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My Own Private Top Ten of 2015
December 29th, 2015 — movie reviews, on writing lit -- and unlit, TV reviews
Here's what I liked most about last year, period. No added explanation necessary, though you're going to get a LOT of it as we move along. So without further ado, in no particular order, etc…
Black "Black Comic" Novels
I'm already on record declaring this to have been a banner year for African American writing, especially in this sub-genre. So I have only a few things to add: 1.) I wish I could have found a way to have included in my CNN piece God Loves Haiti, Dmitri Elias Leger's cunning and deeply moving romantic roundelay set against the backdrop of Haiti's devastating 2010 earthquake though 2.) what I really wish for is a the chance to have met Fran Ross, author of Oreo, if only to reassure her, as others had before she died in 1985 at age 50, that she was neither alone nor wrong in her artistic foresight and socio-cultural insurgency. 3.) If Paul Beatty's cheeky, incendiary and laugh-out-loud Sellout had gotten even half of the attention afforded Ta-Nahesi Coates' Between the World and Me, we'd all be a lot further along than we are now because 4.) these and many other novels, poems and memoirs are so far ahead of where everybody else is on race and culture, especially what used to be called "The Press," that their authors don't have the time or the patience to look behind them. It's up to the rest of us to catch up…and I'm not feeling especially hopeful about those prospects as I write this, especially today.
Comic Book Superheroes on TV
You could probably fashion some kind of algebraic formula out of this theory and make yourself quite obscure, in more ways than one: Something about the comic-book superhero genre diminishes whenever contemporary Hollywood seizes one of its properties and blows it up on for big screen while, on the other hand, the smaller the screen, the greater weight and dimension are allowed for these stories. It could just mean that there are better people writing for television than for movies; a thesis that may not need too complex an algorithm to prove. Whatever the reason, TV, with or without its water-based delivery systems (clouds, streams, etc.) has provided the only superhero "product" (I really need to slap myself stupid every time I use that word) with depth, breadth and, most especially, shadows. I'd previously thought the DC stable led the way by several lengths with Arrow, Gotham, The Flash and its latest sweet surprise, Supergirl. But with the exception of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (which, for all its on-the-fly tinkering, still seems as though it's fumbling in its pockets for magic and momentum), the Marvel Universe caught up big-time by going urban-neo-noir on Netflix with both Daredevil and the remarkable Jessica Jones coming at you as if every Law and Order episode came down with a severe case of the DTs. (And yes, that is a MAJOR compliment!) The relative success of small-screen super-heroics evokes simpler times when the original TV Superman was charming and cheesy while the first TV Batman was campy and cheesy and both took themselves seriously without being too solemn. Maybe the Fantastic Four franchise, having whiffed in two multiplex-targeted incarnations, would be better off lowering its expectations and looking for a cloud, or stream, to carry it forward. Or not.
I suppose there was a small part of me that wished Todd Haynes had given in to his inner Douglas Sirk with as much abandon as he had in 2002's Far From Heaven, his previous exploration of "forbidden love" in the 1950s. There were many critics, even those who otherwise praised this movie, who felt the same way. The more I think about it, however, the more I believe Haynes was correct in opting for a mood of smoldering insinuation and rectitude since those are qualities most associated with Patricia Highsmith, who wrote the novel, The Price of Salt, from which the movie is adapted. She is a writer I will never love as much as I admire – and even then, from a shivery distance. If the movie leaves one cold, well, so did Highsmith. I'm not sure if anybody else could have done the material justice as well as or better than Haynes. Maybe the younger Kubrick since the movie at times evokes a colorized version of his 1962 take on Lolita; or, even better, the Alfred Hitchcock who made such gauzy dreams out of Vertigo or Marnie.
To Pimp a Butterfly (in the approximate, or relative context of Straight Outta Compton) –
The overlap of Kendrick Lamar's most variegated testament (thus far) with F. Gary Gray's astonishingly successful biopic/infomercial about N.W.A. made one ponder how much things have changed, if at all, between "Do I look like a muthafuckin' role model/To a kid lookin' up at me/Life aint nothin' but bitches and money" and "…[T]he world don't respect you and the culture don't accept you/But you think it's all love/And the girls gon' neglect you once your parody is done." The latter quote from Butterfly is, of course, more contemplative and lyrical than the more belligerent assertion of "the strength of street life" from the 1988 album that gives Gray's movie its name (and, really, its reason to exist.) Yet both these statements, and the records they come from, are stalked, even haunted, by the vulnerability of black lives as framed within the seemingly impregnable "White Problem" in America. Their shared response, in so many words: This is who I am, mothafuckas!! Deal with it because you got to change before I do! Both Butterfly and Compton (the album) also share the imperative to sound like nothing else that came before them. And their respective makers have profited from that make-it-new impulse; though it's clear from both the movie and the story it tells that N.W.A. has gotten over with its members' sometimes harrowing practice of rugged individualism while Lamar's still probing for something deeper and more messianic to carry himself and his listeners to a new, yet-to-be-defined phase of The Struggle. The real bridge between these two works is Lamar's "Alright," which stomps in with the "Gangsta Gangsta" swagger before morphing into an assertion of self-worth powerful enough to have made the song an anthem of the "Black Lives Matter" movement – and, potentially, of movements, or just "movement," to come.
There were so many shattering revelations and shameful double-dealings in this series' third, and best, season that one feels derelict in highlighting only one episode. But the season's ninth episode, "Do Mail Robots Dream of Electric Sheep?," was one of the peaks of series television, not just of the year, but also of the century so far. Its main action takes place in a repair shop late at night where Elizabeth and Phil Jennings (Keri Russell, Matthew Rhys), Russia's most stylish spy tandem, have taken a broken mail robot to dig out some needed Intel. An unexpected surprise materializes in the form of an elderly woman (the great Lois Smith) who was married to the shop's original owner. She's just as surprised to encounter the Jennings and her bewilderment gradually evolves to a weary acknowledgement that she will not survive the night. Her presumptive executioners share in the gnawing awfulness of the situation especially Elizabeth, who attempts to ease the woman's impending fate with some intimate, reassuring conversation about family life and then with an excessive injection of drugs. It's an interlude that makes the audience feel somewhat like intruders – and co-conspirators. Even in a golden age of cable television drama, no other series could pull off such an emotionally searing sequence. I can't wait to see what the fourth season's going to submit for our approval.
Blooming Again
It took a while for me to cozy up to Bloom County in its original 1980s incarnation. At the time, it seemed as though Berkeley Breathed's strip was trying too hard to conflate an assortment of influences from Peanuts to Pogo, from Lil' Abner to Doonesbury (especially) without developing a clear identity of its own. I also thought the comedy was too schematic and not terribly interesting (i.e. aging frat boy Steve Dallas hurling brazenly sexist overtures to super hot feminist schoolteacher Bobbi Harlow. Quelle Topique!) By mid-decade, though, the strip established its own blend of down-home whimsy, magical realism and soft-boiled satire distinctive enough to win a steady, fervent following – and a Pulitzer Prize!
Of course, The Penguin had almost everything to do with it. Breathed knew this since Opus was, for a while, the only character who made it to two sequels following the strip's closure in 1989. This past July, Breathed came out with a made-for-social-media revival of Bloom County with deeper shadows, broader effects and the same antic impulses. Smartass savant Milo Bloom and his irresolute, monster-haunted school chum Michael Binkley have barely aged beyond pre-adolescence while Steve Dallas is still a self-loathing dick and (thus) a Trump supporter. Binkley has fallen in unrequited love with an enchanting pint-sized yogi named Abby. Bill the Cat is still…Bill the Cat, only more so. And Opus is very much the sun around which the rest of the cast revolves, if not evolves. I didn't know how much I missed having these guys in my life until I started catching up with them on Facebook. And when I say the shadows are deeper this time, I refer to a recent storyline involving a small boy with an apparently life-threatening illness to whose elaborate space-opera fantasies the Bloom County gang caters. Breathed says he has no intention of bring his troupe back to newspapers and I think it's a wise move on his part.
I still wonder, though, whatever became of Ronald-Ann Smith from Breathed's Outland sequel strip. Is she the same age as well? Or did she grow up to become a semiotics professor at a Midwest college? I'm in no hurry to find the answer. I'd rather invent my own.
The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution
My favorite documentary of the year may well be the most balanced, comprehensive and intensely felt history we'll ever get of its oft-misunderstood topic. Director Stanley Nelson's companion piece to his comparably thorough and illuminating Freedom Summer (2014) deftly weaves all the scattered, twisted fragments of Panther history from the group's epoch-making, armed-to-the-teeth appearance at the California legislature (which resulted in then-governor Reagan signing the country's first gun-control legislation) to its think-globally-act-locally agenda that both scared and thrilled the rest of America to its active harassment under the odious COINTELPRO scourge to its violent confrontations with police and the murder of Fred Hampton – who scared authorities, it's clear here, more for having his political act together at a very young age than for any largely imaginary danger he posed to civilization. Nelson doesn't shy away from the internal friction among the Panther hierarchy – and he's taken some heat for doing so. But none of whatever happened between Huey Newton, Bobby Seale, Eldridge Cleaver and others diminishes one's abiding admiration for what this cadre tried to accomplish – or the persistence of what they challenged, against terrible odds, almost a half-century ago.
When Kristen Wiig left Saturday Night Live in 2012, I almost did, too. She gave the show a jolt of danger reminiscent of John Belushi, Eddie Murphy and (yes, even) Adam Sandler. As these examples suggest, such bomb-throwers are rare and I wasn't expecting anyone to come along that soon to provide a similar did-I-really-see-that buzz to the franchise. Then this ball-of-fire roars into 30 Rock's fun house and once again, America's on the edge of its seat wondering what this crazy person will do next. She had me, so to speak, at Justin Bieber. But her take on Hillary Clinton so thoroughly and scarily encompasses the aspects of Madame Secretary's personality feared by millions that you feel your own worst imaginings being held at gunpoint. (And that they deserve to be, too.) Madame Secretary's appearance on stage with her perversely avaricious doppelganger was one of the show's highlights, as much for showing the real-life candidate's impressive composure in not breaking character, or breaking-up during the routine; something that couldn't be said for Ryan Gosling a couple shows later. Enjoy her while she's there because, if past history is any guide, she's going to get so huge that she'll outgrow the fun house.
Philip Levine & James Tate
Sunday's New York Times reminded me that two of my favorite poets passed away during 2015. They seem utterly incompatible at a glance: Levine's poems were engaged with the grit, heartbreak and elusive epiphanies of blue-collar life while Tate was a deadpan emperor of ice cream who revealed strangeness in familiar things while exalting familiarity in strangeness. Yet reading their poetry gave me frissons similar to the contact highs I used to get from seeing American and European movies more than forty years ago. As I emerged from the theaters of the 1970s, my immediate surroundings attained sharper definition and broader possibility. Good movies, great art and fine poetry induce such rapture and, with the latter especially, you are grateful for those bright flashes of grace and insight whether delivered by the cosmos or summoned from the sidewalk. You need both perspectives to function as a human being, otherwise what's it all for? Don't answer. Just listen to Levine working up the nerve to dive into a reverie by declaring: "I place my left hand, palm up before me/ and begin to count the little dry river beds/on the map of life" ("Blue and Blue" from 1994's The Simple Truth). And dig Tate hard when in the title poem from his 1972 collection, Absences, he neatly sums up the autobiographical impulse: "A child plots his life to the end; and spends the rest of his days trying to remember the plot." Whenever you lose a poet (or two), you gain renewed diligence to respect the things not readily seen, including all the poets who are still around to sharpen the landscape.
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Yeah, yeah, whatever…
But if all that's true, then why, I keep asking every year, is there so much good-to-great "product" (a euphemism I loathe, but am stringing along, hoping it'll take the hint from the diminishing effect of quote marks) that still comes out? Why is it that I made up this year's list thinking that there were so many discs I could have easily included that didn't even make the Honorable Mention cut? Why is it that any of the top five on this list could have easily been number one and why could any of the ones below them, even the Honorable Mentions, could have slipped into the top five?
Why? Why ask why?
An answer — not "the" answer — is that whatever infrastructure that used to be in place for promoting and marketing music is in worse shape than some of our bridges, tunnels and highways. In fact, there might not even BE an infrastructure so much as a make-it-up-as-we-go-along system that spreads and circulates the word on artists and "product."
Or not. I don't know, really. As with everybody else who still cares, I go with my gut. And what my gut tells me is that jazz, whether God likes it or not, is finding a way to move along on its own power regardless of who's noticing at this point. And my top five especially give me hope that the music is not just moving along or getting by, but transforming itself into something not even Lisa Simpson or Mayor Quimby will recognize at first. I say it every year at this time and I will find some way of saying it again next year.
And I'm not giving up my compact discs either. Why? Vinyl. That's why. You all said THAT was dead, too, once.
