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"On My Very Brief Encounter with the Russian Army" by Ilia Rappoport
Posted on September 5, 2019 March 3, 2021
Register for the Red Army by V. Spasskii, 1919
Neither before nor since October 2013 have I ever wanted to have scoliosis, an acute venereal disease, hepatitis, or a heart condition, but during that month I experienced strong waves of envy towards the owners of such illnesses. I was sixteen and in my last year of high school, just enough of a man to attend the grand event that was the medical check-up organised by the Military Registration and Enlistment Office of the Russian Federation.
At eight in the morning on the day, hundreds of sleepy and confused boys, me included, were standing in the hallway of a cold, green, chlorine-smelling building, waiting for the psychological and professional evaluation. The evaluation, designed in 1990 by a man called Mr. Rybnikov, tested three aspects of a potential recruit: his professional interests, psychological durability, and sincerity.
The first part of the quiz was concerned with the area that the recruit would like to be assigned during the war. Feel free to do what you, a 16-18-year-old, are truly passionate about: army trucks, artillery, or, for the more sophisticated ones, war submarines. During this part, a bald, plump boy started raising his hand every two minutes to ask what the questions meant. That made the other recruits less tense, and we giggled every time he pretended he had not understood the sentence, leading to great frustration among the organisers. After a few minutes, it became clear that the boy was not pretending at all and was simply mentally challenged. He frowned and scratched the back of his head, looking at the pieces of paper lying in front of him with glossy, tearful eyes. Soon enough, his mother burst into the room and started to explain how the kid was not trying to make fun of anyone but had a condition and how that condition had a name that was specifically mentioned in the list of things that could prevent a teenager from protecting his motherland. A senior female organiser, who belonged to the same undying breed as customs officers and high school janitors, was not impressed.
'Ma'am, please be patient. Yes. Yes. I understand. Well, if he isn't suitable, then you have nothing to worry about, right? And he will finish the test, somehow, won't he? Cause he's a smart boy – aren't you, kid?' For the first time in her life, the mother was put into a position where she had to go through the humiliation of proving that her son was not a smart boy at all.
Part two: questions about one's psychological durability. This segment seemed to be at the core of a search for the perfect killing machine: 'Would you say that you drink a little too much water on a daily basis?'
The last, the sincerity part, was designed to investigate whether the respondent was tampering with the evaluation mechanism. 'Do you lie sometimes?' was one of the sincerity questions, with 'yes' being the sincere answer, which allows to make two assumptions about the Russian army: first, it believes that everybody lies, and second, if there are people who don't, they shouldn't be trusted with a gun.
After the test, we scattered to queue up for the doctors' rooms. There are six doctors that a potential recruit meets: an optometrist, a dentist, a surgeon, a neuropathologist, a physician, and a urologist. Inside the office of the moustachioed urologist. There were five other boys with me; one of them was the mentally-challenged kid. When asked to show his penis to the doctor, he took his underwear off entirely and threw it on the floor, exhibiting his white, hairless butt. The whole process seemed unnecessary. Could there be a penis so great it could have compensated for an intellectual disability?
At six-foot-four, I was the only person at the check-up to be congratulated for being eligible to receive 1.5 portions of every standard meal during the time of my service. The boys behind me started whispering in disbelief: no one wanted to go to the army, but if you ended up getting drafted, you should at least get to enjoy the food.
I left the check-up with the sad thought that I was a suitable candidate for 'Category A'. The idea of spending twelve months of my life in the service was boring and depressing. Gladly, it never happened – I moved abroad to study.
Every year I visit the Russian embassy in the city where I live and remind them of my presence abroad; my current registration in a foreign country allows me to defer my recruitment. When I go back to visit my family in the summer, I do so between the fifteenth of July and the thirty-first of August, which is the short window between the spring and the winter draft periods.
Before I proceed, I would like to address the obvious. It is reasonable to question my ability to write about the Russian army, especially in a critical tone, since I have never been conscripted myself. My goal here, however, is not at all to accuse it, or the government, of anything that happens to the drafted boys – there are many variables that contribute to every individual accident. The Russian army is, in fact, an ordinary one, interchangeable with those of other countries, and a birthplace of some dull positives – occasional acts of heroism, genuine patriotism, and it has the ability to instil a sense of discipline and purpose in the young minds of drafted boys. The interesting aspects of the Russian military service are in its flaws – in them you can find the unique and trace the Russian mentality.
The chances are that I will never end up serving in the Russian army. However, there is still a thought in the back of my head that, one day, I might receive a letter that will summon me, and that thought gives me 1.5 portions of anxiety.
The Tsar's Regiments and the Red Army by Demitrii Stakhievich Moor, 1919
Before writing this, I phoned a good friend of who served in the army a couple of years ago. I was sitting in my sunlit room, while he was listening to loud hip-hop in a freezing apartment at four in the morning. Taking theatrical breaks between words to take a drag from a cigarette, he told me all about the service, and it sounded just the way one would expect it.
You wake up at 6 in the morning. Shower, half an hour of exercise, then an officer comes to check whether your bed is made badly. If it is, you get punished. Breakfast at 7:30, then you must listen to the radio for ten minutes. Afterwards, there are training courses until 13:50, when you have ten minutes to wash your shoes. If they are dirty, you get punished. Lunch. More training until dinner. At 8 in the evening, you get an hour of free time, out of which you must dedicate at least half to shaving and preparing for tomorrow. Watching the news for half an hour. If you close your eyes for too long, you get punished. Evening walk. Sleep.
There are footnotes to this. You cannot use the Internet, because the communications tower nearby will spot you. When it does, your phone is taken away and nailed to a wooden plank that resides in the smoking area. Also, you cannot have visitors for 8.5 months and you are never stationed to the place that you're from. My friend was lucky enough to serve in one of the most elite Russian military bases – Military Base #33 – in the vast green fields by the city of Luga.
When I asked him to summarise his experience in the army, my friend replied briefly, 'It was great. The conditions were poor, but it was great.' I asked to clarify, and he said: 'It made me more durable, psychologically and physically. A man. When I came back from the army, I felt like I could do anything.'
With his freedom, however, my friend did nothing of note. He enrolled in a new university, got a job making office deliveries, and started dating a girl (he sent me two photos, and she looks kind and sweet). After the army, he arrived into a world of large – perhaps, too large – freedom, and finding no one to give him tasks overwhelmed him. Where does his psychological or physical durability come into play?
Said psychological durability can be gained as a result of natural, gradual maturing and is a long and continuous process. As you get older, you learn how to deal with conflicts, how to tackle anxiety, and how to avoid getting stressed. However, there is a shortcut to psychological durability, which is trauma. Trauma, which can range from the death of a beloved goldfish to spending twelve months in a prison-like regulated environment, is similar to receiving a crappy vaccination: you receive a certain dosage of a disease, and if your body copes with it, it develops an immunity, but if it doesn't, you need treatment.
However, those in need of treatment will not receive it. The statistical data on the suicide rate in the Russian army is foggy: in 2008, the annual number of non-war casualties stopped being reported on the official website of the Russian military. The last available data can be found in interviews, blurted out unintentionally by various authorities. That year, according to one source, 471 people died in the army service during non-war times; out of them, more than half committed suicide, and others died due to 'careless use of equipment', 'accidents', or simply disappeared. Out of the approximate 1.2 million people serving in the Russian army (including officers, reservists, and other less active members), that would make up for about 0.039 percent. Let's look at another army that is quite notorious for bullying and cruel misconduct – the army of the USA. In the year 2010, for instance, 301 confirmed or suspected suicides were reported, which would comprise around 0.013 percent of the American army with its total personnel count of 2.3 million. Evidently, in Russia, you either man up or get picked out by the unforgiving hand of 'equipment'. (Please take this statistical data with a pinch of salt. According to the officials, bullying in the army does not exist. After all, 'it's the 21st century'. Every year, however, there are news articles appearing on the Internet that do not coexist well with the reported purity of the Russian army. For instance, on 12 February 2018, a Russian newspaper called Novaya Gazeta published a piece that covered the story of Alexander Shirer, a fully healthy young recruit who died from a reported heart attack that happened to coincide with his fight with another soldier. Alexander's parents doubted the whole scenario and drove their son's corpse across the country to someone Dr. Vlasov, who, upon the completion of the recruit's autopsy, found out that the deceased had no heart – it was simply cut out. The heart resurfaced months later, in several pickle jars. As of 12 July 2019, the case is still in trial, although the cut-up heart was finally admitted as evidence.)
The idea of becoming a Russian Man (a subspecies of the Common Man, a creature indigenous to locker rooms and smoking areas) by serving in the army is an ironic or simply an incorrect one. That Man is usually described as an independent, self-confident, physically and mentally strong persona. The disconnect is obvious: how can one acquire these traits in the rigid environment of the Russian army? The only thing that the service imposes on a recruit is the ability to behave under authority, to be responsive, and not to ask any questions. The entire day is scheduled for you, and your input is just to live through it. However, you can be punished or bullied, and if you do – just deal with it.
When asked by the correspondent of the Russian newspaper Snob about the way that bullying and suicides could be eradicated from the Russian army, Veronika Marchenko, the head of an organisation called 'The Rights of the Mothers' sighs, as one can only sigh in a written interview: 'When the army becomes voluntary, bullying disappears.'
In that case, what is preventing the government from making it voluntary? Wouldn't an army full of people who share its ideology be more effective? And is this solution so obvious, or there is some hidden force within the Russian army that crumbles the spirits of both the involuntary and voluntary conscripts?
Red Army Soldiers! Remember, you are watching your own, 1917-1921
The contemporary Russian army has a hero – his name is Alexander Matrosov. Nineteen years of age, Matrosov died a heroic death during World War II: when his division was held immobile by a German machine gun, he ran up to the weapon and blocked it with his own body, allowing his unit to proceed and kill the German soldiers. His act was commemorated by every reasonable form of art, from sculpture (there are statues in 20 Russian cities) to film.
A quick search on the Internet gives some odd background to the story. (If you type 'the heroic act' in Russian in Google, 'the heroic act of Alexander Matrosov' will be suggested as the third most popular search term.) Apparently, before WWII, Matrosov had a difficult past. He was raised in an orphanage, judging by the lack of birth certificate for his name, and served two prison sentences – tried once as a child and once as an adult – both for damage to property with the purpose of destruction or mischief.
(To keep the name of Alexander Matrosov clean, in 1967 the Higher Court of the USSR declared his second sentence to be wrongful. What about the first one?) After his sentence was over, he sent several letters trying to get himself recruited into the Russian army and succeeded. There is controversy surrounding the act itself, also. An unpopular opinion from a Russian war veteran named Lazar Lazarev suggested that there was no way that a human body could have blocked a German machine gun since the bullets would have gone through Matrosov without any significant resistance. Another theory suggested that the act was unintentional, and the soldier tripped or was shot in the leg on his way to the machine gun. The most likely version, however, is that he attempted to throw a grenade down the enemy trench but was quickly murdered – so it goes.
The heroic nature of the act seems questionable to me – not because I doubt Matrosov's bravery, but because of the emphasis that the propaganda put on some elements of his story over others. Of course, sacrificing your own life for the sake of saving others is valiant, but if the machine gun was that destructive, would he not have died anyway? In that case, he just died in a rather productive fashion. Another question follows: would it not have been more heroic if he had survived? Had he remained alive, his mission as a soldier would have continued. What makes his death more heroic than the survival of countless other soldiers, who killed their German machine gunners and just kept going?
As a result, a fictional, political Matrosov is created, who shares little similarity with the real-life soldier. The Russian hero turns out to be a simple man who does not flinch at the idea of self-sacrifice, and this is no coincidence. Looking back at the history of the Soviet Army, one can see a pattern of powerful political figures using untrained soldiers as cannon fodder, so it only makes sense to use Matrosov as an example: he did not mind being used as means to an end.
It becomes increasingly clear, then, that the government does not intend to use its army as an institution of pure militaristic purpose. If it did, then it would have focused on quality over quantity, promoting a career in the army as something prestigious and sought-after rather than what it is now – a year-long fever dream between youth and adulthood for those who don't do well on the national exams. Those who do well and enroll in universities, however, can defer – but only until the end of their baccalaureate, unless they've fled the country to study abroad.
The benefit of creating such an organisation is in its seeming dysfunctionality: while there is some overarching nationalistic idea in it, it is mostly a strong tool for preparing the confused Russian youth for its future life of blind submission to an intangible political authority. If conscription to the army had been voluntary, then it would have lost a share of ideologically-fuelled soldiers every time it changed its unintelligible political narrative.
When Russian politicians appear in the news, they exert power, and that power is always assumed to revolve around the large militaristic capabilities of the country. There is an impression created of a stabilised machine operating under a homogenous and, more important, popular national idea; this is sometimes even praised by right-wing international audiences. In truth, however, this idea is simply issued top-down by the government, which makes it so difficult to assign responsibility to anyone when Russia harms anyone besides its own citizens, as they did in Georgia or Ukraine. Who do you blame when the amount of agency of an average recruit is so seemingly minute? It is a question of ethics, but it is also the missing piece of the puzzle for the Russian political opposition which cannot figure out whether it should focus on educating the masses or confronting the government.
So far, neither of the approaches seems to be successful, and for as long as they are not, people like myself will try to stay away from it all. There is a general mood of desperation surrounding one's ability to influence a government that plots in such a masterful way, but there is also the guilt and the shame of an escapee. Here, I want to call for understanding from all sides: this desertion is not one of abandoning a helpless child, but one of leaving a sinking ship.
Works Consulted:
Bykov, Vasiliy. Young Heroes of the Great Patriotic War [Молодые Герои Великой Отечественной Войны]. Молодая Гвардия, 1970.
Hurt, Alyson, et al. 'By The Numbers: Today's Military.' NPR, 4 July 2011.
Ivleva, Viktoria. 'The Path of the Heart [Путь Сердца]' Новая Газета, 12 Feb. 2018, novayagazeta.ru/articles/2018/02/11/75482-put-serdtsa
Lineberry, Timothy W., and Stephen S. O'Connor. 'Suicide in the US Army.' Mayo Clinic Proceedings 87.9 (2012): 871–878.
