly searching around for motivation he just doesn't have. Although, neither of those things help. No, it's that Ridders isn't making this for any reason other than his unwarranted rep as a go-to-guy for sword-and-sandals flicks.
Gladiator worked because of Crowe, and Scott, with his copious cigar smoke spewing swagger, clearly didn't realise that, or he wouldn't have let Orlando Bloom within a mile of the Kingdom of Heaven lead, and he'd have ensured any further ventures into such territory had a main character the audience could identify with and root for. With the successful biblical epic, there's clearly an element of projection or association, be it The Passion of the Christ or (the 1959) Ben-Hur. Scott gives us a Moses (or Moshe) we have little interest in; Bale does his best, naturally as he's a good actor, but he's subsumed under the weight of a director and screenwriters without the courage of their convictions, and an epic shorn of any true grandeur or spectacle; this is a movie of CGI cityscapes and virtual legions, one where the environment is characterised by ugly blue, grey or brown colour washes.
Exodus also bolts when it comes to believing in the message – something the Christian ticket buyers can spot a mile off, which is why they steered clear – opting for doubtfulness when it comes to Moses' communication with God (the ludicrously cast Aaron Paul, as Joshua, spends most of the movie spying on him talking to no one) and implied belittling by presenting Him as a child, an atheist's conceit and also one generally reserved for the horror movie (as a victim of possession).
The plagues of Egypt are mostly given scientific explanations, while the parting of the Red Sea is presented in as mundane form as any movie with no desire to impress an audience could be. And yet, when it comes to killing the first born, Scott has to allow for a divine hand. The picture rightly doesn't shy away from addressing the contradictions of the Jewish God ("Is this your God? A killer of children?"), but it's – ahem – plagued by the same kind of contemporary perspective and characterisation that blighted Kingdom of Heaven's better intentions. There are occasional galvanising moments, such as Ben Mendelsohn (going all out as queening, corrupt subject) ingratiating himself with Moses and Moses entering the spotlight, but this is a mostly leaden affair.
20. American Gangster
Purely in terms of having the remotest interest in what he's making, this and Body of Lies represent something of a career nadir for Scott. Has he ever been more on autopilot than in his sub-Heat telling of Richie Roberts' quest to take down drug dealer Frank Lucas?
Could you give a shit about the latter's rise and fall, or the former's tribulations in achieving his mark? Did Russell Crowe and Denzel Washington give as undistinguished performances as this anywhere else in their careers (say what you like about his A Good Year toff, at least Crowe is memorable therein)? Did Scott ever waste a supporting cast so comprehensively?
Say something good about it? It's entirely competent. The early excursion to Vietnam clicks in a way the rest of the movie simply doesn't. But Scott could make a competent movie in his sleep. And it feels like that's how he made this one.
19. Black Hawk Down
Scott hadn't shown much inclination to attack political matters prior to Black Hawk Down. Sure, there was the feminist trailblazing of Thelma & Louise and G.I. Jane and the casual racial stereotyping of Black Rain, but nothing to suggest he was really hunkering down on making statements (indeed, Jane is so cartoonish, one might almost have assumed he was mocking his earlier accidental landmark movie, if you didn't then remember Ridley doesn't do comedy).
Black Hawk Down changed all that, and suddenly Scott was getting Pentagon funding and rewriting a massive US military failure has a heroic act of rescue and retaliation, complete with hordes of faceless Africans depicted like oncoming zombie cannon fodder ripe for comfortably detached extermination. The modus operandi of the War on Terror.
The picture came at a convenient, only-just-post-9/11 point, a morale booster supporting unjust US incursions, appealing, much as American Sniper later would, to the individual heroism of the soldier rather than the "righteous" cause. Effective propaganda then, and an undeniably well-directed movie. But unswervingly morally bankrupt. If all this puts you off, that's understandable, but you can always play "spot the up-and-coming star" instead. That at least will pay dividends.
18. White Squall
The forgotten Ridley Scott movie? Not that he hasn't made sufficient numbers that you couldn't lose half a dozen and barely notice. White Squall saw him probably at his low point in terms of career direction and box office acumen.
He'd needed to regroup before (the costly Legend's failure leading to the small-scale Someone to Watch Over Me), but had brushed with Oscar recognition only a few years previously (Thelma & Louise), only to take on an event movie bomb that was entirely ignored by everyone the world over (1492: Conquest of Paradise). His response was this almost brazenly uncommercial prospect, except that I'm willing to bet he saw it in terms of a sea-faring Dead Poets Society. Which it really isn't at all; it's based on an actual tragedy without any audience uplift at the end.
And, aside from Bridges' hard but true ship's captain– the kind of mentor who earns respect, but usually in retrospect – it's without any memorable characters to speak of. It was suggested Scott was shooting his young bucks with a homoerotic eye, but really that's just how he'll shoot anything. There are lots of nice vistas on display here, but very little engaging occurs on until the fateful storm itself. It's not all terrible news, though; Scott can content himself that the hugely successful The Perfect Storm over half a decade later, another where its main characters didn't exactly win out, is now almost entirely forgotten too.
Post-Gladiator Ridders reaches the end of his first lengthy chapter with, appropriately, his final (thus far) collaboration with that thirty foot of grunt, Russell Crowe. Prometheus marked a significant change in tack, even if we can see attempts to retread old ground (Exodus: Gods and Kings) afterwards.
Robin Hood might have been more than it turned out to be, had the original screenplay by Ethan Reiff and Cyrus Voris (Nottingham, in which the Sheriff was something of a hero and Robin a soft – as in anti-heroic – villain) not been thrown out on its ear. Ridders, fancying himself as a story guy – I mean, really, right? – went through a slew of ideas including a Fight Club variant of them being the same guy and doubling down on the archery element before arriving at this.
Which is… all right? I mean, it's utterly normal and unsurprising in a way even Costner's version wasn't (it had Alan Rickman after all), and its biggest claim to fame is probably being, anti-intuitively, an over-the-hill Robin origins story. But the first half is actually pretty good, Max von Sydow rocks, and the idea of Robin posing as a man he isn't is fairly solid. It's only later, when we have his (forgotten) destiny thrust upon him and Marion riding into battle in knight's armour, that we become painfully conscious of how shambolic the whole construction is.
16. The Martian
If The Counsellor was Ridders at his most nihilistic and despairing, The Martian finds him going the whole hog for the flip side, possibly cynically rather than out of genuine desire for levity (The Counsellor flopped). It has to be said that upbeat Ridley isn't one you want to spend a great deal of time with. Much of the movie feels forced, a rictus grin on its face, cigar protruding through clenched teeth, as irrepressibly upbeat Matt Damon attempts to science the shit out of his resource-strapped Robinson Crusoe stint on Mars.
There's something a little banal about the whole exercise, so doggedly can-do and nuts and bolts is it; imagine being forced to watch three episodes of MacGyver back-to-back. Added to which, a little of this version of charm-on-tap Damon goes a long way, and after forty minutes of him babbling on about disco (and having it piped throughout the soundtrack) with a ridiculous smile on his face, you ought to be sick of him; he's really begging to be punched. There's something of the perkily Whedon-esque about the characters, probably unsurprising since Drew Goddard, adapting Andy Weir's novel, came up through his ranks. "In your face, Neil Armstrong!" is supposed to be amusingly scampish, but it's just irksome. Michael Peña is great though – it should have been him marooned.
In fairness, The Martian is smoothly watchable, and precision-engineered to be as inoffensive as possible, hence it becoming the biggest hit of the director's career (although Gladiator still tops it globally, adjusted for inflation). It makes for a nice piece of NASA propaganda too, with added natty spacesuits, naturally (Ridley's spacesuits are always natty), sold in the "intelligent everyman thinks his way out of danger in space" that did so well for Apollo 13. At least until the climax when, after all that science shitting, the rescue is absurdly unlikely.
Scott, never one to mince his words, had the cheek to complain about the length of Blade Runner 2049 – the one that got away from his schedule – when The Martian is at least forty minutes baggier than it needs to be (and that's without the obligatory extended edition). Yeah, maybe I'm just a grump with no joy in my heart, but I can do without its strained positivity.
15. All the Money in the World
All the publicity in the world pertaining to Kevin Spacey's replacement with Christopher Plummer (as John Paul Getty Sr) couldn't turn Ridley's latest into a hit, or an awards contender (outside of Plummer himself). On paper, the material can't go far wrong – doubtless why Danny Boyle's TV drama version was in production simultaneously – but it suffers from the same problem of creative listlessness that has weakened too many of his pictures; aside from the technical side, what attracted him to this material? You'd be hard pressed to tell, as All the Money in the World only really takes off when Plummer's peripheral character takes centre stage in all his saturnine glory.
Boyle's version went with the idea that John Paul Getty III was himself responsible for his own kidnapping, a grubbier prospect that might have added a spark to the sometimes-soporific subplot here. Charlie Plummer's fine, Romain Duris the under-appreciated highlight of the picture as his sympathetic captor, who really shines on repeat viewing, and Michelle Williams exudes measured superiority and fractured distress as the pilloried parent. Mark Wahlberg's the considerable weak link, however, and seriously miscast. Not as badly as Bloom in Kingdom of Heaven, but in the same ballpark.