1.) Cecile McLorin Salvant, For One to Love (Mack Avenue) – Her debut album two years ago was one of those once-in-a-generation calling cards in which soul, grace, power and intelligence materialize in one implausibly commanding 24-year-old package. She could have easily followed it up with another mélange of classic or out-of-left-field standards and maintained her front-running status as the Next Great Jazz Vocalist without making your jaw drop as she did when introducing herself. But damned if she doesn't do that to you again, and then some, with a bold concept album whose range and depth are reminiscent of similar innovations from this year's centennial birthday boy Frank Sinatra during the fifties ("Only the Lonely") and sixties ("September of My Years"). The songs on this album are connected in some way with what it's like to for one's looks to be scrutinized and summarily judged. I'd also be inclined to label her effort here as an attempt to filter The Male Gaze through a prism of her own design. But why limit oneself, or her, to one gender's glancing assessments? The biggest tip-off is "Look at Me," one of her five original compositions here, in which self-conscious doubt starts seeping into an otherwise idyllic romance. ("Why don't you look at me/ the way you look at all the other girls you see?") along with its companion, "Left Over" ("I wonder if he even knows my name") Such plaintive, yet pointed inquiries make themselves known in other selections, such as "Stepsister's Lament" from Rodgers and Hammerstein's "Cinderella" and that sweet swinging Bacharach-David tune, "Wives and Lovers," which she nonchalantly hits over the fence and through the windshield of a neighbor's car parked four houses away. Her penchant for unearthing early blues (Spencer and Clarence Williams' "What's the Matter Now?") also melds easily with the overall concept, whose poignancy is offset by the ferocious jolts of hope and mother-wit infusing "The Trolley Song" and an especially breathtaking "Something's Coming." It almost frightens you to keep listening. Yet you have to. And of course, it all wouldn't work nearly as well without the pliant and comparably ingenious accompaniment of pianist Aaron Diehl, bassist Paul Sikivie and drummer Lawrence Leathers.
2.) Kamasi Washington, The Epic (Brainfeeder) – I suspect this will likely lead most of the lists my peers are assembling for the year's best jazz albums. If the level of emotional investment shown in the previous entry hadn't moved me more, I'd have been right along with them. This represents one of those occasions where you're not only recognizing artistry on these three discs, but what this whole work represents: A heady return to the notion of orchestrated jazz as a source of emphatic, unmediated ecstasy; the difference here from the raw, searching energies summoned by John Coltrane, Su Ra, Rahsaan Roland Kirk and generations of "New Thing" acolytes and fellow travelers from the past being a wider accessibility to beat and tone. Because of Washington's Los Angeles roots, I kept thinking about great bandleaders and mentors from that scene such as Gerald Wilson and Horace Tapscott whose charts roared, stomped and often sprawled the way these pieces do. But because of the conspicuous presence of Washington's keening, quicksilver tenor sax on Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp a Butterfly (which, if you were holding my feet to the fire, I'd be ready to declare the Album of the Year among all genres), I also recognize in this Epic's conception Hip-Hop's big, avid ears for blending rogue sounds. In this case: tiers of percussion propelling choirs of angels, street-hard horns breaking and merging at will and, once in a while, the familiar sound of a Hammond B-3 organ (summoned by keyboardist Brandon Coleman). It's an achievement of such conspicuous heft and dimension that it makes you wonder if Washington's trying to do too much at once. But just when you think those aforementioned energies are flagging, something, maybe a speed run by the bassist known as Thundercat, an extended comp by acoustic pianist Cameron Graves, an incisive lead vocal by Patrice Quinn or a fervent, reasonably straightforward take on "Clair de Lune" comes along to sustain the sense of the ground beneath one's feet rumbling. It's not that The Epic represents anything new under the sun. (It even revives "Cherokee," for Charlie Ventura's sake!) But it makes you aware of how long it's been since jazz music made you want to reach for the sun, much less stare at it without fear.
3.) Maria Schneider Orchestra, The Thompson Fields (ArtistShare) – In a year when the overall level of jazz composing, arranging and orchestration challenged the adequacy of one's supply of superlatives, it altogether figured that the redoubtable Schneider would put forth what, up to this still-relatively-early point in her brilliant career, could well be her masterpiece: An eight-piece suite, a decade or so in the making, evoking the outward graces and cherished epiphanies of the Minnesota prairie where she grew up. The music at first lulls you into thinking this handsomely packaged selection will be nothing but daydreams bathed in twilight pastels. (Not that there's anything wrong with that.) But Schneider, whose ability to "play" an 18-piece orchestra has never before been as consummate or as confident as it is here, layers her pastoral vision with themes that thicken, recede and recharge with the mercurial impulses of Nature itself. After all, the weather isn't always sunny and warm in one's past, or, to be sure, in one's present either. As with every great bandleader, Schneider allows her soloists near-collaborative space to enhance her vision, as in the cases of pianist Frank Kimbrough and guitarist Lage Lund replicating the tension between memory and reality on the title piece or Rich Perry's inquisitive tenor sax summoning the persisting lure and unfulfilled yearning of "Home." Too often, Schneider's work as a composer-arranger incites comparisons to her inspirations/mentors Bob Brookmeyer and Gil Evans (about whom more later on this list). Now, she stands alone as a musical force capable of inspiring others. And if I were to make any comparisons at this point, it would be less towards other bandleaders than towards poets, to whose influence she has been paying homage on recent discs. In particular, her work on Thompson Fields reminds me of Robert Frost, another pastoralist whose darker, more ambivalent approaches to the passages of time and the seasons are often overlooked at first glance because of the elemental beauty of his tone. In both his case and hers, the subtler sense of unease aroused by their respective visions incline you to be more solicitous to the living things around you – and to treat their mysteries with respect and discretion.
4.) Stanley Cowell, Juneteenth (Vision Fugitive) – Now 74, Cowell has been among the underappreciated stalwarts – and treasures – of American music. As with generations of jazz masters who found themselves marginalized in the cultural firmament even as they were becoming more autonomous as producers (he was one of the co-founders of the legendary Strata-East independent label in the seventies), Cowell spent most of the last several decades in academia while continuing to write, perform and record in a variety of settings as sideman and leader. He has also been one of the few pianists whose solo work is as textured and broadly realized as any combo's repertoire. This unaccompanied performance of a work originally written for large ensemble commemorating the 150th anniversary of Emancipation, or at least its informal announcement in Texas in 1865, feels very much like a splendid gift to his abiding fans as well as a moving tribute to Cowell's resilience. Because he shares a Toledo, Ohio birthplace with the great virtuoso Art Tatum, Cowell lays claim to the same faultless command of time and space that Tatum displayed in his own formidable body of solo recordings. He also weaves references to, and extensions upon, such disparate tunes as "The Battle Hymn of the Republic," "Strange Fruit," "Dixie" and other Americana redolent of the surging, shape-shifting referencing of Charles Mingus, only with a more probing and nuanced approach. With the issues animating the Civil War gaining more urgency in the years since Cowell was commissioned (in 2012) to compose this suite, "Juneteenth" feels at once both topical and enduring; news that, for better and worse, stays news.
5.) Rudresh Mahanthappa, Bird Calls (ACT) – Modernism meets post-modernism and the former gets a "fly" face-lift it can grow with. Bird Calls is (far) less a "tribute album" to Charlie Parker than a young alto-sax daredevil's attempt to connect with the divinities that made Parker soar into uncharted changes more than 70 years ago. Mahanthappa borrows or, more appropriately, "samples" themes, licks and riffs from the Parker canon and uses them as propellant for his own fire-breathing inventions. The familiar fanfare from the "Parker's Mood," for instance, is transfigured on "Talin is Thinking" into a incantation setting the table for a dirge drastically different, yet no less resonant or far-reaching than the original while "Maybe Later" cheekily elbows tropes from "Now's the Time," Parker's slow-hand blues that midwifed both bebop and post-war rhythm-and-blues, and creates a bouncy number that swings more like an uptown rave than a downtown slide. The only thing that strongly evokes Parker throughout is the insurgent, turbo-charged drive to Make It New; and, in the process, to expand the possibilities for jazz to emerge from the chrysalis of its established traditions into something resembling full, unrestrained flight. Trumpeter Adam O'Farrill, pianist Matt Mitchell, bassist Francois Moutin and drummer Rudy Royston robustly share their leader's commitment to this process and, you hope, other attempts at homage to past masters will take the hint.
6.) Steve Coleman, Synovial Joints (PI) – "Doctor" Coleman continues the inquiry into the human body he commenced two years before with Functional Arrythmias (also on PI) and expands his bag of implements beyond those of his customary quintet of trumpeter Jonathan Finlayson, bassist Anthony Tidd, guitarist Miles Okasaki and, this time, drummer Marcus Gilmore to include a few more horns, a flute and piccolo, a string quartet, a pianist (David Bryant) and a singer (Jen Shyu) who join him on the eponymous four-part exploration/appreciation of, as Coleman writes in the liner notes, "the joints that bind the human musculoskeletal system [that] function as a means of connecting bones, binding tissue and provid[ing] various degrees of movement for our bodies." Yes, I had the exact same thought: What a fine dance performance routine this music would serve. And the pull-pull interplay between strings and horns, bass lines and modes encourage one to imagine knees, elbows, legs and shoulders accommodating themselves to whatever groove gets transmitted as permission to ambulate. This disc doesn't just go inside on "Acupuncture Openings" and "Celtic Cells" (not those in the body, but in medieval clusters of otherwise scattered visionaries. They also spend time in the Sahara desert on "Harmattan" and "Nomadic." Wherever they go, Coleman's ad-hoc musical aggregation sustains an engaging blend of the spontaneous and the deliberate that keeps mind and body in constant motion at delightfully varied speeds. It's even fun if you're just walking at a normal pace and this quirky music's somehow playing – in more ways than one – through your ears.
7.) ) Ryan Truesdell Gil Evans Project, Lines of Color (ArtistShare) – Despite several albums of live performances by his big band released during the last 15 years of his life, so much of the reputation of arranger-bandleader-composer-enabler-of-the-cool Gil Evans (1912-1988) remains tethered to studio work, most especially whenever Miles Davis was involved. Thus, Ryan Truesdell, to whom so much is already owed for his Evans project's award-winning 2012 debut. Centennial (also on ArtistShare), continues to restore Evans' body of work and its myriad possibilities for revision. Here, he also helps re-establish the exuberant interaction of big band music with its audience — even if it's sitting and drinking along, as opposed to dancing, which for all I know happened, too, at midtown Manhattan's Jazz Standard, where these sessions were recorded. Take, just as an example, the project's reiteration of Evans' arrangement of Bix Biederbecke's "Davenport Blues." On the 1959 Pacific Jazz album, Great Jazz Standards, the piece is carried along by the late trumpeter Johnny Coles' soft, cool and dry solo, this version's rhythmic pulse is amplified by drummer Lewis Nash's down-and-dirty beat and trumpeter Mat Jodrell's flamboyantly vertical solo. I thought Evans' 1965 version of "Greensleeves" would be a non-starter without Kenny Burrell's guitar up front, but trombonist Marshall Gilkes busts the arrangement wide open. Because Truesdell is as much curator as orchestrator, he also uses such occasions for lesser-known or previously unrecorded Evans, notably "Avalon Town," which he'd written during his mid-1940s apprenticeship with Claude Thornhill, during which he began tinkering with impressionism and modulated brass.
8.) Matthew Shipp Trio, The Conduct of Jazz (Thirsty Ear) –This is the small group album many of us have been waiting for from Wilmington's Excitable Renegade. His knotty, multi-clustered attack on the piano is as relentless as ever with his themes and motifs rolling, tumbling and shifting direction with seemingly inexhaustible inventiveness. The first few bars of "Instinctive Touch" (along with the title itself) announces to the uninitiated how insistently he's willing to stress test a motif until it breaks apart to reveal some promising new form of life. Yet it's the title track that discloses something new to the mix; an exuberant drive that somehow seems more contained and yet more fluid and expansive. I'm going out on a limb by saying that it's the addition of drummer Newton Taylor Baker to the tandem of Shipp and bassist Michael Bisio, whose solos likewise seem to have gained greater breadth and openness. Baker's playing, both with the others and on its own, stretches and spreads out along with Shipp's and Bisio's, establishing keener interaction within the trip and helping Shipp's compositions, whether as crypto-funky as "Blue Abyss," or as discursive as "Primary Form" reach trajectories that challenge listeners without leaving them stranded or shortchanged. Mostly, it's fun. Which is how jazz at whatever level of ambition or comprehension is supposed to "conduct" itself.
9.) Rez Abbasi Acoustic Quartet, Intents and Purposes (Enja) – The year's notable contribution to the file marked, Discs-I-Couldn't-Keep-Out-Of-My-Player-Without-Knowing-Exactly-Why is a disarming and surprisingly illuminating inquiry into the oft-discredited realm of what we used to know in the 1970s as jazz-rock fusion. Because so much of the music associated with that genre leaned on synthesizers, wah-wah pedals and other plug-in accessories, purists of all persuasions suspected both its players and its repertoire of coasting on waves of bombast and white noise. Abbasi's guitars, assisted by Bill Ware's vibes, Stephan Crump's upright bass and Eric McPherson's trap set, excise the bubbles and fuzz from one's memories of Herbie Hancock's "Butterfly," Billy Cobham's "Red Baron," Chick Corea's "Medieval Overture" and Pat Martino's "Joyous Lake," among others, to reveal their sinewy lyricism without muting their sounds or constricting their energies. These guys come on strong enough to make you check the cover again to make sure nobody's packing a concealed amplifier.
10.) Heads of State, Search for Peace (Smoke Sessions) – This gathering of gray eminences – saxophonist Gary Bartz, pianist Larry Willis, bassist Buster Williams and drummer Al Foster – isn't out to re-invent the wheel, or anything else. This is about as unassuming as "straight ahead" jazz gets these days, given its selection of standards, both familiar ("Impressions," "Lotus Blossom," "I Wish I Knew") and not quite as well known that you don't need to mention their composers' names (Benny Carter's "Summer Serenade," Jackie McLean's "Capuchin Swing"). There are also two pieces, "Soulstice" and "Uncle Bubba," written by Bartz – and as masterly as the other esteemed "heads" are, it is Bartz to whom this album truly belongs and whose playing throughout is a clinic in lyricism, timing and tone. At 75, he is a living exemplar of the alto saxophone and all you have to do is listen to him lay out on something like "Crazy She Calls Me" to bask in the reflected glory of someone who knows exactly what to say, how to say it and where each bend and curve in a variation needs to go. Jazz doesn't always have to change the world, or even rearrange the furniture in your head, to be great. Sometimes, all it needs is a rich, ripe and still evolving gift such as Bartz's to remind you why you don't really care what anybody else says about jazz music's alleged "deterioration" or "demise." If Bartz still believes, you should, too
Fred Hersch, Solo (Palmetto)
Myra Melford, Snowy Egret (Enja)
Chris Potter Underground Orchestra, Imaginary Cities (ECM)
Erik Friedlander, Oscalypso (Skipstone)
Tigran Hamasyan, Luys I Luso (ECM)
Romain Collin, Press Enter (ACT)
Albert "Tootie" Heath, Ethan Iverson, Ben Street, Philadelphia Beat (Sunnyside)
Vijay Iyer Trio, Break Stuff (ECM)
Liberty Elfman, Radiate (PI)
BEST VOCAL: For One to Love HONORABLE MENTION: Cassandra Wilson, Coming Forth By Day (Legacy)
BEST LATIN ALBUM: Arturo O' Farrill & the Afro-Latin Jazz Orchestra, Cuba: The Conversation Continues (Motema)
BEST REISSUE: Erroll Garner, The Complete Concert by the Sea (Legacy)