"Russian Army Became a 'Suicide Club' [Российская Армия Стала 'Клубом Самоубийц']" https://forum-msk.org/material/news/707216.html
Rybnikov, Viktor. Epress-methodology 'Prognosis-2' for the evaluation of psychological instability of applicants to Higher Education Institutions [Экспресс-методика «Прогноз-2» для оценки нервно-психической неустойчивости кандидатов на учебу в ВУЗ]. Воениздат, 1990.
Sokolov, Yevgeniy. "70 Years from Matrosov's Heroic Act: How the Soviet History Was Rewritten [70 Лет Подвигу Матросова: Как Переписали Советскую Историю]" Комсомольская Правда, 26 Feb. 2013
"When We Came Back from the War [Когда Мы Вернулись с Войны]." Новая Газета, 7 May 2001.
Zarubina, Tata. "Veronika Marchenko: There are 2-2.5 Thousand Casualties in the Army Every Year [Вероника Марченко: В Армии Ежегодно Умирает 2-2,5 Тысячи Человек]" Сноб., 20 Apr. 2012.
Ilia Rappoport is the pseudonym of a writer and blogger from St. Petersburg, Russia.
Posted in Nonfiction, Race/riot/rebellion/revolutionTagged alexander matrosov, Alexander shirer, Another Chicago Magazine, army draft Russia, Russian Army, Veronika marchenko
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Tag: clean reads
The Wait is Finally Over!
March 8, 2019 March 8, 2019 3 Comments
I am happy to announce that the Wind Rider Chronicles now has a 5th book for readers to enjoy. You really won't want to miss this one! (Best read after Visions of Light and Shadow.)
shards of faith
Before Morganne and Elowyn were born, Broguean took on the greatest quest of his life. Follow him in this intriguing adventure story as he discovers whether he's really just a drunken bard or if there's more to him than meets the eye.
Amazon | Payhip | Other Retailers
Broguean the Bard takes a seat at Westfalle tavern, with his lute and a mug of his favorite ale. But when one of his songs starts a tavern brawl, his fortunes take an unexpected turn. He's forced out into the night, and into the waiting arms of a most unexpected foe—someone who knows his true name and the secret past he's been running from.
Taken under guard to a nearby monastery, he spends a long, painful night wondering if he's a guest or a prisoner. But the prior who runs the monastery has a job for him. A job that could either help him redeem his tragic past…or get him killed. Is this the message from Aviad he's been waiting for, or is the prior only sending him on a dangerous fool's errand?
Get it today from your favorite ebook retailer. (Print copies will be available soon.)
What's New Wednesday
There are a lot of free book promotions going on this month. I usually only share these with my newsletter list, but today I thought I'd post them on my blog for What's New Wednesday. Click on the images to check them out and fill your e-readers with some free books.
Have you Noticed the New Look?
You may have already seen the changes on my website, or at your favorite book retailers (which are still gradually rolling out). The Wind Rider Chronicles has brand new custom covers! Artist Alfredo Pachicano and Cover Designer Kathryn Jenkins of Magical Designs have done a great job giving my series a unique, cohesive, and more professional look.
Today I'll introduce the new cover for Journey to Aviad, which is being featured on Instafreebie's blog today. You can download it free, no strings attached, through Instafreebie and most other ebook retailers.
Elowyn lifts a strange silvery object from a woodland stream. Is it a medallion? A coin? Looking about curiously, she also finds a helm, a bow, broken arrows…and blood drenched soil. Something terrible has happened in this usually peaceful wood. Her world—the whole world—is about to change forever…
My New Book Has Finally Arrived!
visions of light and shadow
You've been waiting patiently, and now it's here–book 3 of the Wind Rider Chronicles!
Get a discounted price by buying direct | Amazon | BN | Kobo | Other
It has been six months since Cailean's death, and Elowyn can't get his special clifftop in the mountains out of her thoughts…or her dreams. Something is drawing her there, despite the danger, and time is running out. The new spring growth is threatening to cover what's left of his foot trail forever, but getting there is going to be more challenging than she imagined, especially with the thieves still lurking along the mining road.
Morganne is having difficulties of her own. The monks are making plans to send the tomes away, Braeden's tax demands are increasing yet again, and Morganne's once prosperous shop has been noticeably empty. On top of that, the Kinship is getting ready to leave Minhaven—seemingly for good this time.
With political unrest building, and the Black Shrine still intact, Glak and Bane want the girls to go with them. Elowyn is eager to leave her sorrows behind, certain that Aviad is calling them to follow the road beyond Minhaven, but Morganne isn't so sure. She's not ready to abandon everything they know for an uncertain future, and Elowyn finds herself at a crossroads. Will she be able to convince Morganne that it's Aviad's voice she is hearing, or will she be forced to go on alone?
Get it today at your favorite ebook retailer. (Print copies will be available soon.)
Black Friday Sale! Indie Christian Books
Looking for great gifts for family and friends this Black Friday?
Get discounts on both print and e-books from this huge Christian book sale that starts TODAY and ends November 30th. Choose from a wide range of genres and authors. Package deals offer even deeper discounts.
The Wind Rider Chronicles is included in this sale for prices too low for me to offer through Amazon or other retailers. Buy a print copy of both Journey to Aviad and Ancient Voices, and Into the Shadow Wood comes free! My e-books are on sale too. Check it out–there is no charge for shipping!
Journey to Aviad – Print $9.99
Ancient Voices – Print $9.99 / e-Book $1.99
Into the Shadow Wood – e-book $0.99
Package Deal – Print $20.00 (all 3 books)
Free Books! Clean Fantasy Reads
November 21, 2017 November 21, 2017 2 Comments
If you're looking for clean fiction to read, grab some books from this clean Fantasy reads promo.
But you'll have to be quick, because it ends today!
Love's Promise by Melissa Storm
Love's Promise by Melissa Storm is available starting today, and will be on sale for 99 cents through Sunday, March 12. Her dream is to hit the USA Today bestseller list, and since I understand what it's like to strive each day to make my own writing dreams come true, I'm happy to help Melissa out with hers! Enjoy an excerpt from the book (below).
Love's Promise
She's waiting for her prince to come … but was he right beside her all the time? Kristina Rose Maher wants to know why fairy tales never happen for fat girls. Certain that diner cook Jeff, handsome and fit, will never want her as more than a friend, she stuffs down her attraction to him. But when she finds herself facing a life-altering weight loss surgery, she discovers she's willing to do whatever it takes to embrace life—and love—to the fullest. Jeffrey Berkley can't bear the thought of losing the friend he's only just beginning to realize matters so much to him… no matter what size she is. But he is also terrified that helping her reach for her dreams will also mean finally reaching for his own—and letting down his family's legacy in the process. Both Kristina Rose and Jeffrey must learn to love themselves before they can find a way to make a promise to each other. Will they finally be able to lay their heavy burdens at the Lord's feet, and trust him to bring the happily-ever-after they both crave?
Don't miss this sweet tale of faith, love, and gastric bypass–get your copy of Love's Promise today from any of the following retailers: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Kobo
Love's Promise: Excerpt from Chapter 13
Kristina clapped as her friend took the pulpit. She had never seen Elise in front of her youth group. Even though they were best friends, Kristina hadn't been back to youth group since she'd graduated to the big church. A few times per year, Pastor Bernie would take a Sunday off and ask Elise or one of the elders to deliver the week's sermon, but the teen members of the congregation understandably required a different message and a different style when it came to their own church services and events.
All around her, the kids settled onto their blankets with plates of fried chicken, potato salad, and other fatty picnic fare. Peggy, a girl who worked at the diner sometimes on nights and weekends, joined Kristina on her blanket. "Hi," she whispered with a grin as Elise flipped on the microphone and shouted, "Boo!"
Kristina jumped back, unprepared for the loud noise that shot through the auditorium. Nervous laughter erupted around them, but Elise stood stock still with a serious expression on her face.
"Halloween was last month!" Peggy called to Elise.
More laughter.
Still Elise didn't speak, didn't wear her signature smile, didn't do anything.
The laughter quieted, and everyone sat waiting to see what their youth pastor would say or do next.
"Fear," Elise said, enunciating the word slowly, taking time with each sound. "What is it?"
Answers rose up from all around the room.
"Not feeling safe."
"Being worried."
"Spiders!" Peggy added.
"Not knowing how things will work out," Kristina said through the laughter.
"And were you afraid just now when I shouted boo right here out of the blue?"
A chorus of Nos rippled through the room.
Elise pouted and stalked forward on the stage. "But it was unexpected. You didn't know what would happen next. A lot of people find shocks like that scary. Why didn't you?"
"Because you're not scary."
"We know you."
"You'd never hurt us."
"You'd never hurt anyone," Kristina added.
Elise perked up, her eyes wide and voice booming. "Ahh, so I failed in my attempt to scare you because you know me, because you trust me to take care of you?"
Everyone nodded and murmured their agreement.
"You know who else is there to take care of you? God." Elise bobbed her head and traced her way back to the pulpit. "God's gotcha. 100% of the time, He is there and He's got your back. So then why do we continue to live in fear? If I couldn't scare you, then why does life scare you when you know God is just around the corner rooting for you, ready to catch you if you fall?"
Nobody said anything. They all waited to see what their youth pastor would say next, Kristina Rose most of all.
"Easy in theory, right? But hard in practice," Elise continued. "They say practice makes perfect, but no one is perfect outside of Jesus. Practice can make better. Practice can make easier, but none of us are perfect. It's kind of why we need God in the first place. It's why we need to trust Him with our fears rather than trying to figure everything out for ourselves."
Oh, now she understood why Elise had dragged her here. She saw Kristina's fear loud and clear. It was in everything she did, no matter how hard she tried to act otherwise. Elise did love to showboat, but she may have also chose this method of delivering her message so that the kids would be there to back her up, so it would feel less like a personal lecture and more like something Elise was sharing with all of them.
"It's a lesson we've all learned since Sunday School. God's got you. So then why do so many of us forget as we grow up? As we face new challenges? Why do we think we can do it all ourselves? Why don't we depend on God for help?"
Some of the teens ventured answers, but Kristina honestly didn't know what to say. Elise was right, of course. Kristina had been trying to do it all on her own rather than trusting in God—and in her friends—to take care of her. She'd been trying to do it all on her own and still didn't even fully trust herself. No wonder she was failing so miserably.
Elise reached under the pulpit and pulled out a small black gun. She closed one eye, and stuck her arm straight out toward Kristina Rose.
Nervous laughter broke through the sanctuary once again.
"You're laughing. Why are you laughing? I have a gun. A gun! Shouldn't you be afraid?"
"We know that's not a real gun, Elise," Peggy said, making a pistol gesture with her thumb and index finger and pointing it back at Elise.
"Are you sure about that? What makes you think it's not real? It's the right color, right size, right shape." She widened her stance and turned the gun to its side, setting up for a kill shot. "Are you scared now?" she asked, her voice flat, menacing.
"No, I'm not," Kristina answered. "I know you'd never actually shoot me with a real gun."
"How sure are you? Would you bet your life?" She took two steps forward, unwavering in her aim.
Kristina nodded. "I trust you not to hurt me."
Elise pulled the trigger and a stream of water hit Kristina on the leg.
The audience laughed some more. It seemed they did a lot of that whenever Elise took the stage. "Told ya! We knew it wasn't real," they shouted.
Elise returned the gun to the pulpit and banged on her chest with the mic. "Did you see that? Did you see that? Kristina Rose trusted me to shoot her—to shoot her!—because I'm her best friend and she knows I won't hurt her. But that's all I am, a best friend. God is our father. Of course He wants what's best for us. Of course He would never hurt us without a reason."
She gave that a minute to set in before jumping off the stage and pumping her arms as she walked animatedly between the blankets. "Here we are, going about our business, and—whoa—a new danger appears." Elise jerked forward and threw a banana peel she'd been hiding onto the ground in front of her.
This time Kristina found herself laughing along, too.
"Don't laugh!" Elise warned, spinning around to look at everyone in turn. "This is dangerous. I could slip and fall! How can I keep walking forward when there's this huge dangerous thing just waiting to knock me off my feet?"
"Step around it!"
"Walk over it!"
"Just avoid it."
Elise did as instructed with a skip. "Pfffhew, I'm safe!" she cried.
Kristina Rose loved watching her friend in action. She had no idea her sermons involved so much physical comedy, but it all made perfect sense. This is just who Elise was—passionate, energetic, the star of the show. They made a great pair, Elise and Kristina, because while one craved attention, the other was all too happy to let somebody else take center stage. Had they been enabling each other all this time?
Elise winked at Kristina Rose, then rolled her eyes and jogged back up to the stage. "Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. I know this is all fairly ridiculous. Who slips on a banana peel other than maybe a cartoon character? But here's the thing: in hindsight, many of our problems seem equally absurd. Why didn't I just tell her how I feel, or why didn't I just take the plunge? Well, I'm here to tell you today, God doesn't give us problems we can't handle. You know what Kelly Clarkson says: 'what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.' Well, I want to be strong. Don't you?"
Peggy started humming the pop song quietly beside Kristina.
"I want to be strong," Kristina said.
Others murmured in agreement.
"Well, guess what. So do I, but you know what else? I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Say it with me this time…"
Everyone shouted in unison, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me!"
"Yes, you can." Elise stooped down to pick up the banana peel, curled it into a ball, and then made a free shot at the trash basket.
Some muted applause followed the swish straight into the bin.
Elise tapped her heart and pointed toward Heaven. "Now when we break into group, I want us to share our fears, share our problems, and then place them at the Lord's feet. Trusting in God doesn't mean that you give up trying. It just means that you know you're going to win in the end. It brushes aside the worry, makes the task of living a much more enjoyable—much easier—thing to do. How would your life change if you stopped being afraid and started trusting in God to lead you to the place you need to be?" Elise locked eyes with Kristina Rose as she asked this.
Kristina had no idea whether she was meant to answer, but luckily she didn't have to. A series of beeps and whirls sounded from beside her, and all eyes zoomed toward the blanket where she sat with Peggy.
"Oops! Sorry!" Peggy leaped up and waved her phone by way of explanation. "I forgot to silence it, but it's my boss. I have to take this." She rushed out in the hall, leaving Kristina to wonder why Mabel would be calling on a day she knew Peggy would be taking off to attend the retreat.
"Let's all clean up our plates and move our blankets into a circle," Elise said, striding over to help Kristina Rose adjust hers.
"Was that for me?" Kristina asked quietly while the kids laughed and joked with one another.
"It was for everyone, but, yes, inspired by you. I love you, you know, and I want you to know that you've got this, that God's—"
"God's got me?" Kristina finished for her friend. "I know. Thank you so much for the reminder."
Melissa Storm is a mother first, and everything else second. She used to write under a pseudonym, but finally had the confidence to come out as herself to the world. Her fiction is highly personal and often based on true stories. Writing is Melissa's way of showing her daughter just how beautiful life can be, when you pay attention to the everyday wonders that surround us.
Melissa loves books so much, she married fellow author Falcon Storm. Between the two of them, there are always plenty of imaginative, awe-inspiring stories to share. Melissa and Falcon also run the business Novel Publicity together, where she works as publisher, marketer, web designer, and all-around business mogul. When she's not reading, writing, or child-rearing, Melissa spends time relaxing at home in the company of her four dogs, four parrots, and rescue cat. She never misses an episode of The Bachelor, because priorities.
Learn more at www.MelStorm.com.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


