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Tag: ice
Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san 2 – 02 – Breaking the Ice
It may be Summer IRL, but the days are getting colder in the world of Takagi-san, such that puddles made by rain a day ago are frozen solid the next morning. Takagi can tell Nishikata has an unbearable urge to pick that ice up, and so makes a contest out of it.
Naturally, despite Nishikata's extensive activity in such training, she gets him to drop it by declaring whoever breaks their ice first loses, and has to warm the hands of the winner. He's about to take her hand when she asks for the hand warmer he offered earlier. A reprieve!
Another morning, Nishikata believes he has a surefire way to get Takagi to lose, by telling her he changed something about his appearance and challenging her to correctly identify that change. This backfires spectacularly when Takagi gives him a thorough visual examination, even tickling his side and getting very close up to smell him.
In the end, Takagi correctly concludes he trimmed his hair, though whether she was going with the answer with the best odds is a mystery. Nishikata's punishment is to try to guess how she'll change her appearance tomorrow, knowing full well he'd never look her over as thoroughly as she just did.
After an in-between in which Mina laughs at Yukari's bangs which she trimmed too far, Valentine's Day arrives, and Nishikata, while telling himself he doesn't expect any chocolate from Takagi or anyone else, is still expecting chocolate.
As Mina learns the hard way, Tanabe-sensei doesn't tolerate the distribution of chocolate on his watch. Mano almost works up the courage to hand Nakai some non-obligatory chocolate, but his ever-present friends ruin her timing and she runs off.
Nakai may be dense but has the good sense to chase after Mano, who is able to successfully give him the chocolate (which he tells Tanabe-sensei is a book she borrowed). As for Nishikata, he goes the whole day without being given any chocolate, only to find a box in his shoe locker, obviously left there by Takagi, who tries to get him to identify her as the one who put it there.
Nishikata doesn't give in, so Takagi keeps the mind games going by offering him a small piece of obligatory chocolate, while strongly implying that not all the chocolate she gave him is obligatory. Her status as giver of the shoe locker chocolate remains unsaid, but like many things between these two, it doesn't really have to be said.
There's no one else from which Nishikata would get non-obligatory chocolate, and there's no one else to whom Takagi would give chocolate.
Author sesameacrylicPosted on Tue, 16 Jul 2019 Tue, 6 Aug 2019 Categories Anime Reviews, Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san 2, Summer 2019Tags からかい上手の高木さん, chocolate, contest, examination, haircut, ice, mano, nakai, nishikata, romance, school, skilled teaser takagi-san, slice of life, takagi, teasing, valentines day, walking home
Sword Art Online: Alicization – 21 – Love Isn't Control, But Friendship Is Power
One would think a duel as significant and built-up as the one between Kirito and Eugeo would last an entire episode, but that assumption gives Administrator too much credit. Eugeo's hasty synthesis was willing, not by force, and it happened in a profound moment of weakness for Eugeo.
He and Kirito cross swords and give each other matching cuts, but once Kirito asks Eugeo to recall who gave him his Baltio-style moves, not to mention all of the people waiting for them to return home with Alice, Eugeo's piety module is quickly exposed.
But while Eugeo wakes up and even says Alice's name, there's still something off about him, and I dreaded Kirito dropping his guard, and with good reason: Eugeo uses Enhance Armament to bury both Kirito and Alice in ice before returning to the top level.
There, a skeptical Chudelkin asks if Eugeo eliminated the rebels, to which Eugeo responds the Pontifex only ordered him to stop them, and stop them he did. That's not sufficient for the Prime Senator, who heads down below to finish them off, thereby playing right into Eugeo's hands.
Without Chudelkin, Eugeo is all alone with Administrator, who assumes that while his piety module was compromised, he's still loyal to her. But when she removes it outright in order to recalibrate it, she's only freeing him to recall more memories, which motivate him to break free of her emotional and magical hold and attack her with the dagger provided by Cardinal.
Administrator is taken aback, but her shielding is close to perfect, and tells Eugeo that no blade, even one fashioned by Cardinal, can pierce her skin. As we know from the OP and flashbacks, Administrator prefers to hang around in the nude, and once her "loving partner" gig is up, she dispenses with the clothes and provokes Eugeo by mocking Alice's ordeal (her synthesis was forced over many agonizing days).
That's when Chudelkin returns all beat up to warn his Pontifex that the other two are free, and Kirito and Alice arrive on the top floor. Eugeo intended to make up for his initial betrayal by taking care of Administrator alone, but she's too strong. In fact, it will be a miracle if the three of them working in perfect harmony can overcome her knowledge of nearly every cheat code in the world.
Still, Administrator isn't interested in fighting the three directly; not while she has one last subordinate standing in Chudelkin. She fires him up by agreeing to let him have every inch of her body for one night if he can eliminate the rebels, and he uses his fingers, toes, and eyes to summon his trump card: a monstrous fire genie.
Chudelkin has always been a wild card since his first appearance (which is only fitting as he looks like a Joker), so I honestly don't know how Eugeo's ice, Kirito's black sword, and Alice's scattering blades will hold up against this boss, but the important thing is that the three are finally fighting on the same side.
P.S. We get new OP visuals (same theme) as we've completed Alicization "Rising" and begun Alicization "Uniting" – featuring Kirito trying to hold his own against a very capable (and very nude) Administrator.
Author braveradePosted on Sat, 9 Mar 2019 Mon, 11 Mar 2019 Categories Anime Reviews, Fall 2018, Sword Art Online: AlicizationTags administrator, alice, ソードアート・オンライン アリシゼーション, central cathedral, chudelkin, dagger, deception, duel, eugeo, fighting, flame, genie, ice, integrity knight, Kirito, manipulation, memories, nude, pawns, right eye, SAO, shield, stalling, stories, trick3 Comments on Sword Art Online: Alicization – 21 – Love Isn't Control, But Friendship Is Power
Mahoutsukai no Yome – 13
This week's cold open drips with dread as an evil-sounding guy asks what the adorable Chise will find "at the end of her journey with the failure born in the shadows of the forest", which doesn't strike me as the nicest way to describe Elias Ainsworth. Maybe the guy has some kind of grudge? Or maybe he's jealous that Elias found a Sleigh Beggy?
After that, things take a much lighter tone, as Chise, Ruth, Elias and Silky deal with a sudden infestation of "woolly bugs" in dire need of shearing. Just when Elias steps away for a moment, an icy bug steals Chise's body heat, but she isn't in any lasting danger. Elias merely needs to warm her back up.
As a result of that objective, Elias stays with Chise until she wakes up, and the opportunity arises for the two to finally talk a little more about how they feel about each other. Chise had been torturing herself about the "timing" of what she'd say, not the content, and that's evident here as she's quite eloquent once the obstacle of when to tell him is gone.
She's able to clear up a couple of things with Elias—that she's not afraid of him like most humans are, and that she wants to keep the memory of him going wild, even if it wasn't pleasant, because it's the memory of "someone important to her", which is to say, someone she cares about.
Elias continues to emphasize that he can't truly emphathize with Chise, or even honestly tell her what his feelings are, because the creature that he is just doesn't allow for that, or at least hasn't up to this point.
Elias can say that his home was dreadfully cold when Chise was gone, now it's much warmer, and he prefer the latters. He also knows that while he may be Chise's magic teacher, Chise is his human teacher. They have a lot to teach one another.
Chise, unfortunately, doesn't know not to answer the door alone late at night if she's not expecting someone, and Elia's door sadly lacks a peephole, so when Chise opens the door to find the many millennia-old Ashen Eye on the other side, she's wide open for whatever Ashy might want to do.
Ashen Eye is, of course, the creepy guy we heard talking at the beginning. He seems to be obsessed with Chise, but at least partially informed by a longstanding resentment of humanity he's built up over the centuries.
He claims he has no intention of "harming" Chise at all, but apparently "transforming her into a red fox" doesn't fall under the "harm" category of "harm." So what's Ahsen Eye's game, and how will Elias (or Fox Chise, for that matter) deal with him?
I've learned not to immediately think everyone who does something weird like this to Chise is automatically a villain with ill intent. It's possible he's just teaching both of these youngins a lesson in not answering your door. But that creepy cold open weighs on me…it's more likely he's up to no good.
Author magicalchurlsukuiPosted on Sun, 7 Jan 2018 Categories Anime Reviews, Fall 2017, Mahoutsukai no YomeTags ashen eye, attack, demon, Elias Ainsworth, 魔法使いの嫁, foreboding, good life, hatori chise, having a talk, ice, loving, mage, master, memories, recovering, routine, ruth, self-worth, the ancient magus' bride, the magician's bride, wand, warmth, woolly bugs
Kekkai Sensen & Beyond – 03
Just after daydreaming about that horrible day Michella went blind, an out-of-it Leo bumps into a big bully who takes his wallet containing Michella's allowance. Chain witnesses Leo in a bind, but apparently has other matters to attend to.
Steven and his maid Veded prepare a super-classy dinner soiree, while Zapp is recruited by Tracy to find her oriental shorthair cat Mizaria…or she'll cut his dick off with magic.
So yeah…lot's going on this week! But hey, it's not Hellsalem's Lot if every day that ends in "-day" if a lot's not going on. Did I mention Count Gigagigafutmassif is on the move…and that he's taller than any skyscraper in the city?
What has always enhanced the already lush texture of KS&B's great variety of stories is how they intertwine in interesting ways, much like Durarara!!. The fortunes of the various Libra POV characters this week also vary wildly as the episode progresses.
Zapp immediately runs into problems trying to find Tracy's cat, and while Leo arms himself with a stun baton to get his wallet back, the bully just slugs him and uses his own baton on him. Of course, Leo can defeat him at any time with his eyes, he just doesn't feel right using them for self-serving purposes…even when failure means Michella going without.
As for Steve, his snobby dinner party goes positively swimmingly…until he goes into the kitchen alone, turns around, and every one of his guests is pointing a biological gun at him. Fortunately, Steve is not one to get so easily ambushed, and took steps to ensure he could use his ice magic to get the upper hand anytime he wanted.
Steve also doesn't bother handing his guests over to Libra, instead relying on his own special squad to "take care" of them in ways of which Libra's leader wouldn't necessarily approve. Bottom line: You come at Starphase, you best come correct.
These amateurs did not. Steve also rethinks whether he's been enjoying ordinary life too much, considering his duties and the nasty enemies those duties can sometimes create.
Chain clearly saw Leo getting tossed by the bully, but takes a backdoor approach to getting Leo's wallet back: she turns on her charm (wonderful stuff from Kobayashi Yuu here), promises a good time if the brute can beat her in shots, then drinks him under the table with ease, grabbing not just Leo's wallet, but the bully's toady.
It was nice to see a baddie put in his place with something other than brute force, even though Chain could have obviously dropped the guy anytime she wanted. This way was more fun for her!
Alas, Chain did Leo's work for him, which means he never managed to get one over on his bully. It's just as well; considering the handicap he demands of himself (no use of the eyes), he's just not a fighter, nor should he be.
Since his toady was robbed by Chain, the two have to pay their bar bills with…their bodies, leaving them as nothing but heads hopping about in glass bulbs, to be attacked by…Mizaria!…who is then picked up by…Veded!, who finds her way back to Steve just as a united Leo and Zapp pass by.
Speaking of fortunes, we never see Zapp actually retrieve the cat and return it to Tracy, leaving the status of his manhood in tongue-in-cheek doubt. The closing shot—of Chain paying for her big night with a long prayer to the porcelain god—was pitch perfect way to close this fun, diverse outing.
Author magicalchurlsukuiPosted on Sat, 21 Oct 2017 Categories Anime Reviews, Fall 2017, Kekkai Sensen & BeyondTags abnormal, alterworld, ambush, Blood Blockade Battlefront & Beyond, blood breed, bully, cat, chain sumeragi, clones, collapse, defense, dinner party, disrespecting women, drinking game, enemies, 血界戦線, hellsalems lot, hospital, ice, klaus von reinherz, leonardo watch, libra, lost, luciana estevez, magra de grana, manhood, monsters, robbed, special moves, stun baton, surgery, ticking clock, zapp renfro1 Comment on Kekkai Sensen & Beyond – 03
Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu – 15
I honestly didn't think a second cour episode of Re:Zero could match the cinematic majesty of episode 7, but, well…here we are, eight episodes later, and this show is still topping itself. My expectations for the finale have now risen to unreasonable highs. But never mind that; we've got a long, long way to go, as does Natsuki Subaru.
Subaru doesn't choose to commit suicide. He does die and Return by Death; but not by his choosing. He is slain in the most nightmarish way imaginable, having his fingers and leg cleaved off before freezing solid and cracking. Jeez, this show is rough on ol' Subaru.
Surprisingly, he respawns not in a bed, but at the vender's cart, where he was with Rem seemingly an eternity ago (but in reality, early in last week's episode). It isn't long before he's in a bed, however, as he's so traumatized by what he witnessed and experienced in his last life, he is still in shock and barely able to speak.
Felis can't do anything about his mental condition, so Crusch lets Rem take him home to Roswaal's manor, hopeful being with Emilia and Ram will help him recover. Crusch also asks why Rem is so devoted to Subaru, and she responds "because he's special."
Once again, they fail to reach manor without incident, even though it's Rem and not Subie's choice to head there.
The hooded baddies—witch cultists—ambush the cart, bloody a furious Rem, and take Subie captive.
Subie wakes up in chains, still unable to speak, and comes face to face with the grotesque and thoroughly insane Betelgeuse, who would be a goofy character for Re:Zero if we didn't already have his less evil counterpart, Roswaal.
Oh, and if this guy wasn't fucking threatening and terrifying as all Hell, and merely a subordinate to "The Gospel", and presumably, The Witch. Betel is a high priest of "sloth", and initially calls Subie "pride" (perhaps why the cultists bowed to him last week?), and while his plans for Subie aren't precisely clear, he's intent on finding and killing Rem as soon as possible.
Rem all but grants his wish by busting into their cavern hideout, hopelessly outnumbered and surrounded. For all her power and combat ability and heartfelt desire to save her beloved Subaru, she's still quite messed up from the initial ambush, and when she gets too close, Betel strings her up in mid air and breaks all the bones in her body, then twists her extremities in the opposite direction just two twist the proverbial knife.
Betel heads off to prepare for "The Ordeal", but Rem is amazingly still alive enough to scoot towards Subaru and free him from his chains, and from what is certainly to be more horrible torment at the hands of that monster and his master.
She tells him to live, and that she loves him, then passes away in his arms. While Rem has died before, as has Subaru, I just wasn't prepared for this. She was found dead suddenly last week, but here the death is drawn out, as is Subaru's apparent helplessness.
Not sure what else to do, and still clearly foggy from his multiple ordeals, Subie continues his trek to Roswaal's manor with Rem's body in his arms. Again, he finds signs of a massacre, dead villagers, children, and Ram.
He doesn't get anywhere near the front door before a colossal dark beast with glowing yellow eyes orders him to "sleep now, like my daughter." Subaru's head pops of with a splash of blood…and the blood-red credits start to roll as he's buried by the snow. There's no merciful fade to black. The camera doesn't budge. The stirring, soaring, relentlessly tragic score blares.
By God…that was one of the darkest, cruelest, most hopeless endings I've ever seen. But this is Re:Zero, where endings usually lead to new beginnings. Still, it still felt like everything was over and there would be no victory, ever.
Sure enough, Subie respawns with Rem at the vendor's. He's not catatonic this time. He embraces Rem; alive again; in love with him. The vendor tells them to take a hike and stop scaring customers with their PDA.
Subaru takes Rem's hand like he never intends to let go of it again, and she's all to happy to hold his as they walk peacefully, quietly down the street.
But Subaru's smile slowly vanishes as the camera pans up to his face. It's a beautiful day, but there's a storm brewing in his eyes. They're not the dead eyes of defeat. They're the fanatical eyes of a demon, and Betelgeuse is his prey.
Author magicalchurlsukuiPosted on Sun, 10 Jul 2016 Wed, 28 Dec 2016 Categories Anime Reviews, RABUJOI World Heritage List, Re: Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu, Spring 2016Tags argument, ゼロから始める異世界生活, beheading, betelgeuse, carnage, confession, crusch karsten, cultists, death, emilia, felix argyle, game over, gospel, high priest, ice, love, massacre, monster, natsuki subaru, pride, priests, return by death, rezero, roswaal, shock, sloth, smell, snow, starting life in another world, trauma, trust, witch6 Comments on Re:Zero kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu – 15
Akame ga Kill! – 24 (Fin)
As the big let down that was Hitsugi no Chaika: Avenging Battle demonstrated, it's rare for a long-running series to field a finale that delivers on virtually all of its promises and potential. But Akame ga Kill! succeeded everywhere Chaika failed miserably, pulling out all the stops for an ending worthy of the excellence that preceded it.
Akame v. Esdeath was being billed as one for the ages, and in this it did not disappoint, from the moment a surrounded Esdeath seals scores of Revolutionary troops in a jagged ice wall, forming an arena in which to tangle with the raven-haired wielder of Murasame.
The show could really take its time and do things right with this battle because it so painstakingly took care of everything else on its sizable plate, along with killing off most of the cast. Everything we've seen of Akame and Esdeath in combat is brought to the table here, along with a lot of new moves and counter-moves, and it's just fantastic to see these two go at it like no one on the show has quite gone at it before. There's the feeling that everything has naturally escalated up to this level.
When she realizes she won't be able to defeat Esdeath without her trump card, Akame uses it, merging further with Masamune to increase her speed and power to even more ridiculous levels; a testament to just how tough a customer Esdeath is. Esdeath has basically merged with the soul of a terrifying danger beast and the two share unending bloodlust out of a desire to destroy the weak – all the week.
The deaths of 'livestock' mean nothing to Esdeath, but they mean everything to Akane. Masamune has remembered every life she's taken, and while the weight of those deaths on her shoulders is considerable, it also gives her the strength she needs to fight not just on Esdeath's level, but above it.
Esdeath will always be weaker, because she doesn't understand and thus can't properly utilize the weight of the death and destruction she causes. Akame works for the good guys, but she's not necessarily a good guy herself, just a necessary evil in a world where foes like Esdeath threaten peace and won't stop killing unless they're killed.
A lot of Esdeath's early confidence in the fight is knowing she can lean on her Makahadoma to freeze Akame if things get that serious. She even says it's the second time she's had to use it; the first being to defeat Susanoo. But she's so confident it will work just as well against Akame, she doesn't consider the possibility that Makahadoma is exactly what Akame wants her to do.
Esdeath doesn't realize this until it's too late, the Akame before her is merely an afterimage, and the real one is coming down upon her with the full force of her blade. The certainty that Esdeath would use Makahadoma proves to be her downfall.
After that, Esdeath is not only an arm short, but also mortally wounded from throat to hip, and she concedes defeat. She is not upset; by her own lifelong code, she deserves to die for being the weaker one. If anything, she's glad it's something else she can share with Tatsumi, whose body has been lying nearby all along. Before Akame can stop her, Esdeath embraces him and surrounds herself with ice and shatters, in just the latest in a series of gorgeous deaths.
In their last talk, Akame tells Esdeath about how she draws strength from taking responsibility for the lives she's taken, but she just can't understand. And yet, Esdeath loved Tatsumi, something else she couldn't understand, but still accepted.
With Esdeath now diamond dust, the Empire really is done. Wave and Run aren't going to fight for it anymore, and Minister Onest is scurrying through the palace like a rat until cornered by Leone. When he uses his Imperial Arms to destroy hers, I thought "Uh-oh…now he's going to inject himself with something and become a ferocious beast-man." Fortunately, I was wrong! He takes out a gun — a gun! — and simply shoots her with what looks like small-caliber shot.
But Leone, born and raised in/by the slums, is a tough cookie, Imperial Arms or not, and gives Onest the death that, if I'm honest, I always wanted for him: getting his face smashed in by her bare hands. It's gruesome, undignified, and downright icky, and underlines the fact that Night Raid are vicious killers too, but the difference being they kill for something other than themselves.
As Leone later says her goodbyes to Akame (Onest shot her ten times in the abdomen), we also see that the 'something' Night Raid has fought for — a peaceful land free of the corruption and bloodshed of Onest and Esdeath — isn't something they'll be able to partake in. Leone ignores the calls from the townsfolk asking her to join them for a drink. Instead, she finds a dark alley to lie down in and die with a smile on her face, knowing she'll be with the others soon. Night Raid gets a different kind of peace.
With Esdeath and Onest gone, all that's left is for the Rebellion to take one last life: that of the young, naive Emperor. It's fitting and very nice of the show to give the lad as clean and dignified and honorable death by guilloutene as Onest's was dirty and pathetic. The Emperor holds his head high until it's lowered into the stock as the entire capital watches, while Onest died in the dark bowels of the castle, his killer the only witness to his end.
Najenda, along with Wave and Run, take up new posts in the New Kingdom (who is actually ruling isn't made clear yet). After all, those who remember the horrors of the war that brought them this Kingdom are well-equipped to stand and protect it from those who would threaten it again. But Akame leaves the capital, keeping the lives she's taken on her shoulders. Her work isn't done, and it will never be done as long as she's alive, and there is no other course for her.
The episode also ends with one last stirring hurrah with a booming narrator talking about everything Night Raid did…and how history will not remember any of it. They were assassins, killers, working in the shadows, doing dirty work for a clean world. They'll have no honors or monuments or even songs or stories sung or written about them, ever…but what they did have was each other, and that was enough.
In the post-credits epilogue, Akame continues her duty, facing those who would destroy the progress made, both burdened and fueled by the ones she killed before. She's not with Leone, Mine, Sheele, Bulat, Chelsea, Lubbock, Kurome, and Tatsumi…yet, but one day she will be. Until then, she has work to do.
Author magicalchurlsukuiPosted on Sun, 14 Dec 2014 Categories Akame ga Kill!, Anime Reviews, Summer 2014Tags akame, akame ga kiru, assassins, アカメが斬る!, backstory, capital, death, emperor, esdeath, finale, ice, imperial arms, jaegers, kurome, leone, lubbock, mecha, mine, minister onest, murasame, night raid, palace, run, sheele, tatsumi, wave3 Comments on Akame ga Kill! – 24 (Fin)
Kami-sama no Memo-cho 1, Parts A & B – First Impressions
Forgive the pun, but "Memo Pad of the Gods" makes a very good case for itself. It some ways, it picks up in Sibuya where Durarara left off in Ikebukuro by instantly painting a picture of a well-lived in world full of oddballs and secret lives. Narumi Fujishima is our avatar in this rich painting, and for once in his life he feels like a part of something bigger, rather than simply the kid who floats around pretending he belongs.
The new life he fell into fits him like a glove. This first, hourlong episode chronicles his addition to a team of "NEET Detectives" led by the enigmatic Alice, a 12-or-so year-old who possesses detective skills and wisdom far beyond her years, but also gets all weepy. if one of her many teddy bear's ears gets torn. I also like her calm, logical, curt demeanor. She isn't a squeaky menace.
But she's just one of many interesting and promising characters. This agency has a crack team of specialists in diverse fields: Hiro is a suave 'gigalo', brother of a yakuza boss, and expert in women. 'Major' is a military spy freak who likes to stick rifles in people's faces. Tetsu is the polic snoop. Min runs and Ayaka works at the ramen/ice cream shop above which Alice resides, in her Lain-like cocoon.
The core cast is plenty interesting, but this series doesn't fall into the same traps of the latest J.C. Staff series like Yumekui Merry, Ookami-san, and Index II, all of which kinda fizzled. This series feels more honest, and its characters and themes are suitably adult and mature. High school girls losing it and entering the world of vice is not the kind of thing those series would touch upon, but such things can and do happen in the real world, which is what this series feels like.
The first case we're presented with is nicely opened, investigated, solved, and shut within the hourlong period. Whether future episodes are two-parters like this remains to be seen, but it's definitely not a bad thing if they are; the story never felt dragged out here, and on half-hour simply wouldn't be enough to tell it properly.
The people involved in the specific case – Miku, Teraoka, and Shoko, served their roles well, and didn't feel like throwaway characters. The case itself even had a macabre twist, in which Shoko "froze time" like she had wanted to, by committing suicide in a tub of ice. Yikes, you may say, but horrible things can happen, and it's Alice and her agency's jobs as detectives to either 'tarnish the living to maintain the honor of the dead', or 'tarnish the dead to comfort the living.' I look forward to their next case. Rating: 4
Author rabujoistaffPosted on Mon, 4 Jul 2011 Mon, 22 Aug 2011 Categories Anime Reviews, Kami-sama no Memo-cho, Summer 2011Tags agency, alice, ayaka, case, detectives, first impressions, hiro, ice, Kami-sama no Memo-cho, major, memo pad of the gods, miku, narumi fujishima, neet, shibuya, shoko, teraoka, tetsu