Dariusz Wolski again offers fine photography, but Scott, as befits one more comfortable creating worlds than replicating them, has little feel for the period setting, exemplified by obvious soundtrack choices. There's also the issue that, while embellishment is to be expected in a movie version of actual events (whichever version you choose to believe), the action climax entirely tests credulity. This is a dependable, well-made picture, and far preferable to most of his blockbusters, but it exhibits a not dissimilar sense of disconnect.
14. Kingdom of Heaven
On paper – another of those – and under the auspices of a different filmmaker, this might have been something great. Alas, it's a picture that, even in director's cut form, is scuppered by poor choices, be it in casting or William Monahan's approach to the screenplay. At the forefront is Orlando Bloom's disastrous positioning as the lead, based on a historical figure his character bears no resemblance to. But that isn't the main issue. It's that Bloom has zero presence and a complete inability to carry the movie, so there's a blank centre no amount of heavy lifting from the supporting cast can make up for.
The other big problem is the abject revisionism on display, suggesting a world where no one has much in the way of actual religious conviction, and if they do, they're simply mad (Brendan Gleeson). It's an unfortunate consequence of Scott's modernist bent, since it undermines the entire motivation, political and religious, of the Crusades.
To an extent, this works when it comes to the polar pragmatists of King Baldwin (Ed Norton, uncredited as the leper king, but playing a blinder and mesmerising whenever he's on screen, making pearls from often less than remarkable dialogue) and Saladin (Ghassan Massoud; Saladin's only questionable in his choices because, well, who would take Bloom seriously?) Elsewhere, it's just plain irritating, making the movie look foolish and blinkered, the same kind of foot-in-mouth approach to world events that scuppers Black Hawk Down and Body of Lies.
Nevertheless, Kingdom of Heaven makes for often impressive viewing, and it has the cachet of being about something interesting, even if isn't rendered to its best effect for the most part. That it's a lesser beast to Gladiator, however, points glaringly to the importance of a lead who can both engage dramatically and has star appeal.
13. Matchstick Men
It's a funny one, Matchstick Men. You can recognise the yardstick adopted by Ridders in one way or another throughout his career; the influence of another filmmaker he feels he has to aspire to or compete with. But where previously it was a Kubrick or a Lucas, here he's chasing a narrative conceit. The twist ending that reconfigures the viewing experience. Chris McQuarrie did it in The Usual Suspects and M Night Shyamalan added his own twist on the twist with The Sixth Sense. By the time Ridders got a sniff of it, the whole deal was a bit on the passé side.
But this tale of cons and conmen has a lot going for it, not least Scott utilising his visual acumen to get inside the experiential cortex of Nic Cage's OCD master of the trade. I mean, Cage needs no augmentation (and he more than delivers on that perfectly heightened score), but if you're going to, Scott delivers it just so. And the casting is perfect throughout, from a typically (that's his career) untrustworthy Sam Rockwell to a star-making turn from Alison Lohman (which she made good on it in the likes of Big Fish, Where the Truth Lies and Drag Me to Hell, although having a family led to her mostly disappearing off the movie map).
Unfortunately, the twist in this case just isn't that awesome; the connection between Cage and Lohman doesn't sufficiently pluck at the heart strings, and the cons themselves aren't quite inventive enough to entice. There's also a feeling that Scott is doubling down on technique as a means to disguised his lack of connection to the material (a charge that could be levelled at him generally: see repeatedly above). I'd like to see what Scott would make of a David Mamet script, but Matchstick Men is at best Mamet-lite.
12. Someone to Watch Over Me
Ridley in the grip of a comedown, his dreams shattered, scrabbling around for something concrete, some kind of signifier of security that will prove his credibility, his ability to work on a smaller scale, to do something contemporary, work in genre, and make a success of himself, after expensive back-to-back flops.
Did Someone to Watch Over Me work in that regard? Well, it wasn't a hit – probably because Tom Berenger and Mimi Rogers never spelled box office – but it was a change of pace and scene. Taking its tonal cues from the future noir of Blade Runner, Ridders summons an immersive metropolitan environment and even dabbles with class and society divides – blue collar joe Berenger gets lost in classy Rogers' mirrored boudoir – but the strictly rote level of the thriller element rather lets him down.
It's that neither-fish-nor-fowl aspect that ensured the picture has become rather neglected, neither thoughtful enough to merit reappraisal nor atmospheric enough to immerse oneself in its authentic '80s sheen.
11. A Good Year
Of the five collaborations between Crowe and Scott, this is easily the former's worst showing, and one of the most grievously miscast roles of his career. It's also proof that Scott shouldn't go near comedy with a six-foot pole. And yet, it's kind of charming.
Ridders' evident love of Provence is infectious, the supporting cast (including Marion Cotillard, Albert Finney and Tom Hollander) are sterling in a way Crowe just can't be – he's an actor at his best when you can recognise something of him in the role, and here there isn't any; it's the accent leading the way, flattening all else in its wake – and despite what I've just said about Crowe, the romance sort of works.
Perhaps Scott should make a fully-fledged love story? A Good Year is generally one of his lesser seen and most maligned outings, but you'll also find a groundswell of those who don't care for Scott movies – or don't even care that they don't care about his movies – who genuinely adore it. For all his reputation as a world builder, Ridders has very rarely offered one you'd actually like to live in. Perhaps because he actually does live in this one (when he isn't making movies at an exhausting rate), it's an exception that's at times quite intoxicating (unlike the vineyard's plonk).
I like Legend more than I probably should; unlike its two predecessors, it doesn't really have very much going for it beyond its visuals. The flop conclusion to Ridley's sci-fi/fantasy trilogy – he wouldn't tread those boards again until he returned to the Alien well 27 years later – it highlighted his weaknesses in a succession of ways that would offer fodder to his critics.
For a start, he's much too much of a cynic to buy into a simple tale of good and evil, love and darkness, and without that conviction, the underpinning of the picture just doesn't carry. There are bags of sumptuous visuals here, some of the most entrancing Scott has ever produced, but there's no sense he believes in the world he's summoned this time, or that the tale supports his mythic intent.
Tim Curry is a phenomenal as Darkness, but Tom Cruise, just on the cusp of superstardom, takes a rare foot wrong as puckish Jack; it's certainly telling that Mia Sara's Lili only really comes alive in her scenes with Curry. This is also an early sign that Scott isn't so great with humorous hijinks; the one really funny scene is courtesy of Robert Picardo, but he had, of course, been hanging out with a master. Despite its flaws, though, despite being wafer thin in which ever version you watch it, it's the last Scott picture where you really feel he's striving for something. As such, it's a poster child for the interesting failure.
9. Thelma and Louise
Oft-cited as a return to form and peak Ridley, a movie where he combines his visual nous with a great (Oscar-winning) screenplay, Thelma and Louise is some distance from being that. It's a good movie for sure, one blessed with fine performances from Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis, but tonally it's (surprisingly?) uneven, staggering from harrowing attempted rape to jocund Butch and Sundance hijinks and not-quite-there straining for Bonnie and Clyde myth-making (the final shot, punctured by Scott second-guessing himself with a roll-call of halcyon moments of their trip).
Scott persuaded Callie Khouri to punch up the humorous content (what the director knows about comedy would make a very short popup book), but I can't help thinking it would have been a much better movie – if less superficially approachable – had she directed it as originally intended.
The supporting cast are dynamite all round, including Brad Pitt in a career-making turn, Harvey Keitel as the sympathetic cop trying to talk the fugitives down, and Christopher McDonald stealing his every scene as Thelma's idiot other half. Scott takes full advantage of the road trip scenario to show off (particularly) desert landscapes, occasionally to poetic effect (to the strains of Marianne Faithful) but also can't resist over-egging the pudding courtesy of Hans Zimmer and torrents of rain in bright sunlight.
Ridley came, he saw, he entertained. It only took him twenty years to hit audience pay dirt, and when he did, he never looked back. Of course, it isn't really that simple. His previous picture G.I. Jane was a more overt, brazen attempt to deliver the kind of movie brother Tony was better known for, and it did okay, but not that well. He'd done something similar nearly a decade earlier with Black Rain to similar mixed results. And here he was, taking on a sword-and-sandals picture, a genre that was notoriously unbankable at that point (and Scott would go on to prove repeatedly that his making it bankable was a flash in the pan).
It wasn't so much that Ridders found a formula, or a groove, although its success inspired him to a hitherto uncharacteristic churn 'em out approach that has now informed the latter half of his movie career, or that he had happened on a good script (while he likes to go on about story being everything, you can locate a good one of those in about a tenth of his pictures, if that). No, it's a lot simpler: he'd discovered a star, and a vehicle for his star that showed him off in very basic, primal terms (and in that respect, the screenplay admittedly delivers).
And quite simply, Crowe has been decent in stuff since (solid might be a better description) but he's had a difficult time finding material that shows him off in a similarly likably charismatic way. He's a bit of rough, and it's easy for that to come over as boorish or insensitive (see his offscreen persona). Fine for a Body of Lies, but try naming a lead role where he's really shined in the past decade and a half (Jackson Healy or Capt Jack Aubrey probably come closest, but in both instances, he's eclipsed by his co-stars). So put it together and it makes for something of a refreshing Scott movie. Forget about the world-building (which is relatively broke-backed with its virtual vistas and decidedly un-epic supporting ensemble, thanks to John Logan's make-do writing); this one's all about Maximus.
7. 1492: Conquest of Paradise
The contender for the least remembered Scott movie, along with White Squall. Certainly, one of the least seen. In retrospect, thinking that the anniversary of the "discovery" of America would lead to any kind of box office seems about as ridiculous as a Captain America movie becoming a global sensation, but there you go.