It's been a hectic couple weeks at Maslow HQ while we facilitate the transition to having parts supplied by the community and get the last couple kits sent out. Hannah was out last week, and while I mostly held down the fort I'm really glad she's back because things run so much smoother with us both here. Thanks for bearing with us while we get everything sorted out.
Having the community offer Maslow parts and enhancement kits is great, but it can be confusing.
The Swap Meet channel in the forums works well for listing one time items for sale, but longer term items can get buried in the conversation. As a solution we've created the Market category in the Maslow Community Garden. It allows all of the Maslow related items currently for sale to be listed in one place. Just like every other project in the Community Garden, items listed for sale are GitHub repositories which can be edited by anyone.
You can explore the market at http://maslowcommunitygarden.org/?market=true or by clicking the "Store" button at www.MaslowCNC.com .
The hardware kits for the final shipment were finished today and should be delivered to us by the end of this week or early next. We've got the kits fully packed aside from the hardware so as soon as those hardware kits are delivered to us we'll put them in the full kits, put a shipping label on, and the kits will be on their way. If you're in the small group of people who are still waiting for a kit to ship, be on the lookout for an email with a tracking number early next week, and thanks again for your patience!
Every week there are more and more amazing projects. Don't forget to scroll all the way through this week for a boat build which blew our minds.
But first it wouldn't be newsletter if clintloggins didn't build something cool. This week he continued his garage organization system with a skateboard holder.
HugoCas made the second awesome cupcake display we've seen built!
James_Cunningham made this very clean looking sign, and shared some insight on what materials to use from a professional sign maker which are worth checking out in the forums.
LuisP took a hand sketched picture of his parents from the 1960s and engraved it into wood.
Maslonians207 made this sign as a practice before running the same file in hardwood. We can't wait to see the finished version.
Mccand made this busy box for his son which looks like a lot of fun, and a great way to instill knowledge about how to use design using different hardware.
Mrbrixx did this awesome elephant engraving. It came out great, and the drawing itself is such a cool one.
ScrumdyBum seems to have perfected his script signs as this batch came out breathtaking. It's amazing what thin detail he is able to pull off.
Sreenigne put a coat of paint on the pedal car he showed off in the last update. What a project!
And a sign! Great work!
We think the results when covered with fiberglass really speak for themself. Wow!
Until next time happy sawdust making!