Live Mesh is totally cool!
Last night at the Philly.Net meeting Rob gave a cool talk about Live Mesh. I had heard of it before but hadn't paid too much attention. But now that I've gotten a good look at it, I am impressed. So what can I do with Mesh? Probably a lot. But at first two things jump out. I can synchronize files between multiple devices (my home PC, my laptop, a phone, etc). Plus in addition to the files being synced, I can go to my Live Desktop and view the files there. The Live Desktop is just a web site though, so it is accessible from anywhere. So if I am traveling without my laptop and I want to access one of the files I've got in Mesh, I can get to them from any browser. Cool! But from my Live Desktop I can also connect remotely into my home computer (or any computer on my Live network). That way I can not only access files stored on that PC, but I can actually control the computer just as if I was sitting in front of it. As a matter of fact, I'm doing it right now. I'm blogging this from my home PC, but I'm sitting in front of my laptop. I'm connected via Live Mesh into my home PC and running Live Writer on my home PC. Ok, file synchronization and remote desktop are nothing new. But what makes this cool is just how easy it is. And it all seems to work very quickly too. Very cool! Rob also demonstrated some other cool features, like you can write applications to run on Live Mesh, and you can write applications that use Live Mesh. Maybe I'll get to that one day but for now, I'm having fun with Mesh and it is useful for me in business too. Awesome.