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With over 40 years in real estate and countless millions in sales, Mike Spanier knows all there is to know about buying and selling property. He has spent the majority of his life building a business on hard work, skill and stellar customer service. His high ethical standards and genuine desire to help others are also key to his success. "I have an appreciation for the opportunity to help people find and sell a home. It is part of the American Dream that I believe in." Over the course of his career, Mike has sold more than 1,000 homes and has learned the importance of targeted marketing and research. Through comprehensive analysis, he studies the trends to determine where the market is picking up and where it is slowing down. This information is key when it comes to effective, accurate pricing. He is also an expert on timing, once managing 25 offers on the same property and ultimately getting his client top return on investment. "Whatever is best for the client, that's what needs to be done. I am always honest and put their needs above all else." After graduating in 1965 from UC Berkeley with a bachelor's degree in landscape architecture, Mike entered the real estate industry in 1968 and began amassing awards and professional credentials. He was in the top 1% in sales for Coldwell Banker, Saratoga for the San Francisco-Pebble Beach region. Was also once a Certified Financial Planner® (CFP®). He had been a member of the Rotary Club of Los Gatos for 20 years and the Silicon Valley Association of REALTORS®. Mike is now a member of CDAR in Palm Desert. Mike and his wife, Pat now live in Palm Desert and are members of the Ironwood Country Club at the end of Portola. He has certainly come a long way from selling his first home in 1968 for $15,000! "I offer my services to anyone who needs my help. The relationship between my clients and me is much more important than the price point." Mike is now a Palm Desert resident who enjoys golf, bridge and hi
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text:
PRA Proposes to Delay Termination of Reports FSA047 and FSA048
Basel Liquidity Compliance, Regulatory Reporting: EU
PRA is proposing (CP22/18) to delay termination of the existing "daily flows" and "enhanced mismatch" liquidity reports (FSA047 and FSA048) by six months. The purpose of the proposed change is to mitigate risks to the supervision of liquidity in the initial period, following the introduction of the new PRA110 report on July 01, 2019. This consultation closes on November 12, 2018 and is relevant to banks, building societies, and PRA-designated investment firms.
PRA does not propose changing the implementation date of the PRA110. These proposals would be delivered by amendments to the Reporting Part of the PRA Rulebook (Appendices 1 and 2) and an update to Supervisory Statement SS34/15 titled "Guidelines for completing regulatory reports" (Appendix 3). The following changes have been proposed to the PRA reporting requirements to:
Delay terminating the FSA047 and FSA048 for six months (that is, to January 01, 2020)
Reduce the reporting frequency of the FSA047 and FSA048 reports to align with the PRA110 report, in cases where it would otherwise differ from July 01, 2019
Furthermore, PRA confirms that it is using its new individual risk methodologies as set out in Statement of Policy titled "Pillar 2 liquidity" in liquidity reviews. They are being applied at the current glide path factor. PRA has previously stated its intention to set out proposals on the overall calibration of the liquidity framework in 2018. However, PRA has taken the decision to postpone finalization of its proposals to conduct further analysis on the appropriate level of liquidity guidance. This includes the potential for some recognition in the Pillar 2 liquidity framework of the ability to draw on BoE liquidity facilities, where firms have access arrangements and appropriate collateral in place.
CP22/18 (PDF)
Statement of Policy on Pillar 2 Liquidity
Comment Due Date: November 12, 2018
Keywords: Europe, UK, Banking, Reporting, Pillar 2 Liquidity, CP22/18, FSA047, FSA048, PRA
PRA Consults on Approach to Managing Climate Change Risks
OSFI Updates Manual of Reporting Forms and Instructions for Banks