text:
Q: My AJAX call won't work on next page untill I hit refresh My javascript/ajax works on my page at 'http://localhost:3000/' but when I click next page and it goes to page 'http://localhost:3000/?page=2' it does not work until I hit the refresh button and then it will work.  Why is this and how can I fix it?
edit* i attached the haml call for the next page.

    $(function() {
        $('.show_event').click(function(evt) {
            evt.preventDefault();
            console.log("click")
            $.get(this.href,function (code){
                var divs = $(code).filter(function(){
                    return $(this).is('name')
                });
                divs.each(function() {
                    $('.event-text').replaceWith('
' + $(this).html() + '
');
                });
            });
        });
    });

= link_to 'Next page', page: @pages[:page] + 1 unless @pages[:page] >= @pages[:last_page]

A: Try this:
$('body').on('click', '.show_event', function(evt) { ...

A: This fixed the problem.  Turbolinks was doing funky stuff.

$(document).ready(ready);
$(document).on('page:load', ready);
function ready() {
    $( function () {
        $( 'body' ).on( 'click', '.show_event', function ( evt ) {
            evt.preventDefault();
            console.log( "click" )
            $.get( this.href, function ( code ) {
                var divs = $( code ).filter( function () {
                    return $( this ).is( 'div#event' )
                } );
                divs.each( function () {
                    $( '.event-text' ).replaceWith( '
' + $( this ).html() + '
' );
                } );
            } );
        } );
    } );
}

A: Most likely you are loading page 2 into page 1, and then expecting the link to be clicked and the action repeated.
The problem is that the new html being loaded hasn't been bound with the event handling.
You can use a delegate, similar to the following
 $(document).delegate(".show-event", "click", function () { /* code here */ });

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaStackExchange


Does symbolism impact our decision to buy particular Flowers?
Leave a Comment on Does symbolism impact our decision to buy particular Flowers?
The question that interests me is not only the meaning of flowers and where they originate from, but also do individuals buy flowers for this hidden symbolism or is it down to other reasons, i.e. colour perception?
We certainly know that especially at Valentine's Day, that red roses act as a symbol of love. Over the years, this tradition has been exploited by retail and advertising companies to the extent that have we lost the true meaning of why red roses are given to our partners and wives in the first place?
Using flowers symbolically dates back to the before the nineteenth century, but it wasn't until the nineteenth century that floriography was formalised. In 1809, Joseph Hammer-Purgstall published 'Dictionnaire du language des fleurs,' the first published list on the Language of Flowers.
Though floriography was popularised in Europe, it was inspired by the women of the Ottoman Empire who used flowers to convey messages that could not be said through words. In fact, the Greek Armenian women helped Hammer-Purgstall to understand the language of flowers and translate the traditional Turkish sayings in French.
From there, flower symbolism blossomed in 1819 when Louise Cortambert, writing under the pen name 'Madame Charlotte de la Tour' wrote the 'Le Langage des Fleurs' a dictionary on the Language of Flowers. The rise of Flower Symbolism at this time can be understood, it was the height of the Romantic Era where nature was seen as beauty and individuals were heavily influenced by their emotions.
One of the most familiar of the language of flower books is Routledge's edition illustrated by Kate Greenaway, The Language of Flowers. First published in 1884, it continues to be reprinted to this day.
The significance assigned to the specific flowers in Western cultures vary, nearly every flower has multiple associations and are listed in hundreds of floral dictionaries, but saying this a consensus for meaning of common blooms has emerged. For example, the rose. Deep red roses and its thorns have been used to symbolise both the blood of Christ and the intensity of romantic love. Pink roses are seen to imply a lesser affection, white virtue and chastity, and yellow signifies friendship and devotion.
Let's be honest, I would like to assume that my partner buys me flowers with symbolism involved every time but it can't always be achieved. If you are buying a present with thought and you have time to consider how you would like to express your emotions and feelings, the language of flowers is a great way to do so. But, passing by a shop and picking up some flowers to decorate your home and make someone smile after a dreary day may have no link to flower symbolism and just down to the preferred colour, shape and scent.
Do you know any other flower meanings, other than roses? Take a look below to see an overview of other flower meanings.


'Agamemnon Road' is written above the door, probably because, though the entrance is on Ulysses Road, the house's address must have been changed at some point. Perhaps it was out if superstition since, in the sequence of houses on Agamemnon Road, it would be numbered 13.
Though his home is in North London the station used for the film was - as is already well documented - Bingham Road, in Croydon. The train's destination is Waterloo, which loosely fits a south London setting, though trains from Bingham Road went to Cannon Street or Charing Cross, not Waterloo.
It is twelve storeys high, and there weren't many office buildings in 1961 that height. Of those that survive none matches the film, so my guess is that it has been demolished. Possible candidates include Drury House or Orbit House on Blackfriars Road, Southbridge House on Southwark Bridge Road and St Martin's House on Tottenham Court Road. Any suggestions here, please.


text:
Four Secrets To Success For Women In Flex
Home Press
Workplace Powered By Human Experience: New Report From JLL Analyses How Real Estate Can Enable Business Transformation
by Allwork.Space - Press
20 June, 2017 – JLL has today launched 'Workplace powered by Human Experience', a new global report series and accompanying tool, the 'Human Experience model', looking at how workplace experience can help businesses thrive in the new world of work.
Findings of the report, which is part of JLL's recently launched Future of Work research programme, are based on consultations with decision makers at 40 corporations around the world and the results of a separate, anonymous survey of more than 7,300 employees working for companies with more than 100 members of staff. The survey covered 12 countries and the respondents were aged between 18 and 65 years. Countries where employees were surveyed: Australia, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, South Africa, Spain, the UK and the US.
The study revealed that helping people to feel good at work is more than a 'box-ticking' exercise in trying to achieve work-life balance. It goes far beyond this. Companies stand to benefit in measureable ways once they realise that the experience they create for their people in the workplace goes to the heart of those employees' levels of engagement, sense of empowerment and feelings of fulfilment at work.
Key insights include:
Nearly 70% of participants agreed that happiness at work is the best ingredient to guarantee a unique work experience. What's more, almost 90% of all respondents support the idea of having a Chief Happiness Officer at work, dedicated to employee wellbeing
Whilst large corporations continue to attract more talent (61%) than the smallest ones, almost half (46%) of respondents said they aspire to work in a start-up environment and that they crave an entrepreneurial culture
Only 40% of respondents revealed feeling very engaged at work on average, and consider 'trust' and 'kindness' – which can be fostered through agile workspaces – the biggest positive impact on their engagement at work
Only 52% of employees admitted being entirely satisfied with their current work environment. In addition, 42% revealed feeling completely ready to move from their personal desk to open-plan offices or unallocated seats, in order to access new innovative workspaces
Almost half of respondents (47%) think that being able to concentrate in the workplace is a top priority, calling for a stronger focus from companies on giving employees a choice about how, when and where they work.
Neil Murray, EMEA CEO of Corporate Solutions at JLL, said: "In a world increasingly driven by data and digital innovation, the future of work is actually more about people than you might think. Organisations can no longer only focus on providing space to work, they need to create places that enable people to achieve their ambitions. Appealing to what people want can have transformational benefits to businesses."
Marie Puybaraud, Global Head of Corporate Research at JLL, added: "Human Experience is about how the work environment ultimately impacts company performance, not just its culture. Our study shows that work places and work spaces have a key role to play, both strategically and operationally, in fostering engagement, empowerment and fulfilment at work."
For further information on workplace experience and its impact on business performance, please visit us here.
JLL (NYSE: JLL) is a leading professional services firm that specialises in real estate and investment management. A Fortune 500 company, JLL helps real estate owners, occupiers and investors achieve their business ambitions. In 2016, JLL had revenue of $6.8 billion and fee revenue of $5.8 billion and, on behalf of clients, managed 4.4 billion square feet, or 409 million square meters, and completed sales acquisitions and finance transactions of approximately $136 billion. At the end of the first quarter of 2017, JLL had nearly 300 corporate offices, operations in over 80 countries and a global workforce of more than 78,000. As of March 31, 2017, LaSalle Investment Management had $58.0 billion of real estate under asset management. JLL is the brand name, and a registered trademark, of Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated. For further information, visit www.jll.com.
Allwork.Space - Press
Allwork.Space is committed to sharing news, updates and developments from flexible workspace owners, operators and suppliers across the globe.


text:
Q: Nodejs - TypeError: logger.info is not a function I am trying to combine winston and morgan in logger.js by Referencing Node.js - logging / Use morgan and winston .
But below Error occurs when I run the application.
/server/src/index.js:12

logger.info('Feathers application started on http://%s:%d', app.get('host'), port)

^

TypeError: logger.info is not a function

at Server.<anonymous> (/server/src/index.js:12:10)

at Server.emit (events.js:327:22)

App.js
...
const logger = require('./logger');
...

index.js
/* eslint-disable no-console */
const logger = require('./logger');
const app = require('./app');
const port = app.get('port');
const server = app.listen(port);

process.on('unhandledRejection', (reason, p) =>
  logger.error('Unhandled Rejection at: Promise ', p, reason)
);

server.on('listening', () =>
  logger.info('Feathers application started on http://%s:%d', app.get('host'), port)
);

logger.js
const { createLogger, format, transports } = require('winston');

// Configure the Winston logger. For the complete documentation see https://github.com/winstonjs/winston
const logger = createLogger({
  // To see more detailed errors, change this to 'debug'
  level: 'info',
  format: format.combine(
    format.splat(),
    format.simple()
  ),
  transports: [
    new transports.Console(),
    new transports.File({ filename: 'log-file.log' })
  ],
  exitOnError: false
});

logger.stream = {
  write: function(message, encoding){
      logger.info(message);
  }
};

console.log(logger.stream)

module.exports = (require("morgan")("combined", { stream: logger.stream }));

Updated the code according to comment. No error now but no logging appear when I send http request by rest api.
const path = require('path');
const favicon = require('serve-favicon');
const compress = require('compression');
const helmet = require('helmet');
const cors = require('cors');
const logger = require('./logger');

const feathers = require('@feathersjs/feathers');
const configuration = require('@feathersjs/configuration');
const express = require('@feathersjs/express');
const socketio = require('@feathersjs/socketio');

const middleware = require('./middleware');
const services = require('./services');
const appHooks = require('./app.hooks');
const channels = require('./channels');

const authentication = require('./authentication');

const sequelize = require('./sequelize');

const app = express(feathers());