Consequently, both Ridley's effort and the Salkinds' competing picture went entirely ignored. But at least Scott's was pretty good. Sure, it's guilty of misrepresenting Columbus, but in his embodying misgivings over empire building (his country becomes the villain) it at least begins to address the larger issues his legacy bears. It also helps enormously that Ridders has a performer as ennobled as Depardieu on hand, equipped to imbue the character with nuance and profound melancholy.
1492 also remains one of Scott's most gorgeous pictures, enhanced enormously by Vangelis' rousing, epic score. Post-Gladiator, Scott made something of a feature of his versatility with period epics, but the truth is, his prior duo of neglected excursions into the past are much more rewarding.
6. Alien: Covenant
Don't get me wrong, Alien: Covenant is a mess. Or rather, not so much a mess as a monstrous hybrid of two very different movies struggling for supremacy. One is a direct sequel to Prometheus, pursuing the (sometimes clumsy) philosophical themes and concepts via the prequels' antagonist lead David (anti-hero's perhaps a bit too forgiving). The other's a bog-standard Alien movie, some sequences of which wouldn't seem out of place in AvP: Requiem (I'm looking at you, '80s slasher movie shower scene complete with pop tune).
As such, there are – also like its predecessor – enough good things here to make this one of Scott's most watchable movies; obviously, your mileage may vary, as there are many who decry the sheer effrontery of attempting to answer where the xenomorph came from (and I agree, essentially), and that's before getting on to both pictures' depiction of its protagonists' stupidity.
At the forefront of the positives is Michael Fassbender in dual roles as David and later model Walter, the bad and good sons of Guy Pearce's Peter Weyland. David's rebellion against dad is set up in the prologue ("You will die. I will not", establishing his unqualified superiority) and Fassbender is clearly enjoying the camp Bond/Batman villainy of the character ("My beautiful bestiary"). His final scene is truly nightmarish, establishing exactly where Scott's sympathies lie ("They don't deserve to start again and I'm not going to let them" he announces earlier).
Walter is dutiful in the manner of Bishop, and the counterweight to David's insane Dr Moreau; again, it's no accident that the AI crew member is better drawn than any of the human ones, or that Scott now has the gumption to explicitly dispose of the female lead at the end this time; I'm still holding out that Walter's alive on the planet ("It's your choice now, brother. Serve in heaven or reign in hell. Which is it going to be?") and destined to appear in the third part should Fox greenlight it (not so likely under new Disney management, even if the finances made sense – indeed there's now talk that an Alien TV series is in the offing).
If pretty much everything between these two is great, John Gladiator Logan's ham-fisted advice to make this more of an Alien film than Scott originally intended does its best to detract. This crew are so damn stupid, they make Prometheus' lot look like first-class scientists. The creator of the alien may be an evil genius android, but Scott, the cool nihilist, likes him; the leader of the humans is a person of faith and therefore an idiot who orders the landing mission and then sticks his head over an open egg at the invitation of a robot he knows to be untrustworthy ("There must be more than mere biological chance" suggests Weyland of our origins, but there's no room for metaphysical flights here; Scott's cosmos is resolutely material and anyone who thinks otherwise invites cold, harsh consequences. Which might make David the closest he comes to a movie alter ego). No one wears any kind of protective gear down to the surface, ideal for an airborne infecting agent, and quarantine is only considered when it's much, much too late (the catalogue of escalating errors that ends in the destruction of the shuttle is, however, one of the finest sequences of Scott's career). The pre-finale fight on the exterior of the loading ship is unnecessary, but not nearly as much as the loading bay actual finale, which is just plain bad.
And while some of the CGI is quite good (the human-sized neomorphs are suitably unnerving), still too much of it carries the fundamental awareness that these elements designed to scare are not physical; you'd have thought Scott understood the drawback there, but he is getting on these days. The tepid response to Alien: Covenant rather suggests audiences consider the xenomorph passé – or had no interest in the CGI one shown off in the ads – and preferred Prometheus' flawed musings. Or that they ultimately didn't care for Prometheus, despite its box office success. Whichever the truth is, it will be a shame if we don't get to see the conclusion to David's (and Walter's) story. Of course, Ripley never had closure either.
5. The Duellists
The Duellists is relatively atypical for Scott, and also not at all. Atypical in that it's a very diligently "literary" picture (adapted from a Conrad short story, itself based loosely – in that the actual number of duels far exceeded those depicted – on an actual account). You can feel respect, genuine or not, for the tone, mood and cadences of period – despite the Paramount-decreed transatlantic casting, although to be fair, it should be no more baffling than casting Brits – and the formality and futility of duty and honour as embodied by Harvey Keitel's petulant, permanently-slighted Hussar periodically demanding duels with Keith Carradine's bewildered-but-never-bested also-Hussar opponent.
Not at all, in that it's the first example of Scott's arbitrary selection of material. At least – well, there's no at least about it – with Alien he was acting in a tangible, relatable way (reacting against the success and incredibly realised world of Star Wars). Here, there's a feeling that this is what he thinks he should probably make as a respectable first film, one to get his foot in the door and meet with something less than the critical opprobrium that might greet a jumped-up ads director. He cites two main influences; firstly, Kubrick's work on Barry Lyndon (in that sense, you can see the same challenge-risen-to response to Star Wars) and the novel being in the public domain, but neither feel sufficiently vital in the end product. The director who blanched at the overlong Blade Runner 2049 (he'd have done it so much better) wouldn't have gone near the material that attracted his 39-year-old self. With the rare exception (The Counsellor), the modern Scott seems to make movies with the least observant audience member in mind, and would kick you out of the room if you suggested a thoughtful, reflective, nuanced picture was something to shoot for.
But The Duellists is all those things, and even its idiosyncrasies (the aforementioned casting) tend to work in its favour. Carradine's character, unable to extract himself from the demands of fate, is resigned to this inevitability, failing to ultimately struggle against it because he does what's expected of him ("Sir, I cannot fight a man three times and then tell tales on him" he informs a superior at one point). Keitel's aggression may not stand, but it's the belligerent energy that fuels the picture's otherwise reserved tone. It's interesting to speculate what might have happened if Scott had switched to movies half a decade earlier, and what the pre-Jaws sensibility of the decade might have done to his outlook. I suspect, ultimately, nothing at all, and we were lucky to get him chasing the mantle of pure visualist for as long as we did. If Legend hadn't floundered abjectly, it might have been for much longer, and much more rewardingly.
4. Prometheus
"How could you?" come the gasps. Quite easily, really, as I don't see Prometheus' downsides as all-pervading, and indeed the ups are enough to put it in the category of a good movie overall (see also: The Last Jedi). Those downsides include an idiotic crew (not as idiotic as Alien: Covenant's) who don't know the first thing about safety precautions (again, though, they know more than Alien: Covenant's) and are given to running in a straight line when veering right might have been the best option (then again, would we be complaining if that had been Noomi Rapace, and Charlize Theron had survived? And no way would Scott have killed her off between movies if she had). And if you're going to cake Guy Pearce in makeup, at least don't floodlight him so he looks like something out of Nothing But Trouble. Most of all is the complete absence of an excuse to go all prequel on our asses in the first place.
But having done that, having gone there, there's a thematic appeal to the created lineage the picture etches out; I'm not going to make any arguments with regard to depth or resonance, as they'll be laughed out of court, but there's more going on here than the series possibly deserves (by which, there's a valid argument this should have been entirely unconnected to Alien), particularly as embodied in the iconic creation that is David, an android for the ages and who gives the coolly lizard-like Fassbender his best role; it's an achievement to get us to root for the ambivalent villain like this, and it probably only really happens once in a generation (see Hannibal Lector).
Prometheus is full of holes, and I entirely understand its rep among dissenters, but for me it's simply one of Scott's most seductive movies (on that basis, I almost gave it the bronze medal) and also one illustrating that he may not know how to synthesise them, but he's still entirely there when it comes to at least some of the key ingredients of SF: the concept, the design, the sense of the uncanny. It took him a decade of, to varying degrees, chasing commerciality to make good on Gladiator, and when he did it was with a gleefully jaundiced black heart. That might have been why he followed it with…
3. The Counsellor
Greed, hubris, and an unconscious death wish. Armed with a Cormac McCarthy screenplay (the author's first, and maybe last), Scott's cautionary tale of a mob lawyer who wants to get his hands dirty for unnamed financial reasons, despite the attempts by others (notably Brad Pitt's Westray) to dissuade him, who continually denies the reality of the world he is in, received a critical mauling. Ironically so, as it's the best thing Ridders has done in years.
Prometheus succeeded in spite of its script. You couldn't say the same for The Counsellor, but it's also at the centre of both the positives and the negatives. I first saw the picture in its original form, but revisiting it in the director's preferred Extended Cut, a movie I liked with caveats is a movie I like even more with caveats. It breathes better, settles in more satisfyingly and comes across as less fragmented. Nothing can prevent the succession of monologues informing the early passages from seeming artificial (the Counsellor visits someone, that someone tells the Counsellor a colourful story: stir and repeat), to the level that it's almost a parody of a Tarantino movie, but played straighter. And yet, scene by scene, these are disturbing, amusing, bizarre and always engrossing sequences.