As director of construction management, Jeff Redhage serves as project manager on new construction projects, with a focus on build-to-suits, in the region. He also manages data center construction projects in the Hunt Midwest SubTropolis Technology Center. Jeff serves as project manager for new surface construction developments in the Hunt Midwest Business Center as well as Hunt Midwest's newest multi-family developments in Johnson County, Kansas. Jeff has more than 17 years of construction experience, managing over $700 million in construction projects and over 100,000 square feet of mission critical projects.
Jeff is a graduate of the University of Kansas with a BS in Civil Engineering. He and his family currently reside in Olathe, Kansas.


Ook! I never want my grand daughters to have a abortion but if needed then by GHOD I want them to have that option.
For a moment, just a moment, mind, I thought you were making some sort of reference to Joan Crawford.
No hangers? I'm feeling dense tonight. Not a clue on that one.


text:
\section*{Abstract}
The generation and conduction of action potentials represents a
fundamental means of communication in the nervous system, and is a
metabolically expensive process. In this paper, we investigate the
energy efficiency of neural systems in a process of transfer pulse
signals with action potentials. By computer simulation of a
stochastic version of Hodgkin-Huxley model with detailed description
of ion channel random gating, and analytically solve a bistable
neuron model that mimic the action potential generation with a
particle crossing the barrier of a double well, we find optimal
number of ion channels that maximize energy efficiency for a neuron.
We also investigate the energy efficiency of neuron population in
which input pulse signals are represented with synchronized spikes
and read out with a downstream coincidence detector neuron. We find
an optimal combination of the number of neurons in neuron population
and the number of ion channels in each neuron that maximize the
energy efficiency. The energy efficiency depends on the characters
of the input signals, e.g., the pulse strength and the inter-pulse
intervals. We argue that trade-off between reliability of signal
transmission and energy cost may influence the size of the neural
systems if energy use is constrained.

\section*{Author Summary}
Action potentials are the basic way that information is transmitted
in the brain. Those electrical 'spikes' also cost a large fraction
of metabolic energy in brains. It is believed the neural systems
should be evolved to be energy efficient under the pressure of
natural selection. The demand for energy efficiency could be large
enough to influence the design of the neural system. Since the
neural systems are basically stochastic devices, it is interesting
to investigate the effects of noise on the energy efficiency of
neural systems. In this paper, using computer simulation and
analytical methods, we showed that the energy efficiency exhibits
maxima corresponding to optimal number of ion channels in the neuron
and optimal number of neurons in a pulse signal detection task.
Those results indicate that the size of the neural systems may be
optimized to transfer information energy efficiently.
\section*{Introduction}
Neural processing is metabolically
expensive~\cite{Richter_Metabolism_2001}. The human brain accounts
for about 20\% of an adult's resting metabolic rate. A large
fraction of this energy is used for action potential generations,
which rely on the potential energy stored in transmembrane ion
gradients\cite{attwell_energy_2001}. Though action potential itself
does not consume energy, maintaining this ionic concentration
gradients and restoring them after an action potential requires
energy released during ATP hydrolysis to drive ATPase
$Na^{+}$/$K^{+}$
exchangers~\cite{Magistretti11092009,Siekevitz15102004}. These
metabolic demands could be large enough to influence the design,
function and evolution of brains~\cite{laughlin_metabolic_1998}.
Therefore, it is believed that under the pressure of natural
selection, the neurons, neural coding and neuronal circuit will be
evolved to be energy efficient if metabolic energy is
limited~\cite{Niven01062008,Laughlin:2001p42719}.

In the process of action potential generation, the inward $Na^+$
current depolarizes the membrane and generates the upstroke, whereas
the outward $K^+$ current repolarizes the membrane and facilitates
the downstroke. The overlap of those two ion fluxes would result in
an electrically neutral exchange of positive ions, wasting $Na^+$
and accordingly energy~\cite{Margineanu}. Thus it is suggested
minimizing the overlap of those two ion fluxes will improve the
energy efficiency for action potential
generation~\cite{10.1371/journal.pcbi.1002456}. Recent experimental
investigation on the nonmyelinated mossy fibers of the rat
hippocampus supported this suggestion~\cite{Alle11092009}.

The energy efficiency of the neural system is also dependent on the
size of the neuron~\cite{Sarpeshkar:1998:AVD:303222.303223}. For
example, one would expect that neurons with small size will be more
efficient because less ion channels are involved, thus less ion
exchange through ion pump. However, the ion channels are stochastic
devices, less number of ion channels in the neurons will lead to
larger fluctuations in the transmembrane ion
current~\cite{Steinmetz99subthresholdvoltage}. This so called ``ion
channel noise" has been demonstrated not only give variability in
the response of neuron to external stimuli, but also cause
spontaneous action potentials, and damage the reliability of signal
processing~\cite{Chow19963013, Laughlin:1989:RSN:103938.103955}. In
this case, trade-offs between information transfer and energy use
could strongly influence the number of ion channels used by the
neurons.

An elegant theoretical analysis, using a simple model for the
generation of graded electrical signals by sodium and potassium
channels, showed that there exists an optimum number of ion channels
that maximize energy efficiency. The optima depend on several
factors: the relative magnitudes of the signaling cost (current flow
through channels), the fixed cost of maintaining the system, the
reliability of the input, additional sources of noise, and the
relative costs of upstream and downstream
mechanisms\cite{Schreiber02energy-efficientcoding}. While this is
true, as discussed above, instead of graded electrical signal, it is
the action potentials that carry the information in the neural
systems, and contribute to major cost of energy. Therefore, it is
interesting to study the energy efficiency of neurons which code
signals digitally with action potentials when ion channel noise is
concerned.

  Another interesting question is if this trade-offs between information transfer and energy use could influence the size of the neural network.
It is well known that the information process in brain is
accomplished with a group of neurons working cooperatively, not with
only one neuron~\cite{bear_neuroscience:_2007}. Studies have shown
that neurons could be synchronized to prevent from noise
perturbation and facilitating
  reliability of information transmission\cite{10.1371/journal.pcbi.1000637, PhysRevE.78.051909}. However, large number of
  synchronized spikes generated in the neural systems will give a
  large energy burden on them. In this case, it is
  possible that the number of neurons in the neural system is
  optimized to balance the reliability of information transfer and
  energy cost.

In this paper, we employ analytical and computational methods to
calculate the metabolic energy efficiency of single neuron and
neuron population performing a pulse-signal detection task in the
environment of ion channel noise. A simplified model of a
one-dimensional bistable Langevin equation, which mimics the action
potential generations with a particle crossing the barrier of a
double well, are solved analytically for the pulse signal detection
rate and spontaneous firing rate. Based on those results, the energy
efficiency of single neuron are investigated. Results show that for
the single neuron, there is an optimal number of ion channels
corresponding to maximal energy efficiency in detection of pulse
signals. The optima depend on the signal properties, e.g., pulse
strength, inter-pulse interval. To investigate the energy efficiency
of neuron population, the pulse inputs are applied to a group of
neurons, the outputs of those neurons are received and read out by a
downstream coincidence detector (CD) neuron. In this case, the
reliability of detection is enhanced, and there is an optimal
combination of the number of neurons and the number of ion channels,
with which the energy efficiency is maximized. The optimal number of
neurons depends on the threshold of downstream coincidence detector
neuron. Those results are confirmed with computer simulation of a
stochastic Hodgkin-Huxley (HH) model in which the detailed
description of ion channel random gating are considered.