// Load app configuration
app.configure(configuration());
// Enable security, CORS, compression, favicon and body parsing
app.use(helmet({
  contentSecurityPolicy: false
}));
app.use(cors());
app.use(compress());
app.use(express.json({ limit: '10mb' }));
app.use(express.urlencoded({ limit: '10mb', extended: true }));
app.use(favicon(path.join(app.get('public'), 'favicon.ico')));
// Host the public folder
app.use('/', express.static(app.get('public')));

// Set up Plugins and providers
app.configure(express.rest());
app.configure(socketio());

app.configure(sequelize);

// Configure other middleware (see `middleware/index.js`)
app.configure(middleware);
app.configure(authentication);
// Set up our services (see `services/index.js`)
app.configure(services);
// Set up event channels (see channels.js)
app.configure(channels);

// Configure a middleware for 404s and the error handler
app.use(express.notFound());

app.use(require("morgan")("combined", { stream: logger.stream }));  //added here

app.hooks(appHooks);

module.exports = app;

Logger.js
const { createLogger, format, transports } = require('winston');

// Configure the Winston logger. For the complete documentation see https://github.com/winstonjs/winston
const logger = createLogger({
  // To see more detailed errors, change this to 'debug'
  level: 'info',
  format: format.combine(
    format.splat(),
    format.simple()
  ),
  transports: [
    new transports.Console(),
    new transports.File({ filename: 'log-file.log' })
  ],
  exitOnError: false
});

logger.stream = {
  write: function(message, encoding){
      logger.info(message);
  }
};

module.exports = logger

A: You're exporting a Morgan instance (which is a middleware function), not a Winston logger instance. Therefore, the object that you get from require('./logger') is not a Logger, and it doesn't have an .info() method.
You should export a logger instead, and wrap it in Morgan only for passing to app.use().


Yes, now is the time to buy accessories.
Much of the dealers cost is getting his installation crew and estimator out to the job. That cost has already been absorbed by the air conditioning system. Also, accessories add a lot of comfort at very little added cost since the major parts: fan system, supply ducts, return ducts registers, etc. are already in place.
There are 4 major accessories you can buy: Humidification, electronic air cleaning, UV light purification and zoning. Of all these, only zoning requires major modification to the equipment. However, zoning does give you the ability to have different temperatures maintained in different areas of the house and to change the temperature in one area of the house without affecting the other areas. However, there is a fairly substantial increase in the first cost.
Humidification is one of the least expensive added costs that also really adds to comfort. It is very inexpensive to run especially with an atomizing type humidifier. If you ever wake up with a dry scratchy throat, have dry skin, or get shocked by static electricity you need a humidifier.
Electronic air cleaning is the best way to clean the air up to 95% efficiency. Do not buy an electrostatic air cleaner. In our test, they really don't take out much dirt, and they have a high-pressure drop, which can damage the furnace or air conditioning unit. If you have allergies, electronic is the only way to go. Most other filters only filter about 30% of contaminates. Also, if you have allergies, you will probably want to add UV lights since they destroy mold, mildew and spores. The product we would recommend is Steril-Aire UVC lights. UV lights in combination with electronic air cleaners have done wonders for allergy sufferers.


text:
Q: Getting error while clicking on link I am binding url to my href tag dynamically using knockout's observable
 See this

I have declared observable as below
       this.URlPath = ko.observable("http://mysite/api/MyMethod&Param1=0000333&Param2=0000000002&Param3=0000000001");

When i click on link i get error
A potentially dangerous Request.Path value was detected from the client (&).
[HttpException (0x80004005): A potentially dangerous Request.Path value was detected from the client (&).]
System.Web.HttpRequest.ValidateInputIfRequiredByConfig() +9561124
System.Web.PipelineStepManager.ValidateHelper(HttpContext context) +53

I try to use below in web.config but didnt helped. I am using WebApi.
 <httpRuntime targetFramework="4.5"  requestPathInvalidCharacters="<,>,*,%,&,\,?"/>

I dont have any special characters as well but still i get this error. Can someone help me?
Update
Here is my method in webapi
[ActionName("MyMethod")]
[AcceptVerbsAttribute("GET", "POST")]
[HttpPost]
public HttpResponseMessage MyMethod(string Param1, string Param2, string Param3)
{
      //some logic
}

A: Your url is wrong it should be as below, you are using & after Action Name
this.URlPath = ko.observable("http://mysite/api/MyMethod?Param1=0000333&Param2=0000000002&Param3=0000000001");


text:
Valverde (Valvérd in dialetto oltrepadano) è una frazione geografica di 315 abitanti del comune di Colli Verdi, di cui costituisce un municipio. Si trova in provincia di Pavia in Lombardia.

Si trova nell'Oltrepò Pavese, nella zona di transizione tra la collina e la montagna, a cavallo tra le valli del Tidone e del Nizza (affluente della Staffora). Fino al 31 dicembre 2018 ha costituito un comune autonomo, che confinava con i comuni di Ruino, Val di Nizza, Varzi e Zavattarello.

Storia
Valverde, antico possesso dell'abbazia di San Colombano di Bobbio, compare come "Corte di Verde" (Virdi) nei possedimenti bobbiesi nella Carta di Wala, abate di Bobbio nell'833 assieme alla curia ed ai territori di S. Albano e Val di Nizza. Nel 1014, con la creazione della Diocesi di Bobbio, passa alle dipendenze del vescovo di Bobbio rimanendovi anche dopo l'occupazione di Piacenza con l'amministrazione prima piacentina e poi del conti Landi (1155-1351).
Concesso in enfiteusi ai Malaspina, già livellari del monastero e poi del vescovo di Bobbio, venne di fatto in seguito aggregato al loro marchesato, e nelle successive suddivisioni ereditarie della famiglia (a partire dal XIII secolo) rimase alla linea dello Spino Fiorito, e precisamente ai Malaspina di Oramala e Godiasco. Nella successiva suddivisione di questi in cinque linee, Valverde appartenne in prevalenza ai Malaspina di Monfalcone, che prendevano nome da un castello ormai scomparso che sorgeva tra Valverde e Sant'Albano (oggi frazione di Val di Nizza), detti poi anche Malaspina di Valverde. Il loro dominio si estendeva appunto su Valverde e Sant'Albano; ed erano, insieme agli altri rami, condomini della giurisdizione del Marchesato di Godiasco, cui Valverde apparteneva.

Unito con il Bobbiese al Regno di Sardegna nel 1743, in base al Trattato di Worms, entrò a far parte poi della Provincia di Bobbio. Nel 1801 il territorio è annesso alla Francia napoleonica fino al 1814. Nel 1848 come parte della provincia di Bobbio passò dalla Liguria al Piemonte, nel 1859 entrò a far parte nel Circondario di Bobbio della nuova provincia di Pavia e quindi della Lombardia, nel 1923, dopo lo smembramento del circondario di Bobbio, rimase assegnato alla Provincia di Pavia, a differenza del confinante Comune di Zavattarello, che passò alla provincia di Piacenza per ritornare alla provincia di Pavia nel 1926.

Nel 1929 il comune di Valverde venne unito a Zavattarello, che prese il nome di Zavattarello Valverde; fu quindi ricostituito nel 1956.

Nel 2018 è stata decisa tramite referendum la fusione, a decorrere dal primo gennaio 2019, con i comuni di Canevino e Ruino per dare vita al nuovo comune di Colli Verdi.

Dal 1º gennaio 2019 Valverde, insieme con Canevino e Ruino, confluì nel nuovo comune di Colli Verdi, nato dalla fusione dei comuni.

La nuova sede municipale è situata nella località di Pometo, già capoluogo dell'estinto comune di Ruino.

Simboli
Lo stemma del comune di Valverde era stato approvato con delibera della giunta comunale del 29 maggio 1998 e concesso con decreto del Presidente della Repubblica dell'8 gennaio 1999.

La lettera V richiamava il nome dell'antico castrum Viridis del quale rimane oggi solo un torrione rappresentato dalla figura dello stemma; lo spino fiorito è simbolo del ramo dei Malaspina detto "dello Spino Fiorito" che detenne la signoria sul territorio per oltre tre secoli.

Il gonfalone era costituito da un drappo partito di azzurro e di rosso.

Monumenti e luoghi d'interesse
 Parco del Castello di Verde

Architetture religiose
 Chiesa parrocchiale di Santo Stefano, l'attuale edificio in stile romanico-lombardo è databile al XII secolo, con rimaneggiamenti successivi. La parrocchia con il titolo di prevostura, venne eretta nel XIV secolo e dipende dal vicariato di Bobbio, Alta Val Trebbia, Aveto e Oltre Penice della Diocesi di Piacenza-Bobbio.
 Oratorio di Nostra Signora della Neve di Valverde, alle dipendenze della parrocchia di S. Stefano.
 Oratorio di Santa Maria di Castel Verde, citato in un documento del 1597 assieme al castello di Verde, dipende dalla parrocchia di S. Albano di Val di Nizza.
 Oratorio di San Rocco a Mandasco, citato sempre nel 1597, dipende dalla parrocchia di S. Albano di Val di Nizza.
 Oratorio della Beata Vergine di Caravaggio a Calghera, sorto al principio del 1800, dipende dalla parrocchia di S. Albano di Val di Nizza.

Architetture storiche militari
 Castello di Verde: nell'area della frazione di Valverde si trovano i ruderi del Castello di Verde, che costituiscono un suggestivo punto panoramico. Il castello è circondato da un parco contenente un Giardino delle farfalle, nel quale ogni anno si svolge la Festa di Verde.

Società

Evoluzione demografica

Amministrazione
La sede comunale era situata nella località Mombelli.

Comunità montane
Il comune di Valverde  era inquadrato nella fascia montana della Comunità montana Oltrepò Pavese.