There's also the sledgehammer placement of cues for future actions (the functioning of a bolita, the cartel use of snuff movies, the mysteries and Achilles heels that are women, as personified by Cameron Diaz's Malkina, the cautionary nature of the "innocent" getting his hands dirty, invoking Body Heat).
And yet, for the most part, these issues don't really matter. Fassbender's Counsellor (only known by that name) is in permanent need of others' counsel yet ignores it, a walking irony, showing himself woefully incapable of making decisions for his own and others' wellbeing. The depth of feeling of his relationship with Laura (Penelope Cruz) doesn't really carry, although this may be the intent – that our lead doesn't realise the emptiness of his motivation until he is left bereft. Certainly, there's an unsettlingly glacial quality about Fassbender that works to the picture's benefit, and when the unthinkable happens the reality is all over his stricken face.
The performances are all first rate, Bardem in a frazzled fright wig, Pitt's Westray offering the pretence of wisdom but proving to be an opportunist taking advantage of his associate's misfortune (something I didn't pick up first time, but then, it's a picture that is both frustratingly and appealingly oblique in its motivations). And yes, Diaz, who's great as an empty-eyed manipulator channelling Cruella De Ville, fucks a car, but it's the least of the movie's talking points, really.
2. Alien
The beauty of Alien, to paraphrase Ash, is its purity. Scott saw Star Wars and decided he'd have some of that, but not being a writer (with the point-proving caveat of A Good Year), he had to hunt around for material to make his visual mark on. And that was Star Beast, Dan O'Bannon's stripped-down rewrite of Dark Star, divested of humour but complete with similar blue-collar archetypes, shipboard E.T. and A.I.s of variably benign intent (albeit, Ash himself was the invention of David Giler, in one of the rewrites enforced on the production).
It's easy to forget, in light of its iconic status that one of the criticisms of the picture at the time was the thinness of its characters (something that was also applied to John Carpenter's The Thing a few years later); it's down to Scott, with a keen eye for the performer fleshing out bare bones, that they become memorable. And that's basically the sensibility he applies to every aspect of the movie.
Lucas' used-future aesthetic is in overdrive here: a grimy, dank spaceship that doesn't even work properly. But it's balanced out by the queasy wonder of the xenomorph designs, and a sense of the truly alien that no one has equalled since, because they aren't HR Giger. Alien's a scary movie, but that isn't why its impact is so lasting. This is where Scott's reputation for world building began, and it's stunning achieved on every level; he knew intuitively that you present enough of it to fascinate, but let the audience fill in the rest.
Added to which, in this and his next film he allowed for an immersion in that world that didn't require cutting to the chase. You only have to look at his response to the recent Blade Runner 2049 to realise how lucky we were he was unable to make that project himself, since he no longer knows how to be the filmmaker who made Alien. You occasionally see a flash of it, but then he'll cut away, before the environment has a chance to envelop over you.
1. Blade Runner
It may be ironically appropriate that Sir Ridley Scott has spent an indecent amount of time, when holding forth regarding his best film, proving he has no idea why it works. Because, if there's one thing he's repeatedly evidenced in his career, it's that you only end up looking foolish continually reaffirming how story always comes first if your every project speaks to the opposite.
The genius of Blade Runner, and indeed Alien, is not story – much of the picture stumbles if you try to read consistency or coherence into it – but mood and performance. Deckard as portrayed by Harrison Ford is a man with barely any humanity left, who learns it from a machine (in a rather rapey, brutalist fashion, admittedly), making the thematic potency rather a nonsense if he turns out to be a replicant. But you know that already. Posing the question is fine. Answering it is for idiots.
And Rutger Hauer gives a performance at once OTT and nuanced, so indelible it appears to encourage Scott to give that bit more tonally, something heightened and operatic. And you can't even begin to assess the contribution of Vangelis. If not for Morricone's work with Leone, it might be a shoe-in for the best soundtrack ever.
This is the Scott we would never really get to see again, frightened by the response to his fever dream sci-fi (and on top of that the rejection of his fairy land), he retreated into solidity of form and content. You'd never mistake him for a poet when you hear him commenting on the nuts and bolts of his movies in resolutely unpretentious fashion, but when you watch Blade Runner, you're fooled into thinking this is a director of true vision and expansive, lofty ideas.
Agree? Disagree? Mildly or vehemently? Let me know in the comments below.
Best Picture Oscar Winner Harrison Ford Ridley Scott Sigourney Weaver
Labels: Best Picture Oscar Winner Harrison Ford Ridley Scott Sigourney Weaver
I just hope my death makes more cents than my life.
(SPOILERS) So the murder sprees didn't happen, and a thousand puff pieces desperate to fan the flames of such events and then told-ya-so have fallen flat on their faces. The biggest takeaway from Joker is not that the movie is an event, when once that seemed plausible but not a given, but that any mainstream press perspective on the picture appears unable to divorce its quality from its alleged or actual politics. Joker may be zeitgeisty, but isn't another Taxi Driver in terms of cultural import, in the sense that Taxi Driver didn't have a Taxi Driver in mind when Paul Schrader wrote it. It is, if you like, faux-incendiary, and can only ever play out on that level. It might be more accurately described as a grubbier, grimier (but still polished and glossy) The Talented Ripley, the tale of developing psychopathy, only tailored for a cinemagoing audience with few options left outside of comic book fare.
Poor Easy Breezy.
(SPOILERS) My initial reaction to Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood was mild disbelief that Tarantino managed to hoodwink studios into coming begging to make it, so wilfully perverse is it in disregarding any standard expectations of narrative or plotting. Then I remembered that studios, or studios that aren't Disney, are desperate for product, and more especially, product that might guarantee them a hit. Quentin's latest appears to be that, but whether it's a sufficient one to justify the expense of his absurd vanity project remains to be seen.
Haven't you ever heard of the healing power of laughter?
(SPOILERS) There's Jaws, there's Star Wars, and then there's Batman in terms of defining the modern blockbuster. Jaws' success was so profound, it changed the way movies were made and marketed. Batman's marketing was so profound, it changed the way tentpoles would be perceived: as cash cows. Disney tried to reproduce the effect the following year with Dick Tracy, to markedly less enthusiastic response. None of this places Batman in the company of Jaws as a classic movie sold well, far from it. It just so happened to hit the spot. As Tim Burton put it, it was "more of a cultural phenomenon than a great movie". It's difficult to disagree with his verdict that the finished product (for that is what it is) is "mainly boring".
Now, of course, the Burton bat has been usurped by the Nolan incarnation (and soon the Snyder). They have some things in common. Both take the character seriously and favour a sombre tone, which was much more of shock to the system when Burton did it (even…
So you want me to be half-monk, half-hitman.
(SPOILERS) Despite the doubts and trepidation from devotees (too blonde, uncouth etc.) that greeted Daniel Craig's casting as Bond, and the highly cynical and low-inspiration route taken by Eon in looking to Jason Bourne's example to reboot a series that had reached a nadir with Die Another Day, Casino Royale ends up getting an enormous amount right. If anything, its failure is that it doesn't push far enough, so successful is it in disarming itself of the overblown set pieces and perfunctory plotting that characterise the series (even at its best), elements that would resurge with unabated gusto in subsequent Craig excursions.
For the majority of its first two hours, Casino Royale is top-flight entertainment, with returning director Martin Campbell managing to exceed his excellent work reformatting Bond for the '90s. That the weakest sequence (still good, mind) prior to the finale is a traditional "big" (but not too big) action set piece involving an attempt to…
You guys sure like watermelon.
The Irishman aka I Heard You Paint Houses (2019)
(SPOILERS) Perhaps, if Martin Scorsese hadn't been so opposed to the idea of Marvel movies constituting cinema, The Irishman would have been a better film. It's a decent film, assuredly. A respectable film, definitely. But it's very far from being classic. And a significant part of that is down to the usually assured director fumbling the execution. Or rather, the realisation. I don't know what kind of crazy pills the ranks of revered critics have been taking so as to recite as one the mantra that you quickly get used to the de-aging effects so intrinsic to its telling – as Empire magazine put it, "you soon… fuggadaboutit" – but you don't. There was no point during The Irishman that I was other than entirely, regrettably conscious that a 75-year-old man was playing the title character. Except when he was playing a 75-year-old man.
I'm reliable, I'm a very good listener, and I'm extremely funny.
(SPOILERS) When I wrote my 23 to see in 2019, I speculated that James Cameron might be purposefully giving his hand-me-downs to lesser talents because he hubristically didn't want anyone making a movie that was within a spit of the proficiency we've come to expect from him. Certainly, Robert Rodriguez and Tim Miller are leagues beneath Kathryn Bigelow, Jimbo's former spouse and director of his Strange Days screenplay. Miller's no slouch when it comes to action – which is what these movies are all about, let's face it – but neither is he a craftsman, so all those reviews attesting that Terminator: Dark Fate is the best in the franchise since Terminator 2: Judgment Day may be right, but there's a considerable gulf between the first sequel (which I'm not that big a fan of) and this retcon sequel to that sequel.
He tasks me. He tasks me, and I shall have him.
Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan
(SPOILERS) I don't love Star Trek, but I do love Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. That probably isn't just me, but a common refrain of many a non-devotee of the series. Although, it used to apply to The Voyage Home (the funny one, with the whales, the Star Trek even the target audience for Three Men and a Baby could enjoy). Unfortunately, its high regard has also become the desperate, self-destructive, song-and-verse, be-all-and-end-all of the overlords of the franchise itself, in whichever iteration, it seems. This is understandable to an extent, as Khan is that rare movie sequel made to transcendent effect on almost every level, and one that stands the test of time every bit as well (better, even) as when it was first unveiled.
