2018. Ephemera round table. with José Pacheco Pereira et al.
2017. Closing futureplaces with Secretary of State Fernanda Rollo.
2017. Performing with Steven Brown et al.
2015. Performing "Gravitas" with Anabela Duarte.
2015. Closing address at futureplaces edition 8.
2015. At the Augmented Aesthetics panel, PLUNC festival. With Sally-Jane Norman and Alex Rothera.
2015. Performing as "Before Surgery". Casa da Música, Porto, Portugal.
2015. Panel at SXSW EDU, Austin TX.
2014. Lecture at Polytechnic University Hong Kong.
2014. Concert at Passos Manuel, Porto.
2014. Crooning Through Chaos, closing concert for future places.
2013. Keynote lecture at Doctoral symposium, Óbidos.
2013. Performing with Bruce Geduldig at TAPE, Passos Manuel, Porto.
2013. 3 concerts at Passos Manuel, Porto.
2013: Personal Views lecture @ ESAD, curated by Andrew Howard.
2012: moderating for Manobras no Porto @ Rancho Douro Litoral (Yuga Hatta presenting).
2012. Setlist for Touch30 (UK).
2012. Keynote address @ futureplaces 5. UTAustin-Portugal (USA-PT).
2012. Lecturing @ engagelab. Guimarães 2012, European Capital of Culture (PT).
2012. Guesting for the launch of PLI design magazine.
2011. Autodigest presents Call to Prayer. @ Natal dos Experimentais (PT). Photo by Marc Behrens.
2011. Lecturing with Tuxedomoon's Peter Principle and Anselmo Canha. @ futureplaces (PT).
2011. Lecturing at South By South West. Austin, TX (USA).
2010. Showcase at Austin Museum of Digital Art.
2009. Autodigest presents Zombie Karaoke. @ Natal dos Experimentais (PT).
2009. Opening the KREV Consulate in Lisbon. Photo by José Frade.
2009. In concert with CM Von Hausswolff and MSCHarding. Teatro Maria Matos, Lisbon (PT).
2009. Outdoor banner for KREV Consulate Inauguration.
2009. Opening Address @ Stories of Art and Science. Nomadic'0910, University of Porto (PT).
2008. Autodigest ensemble at Casa da Música (PT).
2008. My panel at SXSW Interactive: with Jeff Ferrell, Hector Postigo, Peter Ludlow, Phil Harvey.
2007. Autodigest at Passos Manuel (PT).
2004. Performing as autodigest with Lol Coxhill, Alan Wilkinson and Rob Mills. London (UK).
2001. Flyer for Touch20 UK tour.
1987. Co-lead singer at "Os Senhores", Rock Rendez-Vous, Lisbon.


First up is deciding which is most important to your business right now.
If you need more people knowing about you (more 'eyeballs on your work' is the colloquialism), then traffic is the one to focus on. You may have spent a lot of time building a connection with your community but if your numbers are capped then traffic is the area to focus on.
Do you sometimes feel like you've got a split personality? Like the person you are at work is nothing like the person you are in the rest of your life?
This approach, whilst being incredibly common, also has a limited life span. It works well in the short term but eventually it's exhausting to maintain.
We commit so many hours of our lives to working that if we aren't being ourselves in that space we start to feel like we're losing our identity. We lose our spark and passion for life.
Questions about our semester 1 curriculum?
Our semester 1 class streams – Business Foundations and Feminine Leadership – close for registration in a few hours (scroll down to the clock to see exactly when) and as I've been receiving questions about each stream, I wanted to share my responses, just in case you've had the same queries.
Q: I'm kinda' busy right now, what's the time commitment involved?


text:
Knights' Defence Too Strong for Rabbitohs in Coffs Harbour Trial
Sun 17 Feb 2013, 12:09 AM
The South Sydney Rabbitohs could not breach a renewed Newcastle Knights defensive line often enough to take the win in tonight's Coffs Harbour trial match, with the Knights taking an 18-6 victory.
It was a very tight affair over the entire 80 minutes, the Knights scored three tries to one at a soggy BCU International Stadium.
It was a tight opening to the match, with both teams having opportunities to attack in the opposition's end, but it was the Knights who would score the only points of the first half through hooker Matt Hilder. Hilder dived over from dummy half and Kurt Gidley converted to take the scores to six-nil after ten minutes.
Rabbitohs fullback Greg Inglis was strong throughout the first quarter, returning the ball with gusto, putting his side on the front foot.
The second quarter was an arm wrestle, with the Knights' ill-discipline giving the Rabbitohs the upper hand on more than one occasion. Unfortunately the Rabbitohs could not cross the stripe and register any points, despite having a majority for the ball for the second stanza.
Willie Mason and Jeremy Smith were placed on report in the 32nd minute for a dangerous lifting tackle on Dave Tyrrell.
Kyle Turner stood tall for the Rabbitohs in the second quarter, pulling off a big tackle on Akuila Uate which rattled him in the 34th minute, and making some strong runs for good metres, but the Knights' first half defensive effort left them with a clean score sheet after 40 minutes.
The Knights wheeled out a completely fresh team for the third quarter, with the Rabbitohs also making a few changes. Centre Beau Champion took the field for the first time since returning to his home Club.
The Rabbitohs were working extremely hard, but for little reward. Michael Crocker and George Burgess were working very hard in both attack and defence, with Nathan Merritt pulling off a try saving tackle at fullback on former team mate David Fa'alogo.
The Knights would score their second try of the match in the 56th minute through halfback Tyrone Roberts, who scored a fortuitous four-pointer, picking up a loose grubber kick in the in-goal. Roberts converted his own try to take the score line to 12-nil.
The Rabbitohs mounted a late attacking raid in the 59th minute when young Dylan Walker made a huge break up the left hand fringe. Bryson Goodwin backed him up, but the next offload hit the deck to thwart the attacking opportunity.
The fourth quarter saw the Rabbitohs lift the tempo of the game, off the back of hooker Apisai Koroisau and five-eighth Luke Keary.
Four minutes into the final stanza, it was Koroirsau that posted the Rabbitohs' try, scooting out from dummy half to score from close range. The Rabbitohs' field position was set up big Tom Burgess who made a big break up the middle of the field in the initial plays of the set.
Adam Reynolds converted to take the score line to 12-6.
The Rabbitohs mounted another couple of attacking plays, one which saw young Dylan Walker, playing at centre, make a huge break through the right side defence of the Knights. Walker found Bryson Goodwin who could not make the last pass stick, trying to return the ball to Walker to score.
Goodwin would also go close again when he broked the line down the left again, with a desperate ankle tap bringing him down with open field in front of him.
Keary also went close when he took on the line on the last tackle of a set, only to be brought down centimetres short.
The Knights scored their final try in the last minute of the match, with Roberts on the end of a series of hot potato passes, catching the Rabbitohs short on the left. Peter Mata'utia converted to take the final score to 18-6 in favour of the Knights.
The Rabbitohs worked very hard in both attack and defence, but looked a little flat with ball in hand. Their defensive effort was strong, but there are areas which Head Coach Michael Maguire will want to work on before taking on the St George Illawarra Dragons in Friday night's Charity Shield.
Coach Maguire said after the match: "We've got a bit of work to do in areas of our game, but I had a number of combinations throughout that game as well which sort of disrupted a few things.
"But that's no excuse for the areas of our game where we can improve.
"They hung onto the ball much than what we did.
"We were in and out of the game and our completion rates didn't help us.
"The dropped ball helped Newcastle build a lot pressure, but I was just pleased that we got through without any injuries.
"That was our first hit out as trial with our senior players, so everyone got through healthy which is a real positive for us."
Captain Michael Crocker said: "It was very valuable. We're obviously working on a lot of different combinations but like 'Madgic' said, we were very rusty and didn't execute and play to our standards, so we're disappointed in that.
"Now we can look forward to the Charity Shield and to look back over this game and work on it."
Newcastle Knights 18 (Tyrone Roberts 2, Matt Hilder tries; Kurt Gidley, Tyrone Roberts, Peter Mata'utia goals)
South Sydney Rabbitohs 6 (Apisai Koroisau try; Adam Reynolds goal)
The Rabbitohs Holden Cup side have put in a brilliant defensive effort to restrict the Sharks to one try in their trial game at Erskineville Oval today.
The trial was played in three-25 minute periods, with plenty of players seeing action.
The Rabbitohs struck early through impressive fullback Will Paterson when he crashed over from close range in the opening minutes.
His try was cancelled out minutes later, neither side opting to attempt conversions.
Souths addded two more tries in the second period, the first of those a brilliant grubber by halfback Christian Hazard which was fielded by centre Tyrone Phillips.
Will Paterson soon had his second try when he beat his outside man from ten metres out and carried a couple of defenders over.
Joseph Nakhoul scored the only try of the third period when Brad Wall popped through a rolling ball and Nakhoul dived on it in the left hand corner.
The Rabbitohs' defence was particularly impressive with Cameron McInnes and Brad Croad getting through plenty of work in the middle and prop Daniel Smith proving he'll be a handful this season.
Rabbitohs 16 (Will Paterson 2, Tyrone Phillips, Joseph Nakhoul tries)
Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 4 (one try)
Presented By Menulog 9 hours ago