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Dr. Mahabir Pun Auctions His Magsaysay Award
On June 1, 2017June 1, 2017By Ron KonecnyIn Foundation
Dr. Mahabir Pun continues to set the standard as he makes another personal gift for the people of Nepal. Mahabir Pun to sell his Magsaysay Award
Community Trek – Season for 2016 Successful
On March 29, 2017March 29, 2017By Ron KonecnyIn Foundation
Here is the number of trekkers from September to December 2016 as reported by Chitra Pun, Field Advisor. 565 trekkers from the USA, UK, German, Canada, Australia, Austria, India, Japan, Belgium, Denmark, Israel, Holland, Finland, and Korea participated in varied treks offered by the Nepal Community Trek. The treks take visitors off the beaten tracks of overcrowded tourist and mountaineering trails and into the heart of the Nepali people. Visit rural villages, gaze on the Annapurna mountain range and experience home cottage industries such as papermaking first hand. Experience a home stay or snuggle up in a cozy mountain lodge. Enjoy...
Pun-Pals
On February 18, 2017February 18, 2017By Ron KonecnyIn Foundation
Jeannine from The School Inside describes their latest project with the teachers from Nangi at Himanchal Higher Education School. "It's an old idea that still has much meaning: pen pals. Although I and other volunteer English teachers take maximum advantage of the internet to teach English to people all over the world (via Skype), the one thing the internet can't change is time zones. One of the biggest challenges we face in serving more students is finding teachers who aren't in bed when the students are free for lessons! That's when we got the idea of e-mail writing lessons. Right...
Teaching in Nangi Using Skype
On February 1, 2017February 1, 2017By Ron KonecnyIn Foundation
Republished with permission from The School Inside website: http://www.interesteng.org ONE week I prepared a lesson based around the theme of food. Of course, I used a lot of things from my kitchen. I held an egg up, for example, and asked the kids what it was. Immediately they shouted out, "It's an egg!" I praised them and we talked about eggs, where they come from and, yes, they have chickens in Nangi. I asked if they liked eggs and they enthusiastically told me "Yes, I do!" Then the Skype connection cut off. So I waited patiently for them to call me back. When...
National Innovation Center Nepal – Concept Note from Dr. Mahabir Pun
On January 23, 2017January 17, 2017By Ron KonecnyIn Foundation
Need and Opportunity One of the main reasons why Nepal is economically a least developed country is because there is not much happening for economic development. Nepal imports over 90% of products for different purposes and exports less than 10% products to earn foreign currencies resulting in the huge trade deficit. Therefore a major economic overhaul is required to make Nepal a developed country in the 21st century. For that to happen, Nepal must give the highest priority to science, technology creation, and innovation in order to ensure a sustainable base for her much-needed growth engines. Considerable attention is needed to...
Dr. Mahabir Pun's Annual Report
Happy New Year from Nepal! Dear Supporters: I would like to update you on of the progress of the projects I did with the Myagdi district community members and supporters. 1. With donations from around the world and HEF; HEF helped rebuild four classrooms in Shree Kanyadevi Lower Secondary School in Pokhari village of Gorkha district that was completely damaged by the earthquake at the cost of about $32,000. 2. Two new classrooms were added to Himanchal High School with funds from the U.S., the Nepal government and contributions from the communities. 3. A new two bedroom solar heated building...
Ajay's Visit to Nangi
On January 9, 2017February 1, 2017By Ron KonecnyIn Foundation
Ajay has been fundraising for HEF through a golf tournament over the last few years. He recently visited Nangi and shared this email with the BOD: "Greetings to you all the way from Nepal. I'm in Kathmandu at the moment and will be flying back to the US in few days. Wanted to share with you the amazing experience I had while visiting Nangi village and the school last week. It was so wonderful to have received such a warm welcome by the entire school on my arrival there. The day started with an assembly gathering of all the students...
A Teacher's Thoughts on Long Distance Learning
On January 2, 2017January 2, 2017By Ron KonecnyIn Foundation
Toya is a teacher at Himanchal School for Higher Education. He supervises the School Inside English learning classes givien long distance by native English speakers all over the world and connected via Skype to students and adults in Nangi. (The last post was written by one of those teachers and described her experience.) Toya said: "I think The long distance teaching is very fruitful and useful to students and teachers. Students and teachers are very interested to take lessons. They eagerly await their turn. They really enjoy the lessons. The teachers are really qualified,dynamic ,energetic and friendly. They have been teaching...