The more you drive, the less intelligent you are.
Repo Man (1984)
In fairness, I should probably check out more Alex Cox's later works. Before I consign him to the status of one who never made good on the potential of his early success. But the bits and pieces I've seen don't hold much sway. I pretty much gave up on him after Walker. It seemed as if the accessibility of Repo Man was a happy accident, and he was subsequently content to drift further and further down his own post-modern punk rabbit hole, as if affronted by the "THE MOST ASTONISHING FEATURE FILM DEBUT SINCE STEVEN SPIELBERG'S DUEL" accolade splashed over the movie's posters (I know, I have a copy; see below).
This popularity of yours. Is there a trick to it?
The Two Popes (2019)
(SPOILERS) Ricky Gervais' Golden Globes joke, in which he dropped The Two Popes onto a list of the year's films about paedophiles, rather preceded the picture's Oscar prospects (three nominations), but also rather encapsulated the conversation currently synonymous with the forever tainted Roman Catholic church; it's the first thing anyone thinks of. And let's face it, Jonathan Pryce's unamused response to the gag could have been similarly reserved for the fate of his respected but neglected film. More people will have heard Ricky's joke than will surely ever see the movie. Which, aside from a couple of solid lead performances, probably isn't such an omission.
Look, the last time I was told the Germans had gone, it didn't end well.
(SPOILERS) When I first heard the premise of Sam Mendes' Oscar-bait World War I movie – co-produced by Amblin Partners, as Spielberg just loves his sentimental war carnage – my first response was that it sounded highly contrived, and that I'd like to know how, precisely, the story Mendes' granddad told him would bear any relation to the events he'd be depicting. And just why he felt it would be appropriate to honour his relative's memory via a one-shot gimmick. None of that has gone away on seeing the film. It's a technical marvel, and Roger Deakins' cinematography is, as you'd expect, superlative, but that mastery rather underlines that 1917 is all technique, that when it's over and you get a chance to draw your breath, the experience feels a little hollow, a little cynical and highly calculated, and leaves you wondering what, if anything, Mendes was really trying to achieve, beyond an edge-of-the-seat (near enough) first-person actioner.
We need to fail. We need to fail down here so we d...
That kind of nonsense can come back and haunt you ...
I don't catch wolves looking where they might be. ...
Why can't it just be about the skating?
This train's freakin' me out!
People are going rabid!
All in favour of Chief fighting the robot dog, say...
Of course, I'm not all right, you idiot. I've just...
Wasn't it her brother who murdered all those babys...
No one understands the lonely perfection of my dre...
You can't just outsource your entire life.
Well, you did take advantage of a drunken sailor.
If you want to have a staring contest with me, you...
Prepare the Heathen's Stand! By order of purificat...
The whole thing should just be your fucking nose!
I love robbing the English, they're so polite.
Outstanding. Now, let's bite off all the heads and...
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text:
Head of the Nigeria Senate declares for President
Democracy/Politics NEWS & UPDATES
by admin August 30, 2018 0542
Nigeria:The Senate President, Abubakar Bukola Saraki, has declared his presidential ambition under the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
Saraki made this public at a dialogue with Youth and Young aspirants held at Sheraton hotel under the auspices of the "Not Too Young To Run " movement and in the presence of the PDP National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus in Abuja.
Saraki in his speech said that, "Up and down our country today, Nigerians are crying out for succour. Many of our children are hungry. Many people are dying of avoidable or otherwise treatable diseases.
"Many have fallen below basic living standards, and are now among the 87 million that sealed Nigeria's position as the country with the highest number of people in extreme poverty. Our young people lack opportunities.
"The necessary education facilities and system to equip them for the future simply do not exist. We are not creating the jobs needed to usefully engage them in order to grow our economy. And too often, the youth feel shut out, prevented from having any say in the direction of this nation".
He further explained that the harsh conditions of extreme poverty faced by the people, fuels the state of insecurity all over the country.
In his words, "Hunger, lack of education and lack of opportunities push many Nigerians into criminal activities including terrorism.
"Many of our communities are paralysed with fear – due to incessant communal crises, kidnappings and other social ills, as well as the threat of terrorism. We are failing abysmally to tackle the problems of today and to prepare for the future"
The Senate President said the choice we face in the forthcoming election is either to keep things as they are, or make a radical departure from the old ways. To find a better way of doing things or keep repeating the mistakes of the past. To fix the problems or keep compounding them.
He promised to see the youth play major roles at all levels, not only in government but also in the private sector and indeed in every area of Nigerian life.
According to him, "This will be a government driven by youthful energy, innovation and a pioneering entrepreneurial spirit. Nigerian youth will be given all the opportunities to realise their potential to the full within a national framework that guarantees inclusiveness.
"For youth who have ideas and capacity, we will make sure that there is funding for their ventures; and we shall build on the Made in Nigeria legislation as part of our job creation drive".
On this premise, he said, "My Plan for Nigeria has inclusion in all aspects of the country's affairs as a central pillar. Every citizen has the inalienable right to feel a sense of belonging, no matter their background or creed, or what part of the country they come from. No matter who you voted for or what your convictions are, government must work for you.
"Your generation does not deserve to live in the poverty capital of the world. It is no longer an issue of how we got here, but how do we get out of this situation? I promise you that I will lead the fight and employ every God-given resource available to us in turning things around.
"I am determined to grow Nigeria out of poverty. We will stimulate the growth of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) as one of the ways of energising the economy and to create wealth for our people, especially the youth.
"My plan is to secure Nigeria by redesigning our national security architecture, while adequately equipping our security agencies to fulfil their primary role of protecting lives and property.
"I will address our infrastructural deficit through aggressive financing initiatives including mutually beneficial PPP arrangements, regular floating of bonds and other financial instruments, which will ensure stable, adequate and reliable funding to see to the completion of core projects especially road, rail and power.
"My plan is to protect all Nigerians and defend their constitutional rights and freedoms. I will stand for and uphold at all times the principle of the rule of law, which is the bedrock of democratic governance.
"Ours will not be a selective fight against corruption. The emphasis will be on strengthening institutions, with a particular focus on deterrence. We cannot afford to compromise our institutions with proxy wars against perceived political opponents. We see the fight against corruption as crucial to Nigeria's economic development.
"We want to offer leadership driven by empathy. Where leaders are responsive to the citizens. Where they know that government cares. We will not be indifferent or turn a blind eye to the real concerns of our people. Every single Nigerian life matters."
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redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


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Glenwood City-Boyceville Church Directory – 9-9-2015
By Melissa | September 4, 2015
CALVARY ASSEMBLY OF GOD
2988 60th St., Wilson, WI (1/2 mile N of Kwik Trip on Hwy. 128)
Pastor Rick Mannon
Church: 715-772-4625
Sun. School at 9:45 a.m.; Morning Worship at 10:45 a.m., Evening Praise at 6:30 p.m. Come join us; Wed. Evenings: 6:30 p.m. Bible Study; Youth Service & Kids Club.
2064 U.S. 12, 1/2 mile W of Baldwin on U.S. 12; Pastor Garry L. Thompson
Sunday School, 9:30 a.m.; Morning Worship, 10:30 a.m., Eve. Worship, 6:30 p.m.; Wed. Evening Bible Study and Prayer Service, 7 p.m.
GOSPEL MISSION BAPTIST CHURCH
Knapp, WI
Pastor Leroy Nelson – 715-665-2320
Sunday: 10 a.m. Sunday School; 11 a.m. Morning Service; 6 p.m. Evening Service.
Wednesday: 6 p.m. Wednesday Prayer Service, Worship Services, Adult Bible Study.
Nursery available at each service.
GRACE BAPTIST CHURCH
Boyceville, 715-643-5011
Pastor Christopher Ames
www.yesgrace.org
Sunday School 10 a.m.; Morning Worship Service 11 a.m.; Sun. Eve. 6 p.m.; Wed. Bible Study and Prayer 7 p.m.
ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST CATHOLIC CHURCH
Glenwood City, WI
Father John R. Long
Pastor's Office: 715-565-3132
Masses: Sat. 4 p.m. at St. Bridget, Wilson; Sat. 6 p.m. at St. John the Baptist, Glenwood City; Sun. 8:30 a.m. St. John the Baptist, Glenwood City; Sun. 10:30 a.m. at St. John's, Clear Lake.
ST. LUKE'S CATHOLIC
Boyceville, WI
Father Kevin Louis, Pastor
Sunday: 8:30 a.m. Mass.
Wednesday: 6 p.m. CCD/CYO.
CHURCH OF LATTER DAY SAINTS
CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER DAY SAINTS
2721 5th St. E, Menomonie, WI 54751
Branch President: Ken Kratt
Sunday Services: Sacrament Meeting 10:00-11:00; Sunday School 11:00-12:00; Relief Society, Priesthood, Primary 12:00-1:00.
NEW LIFE CHURCH OF THE NAZARENE
704 W. Main, Wheeler, WI
Pastor Steve Crites;
Church 715-632-2061
Youth Pastor Brett Cole
Sunday: 9:30 a.m. Sunday School – all ages, 10:45 a.m. Sun. worship service, 7 p.m. Sun. night worship service.
Tues.: 9 p.m Tues. Men's Prayer.