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


I tried a new job here in Aspen. I was a panhandler.
I made a cardboard sign saying "SURVIVED CANCER BUT LOST MY JOB," which happens to be true (albeit a little misleading) and put on an old pair of jeans and a work shirt.
Then I moseyed over to the police station. The police had no money for me, but did have advice. They advised me that panhandling in Aspen violates a city ordinance, and warned in that uber-polite Aspen police fashion that if anyone complains an officer will ask me to move on.
Sensing an opportunity for martyrdom, or at least victimhood, I asked, "Will you cuff me and throw me in jail?" That drew a smile. But still no money.
I started my new beat right in front of that icon of downtown Aspen, the Hotel Jerome. I figured that if I could provoke anyone into martyring me, it would be them. Sure enough, after a few minutes one of those bellhops in a cowboy costume came up to me.
"Ah ha, this is where they rough me up," I silently hoped.
But no. Instead, he rolled alongside me a wheeled wardrobe loaded with luggage, and walked away. I thought about grabbing an Armani bag from the wardrobe in order to ensure my martyrdom, but decided that stealing would be cheating.
Later, another person appeared. This one wore a suit.
He asked so nicely, I had to comply.
After an hour, I'd received a bounty of politeness, but nothing that City Market would take in exchange for food. I concluded that people on that corner have no money to spare after they've spent a grand for a room and dinner at the Jerome.
So I walked over to the gondola. I figured that people buying tickets for a summer ride might have a few bucks to help a cancer survivor. I was wrong.
On the way back, I walked past the Wells Fargo Bank with its ATM machine. One might think that with all that money flying about, some would wind up in my hands. Wrong again.
A friend moseyed by. His head did a 180 as he gaped at me, and he accidentally walked into a lamppost. When I looked his direction, he pretended not to see me. Then he scurried away.
And so it went. I groused that rich residents of the town that uses taxpayer money to subsidize million dollar houses for insiders making up to $186,000 a year had donated to a tattered, bald, cancer-surviving panhandler a total of $0.00.
Zero. Zip. Nada. And no martyrdom either. The most I could claim was to be a victim of benign neglect.
What would it take to get help? If I were bleeding, would they help? If I clutched my chest and fell to the ground, would they help? If I wore stripes with plaids, would they help?
Then outside of Carl's Pharmacy, a man handed me a bill. As I walked away, I saw it was a $100 bill. I turned around and handed it back to him.
I don't know if giving money to panhandlers makes their problems better or worse – more on that in another column. But today, I'm just a reporter.
Today's report is that, on a net basis, I wound up with no money. But I did come away with sound advice from the police, polite requests from a hotel trying to run a business, a startling act of generosity from a stranger and two divine blessings from people I'd never met.
Aspen has its problems. Even Aspen is not actually Paradise. But there just might be angels among us.


It's an important landmark for the entire web: Let's Encrypt has entered public beta offering free HTTPS certificates. Never has it been so easy for the developers and system admins to obtain an SSL certificate.
This guide has been tested on Debian v. 8.2 running Apache v. 2.4.
Google Cloud Platform is Google's response to highly popular Amazon's AWS platform. I decided to give it a go and see how easy it is to set up a fully fledged Virtual Machine using Compute Engine.
Google Cloud Platform is a premium service but it offers a free trial including $300 of credit to spend on all its services over 60 days.
AngularJS removes the boundaries a standard html website had and opens up a wide range of opportunities making it easier and faster to build dynamic web applications. Marrying it with WordPress and its REST API makes perfect sense whether you want to utilize existing contend within your application, dynamically pull data from various websites or build a dynamic AJAX-driven WordPress theme.
The purpose of this tutorial is to analyze the process behind requesting and importing WordPress posts. The same method could easily be used to retrieve a wider array of details such as comments, categories or users.
WordPress has just been updated to version 4.3. What does it mean for casual editors? At first you will notice further improvements to the front-end customizer. After a widget editor added in WP 3.9 and improved in version 4.0, now is time for a long awaited menu editor. You no longer have to restore to editing a menu in one browser tab and refreshing the front-end view in the other. All happens within a compact and easy-to-use user interface. You might find this feature particularly handy if you are editing multiple menus at once out if you want to tweak the word length to achieve the desired visual balance.
Next comes a welcome change to the text editor. Markdown shortcuts for adding lists and headings.
Insert "##" at the beginning of a new line to create a heading, use "-" to insert a list and ">" to start writing a quote.
Originally introduced in the Jetpack plugin this feature has been merged with the WordPress core now. You can upload a min. 512×512 px image via the Customizer and WordPress will take care of serving the right fav image to the browser or a mobile device.


text:
Applewood Wheat Ridge 38th Street Up For Change
Dated: March 9 2014
Valente's Italian Restaurant, a Wheat Ridge dining institution for four decades, is now home to Colorado Plus Brew Pub, which boasts 56 local craft brews on tap and serves picquillo peppers stuffed with merguez sausage and goat cheese.
Across the street and to the west, a formerly fire-damaged building hosts Compass Construction, a yoga studio and an acupuncturist.Nearby, Wheat Ridge Cyclery operates an airy and modern showroom complete with a repair shop, custom fitting area and warehouse.
Ron Kiefel took the risk of expanding the store his father started 40 years ago, in part because he believed in a comeback effort the city was undertaking."Businesses that invest and reinvest in themselves can thrive in this environment," he said. The same applies to communities, he adds.All the changes are part of a transformation taking place along West 38th Avenue, one civic leaders hope will allow Wheat Ridge to attract a new generation of residents and short-circuit the blight that older neighborhoods typically suffer before gentrification.
More than 30 new businesses have located on the corridor, which stretches from Sheridan Boulevard on the east to just west of Wadsworth Boulevard. Many were assisted by the city and a group called Wheat Ridge 2020, which stepped up their efforts two years ago in a program called Ridge at 38.
Sales-tax revenues in the district in the first quarter were up 15.1 percent from a year earlier, driven by energetic entrepreneurs such as Susannah Burley, who started a flower shop called Posey Girl."I had to follow my dream," said the Capitol Hill resident, who adds that she is looking to move to Wheat Ridge soon.Home prices in the area are rising, up 13.3 percent as of June 30, compared with a year earlier. New Town Builders and Urban Green Development are adding inventory to a housing stock that stopped growing decades ago.
Wheat Ridge Cyclery salesman Nick Sherburne, right, works with customer Jack Blumenthal at the shop on West 38th Avenue. (Andy Cross, The Denver Post)
"There is a lot of new life there. It does feel a little more young for us," said Sarah Paterson, a West Highland resident who this month will join a growing wave of transplants.Wanting to start a family but unable to afford a home in the northwest Denver neighborhood they enjoy, Sarah and her husband, Kyle, considered Lafayette and Louisville before settling on Wheat Ridge."We got a house for the low $300,000s that might have cost $550,000 in (Highland)," she said.
In a way, the Patersons aren't that different from earlier generations, many Italian-Americans, who left west Denver, lured by more affordable homes in Wheat Ridge, new Arvada and Lakewood.But unlike those who initially populated the ring suburbs, this generation wants the amenities that older urban neighborhoods offer — a modern vibe played in an old instrument."It is nicer to be able to walk somewhere, to go have a drink or a bite to eat," said Paterson, in her early 30s. "I want a place with local character, not an Applebee's."Eugene Khang, one of the owners of Colorado Plus, explains it this way. Old-timers will come in and ask for a Coors or Budweiser, but those watered-down brews won't fly with his generation and they aren't on tap.
Artist and instructor Alex Lisman puts the finishing touches on a student's pottery project at the Teller Street Gallery & Studios along West 38th Avenue. (Andy Cross, The Denver Post)
For years, Wheat Ridge seemed stuck in midcentury Americana as Arvada redeveloped its Olde Town and Golden its downtown and Denver's Highland area flourished. Even Lakewood transformed a run-down shopping mall into Belmar, a mixed-use zone with older urban sensibilities.Facing a diminished sales-tax base that was putting the city on a downward spiral, officials and business leaders adopted a neighborhood-revitalization strategy in 2005.
An initial focus was on rehabilitating the older housing stock, which was contributing to a high concentration of rentals, said Britta Fisher, the group's executive director.Over time, the emphasis shifted to boosting the sense of community and creating an environment that would appeal to younger residents, one reason for the focus on 38th Avenue."We need to create our own identity, and you need a reason for people to want to get here," said Steve Art, the city's economic development and urban renewal manager.Trying to create an extension of Highland or replicating strategies used in older neighborhoods that developed before the car became dominant won't work, he said.Much of Wheat Ridge's development occurred under more lax county guidelines — the city didn't incorporate until 1969.
That explains blocks without sidewalks and storm sewers and an independent streak that made it more difficult to adapt to change."You have a multigeneration neighborhood trying to figure out where it is going," said Zachary Urban, a candidate for City Council.Urban said the complaint he hears most is about the "road diet" that has taken 38th Avenue from five lanes down to three and shaved 10 miles per hour off the average speed."We need a compromise — maybe it is four lanes," he said regarding the city's main east-west artery.
Fisher argues that the slower speeds are necessary to create a "main street" environment and for pedestrian and bike traffic to have a chance of taking hold.Another concern Urban has is that the 10-block area is more stretched out than other districts, including even the 16th Street Mall. A more concentrated effort would better serve the city than a diluted one that fails, he argues."We are not playing with a whole lot here, and we don't have millions to try again," he said. "We are short on cash and time."But if Wheat Ridge gets it right, the city could offer a redevelopment model for the aging and car-centric suburbs that ring an increasingly expensive Denver.
Michael Steffen Denver, Colorado Realtor-
Michael is a motivated realtor specializing with investors and new home buyers located in the following areas;Denver, Arvada Aurora Bennett Byers Castle Pines Castle Rock Centennial Cherry Hills Village Columbine Valley Deer Trail Denver Elbert Englewood Franktown Greenwood Village Highlands Ranch Larkspur Littleton Lone Tree Parker Sedalia Sheridan Strasburg Watkins, Wheat Ridge, Lakewood, Castle Rock, Thornton, Westminster, Evergreen, Golden. Michael Steffen uses advanced internet marketing to insure your property gets maximum exposure and holds a high value of ethics in his work to ensure the ideal scenario for everyone!