\section*{Results}
\subsection*{Threshold fluctuation and spontaneous firings }
The classic HH neuron model is a deterministic device. Action
potentials are caused only when it receives superthrshold stimulus.
In reality, ion channel noise could bring substantial effect on the
action potential initiation process. It makes the neuron fires in
response to subthreshold stimuli, or fail to fire in response to
supra-threshold stimuli\cite{White01071998}. To investigate the
effect of this so call threshold fluctuation on the signal detection
ability of neurons, we applied short (duration 1\emph{ms}) current
pulse inputs in the stochastic HH model, in which the membrane area
$S$ controls the number of ion channels, thus the intensity of ion
channel noise. If an action potential is generated immediately(less
than 8\emph{ms} after current injection), then we say the pulse
input is detected by the neuron, as demonstrated in Fig.~\ref{Demo}
. The pulse detection rate of the neuron is measured as the number
of pulse signal being detected over the total number of pulses
signal applied. In the absence of ion channel noise, i.e., the
membrane area is extremely large, the stochastic HH model is
equivalent to the deterministic HH model, which has a rigid
threshold. However, if the membrane area is limited, the stochastic
HH model shows ``softed" threshold in response to signals, as shown
in Fig.~\ref{fig1}(A). Becasue the ion channel noise could
facilitate threshold crossing of subthreshold signals, thus enable
the neuron to detect the subthreshold signals \cite{Adair14102003,
Stacey01092001}. The detection rate is increased as the membrane
area is decreased for subthreshold pulses. Meanwhile, ion channel
noise sabotages the neuron's detection ability for superthreshold
signals. Therefore, for superthreshold pulses, the detection rate
drops as the membrane area is decreased. Whereas for the threshold
signals, whose strength is just strong enough to make the neurons
fire in the absence of noise, its detection rate is $50\%$, no
matter how large the noise intensity. So for threshold pulses, the
detection rate is independent on the membrane area of the neuron.

 Beside threshold fluctuation, ion channel noise can also
trigger action potentials even in the absent of external input.
Fig.\ref{fig1} (B) demonstrated the firing rate of spontaneous APs
for neurons with different membrane area. It is seen that
spontaneous firing rate of action potentials decreases rapidly as
the membrane area increases, and when membrane area is larger that
$200\mu m^2$, the spontaneous firings become very rare.

\subsection*{Mimic the threshold fluctuation and spontaneous firings with bistable model}
A comprehensive theoretical and numerical analysis of the HH
equations with the inclusion of stochastic channel dynamics was done
Chow and White~\cite{Chow19963013}. It is shown that the system can
be approximated by a one-dimensional bistable Langevin equation,
which describes the dynamics of a particle in a double well
potential. Due to this fact, we use the following bistable model to
mimic the threshold fluctuation and spontaneous firing of a neuron:

\begin{equation}
\dot{x}=ax-x^{3}+n^{-1/2}\Gamma(t), \label{eq-1}
\end{equation}
where
\begin{equation}
<\Gamma(t)>=0; <\Gamma(t)\Gamma(t^{'})>=2\delta(t-t^{'}),
\end{equation}
$x$ is the position of the particle and analogous to the membrane
potential. The model has two minimal at $x_{1}=-\sqrt{a}$ and
$x_{2}=\sqrt{a}$, and a saddle point $x_{B}=0$. $n$ is taken here as
the number of ion channels of the neuron, and control the intensity
of ion channel noise~\cite{PhysRevE.70.011903}. We take the left
minimal of the double well as the resting state of the neuron, and
the saddle point as the threshold. The firing of the neuron is then
analogous to a particle surmounting the barrier and crossing to the
other minimum. We will take advantage of simplicity of this bistable
neuron model to have analytical description of its firing
probability for pulse signal under ion channel noise perturbation,
and spontaneous firing rate.

For the double well model at hand, suppose we have a transient pulse
signal $\Delta x$ that push the particle to a position $x$ near the
saddle point $x_{B}$, ie., $\Delta x=x-x_{B}$.  Following Lecar and
Nossal's approach of linearizing around the
threshold~\cite{lecar_theory_1971}, we can obtain the probability of
finding the particle in the right well after an enough long time(see
see \textbf{Models and Methods} for details), i.e., the probability
that a pulse input signal is detected by the neuron, which is
\begin{equation}
p_{c}=\frac{1}{2}[1+erf( \sqrt{an/2}\Delta x)],
 \label{single_pc}
\end{equation}
where $erf$ is so called error function. It is seen from
Fig.\ref{fig1}(B) that Eq.\ref{single_pc} well described the
threshold fluctuation due to ion channel noise observed from SHH
model.

 This spontaneous firing of action potential can be treated as a classic barrier escape problem with
additive thermal noise described by Eq.\ref{eq-1}. According to
Kramers's formula for escape
rate~\cite{Stochastic_Methods_Gardiner}, the spontaneous action
potential firing rate for this double well model is(see Appendix II
for detail)
\begin{equation}
p_{r}=\frac{\sqrt{2}a}{2\pi}e^{-a^{2}n/4}.
 \label{single_pr}
\end{equation}
It is seen from Fig.\ref{fig1}(D) that the spontaneous firing rate
of APs increases exponentially as the number of ion channels
decreasing.

\subsection*{The Energy Efficiency of Single Neuron}

Let us investigate the energy efficiency of a bistable neuron in a
task of detecting transient pulse train that compose $n_{all}$
pulses, with strength $\Delta x$, separated averagely by $\Delta t$.
For the bistable neuron at hand, let us suppose the energy cost for
neuron with only one ion channel to generate an AP is 1. Then the
neuron would generate $n_{all}p_{c}$ APs for correctly detecting of
$n_{all}p_{c}$ pulses, with the energy cost $n n_{all}p_{c}$. The
neuron also generates $\approx n_{all}\Delta t p_{r}$ spontaneous
APs due to noise perturbation, with energy cost $n n_{all}\Delta t
p_{r}$. Then the efficiency of energy use for the neuron,  can be
written as
\begin{equation}
Q=\frac{p_{c}}{n(p_{c}+\Delta t p_{r})}.
\end{equation}
or we can define the energy cost of correctly detecting one pulse
signal as
\begin{equation}
T=n(1+\Delta t \frac{p_{r}}{p_{c}}).
\end{equation}
Take $a$, $\Delta x$, and $\Delta t$ as parameters and $n$ as a
continuous variables, the condition for $T$ as a function of $n$ has
a local minimum, i.e., $Q$ has a local maxmum is
\begin{equation}
\frac{dT(n)}{dn}=0,\\ \frac{d^2 T(n)}{dn^2}>0 \label{condition}.
\end{equation}
The above problem can be solved easily with numerical method, the
results shows that in certain parameter region of $(a, \Delta x
\Delta t)$, there is a root $n^{*}$ for $\frac{dT(n)}{dn}=0$, at
which $\frac{d^2 T(n)}{dn^2}|_{n=n^{*}}>0$. To shows the results
explicitly, we directly calculate energy efficiency $Q$ as a
function of $n$ for parameters $a$, $\Delta x$ and $\Delta t$.

 As shown in Fig.~\ref{fig2}(A), as $n$ increases, the energy efficiency increases to reach a maximum and then drops.
This resonance of energy efficiency with the number of ion channels,
i.e., noise intensity, implies there is an optimal number of ion
channels for the neuron that could take the pulse signal detection
task most efficiently in the energy consumption.

For the stochastic HH model, a pulse train that compose
$n_{all}=2000$ pulses, with strength $I$ and duration $1\emph{ms}$,
separated averagely by $\Delta t=100 ms$, is applied for detectoin.
The energy efficiency to detect this pulse train is defined as the
total number of pulse detected by the neuron over the total energy
costed in this detection task(see \textbf{Models and Methods} for
details). The results confirms that the energy efficiency do have a
maximum with proper input pulse interval $\Delta t$, as is seen from
Fig.~\ref{fig2}(B). It is seen that the energy efficiency exhibites
local maximum with membrane area around $180 \mu m^{2}$. Above this
optimal membrane are, the energy efficiency drops as the membrane
area increases. Below this optimal membrane area, the energy
efficiency drops to a minimum then increase as the membrane area
decreases. We argue this resonance of energy efficiency is actually
a balance between energy cost and pulse detection capacity. Because
large membrane area implies more ion channels are involved, thus
more ions need to be restored by the ATP pump after generation of
action potentials, to improve energy efficiency, neurons prefer
small membrane area. On the other hand, neurons with small membrane
area will generate more spontaneous APs in a certain period, which
contribute nothing to information transfer but cost energy.
Therefore, a minimum in energy cost, thus a maximin in energy
efficiency for a optimal membrane area is expected.

\subsubsection*{The maximal of energy efficiency depends on properties of pulse input}

The optimal number of ion channels for maximal energy efficiency is
dependent on the properties of the pulse train the neuron is
detecting.  As is seen from Fig.\ref{fig2}, neurons are tends to
detect strong pulse more reliably. Therefore, increasing the pulse
input strength, the energy efficiency increases, meanwhile the
optimal $n$ will decrease.

 The maximal energy efficiency is also dependent on the inter-pulse interval $\Delta t$
(Fig.~\ref{fig3}). Because in a large inter-pulse interval, the
neuron tends to fire more spontaneous APs, which contributing
nothing to signal detection but cost energy. Thus decreasing $\Delta
t$ decreases increases the energy efficiency, meanwhile the optimal
$n$ decreases. However, if $\Delta t$ is too small, the local
maximum would disappear and energy efficiency declines monotonously
with the number of ion channels.

\subsection*{The Energy Efficiency of Neuronal Population}
The neural system often transmit signals with synchronous spikes,
which has been shown that could prevent signals being damaged by
noise. The signal information can be reliably read out with the
coincidence-detector neuron. Here we use a simple scenario to
describe this process and investigate its energy efficiency. As is
shown in Fig. \ref{fig5}, a population of neurons receiving the same
pulse train input and send their output to a CD neuron. The CD
neuron takes outputs from neuron population as the input, and fires
only when multiple inputs arrive simultaneously in a short time
window $T_{w}$.