Wed.: 6 p.m. Teen Quizzing, 7 p.m. Teen Worship, 7 p.m. Adult Prayer, 7 p.m. Children's Kingdom Express.
FAITH EVANGELICAL FREE CHURCH
90 East St., Boyceville
(North Edge of Town, Hwy 79)
715-643-5209 Church Phone
Pastor Steve Boyd/Cell 715-702-2290
10 a.m. Morning Worship.
Family Night (k4-12th grade)
Wed. 6-8PM (Sept-May).
REEVE EVANGELICAL CHURCH
Jct. Barron CTH K & A, Clear Lake
www.reevechurch.org
715-263-2126; refc@cltcomm.net
Sun.: 9 a.m. Worship; 10:15 a.m. Fellowship time; 10:30 a.m. Sunday School for all ages.
INTER-DENOMINATIONAL
CEDARBROOK CHURCH
N6714 470th St., Menomonie, WI
(One mile north of Wal-Mart, kiddie corner from John Deere)
Phone: 715-231-LIFE (5433)
www.cedarbrookchurch.net
e-mail: office@cedarbrookchurch.net
Sun. Worship: 9 & 10:45 a.m.
Nursery & Children's Ministry at both services.
LIVING WORD CHAPEL
Interdenominational Church
2746 State Rd. 64 at Forest
Sr. Pastor Randy Dean – 715-265-4810
email:lwchapel@yahoo.com
Web: www.LWC1.com
Service Times: Sun. 10 a.m.; Wed. 7 p.m.
CHRIST THE KING LUTHERAN CHURCH
(Association of Free Lutheran Congregations)
2997 30th Ave., Wilson, WI 54027
2 miles south of I-94 on Hwy. 128
(Former Cady-Wilson School)
Pastor: Les Johnson 715-772-4454
www.visitchristtheking.org
Wed., Sept 9: 7 p.m. Bible Study.
Sun., Sept. 13: 10:15 a.m. Worship.
Wed., Sept 16: 7 p.m. Bible Study.
Connorsville-Pastor Karl Rose
Sunday: 9 a.m. Worship.
HAY RIVER-RIDGELAND LUTHERAN
Pastor Curt Rohland
Wed., Sept. 9: 9 a.m. Hay River Do-Day, 7 p.m. Worship Committee in Parish Office.
Sun., Sept. 13: WORSHIP: 9: a.m. Hay River, 10:30 a.m. Ridgeland. SUNDAY SCHOOL: 9:15 a.m. Ridgeland, 10:30 a.m. Hay River – Rally Sunday.
Mon., Sept. 14: 1:30 p.m. Ridgeland Twilight Circle, 1:30 p.m. Joint Bible Study at Hay River.
Tues., Sept. 15: 7 p.m. Ridgeland Council Meeting.
Wed., Sept. 16: 7th & 8th grade 6:30 Confirmands with Parents at Hay River.
HOLY CROSS LUTHERAN CHURCH (ELCA)
Wed., Sept. 9: 2 p.m. Bingo at Glenhaven, 6 p.m. Orientation for Affirmation of Faith Families.
Fri., Sept. 11: 8 p.m. AA.
Sun., Sept. 13: 9 a.m. Rally Sunday Worship w/Blessing of the backpacks, 10 a.m. Fellowship.
Mon., Sept. 14: 6 p.m. Worship, 7 p.m. Church Council.
Wed., Sept. 16: 5:30 p.m. Affirmation.
HOLY TRINITY LUTHERAN
5 mi. north of Boyceville on Co. Hwy. O, Missouri Synod-Pastor Curtis Brooks
Pastor hrs. at Holy Trinity 9-5 every Thurs. Services at 10:30 a.m., Communion 1st, 3rd & 5th Sunday.
IMMANUEL EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH
Woodville, WI 54028
www.immanuelwoodville.com
See our website for worship service, Bible Class, Sunday School & activity times.
IMMANUEL LUTHERAN CHURCH
2980 210th Avenue, Forest, WI 54013
Pastor: Bob Dahm
Sun. Worship Service: 8:30 a.m. (July 1 – Oct. 31).
Communion is served on the 1st and 3rd Sundays. Please call 715-772-3150 for time and place of Confirmation.
OUR SAVIOR'S LUTHERAN CHURCH (ELCA)
Hwy 170, PO Box 186
Wheeler, WI • 715-632-2530
oursaviorswheeler@yahoo.com
Sun.: 9:15 a.m. Worship Service.
TRINITY LUTHERAN (ELCA)
1039 Nordveien Dr., P.O. Box 247
(Hwy. 79) • Boyceville, WI 54725
Rev. Bradley K. Peterson, Pastor
715-643-3821; trinityboyceville.com
Parish Office Hours: M-F 8 a.m.-Noon
Communion 1st, 3rd & 5th Sun. & Wed.
Sun. worship service is at 9 a.m.; Sun. School 10:15 a.m.; Wed. evening worship: 7:30 p.m.
WEST AKERS LUTHERAN CHURCH (ELCA)
[7 miles N of Connorsville on Co. Rd. V]
E1795 1440th Ave.,
Prairie Farm, WI 54762
Pastor Mark Woeltge
Services & Sunday School at 10 a.m., Coffee hour at 9 a.m.
Communion served the 1st Sunday.
WILSON LUTHERAN CHURCH
401 310th Street, Wilson, WI 54027
Sun. Worship Service: 10:30 a.m. (July 1 – Oct. 31).
Woodville, WI
Keith Anderson, Senior Pastor
Andy Boe, Part-time Associate Pastor
Wed., Sept. 9: 6:30 a.m. Men's Breakfast and Bible Study, 9 a.m. Bible Study, 7 p.m. 10th graders make stoles, 7 p.m. 8th & 9th Grade Confirmation Meeting w/Parents, 7 p.m. Senior Choir Practice.
Thurs., Sept. 10: 1:30 p.m. Park Place Communion, 2:15 p.m. Norseman Communion, 7 p.m. Faith & Life Committee.
Sat., Sept. 12: 8:30 a.m. Joseph's Square.
Sun., Sept. 13: 8:30 a.m. Worship, 9:30 a.m. Fellowship, 9:40 a.m. Sunday School and Connect Worship, 10:45 a.m. Worship, 1:30 p.m. Baldwin Care Center Worship Service, 2:15 p.m. Park View Worship Service.
Mon. Sept. 14: 1 p.m. Sons of Norway Board Meeting.
Tues., Sept. 15: 7 p.m. Church Council, 8 p.m. AA.
Wed., Sept. 16: 9 a.m. Bible Study, 9:30 a.m. Circle 2, 7 p.m. Confirmation, 7 p.m. Senior Choir Practice.
CALVARY CHAPEL
Pastor Jason Taylor
N10091 Co. Rd. S, Wheeler, WI
715-658-1036 e-mail:taylorjpi@aol.com
www.ottercreekcf.com
Sunday: 10 a.m. Prayer; 10:30 a.m. Worship.
7 p.m. Thurs. Bible Study.
MENOMONIE SEVENTH DAY ADVENTIST
Pastor Bob Mills
Sab. School 9:30 a.m.; Worship 11 a.m.
SEVEN-DAY ADVENTIST
6 miles east of Clear Lake on Cty. A
76 20th Ave., County A, Clear Lake, WI
Pastor John Redlich
Head Elder: David Scott, 715-263-3367
Sat.: 9:30 a.m. Bible Study; 11 a.m. Worship Service.
Wed.: 7 p.m. Mid-week Worship.
BOYCEVILLE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
Pastor Timothy Matthaei
Sun.: 9:45 a.m. Worship; 9:45 a.m. Sunday School.
GLEN HILLS PARISH UNITED METHODIST
Pastor Mary Beth Scow
Parsonage Phone 715-565-3330
Office Phone 715-265-7395
Sun., Sept. 13: 9 a.m. Parish-wide Worship in the Park in Emerald, 6 p.m. Knitting-Crocheting group at the Downing UMC
Wed., Sept. 16: 3:30 p.m. KOOL at the Glenwood City UMC, 6:30 p.m. Confirmation meeting at the Glenwood City UMC.
GRACE UNITED METHODIST
Wheeler, WI
Sun.: 11 a.m. Worship.
KNAPP UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
203 Main Street, Knapp, WI 54749
Pastor Paul Foulke
Sun.: Church Service 10 a.m.
THE WILLOW RIVER UNITED METHODIST PARISH
Clear Lake, Deer Park, Forest
420 Fourth Ave., Clear Lake
John Hazen, Pastor
Office Hours: Tuesdays & Wednesdays, 9 – 11:30 a.m.
Parish Office Phone: 715-263-2700
Website: www.willowriverparish.org
Clear Lake: Sundays 9:45 a.m. Worship, Wednesdays 6 p.m. Church School with Meal at 5:30.
Forest: Sundays 11 a.m. Worship Service, Sunday School 10:45 a.m.
Trinity-Deer Park: Sundays 8:30 a.m. Worship.
Posted in Boyceville, Glenwood City, News


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Ms Beatrice Marshoff praise documentary on the life and legacy of King Moshoeshoe
The Premier of the Free State , Ms Beatrice Marshoff, has praised the University of the Free State for the initiative to produce a documentary on the life and legacy of King Moshoeshoe, the founder of the Basotho nation.
"The University of the Free State could not have chosen a better subject to celebrate its centenary. The life and legacy of King Moshoeshoe is indeed a befitting demonstration that this is Africa 's century," Ms Marshoff said in a statement.