text:
Your One Stop Procrastination Shop
Read Jenny's Books
Jealous Hater Book Club
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Jealous Haters Book Club: Apolonia, Chapter 20
When last we met, Hamech had arrived and was blasting the college all to hell. Dr. Z had just headed directly into danger and probably died (the way he should have long ago, when the Hero's Journey demanded it), and everyone is in the big government warehouse.
There were only two things left to do, and I had no idea how to accomplish either of them. Hamech's ship was moving slowly, but it was headed straight for the warehouse. We still weren't sure where the specimen was, if Tennison had reactivated the parasites, or if Brahmberger was being held captive somewhere inside the facility.
That's three things, and none of them are things they have to do. They're just things that are happening.
Benji needs to find his papa:
"Frank Reynolds!" he screamed.
A scientist type guy grabs Benji. They know each other.
Sebastian shook his head, pushing his broken glasses up the bridge of his nose. "I haven't seen him since we were forced here. Rendlesham said you betrayed us, but Frank didn't believe it. None of us believed it. And we were right. You did it. You brought us the girl."
Benji asks about the rock.
"The rock still hasn't shown activity, but the girl," he said, glancing at me, "knowing her past resilience, we believe she could stimulate them. Before, they had reacted immediately to the aliens. In theory, they're more attracted to an extraordinarily strong host." He stood up tall, clearly proud of Benji. "We've just been waiting for you to complete the objective, sir."
It's a good thing Benji already admitted to Rory that he was involved in the Majestic, otherwise this would give her a reason to distrust him.
All the breath left my lungs. Cy was right. Benji wasn't just a college kid who happened to be going to the right college at the right time. He wan't just watching over me for his father. Benji was one of the twelve. He was Majestic.
Look, there are only so many times you can pull the big, dramatic reveal. We have passed that point. It's become an endless cycle of Rory having her suspicions confirmed, Benji declaring his undying love, Rory being sure she can trust him, Rory having her suspicions confirmed, Benji declaring his undying love, Rory being sure she can trust him, Rory having her suspicions confirmed…
You get where I'm going with that.
At this point all this, "Oh, the betrayal!" nonsense is doing is making Rory look stupid. Not for trusting Benji, but for not realizing that if all of the stuff that has happened was a plan to get her to the Majestic, it was unnecessarily convoluted.
All of the things he proved capable of since the radio station weren't learned just from his father. He was a soldier, and Ellie was right. I was his target and he had achieved his objective–to bring me to the warehouse.
Then why didn't he just hand you over to Rendlesham at the ship? Why not let the soldiers who'd come after them at the radio station take you? If the plan was to get you to the warehouse, he's had ample opportunity to do so without going on this days long caper.
Now that I'm thinking about it, I wish he would have just handed her over.
Sebastian asks Benji to help them escape:
Benji frowned and then walked over to the tall fence that surrounded the courtyard. He stood back, aimed, and shot at the large chain wrapped around the gate.
Wait, these are the government's most brilliant scientists or whatever, and they couldn't figure out how to get through a fence?
Rory tries to run away from Benji:
"Rory, stop!"
Before Benji could say another word, I maneuvered myself out of his grasp and elbowed him in the stomach. He folded in half, and then I grabbed the top of his sweatshirt and yanked him to the ground, stepping on the back of his neck with one foot and on the wrist that held Bryn's gun with the other.
"Please just listen!" Benji begged, his words garbled from his face being smashed against the iron catwalk. He pressed against the sole of my boot until he could look up at me. "I love you. That changed everything."
We know! We already know because this has happened like twenty times already! If this is where the big reveal was going to happen, it needed to be here! Not forty times per chapter every chapter since chapter twelve!
He'd lied to me before. He was probably lying now.
Of course he is. He got you to the warehouse, and instead of letting his sister take you to the science goons, he called her a bitch and threatened her with violence. His sister. But you're right, nothing he's done up until this point could possibly mean he's in any way on your side.
"Don't be stupid, Benji. Stand up slowly. It would be a shame to kill you with your sister's gun."
In case you were wondering, you're supposed to be feeling betrayed and heartbroken on Rory's behalf. Your heart should be pounding with excitement and rage at this sudden, shocking twist. The only reason that it isn't is that you've seen this entire scenario play out already like eighty times.
Rory takes Benji back to the others, where Apolonia asks if Benji has been infected with the parasite.
"I heard him," I said, my voice breaking. "He's Majestic. He lied to us. He was bringing me here to be a test subject, to infect me with the parasite."
Bryn laughed once without humor. Her eyes were red, blotchy, and moist. She was sitting on the floor, tethered to a desk with a phone cord. "You're not on anyone's side, are you?" she said to her brother.
So, here we have a member of this operation saying that he's not on their side, but that and all the other stuff he's done to fuck up the Majestic's plan doesn't prove anything.
Rory tells the rest of them that Hamech's ship is headed toward the warehouse. Tsavi suggests they get to the roof.
"The specimen is being held between here and the only roof access. Soldiers will be there, guarding it," Benji said.
You know, Benji. The one who betrayed them and shit. That Benji. Is telling them where the specimen is. That guy.
Bryn watched her brother, incredulous and sad. She held her bound hands in front of her, resting her elbows on her knees. Placing her cheek against her wrists, she shook her head. "You're killing us all over a misfit girl who thinks you're a lying piece of shit."
So, Bry, Benji's sister, who knew he was bringing Rory in when we met her in the last chapter, believes that her brother has betrayed the Majestic. Isn't that kind of, I don't know, proof or something that he might actually be on Rory's side?
Her words stung. I knew she believed them, but that just meant she wasn't in on Benji's plan.
Which plan? The plan where he did everything he could–including killing soldiers who were on his side–to help you escape the Majestic? Also, at no point was it Benji's plan to go to the warehouse. That was your plan, Rory. You were the one who suggested it.
"Rory, go with Apolonia and Tsavi. Show them the way to the roof. I'll keep working on communications," Cy said. "Try not to kill anyone," he said to Apolonia.
Why, has she reached her quota? Is she on overtime now? Is she getting paid double-time-and-a-half because it's a holiday or something?
Apolonia uses a contraction in a sentence, and Rory tells her she sounds "normal", because apparently people who don't speak English natively and therefore struggle with contractions aren't normal.
"Don't send her up there, Cyrus," Benji warned.
Cy didn't look at Benji but back at the control panel. "Quiet."
"You're going to get her killed," Benji said, yanking on the cords. "Keep her here with you. Let the warrior princess and her BFF go upstairs to flag down the fire king. They don't need Rory's help."
This definitely sounds like a guy who wants to hand Rory over to the Majestic. Just listen to the way he's all, "Don't let her go up there," and "you're going to get her killed."
Benji looked at me, determined. "Don't go, Rory. There are soldiers up there. You'll be walking into a trap."
I mean, he's even telling her that if she goes, they're going to get her. What kind of evil monster does that? He's clearly not on her side at all.
"There are worse things than soldiers, Rory. Please. Don't. Go." A deep line formed between his brows. His wrists were white, the skin straining against the cord. He was leaning toward me, desperate.
"I don't believe a damn word you say." I tucked Bryn's 9mm into the back of Cy's jeans. "Shoot him in the kneecap if he tries to escape."
Rory already knows that the scientists want to use her to activate the parasites that will destroy the entire Earth. He's telling her not to go up to where the soldiers are guarding the rock. What could possibly be the purpose of that, in his "plan" that has thus far has only involved ferrying Rory around to places she or Cy or Apolonia have decided to go?
Rory, Tsavi, and Apolonia head off any way.
I peered around the corner. Jesus, Benji was right. We had walked into a hive. There were twice as many soldiers guarding the rock as there were in the courtyard.
Oh, so Benji told you the truth? He tried to keep you from getting to the place he was was supposed to bring you? Wow, it's almost like he's on your side. (Also, underlines are italics in the original text)
Apolonia nodded to an elevator shaft. "There is roof access."
I shook my head. "I don't do elevators."
This is pretty much NOT THE TIME TO COMPLICATE SHIT WITH YOUR ISSUES, RORY.
I peeked around the corner, in the direction of the soldiers. A room beyond the armed men was quarantined off by some type of clear plastic tarp, thin enough to see through.
A clear plastic tarp, thin enough to see through. Glad you gave us such a detailed description there, Rory. I didn't realize you could see through shit that was clear. I would have been super confused. Also, I think the word the author was looking for was "cordoned" not "quarantined". You don't quarantine something off. You just quarantine it. The separation is implied.
There were people definitely lying on the tables, but they weren't scientists. They were people of all ages, including young children. One table was empty. Mine.
A blast rocked the facility, which only make the scientists work faster. The soldiers seemed to be nervous and antsy, but they remained at their post.
"Apolonia, there are children in there. I think the scientists are baiting the parasites with them. We have to get in there."
A myriad of emotions scrolled across Apolonia's face. Most times, she seemed heartless, but the thought of children inside clearly affected her. She nodded. "I will get you in, but if I go against Cyrus's wishes by killing one or all of them, I will tell him you're to blame."
"Fair enough," I said, positioning myself behind the lethal, beautiful being I was actually beginning to like.
Now there is a shocking twist. Rory, actually liking another woman? A woman whom she considers her romantic rival? I need to put this book down before I faint.
Tsavi reminds them that the ship is going to be there to blow the facility up any minute.
I was surprised she wasn't okay with the new plan. Tsavi was usually the more compassionate one, but she was clearly afraid. She had seen what those parasites were capable of and didn't want to be anywhere near them.
Well, Rory, you probably shouldn't be anywhere near them, either. What with the whole thing where the scientist said that the parasites would wake up when they were exposed to you.
Apolonia and Tsavi take out most of the guards non-lethally, and then the three women all stand around congratulating each other.
In unison, we all responded to movement on the floor, but too late. A rifle was already raised, and a spray of bullets pierced through Tsavi's torso. She cried out as Apolonia quickly removed the soldier's head.
Tsavi is in bad shape, so she tells Apolonia to get Hamech's attention. Then they can take Tsavi to the ship's infirmary. But Tsavi dies first.
I stood, glaring back at the scientists in hazmat suits staring back at me, and then pushed through the plastic tarp.
Wait, so these scientists are just standing around watching all this happening? They see two alien killing machines taking everyone out, they just saw a guy get his head cut off, but they didn't run away?
Rory tries to revive Rory, but a scientist comes up and says the alien is obviously dead. All of the subjects on the tables have tubes draining their blood.
The boy had an open laceration in the same spot, and plastic tubing guided his blood to the rock.
How's this working? Is the blood just spurting all over the rock? It's a rock, it's not like you can give it an IV and do a transfusion.
"You're baiting the parasites?" I said, so angry I was shaking. "With children?"
How do the scientists know about the parasites? They didn't have the rock until a few days ago. After months of research, Dr. Zorba didn't even know about the parasites. And if they know what the parasites are, why would they want to wake them up? I suppose if this is a government organization they plan to weaponize the parasites somehow, but it doesn't make sense, because once they're released, they'll eat everyone, not just enemies of the U.S.
The ginger smiled with approval. "Rory, nice to finally meet you."
"Who are you?" I said, even angrier that he knew my name.
He chuckled. "I'm a little hurt you don't recognize me. Either you're not paying attention in class, or Byron Zorba is more jealous than I thought and doesn't teach his students about the most esteemed biomedical engineer of all time."
Because it is the famed Dr. Tennison, who was responsible for getting the rock into Zorba's hands, if I remember correctly. If don't remember correctly, who gives a fuck, because this is the second to last chapter and we're almost done. Let's just get through this so we can pretend it never happened to us.
I grabbed a scalpel and lunged at Tennison, but a strong, thick hand grabbed my wrist.
"Easy now!" the man laughed.
I pulled away. It was Rendlesham, still wearing his ridiculous crocodile boots.
If you follow my Buffy recaps, you know that I've pointed out places where Buffy's strength and skill seems to wax and wane dependent on the plot. This is exactly what's happening here. We've seen Rory react with inhuman reflex in situations where she's called upon to defend herself. But all it takes here is Rendlesham grabbing her wrist. She doesn't flip him over or use the scalpel to stab him, the way she would have if he were a random dispensable character.
"Don't be stupid, girl. You're outnumbered and alone. We don't want to hurt you," Rendlesham said, forcing me to drop the scalpel.
Rory pulled away. How did he force her to drop the scalpel? Also, he doesn't want to hurt her? When people say that, it's definitely because they want to hurt you.
Rory tells them that Hammech is going to destroy the warehouse, so everything they're doing is just going to get blown to bits, anyway and all of the data will be lost. I'm glad the data got brought up again. We haven't talked about entering numbers or data in a long time.
"We know he's here for her," Tennison said, looking up. "She's already gone to stop him. We've already seen signs of life in the specimen. By the time they come to get it–"
"It'll already be too late?" I said.
"For them or for us?"
"Them, of course."
I'm confused. Are they waking up the parasite specifically so they can kill these aliens? And if they are aware of the existence of the aliens who have basically fostered every single advance made by the ancient world, why would the government want to wipe them out? Why not work together and share technology, which the aliens are more than willing to do, and have been doing for centuries?
This is the second to last chapter in the book, and we still have no clear motivations for the villains.
Another scientist is revealed to be the missing Dr. Brahmberger, who is now in league with the Majestic. Rory tells him about the planets the parasites have destroyed.
"Your curiosity is going to result in the same end," I said, looking to Brahmberger. "Do you want to be responsible for helping that thing eradicate our existence?"
"If it means I finally get the notoriety I deserve, I can live with that," Tennison said, situating the girl's arm closer to the rock.
The girl being referred to is, I assume, one of the people on the tables. It's not clear. Also not clear is how Tennison thinks he's going to be famous when every single member of the human race is dead, but okay, at least we have some motivation, I guess?
Without missing a beat, I grabbed a pen out of his pocket and stabbed him in the eye.
This is exactly what I'm talking about. Rory couldn't have had a page long conversation with the scientists if she'd fought against them in the first place. We needed something other than, "This scientist made me drop my only weapon" to make us believe that Rory had no chance to kill the bad guys when she's been able to disarm trained soldiers and stuff before.