Suppose the CD neuron is excited by $\theta$ or more than $\theta$
inputs from $N$ neurons whose firing probability in response to
pulse stimulation is $p_{c}$, then the detection ability of this
neuron population, i.e., the firing probability of CD neuron, is
written as
\begin{equation}
P^{~\theta}(\theta, N, p_{c})= \sum _{\alpha =\theta}^N
\binom{N}{\alpha}p_{c}^{~\alpha}(1-p_{c})^{N-\alpha}=1-F( \theta,N,
p_{c})
 \label{p-theta}
\end{equation}
where $p^{~\alpha}(1-p)^{N-\alpha}$ is the probability that only
$\alpha$ neurons fire at the same time, and
$\binom{N}{\alpha}=\frac{N!}{\alpha!(N-\alpha)!}$ is the number of
ways of picking $\alpha$ neurons from population $N$.  So $\sum
_{\alpha =\theta}^N \frac{N!}{\alpha!(N-\alpha)!}$ is the total
number of ways of selecting $\theta$ or more than $\theta$ neuron
out of population $N$. $F(x , p, n)=\sum _{i
=0}^x\binom{n}{i}p^{i}(1-p)^{(n-i)}$ is the binomial cumulative
probability function.

We must note that in the the analysis of detection rate of single
neuron, we assumed the response time of single neuron to pulse input
could be infinitely large. However, in fact the most response
happens immediately after pulse input applied. Therefore, we could
expect a peak in the post-stimulus time histogram (PSTH) immediately
after stimulus, riding on the baseline of spontaneous firing(for an
example, see Fig. 2 (a) in Ref.~\cite{PhysRevE.78.051909}). So if
the CD time window $T_{w}$ is the same as the width of the peak in
PSTH, $p_{c}$ in Eq.~\ref{p-theta} could be approximated with
Eq.~\ref{single_pc}. In the following paragraph, we take this
approximation for the analytical solution of the CD neuron. And in
the simulation of stochastic HH model, we take CD time $T_{w}=8 ms$,
which is chosen to include most firings in response to the pulse
input, but not too long to include too much spontaneous
firings~\cite{10.1371/journal.pone.0056822}.

\subsubsection*{Detection ability enhanced with neuron population}
Can detection ability be improved with neuron population? Combining
Eq.~\ref{single_pc} and Eq.~\ref{p-theta}, we calculated the
detection rate of CD neuron $P~^{\theta}$ for different size
configuration (n, N) of the upstream neuron population, i.e., the
number of ion channels in each neuron and the number of neurons in
the population. It is seen from Fig.~\ref{fig6} that for different
input pulse strength, there is a critical line in (n,N) plane. The
reliable detection ($P~^{\theta}\approx 1$) is realized in the area
on the right of critical lines. As the input pulse strength
increases, this critical line moves to the left in the (n,N) plane,
which implies the reliable detection could be realized with less
neurons in the population. For subthreshold or superthreshold pulse
inputs, this critical lines is depend on both the number of neurons
and the number of ion channels in neurons. For subthreshold pulse
input, the more ion channels in neurons, the lower the detection
rate of single neuron, thus the more neurons are needed to transmit
the input information to CD neurons to make correct
detection(Fig.~\ref{fig6}(A)). For superthreshold input, the more
ion channels in neurons, the higher the detection rate of single
neuron, thus the less neurons are needed to reach reliable
detection(Fig.~\ref{fig6}(E)). However, for threshold pulse input,
the critical line is independent of $n$(Fig.~\ref{fig6}(C)). Because
as discussed above, the detection rate of each single neuron is 0.5
for threshold pulse input, independent of the number of ion channels
in neurons.

The enhancement of detection rate of CD neuron in the circuit is a
consequence of higher firing probability of neurons in response to
pulse inputs in a time window $T_{w}$ than the spontaneous
firings~\cite{PhysRevE.78.051909}. The CD neuron is more sensible to
the nested high rate outputs of upstream neurons in response to
pulse stimuli than the randomly outputs of upstream neurons'
spontaneous firing. For upstream neurons with detection rate
$p_{c}$, if the number of neurons is large enough, the nested
firings due to pulse inputs are able to make CD neuron cross its
threshold $\theta$ and read out the information. Meanwhile, the
random spontaneous firings from upstream neurons are filtered by CD
threshold.

 For the simulation of stochastic HH model population, the same pulse train
composed by 2000 pulses (duration $1ms$) and separated averagely by
$100ms$ is applied to each neuron in the population. The output APs
of those neurons are converted to a point process in time, and
scanned by a sliding window of width $T_{w}=8ms$. If $\theta$ or
more than $\theta$ events are found in the sliding window, the CD
neuron is marked with a ``firing'' at the time the last event in the
window happens. Then the window starts to slid again after the last
event. The pulses are detected if there are ``firing''s in CD neuron
that happen less than $8ms$ after pulses applied. The detection rate
of the CD neuron is calculated as the number of pulses being
detected by the CD neuron over total number of pulses applied.
Simulation results in Fig.~\ref{pop_det} shows same behavior of
pulse detection rate depending on the size of the SHH neuron
population and the size of each SHH neuron.

\subsubsection*{Optimal size of the neuron population for energy efficiency }
 Next, we investigated the energy efficiency when input information is transmitted with
a population of neurons and read out by CD neuron.
 To detect the same pulse train described above,
this neuron population will
 response with $N n_{all}p_{c}$ APs
 in the population and $n_{all}P^{\theta}$ APs of CD neuron.
Meanwhile, there will be about $Nn_{all}p_{r}\Delta t$ spontaneous
APs in the population. Thus the neuron population detect
$n_{all}P^{\theta}$ pulses with energy cost of $n(Nn_{all}p_{c}+
Nn_{all}p_{r}\Delta t)$. Then the energy efficiency of this neuron
population is
\begin{equation}
Q=\frac{P^{\theta}(\theta, N, p_{c})}{Nn(p_{c}+ p_{r}\Delta t)}.
 \label{q-theta}
\end{equation}

Combining Eq.~\ref{single_pc}, Eq.~\ref{p-theta} and
Eq.~\ref{q-theta}, we calculated the energy efficiency for the
neuron population with different size configuration (n,N). We found
that the energy efficiency of the neuron population could be
maximized by the number of neurons. Therefore, there is an optimal
combination of the number of neurons and the number of ion channels
in neurons, with which the energy efficiency of the neuron
population is at its maximum (Fig.~\ref{fig6}, (B),(D),(F)). It
implies the energy efficiency could be optimized not only by the
number of the ion channels, but also the number of the neurons. We
argue that the optimal number of neurons $N^*$ is a compromise
between reliability of signal detection and the energy cost. As
discussed before, with the increasing of the number of neurons, the
detection rate of CD neuron increase, which gives an increasing in
energy efficiency. However, more neurons will generate more APs due
to pulse inputs, or spontaneous firings. As the number of neurons
increases, the energy cost increases too, which will decrease the
energy efficiency. When $N$ is large enough to cross the critical
lines for reliable detection, the detection rate becomes $1$ and no
longer depends on $N$, but the energy cost continue to increase
because redundance of spikes induced by input pulses, and the
spontaneous firing spikes.

  In the pulse detection process, the energy cost of the neuron population is calculated as the total
number of APs generated in the SHH neuron population, multiplied
with the membrane area of each neuron, assuming each AP generated in
unit membrane area cost one unit energy. Then the energy efficiency
is calculated as the detection rate of CD neuron over the energy
cost of neuron population. The simulation results shows that the
energy efficiency of the stochastic HH neuron population is
maximized with optimal combination of the number of ion channels
  and the number of neurons, as demonstrated in Fig.~\ref{fig7}.

\subsubsection*{Maximal energy efficiency depends on pulse strength and CD threshold}
The optimal configuration of $(n,N)$ is dependent on the inter-pulse
interval(results not show), input pulse strength, and the
coincidence-detector threshold, as is seen from Fig.~\ref{fig9}. It
is seen that the maximal energy efficiency increases, as the input
pulse strength increases, meanwhile the optimal $(n,N)$
configuration moves towards the direction both $N$ and $n$
decreases.

We can also find in Fig.~\ref{fig9} that for the same input pulse
strength, as the coincidence detector threshold increases, the
optimal $(n,N)$ configuration moves towards the direction $N$
increases, independent of $n$.  Indeed, CD threshold has no effects
on the detection rate of upstream neurons, but large CD threshold
requires more synchronous spikes induced by the input pulses to make
correct detection. We must note that the role of CD neuron in our
study is to enhance the detection rate for pulse signals, but it has
another role as suppressing the transduction of spontaneous firings.
Because spontaneous firings happens randomly in time and has little
chance to be synchronized, it will be filtered by the CD
neuron~\cite{10.1371/journal.pone.0056822}. Therefore, although our
results point out that the lower CD threshold gives higher energy
efficiency, for the purpose of suppressing the spontaneous firings,
the CD threshold should be larger than 1.

\section*{Discussion}

Neural systems employ action potentials to carries input
information. The generation and propagation of action potentials are
supported by metabolic energy, which is a large burden for animals
and is believed to shape the neural system through evolution
pressure. Here we investigated the energy efficiency of neural
system performing a pulse signal detection task under the
perturbation of ion channel noise. We found the energy efficiency
exhibits peak values, corresponding to an optimal sizes of the
neural system, i.e., number of the ion channels in the neuron,
number of neurons in the network.

The optimal size of the neurons for maximal energy efficiency is
actually a balance between reliability of signal processing and
energy cost, as previously pointed out by Schreiber \emph{et.al}
with linear input-output neurons composed by sodium and potassium
channels~\cite{Schreiber02energy-efficientcoding}. In our study, we
showed this principle holds if neurons use action potentials to
transfer information. Furthermore, we also showed that this
principle also holds for neuron population, and the number of
neurons is optimized for maximal energy efficiency.

The intrinsic ion channel noise, which is inversely proportional to
the number of ion channels, play a double-edged sword role in the
signal process of neurons, as well studied in the context of
stochastic resonance\cite{McDonnell1000348, Wiesenfeld1995}. In this
paper we show that it is also important in the energy efficiency of
neurons in signal processing. Ion channel noise helps neurons to
detect subthreshold signals, thus improves the energy efficiency.
Meanwhile, it damages the reliability of neurons for superthreshold
signal detection, and generate spontaneous action potentials, thus
decreases the energy efficiency. Form the deduction of detection
rate and spontaneous firing rate for the bistable neuron model, we
see that the resonance of energy efficiency is a kind of stochastic
resonance. For example, the maximal energy efficiency exists if we
use other kind of noise, e.g., synaptic noise, which is caused by
many independent presynaptic current. So we expect, in general,
energy efficiency of single neuron could be maximized for certain
level of noise, and the number of neurons in the noisy environment
could be optimized for maximal energy efficiency.