Note

Voci correlate
 Val Tidone
 Valle Staffora

Altri progetti

Collegamenti esterni

Comuni della Lombardia soppressi
Colli Verdi

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


HIGH-QUALITY MATERIAL - The Elegant Fancy Design Standard Plastic Designer Party Mugs 12 oz are made of food grade high-quality plastic that is strong and durable. This plastic is BPA free and can be used for children's meals without fear. The quality material is long-lasting and these glasses will easily stand the test of time in your home.
UNBREAKABLE, EASY TO MAINTAIN - The BPA free plastic is unbreakable and extremely easy to maintain. People with children and pets at home will genuinely find this product useful owing to its beautiful design and long lasting qualities. Easy maintenance just got easier with the Elegant Fancy Design Standard Plastic Designer Party Mugs 12 oz.
MULTI-PURPOSE USE - The Elegant Fancy Design Standard Plastic Designer Party Mugs 12 oz are as multi-purpose as they come. Owing to their non-breakable and long-lasting qualities, they can be used at home for serving beverages. They are also great for using at parties, picnics and any sort of outdoor use with ease.
BEAUTIFUL DESIGN - The beautiful and colourful design and ergonomic build is suitable for all ages, especially children. The colours are fun, attractive and eye catching, making mealtimes so much more fun!
DISHWASHER AND MICROWAVE SAFE - The Elegant Fancy Design Standard Plastic Designer Party Mugs 12 oz are dishwasher and microwave safe. This enables the user to easily clean and maintain them over time. The microwave safe BPA free plastic helps to gently heat liquids in the large cups with minimal effort.


The 3Com CoreBuilder 9000 Enterprise Management Engine (EME) is an SNMP-based network management module that enables you to configure and manage the 3Com CoreBuilder 9000 7-slot chassis, 8-slot chassis, and 16-slot chassis, and their modules. Use EME module to manage the chassis through the EME command interface, which you access through the serial port or through SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol), to gain access to the Administration Console of switching modules, switch fabric modules, and interface modules and to gain access to the Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) Local Management Application (LMA) to manage cell-based ATM interface modules and ATM switch fabric modules. See the ATM Enterprise Switch documents on the CoreBuilder 9000 Documentation CD-ROM for more information.


What a bloody brilliant question.
What do you do when you're resting as an actor? And how do you balance all that free time you have now, post committing fully to taking on part-time work and freeing up some space to immerse yourself in actor land?
The first challenge that I see come up for actors time and time again is managing their time. When suddenly you have gone from being in a full-time or very busy part time role where your hours were determined weekly and you were absolutely drained when you got home (and feeling more like peeling a spud than sitting down to read monologues or practice your craft) to suddenly having about a billion hours spare that you can do ANYTHING with, the next challenge is how not to procrastinate these new found days away….
Get up at 8am full of fuel, ready for the day.
8.45am Grab a cheeky coffee (Nespresso, plunger, up the street if necessary, instant if desperate etc).
9.00am Commit to doing some actual work at your desk or in your lounge.
9.15am Realise you've been dragged into Twitterland. Far out. Focus. Back to emails.
10.00am You've deleted all your old emails and responded to that Hen's party request from Sally.
10.15am Definitely time for another cuppa.
11.00am You've managed to vacuum your room, dust, put a load of washing on and work out what to wear for your coffee meeting in 2 hours time.
I am telling you, in actor land, hours can disappear right before your eyes, on seemingly meaningful tasks, that bear little semblance to anything of actor career building value.
Focus is important. I promise you the number one thing that will let you down when you suddenly have spare time, is your lack of focus on the critical things that actually lead to you getting results, i.e. getting more auditions, booking more jobs, learning your lines for jobs you've booked.
In order to prove my point I would like to use this example. How long does it take to send a Casting Director (CD) email out?
You need to research the Casting Director – but chances are you've already done this as you know who is casting shows that you'd be great in. You know your stereotypes. You have that covered. Now you need to find their email – IMDb pro perhaps, a CD workshop you attended, Spotlight might have shown it on a casting, an acting friend might have it, The CDG website might show it. etc. You use your investigative powers and find it.
Then you bang out a very carefully considered email that is short, concise, demonstrates your relevance to what that CD is currently casting for, that includes links to your CV and a small jpeg version of your headshot, and boom, you are on your way.
How long did that take? Most likely 30 minutes to an hour. How ma ny hours do you have in a week? 168 hours (I'm a Math genius aren't I). 56 of those hours you may be sleeping, another 5 might be used up for exercise, another 10 might involve auditions if you're lucky, another 42 hours might be used for eating and drinks (that includes the irregularity of food sessions accounting for times where lunch/dinner takes 2 hours and breakfast might only take 5). You are left with a cool 55 hours so you could probably allow yourself to send 3 Casting Director or Agent letters or emails per week (a total of 3 hours spent max).
Coffee dates for 10 hours of your week with 5 of your fellow actors buddies is not a good allocation of time, even though we think it is. Of course, you're welcome to use some of the 42 allocated hours to eating. But when you start encroaching on the time that you could be home writing CD letters, working on monologues, going to drop in classes, getting accent practice, finding out about when the next Paines Plough auditions are on etc, you are self sabotaging your career. You are also not earning the money that you were earning before in your full time job (remember that job. The one you hated so much because it sucked all the creative life out of you).
Learn to be irreverent. Learn to ignore the rules. Learn to say no. And learn to say no to friends. Learn to say no to chores unless it's the right time of the day. Learn to manage your social media time.
It's your career that matters, and time waits for no woman.
What do I say to actors who ask what to do with their time when they're resting? I say, consult your goal planner for 2015 and see what you said you wanted to get done for the month of July. Have you done it yet? Then I guess you shouldn't really have that social time with Shirley till you do.


text:
Spy of Madame Pompadour (German: Marquis d'Eon, der Spion der Pompadour) is a 1928 German silent film directed by Karl Grune and starring Liane Haid, Fritz Kortner and Alfred Gerasch. It portrays the life of the eighteenth century figure Marquis d'Eon.

It was made at the Emelka Studios in Munich by Bavaria Film. The film's sets were designed by the art directors Ludwig Reiber and Willy Reiber.

Cast
 Liane Haid as Marquis d'Eon
 Fritz Kortner as Zar Paul von Rußland
 Alfred Gerasch as Louis XV - König von Frankreich
 Agnes Esterhazy as Madame Pompadour
 Mona Maris as Die Zarin
 Dene Morel as Lord Hatfield
 Karl Graumann as Prinz Conti
 Nikolai Malikoff as Der russische Gesandte
 Philipp Manning as Der Großfürst

References

Bibliography
 Klossner, Michael. The Europe of 1500-1815 on Film and Television: A Worldwide Filmography of Over 2550 Works, 1895 Through 2000. McFarland & Company, 2002.

External links

1928 films
German historical films
1920s historical films
Films set in France
Films set in the 18th century
Films of the Weimar Republic
Films directed by Karl Grune
German silent feature films
Cross-dressing in film
Bavaria Film films
Films shot at Bavaria Studios
German black-and-white films
Films scored by Leo Fall
1920s German films