Rendlesham started to grab for me, but a gun cocked, and all movement stopped.
Benji was on the other side of the barrel.
Benji freed himself from the phone cord they'd tied him up with. Cy realized Benji was actually on their side (like we always knew all along, because you can see the strings when you're watching False Tension Marionette Theatre).
The building shook again, this time more violently, nearly throwing us all to the floor. Benji grabbed for me and kept me from falling headfirst into one of the tables.
I pulled away from his grip.
"Rory," he whispered, his eyebrows pulled together.
Since Cy–who never trusted Benji–now inexplicably trusts Benji, Rory can't trust Benji. I feel like the author is the only one who's really invested in keeping this love triangle alive. I know that as a reader, I want it to be over.
So, Benji sees that his dad is hooked up to the rock, too, and he and Bryn go nuts.
Bryn rounded the corner and rushed to her dad's table, her wrists still bound together. "Daddy?" she shrieked. "What did you do?" she screamed at Brahmberger.
He began to cry and backed away, sitting on a nearby stood. "What I thought…what I thought was right in the name of science."
You endangered the life of a high ranking CIA agent in a secret twelve-man organization for science? Why not use one of the soldiers? Anybody who's expendable?
So, a bunch of stuff happens at this point that I can kind of sum up for you. Brahmberger uses a drug to reverse the coma that Daddy Reynolds is in. Rory cuts Bryn's hands free. Bryn escapes with her dad, but they can't move the other test subjects because they're all in comas, too, and apparently this can't be reversed by the drug they used on Daddy Reynolds. Brahmberger says he's staying with the patients and going down with the ship, basically, and Rendlesham tries to escape, but Benji kneecaps him with the 9 mil. And out of nowhere, Tsavi, who was dead, starts to wake up.
When Cy had rested her back on the table, her arm had fallen onto the table the rock was perched on.
Thick red mucus was draining from the pores in the rock. At first, the substance appeared to be snaking up Tsavi's arm and entering her wounds, but when I looked closer, I could see it was not the mucus moving, but small creatures inside the red trail. They were slug-like in texture and appearance, each one about as big as a human thumb.
Tennison gets around to pulling the pen out of his eye, and tells Brahmberger to get a sample.
"This is it," Tennison said, his hand hover over Tsavi. "What we've been working toward for three years, Brahmberger."
Okay, so now we have some kind of timeline of events. Let me see if I have this straight:
Tennison or Brahmberger or whoever find the rock.
They use Dr. Zorba to smuggle it out of Antarctica or whatever.
Dr. Zorba did a bunch of research on it.
Rory's dad was involved somehow, getting his whole family killed,
Except for Rory, who may or may not be immortal.
The Majestic sent Benji and Ellie to keep an eye on Rory because they planned to use her impossible strength and/or immortality to reactivate the parasite.
The aliens send Cy to keep tabs on the rock and keep the parasites from waking up.
And that's where we come into the story.
I guess my biggest question here is…why didn't Tennison or Brahmberger or whoever just keep the goddamn rock in the first place?
So then this happens:
Brahmberger screamed, dropped the petri dish, and backed away as Tsavi rose from the table, her head, shoulders, and wrists twitching.
Then, the young boy began to twitch…and scream. Now that the parasites had found a familiar host, they were trying to embed themselves in the others. The humans.
So, the parasites are spreading, and they have to run. They have to get up to the roof before what's happening to all the other people happens to them. But the stairway is blocked, and they have to take the elevator. Which Rory won't do because:
"My parents were murdered, Benji. The men who killed them–they worked for Majestic. They got on the hotel elevator with us. They held a gun to my head and forced my parents to lead them to our room where they raped my best friend and tortured us before leaving us all to die. I haven't been in an elevator since."
The problem is that Tsavi shows up, all twitchy and dripping parasite goo, so Rory doesn't have a choice. She doesn't get on the elevator willingly, though. She just falls inside and Benji hits the button.
Okay, I get it. She has this thing about elevators because of her family getting murdered. But this is literally life or death. I get that phobias aren't rational, but she's be fine rushing headlong into the warehouse where the Majestic–the people who did all the stuff to her family–had tons and tons of men with guns at their disposal. She's done this not once, but twice. Her inability to get into the elevator takes a big chunk out of all the growth she's shown so far.
They get to the roof, where Cy and Apolonia are trying to activate some kind of energy source to signal Hamech.
An explosion set ablaze the field jut one mile to the east. I could feel the heat against my face. My hair blew into my eyes from the firestorm raging just a mile away.
Again, the distances in this book make no sense. Either the college is much further away from the warehouse than it originally seemed–making it unlikely that they saw the college get destroyed–or Hamech's ship is incredibly slow.
They can't get the energy source to work, so basically they're all going to die.
"Will Hamech stop once he destroys the warehouse?" Benji asked. "Because if Hamech is going to to destroy Earth anyway, instead of just waiting here to die, we should all get a fighting chance."
Uh, I think you got that backwards, Benji. If Hamech wasn't going to destroy the Earth, then it would make sense to try for a fighting chance. If he's going to destroy the Earth, why does it matter where you die?
Cy tells them that once Hamech destroys the warehouse and the parasites, he'll leave.
Benji tensed and then held out his hand for mine. I took it, both of us staring up, waiting for our impending death.
Before when they needed to escape the warehouse, Benji and Cy jumped off the roof and made a run for it. It didn't kill them then. Why can't they do that now?
Oh, because this book is incredibly inconsistent.
But don't worry, we still have time for Rory to critique Apolonia's appearance:
Apolonia's long hair blew in the wind, dull and dirty, like her skin and clothes.
Cy and Apolonia embrace, and he tells her that this isn't the end, they'll see each other again, presumably in the afterlife.
So, I was wrong when I said this was the second to last chapter. It's actually the third to last chapter, but the next two are so short, I'll just throw them into one recap. Then I can move on with my life, and we can forget this whole thing ever happened.
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mydogspa
Isn't it amazing how an alien species is so advanced and powerful they can harness vast energies to travel faster than light, but when they get to their destination it takes so long to destroy a planet? Very convenient for our heroes.
It's like when aliens have space battles and they all leave their exterior ship lights on so the enemy can target them easily. And don't forget the part where they all show up at the battle right-side up for both combatants.
Gaah.
|Reply
Vivacia K Ahwen
mydogspa: I am still recovering from *SIGNS*, which must've come out, like, 15 years ago. Remember that the super-smart-hi-tech aliens decided to take over a planet made of 71% water? When they're allergic (???) to water? That movie.
Saw this posted and was happy for the first time this week. Had to post even before reading it. Damn I've now stopped just lurking here…
Xebi
Hee hee, I think you're someone I introduced to this blog. If I say the way we met can be summarised by the word "beer" then you'll know who I am…
Oh, dear. My first thought when I saw this in my in-box was, "Isn't this awful book DONE yet?" I can't believe you manage to keep reading this, Jenny!
I still have very little idea of what's actually going on.
Rene Steenkamp
TellCosy
Yeah, for real, I have NO IDEA what's going on in this book. Even with your commentary, Jenny, I couldn't keep up. It just seemed like there was a lot of things happening that…already happened? I just–
Also, seriously, Rory, you'd rather die than go on the elevator? Seriously that's where we're going with this in the middle of the end battle when everything is getting blown up and dead aliens are coming back to life and hunting you down and HNNNNGH
I know this book makes no sense so it hardly matters but if Rory's the one who "activates" the rock – shouldn't she have "activated" it during the zillions of hours she was poking at it in the lab??
This book hurts my brain. Jenny, you are a true hero for doing this recap.
bewalsh7
You bring up a freaking good point. If contact/being near the rock was all that was needed for the parasites to become active, they should've been activated a long time ago when Rory was "studying" it. As far as I can remember, the rock wasn't being kept in any special conditions that would have prevented that, right?
I wish that had happened. Then they would have killed Rory and we wouldn't have to read this book!
Apparently she didn't know what it was then. She was just doing the measurements Dr Z told her to take or something. Apart from that, NOTHING here makes sense. Having read a lot of Jenny's recaps before, I know for certain that she's more than capable of following a story in a way that makes sense for readers. So it must be this stupid book. Was the author high when she planned the plot out, or has she just made it up as she goes along?
Now I'm just picking at minor stuff, but it made me laugh when Mr Notorious Scientist suggested Dr Z didn't teach about him just because Rory didn't recognise him. Since when have teachers shown pictures of every scientist they teach about? I wouldn't recognise half of my scientist heroes from photos.
Also, it really annoys me how the characters seem to just sit around on standby until it's their turn to be on-screen. WTF is it with that dude waiting until we're looking at him again before he pulls the pen out of his damn eye?
Oh, I'm not blaming Jenny. I followed the 50 recaps fine before I finally "read" the books myself. And as badly written as they are, at least the story made some kind of sense.
This is definitely author error.
Also, eye stuff is one of the things that I can't handle AT ALL. Just ew. And the way it's written here, like she stabbed him in the arm or something, so casual and stuff … Good grief. He didn't even scream!
These scenes kind of remind me of fight scenes from the really bad cartoons I used to watch when I was a kid.
I am so confused about so much of this book. I can't decide how much of it is down to the weird-as-hell plotting and how much is due to me trying to block it out.
I feel like someone came up with half a story, then discovered the Flood in Halo (alien parasites who take over and mutate all complex life) and decided to throw them in too, along with the alien Covenant's preferred method of dealing with humanity: 'glassing' planets, only in this case, rather than blasting it systematically with lasers, they're doing it with fire. This book just feels like a lot of other people's ideas.
Hell, even Apolonia's hair was ripped off from a passing character in The Fifth Element, if I remember rightly.
Okay, I don't plan my stories out at all, never have, and they have all made way more sense than this heap. How the heck does this have so many good reviews on Amazon? Finding a pixie's sewing needle in a giant's haystack would be easier than trying to make sense of this, and there's still the terrible characters, writing and everything else to deal with. How do people read it without their brains imploding?
Fangirls. This author has an ARMY of fangirls. She wrote one of the first really popular "my love will change this abusive boy" New Adult romances.
Quint&Jessel
I read somewhere that characters can only be as smart as their author. I think this book proves that this author is a dolt.
Dolt. That's a good word. We should use it more.
Hmmn….Not sure on this one. I wrote two books following a formula which includes a heroine who's "kind of ditsy but actually wicked SMAHHHHT!" and cringed at some of her internal monologue, never mind what she said to everyone she came in contact with. It's not necessarily about characters/authors, but if there's an audience a writer's trying to draw, s/he will likely write for the audience. To be fair, I haven't read the Beautiful Disaster series and shouldn't be basing opinion on recaps…But am pretty sure that readers who find "Travis" an appealing character would think Rory kicks ass. If the author has found a formula that sells, well, fair play…Also, it's cool to knock a book, but not call authors names.
Katsuro Ricksand
"There were people definitely lying on the tables."
This is a narrator who's sure of what she's saying. She's not just saying there were people lying on the tables. She's saying there were people DEFINITELY lying on the tables.
I cannot get over how much of a mess this book is. It makes little to no sense and reads like a ten year old making up stories with their dolls but can only deal with two at a time and kind of cycles through what everyone is doing which sounds epic to the child but convoluted to everyone else.
This. This is exactly what is happening here.
I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed your comment. Literally LOL'd (scared the cat that was on my lap at the time).
This the first review that I didn't have the energy to finish. I can't even imagine going through the actual chapter. Maybe the author was just going for a word count, explaining the on-again-off-again-non-tensiony plotlines. Ugh.
I'm still incredibly bitter that Benji's sister's name is Bryn. Do you know how hard it is to find my name in print?!?
I mean, there's plenty of other things to be mad about here, too. But this is just the most immediate annoyance for me.
Laina
Slug-like parasites… aliens… hey, I read Animorphs, too!
I'm also confused. Confused, and so very, very tired.
Amatyultare
The bad guys still have no coherent motivation, and even worse, *Rory still has zero curiosity about what the bad guys are up to*.
If you want to have antagonists whose exact plan and purpose are obscure or confusing, fine. I'd love for the author to eventually explain it (doesn't seem like that's gonna happen in this book), but having a bad guy with murky motives can provide a reasonable sense of mystery….EXCEPT that our main character seems to spend zero time wondering, mulling over what she knows, or trying to puzzle it out. Even when she finds out that Majestic killed her family and best friend – the incident which defines her entire character – she's just like, "oh, that makes sense, Tennison wanted to publish first" (?!?!?! I will never get over that "explanation) and goes back to worrying about which boy she likes better. It makes everyone in the story come off as inhuman – the bad guys because we're never given a chance to understand their goals, and the "good guys" because they have an almost robotic lack of curiosity about why these bad things are happening to them.
I believe Rory's inability to get on an elevator in a life or death situation is what my uncle refers to as "thinnin' the herd". Or it would be if this book didn't suck.
falalala
You know, I wouldn't even be bothered by Rory's elevator issue if it were written differently. I have PTSD and a couple of phobias; I can understand some degree of irrational response to triggering stimuli. So if Rory had, in the midst of her adrenaline rush from dealing with a terrifying situation, simply frozen for a moment when it came time to get on the elevator so that one of the others pushed her in, I would have accepted that as plausible. If getting on the elevator was the thing that made her start crying/shaking/otherwise emoting when she'd held it together up till that point, sure, I could buy that, too. Where I hit the "That's not how it works. That's not how any of this works" wall is Rory pausing in the middle of an extreme crisis involving multiple violent deaths to calmly and coherently give a little speech explaining that elevators are kind of a trigger for her because they remind her of her parents' violent deaths, see, so while she's perfectly fine with stabbing someone in the eye, witnessing a decapitation, and seeing an acquaintance get murdered and then horrifyingly reanimated by alien doom parasites, she'd prefer to take the stairs, thanks. That's not PTSD or a phobia – that's just stupid, shitty writing.