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
MPAA [Wrongly] Downplays Hollywood's Role In Keeping Piracy Alive
August 23, 2012 by Ernesto Van der Sar
"Hollywood is keeping piracy alive by failing to make content available legally." It's an often heard argument, but one that's not "borne out by the facts" according to the MPAA. However, the "facts" presented in a rebuttal by the movie industry group are twisted and show utter contempt for those trying to do the right thing.
Over the years we have published dozens of articles on the reasons why people choose to pirate media. Time and time again "availability" comes out as one of the main motivations in both surveys and anecdotal reports.
Yesterday David Pogue highlighted this issue in Scientific American by pointing out that Hollywood is encouraging piracy by failing to make their content widely available online. The MPAA took offense at this stance and were quick to reply on their blog.
"[The article] echoes a very common argument about online digital theft: that if more movies and TV shows were available legitimately online, the problem of online content theft would take care of itself. The problem with this argument is that it's not borne out by the facts," the MPAA's Howard Gantman writes.
Both Pogue and the MPAA refer to TorrentFreak's list of the Top 10 most pirated movies of 2011 to defend their case. Pogue notes that none of these titles are available for "rent". The MPAA on its turn argues that many of the titles are available to "watch instantly online." So who is right?
Looking at Amazon, one of the most prominent video streaming services, we see that none of the top 10 movies can be rented, backing up Pogue's claim. In fact, more than half (6) of the titles cannot be watched online "instantly" at all in the U.S. The four titles that are available have to be bought.
No matter how it's spun, availability is more of an issue than the MPAA leads us to believe, and one that only gets worse when we look outside the U.S.
For example, the MPAA mentions that "Fast Five" is available for streaming via HBO Go. However, not in Europe where I have to pay nearly $19 a month for HBO Go so I can watch Game of Thrones legally.
But let's forget about the top 10 of 2011 and move on to more recent titles. For some reason many of the recent releases, such as The Dictator, initially appear available for rent. Amazon kindly informed me that I could rent the film for $3.99, but this turned out to be false promise.
When I clicked the "rent now" button I got the following notice.
Unfortunately this is a very common experience for consumers outside of the United States, where the availability of movies and TV-shows is shockingly low. While that's no justification to start pirating content, the MPAA is showing utter contempt for millions of legitimate consumers by downplaying the issue.
Continuing the spin, the MPAA argues that availability plays a minor role in countering piracy.
"Pogue's thesis is that people choose to download content illegally when it's not available to them in a legal format. He cites the availability of music on iTunes and TV shows on Hulu as evidence. But, as we know, digital theft of music and TV hasn't stopped – in fact, it's increased," Gantman writes.
Wrong. Music piracy is dying off, just ask the RIAA.
The reasons why this is the case justify an article on their own but surveys and research underscore that legal alternatives are a prime reason. Whether it's Spotify, YouTube or Hulu, there is no denying that legal alternatives eat away at piracy.
Of course, there are many reasons why people pirate and there will always be freeloaders who simply can't or don't want to pay. But this is no reason to offend those who have the right intentions.
Making content available may not make piracy disappear, but at the very minimum it gives the millions of people who want to do the right thing a place to spend their money.
MPA America Quietly Takes Over Yet More 'Pirate' IPTV Domains
MPAA Unifies Global Brand and Becomes MPA America
Industry Groups Share Anti-Piracy Wish List With US Government
August 5, 2019, 20:00 by Ernesto Van der Sar


This rose has been treated with a colour to get it's close to black colour.
The most cultivated rose in Netherlands is red and is called Red Naomi +. This beautiful full red rose you will never disappoint in the vase and as a bonus also has a subtle scent.
These roses get their special colors by a secret process which only a few people know how it is done. But that doesn't matter, we just sell them, and that's no secret!
In winter, the flowers a bit smaller than in the summer. There is nothing to do.
The most grown rose in the Netherlands is red and is called Red Naomi +. This beautiful full red rose will never disappoint you in the vase and also has a subtle scent as an extra. 100 in a forest ia the ultimate declaration of love !!
This rose has a bit of a fragrance and opens up briljantly.
A beautiful Ferrari red rose.
The most grown rose in the Netherlands is red and is called Red Naomi +. This beautiful full red rose will never disappoint you in the vase and also has a subtle scent as an extra. 24 in a forest is an ultimate declaration of love !!
With these roses, every dish will be complete! Your guests won't know what is happening to them. You will get all the credits.
Beautiful yellow rose with a nice full bud that opens nicely.


text:
// Copyright © 2015 Mimeo, Inc.

// Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
// of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
// in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
// to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
// copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
// furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

// The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in
// all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

// THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
// IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
// FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
// AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
// LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
// OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN
// THE SOFTWARE.

namespace SendWithUs.Client.Tests.EndToEnd
{
    using System.Collections.Generic;
    using System.Linq;
    using System.Net;
    using Microsoft.VisualStudio.TestTools.UnitTesting;
    using SendWithUs.Client;

    [TestClass]
    public class BatchAsyncTests
    {
        [TestMethod]
        public void BatchAsync_TwoRequests_Succeeds()
        {
            // Arange
            var subject = "BatchAsync " + TestHelper.GetUniqueId();
            var testData = new TestData("EndToEnd/Data/SendRequest.xml");
            var sendRequest = new SendRequest(testData.TemplateId, testData.RecipientAddress, testData.Data.Upsert("subject", subject));
            var renderRequest = new RenderRequest(testData.TemplateId);
            var requests = new List<IRequest> { sendRequest, renderRequest };
            var client = new SendWithUsClient(testData.ApiKey);

            // Act
            var batchResponse = client.BatchAsync(requests).Result;

            // Assert
            Assert.AreEqual(HttpStatusCode.OK, batchResponse.StatusCode);
            Assert.AreEqual(requests.Count, batchResponse.Items.Count());

            var sendResponse = batchResponse.Items.ElementAt(0) as ISendResponse;
            Assert.AreEqual(HttpStatusCode.OK, sendResponse.StatusCode);
            Assert.AreEqual("OK", sendResponse.Status, true);
            Assert.AreEqual(true, sendResponse.Success);

            var renderResponse = batchResponse.Items.ElementAt(1) as IRenderResponse;
            Assert.AreEqual(HttpStatusCode.OK, renderResponse.StatusCode);
            Assert.AreEqual("OK", renderResponse.Status, true);
            Assert.AreEqual(true, renderResponse.Success);
        }
    }
}

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaGithub


text:
Stephen Curry 'hopes to' become new face of the NBA
By Brett PollakoffFeb 17, 2015, 2:29 PM EST
NEW YORK — Stephen Curry is the best player on the league's best team, and was the top overall vote-getter in the final All-Star balloting results.
Despite that meteoric rise to an elite level of stardom, he's not quite to the LeBron James level of global icon just yet. But speaking to reporters following an All-Star game performance that netted him 15 points, five rebounds and nine assists, Curry admitted that it's something he aspires to.
"I hope to be," Curry said, in response to a question about whether he sees himself becoming the new face of the NBA. "Obviously it's nice that the fans are supportive and show out like that in the voting process for the All‑Star Game. I never expected that. Two years ago I wasn't here, so it's pretty special. And I hope to continue that trend upward to doing great things in this league."
Curry has shown this season that he's capable of getting there. His style of play, which features top-of-the-line offensive skills all the way around, is among the most exciting in the game. And, the way he shoots the ball from long range with a high level of accuracy is something fans can relate to more than they can guys that are blessed with an amount of athleticism that essentially enables them to fly to the basket.
He isn't as recognizable by those who don't pay attention to the NBA as guys like LeBron or Kobe Bryant, and he understands why. But Curry hopes to work hard enough to one day change that.
"Those guys have won championships and MVPs and are going to be legends for a long time to come," Curry said. "I have more work to do that I want to accomplish. And I'm going to stay hungry in the process."


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India lost its tag of being the world's fastest growing economy as the country's GDP or Gross Domestic Product grew by only 6.1 per cent during Q4 (January-March period), as shown by the latest government data. China's GDP grew 6.9 per cent during the same period.
Even after considering the impact of demonetization, economists had predicted India's fourth quarter GDP growth at 7.1 per cent. But, the actual number fell short by a huge 1 per cent. GDP growth in the previous quarter (October-December period) was 7 per cent. Overall, the GDP growth rate for 2016-17 financial year came in at 7.1 per cent whereas the projected growth rate was 8 per cent.
The numbers will surely be embarrassing for the Narendra Modi government that recently completed three years at the Centre. Modi's demonetization drive implemented in November last year in a bid to curb black money has shown more than anticipated impact on country's economy.
Modi's govt. however is confident that GST, India's biggest tax reform since independence that will come into effect from July 1 this year, will contribute 2 per cent to the GDP and the results will be seen by FY18.