The documentary called "The Renaissance King" was shown last night ( Wednesday 13 October 2004 ) for the first time at the UFS. It was commissioned by the UFS as part if its Centenary year and was produced by journalist Max du Preez.
"We wish to congratulate the producers and the university, for such a brilliant idea," the premier said.
She called on other institutions to also get involved in nation-building projects such as this one.
"Your desire and intention as an institution to take up a new but deserved role in our social transformation agenda, is highly commendable," Ms Marshoff said in her statement.
Because the premier had to attend to urgent government business she could not attend the function,but her statement was read on her behalf by the MEC for Arts, Sport and Culture, Mr Joe Mafereka.
Dignitaries in the appreciative audience included the Lesotho Minister for Communications, Science and Technology, Dr Mamphono Khaketla, Queen Mopeli, the MEC for Education, Ouma Tsopo, the MEC for Safety and Liaison, Tate Makgoe, the Director General of the Free State, Dr Khotso de Wee, the Senior Private Secretary to King Letsie III, Mr Mabotse Lerotholi, the Vice-chancellor of the National University of Lesotho, Dr Mothibe, Acting Principal Secretary in the Ministry of Tourism, Environment and Culture, Mr Jobo Molapo, Chairman of the Council of the University of the Free State, Judge Faan Hancke, Rector and Vice-chancellor of the University of the Free State, prof. Frederick Fourie.
The documentary on the life and legacy of King Moshoeshoe will be screened on SABC 2 on Thursday 4 November 2004 .
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In September 2008, a train engineer in California caused one of the worst railroad crashes in American history while sending and receiving text messages. The crash killed 25 people. Most people know better than to send and receive SMS' (short message service) while driving or in other situations that have the potential for danger, yet according to a survey released a month after the crash, 77% use their cell phones while driving their cars. And another 41% of them are using mobile e-mail devices like the BlackBerry while riding their bikes, doing the slalom, and galloping on horseback, according to the results of a survey commissioned by Neverfail Inc., a software company in Austin, Texas that creates protection systems for businesses.
According to investigators, the California train crash occurred as the engineer of a well-populated commuter train was text-messaging from his mobile phone, causing him to run a red light. The train collided with a freight train just outside of Los Angeles, killing 25 people on that September day.
The Neverfail survey believes that mobile phone use by the corporate work force will rise to some 40% within the next two years. As of now, cell phone use among this population stands at just under 25%. Michael Osterman, president of Black Diamond, Washington-based Osterman Research, the company that conducted the survey for Neverfail, feels that the current economic crisis may lead workers to feel more pressure, causing them to make more use of their mobile devices. Osterman believes that the workplace will be comprised of fewer people doing the work of many who are no longer there. The larger responsibilities will lead to a need to communicate, receive advice, and relieve stress.
18% of those surveyed have used their mobile devices during a wedding, 16% during funerals or memorial services, and 37% during a graduation. And if that doesn't shock you, how about this: 11% of those surveyed have used their mobile devices during intimate moments and 79% have used them in the bathroom.
The survey included responses from 148 American adults and was conducted between the 4th and 26th of August 2008. The margin of error is said to have varied depending upon the question, however, the average is five percentage points, plus or minus.
In early 2008, the American College of Emergency Medicine issued a warning against text-messaging while driving, biking, skating, and walking. Members of this emergency medicine body had noticed that the percentage of injuries and deaths due to the sending and receiving of text messages at times deemed less than appropriate had risen.
The travel and motorist group AAA, performed a survey the previous year which showed that almost half of American teens are text-messaging while driving.
One New York state legislator has proposed a bill to fight the phenomenon known as "iPod oblivion," and hopes pedestrians will be fined for crossing busy inner-city streets while using their portable media players.


Move right into this well kept condo! End unit, block built with big screened porch overlooking open, green area. Laminate flooring throughout living area, dining and kitchen. Light and bright kitchen with lumadome ceiling, newer faucet and good appliances including smooth top stove, built in microwave, dishwasher and refrigerator. Spacious bedrooms, master has walk in closet and both bathrooms are in great shape with newer sinks. Sit and relax on your screened porch with the wide open view! Full size washer & drier for your convenience. Assigned parking close to your front door. Access is from US19 or Belcher (residents gate only). Well kept complex with big heated pool, tennis courts, recreation room, childrens playground and barbecue area. Great location in Palm Harbor close to schools, shopping, restaurants, medical facilities etc and just a short drive to the beaches. Not much in this price range so don't delay and call now for an appointment to view!
Us19 N of Alderman, West on Fox Chase Blvd, North on Fox Chase Cir (1st building on right).


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Test Stakes 2014 Contenders & Odds
Las Vegas, NV - The Grade 1 Test Stakes comes our way from Saratoga Race Course in Saratoga Springs, New York on Saturday, August 2. A group of three year old fillies will chase the winner's portion of the $500,000 purse when they go seven furlongs on Saratoga's main track.
The Test has attracted a large field of 12 three year old fillies to go in race 9 on Saratoga's Saturday schedule. Post time is 5:14 PM. Here is a brief look into the past performances of all 12 entries for this intriguing Grade 1 stakes
Horse Race Betting at Saratoga Race Course
2014 Test Stakes Race Favorite Entries
Sweet Reason - dual Grade 1 winner has seven career starts with four wins, a second and a third place finish - the only off-the-board finish coming four back - a fourth beaten by only two lengths in the Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies. She started her career with two wins - the best of which came in the Grade 1 Spinaway Stakes by 5 3/4 lengths at Saratoga in September and followed that with a second behind the terrific Untapable in the Grade 1 Frizette at Belmont Park in October before her BC attempt. Last time out was another good win in the Grade 1 Acorn Stakes at Belmont Park June 7 after a third in the Grade 2 Gazelle Stakes at Aqueduct April 5 and an Allowance Optional Claiming score March 7. Sweet Reason has won twice in two starts at the Spa, will have Irad Ortiz in the saddle from post 7 and off a graded stakes win is listed as the 3-1 morning line favorite.
Southern Honey - George Arnold trained filly has just five career starts with three wins and a second place finish. She enters on a nice three race win streak including her stakes debut - the Grade 3 Winning Colors Stakes at Churchill Downs May 26. Before that was an Allowance Optional Claiming score in May and a maiden victory in April. Despite the lack of experience against top competition Southern Honey is the 4-1 morning line second choice. Julien Leparoux gets the mount from post 5.
Test Stakes 2014 | Remaining Contenders
Sweet Whiskey - Todd Pletcher trained filly has placed in six of seven career starts - two wins, three seconds and a third place finish. She is coming off consecutive seconds - in the Grade 2 Beaumont Stakes at Keeneland April 13 and behind Sweet Reason in the Grade 1 Acorn Stakes June 7. She had an OK third in the listed Any Limit Stakes at Gulfstream March 9 and a career defining win - by 2 3/4 lengths in the Grade 3 Old Hat Stakes on that same track January 4. She also had a good second to Miss Behavior in the Grade 2 Matron Stakes at Belmont Park September 29 and a win in her debut at Saratoga in August. Sweet Whiskey has looked good in her career and has been at or near the top in all seven career starts. She goes off at 6-1 odds from post 3 with John Velazquez in the saddle.
Miss Behaviour - has been very competitive in her eight race career - four wins, two seconds and a third place finish. She is coming off a good second in the Grade 3 Victory Ride Stakes June 29 after a win in the listed Miss Preakness Stakes in May, a third in the minor Stormy Blues Stakes in April and a her only off-the-board finish - a fifth in the Grade 3 Delta Downs Princess in November. She won three straight to start her career - the best being the Grade 2 Matron Stakes at Belmont Park in September and has continued to look solid since. Javier Castellano gets the call from the outside post at an intriguing 10-1 odds.
Red Velvet - Todd Pletcher trainee has just five career starts - three wins and a second place finish. She enters off a career worst performance - a fourth after setting the pace and fading in her graded stakes debut - the Grade 3 Victory Ride which followed two straight wins - the last being the minor Jersey Girl Stakes by a solid 5 3/4 lengths at Belmont Park in May in her stakes debut. The Speedy Red Velvet leaves from gate 10 with Paco Lopez in the irons at 12-1 odds.
Fiftyshadesofgold - three time stakes winner began her career at Lone Star and posted a MSW victory by an impressive 10 lengths in that race. The Bret Calhoun trained filly next stepped up into stakes company and won the minor Debutante Stakes by an equally impressive eight lengths at Churchill Downs June 22. She is coming off a fourth in the Grade 1 Acorn Stakes which followed her first graded stakes score - the Grade 3 Eight Belles Stakes at Churchill Downs May 2, a second in the Grade 2 Fair Grounds Oaks March 29 and a win in the minor Two Altazano Stakes at Sam Houston in February. She has four wins, a second and a third place finish in seven career starts and is expected to be competitive again Saturday. Robby Albarado gets the mount from post 2.
Test Stakes betting online at Saratoga Race Course with OffTrackBetting.com
Street Story - Steve Asmussen trained filly has won three of five starts this year - two straight ahead of this weekend including the Grade 3 Victory Ride Stakes over Miss Behaviour at Belmont Park June 29 and the minor Instant Racing Stakes at Oaklawn Park in April. She also won the minor Dixie Belle Stakes in January. Street Story is a three-time stakes winner and has looked very good recently. Joel Rosario gets the call from post 6 Saturday.