Don't adventures kind of get your hair, skin, and clothes dirty? So Apolonia being dirty isn't really noteworthy unless Rory isn't dirty, right? So my question is… why isn't Rory also dirty after all of this supposed adventuring?
Cherry, she's too busy checking out the physical appearance of her "love rival" during the most "exciting" scene in the book to consider her own "mid battle" look. I scratched my head at this one…until I realized it was the literary equivalent of girls in a high school bathroom saying, "She looked SO horrible with her dirty hair and shit!"
Had her best friend/anyone getting raped come up before JUST NOW? Like as if the horrific torture and murder was not enough, let's just toss that in there, make our poor tortured waif more tortured because of typically lady-directed violence.
This book. Good lord. I care about you Jenny, is this worth it? IS IT REALLY?
taycibear
Thats what I was thinking! I was like when did her friend get raped?
This book is so awful and makes zero sense.
CthulhuKittie
This "book" is just the fucking WORST.
I don't know how you've managed to slog through this shit, except that it's some bizarre superpower you have.
I'm so incredibly bored by this book.
Once again when Rory did her little recap at the beginning of the chapter, I had no idea what the hell she was talking about. Hamech? Tennison? Parasites? Brahmberger? I keep forgetting what is happening, because what is happening is so very incomprehensible and dull. And again with the stupid love triangle. I don't care! Just end already!
I never thought I'd see the day when even one of Jenny's recaps couldn't make a book at least fun to read about, but here it is.
The last names are killing me, Lieke.
I think I might have permanently damaged my ocular muscles from rolling my eyes directly out of my head at the latest "Benji works for the enemy and we can't trust him!!!!" tripe.
rheather
All I can hope for is that the cat (with the tracking device!) shows up at some point in the last two chapters. For no useful purpose but to magnify the fact that there was A CAT!!! Nothing else makes sense, why should the cat?
I'm beginning to suspect the guy with the pen in his eye did it himself when he realized what a sucky book he was stuck in.
Totally forgot about the cat, but your theory is awesome. Remember the Disney 70s flick "That Darned Cat?" That.
Noisyninja
The Majestic (worst name for a secret organization by the way, I keep remembering the song about the giant alien memory thing from that one episode of American Dad) is going to send wave after wave of their own men at her, until she reaches her pre-set kill limit and shuts down.
BlackSwallowtail
I think I've said this before, during a much earlier chapter, but seriously, Anna from Fifty Shades is more likeable than Rory. She's such a miserable, thoroughly unlikeable character.
The parasite zombie thing was cool, though, for the two seconds that lasted.
"leaving us all to die" ?
I thought the baddies took a very active role in killing everyone off, making Rory watch her mom die, etc. Am I making that up?
Okay, first of all, *never* pull a pen from your eye–or any other object lodged in a wound. EMTs are going to patch that sucker in place, move you to the hospital, and let actual doctors take care of it–and for good reason. This is likely to cause more damage than it's worth, and that's even aside from the risk of bleeding (depending where the wound is).
Second of all, is it weird that in the third-to-last chapter, I'm just now *finally* starting to get that vibe of, "Okay, this is a train wreck, but I'm starting to have fun just taking it on its own stupid terms, and now I really do want to know what happens"?
This is the first book that I've ever encountered where I really really really want the ending to be the deaths of every character in the entire goddamn book. Seriously, I hope the last line is Hamech's ship pulling away after having incinerated every last one of them.
I'm reading these recaps years later as part of my procrastination process. But the being tied up with phone cords thing bothers me. Has the author ever seen a phone cord, like ever?! They're super flimsy things that would never work to hold someone captive! You can literally just slip your wrists out of them.
So much of Rory's disdain for other women comes across as being a self-hating lesbian bending herself in pretzels trying to convince herself she isn't a lesbian.
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text:
Denson Angulo
Jazz Combo Program Coordinator, School Of Music
Assistant Professor (Lecturer), School Of Music
Email denson.angulo@utah.edu
Main Website http://www.densonbass.com
David P. Gardner Hall, 0003
Small Group Teaching
Creative Research
Traveled to NYC to create photos and videos for the Aguilar and Fodera companies to promote my new bass guitar and bass amplification equipment. Curatorial/Production, completed 10/07/2019.
Formed a new power guitar trio with Kenji Amhara and Bobby James. Performing original arrangements. Performance, completed 09/21/2019.
Performed with Salt Lake City Jazz Orchestra in the SLC jazz festival Performance, completed 09/07/2019.
Recording session with fellow faculty member Geoffrey Miller for his upcoming CD release Curatorial/Production, completed 07/15/2019.
Performed with my own group Chromium3 at Utah Arts festival Performance, completed 06/21/2019.
Principal Bass with Pioneer theater's "Grease" May 6-25 Performance, completed 05/06/2019.
Principal Double bass for Fuare requiem With Salt Lake Choral Society Performance, completed 04/09/2019.
Performed with National Broadway tour of "Wicked". In Salt Lake City and Boise Idaho 9 weeks of performances Performance, completed 01/29/2019.
World Premier of Double Bass Concerto "Cloudseeding 6". By Devin Maxwell. Performed with Sinfonia Salt Lake Performance, completed 01/07/2019.
Principal Double Bass for Pioneer Theater's production of Sweeny Todd. 10/24-11/10/18 Performance, completed 10/24/2018.
Oktoberfest performance series. Aug 25- October 15 Performance, completed 08/25/2018.
Guest appearance with Victor Wooten's Trio at the Commonwealth room SLC Performance, completed 08/15/2018.
as leader of Chromium3 Tracy Aviary for SB dance utah eats fest Performance, completed 07/12/2018.
Salt Lake City international Jazz fest. (principal bassist) 7/6-7/7 Performance, completed 07/06/2018.
Utah Arts fest with Salt Lake City Jazz orchestra Performance, completed 06/22/2018.
Sax Summit with Brian Booth Utah Arts fest (electric bass) Performance, completed 06/20/2018.
Directed a Video shoot for Stargate music productions 6/11-6/13 Media Arts, completed 06/11/2018.
Mama Mia at Pioneer Theater May 9-May26 Performance, completed 05/09/2018.
Excellence in the Community with Chase Baird Group Performance, completed 04/26/2018.
Lake Effect with Jay Lawrence quartet Performance, completed 04/18/2018.
Hatch Chocolates with Goran Starbac Trio Performance, completed 04/07/2018.
Performance with my own band Chromium3 Bayou club Performance, completed 03/24/2018.
Sinfonia Salt Lake Concert Principal Double Bass Performance, completed 03/19/2018.
MArdi Gras Celebration, Keys on Main 2/9-2/10 Performance, completed 02/09/2018.
Kris Johnson Melanie Shore group. Jazz Performance. Lake Effect club Performance, completed 02/07/2018.
Salt Lake Choral Artists concert Principal Double Bass Performance, completed 02/03/2018.
Sunday at 7 with Geoffrey Miller and Steve Lyman. Faculty Jazz Trio Performance, completed 01/21/2018.
Played bass with national touring broadway show "Something Rotten" 1/9-1/16 Performance, completed 01/09/2018.
Jazz Vespers Concert Series. A collaborative effort with Adjunct faculty member David Halliday, pianist Courtney Isaiah Smith, and drummer Steve Lyman. This series features popular artists and creates jazz arrangements in a free concert setting. Performance, completed 10/29/2017.
Salt Lake Choral Artists performance. principal double bass. Performance, completed 10/14/2017.
Sinfonia Salt Lake performance; Principal Double Bass. Concert season part 1 September-December Performance, completed 09/01/2017.
http://www.sinfoniasaltlake.com
JVQ at Excellence in the community concert series. Performance, completed 08/03/2017.
Salt Lake City Jazz Festival: Salt Lake City Jazz orchestra principal Bassist Performance, completed 07/29/2017.
Recorded with Henry Wolking on his album "In Sea" Media Arts, completed 07/14/2017.
Performed as principal double bassist on Shane Mickelsen's album "Classical Hynms" Media Arts, completed 07/01/2017.
Performance with the Utah Symphony. Music of Final Fantasy Concert Performance, completed 06/03/2017.
Performance with the Utah Symphony for BioFire fund raiser. Performance, completed 05/16/2017.
Performance with Sinfonia Salt Lake on KBYU Classical 89.1 radio. LIVE. Principal Double Bass Media Arts, completed 05/09/2017.
Salt Lake Choral Artists Collaboration Principal Double Bass Performance, completed 04/22/2017.
Orchestral concert "World Golden Memories" with Stargate Orchestra, Chicago Il. Musical Director/conductor Performance, completed 03/31/2017.
Performance of "Jim Crow's Tears" Principal double bass Performance, completed 03/10/2017.
Mardi Gras celebration performance. Keys on Main Performance, completed 02/24/2017.
Collaborative performance for Excellence in the community concert series. Performed as principal bassist in jazz big band. Performance, completed 01/26/2017.
Jazz Vespers Concert Series. A collaborative effort with Adjunct faculty member David Halliday, pianist Courtney Isaiah Smith, and drummer Steve Lyman. This series features popular artists and creates jazz arrangements in a free concert setting. Performances 10/30-12/18/16 Performance, completed 10/30/2016.
Sinfonia Salt Lake performance; Principal Double Bass. Performance, completed 10/10/2016.
Performed at Provo, Utah' s Covey center for the performing arts. Musical Director and conductor. Stargate music productions. Golden memories show. Performance, completed 09/24/2016.
Producer, Las Chicas Latina musica. Concert producer, Musical director. Chicago, Il Curatorial/Production, completed 08/27/2016.
Sinfonia Salt Lake performance; Principal Double Bass Performance, completed 05/16/2016.
Inaugural concert. Sinfonia Salt Lake. Principal Double bass Performance, completed 01/25/2016.
Serving the Jazz community by co-hosting and providing a free Jazz music creation experience for free. "jazz jam at Gracie's" Every monday night from January 2015 to present Performance, in progress 01/04/2016.
Jazz Vespers Concert Series. A collaborative effort with Adjunct faculty member David Halliday, pianist Courtney Isaiah Smith, and drummer Steve Lyman. This series features popular artists and creates jazz arrangements in a free concert setting. Performances, completed 11/1/2015-12/20/2015. Performance, completed 12/20/2015.
http://www.slcuu.org/sundays/jazz-vespers
Principal Double Bassist for "Vivaldi by Candlelight" Concert series and fundraiser. Arranged violin concerto in A minor by Vivaldi for solo double bass, performed 12/05/15 Performance, completed 12/05/2015.
Excellence in the Community performance. Free concert through the Excellence in Community concert series. Performance, completed 12/03/2015.
recorded for Cannonball Saxophones in november 2015 (performance was published in Jan) Performance, completed 11/16/2015.
https://youtu.be/bVl-ZFaY8To?list=PLB0EF1E58C61F66...
Arranged music and performed on drum set for the international annual gaming convention Bllizzcon in Anaheim, CA. Performance was streamed live in over 60 countries. Viewed online by over 2 Million people. 15,000 live audience members. My group won first place. Performance, completed 11/06/2015.
https://youtu.be/wXxrFQLRbLs
Music production recording session for StarGate Music productions. I served as the musical director and arranger for all female Latin-American band. CD was recorded and produced. Curatorial/Production, completed 08/26/2015.
Bassist for Henry Wolking big band jazz recordings with Jerry Floor and the Salt Lake City Jazz Orchestra. Album released on Big Round Records, a division of PARMA. Works by Wolking, Claude Debussy and David Halliday Curatorial/Production, completed 08/22/2015.
https://youtu.be/YX9Q_6n8ZjY
Recorded for (96yr old) Bob Bailey's legacy jazz big band album featuring performance and arrangements by Bob Bailey. With the Salt Lake City Jazz Orchestra Curatorial/Production, completed 07/08/2015.
Recorded for Cannonball Saxophones see URL Performance, completed 07/08/2015.
https://youtu.be/7gQ2Fz4pkH8?list=PLB0EF1E58C61F66...
Principal Double Bassist for "Vivaldi by Candlelight" Concert series and fundraiser. Performance, completed 12/06/2014.
Utah Premier of "Orpheus Lex." Principal double bass with Salt Lake Choral Artists. 09/12 09/13 Performance, completed 09/12/2014.
Utah Arts Festival Performance. Principal Bass in the salt lake city jazz orchestra. Performance, completed 06/27/2014.
Music production recording session for StarGate Music productions. I served as the musical director and conductor of a full orchestra. 06/11-06/13/2014 Curatorial/Production, completed 06/11/2014.
http://www.stargatemusicproductions.com
Selected and performed with the Utah Symphony Orchestra in their Pro-Am series. Performance, completed 04/03/2014.
Jazz Vespers 25 year anniversary concert gala. Serving the community for 25 years, Jazz vespers celebrates with a stunning performance. Performance, completed 02/09/2014.
Principal Double bass for Salt Lake Choral Artists performance of Braham's Requiem. Performance, completed 02/03/2014.
Excellence in the Community performance. Free concert through the Excellence in Community concert series with drummer Steve Lyman. Performance, completed 01/23/2014.
MetcomStudios Christmas CD compilation Performance, completed 12/25/2013.
http://metcomstudios.com/christmas2013/
Jazz vespers Concert Series Performance, completed 12/20/2013.
http://www.slcuu.org/jazz-vespers
Excellence in the Community Concert Series Performance, completed 01/24/2013.
http://excellenceconcerts.org/steve-lyman-quartet/
Marcello sonata in E minor, transcribed for the Violone, a historical performance Performance, completed 12/05/2011.
Doctoral Recital II: Jazz Performance, completed 05/07/2011.
http://www.youtube.com/densonangulo
Faculty at VixCamps camp for music and nature. 8/12-8/18. Presentation, Presented, 08/12/2019.
Http://www.vixcamps.org
Workshop for woodscross high school. Presentation, Presented, 06/28/2019.
Workshop with bountiful high school . Presentation, Presented, 06/27/2019.
Clinic/workshop for woodscross high school . Presentation, Presented, 06/11/2019.
Faculty at Victor Wooten's Center for Music and Nature. Music/Nature camp 7/23-7/29. Presentation, Presented, 07/23/2018.
Clinic W/ Churchill JR high music dept. Presentation, Presented, 05/03/2018.
Workshop with Chase Baird at Westminster College. Presentation, Presented, 04/25/2018.
Clinic for Wasatch Junior high. Presentation, Presented, 01/31/2018.
Clinic for BYU jazz band "Synthesis" I served as a rhythm section expert. Presentation, Presented, 12/18/2017.
Concert Series Tour in TianJin China. Jazz group with Kris Johnson. Tianjin Music Conservatory. Included activities: Musical performance, clinician, adjudication, and private instruction. May 20-May 27 2017. Presentation, Presented, 05/20/2017.
West High school jazz band clinic. Presentation, Presented, 04/20/2017.
Weber State Jazz Clinic. Presentation, Presented, 04/20/2017.
Adjudication for region Jazz festival. Other, Presented, 03/08/2017.
Adjudication, Utah State Fair, High School Jazz band competition. Other, Other, 09/13/2016.
Timpview Jazz Camp Rhythm section presentation. Presentation, Presented, 08/20/2016.
Rhythm Section clinic. Layton High School jazz camp. Presentation, Presented, 08/16/2016.
Teaching the Double Bass to beginners. Trade Secrets music educators conference at Utah State University. Presentation, Presented, 06/17/2014.
http://tradesecrets.usu.edu/
Presentation to UMEA annual conference in St. George Utah. Teaching new ways to create and improvise bass lines and soloing concepts on the bass. Presentation, Presented, 02/08/2014.
Jazz presentation on KCPW public radio. (Video shoot). Presentation, Presented, 04/12/2013.
Poetry in Jazz @ UMFA. Presentation, Presented, 03/23/2013.
Several new videos on my individual YouTube channel. 01/01/2019. Visit www.youtube.com/bassius to view all new content.
Denson Angulo (2018). Transcription of Telemann's 12 Violin Fantasies arranged and edited for Double Bass. 2nd Edition. self. Published, 12/04/2018.
Denson Angulo (2018). densonbass.com. [Website/Blog]. Published, 01/01/2018.
Online bass guitar course, authored and monitored by me. I have licenced its usage to educational advantage online, an online charter school. Published, 10/28/2016.
http://educationaladvantageonline.com/courses/bass...