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text:
Spoken Word: Danny's All-Star Joint
Spoken Word: Keep Talking
Spoken Word: Orange Coloured Daydreams
Spoken Word: Thela Hun Ginjeet
Spoken Word: Pictures from Life's Other Side
Spoken Word: Whitey On The Moon
Spoken Word: Linin' Track
Spoken Word : King Heroin
Spoken Word: The Ballad of the Kingsmen
Spoken Word: Language Is a Virus
Spoken Word: The Ballad of Jed Clampett
Spoken Word: The One That Got Away
Spoken Word: Hot Rod Lincoln
Spoken Word: Ransom Notes
Spoken Word: Jerusalem
Spoken Word: Valley Girl
Spoken Word: Ridin' on Down
Rickie Lee Jones: Danny's All-Star Joint
1979 was a fine year on the charts for what I like to call speak-singing. This is where the vocalist switches freely between speaking and singing in a line of a song, or even within a word of more than one syllable. Done well, it sounds completely natural, and gives a song a sense of realness that it might otherwise lack. It was done well in 1979 by Mark Knopfler in the Dire Straits hit Sultans of Swing. And when it was time for a follow-up single to Rickie Lee Jones' smash Chuck E.'s in Love, another fine example emerged in Danny's All-Star Joint. You hear the speak-singing in the verses, especially in the interplay between Cecil, the narrator, and the kid who winds up at the pinball machine. But then there is the bridge, and Rickie Lee Jones takes the speak-singing to another level entirely. There is little more in this section than Jones' voice and percussion. This makes perfect sense, because this section is based on jump-rope rhymes Jones was hearing at the time on the streets of Los Angeles. On the street, these would have been accompanied only by handclaps.
Posted by Darius at 4:06 PM View Comments
Labels: rickie lee jones, Spoken Word
Pink Floyd: Keep Talking
For millions of years mankind lived just like the animals.
Then something happened which unleashed the power of our imagination: We learned to talk.
Let's count the ways this song fits our theme by starting out with its (1) title, which exhorts us to Keep Talking, even though the lyrics declare the singer's inability to communicate (Why won't you talk to me?"). In fact, the theme of the entire album is (2) communication or the lack of it. The album title, The Division Bell, refers to the bell that's rung before a vote to summon members of the British Parliament, a place where (3) speechmaking is the major form of communication and where a vote solidifies into law by a verbal yes or no. Considering that Pink Floyd had undergone a very public fracture due to the (4) breakdown in communication between members David Gilmour and Roger Waters, who had left the band by 1994, there was much speculation that this song was heavily biographical.
One of the key features of this song is the (5) sampled electronic voice of physicist Stephen Hawking, who has relied on a speech synthesizer since the 80's. Gilmour, for his part, relies on a guitar talk box that merges vocal effects with his electric guitar notes, mimicking the sound of (6) human speech.
It doesn't have to be like this,
All we need to do is make sure we keep talking.
Posted by Geoviki at 3:11 PM View Comments
Labels: pink floyd, Spoken Word
Blown: Orange Coloured Daydreams
[purchase
The past is an interesting place. While it's undeniable that we are all the sum totals of our experiences, it's sometimes hard to apprehend exactly how this can be so. Equally, we can't escape nostalgia, especially when it comes to our childhoods. Even the worst of times can be tinted by a patina of magic, because looking back on innocence (for want of a less loaded word) with jaded adult eyes creates a sheen that is both inevitable and deeply desirable.
At the same time, the past can be almost impossible to understand. This song's protagonist looks dreams of an idyllic childhood in pre-revolutionary Iran with the adult knowledge that there was far more going on than he could have realised and that 'when you're young you never know that good things come and good things go,' but still retains the ability to return to a world that may never have existed simply by dreaming about it. The sun that lit his childhood is inside him – it may only ever have been – but at least that way the past need not remain out of reach.
An admission – this song represents my past. While my actual involvement in it was relatively small - a few lines added here, some structure imposed there - and the majority of the words are someone else's, it featured on my band's debut (and, as it turned out, only) album way back in 1994. All these years later, I realise that I feel the same way about that period of my life as Farhad (my bandmate, producer and friend to this day) felt when he sat down to write the poem that would become Orange Coloured Daydreams. For all the stress and heartache that I know intellectually was present back then, there is nonetheless something magical about that time that I like to revisit now and then. Even if those weren't the best days of my life, it's sometimes fun to imagine them that way.
Guest post by Houman
Labels: Blown, Spoken Word
King Crimson: Thela Hun Ginjeet
Just a quick second post before this theme is over. As a prog-rock fan in the late 70's, I was familiar with King Crimson, in general, but not with an enormous amount of their music. The band was rarely, if ever, heard on the radio in New York, and if it was, they probably played "21st Century Schizoid Man."
I have a very strong memory from 1980, when one of my tasks at WPRB was to go to the post office and pick up the mail, which included all of the records that the station was sent by the record labels. I remember walking toward the station and opening a package from WEA Music and seeing The Talking Heads' Remain in Light album. I had read about the record and put it on the turntable in our office as soon as I could. I was blown away by how revolutionary it sounded to my ears; the polyrhythms and odd sounds that made it seem like something completely new. Yet it was also still a Talking Heads album. Among other things, though, it featured a new guitar sound, provided by Adrian Belew, who I had never heard of. "Remain in Light" is still probably one of my Desert Island Discs.
The next year, the word started to filter out about a new King Crimson album that would feature Robert Fripp, who was a legend, Bill Bruford, my favorite drummer, Tony Levin, who I hadn't heard of, and Belew. When I first heard Discipline, I was again blown away. There were some similarities to Remain in Light—the rhythms, Belew's guitar playing, and his very David Byrne influenced vocals. It was a record that was liked by the prog-rockers and the new wavers, and by those of us who liked both. We played the crap out of that record, and I got to see them on campus in March, 1982 (and maybe also at Rutgers a month earlier, but I don't specifically recall.)
"Thela Hun Ginjeet" (an anagram for Heat in the Jungle), is a typically dense King Crimson song, with Fripp's and Belew's complex guitar playing over Bruford's busy drumming and Levin's solid bass (or Chapman Stick?). During the song, while the music continues, there is an extended recording of Belew telling a story about being confronted by dangerous people with guns during a walk around London. He returned to the studio and told the story, which was surreptitiously recorded and then added to the track. There is something so real and immediate about Belew's fear of being in a "dangerous place," and his relief when they finally leave him alone, that elevates the song.
Labels: king crimson, Spoken Word
Luke the Drifter (Hank Williams): Pictures from Life's Other Side
When Garth Brooks reinvented himself as rocker named Chris Gaines, many considered it more evidence that Brooks was cracking under the pressure of superstardom. But some theorized Brooks was reviving a long-abandoned practice by country music singers of assuming an alter ego to release off-beat material. For example, decades before Brooks/Gaines, Ferlin Husky cut novelty records as Simon Crum, Buck Owens rocked as Corky Jones and Hank Williams recorded recitations under the moniker Luke the Drifter.
Hank Williams began using the Luke pseudonym in 1950. Luke the Drifter records were often spoken-word homilies on the troubles of life and the rewards awaiting the pure of heart in heaven. In his definitive biography of Williams, Colin Escott describes Luke as "a wise and thoughtful soul, dispensing advice that the willful Hank Williams ignored."
MGM, for whom Williams recorded, pushed him to release these morality plays under an assumed name, so as not to diminish his standing as a raucous honky-tonker. Though Hank's secular records were hardly highfalutin, his releases as Luke are even more unvarnished, with scant instrumentation and Hank's thick rural accent on full display. Recorded in 1951, "Pictures from Life's Other Side" is the archetypal Luke record, with sorrow and southern drawl dripping from the record grooves.
The Luke the Drifter legacy continued long after Williams died on New Year's Day, 1953. MGM and its successor labels released Luke the Drifter sets on 78, EP, LP, tape, CD and MP3. Hank Williams Jr. kept the Luke brand going, releasing three albums as "Luke the Drifter Jr." in the late 1960s. Luke Jr. offered up the same mawkish recitations as his forerunner, starting with an awkwardly named hit single, "I Was With Red Foley the Night He Passed Away."
Bonus track: Not every Luke the Drifter song was dark. Here Hank/Luke dabbles in some good-natured Commie bashing in a track spoken to Josef Stalin, "No, No Joe."
Luke the Drifter: No, No Joe
Posted by Mt. Vernon Mike at 11:53 AM View Comments
Labels: Hank Williams, Spoken Word
Gil Scott-Heron: Whitey On The Moon
Gil Scott-Heron: H20Gate Blues
For many, the epic "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" represents something of an proto-rap, along with the works of the Watts Prophets and The Last Poets (and what was that point-missing woman at the Grammys babbling on about how to Gil Scott-Heron, the revolution will be televised?). Gil Scott-Heron issued a number of the spoken word proto-raps.
Of those, "Whitey On The Moon" is particularly apt now, some four decades after it was recorded, with Newt Gingrich half-wittedly undertaking to return people to the moon while simultaneously robbing the people who need it most of universal health coverage should the American voters stumble to the polls in so brown a haze of lunacy to actually elect that emissary from Acheron.
If "Whitey On The Moon" shows sharp wit, then "H2Ogate Blues" is a shark-toothed chainsaw massacre of barbed anger. The year is 1974, and America is still waiting for King Richard to finally depart. In a live performance set to a basic blues riff, Gil Scott-Heron raps about "that cesspool, Watergate", as sidekicks (one sort of pictures a nightvision-goggled hanger-on of Ludacris being among them, though that doubtless is the imagination seeing things through an early 21st century lense) voice their agreement and encouragement. Gil's scene-setting definition of the hues of the blues is worth the price of admission alone, but when he goes on to the politics, well, you can't put a price on that. The cast of characters – Halderman, Ehrlichman, Mitchell and Dean, if you dig what I mean – might have changed, but the concerns of 1974 find an echo in almost 40 years later.
"How long, America, before the consequences of keeping the school systems segregated, allowing the press to be intimidated, watching the price of everything soar and hearing complaints 'cause the rich want more? It seems that Macbeth, and not his lady, went mad. We've let him eliminate the whole middle class; the dollar's the only thing we can't inflate while the poor go on without a new minimum wage."
"H2Ogate Blues" appeared on 1974's excellent Winter In America album. In the liner notes, Scott-Heron takes aim at Nixon: "In the interest of national security, please help us carry out our constitutional duty to overthrow the king." He meant really the system. His message probably would be the same today – except Gil might prefer to retain this king in fear of the ghastly alternatives.
Posted by Any Major Dude at 3:39 PM View Comments
Labels: Gil Scott-Heron, Spoken Word
Taj Mahal: Linin' Track
Taj Mahal has been doin' his thang for many a year. His early recordings, back in the 60s, focused on the blues, when he turned out his formative albums like the Natch'l Blues and Recycling the Blues. Over the years, in addition to the blues, he's covered jazz and folk, reggae and African.
Like my main man Ry Cooder, he has researched and aimed to keep alive music of various traditions. He's a veritable scholar and ethnographer of music. In fact, musically, he's all over the place. The man has worked with the Rolling Stones, Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters, Ry Cooder, Eric Clapton, Doc Watson and Toumani Diabate (and if you haven't heard this Malian musician, you are missing some great sounds. Check out a free listen to Queen Bee with the two of them on the radio channel at (http://www.tajblues.com/.)
Not posessing the most musically "soaring" voice, Taj still packs a great deal of emotion into what he's he's been gifted with. His is a rasping kind of voice, well suited to the blues, but it's also the kind of voice that works well for telling a story (a la Tom Waits), and that is what this week's focus is all about: telling or speaking a song.
There are many spots of Linin' Track where Taj's voice trends more to the musical than the spoken. However, in other places, his vocals are very much spoken - or certainly not musically tonal. This is a song credited to Huddie Ledbetter, better known as Leadbelly.
Speaking of the blues and apropros of the economic woes many of us are living through, the lyrics of Linin' Track include the words: "talkin' 'bout the money I aint made" may ring true for a number of us. Or maybe, considering the Arab Spring (Israel, Egypt and environs), maybe you can relate to the lyrics: "Moses stood on the Red Sea shore, smotin' that water with a 2 by 4" ... are more to the point. The line continues, "if I could I surely would ...". A positive outlook for our times, me thinks.
Guest post by KKafa
Posted by Darius at 12:54 AM View Comments
Labels: Spoken Word, Taj Mahal