I'm happy to be able to bring this new CT-related site to your attention: The Spiritual Cinema Circle published by Stephen Simon. It works like a book club. For $21/month (introductory offer) you join and receive 3-5 features and shorts on DVD each month, personally selected by Simon to represent the "best of spiritual cinema and art" -- new films you are "unlikely to see anywhere else." I was particularly impressed by the write-up on this film, Finding Joy.
Simon focuses mainly on the prescriptive use of films for cinema therapy, but his emphasis on the spiritual aspects of CT appeals to me. Having finished my first book on general cinema therapy -- now in the final stages of being published under the title E-motion Picture Magic -- I am now focusing on writing a second book and possibly teaching about how movies can be used to develop our capacities toward expansion of our individual consciousness.
As always, I encourage all readers to submit articles about their experiences with CT.
Pierina Mercieca, a third year undergraduate psychology student from Malta, (a tiny island in the Mediterranean Sea), writes that she is planning to do her dissertation on CT. Titled Reel Power: The Attitudes of Maltese Psychotherapists and Psychologists towards Reel Therapy. she says, "this research will try to find out whether Maltese psychotherapists and psychologists are aware of the emerging phenomenon of Reel Therapy. If they are, it is to investigate their attitudes and use of it."
She will investigate CT in two ways: 1. a short questionnaire to Maltese psychologists and psychotherapists to find out whether they have heard of CT and whether they use film in their therapy; 2. conduct five interviews with psychologists and psychotherapists who actually use this method to evaluate their attitudes. She adds that her research will be based on my book, E-motion Picture Magic, to be published soon.
The Healing Movie Book -- Precious Images: The Healing Use of Movies in Psychotherapy is now officially published reports author Michael A. Kalm, M.D. He is a Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Utah and in full time private practice. His book is available now at www.lulu.com/MichaelKalm. Within four to six weeks it will be available through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Borders etc. Kalm writes that The Utah Psychiatric Association has asked him to be their guest speaker on the subject of Cinema Therapy at their Spring Conference on April 16.
This article about CT, based on an interview with me, appeared in the Norwegian newspaper Diskuter Helse on March 4. Does anyone out there read Norwegian?
The following story was written following a BBC radio interview with our colleague, Stuart Fischoff, Ph.D. about CT.
They arrive at my house late, hurried, but happy, having enjoyed their cab ride through the Hollywood hills, as a heavy afternoon rain accompanied the descending fog. Neither was prepared for the rain. Rain! This is Southern California. Hollywood, after all. Reigning movie stars, yes. Raining rain, no.
Peter is wearing a trench coat, but it isn't because he was expecting rain. He was a print journalist in a previous life. Trench coats. Journalists. It's a prop. Alexandra the Wet, alas, is propless.
Initial chit-chat revolves around the traffic snarl in Hollywood. They arrived in Southern California just in time to be deviled by Academy Awards traffic which includes closed or barricaded streets forming a gauntlet to my house, all in servitude to the following evening's Oscar gala at the new Kodak Theater, a scant two miles from my home. Ironic, I thought, that Peter had trouble getting to an interview with me about cinematherapy (CT), because of the chaos surrounding a celebration of the cinema.
Alexandra sniffles as she runs through tech-sound checks on her digital tape recorder as we sit across from each other. She coughs several times and apologizes for bringing her cold germs all the way from London.
The plan is to first talk about the media's impact on people and culture, but Peter gives this arena short shrift because he really wants to get to the highlight of the show, for him at least, a brief, on-the-spot demonstration of cinematherapy. I will play the doctor, he, the patient. That was the pre-arranged plan, hatched in London, weeks ago.
Oddly though (or not), Peter throws this schedule a curve and begins to play psychological hide and seek with me and when that fails to accomplish his goal, he appeals to Alexandra to take his place as the cinematherapy guinea pig.
Surprise? Not really. Guys hate to be vulnerable in public. Alexandra shows spine, though. Deftly she turns the focus back on him, first cajoling then goading, appealing to Peter's talent and intelligence (both considerable), and his status as show host, and finally as celebrity-in-residence. It works. Very eventually and very reluctantly, Peter relents. After all, if not him, then who? Not Miss Sniffles.
So, Peter positions himself on the celluloid couch. We try to mount a CT dialogue on some vague movie scenarios Peter tosses out as sops. This gets us nowhere because the films are a micron deep in emotional importance for him. I scowl a bit and Alexandra laughs at the sheer flimsiness of his stalling. Grudgingly, Peter abandons his evasiveness, switches gears, and starts to talk about a film he saw recently on television, Carol Reed's 1949 shadowy masterpiece thriller, The Third Man.
At my urging, Peter recalls a pivotal, cinematic scene from the film: Orson Wells, a drug dealer, Harry Lime (played by Orson Wells) and his old friend and pulp fiction writer, Holly Martins (played by Joseph Cotton), are on top of stationary carousel in East Berlin. From that height, the people below look like specks to them. Lime disdainfully points out to Martins how meaningless, how tiny, how thoroughly ineffectual, the people below are. Dealing them addictive drugs or diluted penicillin is no worse than squashing an ant, Harry Lime opines coldly.
Peter throws out a few word scraps about how much the scene upsets him, and stops.
At first Peter mumbles something about the scene making him feel like one of the ants. His speech is halting, then without warning, the dam breaks and words of bitterness spill out of him. As he talks, this Niagara of feeling seems to surprise Peter as much as it surprises Alexandra and me.
If this is an act, Peter's an Oscar contender. He decries his impotence in confronting the economic system that is presently gutting his pension plan. He resents his powerlessness to fight the powers that be, the "Harry Limes" who played with the stock market and bankrupted so many small investors, including himself, and, more to the point, the portfolio managers who carelessly "downsized" the value of his pension plan. He feels the weight of future anxiety. He can scrap early retirement. It's gone.
In this brief cinematherapy demonstration, a movie, The Third Man, became a road into Peter's barely hidden catacomb of angst. The movie became a TAT or Rorschach and more. The process had worked its projective voodoo on Peter, and he ultimately gave himself over to its brief voyage of discovery. It was a start. He could, if he wanted, continue the journey elsewhere, back in London.
Peter had his CT demonstration for the radio audience. But that's the show biz part. What Peter was truly surprised at, was how with rather modest prodding from his producer and me, he was so ready to risk vulnerability. Films have a definite charm. And the synergistic impact of multiple visual and auditory skills of music, dialogue, lighting, camera angles, sound effects, enables a film to bypass ordinary defensive censors in a viewer. These filmic "effects" get to hidden or unnoticed cognitions by way of evoked emotions, or vice versa, and get there more easily than any other artistic or entertainment medium. But what one does with and in response to a film, within the cinematherapy modality, in the moment or with aesthetic distance, is part of what differentiates the process from a rip-roaring, coffee house, intellectual debate.
Like many men, Peter hates to talk about his failings, his fears, and his depression over an uncertain financial future. Initially skeptical about the technique, his mental table was turned as the demonstration zeroed in on the emotions engendered by the affecting dialogue on an East Berlin carousel.
Peter says he was glad he did the demonstration: for the show, and for himself. From his looks and his words, it is clear to me that Peter has come to see movies as being a lot more than entertainment. I sense he now fully recognizes that if people choose to pay attention to their autobiographic resonances when watching them, there may be much emotional gold to mine. What's on the screen is only half of the treasure map. The other half is located squarely in the mind's eye.
Later, as we sit across from each other, eyeing each other, the mood of elation-from-discovery, shifts and gives ground to more self-protective and primal male feelings. Peter readjusts his mask and swears a little about the economics of England and the traffic in L. A., and the rain. The moment has passed.
After they've left, I think about the long-term effect on Peter, if any, of the cinematherapy demonstration. Peter's pension worries? Well, they may sink back into his mind's shadows. Or, they may pop up again when a movie Peter sees taps into an aquifer of emotion in his unconscious landscape. Then, like he did today, he may take a look inside his head to see what's on his mind.
© 2004 by Stuart Fischoff, Ph.D.
In America offers a unique and moving look at a family's devastating grief over the accidental death of a son and brother, who also had a brain tumor. Stephanie Ericsson wrote: "Grief … is the ashes from which the phoenix rises. … Grief will make a new person out of you, if it doesn't kill you in the making." Although In America demonstrates how intense, chaotic, contradictory, and heart-wrenching emotions can be when we are grieving, it also reveals that this nightmarish process can become transformative.
The movie also tells Jim Sherdian's semi-autobiographical story about the so-called "immigrant experience" that is as much about family dynamics as about the struggle to survive in unfamiliar surroundings. The story starts with the Irish family sneaking across the Canadian border into the US as illegal immigrants.
Johnny, the young father, wants to be an actor. Since the death of his son, he has suppressed his emotions, which threatens his career. The mother, Sarah, is an exhausted and deeply grief-struck woman who swings back and forth between depression and moments of elation while she tries to fulfill her obligations as a mother, wife, and breadwinner. In spite of their best efforts, the marriage is in danger of disintegration. Their eleven-year-old daughter, Christy, shoots videos of everything with her low-cost camcorder and serves as a voiceover narrator of the story, writing letters to her diseased brother, Frankie. Christy's gregarious younger sister, Ariel, who almost always has a smile in her face, demonstrates the soulfulness of children whose wonder and imagination can carry them through an ocean of difficulties.
It's presumed that the family's move to America was meant as an escape from the tragedy back in Ireland; yet, even with the change in scenery, both parents struggle with overwhelming feelings of guilt. Sarah urges her husband to use his talents as an actor for the kids' sake: "Make believe you're happy!" But Christy breaks through the denial as a sounding board and unforgiving judge: "I've been carrying this family on my back for over a year." Eventually, looking for a means to end the pain, Sarah gets pregnant. But their challenges continue when the doctor tells them that there could be life-threatening complications with the birth.
The family lives in a New York City tenement building, where they are confronted with racism and drug addiction. There is one door, which has the words KEEP AWAY painted on in big orange letters. Here lives, as called by the girls, "a man who screams" because his anguish sometimes echoes up the stairs. The girls' innocence and implicit faith in others allows them to approach this gentle giant, Mateo, without fear, rather than to cower away from him like other tenants. Later, when he joins them for dinner, Ariel says "You're magic." And she is right with her intuitive response.
Everything shifts when Mateo and Johnny face each other in anger and unexpected insights are triggered. Mateo continues to be the catalyst for emotional changes in the family and for different ways of seeing. Especially in the final episode the movie boosts the human spirit and suggests that small miracles do exist.
Movies like In America, used as an adjunct to grief therapy, can serve as a catalyst for suppressed emotions. Sometimes tears flow over a sentimental film but not in real life. Emotional release can lift clients' spirits for a while. Energy that was drained by depression can reemerge, at least temporarily. With therapeutic guidance this "break" frequently allows clients to open up to the grieving process or explore the issues that have inhibited healthy mourning. They may also feel less alone in their pain. Film characters often serve as either negative or positive models for the grieving process. Their story can also help clients recognize the transformational potential in grief.
My 40 year old client, Kevin, had lost his sickly younger sister, Kate, to heart failure when they were children. Because he feared that peers would make fun of him, he never cried. Although his parents had told him that Kate's death was not his fault because she suffered from an incurable heart condition, Kevin felt responsible. He believed: "I shouldn't have encouraged her to play with me the day before she died". Since then, every year around the anniversary of her death Kevin felt depressed. When he suspected that there might be some unresolved grief, he entered therapy.
Our work progressed well. However, the most significant breakthrough happened after Kevin watched In America. As he recognized the family's pain in the film, tears started flowing for the first time. In our next session he told me that these were his "un-cried" tears over the loss of little Kate. More grief surfaced during the following weeks.
First Kevin was afraid that "something must be wrong with me that I felt so sad". With the help of some guiding questions (see below) Kevin started to accept his mourning as a healing process and felt more normal. He experienced the movie characters like a support group. Subsequently we worked with his guilt going back and forth between his inner experience and observing the movie characters. Pretty soon Kevin found peace around his loss and even felt inspired to volunteer in a children's hospital.
• If the movie elicits emotions, let yourself feel them and cry as much as you like.
• their determination and endurance helps them become stronger.
• How do you feel about the character's experience of grief and guilt in relation to your own?
• What did you see in the film that reminds you of your own inner and outer resources?
• Have you discovered transformational gifts of grief after experiencing a loss before, similar to the family in the movie?
The following article announces a new CT training program.
Films and television are the voice of American culture. For better or worse, visual media influences and reflects our values and beliefs. The media mirrors our strengths, struggles and sometimes solutions in diverse subject matter, whether comedy or drama, fiction or documentary. It is the story of us and it has therapeutic power. Many therapists recommend films to their clients.
Now two therapists are taking what may be the next logical step; using therapeutic films to teach therapists. Margot Escott, LCSW offers national training in cinema therapy: the use of films as a therapeutic intervention and as a training tool for clinicians to understand psychopathology and family dynamics. Michael, LCSW is another national clinical educator known for topics that range from HIPPA to sexuality. His novel Terminal Consent was the first to be approved for continuing education for mental health providers.
Escott and Freeny have joined creative forces in producing professional workshops based on Capturing the Friedmans and Thirteen, which both received Oscar nominations last year.
Capturing the Friedmans is a unique documentary that uses personal home movie footage to capture a family trying to cope with overwhelming forces and accusations. The director also interviews investigators and alleged victims, resulting in a true clinical mystery film.
Thirteen is an intimate and controversial portrait of today's adolescent life and challenges.
In both of these six-hour workshops, films are viewed and used as intense case studies and provide common ground for for participants in processing character and dynamics.
In the workshops clinicians are prepared with background material, putting context to what they will see. For example, Michael shows a film he produced of regular teens talking about the sexual world they live in, which gives credence to what participants see in Thirteen.
Cinical discussions includes aspects of family dysfunction in the face of external threats, like the investigation of the Friedmans. Family alliances are formed and broken; revelations are made and then retracted.
The films are so realistic they accurately reflect the complexity of real life. They show depression and anxiety, suicide and self-destructiveness, alcohol and drugs, divorced and compromise parents, rescuing siblings, compulsion, betrayals, hope, affiliation and family. And that's just in the first ten minutes! It's an intense version of what therapistis face every day. Yet there's an advantage in learning with peers who share the experience.
The presenters also use these two workshops to demonstrate the potential power of films with clients. Most participants think that all parents and clinicians should see the film Thirteen. Although not every parent can identify with the specifics in the film, there are global issues that affect all parents of adolescents presented in this work. The use of film as metaphor, seeing others struggle as you do, is part of the healing aspect of this modality.
Cinema therapy, which is really an outgrowth of bibliotherapy started by Menninger in the 1930's, is becoming recognized as a valid therapeutic intervention and successful clinician training tool. And it has no known side effects.
Escott and Freeny offer home study versions of the two films with continuing education credit and have been booked for the two workshops at the NASW Florida State Conference in June. Additional workshops can be viewed at clinicalCE.com.
Michael Freeny may be reached at: Mfreeny@clinicalCE.com and Margot Escott at Me1818@aol.com.
I've just started receiving the CT Newsletter. Most of all, I'm finding it very motivating. Hopefully, it will encourage me to finalize the Web site I have been thinking about/designing for years. Talk about procrastination. I love the work you are doing. More power to you.
I get your newsletter and I appreciate the work that goes into it. I wanted to let you know of a booklet that might be of interest to those who use Cinematherapy.
Back in the 70's, a cult icon came on the scene named "Billy Jack". You may be too young to remember, but he, and his movie, became quite a cult film of the time. He was a hero, who didn't really fit anywhere, who came on the scene in a turbulent time to stand up for human rights. Tom Laughlin wrote, directed, starred in and ultimately distributed his own movie.
Tom later went on to train and become a Carl Jungian psychologist, very revered in the field. He is a member of Menses. He made an attempt to run for President in the early 90's and he is still a social activist and very out spoken. His Web site is www.billyjack.com.
He has put together a booklet for independent filmmakers on the nine essential ingredients needed in a screenplay to make a movie a hit. While the booklet may have been originally written for writers, each of the essential ingredients for a hit movie are explained using Jungian psychology; showing the relationship between the ego and emotions and why people go to movies. It also offers excellent examples of movies that hit the mark and those that fail. I just thought it might be a good resource for you.
Best wishes and thanks for the wonderful newsletter!