On this cool and foggy morning, I hear the birds beginning their day, and know so much beauty is already pouring my way. People will converge and we will sing, and laugh, and feast together. A scraggly group, all gathered around a table, being family to one another.
This year, like every year of these forty-some odd years, has been filled with blessings too many to list. We live in a place and a time of peace, and I am able to be a mother, and a wife, and a friend, and a daughter, and a writer without anyone threatening who I am or where I'd like to go. I am so grateful.
And to you I send my very biggest cheers and prayers and wishes for a glorious day! May God keep you and hold you, and may you share the love that abounds inside of you with everyone–EVERY ONE–everywhere!
I've learned as of late that it's not so very difficult to give thanks, even in the midst of hardship. God has surrounded us by so much goodness and beauty that it's hard to ignore. When you're broken, seeing the little things can be strangely easier. But even though we can appreciate those things which make us thankful, we need to take the harder step and live and speak and love in a constant spirit of giving thanks.
I'm thankful for my home, my family, food, winter gardens, and sunshine. I'm thankful for my church, my country, and for God who loves me.
I'm thankful for tears that really do heal. For a daughter who will tell me about her day, read to me the poems she writes, and play the piano early in the morning, filling the house with music.
I'm thankful for a small patch of grass, where I can spread a blanket and breathe some fresh air in the afternoon when I'm all done and can't keep going. Grass, right here in my backyard, all cool, and inviting, and where miniature pinecones hide, and where John Ronan comes and plays all around me.
I'm thankful for matches that light on the first strike–a whole box of them, and just how easy it is to light a candle and say a prayer. I'm thankful for the people who pray for me.
I'm thankful for a long, wool, cozy sweater, that has given me warmth and a sense of safety these last few weeks.
I'm thankful for Carla who brought soup (twice!), for Viktoria who brought a vase of freesias, and for friends who have allowed me to say no to things during this busy season.
I'm thankful for hardship. Even though it's HARD, you learn all sorts of things about being weak and being strong, and a little bit about being both at the same time.
reflect the real thanksgiving that sits quietly inside us.