James Brown: King Heroin
The Godfather of Soul sets aside the funk for a few minutes to rap brother to brother and brother and sister about the evils of one of the most deadly killers in our country: heroin.
I can make a man forsake his country and flag
Make a girl sell her body for a five-dollar bag
Some think my adventure's a joy and a thrill
But I'll put a gun in your hand and make you kill
This lyrics are credited to Manny Rosen, who --according to Wikipedia--worked at The Stage Delicatessan on Manhattan's Seventh Avenue, and had lost his daughter to a drug overdose. But according to Jet Magazine, "Manny Rosen" is a pseudonym for impressionist George Kirby who had seen the insides of a prison after dealing heroin to an undercover cop in Las Vegas. Whatever the circumstances, the lyrics deliver a haunting message that, as a single, managed to hit the Top 40 in 1972.
Labels: james brown, Spoken Word
Todd Snider: The Ballad of the Kingsmen
There are a whole lot of spoken-word songs to choose from in Todd Snider's catalog. In fact, even when Snider sings, it kind of sounds like he's talking. Since Snider says it all -- literally -- in the lyrics of "The Ballad of the Kingsmen," there's no point going too deeply into its backstory. The song has appeared on two official albums by Snider, as well as on several bootlegs and scores of YouTube clips. Here's the original studio version, from 2005's East Nashville Skyline. And, here's what Snider had to say about the song in that album's liner notes:
I wanted to make the point that teaching kids to get as much as they can all week at public school and then sending them to some church on Sunday where some old guy goes on about how wrong it is to need so much stuff -- and then somehow when the kids act confused it's 'cause of Alice Cooper or somebody -- is silly. That's what I hope this song shows. That, and that I can memorize a lot of words.
Posted by Mt. Vernon Mike at 7:16 AM View Comments
Labels: Spoken Word, Todd Snider
Laurie Anderson: Language Is a Virus
What does this song mean? Laurie Anderson likes to string together words and phrases that we, the listeners, recognize as English. But she leaves what you might call "cognitive space". It falls to the listener to connect the dots and find a meaning, and what you take away from this one might be very different from my impression. Likewise, Anderson's music often suggests a musical genre with being quite of that genre. Language Is a Virus is the suggestion of funk, but it definitely cooks, whatever it is. This all sounds terribly abstract, and like a lot of work. Maybe it is, but Anderson's sly sense of humor makes it go down easy.
Labels: Laurie Anderson, Spoken Word
Bela Fleck and the Flecktones: The Ballad of Jed Clampett
The Flecktones use rhythmic spoken word as if it were a jazz instrument: a core albeit sparsely played component of the arsenal digi-percussionist Roy Wooten (aka Future Man, aka the guy in the pirate hat in the image above) lends to banjo-master Bela Fleck and company's experimental jamjazz fusion. Here, two layers of yawping, mischievous rap from Future Man and partner-in-crime Bobby McFerrin serve as a madcap, untrustworthy narrative voice hovering over the instrumental cliffs of insanity in a tribute to The Beverly Hillbillies that sounds like it was arranged by Frank Zappa. Bonus points for the Sam Bush mandolin runs.
Posted by boyhowdy at 6:45 PM View Comments
Labels: Bela Fleck, Flecktones, Spoken Word
Tom Waits: The One That Got Away
Billed primarily as a piano player, Tom Waits is also a poet who - in my opinion - rivals the likes of Dylan. Now, I don't know that you can call some of his work "song lyrics", but the definition of the word lyric is "having the form and musical quality of a song, and especially the character of a songlike outpouring of the poet's own thoughts and feelings" (dictionary.com). That fits the man and his work, for, in addition to his musical skills, a poet he is for sure.
Raspy and gritty, Waits' voice conveys the atmosphere of the smoky bar whence his music comes and where it best belongs. In the best tradition of the barroom piano player, Waits provides us with a glimpse of the seamier side of life that is a deep down part of all of us, but which most of us shy away from out of fear of the dark side.
His 1976 album Small Change is one of my favorite albums of all time. There are a number of pieces on this album where Waits talks us through this story, as opposed to singing a song. A number of the songs from the album have been included here before on StarMaker, by Darius and Boyhowdy: among others I Can't Wait To Get Off Work (Aug 31, 2008), Tom Traubert's Blues (Sept 15, 2010), and Step Right Up (Mar 27, 2011)
The One That Got Away and Pasties and a G-String both fit the bill for this week's theme. Line after line of the words should give pause: just what on earth does he mean? (for me, there are so many lines that carry some connotation, worthy of an extra minute's pondering):
half past the unlucky, the hawk's a front row seat
I've lost my car key, my equilibrium and my pride
Herewithin, one of them. I strongly recommend that you go out and purchase the whole album so that you can get the full sense of this, his best work.
Labels: Spoken Word, Tom Waits
Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen: Hot Rod Lincoln
What's the first spoken-word song that pops into your head? Easy: Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen's "Hot Rod Lincoln," from their album, Lost in the Ozone and a surprising top 10 hit in 1972. It has a lot of spoken words.
What's the first thing that pops into your head about "Hot Rod Lincoln"? It is truly amazing how eclectic pop music was in 1972 -- and how narrow it is now. "Hot Rod Lincoln" made it all the way to number 7 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart. Other artists with records in the top 40 from the same week that "Hot Rod Lincoln" peaked: The Staples Singers (#1!), Sammy Davis Jr., the Rolling Stones, Al Green, Todd Rundgren, Jimmy Castor, the Jackson 5, Creedence Clearwater Revival, Elton John, Aretha Franklin, Jackson Browne, Andy Williams, Cat Stevens, and the Military Band of the Royal Scots Dragon Guards. (Yep, their version of "Amazing Grace" made it to the top 20).
OK, what's the second thing that pops into your head? How much I love this song and everything about it. The great mile-a-minute recitation by Commander Cody himself (a/k/a George Frayne). Bill Kirchen's incredible guitar runs. The song's pedigree -- "Hot Rod Lincoln" began life as a straight-ahead hillbilly boogie and an "answer" record, a sequel to a similar song called "Hot Rod Race." (An excellent history of both songs is available in a Star Maker post from 2008.) That despite now being nearly forgotten by both rock and country fans, Commander Cody and the Lost Planet Airmen deserve a lion's share of the credit for introducing hard-core country to the hipsters. And the fact that, even today, when you see Bill Kirchen perform, you know when he gets to "Hot Rod Lincoln" in his set, the next 10 to 15 minutes are going to be pure overdrive.
Posted by Mt. Vernon Mike at 1:16 PM View Comments
Labels: commander cody, Spoken Word
Bruce Piephoff: Ransom Notes
Bruce Piephoff is a North Carolina bard with an affinity for both music and poetry. With college degrees in English and creative writing, his calling is clear. The indefatigable and prolific singer, songwriter, guitarist and harmonica player has released over 20 albums.
Bruce Piephoff also recognizes the value of music for therapy, a cure for nearly every ill. With melody, the songwriter brings his introspective poems and haunting truths to life. But, on occasion, he simply uses the spoken word to tell a sly story (such as "Hucksters") or to pay tribute to departed friends (in cuts such as "For Marvin" and "Ransom Notes"). These songs are heard on Bruce Piephoff's 2011 album called "Still Looking Up at the Stars," produced by guitarist and arranger Scott Sawyer who performs on all 17 album tracks.
With matter-of-fact delivery, personal observations, and a dash of wry humor, Piephoff cleverly relates the story of his bud, Billy Ransom Hobbs. Accompanied by understated moody sax, guitar, and brushes, "Ransom Notes" is an avant-garde spoken eulogy about a lovable, gentle soul and fellow musician (Billy Ransom Hobbs, aka Hobo Billy) who tragically passed about 2008.
Piephoff promises that the two will meet again "backstage" when he gets there. Besides being a poet and musician, Piephoff is an author. "Ransom Notes" first appeared in his second book of poetry, "Fiddlers and Middlers" released in 2009. Thanks to You Tube video of the song, we even get to see these guys hanging out in North Carolina in the early 1970s. There's Billy "the grassroots Buddah … in a black leather motorcycle jacket, jeans and long curly black hair."
What a fitting way to remember a good friend!
Guest Post by Joe Ross
Labels: Bruce Piephoff, Spoken Word
Dan Bern: Jerusalem
If I went to see Springsteen (and I haven't since college) and he didn't play "Born to Run," I'd be unhappy. When I saw Led Zeppelin in 1977, I would have been horrified if they didn't play "Stairway to Heaven." And I expect to hear "1952 Vincent Black Lightning" when I see Richard Thompson. A Dan Bern show, to me, is not complete without "Jerusalem."
Bern, a Jewish Midwestern singer songwriter with a nasal voice, has regularly been compared to Dylan, and he doesn't seem to shy from the comparison, considering the number of talking blues he has written in Dylan's style. Not to mention his hysterical "Talkin' Bob And Woody, Bruce And Dan Blues" which updates Dylan's "Song to Woody" (and which I thought about writing about, but decided to write about "Jerusalem" instead). Bern has long been a family favorite, with his songs that are funny, poignant and political. "Jerusalem" is one that has all of that.
As is common in Bern's songs, "Jerusalem" takes a meandering route. It starts off with its somewhat cynical theme—the singer has expressed his love to someone, but warns that his love should be accepted and not tested, because it may be that he doesn't really "love you all that much." The song abruptly turns to an admonition to people who want to know what music he is going to play, and those who want to pigeonhole him—"And if you must put me in a box, Make sure it's a big box," he sings. Then, out of nowhere, the song heads off into a strange place, with Bern talking about being asked to become an "ancient king", and works in a reference to Einstein's theory of time.
Bern then discusses how everyone seems to be waiting for the Messiah, and that he knows how hard it is to wait, illustrating the triviality of religion by equating waiting for salvation with waiting "for a bus or something; An important phone call," before announcing that, in fact, he is the Messiah. He tells us that he was going to wait to make this announcement, and build the suspense, but his therapist, Dr. Nusbaum, suggested that he would feel better if he got it out in the open.
So, why exactly is this song called "Jerusalem?" Because, the singer then tells us, he spent 10 days in Jerusalem, eating nothing but olives, but that it was OK because, "I like olives." He then segues into "I like you too" and a reprise of the initial warning about not testing his love. At shows, the audience sings along to this crazy song, which to me highlights a couple of Bern's regular themes—ambivalence about love and ambivalence about religion. And it is very funny.
Posted by Jordan Becker at 4:51 PM View Comments
Labels: Dan Bern, Spoken Word
Frank Zappa : Valley Girl
[purchase at the Galleria or here]
This 1982 song may be totally obvious to the max. I'm like, whatever! Frank Zappa—or more accurately, his 14-year-old daughter Moon Unit—started a Valspeak craze, where normally articulate Americans began to emulate the lingo of the San Fernando Valley of southern California. Fer shure! And you, too, can sound like a Valley Girl using this handy online translator. Seriously bitchin'!
Valley Girl was Zappa's only top 40 hit. Like, oh my God! I was all like, no way!
(The way cool photo up there is bitchin' J-rock superstar Yoshiki. Some fly dude or dudette came up with it when he bought a trippendicular home in Encino. Way!)
Labels: Frank Zappa, Moon Unit Zappa, Spoken Word
Big Bill Broonzy: Ridin' on Down
Talking blues is a style that is often associated with political songs, and with Woody Guthrie. Guthrie did indeed work with the form, and was one of the first to use it for political songs. But Guthrie was adapting an older style that was part of the blues tradition. Pre-Guthrie, these songs related humorous stories, or a series of humorous anecdotes. Ridin' on Down is a fine example. Each verse has a different story, and these may have been adapted from longer folktales that performers like Big Bill Broonzy would have expected his audiences to recognize. Broonzy was a fine blues artist in the way we usually think of the blues, and he probably used a song like this to provide comic relief from his more serious material.
Labels: Big Bill Broonzy, Spoken Word


What's more beautiful than to leave for a summer holiday away from stress and the heat of the plain or a beautiful skiing holiday in the winter with the whole family? And the ideal destination can only be Alta Badia!
South Tyrol has since always an attention reserved for its young guests! That is why the children here have fun and feel pampered and loved. There are many activities to do with your children: walks, trips to farms, trips by bike or exciting mountain bike excursions in the summer, skiing, ice skating, sled trips and fun descents with the sled in the winter.
Not to mention the always mysterious world of animals to be discovered in the animals park of Colfosco. The farms in Alta Badia host horses and poultry that certainly entertain your children. A program full of fun which occupy your children for many days is the fantastic offer "Summer for Kids" organized by the tourist offices. In return from a day among the many wonders of Alta Badia you will get a warm welcome and much attention at Hotel Ladinia where children are undoubtedly privileged guests. Just look at the smile of your children to realize that a holiday in Alta Badia was the most beautiful gift that you could gave them!