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South America cruisetour will surprise and delight you….
There is a place where mountains are capped with snow, glaciers ring the water's edge and miles of coastline form a natural habitat for seals, penguins and whales. As rugged as Alaska and as pristine as Norway, South America is a stunning surprise. Join the Emerald Princess on a 20-day cruisetour January 31, 2018, Tour 7C, to explore legendary Machu Picchu and Lima, Peru, Uruguay, Argentina, the Falkland Islands, and Chile. Your cruisetour consists of a 14-day Princess cruise from Buenos Aires to Santiago, followed by a 7-day Princess land tour of Lima and Cusco, Peru, including Machu Picchu.
Fly to Buenos Aires, overnight on the ship, with tours offered on Day 2. The next day is spent in Montevideo. After a day at sea, visit the port of Puerto Madryn, Argentina, and then Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands. Visit the nautical museum and a British pub.
As the ship rounds Cape Horn, you'll appreciate the skill of early explorers who pitted their frail crafts against these challenging waters. Arrive in Ushuaia, the world's southernmost town.
Arrive at Punta Arenas, Chile. The next two days are at sea, cruising through the Chilean Fjords and Amalia Glacier. Call at Puerto Montt, Chile, before arriving inValparaiso, Chile to disembark.
Via Santiago, visit the coastal city of Vina del Mar, followed by a city tour of Santiago, before flying to Lima, Peru.
In the morning, fly to Cusco, where your hotel and lunch will be waiting. Explore the Pisac Market, spending two nights in this historic city, where massive Inca-built walls line steep, narrow cobblestone streets and plazas are thronged with descendants of the Incas.
Then board your rail coach for the thrilling 3-hour train ride into the Andes to Machu Picchu, discovered in 1911. As you journey to the "Lost City of the Incas" you'll marvel at this most extraordinary example of landscape architecture in the world. After a guided tour and spending the night there, view Machu Picchu at sunrise, before the train brings you back to Cusco for more sightseeing.
The next morning, fly back to Lima for a panoramic tour and time on your own. After a restful night, fly home the next day.
Other options are also available for pre-cruise tours in Buenos Aires, as well as other dates and cruise itineraries in 2017 and 2018.


Red Balloon (Bonus Track) (3:28).
hoopla:MWT11285215|eMusic|Music|[Explicit version].|English|Atlantic Records UK,|2014.|1 online resource (1 audio file (47 min.)) : digital., ils:1049062|Music CD|Music|[Explicit version]|English|Atlantic,||1 audio disc : CD audio, digital ; 4 3/4 in.