text:
WATCH: Iran's new foreign minister is Amir-Abdollahian, what to expect from him?
Hossein Amirabdollahian has replaced Javad Zarif as Iran's foreign minister who negotiated the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) better known as the Iran nuclear deal.
While Zarif was a character who knew how to speak to the western world, the latter considers Amirabdollahian a radical figure with close ties to the late general Qassem Soleimani.
As Amirabdollahian became the new foreign minister, western and regional governments have to deal with him. Therefore, we ask: what shall we expect from him and what does it mean for Damascus who enjoys a strategic alliance with Tehran? Kevork Almassian discussed these questions with Dr. Karim Sharara, an expert on Iranian affairs.
Sponsor Syriana Analysis on Patreon https://www.patreon.com/SyrianaAnalysis
Support Syriana Analysis through PayPal https://www.paypal.me/kevorkalmassian
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Purchase Morgan State Bears Basketball tickets for . Morgan State Bears Basketball tour schedule for in Philadelphia. Morgan State Bears Basketball playing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Morgan State Bears Basketball fans, Are you ready for Philadelphia? on Thursday, April 18th 2019 as part of her tour Morgan State Bears Basketball will be playing at , PA. Score your Morgan State Bears Basketball tickets Philadelphia right here.


Publish by in Category interior design at September 22nd, 2018. Tagged with block glass window in shower. diy glass block window in a shower stall. glass block window in shower. glass block window in shower area. glass block window in shower bad idea. glass block window in shower install. glass block window in shower insulation. waterproof glass block window in shower.
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text:
marksimpson.com
The 'Daddy' of the Metrosexual, the Retrosexual, & spawner of the Spornosexual
Twitterhttps://marksimpson.com/wp-admin/
Spornosexual
Spornosexual Celebs
Metrosexy
MetroDaddy Speaks! Mark Simpson Interviewed by the Global Press About the Metrosexual
Meet The Metrosexual
Here Come the Mirror Men: Why the Future is Metrosexual
Little Richard's Big, Glam Legacy
On December 5th, Richard Wayne Penniman, better known as Little Richard, The King of Rockin' 'n' Rollin' Rhythm & Blues Soulin', turns 80.
Whether or not Mr Penniman invented rock 'n' roll as he has often loudly and boldly claimed – and, to be sure, he's got a better, prettier claim than most – it's as obvious as the eyeliner around his lips that this son of a bootlegger from Macon, Georgia invented glam rock. Way back in the 'uptight' 1950s.
The King-Queen of Rockin' 'n Rollin' may possibly have been inspired in his style by the early 1950s tonsured 'bad-boy' TV wrestler Gorgeous George (who also influenced James Brown and Muhammad Ali), but wherever he got it from he definitely stole, to quote Oscar Wilde -- he didn't waste his time borrowing. With his imperious pompadour, his sequinned capes, his outrageous gestures, his shrieks, his full make-up and false eyelashes, he channelled a fun, furious, flaming effeminacy that bore down on the charts like a screaming, squealing steam train.
Wisely, the charts surrendered, unconditionally. From 1955-57 he had fourteen hit singles and three number ones.
"Lu-CILLE! You won't do your sister's will!" came blaring through the house like a pack of rabid dogs. It was as if a Martian had landed. My grandmother stopped in her tracks, face ashen, beyond comprehension. The antiques rattled. My parents looked stunned. In one magical moment, every fear of my white family had been laid bare: an uninvited, screaming, flamboyant black man was in the living room. Even Dr Spock hadn't warned them about this.'
– John Waters
Unlike Gorgeous George, however, the queerness of Little Richard wasn't just a pose. According to Robert 'Bumps' Blackwell the producer behind his first hit 'Tutti Frutti', the 'minstrel modes and homosexual humour' of Richard's original lyrics had to be bowdlerised for the mainstream. "Tutti Frutti, good booty", for instance, was replaced with the slightly less sodomitical "Tutti Frutti, aw-rooty". There's also speculation that the hits 'Long Tall Sally' and 'Good Golly Miss Molly' may have been about transvestites.
But there was no way to bowdlerise Mr Richard himself. Even in a safe, stay-seated-please film like Don't Knock The Rock (1956) Richard plays piano with his leg up -- fingers working away underneath, his face a picture of anal/vaginal joy, while the white kids lap it up (1:00).
Little Richard - "Long Tall Sally" - from "Don't Knock The Rock" - HQ 1956
And Little Richard certainly didn't bowdlerise his private life, at least not during his 1950s heyday. According to his authorised biographer Charles White in The Life and Times of Little Richard on tour he would host parties that were so swinging they were orgies. He would invite men back to his hotel and enjoy watching them have sex with his girlfriend.
So when racist groups such as the North Alabama White Citizens Council alarmed by his enormous, unprecedented popularity with white teens put out statements on TV, warning that "Rock 'n' Roll is part of a test to undermine the morals of the youth of our nation. It is sexualistic, unmoralistic and … brings people of both races together', they weren't entirely wrong.
Little Richard, like many people, had a complicated sexuality. Complicated by both his self-described 'ominsexual' tastes – he has had affairs with both men and women – and also by his devout evangelical Christianity, inculcated by his adored mother, which has led him to, ahem, turn his back on his homosexual side for much of his post 1950s life. Unsurprisingly, many gay people regard him with resentment as a result.
He gave an uproarious interview in 1987 to uberfan film director John Waters – whose famous pencil moustache was inspired by Richard's own iconic lip-fur – in which he announced, not without foundation, that he was not only the architect of rock and roll but 'the founder of gay':
'"I love gay people. I believe I was the founder of gay. I'm the one who started to be so bold tellin' the world! You got to remember my dad put me out of the house because of that. I used to take my mother's curtains and put them on my shoulders. And I used to call myself at the time the Magnificent One. I was wearing makeup and eyelashes when no men were wearing that. I was very beautiful; I had hair hanging everywhere. If you let anybody know you was gay, you was in trouble; so when I came out I didn't care what nobody thought. A lot of people were scared to be with me."'
In the same interview he confesses the source of his inspiration for his unorthodox use of his mother's curtains. Not Gorgeous George, but rather His Holiness:
"I idolised the Pope when I was a little boy," he says reverently. "I liked the pumps he wore. I think the Pope really dresses!" But there were other, more low-down ecclesiastical fashion casualties who seemed a bigger influence. "There was Prophet Jones of Detroit – he used to walk on this carpet. They would spread this carpet out of the limo and he would walk on it. When I got famous, I had the guys just spreading carpet for me to walk on, and they would kiss my hand… and I used to like to live like that."
Happy birthday, your Most Royal Magnificent Rockin' Holy Highness!!
Lucille♪
Little Richard - Hound Dog (Rare)
At Muhammad Ali's 50th birthday celebration in 1992. Ali: 'The king!' Richard: 'I love you. Happy birthday, baby':
Little Richard - Good Golly Miss Molly (Muhammad Ali's 50th Birthday)
Check out the full length packet shot at beginning:
Little Richard - Lucille LIVE 1973
Update 5/12/12:
BBC Radio 2 today aired a documentary about Little Richard with lots of (archive, I think) interview footage with the great man himself. It also revealed that his friend the late 1940s jump blues singer Billy Wright, who helped arrange his first recording sessions, liked to curl his hair, wear make-up and sometimes threw his panties in the audience. So Gorgeous George is right out of the window….
It also reported that a fourteen-year-old David Robert Jones -- later known as David Bowie/Ziggy Stardust -- attended one of Little Richard's UK gigs in the early 1960s, at which the showman pretended to die on-stage, before resurrecting himself with: "A-wop-bop-a-loo-mop-a-wop-bam-boom!"
#OnThisDay 1932: Little Richard was born. BBC Archive will never tire of his incredible 1972 interview on Late Night Line-Up. pic.twitter.com/CgGMzSzUi5
— BBC Archive (@BBCArchive) December 5, 2018
bisexuality, music
glam rock, Gorgeous George, Little Richard, rock 'n' roll
Posho Sporno: Warwick Uni Rowers Take on Homophobia with Homophilia
Sporno Pop Promo – 'Don't Deny Your Heart'
British writer and journalist.
Mark S says:
Go on, Lee, get that eyeliner out! Clearly there's a Little bit of Richard in all of us. (Even your tab-smoking northern Dad.)
You're right, he did often look insane in his publicity shots. But in a great way of course. Richey Manic once proclaimed 'All rock 'n' roll is homosexual', upsetting a lot of rockers. I think he had Little Richard in mind – but perhaps he should have said: 'All rock 'n' roll is crazy queeniness.'
groomingguru says:
As a child I grew up with the sounds of Little Richard as he has my dad's favourite artist. We only had a few records in our house, kept – rather shambolically – in our cheap 1970's Radiogram) but Little Richard's were the ones that fascinated me most, mainly because he always looked utterly insane on the covers (I have wisely chosen to blot out memories of my mum's Glen Campbell's collection).
Anyway, like I say, my dad adored LR which was odd in a way given that he was very much your macho, beer-swilling, roll-up smoking northern "bloke" (though in fairness he was apparently the best dressed Ted in town and even got his mother to add flamboyant coloured linings to his suits so he did clearly had the Dandy gene). But anyway, LR's legacy is huge – not just because he inspired so many of today's rock stars but because he inspired me too. I certainly blame him for my obsession with eyeliner as a teenager n the 80s. I may even pop some on today in his honour!
He was beautiful in his youth.
A biography of the metrosexual. By his dad.
End of Gays?
Banning gay propaganda can backfire. Spectacularly.
Saint Morrissey
All saints should be considered guilty until proven innocent
Male Impersonators
The book that changed the way the world looks at men
It's a Queer World
A warped look at a fin de siecle world of pop culture where nothing is quite as straight or gay as it seems.
© 2020 marksimpson.com. All rights reserved.