Princess Violet - Michael Hushion trained filly has just four career starts with two wins and two second place finishes. She stepped into stakes company last time out and finished a very good second in the Grade 1 Mother Goose Stakes at Belmont Park June 28 after an Allowance score May 16 and after breaking maiden at Aqueduct April 6. She is an interesting entry for the Test and leaves from the rail with Jose Ortiz guiding her.
Thank You Marylou - was good in her first four races for trainer Michael Maker - two wins, a second and a third place finish. She debuted in July with a nice win in the minor Tippett Stakes at Colonial Downs and followed that with a very respectable second in the Grade 2 Adirondack Stakes at Saratoga in August. After seven months away she returned to action with a win in the minor Ant Limit Stakes at Gulfstream March 9 and followed that with a third in the Grade 1 Ashland Stakes at Keeneland April 5. Her last two starts haven't been great however - a seventh last time out in the Grade 3 Iowa Oaks followed a fifth in the Grade 1 Kentucky Oaks. Rajiv Maragh gets the call from post 4.
Tea Time - Michael Matz trainee has eight career starts with four wins and a third place finish and enters on a two race win streak - both minor stakes action the last couple of months. Last time out was in the Beautiful Day Stakes at Delaware Park July 3 after the Jostle Stakes at Parx in June - that makes her a three-time stakes winner. Tea Time does have two graded stakes starts under her belt - a fifth in the Grade 2 Beaumont Stakes in April and a sixth in the Grade 1 Frizette in October. She hopes to finally break through in graded stakes company with Luis Saez in the irons from post 9.
Little Alexis - has just two career starts for trainer Donna Green - two wins. last time out was in the minor Cash Run Stakes at Gulfstream Park July 5 after a maiden win at first asking. She steps up in company Saturday but looks ready. Jose Lezcano rides from post 8 as Little Alexis attempts to make it a graded stakes debut to remember.
Bird Maker - has seven career starts for trainer Ian Wilkes with two wins and two second place finishes. She is coming off an Allowance score in May by 11 1/4 lengths after a fifth in the Grade 2 Gazelle. She did have a good second in the Grade 2 Golden Rod Stakes in November - her best career result and off her romp last time out cold be a factor this week. Shaun Bridgmohan has the mount from post 11.
2014 Test Stakes Entries & Odds
Race 9 on Saratoga Race Course's Saturday card with a Post Time of 5:14 PM.
1 Princess Violet J. Ortiz M. Hushion 20-1
2 Fiftyshadesofgold R. Albarado W. Calhoun 8-1
3 Sweet Whiskey J. Velazquez T. Pletcher 6-1
4 Thank You Marylou R. Maragh M. Maker 15-1
5 Southern Honey J. Leparoux G. Arnold, II 4-1
6 Street Story J. Rosario S. Asmussen 8-1
7 Sweet Reason I. Ortiz, Jr. L. Gyarmati 3-1
8 Little Alexis J. Lezcano D. Green 30-1
9 Tea Time L. Saez M. Matz 8-1
10 Red Velvet P. Lopez T. Pletcher 12-1
11 Bird Maker S. Bridgmohan I. Wilkes 20-1
12 Miss Behaviour J. Castellano P. Schoenthal 10-1
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Illinois Man Indicted on State Charges in Deputy's Killing
Associated Press | March 28, 2019 11:05 am
This undated booking photo released by Illinois Department of Corrections shows Floyd E. Brown. (Illinois Department of Corrections via AP)
ROCKFORD, Ill. (AP) — An Illinois man facing federal murder charges in the killing of a sheriff's deputy now faces state charges, as well.
Winnebago County State's Attorney Marilyn Hite Ross said Wednesday that a grand jury indicted 39-year-old Floyd E. Brown, of Springfield, on 75 counts, including 60 counts of first-degree murder.
Brown has already pleaded not guilty to the federal first-degree murder and weapons charges in the fatal shooting of 35-year-old McHenry County Sheriff's Deputy Jacob Keltner on March 7.
Keltner was a member of a U.S. Marshal's fugitive task force trying to serve Brown an arrest warrant at a Rockford hotel when authorities say Brown shot and killed him.
Illinois Man Pleads Not Guilty in Deputy's Fatal Shooting
Man Accused of Shooting Deputy Makes Court Appearance
Suspect in Shooting of Illinois Deputy Arrested
Illinois Police Release Audio from Aurora Warehouse Shooting
Records: 75 Percent of Revoked Illinois Gun Licenses Ignored


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THE WOODLANDS, Texas -- Kids are buckled-up for safety in cars, but must also be buckled-up in life jackets when water is not too far. Life jackets must be worn in boats and open-water for safety, but pools need life jackets too. This summer note whether you child is a swimmer or non-swimmer and float non-swimmers in a properly-fitting U.S. Coast Guard approved life jacket. Drowning is the leading cause of injury and death for children ages 1-4 (CDC). Additionally, in a Pediatrics study, in 66% of fatal and non-fatal drowning the children were supervised at the time they slipped under the water.
Active, touch supervision and swim lessons are absolutely essential. However, for those children who cannot yet comfortably and competently swim across the length of the pool, drowning preventative tools must be exercised. Life jackets are not a novel idea. Properly-fitting life jackets have been saving lives for decades. It makes perfect sense for life jackets to make a splash in swimming pools and keep children afloat, so they can become swimmers and delve in a lifelong enjoyment in, on, and around the water.
1. Note if your child is a swimmer. Can he/she comfortably swim the length of the pool independently, without struggle?
2. Buckle-up! Buckle your child in an appropriately fitting Coast Guard approved life jacket. Life jackets aren't the burden they used to be. There are many newer, attractive and comfortable choices.
3. Don't let your guard down. Still always actively supervise your child, even in a life jacket.
4. Comfort is key. Life jackets help children who can't yet swim become comfortable in the water, which significantly helps in the learn-to-swim process.
5. Enroll your child in swim lessons.
6. If you can't swim , learn now!
Portable Above-Ground Pools in the United States, 2001-1009. Pediatrics®.
Authors: Rachel Griffiths, M.A. and Tom Griffiths, Ed.D. of Aquatic Safety Research Group, dedicated to improving water safety for more than forty years through innovative research and education.


TripBuzz discovered 66 different types of activities for couples in the Pittsboro area, including Winery/Vineyard (like Starrlight Mead), Hiking Trails (like Bynum Beach Haw River Access Area), Art Gallery (like ChathamArts Gallery) and Nature & Wildlife Areas (like Carolina Tiger Rescue), and much more.
We discovered a total of 99 date ideas in or near Pittsboro, North Carolina, including 93 fun or romantic activities in nearby cities within 25 miles like Chapel Hill, Cary, Durham and Apex.
Starrlight Mead is a winery that is located in central North Carolina in Pittsboro. Opened in September 2010, the honey winery showcases such mead wines as traditional off-dry mead and meads featuring sweet peach, blackberry, spiced apple and chocolate-orange flavorings.
Pittsboro, North Carolina's SilkHope Winery is a mid-size wine producer best known for its Italian-style wines. Visitors are welcome to tour the vineyard and taste all wines currently for sale. Complementary picnic seating is available, and there is a grill on site.
In addition to consignment and brokered boat sales, Jordan Lake Water Sports provides captained pontoon boat tours, boat and equipment rentals, and boat storage with valet launch services. The company even has stand-up paddle board yoga classes.
Visitors can view natural scenery and a variety of local wildlife at Bynum Beach Haw River Access Area. The area offers beach access and is also good for hiking, boating, fishing, canoeing, and kayaking.
Showcasing the work of local artists, ChathamArts Gallery displays a variety of artwork in the mediums of fiber, metal, wood, and more. The gallery holds monthly receptions where the public can meet and view an artist and their work.
Jordan Lake State Recreation Area features 14,000 acres of water and activities for people of all ages. Visitors can enjoy hiking, windsurfing, wildlife and bird watching, boating, camping, and more.
Featuring nearly 14,000 acres of water, Jordan Lake State Recreation Area provides water access for fishing, swimming and boating. The park also offers children's playgrounds, hiking trails, campgrounds, sheltered picnic areas and barbecue grills.
Southern Community Park is a 72 acre park offering a variety of recreational amenities. Visitors to the park will find several athletic fields, a dog park, a disc golf course, walking trails, picnic shelters, and a playground.
HAVE SUGGESTIONS FOR COOL AND INTERESTING THINGS TO DO IN THE Pittsboro AREA?


Welcome to Weddings @ Craft Creations, our exciting wedding feature full of easy to follow ideas for your wedding stationery. Whether you're a complete novice or an experienced crafter, there is something here for you.
Having planned my own wedding, and helped friends and family with theirs, I know how expensive it can be. Creating your own wedding stationery not only saves you lots of money, it adds that special, personal touch to the big day, and seeing it all come together exactly as planned is one of the best feelings.
In this part of Craft Creations.com you will find some stunning handmade ideas, from invitations to table plans and everything in between using our wedding wallets, pockets, creative papers, die-cut banners and ribbons, to mention just a few.
With all of these designs there are endless possibilities, changing just a little detail or decoration will help make them your own. Each of the designs are available in a large range of colours including the hottest colour trends of the season as well as classy, classic combinations. All of the products used can be found below the design and ordered directly from the relevant page. I hope you enjoy browsing and using this feature as we have had great pleasure in creating it for you.