STEPHEN was very active in the cause of God and declared his faith boldly. "Then there arose certain of the synagogue, which is called the synagogue of the Libertines, and Cyrenians, and Alexandrians, and of them of Cilicia and of Asia, disputing with Stephen. And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake." These students of the great rabbis had felt confident that in a public discussion they could obtain a complete victory over Stephen, because of his supposed ignorance. But he not only spoke with the power of the Holy Ghost, but it was plain to all the vast assembly that he was also a student of the prophecies and learned in all matters of the law. He ably defended the truths he advocated, and utterly defeated his opponents.
The priests and rulers who witnessed the wonderful manifestation of the power that attended the ministration of Stephen were filled with bitter hatred. Instead of yielding to the weight of evidence he presented, they determined to silence his voice by putting him to death.
They therefore seized Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin council for trial.
of the accused. Saul, who had distinguished himself as a zealous opponent of the doctrine of Christ, and a persecutor of all who believed on Him, was also present. This learned man took a leading part against Stephen. He brought the weight of eloquence and the logic of the rabbis to bear upon the case, and convince the people that Stephen was preaching delusive and dangerous doctrines.
But Saul met in Stephen one as highly educated as himself, and one who had a full understanding of the purpose of God in the spreading of the gospel to other nations. He believed in the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and was fully established in regard to the privileges of the Jews; but his faith was broad, and he knew the time had come when the true believers should worship not alone in temples made with hands; but, throughout the world, men might worship God in Spirit and in truth. The veil had dropped from the eyes of Stephen, and he discerned to the end of that which was abolished by the death of Christ.
The priests and rulers prevailed nothing against his clear, calm wisdom, though they were vehement in their opposition. They determined to make an example of Stephen and, while they thus satisfied their revengeful hatred, prevent others, through fear, from adopting his belief. Charges were preferred against him in a most imposing manner. False witnesses were hired to testify that they had heard him speak blasphemous words against the temple and the law. Said they, "For we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us."
council, looking stedfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel." Many who beheld the lighted countenance of Stephen trembled and veiled their faces, but stubborn unbelief and prejudice never faltered.
Stephen was questioned as to the truth of the charges against him, and took up his defense in a clear, thrilling voice that rang through the council hall. He proceeded to rehearse the history of the chosen people of God in words that held the assembly spellbound. He showed a thorough knowledge of the Jewish economy, and the spiritual interpretation of it now made manifest through Christ. He began with Abraham and traced down through history from generation to generation, going through all the national records of Israel to Solomon, taking up the most impressive points to vindicate his cause.
He made plain his own loyalty to God and to the Jewish faith, while he showed that the law in which they trusted for salvation had not been able to preserve Israel from idolatry. He connected Jesus Christ with all the Jewish history. He referred to the building of the temple by Solomon, and to the words of both Solomon and Isaiah: "Howbeit the Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands." "Heaven is My throne, and earth is My footstool: what house will ye build Me? saith the Lord: or what is the place of My rest? Hath not my hand made all these things?" The place of God's highest worship was in heaven.
dictation of the Holy Ghost. He knew that he was giving his last testimony. Few who read this address of Stephen properly appreciate it. The occasion, the time and place, should be borne in mind to make his words convey their full significance.
When he connected Jesus Christ with the prophecies and spoke of the temple as he did, the priest, affecting to be horror stricken, rent his robe. This act was to Stephen a signal that his voice would soon be silenced forever. Although he was just in the midst of his sermon, he abruptly concluded it by suddenly breaking away from the chain of history, and, turning upon his infuriated judges, said, "Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost: as your fathers did, so do ye. Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers: who have received the law by the disposition of angels, and have not kept it."
At this priests and rulers were beside themselves with anger. They were more like wild beasts of prey than like human beings. They rushed upon Stephen, gnashing their teeth. But he was not intimidated; he had expected this. His face was calm, and shone with an angelic light. The infuriated priests and the excited mob had no terrors for him. "But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God."
gates of heaven were ajar, and Stephen, looking in, saw the glory of the courts of God, and Christ, as if just risen from His throne, standing ready to sustain His servant, who was about to suffer martyrdom for His name. When Stephen proclaimed the glorious scene opened before him, it was more than his persecutors could endure. They stopped their ears, that they might not hear his words, and, uttering loud cries, ran furiously upon him with one accord. "And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep."
Amid the agonies of this most cruel death the faithful martyr, like his divine Master, prayed for his murderers. The witnesses who had accused Stephen were required to cast the first stones. These persons laid down their clothes at the feet of Saul, who had taken an active part in the disputation and had consented to the prisoner's death.
The martyrdom of Stephen made a deep impression upon all who witnessed it. It was a sore trial to the church, but resulted in the conversion of Saul. The faith, constancy, and glorification of the martyr could not be effaced from his memory. The signet of God upon his face, his words, that reached to the very soul of all who heard them, except those who were hardened by resisting the light, remained in the memory of the beholders, and testified to the truth of that which he had proclaimed.
to be angered at his own secret convictions that Stephen was honored of God at the very period when he was dishonored of men.
He continued to persecute the church of God, hunting them down, seizing them in their houses, and delivering them up to the priests and rulers for imprisonment and death. His zeal in carrying forward the persecution was a terror to the Christians in Jerusalem. The Roman authorities made no special effort to stay the cruel work, and secretly aided the Jews in order to conciliate them and secure their favor.
The learned Saul was a mighty instrument in the hands of Satan to carry out his rebellion against the Son of God; but a mightier than Satan had selected Saul to take the place of the martyred Stephen, and to labor and suffer for His name. Saul was a man of much esteem among the Jews, for both his learning and his zeal in persecuting the believers. He was not a member of the Sanhedrin council until after the death of Stephen, when he was elected to that body in consideration of the part he had acted on that occasion.


Mandragore Cologne by Annick Goutal, From the french boutique perfumerie, this woody aromatic scent for men was created by in house perfumer isabelle doyen . Mandrake is an herb used in witchcraft and the name is meant to evoke the magic of this mysterious masculine. Built around the heart of mandrake are notes of ginger, black pepper, aromatic and woody notes that give 'charm' to this modern magic potion. This fragrance contains 100ml or 3.4 fluid ounces of Eau de Toilette.


Men's quasi-varsity. Other schools have promoted rugby to quasi-varsity status, committing resources for scholarships and for paid full-time coaches, or given rugby some recognized form of elevated club sport status short of full varsity status.
Which teams are working the angles best? Which have embraced data the most? In the four major pro leagues, we ranked the 10 teams leading the way in putting analytics to good use.
Footballguys view: The Bengals were just waiting for the Rams playoff run to be done in order to make this announcement.The Rams QB coach does have one month of experience being an offensive coordinator (five games with the Dolphins in 2015) but this is a big leap for him as the replacement for Marvin Lewis.
Conflict Conflict Defined. Conflict can exist between factions or groups within a team, with a leader or manager, and with other teams or departments within the company.
The 2014 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 68th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 65th Formula One World Championship, a motor racing championship for Formula One cars, recognised by the sport's governing body, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), as the highest class of competition for open-wheel racing cars.


<---waiting for arrest any minute now.
"Must stay awake - can't doze off during a Congressional hearing..."
"The Great Ice Cream Fiasco"
"Thought it would be funny."
"Tiny house" nation, who wants in?
Page created in 10.991 seconds with 15 queries.


At the beginning of each turn there is a chance that a new hero will offer themselves for hire in one of your cities for a set gold price. The hero may bring additional allies for an increased gold cost.
The city that the hero and allies offer themselves in is chosen at random from one of your cities.
Note: On turn 1 all players receive a level 1 hero offer that includes no allies for a fixed cost of 500 gold.
When a new hero offer occurs a pop-up menu will be displayed at the beginning of the turn. The menu will show the hero level, any allies that the hero is bringing, the total cost of hiring the hero and allies and the city location where the hero will arrive.
To accept the hero offer, select the hero portrait of the type of hero you want, enter a name for the hero and then hit the OK button. To decline the hero offer, select the cancel button.
An 'Include Allies' checkbox allows for excluding the allies if you do not want to pay extra gold to hire them. Checking/unchecking the box automatically recalculates the cost of the hero offer.
A hero offer remains valid for the entire turn even if you cancel it initially at the start of the turn. To review the offer at any time click the multi purpose button in the upper left menu (it will have a Ziggurat icon on it).
Tip: Always cancel the hero offer at the beginning of the turn. Replay any battles from last turn and survey the strategic situation including moving scout units / fighting battles before accepting the offer.
At the beginning of the game all new heroes that arrive are level 1. As the game progresses new heroes that arrive may begin play at level 2 and above.
Here are the hero levels based on game turn.
The cost for a level 1 hero ranges between 400-850 gold.
The cost for each additional level is 100*level. If the player can not afford the additional level(s) the hero level will be reduced until the player can afford the hero.
Example: The cost of a level 3 hero ranges between 900-1350 gold. The level 1 cost is 400-850 and the cost of the additional 2 levels for a level 3 hero is 500 gold (+200 for level 2 and +300 for level 3).
Below are tables showing the type and number of allies that can come with a hero offer.
Here are the possible allies that can accompany a hero along with the cost per ally.
The number of allies is based on the gold remaining in the players treasury after subtracting the hero cost.
All numbers in the minimum and maximum range are equally likely.
Note: It's possible to get fewer allies than expected if there isn't enough gold to pay for them. For example having 1050 gold left after the hero cost indicates 1 or 2 allies should be included but if the randomly selected ally is a Red Dragon and it's randomly selected cost is 1100 then no allies will be included in the hero offer.
If a player has 400+ gold at the start of their turn they have a chance of getting a hero offer.
The minimum chance is 10%. The maximum chance is 90% unless the player has no heroes in which case it can reach 100%. The chance is a formula based on the amount of gold the player has modified by the number of heroes the player currently has.
Here are the gold chance ranges based on number of heroes (Hero numbers above 7 not shown).
Having less gold than the minimum means the chance is fixed at 10%. Having more gold than the maximum has no effect as the chance is capped at 90% (100% for 0 heroes). Gold totals between the min/max ranges increase the chance by 1% every 5.8 gold.
Example: A player has 2 heroes currently in play. If the players gold total is between 400-810 then the chance for a hero offer is 10%. If the players gold total is greater than 1290 then the chance for a hero offer is 90%. If the player has 1050 gold then the chance for a hero offer is 50%.
1) The minimum amount of gold required to have a chance at an ally is 900 (400 minimum hero cost + 500 minimum ally chance).
2) The minimum amount of gold required to guarantee at at least 1 ally is 1950 (850 max hero cost + 1100 max ally cost).
3) The minimum amount of gold required to have a chance at a Red Dragon is 1250 (400 minimum hero cost + 850 minimum Red Dragon cost).
4) The maximum chance of getting a specific ally (Red Dragon) is 11.25% (90% chance of hero * 1/8 chance for each ally) and requires 1950+ gold (see #2).
5) The average hero cost is 625 gold (mid point between 400 and 850).
Note: All gold numbers based on level 1 hero. For higher level heroes add the appropriate amount of gold for their level.