In this study, we evaluated the energy efficiency in a simple coding
scenario of neural systems, in which the input pulse signals are
encoded digitally with the action potentials. we concluded that the
neural system size could be optimized for maximal energy efficiency.
In a general way, the information conveying ability of neural
systems could be measured by information theory formulated by
Shannon~\cite{SW49}. Then this rule could be rechecked in this
general framework by defining the energy efficiency as the ratio
between the amount of transmitted information and the metabolic
energy required~\cite{PhysRevE.83.031912}. The analysis in our work
provides a starting point on this direction and can guide further
experimental and theoretical work.

\section*{Models and Methods}
\subsection*{The Stochastic Hodgkin-Huxley model}

According to classic HH model, the current flowing across the giant
axon membrane is represented by the sum of the capacitative current
and the ionic currents through the corresponding conductive
components, which are averaged deterministic terms assuming the
numbers of ion channels are large ~\cite{Hodgkin}. For limited
numbers of ion channels, the total ion conductances for $Na^{+}$ and
$K^{+}$ should be replaced with the single-channel conductances of
potassium and sodium channels, resulting in equivalent circuit
demonstrated in Fig.~\ref{HHcircuit}(A). The membrane dynamics of
the HH equations is then given by
\begin{eqnarray}
C_{m}\frac{dV}{dt} &=& -(G_{K}(V-V_{K}^{rev})+ \;G_{Na}(V-V_{Na}^{rev})\nonumber\\
 & &+\;G_{L}(V-V_{L}))+\,I,
\label{eq-HH}
\end{eqnarray}
where $V$ is the membrane potential and $I$ the input current.
$V_{K}^{rev}$, $V_{Na}^{rev}$, and $V_{L}$ are the reversal
potentials of the potassium, sodium and leakage currents,
respectively. $G_{K}$, $G_{Na}$, and $G_{L}$ are the corresponding
specific ion conductances, and $C_{m}$ is the specific membrane
capacitance. The conductances for potassium and sodium channel are
given by
\begin{equation}
G_{K}(V,~t)=\gamma_{K}[n_{4}]/S \;,\;
       G_{Na}(V,~t)=\gamma_{Na}[m_{3}h_{1}]/S\;,
 \label{eq-5}
\end{equation}
where $\gamma_{K}$ and $\gamma_{Na}$ are the single-channel
conductances of potassium and sodium channels. $[n_{4}]$ refers to
the number of open potassium ion channels and $[m_{3}h_{1}]$ refers
to the number of open sodium ion channels. $S$ is the membrane area
of a neuron. The total number of sodium channels and potassium
channels are given by $\rho_{Na}S$ and $\rho_{K}S$, where
$\rho_{Na}$ and $\rho_{K}$ are the densities of sodium and potassium
channels. In this work, we use $S$ to control the number of ion
channels, thus the ion channel noise intensity.

  The gating dynamics of each ion channels are modeled with corresponding Markov process, as demonstrated
  in Fig.~\ref{HHcircuit}(B)) and Fig.~\ref{HHcircuit}(C). The
  $K^{+}$ channels can exist in five different states and switch between these
states according to the voltage dependence of the transition rates,
and the channels opens only when it is in $n_{4}$ state. Similarly,
the $Na^{+}$ channel has eight states, with only one open state
$m_{3}h_{1}$. In each time step, the number of open $K^{+}$ channels
and $Na^{+}$ channels are determined by stochastic simulation of
Markov chain model of those channels, and Eq.~\ref{eq-HH} is
integrated by Euler-forward method with time step $0.01ms$. The
parameters and rate functions used in the simulation of stochastic
HH model are listed in Table S1.

\subsection*{Measure the energy cost of stochastic HH neuron model}
Usually, the energy cost of a neuron can be calculated by
integrating the sodium current or potassium current over the time,
then convert into the number of sodium or potassium ions pumped in
and out of the cell. Then energy cost is obtained if the powers the
$Na^{+}/K^{+}$ pump is measured from experiment(for example, 50
kJ/mol in
heart~\cite{CrottySeptember_2006})~\cite{10.1371/journal.pcbi.1002456}.
However, this method is not efficient when the energy cost of a
neuron is estimated in a long time intervals. In fact, the shape of
the action potential is stereotyped, and the currents flow in and
out of the membrane are described in unit area in the model. So in
an action potential generation process, the energy cost in unit area
is a constant, independent of input signals. Therefore, in this
study, we counted the number of action potentials generated in the
whole pulse detection
 process, then multiplied with the membrane area of the neuron as the
 measurement of energy cost for this neuron. With this approach, we ignored the
 energy cost in the subthreshold fluctuation of membrane potential caused by ion channel
 noise. Because the amplitude of subthreshold fluctuation is very small comparing to the amplitude of action potentials~\cite{Steinmetz99subthresholdvoltage}, the energy cost of subthreshold fluctuation is trivial
 comparing to the energy cost of action potentials.

\subsection*{Bistable neuron model and its response function to pulse input}
For a neuron subjects to a pulse signal and noise, its dynamics is
analogous to a particle in a double well potential with pulse force
and noise perturbation, thus could be described with the following
equation:
\begin{equation}
\dot{x}=-U^{'}(x)+\Gamma(t),
 \label{eq-A1}
\end{equation}
where
\begin{equation}
<\Gamma(t)>=0; <\Gamma(t)\Gamma(t^{'})>=2D\delta(t-t^{'}).
\end{equation}
$U=-\frac{a}{2}x^2+\frac{x^4}{4}$ is a double well potential, which
has two minimal at $x_{1}=-\sqrt{a}$ and $x_{2}=\sqrt{a}$ and a
saddle point $x_{B}=0$. $D$ is noise intensity. Let's assume that a
short duration force moves the particle parallel to the x-axis into
the region of the saddle point. After the force is removed, the
particle drifts up to the region of the saddle point. Near the
saddle point, the phase trajectories are repelled, causing the
particle to accelerate away from the saddle- point region towards
one of the minimal. Thus we can calculate the probability that,
after a long time, the particle is found in the $x>x_{B}$ domain.

Next we expand Eq.~\ref{eq-A1} in the neighborhood of the threshold
singular point $x_{B}$. Letting
\begin{equation}
\epsilon = x-x_{B}
\end{equation}
and remember $x_B=0$, we obtain the equation:
\begin{equation}
\dot{\epsilon} =a\epsilon +\Gamma(t) \label{a2}
\end{equation}
the solution of Eq.~\ref{a2} has the form
\begin{equation}
\epsilon (t)=\epsilon (0)e^{at}+\int^{t}_{0}e^{a(t-s)}\Gamma(s)ds
\end{equation}
This integral can be rewritten as:
\begin{equation}
X(t)=\epsilon
(t)-\epsilon(0)e^{at}=\int^{t}_{0}e^{a(t-s)}\Gamma(s)ds
 \label{a4}
\end{equation}
Since $\Gamma(t)$ is a gaussian random variable. It follows that the
time integral $X(t)$ also obey a gaussian distribution. Then we have
\begin{equation}
P(X,t)=(2\pi<X^{2}>)^{-\frac{1}{2}}exp(\frac{-X^{2}}{2<X^{2}>})
\end{equation}
where the angular bracket denote an expectation value. The
expectation value of of $X^{2}$ can be expressed in terms of the
joint expectation of the variable $\Gamma$ taken with itself at a
different time. From Eq.~\ref{a4} one finds
\begin{equation}
<X^{2}>=\frac{D}{a}(e^{2at}-1).
\end{equation}
The probability of the neuron firing after a pulse input is equal to
the probability that $\epsilon(t)>0 $ when $t\longrightarrow
\infty$, given an initial displacement $\epsilon (0)$, Then
\begin{equation}
P[\epsilon (t)>0|\epsilon(0)]=\lim_{t\rightarrow
\infty}\int^{\infty}_{-\epsilon(0)e^{at}}P(X,t)dX
\end{equation}
or
\begin{equation}
P[\epsilon
(t)>0|\epsilon(0)]=\frac{1}{2}[1+erf(\frac{\epsilon(0)}{\sqrt{2D/a}})]
\end{equation}
where \emph{erf} is the so-called error function, defined as
\begin{equation}
erf(x)=\frac{2}{\sqrt{\pi}}\int^{x}_{0}e^{-t^{2}}dt.
\end{equation}

\subsection*{The Spontaneous firing rate of bistable neuron model}
The spontaneous firing rate of a bistable neuron is considered as
the escaping rate of a paretical form right well to the left well.
According to Kramers's formula, the escaping rate is
\begin{equation}
K=\frac{1}{2\pi}\sqrt{U''(x_{s})|U''(x_{u})|}exp(-\frac{\Delta
U}{D}),
\end{equation}
where $\Delta U=U(x_{u})-U(x_{s})$. $x_{u}$ and $x_{s}$ are the
position of stable state and the threshold the particle will cross,
respectively. $x_{u}=0$ and $x_{s}=-\sqrt{a}$ in our case.
Therefore, the escaping rate of a particle in the double well
potential is
\begin{equation}
K'=\frac{\sqrt{2}a}{2\pi}exp(-\frac{-a^2}{4D}).
\end{equation}

\section*{Supporting Information}
\textbf{Table S1 } Parameters and Rate Functions in the Stochastic
Hodgkin-Huxley Model.

\section*{Acknowledgments}
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation
of China (Grants No. 11105062), the Fundamental Research Funds for
the Central Universities (Grant No. lzujbky-2011-57), the
Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of Northwest
University for Nationalities(No zyz2011051). We thank Prof. Yuguo Yu
for his valuable comments on the manuscript.