File Permissions plays important role in *nix OS, if you are a webmaster then you must have faced some situations when due to file permissions your web applications wont behave as per excepted or some time it shows 500 error or sometime it makes your script not able to read/write a file. You must have solved these sort of problems by applying chmod 777 or chmod 750 commands , and your script starts working. But for the curious users who wants to know that what happens in behind the scene this article will explain all those things.
File Permissions are the roles which defines that who (user,group,world) can do what (read, write, execute ) operations on that file or directory.
these weight makes the digits 755 and all , how?
Same apply for directories if a directory have only write permission then it makes no sense since you cant read the content, you can even execute ls in that directory, Neither you can enter into it. Only executing permission to directory also make no sense, you can do only cd and enter into the directory but you cant read nor write files in that directory, so for user you have to give all three permission to that directory.


text:
Il Ridotto (Italian : "The Private Room") was a wing of Venice's Palazzo Dandolo near the church of  San Moisè. In 1638, it was converted at the behest of Venice's city leaders into a government-owned  gambling-house. Il Ridotto was the site of the West's first public, legal mercantile casino, opening several centuries after some gambling establishments in China.

Etymology and usage
The term "ridotto" (plural: "ridotti") comes from the Italian word "ridurre", meaning to "close off" or "make private". Whatever its etymology, it ordinarily meant the foyer of a theater, where people would go for refreshments during intermissions. It also referred to several illegal, privately owned gambling clubs that offered games of chance to members of Venice's nobility in the city's Rialto District. These clubs came into being after the Venetian authorities attempted to ban games of chance that had spontaneously sprung up in the city's streets. Realizing it could not effectively prevent citizens from wagering on dice and card games, the Great Council of Venice opened its "Ridotto" in 1638 on the occasion of the city's annual Spring Carnival.

Casino Era

According to the casino's original charter, access to Il Ridotto was open to the public. However, due to its high stakes and formal dress code, only nobles could afford to play at the casino's tables; one such discriminating injunction, for instance, was that players had to wear three-cornered hats and masks in order to participate in Il Ridotto's games; less affluent Venetians were thereby prohibited from making wagers at the casino's tables.

As for games, Il Ridotto is known to have offered biribi and basetta. Biribi was a lottery-like game in which players placed bets on one of 70 possible outcomes. A casino employee, the "banker", would then draw a number from a bag, and anyone who had bet on that number would win the game's pot. The game featured a built-in vigorish whereby a winning player only collected 64 times his original bet; considering that every outcome in the game gave only roughly a 1 percent chance of winning for any given bet, this meant that the house at Il Ridotto enjoyed nearly a 10 percent vigorish on the game.

The most popular game at Il Ridotto, however, was the card game basetta. This game was a cross between blackjack, poker, and gin rummy and offered winning players 60 times their wagers in payout. In later years, it was replaced by card game faro, which would gain even greater popularity in the U.S.

Architecture

The wing of the San Moisè Palace in which the Ridotto originally operated was four stories tall and featured a long entrance hall, dining rooms and other fineries like work from artist Gerolamo Colonna. Its gaming tables, meanwhile, were primarily situated in its upper floors.

Closing

In 1774, Venetian reformer Giorgio Pisani proposed the city close the Ridotto "to preserve the piety, sound discipline and moderate behavior". Pisani's motion passed by an overwhelming majority and the casino closed its doors the same year.

References

Casinos in Italy
1638 establishments in the Republic of Venice
1774 disestablishments
1638 establishments in Italy

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia


Citizen Science is a relatively new term for activities that have a long history. Science begins with observation and recording those observations. Ordinary people observing their natural surroundings and recording particular information can be citizen scientists. If you have ever participated in a Christmas Bird Count or Backyard Bird Count then you are doing Citizen Science!
Bat Monitoring Project with a goal to collect data about our local bat populations and bring together volunteers who are interested in protecting our local bats. The date collected will be invaluable to the conservation of these flying friends!
Lichen Monitoring Project is a new citizen science project to monitor lichens on trees in the Lower Mainland.
To learn about Canadian Citizen Science projects, type 'Canada' into the search tool and you'll see lots of projects with links to find out more. One of them is Nature Watch. This organisation has several projects including FrogWatch, IceWatch, Plantwatch and Wormwatch.