Is our Urban life too boring?
People inhabit different parts of the world and have different ways of living. The geographical location, climatic conditions, as also education and economy in an area has a direct impact on the lifestyle of individuals living there.
The available resources and the plant and animal life of that area influence the occupations of the inhabitants and in turn their living conditions.
Major cities and the areas around them can be classified as urban. The definition varies across nations, but generally, an area with a population of more than a certain number is classified as urban.
Urban areas are equipped with all the modern amenities like the Internet, telephone, television, and satellite communication. Facilities for shopping, entertainment and other forms of recreation are more concentrated in these areas. Large housing complexes and skyscrapers are found in most urban metropolitan cities. Elevators, escalators, levelled parking areas and towering constructions add to their magnificence.
People mostly engage in non-agricultural jobs, the career options are better and more in number. The living conditions are better. Urban living is economically more stable and luxurious. Due to people preferring this kind of living, urban areas are densely populated. Excessive industrialization has invited environmental problems. The rise in economic growth has led to self-sufficiency and people appear to be self-centred.
But between all these, our lives are getting bored because of this same monotonous life. We find no more excitement in our easy-go life. We easily get bored of things that we have and we soon seek for new things in life. There is no satisfaction whereas the needs are increasing day by day.
We don't care for people and things that are going on in their life. Urban places are highly populated so we don't care about knowing a lot of people. We don't have anyone to share the whereabouts of our life. People are busy with their own lives and appear to be relatively indifferent towards one another. Life here is not peaceful as in rural areas.
Children in urban places don't have many things to do or play with. Either they are busy with phones, televisions, or electronic games or they simply sit back home and do nothing as they don't have any open space to roam around or run and play.
In rural areas, you have this freedom to play in the open fields and vast open areas. No one is to stop and punish you for playing for too long. That's why urban children are lazier than the rural children.
People are busy with their jobs and business and do not have free time to enjoy with families. Most of them don't even have any hobbies to spend their leisure time. So busy that they can't even watch for their children and look for babysitters. It is very clear that urban areas are making the lives of people very boring.
There are of course advantages of living in a town or city, the lifestyle is very modern. But still, in the middle of the busy schedule, the essence of life is somehow getting lost.
People are unable to enjoy life to its fullest. Urban life is boring and there is no doubt about it.


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When it comes to skin and body care, the word oil gets a bad rap. Often people shudder at the thought of the slick and greasy finish oils are thought to leave behind on your limbs. These days body oils are formulated to absorb easily into the skin rather than sit on top of it, and they can definitely make your skin look and feel amazing!
In the heat of Summer and the constant Sydney humidity it can be hard to even imagine putting on a body moisturiser or lotion, but one of my favourite beauty hacks is to use a body oil in the shower. Applying an oil on damp skin, and then rinsing the excess off leaves you with beautifully moisturised, glowing skin with zero heaviness or greasiness.
I've always found oils far more effective at giving my skin a healthy glow and I often swap out my cream body moisturisers when my skin becomes dull and dry.
Not only do they offer instant suppleness, body oils soak into your skin to nourish the layers deep below the surface. They also help to build a barrier for your skin to protect it from any further damage or drying.
Once upon a time you would only find formulas that sit uncomfortably on your skin without drying down and once they were on, they could be quite hard to get off. Thankfully, technology and testing has come a long way and now it's easy to find an option that won't leave your skin greasy and is really comfortable to use. You'll have a nice glow that won't feel heavy on your skin or stain your clothes.
Probably one of the best things about body oils though, is their ability to repair more than just dryness in your skin. With regular, consistent use, some body oils help to reduce the look of stretchmarks and even help to prevent them long-term.
You can also find body oils that reduce the look of scars, dark spots and work to tighten loose and aging skin. You really can't go wrong in making the switch.


text:
Gaming companies can win now at Shanghai Free Trade Zone – Mark Schaub
In: business, consulting, Microsoft, Shanghai
Tagged: Mark Schaub
MARK SCHAUB
Most attention has gone to the chances of the financial industry at the new Shanghai Free Trade Zone, but while those opportunities might occur in the long term, niche markets like gaming companies can already win today, argues lawyer Mark Schaub, Partner at King&Wood and Mallesons, in a legal note.
Mark Schaub:
China has effectively blocked gaming consoles since 2000. To put this in perspective the PlayStation 2 was released way back in 2000. In 2000 China banned the manufacture and sale of gaming consoles due to the possible adverse effects of violence and explicit content upon China's youth.
However, this fourteen year blanket ban is seeing a slight unraveling as the new FTZ will, uniquely for China, allow console manufacturers to produce games and consoles for China's domestic consumption. Naturally enough, the game manufacturers have not been given a green light to produce anything they want as they will still have to submit products to regulators for approval. Accordingly, do not expect to see a Chinese version of Battlefield 4 coming out of Waigaoqiao but non-controversial games will be able to be sold directly to the China market from the FTZ.
Further, the new regulations will allow for manufacturers in the FTZ to sell gaming consoles to Chinese consumers. Ironically, although gaming consoles have been produced in China for export for years, sales to the domestic market were banned. Microsoft entered into a $237 million joint venture with BesTV New Media in the FTZ at the end of 2013 to make home entertainment equipment, which could potentially include games and consoles.
The FTZ lifting of the blanket ban will lead many optimists to posit a huge untapped market that gaming console operators like Microsoft and Sony will need to immediately enter. Revenue in the PRC gaming industry grew by 38 per cent year-on-year in 2013 to RMB 83.2 billion. However, this market has been dominated by online computer and smartphone games, with PC games claiming two-thirds of the market in 2013. Due to the ban, gaming consoles have not only been driven to the sidelines but are also comparatively expensive in China…
The different threads of new FTZ policies come together to potentially allow for great opportunities to gaming companies.
On the one hand the obvious opening is the ability for game console and game manufacturers established in the FTZ to sell their products into China. More subtly the liberalizing of restrictions in the VATS sector may provide far greater opportunity for video game distributors to access the China market. China often embraces new technologies quicker than the West and by putting games on the cloud, the game distributors will be able to better meet consumer demands and taste while also confronting the serious piracy problem as games are stored on the cloud rather than individual devices.
Is this all too good to be true? Time will tell but at present it does seem that the video game sector may well have more to be happy about than many other, more heralded sectors.
You can read the full paper here.
Mark Schaub is a speaker at the China Speakers Bureau. Do you need him at your meeting or conference? Do get in touch or fill in our speakers´request form.
Are you a media representative and do you want to talk to one of our speakers? Do drop us a line.
Healthcare in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone
Bolstering consumer rights in China – Mark Schaub
China lifts ban on foreign game consoles
China lays down rules for console ban lift, blocks anything "hostile to China"
Rabbits Rejoice – End of PRC Animal Testing Requirements Nears – Mark Schaub
China reverses 'ban' on videogames, but there's a catch and it involves Shanghai's free trade zone
Previous Post: Talking to strangers: Tricia Wang at the Berkman center
Next Post: The identity of diaosi or ´losers´in China – Wei Gu


The Mackie Bag for ProFX4 v2 Mixer is designed to protect and carry your valuable mixer. The tote bag has a main compartment, an outer accessories pocket, and zippered closures. It can be carried using the two interlocking carry handles or the included removable, padded shoulder strap.


The Criminal Minds season 14 finale is coming onto CBS on Wednesday, and it seems to be fulfilling one key part of the annual finale checklist.
Criminal Minds season 14 episode 14 review: Is the BAU haunted?
Tonight, Criminal Minds season 14 episode 14 took viewers to the city of Lewiston, Maine, an off-the-beaten-path place.
Criminal Minds season 14 finale spoilers: Rossi & Krystall's wedding!
Next week, the Criminal Minds season 14 finale is going to be coming on CBS and there's one thing we can say now: Love is in the air!
Criminal Minds season 14 finale: First look at Rossi's wedding!
Mrs. Carter: Are you ready to see Rossi and Krystall's wedding on the upcoming Criminal Minds season 14 finale?
Criminal Minds season 14 episode 14 video: A serial killer ghost hunter?
Criminal Minds season 14 episode 14 is airing on CBS Wednesday night, and this one seems to be especially creepy.
The Criminal Minds season 14 finale is going to be coming up on CBS come Wednesday, February 6, and love will be in the air!
Last week we had a really powerful episode of Criminal Minds that had a heavy focus on AJ Cook's character of JJ, but this week she will be in the episode a little bit less and for a really exciting reason.
Want to know what's coming up on Criminal Minds season 14 episode 14? Well, next week marks the penultimate one of the season.
In this Criminal Minds interview, series star AJ Cook talks directing her first episode in "Chameleon" and season 15 being the final season.
Criminal Minds season 14 episode 13 could be an episode like no other — at least when it comes to David Rossi.