\section*{Author contributions}
Conceived and designed the experiments: LCY. Performed the
experiments: LCY LWL. Analyzed the data: LCY LWL. Wrote the paper:
LCY.

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaArXiv


KN on the Nandi Creations banner Md. Rafi and Redding Raghavendra Reddy are the producers of the movie "Golden Balaraju". The shooting of this film is going on fast.
The film's director Kodandra Dodiyala said that the first schedule of the shooting was 15 days in the Aho Bilam and now a Special Song in Stary Studios. In this song, we will introduce the latest Hot Bomb Rabindhya Patil to the youth of India with the song of Santa Claus. Randhika has brought the glamor to the film with her amazing perfumes for this song by popular singer Geetamadhuri.
When it comes to this film ... is distinguished with a delicate romance between dignity and reputation. This is a beautiful love story based on a true story in Rayalaseema, our "Golden Balaraju".
We are going to release teaser in the last week of January. We are also introducing our hero and heroine with this teaser, "said the director. Producer Rafi said ... Our director Koteendra did not only do what he told him but also gave him more happiness in the less time than he expected. Looked out is very happy. The song is also very good.
Actors - Raghav, Karuna Kathirine, Meenakumari, Dookur Shravan, NV Choudary, Sarika Ramachandra Rao, Kirak RP, Zabardath Babi, BV Chaudhary, Sudarshan Dornal, Jayabharat Reddy. Technical Category - Music: Chinnikrishna - Chitti Babu Reddy, Camera: GL. Babu, Art: Krishnamaya, Co Director: Hemant Kumar, p. MR. A: Kadali Ramambu, producers: KMD. Rafi and Redding Raghavendra Reddy, Story, Dialogues, Scrunken Play, directed by: Kottendra Dodigala.


text:
Guilty Minds Season 1 Review: Contemporary Cases and Able Lawyers
It's been a long time since we had a bewildering courtroom drama show in India. We have had enough movies, but an entire series is pretty rare. I can only remember Illegal starring Neha Sharma to be fulfilling that criterion.
Speaking of courtroom fiction, Amazon Prime Video is now streaming a new Indian series, Guilty Minds. It deals with lawyers and the dilemma of choosing between right and wrong. Though the show has several positive things, here's my review with a detailed analysis.
Guilty Minds Review Summary
Guilty Minds Season 1 Synopsis
What Works for Guilty Minds Season 1?
What Doesn't Work for Guilty Minds Season 1?
Frequently Asked Queries (FAQs)
The Amazon show has a lot to offer on the platter, but the question here is whether the audience is ready to consume all of it together. The story is well-pitched, the characters are beautifully placed, and the narrative is fantastic too.
Also Read: Heartstopper Series Review: Netflix Brings to Life An Intricate Love Story
However, its length might not be liked by many among the audiences. Should you watch it or not is up to you but keep reading my Guilty Minds review to know more about the show's capabilities.
Directed by Shefali Bhushan and co-directed by Jayant Digambar, Guilty Minds is a legal drama about a virtuous family, including a Supreme Court judge and his lawyer daughter, and a law firm, dealing with shades of gray.
The show stars Shriya Pilgaonkar (Kashaf Quaze), Varun Mitra (Deepak Rana), Namrata Sheth (Shubhangi Khanna), and Sugandha Garg (Vandana) in lead roles. It also takes the services of veteran actors like Kulbhushan Kharbanda (L N Khanna) and Satish Kaushik (Tejinder Bhalla).
The story revolves explicitly around lawyers, Deepak Rana and Kashaf Quaze. While Deepak works for the law firm, Khanna and Khanna Associates, Kashaf practices independently, along with Vandana. Interestingly, all three are college mates.
Both Kashaf and Deepak are against each other in a bitter-sweet manner in some or the other way. Through their characters, Guilty Minds explores several shades of the profession and tries to put the audience in contrasting situations.
Also Read: Heartstopper Netflix Series: Best Moments from the Show (PART 1)
Overall, the show is pretty good, but it does suffer from some issues that we will discuss later. Here's what works in its favor.
The Court Cases
Guilty Minds, in essence, is about lawyers fighting their cases both in and out of the courtroom. There are mental demons, professional rivalries, personal issues, and whatnot. Moreover, they have to fulfil their commitment to the client.
Out of all that's there, you'd be most invested in the cases, both civil and criminal, that come to the fore. Guilty Minds aces this aspect perfectly.
From the gruesome impact of video games and the perils of having driverless cars to the issue of plagiarism and IVF, the makers leave nothing from the contemporary world.
As soon as the first episode ends, you realize this one will test your instincts and righteousness. Guilty Minds sows the seeds of confusion in the minds of the audience and pushes them into conflict situations. What's right according to human values is sometimes against the law and vice versa.
You would even doubt the judge's intellect when thinking instantaneously. Moreover, the show also explores the contours of a lawyer's job while defending their clients.
There are a lot of characters that enter and exit the script throughout the runtime. They all do a spectacular job, right from Karishma Tanna to Shakti Kapoor. However, the lead actors, Shriya Pilgaonkar, Varun Mitra, Namrata Sheth, and Sugandha Garg, perfectly power the script to a conclusion.
Shriya Pilgaonkar, as Kashaf Quaze, is a lawyer who stands for what is morally right. The actor is already a star though hugely underrated.
Her dialogue delivery, screen presence, and the characteristic one-corner smile are factors that make her stand apart from others. Pilgaonkar is a magnificent performer, and she knows how to be consistently formidable.
Varun Mitra enhances the style quotient of Guilty Minds. He plays Deepak Rana and adds a personified touch to the character. Varun is effervescent as a 'rags to riches mountain guy' who would rather spend his spare time in a pool than go trekking because that's not a regular thing for him.
I particularly loved the chemistry both Varun and Shriya retained throughout the 10 episodes. Sometimes, the lead pair is charming but only up to a point. To carry that bonhomie for almost 9 hours is laudable. That too, despite them not being in a relationship.
Namrata Sheth is sweet and has a cute accent to complement her soft voice. I have mostly seen her playing roles that have a tinge of negativity to them. However, she is more on the incorruptible side of things in Guilty Minds.
There's Sugandha Garg, who plays Vandana. She is bold, empathetic, shrewd, likes taking on challenges, and is an in-depth information crawler. Moreover, through her same-sex relationship, the makers try to reflect on another dimension of social importance.
Furthermore, stellar actors like Kulbhushan Kharbanda and Satish Kaushik deliver crisp and treat-worthy performances. Kaushik seems to be in the negative-character mode these days since he portrayed a gangster in the recently released Bloody Brothers. Nevertheless, the veteran artist is pure gold.
Style and Charm
Though Guilty Minds is mainly about lawyers fighting cases, it also has a noteworthy style quotient. What makes things interesting is the contrasting lifestyles of those in the black suit. There's a scene in the series where a lawyer gets ready in his personal vanity van, which is particularly new for me.
On the other hand, there are also scenes showing the infrastructural deficiency of Indian courts. A fun takeaway is even if you are the wealthiest lawyer, you have to step into a courtroom that's appalling from the outset. Never forget your roots, they say!
These days, no movie or series runs a solo narrative on the screen. Guilty Minds is also similar in that aspect. You get to witness, at least, two stories at a time and, in rare circumstances, even more than that.
Though it could have made the show too convoluted, the varying narrative keeps you engaged. All the credit goes to the writers and directors of the series.
The plot of Guilty Minds is not superficial, which works in its favor. On many occasions, we have seen in courtroom dramas that the makers eventually mold the judgment to suit popular beliefs. That doesn't hold true for Guilty Minds.
The writers of the show keep things raw and honest and allow the dust to settle. Such a setting makes it more believable and relatable for viewers.
If you've been following my reviews, you must have noticed them being on time. But with Guilty Minds, I am almost four days late. Why? You'll know.
A Little too Long
Yes, this is it. Guilty Minds is almost a nine-hour affair, which works as a hurdle for those who believe in completing a series in one sitting.
Maybe, Amazon could have gone for a weekly release, and since all the episodes contain a new story, the question of losing the flow wouldn't have arisen. Nevertheless, the show does have a gluing plot, so you would not get yawners.
Some Loose Ends
When it's about technical things like law and police investigations, you need to cover everything. Mostly, Guilty Minds succeeds in doing that, but there are intermittent loopholes. There's an incident when the Supreme Court announces a judgment based on news reports.
It doesn't ask the eyewitness to testify under oath or in front of officials. The country's highest court assumes news reports to be true and uses them as a precursor for a judgment. It doesn't make add up.
Lack of Music
If there's a season two of Guilty Minds, I sincerely request the makers to infuse some more melodies in the series. There were numerous situations where a song in the background would have worked wonders for Guilty Minds. Instead, a lack of it makes things lame.
A touch of softness with the right chords was necessary to push through the stretched runtime.
*The following section might contain spoilers*
Will there be Guilty Minds season 2?
Though there's no official announcement yet, I am pretty much sure that Guilty Minds season 2 will happen. This is because the show has a never-ending plot. You can keep on having cases, provoke a professional rivalry, and infuse any other element into it. All doors are open.
Guilty Minds Season 1 Ending Explained
In the final moments of the show, we see the Bhalla case getting reopened, which means the second season would showcase the repercussions of this event on Deepak Rana's career. Since he had given the lead to Ria Singh, if she discloses his name, Deepak would be in big trouble from left, right, and center.
On the other hand, Deepak reveals to Kashaf that he was the one who leaked the Scam Trail news. Kashaf is furious upon hearing this, and their relationship has almost fallen apart even before starting.
Shivangi Khanna is also heartbroken when Deepak fails to meet her for dinner. In her mind, she did everything for him, but he hardly reciprocated. She will probably give a tough time to Deepak in season two, showing her negative side.
Khanna and Khanna Associate might go through turmoil in the next season since Bhalla had threatened Deepak to pull all his business relations from their firm if he fails to conclude the case.
Imagine what will Shubhrat do if his girlfriend, Ria Singh, tells him the truth and reveals the name of her source. As I mentioned earlier, all gates are open for a potential Guilty Minds season 2.
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